It is our favorite time of year—the time when we conduct our annual survey of journalists.  We are excited to share some exciting news regarding what journalists told us about their press release preferences and how they use new media.  We will also proffer some thoughts on using SEO to optimize your next electronic press releases and advice on what to put in your next release.  In our Q&A we flesh out the meanings of blogs, flogs, splogs and more. 

Two hundred and thirteen journalists participated in our recent survey. They came from all media types, with newspaper (46%) and magazine (34%) journalists most prevalent.   We found many similarities with the responses we received last year. However, this year, in addition to questions about how they wanted to receive press releases and what they like included in them, we asked about how new media is changing the landscape of newsrooms across the country.  Here is what they told us…

“The more thorough it is, the more likely I am to consider the press release for a story” (anonymous journalist). 

As newsroom staffs continue to shrink and journalists face increased pressures to contribute to traditional media outlets, websites and blogs, the time dedicated to finding and researching individual stories is reduced. The good news for PR professionals is that journalists are more dependent than ever on good press releases.  It is clear that journalists prefer to receive releases via email in part because, like most of us, it has become a primary vehicle for all communication.  But email offers another benefit to journalists: a well-stocked electronic press release can put all the information a journalist needs at his or her fingertips in a digital format, enabling stories to be written quickly.  Here's what you should you include in your release to maximize the opportunity...

Nearly 90 percent of journalist in a recent survey, conducted in part by Bulldog Reporter, said that the ability to research stories on-line 24 hours a day is the single biggest change in the way journalism is practiced.  You can take advantage of this trend and enhance the visibility of your electronic press releases on the web by using a few simple search engine optimization (SEO) practices.  SEO is the practice of using tags, headlines, content and site links to place higher in search results when people “google” key words and phrases—terms that search engines aggregate and return when individuals run searches.  If you want journalists to find your press release when they search on-line, here are a few ways to increase your chances of reaching them...