Phillips D., Young P. Online Public Relations

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or through a specialist third party. For example, knowing that multi-player

online games are a hugely popular form of communication does not mean

that the average PR executive has to be a level-10 player. What is important

is that s/he needs to know about these games, how they work and why

people ﬁnd them absorbing as a means for communication in small groups

or across the world.

As more people have spent more time with faster online connections,

new channels have appeared. Some of them have become bywords for

communication, including search engines like Google, encyclopaedias like

Wikipedia, online diaries such as blogs, social media portals like Facebook,

Bebo and MySpace, online games and virtual environments. Fashions come

and go for these channels. Relatively few people now use Usenet, one of the

early social media channels, and traditional websites are less sought a�er,

but some social media channels are gaining popularity at an exponential

rate.

People are routinely using many diﬀerent communication channels, and

o�en using them concurrently.

Avid fans of the early Big Brother programme are reported to have fol-

lowed the television programme, conversed about it using blogs and

instant messaging (IM), found out stuﬀ about the participants on websites

and voted ‘housemates’ on and oﬀ the programme using mobile phones.

This was all done while the programme was live on-air. This adds a new

dimension to reach. It means that reach can be and o�en is multi-channel,

and indeed can be multi-channel at the same time (synchronous) and at dif-

ferent times (asynchronous). This means that the user can choose a range

of channels, of which a number can be interactive, allowing communica-

tion with other people who are also interested in the programme/activity.

Whether the practitioner can also claim the a�ention of the public is a mute

point. Did members of the audience glance at the television or did they

watch the PC screen, or did they toggle between the two, picking up the

mobile phone as light relief from such intense activity.

While we oﬀer insights into channels for communication – and there are

many – new ones emerge all the time. Students of communication have

to be able ﬁnd ways that help future-proof their professional knowledge

and understanding of channels. In Part 3, which deals with planning and

management, we present methodologies for identifying and strategically

applying channels tactically, for communication and relationship building.

Many of them also provide information to inform the strategic relationship

and communication process of public relations planning.

First we need to know about these means for interaction. How do we

identify existing, emerging and new channels for communication? Some

simply come from lists in books like this, or are featured by PR bloggers

like Steve Rubel (h�p://www.micropersuasion.com/) or on podcasts such

as For Immediate Release (h�p://www.forimmediaterelease.biz), but others

Channels for communication

127

enter the consciousness of communities and migrate into the mainstream

by what seems to be a magical osmosis. For example, at the time of going

to press, the game World of Warcra� (a massively multi-player online role-

playing game – MMORPG ) had a 9-million community of players who not

only can interact online with each other but also pay to play it. Games as

a communication channel oﬀer deeply immersive environments for com-

munication and yet, beyond the genre, are not well known as an internet

channel for communication.

Since 1995, the research company Gartner has used ‘hype cycles’ to char-

acterize the over-enthusiasm or ‘hype’ and subsequent disappointment that

typically happens with the introduction of new technologies.

The social

so�ware hype cycle (Figure 14.1) highlights the most important technologies

that support rich social interactions, which is a useful indication of emerging

and maturing channels for communication.

As new channels arrive, there are a number of things that PR practition-

ers should know and master and that are needed as part of the processes

involved in planning and management (see Chapter 16). We have identiﬁed

that there are 20 things practitioners need to know about channels for

communication.

Figure 14.1 The Gartner social so�ware hype cycle

VoIP

Internal Web Services

visibility

Mashup

IPv6

Speech Recognition for

Mobile Devices

Corporate Semantic Web

RSS Enterprises

Model-Driven Architectures

Collective Intelligence

Event-Driven Architecture

Telepresence

Speech-to-Speech Translation

Ofﬂine Ajax

Augmented Reality

Prediction Markets

Quantum

Computing

Tera-architectures

DNA Logic

Web 2.0

Folksonomies

Digital Paper/E-Paper

Social Network Analysis

RFID (Item)

Grid Computing

Ajax

RFID (Case/Pallet)

Biometric Payments

Wikis

Corporate Blogging

Mesh Networks:

