Transcript PUBLIC RELATIONS AND THE INTERNET

PUBLIC RELATIONS
AND THE INTERNET
Chapter Nineteen
Public Relations and the Internet
History and Foundation
 Internet developed by the Dept. of
Defense as part of a communications
network during the Cold War in l969.
 The World Wide Web was developed by
physicist Tim Berners-Lee to enlarge the
Internet for multiple uses in l989.
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Web continued
The web is a collection of millions of
computers on the Internet that connect
using information in HTML, or hypertext
markup language.
 Multimedia can be combined using sound,
graphics, video, animation, etc. and serves
as a powerful tool in cyberspace.
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Internet and Its Importance to the
Profession
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Public relations professionals use the Internet as
a means to communicate with various
constituencies and as a commercial tool.
Consider in the year 2000, Americans spent
nearly 8 hours a week online, sending three
times as much e-mail as regular mail, and
spending $20 billion on online retail purchases.
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Communications Medium
Almost every organization has a website
today. There is a need for professionals to
be interactive specialists to communicate
via the Internet.
 The net also serves as a source for
research, correspondence, contacts,
internal and external communication
vehicles, and other media portals.
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Challenges
With tremendous growth expected,
practitioners have these challenges:
 The demand to be educated versus being
sold
 The need for real-time performance
 The need for customization
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Cyber Areas for the practice
E-mail
 Websites
 Online media relations
 Online monitoring
 Product promotion
 Investor relations
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E-mail
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Can be used internally as well as externally as a
tool
Newsletters, bulletins, announcements
Many publications now have been replaced with
electronic ones or co-exist
Feedback is quick and easy
Can’t replace face-to-face communication but
serves as an alternative
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Online Newsletters
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E-mail newsletters mostly used for external use
to customers, investors, or the media and have
some important differences from traditional print
newsletters:
No more than one page
Link content
Regularly sent
Encourage feedback
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Planned Web Sites are an
Important Interface with the Public
Development should include
planning and answer the
following questions:
 What is the goal?
 What is the content going
to include?
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How often will it be
edited?
How will design be
enhanced?
How interactive will it be?
How will use be tracked?
Who will be responsible?
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Websites
Should provide information that is needed.
The more that its objective is achieved, the
more “sticky” your site becomes.
 Stickiness is measured by the amount of
time visitors spend at the site and how
many pages they view.
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Exercise
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Using the rules of stickiness on page 447,
visit your college home page and evaluate
the stickiness. Is your college website a
strong site? Defend your answer.
(Link to homepage could be inserted here.)
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Online Publications
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Website newsrooms
 News releases
and via newswires—
general, financial, and
paid
 Other online publicity
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Speeches
Annual/Quarterly
reports
Annual meetings
Interviews
Digital press kits
Photos, profiles, ad
copy
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Need for Vigilance
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The public relations practitioner should monitor
the Internet with regard to:
 Discussion
groups, chat rooms which can be venues
for discontent and unscrupulous actions
 Rogue Web sites presenting negative or confusing
information
 Urban legends, which mostly contain bogus or
misleading information/rumors
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Product Promotion
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Internet provided the shift from bricks to clicks
economy
Buyers quickly access information without
interference
Adlinks are a promotional device used. It is a
small advertisement that promotes another site
or page and can automatically connect you to
the site references because of the hyperlink.
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Investor Relations
Can be used as a more controlled
communication mechanism to deal with
company stockholders and communities
 Investors can directly use to keep track of
investments and the market
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Intranets, Extranets, and
CD-ROMS
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Intranets expand internal communications
capabilities
Extranets allow the organization to use the
Internet to communicate to targeted external
targets
CD-ROMs (Compact Disc Read Only Memory)
can store unchangeable rich information and
increases capabilities and access
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What Knowledge and Skills Do I
Need to be a Practitioner in this
Area?
Blend of traditional skills of writing and
speaking
 Knowledge of media relations
 Communications knowledge
 Online Skills of the Internet
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Question…..
In your estimation, what makes up a
strong organizational website?
 Provide an example.
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Exercise
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In a group, create a website for a nonprofit organization of your choice. Do this
as a thumbnail sketch. What do you want
your site to communicate? Provide the
links you feel are important. Be prepared
to show and tell to your classmates.
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