Public Relations on the Net
Winning Strategies to Inform and Influence the Media, the Investment Community, the Government, the Public and More!
By Shel Holtz, American Management Association (AMACOM), New York, 1999 ISBN 0-8144-7987-1
Review by: G. Mark Towhey
Shel Holtz delivers what is likely to become "the book" on public relations on the Internet -- at least "the first book" of its kind to be widely available.
And, that's not a bad thing. Overall, Public Relations on the Net is a good introduction to the most breathtaking new medium since television. It will be a valuable resource for communicators, strategic influencers, and business leaders interested in succeeding in the Information Age. Written in a straightforward, relatively easy-to-read style and peppered with real-world examples throughout, Holtz's book is definitely worth reading.
Holtz organizes his thoughts into two main sections.
Part One deals with "Communication on the Internet" and includes chapters exploring the history of the Internet and Internet-PR to date; rhapsodizing on the fundamental if not spiritual changes the Internet has wrought; examining the various components of the net: the world wide web, usenet news groups, e-mail, etc; discussing the principles of influencing online audiences; and, finally, recommending methods of monitoring your company's online image.
In Part Two, Holtz looks at "Audiences and Measurement." He discusses at some length how the Internet affects modern Media, Investor, Government and Community Relations; the metamorphosis of activism on the net; the management of crisis communication; and, various means of measuring your efforts online.
Perhaps the biggest "aha" moment in the whole book is Holtz's discussion of the "pull" versus "push" concept inherent in online communication. For the first time ever, it is economically feasible -- in fact necessary -- to manage audience segments of one. With mass communication, it was uneconomical and unwise to target communication to small segments. Pitching newspaper stories or running TV ads targeting tiny niche market segments was impractical and expensive. With the advent of the Internet, however, this is no longer the case.
Rather than "push" out your key messages using conventional mass media, Holtz argues that the online audience will seek out and "pull" the information they are interested in. This allows savvy communicators to prepare very narrow-cast communication. For example, a company that produces fine pens which retail world-wide may find it has a very small but profitable niche following among left-handed lawyers. It is now conceivable for them to develop a page, or pages, of web-based information of interest only to members of this tiny group. These customers, and other sinistral litigators, will be able to "pull" this information without interfering in "push" communication targeting the more mainstream market.
That such unique and narrowly-focused communication is possible is due, in part, to what Holtz claims is the major, earth-shattering difference between online communication and its conventional (read print) counterparts. And, this is the only area of the book where I find myself in disagreement with the author. Holtz takes pains to suggest that online communication is "non-linear" whereas conventional communication, print for example, is "linear."
Paper is linear. When you get a memo, you automatically begin reading it in the upper left-hand corner, word by word. If it's a multipage memo, you still start at the beginning, on page one … p. 61
But information housed on an Internet server is nonlinear. There is no telling how somebody got to a particular chunk of information, where he started, or what he already knows … p. 61
On the linear/nonlinear issue, Holtz is just plain wrong. Perhaps it's just me -- and everyone I've ever worked with -- but I don't know anyone in a corporate environment, who receives more than two memos a day, who actually reads them in a "linear" fashion. Likewise, I skim, scan and skip my way through most printed documents. Print is singularly the most nonlinear medium yet invented.
Conversely, web sites are designed specifically to guide the visitor through in a programmed order. Sure, there are web sites where people may "hyperlink" in randomly to various pages, but generally web designers anticipate such arrivals and ensure that the errant visitors are then brought back 'round to the guests entrance as quickly and politely as possible.
In any case, this is Holtz's only errant point and it is purely a matter of theoretical argument. The fact is, linear or nonlinear, it doesn't really matter.
The rest of what Holtz says stands up well to scrutiny. In fact, some of it was outstanding.
Holtz subtitles the book "Winning strategies to inform and influence..." As the original proponent of the Strategic Influence concept.... As one who actually takes pride in the fact that he's been called the "Machiavelli of modern communication" because he espouses so vehemently the belief that communication is all about influence... I can only say that I am thrilled to see Holtz weigh in on the matter early on in the book:
Public relations, as I have already suggested, is all about influence. Why would a company or client pay good money to communicate if it didn't expect to obtain some sort of return on the investment? ... Organizations communicate because they want something from the audience. ... p. 60
Influencing behaviour is the Holy Grail of public relations. ... p. 234
A Recommended Read
Notwithstanding my pithy quibble over the linearity of the Internet medium, Shel Holtz has produced an excellent handbook for all communicators and business leaders who hope to succeed in the digital economy.
