What is online PR?

The start of this year saw a massive surge in conversations about online PR. A significant factor in the UK was the mainstream coverage of celebrity usage of microblogs like Twitter. Stephen Fry, Chris Moyles, and Jonathan Ross all brought widespread mainstream awareness to their Twitter accounts and Twitter membership soared - How many of these accounts will still be active in a few months is a conversation for someone slightly more cynical than I!

A key positive from the coverage was the growth in awareness of online PR, of conversation and content driven outside of mainstream print and broadcast media, and the usage of online pr to communicate information and build relationships with consumers.

So I thought I would post a video from Realwire that shows very visually what Online PR is all about...

Is Online PR worth it?

A recent letter submitted to PR Week posed the question 'Can anyone prove the value of online PR or is it just a way for PR agencies to make money?'. It raises the question that with a perceived emerging specialism such as Online PR is it a series of smoke and mirrors or can it be used to add real value to businesses.

I'm not going to get into the various metrics used to evaluate PR vs Online PR, they exist, lots of people have written about them and in fact Online PR can usually deliver more accurate metrics than any other marketing discipline.

The key point I want to get across is that Online PR while currently seen as an additional specialism, a possible fad, a potential smokescreen - will soon become a core part of any good PR agency's arsenal of tools. Currently leading PR agencies have been opening separate Online PR divisions for two reasons;

1. To raise awareness amongst clients of the importance of this communications channel
2. To show that they as an agency are taking it seriously.
   
   

Yes, it is an additional revenue stream for agencies, yes it could lead to a client paying for an additional Online PR campaign which he hadn't before but does that mean that it's a scam - absolultely not - it's a recognition of the changing communication habits of us as human beings and the development of technology that has made the internet such a hub of information sharing and swapping.

When ITV began broadcasting did clients complain that their advertising agecnies where looking for extra revenue for an emerging market opportunity? Probably, but the reality was that at the time leading agencies realised the potential and opportunities held by TV advertising in the same way that today leading agencies see the opportunities for Online PR. It's not a 'niche' medium - it's already the largest information medium for under 24s, and its influence is growing across all demographics. To ignore the opportunities of communicating to your audiences through it, or worse still failing to engage in online conversations about your sector, company,brand or project is not simply remiss, it's gross marketing neglience. It's not just shooting yourself in the foot, it's like trying to win a race without being able to run!

When we launched our online PR division, Clicksmarts in 2008, we did it with the full understanding that in time it would become a core part of entire PR team's skillset. The timing for this depends entirely on a number of factors the maturity of the market, the continued growth of internet usage, continued development of open source programmes, and the continued investement in new technology by the likes of Google, Yahoo, Mircosoft and Apple. But all of these aren't pipe dreams for the future - they are happening now - the internet is already a significant player in defining the tastes, opinions and buying habits of the worlds population. As a result we needed to highlight both it's importance to our clients and the specialist skills of our team in this medium.

As demand and understanding grows we will gradually integrate this division into our core PR offering. Does that make it a scam - anything but, it makes it the most valuable asset any agency could have and something worth shouting about if you can.

Twiter Deja vu

Twitter is the 'big' thing in mainstream media at the minute with every dj, celebrity fundraiser or news station plugging their twitter account as if it's some sort of badge of coolness.

Nearly everytime I hear someone plug their twitter account on TV or radio I cringe. I can't help it. All I can think of is my Dad telling friends years ago that he was cool because he'd been 'skiing' the internet (that'll be 'surfing' Dad!). Or when Dr. Evil proclaimed 'I'm cool, I'm hip, I'm down with the kids, dugga dugga'.

Why has it become so cool? Part of it is the fact that on it you hear news practically days before anyone else. In my company it has become known as 'Twitter Deja Vu' - the social media team will be talking in the office about something they've heard on Twitter, and a few days later other members of the company read it in a paper and they think, 'Haven't I heard this somewhere before? But it's only in the paper today!?'

So Twitter has become the place for people 'In the know' - or the place to go to get 'In the know'! As a result Twitter is changing and getting more and more coverage in traditional press - and as a result more people are signing up to Twitter with no idea what it is or how it works. They follow everyone they've ever heard about in the traditional media and two weeks and 1000 follows later call themselve Twitter vetrans or Twitter experts.

Twitter just is twitter, is a micro-blog, it's a way to network, to share interesting ideas amongst people with mutual interests - but that's just how I see it at the moment. How I see it will evolve as twitter evolves and our uses of it change. It's a medium of the early adopters and now everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. It feels like that amazing spot only you and a few others knew about has just built an international airport, opened a McDonalds and there's a Hilton, Raddisson, Marriott and Holiday Inn all fighting for the prime location. So here are a few tips for those of you either new to Twitter or keen to stay clear of the commercial clutter.

