A question I’m asked with increasing frequency at various meetings, conferences and gatherings is, “Where exactly should social media fall in the organizational structure?” It’s not an easy question to answer as different organizations have different strengths, weaknesses and established silos of discipline. The answer becomes even harder when my own honest answer is somewhat contradicted by my own agency’s architecture, with social media standing as it’s own department and almost stand-alone component of the marketing mix.
My honest answer is that social media should be the responsibility of public relations. Or at least that is how I see social media’s evolution.
The reason is simple.
Social media is a method of communications. Social media tools facilitate these communications. To be effective in social media, whether as a marketer or just an ordinary participant, you must, first and foremost, communicate well.
Yes, social media tools are mostly driven by technology. But they are driven by technology to deliver a message or messages. You don’t trust your IT department to layout your print ad. Why would you trust them to run your blog?
As I’ve said before, we are in an era of technology transition. Communications professionals are learning quickly that to be relevant and effective in the age of social computing, there’s more to competency than communication skills. Technology has become a requirement of the skill set. Yet, so many communications professionals - from public relations to customer service staff and from copywriters to journalists - are horribly deficient in average computer understanding, much less that of web-based technologies and tools.
Therefore, I would not plant social media efforts totally on the shoulders of the public relations staff today, unless of course your PR department can exhibit the kind of tech-savviness required to accept the responsibility. I would, instead, employ a specialist in social media (or hire an agency with one … have no idea who I’d recommend though … heh) who reports to the same person or department as the public relations director with both instructed to work hand-in-hand on social media projects.
What is most telling in your social media efforts is the message. And that is most likely already being supplied by your public relations or communications arm. If you see social media as technology-driven, you probably have your website run by the IT department when it often is, first and foremost, a marketing mechanism.
As soon as three to five years from now, I see social media marketing as an almost exclusive domain of public relations professionals, so long as we get our collective heads out of our asses and learn how to do it. Some of us are there. Many of us are not. Too many of us think social media is newspapers in Eastern Europe.
In my mind, social media is essentially public relations in the online world. Divide the category up by component — blogs, social networks, microblogging, podcasts/Web TV, wikis/collaborative software — they each ladder in some way to a component of public relations — writing, corporate communications, community relations, media relations, event management.
PR as social media owner in many ways also addresses the concern of the online community that marketers don’t belong. Assuming we can trim away the corporate speak and manage transparent communications efforts in years to come, public relations representatives are the least likely to sell and most capable of speaking as humans to humans, rather than up-selling hucksters to “consumers.”
Where should social media fall in the corporate structure? Right now, it depends. Tomorrow? Social media will evolve into components of a sophisticated public relations effort. The only question in my mind is, will public relations evolve to embrace it?
Public relations can stand to learn a lot from Howard Moskowitz. The legendary experimental psychologist, whose research and work is chronicled most excellently by Malcolm Gladwell in a speech at a February 2004 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference, essentially reinvented the consumer product goods category. His revelation essentially concluded that consumers don’t know what they want and are much happier given several varieties of a product to choose from than the most popular version selected from focus groups or other research.
According to Gladwell’s speech, Prego spaghetti sauce’s research for years showed not a single focus group answer reflecting Moskowitz’s conclusion that nearly one-third of all Americans prefer extra chunky sauce. His data showed that instead of a singular preference for the perfect sauce, there were three types of sauces almost equally preferred by thirds of consumers.
“He fundamentally democratized the way we think about taste,” Gladwell says in the speech, referring to Moskowitz’s conclusion that the key to the American consumer’s tastes is through horizontal segmentation, a concept that thwarted popular theory at the time that aspiration (vertical segmentation) drove sales.
I know. And this has what to do with public relations and pitching media outlets?
Like the American consumer, the American (or just human) media member, inclusive of bloggers, does not possess a singular taste for how to be pitched ideas. Yet, for the better part of the information age, we’ve been pitching everyone the same way.
Technology allowed us to democratize the instant notification of our media lists with fax blasts. When the world made the transition to the Internet, we found the BCC field and went to town. Everyone receives the press release the same way at the same time. Aren’t we good?
