The role of PR firms in social media
There is chatter galore about the changing role of PR firms as social media threatens to take over traditional outlets. As PR pros we’re constantly re-evaluating our role, learning, sharing and cramming more and more initiatives into our job descriptions.
In case you’re out of the loop and aren’t sure what I’m talking about, in case you’re wondering what PR could possibly do with social media and in case you’re thinking you don’t need us to do it, I’d like to share with you this.
AND in case you’re wondering how BG is holding up, I found this on Twitter – that’s a start, to say the least.
Thanks for sharing this great post Lizzie. One of the things I have been thinking about lately is the need for a balanced conversation about “traditional” media vs. online and social media.
I believe that most successful campaigns need a blend of both. An agency that focuses primarily on traditional or an agency that focuses primarily on digital is not serving their client the full menu. We may spend more time online now, but we still all have our favorite magazines, newspapers, TV shows and possibly news stations.
Glad he made a point of including that aspect of what a PR firm brings to the table. What online means is that the tool belt for communicating with your audience just got a whole lot bigger and the exciting part of it is that it can be much more direct. What it also means is that the management of communicating has become more unwieldy and when that’s what a company is facing, an agency’s help may be just what’s needed.
Greetings Koolaid drinkers! Glad to have found you!
As communicators it’s been a challenge getting our heads around what Web 2.0 and Social media mean to us.
But likely the biggest challenge I’ve encountered has been working SM into the Client-Agency model of doing things. Agencies can do a lot more for their clients by using SM. However, to do that well and effectively (and assuming the client is relatively well ‘trained’ on what SM is and isn’t and how it should and shouldn’t be used in their case) it takes both a significant amount of trust on the client’s part and the willingness of the agency to reinvent how it does things. I’ve seen this work very, very well (a site called http://www.buysafemedia.com)… but getting there… well that was a whole other kettle of fish!