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Real-time social media are transforming marketing and public relations. I recently visited two firms in Chicago that are responding to the need for speed within the flow of online conversationconversation.
...Content and storytelling are at the heart of how we help our clients build meaningful relationships with their audiences," said Mark Hass, president and CEO, Edelman U.S. Edelman's plan focuses on client partnerships with five U.S. newsrooms and one in the U.K.Edelman newsroom "trend spotters" identify trends and events, collaborate with account leaders and design creative concepts. Ideas are shared with clients, and then decisions are made about posting or not.Real-time PR and marketing content frequently is covered by traditional media -- television, radio, newspapers and magazines.
News organizations, too, are now in the business of conversation monitoring and engaging. In this sense, the news model shares with PR the goal of creating viral videos, flashy graphics, photographs, memes and other popular social media content. Everyone is competing for measurable engagement that may translate into new revenue....
Much has been shared about the way the PR gig has changed over the past few years. While all of what’s being said is accurate and important, noteworthy is the fact that seeking new business has also changed. Listed here are a few of the ways new business generation has changed since I first jumped into the business:
In 2013, prospects find you. This is the first and by far the most significant item on this list. Prospects find agencies or individual PR professionals in a home office somewhere by way of their online presence. That’s an online presence far beyond just a website – although that remains hugely valuable. Prospects are looking for professionals who practice what they preach, and who are active and engaged....
New webmaster rules from Google just killed PR agencies according to Tom Foremski's post "Did Google just kill PR agencies?" last month.He highlights a Google webmaster update warning about black hat, linkbait press releases and other similar improper SEO content practices trying to manipulate search engine results.Look out PR agencies Foremski warns....
It’s just over a hundred years since the first press release was issued by a company in an effort to tell their story in the media. In 1906, after a railroad accident, the company hired a journalist to help them deal with the disaster and the media coverage. Soon press releases and media relations became a core part of public relations.In the 1930s radio was a part of most American households.
Companies and PR agencies soon realized that just sending a text press release to a radio station was not enough. Sending a photograph was a complete waste of time. This was a new medium with new technology and it needed new content. And so the sound bite was born. Smart PR agencies and company PR pros quickly learned how to make 15-second audio clips to send with their releases.
And then came TV. By 1955 half of all American homes had a TV and this became the medium of choice for news. Smart PR folk had to adapt once again....
Toward the end of the meeting he asked us to describe how he knows if the communications firm is the right fit for them. A data scientist, he wanted something solid on which to place his decision.
Unfortunately, I told him, 99.9 percent of working with a communications firm is gut, chemistry, and trust. But I could tell he was very uncomfortable with that answer and I’ve been thinking about it since.
I, of course, have never hired a communications firm because I’ve worked inside one my entire career so I had to put my business owner hat and think about how we hire professional services firms for work we can’t do.
PR Firms: Is it the Right Fit?
So how do you know if the PR firm is the right fit for you?...
It's the age-old question: "Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?" In the war of public relations agencies versus defenders of in-house PR, the question should be, "Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective?... Leu started the latest discussion with a guest post on VentureBeat that, well, I’ll let him speak for himself: “There are lots of dumb things you could do as a startup entrepreneur… but nothing could be more dumb than throwing your hard-earned venture capital money at a public relations firm.” Oh, there are so many other dumb things that startups do, like replace the “s” with a “z” in the company name or send unsolicited embargoed news to TechCrunch. But one of the dumbest things that a startup company — or any company, for that matter — can do is assume there is a one-size-fits-all approach to PR that could be simplified into “do or don’t” hire a PR agency. Ward appears to understand this, writing in his own guest post, “There are business reasons to hire or not hire a PR firm. Many reasons are valid. But to dismiss any option categorically or to blithely substitute one’s own poor experiences as a reflection on an industry is questionable advice.”...
