PR, but not as you know it

As we know, the field and profession of PR has been transitioning from its more traditional roots for quite some time now, the old and reliable press release is no longer the most effective form of communication. The ‘digital age’ is very real and is reshaping the world as we know it and EVERYONE (slash everything) is being forced to adapt. Digital activity is increasing rapidly by the day; between January 2015 to January 2016 an extra 332 million people became internet users. I know what you’re thinking, what the hell were they doing before January of last year? These figures tell us as PR practitioners that a huge proportion of the world is now on the internet for one reason or another, meaning that when used cleverly and correctly, it can be the most effective platform for PR activity.

I have the privilege of beginning studying and working in PR before traditional practices totally diminish, in fact one of the first things I learnt at University was how to write a press release. Effectively managing relationships by developing trust and balancing interests in a competitive environment is what we do. We influence, change opinion, educate and encourage engagement in order to create a positive image and build a reputation. PR does all of this well and has done since the very beginning by using strictly traditional methods. Old media and traditional PR was about telling people things and informing them, new media and digital PR is about everybody speaking to each other and forming opinions, communities and identities.

Social media is becoming a huge part of everyday life and is quite the  ‘PR game changer’. So much so that customers now take to social media in order to complain about bad service or an unsatisfactory experience that they may have had. This way, it is easier for an opinion or a reputation to spread country/worldwide. Word of mouth is quickly becoming the most common way that people are exposed to news.  Once people start complaining on social media,  PR departments have to take action and respond or their brand name will be dragged through the mud. The ‘United Breaks Guitars‘ incident showed us that a bad experience can actually go viral. News outlets and companies have no way to control what people might tweet about them, and they cannot stop a video of a man singing a song about their bad customer service from reaching potential customers. There was a time when complaints to a company would be sent by letter or email  directly to the company’s head office, therefore avoiding the involvement of other members of the public and spread of the bad word. Nowadays, companies are much more exposed, a damaging tweet or Facebook status can be retweeted, liked and shared passing the bad message on to as many people as are on the site. So, does this mean that PR’s adaptation to the digital landscape is actually damaging to the profession and the industry itself?

No. Obviously, there is the risk of negativity being shared across the world, but there is also the opportunity to correct and counteract it. With digital public relations and social media usage comes engagement, which as we know is fast becoming one of the most important and effective features of successful PR activity. Social media is a great way to inform and influence publics, which is why social media and PR go hand in hand; it is an effective tool to help PR practitioners achieve their goals. The evolution of PR as we know it into its new digital  form is actually a pretty good fit for the way we strive to achieve our objectives. Social media, which is the primary use of the internet at this moment in time, provides a perfect platform to develop user generated content and two-way communication, which is what most PR campaigns these days are all centred around anyway.

Digital PR means that on a digital platform, everyone is a media outlet and it empowers an individual to become their own personal brand. It’s all about opinion. If your co-worker tells you they went out for dinner and they ate the best hamburger that they have ever eaten in their life, you want to know where it was and when you can book yourself a table. We value the opinions of others. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, all of these outlets allow the public to have a voice and encourage sharing. As people connect, they have more of an opportunity to get their voices heard, which can be good or bad in this industry, so if you want my advice, use it to promote your brand, offer things to and engage your consumers and apologise when things go wrong.

Even companies who were once adamant that they did not want to move into the digital age have been forced to adapt. I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a bit skeptical of technology, I’d rather hand-write an essay or talk on the phone instead of text, but here I am with a blog, because the world is changing, and you need to keep up because it isn’t going to wait for you. Costa Coffee have recently adjusted their PR stance and their digital PR journey has only just begun to evolve. As a company, they had a very traditional approach and were unaware of how digital advances in the PR world could benefit them and their relationship with their customers.With the help of Mynewsdesk, Costa managed to transition from more traditional methods and joined us all in and amongst the new way of doing things. Most companies have not naturally evolved into the digital age; it wasn’t a smooth transition for anyone, but suddenly here we are being  forced to adapt to the fact that the industry and the way we work is changing/has changed. Suddenly every washing up liquid, make-up brand and game show has a hash tag, and its all part of building the brand and strengthening the relationship and engagement with the public.

Is traditional PR dead I hear you asking? Steven Waddington says absolutely not, and I agree with him. Traditional practices are still with us, but they are being seen to take new forms to keep up with the digital demand rather than them just giving up and deteriorating all together. Like it or not, PR is based more now on the positioning of a story, the buzz around it and the way that it reaches and resonates with people rather than just initially getting the story out there. It is no longer a linear process, but a multi-stranded approach that will continue to change and adapt to the way that people communicate. What will happen next? I have absolutely no idea, I don’t think any of us do. I’ll try my best to keep you up to date.