Half of marketers use SEO in PR

28/11/2008

Recent research has revealed that more than half of marketing professionals have adopted online public relations (PR) practices.

According to Citigate Dewe Rogerson, 51.4 per cent of experts have chosen to use search engine optimisation (SEO) and other online advertising methods.

Four in ten people in the industry are planning to increase their online budget for marketing during the next financial year, the study found.

Pay-per-click, online content and newsletters were also identified as areas in which PR professionals may increase spend.

Phil Szomszor, head of digital at Citigate Dewe, said: "We urge companies to consider areas that will deliver greater reputation management value than SEO and e-newsletters, such as buzz monitoring, blogger relations and, where appropriate, social network engagement."

In related news, The Economist recently predicted that internet advertising will remain "relatively unscathed" during the financial downturn.

It said that the greater variety of advertising forms available online makes spending on internet marketing less "speculative".