7 Ways Social Media is Changing PR

Social media is a game changer for public relations.  It is bringing new challenges and opportunities to the profession and to savvy pros.  I have outlined seven ways that social media is changing PR.

1. Two-way conversation. PR pros can no longer blast out information about their brand or client and expect to succeed.  Consumers and journalists have come to expect that they won’t be “spammed” and will be answered quickly and in a personal manner. Timely, two-way communication is the “new normal.” Listening, engagement and thought leadership are now three areas that PR pros manage.
2. Digital communication. PR pros need to know the latest digital tools, including social media monitoring tools, Twitter, Google Analytics. They need to understand blogging and the tools that come with that.  We need to understand the nuance of communication for different online communities.  (ie. between communicating on Twitter and/or Facebook.)
3. Research. The social networks offer a wealth of information to PR pros on target markets, customer service, and media they want to pitch.  They can now create new opportunities that may not have been available before without social media.
4. Journalism is changing. Traditional media is no longer the “go to” source for information.  The news can “break” from anywhere and the general public has become citizen journalists. For example, look at the U.S. Airways crash into the Hudson River or Michael Jackson’s death.  The consumer no longer relies on big news organizations to be on the scene for news. Companies are, in essence, becoming media companies and their PR pros are becoming publishers.  Be sure to read How is Social Media NOT Journalism?
5. Faster and more visible communications. In our 24/7 customer-centric world, social media has increased the potential for complaints and the visibility of this negative outcry.  Since we live in a social network, crises happen faster, and response time must be as well. It is important for PR pros to develop their organization or client online presence BEFORE a crisis happens. Because technology is always changing, the crisis plan needs to become a “living” document that helps  give an immediate and well-informed response to the latest information.
6. Analytics. PR pros need to understand and use math everyday. Social media can better help track the return on investment, including direct costs of staff time spent using the tools, and measurement of the traffic it drives to a company’s website.
7. Organizational hierarchy change. Internal and external communications have been democratized thanks to social media taking out the extra layers such as a direct line to the CEO if you are an internal or external stakeholder.

What would you add to this list?  How do you think social media has changed PR?

This post originally appeared on the blog Spin Sucks.

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