The list of benefits that marketers are accruing from generating their own content continues to grow.

• Speed. Offers faster dissemination paths than waiting on traditional media’s schedules.
• High Volume. If the volume of a vendor’s content is large (e.g., a library of how-to videos), social media has the “space” that traditional media does not.
• Offsets Media’s Shrinkage. With falling ad pages generally meaning shrinking content pages in traditional media, broadens the distribution pipelines.
• Control. Compared to getting news covered by traditional media, allows more control over the message.
• Audience Profile. Has the potential to reach a more diverse audience than readers of traditional media.
• Engagement. People who choose to view it are more likely to have a strong interest in the product category than readers of general media.
• Indirect Media Relations. Vendors’ postings are another way to get the attention of journalists.
• Circumvents Journalists. Through co-branded partnerships with media companies, provides a way to get content onto their sites, without going through traditional filters.
• Builds Direct Audiences. Provides content that can sustain the vendor’s efforts to build its own customer communities rather than depending on media.

  AdAge.com’s Oct-26-09 article “As Media Market Shrinks, PR Passes Up Reporters, Pitches Directly to Consumers” conveys how the experiences of companies such Procter & Gamble, Best Buy, MasterCard and Coldwell Banker have led to each of the above benefits, e.g., through the placement of their videos on YouTube. The article is careful to point out, though, that public relations professionals are still eager to earn placement of their news within traditional media, because success is inexpensive relative to advertising and traditional media still delivers considerable credibility. It’s just that the supply of traditional media content seems to be shrinking.