• Wedding Vendors Must Adapt Online to a Changing Industry

  By Lyndsey Walker | Posted Sep 1, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  The final countdown has officially begun - five days to the Big Day. I can't believe it's almost here. Since our engagement last June, my fiancé and I have had a busy 15 months filled with meetings, errands, parties, photo shoots, high emotions, joy, and all not without a few tears.

  Just like many little girls, I always imagined the day full of colorful flowers in a sea of white, frilly bows, happy couples and a book of memories to house it all. But never, in any of those dreams, did I ever think I'd replace a wedding journal with a blog, swap out a guest book for an interactive Website and ditch printed wedding photos for an online photo- and video-sharing album.

  The tradition of today's wedding has changed. Social networking and the Internet are making it easier to manage tasks, update and interact with guests and, most importantly, cherish the memories along the way.

  Gone are the days of snail-mail Save-the-Dates and invitations, guest books and printed photo albums. With sites such as eEvite.com, OneWed.com and TheKnot.com - and the list goes on and on - a new wedding tradition is evolving.

  

  Why send one-way invitations when you can interact with your guests and keep an accurate headcount? Why waste paper, and money, printing wedding photos when you can post and share your photos online with space for hundreds more?

  And why wait until the day of the wedding for advice? Create an interactive Website instead, where guests can post marriage advice, propose a toast to the happy couple or stay informed about the upcoming extravaganza.
  

  So, what does all this mean to the wedding vendor?

  Because brides today are looking to the Internet first for information and ideas, wedding vendors, such as photographers, caterers, bakers and musicians, cannot just rely on word-of-mouth referrals. Businesses need to be where their audience is congregating. And, the audience is online - online search accounts for more than 61 percent of all primary sources for local business information, according to TMP Directional Marketing's published reports.

  Consumers are not just utilizing one source for local business information, and vendors should not rely on a single source for advertising either. Below are a few ways to better reach your audience and adapt to a new tradition:
  

  Get Listed 

  List your business on Internet Yellow Pages and local business directories. Many of the top search engines and local directories allow businesses to update or add their listings for free. Plus, obtain listings on industry-specific Websites such as TheKnot.com and Weddepot.com, which house databases of local vendors for a one-stop shop. Be sure your business information is consistent across your listings.
  

  Encourage Customer Reviews

  Ask satisfied customers to rate your business and/or write a review. When online searchers find a business, they'll likely find competitors as well, and statistics show positive reviews will add more credibility and help businesses stand out in the crowd.
  

  Advertise Online

  Instead of relying solely on referrals or traditional ads, consider advertising through PPC and relevant social networks, such as TimeToast.com, where brides can create interactive timelines and schedules to share with friends, family and the wedding party, or OneWed.com, a free social wedding planning platform - think Facebook - where brides can create a private wedding site for interaction with guests, share photos and post event details.
  

  Optimize your Website

  Develop an On-Page Optimization strategy to get found organically. Incorporate priority keywords and phrases throughout your Website, including: URL, page title, meta tags, description, headings and image alt tags. If necessary, optimize locally by incorporating an "Areas We Serve" on your homepage, and include geographic terms throughout your Website and keyword Meta Data.
  

  Generate Inbound Links
  

  Develop a link-building strategy. Inbound links are the most important factor in your Website's ranking and its ability to attract qualified traffic. Look for linking opportunities through your business' partnerships, sponsorships and reputable companies with whom you've worked, such as caterers or event halls. Also, be sure to include outbound links on your Website to your various local profiles and citations directly from your landing page.

  Monitor relevant blogs to discover opportunities to get listed on them, and continually publish fresh content that is valuable and link worthy. Content can not only build inbound links and drive traffic, but it also positions your organization and experts as thought leaders, and boosts search engine rankings.

  In addition, consider reaching out to industry-specific sites for inbound links such as TheWeddingLens.com - an interactive photo- and video-sharing site - or MomentVille.com - where brides can build an interactive Website for free with a plethora of applications, such as photo album slideshows set to music (guests can upload photos as well), a blogging platform to chronicle events and share stories, and activity RSS feeds to alert guests and update your Facebook profile.
  

