Online public relations[4] is a strategic communication process that organizations use to establish beneficial relationships with their online audiences. Unlike traditional public relations, online PR allows organizations to communicate directly with their audience through various online platforms such as social media[6], blogs, and websites. The flow of information online is multi-directional, meaning that audiences can interact, review, and assess the information provided. Tactics used in online PR include buzz marketing, which targets influential consumers, online reputation management[2], and link building[5] to increase website[7] traffic. It’s worth noting that online PR is an integral part of marketing communications[1] and can include affiliate marketing[3] strategies.
Online public relations, also known as E-PR or digital PR, is the use of the internet to communicate with both potential and current customers in the public realm. It functions as the web relationship influence among internet users and it aims to make desirable comments about an organization, its products and services, news viewed by its target audiences and lessen its undesirable comments to a large degree. Online public relations shows differences from traditional public relations. One of these is associated with its platforms. Compared with traditional public relations channels (such as TV, radio and printed press), the network systems used for online public relations vary from search to social platforms.[citation needed] In the era of digital marketing, the major online public relations tools for the public relations professionals and marketers such as content marketing, search engine optimization are the results of mixture of digital technologies and public relations. Those approaches have become the mainstream digital marketing machines and learning to take advantage of these marketing tools is an essential part of modern public relations strategies.