Editing Public relations (section)

=== Social media marketing ===
{{Main|Digital marketing}}
Digital marketing is the use of [[Internet]] tools and technologies such as [[search engines]], Web 2.0 social bookmarking, [[new media]] relations, [[blogging]], and [[social media marketing]]. Interactive PR allows companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying solely on mainstream publications and to communicate directly with the public, customers and prospects.

PR practitioners have always relied on the media such as TV, radio, and magazines, to promote their ideas and messages tailored specifically to a target audience. Social media marketing is not only a new way to achieve that goal, but also a continuation of a strategy that existed for decades. Lister et al. said that "Digital media can be seen as a continuation and extension of a principal or technique that was already in place".<ref>Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2009). ''New media: A critical introduction''. (2nd ed.). New York: [[Routledge]].</ref>

Social media platforms enable users to connect with audiences to build brands, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing content on social media profiles, engaging with followers, analyzing results, and running social media advertisements. The goal is to produce content that users will share with their social network to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. Some of the major social media platforms currently include [[Facebook]], [[Instagram]], [[Twitter]], [[LinkedIn]], [[Pinterest]], [[YouTube]], and [[Snapchat]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rouse |first1=Margaret |title=Social Media Marketing (SMM) |url=https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media-marketing-SMM |website=WhatsIt.com |access-date=17 October 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401071651/https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media-marketing-SMM |url-status=live }}</ref>

As digital technology has evolved, the methods for measuring the effectiveness of online public relations have improved. The Public Relations Society of America, which has been developing PR strategies since 1947, has identified five steps for measuring online public relations effectiveness.
# ''Engagement'': Measure the number of people who engaged with an item (social shares, likes and comments).
# ''Impressions'': Measure the number of people who may have viewed an item.
# ''Items'': Measure any content (blog posts, articles, etc.) that originally appeared as digital media.
# ''Mentions'': Measure how many online items mention the brand, organization, or product.
# ''Reach'': Measure how far the PR campaign managed to penetrate overall and in terms of a particular audience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/MeasurementStandarization/#.VdZtN1WrTmE|title=PR Measurement Standardization: Moving Toward Industry Agreement: PRSA|first=Arthur|last=Yann|access-date=21 August 2015|archive-date=25 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825033727/http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/MeasurementStandarization#.VdZtN1WrTmE|url-status=live}}</ref>