Surprising Mistakes Some Communication Organizations Are Making In Their Online Presence

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY - Over the past few weeks I have been viewing organizations that offer services in the areas of public relations, marketing, and communications at select locations in the United States. During this process, I was surprised at what I observed. Organizations that market themselves as professionals in areas of communication were failing to promote themselves online in effective, innovate, modern, and multidimensional ways. How they are failing in online self-promotion, self-representation, and external communication is basic and unexpected of those claiming to be experts in communication.

In the early part of 2023, after living in Germany for the past 5 years, I am planning on permanently relocating back to the U.S. Because of this, I am starting to research potential employment opportunities in the locations of my interest. In this search, I have viewed over 100 different organizations, within three states, that specialize in public relations, marketing, and communications.

To locate organizations, I simply utilized Google search engine, querying the terms “Public relations at [location]”, “Communications firm at [location]”, and “Marketing at [location]”. Once the results were tabulated, I would view the locations on the map and scroll through the organizations that were listed. Here, I would view the details of each organization: location, rating, contact information, etc.

My first observation was how many organizations, claiming to be in business for up to 10 years (and sometime even longer), lacked even one Google rating or review. Online reviews are a huge driver of modern business and when the business places emphasis on communication, it needs to ensure it gets positive recognition online by clients and affiliates to drive the traffic towards the company. If an organization is not receiving reviews, a strategy needs to be developed and implemented to gain these online testimonials. Many companies have benefited from encouraging clients, customers, and partners to provide feedback and online reviews. Asking former employees after mutually amiable parting to leave a review of their occupational time with organization is another tactic employed by various companies.

Google provides links to basic contact information, including websites, phone numbers, and physical addresses with directions for most organizations. However, a few organizations lacked some of this basic information. To find these, a separate search of that specific organization was required, which means additional effort and time investment, something that may deter clients from choosing those organizations for their needs. How can a legitimate communications organization, or professional expect to be taken seriously if they lack basic 20th century online presence? Clients should be hesitant to seek professional advice and services if the organization shows the lack of ability to promote themselves in an effective manner. Clients wanting to improve their communications through professional services would not be satisfied with an organization that cannot even get their own Google presence accurate and complete.

After viewing the results of the search, I explored the websites of these organizations (provided there was one, which was not always the case). An organization’s website should be a “showroom” of the technologies and abilities clients can expect from a service provider. This was true in most cases as many websites offered tons of information and professional layouts that one would expect of communication focused organizations - multiple pages, with modern graphics and videos, fluid layout, informational content, and links to the various medias used by these organizations. These websites provided great highlights of what to expect if one took on the services of these organizations.

A few web sites were surprising, however, as they utilized a very basic one- or two-page design. When a potential client selects a topic from the site’s menu, the page would abruptly scroll down to that topic area located on the same page, instead of bringing up a dedicated page to the topic. Long pages covering multiple topics are unfriendly to use, outdated, unappealing, and just plain awkward. A single topic – single page design offers clarity over clutter and is most effective due to having a dedicated focus on the topic of interest. Some basic examples of these topic-specific pages what information they should contain are presented below.

HOME: Organizational name, mission and vision statements, target audience, and a basic introduction (Who we are. What we do. Why we do it)

SERVICES: Services and products offered and what the company specializes in

ABOUT: Introduction of the organization, history, virtual meet of the key team members

CONTACT: Suggested communication methods, list of contact options, links to social media accounts, physical location and hours of operation

Other pages that are optional, but are great additions to highlight services in communications are:

PORTFOLIO: Examples of past work, products, and services.

BLOG: Updates, news, and articles about the wonderful things the organization is doing professionally and for the community.

TESTIMONIALS: Customer testimonials and endorsements.

The suggestions above are basic pages needed by almost any organization to provide necessary and compelling information. For communications company, these are the obvious choices to showcase their services and abilities.

Social media has become a major part of our lives. In addition to occupying a considerable amount of personal time, social media has rapidly gained importance as professional platforms. I was taken aback by how many organizations were lacking this resource. In fact, one public relations agency that had no social media presence whatsoever. On their website the company offered only a phone number and an email address as their means of communication. As a prospective employee, I would consider applying to such a company only as a challenge to bring it into the 21st century. As a customer, I would avoid such a place like the plague, as I would expect higher quality service and self-representation from a company in the business of communications.

Aside from the aforementioned agency lacking any social media, many other organizations were minimalistic in social media presence. The most common social media accounts tended to be a blend of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. These are great communication channels to have. However, social media accounts should be treated much like the official website, as showrooms of organizational abilities, services, and philosophies. To provide authentic examples of organizational capabilities in social media communication, it is vital to be active on all major social media platforms. This means staying current to social trends, as social media popularity and content preferences are continuously evolving. A prospective customer may want to view how an organization performs and designs content for diverse platforms, to include TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Pinterest, etc. After all, seeing is believing.

In addition to organizations lacking diversity in social media presence, a few social media links directed me to the organization owner’s own account, in particular LinkedIn or Twitter. In some cases, these organizations even had a separate official account for that business. Although it is useful to provide some information on key members of the company, organizations should always have separate accounts for the organization and their owner or chief executive. This is a basic question of portraying an image of professionalism and legitimacy. Many freelancers separate their professional and personal accounts exactly for that reason.

Overall, most organizations I viewed were excellent examples of communication: from Google search, to official website, to social media presence. However, it was the glaring errors and communication fallacies of the few that surprised me. These errors are basic and should be obvious for anyone in the communications fields.

There is a simple method to avoid making the mistakes I observed during my searches. Through an annual analysis of organizational media and online presence, weaknesses can easily be identified and corrected. Some of the questions to answer during these analyses are:

What appears when searching the organization using common online search engine?

What are people saying and what can be done to increase positive reviews?

Is the website easy to navigate, visually appealing, current with trends and technologies, and does the organizational image appeal to the target audience?

Does the online presence engage the target audience and enhance user experience?

Is social media and traditional media used both current and trending? Is there new media available?

Is the traditional media and social media employed effectively to reach the target audience?

What new methods and technologies are available to assist the organization in its goals and providing services to the customer?

Is the organization doing everything in its power to remain innovative and relevant?

Not being aware, current, and proactive with an organization’s online presence can be detrimental to an organizations mission and success.

Prospective customers often use an organization’s own online presence to gauge the capabilities, quality, and limitations of an organization’s communication products and services. Providing only the basics will give people the impression that basics are all you can offer, even if you promise more. If you are going to present your organization as a highly qualified and skilled communications organization, with a vast array of tools and capabilities, treat your own organization as one of those valued customers you wish to acquire and support. Fulfilling the promise of excellence to the customer starts with your own online existence, from search results, to official website, to other media and social media platforms.

Having strategies in place to regularly analyze external and public communications and online presence and practices can be invaluable to ensure that an organization meets its purpose and goals. Being a good communicator starts with how visible you are and how effectively you communicate your mission to your target audience and the public.