  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. She found many of the wedding Websites listed in this post resourceful and fun while planning her wedding. Follow my updates on Twitter: @lyndseyfrey.

• Getting Started on Facebook: Five Tips to Maximize your Company's Page

  By Lyndsey Walker | Posted Aug 14, 2009 | 4 Comment(s) | Filed in: Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  Facebook is everywhere. Since its founding in 2004, the free social networking tool has grown to more than 250 million active users. And though Facebook has a reputation of college-age users, more than half of them are out of college, and about 34 percent of users work as professionals, executives, educators or are in sales or technical careers.

  In fact, the fastest-growing demographic is 35 years or older, according to Facebook, while Techno-Marketer states the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook is 50+, followed closely by the 41-45 age group.
  
  Either way, your audience is on Facebook and if you’re not, you’re missing an opportunity to connect with them.

  Below I’ve listed five tips to maximize your Facebook Page and better communicate with your audience.
  

  1. Build a Strong Fan Base

  Facebook Pages can be used by businesses to post news, links and live content, and more importantly, to connect with customers and potential customers. Your Business Page is a great tool to drive traffic back to your Website and a way to reach out to other businesses.

  • Build it To Get Found: Give your Page a title using your company name and priority keywords wherever possible — your page can rank in search engines. Also, be sure to select the most appropriate category for your business when creating your Page.
  • Make it Unique: Customize the tabs on your Page to fit your business, including Info, Photos, Videos, Events, Discussions and Boxes tabs.
  • Publish Fresh Content: To attract fans, generate original and unique content on industry trends, news or product reviews. Create videos to engage visitors and start discussion boards.
  • Invite Fans: Invite customers, colleagues, friends, family and business associates in your network to fan your Page. And, remember to become a fan yourself!
  • Host Contests, Giveaways: According to Facebook, research by Forrester shows that contests, giveaways and promotions are the fastest ways to build fans to your page.

  Once you build up your fan base, be sure to only post content that is interesting or in some way beneficial to fans. Avoid being too promotional.
  

  2. Get Found Easily with Vanity URLs

  Once your Facebook Page gains 100 fans, your business page is eligible to register a custom URL. This will simplify and shorten your Facebook URL, helping you get found easier. For example, instead of this long, confusing URL: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Cleveland-OH/PR-2020/97879779232, PR 20/20 now is able to use: www.Facebook.com/PR2020.
  
  With cleaner URLs, Facebook Pages can be better promoted on business cards, email signatures, social networks such as Twitter, and ad space and sales collateral.
  

  3. Collaborate and Connect with Facebook Applications

  Facebook applications are a great way to collaborate, network and do business through your Page.
  
  Facebook has more than 52,000 available applications on its platform. There are Facebook apps available for everything, including Twitter, Wordpress, Google Reader, etc. But where should businesses begin? Start with the following, and build from there.

  • Add the RSS Feed application to incorporate your blog.
  • Add the LinkedIn Profile application to promote your LinkedIn account by posting a badge on your Page.
  • Add the Twitter application to incorporate your Tweets.

  Then, visit Mashable.com’s post on the 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook.
  

  4. Gain Exposure by Getting Everyone Involved

  Don’t just put up a Business Page and forget about it. Monitor the feeds, make updates and discuss industry trends, product reviews and relevant events. Encourage employees to be active and participate on your Page. Remember, the more people involved on Facebook, the more exposure your company will receive.

  With fresh content and lots of activity, your Page will build in strength and become successful — no one will follow a stagnate page. Another great way to join the conversation is get involved in other Facebook groups and become fans of other Business Pages.

  5. Drive Traffic with Facebook Social Ads

  Advertise on Facebook to gain more exposure and drive a significant amount of qualified traffic to your Page. Because of the personal nature of Facebook, the ads program allows advertisers to target their ads to concise market segments, such as niche demographics, interests, hobbies, music, etc.
  