Sensor

Tablet

Enterprise Instant Messaging

Location-Aware Technology

Mobile Phone Payments

Smartphone

Location-Aware Applications

As of July 2006

obsolete

less than 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years more than 10 years before plateau

Technology Peak of Inﬂated Trough of Slope of Enlightenment Plateau of

rigger expectations Disillusionment productivity

time

Years to mainstream adoption:

Building blocks for online PR

128

It is well beyond the scope of this book to provide deﬁnitive data about

all media (we identiﬁed some of them in Chapter 2). It would be a tome if

we were to a�empt to view every channel from every potential application,

and would require the combined imagination of millions of people seeking

new ways to communicate every day.

Some platforms and some channels for communication will be and are

relevant to some domains of practice. The BlackBerry, is already part of the

dress code of crisis management PR professionals.

One’s perspective of social media in politics will be very diﬀerent from

an approach for application in business-to-business PR or internal com-

munications.

Using communications channels has seven elements:

 the medium;

 interactive elements;

 application;

 policy and optimization requirements;

 monitoring and evaluation;

 buy-in;

 planning and implementation.

THE MEDIUM

The media

Title The generic name, eg e-mail, wiki, etc.

Deﬁnition A description such as: ‘Printed newspaper publication

issued periodically, usually daily or weekly, to convey

information and opinion about current events’ or ‘A blog,

an online, regularly updated journal or newsle�er that is

readily accessible to the general public by virtue of being

posted on a website’.

Brief history From wikipedia or another resource.

Fast facts How the practitioner would explain this channel for

communication really quickly. For example: ‘About 1,500

printed local, regional and national mass media, with 21

million people reading national newspapers each day’ or

‘Interactive, personal interest web communication channel

published by about 4 million people in the UK’.

Communication

platforms

eg Paper, PC, laptop, mobile phone, print, TV.

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129

The key here is to create a brief explanation that can be useful for the

practitioners and will enlighten people who are not professional commun-

icators. The nature of media and the nature of communicators will dictate

how diﬀerent media are described.

INTERACTIVITY

Interactive elements

How do people (the public/s)

contribute to this channel?

To what extent is this common (past/now/

future)? Is this interaction predominantly

exercised by the publisher or user? What is the

context for use?

How does the public share

knowledge of content in this

channel, using this channel

and across other channels?

To what extent is this common (past/now/

future)? What is the context for interaction

(eg must it be using a PC or mobile phone

or speciﬁc channel, or will it use convergent

channels)?

Risk analysis (nature of the

risk, likelihood of occurrence,

extent of potential damage,

mitigation procedure/s extent

of amelioration achievable)

Risk can be to a publisher, user or third party,

and one person’s risk can be someone else’s

opportunity. Of which more later.

In PR, where much of the activity is focused on social motivation, this

analysis is important, and never more so than in evaluating the medium for

eﬃcacy in reaching relationship and communication goals.

APPLICATION

Application

What services are available to help

the practitioner set up/deploy this

channel (so�ware; suppliers and/or

contractors; expert people that the

practitioner could employ on behalf

of a client)?

Services to aid communicators (such

as lists, technologies and vendor

applications) can be very diverse

and can be implemented using

convergence to good eﬀect. The lists

of such services and lists of vendors

who can help is relevant, as is training

and CPD.

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130

Applying channels for communication is not something to take lightly. We

already know that it takes time and training to be good at press relations

or conference organization. In just the same way, the use of social media

requires acquisition of skills and capabilities in addition to an understanding

of the advantages of one medium over another to achieve speciﬁc goals

or how the mix and match of various media combine to be more eﬀective

together than when used in isolation.

POLICY AND OPTIMIZATION

How is the technology implemented

(ie the steps involved)?

It is important to have access to

detailed learning about how many

of these channels work and what

is required to implement them. In

some consultancies, internal wikis

oﬀer detailed advice to employees on

implementation.

Policy and optimization requirements

Internal/external policies (examples

of such policies will be needed if

the practitioner is going to use this

channel)

All communication deployed for

organizations will be guided by

policy. For social media, which by

their nature are more personal and

more direct, there is an overriding

mantra: ‘Everything you do online

can be seen by anyone for the rest of

your life and beyond – is this activity

how your family, peers , friends or

employers do or will judge you now

or in the future?’

