PR Tips for 2007, Tracking Online Trends, and Other PR Blog Jots
Strumpette
Ronn Torossian, CEO and founder of 5W Public Relations, writes a guest column for Amanda Chapel praising the PR industry’s successes as of late and offering some guidance for the upcoming year. Torossian advises agencies to take a more active role with clients, rather than merely serving as “yes men” ready to blindly follow wishes. He further notes that the key to influencing the media is not just pitching the media themselves, but the influencers and “tastemakers” with the ability to promote brands and attract media attention on their own. “In the end, it is not accepting mediocrity that differentiates winning firms from the firms that consistently are stuck in the past and are doing just enough not to get fired. The days of “PR” standing merely for “press releases” are antiquated—we are carrying the torch for major brands and bringing their message directly into the lives of consumers.”
Tips for Tracking Internet Trends
Lifehack
In an extremely useful post for anyone new to monitoring topics of interest online, Leon Ho posts seven different ways to track online trends. By being savvy, anyone can stay on top of mainstream media and even the bigger bloggers when following certain stories. He argues for watching Alexa statistics, setting up search topics in blog-monitoring and search sites such as Technorati and Digg, and using feed readers to monitor topics on dozens of blogs at a time. “As this is your own selections, I recommend to keep down the number of subscriptions, or at least categorize your feed into two areas. A trend watching area which is an area you read often, and Others which is a folder with less important feeds. Keep the noise vs signal ratio low.”
CNET Requring Journalists to Engage in Online Conversation
Micro Persuasion
Steve Rubel reports that popular news website CNET is requiring its journalists to respond to all comments or questions posted to their blogs on the website. Rubel notes this may be a coup for PR professionals hoping to engage reporters in conversation about issues important to their clients, but notes that some less ethical actors in the industry may abuse the new requirement, generating false comments from sympathetic third parties. “Also, why stop at blog posts? CNET allows readers to comment on news stories too. They should go all the way here. Unfortunately, I also worry that this will be used unethically. It's possible that less than scrupulous PR people will solicit "friendlies" to post questions and concerns in an effort to stir up a debate. This is basically astroturfing.”
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