Centaur Media Launching Social Marketing Site

Vikki Chowney

NMA publisher Centaur Media is about to launch Reputation Online, a standalone, ad-funded, editorially-led site all about the growing business of social PR and online reputation management. The project is headed by journalist and former digital PR consultant Vikki Chowney (pictured) who from 28 September will be writing about the sector full time as well as publishing video and filtering user-generated stories, tips and comments.

Chowney told paidContent:UK that the site won’t be paid-for or tied to subscription — instead the plan is to build reach, sell advertising and promote a series of events tied to the site’s coverage. “For me part of managing your online reputation is being transparent and you cut out a whole load of your readership that could really benefit from something if you made it paid content.” And it’s not just designed for PR pros: “I think by its very nature it will appeal to PR companies and agencies but we’re keen to also integrate people from within brands themselves.” she says.

The last five years has seen a dramatic leap in the number of PR agencies and consultants offering social media advice and campaigns. With very few people really understanding the dark arts of SEO keywords and viral campaigns, Chowney and Centaur saw an editorial gap in the market. As she writes in a blog post, many “‘social media consultants’, agencies and companies have sprung up to try and provide an answer to this problem, but are often as misguided or uninformed as those in need of help.”

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