Wikipedia PR: Which strategy is best for companies?
Many companies have recognized the special value of Wikipedia as a source of information. But those who decide to improve the entry on their own company or create the article in the first place often experience "unpleasant surprises". According to the Wikipedia experts from Aufgesang and Sucomo, the key to avoiding this is to proceed strategically and correctly.
"Wikipedia holds quite a few pitfalls - that's why it's imperative to familiarize yourself with its encyclopedic nature," explains Markus Franz of PR agency Sucomo. "For the German-language version alone, about a hundred and fifty guidelines apply, some of which contradict each other. A thorough familiarization determines the weal and woe of publishing new content - because that's the only way to prevent errors that lead to lasting skepticism among the community."
Even more important than the official rules are the unofficial customs, which can only be learned step by step. "Unfortunately, we experience it time and again that companies jeopardize the chance of an entry because they rush ahead with self-promotion or uncleanly prepared articles," explains Peter Montag, Wikipedia expert at Aufgesang. "In doing so, they provoke immediate deletion - in the worst case, a less well-meaning administrator keeps an eye on the article. Then even professional service providers have a hard time intervening to help."
"Salami tactics" are successful
After the Wikipedia relevance has been clarified beyond doubt (if necessary via the Relevance check), companies best proceed by creating a few-sentence mini-post - even Stub called. The reason is simple: The critical community is inclined to suspect unauthorized PR in longer texts - therefore the chance of success for a mini-entry is much higher. Only when the rudimentary article has cleared the hurdle should companies get down to the further step-by-step elaboration.
With a bit of luck, the stub will arouse the interest of other users - so that the new article is continuously expanded even without any significant input from the company itself. In addition, companies can do a lot to build trust by not only contributing to their own article, but also contributing to articles that relate to their area of expertise. Images and videos under a Wikipedia-compatible license can also help.
Advice and support on all Wikipedia-related issues is provided by a free guide: https://www.aufgesang.de/wikipedia-leitfaden