  For example, since I’m listed as “engaged” on my personal profile, targeted ads such as wedding photographers, custom invitations, weight-loss programs, real estate for first-time homebuyers and more appear on my Profile. 
  
  Below are a few tips to remember when building your Social Ads:

  • Write clear, targeted ads with concise text that speaks directly to the audience you will reach. The title can have up to 25 characters, and the body can have up to 135 characters.
  • Put an attractive and relevant image in your ad that is appropriate for the product/service, event, etc., being advertised. Images will be resized to fit in a 110px wide by 80px high box.
  • Target ads to profiles using your priority keywords.

  There are many ways to maximize your Facebook Page. Do you have other ideas or tips to share that you’ve found effective? I’d like to hear about them. Please let me know by commenting below, or connecting with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pr2020.
  
  Additional Blog Posts and Resources:

  How to Use Facebook for Business ebook

  Six Tips for Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile
  
  Twitter Strategy: The Incomplete Guide for Beginners

  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations. Follow my updates on Twitter: @lyndseyfrey.

   

   

   

• Six Tips for Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile

  By Lyndsey Walker | Posted Apr 29, 2009 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  LinkedIn, one of the most popular professional social networking sites on the Internet today, has more than 39 million members in more than 200 countries around the world. Members use this tool to find, introduce and collaborate with business professionals within their industries.
  
  But, there’s much more to LinkedIn than just connecting with professionals. Members can create Business Groups to share industry articles and information, and open discussions on pertinent topics; utilize LinkedIn applications to monitor Twitter activity about their company and conduct market research from their professional audience; or use LinkedIn Answers to position themselves and their company as an expert in their field.
  
  Below I put a list together of six tips for maximizing your LinkedIn Profile:

  1. Create a Company Profile

  In addition to your personal profile, Company Profiles are used to provide additional information about the company, its products and specialties, employees and company news. Your company profile can be a great tool to drive traffic back to your Website, as well as a way to reach out to other businesses.

  2. Optimize Links

  Build your personal and company profiles using priority keywords and be sure to include these keywords as anchor text for your company and blog links. Here’s how to do it:

  • From your profile page, click edit next to your Website link.
  • Under Websites, use the drop-down menu and choose “other”.
  • In the box next to the drop-down menu, type in the anchor text using your priority keywords. 
  • Follow the same instructions for you blog. 
  • Save your changes

  3. Connect Using LinkedIn Answers

  By monitoring the questions within your network, LinkedIn Answers offers companies the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience, positioning them as experts in their industries. Plus, it can be used as a tool to connect with other businesses, potential job candidates and prospects.

  4. Integrate LinkedIn Applications

  LinkedIn offers 10 applications that can be integrated into your profile to share information within your network.

  • Company Buzz — Monitor the Twitter activity associated with your company’s priority keywords and industry trends.
  • Polls — Conduct market research by accessing data from your connections and professional audience.
  • My Travel — Use TripIt to monitor where your network is traveling, as well as share your trips in order to make connections in town or while traveling.
  • Blog Link — Feed your blog posts into your LinkedIn profile.
  • Huddle Workspaces — Create different workspaces for different groups of your connections and keep your documents safe and secure, while creating and updating them and exchanging ideas and plans for your projects.
  • Box.net — Manage all your important files online and share content on your profile.
  • Reading List by Amazon — Share the books you’re currently reading and find out what you should be reading about from your connections.
  • SlideShare Presentations — Upload, display and share your presentations on LinkedIn.
  • Google Presentation — Upload and share a PowerPoint presentation about yourself and your company.

  5. Create Business Groups

  LinkedIn Business Groups are used to collaborate with members, share related articles and information and to conduct discussions about the topic at hand, as well as share job opportunities. Members of these groups will receive email updates related to the group activity.
  
