PR – There has to be a better way

I’ve thought about this a number of times in the past but never put my thoughts down about it. Reading Twitter this morning put it in my mind again.

Darragh Doyle Tweeted a link to a list of PR companies with no online presence other than a website. It IS shocking that so many of them aren’t making their presence felt online. Seems like a missed opportunity. Online is THE place for word of mouth marketing – the most powerful way to get your message across.

The problem with any PR agency in Ireland engaging consumers online is that it’s an absolute minefield. Tweet the wrong way, blog the wrong way, do a Facebook campaign the wrong way, email people the wrong way – and you’re toast.

As a blogger, I would love to be on the radar of PR companies who are representing Irish companies that have a good story to tell. I’d like to tell others about it if I can. I might blog or Tweet about it. I don’t have a lot of influence, but there’s a lot like me out there and the combined power of that network is huge.

So, how do I get to know about the stuff PR companies are doing? I hear about it from others who, quite a lot of time, are acting as filters. They get a lot of stuff passing through their email inbox and make a judgement on whether or not it is, in their view, worthwhile. Maybe there is some really cool stuff they could share, but choose not to because of the way a PR agency delivered the message. And this is a pity, because it’s the business or product that ultimately suffers.

Another way I get information is from Irish Press Releases. Although I’ve used the service for a couple of press releases in the past, it is far too PR like to make it interesting for the average blogger to take any notice.

So, how DOES a PR company (or indeed any business) get people talking about their product, service or event online? Right now in Ireland, as far as I can make out, you need to have the ear of someone already embedded in the online world who has a reasonably large following. One Tweet or blog post from that person ripples outward and is received by an already engaged group of followers/readers.

Their recommendation is sometimes enough to kick start the word of mouth effect. One big assumption is being made here though – that the product, service, event is noteworthy. Irish Press Releases suffers from the “Company XYZ wins €x million contract to supply ZYX company” effect. Puff pieces which detract from some genuinely good stories on the site.

AN IDEA THEN

What if there was a website where any business or PR company could get their message out to the online audience.

100% Irish focused

No filters from social media experts

No filters from main stream media

No jargon or PR bullshit

Genuine “we’d like to do business with you and here’s why” type stories

No pushy sales talk

Less me, me, me – more you, you, you

I guess something like Digg without the spam and Press Releases Ireland without the PR speak. I’m thinking like a simple form which allows a business or PR company acting for a business to really work on their message and make it relevant. i.e. REALLY understand their target customer. Everyone should know that “everyone is our customer” is a bad strategy. The message needs to be short – people don’t have the time to read a wordy press release. A pre-requisite would be to provide links to Twitter, Facebook and a blog. This would show the person reading it that they really want to talk with you rather than at you.

We keep trying to tell PR companies how to engage with the online community. Maybe providing an easier, more relevant solution will help them grow their clients business and do so without a flame war erupting if they make an honest mistake.

Image owned by aslakr [cc license]