The with every aspect of social marketing, search, digital marketing, and plain old marketing has provided new opportunities for older, seasoned professionals to reinvent to keep up with the changes. I know this to be true, as I am one.
Sadly, this very blend may be the demise of PR as we know it.
In a recent conversation with a table of marketers IRL originating from the disciplines of search engine optimization turned digital; PR newbies turning digital; PR veterans turning digital/social marketing; and, old-hat marketers, the chatter surrounded the old vs. new of public relations.
The old teachings of the 4Ps stemming from advertising were unknown amongst the newest professionals. Those with search engine optimization competency likened public relations to search marketing. In fact, they said “PR is SEM.” Another had no idea that media relations and publicity are just not the entire discipline.
Me? I merely shook my head in awe at the implications for my profession within this conversation. I walked away from that discussion with a sinking feeling for tomorrow. What will PR look like in 20 years? Based on what I heard, methinks the traditional public relations profession’s demise starts now.
The blending of the disciplines is removing every single barrier and silo from core competencies and making everyone look alike. Do young professionals and our sisters in marketing and brothers in SEO understand the value public relations professionals bring to the marketing mix? Apparently not, and who’s at fault for that?
Off the top of my head, this list below is not inclusive by any stretch, but it’s meant to provide a look at what pure public relations professionals deliver in a traditional sense:
- Spokesperson Training
- Thought Leadership
- Blogger Relations
- Industry Analyst Relations
- Investor Relations/Stakeholder Communications
- Corporate Communications
- Internal/Employee Communications
- Events Planning/Execution
- Community Outreach
What shook me up from my in-the-flesh conversation was the correlation people made with PR and search engine marketing. That bridge is so far from the truth, and it made my heart stop to hear it.
I’m wondering if folks believe PR peeps are only good for stuffing key words into content to game traffic and organic search?
I am all for reinventing oneself in order to earn more revenue-making opportunities. What I’m not happy about is the future of public relations when those who lack traditional hindsight are teaching new professionals that public relations is search engine optimization is digital marketing.
By Jayme Soulati
Hmm, Interesting logic, lets continue it.
– merge Janitorial and PR – why have two separate departments to clean up messes
– merge IT and Front Desk – they’re both using the wires that come into the building
– merge Marketing and Building Maintenance – It’s all just about the looks of the place
– merge Promotions with Grounds Keeping – They’re just shoveling the same stuff in different directions
At some point people have to stop trying to out-think themselves
SteelToad You are so creative and spot on! My next post is akin to what you just said; in fact, it’s already written and you just validated all of it, Ray!
I think you should be THRILLED, because there will ALWAYS be a need for true PR, and that means less competition for you. Old, wise and experienced is not a bad thing here 🙂
AmyMccTobin Great perspective, Amy! I think it helps to have launched my career in this profession in 1984…yes, I’m coming clean on the age thing for anyone paying attention to math!
What we learned back in the day was old-fashioned scrappy PR skills. We had to work our ass off for every placement and meeting and result. Today, social media has made many a PR peep lazy; I have to include myself in that category on some days!
The other thought I had as I’ve been deciphering and dissecting this convo is how does one hire a “consultant?” We all need to do a better job of defining competency now.
Thank you SO much for coming by, Amy.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing AmyMccTobin I think there are two discussions here – the ones you had with the totally Ignorant: SEM could NEVER be seen as PR on its own. That reminds me of an ongoing argument I had with a whipper snapper when he told my clients that “social media marketing will be ALL there is in 5 years, so if you’re not doing it you’re in trouble.” (that was over a year ago). He went nuts on him when I told him that was outrageously wrong.
However, I see a tendency in traditional PR pros to want to hang on so tight to their area of expertise. Coming from a traditional Sales background this is familiar territory to me…. but I know that THAT is not the way forward. Social Marketing may not BE everything, but it has CHANGED everything. No more silos allowed in companies that intend on being here for the long haul.
AmyMccTobin Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing SO GLAD you’re here and sharing your thoughts. In my world of constant re-invention, I always knew I had gotten to the next level when the large agency recruiters told me I was “too marketing” or my client who just told me I’m helping them with branding.
