Social Media Is Pushing PR and Interactive Marketing to Align |

organization-alignment

This post looks at the gap that still exists between PR and interactive or digital marketing agencies — even as social media continues to blur the boundaries that traditionally divide them.

The disconnect is one of the reasons I wanted to partner with the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) and asked Definition 6, an independent interactive marketing and eCommerce agency, to become a sponsor of PR Camp Atlanta. It’s time to bridge the worlds of PR and interactive marketing and foster new ways of thinking.

As Michael Kogon, CEO at Definition 6 said: ”There couldn’t be a more exciting time to be working in interactive marketing. While Definition 6 has been doing search and social media since long before it was cool like it is today, clients are much more receptive today to trying new things.”

And I was encouraged that half of the attendees to PR Camp Atlanta were marketing professionals. Friends had recommended I change the name. They thought it would be to narrow and discourage marketing professionals from attending.

A Difference in Positioning

At one level, PR and interactive marketing speak the same language and share common goals. We both promote social media. We use many of the same tools. Yet most PR and interactive marketing agencies still continue to position themselves differently.

Consider Altanta’s largest public relations firms. “Social media” and “digital communications” are gaining more prominence, but the most common capabilities listed in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Book of Lists (a paid yearly industry summary) were:

Media relations, reputation and brand management, crisis communications, event planning, corporate communications, executive visibility, grassroots advocacy, media and speech training.

Now look at some of the core competencies of the largest web design and development companies:

Website development, interactive marketing, SEO/SEM, application development

It shouldn’t be that way. SEO is now critical to doing PR. Reputation and brand management is integral to many applications that interactive marketing firms are tasked to create.

Old habits die hard, but to be fair, our clients need to shoulder some of the responsibility. In most organizations, each functional area uses a different lens to analyze the same social data. Little effort is made to coordinate efforts and align results.

Take comments. My good friend and digital marketer and lead catalyst at mass+logic Peter Fasano summed it up perfectly:

The Social PR Leader will measure comment count to capture share of voice, earned media and sentiment.

The Social Marketer will measure Short URL Click through rates and conversion.

The Social Researcher will measure the number of comments by segments to capture the consumer preference of the red or black car.

The Social Customer Service Representative will measure comments with complaints or questions.

The Case for Greater Alignment

I would argue we need greater alignment given the web’s primary role as a communications and marketing channel. In the olden days, alignment was less critical. There was a wall of separation between editorial and marketing as well as earned and paid media. Marketing spoke directly to customers. PR spoke indirectly to customers via reporters and key influencers. Marketing used ads and direct mail. PR used press releases and media tours.

The social web has erased these distinctions. I respect clearly defined roles and responsibilities, but PR and marketing should be working more closely and using web applications, social networks, message development and SEO to build truly integrated web strategies.

I am going to take a closer look at the dynamics that separate PR and interactive marketing in a subsequent post as well as how that alignment might look. But for now in the era of social media, open is the operative word. We need to be open to new approaches, open to sharing data, and open to looking at data holistically.

To be sure agencies will position themselves to deliver integrated solutions when clients begin demanding them. Similarly, it’s up to PR and marketing firms to show clients the way and make the case for better alignment.

Let me get back to you.

Share:

Tweet This Post

Subscribe to comments Both comments and pings are currently closed. |

Post Tags: Definition 6, Interactive Alignment, Michael Kogon, PR alignment, PR Camp Atlanta, PR marketing alignment, social media metrics

Browse Timeline

Comments ( 5 )

[...] this page was mentioned by Julie Wider (@widermarketing), jennorris (@jennorris), Ben Digman (@bendi), di gallo (@digallo), BrunoPinheiro (@brunopinheiro) and others. [...]

Tweets that mention Social Media Is Pushing PR and Interactive Marketing to Align | -- Topsy.com added these pithy words on Sep 02 09 at 4:01 pm

Prescription Drugs – Xenical…

An interesting post by a bloger made me ……

Prescription Drugs - Xenical added these pithy words on Sep 03 09 at 1:32 am

It was great to be part of PRCamp, the discussion was engaging and our participants enjoyed themselves greatly. Looking forward to future events.

Michael Kogon added these pithy words on Sep 03 09 at 6:35 am

I completely agree that more alignment is needed. Kudos for raising awareness of this need.

I’d like to suggest that part of the solution is content strategy. Content strategy does not replace the important roles of PR and interactive marketing but, rather, aligns them. Our communications are largely expressed through digital content. Social media is one of many types of content. A content strategy aligns social media, editorial content, sales content, user generated content, product content, and more.

The web is even more than a communication channel. The entire customer experience happens on the web–such as the product research, the decision to buy, the transaction, and the support. The content for each step of that experience needs to adjust to the context while reflecting the core brand. That is hard, and most companies do not do it well. Then bring in multiple channels like mobile, kiosks, and IVRs. Oy.

As you suggest, organizational silos make things messier. Companies will not overcome them without guidance in their processes. In my experience, most PR and interactive marketing approaches are weak when it comes to sustainable process. They’re responding to a particular moment, such as a crisis or a campaign. Content strategy offers a process that forces companies to cross silos.

Looking forward to your future posts and what you think about content strategy fitting into the mix.

Colleen Jones added these pithy words on Sep 05 09 at 6:45 am

There does seem to be s disconnect between pr and social media, with both organisations not being quite sure what it is that the other does. Anything that increases knowledge should be applauded.