There were 62 posts published on this blog in 2019. That’s about on track with the publishing tempo over the last few years.
A weekly post runs every Tuesday, because consistency matters. Occasionally, there is an additional roundup post on Saturdays, because I simply enjoy doing it.
In going through the reader analytics for the full year, these are the top 10 most-read posts on this blog about public relations (PR) and marketing.
If you’ve been a reader in 2019, thank you!
If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to these blog posts by email or RSS. In addition, I publish a monthly newsletter (sample) that curates must-read articles from across marketing and PR. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
And now on with the top posts…
(click any image for higher resolution)
1) What do Public Relations Salary Ranges Look Like in 2019?
2) Corporate Communications is Taking More PR Work In-House, finds Survey; Media Relations Gets Even Harder
The post summarizes the findings of the 2nd Annual JOTW Communications survey, which I’ve conducted in collaboration with Ned Lundquist and his free “Job of the Week” (JOTW) email newsletter. The full report is freely available on SlideShare and has earned nearly 18,000 views at the time of this writing. The 3rd annual survey will be initiated soon!
3) Study Reveals Gaps Between the CEO and PR in Communications Goals, Issues and Technology
A survey of 210 CEOs, 1,583 PR professionals and 378 students by the Center for Public Relations at USC Annenberg reveals gaps in goals between in-house communicators and CEOs. For example, the study found:
“44% of CEOs said selling products and services was the top communications goal while just 25% of in-house communicators identified sales as the top goal.”
4) Earned Media: 3 PR Studies Quantifying the Impact of Media Relations on Sales
This post reviews three different studies that demonstrate how earned media contributed to sales, sales enablement and can improve the effectiveness of other types of marketing.
For example, one survey found:
“93% of sales reps say they leverage their company’s media coverage in communications with prospects.”
And, in breaking this down by stage 40% said its “most helpful during exploratory conversations”; 20% said during a presentation phase; 17% said “decision-making phase”; 6% said during “pricing negotiations phase” and 17% said “media coverage is a helpful sales enablement tool at all phases of the B2B buying process.”
“93% of sales reps say they leverage their company’s media coverage in communications with prospects.”Click To Tweet
5) The Top 10 PR Tech Vendors by Familiarity and Favorability
We asked PR pros to identify PR technology vendors they viewed as most familiar and favorable and here’s what they said:
- 80% said PR Newswire; (owned by Cision)
- 59% said Business Wire;
- 59% said Cision;
- 39% said Meltwater;
- 39% said PRWeb; (owned by Cision)
- 22% said BurrellesLuce;
- 17% said TVEyes;
- 15% said Critical Mention;
- 15% said Muck Rack;
- 12% said TrendKite; (owned by Cision)
6) How Long Should a Blog Post be in 2019? [And Other Key Blogging Statistics You Should Know]
The average blog post is more than 1,000 words and takes some 3.5 hours to write. Bloggers that write longer posts are more likely to report success. Writers that report success with blogging are more likely to write longer or more in-depth content and are 2.5 times more likely to publish new posts weekly or more.
Note: since that publication newer data shows the length of blog posts has continued to grow – now an average of 1,200+ words.
7) PR Measurement: A Pulse Check on How Communicators Show Value
We asked PR pros to identify the top metrics they use to show results and here’s what they said:
- Web traffic/web analytics: 73%
- Impressions: 66%
- Estimated site traffic: 60%
- Number of 3rd party mentions or placements: 57%
- Email open rates: 52%
- Executive feedback: 45%
- Clicks and CTRs: 43%
- Employee engagement surveys: 36%
- Conversions / registrations / downloads: 33%
- Customer satisfaction surveys: 31%
8) The Making of Cision: A Brief History of 15 M&A Transactions that Consolidated a Sizable Chunk of the PR Tech Market into One Company
Fifteen. That’s the number of transactions – since 2014 – where the ownership of a business has changed hands in the formation of what is currently Cision. The value of every deal has not been disclosed but for those that were, the sum of all deals works out to somewhere north of $2 billion. Since then, the company has announced it will (again) be acquired by a private equity firm.
9) 3 Creative Ways Public Relations can Partner with Human Resources and Recruiting to Attract Talent
The unemployment rate was 3.8% when I wrote this post in early 2019. Today it’s 3.5% – a number many economists didn’t think was possible. If your business is struggling to find talent, then you need to read this post.
10) These Cliff Notes to 19 Email Marketing Studies will Give You a Quick but Thorough View of Current Email Marketing Benchmarks and Statistics
This is a mega-post of email marketing statistics:
What is the average email marketing open rate? An analysis of data shows the average email marketing open rate ranges between 16.74% and 21.09% across all industries and markets.
What are the average email click-through rates (CTRs)? An analysis of data shows the average email marketing click-through rate (CTR) ranges between 2.61% and 7.43% across all industries and markets but most marketers will see CTRs at about 2-3%.Click To Tweet* * *
Happy New Year! Wishing you much success in 2020.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
An Eclectic but Intriguing Mix of 32 Statistics that Summarize Public Relations and Marketing in 2019
Image credit: Instagram.com/frankstrong
