090326 online pr
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given at an e-Consultancy training day on online PR based at the BSG Building City Road London.TRANSCRIPT
26 March 2009
Trainer/s: Ged Carroll, Head of Digital EMEA, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Online PR
What we will cover today•Online PR – definition
•Impact of Web 2.0 on PR – consumers, media and stakeholders
•How to develop an online PR strategy:•Auditing and monitoring the online environment
•Tools, tactics, targets and teams
•Measurement
•Detailed review of the Online PR toolbox
•Online reputation management
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Who, what, why? A quick introduction, where you’re from and what you are looking to get out of today
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Who on earth am I?
Or as my girlfriend sees me…
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WHAT IS PR?
"Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.” - Edward Burnays
"Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organisation's ability to listen strategically to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organisation are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values." - Robert L. Heath, Encyclopedia of Public Relations
“Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.
Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” - CIPR
WHAT IS PR? PART 2.0
PR in practice
“Public relations takes many forms in different organisations and comes under many titles, including public information, investor relations, public affairs, corporate communication, marketing or customer relations.
Number 26 (out of 95 theses): “Public Relations does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their markets.” - Cluetrain Manifesto
“To add to all the confusion, not all of these titles always relate accurately to public relations, but all of them cover at least part of what public relations is. At its best, public relations not only tells an organisation's story to its publics, it also helps to shape the organisation and the way it works.
Through research, feedback communication and evaluation, the practitioner needs to find out the concerns and expectations of a company's publics and explain them to its management.” - CIPR
Online Public Relations – the reality•It doesn’t require a big step change•Just understanding of basic principles•Knowing who can support you internally and externally (sense check tools, select external technology providers, metrics etc)•ID’ing your/your clients’ comfort zones•Small steps to achieve your/their PR objectives•Selecting correct tools and techniques for the job•Testing, measuring and refining
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Online Public Relations ownership
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Over 50 per cent of online PR is done by marketing and digital agenciesCurrently falls between digital marketing, SEO and PR for most orgs• Technology and jargon• PR runs the risk of being defined by its channels• Lack of resources, support and training from CIPR/PRCA etc• Other digital marketing disciplines filling online PR skills chasm• Have ‘brand permission’ in the online space
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What is Online Public Relations?
“Communicating over the web and using new technology to effectively communicate with stakeholders” Source: CIPR website 2007
“Maximising favourable mentions of the company, brands, products or websites on third-party sites” according to 60 per cent of in-house respondents to an Econsultancy survey
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There are 3 categories of Online PR
Monitor/Map/
ResearchDefensive Promotional
Transparency Honesty
Process Rapid response
Flexibility Integration
Underpinned by
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Papa’s got a brand new PR bag
VNR
CompetitionsAdvertorials
Stunts
Surveys
Interviews
Press briefingsConferences
Product launches
Events
Press trips
Photography
Radio interviews
Audio features
White papers
Newsletters
Brand publicationsInternal communications
Stakeholder relations
Stunts
Guerrilla activity
Brand ambassador activity
Reputation Management
Press releases
Crisis Management
Media relations
Investor relations
Online media centres
Online media relations
TV interviews
Online monitoring
Stakeholder mapping
Social media releases
Search Engine Optimised Releases
Search Engine Optimised brand publications
Podcasts/Vodcasts
Social SearchSocial Tagging
Social Networking
Virtual World events
Social Networking events
Folksonomies
Online surveys
Blogger relations
Corporate/Brand blogsInternal blogs
WIKI’s
Crowdsourcing
Internet radio
RSS feedsWidgets Social network APIs
Webchats
Webcasts
Skypecasts
Tagged photography
Mashups
Dark blogs
Viral
Press release distribution
Forums/Boards/Comments
Social Bookmarking
Infographics
Microblogs
Online surveytorials
Online Reputation Management
Bag by Oliver Kray
It’s A World Of Change, Isn’t It? The tenets of strategy are the same as they have been for the past 3,000 years Clients are still ultimately measured on the performance of their business We still communicate with people ultimately in mind to be influenced It has never been cheaper or easier to produce content Clients can disintermediate the media and communicate directly with their audiences Audiences can easily communicate with each other on a large scale We have new media vehicles The news cycle lasts longer – online news sources act like an echo chamber
A change in emphasis…. Traditional PR•Core contacts and networks
• Catch-all media materials
•Structured•Media vehicles required•Key influencers= journalists, analysts etc
•ROI difficult to measure
Online PR•Larger networks changing rapidly
•Tailored materials•Conversational•Disintermediation•Key influencers: context dependent
•ROI easier to measure
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The golden rule
“People matter, Objects don’t”. That’s all you need to know about social media. – Hugh MacLeod
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Golden rule two
UTILITY
Picture: Basheertome
Fundamentals of online PR•Understand how networked audiences work•Map online environment to gain intelligence before planning begins•Flexible and tailored communications•Integrate with other marketing disciplines and other PR channels•Be meaningful – messages with intent and purpose, not spin•Measure and learn•Agree organisational ownership and chain of command – Internal PR teams, digital , external agencies/specialists, combination?
