Communicating on the web: one size does not

fit allJennifer Brannock CoxSalisbury University

beginnings

Communications Majors:• Journalists• Public relations• Human communication• Business

Assignment:• Wordpress blog for portfolio• Two posts per week for six weeks

Four approaches

• Journalists – news beat • Focus on university or city of Salisbury

• PR – promotional• Choose one SU or city of Salisbury organization

(get approval)

• Management (2 choices): Internal or Marketing• For internal: choose an organization to which

you belong or for which you work (get their approval)

• Marketing: choose one SU or city of Salisbury organization (get approval)

Common ground

• Use inverted pyramid

• 4-8 paragraphs; 1-2 sentences per graph

• Use descriptive headlines

• Include alternative storytelling features to text

• Use links

• Be professional!

Journalistic blogs

• Share news with audiences quickly

• Share items that won’t fit in the newspaper

• Give behind-the-scenes accounts of the reporting process (build transparency)

• Interact with/ solicit responses from the audience

• Live-blogging of events for an interactive experience

• Politics blog

Pr/marketing differences

• Public relations:• Focusing primarily on influencing reputation/peoples’

perception about organization• How can we do this?

• Marketing:• Influence peoples’ desire for a product or service• How can we do this?

Marketing goal – to generate profit

PR goal – to make sure profit-making abilities are unharmed

PR/Marketing blogs

• Promote an event/service/product

• Build an image/idea

• Keep consumers abreast of changes/information

• Get direct feedback from consumers

• Provide industry/internal news

• Different platform for press releases

• Mary Kay marketing blog

• Sorority public relations blog

Internal communications

• Keep people informed• Informed workers = happy workers

• Increase knowledge of company’s products/services

• Provide resources & tips for better productivity/relationships

• On-the-job coaching/training

• BE CAREFUL!• Blogs are public, even when set to private

• Good news/bad news – very few exist!

• Communication Association blog

Thank you!