How does the practitioner optimize

this channel to help people ﬁnd/use

it?

This may seem like a simple

SEO question but it goes much

further. Optimization may also

include context, content, tone of

voice, frequency of activity, online

community interactivity, added value

online advertising or integration with

a convergent coms channel.

Channels for communication

131

The combination of policy and optimization is important. Policy can be

a list of rules read once and soon forgo�en, or it can be an ongoing and

fresh debate. The la�er is important because policy will evolve as the media

evolve, and that can be quite rapid.

An approval policy for a media relations campaign with every last full

stop subject to senior management scrutiny is just nonsense for Twi�er

(Twi�er.com), where communication occurs in fast, short, spontaneous 140-

character u�erances. The extremes between a press release and a telephone

conversation require ﬂexible policies in terms of approval of corporate

statements. Social media need the same kind of ﬂexibility.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitor: what is there out there

that can help monitor the eﬀect

of work using this channel?

For example, can the practitioner set up an

RSS feed or a search engine monitor? Can

the practitioner monitor how this channel is

aﬀecting its audience? Does the practitioner

need to use a monitoring company, and if so

who has the expertise and how much will it

cost?

Metrics: What numbers are

available in the public domain?

What numbers are available in

the private domain?

Is this best measured as page views or is

it by the number of references it generates

in a medium like www.digg.com? Or by

a combination of measurements? Or are

the metrics completely diﬀerent? Do they

include the actual context, and the brand

values of users or those of the organization?

Is Google Analytics really relevant?

Evaluate How does the practitioner set realistic

targets and outcomes? How can the

practitioner measure how good s/he

is at using this/these channels for

communication? How can the practitioner

evaluate the eﬀectiveness of using this

channel for communication as part of a

relationship-building campaign? Is the range

of media/channels so extensive that they can

only be evaluated in aggregate?

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132

The big issue is in sorting the most signiﬁcant details from the mass of

commentary.

In the past, a PR person might have been judged by the volume of

coverage generated for a client. The key today is not volume but inﬂuence:

that is, how deeply into the networks did the story reach and for how long

did it actively set the agenda in the online ‘conversations’?

There is a long history of smart clipping books being part of the PR

scene, but if a company has 10,000 (or 10 million, as many do) web page

impressions all live at any one time, the size of the ‘clip book’ is not very

relevant. The active use of brand values in conversations across many

channels, by contrast, is much more relevant.

Using the services provided by most online media for monitoring can be

quite daunting and such facilities are by no means perfect, although many

organizations are now oﬀering a range of good services. This is dealt with

in Chapter 24.

There are a lot of media to monitor and the available systems are not com-

prehensive. Practitioners have a long way to go, and a starting point may

well be to look at an article based on a press release in most newspaper

online content.

There are a lot of monitoring services available to the practitioner.

 Google Advanced Search provides an overview of news, blogs and

Usenet discussion. It is not comprehensive but is fast and free.

 Services from Factiva and Lexis Nexis provide online news monitoring

more comprehensively. CyberAlert has a very comprehensive list of UK

publications it searches daily.

 The press clipping companies also monitor online publications and

traditional print publications’ online content.

 Technorati.com and blogsearch.google.co.uk are search engines for

blogs.

 There are also search engines for Second Life, social networks, and

microblogs like Twitter, Pownce and Plurk, as well as aggregators such

as Alert Thingy.

Channels for communication

133

As this book is going to print, there remains a considerable reluctance among

PR people, their organizations and managers to get stuck in to developing

online strategies by commi�ing to the new media landscape. This is not

because there is no evidence that the internet is a pivotal part of relationships

and relationship building. Every day new research is published and it all

points in one direction. However, assembling this information (checking

out on the way that it is not just another half-baked, self-serving survey –

regre�ably a much-abused PR tactic) is only part of the process. Being able

to present it eﬀectively requires good communications skills. Even then,

there will be diﬃculties. Fear of the unknown, horror stories and demand

for return on investment are typical responses.

