Companies Should be Promoting Their Website and Social Media URLs Side by Side for Maximum Reach, Says Punch Communications

LONDON, October 29, 2010 - To ensure that the communication preference of every audience member is
catered to, therefore reaching the maximum amount of people, all the
addresses of a brand's online presence, such as its website, Twitter and
Facebook page, should be publicised side by side, according to PR, search and
social media agency (www.punchcomms.com/social-media-agency.html),
Punch Communications.

Most businesses with a website ensure the URL is carefully promoted and
some large brands have started to widely advertise their social media pages
but very few promote all of them together. Whatever the type of company, its
website and social media spaces have important parts to play in communicating
with customers or clients. Each channel has different strengths, for example
websites allow businesses to present more in-depth information in a fully
controllable way whereas Facebook is a good platform for gauging a reaction
through likes and comments on a topical post.

It is important for brands and the PR companies (
www.punchcomms.com/pr-company.html) that are representing them to
promote each of their online channels of communication appropriately so that
consumers can choose the most fitting for their needs or preferences. Some
people choose to keep abreast of a company's news through social media
because it allows them to be reactive and have a two way conversation. The
acquisition of followers and content that encourages interaction will result
in new fans and therefore potential new customers because of the way users'
communications are displayed to their friends or followers.

However, offering only a Twitter or Facebook URL can alienate those
social media users who prefer to solely utilise those platforms for
real-world relationships. Also it is important to consider, just as it is
essential to remember that not every audience member has internet access, not
everybody has an account on Facebook and Twitter.

Brands can also feed information to customers through a website by
encouraging them to sign up to emails or to receive RSS feed notifications
but a website's primary purpose is to give the customer the information they
require to take the next step towards making a purchase or choosing a
service. Another benefit of promoting a website is that user behaviour can be
tracked through analytics, which helps a business to understand its
messaging, popular content and points of sale. With social media it is
difficult to know how many times their page is being visited or its content
being read and having no control over rules, aesthetics and functionality
means a brand's hard work could go to waste at some point in time.

Pete Goold, MD of Punch Communications, said: "There are strong arguments
for businesses with a website and a presence in one or more social media
spaces to promote both channels of communication as each has different
strengths. Advertisement placement and target audience are factors that must
be considered but in the main brands should be promoting all points of online
communication if they want to reach the maximum amount of people."

For more information on Punch Communications and its current vacancies
for social media jobs (www.punchcomms.com/social-media-jobs.html),
please visit www.punchcomms.com,
www.facebook.com/punchcommunications or
www.twitter.com/prcompany.

Pete Goold, +44(0)1858-411-600, pete.goold at punchcomms.com