Interactive PR has taken on a new importance in recent weeks as email, Web sites and other interactive media have kept businesses nationwide communicating - even when phone
lines and transit systems go down. PR NEWS recently spoke with James Horton, owner and operator of http://www.online-pr.com, senior director
at Robert Marston & Associates in New York, and author of the new book, Online Public Relations: A Handbook for Practitioners, to uncover how interactive PR has evolved - and
where it's headed. Following the interview, we give you a glimpse of two of the hottest interactive technologies on the market right now and how they can cut costs and enhance
your communications.
PRN: What's your primary message in Online Public Relations?
J.H.: First of all, online PR is a tool that is an integral part of what PR practitioners do; it was never an exotic new medium. You simply can't think of online as something
that maybe someday I will have to learn. The book is a desktop reference tool for practitioners. It's like a dictionary so readers can look up terms and simply get on with it.
PRN: You have said that many PR pros could benefit from online PR technologies and tactics but are too busy with account service and other responsibilities to learn more about
what's available in the interactive space. What do you think are the most underutilized technologies/tactics in online PR?
J.H.: I really don't think PR practitioners use Web sites well yet. Some large organizations have outstanding Web sites, but many still allow data to get out of date and fail
to post press releases on time. The other thing I see is a lack of understanding about what the core of online PR should be - the core is content, presented in a useful, accurate
manner. The PR practitioner's job is to be the stalwart defender of message and content.
PRN: You believe that the PR department should play an important role in internal interactive communications as well, don't you? How can communicators fill that role most
effectively?
J.H.: The corporate Intranet is an area in which PR practitioners don't have total control but have input. Intranets now are the fundamental backbone communications tools for
organizations. Done correctly, [the intranet] becomes an essential communications vehicle.
The practitioner has to be an advocate for folks on the bottom, and part of that is to go to them and see if and how people are using it. The technology and argumentation and
politics [of building the Intranet] can be obscure, but there needs to be someone in the room who keeps reminding people what we're here for, and that if we get bogged down in
politics and design, we're forgetting our core job.
PRN: Many PR professionals worry that interactive communications can become too prevalent and eclipse in-person contact - what is your feeling on that?
J.H.: Any communications medium can be misused, but any medium can also be used extraordinarily well. The best communications tool will always, always be face-to-face
communications, but it's the talent of the PR practitioner to [create the appropriate balance] of online and face-to-face communications.
PRN: What impact do you think interactive PR will have in the near future?
J.H.: Online PR is more important than ever. Sept. 11 proved beyond shadow of a doubt that it's an integral part of what we do. I've been a proponent for a very long time of an
integrated approach to communications. The Web has finally made that possibility a reality. We haven't achieved it yet, but we're much more comprehensive in how we view
communications. It's extraordinarily difficult to integrate communications - it's difficult to integrate online with [offline], it's a headache and a frustration to integrate
messages across divisions, but like it or not, it's a problem that PR practitioners have to live with and deal with their entire careers, and online PR is [helping us to become
more integrated].
(James Horton, 212/371-2200, [email protected])
PR According to Horton
James Horton's book, Online Public Relations, catalogs more than 800 terms related to online PR and offers definitions and explanations of how the terms fit into PR. Plus,
Horton provides a directory of online media, broken down by industry, with information on what to pitch.
A sneak peek:
- "Eye Candy: This loosely used term refers to graphical elements in Web pages ... [it refers to] both graphics that support a Web page message and unnecessary decoration
that distracts from the message." - "Viral Marketing: A buzz phrase that debuted in 1997. It describes word-of-mouth marketing online that spreads a message with little input from the original source ... [it]
is not easy to use. It requires a product/service that lends itself to word-of-mouth marketing ..."
The book is available at Amazon.com for $65.