Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

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....

...the shrinking newsroom doesn’t mean doom for the PR profession. According to Pew, there are many other new players producing content that “could advance citizens’ knowledge about public issues”—such as Kaiser Health News, Insidescience and the Food and Environment Reporting Network. And whatever sector you’re targeting (for-profit or nonprofit), there is a trove of Web sites that can serve as a conduit to your audiences and constituents.

Social media is also filling the void. In an admixture of the old and the new, using social channels to spread the word plays into how people have gravitated toward news and information since we crawled out of the ocean: learning from our friends and family. Social networking, the report added, is now a part of this process: 15% of U.S. adults get most of their news from friends and family this way, and the vast majority of them (77%) follow links to full news stories....