Howdy Nicole,
A quick comment re: your post at http://kickingsand.com/and-now-theres-social-media-marketing/ I tried to put it on your comments but was told it looked spammy...
Take offense? Heavens no! I agree with 110% of everything you said in your post. In fact if you have a look at my presentation I gave to the PRSA in Houston a week ago (http://www.slideshare.net/gioslideshare/prsa-houston) you'll see that I'm very open about the fact that I'm a total PR hack. In any sane world I have no business being a conduit for communications in the realm of public relations. I mean, I have no business as long as you don't count the successful campaigns I run for my clients. But that's not important: I'm an amateur, not a pro so I simply have no business being here playing on the same playground as the big boys and girls of public relations.
Okay, well maybe I don't actually agree with 110% of your post. I'm not sure which part I specifically disagree with though. Maybe it's just the tone. The whiny, complaining, all these amateurs don't know what they're doing but they're getting all the "credit" from us "professionals" tone that is typical of any traditional industry that's being overrun by more agile, more nimble, more flexible, faster, more aggressive, and... are you ready for it?, more effective competitors in any space. We heard this from traditional newspapers regarding blogs. We heard this from the movie industry regarding online video. We heard this from the record companies regarding peer-to-peer, MP3, file sharing, and I gave my grandma a burned CD of Tony Bennett.
In my presentations and in my classes I make it very clear that all we’re talking about when you get into social media, social networking, etc. is *talking* to people. These are communications-based mediums and we're here to connect companies and organizations with their customers. Nothing more, nothing less. Social networking is nothing more than a cocktail party on the Internet.
When you review my presentation, especially when I'm addressing public relations professionals, you see that I reinforce the idea that it's those very people (PR pros) that have the "real" skill sets needed to thrive in this new economy on the Internet. What's happened is that public relations professionals have been intimidated by the technology involved. Of course, they seem to be unaware that success in this arena is not about the technology...but about the *people.* As a response, they now sit on the sidelines waiting to see what shakes out. All the while, corporations, organizations, and individuals looking for promotional help online have turned to those people who seem to have the answers for them. More importantly, they’re turning to people who are actually willing to jump in and do this work for them.
My experience over the last few years working with public relations firms that are trying to “get it” when it comes to social media has been two-fold.
First, there's the firm that realizes that there's a complex ecosystem out there which requires their attention. They either rely upon social media consultants to train staff and manage campaigns while their staff learns the ropes, or they are building a practice but political and cultural issues are speed bumps on the road to get there. These are the firms that I work with.
The other kind of firms are scared of their own shadows. These public relations firms turn to “social media experts” is because they’re not even willing to try to figure out what’s going on. These firms are the easiest to fleece. Since they make no effort to understand the landscape, they have no idea if an an unscrupulous "expert" has any clue what they're peddling. They just want someone to hold their hand, change their diaper, pat them on the bottom, make everybody feel safe, and reassure them that everything is going to be okay.
When everything is not okay (and believe me, there are times in social media marketing when everything is *not* okay) they panic, point fingers, throw a tantrum, and flop around on the floor like a land-locked fish fresh from Uncle James' fishing hook. They're intellectually lazy and they deserve whatever befalls them. Furthermore, the social media consultants that don't vet them and properly qualify them as either a partner or client also deserve what they get.
Most the time, these people that corporations turn to in lieu of traditional public relations firms are online marketers, search engine optimization specialists, or other people from the online world that may or may not have ever dipped their toes in the traditional communications pool. My experience working in this field is that’s their biggest asset.
Now to be clear, I get the distinct impression from your post that you think that PR firms that turn to outside consultants to take care of this kind of work shouldn't be doing so for whatever reason. Do you also agree that PR firms should not hire outside copywriters for other special projects? For instance, if you worked for a PR agency that was hired by a large law firm to handle communications for them, would you not hire a copywriter that specializes and understands the law and the liabilities associated with saidcontent? Or would you leave it to a layperson to understand what the local and state bar associations require when it comes to legal communications and advertising, marketing and public relations? I propose that a social media expert who has an understanding of not only communications, marketing and advertising, but also the technologies associated with social media like blogging platforms, social networks, video sharing sites, photo sharing sites, search engines, micro-blogging platforms, online classified sites, content contribution sites, social bookmarking sites, etc. etc. etc. are just as valuable to a public relations firm that doesn't have in-house expertise as a copywriter who specializes in legal communications would be to a PR agency hired by a law firm.
In my case, I'm a programmer. My background is technical, but I have over 15 years experience building and deploying social network sites (we used to call them bulletin boards and forums) and search engines. Along the way, I've found that people were more willing to pay me to edit title tags and stuff keywords into their content than for me to build out the middle tier or backend systems of complex enterprise-level applications. To top it off, they were willing to pay me *more per hour* to do this kind of work then the latter.
After being a search engine optimization specialist, social networks and social media started to take off. I found myself in the middle of a perfect storm having spent a few years learning basic marketing and public relations techniques, but also having a deep background and the technology behind social networking search engines. Now I don’t have a degree in communications from a major university, I opted for political science. However, I do have a combined 15 years experience building and deploying most of the above-mentioned tools as required to execute the technical side of an effective online buzz marketing campaign. Most big PR firms will tell you that they have a “interactive division” but won’t tell you that their “division” consists of two flash developers on the third floor.
Now along the way, I found out something interesting: In the end the most important thing of all for clients is that they want results. ...and I get great results.
No communications background. No public relations training. No marketing degree.
But I know how to sell the brand experience and deliver users to my cleints. So at the end of the day, no matter what you call it or how you qualify a person’s right to called a “professional,” remember it's all about ringing the register. Those online, whether or not they have a formal education in communications and public relations, that are able to get the results a client desires will be the ones that are called upon. Moreover, they will be able to dictate their hourly rate. Clients could care less if you have the pedigree required to call yourself a real public relations professional. All clients care about is that you can drive more customers to their business and put more money in the bank.
I recommend to those of public relations professionals who are wringing their hands at all us hacks out there that have taken over their industry: get off your butts and get busy winning your clients back. No one cares if you're mad about us taking market share away from you. You're the ones who have the skills, you're the ones who have the proper training, you're the ones who have the relationships, and you're the ones to blame if you let this slip your hands.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to make rock stars out of my clients, bill at a higher rate, pay my mortgage, and feed my babies.
-giovanni, social media ninja
Cry Baby Photo Credit: Heb74
