I first came to know Josh Bernoff in his days as an analyst for Forrester Research; since then, he has made a business of helping authors and generally dispensing great writing advice. I was surprised (and pleased) to see he mentioned me in his weekly newsletter this past week (I recommend subscribing, naturally). First: the company he placed me in is quite accomplished:
Second: I’ve seen it all? Everything? Surely that’s not possible. Granted, I have seen a lot, and I have been around long enough to edit Page 2 of my resume to simply read “None of your damn business;” but, everything?
The mention did prompt me to think back on things I have seen in public relations (and social media, content marketing, SEO, and all the disciplines I have practiced). In the spirit of this occasionally accurate Top 5 series, I thought of the following five things I definitely have seen:
- The Demise of “Spray and Pray” Media Relations
Nothing says “they’ve seen it all” like recalling the days when putting out a press release meant calling (on the phone!) every single reporter and editor in your database, no matter how relevant the news is(n’t) to them. Bonus points for calling a business editor at a daily newspaper with a minor product enhancement release while they are on deadline (yes, this happened!). Unfortunately, there are still those who insist on this tactic (I’ve seen it, recently!). It can still work in terms of getting coverage, but it is inefficient and very dangerous in terms of maintaining relationships with journalists.
- PR is Now Content, Don’t Try to Hide From It
For years, I took jobs focused on content production – social media and content marketing, among other things – rather than media relations. My background in journalism and appetite for innovations in business communications fed this direction, and it has served me well. Since I returned to a media relations role, I have found that this role has become, in large part, a content creation job too. Have a great idea for a site editor? Great, they will ask you to produce an article for them on the topic. It is the nature of the business now, one that I feel reflects the nature of the media business and is a natural extension of all of the roles I have filled over time.
- Social Media is Not a Practice, It’s a Platform
In the early days of social media (remember, I’ve seen it all!), different departments fought for years over who “owned” social media as a practice. Was it PR, who could message properly? Marketing or advertising, who could harness the channels for revenue? Or maybe IT, who could incorporate the technical aspects of social media seamlessly into a brand presence (remember, I’ve seen everything)? The answer, of course, is “yes.” Companies and agencies have taken elements of social media channels and integrated them into their practices, often alongside each other. This is an oversimplification, but social media, rather than being a separate discipline it tried to be for years, is a platform – a tool, even – that can lay across several departments.
- PR People Still Have No Idea How to Measure Their Work
For years, PR relied on “thud factor” (the sound a thick printed clip book makes when you drop it on the conference room table, for you digital natives) to measure their work. That is, the volume of placements, regardless of quality was the measurement. Another (terrible) method was AVE, or Ad Value Equivalency, the idea being that an editorial article was worth what you would have paid for the same space in advertising. Efforts such as the Barcelona Principles have tried to get PR professionals to measure efforts in more meaningful ways correlating to business success, but frankly I don’t see a lot of innovation, especially when some clients still ask for AVE (why??). I have even seen marketers still promoting it like it’s a normal, logical thing to do.
- Are PR Agencies Even Necessary?
Of course the answer is “yes.” Agencies can provide a combined expertise to clients, if they present and execute well. Having seen things from the client side as well, though, I can’t help but notice there are a lot of times that the right internal person (another thing I have seen- but also done) can get the results that an agency should be producing, but often doesn’t. It is up to the agency teams to add value that matches what they are charging, and to figure out what brings that value. As so many shoot-from-the-hip PR pundits say in their series of obvious truths on Twitter* and LinkedIn, it really is a partnership. Whichever side of the relationship I am on, I am looking at how the agency complements the internal team.
When I have seen that happen consistently, then I will have seen everything.
*I’m still calling it Twitter, deal with it.