Introduction to Digital Public

Relations
UNZA, 2021
What is Public Relations?

• The Public Relations Society of

America (PRSA) defines public
relations as “a strategic
communication process that builds
mutually beneficial relationships
between organizations and their
publics”
Digital Media and PR: The Evolving Profession
• With the emergence of new media in the 21st century, the
communication industry has been revolutionalized. Although digital
or social media provides an advantage to reach the audience in
minimum time, it is critical to draft a right message for social media or
new media in general.
• Digital media has indeed changed the way of communication for
public relations practitioners around the world.
• Now information is disseminated much quicker through the internet
and mobile phones.
• Something happened to the public relations
practice with the birth of the Internet, and
later with the emergence of the Web 2.0 or
‘new media’.
• It is widely agreed upon that communication
technologies introduced in the last decades
have had an enormous impact on the
communication dynamics between
institutions and the public (Wolf and Archer,
2018; Verčič, Verčič and Sriramesh, 2014;
Brown, 2009).
• Public relations were previously based on one-way communication
from the institutions to the people, and the public had little to no
chance to speak back to the institutions. Most of the time they had to
trust what they were being told (Brown, 2009).

• Brown claims that the communication practice is going through a

radical change and is greatly impacted by the technological revolution,
“every aspect of how we exchange information is feeling the impact of
the technological revolution” (Brown, 2009, p. 4).
• The biggest change is within the
core of the public relations practice
and within the infrastructure of
communications; voluntarily
renouncing control and giving way
for information democratisation.
• Although there are more factors than media technology involved in
the process, one way to describe it from a public relations point of
view is that the digitalization of society and digital media within the
public relations practice have resulted in the relinquishing of top-
down communications, and led to the birth of two-way
communication. Thanks to media technologies, the public in public
relations have become users (Verčič, Verčič and Sriramesh, 2014).
• Simonson (2016) explains that
through adding digital dialogic
communication tools (ex. Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram) to public relations
strategies, institutions move beyond
solely informing (one-way
communication) the people, and do
instead consult and empower (two-
way communication) the
stakeholders.
• This can also be referred to as an information-communicative society
(Shabanova, 2019), who further concludes that online communication
speeds up information distribution through media democratisation
on a global scale, and allows for more voices of society to be audible.
• The real change that many scholars point to in digital public relations,
compared to ‘traditional’ public relations, is the democratisation of
communications. But there are others that highlight that although
there are new forms of communications and public relations taking
shape and dominating the market, the old forms of the practice do
not necessarily disappear (Brown, 2009; Wolf and Archer, 2018).
• According to Wolf and Archer, the core premises and basics of public
relations have not changed with the use of new technologies within the
field.
• It can even be stated that many practitioners simply copy-paste their
communication methods to the digital environment, which undermines the
true potentials and capabilities of digital public relations. Due to this, one
can argue that public relations have not changed as much by the digital
revolution as we might think (Grunig, 2009)
• In this day and age it is imperative that public relations practice would
need to adapt to technological advancement happening around the
world and utilize this advancement as tools to effectively reach its
audiences and achieve the communication objectives.

• To achieve public relations, it has become important for a PR

practitioner to adapt to these new changes.
• The new technologies and methods of communication have made
public relations a much more versatile and effective tool.

• New communication technologies allow inventive ways to accomplish

a public relations campaign to build stronger association and trust
between businesses and target consumers.
• Public relations professionals across the world today are exposed to a range of
new communication channels. Web-based media tools like blogs, podcasts,
online video and social network have become a platform for voicing opinions for
people around the globe.

• Although mainstream media is playing the main role in dissemination of

information even then new media especially social media are influencing the
traditional media .

• Innovation in technology has been influencing the public relations practitioners

do their work. Press releases once typed and sent via ordinary mail are now sent
via e-mail or fax and now even via social media.
• Research indicates that most public relations practitioners are now
using digital media or social media and have found that they have
seen it as common practice now (Galloway, 2005) many public
relations practitioners are finding it difficult to adopt and struggling
with the impact of new media and particularly the internet.
• Researchers have also found that existing professionals are not fully accepting
new media as they are ill-equipped to do so and some of them have a fear of
the technology .

