Publicity these days takes on many formats and utilizes the whole array of media, from traditional to social.
It used to be all about exposure in newspapers and broadcast, and even when online news and information sites began surfacing, many marketers put little or no value on an online placement. Back then, it was “Get me in The Times,” then morphing to “Get me on Donahue” and “Get me on Oprah.”
Now it’s more like “Get me trending on Twitter.”
Marketers, especially those with big budgets, continue to put their dollars into advertising. Buy ads and you know when and where they’ll appear, with a good idea of how many eyeballs (or ears) it will reach.
But, as many of us in PR have been saying for years (decades, actually), it’s not only about having your message be seen, but more about having it be believed and then creating consumer action – buying the product or service.
A new survey, reported in this week’s ADWEEK, looks at what type of content influences consumers to try a new product or service. The biggest single influencer, the report shows, is articles and blog posts. A good chunk of that content is initiated by PR outreach. More than 28 percent say articles and blogs are what causes them to try to product.
Social media is close behind, at 22.6 percent.
Other things that impact consumers are in-person events, at 15 percent, and celebrity and influencer endorsements, at 9 percent.
Online ads are at 17 percent, and print and other traditional advertising is cited by 3.8 percent of respondents. Ironic, since the numbers spent by marketers are just about the opposite. Hmmm.
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