By: Rebekah Iliff, Co-founder & CEO, talkTECH Communications

Here is the #1 problem with traditional PR as it stands today: no one, and this includes PR folks, can figure out how the heck to define it as technology and the uprising of self-publication and self-distribution platforms has made the traditional role amorphous in scope.

Is it media pitching and getting a “hit” on the local news station or CNN? Is it writing news releases and distributing them over the newswire for SEO and online brand equity building? Is it managing social media properties and engaging various constituents in meaningful dialogue online?

Or is it all of these things done to varying degrees depending on the client’s needs, wants, desires, and perceptions? And why is it problematic to not have a clear definition of the PR role?

Well for starters, you have an industry that has always battled a reputation of being dispensable, impact incalculable, and often unprofessional in nature – with no “real” licensing board, or concrete understanding of what constitutes a publicist, versus a public relations professional, versus a communications executive.  In the world of “professionals” it’s fairly understandable what an accountant does, where an attorney can be helpful, and why you need a family doctor on your call list.

But in the world of PR, communications, publicity, or whatchamacallit, the bottom line is that if we, as professionals, aren’t giving the clients what they think they want and need (which varies from person to person, and company to company) we can be sure we’ll be packing our bags and headed to the next train station faster than a speeding bullet.

What I’ve seen most recently are traditional PR agencies that either 1) refuse to change or 2) don’t know how they need to change.  Neither fully embracing technology nor fully denying its necessity, they linger somewhere in the middle attempting to convince their clients that a media placement in the local paper is a big deal – instead of thinking creatively about how they can use that piece of content and re-purpose it, spread it out, and make it matter where most people are now “shopping” for information: the Internet.

Before I get to comfortable on my soapbox (a rather undesirable habit I tend to resort to when I get excited or passionate about certain subjects) it’s probably best to break it down like this: the “PR industry,” unlike many industries, has invariably felt the hit of changing times.  Not from a mere economic standpoint (um, that’s a given!), but from a “role” standpoint.  To use an example from before: once a doctor always a doctor.  We get a weird rash in an undesirable location, freak out, call the doctor, make an appointment, and voila…2 bottles of cream later we’re cured.  Not so with PR.

Because it is our job to have a forward thinking approach, and a macro-economic outlook on our clients’ behalf, it becomes impossible for us to hold onto old systems and beliefs about “how to do this” and “how to do that.”  Rather, we are better off taking a look at the progression of communication in general, so that we can understand where we came from, where we are, and where we are going.  To that end, we can then begin to understand our role more clearly, and simultaneously make ourselves relevant to our targets – the people, brands, and organizations that – by not stretch of the imagination – would fail without us.

(Ok so I’m going to jump back on the soapbox for a quick sec, for one last “hoorah” if you will)

There I said it, it’s true.  We ARE indispensible…without us, innovations could not be known, or articulated in a way consumers could understand.  They would sit among the pile of  “unknowns” until someone with creativity, an imagination, and some darn good writing and communication skills figured out how to position, message, and aim toward a goal.  So take THAT and do with it what you will.

Back to the original point: how did we get here and what has changed the game?  Since I was born in the 70’s we’ll start there…. because before I was born nothing of real importance happened.  Kidding. Really I am.  Kind of.

1. Email – Ahh, email.  What would we do without it?  In many ways, the jump from in-person and phone-based conversations to online correspondence has made our jobs and tasks much easier to manage: we can easily spread our stories more quickly to more people in a streamlined, organized fashion, and from pretty much anywhere on the planet for a very low cost.  Additionally, it’s much easier to track and delegate communication activities via email.  According to a recent study 75% of journalists prefer email correspondence for news releases.  So in many ways this particular technological advancement was a huge, positive shift that (when not abused or misused) can make everyone’s life a little more manageable.

2. Search engines – What I really mean by search engines is “Google,” but to be fair, I’ll use the broad term.  However, we all know the truth.  IMHO, search engines are what have had THE most impact on our industry to date, only to be rivaled by mobile platforms in the future – but we’ll get there, don’t rush me!  With search engines came a seismic shift in consumer behavior: empowered by the ability to find information within seconds via a source that could organize topics based on what they (the consumer) wanted to find, NOT on how well someone had impressed them with an advertisement or sales pitch, the objective of any communications professional transformed from targeting journalists to targeting consumers as well.

