It’s time for the traditional public relations industry to act.
Today, we consume more social media than traditional news media. We get more news from our social media feeds than from news outlets directly. The classic PR argument that the news media publicity is more credible than advertising might still hold true, but is the news media more engaging than peer-to-peer communication? Will news editors be able to outperform social media algorithms?
I doubt it.
As we choose our future as public relations professionals, we must realise that social media and the internet is more important than keeping up with a few (or many) newspapers. Digital first is no longer a matter of perspective — it’s a matter of fact.
If we allow the world to keep their die-hard perception of us as sneaky press agents and news pitchers, we’ll slowly fade into oblivion while digital marketing specialists take over our clients.
A first step would be to update our traditional PR model:
Now, I’m considered by many industry colleagues as a specialist on digital communication, but that’s just not right; I’m a public relations professional who knows as much about the internet as I do about journalism.
And we must take this new media logic to heart, quickly. All of us, not just a few specialists. Digital first is something all public relations professionals must take into serious consideration.
It’s time for PR to get busy to stay business relevant.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.