  Companies should use these groups to share valuable information, events and news, as well as join other industry-related groups to stay on top of what’s happening in their industry

  6. Make Recommendations

  Participate and make recommendations within your network for business associates, partners, vendors and employees when appropriate. Recommendations for you and your company add valuable credibility.

  Do you have other ideas or tips to share that you’ve found effective? I’d like to hear about them. Please let me know by commenting below.

• Is There Hope for Print Media? A New Model Emerges

  By Lyndsey | Posted Mar 30, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Business

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  In a rapidly changing industry — amidst printed publications folding all around us — print media are scrambling to adapt their models in an effort to survive.
  
  In recent years, newspapers across the country have begun to collaborate to share news stories and features to cut costs while maintaining quality. However, a new model is beginning to surface: entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on industry niches, are providing quality content to printed publications through paid subscriptions.
  
  One such example is MedCity News, a Cleveland-based medical industry news service “focusing on business, innovation and influence in health care,” according to its Website, www.MedCityNews.com. Chris Seper (Twitter: @chrisseper; LinkedIn: Chris Seper), a former journalist for The Plain Dealer who accepted a buyout last year, co-founded the business in January 2009 because he saw “the media space changing.”
  
  The model works through syndication. MedCity develops and publishes content on its Website for online, print and broadcast-media paid subscribers to use in their mediums.

  

  Are ventures such as MedCity News, VentureBeat.com and Politico.com the much-needed answer to support printed publications by allowing them to cut costs and outsource their quality? Seper thinks so.
  
  PR 20/20 sits down with Seper to learn more about MedCity News and his views on the future of the newspaper industry.
  
  
  PR 20/20: What was the influencing factor for launching this entrepreneurial venture?
  
  Seper: We think the media space is changing. In order for traditional mediums to continue to thrive, they need to collaborate more. They can do the medical news just as good as we can, but they can’t afford to do it all. We think that’s critical. We’re not reinventing the wheel; we just created a model that shrinks the costs for printed publications, while allowing them to maintain the quality of content produced.
  
  PR 20/20: What is the main focus of your business?
  
  Seper: The No. 1 revenue source is through syndication. We see online advertising as secondary. We also can create custom content where we would oversee the freelancers for an exclusive story.  
  
  PR 20/20: Do you think your company focus will shift in the future?
  
  Seper: I think this is the future of the industry. I always compare what’s happening in media to what’s power in oil. So, though we use wind for power and energy resources, nothing takes the place of oil (big media). We’re a part of the future. It’s just too hard to focus on big picture issues that will never be on the radar screen. Local politics, sports and entertainment will be more compelling, whether it’s a double murder or LeBron James.
  
  PR 20/20: Why a narrow focus on health care?
  
  Seper: One of the more important things is to have a narrow focus. For example, Venturebeat.com covers private equity and technology. Health care is a major economic engine in the country; it’s complex and needs full-time attention and I think it can be monetized. If you have a small nimble operation that produces the news, you can do it well.
  
  PR 20/20: Is the idea of newspapers finding news niches a foreshadowing of what’s to come?
  
  Seper: I think newspapers and big media with a large geographic area will become a repository of information that the newspaper doesn’t always create. They will need to rely on more people to fill the space.
  
  For example, The Plain Dealer would always cover local courts, sports, book reviews, etc., that could be covered by other people. Newspapers are used to creating the bulk of content, but it’s just too expensive to do it. You’ve got to cut costs.  The PD joined the Ohio News Organization last year to collaborate with the state’s largest papers to share stories and save costs.
  
  PR 20/20: Do you feel companies such as MedCity are the wave of the future?
  
  Seper: I’m in the minority that believes print still has a long life and traditional media just has to change what they do, and who they trust to do it. Things are transforming. Some advertising works well in local media. Yes, some ads have gone, but when the economy improves, much of that will come back. Newspapers will have more people who design it, but fewer who create the content in-house.
  
  
  MedCityNews.com was launched Jan. 17 and is still in beta form. As of this interview, there were no subscriptions yet. However, after two months of publishing, MedCity was more than halfway toward its six-month traffic goal due to social media participation and an SEO campaign.

