Social Media Tools, Online Search Key for Business Journalists According to Survey...

Social Media Tools, Online Search Key for Business Journalists According to
Survey by High Tech PR Firm Arketi Group

Study finds journalists turn to PR professionals, news releases for story
ideas

ATLANTA, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Arketi Group, a high-tech
business-to-business public relations and marketing firm, released its 2009
Arketi Web Watch Survey. The survey reveals 68 percent of journalists consider
the impact of social media on BtoB reporting to be positive.

A free copy of the findings is available at www.arketi.com/surveys.

"While high-profile social media tools like blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and
Twitter are of interest to journalists, our findings indicate BtoB marketers
should not discount tried-and-true Internet technology," said Mike Neumeier,
principal of Arketi. "Search engine optimization and building media-friendly
websites site remain vital to reaching the business media."

When asked how journalists use the Internet:

-- 95 percent say search
-- 92 percent say reading news
-- 92 percent say emailing
-- 89 percent say finding story ideas
-- 87 percent say finding news sources
-- 75 percent say reading blogs
-- 64 percent say watching webinars
-- 61 percent say watching YouTube
-- 59 percent say social networks

Eighty-eight percent of journalists say they spend 20 or more hours a week on
the Internet. Eighty-five percent have a LinkedIn account, 55 percent are on
Facebook and 24 percent tweet on Twitter.

Ninety-two percent of journalists say they get story ideas from news releases,
85 percent turn to industry sources, and an equal number tap PR contacts.
Twelve percent have used Twitter to find a source or story idea.

Corporate websites make a difference in how journalists view an organization,
80 percent say companies without a website are less credible.

The growth of "citizen journalism" has not gone unnoticed by most journalists,
more than half (56 percent) of those surveyed rate the impact of citizen
journalism as positive.

For more, visit http://pitch.pe/13743.

About Arketi Group
Arketi Group is a PR and marketing firm that helps BtoB technology
organizations accelerate growth through intelligent strategy, PR, messaging,
branding and demand generation. Consistently recognized by BtoB magazine as
one of the nation's "Top BtoB Agencies," Arketi's core belief is marketing
generates revenue. Clients benefiting from this approach include Cbeyond,
Convergys, Flo Healthcare, Sage Software and Xerox Mortgage Services. For more
information, call 404-929-0091 ext. 202 or visit www.arketi.com.

Camera-ready charts, graphs available.

Media Contact
Mousa Ackall
404.929.0091 ext. 203
mackall@arketi.com
http://twitter.com/arketi

SOURCE Arketi Group

Mousa Ackall, +1-404-929-0091 ext. 203, mackall@arketi.com