PR agencies: adapt to social media marketing or die
The Social media chaos rules
PR agencies have always been doing their business in an organized world using press releases, journalists and editors. A world where they could pull certain strings knowing these would generate or deliver a rather predictable effect or event.
On the other hand social media marketing is like chaos: a cluttered media spectrum.
In this chaos many strings can be pulled but nobody has a clue which string will generate a big event or have no effect at all. The predictability is gone.
The uncertainty rules in the chaos of social media marketing.
The old relationships with mass media are diminishing in importance as any lucky bastard can pull the right string (content) at the right moment in social media marketing and get all the attention at almost no cost.
On the other hand we all, including PR agencies, can pull many strings (publish content) and have hardly any result:
- no engagement
- no conversations starting.
PR Service level agreement
PR agencies are losing their market importance, domination and share due to social media marketing.
Why would a company pay a PR agency when they cannot guarantee you any service level due to the unpredictability of social media marketing?
A company pays for a professional service mainly to make use of professional skills and to minimize risks. The PR service level agreement.
Can any PR agency promise a service level agreement to a company?
From one-way to two-way communications
PR agencies are used to one-way conversations: press releases, editorials, influencing journalists and advertising.
Social media marketing is about initiating and managing conversations between people and company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.
Spamming press releases to journalists on Twitter or sending emails to leading bloggers is not social media marketing.
You or your PR agency can try to initiate a conversation, but if the public doesn’t want to participate due to:
- a lack of interest
- a different conversation gets all the attention
There will be no conversation.
Nobody can force conversations to happen. (Maybe except Apple / Steven Jobs – thanks to their advocates: the Apple fan club)
Social media marketing and PR agency marketing are just different.
PR agencies will need to convert and adapt if they can or just die.
Do you take the social media marketing gamble or stick with your PR agency ?
