A brand is defined by the summation of conversations taking place about it—online and offline. Although, this statement has always been true, the online component has never been easier of the two to measure. That is why, having the right narrative in play has never been more important. During this session, Digital PR pro Casey Knox explores real world examples of proactive and reactive narratives, and the must-knows of leveraging digital PR to grow, position, protect and propagate brands.

1. Digital PR: Toolkits, Reputation, and
Search Matter More than Ever Before
Presented by Casey Knox
Director, Communications at AREA203
@caseymaeknox
Southeast PRSA District Conference 2012 - #sePRSA12

2. DEFINITION
DIGITAL PR:
The use of online technologies to:
1. Build relationships
2. Communicate and exchange messages
3. Protect and build brand positioning
#sePRSA12

3. STATISTICS
of users never scroll past the first page of search
results com Score
US internet users say negative info they read online,
made them change their mind about a purchase
decision eMarketer
of consumers say that online reviews influence their
perception about companies eMarketer
83%
8 of 10
75%
#sePRSA12

4. Digital PR: Toolkits

5. Digital PR Toolkit: MS Office
Think beyond writing press releases using Word & creating
PowerPoint presentations for monthly reporting...
Think of ways to use these tools.
‹
#sePRSA12

6. Digital PR Toolkit: MS Office
Use Excel to synthesize and pivot your data and create custom
dashboards.
#sePRSA12

7. Digital PR Toolkit: MS Office
Master PowerPoint and create/populate a SlideShare account
to facilitate lead generation for B2B.
http://bit.ly/yousuckpptx
#sePRSA12

8. SlideShare Stats & Facts
• Largest social content network
• 60 million visits a month
• Top 200 web sites
• LinkedIn acquired SlideShare in 2012
• 400,000 new presentations uploaded
monthly
#sePRSA12

9. Digital PR Toolkit: MS Office
Leverage a simple Word document for an employee-generated
content strategy.
(credit: Southwest Airlines)
Information to capture:
• Idea: storyline
• Multimedia: links, photos, videos
• Timeline: when to expect it
• Misc.: what else is needed
Even jot it
down on a
Post-it note…
#sePRSA12

10. Digital PR Toolkit: Content Generation
›
›PAIDPaying to leverage the power of
a channel to deliver a message
that drives audiences to
another type of media is almost
always scalable by performance.
OWNEDCreating content within a controlled
environment and setting a repeatable,
value-added experience is (dare I say)
key to all content strategies.
EARNEDBuilt through engagement,
conversation and content sharing, the
customer is the channel here.
›
#sePRSA12
Look at content distribution in the context of paid, owned,
and earned media.

11. Digital PR Toolkit: Content Generation
• Employee-generated content
• User-generated content
• Branded content
• Promotional content
#sePRSA12

12. • Repurposing content
• Multiple executions of content
• Refined v. unrefined content
Digital PR Toolkit: Content Generation
#sePRSA12

13. Unrefined or refined video content?
#sePRSA12

14. Digital PR Toolkit: Social Media
LISTENING
CONTENT
ENGAGEMENT
INTEGRATION
MEASUREMENT
#sePRSA12
Five pillars of social media management
1
2
3
4
5

15. Digital PR Toolkit: Social Media Categories and Audience Types
#sePRSA12

16. Digital PR & Social Intelligence

17. Digital PR & Social Media Intelligence
#sePRSA12
Top digital pr uses from social intelligence:
1. PR audit (i.e., earned media volume, trend analysis, sentiment analysis, etc…)
2. Crisis identification
3. Respond to real-time pr opportunities

18. Digital PR & Social Media Intelligence
#sePRSA12
Social Intelligence - the
listening and collection of
data from social media
sources for business value.

19. Crisis identification case study
#sePRSA12
Alternate Route Map to Lake AtitlánObjective: Correct a viral travel advisory from US Embassy to avoid travel to Lake Atitlán
(identified through social intelligence)
Target Audience: U.S. travelers with plans to visit Guatemala
Solution: Disseminate corrective media statement, collect alternate route footage to post on
social properties and share digitally through media and travel influencers
Media: Public relations; social media
Result: Positive buzz outnumbered negative buzz 57% to 43%; crisis ended within 3 weeks

20. Crisis identification case study takeaways
#sePRSA12
• Use a mix of tools (organic, free and paid tools)
• Conducting pro-active internet-wide listening is paramount (listen beyond your property line)
• Optimize keyword sets and subsets weekly/monthly and as needed
• Open communication lines between Marketing, Corporate Communications, Advertising
and PR (sign NDAs and share intelligence)
• Have a crisis plan in place (scenario planning, escalation ladders, response flow charts,
contact lists, etc…)

21. Digital PR & Optimization

22. Digital PR optimization: Outbrain
#sePRSA12
• Content discovery platform
• Helps users discover your
content based on what
they are currently reading
• Placement among world
renowned premium
publishers
• USAToday.com
• CNN.com
• NewYorkPost.com
• Mashable.com

23. Digital PR optimization case study
#sePRSA12
Objective: Increase awareness and positive search results for LeadPile’s 3rd consecutive
Inc. Magazine nomination—Fastest Growing Companies in America
Target Audience: Potential customers and Industry peers
Solution: Launch an integrated PR and social media campaign
Media: Digital public relations; social media
Result: Over 21,OOO article clicks; more than 16M impressions; increased Twitter community
size by 100%; gained two page one organic search results for “LeadPIle”

24. Digital PR optimization case study takeaways
#sePRSA12
• Recommended test campaigns media budget ($5k for 30 days-minimum)
• Create several title options to test
• Outbrain’s comprehensive analytics dashboard; track clicks,
impressions, interactions, conversions (i.e., application downloads)
• Outbrain is a pay-for-performance model
• Use Outbrain as part of an overall PR strategy

25. Digital PR & Search

26. Digital PR & Search Engines Rankings
Ways to positively impact SERPs
• Publish owned media releases
• Gain positive earned media
coverage
• Build a portfolio of social and
owned assets c
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓

27. Digital PR & Search Engines
• Quality content is key
• Use relevant links (but not too many)
• Integrate social sharing and traction
around content
• Use plain/natural language—don’t
create cryptic headlines

28. Digital PR & Search Audiences
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results com Score
Press releases headlines with less than 130 characters get more
clicks PR Newswire
Make every aspect of a press releases ”tweetable” PR Newswire
• Headline
• Sub-headline
• Every sentence
• The multi-media (images or videos)

29. Suggested Reference Materials

30. Thank You!
casey.knox@AREA203.com
@caseymaeknox
@AREA203Digital