I get asked this a lot, usually by business owners finding it hard to secure traditional press who aren’t entirely sure if it’s even worth the stress. Maybe they’re wondering if they need an agency? They’re definitely wondering if it matters to anyone beyond their ego.
So let’s settle it. Does the press still matter?
Yes. Properly, genuinely, it still matters. But maybe not exactly in the way you think. Let’s explore…
People Don’t Consume Content the Same Way
Some people love scrolling. Some people love a podcast on a dog walk (me too!). And some people still love the feel of a magazine in their hands, a newspaper folded on the kitchen table, ink on their fingers with their morning coffee.
None of these are wrong. They’re just different touch points for different audiences, and if you’re only showing up in one of them, you’re only ever reaching a slice of the people who might want to buy from you.
Traditional press still has a home with certain demographics, particularly if you’re working trade side, or with a slightly older or more considered consumer. Write them off and (if they’re in your target audience, of course!), you’re leaving a whole lot of potential customers in the dark about you and how what you do or sell can help their lives.
It’s Been ‘Checked’, and That Changes How We Value It
What you read in a magazine or a well-established website has usually been through an editing process. Someone has checked it, questioned it, decided it earned its place on the page.
That matters more than we give it credit for. It’s why people keep magazines for years. Why newspapers get stacked in a downstairs loo or a waiting room and pulled out again and again. Compare that to social media, where the average post has the shelf life of seconds. Some people save posts, but nowhere near at the same rate, or with the same intent, as someone who has paid good money for a magazine and intends to read it cover to cover.
Content that has been edited and vetted simply carries more weight in people’s minds. It’s not a criticism of social, it’s just a different kind of currency.
The “As Featured In” Effect
There is a world of difference between “I posted this on Instagram” and “as featured in <insert name of favourite magazine>” or “as seen in <insert name of prestigious broadsheet>.” One is you talking about yourself. The other is somebody else vouching for you.
Working with traditional media is a rubber stamp. It tells your audience, and any future customer scrolling your website, that an independent third party looked at what you do and decided it was worth covering. You can’t manufacture that kind of credibility with a caption, however good the caption is.
You’re Borrowing Someone Else’s Field
When you work with a journalist or a publication, you’re not just getting coverage, you’re getting access to an audience you didn’t build yourself. You’re borrowing their readers for a moment, and that’s a completely different experience to posting into your own following, where you’re mostly talking to people who already know and like you.
Yes, readership numbers across print have dropped significantly over the years, nobody is pretending otherwise. But the people still buying a physical magazine, still tuning into a segment, still reading a trade title cover to cover, are often far more engaged than someone who scrolls past your post between messages on the school run WhatsApp group. They’ve spent their own hard-earned money to get that content. That buys a different level of attention.
Where This Leaves You
Press isn’t a relic. It’s one touch point among several, and a genuinely powerful one, because it does something your own channels can’t: it borrows trust that’s already been built, and hands a slice of it to you.
I’ve built my own business on this. Being a Bloomsbury author, a two-times TEDx speaker, and hosting a weekly slot on BBC radio every Friday hasn’t just been lovely for the ego, it has been a big driver of trust. It proves that I can walk the walk, not just talk the talk. People believe what they read and hear about you from someone else far more readily than what you say about yourself.
If you’ve been putting off pitching yourself to the press because it feels like a mountain you don’t have the map for, that’s exactly what I built Write and Send Your Press Release in Sixty Minutes to fix. It’s a short, focused course that takes you from blank page to a press release you’re genuinely proud to send, in about the time it takes to walk the dog and put the kettle on twice.
Grab your copy of Write and Send Your Press Release in Sixty Minutes here →
And if you want this kind of support as an ongoing thing rather than a one-off, this course also lives inside the Vault as part of my Small & Supercharged Mastermind membership, alongside monthly trainings, weekly live calls, and a community who won’t let you go quiet on your marketing again. If you’re an equestrian, rural, or canine business that really wants to grow and thrive, Mastermind is probably what you’ve been looking for…
