Websites, blogs, social media and more

We’ll cover:

• what it is• how to use it• how not to use it• how social media can help & harm• how to monitor it• how to use it in your life

“If you’re not online, you don’t exist”--British Futurist Peter Cochrane

• In the past, publicizing your message was limited to those with the financial resources to access mass media. The emergence of low-cost and highly accessible communication tools, however, has changed all of this. Now, anyone with an internet connection has the ability to share their message with a worldwide audience.

• PR professionals must be conversant in all elements of communication. And in the 21st century no communications element is more important than the Internet.

Internet spans every area of PR: external communications: reach public w/o

filters using blog, Facebook page, website internal communications: email is easy, popular

for communicating media relations: journalists read websites, blogs,

use HARO, preferred to be pitched via email. All media outlets have websites and use them to break stories. That’s created a 24-7 news cycle

crisis communication: have to monitor web to see what people are saying about you. Lots of criticism on blogs. Some of it may not even be true. Losing your credibility is only a Google search away. Can respond online.

PR professionals have many different tools they can utilize on the Internet:

• Research: Google, LexisNexis• E-mail• E-newsletters• Podcasts• Webinars• Blogs• Social Network sites• Websites

• The website is first face of organization. Many customers and clients will never see your office. Increasingly, many companies are going all virtual. All people know about you is what they see on your website. Remember what they say about first impressions.

Website should be top priority

• The good thing about having a website and electronic communications is that you control the info that’s out there about you. You can reach customers directly. You can disseminate it to the masses without any sort of filter. You don’t have to go through a gatekeeper like the media.

Not easy as 1, 2, 3

• But, the thing is, everyone is online these days. Everyone has a website, blog, Facebook page, etc. So, if you want people to come to your website or blog, you need to stand out. Just putting up a website isn’t enough. There are millions of websites and Facebook pages just sitting there waiting for visitors.

What makes a website good?

• Think about the sites that are successful. The sites you visit regularly. You keep going back because they have info you’re interested in and it’s updated regularly. If it’s not regularly updated, people don’t have a reason to keep coming back. Eventually, they may forget about you and move on to a competitor’s website.

Get website visitors involved

• Good websites also tend to be interactive. They don’t just present info. They allow you to send feedback, e-mail people, order products, stuff like that. Remember, PR is a 2-way communication.

Have a professional design

• Good websites are easy and intuitive to navigate. Finding the page you want shouldn’t be like moving through a maze.

• They aren’t too cluttered. They have the bells and whistles people like, such as video and APIs, but they don’t overdo it.

• They are informative without being extraneous. Remember KISS – keep it simple, silly. No one likes reading a lot of text online.

Understand SEO

• SEO or search engine optimization involves, among other things, using the right keywords so that visitors will be able to find your website through an Internet search.

• Unless you’re a brand name organization, such as Harvard, American Red Cross, Kmart, etc., most web traffic won’t be direct. Rather, people will stumble upon your website through a Google search, such as “Garden City salon” or “Long Island hardware stores”.

Have a media relations page

• Create an online newsroom, with press releases, news clippings, events schedule, annual reports, FAQs, press contacts, a search tool, etc.

• Too many organizations overlook this, making the reporter’s job more difficult. Remember what I said about making the reporter’s job easier.

Bad website examples

• http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/worst-websites-of-2012-overview.html

Good website examples

• http://journalismjobs.com• http://www.polyu.edu.hk/cpa/polyu/

index.php• http://yorkcountyschools.org/• http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/

2013/05/22/the-worlds-best-corporate-websites/

Worth the investment

• Creating a good website takes time, money, innovation and constant improvement. But it’s worth it. It gets you more of an audience, more exposure and ultimately more business. In the long run, it can save you time and money. Most people go to the web now to get their initial info. If your website answers their questions, they wont have to call you up and tie up an employee’s time.

But takes times

• The good thing about the PR and the Internet, is anyone can do it. Anyone can build a website or write a blog. But making a good one, one that attracts lots of people, is not easy. It’s not something you can do overnight.

Using Social Media for PR

What is social media?

• The term “social media” represents media that users can easily participate in and contribute to. Forms of social media include blogs, forums, virtual worlds, wikis and social networks.

The key to success: create value• Social media should provide value, not be a

shameless advertisement. For example, look at the blogs at:

1)http://boldperspective.com/2)http://levick.com/

These two companies share their expertise to help build their brand. If you establish yourself as an expert or “thought leader” in your field by having a good blog, people will take notice and want to work with you.

Creating value

• Similarly, Ford Models, for instance, became a YouTube sensation through a series of videos that featured its models giving beauty and fashion tips.

http://blip.tv/ford-models-how-to/create-an-evening-look-in-minutes-347249

(4 million-plus views on YouTube)

Creating value• Boost your credibility by helping others. For

service providers, establishing yourself as an expert in the field can bring in a steady stream of business. LinkedIn's Answers feature enables business owners to do just that.

• Heidi Cool, a Web design consultant in Cleveland, browses LinkedIn Answers for inquiries related to her industry and spends one to two hours per week answering them. In one month, she generated 29 leads for her services directly from her responses.

If you must sell, offer something extra thru social media

• For example, include a discount code on your Facebook page that allows customers to get 10 percent off.

• Sprinkles Cupcakes, a bakery chain based in Beverly Hills, Calif., uses Twitter to send out daily promotional offers. The tweets, which ask customers to whisper a "password" to receive a free treat, have helped the company draw more than 110,000 followers.

• Offer a sneak peek of new products. It can help build buzz and demand and provide critical feedback to help smooth the launch. Or demonstrate what your product can do.

