FEATURE | Getting your Business Online
media, how they search for and distribute news has change dramatically. Many Twitter profiles of Irish media have a high influence ranking, demonstrating that they are actively managing their presence and not just using them to push breaking news. Many stories only appear on these platforms and many discussions only take place here also. In addition, organisations like The Irish Times are expanding their podcasting capabilities which points to a clear need to deliver audio as well as written content. It is only a matter of time before this is expanded to video.
Direct engagement is also a critical aspect when considering PR online. As blogs and other citizen journalism tools have expanded, so too has their influence. Some have a greater following and readership than print media and as such are now treated as equals to traditional media. Blogger and online influencer out reach campaigns now form a standard part of any PR campaign. In addition, the active management of an organisations profile means they now have the ability to directly connect to customers rather than solely through the media.
Q: What is the broad picture of online ‘presence’ today?
A: Customers expect to be able to connect with and find organisations in other ways than just through their website. As search engines dominates online activity, building strong social media profiles features highly in their results. People expect to be able to have a conversation in platforms they use. There is an emerging thought that if the news is important enough it will make its way to a reader. This is a fundamental shift from the reader taking the initiative and actively soliciting the information. This means being visible and viewed as an authoritative figure so that others will push the information for you. This is what drives Twitter retweets, social book marking, linking in blogs and fan behaviour on Facebook.
Q: What does it take to develop a strong and effective presence?
A: A clear strategy of how and why the organisation is there. An actively managed profile is necessary. Social media is full of dead profiles which are not updated. Successful ones think about their customer and give them something of value. Organisations who reach out to customers, respond quickly to queries and posts, and invest in becoming part of the community in a two-way manner, earn
56 InBusiness May 10
Eoin Kennedy, Associate Director, Slattery Communications.
Eoin Kennedy heads up Engage Online, the new media division at Slattery Communications. A graduate of UCD and the Public Relations Institute, he is a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. He is a board member of the Irish Internet Association (IIA) and leads their Social Media Working Group. Eoin is often quoted on social media in the Sunday Business Post, Sunday Times, and Marketing Age. He has managed major social media campaigns for national and international Irish brands. He is an active blogger and social media critic & analyst. For more info visit www.
slatterycommunications.com or email Eoin Kennedy at
eoin.kennedy@
scomms.ie
the respect and loyalty of customers. It is also important for organisations to decide what level of postings and interactions they want to achieve and to build slowly. Social media is not right for all and it does necessitate a high volume of time and other resources.
Q: What areas of online activity should we focus on?
A: The list of social media tools is endless. However, the networks with the highest number of relevant readers are best for targeting. These include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Pix.ie, and Flickr from both a hosting and presence perspective. An organisation should plan its editorial calendar and stick to a frequency of monitoring and posting. Blogging in Ireland is still low but it is growing and remains a strong tool. However, it does not have the benefit of an established community yet. Facebook on the other hand has an Irish community of over 1.3 million and while the Irish Twitter community is smaller (just over 300,000) it still offers great opportunity to easily converse with global leaders.
Q: Is online reputation something we should be concerned about?
A: Yes. Many companies are not using even the most basic tools to see where they are being discussed. In addition, they do not understand the nature of the network – without this they tend to blunder into conversations. Monitoring is a daily task. Without a presence and active voice within these platforms means that you are not considered relevant there and also poorly positioned to join in conversations. In addition, the power of advocates is under utilised. Social media is alive with positive and negative commentary but being able to harness people who support you can make a big difference to your influence and reputation online. Control within social media is difficult and possibly outdated with engagement accepted as the best way to manage your online presence.
Q: Why is Digital PR as important as SEO?
A: Digital PR needs to be integrated with an overall SEO campaign – both are essentially about marketing. New media is all about content and context. This makes the expression ‘content is king’ even more true. PR is the natural generator of content and relationship building.
The impact from generating good content can be almost instantaneous and it can be measured extremely well from the number of retweets in Twitter, your company ranking in
www.klout.com, views of links, visits to the website, level of discussions and connections, and of course your rankings with Twitter. Rather than let your social media activity drift aimlessly, embrace the free analytic tools and decide on what level of activity/score you wish to achieve and then implement activity to make it happen. Making it happen is what online PR is all about today!
About the editor
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Andrew Lovatt is MD of redmoonmedia – clear thinking, creative vision – which builds online brands for Irish and global clients. He was publisher and editor of IF: Ireland’s Internet Future, a leading industry newsletter in the mid-‘90s. For more info visit
www.redmoonmedia.com or email
alovatt@redmoonmedia.com.
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