What's happening to business news?

The media is changing; regional newspapers are dropping like flies as advertising revenue evaporates, print publications are getting thinner and more and more of us are relying on the internet to feed our hunger for business news. The business news world is changing so does business need to respond by updating its approach to media relations and PR too?

I went to an interesting panel debate this morning at the University of Warwick. Chaired by BBC Media Correspondent Torin Douglas, a panel of experts (David Arnott – Associate Professor of Marketing & E-business, Warwick Business School, Marc Reeves, Editor of the Birmingham Post and Richard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI and former editor of the FT) debated:

“Does business news no longer make for good business?”

The answer … in its current form no. The media world as we know it is balancing precariously on crisis point. No longer subsidised by advertising revenues, the traditional style daily business pages are no longer profitable or sustainable.

David Arnott started his opening presentation with the Chinese letters for crisis: one symbol representing danger and the other opportunity. His message – look for opportunities in the danger the internet presents to the dissemination of business news. Marc Reeves’ explanation of the struggles the Birmingham Post is experiencing in finding a profitable business model for regional news, clearly demonstrated this is easier said than done.

What is the danger? The internet has enabled the democratisation of information – if someone hears about something they have the power and the technology to find out more about this and spread this further. We no longer rely on newspapers for information.

As marketing professionals, we need to accept this reality. Instead of focusing all of our time and PR effort on the traditional print media, we should embrace and leverage the new ways to build profile through electronic word of mouth. Look for new media outlets to channel our messages. Use social media (blogging, Twitter, LinkedIn etc) as signposting tools to grab readers' attention and drive traffic to our websites. Make our releases and posts stand out amongst the masses of information by saying something exciting, insightful or challenging. As the media changes, work alongside it to become a trusted source of information and build your own followers (and in turn customers).

A legitimate business tool or a passing trend?

It’s hard to escape it. Conversations and the press are liberally scattered with references to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging. Everyone has a view on it and more and more people are dabbling in it. Some commentators are even arguing it could transform business interaction, providing a new way to promote businesses and keep in touch with clients. And more and more businesses are signing up. Let’s face it, we’re in a recession and any free form of marketing is worth considering.

But is the business legitimacy of social media limited to the digital and creative industries or can all businesses benefit? A thought-provoking presentation by Kirsty Farrelly of The Open Book Agency convinced me social media is worth serious business consideration. By having a professional social media strategy (e.g. a carefully defined market to target regular insightful updates) and tools in place to measure its effectiveness (e.g. Google Analytics) social media can offer a unique and cost-effective way to spread PR messages, start conversations with market press, build a reputation as an esteemed commentator on a topic and initiate relationships with potential clients and new recruits.

However, it remains a relatively new phenomena that still has stronger links with the celebrity world than professional marketing at the moment. This is where the challenge for marketers lies. In all but the most progressive of corporate firms, I can imagine requesting work time to dedicate to updating social media will prompt raised eyebrows from an organisation’s leadership. Convincing sceptics that social media has a real business value is still hard at the moment. The tag “social” media and playful terminology (such as tweeting) don't exactly help the selling of these potentially useful marketing tools as serious profile raising, reputation enhancing methods.

So the question is, is social media worth the effort? And with the longevity of these sites still uncertain, are companies that don’t sign up really missing out or is social media simply an over-hyped passing trend?