PR and Web 2.0

There was a great post on Steve Rubel's blog today, and he makes an important point: Social media isn't about just dumping a story on the world and all but demanding that the world soak it up. Social media resembles the tactics of traditional PR. The point, however, was never to blast the world with messaging and go home. It is about taking an active role in the conversation. Personally I think the more niche-oriented sites are more effective than the standard, big name sites. After all, a profile on a social network that relates to client's business is far more valuable than a profile on Myspace. Even with all of Myspace's traffic - or Digg's, or del.icio.us, or any of the A-list sites - nothing beats that assurance that whomever does see your work, they are almost all interested.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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2 comments so far

Jeremy Pepper says:

Did you read the comments? He was vilified for stealing other's content and conversations, and called out for not being a participant.

While the post itself was on, it's been said by others longer and with more conviction.

Lizzie Wiggle says:

Great blog and I fully support these tactics. I've been going to interviews recently and some PR people look at me blankly when I mention the importance of targeting blog and social networking sites. I think they just think I waste all my day on social networking sites. I do spend much time on them; but it's to talk to customers of my clients which has a great impact.