No. We sucked. And we still do.
What technology eclipsed, leaving to wither away in the shadows, was our understanding of each media member and how they prefer to be given information. We stopped paying attention to detail and started serving up just plain Prego. Some people buy it. Some people buy Ragu. Others make their own.
By understanding that every media member is different, but we can segment them into categories of preference, we can better organize our outreach, customize our pitches and serve both the media outlet and our client or organization. We don’t need the perfect pitch. We need the perfect pitches.
You may find the bloggers on your list prefer to be approached the same way. You may find seven different segments within them alone. But by continually parsing, reviewing and studying your media lists, keeping the perfect pitches in mind, you should soon start to see a higher return on your media relations investment.
It is not about pleasing the maximum number of people with one fluid motion. It is about pleasing each and every person you approach with as many movements as required. By embracing the diversity of our media outlets, we find the true path to successful media relations.
There can be more than one approach. There can be more than one press release.
The dust has settled on the Downtown Marriott and I’m sitting at LaGuardia awaiting a late flight home. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Digital Impact Conference, I’m told the first such focusing solely on the new digital media landscape by the organization, is in the books and, I think, gave attendees some things to think about and some actionable tasks to make them better PR professionals.
My portion of the event was to offer insight for a session entitled, “Not All Blogs Are Created Equal.” I was asked to participate by Heidi Sullivan and Jay Krall of Cision, the former of whom reached out to me after my Twitters wondering why the media database company was unresponsive to me during the PR spammers blowup last month. Heidi acted, told me answers to my questions were coming and opened a dialog with me about the problem relative to Cision.
The dialog grew into a greater conversation about blogger outreach and PR spam, which will be the topic of the live, “For Immediate Release” call-in session on BlogTalkRadio.com today from Shel Hotlz and Neville Hobson. Representatives of Cision, Vocus and Marketwire, as well as PR spammer victim Stowe Boyd, marketing, public relations and blogger outreach expert Susan Getgood and PR pros like David Phillips, Holtz, Hobson and myself will all join to work on solutions to the problem.
We will not solve the issue on this singular podcast. But we’ll make progress. And the listeners will benefit.
The show can be found here (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fir) and airs live at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT in the states. The United Kingdom listeners should join at 6 p.m. local time there.
The presentation at PRSA Digital Impact went well. We covered why you should participate in social media and blogger outreach, what the fears are and how to deal with them, how to select blogs for outreach and how to approach them. Heidi and Jay used the example of our meeting as why it’s important to participate in the conversation. Had they not reached out to me, I could have posted angry Tweets or blog posts about Cision and made the company look bad. Kudos to them for the transparency and honesty in the presentation and in dealing with me.
Several folks had great things to say with feedback, both in person and online. It’s a good sign when people immediately ask you to speak at other events. So Heidi, Jay and I did well.
But there were several points I wanted to make that we didn’t get to. I promised the crowd I would offer up my bulleted lists of what the respective parties in the PR spammers issue can do to start solving the problem. I’ve stated before that public relations professionals are to blame and should shoulder a good deal of the responsibility for ridding the media world (new and old) of PR spam. In addition to us (yes, I’m one), the media database companies have some peripheral responsibility. PRSA, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and similar organizations can and should lead the effort to educate PR pros. Even the bloggers can help solve the problem by reminding themselves of simple things and taking small steps to improve the situation.
So, without a great deal of explanation and so you can interpret and discuss in the comments, here’s the list. I’m interested in what you would add, subtract, amend or even take exception with:
What Can PR People Do?
Stop sending email blasts. We simply can’t do this anymore and must find better ways of volume reach.
Start doing better contact research. (Start by calling your current contacts and discuss PR spam with them.)
Focus on the relationship, not the pitch.
Understand that the database companies are for contacts, not lists.
Think of social media as your responsibility.
Learn Web 2.0 technologies, starting with RSS.
What Can Database Companies Do?
Stop collecting information from anywhere. Collect it from THE contact.
Understand that more contacts isn’t better if they don’t want to be there.
Make preferred methods the flashing neon signs of the database.
Force warnings and roadblocks for those wanting to pull large lists.
