Has Online PR Grown Beyond Traditional PR?

I have not been much of a computer geek myself. But for the past years, time has led me to use the computer more often than I ever imagined for me to “interact” with the world. If I would not do this, I would probably ended up becoming a hermit, distant from the technological advances in communications. All my friends, most of my close family members, and everyone that I know used the Internet to interact. I use the Internet to interact and to work. This is true for everyone. The Internet has become one of the fastest growing digital communications channels made for humans to be able to interact with each other. The Internet is truly an “interactive network”.

So, does the word “interact” keep repeating in your head now? You probably noticed that I have used this word several times on my last paragraph. I would like to emphasize that the Internet is primarily used to interact (last repetition, I promise!), in many ways.

The Internet has changed the nature of public relations in general. It somehow revolutionized PR into more than producing press releases, thus moving out of the scope of traditional strategies. I would agree (and if you read my other articles on PR, I’ve got my comments on that). However, has PR really been totally revolutionized?

By “revolutionize,” I mean make PR free of old strategies and change it drastically from what has been known of it. Yes, it has changed by parting from traditional PR, thus it has been called online Public Relations. But, the revolutionizing process is not complete yet. Online PR has not yet achieved greatness in online communication. Public relations have not become totally associated with the nature of the Internet.

The online PR industry has not yet reached the revolutionary process of going away from tradition because up to this day online PR has not yet seen the purpose of getting publicity through the Internet.

Most business sites who consult an online public relations professional end up having a website designed mostly for “viewing” purposes. Once you get to browse these kinds of sites, you get to see the home page bombarded with lots of information on the company, their business partners, and a whole lot of information like news, essays, etc., regarding the product or services the company offers. Nothing is wrong with this one. But the common missing page here, probably the very thing that most online PR pros miss, is the readers’ or clients’ page where you get feedback one on one. I know I am generalizing here, since there are a few PR pros who are doing this kind of strategy now.

Still, a lot of online PR strategies focus “primarily on the press as a vehicle to take your messages to the public,” Byron Reimus of Heyman Consulting says. "The Internet opens up huge opportunities for PR pros to do what we do best: build relationships. But, so far, the industry's been slow to figure out how to do that effectively."

The state of online PR to date is at a “sink-or-swim-stage.” Professionals in online public relations have not clearly seen yet the new skills that the Internet offers. One reason for this is that many PR agencies are so busy and successful with traditional techniques that they ignored the Internet’s conversational impact.

Recent studies, too, showed various reasons why the industry of online public relations remained slow, if not stagnant, to changes. The result shows:

- Agencies are feeling no immediate motivation to change;
- PR is not leveraging the Internet as well as other industries;
- Most agencies view the Web as more tactical than strategic, though they acknowledge that
strategy will be key in the next few years;
- Clients are looking for more leadership;
- The notion of networked communications (the digital cocktail party) will change PR's role and its
coinciding skill set; and
- Agencies view changes in the landscape as both negative and positive.

Getting to communicate with a client or reader is very crucial. The company will know directly the reactions of its consumers. This will provide not only a direct contact with the readers but also relationships will be built better. And most importantly, communicating directly to online readers will create better ideas regarding the products and services offered through surveys and suggestions.

onlinepr.gbwatch.com/ gives updates on the ins and outs of public relations and marketing within the Internet. It helps various companies of all sizes to become competitive entrepreneurs, and to focus on building good publicity, promotion and higher sales. It aims to teach businessmen to be witty, confident, and strategic in whichever industry they hope to build their dreams upon.

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com

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