Search Engine Optimization Reinforces
Place Of Online PR In Marketing Strategy
Backbone Media's Chief Marketing Officer Shares War Stories
About Internet Public Relations With Class At Emerson College
BOSTON, MA - June 25, 2002 - Last evening, a guest
speaker had some practical advice for students taking the Introduction
to Public Relations course at Emerson College. "If the Internet has
shifted the PR paradigm, get over it," said Greg Jarboe, the Vice
President and Chief Marketing Officer of Backbone Media.
The course (http://www.techmarcom.com/CS257A_Syllabus.html)
combines some public relations theory with lots of practical day-to-day
applications to provide a thorough introduction to the field of PR. The
instructor, Jon Boroshok, often invites guest speakers to come in and
offer a different perspective of their areas of specialty.
For yesterday's class, Boroshok invited Jarboe to share
"war stories" about the place of online PR place in marketing
strategy. (Click on www.backbonemedia.com/emerson
to see Jarboe's PowerPoint presentation.) Prior to joining Backbone Media,
Jarboe was a marketing and corporate communications executive at WebCT,
Ziff-Davis, and Lotus.
Jarboe told the class that Internet public relations was
dramatically different than traditional PR. For example, traditional press
release delivery services such as PR Newswire and Business Wire were becoming
less effective at reaching reporters. More than 1,800 press releases go
out on a typical day, including more than one every 15 seconds between
8:00 and 10:00 a.m. That's why, as Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody
goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
Internet Public Relations
Jarboe then explained how search engine optimization techniques
reinforce the place of online PR in marketing strategy. Search engines
are the top way consumers find new web sites online, used by 73.4% of
those surveyed by Forrester Research. This means marketers can help prospects
find them instead of the other way around.
Search engines are also changing the way reporters gather
information. Columnist Robert Scheer was among the very first reporters
to expose the connections between the Enron bankruptcy and the Bush administration.
When he was asked, ""How did you got onto it so early?"
Scheer replied, "Google."
If "spamming" reporters with press releases has
become less effective, then PR professionals should start "optimizing"
their press releases and posting them on their Web sites. This will help
ensure that reporters find them when using search engines to find relevant
information for a story.
While learning new Internet public relations tactics may
be hard, Jarboe told the students, "If PR was easy, we'd all get
minimum wage."
Founded in 1880, Emerson College (www.emerson.edu)
is the only comprehensive college or university in the country dedicated
exclusively to communication and the performing arts. It enrolls more
than 3,300 students from 48 states and 36 countries.
In addition to being an instructor of public relations at
Emerson College, Jon Boroshok is also President and founder of TechMarcom
(www.techmarcom.com).
The independent agency specializes in value-based marketing communications.
Boston based Backbone Media (www.backbonemedia.com)
has been providing Internet marketing services since 1996. The firm specializes
in combining search engine optimization, opt-in email marketing, and online
PR into an integrated marketing strategy.
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For more information, contact:
Backbone Media
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