And, while I’m striving to be and do all I can in this new marketspace, I’m also struggling with a clear definition of who I am and what I offer for clients!
At the end of the day, I’m a core PR person with all that marketing blended in. I have to know when to say “that’s not my area” like the SEO stuff and the analytics. That’s tough for me, but it’s also a sign of a true professional who knows where the boundaries are.
Sales? It’s the last frontier for me…I’m looking at building tools for sales teams; why not? They’re on the frontlines and need the benefit of what we do.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing – You are wise to be thinking about all of this – at ArCompany we spent the better part of 4 months defining who we are and what we do and do not do.
This would be my lead in if I were you: “In this fast paced world where all marketing/PR/Sales etc. must be integrated, I lead from the foundation of ALL of them – Public Relations. At the end of the day my area of expertise touches all segments of your company.”
You don’t need to provide SEO, but you can build partnerships with those who do.
AmyMccTobin Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing I love what you just said. In fact, based on this whole post and now with the awescious comments here, I have to go back to rejigger page content.
Which is ALWAYS a good thing, right?
Shoot, I bet we all just came up with fodder for 4 more blog posts in this comment section, Amy! Thanks for sharing so much; I SO appreciate it.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Yep, writing one now… 🙂
AmyMccTobin Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Heh…I will have a few this week around all this! Much of it due to your great thinking! So, thanks!
I’d love to have been a part of the conversation you’ve written about, Jayme! It sounds like there was a lot of misunderstanding about the value of old-fashioned-but-timeless PR skills in a social media and search engine marketing world, and what those skills are. How about staging a Google+ Hangout with these folks and letting us listen in on the conversation?
New England Multimedia Michelle, I was getting downright upset in that conversation. I was making no headway and nearly came to fisticuffs trying to instill the value of public relations to folks that had no prior training but knew that PR was SEO personified.
As for G+ hang out on this? I think I’d rather pull a panel of professionals on the topic to debate what tomorrow brings.
My view is certain to hold…PR is fastly dying as we knew it and blending into obscurity as the breadth of training surely diminishes.
While I don’t know this to be true, but as AmyMccTobin alluded — “old, wise, experienced” may win out for the future, and then the gap will be obvious as we with that seasoned approach leave for greener pastures.
By greener pastures, I mean ala the guy in the local paper today who left carpentry to become a hair stylist. Wherever I go next, I’ll still be growing and doing! Thanks…this topic is something we should keep alive.
I don’t know enough about PR to make a solid argument, but…I will argue that knowing its true origins and what it does is important. Not taking the time to understand is foolishness. We need the solid foundation before we can focus on application and tactics whatever form they take, and, to me, search engine marketing and SEO are tactics not definitions.
Erin F. Marketing has become a bee hive of workers challenging one another for work and billings. Who’s the queen?
I agree, Erin. There are core teachings in each discipline every college student is bored to tears with; however, when you enter the profession and expect to be trained by other professionals with that same philosophy, you get instead other disciples with somewhat of an understanding. Thus, the watering down and weakening of core foundations.
I wonder if there is a similarity to writing with varying genres? I have no idea but when I read older novels I see obvious traits of seasoned authors versus those writing in the voice of the 2010 persona. Thanks for coming over!
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing It’s very much similar. It’s kind of like talking with writers who say you don’t need to read or to learn from past authors. I think I find that writers who are interested in a long-term writing life and aren’t after the short-lived fame of things like Fifty Shades, vampires, etc., are the ones who are going to be interested in building that foundation. They’re after ideas and craft and making connections. My own writing would be very poor without that foundation, and it’s one I’m constantly building. Never stop learning, right?
Erin F. Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing RIGHT, Write!!
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Erin F. I would say most results-driven verticals have become that, Jayme. Thankfully, the good ones rise to the top – it’s a shame that clients will probably suffer until those that do beat out those who wished they could.
Danny Brown Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Your comment reminds me of a recent post by Geoff Livingston. He was writing about showing rather than telling. All the words in the world can’t save you if you can’t actually deliver what you’ve promised.
