Something interesting has happened with the advent of all people and companies becoming media.\u00a0 It is now possible to shift your PR from the infinite treadmill of push to the more reliable and greater returns of pull.<\/p>\n
This is a complete 180 from how PR used to be done.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a higher value path because it is organic and scalable \u2013 your influence grows by virtue of your presence if you fully embrace a pull strategy.\u00a0 Bring your desired audience to you where they will listen intently as opposed to unartfully pushing your messages to them.<\/p>\n
I could speak from a strategic level on why shifting PR from push to pull is smart, but let\u2019s drill down to a simple example to illustrate it.\u00a0 PR is far more than just publicity, but publicity is certainly a KPI of nearly all PR programs (if not an objective of many).\u00a0 In other words:\u00a0 all PR people can agree publicity is vital.\u00a0 Yet it\u2019s not working so well from a push perspective anymore.\u00a0 Consider two major influential groups PR folks target, and why push is failing:<\/p>\n
Traditional media\u00a0<\/strong>are more concerned with if they have a future than whether to write up your pitch.\u00a0 While just a decade ago, traditional media and PR shared a\u00a0symbiotic relationship, that relationship is currently on the rocks.\u00a0 As PR folk become more pushy (and noisy) and traditional media feel the squeeze of a changing landscape, this relationship won\u2019t get better anytime soon.<\/p>\n Bloggers\u00a0<\/strong>may not be interested in your pitch at all.\u00a0\u00a0Technorati\u2019s 2009 state of the blogosphere\u00a0revealed that 72% of bloggers are most interested in sharing their expertise and 71% blog in order to speak their minds.\u00a0 Does push PR really fit into these motivations?<\/p>\n With that said, as push PR fades in relevance, pull PR only continues to grow more potent.<\/p>\n Pull offers\u00a0sustainable growth By embracing a pull PR strategy, one that includes tactics such as\u00a0content marketing, you\u2019ll build out your digital footprint naturally over time.\u00a0 And more content will attract increasing amounts of attention from all channels monthly \u2013\u00a0search and social\u00a0\u2013\u00a0 as you put more digital hooks in the water.<\/p>\n Pull PR is strategic, push is inherently tactical Push PR is inherently tactical in nature, whereas pull is far more strategic.\u00a0 Blogs are the ultimate pull marketing\/PR tool, and the reason most fail is because they don\u2019t act strategically, they act tactically.\u00a0 The problem is success is not easy and results take time to see.\u00a0 Most simply won\u2019t commit, or will quit before their strategy has started working.\u00a0 However the returns payoff huge for those who develop an effective pull strategy and follow it long term.<\/p>\n Pull PR lives at the intersection of PR, SEO and social media Is your PR agency is\u00a0SEO & social media savvy?\u00a0 I asked ten questions to assess this at Online Marketing blog:<\/p>\n 1. Are you implementing social media marketing, but not SEO? The answers to these questions your firm provides are key to assessing whether they understand pull PR.<\/p>\n Pull creates the right kind of\u00a0web popularity<\/strong><\/p>\n By developing a PR strategy to bring people to you instead of always pushing your message to them, you are going to nurture a very different kind of reputation than if you were always badgering people to spread your messages.\u00a0 It will be a relationship based on permission (they will\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to hear more).<\/p>\n Pull PR makes you less reliant on traditional media<\/strong><\/p>\n And yet, the amazing thing is that in time pull PR will deliver far more truly earned media.\u00a0 The reason is simple:\u00a0 it\u2019s more powerful to be found by influencers than seeking them out.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Public relations is evolving quickly and it\u2019s clear why.\u00a0 When everyone is media, you can carve out your own share of voice in the world.\u00a0 And as a byproduct of this, you\u2019ll actually attract more media.\u00a0 When you have the ability to shift your programs to be less reliant on externalities and more on your own strategy it seems shortsighted to ignore this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Something interesting has happened with the advent of all people and companies becoming media.\u00a0 It is now possible to shift … <\/p>\n
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\n2. Do your social media and SEO efforts work together?
\n3. How do you measure the return on investment of your social media engagement efforts?
\n4. Is social media something you do in your spare time, or is it a core function that requires a dedicated resource?
\n5. How much effort is put toward managing the search and social media friendliness of your corporate website?
\n6. How strategic are the recommendations for the company blog?
\n7. What is your company\u2019s approval process for micro-blogging?
\n8. Is your current PR agency effectively optimizing your news content for search and social media?
\n9. What is your PR firm\u2019s true core competency: traditional PR or social media and SEO?
\n10. Have you considered hiring a social media specialist?<\/p>\n