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Media news for everyone

Our media news service, the FeaturesExec Media Bulletin, is now available to all.

Previously, only subscribers to our FeaturesExec Media Database and Response Source Journalist Enquiries System have been able to view the news on FeaturesExec and receive our twice-weekly email updates.

We decided the FeaturesExec Media Bulletin would be a great thing to share with the world and is a great shop-window for our media database. So here it is - enjoy.

We cover media launches, closures, redesigns, editorial staff moves and other significant media events. It's great for keeping on top of what's happening across all media - newspapers, magazines, online and broadcast.

If you want to get the twice-weekly email updates just sign up here.

Revealing the trend for links in press releases - is it enough?

Following on from comments made by US-based technology and media commentator Tom Foremski, we've taken a look at the proportion of press releases on our wire that include embedded links.

Tom argues that including useful links in releases helps journalists do their job. He recently highlighted research by BusinessWire that showed only 13.5 per cent of releases on their wire include links.

BusinessWire's research does not indicate whether they were counting just 'raw' links - which could include the homepage web address of the client or PR agency at the end of the release, or just embedded links - text in the body of a release that links to a relevant page - or both. Either way the figure seemed very low so I decided to look at our own Response Source/SourceWire Press Release Wire.

We found that in May 2010 89 per cent of releases on the Response Source/SourceWire Press Release Wire included links of any kind. However, I think the best measure is embedded links, as it is these links that are likely to be of most use to a journalist (and of course help to drive traffic for the release submitter).

In May 2010 67 per cent of releases on our wire included embedded links. That shows an increase over previous years, up from 40 per cent in 2007.

What do these figures tell us? Well, to be honest I think 100 per cent of releases should include embedded links and I'm a little surprised the growth from 2007 isn't steeper. Including embedded links not only helps journalists but helps drive traffic. The latter alone is enough for many clued-up companies to insist all their releases are distributed online with embedded links so surely everyone should be doing it.

Small business public relations resource launched

I've said before that the evolution of digital and social media is giving smaller businesses a great opportunity to market themselves effectively on relatively small budgets.

But it's challenging for small businesses to access the skills and experience required to execute online PR campaigns without the expense of using agencies. From writing press releases and distributing them online to understanding social media there is a lot for owner managers and marketing managers of small businesses to get their heads around.

So we're doing our bit and have put together a small business marketing resource. This provides links to relevant whitepapers, surveys, case studies and a brand-new podcast series. (See the press release.)

The first podcast, 'Marketing on a Shoestring - an Introduction', features my thoughts on how small businesses can make a start in raising their brand awareness and generating leads, primarily through digital marketing.

To PR agencies out there who percieve this as encouraging SMEs to do their own PR as an alternative to using an agency, I would say this: encouraging SMEs to experiment with PR is a good thing for the agency world as many SMEs who grow will inevitably see the hiring of an agency as a logical next step, and have a better understanding of what to expect from the relationship.