Chapter 3 - UCT eMarketing course - Web PR & Online Reputation Management

1. Assignment I
Online Portals in Africa

2. Your individual assignment
Online Portals in Africa
o Discuss how increase in bandwidth, mobile usage & online
media affects consumption of traditional news sources vs.
online news sources & mobile
o How many portals are available in the country?
o Comment on free speech
o What is the community interest in specific subject matters
– jobs, news, sport, education, dating?
o How does the availability of online and mobile sources
affect interest and marketing to these communities? How
will it benefit the local community?
o Discuss internet / mobile adoption
o Identify gaps for digital agencies to make an impact
o [An African country has been assigned to each of you]

3. Did You Know? – Mobile version

4. Chapter 3| Web PR & Online
Reputation Management
University of Cape Town
5 August 2011

5. What will I learn today?
Web PR
o How is Web PR different from traditional PR?
o Steps of a PR Campaign
o Important aspects of Web PR
o Engaging with the audience
o Online distribution channels
ORM
o Monitoring
o ORM Tools
o Managing ORM
o Crisis Management

6. Web PR
Controlling what is said about your brand and directing
conversations around it to maintain the brand’s public
image

7. How is web PR different from
traditional PR?
o Two branches of same practice evolved into
completely different media
o Both are about creating engagement between
people and the brand

8. Traditional PR vs Web PR
Traditional PR Web PR
o Mainstream, top- o Negotiates the
down media web
o One-sided o Democratic
information
o Only publisher can o Anyone can
influence content influence content

9. Steps of a PR Campaign
o Conceptualise the message
o Create the message
o Deliver the message
o Observe the response
o Respond
o Follow up
o Network

10. Important aspects
of Web PR

11. Engaging with the audience

12. Advertising : Customer Break-up

13. Challenges of Web 2.0
o Create online capital
o Active interaction
o Listen more than you speak
o Talk about others
o Personal recommendations count
o Be visible
o Focus on one channel at a time
o Register on all platforms

14. Example :
Memeburn
Visibility on
Google

15. Online distribution channels

16. Your own
platforms
No restriction & full
control on what you can
publish on:
o Your website
o Your blog
o Twitter account
o Facebook
o LinkedIn Profile
o Google+, apps
o Flickr photo stream
o YouTube Channel

17. External Channels
Spread the word through neutral channels – build
relationships with online news & publication sources, article
directories, industry bloggers, etc.

18. Distribution
by individuals
Personal recommendations
without your influence.
The ultimate goal = viral
messages
Success story = FNB’s
smartphone app

19. PR Web in Plain English

20. Case Studies

21. Barack Obama’s Presidential
Campaign Success

22. Barackobama.com – Interactive!

23. Yes we Can – Mobile messages

24. Barack Obama Facebook growth

25. Barack Obama’s Presidential
Campaign Success
Check out: http://www.slideshare.net/superank/digital-media-us-elections
http://whywebpr.blogspot.com/2009/01/barack-obama-web-pr-case-study.html

26. Woolworths’
Web PR mistake
Woolworths decided to remove all
religious magazines from their shelves
out of the blue & had huge outcry from
the public. Their response was
damaging to their high value brand,
because of:
1. Bad initial framing of the issue
2. Not managing the media
3. Not engaging with the fans
4. Not moderating comments
http://www.getsmarter.co.za/blog-
marketing/430-marketing-four-web-pr-
mistakes-woolies-could-have-avoided

27. Online Reputation Management
The analysis of your personal, professional, business or industry
reputation as represented by content across all types of online
media channels.

28. Why ORM is so important
1. It protects your brand
2. It allows you to make smart decisions
3. It gives you a lead over your competitors –
the key is listening!
4. It’s the best customer retention tool you have
5. It allows you to measure which marketing /
communication & brand activities are
working
6. It focuses on where to spend your budget to
get the most bang for your buck
Source: http://www.heavychef.com/why-orm-is-so-important/

29. Monitoring
• Gather data from a wide variety of channels, sources & types of media
• Gather both quantitative & qualitative data
• Monitor own platforms, comments, articles, emails & make use of
specialised tools

30. ORM Tools
Depends on company size, budget & amount of media
attention your brand gets

31. Google Alerts
Google is incredibly powerful &
has to be monitored.
1. You need a Google account
to create alerts
2. Found at
www.google.com/alerts
3. To create an alert, type a
word into the “Search terms”
box
4. Properties can be customised
to your specific needs
5. You will receive emails when
something new is posted
online

32. Suggested Google Alerts
o Your company name
o Names of your products
o Name of CEO & prominent personnel
o Your industry
o Your location, where relevant
o Your website URL
o Your biggest competitors
o Your most important SEO keywords

33. Social media
tools
Social networks have their own
proprietary monitoring tools.
There are also many 3rd party
tools that can be of high value,
e.g. Followerwonk, bit.ly etc.

34. Paid ORM
tools
If your company is large or
busy, might be worthwhile
to invest in powerful paid-
for tools, e.g.
www.saidwot.com
www.trackur.com
www.brandseye.com

35. Managing your ORM
Positive Feedback Negative Feedback
o Quick thank you / o Take each one seriously
acknowledgement o Apologise sincerely &
o Promote good comments directly
(don’t overdo) o Don’t be defensive
o Add info, opinions & o Address problem in open
personal messages to o Turn negativity to your
good comments advantage
o Thank brand promoters o Respond levelly & present
publicly, e.g. discount / case with facts & details
promos, good rates o Never delete / hide
comments

36. Hello Peter

37. Crisis Management
Reputation crisis comes about when negative message about
your brand goes viral

38. How to handle a crisis
o Prepare a contact plan for important
stakeholders
o Make a communication strategy for your
online communities
o Don’t ignore a crisis and hope no one will
notice
o Find the places online where discussions are
most active and go straight to the source
o Monitor your online reputation closely with
chosen tools
o Tailor your strategy continuously

39. Case Studies

40. BP’s Oil Spill Disaster
Classic example of “those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it”
o BP underplayed the impact of the spills
o Sent out mixed messages
o YouTube Video was #10 most watched video
o ORM tools now include Facebook, twitter
and Flickr photostream, YouTube channel
alone cost $250,000 to create & a
$50million ad campaign

41. BP Oil Spill – a worldwide crisis

42. Avoiding Disasters
Be prepared, or you will get caught & pay a
high price

43. FNB impressed customers by
listening, engaging & became a
market leader in innovation as
a result

44. FNB’s (user friendly) Website

45. FNB on Twitter

46. FNB on Facebook

47. FNB on YouTube

48. FNB’s YouTube Channel

49. FNB on Memeburn

50. FNB Google Visibility

51. Thank You!