PR – the online shift
Posted on Tags: PRSarah Roustoby – Online PR Manager for Strawberry
When I first started to work in the PR industry 4 years ago, online PR simply involved ensuring client websites were up to date with press material and issuing e-newsletters on their behalf. The internet wasn’t ignored, but magazines and newspapers took precedence and the majority of my time was spent building relationships with journalists.
In just a short amount of time, how things have changed. With the massive online social media explosion, press officers are now tasked with the role of building relationships directly with a group of new ‘content creators’ – the public.
The death of the newspaper?
I’m confident that targeting traditional media will still remain a core part of the PR package – especially for business to business clients. However, a good online presence is now essential in order to reach the growing number of people that consume their news on the internet. Niche websites, social networking websites and handheld devices all offer the consumer an up-to date, real time alternative to newspapers and magazines.
As a result of this trend, newspaper sales are inevitably declining and it is estimated that up to ½ of the UK’s regional and local titles will close within the next 5 years. This prediction is supported by the recent news that The Times and Sunday Times Online will be charging £1 per day for its news content from May 2010. Whether this model of charging for online news will work – who knows? But if newspapers are changing their approach, it goes without saying that PR professionals must too.
Benefits of online PR
People simply don’t ‘absorb’ news online like they do when reading newspapers. They share, rate and comment on it – and it’s these actions that press officers need to be aware of and responding to. Any good PR person worth their salt recognises the opportunities social media channels such as blogs, forums and social networking websites present.
They allow you to listen, gauge opinion and most importantly – strike up a conversation and react to those discussing businesses, products and brands – whether positively or negatively.
Whilst online PR is great for reputation and brand management, its benefits are twofold, because it is ideal for SEO too. We all know that ahead of making a purchasing decision, we will visit the website of the company in question to undertake research. E-commerce websites in particular must be as easy to find as possible and online PR is the perfect tool to achieve higher natural search engine rankings – a topic alone that can form the content of another blog post!
The changing role of the PR professional
There’s no doubting that online PR and social media will be the ‘buzz’ for 2010 and as a result, the industry is forming closer ties with the world of new media. This is great for full service agencies, because they have the expertise in-house to offer a first rate, integrated service. PR professionals can no longer just profess to be the ‘words’ people! They need to stay abreast of what’s new online, embrace technology and not be afraid to stray from the traditional PR approach.
I’m a prime example of going through this transition. Until recently, I was a bit of a technophobe and didn’t even have a twitter account. I simply couldn’t face sitting on my computer all night after doing so all day and only visited facebook occasionally. However, since I started to use a blackberry, I’ve been hooked! My online networks are at my fingertips 24/7 and I’m building new relationships online every day. In fact, I recognised just how important social media is for businesses when I started using twitter. I had an ‘issue’ with an international fashion retailer and complained on twitter. Within 24 hours my problem was sorted and I’m now a happy customer again and letting my friends know.
As a consumer, I appreciate the value of interacting with brands online and as a PR person, I’m adopting new techniques to offer a modern, relevant service to my clients.