In an age where technology is at the forefront of everything we do; conversations, alerts, travel, controlling finances, notifications, likes, tweets – does traditional PR still work? Is there still a place for newspapers and magazines in today’s modern society?
Ask yourself, when was the last time you read a newspaper?
Over the years, newspaper numbers have declined, digital news outlets have flourished and news apps have become the norm. But, how do we as a public relations agency get our clients in the ‘press’?
Over the years we have had to adapt our approach to public relations. Yes, we still send press releases to newspapers, but we now send press releases to digital news outlets too.
Digital news platforms are essential in getting our clients’ stories out there, in front of their target market and to build brand awareness. Digital news outlets upload news stories to their websites, which provides remarkable benefits:
The news story becomes a shareable link; you can share the piece via your social media channels and so can individuals.
A tweet from a reliable source or a public figure can be just as powerful, if not more powerful than the news sharing platform itself. Which in the past, would never have been possible. There wasn’t an outlet for people to celebrate people’s successes so freely with the public with such large followings, the benefits of this are huge. It can be more beneficial to your organisation and more cost effective to have someone in your industry share your news story; it places your news story in front of your target audience (more than likely) and confirms that it is current and worth reading.
Fantastic news. The Tees Valley is known the world over for steel, heavy engineering and chemicals, but we are so much more than that. To see digital services firms expand just shows how much potential there is in our region.https://t.co/3xuoNVmTmU
— Ben Houchen (@BenHouchen) 19 July 2018
When people search your organisation via Google for example, past and present news stories will appear in the search; providing more information, showcasing your achievements/celebrations/news and gives the impression of an established organisation.
The first thing most people do is search online to find out who you are, and what better way to show the most relevant points of your business than having press coverage when people search you. People searching can quickly understand your business at the click of a button.
We still love getting our clients into newspapers, and we are always happy to see our words in print. But again, it’s just as exciting to see a popular figure share our client’s news too! Public relations isn’t about being seen in the press, it’s about having a consistent voice, a strategic message and multiple outlets for sharing; whatever the method.
