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Which online PR tactics are right for my business?

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Firstly...

When trying to work out what PR strategy will work for your business, you should start with this question:

  • What do we want to achieve?

For example, your answers may be:

  • Are we trying to create sales?
  • Are we trying to change perception?
  • Are we raising awareness of a topic?

Once you have answered this question, you need to consider how this fits into your overall marketing strategy. A good campaign is hollistic, and ties in all the many facets of the marketing mix. A campaign which has strong key messages which are reinforced across the many channels of marketing communication are significantly amplified and greatly effective.

Online PR has a really powerful effect, one that many people within the PR industry don't appreciate, and certainly an effect that people selling you advertising won't tell you, that is the benefit to SEO and page rank.

If you can help place a website in the top of organic search, it has greater power and click through than the bought advertising which is displayed. Also because it is displayed to people searching those topics, it is generally better for conversion. If you have an online commerce site, this means better sales.

The effects of Online PR are longer lasting and very cost effective. As we mention in (XXX) the more quality and trusted links back to your site, the better the influence on your page rank.

We can easily qualify the statement that online pr is good value for money. If you have a top ranking site for organic search results, to be in a similar position with paid for advertising, your cost could be greater than $200 per day. Obviously the top advertising position is only maintained while you are paying for it. Online PR can generate links back to your site, which are relevant, active and have greater influence for a longer period of time.

If we use online PR alongside advertising, the advertising message is greatly amplified. Your message also becomes more believable and relevant to people's lives.

What PR tactics should you use to get your information out there?

Firstly make sure it is easy for people to find out as much about your company as possible.
We recommend having a section on your site for official information and statements.
An online press tool kit should contain the following:

  • Latest Press Releases (ideally connected to an RSS feed)
  • Investor relations information
  • Who the press can contact for information (ideally a high ranking company officer who can speak in an official capacity) see our section on (spokespeople)
  • Image gallery with High and Low resolution images
  • Logos
  • Usage guidelines
  • Blog to cover latest news
  • Consider a twitter, for short updates
  • Bookmarks and links to online coverage: consider using del.icio.us, furl.net or digg to archive and spread the word
  • YouTube videos and downloadable MPEGS for interesting information
  • Podcasts

It is also worth distributing content sch as releases and images using online PR wire services such as:

  • PR Newswire
  • PR.com
  • PR Web
  • Business wire
  • The Associated Press
  • The Press Association
  • Reuters

Creating the story

A good story sells. Simple. A good PR person can make a good story, brilliant. It is not just about sending out a press release, it is about researching a story, generating interest with bloggers and journalists, then delivering on the coverage. So a good online PR campaign will deliver cut-through, online reaction will be continuously monitored and reacted upon.
We use a number of systems for Blog monitoring: http://www.blogpulse.com/ and google alerts are a few of them.

What are the essentials for online PR practitioners?

  • The ability to see the bigger picture
  • SEO knowledge and resources
  • Creative ability
  • Good contacts with journalists and bloggers
  • Technical knowledge and resources

Why use an online PR specialist for reputation management?

Online reputation management requires fast reaction to what people are saying about your brand online. Response to online conversation generally needs to happen within 76 hours. Lack of response can mean inaccuracies or wayward opinion can snowball against you very quickly. With so many channels, like blogs, discussions, forums and social networking sites to monitor and respond to, online PR professionals need to be able to engage quickly. This requires specialist technical skills, as well the ability to deploy SEO tactics.

Monitoring allows you the ability to react to promotion opportunities as they emerge. A good online PR specialist can work alongside his creative team to quickly deliver content to journalists, bloggers or fansites which can allow them to take ownership of a topic.

How to create the online press release.

The online press release is the same to offline press release, but has a few major differences to allow search engine optimisation techniques to push traffic to your site:

  • Make sure your key messages are heavy with researched key words. (See our keyword research section)
  • Titles ,headlines and body copy should have high keyword density.
  • Remember that your press release is intended for a human, and a journalist at that. Write in good English.
  • Create a strong call to action (what you want the reader to do)
  • Make a clear incentive to click through to your site (exclusive content, report or multi-media files)
  • Use tracking URLs and landing pages to monitor effectiveness of the release and spot potential leads and trends

See press release optimisation section