The New Rules In PR - The Old Model Is Dead

Brilliant Post. "You Have to Be In It To Know It" - Couldn't Be be more accurate...which is why training for employees - Jr Staff & CEO's alike - Is needed for any PR Firm to survive...you can't have a social media division, or expert...everyone must know social media, just as the do traditional media relations...I could go on and on, but you've pretty much said it all, and very succinctly. I'll be back - you've made a reader outta me, Tom. I might take you up on the guest post offer, if you'd like...and I'd love for you to pen a guest post on my blog - quid pro quo?
- David

Love the post except for one thing: "You've got to be in it to know it."

Being "in it" isn't the same as knowing it. That's the same idea that has led to a lot of very boring PR/social media blogging.

On the other hand, having a good personal (rather than PR-focused) blog is a nice idea, but not everyone publicly connects their work persona and their personal blog, for a variety of reasons.

Finally, people don't have time to be "in" blogging, Facebook, YouTube, etc. all the time -- what about their work? We're not all professional bloggers or freelancers with loads of time on our hands. I think being "in it" can mean being a smart consumer as much as a professional producer.

More great insight Tom! Thanks.

Current PR pricing models are less than ideal. Output vs. outcome distinction is valuable to the extent that both parties can agree on an abstract service valuation in the course of structuring a deal. Often it's expedient for both sides to simplify terms - not because they care less about outcomes - rather because it's much easier to translate outputs and hourly estimates into a document that both sides will execute. The legal/contractual side of dealmaking will continue to be a major factor in how PR services are bought and sold.

Good stuff Tom. Looking forward to your insights, as ever.

Couldn't agree more on the integration of social media into the core teams, rather than an ivory tower.

You've got some great points in here. The media landscape has shifted and that changes the rules of the game. I love what you're saying about not delineating social media experts from the rest of the staff. Communication pros should be well rounded. Proving outcomes will be a requirement in the future, especially since we have the ability to measure success now. What you said about saying "no" makes me smile. You are dead on there. If you are good at what you do, you should be able to be selective and should want to avoid red flag clients.

Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater though. People thought social media was the death of "traditional media" and then threw out relevant concepts along with the tired ones. Social media is really just a shift in the economics of production and distribution along with the addition of participation. The people prophesied the end of "traditional media" are now returning to timeless concepts like quality editing, fact checking, journalistic ethics, etc. Same is true with PR.

While PR will shift in tactics from harassment to consent building as social skills take a lead role, but retainer models for service industries are not going away. Companies may have lost trust in large PR firms, which will cause some of the big PR firms to downsize and even put some out of business. They may be scared away from retainers for a season as they relearn to order and manage modern communication services from capable communication firms. The firms that are good at proving they delivered results will *want* to be paid on commission. Once the industry as a whole is good at delivering value as the proven models rise to the top, clients will seek retainers again as it gives them the highest profit margin and predictable budgets.

There will be a changing of the guard leading to the downsizing and death of large PR firms, but new ones will emerge just as large as today's that will be effective at scaling packaged services using modern methodology.

PR is already competing against advertising for marketing dollars as the war to prove who delivers more leads to sales continues to heat up. Very exciting time to be in PR.

I love the messages I get from people trying to push "PR" forward, and that I bring a vindication to what they are trying to do.

In media and in PR, things are changing quickly, (and I think they will continue changing.) I really believe that you have to jump into the new media and you cannot understand it, or appreciate it, unless you are in it. You don't have to be good at it, you just need to be in it.

The Wave of World Wide Rave is not limited to the US - it is very much awake in Asia especially a red dot called Singapore - it may have taken 2 years of sweat to get brands to understand the new rules and the wise ones are believing. The social media roller coaster keeps thrilling us with ride taking us into new waves of opportunity and enlightenment.

Great post - couldn't agree more with: 'there's no such thing as social media, it's all media'. Essentially, the skills of communicating remain the same while online channels like for example Twitter, speed some of the processes up and enable dialogues to happen more instantaneous.

Also, PR has moved from being a tool to 'broadcast' information to becoming a way of creating two-way conversations.

Well said, Tom. I have been in PR for 16 years and started out faxing releases and advisories to newsrooms! I also pitched a lot on the phone, and you know what? The same was true back then as it is now. If you are good storyteller, know how to work with the press on their terms while accomplishing your goal, and can pull in strong results for your clients, you will always be successful. Good PR people also never, ever let themselves become antiquated (which includes keeping media skills sharp at all times), and stay on top of what's current. I have worked for several big firms, but have been on my own for four years and I love it so much more for many reasons. I also love the emergence of "social media" (I still call it that, as do most PR people I know) because it gives people like me a whole new way to build relationships, which is so key in this business. The people who will survive in this business will be active across all mediums, understand how those mediums work (in a way which they can explain to others) and are focused on results as PR becomes more and more "ROI" driven.

Another good post on PR, Mr. Foremski. Looking forward to the follow-up.

My only quibble is your position on press releases. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, but there are still many companies whose technology plays to industries outside of the valley where releases are still (unfortunately) part of the mix (more as a marketing/sales tool than a press tool).

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Mike. My position on the press release is "horses for courses" where it makes sense, as you point out. Oh, and put some links in it :)