While PR professionals recognize the growing importance of the Internet as a valuable medium, attendees at the Nov. 16 PR NEWS and Delahaye Medialink "Best Practices in PR Measurement" seminar in Washington, D.C., said worrying too much about chat rooms is unnecessary.
In a session titled, "Beyond Press Clippings: Using All Media for a Greater Grasp on Your Efforts," panelists emphasized that while the influence of chat rooms on the media and consumers is growing, PR folks need to stay focused on core issues. Working on issues such as reputation management is a better use of time than getting distracted by what people say in chat rooms.
In a straw poll conducted on-site, 59 percent of attendees said chat rooms were not a credible source of media.
Making the Connection
Good PR, said the panelists, is not about relying on a positive newspaper story or squelching a negative Internet chat room, it's about connecting with the customer. And trying to respond to emotionally charged issues can be as effective as trying to tell a reporter how to write an article.
Denise Offutt, senior market research manager at Epson America, told attendees that after more than three years of tracking Internet chat rooms and discussion forums, she and her PR colleagues learned several key points:
- in chat rooms, the vast majority of comments are neutral.
- your competitors may join in chat room discussions about your corporation, and sometimes they are not honest about their loyalties, but you cannot control this.
- in technology, new product announcements are a major factor driving the amount and types of comment.
- there are many types of discussion groups that attract people with different needs. There are professional or highly specialized groups that form user mailing lists and there are more general groups that focus on purchase selection. First-time buyers may be the ones who most frequent these chat sites.
When asked whether they responded to Internet discussion groups on behalf of their corporations, 83 percent of attendees said no.
(Denise Offutt, Epson, 310/782-0770)