Whether it is a blog, a podcast, a Wiki, a social media release or any other number of interactive tools, they are just that – tools. Don’t get me wrong, unless you have been asleep under a rock, there is a radical shift in who or what influences target audiences and how they gather their content.
And if a PR practitioner doesn’t invest time to learn, and even more importantly participate, in this new landscape, then chances are they will be left behind.
But what I would argue is that most trained PR consultants have the strategic framework to incorporate new media, social media, and other media, into a cohesive program that achieves results.
Why? From day one of their university degree, PRs are trained to:
- research the environment (all of it) in which a client operates
- understand/define the business/marketing/communication objectives
- determine the target audience and the best medium to reach them (old or “new”)
- devise and document key messages – many of which may be complex
- adapt these messages to multiple audiences and mediums (a social media release, a call to action for an email direct mail, a blog)
- test, implement, measure and modify communications to ensure they achieve objectives
What’s more, PRs should have the tactical skills and the understanding of a clients business to deliver it fast.
So whether is new media, social media, old media or the next media that isn’t invented yet, I regard it as just another channel.
A tool effective PRs have to be good at leveraging to achieve clients’ communication objectives.
