PR in Need of a Backbone? (and Other PR Blog Jots)
PR Pros too Timid on Social Media?
Bitemarks
David Hargreaves notes the seeming crisis of confidence among PR practitioners when it comes to dealing with social media. While most seem to agree social media is important, he senses that many (especially traditional) PR firms are unsure of themselves on how to incorporate it into their business model. David warns against complacency, noting that while many online conversations will happen with or without the urging of a PR pro, there are still many ways the industry will remain relevant. “To think that our only role is to somehow shape this natural process is surely missing the point. Our role is not simply to replicate what we do with traditional media – we have to be a lot smarter than that or else we will be struggling to justify our existence.”
Aggressive Preparation Key to Crisis Comms
Strumpette
In his weekly “gospel” for Strumpette, PR veteran Phil Hall underscores the need for active preparation for PR crises. Most corporate communications strategies, he argues, are set up to merely respond to a crisis once it erupts, rather than participate in active reputation management that may prevent it in the first place. He compliments NYC-based agency Peppercom for their extensive preparedness training applied by their crisis communications team, but notes that cooperation from the client for preparation of that magnitude is no easy feat. “As you may gather, that level of in-depth crisis training requires time, energy and the full cooperation of senior management. For the PR professionals who can obtain all of that, the end result could be invaluable. For those who cannot, however…well, let’s just say it might be helpful to have a clean rag ready in the event the fan gets hit with you-know-what.”
Common Sense PR
Pointing out that up to 80 percent of releases and other PR efforts sent into the ether are more spam than actual media relations, Eric Eggerston lists the factors contributing to the problem the most. He argues that the ease of access to long lists of journalists and emails, along with the feeling that many companies look to PR firms to merely blast out releases rather than achieve calculated results, may be causing an increase in spam PR. “It’s too easy to say yes when a district manager demands a news release for a non-story. It’s too easy to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. There are times when a wide-spectrum news release is the perfect tool for the job. Just don’t act like it’s the only tool in your kit.”
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