The Rise of the Corporate Publication

Where do you get your news? Today, most Americans prefer TV, but accessing news via computers is a close second, having come a long way since just surpassing print newspapers in 2008. And, with many of those preferred Internet news sources incorporating blogs and online publications, it’s not surprising if people have frequented outlets like Tech Page One, Java Magazine or CMO.com to see what’s going on in the world.

But, are these your typical news sources?

While these examples may run similar stories and have a familiar look and feel as mainstream outlets like GigaOM, Network World and InformationWeek, upon closer look, they are actually content marketing initiatives run by major corporations like Dell, Oracle and Adobe, respectively.

But, these are more than just fancy corporate blogs. They cover news of other trends beyond the corporations’ core competencies and from other companies – even competitors! And, with decent readership and audience demographics, they’re becoming increasingly credible. For instance, Tech Page One reaches more than 70,000 unique monthly visitors, primarily consisting of IT decision makers.

As more corporations start self-publishing their news, traditional media outlets may risk steeper competition. However, at the same time, the outlook for journalists’ job security may be on the rise.

It’s no secret that publications are cutting back on writing staff… from a PR standpoint, we’ve seen this in increasingly lean reporting staff made to cover more and more beats. But, today, this decline is still going strong. In fact, newspaper revenues have gone down more than 50 percent in just the past five years, while full-time newspaper writing staff was cut 32 percent from 2000 to 2012.

So, perhaps these corporate publications are giving traditional journalists another outlet to pursue their careers. Dell’s Tech Page One boasts staff from traditional print newsrooms, such as Fortune, PC Magazine and the LA Times.

And, for PR, it’s providing another outlet to get clients coverage and exposure in front of key audiences with the same pitching and guest post tactics used for mainstream blogs and publications… just be prepared to have the corporate logo represented heavily on any press clippings!

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Want to learn more about creating great content for SEO?

In The Evolution of PR, Content Marketing and Blogging , we cover:

- The ongoing changes in the world of PR

- The principles of content marketing for tech companies

- Important blogging strategies

- How to use press releases for more than just brand-building

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The Rise of the Corporate Publication