More often than not, organizations look for external PR help without understanding how they work. Here are seven reasons you're not ready to hire a PR firm.... Sometimes the prospects are start-ups and they want to trade services for equity. While I’d love to be able to do that (Jay Baer does some angel investing and coaching), we can’t make payroll with equity. So we often turn away those opportunities. More often than not, though, the organizations just aren’t ready for outsourced marketing and communications help. Seven Reasons You’re Not Ready to Hire a PR Firm Throughout the years, I’ve figured out the questions to ask to disqualify prospects (eventually I’ll take Marcus Sheridan’s advice and send them content that helps me disqualify them). If you think you’d like to hire a PR firm, go through this list first....
On February 14, a group of senior corporate and agency PR executives came together, under the sponsorship of PRWeek and MSLGroup, to discuss a number of issues that had also been on the agenda of the World Economic Forum at Davos.... Veronis Suhler Stevenson (http://media.prsa.org/pr-by-the-number/), a leading private investment firm, is bullish on our industry. They’ve predicted that annual U.S. spending on combined public relations and word of mouth marketing services will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 14% between 2010 and 2015, to $10.96 billion. (Of course, not everyone agrees.)...
Is your business as profitable as it could be? Here are top tips to help you thrive in the current climate and key ways to cut costs, based on research into today’s most successful agencies... Chris Merrington, director of training consultancy Spring 80:20, who worked in conjuction with Kingston Smith W1 to conduct the report's research, comments: “A key recommendation that I often make to the PR agencies that I work with, whether during tough times or otherwise, is to focus on the four key business priorities of: sustainable profitable revenue, resource management, cash flow and delivering massive value to clients. Agencies can’t simply cut their way to growth; a trap that many seem to fall into.”...
Our Los Angeles-based friend, Serena, tipped us off to Time's Editor-at-Large, Harry McCracken. Harry has started posting bad pitches on his Facebook page. And we're glad. But we're betting the agency that sent it would like to send him the above someecard.
Facebook: Our Inner Dialogue...Online
Social media tends to become an inner dialogus of sorts. And we want folks like Harry to vent the pressure of bad pitches. Am I being dramatic? Well a now ancient sitcom once said, "Serenity Now, Insanity Later." And Facebook's serving that purpose for Harry....
The Council’s Q4 survey results are in, and our industry is surpassing even last year’s strong showing.
A full 81% of firms reported that 2012 revenues would come in higher than revenues the year before. In our survey a year ago, that number was only about 70%. Firms this time around reported revenues increasing by an average of just under 14% year over year—an extremely healthy uptick. A full 61% of firms reported a higher headcount compared with the previous year, with less than 10% of firms reporting fewer employees on the rolls. No firms anticipated lower budgets in 2013, and about a third anticipated higher budgets.
It gets better. Nearly half our respondents claimed that new business opportunities in 2012 were “more integrated than ever,” as opposed to 39% who said it was in “mostly traditional PR, plus social/digital” and only 5% who said it was “mostly traditional PR.” A small majority (53%) reported that they were gaining more of clients’ budgets than their competition from digital/social shops and ad agencies, with the rest saying the situation was remaining stable....
Over the past year, I found my company, Thornley Fallis, repeatedly competing for assignments against non-traditional competitors. Ad agencies invading our turf. Digital boutiques. Marketing agencies. Management consultants. An increasing proportion of the assignments we won from clients incorporated digital communications as a core element. Throughout 2012, we saw the budgets for these assignments shift away from traditional public relations activities to digital. The budgets didn’t shrink. The allocations against digital activities increased. In a world like this, if you want to be a Public Relations Survivor, you must be willing to reinvent yourself constantly. That’s what the most successful firms in the communications marketplace are doing. And that’s what we’re doing at my firm. And here’s the indicator that drives this home. Today, only about half of Thornley Fallis’ revenues are from what would have been considered traditional public relations services. The other half? Video production, public engagement, content marketing, design and development....
