Public relations remains about storytelling, even in the digital age.  If you don’t have a solid pitch, you might as well keep it to yourself.  And even with a great pitch, persistence pays.  Journalists today receive hundreds of emails and dozens of voicemails a day, and they are spread thin; in the U.S., many publications have reduced staff while asking the remaining reporters to write for traditional and online media, produce video podcasts and maintain blogs.  It’s more important than ever that your PR agency study the reporter’s work to make each pitch relevant to each journalist’s beat and interest.

As more and more publishers move their content to the Web, and as your Web site becomes more important to generating business, your PR strategy needs to evolve, too.  Austin Lawrence Group public relations campaigns now focus a fair amount of effort on, and integrate Internet media with traditional targets of TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.

With blogs such as Techcrunch and Gizmodo serving millions of unique visitors each month, their influence and potential impact on your business is enormous.  But the way they are served is different from traditional media.  They are writing continuously, so their needs and attention-span are more concise.

Search engine visibility for your news releases and Web site is also of paramount importance.  Sites built entirely in Flash, or with low keyword density will perform poorly when your prospective clients search for what you sell or do.  It is remarkable how often a site will be built, or a news release transmitted, without considering search – and this is a major lost opportunity.  Social media strategies can dramatically raise search engine results, too.

Last, but by no means least, Internet Aligned PR requires creating your own content.  Whether it’s a blog, text or video, your own Internet video channel (distributed on your Web site, YouTube and/or NewsRoom syndication) or podcast, since so many of us start at Google when we are seeking a new product or service, your company must be there with relevant and compelling content (if it’s fun, that would be good, too).  And the business case is easy to make.  If your company creates 26 videos over a year and places them on Voxant and YouTube, and each is seen by 10,000 people, two percent of whom make an inquiry, that’s 5,200 leads generated.  What’s your average cost and value per inbound lead?

In the new era of Internet Aligned Public Relations, Austin Lawrence Group is driving visitors to its clients’ Web sites and revenue to their bottom lines.  We’d be happy to do the same for you, too.