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Changing behaviours
Fragmented media landscape
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UK consumer media consumption
Source: BMRB Internet Monitor
Share of media time% of media time for all internet users
7 6
27
25
34
47
24
17
47
TV
Radio
Internet
Newspapers
Magazines
8
16
48
5
23
Weekdays
Saturdays Sundays
Base: All Internet users aged 15+
• 37.2 million UK internet users• 61% population• 54.6% of UK households have
broadband
Sub-groups on the net 21
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Top 10 social networks
Site World Members
1 Year Change
MySpace 114.15 72%
Facebook 52.2 270 %
Hi5 28.2 56 %
Friendster 14.9 65 %
Orkut 24.1 78 %
Bebo 18.2 172 %
Tagged 13.2 774%
Source: comScore World Metrix, (Global Home, Work) June 2007
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1% Creators – initiate conversation
10% Synthesisers – respond/filter
89% Consumers – read/recommendand use other WOM channels
The User Generated Content pyramid
BBCMEGASTAR
LOADED
FINANCIAL TIMES
ECONOMIST
GUARDIAN
BLOGGERS - SOCIAL NETWORKING USER GROUPS - FORUMS - WIKIS -
PHOTOS CONSUMER-GENERATED CONTENT
VOGUE
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Dissemination of news
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Media 2.0 Weekly and monthly publications are left behind: Wired is still a monthly magazine but also publishes a plethora of content every day Sections are user-generated such as Found: ‘Artifacts from the Future’
Daily publications now publish several times a day through different media: The Times is one of the largest audio content providers in the UK media
The news cycle lasts longer – online news sources act like an echo chamber: The most linked-to site by English speaking blogs is the New York Times online, the Guardian is close behind it
Future of news
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From hard copy to multimedia news
• Most popular stories dictate tomorrow’s print headlines
• 47 staff blogs• Telegraph TV – web TV channel• Podcasts• A4 size print your own paper
Telegraphpm• Comments on every story• My Telegraph personal news portal,
personal blog space and social network
FROM TO
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News - reach One in 24 UK internet visits went to a news and media site. BBC accounted for 15.45% of these visits Source: Hitwise May 2007 UK Guardian 29.8 m unique users Source: ABCe Jan 2009 22.8 m for Daily Mail (2.3m for paper) Source: ABCe Jan 2009 22.8 m for Times Online Source: ABCe Jan 2009 21.9 m for The Sun (<3 million for paper) Source: ABCe Jan 2009 25.9 m for The Telegraph Source: ABCe Jan 2009 6.7m for Mirror.co.uk Source: ABCe Jan 2009 10.2 m for The Independent Source: ABCe Jan 2009 160 branded quality news sites in UK alone 50+ respected newswires
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Lazy online PR engagement
Tom Coates and the PRostitutes
Chris Anderson blocks unsolicited PR
“SSPR please stop spamming Bloggers”
Virgin Atlantic case study
Oli Beale, a copywriter with WCRS wrote to Virgin Atlantic about his experience on their flight.
His letter was shared on the internet as one of the funniest complaints letters ever
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Virgin Atlantic case study continuedVirgin aftermath:912 references on TechnoratiCoverage in all the major national newspapersFront page on Yahoo! UK for two days
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Source: Technorati
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It doesn’t have to be this way
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JetBlue case study
Valentines Day 2007: 130,000 customers trapped in bad weather conditions JetBlue fliers were trapped on the runway at JFK for hours, many ultimately delayed by days Only 17 of JetBlue's 156 scheduled departures left JFK
What JetBlue did Communicated directly with its audiences Admitted that things had gone wrong
Explained what had gone wrongExplained what they were going
to do about it
PRagmatic approach required• Embrace and understand the environment
• Understand the audience and how influence works online• Understand how traditional media is changing• Knowledge share – workgroups, trend spotters etc• Get over the ‘technology’ hurdle - use the tools personally to discover PR uses and how to make your job easier• It will take time• You may make mistakes on the way
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Long tail PR thinking
Traditional Media
Online Media
Nationals
Trades
Media websites
Niche sites Citizen sites
Blogs
Reach Rea
chin
g m
illio
ns
Reaching Billions
Source: Immediate Future, June 2006
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Working towards a strategy
•Understand the client environment and marketplace
•Recognize how the world of communications is changing
•Understand how the audiences relate to the brand
•Understand how they relate to each other and the world around them
•How and where to reach them, what are the rules of the community?