• In some studies it also came across the fact that new media is forcing PR to
change as it is increasing the stakeholder strength via facilitating
communication within and between different stakeholder groups.

• Research has also established that new media technology and internet have
provided public relations professionals a capability to gather information and
keep an eye on public opinion on issues, and directly connect with its publics
about all the issues of concern
Evolving Profession
• As media changes, so does the
PR profession.
• PR adapts to societal
needs/situations.
• PR adapts to technological
changes.
What is Digital PR?
• The Public Relations (PR) industry is ever evolving and deals with the
promotion of ideas, activities, and interests of a company.

• It develops and sustains a positive public image to increase public

awareness

• With the evolution of the internet, the public relations sector has been
affected largely and has led to the creation of Digital PR.

• However, what is Digital PR and how can it be used effectively in today’s

constantly changing market is a question asked by most PR professionals.
• Digital public relations or e-PR or rather dot.com public relations
is the latest concept in corporate reputation management. It is
the practice of public relations through the new information
communication technologies (ICTs). It is an innovative concept
that is computer mediated. It is public relations practice in the
cyber-space. It is highly creative, strategic, fast, result-oriented
and yet cheap.
• Digital PR is using online platforms to manage and grow the
reputation and awareness of your business.

• You achieve this through building relationships with online

journalists, bloggers, and influencers relevant to your business.
The end goal of this tactic is to win earned media exposure across
a range of online platforms, including: News sites, Blogs, Podcasts,
Social media, Business networks

• Digital PR enables companies to create super-targeted campaigns

across a wide range of online mediums, with the aim of reaching
and influencing their target audience.
• When done properly, digital public relations can be a vital tool in
improving your reputation, growing your exposure and improving
your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

• The main element of online PR is maximizing favourable mentions of

an organization, its brand, products and websites on third-party sites,
which are more likely to be visited by the target audience. In essence,
it’s another way to get the antennas out and to spread the word.
• Online PR activity is closely associated with improving results from
many of the other digital marketing communications techniques in
particular social media, SEO (link-building), partnership marketing and
viral marketing / word-of-mouth marketing.

• Online PR can be a great, low-cost technique for making more people

aware of your brand or website, but it requires a lot of hard-work -
there are no short corners.
• When PR was first implemented, companies focused on gaining publicity
and enhancing image by using various types of media to promote their
clients.

• There were downsides to this as Public Relations agencies were more

dependent on the media and it was hard to reach a broad customer base
and keep the information available for long periods of time. Digital Public
Relations (PR) has directly impacted the way PR agencies conduct business
for their customers.
• The rise of the internet has made this field much more dynamic allowing
business entities to disseminate information to a much broader range of
people and to keep the information available for longer periods of time.

• Firms are not reliant on a press release in newspapers or magazines that are
replaced by the next issue. Search Engines like Google have allowed the
information to remain and to be found easily and quickly with just a few words
typed by anyone searching for information on a particular company or subject.

• Success of Digital PR efforts is dependent on the usage of several key tools

together including social media, blogs and search engine optimization
 Social Media
• Social Media has emerged as a platform making communication easier
for individuals. Users exchange, co-create and share information easily
with broader reach, permanence and quick response rate.

• Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter have gained immense
popularity in this regard. The introduction of mobile devices and
smartphones mean that people have information at their fingertips
anytime, anywhere.
• It is easy for PR agencies to create relationships with fans, optimise
social media content, develop positive media and manage any
negative brand attention by making use of social media sites.

• An understanding of social media promotion is essential to the

success of digital PR.
Blogs

• A blog acts as an extremely effective PR tool if managed correctly. A

company blog is a great opportunity to create and publish content
that attracts the eyes of the audience that is then routed to the site.

• By using online promotion tactics in the blog, it can be easily found by

people looking for information and shared throughout the blogging
community as well as people like journalists researching information.
 Search Engine Optimisation
• It means the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people
search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other
search engines. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more
likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to
your business.

