In this era where the digital realm plays a pivotal role, the need for visually compelling and impactful communication remains paramount. Companies like Clash Graphics excel in providing cutting-edge solutions for poster design and production, seamlessly integrating with the evolving trends in digital media.
Just as the media landscape transforms, so too does the approach to creating visually compelling and shareable content, making digital printing an indispensable component in the contemporary PR toolkit.
A few weeks ago, Newsweek became the latest magazine to announce it would cease publication of the Newsweek print edition in favor of a digital-only format at the end of this year. And this isn’t the first announcement of this kind for 2012 – SmartMoney Magazine ceased print publication in the summer, and rumors have swirled that the U.K.’s The Guardian is considering a switch to a digital-only edition. We are likely to see this trend continue in the coming years as, according to the Pew Research Center’s statistics on print vs. online media, more than half of Americans receive their news from digital sources, and the number of people relying on social media exclusively for their news has doubled in the past two years.
For us here on the BLASTmedia PR team, we are already executing an integrated approach to public relations, but how do we and our fellow PR pros communicate this ever-changing landscape and its importance to our clients? We compiled a few key explanations and details on how to communicate this online vs. print media change in the marketplace.
- Earned media begets owned media. As the fields of public relations, social media, and marketing become more integrated, the types of media we work with and obtain are working together more than ever. A piece of earned media, like a product feature on an online site, can now be used to help shape and create owned media, such as client blogs, Tweets, and Facebook posts. High-quality and timely earned media that is paired with the delivery of well-crafted owned media can elevate brand awareness to the next level and ensure that the media coverage you secured has a higher value to the client.
- Tracking tactics. With the advent of Google Analytics, tracking the results of an integrated social media and PR campaign has become easier. While Google Analytics can help show the potential impact of a print hit by looking at direct traffic to your website, online coverage can be broken down further by checking out your referring sites. Here, you can see which PR hits drove the most people to your client’s website, how long they were there, what pages they looked at, and more. This level of information can provide insight to clients on what is and isn’t working for media outreach, help provide some ROI for your work, and allow you to refine and shape your campaign goals accordingly.
- It’s a numbers game. A large majority of online outlets have higher circulations then traditional print publications. In fact, many magazines and newspapers are outdone by their own online counterparts; for example, the Sunday print edition of the New York Times has a circulation of a little over two million, while the online-only version has over 15 million unique visitors per month (numbers pulled via Cision). Clients will always enjoy seeing their product in the glossy pages of a magazine or on the front page of the newspaper, but online coverage has the potential for more eyeballs to be exposed to their product and brand, and for a longer period of time.
- Content. It lives! While that mention of your client in yesterday’s newspaper is probably now in the recycling bin, a mention in a media site continues to live on well past the date it was posted. The article featuring your client will be archived on the site, forever searchable to those who might have read or heard about it elsewhere. Websites also usually share links to their posts via their social media channels (and they usually include social sharing buttons with the article), ensuring your client’s coverage reaches a broader audience and can be shared and disseminated often and widely.
- SEO-tastic. Print articles will more than likely mention your company’s website, but this requires readers to go to a computer and physically type in a link to access product or brand information. Online media takes out that middle man, placing hyperlinks directly to a client’s home page, product page, or blog right in the body of the article. With the simple click of a button, readers can be exposed to the latest news and offerings by your clients. In addition to this easy exposure, every one of these links leading back to your website is great for your SEO, and as more original articles with links to your website appear on popular, well-respected websites, your SEO value will only increase.
- Integration of assets. Articles in a print publication are limited in the type of assets they can incorporate. For example, print media can only include a photo (and the inclusion of a photo is usually dependent on space) and occasionally QR codes, aside from text. With online features, you have ability to share other assets you have created, such as slideshows and videos, making your client and their product or service that much more attractive to potential consumers.
- Constant content. Unlike magazines that tend to be released monthly and newspapers that come out daily or weekly, online outlets are constantly looking to generate and update content. This need for continuous content creation allows PR pros to not only approach online sites and editors with varied, strategic angles, but also gives a platform to immediately make outreach for clients when there is breaking news.
As media continues to shift and transform, it is our job as PR pros to stay on top of the changes and educate ourselves well enough to explain these new developments to our clients. This will help us maintain relevancy in our field and ensure we are a continued source of trusted information for current and potential clients.
Looking for an integrated PR campaign that combines traditional and new media outreach, along with a strategic social media plan? Email Mendy Werne to discuss how BLASTmedia can help you!
(Image created on ICanHas.Cheeseburger.com; original image via Hark.com.)