1. Don't follow everyone, be selective or else you'll lose interest as 200 tweets come flying in per hour and none of them are of interest to you
2. Have a look at someones profile and tweets and if they are talking about something you are interested in follow them.
   
3. You'll also find there's a good chance that they people they are following or following them are interested in the same things so have a look at their profiles also and follow as appropriate.
   
4. Have an opinion - there's a good chance if you follow someone they'll follow you back so don't be a lurker, say something, reply to tweets a.k.a 'retweet'. Don't be nice for the sake of it - add something to the conversation - an opinion, a site with a different or supporting perspective
   
5. Fill out your profile, add in a picture - you'll look slightly odd and not that interesting if your profile is empty. Use as much of the space as you can to give people an idea of who you are and what you are interested in - that will help people decide whether you're into the same things or not.
6. Start new conversations - add a link to something interesting you've spotted - you've only 140 characters so abbreviate your link using tinyurl - it's brilliant and free.
7. You will find that as you begin to have a higher twitter profile more people start to follow you particularly commercial companies - be selective in who you follow back and if someone's tweets aren't as good as you hoped you can always stop following them.
   

Horizontal fingerprints

Fingerprints are amazing, they are one of the few things that are completely unique to every individual on the planet - as far as I know, there are no two people that have lived or ever will live with the same fingerprints. Before anyone emails me I'm not including Mission Impossible movies or getting into a debate on Intelligent Design!

Communications are traditionally vertical, ie. a core, central message that's issued from the company or consultancy that then filters down through news and information channels out to people. As a result with a great idea, executed brilliantly it's relatively simple to reach a large audience with your message. But online Communications are different, there isn't a direct channel for information to flow down - people don't all tune in for the news at 6pm, or start at a news site or listen to 1 out of 5 radio stations.

The advent of Sky TV blew my teenager mind, to be honest the launch of Channel 5 was a revelation - I led a very sheltered life ! From being used and satisfied with 4 channels all of a sudden there was this amazing new world of programmes, options and variety. I was a virtual Augustus Gloop in a TV Chocolate Factory - now there were channels dedicated to sport, no longer would I have to wait until Saturday for Grandstand and endure the horse racing that seemed to be slotted in before and after all the good sporting events! Now I could choose to watch channels that were dedicated to my preferences! Today I can build my own channel. A channel that's filled with only the programmes I like and, more importantly, I can opt out of all the programmes I'm not interested in.

The internet is to communications what the launch of Satellite TV was to BBC1, BBC2 and ITV - somebody hadn't just shifted the goalposts, they'd made an entirely new playing field. The result has been that traditional or off-line communications has had to learn to co-exist or rather integrate with online - while vertical comms still works in offline media relations it doesn't in online - there are too many starting points, too many opportunities for people to 'opt-out' from the mainstream sites. Today we have to go hunting for our audience, they aren't shoe-horned into our path - this is where the fingerprints come in.

Fingerprints are a unique identifier that allows people to know we've been there and allows them to track us down. With online communications it should be the same, we need to find our audiences in the places they are the most comfortable, the places they go to regularly, the places they opt-in to. We also have to work out whether our presence would be appreciated or not. If the answer is yes then we need to leave our fingerprints in as many relevant places as possible. Then leave a trail that generates genuine interest back to source - our key messages.

The key to what the fingerprint and the trail should be is for another day, lets just say that if you lay a false trail down and people are left feeling misled at the end of it then you will be found guilty on all counts and any affinity created will be lost instantly.

The internet is a vast expanse and a massive opportunity to communicate horizontally and capture and inform a genuinely interested audience and not just a mass one. But without the help of gravity it requires a bit more thought and effort, use unique fingerprints to make the right impressions in the right places.

Two-Way Street

Have you ever accidently gone down a one-way street the wrong way? I have, it was fine until a car came the other way lights flashing and horn blaring with the additional bonus of a few choice hands gestures. I quickly realised my mistake and slid as far down behind the wheel as I could and offered an apologetic wave. I felt very small and completely in the wrong.

School's the same, teachers are always right, experts in everything from the mating habits of glow-worms to theoretical physics. Well at least they gave that impression, now I realise they either bluffed or were simply one page ahead of us in the text book.

Communications used to be a bit like this. Journalists and commentators always seemed to be the definitive experts on everything. The role of normal people was simply to watch, listen to what was said and accept it as simply 'the way things are'. We didn't have a say, a voice or an opportunity to give our opinion, or share what we knew.