  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations. Follow my updates on Twitter: @lyndseywalker.

• Newspaper Execs Say Print Media Is Not Dead

  By Lyndsey | Posted Feb 12, 2009 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  On Feb. 3, a small group of newspaper execs came together and launched The Newspaper Project to promote the value and vitality of newspapers in a dynamic economic climate, and to combat the notion that the industry is dying.
  
  The Website, www.NewspaperProject.org, writes, “While we acknowledge the challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers — and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide — have no future.”
  
  The organization is promoting its message through print ads, in a plethora of community dailies, as well as industry giants like The New York Times, and banner ads, and is publishing “insightful articles, commentary and research” on its Website.
  
  But what’s ironic about this campaign?

  • The organization is attempting to reach younger generations by publishing its message in print ads, a place where 20- and 30-somethings are nowhere to be found.
  • It advertises 100 million daily readers, but the majority of that number is online readership.  
  • It promotes journalists as valuable assets to the industry, yet the industry as a whole has laid off hundreds and thousands across the country, and continues to do so. 
  • The print ads are being run pro bono — costing struggling newspapers not only ad space that could be sold to paying advertisers, but also the ink and paper to print them.

  With this aside, the heart of the campaign is in the right place; the message is not. For a campaign trying to reach younger generations, the execs are going about it all wrong. The audience, and readership, is there to be reached — but online, not in newspaper ink.
  
  The organization should set up Twitter profiles to reach relevant and interested professionals. It could start a YouTube Channel featuring newspaper exec interviews. And how about dabbling in Facebook groups?
  
  Launching a social media campaign is all it takes for the younger generations to hear your message. Now, whether we listen is a whole other blog…

   

  Related Posts:
  
  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media
  
  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?
  
  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream
  
  Part 3 — Print Media Is Losing
  
  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals
  
  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations. Follow my updates on Twitter: @lyndseywalker

   

   

• Print Media Surrenders to Online Statistics

  By Lyndsey | Posted Jan 6, 2009 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Business, Internet Marketing

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  The Detroit Free Press recently announced sweeping changes to its business model as a key survival strategy in the struggling newspaper industry.
  
  The first of its kinds, the plan calls for more information and articles to be delivered online and a cutback on home deliveries. The daily newspaper only will deliver on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays — the strongest days for advertising — beginning in spring 2009.
  
  The decision was made as a way to avoid deep newsroom cuts, which is happening across the nation, and to remain a two-newspaper city. The statistics speak for themselves — page views on freep.com nearly doubled over last year’s numbers, according to the article — forcing the newspaper to listen to the numbers and act on them.
  
  The question is will newspapers across the country begin to follow suit? Will the Detroit Free Press serve as a model for the struggling industry on how to survive this crisis?
  
  But as no one has the real answer, I think you’ll begin to see a lot of newspapers in the next year testing different survival strategies to “rethink and rebuild,” as the Detroit Media Partnership CEO Dave Hunke puts it. Newspapers have no choice; they are running out of options. Listen to what the numbers are telling us or stop the presses.
  
  Related Posts:
  
  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media
  
  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?
  
  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream
  
  Part 3 — Print Media Is Losing
  
  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals
  
  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations.

• Readership Is Not the Problem

  By Lyndsey | Posted Nov 17, 2008 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Public Relations

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  
  And the death march continues. Yet, again, we read about more job cuts and newspapers folding:

  • Time Inc. will cut 600 jobs
  • Christian Science Monitor quit publishing a weekday paper
  • Gannett will cut up to 3,000 people, or 10 percent of its workforce 
  • The Tribune Co. will cut the Los Angeles Times newsroom by 75 people
  • The Star-Ledger of Newark will cut its editorial staff by 40 percent

  As The New York Times points out: It’s not an audience problem, but a consumer problem.

