The Effectiveness Of Integrated PR
Posted: Tuesday 08 May, 2012
Jessica Ward
As a PR person, I know how important PR is for communicating and showcasing brand messages to a target audience. Whilst traditional PR is still very much active, it is slowly becoming subject to the digital age, with an increasing number of innovative ways for utilising PR coming into play. This includes the optimisation of press releases, media relations and events for use on social networks and SEO purposes.
Here at Punch, we know how integrating PR with other tactics enables brands to maximise the effectiveness of a campaign, especially in areas such as media outreach, media coverage, blogger outreach and events.
Media outreach opportunities can be heavily increased by using social media in an integrated PR campaign as it is ideal for initiating and targeting press contacts. I have highlighted before how some journalists are now only accepting news stories or press releases via Twitter, which due to the limited character use, forces PRs to adapt the way they compile and pitch key information. Social media networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are also a great way of sourcing contacts, when their details are not available elsewhere. Media coverage can also benefit from an integrated PR campaign, as in a digital society, stories are often shared via social networks for maximum reach. The press also use social media to circulate news and announce opportunities.
In a society driven by technology, social media is now pretty much key for any type of traditional PR event. Cryptic clues can be posted via social platforms for any type of PR campaign or stunt, especially Twitter which limits the word count and doesn’t hold as many privacy barriers as Facebook, making it easily accessible to anyone. Blogs are also a fantastic way of integrating mediums such as PR and social media, as news stories pitched to bloggers usually include links to social media profiles. For example, big name brands such as Google have recently posted news announcements via their blogs as opposed to news wires.
As the media industry continues its journey from traditional to digital, the integration of PR with different mediums is inevitable and certainly an opportunity that an increasing number of brands and PR agencies will be taking advantage of more and more in the future.
