4/13/2005 14:35

I've probably wired a few hundred press releases during the last 5-6 years and have used all of the major services: Business Wire, PR Newswire, Market Wire and PrimeZone. Every time I go through the process, I wonder what the value is. Of course, public companies are required to distribute news via a major wire service, but what is the real benefit for us private folks?

Not only are these services extremely expensive (e.g., an average release on Business Wire costs me $500-$600), but I have to wonder whether journalists even pay attention to them anymore. As soon as a release hits the wire, it's old news so what's the point? Sure, it's nice to see that my press release was posted on Forbes.com or Yahoo or whatever, but to get any meaningful press coverage regarding a particular announcement, I need to contact the media well in advance, schedule interviews, etc.

Again, I'm coming at this from the private company perspective -- you public entities are in a different situation -- but it just seems like a hefty expensive with little ROI.

So...I'm conducting a little experiment. I'm doing a head-to-head comparison of all four major services. Over the last three weeks, I've wired press releases on Business Wire, Market Wire and PrimeZone. I just finished up a meeting with PR Newswire, so that's the next one I'll use.

I'll provide a recap once all results are in. I'll be evaluating based on cost, release "postings," Web traffic increases, incoming press inquiries, etc.

Posted by at April 13, 2005 2:35 PM

Comments

Dee Rambeau email - www.dvcotechnology.com

Tara,

it's my personal opinion that PR and media relations are much more cost-effective for a small company than either advertising or traditional marketing methods. Press releases in and of themselves are not the end all. Most releases put out by a company aren't interesting at all...but then again, neither is most advertising.

That being said...one single coverage article or complimentary press mention can make or break a small or medium-sized company. In early 2004 David Scott reviewed our RelationsCentral 5.0 software platform in EContent Magazine. He was made aware of our company by the ONLY news release I sent out in all of 2004...an announcement about our having signed eBay as a new client. That one amazing article/review in eContent led to a case study which led to an award entry at PR WEEK which led to us winning the "PR Innovation of the Year" award. From that, our business has expanded exponentially.

We've never done any direct marketing or any type of advertising...not even in the trades. That one $500 news release that we distributed through PR Newswire has done more for our business than anything else we could have ever done.

I'm sure that this experience is atypical, but certainly relevant. I think that the issue with many companies is that they blindly send out releases on a regular basis that have no compelling content and are therefore worthless. Well-targeted distribution with well-crafted content can develop results at a cost far less than many other marketing methodologies.

Andy Abramson email - andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/

Last year I posed a question to my BusinessWire Branch manager who I have known for over 10 years.

I expressed the point that blogging, RSS and XML would change the way news is distributed, and wondered what BW would be doing about that.

Their only answer was they would have RSS feeds.

I don't think that's enough and would enjoy working on this with other like minded PR professionals.

Tara email - www.marqui.com

Andy, I'd like to chat with you about this, but can't find your contact info on your blog. Send me an e-mail or point me in the right direction and we can set something up.

Marie Claire email -

Dear Tara,

I was wondering what conculsion you came to regarding the big four distribution companies. I am doing a head to head comparison also and I am interested to see your findings.

Thanks,

Marie Claire

Tara email - www.marqui.com

Hi Marie Claire,

I haven't had an opportunity to write up the results yet, but I promise to do that in the next week. I'd be very interested in hearing about your own experiences in this area -- maybe we can compare notes?

Best,

Tara

Ramin Ekhtiar email - www.bluepointworld.com

I would like to put in my two cents on this one... I have been putting out releases since 1999. I have used the big three - Business Wire, PR Newswire, and MarketWire as well as little known or "FREE" wires like M2 Wire (good for European distributions), PR Web (You need to contribute $30 or more to see ANY results...), and other lesser services. My conclusion has been to stand by MarketWire. At first, I was very skeptical of the service because of its considerably lower cost. But then I saw that REALLY major companies were using the service and continued to use it over time - folks like NASDAQ and eFunds.

I used to pay $1200 per release with BW and PRN at a former company - but now I solely use MW and have seen EXCELLENT results. As a small recent example, I got a call from Consumer Reports in regards to a clients' release just two weeks ago.

I hope that this helps in deciding what service to use.

Ramin

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