Amanda has recently submitted the final instalment of her CIPR Diploma and while she waits for the results – fingers and toes crossed – she wanted to share with you a brief overview of the findings from her own research project titled: “The Changing Mindset of the PR Practitioner in the Age of Social Media.”
The choice of subject was chosen because having been in the PR industry for almost ten years I am witnessing how the advent of social media is having a significant effect on how we – the PR practitioners – operate; with the concept becoming on top of the agenda for many businesses today as a way of managing their reputation and as a key communication method too.
The list of brands using social media channels as a communication mechanism to engage with their publics is endless and in addition these channels are strongly recognised as a platform for breaking news stories, and interactivity by journalists and online communities.
A couple of great examples of an exclusive via social media is when on December 2nd last year, British Olympic diver Tom Daley exclusively revealed he was in a relationship with another man in a YouTube video or twenty-seven minutes before mainstream media broke the news of Whitney Houston’s death, the story was already on Twitter – reported by a man who tweeted the news to his 14 followers.
Using three different research samples – a questionnaire distributed to PR practitioners, a business case study and my attendance at the East Anglian CIPR Conference ‘The Reinvention of PR’ – I was able to delve into the mindset of the ‘PR people’ and provide a summary of my findings (in no particular order) which you may find useful:
PR has certainly come a long way since 1906 when Ivy Lee’s first press release was reprinted word for word in the New York Times.
In today’s digital era, PR is important to brand strategy and to building, sustaining and protecting reputation, yet not all practitioners are fully equipped with dealing with this powerful resource.
It is evident PR is a fundamental contributor to the success of any organisation, no matter what the size or sector they operate, and it is an important element in creating and maintaining a successful brand presence.
Social media means a brand is accessible to everyone which can bring with it complications – crisis management. It is important PR’s are aware of the risks and know the best practice to avoid or lessen the blow when these types of crisis’s occur.
There has most certainly been a shift in how PR’s communicate with journalists and their publics. Traditionally we would communicate the message to the media who would publish / promote the story and hope that it engaged with the correct audience who would then purchase the product / service. The implementation of social media means we now have to consider engaging directly with the audience and making it happen immediately.
In a world where news often breaks on Twitter and the majority of media influencers are active in this community, many key conversations occur here which means the PR practitioner has the right relationship with the right people.
The ever-changing media landscape means an organisation has no choice but to manage the perceptions people have of it, and its brand reputation through PR. Information and communication innovations keep coming thick and fast so PR practitioners must ensure they are up to the mark, ready to rebut damaging stories and must always make sure they get the messages across, and clearly!
Brands have to learn, and continue to learn, to not only communicate effectively in the age of social media but to truly listen to the social chatter and respond in a way that aligns both brand and customer expectations. Brands have to have a personality and have someone, whether this is an employee or PR representative, managing their social media relations with their audiences because customer service and interaction has now moved into the open for all to see.
No one is calling an end to the traditional elements of PR, however social media has most certainly implemented change.
Personally I think it is a very exciting, powerful and more interactive time than ever before for all PR practitioners. Consumers have changed the way they engage with brands which means as an industry, we have had to adapt too.
Social media has definitely created a myriad of opportunities for the PR industry with some of the fundamental skills of the PR professional becoming more valuable than ever!
