Online PR

The success of every business is contingent upon a number of factors. Obviously brand exposure and sales performance are incredibly important, but they rely on numerous marketing techniques that can take time to develop and implement. Marketing in its broadest sense can describe the extent to which a company is promoted to prospective customers or clients.

The adage that all advertising is good advertising does not always hold true. If a company receives negative press, customers may take their business elsewhere. If turnover drops, profits are likely to fall commensurately. Listed companies might also find that their share price nosedives, making them vulnerable to the possibility of collapse or takeover. Sometimes bad advertising is just bad advertising.

Online PR focuses on the positive side of a business. Whereas other forms of advertising, including unwanted interest from the media, can potentially harm the success of companies, online PR aims to improve their reputation.

After all, that is essentially what PR is all about: enhancing the reputation of businesses.

Improving public relations can be a subtle, gradual process. Traditional methods of PR involve issuing statements to the press, appearing on television, organising exhibitions and reaching out to communities by visiting households, businesses and so on. Any activity that promotes the reputation of an organisation can be classed as an act, type or mode of PR. On the internet, public relations can be carried out in various ways, either directly or indirectly.

Engaging with customers through social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter is now an established mode of online PR. Organisations that get it right can increase brand awareness significantly. Some firms have been known to provide competitions or special offers via social media, whereas others are content to carry out customer service. Sometimes the simple act of helping one customer can positively reinforce the global reputation of a company. In other cases, just listening to customers can improve public relations, as in the case of Sainsbury's that changed the name of one of its products - from tiger bread to giraffe bread on the recommendation of a young child. Positive PR that goes viral is the best kind.

More direct methods of online PR include publishing press releases on media websites, uploading podcasts on a website and investing in advertorial copy. Websites such as YouTube can also be used to distribute videos that communicate an important or useful message to new, existing and prospective customers or clients.