•Assess client’s business situation
•Diagnose communications fitness
•Design integrated Influence Plan that combines traditional and new channels
• Incorporate broad objectives
•Define your story
•Apply your story to relevant outlets
•Story development•Media relations•Analyst relations•Online influencers•Digital Storytelling•Social networking•Site design•Online promotions/ viral•Blogging/ podcasting•Virtual events
•Mapping
•Online / offline impact & cross-linking
•Quantitative & qualitative reach
•Campaign performance
•Business impact
•Web analytics
Measure Impact, Learn
& Identify Opportunity
ImplementPlan (integrate
online and offline
thinking)
Client business and brand analysis
Audience researchBusiness
environment
Strategic approach
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Monitoring
Why?• ID core stakeholders and influencers outside of traditional media/contact lists
• ID where conversations happening and WOM networks of influence on the web and offline
• ID existing/emerging conversations and trends relevant to your organisation, brand, industry, key staff etc
• ID which traditional media online rank highly in SEO terms
• Market research, message auditing, pre-crisis and strategic planning, leaks
• To help plan proactive PR and social media strategy
• Traditional PR databases/tools (e.g. Mediadisk, Editors, Vocus) fall short
• Beyond journalists - ‘Normal’ people can be influencers
• ‘Reputation Insurance’ – Masterfoods
• Mapping techniques can be used for finding and tracking proactive coverage43
Mapping•Reputation monitoring software suppliers, specialists and agencies (over 150 specialist suppliers out there)
• Free tools plus your own internal data (e.g. Web analytics)
• No one solution best – until Google develops ‘Trends’• None fully automated – human analysis/filtering required – an evolving industry
•Can be costly, so vital to plan: What information is most useful
•Presenting to strategy planners – visual models, Wikis, databases etc
• How to share and maintain information across teams and external agencies
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Key wordsID primary keywords - Organisation, brands, spokespeople, initiatives, affiliate organisations, known brand detractors, ‘competitors’
•Brainstorm internally and use clients’ internal departmental data and external agency data
•Keyword tools: Google Wordtracker •Web analytics - Your analytics should show your referring key-words and phrases
•Analyse web log files•PPC Campaigns•Online research tools: Hitwise, Comscore and NNR
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Search engines Still thinking about key words:•Search engines – Google, Yahoo, Live, Ask etc• Check inbound links to your sites via Google: Link:www.yourdomain.com
• And Yahoo: Linkdomain:yourdomain.com•Yahoo! Site Explorer•Make sense of what you find• Organic search and PPC results for each keyword• Google page rank• Review source and establish their link community and who they influence
• Establish whether target for PR, link, partnership or monitoring • Issue cluster• Contact details•Search ranking against key words
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Professional tools and services
Source: Networksense Mapping - icrossing
Source: OnalyticaSource: Magpie - Brandwatch
Source: WexView - Waggener Edstrom
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Homebrew
Source: Michelle Goodall
Social media measurement tools Blog search engines• Technorati• Blogpulse • Google blog search•Quarkbase•Addictomatic
Make sense of what you find
•Who links to them or cites blog posts – especially traditional media
•RSS subscribers• Debate analysis – topics and brand/org share of voice
• Sentiment analysis – positive, negative, neutral
• Potential target for PR, link, partnership or monitoring target
• Issues cluster
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Alerts•Google alerts
• Yahoo news alerts
•Review and define source •See relevant section – blogs, social networks and forums, video and photo UGC etc
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Social networks & forums Consider niche, local sites and verticals, e.g. Teaching – TeacherTube, UK Teachers Forums, • Use social network engines to find them •Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, Ning etc Review source and establish influencer ranking
•Who links to them or cites conversations – especially traditional media
• Debate analysis – topics, brand/org share of voice
• Sentiment analysis – positive, negative, neutral
• Issues cluster51
Microblogging Microblogs - Twitter
• If you have an account set up you can track for keywords
• Twitter Search
•Twilerts via email
•#Hashtags
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Picture by foxypar4
Influence Popularity vs influence•Popular stakeholders of an issue influence many. But those they influence may not themselves be influential, e.g.. Jodie Marsh - bullying• Influential stakeholders impact those who matter, directly and/or indirectly, e.g.. Demos on social policy
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Source: Onalytica
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Promotional tactics
Measurement & evaluation What gets measured gets done Be careful what you measure
• Evolving web analytics area, especially buzz and sentiment analysis
•Speak to your/your clients web analytics team to see what can be measured
• Test and learn
•Think about engagement as well as reach
•Think about ROI58
Picture by calloohcallay
Online media & press centres Plan to develop an online media centre? Establish PR objectives with developers• Argument for transparent information for consumers and journalists – no log-in• Needs to be:•Accessible and easy to navigate • Search function for images, text and video – ability to tag all media content when adding for Universal Search• Searchable archives• RSS• Social bookmarking• Search Engine Optimised releases and media content
