Great PR Doesn't Just "Happen"

Great public relations doesn't just happen. It is the result of planning, strategy, writing and relationships. The mRELEVANCE team recently promoted a situational awareness rally in Atlanta, GA for former elite British Royal Commando Terry Vaughan. The goal of the rally was to teach women situational awareness.

Working on a short deadline (0nly four weeks), the mRELEVANCE team was able to achieve fantastic publicity!

Coverage in Atlanta-area newspapers such as the Northside Neighbor, as well as TV spots on BOTH Atlanta morning shows, Fox 5’s Good Day Atlanta and CBS Atlanta’s Better Mornings.

If your company needs help with its public relations strategy, traditional public relations or online public relations contact mRELEVANCE or call us at 770-383-3360.

Three Reasons you Should Avoid Online Public Relations

The heavy influence of the Internet has changed the way public relations professionals conduct business. Now, blogging is just as important as press releases and getting print online can even be more impressive that print in a traditional publication. And, many people have even begun utilizing online press release distribution sites to further increase exposure for their clients. However, for those that are still resisting the online influence, we want you to know that there are three great reasons not to bother with online PR.

1. If you are targeting old-fashioned journalists, there is not need to bother with the Internet. Without a doubt, there are probably still some old-school journalists that wait for stories to come to them through snail mail or similar means, and spending time putting your releases online will definitely not catch their attention. Of course, 70 to 75% of journalists do conduct researches for press releases online and you will be missing those opportunities, but, hey 30% is good enough, right?
2. If you want the decision of whether or not your content gets published to be in the hands of the media, then the Internet is not for you. Prior to online news sites, tradition journalists served as a gatekeeper for what was considered newsworthy. Now, you can decide whether your content is worthy of publishing. Of course, if you do not want that responsibility, then stick with traditional public relations. We have a great real estate public relations example of this. Atlanta home builder Bowen Family Homes recently launched a huge promotion in which they are giving away a new home for only a penny. Title the Penny Power Promotion, traditional publications were not interested because they considered it to be an advertising promotion. Well, Bowen Family Homes went around these gatekeepers to publish many news stories about the promotion online and get the word out anyway.
   
3. If you think Google results are randomly determined, the online public relations is definitely not for you. For those that believe good karma is all it takes to put you on page one of search engine results pages, it would be a waste of time to do any online posting. That way, if another deserving company shares a similar name or produces a similar product, potential customers will have just as good of a chance finding them on the Internet as they do of finding you.

I hope this has helped clarify whether or not it would be in your best interest to start incorporating online practices into your public relations.

Maximizing Online Public Relations

Do you already write and place news releases with traditional media -- magazines, newspapers, TV and radio? Have you thought about placing this same news online? With 80 to 90-percent of homebuyers shopping online first, having multiple ways for them to reach your site is important.
Repurposing and optimizing traditional news releases and positioning them in relevant ways online is important for 5 reasons:

1. Organic Search Engine Traffic - Google and other search engines LOVE fresh content -- whether it is on your website or posted to another URL (such as a press release distribution service) and linked back to your site.
2. Social Media - many bloggers and others who have embraced Web 2.0 are seeking content for their posts. If your content is easily accessible, it is more likely to be used.
3. Reputation Management - do you have negative stories online? Posting additional content that you have approved online to relevant and respected sources will often change your search engine results placements and bump the bad stories to page two.
4. Links - posting releases online can increase the number of incoming links to your site, and through the use of anchor text increase your site's relevance for key words and phrases.
5. Traditional Media - guess what? Reporters read online stories too. Posting new home community releases online can tweak a reporters interest and result in a traditional media placement.