You know those hybrid cars that are more expensive because they run on electricity and fuel? Think about public relations…our profession is like a hybrid car, too. We run on different platforms to deliver mileage for a campaign. We blend a variety of marketing disciplines, just like fuel and electricity to produce.
On Spin Sucks June 3, Gini Dietrich wrote about the PR firm of the future. She’s seeking hybrid PR professionals to work with her team, and here are the criteria she’d like to see in that person:
- Media and blogger relations
- Content development
- Content marketing
- Workflow development and email marketing
- On-page search engine optimization
- Issues management
- Client service
- WordPress coding (bonus)
Old PR
Recently, I wrote a post right here about the blending of PR being its demise. In that post, which turned a few heads, I had a list of traditional PR and it looked like this:
- Media Relations
- Spokesperson Training
- Message Mapping
- Thought Leadership
- Blogger Relations
- Writing
- Industry Analyst Relations
- Investor Relations/Stakeholder Communications
- Corporate Communications
- Internal/Employee Communications
- Events Planning/Execution
- Community Outreach
Hybrid PR
Like Gini says, public relations folks need to be a bit of this and a bit of that to succeed in the new and blended frontier. We have to adopt more than just adeptness on the social channels. We have to jump into new and uncomfortable areas to ensure we’re innovating all the time.
You know what the problem is with public relations professionals? Too many of them want to stay pure and not change.
Here’s the rub – WE GET TO CHANGE! We’re in a profession that provides us with the gifts to re-invent, adopt new methods and offer a powerful combination of skills, expertise, and knowledge from content marketing, media relations, digital marketing, social media marketing, thought leadership, message mapping, industry analyst relations, investor relations, employee communications, special events, and so very much more.
I appreciate the word hybrid to describe what I offer. No wonder I’ve had such a challenge sharing succinctly about my services.
Jayme Soulati offers a breadth of public relations services featuring content, social and digital marketing.
Would that begin to describe what hybrid public relations looks like from your vantage point?
Customers At The Core
Regardless of what you offer, it’s really the customer who dictates what you pull out of the hat. If you’re not familiar yet with The ArcCompany, the Canadian upstart making inroads into huge insight, then you need to read this blog post or go find the truly provoking comments of Amy Tobin especially in her Sunday social justice post.
As you’re thinking of your customers, just for the fun of it, I’m going to end with another Gini list that helps define PR and the tactics that ought to be in use today. This is a list from Arment Dietrich; it’s “Some of the things we do” taken directly from this post, and if that’s not hybrid PR, nothing is!
- Develop integrated offline and online marketing plans
- Content development (white papers, videos, podcasts, blogs, eBooks, webinars)
- Marketing that content we develop
- Email marketing
- On-page search engine optimization
- Social media
- Google+ authorship and authority
- Online reputation management
- Crisis communications planning and management
- Employee communications
- Social media policies
- Media relations
- Blogger relations
- Monitor online conversations
- Develop online audits
- Community development and growth
- Influencer relations
- Word-of-mouth campaigns
- Analyze data and web analytics
Related articles
Awesome. Funny that both of our posts came out on the same day and we both quote that damned ginidietrich 🙂 She’s all over the place… I guess that’s what hybrid PR firms get – lots of press.
AmyMccTobin ginidietrich The Gin Blossom. #That.Is. All.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing AmyMccTobin Ha! Some may think I paid you both to do it.
You know what else Jayme, and I may have told you this before, I think that you are a very smart woman to be thinking so hard about your message, because it has to be a succinct one, and it’s not easy to distill down ALL that you offer. At ArCompany we spent a good chunk of 4 months on it, and we refined it again and again until it made sense to people outside of our bubble.
AmyMccTobin Thanks, Lady Friend. Messaging is a critical component of business; yet, it’s one that few take the time to hash out. The time you guys spent was so worth it as your site sings with exactly what you want to portray. No confusion there. Good on ya for that effort!
“WE GET TO CHANGE!” I love this. But here’s the rub…not everyone wants to. The more I get out and speak to audiences full of our peers, the more I realize most are just doing what they can to get by. If their executives want them to add Twitter and Facebook, they do it. They don’t fight back, they don’t think strategically, they just do it. It makes me sad, but it’s pretty indicative of our overworked society.
ginidietrich I’m only “liking” your comment b/c I’m so jazzed to see you! Thanks, Gin Blossom!
You’re right, that makes me sad, too. I wonder if we agency types, you know, that dreaded Type A are the ones who will forge new pathways for the rest to jump on and follow? I know I love change, risk, adventure, the new of it all for I’m a starter; that much I’ve learned about me and habits/persona.
So, a select few will enjoy the challenge and others will be mundane. I understand. XO
Love the #HybridPR perspective; I lead a PR team of dedicated, hardworking #B2B PR pros but the challenge remains – the #PR world is very different than it was even just three years ago; how do you inspire/motivate/lead/evolve a team in real time? Great post, great insight!