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Yr Merchat’s
E-Cmmerce Webste

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49Jm Kka  Keote Bo
50Speake Bos
64Podct eeds Ca Do What?

Most advertising executives and marketers
believe nowadays that a successul public
relations strategy can play a vital and ROI-
accretive role in their company’s success.

From creating a positive corporate image,
to reaching out to inuencers within the
industry or media, public relations can
shape how both internal and external
stakeholders view the company.

With the speed at which our
communication tactics are changing, it
is undamental that your company’s PR
strategy remain current and in line with
corporate goals.

In today’s business world, immediacy and
transparency are two terms that should be
o high importance to company executives.
Due to the Internet-created 24 hour
news cycle o our society, any news that
a company makes—whether it is good or
bad—can be spread all over the world in a
matter o minutes.

With social media, blogs and orums,
consumers and aliates have the
opportunity to engage in dialogue with
company representatives to share their
thoughts and make their voices heard.
This is vastly dierent rom a decade ago
when public relations were seen as one-
way communication, with the companies
controlling the message.

The ability o consumers and perormance
marketers to engage in conversations
with company representatives makes it
necessary or companies to be transparent.
It can be very easy or advertising agencies,
networks and perormance-based aliates
to be viewed negatively i they are not
upront about their business practices.

Oten, companies that are transparent
are more successul due to the trust they
are able to oster with their internal and
external publics.

That said, just having a solid public
relations mindset is not enough.
Companies must be willing to speak up
about the necessity o setting a good
example with their public relations
strategy. Because misinormation can be
spread so easily, having good relationships
with media and trusting stakeholders and
aliates can help companies avoid a crisis
situation.

Advertising companies and networks must
ensure that everyone—rom employees
to aliates—is on the same page. I
the employees are unhappy about the
direction their company is perceived to be
heading, morale and production will drop,
and this image maniests itsel outside
company walls.

But i stakeholders and other external
inuencers are condent in your company,
it will be reected in your brand’s image
and return on investment.

By creating and sticking to a strong PR
approach, advertising organizations can
ensure that they are communicating
quickly and eciently with aliates. This
communication is important to ensure that
everyone associated with the company is
presenting a unied message.

With so many Web-savvy people engaged
with networks and ad intermediaries, the
smallest discrepancy or problem can make
news, aecting the company’s brand, as
well as its nances.

The bottom line is this: PR is more
important than ever no matter where you
sit in the online marketing ecosystem.

Gil Abir, Sara Anderson, Todd Bloch, Lee Brignell-
Cash, Liane Carmi, Daniel M. Clark, Shawn Collins,
Ali Crot, Kim Ann Curtin, David Dalka, Aaron
Dragushan, Bob Drumm, Ola Edvardsson, Amy
Ely, Trisha Lyn Fawver, Ryan Gilbert, Michael
Grabowski, George Hansen, Kevin Hillman, Ad
Hustler, Jim Lillig, Scott Medlock, Tricia Meyer, Brian
Solis, Mike Sprouse, Cathy Stucker, Nick Usborne,

Aliate Summit
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New Providence, NJ 07974-1935
tel (417) 2SUMMIT (278-6648)
ax (908) 364-4627

Articles in FeedFront Magazine are the opinions
o the author and may not necessarily reect the
views o the magazine, or its owners. FeedFront
Magazine always welcomes opinions o an
opposite nature..

There’s been a lot o talk o late regarding
a change in the aliate marketing
nomenclature; inclusive o the industry name
itsel.

Some argue that as our industry evolves, that
the designation should take on a broader
descriptive, e.g., “perormance marketing
industry”, in which aliate marketing plays a
vital role as a signicant channel; yet one o

As an industry, we do tend to overcomplicate
the issue by using disparate terminology or
essentially the same things, leading to even
greater conusion, especially to olks outside
o our community.

I’ve also seen the term “media partner”
being used to essentially describe the
same relationship that I’ve had with my
“merchants” (or “advertisers”, depending on
what THEY choose to call themselves).

by renaming it “perormance marketing”,
that our industry will garner more media
attention, become shielded rom advertising
tax laws and that it will somehow change the
perception that some people have about our
industry overall.

Others maintain that ater spending years
educating online marketers and the public
about aliate marketing that changing the
name now, would set us back in a time where
our industry continues to emerge and is
now being recognized as a legitimate, viable
marketing channel.

As I look at the agenda or Aliate
Summit East 2010 included in this issue
and the incorporated articles written
by the experienced marketers that
specialize in various subsets o internet
marketing, I would wager that many do
not call themselves aliate marketers or
perormance marketers. Rather, they likely
have labeled themselves as social media
marketers, SEO’s, bloggers, e-mailers, direct
marketers, etc., even though they all are
involved in aliate marketing at some level
and are actively trying to increase their
oothold in our growing sector o online
marketing.

So, while I’m all or a term to better reect
our industry’s orward-thinking, innovative,
multi-channel approach to generating sales
and leads, I don’t know i I’m ready to change
it to perormance marketing, just because it
somehow seems more mainstream.

Email me your thoughts at
missyward@aliatesummit.com to be
published in FeedFront Magazine’s new
Letters to the Editor section.