• Social media release
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SEO press releases ID primary keywords/phrases relevant to release content and add: In the release headline Once in the sub-header (if applicable) In the first paragraph – keyword density in body text<10% Also use in alt tag of associated images At least once in the meta description tag Once on the URL of the page Embed links to optimised and relevant content pages on your website Add release to online media centre, put on posting sites – does not replace ‘sell in’ Must be well written …read and judged by people not just search engine spiders! Measure and track response and feedback into process Old materials can be re-optimised
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Online media relations•Most obvious element of online PR - rarely executed well• PROs ‘tick the online media box’ or use wires and posting sites
• Perception online coverage less valuable• Reality - reach is huge!• Negative as well as positive coverage stays online for a long time - affects SEO
• Measurable – e.g. unique users/view, referral clickthroughs, blog citations, SEO position, outcomes from traffic generated by referral URL
• Get it right, measure it and watch client perceptions change rapidly
• You will have ID’d key targets through monitoring process
• Share learnings between teams61
Corporate blog 3 things that blog readers demand – compelling content, freshness and interactivity
•Develop simple policy guidelines for staff and ‘conversationalists’
• Get the tone right and expect it to develop over time
• Post regularly
• Designate editors
• Be authentic and honest – your thoughts about ghosting?
• Allow comments – it’s a blog!
• Link liberally and engage with the blogosphere
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Social currency and social objects
Levels of online PR engagement
Monitoring: no engagement but active listening to what is being said about the organisation and its peers – any related issues Low-level engagement: as Monitoring plus response-led online presence High-level engagement: as low level engagement, but proactive approach, integration with other marketing and customer services activities
Picture by cmcbrown
Blog relations•Read and listen – tonality, attitude to brands and orgs etc • Develop a conversation and participate • Be open• Soft sell• Supplement with promotional tactics• Use experts and enthusiasts• Provide creative and relevant ‘blog fodder’ or ‘social currency’• Don’t be afraid of losing some message control 66
Social Networks•Similar to blogs, ‘friends’ demand useful content, interactivity and kudos
•Time intensive - develop editorial team and simple policy guidelines for staff and ‘conversationalists’
•Each network has different tools and audience – What works for Bebo-ers might not for Facebook-ers
• Provide regular challenges
• Rank and reward creativity and talent
• Amplify content the network creates
• Set project timelines and communicate this to ‘fans’67
Crowdsourcing•Open call to ‘public’ to solve a problem and collaborate to help achieve a goal
• Final solution is usually agreed by the participating crowd
• Rewards often Whuffie•Many potential applications for PR
•Idea generation and filtering•Tasks being carried out• Time intensive, lack of message control, multi-territory legal and IP restrictions are issues
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Forums & BBS Depending on brand between 40% - 85% of UK user comment on forums, bulletin boards etc But, a definite shift towards blogs and other forms of social media Monitor environment, identify and learn from comments Same rules as blog relations Do not recommend a ‘covert’ approach or seeding comments But, opportunity to respond to negative comments and improve level of conversation In majority of cases, forums self-regulate but occasionally you may need to post…
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Curated Web
Video and podcastsEasy cost effective to make and host compelling podcasts and video
Blogs and social network users happy to link to good, relevant content
Must be strategic about driving consumers to it and measuring impact
Opportunities for PR:• Create blog and social network fodder or content for debate/mashups/viral
• Use celebrity broadcast time to create exclusive video and audio content
• Audio/visual media releases – brings story to life
•Brand or campaign channels in Youtube, MySpace etc71
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Wikis
Viral•Audience (demographics, psychographics, geography, available technology)
• Tonality• Brand credibility – can you talk to an audience in this way
• Viral motivators – humour, self interest, sex, topicality, extreme behaviour, charity
• Simplicity – best are often the simplest ideas•What is the utility?• Highly commercial channel – few getting it right• Social media creating own viral effect•Cost effective?• Never guaranteed• Message at the mercy of the recipient • Influence v impact
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Virtual world and online events
Events• Don’t just have to take place in Second life
• Consider practical use of web 2.0 tools to support on and offline events
•Capitalise on existing events
•Live blog from events (e.g. blogging4business)
•Videos and podcasts before and after event to extend impact of programme
• Tagged event photo galleries on Flickr
