PRSA Cincinnati * APR Review for Fall 2003

After Class

Thanks to everyone for the discussion last night. It was good to hear your own experiences and questions are always welcome. If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to contact me.

The focus on blogs was heavy last night, but I think this is because they are new and they are the one technology you are not already using.

Based on input and interest from last night, here are some additional links you might find useful:

Niche Search Engines: Yes, there are engines other than Google and Yahoo. Take listservs for example. There is a catalog you can search or an engine that searches for listservs and newsgroups. Blogs offer too many search engines, but EatonWeb or Blogwise are good ones. Yahoo and Google also track blogs.

What is a blog? Well one way to learn about them is to create one. You can easily enhance it so that it measures traffic and gives visitors the ability to post comments. You might also want to brush up on some basic HTML.

But for now, simply focus on getting your APR. Good luck and enjoy!

Measurement

Measure More: The medium offers us more opportunities to measure the effectiveness of our work.

Types of Web Measurement: An array of quantitative metrics can be tracked online, including

Site Visits: Put a specific URL in an ad and measure how many visits this specific page gets.

Unique Visitors: This allows you to see how many individual visitors you get vs. repeat visitors. You can also screen out your own visits.

Page Views: Which areas of the site are getting the most traffic? Are these areas the easiest to find?

E-mail Click-Through Rates: You can track how many people respond to your e-mail survey in addition to how many complete the survey. This helps you determine specific areas for improvement.

The Internet's Other Side

Pros/Cons: With every pro there is a con. Weigh a technology’s limitations when evaluating.

Crisis: What role will your technology play during a crisis? What if your technology creates the crisis? These tools can become weapons used against you. Update your crisis plan accrodingly.

Bottom Line: The benefits far outweigh the issues technology can create.

Newsgroups & Listservs

Newsgroups: bulletin-board-based communication. Accessed via browser software or Google. 700 million messages to date on any conceivable topic, organized in 10 broad categories. Determine if your target audience lives there. Monitor regularly, engage selectively as applicable.

Listservs: email-based communication on specific topics—similar to newsgroups only the posts come to you. You subscribe and unsubscribe via e-mail.

Rumors: If someone spreads a rumor about your company in these public forums, consider how/if you will respond on a case by case basis.

E-mail as an Appetizer?

Communicators try and make e-mail do all of the work. Instead it causes all of the problems (html vs. text, attachments, spam vs. mass e-mail). Do not try and make e-mail do more than it is able.

Simplify for Success: Simplify your e-mails and make them more effective. No attachments. Create short, persuasive messages with a link to the full text of a news release, survey or other fulfillment. This makes it easier to track and qualifies the recipient. If they will not click on your link, revisit your message and/or mailing list.

Media & E-Mail: How many media use e-mail? It does not matter. Our job is to get the media customized information based on their personal preferences. This will not change—regardless of technology.

Blogs

Media Map is using a blog to more easily update subscribers on changes in the media.

Political campaigns will bring blogs further into the mainstream—this year.

Much in the way e-mail can be subpoenaed and used as evidence, Blogs can be held against you in a court of law. Although several tech companies already use them, business blogs are emerging slowly as a result. However, journalists are using them more and more each day.

Content is King

When it comes to content management, public relations' opportunities and responsibilities extend far beyond the newsroom. PR needs to establish content approval processes design archiving strategies and work closely with the IT department to ensure success. A cross-discipline team is necessary to evaluate new technologies and establish quantitative tracking measurements.

Content and technical requirements will seem to merge as content is organized and offered in multiple formats.

Uber Research

The Web provides us with powerful research and communication tools.

Secondary Research: Access to the latest information via competitor Web sites, online clip monitoring and media databases.

Primary Research: Online surveys and focus groups provide inexpensive research opportunities. However, getting a representative sample, and valid responses, can be an issue.

Search: Search technology has evolved to help us spend less time finding better results. Google can even automate searches for you via tools like News Alerts.

Internet as Toolbox

One handy way to keep all of the technology straight is to consider the Internet a toolbox.

Within it are several tools, including:
– The Web, we'll group intranets, extranets and blogs like this one, here
– E-mail
– Newsgroups
– Listservs
– Instant Messaging/Chat.

In every case, simply use the right tools for the job. Do not use technology for technology's sake. Every tactic should work in concert with others to support a larger strategy.

Stress Accordingly

While the Internet is billed as vast, and changing fast, business literacy and technology will only comprise 12 percent of the multiple choice exam.

The Internet is quickly growing, changing and improving. But do not get caught up in the technology and forget how it all fits into the larger picture–your communications plan.

Welcome

Hopefully this blog will help you brush up on technology for your APR test. It will be populated with most of the links and content presented in the Tuesday, October 21st review class.

Blogs have quickly evolved from mere online journals into a credible, powerful new medium. With Google’s purchase of Blogger in February, businesses recognized blogs as a tool for interacting with customers and employees. At the same time, more than 250 journalist blogs are already tracked by Media Map. In several ways, the evolution of blogs mirrors the evolution of the Web. In fact, many feel blogs deliver on the initial promise of the Web—push-button publishing that connects you to customers anywhere.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.