In your busy life and career, it’s easy to forget about taking care of yourself, and specifically your online reputation. With everything on your plate, your long-term public relation strategy might not be at the forefront of your mind, and that’s why you have professionals in your corner to help remind you of maintaining a solid presence.
Thinking like a digital PR executive will help you train your brain to always think about how you present to the world. While you do not need to be an expert in public relations or digital marketing, knowing the implications of PR is important in growing your brand.
Why focus on digital PR? In the ever growing online world, it’s more important than ever to bring your network online and put out content in your name that aligns with your desired brand. Working with digital PR services will help you learn valuable lessons on how to maintain your public reputation through media while growing your brand. Building a reputation can be a process, and due to the unpredictable nature of the internet, you need to be prepared for everything.
Think with strategy
Everything you say online, as well as everything said about you, can contribute to your online reputation. Your actions and the way you communicate online can say a lot about you, including the words and types of platforms you chose to use. Since even the smallest of actions can make the largest impressions, a digital PR executive can help you decide whether to be clear or ambiguous in your strategy. Always remember the simple, yet trusty concept of “think before you do”.
Think about quality and quantity
Exposure is about getting your name out there, but you also need to consider the quality of platform one which you want to be featured, and of course the quality of the content you post there. When it comes to media relations, don’t take an opportunity without considering who will be consuming this content, if it’s relevant and if it aligns with your brand. In your personal posting, if you are posting things connected to your career, make sure they are of quality and not quantity
Think with your stakeholders in mind
You understand that stakeholders matter in your strategic PR. In your communications, you need to think about how you pay homage to and thank your stakeholders. By truly identifying who your stakeholders are, you can cater your communication towards each audience. If you don’t recognize a certain demographic as potential stakeholders, you could be missing out on potential business opportunities.
Think long-term
Growing your personal network and being consistent with those in your personal network will prove very important – especially developing relationships with journalists and people with influence online. The opportunities you take with different media sources now can shape your future by exposing your work to new people, so thinking long-term about who you chose to reach out to is imperative.
When considering your deliberate wording, something that may feel good to say or post in the moment may harm you in the long-term. Therefore it’s important to consider the situation from a digital PR p[erscpective will entail thinking of all the possible outcomes in the future.
Think with crisis in mind
As much as you might not want to think about it, it is always possible that a crisis may ensue and you’ll need to do some serious damage control. Thinking like a digital PR executive means always contingency planning one step ahead, and knowing what crises are most likely to arise for your organization, online and offline.
What are some of the main issues you have to worry about in your field, and what would you do first in the event of this crisis? You also need to keep an eye out for seemingly small problems, ensuring they don’t transform into crises with serious harm.
There is a difference between crisis management and crisis communication, and you’ll have to do both as the person involved in this issue. While a digital PR executive may simply focus on the communication involved in mending your public reputation after a crisis, crisis management involves actually fixing the crisis, and may take a variety of expertise and resources.
Having a crisis communications plan for likely issues will keep you prepared for any unfavorable event, and take your PR thinking to the next level. Your crisis communication plans should be handy,
Additionally, now that you have formed relationships with journalists, when they write about your crisis, they will be truthful and perhaps use less colorful, biased language. They may be more likely to include a quote from you and get your side of the story, rather than completely leaving you out.
Shift Your Thinking, See Results
When you shift your thinking to that of a digital PR executive, you will start to understand the importance of your public image and online reputation. With strategy, skill and practice, you can help enhance your PR.
