e-Consultancy in the UK holds regular roundtable briefings and the July briefing was about Online PR. The report, now available for download, shows that while many companies are aware of the need for defensive online PR (reputation monitoring,) proactive campaigns are still not the norm. They attrribute this to the lack of experts in the field.
The report highlights a few market trends:
- A growing awareness that online PR can increase visibility
- The benefits of Online PR are becoming more tangible and measurable
- The rise of consumer generated content and blogging means it has become vital to monitor, engage with and respond to what is being said about you, your brand or your service online
- A disconnect between PR and digital is holding back the use of proactive online PR
Key points from the roundtable discussion
- There is a need to identify online influencers - and they may not be who you think they are
- How and when brands should participate online
- How to measure online benefits and success
- Who owns online PR and who pays for it?
There are also some very interesting and helpful statistics in the report.
You can download a copy of the full report at http://www.e-consultancy.com/publications/online-pr-roundtable-briefing-september-2007/