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Jun
19
The Value of a Media Mention Vs. a Blog Post
June 19, 2007 | Anita Campbell
Recently I had an interesting discussion with an executive at a savvy smaller company (15 employees) that sells Web design, SEO and online marketing services to other small businesses.
A large part of his company’s strategy is to seek out influential bloggers and try to get mentions in their blogs.
Nothing new in that, of course. Forward-thinking companies have been doing this for a few years now. The rest are starting to follow suit.
But it was his comparison of the value of getting mentioned in a major media publication, versus getting mentioned in a blog, that got me thinking. Speaking about B-to-B situations where he is quoted for his opinion, he said:
“Getting quoted in major mainstream publications is prestigious. Media mentions are impressive for the Press section of your website. Media quotes lend credibility. It’s a rare prospect who isn’t impressed (even a little) with the fact that you’ve been quoted in the New York Times. But for website traffic, give me a paragraph on a popular blog any day of the week, hands down. People seeing the mention in a blog tend to have serious interest and convert to sales once they arrive at my site.”
That about sums up my own experience. Media mentions are great for PR. Blog mentions tend to be better for driving Web traffic and even buyers.
When it comes to mainstream media, publications like the New York Times and other online media sites rarely give a clickable link back to a website these days, unless it’s to an advertiser. Plus, if you are being quoted as an expert on a topic, you have to consider that the typical American media article has quotes from two or three “experts.” That dilutes the focus on your company alone. So the impact of the average media mention tends to be indirect — i.e., building your credentials and general publicity – versus direct.
But consider a blog article. What it lacks in prestige it makes up for in its ability to drive traffic to your site and also potential new business. You often get considerable space all to yourself in a blog post. You also get at least one live hyperlink back to your website. Plus, other blogs frequently pick up blog items and also write about you and link to your site, amplifying the effect. And many B-to-B products and services may be considered too mundane to be the main subject of a media article, but are just the kind of down-to-earth topic that bloggers tend to write about.
This is not just anecdotal. I have actual numbers. Not long ago my Small Business Trends site was listed as one of ten small business blogs in Startup Journal, a Wall Street Journal online publication. It even included a clickable link. But when I looked at my traffic stats, I found that I got over 50% more traffic from blogs that had written about the list, than I did directly from from the Startup Journal article itself.
Does that mean the article in Startup Journal was a waste of time? Of course not — it was quite valuable from a PR and branding standpoint. But it just goes to show — don’t expect a mainstream media article to drive Web traffic.
Often I hear small business owners and entrepreneurs express expectations that are much too high. They get confused over what a media mention can do for them. They say, “If I could just get an interview in the New York Times/Forbes/whatever, my business will take off.”
Maybe. IF you have a highly newsworthy product or service and IF it’s a full-length article focusing just on your company.
But for a B-to-B business it’s much more likely that you will be quoted in the article for a few sentences or your company referenced in the context of a larger story. In that case, the article will add to the general publicity surrounding your business, and on that basis is valuable. Just don’t treat it as direct-response marketing expecting it to result in X new customers.
Comments
5 Comments so far
I agree completely. I am now at an Internet markeitng startup and blogs have been much more effective than PR. Even at my last company - a $300m software company - while PR was important for brand building, it did very little directly for leads and sales. Just remember that in the long term you need a little bit of both and you will do fine.
[…] The Value of a Media Mention Vs. a Blog Post | Selling to Small Businesses What a blog post may lack in prestige it makes up for in its ability to drive traffic to your site and also potential new business. You often get considerable space all to yourself in a blog post. (tags: marketing technology) […]
Anita, this is an insightful post that just goes to show you the value of word of mouth, so-to-speak. People seem to be more interested in what others have to say vs. the media. I recently learned this lesson myself when a post on my blog was linked to by several others. My traffic soared as a result.
Agree, mention on a popular blog has held my interest and has converted into a sale many times.
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