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Irony of Dirt, Circles and Perhaps Social Media

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Sweeping the garage and emptying the dryer lint trap got me thinking again about the irony of dirt (work with me here) because blogging makes me listen and think differently.

Dirt and circles are constants in our lives (can I draw a correlation to social media?). Let me share how:

  • What you sweep outside rolls back in to be re-swept.
  • The lint you empty flies through air to land again inside.
  • “Everything comes full circle.”
  • “Spheres of influence,” and “What goes around, comes around.”
  • “Let’s circle back and re-visit that one again.”
  • “What’s old is new again.”

Here’s the jump…

The center of the circle in which we in marketing public relations and integrated online and social media are functioning includes daily scurry to learn the latest trend, use it and differentiate. It includes our need to learn and be leaders for those audiences expecting that expertise.

On the outskirts of the circle, however, are clients, colleagues, peers, and end users who are not on board, are confused, and cannot make the jump to the center to ride the wave with us.

Circle back, people. Re-introduce what’s old and make it new again. Dust off campaigns of yore that are familiar and add a social media inside to sweeten the deal. Ensure that basics are included in client deliverables so that all tactics blend.

Not all dirt is dirty. Dig deep into your sphere of influence and make what’s old new again.

Who Owns Blogs?

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Thought I could avoid this controversial topic of ownership, but why not further stick out the neck after blogging here that “Public Relations Drives Marketing?”

The hackles most raised by that post were those of Mr. Mark W. Schaefer, blogger extraordinaire at {grow}. Yesterday, Mark returned the favor while leading a Webinar on B2B blogging I attended.

To the question posed by the audience “Who owns blogs, public relations or marketing?” Mark prefaced his answer with “My PR friends are going to kill me…marketing owns blogs!” He suggested public relations can draft content all it wants, but marketing owns the strategy.

Because I tweeted the Webinar (can’t sit idle during those things) at #b2bblog, others weighed in. @NEMultimedia said “I see PR and Marketing as two sides of the same brain.” @X_youarehere said,” No 1 owns communications, but there are many…change own to coordinate.”

I concur with that statement Mr./Ms. X with a change from “coordinate” to “lead or direct.” We’re at a crossroads, and this ownership question continues to rear its ugly head. I report to a client’s brand marketing team, and I direct strategy and content for landing pages, blogs, social media, and more.  While I don’t own it, I certainly collaborate with marketing.

I vow, as of today, never to claim ownership of blogs, social media or other; rather, I’ll claim partnership. In Mr. Schaefer’s defense, he did respond to my tweet questioning his marketing-owns-blogs statement saying “we can agree to disagree only if he’s right.” (No way, dude, we both are! There, how’s that for starters?)

What’s your contribution to this discussion?  Let’s establish future guidelines for all of us.

Defining Public Relations

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On so many blogs I see the definition of public relations is confusing to folks, especially since the advent of social media. I’m not surprised; I’ve spent the last 26 years educating people about what I do and expect to spend the next 26 years doing the same.

What I can share is my passion:

  • I’m the most fortunate woman to have landed in a profession (quite by chance rather than choosing) that is always evolving and allows me to learn so little about so much.
  • I dabble in all industries and all shapes and structures of companies and organizations.
  • The explosion of new channels to communicate allows public relations to assess metrics, monitor the conversation, measure, and adjust strategy to engage tiered audiences.
  • Limitless opportunities exist to influence business goals with strategic and creative marketing public relations strategy.
  • My passion for public relations is palpable; every day, week, month, year are different and energy-filled – no sameness, no boredom, just a never-ending quest for higher learning.

That’s my somewhat description; let me share an author’s opinions who wrote a book on public relations in 2000. is author of “.”  In his book, he references Thomas L. Harris, author of , who brought us the term “marketing public relations,” which I love and am now using to show the blending of marketing with public relations.

