June 2, 2009

Why PR Must Lead the Way in Social Media — Now

Despite the uncertain economy, 63 percent of U.S. companies plan to increase their social media marketing budgets in 2009. This is especially notable, since ad spending in the U.S. is projected to drop 12 percent this year.

It's no surprise that advertising, digital and Web marketing firms are rushing to grab a slice of the rapidly growing social media pie. Given it's likely that spending on social media marketing will accelerate in the coming years—while ad spending is projected to drop—the competition will grow even more heated. Make no mistake: Now is the time for the public relations industry to make a convincing case that PR experts should lead the way in spearheading social media marketing initiatives to help shape perceptions, build brand loyalty and incite meaningful calls to action.

There are several compelling reasons why social media marketing belongs in the PR camp, but before outlining these, let's take a brief detour into the semantics of social media and digital media.

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not one and the same. Wikipedia describes social media as "transforming monologue [one-to-many] into dialogue [many-to-many], and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers." On the other hand, Wikipedia's description of digital media is markedly different: "digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to electronic media that work on digital codes."

Based on these descriptions, PR and social media are clearly a better fit than PR and digital media. That's why PR practitioners shouldn't refer to social media and digital media interchangeably. Yes, PR folks need to fully embrace technology and have a solid understanding of search engine marketing, measurement and analytics. But we can't lose sight of the fact that technology is primarily an enabler—a means to an end that allows many-to-many dialogue to flourish.

Here are three reasons why the public relations function is best equipped to leverage the enormous power of social media marketing:

1. PR practitioners are trained in the principles of dialogue (two- or many-way communication), as opposed to monologue (one-way communication). The strength of social media stems from the ability of consumers and brands to dialogue with each other in real time—with limited or no filters. And because consumers themselves are creating compelling content and voicing their opinions, everyday folks have become highly influential among many of America's largest and most well-respected companies. The willingness of brands to embrace consumer-generated content reached its apex when Skittles recently turned over its homepage to content created by fans (and foes) of the brand.

This open, highly accessible and dynamic landscape dovetails well with the training of PR professionals, who know all too well that we can help shape messaging and content, rather than control messaging and content. That's why Domino's Pizza sought counsel from PR experts—rather than advertising or digital gurus