  It’s not that people have simply stopped reading the news; most have just stopped reading the newspaper.
  
  With the advent of handheld devices, RSS feeds and news alerts, these conveniences have eliminated the need to sit and read the newspaper cover to cover. People can now get news at just about any location and not just from front stoops.
  
  But as more readers find less use for the printed newspaper, publishers have more trouble attracting advertisers — hence job cuts, slimmer papers and even newspaper deaths. And it is going to get tougher.
  
  As emerging technologies become part of everyday life (if they’re not already), newspapers must find a way to create advertising opportunities for each one of these avenues, such as pay-per-click, mobile ads, day-parting, ads targeted at specific user profiles, and more. They must get creative on how they sell ads: Bundle packages that include print, but attract advertisers with technologically advanced advertising streams.
  
  The audience is still there, and advertisers still need to reach it. Newspapers just need to find a way to connect the two.

  Related Posts:
  

  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media

  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?

  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream

  Part 3 — Print Media Is Losing

  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals

  Lyndsey Walker is a Consultant for PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. After five years in the journalism field, she is happy to have made the switch to public relations. 

• Newspapers without the Paper? (Part 1 of 4)

  By Lyndsey | Posted Oct 21, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Public Relations

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  (Part 1 of a 4-part blog series on The Battle for Influence: Online vs. Print Media)

  A weekend ritual, I woke up mid-morning on a Sunday in June, brewed some fresh Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and plopped down on the couch to read the newspaper — online. As I logged on to Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Plain Dealer online outlet, a letter from the publisher was staring back at me.

  “In addition to coping with the cyclical economic realities affecting everyone, our industry is reacting to a revolution in how Americans get their news and information,” wrote Terry Egger, publisher of Ohio’s largest provider of news and information.
  
  Additional content, as well as the full versions of the brief print articles, were to appear online.  
  
  As I read on, I couldn’t help but wonder, is the day when newspapers and magazines will abandon their print versions closer than we think?
  
  Major dailies and other publications are rapidly shrinking, cutting hundreds of jobs and hemorrhaging dollars because of plummeting circulation numbers. The week of Aug. 18, 2008, The Plain Dealer offered buyouts to its non-union workers.
  
  The Plain Dealer is not alone. In fact, the PD’s radical changes reflect a national trend:

  • In late April 2008, The Capital Times of Madison, Wis., stopped printing to devote itself to publishing its daily report entirely on the Web.
  • The Washington Post plans to merge its Web and Print newsrooms, bringing job-cut fears to Post editors.
  • In March 2008, Minneapolis’ The Rake abandoned its printed magazine for the online space.

  I am a statistic myself. After working as a journalist for four years, I am now building a career as a public relations and marketing consultant. Based on my experiences, I offer the following blog series, “The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media,” where I will discuss the future of the printed newspaper and what the shifting landscape means to those of us on this side (the PR side) of the fence.

  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media

  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?

  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream

  Part 3 —  Print Media is Losing

  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals

• Views from the Mainstream (Part 2 of 4)

  By Lyndsey | Posted Oct 16, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  (Part 2 of a 4-part blog series on The Battle for Influence: Online vs. Print Media)

  With the explosion of social media — Facebook.com, Youtube.com, MySpace.com — the Internet has in a way given people control over their consumption of news and information. So how is the printed newspaper — a vehicle so used to managing information flow — to survive in this world where consumer decisions drive the proverbial information bus?
  
  I decided to go out into the community to find my answer. George Nemeth, a Cleveland-based blogger, known for brewedfreshdaily.com, and author, and Dan Hanson, a Cleveland-based writer for both printed and electronic publications, offer their insights.
  
  Do you see the day when newspapers completely abandon their print counterpart?
  
  DAN: There are still a whole lot of people who rely on the newspaper for their news.  Maybe they don’t have access or desire for cable TV, Internet or other alternative information sources. Maybe they just like the experience of holding the paper and turning the pages. … Whatever the reasons may be, newspapers would be foolish to abandon this market. They may need to raise the price for consumers but I think the print versions will be around for a while.
  