Erin F. Danny Brown Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing SPOT ON!
I agree with you as in PR does not equate to SEM… *but* – AmyMccTobin talks about “true PR.” What is “true PR” these days? (Amy, I’m not picking on you, just using the phrase!)
If it’s “publicity,” then apparently that is something all of us say “PR” is not… yet when pressed to explain exactly what that means, we can’t do it. And for the last 12-odd years I’ve been trying to figure out what value “true PR” (if you buy into the publicity impression [sic]) brings to businesses… hence #measurePR etc etc etc. But even today, 99% of the time, what clients and prospects mean when they ask me for “true PR” is ink. Which is publicity.
Which is why I started focusing on outcomes, and using whatever means we can (ethically) to get there, that facilitate the building and maintaining of relationships with one’s publics (going back to some traditional definitions now). A lot of the tactics I use for clients may not be “true PR”… but then again, what is?
It’s an interesting and, I think, open-ended question.
Shonali AmyMccTobin Shonali, thanks for your comprehensive contribution to the conundrum. Seriously, I think we all just continue on the path, picking up knowledge as we grow, showing value to our clients and stakeholders, and pondering what tomorrow brings.
It’s still such an exciting time; but, that excitement is oriented to the choices you make to engage at higher levels.
Shonali AmyMccTobin Hey there Shonali – I let this sit in my inbox because I was swamped but I think this is a very important discussion and one that we’ve touched on before. PR to me is Public Relations, and ALL that it encompasses. What I see on an almost daily basis are companies who launch full steam into a ‘marketing’ or ‘social marketing’ campaign with NO consideration for the PR ramifications. It is the very FIRST thing I talk about in my Social Media Marketing for Small Biz classes that I teach.
I know that you and I don’t necessarily agree on PR is Social is Sales is Marketing, but I think PR planning and strategy HAS to permeate all of them now.
AmyMccTobin Shonali I’m going to take the bait on Shonali’s question. =P
Let’s be honest: SEM and advertising really put the pressure on PR when it comes to numbers. I won’t dispute that clients want concrete numbers they can point to. Many have no idea that ink is a two-way street, it may introduce people to a brand, or reaffirm their relationship, but it goes the other way too.
Which makes me think two things:
1. Either you work with clients who get it / want to get it, or you don’t. Gini & her team @ AD are in the first category. They emphasize the need to create a relationship with a company or brand, just as it needs to happen with prospects / customers.
2. The metrics for this “new PR” are still young. How do you understand the value of your prospects / customers? Do they buy / do they like us, are the tip of the iceberg. Sentiment analysis is starting to become part of that understanding, but it’s still very rudimentary. Maybe the NSA can help us? I bet they are light years ahead.
Shonali well said Shonali, really in the end it all comes down to awareness, we market it, we spin it, all to hopefully sell it, whatever it is! I think Jayme’s concern is founded on the implication of to what is being taught to todays business students. Are we moving away from the foundations that have made our industry. Not necessarily the wronging the new approach but is the old being blended into a new teaching? AmyMccTobin
bowden2bowden Shonali AmyMccTobin Thank you for helping me clarify, Randy. And, if I may OUT YOU, you were there for this discussion IRL…just like your IRL on today’s blog post!
Thanks for being here, there, and everywhere with moi!
As a layperson, the whole Marketing / PR / Social Media thing is a little fascinating to me, but what’s confusing is the myopic view some disciplines have of the others.
Here’s how I see it as an outsider looking in:
I really want to get this incredible widget I saw in the hardware store, but I know I’ve got to get the wife in on this one.
“Aww man, this thing is so frickin’ cool”.
