In the good old days of PR, securing media coverage relied heavily on developing strong relationships with relevant journalists and reporters who would oftentimes garner their story ideas—or even pull content directly—from the press releases distributed by PR professionals. While these relationships—and press releases—are still important components in the story-creation process, journalists are increasingly seeking out trends and topics on their own rather than waiting for a call from their PR contact for story advice. As a result, these journalists are leveraging search engines like Google and Yahoo as well as social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to find relevant news that will spearhead the articles they ultimately write.

Bulldog Reporter’s PR University recently hosted a webinar entitled “Advanced Google PR Update: 5 Things PR Pros Need to Know about the New Google Search for Boosting Your Search Engine Rankings” which asserts that B2B journalists and reporters are predominantly using search engines and social media to develop and find story topics. David Meerman Scott, marketing speaker and author explains in his latest book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, that rather than reading press releases, “I think about a subject that I want to cover in a column or an article, and I check out what I can find on blogs or through search engines.”

Here are some surprising statistics on how journalists are using the Internet and search functions today to create, develop and research their stories:

• Ninety-one percent of journalists use the internet to search for news sources/story ideas (B2B Journalists Survey, Arketi August 2011)
• Ninety-one percent of journalists use a search engine to research new sources (TopRank Online Marketing Survey, October 2008)
• Eighty-two percent use search to research story ideas (TopRank Online Marketing Survey, October 2008)
• Ninety-one percent use search to find specific companies/people (TopRank Online Marketing Survey, October 2008)
• Eighty-nine percent of journalists use blogs to search for relevant topics (Cision-GWU Survey, January 2010)
• Sixty-five percent of journalists use social networks (Cision-GWU Survey, January 2010)

The takeaway from these survey statistics is this: PR professionals need to shift the dynamic of their relationships with journalists and reporters. Instead of pushing press releases out that may not have significant story value, PR professionals should piggyback on current news trends and position their clients as industry leaders who can act as expert resources for their article. While press releases are still an important component when communicating or fostering relationships with journalists, they are no longer being used, word-for-word in articles or publications. Rather, they should be leveraged as a discussion item or provided as support material when approaching a journalist about a related current news trend, offering your clients as experts who can help them create a timely story of their own.

How do these findings affect what a PR expect recommends to their clients? Understanding the importance of the “digital footprint,” we need to focus on optimizing content, data and key words on all client materials including press releases, articles, websites and other marketing collateral. Implementing top industry key terms when creating content will increase search engine optimization (SEO), leading journalists (as well as the general public) to a client’s website, articles or other news coverage at the time they are seeking story ideas or industry experts to support their articles. This does not eliminate the need for strong email pitches and newsworthy press releases; however, making your client’s content highly searchable by using key words and phrases is quickly becoming an integral part to PR.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with public relations, marketing or crisis communications, contact Scott Public Relations.

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