Develop online tools to aide in contact strategy plans (NOT list building.)
What Can PRSA/IABC Do?
Recognize and prioritize the problem. (They’re starting, but haven’t done enough.)
Stop holding new media at arms length.
Educate, but force education as a requirement for good standing.
Incorporate spam practices and email blasting into Code of Ethics.
When someone is outed as spamming, take action.
What Can Bloggers Do?
Understand if you have an audience, you are a media member and will be approached.
Understand not everyone is tech savvy.
Tell PR folks what they’re doing wrong. Friendly feedback can help you get better information.
Be patient. PR folks are learning and fast, but change does take time.
For those of you in attendance at the discussion, if we didn’t answer something you wanted, please ask it in the comments. Heidi, Jay and I will follow up as soon as we can.
Preparing for the week, I’ve put a great deal of thought into what I can contribute to the conversation with the end goal in mind of making the environment better for everyone involved. As much as Gina Trapani’s PR Spammers Wiki and Chris Anderson’s list of banned email addresses were, in my opinion, childish and unproductive, I don’t want them to be bothered by lazy or ignorant public relations professionals any more than other bloggers or journalists.
One of the reasons I’ve been asked to participate at the PRSA event tomorrow is because I’m outspoken. I’m also not afraid to point fingers. But I honestly do so in hopes of confronting the problems and finding solutions. I’m a smartass, but one with good intentions.
It is my full intention to tell PRSA officials there that they (along with organizations like IABC – the International Association of Business Communicators) should shoulder a good deal of the responsibility for fixing the problem of PR spammers. Jeremy Pepper is right, the solution to the problem is education. And we don’t have time for some of the great PRprofessors out there to do it for us.
PRSA is putting on the Digital Impact Conference, so they’re not exactly sitting by the wayside, doing nothing. But look at the last several weeks worth of PRSA Issues & Trends (daily emails) and the latest PR Strategist. See anything about blogger outreach? Me either.
The Louisville IABC chapter is conducting a social media boot camp next week, to which I have been asked to contribute. I believe it’s the first such activity for that chapter. The Louisville PRSA chapter has done exactly nothing in regards to new media sans participating in a teleseminar with Paul Gillin last summer. So the lacking is not just at the national level, but at the local activation as well.
In my opinion, the way the public relations industry responds to the problem of PR spam over the course of the next six to 12 months could make or break our profession for the next decade. Why are our professional organizations not prioritizing this?
And PR spam doesn’t just apply to bloggers. Traditional media members don’t like the half-assed approach any more than new media outlets. Like my opinion of the social media press release, this issue is not something for bloggers only. Public relations outreach needs to get better for ALL media, not just new media.
Until now, PRSA and, to a lesser extent IABC, have done little to recognize there’s a problem. If they don’t, and don’t do something about it soon, the public relations profession is in a world of hurt, Andrew Cohen aside.
The media database companies, like Cision, Vocus, Marketwire and Burrells Luce have tried to provide guidance, but haven’t done enough. Margin notes in an individual profile buried deep within a massive database simply won’t be seen. And certainly not by entry-level PR noobs working on tight deadlines to reach hundreds of outlets. No amount of webinars can overcome immediate client need and large scale distribution.
(Disclosure: Doe-Anderson is a Cision client, they invited me to speak at the PRSA event which they are sponsoring and as part of a panel they are conducting. But it’s not like I haven’t called them out before.)
The technology is there. Put it to use. Perhaps the preferred method of contact, complete with margin notes on preferences, is all that can be exported to a spreadsheet. Maybe functionality can be added that walks list-builders through a number of questions to determine the right contacts for a given outreach – sort of the eHarmony approach to PR contacts.
John Cass and I offered other suggestions for them here and here. However, I would challenge each of them to do one important thing better than they have been: Get the media contact on the phone and ask them if they even want to be listed. I’ve never been asked if I want to be in anyone’s system, yet I’m in at least two of the said service’s databases. Just because someone is a media member doesn’t mean they shoudn’t have a choice in being approached.
