Global PR Blog Week 1.0

Developing Interactive PR Strategies

As strategic visionaries who have become drunk with confidence in their own thought-leadership abilities, PR-practioners often fall victim to their own hype, selling clients on the glories of the "Big Idea" du jour. Based on the belief that this new "Big Idea" will cut through the clutter in ways that no service, campaign, or previous "Big Idea" has done before, whole online initiatives are developed and executed as though this "Big Idea" existed in a vacuum — a vacuum which can be controlled through careful communication and exquisitely-crafted hype-dissemination.

Thanks to a rock-solid process and countless hours spent brainstorming with clients, a creative strategy emerges and is then handed-off to designers and developers who are then expected to perform miracles. Construction begins but deadlines start to slip as content undergoes countless rounds of review by committee after committee until the final product is rolled out to the public with great fanfare. Using traditional PR-tactics, journalists are phoned, committee-written press releases start flying into email inboxes, and television ads start flooding the airwaves. This PR-blitz puts enormous smiles on the clients' faces by displaying one's marketing savvy, and strategy-driven application of the "Big Idea". The same "Big Idea" that everyone had lost focus of and which only has relevancy while the PR-campaign is in full-swing. Following the conclusion of the campaign and the public's realization that there is no intrinsic merit to the "Big Idea", interest is soon lost and the Flash-intros and useless eye-candy ignored in favor of more compelling content.

Yet, despite the pervasiveness of the Internet and it's ever-increasing dominance in our modern lives, there are still numerous individuals — who are often powerful decision makers — clinging firmly to the "build it and they will come" philosophy of the early Web. As is shown by the popularity of blogs and the communities centered around them and their authors, Web site development and other online initiatives need not be tied so tightly to a campaign or a product launch. Web sites should stand on their own and provide information — real information, not PR spin. Users are looking for content that is useful, informative, and compelling, and sites that are simply pitching the latest FDA-approved drug — or which are hastily thrown up in response to a corporate crisis situation — will not provide the traffic needed to survive, let alone get any messaging out to the public. Without relevance, any and every site is doomed to die. Without honesty and relevance, a Web site becomes a target and once the Google bombing campaign, denial of service attacks, and blogosphere decide to strike, there often is little hope that "traditional" PR or marketing tactics can ever hope of changing the public's perceptions. Assuming that an official statement on an officially-sanctioned Web site has any more weight or authority with users than the other results appearing at the top of a Google or Yahoo! search, shows naivete on both the part of the client and their counselors.

Marketers and PR professionals need to aim for transparency and honesty in their information and strategies and successful PR campaigns are no longer based upon the tired, old press release and other official statements. In terms of ROI, the time to taken writing, revising, and approving a single press release which then must be marketed to journalists (who may have absolutely no interest in what you are discussing) is nowhere near as valuable as leveraging solid relationships with blogs and their authors, who possess an established "trust-factor" with their audience, and are key to influencing opinions. Scientifically unproven or brazenly untrue claims and hype will quickly be outed by users across the Internet, adversely affecting the reputation of you and your clients. Flooding the Web with press releases or trying to generate buzz with a risky viral marketing ploy may garner some short term buzz and interest but their effectiveness is fleeting and oftentimes ignored.

Reliance on artificial tactics such as dishonest search engine optimization techniques, astroturf campaigns, the seeding of misinformation, and the deliberate exploitation of blogs and bloggers only serve to reinforce the overwhelming distrust and negative opinions of PR-practioners which, in turn, leads to suspicion of our clients. Instead we should focus our attentions on getting to know who our audiences are and provide them with current, compelling, and topical information that exhibits our faith in them as influencers and brand advocates. Using statistics and research, specific audiences can be reached via targeted messaging yet no amount of demographic data can ever hope to promise what is gained through strong personal relationships. Communities are based on the interactions between, and open communications amongst, humans.

When developing an online PR strategy, it is no longer possible to ignore the cultures and communities that have evolved as the medium has matured. We must forgo the ill-gotten gains and short term glories of dishonest manipulation and focus our attentions on the long-term rewards inherent in a reputation of ethical responsibility and accountability built on community respect. Flooding users inboxes with thousands of email newsletters, pitching to bloggers while ignoring their individuality, and attempting to actively deceive the public should not be the methods built-in to an online strategy. Reputation management and relationship development are the keys to effective communications — and effective communications is essential to avoid further alienation from the community.

Author: Anthony V Parcero | Jul 14, 04 | Permalink | 1 comments
Category: @ Anthony V Parcero | Topic 3 Making PR Work

 

 

About

The Global PR Blog Week 1.0 is an online event that will engage PR, marketing and business bloggers from around the globe in a discussion about blogging and communications. The event is scheduled for July 12 - 16, 2004.

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The New PR Wiki

Recent Entries

Looking forward to 2.0

Site Statistics and Trends

A participant’s final thoughts

Traditional PR is dead - Long Live DIY PR

Quiet is the new loud

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