Public relations rule of engagement: don’t.
Just like in the window industry, those in the field of public relations abide by a cardinal rule: transparency is key.
Public relations practitioners are paid to shape information and present in an appealing way so that somebody else can turn it into a story for public consumption. At no point are we advised to try and directly influence our client's audience.
But in this brave new world of blogs, message boards, and 140-character limit messages, where the rules haven't been etched in stone, there is a temptation to attempt to sway public perception on our own by hiding under the blanket of anonymity. Perhaps the thought is that we're helping?
Bad idea.
If there's one thing that should be clear to all PR pros involved in social media, it's that you have to be 100 percent transparent in your online activity if you're doing it on behalf of your client.
In other words, if you're commenting on a message board, or creating a Twitter account under a company's name, make sure the intended audience knows who they're dealing with. Not only will it save you the embarassment of being outed by your major daily newspaper's blog, but it will properly set expectations with the key audience.
And in our line of work, it's the message that matters, not us.