The direct-to-consumer model became popularized with the search engine, and created an opportunity for those willing to understand its implications. Which are? Well, simply put: learning how to communicate in key words, and understanding your constituency well enough to understand how they search for information. I like to call it “search engine psychoanalysis.”

3. Social Networks – Oh Sir Mark, what would we have done without your stroke of genius which essentially has taken us from being able to forget that idiot guy (or girl) we had a crush on in junior high to being able to check his status reports on a daily, hourly, and even real-time basis? We have gone from speaking in complete thoughts to a select group of loved ones, or hiding our thoughts away in a “never to be seen by anyone” journal, to essentially speaking in status updates for our entire network (and often the world if privacy settings aren’t your thing) to see, share, comment on, like….and even when one is so inclined….unlike. Ouch.

While I often straddle between feelings of acute hatred for Facebook and other social networks, to feelings of pure love – a roller coaster of emotions rivaled only by my feelings for snow….hating it when I’m standing amidst it, loving it when I’m looking at it from behind a warm, indoor fireplace – I believe that in the final analysis this phenomenon must be embraced by communicators as a very effective tool – if utilized properly.  Although it can very quickly become an albatross if not understood within the context of an entire communications strategy, no other tool (included here are Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) has the ability to create value for any client once aligned with an overarching strategic approach.  For better or for worse, the ubiquity of social networks – like technology in general- is not going to change. Click here for a quick article about this topic that supports the point I’m making here.

4. Self-publication platforms – Bloggers and vloggers and schnoggers oh my.  Synonymous with my feelings about social networks, self-publication platforms –which can include everything from article marketing sites (eZine, ArticleMarketer, etc) and share sites (YouTube, Scribd, DocStoc, and SlideShare) to blogging platforms like WordPress and Tumblr – can be as dangerous as they are helpful.  But again, whether we like it or not, they have changed the way we communicate and ultimately “find” and “source” information.

From a purely PR standpoint, a recent Cision Survey estimated the 89% journalists begin their research for stories by looking at popular, niche blogs.  Furthermore, and relating back to the search engine discussion from above, these self-publication platforms can all be linked to key search terms for maximum exposure, thus creating an opportunity to be “found” if executed properly.

5. The mobile marketplace – Let’s take a quick look at some data from a recent TechCrunch blog post (December 1, 2010) shall we:

During the forecast period, BIA/Kelsey expects U.S. mobile search ad revenues to grow from $59 million to $1.6 billion, U.S. mobile display ad revenues to grow from $206 million to $803 million, and U.S. mobile SMS ad revenues to grow from $226 million to $562 million.

In terms of the local breakdown, BIA/Kelsey expects U.S. mobile local advertising revenues to grow from $213 million in 2009 to $2.03 billion in 2014. This represents 44 percent of total U.S. mobile ad revenues in 2009, growing to 69 percent in 2014. BIA/Kelsey defines mobile local advertising as ads that are targeted based on a user’s location.

So for those of you not quite getting what mobile advertising has to do with the communications industry I’ll spell it out: E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  When the advertising industry predicts growth like this, you can be sure that whatever revenue sources they are touting as big money makers will no doubt affect every aspect of the marketplace.  And when “mobile” finally has a fun, interactive, platform to rest its hat on (iPhone, iPad, Android), you can double your bet that communication tools (news releases, blog posts, white papers) must be optimized for these platforms.

So I conclude….

With every great innovation comes severe growing pains.  It is my express belief that we have entered a new age stemming from the information age in which how we organize, communicate, distribute, and “mobilize” that information is what will ultimately define the next age.

Perhaps it is the “mobile” age – an age that will require ever flexible, adaptable, transparent, movable products and services.  But whatever the case, one thing is clear: as professional communicators it is our duty to embrace and learn how innovative technologies affect our industry.

And for better or for worse, there is no going back.

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