Online PR in 2009: Proof and Problem Solving
No big, bold, universal theories from me here at C&M HQ – just a couple of thoughts on how and where we’re most likely to see Online PR being used in the first half of next year.
Like some other folks in our industry I’m not altogether downbeat on what next year might hold for the world of Online PR (see here and here for some good examples of positive thinking). In fact, I’m relatively bullish. This is because I see Online PR working really well in the following areas:
i) Online PR Proof of (Cost) Concepts
We’re seeing (and enjoying!) a bunch of Online PR projects getting commissioned as a ‘proof of concept’ vs a traditional PR program. Our clients are experimenting by freeing up a sensible amount of cash to ‘play off’ Online PR vs offline methods – to gain some valuable experience and see how far their money will go with all this new-fangled stuff.
In times like these, this type of thinking makes sense – whatever the outcome… And in practise, we’ve been able to generate some great results with positive and negative outcomes for the traditional PR camp (ideally, what we do compliments traditional PR… but sometimes we’re finding it just makes better commercial sense to back an online campaign instead of an offline campaign.)
ii) Online PR for Problem Solving
Online PR for problem solving is another other area for action. This is quite a large bucket of activity, ranging from help with ‘reputation management’ (or crisis comms) to more brute (but innovative!) ideas for helping to generate meaningful leads in tough times.
Again, we’re running some of these campaigns against or alongside traditional PR campaigns… But in the majority of cases they represent new solutions to new problems (for example, we’re currently looking into a thorny issue caused by Google’s ‘Auto Suggest’ search function – a branding concern that didn’t even exist 12 months ago).
…and that’s kind of it for the first six months of 2009. We’re already booked out, with most of the work falling into these two camps.
The other thing we hope to see next year is a new form of (healthy) skepticism injected into most things we say and do in the workplace. For more on this, check out this great post (‘Sublime Skepticism’) from my good friend (and client) Steve Morgan at Squiz.
His business (open source content management) is the perfect thing for next season’s cost-conscious enterprise IT recessionista. And, like him, we’re also expecting some positive returns on a new wave of questions.
The lines of enquiry we expect to see are fairly obvious… things like:
- Am I getting value for money?
- Is this activity measurable?
- How does this effect my bottom line?
- Am I generating anything of tangible value?
- ….and so forth
I love these kinds of challenges. I think they’ll make the world of business a better, more responsible place next year – and they’re certainly attuned to the sweet spots of Online PR: ie, better, more measurable, more-cost effective communication.
Anyways, enough of C&M, what about you? If you’re into Online PR, how do you see it shaking out next year…? …and are you going to be a ‘Sublime Skeptic’ in 2009 or not?
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