More than 70% of Digital Influencers Engage with Public Relations Professionals Through Social Media

New Cision/Newhouse School Survey Confirms Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn’s Role in Telling and Sharing Stories, and Creating Online Experts

CHICAGO, December 15, 2011 -- More than 70 percent of online media journalists and other content contributors now interact with public relations professionals through popular social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, according to a 2011 survey of North American online media conducted by Cision and Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The survey of more than 1,000 digital influencers confirmed that Twitter and Facebook presences are essential to online journalists – as well as those writers, bloggers, editors, academics, marketing/branding/advertising people, public relations and communicators professionals, and consultants who create online content but do not identify themselves as journalists.

Seventy-three percent of the journalists responding to the survey said they interact with PR professionals on social media, with most of that interaction happening on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. At the same time, 69 percent of other digital influencers reported engaging with PR professionals via those sites, although they also rely significantly more on blogs and other social media platforms such as YouTube, Flickr and Posterous.

The survey also found that email remains the top choice by far for journalists fielding press releases from PR professionals, with 94 percent of journalists and 79 percent of other content creators reporting a preference for receiving news releases via email. Fewer than five percent of respondents reported a preference for telephone or fax contact.

Of those who responded, 55 percent interact with public relations professionals on Twitter and 47 percent on Facebook. Sixty-three percent of respondents also said they welcome story pitches and ideas sent through social publishing sites. Eighty-seven percent of journalists and 85 percent of other content creators said they maintain a Twitter presence for their blogs or news websites, while 81 percent (journalists) and 78 percent (other contributors) maintain Facebook pages.  

“The Cision/Newhouse School survey results document the fact that we've hit a tipping point in marketing and communication, with social media now a key way to communicate with and through the media,” said Heidi Sullivan, Vice President, Global Media Research, of Cision.

“In the past, public relations generated ‘earned media’ by communicating through a narrow channel – mainstream journalists,” she added. “But in the past five years, social media has transformed earned media into a direct conversation among marketers, media, digital influencers and customers.”

An Essential Tool – With Credibility Challenges

At the same time, Sullivan cautioned that while the 2011 survey confirms that social media has become essential to all digital influencers, journalists still trust it less as a source of credible news and information than other content creators.

Although 47 percent of “other” digital influencers thought social media content is “somewhat reliable,” only 37 percent of journalists responded likewise to the question.

“Even as public relations professionals depend on social media for much of their engagement with the journalism community, they must be aware that journalists remain as skeptical as ever and continue to maintain high standards for accuracy and objectivity,” she said.

One respondent said, “I think social media has the potential to be extremely useful, reliable and helpful as a news source. It also has the potential to be harmful and spread misinformation and outright false news quickly.”

“As far as reliability [goes], the volume of tweets, etcetera, indicates interest or the importance of the topic, [and] that's what I tend to focus on, not the actual data,” another said. “Social media is good as an initial news source in the same way that Wikipedia isn't a bad place to START research.”

About the Survey

In June 2011, Cision and four faculty members of the Public Relations Department at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University conducted a survey of online media contributors and digital influencers. The goal was to provide a better perspective on how public relations professionals can reach online media contributors, including journalists, via social media, and how social media has changed the way these media contributors work on an everyday basis and consider the credibility of sources.

About Cision

Cision is the leading provider of software, services, and tools to the public relations and marketing industry. Marketing and PR professionals use our products to help manage all aspects of their brands – from identifying key media and influencers to connecting with audiences; monitoring traditional and social media; and analyzing outcomes. Journalists, bloggers, and other influencers use Cision’s tools to research story ideas, track trends, and maintain their public profiles. Cision is present in Europe, North America and Asia, with partners in over 125 countries and is quoted on the Nordic Exchange with revenue of SEK 1.1 billion in 2010. For more information, visit www.cision.com.

About the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s top schools of communication, the Newhouse School is engaged in industry partnerships and ongoing academic development that prepare students and faculty to address the issues of today’s rapidly changing media landscape. The Newhouse School embraces virtually every known form of information dissemination — from print and broadcast journalism, to social media and online communication, to advertising and public relations, to photography and film. Faculty members come primarily from the profession and are skilled at teaching and research.

For More Information:
Andrée Beckham
Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations

312-873-6434

andree.beckham@cision.com

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