Specific answers below but suffice to say that, no, the analysis is far from perfect as it would need to be “controlled” for a significant number of factors some of which are pretty much impossible or would take more resource than we had/have available to throw at it I am effectively relying on the fact that the data population is sufficiently high that potential bias is minimised. This is a strong assumption, but IMHO not a completely unreasonable one. I intend to repeat the analysis in another 6 months time or when we have a similar amount of data, whichever is the sooner, and a comparison of these results will potentially shed more light – or confuse the issue!

1. Were the SMNRs for news announcements that did not also have traditional releases? For the vast majority this was the case, certainly where our own distribution was concerned. I cannot vouch however for whether any clients used other versions in any direct distribution/pitches of their own.

2.If the news was announced only via one channel, were the topics of the SMNRs and traditional releases similar? The topics were actually very varied across both the SMNRs and traditional releases. If it would be of interest I can probably pull together an analysis of releases by sector?

3. If the news was distributed in both manners, how are you able to attribute coverage to one versus the other? Because of the answer to 1 above we made no attempt to do this. I am not sure how viable an exercise it would be as to be sure you would need to contact the relevant parties who covered the stories and ask them and it would seem unlikely that they would actually remember unless asked pretty much immediately. Unless you have any suggestions?

4/5. What sort of direct outreach was done to reporters for these announcements that you compared? Was there equal personal outreach and support from PR staff or agencies for each? I think this/these are probably the $64,000 question/s. The answer/s is I don’t know, but almost certainly there was variations.

Obviously RealWire is not suggesting that all the coverage generated by releases we distribute – SMNR or traditional – is due to us. This is a team effort. However we do distribute releases on behalf of a variety of clients and organisations, some of them will have more resources to support their pitches and carry out their own outreach than others. It is possible for instance that a reason SMNRs performed better was due to the sender putting more effort into not only the content but the outreach as well. If that were the case however it would still fit my proposition that it is related to putting more investment into these stories, in this case “to the right people”. As with No.3 though this is a very difficult, if not impossible, thing to ascertain after the fact with any degree of accuracy and would certainly take a significant investment of time.

Thanks again for the questions and if you have anymore let me know.

Adam
@AdParker

Were the SMNRs for news announcements that did not also have traditional releases?
If the news was announced only via one channel, were the topics of the SMNRs and traditional releases similar?
If the news was distributed in both manners, how are you able to attribute coverage to one versus the other?
What sort of direct outreach was done to reporters for these announcements that you compared?
Was there equal personal outreach and support from PR staff or agencies for each?

Not trying to contest your results, just hoping to understand them better.
Thanks!
@LPT