Online PR embraces blogging - 10 years too late!

The blog Herald recently wrote about UK PR’s slowly coming to terms with blogging.
Wow, better late than never I guess!!!

It has always amazed me how much PR’s have buried their heads in the sand as far as digital media is concerned. Whilst measures are being taken to correct this approach, I still have a little chuckle when I hear that a struggling PR company has opened up a digital division (with great fanfare) in a belated attempt to get on the bandwagon.

Look under the hood a little, and this either turns out to be someone (desperate to save their job) over projecting their skills within the company and being offered the digital role or it’s a spotty intern straight from school who “gets” social media - umm a recipe for disaster I think - example Habitat’s awful attempts to garner exposure on Twitter using Iran related hashtags.

There are some harsh facts here:

1. Most conventional PR’s are going to find it hard going in the digital world. Example, I was training a PR lady in digital media and she said to me “this is so complicated, how I yearn for the days of picking up the phone and getting coverage in the Times or Independent”. In my experience this is the prevailing sentiment within the PR industry.

2. Generalistion here but most PR’s aren’t technical. Fact. The brave new digital world requires an understanding of how blogs work, how social media works, how SEO works, how analytics work and how this all works together. Plus it’s a moving target with new technology changing the rules everyday. Staying on top of this for your average PR is daunting to say the least.

3. The result of this is that alot of PR companies and PR employees are doomed. The inexorable shift of PR and marketing spend online will leave many old style PR’s high and dry.

And out of the ashes a new PR industry will evolve.

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Social Media Press Release Tips

By now you’ll no doubt be well aware of the importance of social media and its value to marketing today… that’s old news. BUT why are so many PRs still adopting the ‘traditional press release template’ when promoting to the likes of bloggers? This article explains what the differences between a traditional press release and a social media press release really are and helps you to get to grips with putting one together.

Let’s start by comparing bloggers and journalists (appreciate that this is very generalized so please forgive):

As you can see, there’s a major difference between the two… but showing you the difference between the two is not the point of the article. The point I’m trying to make is that because they are so different they need to be treated very differently when approaching for publicity.

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Bloggers and PRs – The Truth About The Relationship

A PR Agency in the States named Text 100 surveyed 449 bloggers from 21 countries to see what they really thought of PRs and whether they felt them necessary. Overall the survey found that most bloggers welcomed contact made from PRs HOWEVER bloggers didn’t want to be treated as journalists, more as influencers in their particular subject.

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