Many observers have noted that the PR industry is “in transition”; “upheaval” may be closer to the truth. There was a time when it was like the all-powerful doorman on the rope line at the club, deciding whether your bit of news was attractive enough to give it access to the “club” (its network of media editors/reporters).
But that model has been totally upended by, first the Web, and more recently social media …which are simply bypassing it. Consider the following additional paths that a vendor’s information can now take:
- Vendor —> bloggers —> prospects
- Vendor —> social networks —> prospects —> vendor blog/website
- Vendor’s customers —> social networks —> prospects —> vendor blog/website (aka “citizen journalism”)
See any “gatekeeper” role for your PR firm in those avenues? …I didn’t think so. Even worse (for PR), research shows that buyers ascribe these alternate paths with essentially the same level of credibility as the traditional media channels …if not even higher.
Obviously, it’s too soon to know the outcome of this tsunami. It’s possible – though fairly unlikely – that the PR industry could simply wither away, along with many former lions of print media. More likely is that the industry will adapt, in one of several ways…
- it can better align with Marketing (including interactive marketing agencies), in sharp contrast to its traditional “above the commercial fray” aura. The case for this is made in a landmark post by Dan Greenfield, “Social Media Is Pushing PR and Interactive Marketing to Align.”
- it can learn to better leverage the new social media and SEO tools. Over at the Online Marketing Blog, Adam Singer discloses the 10-question assessment that TopRank provides its clients to use in evaluating their PR and marketing agencies, based primarily on their familiarity with / use of these new tools.
So hey, give your PR agency a shout; you just may find a very welcome spirit of real co-operation. And if not… well, now you have a checklist to help you switch to one that truly “gets it” in today’s world.
