In China, why Online PR is more efficient than offline PR !

The latest figures from the ITU on the number of Internet users worldwide have been released, the number of  3 billion Internet users will be reached by the end of 2014, or almost. On the same date, one-third of people in the Asia-Pacific region will be online and 45% of Internet users worldwide will be composed of people from this region. A bargain for Public Relations online, which has become increasingly important in recent years.

Same message, a different approach

Whether we talk about online and offline PR in China, the goal remains the same, to advertise a product and/or brand to new targets. But where traditional PR is used only to communicate with journalists, online PR addresses influencers on the Internet. Namely, journalists from magazines or online newspapers, bloggers, and leading figures on the Internet. Developing its reputation does not mean going through conferences or press releases anymore. Online PR prefers to organize activities to test the product or ship some goods. The fact that influential people on the Internet are rarely professional journalists should also be considered. Most of them take care of their internet-based business during their free time. It should therefore be noted that reaching an agreement to work with bloggers and other influencers 2.0 sometimes requires a lot of time.

Doubly effective

In the online PR field, the number of publications is much higher than in the written press. Articles published will have a double impact, the first will reach the reading public, and the second will strengthen your e-reputation on the Chinese Web.

Indeed, when an article on the Internet is talking about a company or product, there is almost always a link to their website. If this link is qualified and of quality, it improves the awareness of your company, product, and brand, and will have an interesting impact on the ranking of your website.

Managing online reputation is easier

Any good Press Relations agency, both online and offline, must have a great address book to highlight its client, increase brand awareness and enable them to acquire new customers. However, online PR has the asset of the community manager to help them in this task. Indeed, there is in general a community of online reporters, bloggers, forum leaders, and specialized magazines for each business sector. The Community Manager is responsible for integrating that community in order to influence them later and ensure a good online reputation for the product or the company.

A more careful analysis

Monitoring the impact of the Internet involves an almost systematic manual standby. Online PR in China, with its privileged position near influencers and social networks, can analyze the impact of an online action more easily. Two methods to do so:

• Quantitative: consists in bringing all media quotes after the operation.
• Qualitative: consists in analyzing the content posted and the degree of reception of the action on the target audience to the product, brand, or company.

Online PR delivers the same message as offline PR but is more targeted. An online action also improves the SEO and e-reputation of the company or product. Subsequently, an analysis of the impacts can be conducted easily. Choosing online PR is therefore the choice of efficiency. Some companies have made this choice and started to communicate in China through local social networks. Beach House Collection is a good example of a very good communication strategy built on online PR.

 Sources:

• ITU
• CNRS
• Public Relations Agency in China