Putting the "public" back into public relations

Putting the "public" back into public relations

by Grant Armendariz

The Internet has dramatically changed the way we communicate -- both to the media and perhaps more importantly to consumers. The Internet enables companies to tap into a more modern form of media, known as social media. This is where the various communities of bloggers and Internet forum users who might be discussing your services can be found. If you look at the number of followers, they are becoming more and more influential all the time.

Mistakenly, social media is perceived by the more mature generations as being only for 20-year-olds; however, 34- to 60-year-olds are actually the largest growing group in social media. By the end of this year more than 25% of all Facebook users will be in these age groups.

Social media is the new way of distributing news and it is gaining huge traction with public relations professionals. It is clearly important to send your news story to journalists, but you are relying on two things -- one, that they will use it to write an article, and two, that they will write what you want them to. Sending out a release to the wider Internet -- where it can be directly searched for and shared by the end user -- is also vital.

Increasingly, news distribution is moving in this direction, although most service providers recommend using both approaches -- targeting specific journalists as well as publishing on the wider Internet. The modern day press release wire service will offer services that encompass the best of both worlds: the traditional news distribution "push" to the wider audiences of print, broadcast and online media outlets; and the incorporation of social media elements in press releases, enabling readers to both find and share information and connect with like-minded people. Social media has become an incredibly powerful tool not only for brand building and knowledge transfer, but also commercially, as a cost effective way to generate new business.

There are generally two ways to make the best of the social media approach. The first is through search engine optimization (SEO), allowing companies to use keywords and backward hyperlinks to websites on their press release to push their news into the top few results on a search engine result page. SEO analysis tools are available from business news portal sites and aid you in finding and selecting the most popular search terms being used on Google that are relevant to your news. The other is to actively engage with social media and drive traffic back to your website through social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace -- just to name a few.

Photos and video sharing play an important part in the rise of social media, too. Online video is the Internet's "It Girl" right now: Americans viewed 12.7 billion online videos in November 2008, a 34 percent increase compared to a year earlier. That means 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (more than 146 million) watched an average of 87 videos per viewer in November (source: ComScore). What is more powerful than to combine a press release with a photo or video to get your message out? Like press release distribution, good service providers will make the photos and videos as widely available as possible, both online and offline.

Measuring the response to social media releases is also more straightforward than with traditional text releases. Often you can gauge interest in your online release, as a good distribution service will produce an analysis of response to releases and track your website's visitor numbers. Only readers who are interested in that link will click on it, so you are getting qualified prospects delivered to your doorstep.

Until now, many companies have seen online Public Relations as being mostly about defensive action. It should be more about using it as a positive tool to get your content out -- not just to the media and social media, but also to your end users or consumers. It takes time to get results with social media and it is not free. Social networking is like any other networking -- you get out what you put in.

In order to build reputation and maintain strong relationships with your stakeholders, the fundamentals of good public relations do not change with the age of the Internet. A well-written press release remains key, but now it is equally important to engage with your audience where they are active, and in the way they want to be engaged -- be they traditional media via wire services, investors via financial media relations or consumers and other influencers via Twitter or LinkedIn. It is all about knowing who your audience is and what they want to hear.

Press Release Tips

When it comes to getting your release seen online, the rules of writing may be different from what you have practiced in the past. Remember to choose and use your keywords by thinking like your reader. What are the search words that will most likely be used to find your release? Make sure to use those words in your headline and multiple times throughout the release. Google search results display only the first 63 characters of each headline. So make sure to keep your headline short -- between 2 and 22 words is best for optimum visibility and search results.

While your goal is to appear high in search engine results, don't miss the mark by writing copy that's overly repetitive, spammy or unreadable. You want search engines to find you and for readers to click through to your text. Strike a balance. Use bold, italics, headlines and subheads to make key phrases and keywords more visible. Emphasized text may help your release stand out and can positively impact search engine results.

Write timely content that provides useful information to readers. Provide tips, advice, or analysis in your press release that is relevant to your industry or your customers' interests. Search engines are more likely to include releases that are honestly useful in their results, but be careful with puns, innuendo and double meanings. Search engines, spiders and robots have no sense of humor.

Keep it fresh and be consistent. As releases age, they tend to drift lower in the search engine results pages. A campaign of several releases is more likely to drive results than a single press release. Keep this in mind when trying to attract their attention. Some words have multiple spellings -- such as "T-shirt" and "tee-shirt," or "email" and "e-mail." Stick with one spelling to avoid appearing illiterate, preferably choosing the more frequently searched spelling.

Publish on your own website. Be sure to publish releases sent on the wire to your own website as well. Since links are like votes, link to them. And work with your Web team to make sure your site is optimized.

One constant in this industry is the need for a well written press release. All the tips for optimization aside from the need for clear concise writing is as important as it has always been. The difference is that we are now writing for those in cyberspace as well as for our regular audience.

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