Pitfalls of Web 2.0 That A PR Agency Needs to Avoid

Thanks to technology, we can now get our messages to our intended audience at the click of a button. This instantaneous way of life has become the norm for most businesses.

However, there are a few ways that our reliance on technology can hurt us more than it can help. There are certain pitfalls that we all need to be aware of, particularly those that operate within a public relations agency.

Use Social Media the Right Way: Today’s public, especially those younger than 40, are ultimately distrustful of any message if has any hint of blatant advertising to it.  Because of this it is important to use social media for more than just promotion. You need to use it to interact with your base as well.

Reconsider Press Releases: The current generation that is used to getting information right away thanks to the internet is not keen on press releases. They get their information from locales such as Reddit or on blogs. This is causing a surprising number of public relations agencies to uncover new ways to get news and other information to the public.

Mind Your Manners: With open sources like Facebook for the public to leave comments, there are bound to be a few that are going to be nasty. While your first reaction might be to lash out, any respectable public relations agency will put on their happy-face and respond in a way that is both apologetic (of whatever you’re being accused of) and sincere. In a very mannerable way, explain why they are wrong. In most cases, its best to leave these interactions to one post and nothing more, even if they reply back to you.

Stay Away from Astroturf: “Astroturfing” is a term used when a company stages a fake sort of grassroots origin. This happens when a large business posts a video of what appears to be two young college kids that made a video on a camera phone or webcam for very little cash. The appeal here is that this larger company may appeal to a certain crowd through trickery. Not only is this seen as cheap and not honest, but it can cause a lot of damage to your reputation.

Make sure your company or public relations agency is set up to avoid these technological pitfalls.

Read more from Ronn Torossian:

Ronn Torossian on Forbes
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Ronn Torossian’s Professional Profile on Muck Rack
Ronn Torossian on Business Insider