Jan 09

A key role for PR in online and social media marketing

Public relations is the discipline best equipped to manage and undertake the dialogue and conversations that brands and organisations need to engage in as an inevitable outcome of the explosion in social media.

That’s the view of Grant Common, managing Director of Sydney agency Network Communications, which has published a new website which provides a wide range of online educational tools explaining online and social media marketing and the role of PR within it.

Common says online represents a fundamental change in consumer beliefs and behaviour and that the online area is crying out for communications skills, which is what PR is able to offer Australian internet marketers.

“Digital interactive agencies, SEM companies and web developers all have a role to play, but PR is the new niche player that has arrived in this space to manage the digital dialogue,” he said.

Network, which claims to have the longest heritage in the online space amongst Australian PR agencies, has dumped all its other specialisations to concentrate on its core longstanding offering of B2B/IT and what it is calling ‘digital dialogue’.

The agency, which sees itself as a new breed of communications agency, says it offers the most comprehensive range of non-advertising online engagement services in the Australian digital media and internet-marketing environment.

“Our services allow businesses marketing their products and services online to be found by, engage with, and monitor the conversations of, consumers online.

“We specialise in online engagement by connecting companies in conversation, with the increasing numbers of Australians who daily consume a variety of user generated digital media options such as blogs, social networks, news, and forums,” said Grant Common.

Common said that other services offered complemented internet or online marketing techniques such as pay-per-click advertising.  This was achieved by optimising content on web sites and in media releases and announcements to rank high in the organic language listings on Google and other search engines.

“If you are a marketer who has only used advertising, online digital PR represent new opportunities to expand your horizons - and digital reach - in today’s internet marketing environment,” said Common.