Today, I want to take a few minutes to write about Wikipedia in terms that future marketers want and need to know.
Wikipedia defines itself as "the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
It's kindof a big deal. According to Alexa, Wikipedia is among the top 20 most visited Web sites. Steve Rubel, VP of Edelman, recently wrote in his blog Micro Persuasion that Wikipedia is more popular now than the New York Times, The BBC, and CNN.
Wikipedia isn't just an upstart Web site anymore.
Wikipedia, while seen as an encyclopedia more than a news medium, it is without a doubt a huge influence for consumers. As public relations practitioners, we must be aware of our clients reputation in both traditional media and alternatives like Wikipedia.
This is a powerful social media that can reach consumers more efficiently and effectively than pitching reporters and editors. We, with the Wikipedia community, are enabled to tell our story from our perspective on this massive encyclopedia.
This does, however, come with a few complications. Wikipedians have problems with commercial use of Wikipedia. Don't even try to run promotional pieces as articles for the encyclopedia.
What you can do:
Make sure your client is mentioned on every list.
Add your client's Web site under relevant topics.
Link additional articles to your client's article.
Here is an example:
My name is Jarrod, I represent the Widget Workshop where we make the fastest unicycle on the planet. I created an article called the "Z1 Skimmer" that shows some of the features, costs, comparisons of my unicycle. I also put it on the lists of types of unicycles in the world. I did a quick stub about Widget Workshop with a link to relevant news articles and company Web pages.
Thus, the "Z1 Skimmer" has been wikified. Check out this to see what I did this summer. It needs some work, but it is a start.
What do you all think of Wikipedia? Is this a fad? Will it die out?