US PR industry defends standards in New YorkPRWeek UKPublic Relations Society of America associate director Stephanie Cegielski countered by stating that 'making broad generalisations about the behaviour of PR firms in New York is untenable.... [I sense a repeat of the original tea party coming on ~ Jeff]
Via LPM Comunicação SA
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On Thursday, Ketchum scored another public-relations coup: It helped place a Putin commentary in opinion pages of The New York Times, just as representatives from Russia and the United States were beginning to meet in Geneva to negotiate a plan for Syria to give up its chemical weapons.
The article made quite a splash in Washington. Putin painted himself as a peacemaker and lectured the United States for what he said was a tendency to use "brute force" in world disputes. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said he was "insulted" by the article, while the White House noted that Putin was taking advantage of press freedoms unavailable in Russia.
Ketchum, a division of the Omnicom Group Inc., has earned more than $25 million working for Russia, according to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice. It also has been paid more than $26 million since 2007 to promote Gazprom, Russia's state-owned gas company....
Even as economic power has become increasingly concentrated in large corporations, communication power has become more diffuse. Most of us now carry global publishing power in our pockets, and we are connected to one another like never before. This combination of access and interconnection gives us the ability to make or break reputations and brands.
For the last two years, I’ve had a unique vantage point on this tumultuous change, as chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the confederation of the world’s PR and communications professional associations.Professional business communicators are on the front lines of the communications revolution. The Global Alliance represents 160,000 practitioners and academics around the globe and I’ve been able to meet thousands of communicators on every continent, from at least 30 different countries and many different cultures. Based on that experience, I can share a few insights about how communication is changing the world of business — and how business communication itself must change as a consequence....
For the first time ever, our clients have the ability to generate content in multiple forms--they are content publishers.Historically, the PR industry has revolved around media relations. Over the years, many firms have talked a big game about providing other services, but almost all buttered their bread by generating a mound of media clips for their clients.
Are media relations still important? Absolutely. Do we still provide media relations services at Peppercomm for most of our clients? You bet.
But, unlike the past, it’s not the focal point; instead, it’s one of many channels that we use to reach and engage with our client’s most important audiences. For the first time ever, our clients have the ability to generate content in multiple forms and distribute via a number of channels, and audience members might even feel compelled to circulate themselves. It’s no longer enough for a consumer products manufacturer to run 30-second TV spots touting their products. Now, they need to understand consumers’ lifestyles and engage in a meaningful, fully transparent way that brings real value to their lives.
This is why agencies like Peppercomm are starting to look more like publishers and less like traditional public relations firms. Companies need content that engages audiences and builds their brand’s value among stakeholders. And, if they know the best channels – digital and otherwise – in which to reach their audiences, they need agency partners that can develop content in multiple forms and distribute it effectively....
We all love lists, especially “best of lists” related to our own profession. It is even better, of course, when people we know actually make the list—and when we make the list ourselves. A number of “best PR blogs” lists recently surfaced. InkyBee, Cision and CyberAlert all weighed in, tackling the ranking in different ways using a variety of criteria....
Here are some telltale signs you've been in the PR rat race a bit long.... It's tough being a public relations pro these days. Reporters don’t respond to your daily pitches; clients want more media hits. You’re tasked with creating content for social media only to find out your client can’t tell the difference between a like and a tweet. Digiday spoke with several public relations execs about how they know they’ve been in PR too long. Here are 20 reasons it’s time to hang up the PR spikes....
