online pr
DESCRIPTION
Cindy Earl and Megan Hauer's presentation from the eMarketing Techniques Conference, May 2009 at Corporate CollegeTRANSCRIPT
Secrets of Online PR
How to Maximize Your Online
Promotion Potential
By Cindy Earl & Megan Kacvinsky
Agenda
1. Online PR Basics
2. Online PR Tools
3. Your Online PR Plan
Online PR vs. Offline PR
Online – influencing media, communities and
audiences that exist solely on the Internet
using online channels
Offline – print, radio, TV, conferences, events
and other real life venues.
What’s changed?
• Same skills apply but with new tools
• Internet extends reach, touching media and consumer simultaneously
• Previously – Influence the influencers (broadcast)
• Current – Anyone can publish, influence their network (narrowcast)
Online PR Basics
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Online PR Basics
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How does PR respond?
Create participation and build bridges
• Previously – Messages are pushed downstream
• Current – People are already talking, PR can be used to strategically enter the dialogue
Online PR Basics
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What to be cautious of?
• Forcing conversations
• Lack of transparency
• Only sales-focused messaging
• Community’s perception
Online PR Basics
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How to be successful?
• Do your research
• Listen before joining the conversation
• Always look to add value
• Be yourself
• Don’t over-commit
Online PR Tool
SEO press releases
Map keywords
Use in title, subtitle and body
Call to action
Online PR Tool
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Blogging
Your blog or website can be considered the focal point of your overall online PR campaign
• Experiment to find your voice
• Determine appropriate posting frequency
• Subscribe to other industry and topic related blogs
• Reach out to other bloggers
• Use other social media tools to reach your audience
Online PR Tool
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Blogging
Blogging software options
Two dominant free blogging software programs
• Blogger
• Word Press
What to look for
• Ease of use
• SEO-friendliness
• Plug-Ins available
Read reviews online
• Type “reviews: blogger vs. wordpress” into Google or Yahoo!
Online PR Tool
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Blogging
Determining your target keyword set
Keyword Research Tools
• Google - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• Word tracker - http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
• Highly competitive vs. niche terms
• Appropriate number of keywords to target
• Measuring results
• Rank Checker - http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/rank-checker/
• SEO is a like dieting, don’t measure yourself every day
• Can take awhile to begin noticing results
Online PR Tool
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Blogging
Writing for the web
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engines review a variety of factors to determine the content of your website/blog
• Title tag
• Meta description
• Body content
• Headlines
• Image tags
• Inbound links
Online PR Tools
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Blogging – Inbound Links
Command – link:www.sitename.com
Online PR Tools
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Online Press Release Distribution
Press release distribution services help spread awareness and generate inbound links
Paid
• PRNewswire.com
• MarketWire.com
• BusinessWire.com
• PRWeb.com
Free
http://mashable.com/2007/10/20/press-releases/
Online PR Tool
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Online Press Kit
Hosting of your complete online press kit
• Add page to your website “media” or “press”
• 24-7PressRelease.com
Online PR Tool
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Social Networking Sites
Utilize existing social communities to spread awareness of your company or website
• Niche communities – Ex: www.BookedSolidNetwork.com
Online PR Tools
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Micro blogging – Get your point across in 140 characters or less; also a community site where you can build relationships
**Important to participate “update” and connect “follow”**
Online PR Tool
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Social Bookmarking
Bookmarking occurs in public, allows others to see your “favorites” and you can access your “favorites” from any computer
You can bookmark your own pages, but should also bookmark other websites and information you find to be relevant to maintain credibility
• Technorati
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• Del.icio.us
Online PR Tool
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Other blogs
Commenting on other established, well read blogs can be a great way to piggyback on someone else’s success
Leave a link back to your website in your comment, can help with SEO link building activities
Online PR Tool
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Article Directories
Ezinearticles.com
Ideamarketers.com
Directoryofezines.com
Articleannouncer.com
Simple Online PR Plan
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1. Post FREE report or articles on your site to build your email list
2. Map out 12 topics for the year – gives you content for one press release per month
3. Write press release on topic every month and submit to online PR services
4. Post to your blog (daily or weekly)
5. Post your comments on top 3 blogs for your target market
6. Visit and post updates to top 3 social networking sites
7. Map out 12 topics for the year – gives you content for one press release per month.
8. Re-purpose your articles and content in e-newsletters, etc.
Contact Us
Cindy Earl, Corner Your Market
440.522.5072
Megan Kacvinsky, Rosetta
216.325.6342
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