Bloomberg Is Missing An Ingredient. Fortune Has It. Tech PR Needs It, Too.
December 19, 2024
6:39 am
You need to be logged in to view this content. Please Log In. Not a Member? Join Us
>> Tier 1
Q&A: Jim Aley, Deputy Editor, Bloomberg Businessweek
August 19, 2024
2:11 pm
Think back to what you were doing in 1992. Jim Aley was writing features for Fortune. Eight years later he was editing them for Business 2.0. In 2024 he edits them still, serving as deputy editor for the recently relaunched Bloomberg Businessweek.
Similarweb Audience Data: Axios, Fortune Just Keep Growing
July 25, 2024
5:02 am
Axios and Fortune continue to be star performers in the world of Tier 1 edit, according to the latest data from Similarweb.
From June 2023 through June 2024, Axios increased its readership by 47.5 percent, from 22.5M monthly visitors to 31.1M on a trailing 12-month basis. How does Axios do it? Smart management, smart verticals, smart brevity.
How To Crack Tier 1 With ‘Can They Do It?’
June 3, 2024
6:56 am
It’s been true for years: Tier 1 loves to craft “can they do it?” stories. Some PR pros avoid pitching “can they do it” stories because “what if they can’t?” Why encourage a reporter to think that the company might come up short?
Here’s Who Has The Most Loyal Readers In Tier 1
April 15, 2024
9:16 am
Why would tech PR pros care which tier 1 titles have the most loyal readers? Why does loyalty — or the lack thereof — matter? Pitching requires deep knowledge of targets and beats, and that’s about it, right? Here’s why you might care.
SWMS Deep-Dive, Part 2: TikTok Targets in Tier 1
February 13, 2024
4:09 am
What exactly is Tier 1 publishing on TikTok, and is it pitchable? So few PR pros know because when they do find themselves on TikTok, they are probably not visiting, say, The Economist.
Tech Media Discussed On Latest Merritt Group Podcast
January 24, 2024
3:42 pm
OK, so maybe the guest speaker would be of interest to our subscribers…. in any case, host Peter Jacobs took us to a lot of
The SWMS-Semrush Top 15 Index: Surprises Galore
June 1, 2023
5:50 am
Publications do have positions in the marketplace, but they often stray from them, pleasing readers in the process.
Tier 1 Audience Stats From Similarweb
March 8, 2023
8:15 am
You need to be logged in to view this content. Please Log In. Not a Member? Join Us
The SWMS-Semrush Top 15 Index: Most Widely-Read Articles Jan. 2023
March 8, 2023
4:25 am
This is the third installment of the SWMS-Semrush Top 15 Index. This month we list and analyze the top 15 most popular articles in Axios, TechCrunch, The Verge, VentureBeat and Wired during January 2023.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Congress to Investigate the Omnicom-IPG Deal
December 20, 2024
Well, for now it’s Jim Jordan… but such news illustrates the kind of world we seem to be headed for. Adweek has the details, subscription required.
SWMS Predictions for 2025
December 10, 2024
No “predictions” post will appear on this site. That said, quite a number of subscribers have asked for a Zoom/MS Teams presentation on what 2025 will bring. A conversation is precisely the right tool for the job. After the election — and with AI transforming publishing and life — “2025” is best discussed among peers, not predicted. So if you’d like to have a confidential group exchange on what stands to unfold, and why, and how comms pros can come out on top in spite of it all, drop a line and we shall schedule something.
Talk About Confidentiality…
December 10, 2024
According to Adweek, Omnicom CEO John Wren and IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky were in merger talks for eleven and a half months before the transaction was announced this week. Amazing that it didn’t leak.
Introducing ‘SWMS Sound Thinking’
November 22, 2024
Should PR pros stop visiting X, with all its lies and hate? It’s only going to get worse. Or are tidbits from targets too important to walk away from? Click here to watch tech edit vet David Strom and I disagree (at high speed) about this, as one compelling visual after another pops up on your screen. In 2025, SWMS will officially launch “SWMS Sound Thinking,” designed to be “argumentative insight in six minutes or less.” Each segment will explore a timely and controversial topic of interest to tech comms pros. This prototype runs 5:25. Hope you enjoy it — feedback vital and welcome! –Sam
Business Insider Reporters Starting to Go on Camera
November 19, 2024
New EIC Jamie Heller has asked her reporters to start going on camera — for the BI TikTok channel — to explain the big, deep-divey story they just published. Other publications do this — especially archival Fortune. BI is now on that too. Game on.
The ‘AI Fantasy Draft’ From Eric Newcomer
November 13, 2024
At this time last year, Eric Newcomer and his two podcast co-hosts — Max Child and James Wilsterman — each formed an “AI startup fantasy team” and picked five AI startups to seed their rosters. We’re now in year 2 and it’s time to draft again. The podcasters wonder… which startups do they dump? Which do they add? The player whose startups accumulate the most total value by Nov. 1, 2028 is the winner, so there’s plenty of time to make adjustments. Here’s a link to the AI fantasy team podcast — you may need a password. Not sure.