Jeremiah Owyang produced an interesting piece earlier today asking what will happen to PR firms in a recession based on research among 200 PR agencies. I must confess I am not surprised to see that a small majority of firms are predicting that PR budgets were smaller than they were in fiscal 2008, but then if you if you look at any operating cost, I would be surprised if this wasn’t pretty much tracking the downward pressure on all operating costs.
Having said that I think cost reductions fall into two categories: reducing costs because in this climate ‘you can’ and ‘you need to be seen to’ and then there are those companies that are having to reduce costs because ‘they must’. I wonder what if the PR budget reductions are greater or smaller than comparable ad budgets?
I both agree and disagree with the second point Jeremiah makes when he says that “things don’t look too rosy for the PR industry.” If you are a traditional PR agency doing the same old stuff then I would be worried. However, if you accept that the world has changed and embracing social media is neither an option or an add on to your traditional offering then the world looks rosier.
By putting social media at the centre of what we do, we have a fantastic opportunity to extend our remit more broadly into the world of online marketing. Far from being gloomy, as someone who has been involved in the PR industry for 20 years and who has always embraced technology, the future for the industry has never been more exciting.
We just need to get through this economic trough first.
(Photo Courtesy USC School of Communication)
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And the corollary is true; online marketers are expanding into PR, esp. with direct-to-audience pieces like direct email campaigns, (which many commodity PR agencies do at the end of the day), social media releases, microsites, word-of-mouth, and other communications efforts designed to shift perception or create action.
Those that can measure impact will win. We’re back again to the focus on marketing metrics, which was very hot several years ago then faded.
It’s all about the integrated agency. Who will get to the middle first?
Three traits inherent in a good PR agency’s DNA is rabidness when they spot an opportunity, packaging up relevant content into easily digestible pieces and understanding the value of a communication network. I think this sets up innovative PR agencies with an excellent chance of playing the social media game.
One mine field for all agencies trying to wrestle with this channel is the recursive nature of the networks e.g. many twitterers are marketeers twittering about how to twitter! At what point does a real message hit the target audience?
As a social media marketer of a few years now, I have watched how the PR industry has dealt with the new kid on the block. There have indeed been successes, but a lot of failures also, for example, press releases submitted to digg.com
Although there are a ton of sharp minds in PR, I think social media requires a different skill set and this is why most of the big players come from the SEO world. They have learned to adapt to a ever changing algo.
Not that a PR person couldn’t adapt, but it’s not simply checklist of do this and don’t do that. It’s more fundemental, it’s a mind set, it’s an attitude.
But I agree, learn to adapt or die. Technology and the Internet are changing the world of communications, and the methods in which we influence and ever so gently persuade are also changing.
However, those who can dip in and out of the various cultures and tribes, speak their language and eat their bread, walking as if one of the tribe, it is they who will take home the prize.
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