PR & the Internet
The Internet has had a tremendous impact on public relations, creating several advantages along with notable disadvantages. For small-businesses interested in furthering public relations, it has created a quagmire. How do you control the content of information users can find about your business when they can locate anything ever written about your company in minutes? There are a few ways you can turn the potential disadvantage the Internet poses to your advantage.
You can write quality content and optimize the opportunities for your clients, the media and bloggers to access it. You can use Google to your advantage by using the Google trends feature to track the number of times your business’s name is searched during a specific period. This is helpful if you are running a marketing campaign or undertaking specific activities to increase your brand recognition. Also, the Google alert function can notify you anytime current information is posted on the Web about your business.
The Internet has raised the bar for businesses in terms of public relations. Small businesses need to be creative and proactive in their PR efforts online. Providing clients with blogs that are relevant to your products or services or creating commercials on YouTube.com can prove useful as well and deserve a closer look.
Source: “Searching for Public Relations”, Amy Hannah Burkhalter, Public Relations Out Loud, Volume III, Issue II, http://www.platformmagazine.com/article.cfm?alias=Searching-for-Public-Relations
