PR – bite the bullet

Dogged by uncertainty
Dogged by uncertainty: PR efforts in social media are being limited

I’d like to follow up points made in your Innovations Update article discussing the role of social media in giving PR more bite (MW last week). Two very valid comments stood out for me. First, Apollo Cinemas marketing manager’s view that too many PR agencies treat twitter as a single, standalone channel to market, and second, Mark Borkowski’s comment that brands need to fully consider why social media might be right for them and then to properly invest in it if it is. These two points are inextricably linked.

Many brands have decided that they want to add social media to their existing communication campaigns to make the scope bigger, but because many are still unsure exactly what it can do for them (particularly in the B2B space), they aren’t matching this with additional investment. As a result, PR agencies are engaging the most effective way to resource ’social media’ for free – a standalone twitter feed that’s not
connected to the company’s broader organic search or content strategy and therefore ultimately makes little impact. This underwhelms the client and further convinces PR agency directors that social media is something to cope with, rather than embrace.

More PR agencies need to bite the bullet by having an open discussion with their clients about investment priorities, and how doing a proper job that makes a difference takes more time, which doesn’t always come at no extra cost. Clients don’t mind paying for quality and results. Marketing, advertising and creative agencies have always understood this – more PR agencies need to do the same.

Pete Hendrick
Managing director
Rocket PR