• It’s the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as
well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as "organic") search
engine results.
• Despite the acronym, SEO is as much about people as it is about
search engines themselves. It’s about understanding what people are
searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re
using, and the type of content they wish to consume.

• Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to connect to

the people who are searching online for the solutions you offer.
• Most individuals use the Search option to find news content online. They enter a few
keywords and expect results in return. This makes an understanding of Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO) and keywords optimizing news content vital for digital PR
professionals.

• It is easy to optimize news content like video, images, and press releases by ensuring that
appropriate keywords and popular phrases are attached. Improving search visibility does
not help with marketing efforts only, but it also helps create an online reputation and
attract journalists, analysts and bloggers researching your industry.
• Digital public relations involves issuing online news releases to inform
stakeholders about an organization’s services or updates to these
services, leveraging the power of journalism networks and disseminating
information through the Internet.

• Content seekers take the information provided and do one of two things:
repurpose the information while citing the source, or pass along the
content in its entirety to their constituencies.
• True information seekers, whether potential students, journalists
looking for a good story, or those who are looking for content for their
website, will help attract more visitors to an organization’s site over
time, gaining “the highest ranking possible in the natural search
results, i.e., what the search engine algorithm deems important for
the phrase entered” (Scott).
• The natural search results, usually referred to as “organic” results, represent
websites that did not pay to be listed and will not be charged by the search
engine if the user clicks on an organic link.
• A certain percentage of those visitors who discover a website through links
created by digital PR will browse the content on the site, others will request
information, and some of them will sign up for the programs that meet their
professional and continuing education needs.
• Ranking well in Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines, website
optimization strategies and online news releases offer attractive benefits at a
nominal cost.
 The Difference between Organic and Paid Search
Engine Results
• When a search engine returns its search results, it gives you two types: organic
and paid. Organic search results are the Web page listings that most closely
match the user’s search query based on relevance. Also called “natural” search
results, ranking high in the organic results is what SEO is all about.

• Paid results are basically advertisements — the Web site owners have paid to
have their Web pages display for certain keywords, so these listings show up
when someone runs a search query containing those keywords.
• On a search results page, you can tell paid results from organic ones
because search engines set apart the paid listings, putting them
above or to the right of the organic results, or giving them a shaded
background, border lines, or other visual clues.

• The following figures show the difference between paid listings and
organic results.
• When someone conducts a search using keywords or branded terms,
search engines return what they determine to be the most well matched
results based on their algorithms.

• These results are called SERPs. When looking at SERPs, the results at the
very top and on the upper right-hand side of the page are paid search
results (you’ll see a small “ad” next to these results so you can tell the
difference).
• The results that appear directly below paid ads are unpaid, or organic.
These results are served up by search engines based on what they
determine to be the best match for the entered search terms. In the
example below, we illustrate this based on the keyword terms “email
marketing services.”

• The purple box on the right highlights paid results (display and pay per
click), and the results in the purple box on the left display organic results.
• When your business appears in organic search results, you directly
benefit from increased brand awareness, as well as more website and
in store visits with no associated cost, as we discussed above.
• The typical Web user might not realize they’re looking at apples and
oranges when they get their search results. Knowing the difference enables
a searcher to make a better informed decision about the relevancy of a
result.

• Additionally, because the paid results are advertising, they may actually be
more useful to a shopping searcher than a researcher (as search engines
favour research results).
• When combined with search engine optimization (SEO), digital PR
results in maximum visibility and traffic to an organization’s website.
The goal of SEO is to make a website more appealing to users and
more easily found and indexed by search engines such as Google,
Yahoo, and Bing, using appropriate keywords.
• It is important to understand the goals of the companies that develop the
search engines. These companies are in the business of providing materials
of value to users who are searching for information they need.

• If you have valuable content on your site and you want people to find it, so
do the search engines. They would like their algorithms to make your site
show up in the top 10 results.
• The algorithms are not capable of reading minds, but they are
programmed to recognize such things as how many sites link to the
pages being sought and how often these pages are visited (Westfall).
The underlying assumption is that if many other websites link to a
site, that particular website is trustworthy, and it rises in importance
in the rankings (Phillips and Young).
•Watch video tutorial on SEO