Search

This month we’ve been thinking about how people interact with the media — not just what they read, but how they read.

Hopping from one article to another, one platform to the next, looking into this, checking that. And the glue that connects it all?

Search.

Thinking about how people read got us thinking about how that links to the way they shop. It’s not as simple as see-then-buy.

You come across a brand in something you’re reading. Then you see it again, maybe in a “best of” list while you’re comparing options. Ah yeah, you remember that brand. So you search it — “Is this brand good?” You check it out. If you trust what you see — only then do you add to basket.

We know this is how people behave because we all do it — all the time.

PR’s always been defined by format — features, news stories, interviews. That’s what it looks like, but it’s not what it does — it doesn’t link coverage to the function it’s performing along that platform hopping journey through the media before buying.

Buying doesn’t happen at the point of exposure, it happens at the moment of decision, and that moment almost always happens in search.

63% of shopping journeys start on Google. 67% of clicks go to the top five results, and 77% of consumers read reviews before buying.

If you’re not discoverable you’re not seen. If you’re not ranking, you’re not considered. If you’re not validated, you’re not chosen.

So the question isn’t just “Did we get coverage?” It’s,

“Are we showing up where people are making decisions?”

That’s not one product guide, or one feature. It’s depth of coverage across the landscape of the pages, articles, and platforms that rank across that see-it-once, see-it-twice, check online, add-to-basket journey.

PR-then was about creating moments of exposure. PR-now is about creating exposure across the moments that matter.