As a PR professional who is experimenting the “2.0 trends” on a day-to-day basis, there’s not a single day that goes by without reading or hearing about new ways of doing my job. Indeed, my role has changed a lot since I started working in the PR industry ten years ago in terms of how we use the internet and social networks. As such, we are quite often asked for advice on the best way to approach these channels, including whether bloggers should be a target, or if social networks should be used to liaise with journalists.
This got me thinking about the “best practice” of PR and why it’s still of value today. Regardless of which channels we use, the core principle of PR is still very much the same; a good story and the right timing, no more, no less. So why is PR still necessary today? Well, it’s because PR can provide a significant Return on Investment (ROI). The beauty with the internet and social networking is that each interaction – such as the number of clicks through to a website – can be measured, allowing PR professionals to measure the success of a campaign. But can it measure the true value of PR?
One big issue with using social networks is that since most companies use them, there are still many that choose to manage them independently, which isn’t always ideal. For example, Daniel Kreiss, journalism professor at Chapel Hill University, North Carolina, conducted a recent survey on the use of Twitter during the last US electoral campaign, revealing that campaign managers are not always the best at digital. As they need to check messages and information with a number of individuals before posting them, this represents a real issue in terms of messaging and reactivity. It goes on to suggest digital should be left to the “digital guys”.
This is where the expertise of PR professionals comes into play. For any company considering press relations, PR professionals will have the right tools in place to deliver the relevant, precise information over a company’s digital channels, such as Facebook and Twitter. This information will align with the company’s core messaging, which will only continue to position the company as a thought leader in its industry. This will essentially keep the company at the top of mind for anyone requiring the company’s services.
The problem with this, however, is that payment fees cannot be directly linked to final results. For example, a French journalists’ trade union recently warned about a judgment in favour of a company who didn’t pay the PR officer due to “insufficient results”. If only tangible results count, then PR people will be forced to use all methods to get their results, leaving deontology and professionalism at the door. For companies, this will mean that they will be more likely to waste money rather than optimising a potential ROI!
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