This is the 13th year of publication for Sword and the Script – hence the top 13 posts for 2022.
Here’s how the numbers on this blog have added up in 2022:
- Total blog posts: 46 – down from 51 last year;
- Average length: 866 words;
- Shortest post: 306 words;
- Longest post: 2,486 words;
- Total words published: 39,852;
- Unique visitors: 236,756; and
- Third-party mentions: 95 (most of which come simply from blogging consistently).
The year isn’t quite done yet and there are a few more in the queue for publication.
Many of the top-performing posts are from the monthly roundup post on the PR and comms technology software vendors. That roundup, and some of the reviews I’ve written, stem from the observation that the trade publications in PR don’t consistently cover technology. And because I’ve spent time in-house on the vendor side I can write about this topic in depth.
It seems many of you appreciate it too. I’ll aim to get some more product reviews down next year.
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Onward with the top 13 most popular posts:
13. The 6 Top B2B Content Formats Buyers Find Most Valuable
Research reports, cases studies and webinars are among the content formats B2B executives say are most helpful to them when researching a purchase.
12. Muck Rack Lands a Whopping $180 million in Funding [PR Tech Sum]
Summary of PR tech news for this month: Muck Rack’s big raise, Meltwater reviews “strategic alternatives”; PR tech mentions include Onclusive and Semrush.
11. This Semrush Acquisition of Backlinko hits PR, SEO and Content Marketing Trifecta [PR Tech Sum]
SEO vendor that dabbles in PR technology buys an audience and adds an influencer to their team.
10. Can a PR Software Vendor Provide “Guaranteed” Editorial Placements? [PR Tech Sum]
Cision adds sponsored content feature to PR Newswire – pitches it as “guaranteed editorial”; Meltwater Beats Earnings; TrueScope Raises $6.2 Million and Eyes the U.S. Market.
9. B2B Sales Cycles Require 27 Interactions both Digital and Human [Study]
Deals in B2B are increasingly complicated and more likely to be scrutinized by top executives and the finance department.
8. Spending on PR Software Growing Again, Study Finds [PR Tech Sum]
Annual spending on PR software grew 14.7% to approximately $5.5 billion in 2021.
7. PE Firm Buys 3 PR Tech Vendors and Combines Them into One [PR Tech Sum]
PE firm closes on deals for Kantar Reputation Intelligence, PRgloo and Onclusive; will merge all three companies under a single PR tech company.
6. After a Recent Three-Way Tie Up, Onclusive Acquires Critical Mention
Scale to compete with incumbents; Prowly adds media monitoring; Cision releases internal DE&I report; World’s First-Ever NFT Press Release.
5. Why We Need to Stop Using that Statistic about Goldfish and Our Attention Span
The ‘goldfish attention span’ statistic is based on a report by Microsoft published in 2015 and never “never once mentions the magic eight-second number at all. It doesn’t mention goldfish either.”
4. The Top 10 Communications Challenges in 2022: It’s not the Budget it’s the Clutter
Budget used to be among the top communications challenges, but it’s slid down the list every year for the past five; comms budgets don’t show up as a problem until #8 and garnered just 13% of the votes from respondents.
3. A Look at the Media Monitoring Tool Truescope is Bringing to the U.S. [PR Tech Briefing]
Truescope is a new media monitoring tool that just raised $6.2 million in funding and opened a New York office; here’s a detailed look at the product.
2. The Average Cost of a B2B Content Asset is $2,791 [Data Analysis]
Content costs soared last year, according to a data study by PathFactory; B2B video content costs the most at $8,448 while blogs cost the least at $1,959; people do actually binge on B2B content.
1. The Volume and Variety of Communications Work is Shifting, Finds 5th Annual Survey of Comms Pros
More than three-quarters of respondents (78%) say the volume of work has increased – and one in three say it’s increased significantly. The type of work has also changed with 90% reporting it’s changed at least some while 50% saying it’s changed significantly.
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There are a few good roundups, and the annual predictions post in the works to round up 2022. Best wishes and happy holidays to you! Thank you for reading.
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The Top 10 Most Popular Blog Posts on Sword and the Script for 2021
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