Leveraging the Web to Manage and Measure Public Perception
by Kent Lewis of Anvil Media, Inc.
Kent started his presentation with some stark statistics that underscored the importance of social media and search engine marketing public relations (SEM PR):
– 98% of journalists go online daily
– 92% use the Web for article research
– 76% search for expert sources
– 73% search for press releases
Source: Middleberg-Ross Pew Internet Study
Using real-world examples, Kent outlined the latest strategies for search engine marketing public relations (SEM PR). By offering a ton of valuable tips and tactics, Kent managed to nudge our our audience of communications professionals a bit closer to the world of online marketing for PR.
Some take aways from the presentation (My comments are in italics):
- Your website newsroom is not just for press anymore.
– Don’t password protect newsroom (I know there’s a statistic out there for this one…anybody out there know?)
– Newsroom version 2.0 features
o Email signup
o RSS feeds
o Webinars
o Podcasts
- Use the “3Cs” of search engine optimization (SEO) for your press releases:
– Content – Make sure your content is flush with keywords (But don’t do so at the expense of readability)
– Code – Modify your web URL tags to match keywords (This is like creating a strong magnet for search engines)
– Credibility – Keep content compelling and make sure keywords are relevant (Yes, searches are intelligent)
- Incorporate pay-per-click (PPC) in your press releases. Start with one important press release, purchase relevant keywords and test the results.
- Add links on your site to places that have already picked up your stories.
- Be sure to include articles in your SEO strategy
– Address an industry issue
– Optimize (See above)
– Syndicate to relevant industry sites
- Tweak your homepage “at least” once/per month with new relevant keywords to stay on top of Google’s search
- Manage your online reputation using social media
– Include your top executives on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc…
– Use LinkedIn’s Q and A feature, which can generate awareness, interest and leads
– Blogs, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
– Include competitor and/or naysayer sites in your PPC strategy
It was clear that Kent knew his stuff and I enjoyed being on the receiving end of truly “expert” advice. I visited Anvil’s website, too, and was pretty impressed overall (a rare occurrence for yours truly). In addition to being user friendly and simple, the site is a direct reflection of the company and it actually demonstrates what they preach.
PRESENTATION TIDBIT: Did you know that the large PR firms were blacklisted from updating Wikipedia?!