Social media speed dating précis 3 of 4

Posted on February 17, 2009

Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right,
Here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you …

Stuck in the middle, Stealers Wheel, 1972

For decades the practice of public relations has been a somewhat symbiotic (love/hate?) relationship between the press and the practitioner. Journalists needed stories, quotes, facts and pictures, and PR folks needed coverage so as to reach their intended audiences.

In the end, the journalist had the upper hand as there was really no other practical way to reach the public except through mainstream media (MSM). From a journalist’s perspective, the relentless assault of spin by some bad apples, not to mention ignorance of the media, could be wearing. But PR practitioners too would get tired of playing naive and trusting Charlie Brown only to have the football of media coverage pulled away at the last minute. Thump.

Then came the great liberator, or disintermediator, the Internet, and after a time the real killer app, social media.

Today, practitioners have more choices in how to reach their audiences (as illustrated in this gratuitous two minute video, designed mostly to teach me YouTube skills).

PR pros need only follow the audience to determine which arrows to draw from their quiver to execute any particular campaign.

Much of that audience is on the web. To no one’s surprise, Canadians are spending more and more time online. Consider the recent Internet Advertising Bureau study, as reported by Kirk Lapointe on themediamanager.com. Or my own recent review of audience trends and the impact on MSM.

Does this radically change the foundations of PR? Not really. Like all good communications campaigns, the determinants of what media and messages to use will be centered around strategic intent and least cost per thousand impressions of the appropriate demographic. AKA my old friends from my print advertising days, reach and frequency. Consider this thoughtful post by Bill Sledzik on his blog ToughSledding; PR is still more about strategy and less about the tools employed. As Sledzik notes, the building blocks are the same.

The quest for audience exposure may get easier with social media

The new wrinkle is, of course, conversation. Campaigns are no longer uni-directional broadcasts, but an engagement with the audience.

It would be foolhardy to say PR practitioners could ignore MSM, or eschew it entirely in favor of online media, but to ignore social media and stay focused on MSM alone will be to your detriment as a professional communicator.

Good grief people! In the words of Charlie Brown

In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back

Dive in to social media as a user, not with the expectation that it is a panacea to your communications woes, but instead espousing the philosophy that carpenters need to understand hammers, even if they don’t use every one.

Next post, how and where to dive in.

About Doug Lacombe

As president of social media agency communicatto, Doug is a social media speaker, strategist and consultant. A 20 year media and marketing veteran, Doug was one of the first in North America to put a daily newspaper on the web in 1995. Prior to founding communicatto inc. in 2009, he held senior roles in the newspaper, software, wireless, and newswire industries. Speaking and working all over North America, Doug is based in beautiful Calgary, Alberta Canada where he lives with his wife of 24 years, Sandra, and a spoiled Mexican rescue dog named Bug.

Tags: CPRS, Disintermediation, journalism, Newspapers, Public Relations, Social Media, Traditional Media, Vancouver

http://outingmyinnergeek.wordpress.com Wendy Peters

Doug – insightful post. I think the most interesting and challenging side of the web nowadays is the conversation aspect.

On a large scale, I disagree that the old rules still apply. I think that the old concepts certainly can be applied, but new rules are being made… not by the PR folk, or the companies involved, but by the consumer. They are making the rules in how we communicate with them. Reach and frequency may be successful in some cases, but my feeling is that unless we are beginning with useful content and the intent to build a relationship first and foremost, any gain from social media tools will be minimal.
John Tyler

The article states: “PR pros need only follow the audience to determine which arrows to draw from their quiver to execute any particular campaign.” which is the Key point from Wendy! Consumers choose what websites and web ads to view, and on Twitter, who to follow. Twitter is all about connecting with other people with similar interests. A corporate identity that just tweets their PR will be largely ignored. Twitter provides a new opportunity for PR people to not just follow the audience, but interact with the audience and learn what people really want. Consumer involvement in the PR process can make Social Media a powerful tool. Just as a good leader gets the team involved in a project, good PR needs the Consumer input to work.
http://outingmyinnergeek.wordpress.com Wendy Peters

100% behind you on having a strategy and an idea of what you want out of the tools to better direct your efforts. If you don’t know what you want out of it, how do you even know what to put into it?
http://www.douglacombe.com Doug Lacombe

Great point Wendy! I guess I was (perhaps clumsily) trying to say every campaign needs strategy before diving into tactics. This emerging trend where Joe Exec phones up their friendly neighborhood agency and says “We need a blog, whip one up” is disturbing to me. Ready, aim, fire, not ready, fire, aim. Why do you need a blog? Or better yet, to whom do you wish to communicate? And why? And are you prepared to dedicate time and resources to the two-way?

Hence my recommendation to start in social media as a user to get the lay of the land.

But I do agree, if I’m reading you right, that applying old “broadcast mode” rules to social media will likely result in failure. At a cocktail party, the goof who lectures you is a bore and to be avoided.

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