My take on newswires

Posted: 2012-11-05 in Resources    |   Tagged: businesswire, newswires, pa newswire, pr newswire

An interview with Shelley Facius, Managing Director of Juice PR

Why do you use newswires?

Currently I use newswires for a global client as it is the only way I am aware of to achieve global reach when not distributing locally in country. It increases awareness of news in country and also ensures that global announcements are picked up via the top search engines. When I have distributed an announcement in the U.S for a UK client for example, I have also used a U.S newswire service as it is the key way of disseminating news in order to hit news desks in multiple states. Newswires are widely used and accepted in the U.S.

Online global news dissemination services are also useful and can include blog targets. 

When wouldn't you use newswires?

I wouldn't use a newswire specifically for a UK audience unless it was a listed company as it can complement the LSE service and ensure an announcement is seen.

Do you have examples of campaigns where using a newswire has driven success?

When I worked with COLT Telecom back in the mid-late 90s, newswires did help to drive success as we needed to communicate simultaneously with LSE and Nasdaq and the newswire service in multiple countries supported this effort. Since then, newswires have changed but have not necessarily become less expensive!

What evidence do you have?

I think it is very hard to quantify ROI as much of it is about awareness, however I think the leading service providers could do more to demonstrate ROI for their various products.

Are some better than others?

Previously I have thought that the 'push' model was preferable to the 'pull' eg, from what I understand PR Newswire or Businesswire's service vs Vocus. However now I am starting to think differently. 

Or do you think they're a waste of time?

Whether newswires are worthwhile depends on the geographic area you are trying to target and whether the media prefer in that geography are used to receiving news by wire in addition to personal contact. A newswire will never sell a press release but it can bring it to someone's attention more efficiently and at times more effectively. I still think the costs need to come down to make it a more viable option for growing companies and their PRs.

Read our other posts in the Value of Newswire Series.

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