  • Chapter one, line one in Mr. Saffir’s book states “In the corporation of the 21st century, public relations will rank higher than advertising.”  Line two states “CEOs of major companies will come out of the public relations field.”  (I love these powerful book-opening statements!)
  • I wrote in a recent blog post “.” If that’s so, which I firmly believe, then what drives public relations? Mr. Saffir says “Creativity and ingenuity drive public relations.”
  • More insights from Mr. Saffir include:
    • “Public relations has grown into a full-fledged discipline with the power and reliability to influence perception.”
    • The primary goal of public relations may be to “shape the broader context within which publics in general or specific target publics form opinions and make decisions.”
    • “While marketing identifies customer needs and satisfies them at a profit, public relations produces goodwill among various publics whose goodwill is important to the organization.”
    • Here’s a comment that might raise a few hairs – “Public relations is a discipline and marketing is a task to be accomplished by various disciplines in the corporation – sales, sales promotion, merchandising, marketing research, advertising and public relations.” (Interesting! Do you agree?)

What’s your definition of public relations? On the flip, perhaps it’s not necessary to clarify; mysticism is good!

Listening?

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I’m curious about this new phenomenon called “listening.”

In the April 5, 2010 Advertising Age, a sub-head of a larger story says “As social media continues to grow, marketers place more emphasis on listening to consumers instead of just asking them questions.”

In the last three years I’ve heard one of my clients tell me they listen to their corporate customers and as a result they provide better client service; really? I’ve stated that blogging makes you listen differently. (I still concur with myself.) Now this headline about marketers who listen versus ask.

Social media has adjusted the balance between marketer and consumer. Where before consumers were preached at by integrated marketers, now they are sending messages in the reverse direction. The balance of power has shifted, and listening is indeed a new phenomenon, although now a different one-way street.

Online buzz provides much of the fodder for companies and organizations to grasp the conversation via monitoring and tracking and, hence, listening. Perhaps social media defines listening as new consumer-driven positive or negative content about brands being created every minute via word-of-mouth marketing with no pattern, no campaign, no budget, and no director in charge.

Perhaps.

Although I understand the point about the need for more listening, shouldn’t this be an innate, basic skill? Isn’t success embroiled in listening?

Strategic listening requires comprehension and action. One can hear, but without full comprehension, there’s no action, and potentially failure. For a story to suggest listening is now being emphasized because consumers are armed with social media tools implies to me we’ve not been listening too well of late.

What’s your opinion about how you listen? Is social media forcing improvement of listening skills, merely pointing out how poor our skills were to begin with, or making listening temporary until another something comes along?

WOOT! Public Relations!

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Thanks to my colleague, , for pointing out this exciting projection by the (BLS) about the growth of public relations in the next decade. (Well, it’s exciting to me.)

According to the BLS in its , there are some impressive statistics about we specialists in public relations, and I’d like to share the most poignant (these are unedited and taken from the book as listed above):

  • Employment of public relations specialists is expected to grow 24 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations.
  • Employment in public relations firms is expected to grow as firms hire contractors to provide public relations services, rather than support more full-time staff when additional work is needed.
  • The need for good public relations in an increasingly competitive and global business environment should spur demand, especially for those with specialized knowledge or international experience.
  • Employees who possess additional language capabilities also are in great demand.
  • The recent emergence of social media in public relations is expected to increase job growth as well. Many public relations firms are expanding their use of these tools, and specialists with such skills are needed.

It’s encouraging to see the public relations profession growing. As an which also contracts for other businesses/agencies, I’ve noticed an expanding interest for public relations practitioners by companies that have never hired one in the past.

Much of what I do with clients is to educate them about public relations. It is a somewhat esoteric practice for those who don’t work in the field. I’m going to do my best in this space to help clarify what public relations services are and how companies should engage a senior practitioner or even a small agency.

If anyone has any questions on that front, please send them along! That will help direct my writing. Happy Monday, All!

Citation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-2011 Edition, Public Relations Specialists. (See link above, please.)