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Competitions Branded coverage on 3rd party sites in return for prize with a perceived value•Can be promotional or editorial•Criteria: minimum prize value, length of competition, copy / branding• Live link offered to campaign or org. web sites• Product/brand/company photography and/or logo can be used• What measurement statistics will be provided• How prize fulfilment works• What prize terms and conditions required
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Advertorials
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Commercial and editorial teams generally involved in set up
• Advertorials work very well in an online environment, especially when links, full ROI measurement, opt-in user data, or agreed user reach required
• Important to establish objectives at outset with site
• Copy written and layout suggested by PR - will be amended to suit site ‘house style’ – a hybrid of commercial and editorial copy with agreed levels of brand control
• Examples of advertorial content include:
• Branded surveys/polls with incentive to link out from hosting site
• Editorial where a greater emphasis on message control required and subject matter very commercial, e.g. new brand variant launched
Infographics•Interactive visual applications or web pages
• Add visual support to a campaign, e.g. BBC’s British History Timeline
• Powerful tools which can tell complex stories
• Excellent ‘social objects’ and offline media materials
• Can create viral effect with consumers
• Ensure you publish URL in media materials and link to SEO and relevant pages on supporting web site78
Picture by Pseudo Placebo
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN
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Online reputation management
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Identifying your conversationalists and reputation team
Reactive and proactive social media and online engagement
• Crisis management• Internal and external stakeholders not just staff
• Need to include agencies - Search, PR, DM etc
•Your reputation audit will have ID’d staff using UGC/social media and key external advocates, partners etc
• Internal audit to ID your best conversationalists?– Are they marketing/communications/PR staff/agencies
– Senior management– Do they come from other parts of the business, e.g.. field sales, customer service, web development etc?
People tend to trust ‘people like us’ – Edelman Trust Barometer
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Typical reputation management roles• Contextual strike teams• Information holders• Defenders• Conversationalists• Expert commentators• ‘Technical’ specialists • Campaign based teams• Legal specialists
Picture by ktylerconk
What’s your plan?•What do you want to influence• When will you respond• How will you cultivate authenticity• What information is currency• How will you personalise conversations• When will you involve legal personnel•Draft procedures and protocols
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Each team member should be sure of their role and responsibility
• How they will receive information
• Rules of engagement• With whom • Through which media • Information timings – embargos• Exclusivity of information•Who they report to – chain of command and who is ultimately responsible and will support them if required
• SLA•What is in it for them • Acceptable tone• Measurements and success criteria
Picture by chrisamichaels
Strategies for managing unfavourable comments and opinions•Is it true?•If so, what are you doing about it?• If so, put criticism in context•Is it on influential site – assess and rank site• Who is the detractor – are they influential• Are others commenting• Is it affecting search ranking• Assess seriousness of attack – this is where you should get legal advice
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Strategies for managing unfavourable comments and opinions
•Act quickly – the truth will out but ensure others don’t tell your story
• Involve lawyers as safeguard –mentioning this can get instant results
• Get the facts straight• Consider message, conversationalist and channels that will be used
• Review procedures/protocols and mobilise the team members• Humour and self deprecation can help• Be candid and declare your interest• Be brief, to the point and transparent•Consider using combination offline media and PPC, e.g. Google Adwords
• Keep all email, phone and meeting records relating to issue
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Bad Phorm
Phorm does behavioural advertising It records all the web pages that you visit The company didn’t respond fast enough•UK and US government investigations ensued•Partners pulled out of business relationships •Sustained organised badvocates•Mainstream press coverage in The Guardian, The New York Times
Further reading Collected papers and essays by danahboyd Notre Dame University: Fifteen-minutes of fame: The Dynamics of Information Access on The Web (May 13, 2005) by Z. Dezso, E Almaas, A Lukacs, B Racz, I Szakadat and A Barabasi OECD whitepaper on user-generated content
Digital Natives Programme by Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
The Long Tail: why the future of business is selling less of more
– Chris Anderson Groundswell by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff Wikinomics website which is based on and extends the book of the same name by Don Tapscott and Anthony D Williams The Cluetrain Manifesto How to use Digg - What I read Google’s keyword tool
Online press release distribution Pressbox - free• PRWeb • PR Newswire • Internetwire • Businesswire • Sourcewire• Realwire•E-consultancy for digital releases
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Thanks for your time
I hope the course was insightful, informative and helpful.
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