Creative Use of Emerging Online Marketing Explored During PCC April Luncheon

Just when you think you have a handle on emerging online marketing and PR technologies, even newer technologies emerge. Helping PCC pros navigate online opportunities were moderator Raschanda Hall of Business Wire, and panelists Scott Rowan of Triumph Books, Bob Dirkes of Tech Image, Ltd., and Greg Longhini, board secretary for the Chicago Transit Authority.

All concur that PR pros need to think like editors and producers, providing media with PR material in a variety of ways using all available communication channels, especially electronically. Providing materials on disk is growing in popularity.

Panel members approached the topic from several disciplines.

Scott Rowan
Triumph Books

Based in Printers Row, Triumph Books publishes everything from sports to variety and embraces technology in all they do. This includes using My Space, YouTube, blogs, hidden web pages, streaming audio and video and podcasts.

"The Web is just another weapon," said Rowan. "It takes only one producer to come across a client to make it all worthwhile. Since audiences are getting younger every day, we jump into their realm. That’s proven worth the effort."

However, he cautions that the venues of how to engage people changes daily. Professionals must step up their skill levels if they hope to take advantage of new technologies but also be willing to take on the accompanying. One of those challenges is getting proficient in HTML e-blasts. If the messaging contains embedded video images, there’s no guarantee that users can download the images. If no one receives the intended messages, what was supposed to be an enticing message, falls flat on its face.

A new trend is the use of hidden web pages, according to Rowan. He and his staff build web pages that are not actually linked to one site. These hidden pages are intended for select audiences, including reporters and producers, who can only gain access through a URL provided by a client or company. This allows PR pros to customize web content and create special relationships can be created with key contacts.

Rowan contends that "if you don’t exist in cyberspace, you don’t exist. It’s not just a site; it’s however your products or your company are perceived. If you have interviews, post them! Having subject matter posted creates expertise on a subject. Collect interviews and make them work for you! Archive pages so they are there forever. That is the first step toward optimizing your site and your presence."

Offering additional information, Rowan suggests, "Put copies of interviews on YouTube. Get permission to use material and link to other pages. Play the role of a reporter and craft any interview the way you want it to go. Upload it as a podcast to your site for an extra bump of knowledge. If you don’t own them, you can buy the rights to use information published. No matter what, keep it simple."

Rowan warns that HTML e-mails can look great, but if you use more than four to five words in the subject line, your e-mail will simply be deleted, and "you’ll be shooting yourself in the head." After the subject line, all that should appear is bullets, according to Rowan.

Bob Dirkes
Tech Image, Ltd

Starting his career as a marketing consultant to small technology companies, Dirkes’ client base has included software companies focused on analytics, identity access, security and supply chain optimization, as well business intelligence and Web services solutions.

Dirkes contends that content is king. "You must be clear, concise and coherent in your messages. And you can have it both ways – be editorially sound while promoting the company and clients. You can measure everything."

Measurement too often is retrospective justification. Most clients build reports only when building a case to fire someone. It works best when it "measures what we do so we can do it better and communicate higher expectations," said Dirkes. "The key is to get agreement on values. You can get an infinite amount of information, but there is no meaning until we assign it a value."

He assigns a value to each positive PR initiative. For example, if the client receives a favorable comment, it receives five points, while if the story garners a feature, it receives 10 points. He creates a grid, showing the layers of media and the points of value, along with the publications targeted, and adds them up.

Depending on what clients value most, this allows Tech Image, to "use the knowledge attained so that we can create a plan of what needs to happen next, we can determine the best working plans. It is not an intangible to show how you can impact something. You need to know which channels work best."

Blogs are another effective channel, as are virtual directories. Employing blogs and virtual directories, the pages show up on Google and with search engine optimization without spending a lot of money. Dirkes has used this tactic to keep track of every reference to his client. "I had to keep this on every day," he said, explaining, "Content is king and this was a venue in which to promote my client without a commercial. Blogs are a hot thing and can turn things upside down. Since they expose you to the media, they must be genuine."

He added that clients can take content relevant to the needs of the media and extend it out and do reverse blogs.

As an example, he cited that "at eWeek, each editor has his own blog. "We can bring credible information to the editor, like about outsourcing. They can then write that here is what the CEO said in a recent published report. This lives up to what they want and need. It’s honest and it’s helped media develop content they can use while staying within the context of providing the president’s opinion. It makes the president accessible."

However, he warned, "Always tell the truth and remove any promotional material."

Greg Longhini
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

"Blogs are basic,"said CTA Board Secretary and former media relations director for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development Greg Longhini.

"Think of a blog as a metaphor for a photo." As part of his role at the Chicago Transit Authority, he created a blog for Board Chairman Carol Brown. "The purpose of the blog is primarily to get Carol Brown out there as Carol, and let people feel comfortable about talking to her. Since she had no government experience but came with an investment banker background with degrees from Harvard and Northwestern, she had to be able to communicate in a different way. "Blogs allow her to be more personal. She hears from customers and gives her feedback while she travels around the world. This allows her to see what’s going on. It also allows people to see the CTA as human. Getting PR is not our struggle, but getting good publicity sometimes is. Therefore, anything within reason we can do to help us overcome the problem of us being a faceless corporation, we’ll try."

With just two in the department creating PR strategy, the feat is pretty intense. The blog enables the CTA to break news and allow Brown to respond.

"Working for a government agency, you never know what will explode each day. However, you know that when things happen, they will overwhelm everything else going on – like a Bulls’ (basketball) championship victory," he added. "Anticipate! Pre-think in crisis mode what you might need to be prepared for, like what technology do you need? Figure out how you will obtain critical statistical support. Be prepared and know where to go to keep operating!"

Raschanda Hall
Media Relations Supervisor, Business Wire

Offering a few valuable tips of her own, panel moderator Raschanda Hall suggested that Tip Sheets are always a good idea. Also, "when posting content online, use key phrases to see how they are ranking," she offered. "go by how people are searching not by how you think they are searching. Go back to basics and make every effort a strong, solid public relations idea. There are numerous new channels and new ways to do good PR. If you are talking about Community Social Responsibility, there are elements available also. Just know you can fancy information up but news rooms will strip them bare."

She also suggested being transparent while part of the conversation. "If you are forced to do a blog and no one comments, then it is not what others want. You need to develop a relationship with your audience," she said. "Go to Technorati (www.technorati.com) and pitch your blog to others and read the blog at least every other day. It may lead to other blogs and will allow you to tell which get the most traffic."