THATS What I feel – but I’m not an idiot, that wont do, some of what I’m saying is just wrong …
“Dearest, this thing is so amazing”
THATS Copywriting – at least I don’t sound like an idiot, but it’s not going to make her think about wanting it …
“Sweetheart, this appliance is so amazing (wonderful , well built)”
THATS SEO – better, it’s got what she might listen to, but it needs to be put the right way …
“Sweetheart, the Binford 6100 is quite an an amazing appliance, and incredibly well built. I’m sure it would look wonderful in our home”
THATS Marketing – when put together with some nice color brochures from the hardware store. Time to talk to the wife …
But it didn’t work, she says “It might not be the right time”, or “I don’t know”, or the dreaded “I don’t think so”
Now is when I have to be ready with answers to why now is the perfect time, or to reassure her that it’s frickin’ cool , er, “amazing”, or to listen to why she doesn’t think so, and address her concerns individually. It would also be a good time to have the prettiest brochure on hand as backup at this point.
THATS PR
SteelToad For someone not in the field and who watches us go at it, Ray, you nailed it! Were everyone as smart as you.
I’m with Amy on this one. I also think we have to be conscious about the medium (yay McLuhan) vs. message.
True PR is about both medium and message. SEM and advertising can be about both, but as currently practiced there’s more emphasis on medium. I’ve said, and continue to say, that the new kids on the block can learn a lot from PR.
JoeCardillo Hi, Joe…thanks for coming over! I’m all about the MESSAGE! The medium becomes confusing…do you mean channels of message delivery? Are you thinking of the ways we communicate with audiences? Or, is medium = to discipline?
Sorry to go for granular, but I’d like to better understand your thinking. Don’t disagree about the value PR brings when it’s been taught to be integrated.
Back in the day, Marketing Communications became the buzzword. It was lost in translation as PR peeps continued to operate in respective silos. Today…integration is even more key, yet teaching the root of the discipline is definitely important.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing JoeCardillo Oh I was talking about the channels AND disciplines. I think there’s a tendency to try to rate success the same across PR, SEM, etc…. but the mediums themselves (banner ads, inbound from organic search, inquiries based on media coverage) are very different EVEN if you are measuring the results the same way (which is not wise).
I’ve had clients who say “but all I care about is the sales #s” which is understandable but: do their customers only care about the sale? Clearly not. And they may get the # they want in the short, but the relationship suffers.
JoeCardillo Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Got it! Measurement, or understanding which metrics to measure, is so critical! We have a challenge to communicate and clarify the confusion so everyone is tracking, don’t we?
But, I love it. The educational aspect. If I can turn on the light bulb, that’s all the better!
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing JoeCardillo I love the educational aspect too, though, truthfully, there are days when it’s my biggest headache..
JoeCardillo Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing No, really? LOL…AGREE! As you said it…there are two camps — those who do and those who don’t — GET IT. Heh
I do think that PR/Marketing/SEO have converged, and necessarily so. But
I don’t think that it means even a single element of the traditional PR
discipline is (or should be) out of the equation. I think, despite the
huge amount of DIY info out there, that PR has gotten more involved and
requires still yet greater understanding of the traditional PR
foundations. All the elements of PR work that you listed are still
important; it’s just that many who haven’t been formally trained in PR
don’t realize it (or even know what they are lacking). IMHO, while the
disciplines within the field have become muddled in the public eye,
those who have that comprehensive background, long-term experience and
understanding of the foundations will continue to lead the field (and
results for their clients).
acjandler Great points! Hopefully these are the ones that lead the field, as opposed to the ones that are giving the practice a bad name by being stuck in the past and not getting to grips with the new marketplace.
Danny Brown acjandler Hah. You’re right there, Danny. There are the folks who refuse to innovate with the times. Often, we grapple with fixing that old-hat thinking to bring clients forward, too.
acjandler WONDERFUL! You are so right…as I sat there with another colleague (my elder) listening, we exchanged glances of horror. It’s because we have that core training from years in the field. He in marketing and me in core PR.
My mission as a professional has always been to train the youth in public relations. When I had my first agency in Chicago, I hired kids from school and it was tough work. But, I can look back and say that the interns and first years in agency PR got their feet fully in the muck.
Hey there miss,
Great food for thought and conversation starter (though I do have to be picky and correct you that the four Ps are from Marketing, not Advertising) 😉
For me, there’s a fuzzy line between marketing, PR, advertising, etc, especially today. While i completely agree they’re very different (or can be) in execution, the overarching similarities are greater than the differences (for me, at least).
