The PR Industry is waking up to the relevancy of online tools
Almost 100 local PR professionals came to the PRSA-LA chapter meeting last night to hear how blogs, RSS and podcasts are affecting PR.
The panel was Jason Calacanis of Weblogs Inc (Engadget and others) Eric Schwartzman of Spinfluencer, who moderated the panel at Media Relations 2005, and me. A great mix for this audience.
As an ex-journalist and now big-time blogger, Jason pulled no punches. He gave them straight talk about PR and media relations and how blogging could circumvent the need to pitch journalists and rely on the media.
He also gave great examples of how bloggers get good search positions and so can disproportionately affect your brand. He gave the example that one of his posts (very strongly negative with 200 similar comments) is the #2 post for that search term or company name. Ouch! A much needed wakeup call for PR practitioners.
Jason also recommended that anyone who has not read The Tipping Point needs to do so right away! It’s a fascinating look at trends in fashion, science and the social communities and how they got started, grew rapidly and took hold.
The blogosphere is real, it is there. The cluetrain is moving at full speed. The advantage and the disadvantage is the same thing: If you get blogged about, it will get seen by many – and they are influencers.
If the blogging is negative, it can bite hard. If it’s positive it can be a rocket ride.
Eric made some excellent points about RSS and how valuable syndication is to PR. RSS is TiVO for the Web. It’s a delivery vehicle online for content that allows you to change the space and time of the content. You can read or listen when it suits you. You get only what you want. POdcasting allows you to make your won ‘radio program’ and reach your audience via RSS.
Press releases and news items can be distributed in RSS feeds and increase the visibility and reach of the content.
He gave a great example of PR use for podcasts – they used this at a trade show by interviewng the keynote speakers and making podcasts that were downloaded long after the show was over.
He also mentioned that RSS gets excellent search results.
Which led me right into "why do search results matter to PR practitioners?’ What does this techie, IT thing called search engine visibility (SEV) or search engine optimization, (SEO) have to do with PR?
Everything.
Now that your audience is online and actively searching for information and products, being found on page one for your name, and all the most relevant keywords and phrases, influences perceptions.
Being found on page also increases message and brand perception and retention.
If you don’t get found, your competitors will.
Your audience is online. They are searching for infomation and news. The shift in media consumption is radical. The growth of the news search engines affects PR very directly
PR is all about communication and reaching your audience. Your audience is now online.
Blogs and RSS feeds deliver your content in a new way. It’s a conversation that is happening. If you are not ready to participate, at the very least you must pay attenention and listen to it.
And think long and hard about participating. Take a deep breath and jump in.
it may be the best PR move you’ve ever made.
See Also
- News Engines and PR, a top story from the SES London Conference
When the public or media use a news search engine on either side of the Atlantic, they can find relevant press releases mixed in with top stories from thousands of news sources - PRSA adds RSS
Constantin Basturea comments on PR use for RSS feeds.
