Archive: April 2010

While the contributed article has been a part of PR outreach for decades, another related practice has stolen its thunder—self publishing.

The usual practice in the market research world is to target an elite few when testing products and/or concepts. Now, online survey company Infosurv and BrainJuicer, in the U.K., are turning that adage on its head—the new thinking banks on the premise that large groups of people are wiser than an elite few.

With the explosion of consumer-generated media, opinion research has become one of the pillars of communications strategy. To explore the ins and outs of external surveys as a media relations tool, PR News asked corporate PR heads who often field surveys and an online research firm executive about the benefits, options, challenges and possible pitfalls in conducting meaningful research.

By now it’s a mantra for PR executives and social media gurus everywhere. Listen…learn…engage. Certainly no quibbling here with that advice. But while you’re quietly, unobtrusively monitoring Facebook, Twitter, blogs and forums, there’s another strategy you should be thinking about and deploying: creating and sharing compelling content via digital platforms.

Data gathered by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that adults with chronic illnesses spend significantly less time on the Internet, which may influence the decision-making of PR professionals in healthcare.

ANSWERS TO THE PR NEWS POP QUIZ 1. False: The best measure is whether your program or campaign achieves the objectives you’ve set prior to its launch. Media is only one avenue for PR activity,… Continued

While the financial collapse was painful, there were some valuable PR lessons learned.

Measurement is critical in proving PR’s value to an organization. But just how much do you know about metrics? Answer our pop quiz and you will find out.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in March after a big drop in February. The monthly index measures 5,000 households for their level of optimism about the economy.

PR professionals who follow the media relations rules are growing increasingly frustrated by PR spam complaints in the blogosphere. The good news is there are things you can do to clearly signal your commitment to respect journalists’ traditional boundaries.