Digital has changed everything, and adaptation to the new is crucial. I’d also say the issue is less with the younger generation not knowing about the “older stuff”, and more to do with poor teachers that want to grab the new buzzwords and seem relevant, versus actually teaching what’s right.
I’m a traditional marketer, who grew up on the Four Ps (well, actually Seven Ps and Four Cs), but I’m not dumb enough to think the Four Ps are 100% relevant today. In fact, I position we move to the Four Ms – Make, Manage, Monitor, Measure.
Either way though, to stop waffling – there is space for every vertical, and we use what’s needed at the time: standalone, merged, other. The only thing to truly care about is what we’re delivering, as opposed to how we’re delivering it.
Danny Brown I am happy to be corrected, Danny! Nothing I learned in school prepared me for what I know today. In fact, I’m so old that the PR profession was just being born in colleges! Which allows me to be unnerved by some of the discussions with young people.
I fully agree, it’s not the fault of the youth in the profession, it’s their mentors or lack thereof. For those instructors, professors and the like teaching…I wonder if they have the opportunity to work in the field in parallel to teach real-world examples of if they are teaching text book traditional.
Four Ms? Good…agree! We need to adapt, integrate, merge and deliver results not just with one discipline. Nothing stands alone. Thanks for being here.
Traditional PR is still very much alive – and even I, as a straight-up marketer, can tell you that! Any smart PR/advertising/marketing pro worth their salt knows that to be successful in their respective disciplines, they need to have the foundational knowledge and adapt and apply that to the ever-changing tactics of the time. Whether social media or SEO, the strategies can exist and play well in the sandbox together with PR. And, I think it’s important that we keep an open mind to how they all can work together. Don’t get too stuck in our own little worlds and fields of expertise. There’s a lot we can all learn from each other.
karirippetoe Wonderfully stated! The conversation I had IRL which prompted this post was not well repeated; however, my takeaway was the narrowing perception of the value of the PR discipline in its entirety by up and comers or those in ancillary areas.
I believe as you…”any smart PR/ad/marketing pro worth their salt” should know better.
That’s also the crux of this discussion…seasoning. I am going to renew my mission to share the value of what we do with any of the youth still earning salt. Thanks for sharing yours!
karirippetoe AMEN!
karirippetoe Well said. As an outsider (I’ve only dabbled in agency work) what I’ve seen is that people misunderstand the many definitions and get mired down in the details, but vision is where PR can and should help lead people.
If we are talking about sales, or CTRs, or shares, those are tactics and plenty of people will try to sell them to you, but vision, that is always in demand and much rarer.
My dear Jayme, you and I both know SEO and digital experience does NOT a PR pro make. You are dead on with all the facets of PR you’ve listed, and while you can support those efforts through social media, you can’t DO them through digital means. It takes skills, talent, experience and personality to pull off a fully developed and well rounded PR campaign, and social and digital are only tools to help make that campaign more successful, IMHO. Long live PR, my friend!
NancyCawleyJean You are so right, Nancy. As I reply, I’m wondering where the disconnect happened. Could it have been when social took over? Or was it back in the day when the Internet happened? When online media became the norm and the mail, fax and phone became obsolete?
For we who have lived through that era and grew up as professionals with these original tools, perhaps we have a different vision unclouded by technology. We know what happens when the lights go out; we use our voice to craft message and our pen to write on paper.
Thank you to everyone for making this post amazing. Comments aren’t dead on blogs, you just have to write something a little provocative to get folks thinking. Thanks for lending your insights here, Great Community! I appreciate you!
Neat post. For those who say SEM *is*PR are either too junior to understand or, at worst, ignorant. That said, SEM and PR both fall under the same umbrella – “Demand Generation.” When they work in tandem the results are magical. For example, I was doing a simple web search, researching for an upcoming post, I clicked through to your blog, read the post, learned about your services and am now commenting. You wrote some valuable (content marketing), that people wanted to engage and share, which in turn got picked up by others and now enjoys a health SERP. Now that’s PR working together, and not in a silo!