Where PR Fits into the Social\Digital Media Mix

Posted by: Nicholas O'Flaherty

I delivered a presentation this afternoon to the B&T Digital Bootcamp on where PR fits into the Social\Digital Media Mix.

For the full presentation, please click here.

However, here is a summary…

• PR does not equal press releases, PR is communication. And social media is all about communication.
• PR consultants need to understand the difference between a journalist and a blogger. Sometime they converge, sometime they do not. And sometimes an online influencer is not a journalist or a blogger. Sounds confusing? If you work in PR, this shouldn’t be confusing.
• Right now, Social Media should be used by PR agencies to reinforce and expand client brands. In five years, it could be the only way, at least online, that agencies are helping companies get their message heard.
• Influence follows engagement, not the other way round.
• If there is a social media ‘brand hero’, it should come from the client side. However, there is normally a need for collective and objective creativity and extra resourcing. This is where switched-on PR comes in.
• Social media has made the job of the PR agency easier because there’s more tangible data and harder because we know very fast when a campaign’s not working.
• The future is personalised, whether it includes geo-location or not.
• Choose your engagement tactic or mix of tactics, e.g. is it for customer service or collaboration?
• The future of PR lies in articulating the relationship with social media.