Most people are confused what PR is, so let’s start with a story!

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' That's direct marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: 'He's very rich. Marry him.' That's advertising.

You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride, and then say: 'By the way, I'm rich. Will you Marry Me?' That's public relations.“

PR activities are all about emphasizing the interesting aspects of an organization and crafting stories that position it to build trust and credibility

We all know the power of PR

This is why we engage in activities such as media relations, events, crafting corporate communications, and drafting press releases

Source - http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/

80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company

information in a series of articles versus an advertisement.

Source: http://www.contentplus.co.uk/marketing-resources/infographics/anatomy-of-content-marketing

70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads.

Source: http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2011/07/content-marketing-stats/

90% of consumers find custom content useful, and 78% believe that

organizations providing custom content are interested in building

good relationships with them.

While we know PR is important, it’s important to note the distinction between traditional and digital….

Newspaper market decline running at 8% a year

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jul/11/abcs-national-newspapers

In Singapore, the traditional Straits Times newspaper are on the decline in readership…

http://readerspost.straitstimes.com/snapshots/st-holds-steady-most-read-daily-here-20131107 + http://newnation.sg/2010/12/straits-times%E2%80%99-reach-dropping/

29.5%36%

2002

2010

2014

43%

Source: http://e27.co/southeast-asia-25-internet-penetration-109-mobile-penetration/

Yet the online readership in Singapore is growing

Because of fundamental shift of how people communicate

Directional

Networking

Television

Radio

Newspaper

Email

Facebook

Podcasts

Blog

Youtube

http://www.blog.webserves.org/content-marketing/

Statistics show that Digital PR costs 62% less than traditional outbound

methods

Per dollar, digital PR produces roughly three times as many leads and enquiries.

Source: http://marketeer.kapost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Content-Marketing-Kapost-Eloqua-eBook.pdf

But when most companies do digital PR…they think…Digital PR = Advertorial

So they spend a lot on money on advertorials.

Average advertorial for 1 article would cost about $4,000

And advertorials are beginning to die….

Read More Here!

Besides, who reads advertorials anyway?

Advertorials defeat the purpose of driving buzz

But there are some brands that do digital PR right

Morninghead went from unknown startup to worldwide sellout and #1

Trending on Twitter

Read More Here!

Ah Seng Durian, a fruit stall in Singapore grew from a humble shop to one of the

largest and most popular Durian stalls in Singapore

Read More Here!

And even how we build the SocialMetric brand from a relatively boutique agency to

appearing in the international press

And working with brands such as Qatar Airways, 3M, UnionPay, Absolute Vodka,

Marco Polo Hotels

But how did all the successful brands do it?

First, identify your Master Narrative – The big message

you want to get across….

Next, find out the top 10 digital publications which

your target audience reads

Then, start producing content and get them

published on those sites….

Remember - the heart of every successful Digital PR strategy is how you produce the message

It’s about how contagious

your content is

But most brands fail badly…

Like Fish & Co.

Which resulted in this..

Or Mcdonalds

Which resulted in this..

Oh and did you know that every disaster like this would amount to about $4.3 mil in damages?

Read More Here!

But if you have the right strategy and make the right content based on these 9 topics….

Social Assets

Social Fanaticism

Social Antagonism

Advise

Trending Triggers

Amplify

Inspire

Heartfelt

Amuse

Anger

Fear

Anxiety

Here are 3 examples from the list of 9 topics….

1. Advise them

In order to create contagious content one thing that becomes useful is practical value, it motivates the users to carry out simple instructions in the post.

This helps the users to share the content more likely. Content with practical value helps the users to have the outcome they like to achieve.

3M, a brand that produces products such as the anti-haze N95 mask, acted on the rising news to gain more exposure on social media. Content like this usually gets more shares than usual because users will want to share this with their

friends and provide valuable information to them.

Example: 3M

Result? Appeared on Forbes, Chinese Newspaper, Business Times

2. Ride on Trending Triggers

Trending triggers are a powerful source of content to connect with your audience, effectively putting your brand’s presence and image into the limelight.

In order for trending triggers to be effective, it is recommended that any news-related content should be posted up to three days after the news broke.

Example: Snickers

In the moments after Uruguay soccer player Luis Suarez apparently bit  Italia's Giorgio Chiellini at the end of an exciting World Cup game today, Twitter exploded with often comedic buzz

Snickers’ content instantly resonated with their audience, while positively promoting themselves as a humorous, updated brand

Result? Lots of PR value around it

3. Surprise them by amplifying their values

Content with the surprise element usually gets loads of shares because of its shock value. Users gain value from content like this due to the unique information provided; they will then want to share this with their friends in order to inform or even impress them.

Example: Dermablend

The international cosmetic brand decided to bring in more exposure for their tattoo concealer via a very shocking method.

The shock reveal of his tattoos was very effective in aweing the audience with an unexpected twist. The clever method of

showing off the product’s effectiveness also attracted a lot of attention with the public

Result? 5.7 million views in 10 days and bringing in 473% increase in e-commerce traffic.