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The Future of PR is Participation, Not Pitching
Young Urban ProfessionalThe PR business has long put a premium on strong media pitching skills, especially at the junior and mid levels. All you need to do is scan the help wanted ads and you will see what I mean. However, pitching is on its way to becoming a lost art because the landscape is changing rapidly.
Communities like Facebook, the blogosphere and digg are becoming even more influential than certain traditional media outlets.Their relevance to PR pros is rising and the industry is responding by wisely trying to beef up its new media acumen.
Unfortunately, the biz is not evolving quickly enough. Many in PR seem to be treating Web 2.0 as simply an extension of the traditional media - another venue for buzz. They are pumping thousands of email pitches into the community every day. I know because I receive hundreds of these emails every day, as do many other bloggers I have spoken to over the last several weeks. Some are good, most are not. And many are getting fed up.
Journalists are accustomed to the PR mating dance. They know that as soon as they get a desk, a phone and an email address they're going to get bombed with inquires from PR pros. Some of these will be helpful, others won't be. Journalists know that PR inbound is an occupational hazard that comes with the territory.
Online social networks and communities are completely different. Bloggers, social networkers, diggers, social bookmakers and Wikipedians don't want to be pitched. They're collaborating on these sites for a reason - to share, be entertained, to become informed, to connect, etc. They place value on people who contribute regularly and selflessly.
Further, the lines between old and new media are blurring. Community is becoming a river that flows through virtually every web site, The media is
adding social networking features while also embedding itself into big
horizontal hubs like Facebook or Twitter. They have embraced changed faster than we have.
To thrive in this new distributed environment, the PR community must step out in front of the curtain, become a bit more technically adept and participate transparently as individuals in online communities. We will have to openly collaborate and add value to the network and help the companies we represent do exactly the same.
My fear? If we continue down our current path PR will lose any credibility we have left with the public and the industry could one day cease to exist. However, if Darwinism creates change then I am all for it.
Reader Comments (35)
Hello, I'm a 30 year old myspace user/local blogger, and I just wanted to say that I flatly disagree with the above analysis. It may be correct to say that those folks don't want to be pitched by say... Coca Cola or Nike, but I think they are most amenable to "pitching" by people with like interests.
I would add that unlike traditional pr, which relies on a series of interaction over time between pr pros and jornos, social network types really don't care about the messenger, just the subject matter.
I've said more about this here: http://richardstacy.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/pr-is-dead/
Which is why, in the end, we need to continue to pitch them the “old way,” because that’s what they are comfortable with. Not that we can’t also generate awareness and placements using social media. But we’re nowhere near the tipping point.
http://www.slideshare.net/zeusjones/zeus-jones-credentials/
A lot of PR practitioners out there don't have the technical savvy necessary to do what you are describing. Yes, technical savvy -- it's not a matter of time, not a matter of spending a client's dollars wisely, and nor is it a matter of not being willing to evolve to accept a new way of reaching influencers. It's all about the fact that PR pros use their computers as email, Word, Excel and PowerPoint devices and that's all. They fear the unknown because they don't understand it.
On my blog I've made an effort to enlighten the PR community about the technology around it, and how it can actually take advantage of it. Step by step, how they can accomplish things with web-enabled software, for example.
You're widely read Steve. Me -- not so much. If you explain to PR pro's what they have to do step by step -- first from a technology standpoint and then from a "communicate transparently as part of the community" angle -- you'll start to see the kind of change you're talking about.
I've spent a lot of time with social media experts over the last two years. Folks like Chris Heuer, Stowe Boyd, Greg Narain, Deb Schultz, Giovanni Rodriguez, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, Jeremy Pepper, and Todd Defren.
The change is already well underway and well documented. The challenge however, is to get the majority of PR to participate in this conversation.
I'm of the belief that most PR people will not make the transition successfully, and nor should they. Most don't read the publications or blogs they pitch today, many aren't technically savvy, and hardly any use the products or services they're hired to represent.
However, this new landscape represents an opportunity for passionate and smart PR people to reinvigorate an industry long associated with used car salesman. We can add value back into our profession, all while putting the "public" back in public relations. It's about conversations, knowledge, sharing and relationships.
Listening is marketing.
Participation is marketing.
Media is marketing.
Conversations are marketing.
Comments are marketing.
I recently wrote a post, entitled "The Future of Communications – A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing," that highlights these ideas and also goes way beyond social networks to help PR people understand what's going on and to teach those who want to learn how to jump in.
If you or your readers have some free time, I've included the link below:
http://www.briansolis.com/2007/06/future-of-communications-manifesto-for.html
Erik, I have written many how-to's over the years. I will share more, but I need to save the best stuff for our own folks, of course!
Jeremy, you're right. It's about walking the walk, which you and I have been doing for many years. Now it's time to get our colleagues on board.
BTW, one other key thought. I am really not talking about blogging here. Rather, all online communities. During the WEF event last week I heard a great phrase - community will run through everything. I believe that. Gen Y lives it. Now it's time for the rest of us to do so. Otherwise, we'll be left behind.
But, it's nice to read this - I believe this has been what Phil Gomes has been saying long before you began blogging, and is prolly what he teaches there.
We're looking for an exceptional marketing person, because soon, everyone is going to get blipd!
Enjoyed this post...maybe you have done this in the past, but one way to educate us is by posting some of these misguided pitches - not hundreds a day, but examples of the clueless pitches you and others are receiving. That way we can see what you're talking about, and maybe those sending the pitches can change their ways before things get totally out of control.
I am however concerned about a lack of understanding in regards to what genuine participation really means, and whether or not a legion of self interested and self promoting PR professionals are going to participate in communities in the same way they lay down astroturf and pump out flogs. This is ultimately why I launched the club - to help more people understand the very fundamental shift that is happening in the world of communications professionals.
Unlike others who think your predictions of doom and gloom are too far fetched, I clearly see that the PR industry is indeed in crisis, with most professionals blissfully oblivious to the seachange that is in front of them. Will PR continue - of course, just as newspapers have survived the Internet, forever transformed by the Web and the voice it has given to people around the world...