The internet has revolutionised this in the most basic sense - power to the people. Citizen journalism has created a vast array of comment, opinion and expert advice. The challenge is now for companies and brands to work out how they interact with that anymore. They can't just send information out on the one-way media street because it's now two-way. If consumers don't agree or don't like they'll let you know about it, and in a very public manner, from facebook groups, fans forums, comments on news sites, comments on the brands' site it all mounts up.

Companies cannot just send information out 'there' and think that's the job done, they need to recognise it's now a two-way street and actively encourage and create dialog with the opinion formers, whether those are bloggers, forum contributors or online news sites. It's actually a very exciting time for Public Relations firms you can get instant, honest reaction from consumers about everything you are doing. And in the process you build a stronger relationship and affinity with your consumers. It's really a no-brainer.

Admittedly there are a myriad of possible routes you can take and potentially a number of dead-ends but this is no different to traditional communications in print or radio. But with so many people living 'online', companies run a real risk of being left behind if they never manage to get off the virtual starting blocks.

Dodging the meteor

While in no way, shape or form do I endorse knife crime or any sort of criminal activity I found it very interesting to hear this morning about the new strategy of Strathclyde Police Force to reduce knife or violent crime.

They have set up a special unit to hunt down images of people with knives, swords, or blades on social networking sites like facebook, bebo, and myspace. They will then send them to the violent crime reduction unit in an effort to reduce gang related violence.

An innovative approach to a very serious issue, this highlights just how powerful social media and online pr has become in a real world context. The lines between online and offline communications is becoming so blurred that the distinction between the two is becoming less of a gap and more of a complementing discipline.

This is not new thinking for the online pr world, we have long advocated the benefits of an integrated approach to communications. How people now have such a range of choices for sourcing their information that we need to cater and be engaged in them all.

Initially there was probably a fear from mainstream media that online would threaten their very existance. That a wealth of free, multiple sources providing instant news and comment in multiple formats would lessen the reliance and interest in printed newspapers that come out once a day, or news bullitins every hour if you're near a TV. And to a large degree they are right, if traditional media continued to resist change then they would become the modern day dinosaur, soon extinct from the internet meteor.

But the reality is that most media saw it coming, the spotted the benefits of evolution and embraced the technologies, advantages and new audiences that the internet reached. News now breaks online and is commented on in print, people have become the new tv reporters capturing breaking news footage from multiple angles on a variety of mobile devices and now you can find a news site or group that isn't a 'one-size-fits-all' news bulliten but rather discusses the news that interests you whether it's 'a million ways to eat a kebab' or 'whatever happened to the cast of El Dorado'.

It's an exciting new stage in the evolution of communications - social media, the internet and traditional media all have a role to play - they are all tools to inform, equip and influence and need to be appropriately used. Strathclyde Police are clearly keen to stay one step ahead of the meteor!

the road less travelled

For the past two Saturday's I've been driving through the Mourne Moutains. Depsite driving the same route at the same time my experiences could not have been more different. Last week the weather was absolutely brutal, waves crashing onto the road, wind pushing the car from side to side - it took me just over two hours to drive a route that I managed today in an hour. The difference today was the clear blue skies, sun bouncing off the calm sea and no flooding on the roads.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise why it was such a smooth run today, the conditions were much more favourable, and pleasant! It got me thinking how there's only so much that's in our control, we can plan, strategise, accumulate, prepare, seek expert advice and ultimately determine the best possible route for reaching our destination. But as John Steinbeck famously said 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'. There are always elements outside of our control, there is always an element of chance in every plan, campaign, programme and journey.

The challenge is to reduce what's left to chance, the difference between good and great is practice and preparation. If the most naturally gifted sportsmen in the world doesn't practice they will be beaten everytime by the good sportsmen who practices everyday. If we don't continue to hone our areas of expertise whether it's marketing, art, sport, design, advocacy, or teaching we will never reach our potential nor be the best we possibly could be. If that's the case we are not only letting down ourselves but those around who rely on us in whatever context.

If I had paid more attention to my journey last week I would have made sure my car had plenty of fuel in it so that I didn't have to leave the main road, I'd have made sure the water reservoir was filled up so that I could clean the windows and I'd have checked the weather and traffic report to make sure when and where was the best way to travel. Instead I just set out and relied more on luck than skill or expertise and it made for a bit of a white knuckle ride in parts!

The other thing I realised is to never throw away a good idea, even if it doesn't work first time round. If we realise that somethings are out of our control then just becuase an idea or campaign doesn't work in one context doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Don't bin it, because next week the sun could be shining and the roads clear and it could be the perfect route.

Either way we'll learn something on the way.