While not ordered as such in this tome, the first and most important group responsible for improving the public relations industry are the practitioners themselves. PR people need to recognize we operate in a new media environment that requires new media skills. Technology offered through the media database companies and the Internet to date has made us lazy. Now it can make us more efficient and proficient, but only if we understand that it should and grasp the opportunity.
First steps?
Get back to the basics of communication theory. The most effective communication is interpersonal. One-to-one relationships with media members (new and old) is the best way to transmit messages. However, trust is an important element of that. You will trust they will listen and consider. They will trust you won’t waste their time. It’s a tradeoff that, if respected on both sides, leads to happy media members and PR folks.
Learn RSS. If your clients or organization is or can publish news releases and media-targeted information via Really Simple Syndication, your media outlets (as they become RSS-savvy as well) will opt-in to your news on their terms. Then you can spend more time focusing on the relationship than the message delivery.
Refine your outreach. My mother is a communications officer for a state transportation district. She reports that anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of her time is spent on her media contacts – culling lists, double checking information (via telephone or face-to-face exchanges), calling on them in person. While serving the media in seven rural counties in Kentucky shouldn’t warrant that much time and should be easier to manage than she makes it, effective outreach is imperative for someone who often has news of road closings, traffic situations and hazardous conditions. Your client/organization is that important to you. Spend 50 percent of our time on your lists and see how much better your hit rate is.
Recognize that new media is essentially no different from old media. The traditional folks just haven’t complained as loudly about your shortcomings. They don’t like press release blasts and borderline relevant emails any more than Gina Trapani does. Their training and our laziness has lulled them into the habit of just tolerating our efforts. Change the way you approach the old as you figure out how to approach the new.
Just don’t send email blasts. If you can’t handle the outreach on a more individual, personal level, either plan for more staffing or refine your lists until you can.
And last but not least, the bloggers should have some responsibility here, too. Just because you may not be a trained journalist or don’t consider yourself such, or even think PR people are nothing but used car salesmen and lying spinsters, these do not mean you aren’t a media outlet that might be a target for PR outreach. As Rick Calvert of Blog World & New Media Expo wrote, “If you are a professional journalist, or editor covering a particular industry or topic then part of your job is fielding PR pitches for products in that industry … Will you occasionally get pitched something that is irrelevant to you or that is personally uninteresting to you? Of course. Too bad. Get over it or get a new job.” Yes, he referenced professional journalists or editors covering a particular industry, but if you blog about an industry, you are a journalist for said topic, like it or not; qualified or not.
Understand that not everyone is a Web 2.0 whiz who understands the pull mechanism of RSS feeds and knows no better way than the push technique of outreach. Also know that many public relations folks are genuinely well-intended and not irresponsible in their approaches. Yes, we have a wide-spread issue that needs to be addressed and solved, but as you can tell from this and other posts, we’re doing just that.
Our Dénouement
More than anything, I long for journalists of all walks of life – traditional, mainstream media and bloggers, podcasters and new media folks as well – to understand, respect and even value the pubic relations professionals they deal with. Many do. Some don’t. And frankly, the laziness and ignorance of many PR professionals proves some don’t deserve it.
The only way this ideal will ever happen is if public relations professionals step up and improve. The responsibility lies squarely upon our collective, and individual, shoulders. Because, however, the media database companies and professional organizations like PRSA and IABC depend upon these individuals for their livelihood, they should step in and lead the vital effort required to get where we want to go: Teaching the new and re-teaching the old how to succeed in the new media environment.
In thinking about last week’s blogosphere outburst with another public relations blacklist, this time accompanied by a loud reaction from the PR and blogging world, it occurred to me that the root of the problem lies in a misunderstanding on both sides of the equation. Public relations folks don’t understand the old-school ways of outreach come across as spam, frustrating bloggers. But bloggers also don’t seem to recognize that most public relations folks don’t yet possess the understanding of Web 2.0 technology to cater to them ideally.
If every public relations professional in the world knew that most bloggers prefer the opt-in, pull technique of RSS feeds as opposed to the interruption, push technique of email and outreach, there would be no problem. Outreach would be relationship-based, not press release-based, and bloggers could scroll through the buffet line of relevant information on their own terms.
