As social media becomes more entrenched as a corporate tool, one of the beliefs that seems to be gaining traction is that social media can replace public relations as the way to tell the world what you’re doing.
For some companies with the Midas touch, this may be true but for the vast majority of companies, public relations continues to play a key role along with social media. I would argue that companies that ignore to public relations as a valuable communications and marketing tool are making a major mistake.
The realty is social media is shiny, new and, as important, free (at least the tools are free). On the other hand, public relations is yesterday’s tool, and seen as something that worked well when traditional media ruled the roost.
As well, many public relations agencies continue to use the old-school billing-by-the-hour model, which doesn’t work for clients looking for financial flexibility and a way to reward suppliers based on ongoing performance.
This has encouraged many companies to embrace social media or, at least, experiment more with it. Meanwhile, public relations budgets are being scrutinized and questioned.
The biggest issue in turning away from public relations is it brushes aside the value that a good public relations agency can bring to the table in terms of engaging with key constituents, including traditional media, which still provides plenty of great opportunities despite the rise of social media.
A good public relations agency delivers more than simply sending out press releases and media package; it also creates campaigns that feature stories tailored to the needs and interests each constituent.
The other thing that a good public relations agency brings to the table is relationships – relationships not only with reporters but bloggers and analysts.
In an ideal world, public relations and social media work together to provide companies with a solid one-two punch. While public relations is a good way to create and deliver compelling stories, social media can be a valuable tool to reach out to target audiences to drive engagement, conversations and relationships.
While public relations agencies can certainly provide social media tactics on behalf of clients, these efforts tend to work better when a company is doing the heavy lifting because they’re the ones drinking the corporate Kool-Aid.
Even with smaller clients, I advise them to consider using a public relations agencies as another way to cover the media landscape. Of course, these clients tend to work with boutique agencies that offered lower prices but still deliver great service.
The bottom line is when a public relations agency and a client can work together make beautiful public relations and social media music together.
Great post. One of the problems with cutting your PR budgets in favour of social media tactics is this notion that social media is like sending out a press release – a push medium that reaches your desired target audience. But are you reaching your desired targets with social media?
I met with a major national news distribution service who gave me the full-court press sales pitch on what they call the “social media press release,” meaning a news release they pack with “SEO optimization”. My direct question was this: why would I send a press release to the PRESS (the audience) using social media (which my or may not reach my audience). It’s a bit like killing a flea with a sledgehammer.
As you rightly note, Mark, traditional media relations, if done correctly and targeted appropriately to individual reporters and influence leaders, and combined with other tactics (events, advertising, promotions and more) is a far more appropriate and effective tactic than a scattergun, “announce to the world and see if anybody’s listening” approach that many are taking with their bargain-basement “social media strategies”. The same goes for blasting out a press release and then alerting your client, “I’ve told the media!” Newsflash – it was only worthwhile if it gets pick-up!
No matter whether you’re using traditional PR or social media, you can’t just tick off a box and say, “communication – done!” It only works when they hear what you’ve said. Otherwise, it’s just noise.
The Need for Social Media AND PR | Mark Evans Tech « Media Point
[...] more: The Need for Social Media AND PR | Mark Evans Tech Written on August 3rd, 2010 & filed under Blogs, Comentário, Media Tags: becomes-more, [...]
As a PR guy I appreciate the recognition of the value of public relations, and I’m a little confused about the either/or juxtaposition with social media on which you report. Social media is a wonderful communication channel, as can be face-to-face meetings, advertisements of all types, and pretty much all the marketing disciplines. Like any channel, its value is directly proportional to the value of the content that goes into the channel. Put rutabagas in and you get rutabagas out, as we say in the world of Swiss tubers.
So, there’s what you put into the channel, and then there’s who puts it into the channel. In this age that author/researcher Michael Maslansky has labeled the Post-Trust Era, there is a default skepticism about anything any organization has to say about itself. This is a healthy, natural reaction by a public that has endured generation after generation of spurious self-promotion that ranges from artful and even charming exaggeration to sinister manipulation to bald-faced lies. What’s a mother to do?
So, even if you are committed to speaking only true facts about your organization and/or your brands, you’re already implicated by this skeptical world view. We all know now how easy it is to manipulate facts. The challenge for organizations using the social media channel, on their own or with the help of professional communication advisors, is not filling the channel or even building an audience of sorts. The challenge is getting the audience to care, to believe and to align with your position.
OK, this is where I get to the blatant self-interest part, because even in this social media age, there are still certain truisms about good, effective, engaging communication. It remains both art and science. (Kids, don’t try this at home.) Social media has unequivocally rebalanced the relationship between communicators and audience. (For one thing, it’s now a relationship between communicator and communicator.) You can’t fake authenticity. Really, you can’t. People will give you a bit of a break if they believe you, but trust is transactional. You must earn it on every single transaction. A disconnect between word and deed will dissolve trust faster than a Mentos in a Diet Coke. (A bit dated?)
You also can’t simply tell people to trust you. Remember, by default everything you say is suspect. You’ve probably manipulated or cherry-picked the data, and you’ve certainly got blind spots.
How then, do you protect and enhance your reputation? Sell an idea? Sell a product? Whether you’re in the digital world or the molecular world, it’s all about the relationship. Open yourself up to the warts-and-all exposure that is the de facto reality you live in anyway. Everybody knows that no one is infallible, therefore if you refuse to acknowledge your fallibility you are obviously a fraud. Figure out how to speak human language. Figure out what people think about you and don’t try to argue them out of it. The last time you started a discussion with your spouse with the words “You’re wrong,” how did that work out for you? Acknowledge the feelings people have. This is always about feelings.
Also, figure out how to be a little self-deprecating. Canadian companies ought to be world beaters at this. It’s our national pre-disposition.
Great post Mark. My really successful clients have outsourced their PR and social media strategy – but executed the social media efforts in-house. Find that maven that loves the business and loves being connected – provide some direction on strategy and the results can be amazing.
Lesli – I appreciate your comment on the social media release. I’m not sold it’s the right move and definitely feel it depends on the target audiences clients are trying to reach. With all of the analytics available for free, online newsrooms, websites, etc. it doesn’t seem necessary. Not to mention that nearly every journalist I know cringes at the thought of a canned quote. It will be interesting to see if it ever gets any traction.
I agree that social media does not replace PR. I think it augments it very synergistically however.
I think we’re still stuck with the silo mentality. I got out of that in the early 90′s and as a result our agency was the first PR firm in MN to have a Webmaster, for example. We were also very early adopters of social media in our practice. We do not view social media as anything other than another unique PR tool. Actually I don’t care what you call it, it works – so we use it – as we do the other dozens and dozens of PR techniques available conventionally and digitally.