• To show just how powerful his company's blenders were, Blendtec's head of marketing, George Wright, created a series of videos showing the appliances churning up such diverse items as a rotisserie chicken, a Rubik's Cube, and an iPhone. The series' 100 million combined views helped boost Blendtec's sales by 700 percent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI

It all goes back to creating value

• Target created a Facebook page about dorm room survival. They had practical tips, they had photos, they let users upload their own photos.

• They made the marketing very subtle and were rewarded by posts from people saying how much they love Target.

• Contests and promotions help – look at how many people register for Ben & Jerry’s free ice cream cone day on Facebook.

But don’t overdo it

• While social network users have proven to be open to marketing—especially if it involves a discount—they're not flocking to Facebook or Twitter to hear sales pitches. If your profile or blog reads like an ad, it will turn visitors away

Interact with visitors

• Just putting up a blog or a Facebook fan page won't do much good if visitors sense the flow of conversation only goes one way. In fact, Matt Mullenweg, founder of blogging platform Wordpress, lists not participating in comments as a surefire way to kill a community. Mullenweg and his team field the many suggestions users have for Wordpress through his blog.

Create a forum

• Including a customer forum on your website or social network profile can help enhance your customer service while building a sense of community. This enables you to respond to customers concerns (and show you care). It can also save time. Once you answer a question, you don’t have to answer it again. Also, other customers can help each other out.

For example

• At PoolCenter.com, a swimming pool equipment retailer based in Arlington, Va., customers often field each other's inquiries on swimming pool equipment before they reach customer service reps. Get Satisfaction and Fixya are two sites that offer dedicated spaces for customer service forums.

Using social media to find new customers

• Frequently on the go? Twitter can help your customers keep track of your latest destination. Kogi Korean BBQ, which operates a food cart in Los Angeles, keeps its Twitter followers constantly informed of its location on the street. The real-time updates help Kogi keep up demand, as customers line up in advance at the broadcasted locations.

Use social media to find new clients

• A quick keyword search can help you find prospective customers who may not be aware of your company but could nonetheless benefit from your product or service.

• Bob Scaglion, a senior managing director at New York real-estate management company Rose Associates, generates 100 leads per month on Twitter for his company simply by replying to users whose tweets include phrases such as "moving to New York City" and "no-fee rentals."

Use social media to target customers

• Many sites, such as Facebook, allow businesses to run ads that attract specific groups of users based on what information they include in their profiles. By running Facebook ads targeted at students at specific colleges, StorQuest Self Storage, which has locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Hawaii, increased its number of rentals by more than half.

Go to where your audience is

• Don’t assume Facebook is the be all, end all of social media.

• Increasingly, millennials are opting to use Instagram and Twitter over Facebook.

• Depending on which group(s) of people you’re trying to reach, certain niche discussion boards and online communities may work better than popular, mainstream social media outlets.

Down side of social media

• No organization or person is immune from an online attack.

• Google “Rick Santorum” and “Wal-Mart” and see what comes up.

• Look at the mini case study on pg. 185 of the textbook.

• As you can see, the Internet can be used to harm and destroy reputations. Blogs, discussion forums, parody websites, even Facebook pages can all be used to launch attacks.

See what people are saying about you

• A quick search for mentions of your company on Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp can yield a goldmine of information concerning your reputation. Several users on Yelp, for instance, suggested that employees at Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago were less than welcoming. After reading the comments, the owner focused on improving customer service. Applications such as monitter and Trackur can help you keep track of the conversation across the Web. Additionally, Google alerts are a free and easy way to monitor what’s being said about you online.

What people say about you online matters!

• 62% of people trust the recommendation of a complete stranger on the web over traditional commercial advertising ~Forrester Research 2009

• According to a global survey of 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78% of the studies respondents. ~AC Nielson 2008

Makes amends with unhappy customers

• Andy Carlson, owner of an Ace Hardware store in Denver, once came across an angry Twitter update from a customer who had bought a tool that broke after one use. He resolved the issue in a matter of minutes by referring the customer to an area store and notified him of Ace's lifetime guarantee. Best of all, he was able to catch the complaint after store hours—and prevent negative word of mouth.

Don’t get defensive

• A harsh rebuke of your business on sites like Yelp can not only bruise your ego but also hurt your livelihood. But resist the temptation to lash out in public. Apologize and promise to look into it and makes changes.

Online reputation managementfor college students

Advice for you• Most employers admit to checking out job applicants online. Many

graduate schools also admit to doing it.• Have an online presence – people think it’s weird if you don’t• Create a personal website: put a photo & bio, work samples,

resume and contact info. Create a free website using Weebly.com – it’s so easy to use! Register your domain via godaddy.com

• Facebook: Privacy settings aren’t enough. Golden rule: don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your parents or boss to see.

• Regularly do Internet searches of your name• Set up a Google alert• Join LinkedIn – remember, it’s a professional networking site, so

keep it strictly professional• Pay parking tickets, keep a good credit score – employers can also

look at this stuff and may reject you if they don’t like what they find. If you want to be a lawyer, you may not pass the Character & Fitness check, if you have outstanding parking tickets.

More advice

• After you get your job, don’t let your guard down.

• Your organization can legally monitor all of your Internet activity at work. They can also read any email you send or receive using your organization’s email address.

• You can get fired for what you do online outside of work

In conclusion

• The Internet is only going to continue to grow in size, scope, reach and influence. It’s important that you be able to blend the traditional communication skills of writing and speaking with online skills. Just having a Facebook page and knowing how to send e-mail isn’t enough. Consider taking a web design course, new media, or web journalism. It will make you much more marketable.