It’s quality over quantity when pitching media outlets if you want to drive action on your website. That’s what Onclusive, a media analytics company, found in its new report that analyzed 120,000 earned media articles published on B2B and B2C sites last year.
After analyzing website traffic and media outlet reputation, Onclusive’s analysis found that tier 3 media outlets (niche blogs and influencers) can deliver just as much traffic to your site as tier 1 and 2 media outlets (legacy media and established publications). According to the report, “Publication reputation is minimally predictive of website traffic.”
However, when it came to what the user did on your site once they got there, that’s where it mattered how the person found you. People who came to a website from tier 1 and 2 outlets were much more likely to act than those who came from tier 3 outlets.
Visitors from tier 1 sites, such as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, acted 41 percent more on a site than from medium-reputation sites (tier 2) and 73 percent more than low-reputation sites (tier 3).
The takeaway lesson is to look beyond just how much traffic an outlet will bring to your site. Landing legacy media placements is still important because those stories bring the people who are more likely to actually engage with you.