Generating Word of Mouth Buzz Through Interactive PR

Seana Mulcahy at MediaPost recently wrote a piece about using social media and other tools to build word-of-mouth promotion online. There are a number of online tools and methods to spread word of mouth online, but a key one is interactive PR.

In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott writes about designing PR efforts that are actually for the public: "The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media. Blogs, online news releases, and other forms of Web content let organizations communicate directly with buyers...and here's something really neat: if you do a good job telling your story directly, the media will find out. And then they'll write about you!" That's online word of mouth.

So what is interactive PR exactly? The term, originated (I believe) on the Six Pillars blog, includes a number of tactics, including keyword-optimizing your news releases and promoting them through online services such as PRWeb.com, social media and blogs. WebMarketCentral now includes a more complete guide with links to related web marketing strategies. Wikipedia also provides a pretty good definition. It's also been embraced by the Council of Public Relations Firms.

But in short, interactive PR is about rethinking your PR strategy. Instead of writing press releases as one-way, frequently ignored communication exclusively with the media, write news releases about thought-leadership content, directed at prospects. Distribute and promote your news through Web 2.0 venues. Give your readers a way to respond to you and share your information. And most importantly, give them news and information worth sharing.

*****

The website promotion marketing site: WebMarketCentral.com

The only Minneapolis-based marketing & PR agency focused exclusively on B2B lead generation and go-to-market strategy for IT companies: KC Associates

Contact Mike Bannan: mike@digitalrdm.com

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