Is there such a thing as organised digital PR in India? Worldwide digital PR is credited with creating huge success stories for corporations, professionals and individuals. This has a lot to do with the fact that in the developed markets of the world, the online universe is truly understood for what it is. A seamless, precise and highly calibrated means of communication.
In India in spite of the huge evidence of its cost effectiveness and efficiency there seems to be an inertia which dogs the use and application of this highly effective means both by communication consultants and their clients. This is not to say that many Indian companies do not aggressively use digital PR or that there aren't communication professionals who specialise in it. But it is nowhere as important or pervasive as it should be. Consider this. Facebook at last count had 46 million MAUs or Monthly Active Users in India and this number is growing. Which mainline newspaper can boast of this kind of highly focused as well as segmented reach? This is a goldmine sitting to be tapped. How many PR consultants and Corporate Communications heads devote the kind of time they should, to optimally utilise Facebook's phenomenal reach.
Inherent to digital PR are certain advantages that it offers over its traditional counterpart. First and foremost the shelf-life of the messaging is considerably longer than in traditional media. Secondly the messaging is interactive, which lets you instantly gauge response. What's more you could then go ahead and integrate it with social media tools. Digital PR in fact has the wherewithal to directly accrue revenue/attention to your client, by in a sense creating a direct hotline( to borrow a term from older times)with the target audience. What's fantastic of digital media coverage is the fact that you can track its reach quite easily and precisely and know exactly its faring.
A lot of resistance to digital PR arises from the fear of the unknown. The fact that it deploys technology. This is actually typical of any period that witnesses a paradigm shift in the way things are being done. The world is going digital and a lot of us are not quite comfortable with the fact. Why there are still people in India and even in the West who cannot send text messages. So it is not surprising that the real power of digital PR is yet to be effectively harnessed.
In India in spite of the huge evidence of its cost effectiveness and efficiency there seems to be an inertia which dogs the use and application of this highly effective means both by communication consultants and their clients. This is not to say that many Indian companies do not aggressively use digital PR or that there aren't communication professionals who specialise in it. But it is nowhere as important or pervasive as it should be. Consider this. Facebook at last count had 46 million MAUs or Monthly Active Users in India and this number is growing. Which mainline newspaper can boast of this kind of highly focused as well as segmented reach? This is a goldmine sitting to be tapped. How many PR consultants and Corporate Communications heads devote the kind of time they should, to optimally utilise Facebook's phenomenal reach.
Inherent to digital PR are certain advantages that it offers over its traditional counterpart. First and foremost the shelf-life of the messaging is considerably longer than in traditional media. Secondly the messaging is interactive, which lets you instantly gauge response. What's more you could then go ahead and integrate it with social media tools. Digital PR in fact has the wherewithal to directly accrue revenue/attention to your client, by in a sense creating a direct hotline( to borrow a term from older times)with the target audience. What's fantastic of digital media coverage is the fact that you can track its reach quite easily and precisely and know exactly its faring.
A lot of resistance to digital PR arises from the fear of the unknown. The fact that it deploys technology. This is actually typical of any period that witnesses a paradigm shift in the way things are being done. The world is going digital and a lot of us are not quite comfortable with the fact. Why there are still people in India and even in the West who cannot send text messages. So it is not surprising that the real power of digital PR is yet to be effectively harnessed.
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