How to make the most of your online PR

One of the most important tools for any business is public relations, as this helps to raise vital awareness of your company and create the appearance you want the public to have of you. There are two main types of PR: traditional PR and online PR services – each has a range of different benefits, although many companies don’t make the most of them.

In this day and age, it is important to utilise your online PR service in order to see a huge difference to your authority on the web. This is how you can make the most of your online PR:

Think and then act

Too many businesses miss out on exciting PR stories as the result of not thinking or acting upon something potentially news worthy. If you know that something exciting is happening with your business, make sure you are capitalizing on it. Plan ahead, create specific online campaigns and ensure that they are properly carried out by an expert online PR service. Strategic digital PR planning is key when it comes to ensuring that your press releases get published in the right time frame.

Building connections

As with traditional PR, building connections in the digital sector is a great way to get more stories published. Find other companies, magazines, websites and blogs who focus on your market and start building bridges – when the content is relevant you are much more to likely receive a positive response, so take the time to research rather than send emails out everywhere. The better the connections you make, the better your chances of having your updates published.

Using social media

Possibly the biggest tool in any digital PR’s pocket is social media – with these platforms you can create huge audiences and interact with the customers. This provides real-time contact, handling everything from customer enquiries all the way to reputation management, normally handling any complaints before they get too out-of-hand. Through encouraging dialogue you can create valuable insights to your company and the service provided; allowing you to make changes if needed or using interaction to inspire future campaigns.

Use all of your online PR options

If you’re using an online PR agency are you utilising all their different abilities? Chances are you’re not. Find out what they have on offer – it could be that you’re only using them to write press releases but they could be booking TV appearances, organising entire campaigns, and boosting your SEO to drive more traffic to your website. While you may not need the A-Z of online PR it could be well worth your time to deluge into new aspects to see what difference it can make. Talking to your agency will reveal areas that they believe will help you see the biggest difference – they are likely to suggest things that will see the biggest impact in the shortest time as this will reflect well on them. Whatever your budget, utilising PR services can drastically improve your companies’ public figure.