Praise for PR 2.0

“An ‘easy read’ filled with practical examples of how marketing professionals can leverage these new tools to enhance PR activities. The ‘Interviews with the Experts’ sections were especially useful in helping to highlight how companies have benefited from PR2.0.”

Maura Mahoney, Senior Director, RCN Metro Optical Networks

“P.R. 2.0 is a must-read for any marketing or PR professional. It is filled with expert advice, real-world examples, and practical guidance to help us better understand the new media tools and social networking concepts available and how we can use them for our specific branding needs. This book is excellent for someone who is trying to understand the new web-based media and social networking concepts, as well those who are experienced in applying the new media tools and are curious about what everyone else is doing and what tools are producing the best ROI. This isn’t a book filled with simple tips and tricks--it’s an essential guidebook for the marketing/PR professional to better understand the new media options and how to apply them effectively to achieve results.”

Jenny Fisher, Director Sales and Marketing Operations, Catalent Pharma Solutions

“Wading through the thicket of expanding Internet tools--from MySpace to Facebook, from Twitter to Flickr--is no easy challenge. And once you finally understand these strange new art forms, how the heck do you harness them? Answer: You buy this book. Deirdre Breakenridge knows the Net--how to measure it, monitor it, and use it to maximize public relations performance. Best of all, she explains it in a style that even a Luddite can comprehend.”

Fraser P. Seitel, author of The Practice of Public Relations and coauthor of IdeaWise

The New Future of Public Relations!

In today’s Web 2.0 world, traditional methods of communication won’t reach your audiences, much less convince them. Here’s the good news: Powerful new tools offer you an unprecedented opportunity to start a meaningful two-way conversation with everyone who matters to you. In PR 2.0, Deirdre Breakenridge helps you master these tools and use them to the fullest possible advantage in all your public relations work.

You’ll learn the best ways to utilize blogs, social networking, online newswires, RSS technology, podcasts, and the rest of today’s Web 2.0 tools. Breakenridge shows how to choose the right strategies for each PR scenario and environment, keep the best Web 1.0 tools, and stop using outmoded tactics that have rapidly become counterproductive.

Breakenridge introduces an extraordinary array of new PR best practices, including setting up online newsrooms, using visual and social media in releases, and leveraging new online research and analytics tools. She offers powerful new ways to think about PR, plan for it, and react to the new PR challenges the Web presents. Breakenridge also includes interviews with today’s leading PR 2.0 practitioners.

PR 1.0 vs. PR 2.0

Identify the needs of companies and clients, and how to integrate them for greatest effectiveness

Reaching today’s crucial wired media

Powerful new strategies for pitching and media distribution

Best uses of traditional PR tactics

Better ways to use viral marketing, online newsletters, e-blasts, VNRs, and webcasts

PR 2.0: Making the most of the newest tools

Interactive online newsrooms, visual media, blogs, RSS, podcasts, and beyond

Social media: Your new 24/7 focus panel

Powerful new ways to capture emerging customer desires and needs

Deirdre K. Breakenridge is President and Director of Communications at PFS Marketwyse, a marketing communications agency in New Jersey. A veteran in the PR industry, Deirdre leads a creative team of PR and marketing executives strategizing to gain brand awareness for their clients through creative and strategic PR campaigns. She counsels senior-level executives at companies including IncentOne, JVC, Michael C. Fina, Quality Technology Services, and RCN Metro Optical Networks.

Deirdre is an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey, where she teaches courses on Public Relations and Interactive Marketing for the Global Business Management program. She is the author of three Financial Times/Prentice Hall business books: PR 2.0, The New PR Toolkit, and Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy.

Deirdre has spoken publicly on the topics of PR, digital marketing, and brand building for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Strategic Research Institute (SRI), Women’s Presidents Organization (WPO), Tier1 Research, and at a number of colleges and universities. Deirdre is a member of the PRSA and has served on the Board of NJ/PRSA and the New Jersey Advertising Club.

Acknowledgments  xiii

About the Author  xv

Foreword by Brian Solis  xvii

Introduction to PR 2.0  1

Section I         The Transition to PR 2.0

Chapter 1        PR 2.0 Is Here  13

Chapter 2        Getting Started with 2.0 Research  27

Chapter 3        Research with Expert Resources  41

Chapter 4        Reaching the Wired Media for Better Coverage  57

Chapter 5        Better Monitoring for PR 2.0  71

Section II        A New Direction in PR

Chapter 6        Interactive Newsrooms: How to Attract the Media  87

Chapter 7        The Social Media News Release: An Overdue Facelift  103

Chapter 8        Social Networking: A Revolution Has Begun  123

Chapter 9        RSS Technology: A Really Simple Tool to Broaden Your Reach  143

Chapter 10      Video and Audio for Enhanced Web Communications  161

Section III       Embracing PR 2.0

Chapter 11      Social Media: Immerse Yourself and Your Brand  187

Chapter 12      The Pro’s Use of PR 2.0  207

Chapter 13      The Mindset of the PR 2.0 Journalist  227

Chapter 14      A PR 2.0 Plan  243

Section IV      The Future of PR 2.0

Chapter 15      The Path to Great PR  261

Index  275