Just pu�ing a tentative toe in the water is not an eﬀective option. The smell

of amateurism, short-term commitment and a stilted approach in media

predicated on community will not help any practitioner. The very idea of

a ‘campaign’ in social media when ‘engagement’ is the norm is unlikely

to lead to stunning success – even if there are a few cases of high-proﬁle

achievement. But to aid the practitioner, help is at hand. For nearly every

form of social media, there are good strong case studies where success is

evident.

Buy-in

Overcoming objections

to implementation

What are the practitioner arguments? How are they

supported with real and veriﬁable evidence? Can

the practitioner call on quantiﬁable evidence and

reasoning supported by case studies?

Relevance to

organizations and

practice

Case studies of good and bad practice. Can the

practitioner ﬁnd case studies and look at the best

examples and the worst, and then identify the risk

mitigation or opportunity optimization policies

when using this channel for communication?

BUY-IN

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134

CASE STUDY: HOW TO BUILD UP A CASE

STUDY LIBRARY

In 1996, one of the authors of this book needed to create a library of case studies

to show students social media in action.

He created a number of Google news searches and – using the UK news option

(where, in ‘Advanced news search’ it says ‘Return only articles from news sources

located in. . .’ and return articles for the last day) for subjects such as ‘blogger’,

‘wiki’, ‘podcast’, etc – he created a ‘news alert’ for each of them.

Each day, he read through the top returns to see if the stories published showed

examples of people and organizations using these channels in new or interesting

ways. In two months, he accumulated over 60 case studies of successful

(and unsuccessful) deployments of these, then relatively new, channels for

communication. These case studies were posted to his blog, which was available

to students (and anyone else with an interest) to see at ﬁrst hand contemporary

use of the new media. Using the capability to tag stories made the case studies

easy to ﬁnd by channel, subject, PR genre, industry sector and so on.

The total time invested in this activity amounted to an hour per day. An excellent

ROI.

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

Planning and implementation

Training Training resources, training examples,

etique�e.

Risk management A structured, dispassionate assessment of

the opportunities and threats.

Timescale for implementation A Gan� chart to identify processes and time

taken to implement. Well-structured social

media campaigns actually take longer to

implement than most. They are also more

time consuming over a longer time if they

are to be really good.

This kind of structured approach to online communication channels

oﬀers the practitioner a number of advantages. It allows one channel to

be compared with another to help identify the most suitable combination,

it provides the elements needed to allow the channels to be implemented

tactically into PR programmes and, ﬁnally, it means that as new channels

Channels for communication

135

for communication emerge, they can be evaluated in comparison with

existing ones.

In creating analysis such as this it should be noted that this process does

need updating, as the internet changes the relative signiﬁcance of channels

to people. FriendFeed is emerging as a possible new channel as this book is

being wri�en. Its use and application will be diﬀerent by the time you read

this book. It may not even still exist.

What communication channels can be included? Here are a few:

Blogs, chat, e-mail, games, instant messaging, message boards, mobiles, micro-

blogs, new media releases, online community portals, online conferencing,

podcasting, SMS, surveys online, Usenet (Google Groups), video-sharing,

virtual environments, websites, widgets, wikis, VoIP.

In addition, the practitioner will need some knowledge about search and

monitoring and RSS. While we oﬀer analysis of some channels using this

approach, the practitioner will need to add others from time to time.

IN BRIEF

 The internet has spawned many new channels for communication.

 Most channels do not cease to be available but they do change.

 New channels for communication do not replace old ones, which

remain signiﬁcant in the communication arsenal.

 There are now so many channels for communication that it is unlikely

that any one person could be expert or even proﬁcient in all of them.

 People use a wide range of channels for communication.

 Many channels for communication are used concurrently.

 There is a technique for assessing the relative value of different

channels for different applications:

– the medium;

– interactive elements;

– application;

– policy and optimization requirements;

– monitoring and evaluation;

– buy-in;

– planning and implementation.

Note

1. For an introduction to the hype cycles concept, see ‘Understanding

Gartner’s hype cycles’, h�p://www.gartner.com/