  GEORGE: As newspaper demographics change, younger readers aren’t reading the paper, so eventually the paper’s advertising revenues won’t support its cost of publication.
  
  So how can the printed newspaper survive?
  
  DAN:  I see a combination of online and print working, but not merely duplicating the printed paper on the Web. Smart companies will use each medium in the way they best serve consumers. Internet news seems more disposable (and less valuable) than a daily newspaper, which, in turn, is more disposable than a glossy magazine. I’d still rather be on the cover of Rolling Stone than on the homepage of rollingstone.com.
  
  GEORGE: Revenue for online advertising is increasing significantly, while revenue from the print side is falling rapidly. I saw figures recently that time spent online is about 80 percent of all media consumption, while most ad buyers spend 20 percent of their budgets online. I don’t think it’ll be very long before buyers correct that disparity. Depending on the market, it may be within the next year or two.
  
  What do you predict for the printed newspaper?
  
  DAN: Publishers will offer bundles. Buy x column in the paper and get your banner ads rotated y times on our Website. Or, spend enough on our Website and we will include your message in our nice 4-color print weekly so you can distribute to customers and hang on the wall.
  
  GEORGE: As soon as someone creates an inexpensive computing device that folds like a newspaper and allows you to play multimedia files, the print vs. online debate will be moot. Who knows what will be possible in the future with nanotechnology.
  
  There seems to be a disparity between the baby boomers and Generation X. Those who grew up holding the newspaper in their hand don’t see, or at least don’t want to admit, the day is coming when that will no longer be an option.
  
  Content is king and will prevail — in whatever form consumers decide. And the numbers don’t lie.
  
  You can check out George Nemeth’s blogs at www.brewedfreshdaily.com, www.optimisticrebel.com and www.radicaltransitions.net, and Dan Hanson’s monthly column in Inside Business magazine at www.ibmag.com.

   

  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media

  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?

  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream

  Part 3 —  Print Media is Losing

  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals

   

• Print Media Is Losing (Part 3 of 4)

  By Lyndsey | Posted Oct 16, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Internet Marketing, Social Media

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

  
  

  (Part 3 of a 4-part blog series on The Battle for Influence: Online vs. Print Media)

  “We face the most difficult advertising environment in our history … ,” wrote Terry Egger, publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in a letter to readers after restructuring the paper in June 2008. Major sections of the newspaper now appear online only.
  
  According to Ad Age, the top 100 U.S. advertisers — who account for 41 percent of the total advertising spending — increased measured Internet spending by $1 billion, slashed newspaper spending by $674 million and cut TV budgets by $406 million last year.
  
  It’s true that print media is losing out to the Web. The list goes on:

  • Online media companies like Google are enjoying huge advertising revenue increases, while mainstream media outlets are suffering.
  • Real estate revenues are shifting online.
  • Auto ad dollars are shifting online.
  • Department stores are shifting ad dollars online.

  With social media, online forums, blogs and the interactivity of the Web growing and expanding so quickly, newspapers and magazines struggle to compete with the printed version weakening their bottom lines.
  
  The advent of pay-per-click, mobile ads, dayparting, and ads sold by user profiles offer newspapers the ability to master the online monster. Eventually, the print industry will adapt and shift its printed counterpart online entirely — as soon as it integrates these emerging online technologies.
  
  So, where does PR go from here? Less focus in print, more attention to Internet marketing campaigns, pay-per-click services, mobile ads, social networking, social media, blogging and search-engine optimization — the list goes on. The needle is shifting toward inbound marketing.

   

  Blog Series — The Battle for Influence: Print vs. Online Media

  Part 1 — Newspapers without the Paper?

  Part 2 — Views from the Mainstream

  Part 3 —  Print Media is Losing

  Part 4 — Public Relations: The New Fundamentals

   

• 1
• 2
• Next >

Connect with PR 20/20

• Our Team
• Facebook
• Twitter