1.Hard copy publications are now being published online, some of them are now only online. 2.Publications are merging. 3.Online publications are here to stay and is quickly becoming a primary outlet for telling your story.
Everyone and their mother has a blog. SEO is routine in the business world and your constantly hearing about YouTube, Myspace, and Twitter. A powerful social media campaign can set you apart from your competition and promote your business to new markets. Public relations specialists can leverage utilize social media.
First, let's address the blogosphere. Blogs websites posting regular article, photo, or video entries, often on a specific subject. Technorati, the largest search engine for blogs, is tracking well over a 100 million blogs. Google even has a specialized blog search. The fact is blogging has become mainstream and it's here to stay. But what does this have to do with public relations? Everything.
Bloggers are like citizen journalists and report a wide variety of information to targeted audiences. Some of these blogs describe personal experiences, others feature targeted industry news. The key for a public relations specialist is to reach the blogs that bring your clients the added value that can come from these outlets.
The public relations specialist is usually also in charge of the corporate blog ensuring that it remains relevant, addresses market trends, reaches out to other influential blogs in your field. Many times the public relations professional will also focus on other online public relationsstrategies, such as social networking and social booking marking.
Another popular social media strategies is podcasting. Podcasting includes online streaming and broadcasting of video or audio messages. Both types can be used to promote problems and suggest solutions. Unlike most traditional public relations tactics, podcasting is measurable. You can easily tell how many people are downloading your podcasts.
By capitalizing on these new media outlets, your public relations professional can improve your online presence and maximize the effectiveness of your company's communications.
Recruitment advertising is not going digital, it is well and truly there. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, as of the end of the last year corporate websites had overtaken local newspapers as the most common method of attracting candidates, used by 75% of organisations. The same research showed that recruiters prefer technology because it cuts costs, broadens their selection pool and speeds up hiring.
This means ad agencies specialising in recruitment have to change. They are now competing in a world where it is cheap and easy to advertise on multiple job boards, and employers expect to recruit staff at a much lower cost.
A more cynical view about the digital developments in big recruitment ad agencies is that they are having to chose between evolution and death. With the general economic downturn meaning less competition for staff, companies do not feel the need to pay as much to recruit, at least in the short term. But it is also down to longer-term trends. Graduates are moving between jobs more frequently, meaning the cost of recruitment needs to fall.
Richard Collins, MD of R21media, says, "Many traditional agencies are way behind the curve due to their business model. There is a lot more money to be made sticking an ad on the front page of The Times than on job websites, and they do not really look on the internet and job boards as a direct-response medium."
Both Wesley Upchurch & R21 Media are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.