Just Say No (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Know When to Say No

PR Squared

Todd Defren explains that part of the PR professional's job in this new era of communications must entail reeling in overzealous clients looking to cash in on the social media trend.  Citing an example of a client that wished to start up a fake blog (or “flog”), Defren argues that as blog-savvy PR pros, it is important to fully explain the facets of social media that can do more harm than good.  Namely, that transparency is rule number one. “Lesson of the day, for PR professionals:  Do not get sandbagged by clients experimenting in Social Media.  It’s good that they want to experiment; it is to be encouraged, but, it is our responsibility to hold their hands a bit.  After all, some lessons have been learned, and we must communicate these lessons to our clients and peers.”

No Content? No Press Release

Marketing Profs Daily Fix

Scott Baradell lays out eight specific problems he finds with the hundreds of press releases crossing his desk each year.  Mainly, Baradell argues that if you do not actually have anything to say, your press release is not going to go over very well; that is, content is king.  He also warns against being overly vague, using too many “silly superlatives” and industry-speak, and stretching too far with current events hooks. “If your company is so bereft of actual news that you have to hang your press releases on obscure ties to holidays and current events, I probably won't get past the headline. Don't bother.”

"Google Relations"

Communications Overtones

Kami Huyse underlines the value and importance of “Google relations,” which is basically another way of saying search engine optimization.  Pointing out that it is the top 10 or so results from a search engine that get the most traffic, Huyse outlines the various tactics and methods PR professionals can use to improve their search engine position.  According to Huyse, understanding search engines may be the most important technique to learn for PR 2.0 professionals. “The key is to become known for your keywords. To give you an idea, I went to my Google Analytics account to see what the top keywords were for Communication Overtones in the month of April (see above). I would suggest that you do the same for your websites and blogs to determine how people are finding you. Since 52 percent of all my traffic coming from Google (which I suspect holds true for most sites that have been around for awhile), it pays to know how people are finding you and then to build appropriate content to reinforce certain keywords.”