Cheryl's Blog

High Tech PR

There’s no doubt that emerging technologies, especially online, are impacting public relations and marketing. As many have already discovered, blogs are the newest communication tool, and over 75,000 blogs are created daily.

For the past week, I’ve been researching other technologies that are changing the way PR works. Podcasting, RSS, SEO, and mobile marketing have developed as the blogosphere continues to grow. I’m still unsure about what some of this means, but Ketchum defines these new tools better than I ever could.

"Blogs: Online conversations, diaries, and commentaries of their owners on a variety of topics, whose growth in number to more than 9 million indicate that individual voices are more influential than ever in the marketplace.
Podcasting: A Web-based broadcast medium in which audio files are made available online – it’s blogging gone audio. Essentially, podcasts are niche radio programs on the Web that enable organizations to bypass mainstream media gatekeepers to deliver messages directly to the marketplace. Already, there are 5,000-plus podcasts and counting, and three out of every ten iPod/MP3 player-owners have downloaded a podcast.
Really Simple Syndication, or RSS: A method for ensuring broad distribution of blogs and podcasts by circumventing cluttered e-mail boxes and delivering information upon request directly to consumers, journalists and others who sign up to receive it. RSS is experiencing rapid interest and adoption in the U.S. as users of iPods and other MP3 players multiply; already most journalists use RSS aggregators to keep them up-to-date on breaking news.
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO: Control of the order that links appear on the results pages of key online search engines. This enables, for instance, links to organizations’ Web sites to appear top-of-list for qualified audiences such as consumers and reporters.
Mobile Marketing: Delivers a wide variety of marketing information via mobile phones anytime and anywhere. In 2004, wireless users numbered an estimated 668.5 million with 14.6 million new users in China alone in the 2004 fourth quarter. Mobile technology is still evolving with wireless devices and quickly turning into multimedia devices, thereby expanding the possibilities for mobile-marketing content."

New tools have many professionals searching for ways to keep up with Joneses. More importantly, however, the concern is what to do after they figure out what tools they want to use. I thought I was the only one having a hard time figuring the blogosphere out, but even national conferences are being held to discuss the implications and importance of new technology in the PR industry.

Citizen journalists, CEO’s and students like myself are discovering the importance of these tools at the same time. There isn’t an expert or theory to turn to. We’re all figuring it out together. Although we may not know if the blogosphere will stick around, we can weigh the pros and cons of online tools and their impact on the communications industry right now.

Overall, new online technology tools allow companies to be more transparent and consumers to offer feedback more quickly. Anyone who has an opinion can voice their concerns on the web. Corporations can also track consumers’ interest in their operations. Schwartzman and Associates part of their business and website to online media tools for clients, showing how quickly professionals are changing the way they approach business.

On the other hand, I think focusing too much on the latest, “hippest” technology, people completely side-step the possible disadvantages and shortcomings. Too much of a good thing is always possible, and the vast amount of blogs makes it almost impossible to search through all the information. Just like advertising, consumers may start ignoring mobile messages. What if people don’t want to be tracked or sent information about a company just because they visited a website? What if people don’t want to be contacted through grassroots marketing?

As technology continues to move forward, it’s important to keep in mind where to draw the line. I think as the interest in online media tools levels off, a balance between information and application of new technology will make it easier to navigate in the blogosphere.

posted by Cheryl @ 10:48 AM