Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The shift in focus to paid social media content is redefining, yet again, the role of the PR professional—a topic that Kellis will dive into in his opening Wake-Up Call session at PR News' Big 4 Social Media Summit, which will be held in San Francisco on Aug. 10. In a way, paid social is bringing public relations full circle.

"At least at Clorox, earned media now comes from creating social media ads that people will share," says Kellis, who leads the social media function for all of Clorox’s brands, including Hidden Valley, Clorox-branded products and Glad. "In the past, we’ve done PR around advertising in magazines and other media. That’s what we’ve come to with social. We’re doing PR to get earned media impressions from the sharing of social media ads. The earned part is critical, because we’re no longer measuring organic social campaigns—that’s completely out the window."

I’ve worked in marketing and public relations for nearly two decades now, and the only constant in this field throughout those two decades? Change.

... Why are companies like BuzzFeed flourishing while stalwarts like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times struggle? In one word: technology. According to Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s co-founder and chief executive, what sets the company apart is its grasp of technology. The company thinks of itself more as a technology company than a media company and embraces Internet culture. In discussing BuzzFeed’s ambitious future plans, Peretti said, “We’re organizing ourselves to be a media company for the way people consume media today.” And so should everyone else....

No Mayan apocalypse, just social PR trends

 

Between dodging the Mayan apocalypse and rappelling back down the fiscal cliffs, 2012 ended or nearly ended with a bang didn't it? Depending on your perspective of course....

 

As soon as I saw it, I knew Mashable’s tagline would form part of my 2013 PR trends to watch.Mashable struck the perfect chord for media, as a “social business”, and in staking out its positioning for the future.

 

Social. Mobile. Visual.

 

No better statement for public relations professionals to embrace in 2013 too....

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: Are we over-relying on media relations in PR?

I’m talking about the broader scope of PR here–media relations, content marketing, social media marketing, community relations, etc.

For many years, media relations has been one of the core aspects of PR.

But, a number of stats and reports lately (not to mention consumer behavior trends in general) have got me thinking: We may be well past the tipping point....

PR has probably changed more in the last ten years than it has in the last three decades. For communicators, new challenges and opportunities have come along with the changes we have experienced as a society, most of which have roots in the influence of the Internet and social media. We are living through a creative and transformative period. With each passing year comes a time to reflect on how far we've come and, perhaps more important, how much we still have left to figure out.

What will PR look like in 2015? What will the challenges be? As communicators pause to celebrate the holidays, let's take a look at where the profession is headed next year:

Around this time of the year, surprises happen and I am not talking about surprise holiday gifts.

People become kinder to each other, more generous, show more care about the less privileged than they are and generally act in ways that they would never consider the whole year through.

What else happens, are lists…

For the third year in a row, we consider the top defining moments in PR not just for what they are – a moment in time or just a blip that made the news – rather for their implications, such as lessons learnt or the impact in our industry....