Solution: Public relations professionals need to learn Web 2.0 technologies as well as new media behavior, but bloggers also need to understand they are ahead of the technology curve and not blame the rest of the world for their early adoption.
We are in a transitional period in the history of media, journalism and public relations. These are the growing pains of that. Bloggers have every right to demand better from the public relations world. Public relations professionals, though, have every right to expect some room for learning and mistakes.
PR Blacklist In Hindsight
More than a week has passed since Gina Trapani’s PR spam wiki hit the web. When Chris Anderson of Wired first pulled the temper tantrum, it served as a wake up call to the public relations industry. When Trapani launched her wiki, the backlash may have sent a wake up call to bloggers that maybe they aren’t 100-percent right in their PR-bashing. Though I doubt any of the complaining parties will agree they went too far.
Because I truly want to help find a way for bloggers, public relations professionals, media database services and even traditional media members to work through the stayed and stale practices of the public relations industry and come to resolutions and understandings that will create a more positive environment for everyone, I’ve tried to put more thinking behind the topic. Instead of pushing too hard to confront the issue, (My personality dictates I will when met with choppy waters.) I want to make all the issues clear, with less emotion, and help move toward peaceful resolution.
First, an apology.
My reaction of Trapani’s blacklist came across as beligerent and angry, instead of serious and pointed. As a result, my resulting communications with her have been met with a cold reaction, at best. That’s my fault. I’m sure she didn’t mean for her blacklist to come across as spiteful and underhanded. And two wrongs don’t make a right.
I’m sorry, Gina. I’m sorry Matt. I’m sorry Chris, even if you never noticed.
Second, action.
I’ve been graciously invited to speak at next month’s PRSA Digital Impact Conference by the fine folks at Cision, a conference sponsor and (disclosure) a service Doe-Anderson uses. I’ll be a panelist on the session entitled, “Not All Blogs Are Created Equal,” which focuses on blogger outreach, selecting the right blogs for outreach and so on. My hope is that by helping educate public relations professionals, I’m doing my part in making the day-to-day of folks like Gina and Matt better.
On Wednesday of that week, I’ll also take place in an hour-long discussion the matter as part of an episode of “For Immediate Release,” an outstanding podcast from Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz. John Cass and I, along with Hobson and Holtz, have pulled together a panel that includes representatives of three major media database companies, several bloggers, including the impecable Stowe Boyd, who has also been vocally fighting against PR spam, and several public relations professionals.
Additionally, Sarah Wurrey had me as a guest on the Media Bullseye Radio podcast where she, Jennifer Zingsheim and I talked about the PR Blacklist issue, gender in public relations and Twitter.
This educational push was reinforced this week with the Social Media Club Louisville May gathering that resulted in a new focus on education and evangelism. While we didn’t specifically discuss education as it relates to public relations and blogger outreach, the theme of the week grew stronger. I intend to reach out to the local PRSA chapter, of which I am a member, and other professional communications organizations on behalf of the Social Media Club, with blogger outreach as an important first topic.
I’ve also spent some time this week sending some pitch-related advice and approach pointers to the various PR staff members and agency partners of the clients Doe-Anderson works with. All of it has been well-received and in a couple of cases, even solicited before I could send it.
While I’m usually 100-percent pitch friendly, in order to not seem hypocritical, I’ve added a snarky “How To Pitch SME” page to this site. All PR folks should take note. I won’t embarrass you for bad pitches, but you now have no excuse.
Jason Falls is the director of social media explorer for Doe-Anderson, a brand-building agency in Louisville, Ky., specializing in building brand enthusiasts. A public relations professional by trade and writer by craft, Falls is co-founder of the Social Media Club Louisville. This blog is his own, contains his opinions and observations and does not necessarily reflect those of Doe-Anderson or its clients.
Tomorrow I will be a part of a panel discussion at the 
Jason Falls is the director of social media explorer for Doe-Anderson, a brand-building agency in Louisville, Ky., specializing in building brand enthusiasts. A public relations professional by trade and writer by craft, Falls is co-founder of the Social Media Club Louisville. This blog is his own, contains his opinions and observations and does not necessarily reflect those of Doe-Anderson or its clients.
