How the Online Space has Transformed the Way PR Professionals Practice
As the world continues to become increasingly technological, the days of media kits and faxing through a press release are becoming less apparent. A recent study has shown that out of the approx. 7.676 billion people on the planet, 4.388 billion of those people are internet users (Kemp, S 2019). Considering that number showed a 9.1% growth from the previous year, this usage is expected to continue to soar (Kemp, S 2019). With news available at the click of a button, the demand for immediate, real-time information is increasing (McKenna, R 1997). Public relations focuses on building and maintaining relationships between clients and their target publics, similarly social media and other online programs play a vital role in connecting and engaging with people. This essay will address how utilising the online world in collaboration with traditional PR tactics will assist PR practitioners to manage crises, open a two-way communication channel, increase engagement, portray key messages and reach their target audience.
Press releases are commonly used by PR practitioners to give journalists and the public information regarding an upcoming event, crisis or company updates. Traditionally, they follow a one-way communication model, allowing PR professionals to send out controlled and accurate key messages (Tench, R, & Yeomans). Before social media and the internet, press releases were faxed through to journalists in the hopes of gaining free media. The construct of a press release remains the same, however, the mediums used to send them have changed. Throughout my internship I wrote multiple press releases, all focusing on portraying QTIC’s key messages to their target public(s). We used a specific contact list which included all of Queensland’s news channels, from radio stations to TV networks to increase the chance of the story getting picked up by a journalist. Instead of fax, businesses now use email to communicate with journalists and news outlets, so no matter the time or place PR professionals and journalists can connect. Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform and an email marketing service commonly used by PR people to monitor the success of these emails (Mailchimp 2019). Once an email has been sent, a report showing the click rate, open rate, unsubscribers becomes available, giving PR practitioners insight into whether their communication strategies are working, allowing them to alter it if necessary.
Social media and email subscriptions enable PR officers to connect with their target public(s) immediately. Social media is a cost-effective approach that can dramatically increase brand awareness and engagement (Boitnott, J 2017). The ability to interlink social media accounts through using hashtags drives traffic to a campaigns various channels and targets multiple audiences (Coyle, R 2019). Social media has transformed the way people communicate with each other. The internet allows people from all different locations and time zones to communicate simultaneously and immediately. Before social media, messages were often conveyed using a one-way communication model via more traditional forums (DeFleur, Margaret, Kearney, P, Plax, T & DeFleur, Melvin 2014). Now, hashtags are apart of a two-way communication model which allows both the sender (PR Practitioner) and the receiver of the message (target audience) to have back and forth communication with each other, limiting the amount of noise (misinterpretation) of the PR clients message (DeFleur, Margaret, Kearney, P, Plax, T & DeFleur, Melvin 2014). Hashtags are a tool that can be measured, allowing the success of a campaign, and user engagement to be tracked. Throughout my internship, we regularly used the hashtag “#qtic” when posting on social media to create a consistent thread of posts on Instagram, to expand our reach.
The ability to communicate immediately is of great benefit to PR practitioners, especially in times of crisis. According to Hamish McLean, “the first 48 hours after a crisis are the most critical for an organisation as it aims to reassure people that it can deal with, and resolve, the crisis,” (Yusni, E 2014). During this time the public will determine whether or not to support the organisation in crisis. If the organisation does not begin communication with its target public(s) during this time, it can result in blame and irreversible reputational damage (McLean, H, Power, H, 2005).
A less formal tactic PR professionals use to target and segment their desired audience is Electronic Direct Mail (EDM). A businesses’ target audience can sometimes be comprised of multiple groups of people. QTIC, for example has 3 major stakeholders they connect with, these include:
1- QTIC members (i.e. QLD tourism businesses)
For QTIC to be able to advocate for these businesses, they require support from their members.
2- QTIC Board Members
The board members represent a range of sectors across the QLD tourism and hospitality industry and provide QTIC with expert guidance (Queensland Tourism Industry Council 2019).
3- Government officials
These are the people QTIC appeal to for grants and funding to enable them to continue their workforce development programs.
These stakeholders are equally important, however, how they are communicated to/ how often they are communicated to differs. Market segmentation in the form of an EDM allows businesses to connect with each target market appropriately. Throughout my time at QTIC I created several EDM’s, some using formal language, others more casual, it all was dependent on the target audience of the EDM. Through using Mailchimp to create these, we were able to personalise the emails to the appropriate target public, resulting in a two-way communication model and further engagement through the replies to the EDM.
Through using traditional PR tactics such as press releases in the online world as well as social media and EDM’s, PR professionals can connect and participate in a two-way communication model with all their different target audiences. The internet and automation platforms such as Mailchimp allow communication to be immediate, with location and time no longer acting as boundaries. In terms of PR, there is no doubt that the future is digital.
References
Boitnott, J 2017, 5 Ways You Should Be Using Social Media as Your Top PR Platform, weblog, 7 July, viewed 12 September 2019, < https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/bhow-social-media-is-now-your-primary-public-rel.html >.
Coyle, R 2019, The importance of social media, viewed 12 September 2019,<https://hardenpartners.com/the-importance-of-social-media/>.
DeFleur, Margaret, Kearney, P, Plax, T & DeFleur, Melvin 2014, Fundamentals of Human Communication, Social Science in Everyday Life,4 edn, McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, America.
Kemp, S 2019, Digital 2019: Global Internet Use Accelerates, weblog, 30 January, viewed 21 September 2019, <https://wearesocial.com/blog/2019/01/digital-2019-global-internet-use-accelerates >.
Mailchimp 2019, Your business is growing. Now what?, viewed 16 September 2019, <https://mailchimp.com/>.
McKenna, R 1997, Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never Satisfied Customer, 1 edn, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, America.
McLean, H, Power, H, 2005, Crisis Command: Strategies for Managing Corporate Crises, viewed 10 September 2019, <https://www.ark-group.com/sites/default/files/product-key-contents/crisiscommandTOC.pdf.pdf>.
One-way communication model, n.d., image, viewed 18 September 2019, <https://www.slideserve.com/penelope-newton/chapter-5-the-communication-process>.
Pexels 2019, image, viewed 18 September 2019, <https://www.pexels.com/photo/three-women-standing-near-man-holding-smartphones-1262971/>.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council 2019, Our Board, viewed 15 September 2019, <https://www.qtic.com.au/about/our-board/>.
Tench, R, & Yeomans, L 2013, Exploring Public Relations, 3 edn, Pearson Education Limited, chapter 8, p. 144-162, viewed 10 September 2019, <https://nscpolteksby.ac.id/ebook/files/Ebook/Business%20Administration/Exploring%20Public%20Relations%20(2006)/10.%20Part%202%20Chapter%208%20-%20Public%20relations%20theories%20an%20applied%20overview.pdf>.
Two-way communication model, n.d., image, viewed 13 September 2019, <http://bconsi.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-is-two-way-communication-in-business.html >.
Yusni, E 2014, ‘Clock is ticking on Malaysia Airlines in crisis management’, The Conversation, 10 March, viewed 18 September 2019, <http://theconversation.com/clock-is-ticking-on-malaysia-airlines-in-crisis-management-24160>.
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