Two huge public-relations firms are going into the advertising business -- focusing on areas that are natural extensions of PR.... In general, public-relations firms have been quicker to adapt to the changing social-media landscape. It's not just the big players like Edelman and Weber Shandwick. Independent firms such as Shift Communications and Digital Influence Group saw social media, and in turn content marketing, as a natural extension of their mission. It's important to note that public-relations firms aren't banging down doors to break into the traditional advertising world of print and television, at least not yet. Rather, they're smartly taking advantage of opportunities that have come their way. For example, the concept of native advertising -- embedding paid content in an editorial environment so that it is barely distinguishable from the journalistic information around it -- is conceptually the same as placing press releases that look like independent journalism. It's a natural fit for public-relations firms. These firms come to this new world with advantages. They understand the publishing business and have a long tradition of collaborating with publishers to create content. And they get that content marketing is not only about creating interesting material; it is equally about managing the distribution of content through all of the social channels. With the major social platforms like Facebook and Twitter introducing paid-media opportunities, the public-relations firms simply are climbing on board.
Only a few weeks before I participated in a panel with Steve Barrett, the managing editor for PR Week, on “The Future Of PR Firms” at the North American meeting of global PR network IPREX. I had initially prepared 11 critical capabilities I believe agencies must offer or actions they must take to successfully serve their client partners in the years ahead. But on contemplation, I realized these are the capabilities firms must have today, or at least have a strategy to get them in the very near future. They can do so via training, new hires, acquisition, alliances, getting purchased, or some combination thereof. I share Danny’s view: If some of your competitors already offer these, why would your firm wait until 2017 to do so?
I'm a big believer in lifelong learning and the importance of listening before crafting a communications strategy, much less a campaign.
But, I recently learned a very painful lesson by violating my own code of listen first, last and always.
The setting was a new business presentation to a professional services firm. Because I'd done so much work in the field over the years, I just assumed I knew what the prospect's challenges would be. Even worse, I was so blinded by the brilliance of what we'd built at Peppercomm over the past 18 months or so that I didn't listen when the prospects began to explain why they were firing a global, holding company and looking for a smarter, nimbler and more creative partner....
Hiring a public-relations firm for your small business can be a difficult decision. There's no guarantee that a PR campaign will produce the desired results, and the costs can be quite high. Yet, a successful campaign can help you expand your business in ways you never could on your own. So how do you find a PR agency that is likely to benefit your business? "It comes down to a combination of your budget, expectations, their track record in delivering results, and your chemistry," says Dave Manzer, founder of PR Over Coffee, an Austin, Texas organization that educates small businesses on how to do PR. Here are 10 questions to help you assess PR agencies...
Clients are the vehicle by which our work is put to use. So why do some of us view them with contempt? Recommending avoiding terms like "fire your customer" is good advice. But why do we talk like this? It's more than just frustration with difficult clients, or those who are a little slow to catch on to our brilliant ideas, or ones that keep demanding better service and lower prices.
The "fire the customer!" mindset is a symptom of contempt for clients. The term "contempt" might sound shocking. We love our clients, don't we? They pay the bills. They refer us to others. They are the vehicle by which our work is put to use. Yet this dismissive attitude toward clients is surprisingly pervasive. If you listen carefully, you will hear it from others, and perhaps even, on occasion, from yourself. Do you find yourself thinking any of the following?...
Earnings per billable consultant in PR agencies have not changed since 2009, but salaries are putting the industry under considerable squeeze, according to the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA). Chairman of PRIA’s Registered Consultancies Group (RCG), Annabelle Warren, revealed findings of an industry study late last year showing salaries for senior account managers, account directors and group managers had increased, even though earnings per billable staff member had stagnated since the global financial crisis (GFC). “The data shows that while staff are getting paid more, the revenue generated per consultant is not increasing. This is deeply concerning as additional profit is coming from managing overheads, which is short-term,” Warren says....
Around this time of the year, surprises happen and I am not talking about surprise holiday gifts.
People become kinder to each other, more generous, show more care about the less privileged than they are and generally act in ways that they would never consider the whole year through.
What else happens, are lists…
For the third year in a row, we consider the top defining moments in PR not just for what they are – a moment in time or just a blip that made the news – rather for their implications, such as lessons learnt or the impact in our industry....
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Today branding agencies must operate like news rooms, monitoring developing stories as they develop and updating audiences on their client's POV.