Are traditional print PR and media relations dying? BtoB columnist Paul Gillin made that argument in a recent column.
Not long ago, a Wall Street Journal mention would generate a lot more excitement than a Web link. No more, according to Gillin.
“It’s time to embrace the new reality: Online results are now unquestionably more important than print PR success,” he wrote.
In January, one of my blogs benefited from references from two prominent media bloggers — Jeff Jarvis and Tim Windsor — as well as from citations in The Economist and The New Yorker. The first three references provided dramatic and immediate results: In each case, daily visits to my site surged by the hundreds; subscriptions to my RSS feed and newsletter jumped; and daily traffic settled down 10% to 15% above previous levels. More important, one of those links resulted in an inquiry that generated new business.
Comments to Gillin’s piece varied, but many seemed to agree. Print may not be dead, but it’s definitely no longer the prize it once was. Link over ink? It’s sure looking that way.
Currently most of my clients are “It’s who you knows” from personal contact at various meetings and from being covered in a regional print publication. My site’s highest source of traffic is still from those who use the URL directly.
Until traffic converts to clients, I’ll still use a mixture of traditional and new media to get the word out.