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.