The Changing World of PR and Your Role as Client

Today, I came across an interesting article by Grant Cardone of Huffington Post (be sure to read the comments), and, of course, it sparked a blog post - one I believe will be a must read for anyone doing PR (professional, small business, client of any kind).

The world of media has changed rapidly, and continues to do so daily. Some of us got on the train immediately and have seen how technology/Internet can help us do our jobs better, while a lot of people simply failed to get on at their stop. Now they're running around trying to catch up telling clients "we're experts" when they really aren't.

In today's Internet-driven world, anyone can be "an expert"
Just take a minute to think of all those you've seen saying those exact words!
So, how do you decipher which ones really are experts?

The truth is that huge scores of PR people failed to catch on to social media and how the Internet can really help them be more successful for clients. They still work under the adage that if a story happens they must take credit for it (whether they achieved it or not) to look good for the client. Or worse.....they just don't know what they're doing, and sadly, there are a lot of people out there who say they do PR and really have no clue.

Back to Cardone's post: What got me on this post isn't his comment about PR dying, but that the fact that the transition hasn't happened with a majority of PR people yet; they're scrambling and not in a good way. They're trying to translate traditional PR in a non-traditional media market and they haven't quite figured out the new strategies. That's why Cardone was failing to achieve the results he wanted with his three PR firms. I agree with him that many agencies have yet to come to the new PR table, causing them to be sloppy and miss opportunities. Simply put, there's a new way of doing things these days.

Anyone can talk a big game, but can they play and win?
It's not always easy and requires patience, but you should find out
quickly whether your PR firm knows what it's doing, or not.

Here are some things to consider as a client:

• A great story ALWAYS achieves PR. This is a fact!
  
• Review your agency's press release. Is it really newsworthy or just fluff? Is it well-written and timely?
  
• I feel strongly that a PR firm's staff should all either have a degree in journalism or worked in the media writing news (PR is news! duh)
  
• They should know that, now, the other part of PR is a conversation, which is happening online everyday, where customers, not media, provide the third-party endorsement of your product/service to one another. Very valuable!
  
• Your PR firm should know that the Internet can only help their efforts, increase odds
  
• They should understand that the media environment today has created more freelancers, who are harder to track, and must make sure your online presence (online press room) is in top shape, should media find you while conducting a search
  
• SEO only helps PR
• That PR is no longer ego-centric, meaning it's not all about the agency. It's about teamwork. Today agencies can contribute to media finding your business, but the journalist may contact you directly. It's about "getting you out there" and, some may argue with me, it doesn't matter who gets the credit but rather that it happened.
  
• It's more than understanding how traditional media work (and the changes they're making) but the fact that PR has become slightly more complex with the Internet. They should be able to advise you on using video, blogging, social media and more from your end to help their efforts
• They should be experts on all fronts - traditional and nontraditional; marketing and Internet
  
• Marketing is more integrated now than ever before - I will toot my own horn and say that I did predict this in journalism school and so happy that I followed a career in general marketing (brand, advertising, promotions, PR, web and more) because the Internet has brought it all together. They work hand-in-hand
• Again, it's about teamwork and your PR professional/agency should be prepared to play fair and share one common goal with you - achieve media stories to grow your business -and they should think about being part of the team long-term
  
• Finally, PR is a patient process that clients must be sensitive to. Just because you put out a press release doesn't mean media are going to drop what they're working on at that very moment to cover your story. Any good publicist will communicate this, set expectations, maintain open communications and regular progress reports, know how to target pitches to media, rather than blanket pitches and even be able to walk away on their own if they don't feel they're getting anywhere.
  

It is a serious thing to find marketing professionals that are right for you and your business. I always tell potential clients to listen to their intuition, look for someone they like and trust, check out the agency's references, be thorough and feel good about it.

Thanks for the blogging inspiration, Grant, and good luck to you!