You bet your bottomline it is!

Recent social media studies report that when customers are exposed to social media content they are more likely to buy than those who weren’t (Social Media Sales Impact Study, published by Ogilvy & Mather). But that’s not all. When customers are exposed to a marketing/social media mix the likelihood to buy increases even more.

Let me introduce you to what we do here at Publicity Works – Convergence Media. The process of merging several media channels to exist and operate in synergy or better yet, harmony.

We have mastered a media mix of traditional and social platforms. Social media along with TV exposure, advertising and public relations positively impacts sales and brand awareness.  A word of caution, don’t just tweet a few times a day and throw a post on your Facebook page.  You must engage in an on-going conversation with your audience.

Get social with us on twitter @publicity_works and facebook and check out our pr manager and social media pro, Stephanie, aka @SNGsaysWhat in Hometown Life Woman today!

Metro Detroiters are still adjusting to the idea that the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will no longer deliver a print product to subscribers every day. In July we will bid goodbye to the Ann Arbor News in print as it slides into an online-only format at AnnArbor.com. Publications like the Bay City Times, Flint Journal and Saginaw News will cut printing back to three days a week. Salaries and benefits are on the line for employees at the Kalamazoo Gazette, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen-Patriot and Muskegon Chronicle.

Those newspapers that are still meagerly surviving seem to be gasping for breath. Publications like The Royal Oak Tribune and the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers closed their own buildings to relocate ever-shrinking staff members into other existing offices – in most cases those brick-and-mortar shops are many miles from the neighborhoods, schools, people and businesses these community publications cover. For close to a decade print media has been doing more with less, cutting staff and still getting a newspaper to your door.

We wondered, what kind of impact does this have at the community at large? Here’s what we found:

Bloggers will cheer. According to AmblerMedia.com online media stands to reap the benefits. As newspapers close, advertising online is expected to increase 129 percent over the next five years. See http://tinyurl.com/cf8xoj.

Communities could suffer. Blogger Douglas McLennan points to a study of the impact the Cincinnati Post’s closing has had on the city since 2007. According to the Princeton study, fewer candidates ran for municipal office, incumbents became more likely to win re-election, and voter turnout fell. Visit http://tinyurl.com/cddnve.

Readers claim they don’t mind. The Pew Research Center for People and the Press released weekly survey results March 12 that showed less than half of Americans, 43 percent, believe losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life. More people relied on television for local news than any other source. See http://tinyurl.com/agy3h3.

But the landscape of news will change. The loss and cutbacks in print newspapers means fewer reporters covering specific beats – fewer watchdogs overseeing government, fewer people to promote the arts and to highlight business openings. There will be far less in-depth coverage of news that impacts the community – like school closings and tax increases. Read what Blogger Tony Rogers had to say at http://tinyurl.com/ch7e7l.

We hope that sense of journalistic dedication, objectivity and unbiased reporting will translate, live and thrive online. How much do you value your newspaper?

These basic tips will help you procure media coverage, but as a busy business owner you most likely do not have the time or resources to promote your company:

• Develop relationships with reporters and editors
• Determine newsworthy hooks/angles
• Understand online social networking
• Cooperate with journalists in a timely fashion – never make a reporter wait
• Have ideas ready to pitch media when media calls looking for news
• Offer exclusive interviews

How do media opportunities happen?  Well, it certainly is not a wave of a magic wand.  Many contributing factors are in place already before a media placement is secured, and a public relations firm and/or marketing agency has the capabilities to help you get the media coverage your company deserves