The newly-launched Digital PR blog http://www.prnewsonline.com/blog/ got me thinking. Do any of our definitions of public relations fit anymore in today’s web-centric world? And if they don’t, what is the purpose of PR? read the rest of this entry

It’s easy to get sucked in to all the hype about interactive PR. On the surface it sounds great for business marketers. Get your company’s news out without having to woo those pesky journalists and analysts. No longer do the biggest advertisors get the most publicity. Flood the net with press releases. Let Google crawlers decide what’s newsworthy and what’s not. RA, RA, RA!

But does this really serve the business community? Have we lost sight of what it is about PR that makes it so effective? Credibility. News that is backed by a non-biased, third party, expert source is so much more believable. Business buyers still rely on that news to evaluate vendor solutions and make informed purchases. Just because it is now easy for them to find their own news doesn’t mean they have the expertise or experience to evaluate one solution from the next. They still rely on others to help sort it all out. Those “others” used to be the industry press and analysts, but now also includes podcasters, bloggers, and writers of ezines and portal sites.

That’s why I advise clients to focus on quality rather than quantity when it comes to public relations activities. The true purpose of PR is to establish an open dialog with the marketplace to move your product or service. The best way to do that is to communicate your message clearly, persuasively, and honestly — whether it is for a web site, a blog, a social web site, a press release, a podcast, a corporate video, a webinar, an article or a white paper. Keeping an active “voice” that focuses on providing useful information is still the best way to woo both buyers and the media.

Related posts:

1. Shaking away doubts about the staying power of interactive public relations and new media
2. Online Press Releases: What’s Old is New Again
3. Wanted! Online newsrooms with remarkable content.
4. Warning: This public relations practice may leave you hungry
5. Where has all the credibility gone?