Online conventional exchanges

To improve their Online marketing is the obvious focus for many companies attempting to improve their reputation at the moment. Success stories like Dell’s use of Twitter or Nike’s Chalkbot are placed on a pedestal, and the hype surrounding brands using Facebook is at boiling point. One of the trends we’ve seen developing over the past year is the notion of targeting evangelists over influencers. Marmite’s Marmarati is a great example of engaging with a smaller group of passionate fans, instead of going after high-profile influencers was vast networks at their disposal.   

The theory is that those with real interest in the product or service you’re trying to promote are far more likely to spread the word to those with a similar mindset. Though smart PRs have been playing by a version of this rule for years (targeting those with interest in the right subject, but also with a large reach), tying social media into this to spread the word online is still a relatively underused concept. Blogger relations should be treated in the same way, but is quite often marred by a scattergun approach.