Need of Integrated PR in the Digital Age

Public Relations is no more restricted to coverage in the print media, it has experienced a paradigm shift after the advent of Digital Media.

According to 'The South Africa PR Landscape 2014 report', Public Relations (PR) is facing tough challenges in the digital age. PR is evolving, and this evolution is surrounded by more opportunities than challenges. The report evokes the ideas of industry experts and compel them to rethink about the new role and scope of PR in the highly dynamic digital world which is changing every second. The traditional PR is neither going to die or vanish, but it needs to accommodate technology to make the transformation practical for the majority of businesses. The role of PR is changing with the rapid developments in the digital communication. In this highly volatile and complex business environment, a client assumes greater accountability and expertise from a full-fledged PR agency. Businesses demand more coverage in print media and active presence in the social media.

Now, PR is going neck-to-neck with social media, therefore PR professional must be ready to understand the principles and tools of the social media. Traditional and digital PR, both have some unique advantages. The combination of the two results in more dynamic and more practical version of the PR. They need to create a crossover plan and should execute it, using both traditional and modern strategies in a proportional manner. Both are important, essential and impactful. Their mix varies in accordance to the demand of every individual account or campaign. Yes, it is the knowledge and understanding of the PR professional that whether they are able to decide the contribution of each medium in a right manner or not. There is no set parameter which may guide about the effective integration of the traditional and modern PR. A perfect combination depends upon the profile of a brand and the nature of a marketing activity.

To get the optimum results from a PR activity, there must be a great coordination between the PR team, marketing team, social media experts and media planners. The collaborative efforts of all help to create and execute an integrated a PR plan, where equal focus can be given on traditional as well as digital media channels. PR is a multifaceted and indirect approach of marketing which is responsible for all the branding activities such as positioning, image building and visibility of a brand in the target market. Depending upon the reach and cost of the media, a PR agency chooses the right media and makes effort to generate higher ROI.

Right Digital Marketing Tactics for Expected Results

As the festive season is keeping the digital marketers busy to un-roll new plans and strategies, the future of Digital Marketing seems challenging as well as exciting. After the stupendous success of Facebook and Twitter, now it is the Instagram which is attracting millions of netizens especially the young and lively people. Whereas Facebook Lookalike let them allow to interact with people who are similar to one's custom audience list. Though, there are people who still prefer paid promotions on Facebook but paid promotions often reduce the interest of serious prospects.

Instead of paid promotion on Google and Facebook, businesses should prefer e-mail promotion. E-mailers and newsletters induce target audience to explore information, if the content is good and interactive then the reader will definitely read the whole story. He/she can also forward these e-mailers to friends and relatives. In fact e-mail marketing is the most cost effective way to communicate with the existing customers and prospects, it is embraced by majority of serious entrepreneurs in trade as well as in services.  

In addition to e-mailers, videos on YouTube and other social media sites is another interesting way to communicate with the target audience. Through videos one can easily define a concept and narrate a process and it also add authenticity to one's claims and promises. These days people love to use smart phones and tablets and all these modern gadgets gives better experience with videos and interactive content. 

Blogs and articles always entice people who are bit literary and spend their spare time in reading news, articles, blogs and reports. This segment normally research a lot on the internet before buying a product or service. They are sensitive and a miscommunication with them can create a negative influence too, every business likes such kind of clients as they remain loyal once they got satisfied. A blogger or article writing should be smart enough to understand their need and always avoid eulogising the marketer's services. These articles and blogs should be well written and unique as they help to improve the rank of marketers website too. Moreover, a blog can be posted on multiple locations and a link can also be created on the Facebook page.

To increase the traffic on your website and likes on social media sites, there is nothing more engaging than contests on Facebook and other sites. Contest ignite the curiosity of visitors and enhance their temptation to win exciting prizes. Many life-style and jewellery brands are running exciting contests on social media sites and are gaining popularity as well as business. Therefore, it is advisable to business people to cleverly craft digital marketing strategies in order to attain maximum returns from different tools and elements of social media.