Most PR Firms Don’t Get It

by Brian Reich | 16 Nov 2009, 11:49pm

I don’t think most PR firms understand social media - or how our society is changing as a result of the influence that the internet and technology are having on our lives. And I don’t see any evidence that they will ‘get it’ any time soon.  Consider, for example, how they build their teams.

A well-known PR firm (I won’t name them) recently posted a Supervisor of New Media position which included the following necessary qualifications:

The Supervisor of New Media must have 4-6 years of relative PR/Marcom agency experience.  The ideal candidate must be able to show examples of their work in the form of relevant case studies that highlight digital programs conducted for clients.  S/he should love to infuse social media and new media techniques into PR programs in a clever way, be a strong team player and enjoy following and mastering new trends.

I have three issues with this:

1) The definition(s) of expertise are ever-changing. I wrote in my book, Media Rules! (back in 1997) that “Knowledge makes you an expert. Your experience makes you an expert. Your network makes you an expert. Your notoriety makes you an expert. Truly expertise in the current media environment is in the eye’s of the beholder. But to be an expert for the long-term, it takes a couple of things. Expertise comes from the skills and knowledge that someone possesses, distinguishing them from a novice or less experienced person. People become experts as a result of their membership in a community of practice – a group or partnership around a specific issue or service. You can become an expert simply by being the only one who has experienced something.”

My point was that expertise has to be considered in context. 4-6 years of ‘experience’ won’t qualify you for much in a job that focuses on New Media (capitalization is theirs, not mine…).  Facebook only launched five years ago.  Twitter didn’t exist.  Most/all of the tools and channels that are shaping the online universe today, if they did exist five years ago, have radically changed in just the past year or two, or are due for a major restructuring soon.  Years in the business don’t give you any relevant experience. To find the best employee you have to look to see if someone understands the space, not how long they have been playing around online.  Expertise is put to the test every time a new project comes along.

2) Case studies don’t prove anything. The world is changing so quickly and so significantly - online and offline - that looking to case studies as a metric of someone’s capability and expertise is a flawed exercise. So, having candidates be able to “show examples of their work in the form of relevant case studies that highlight digital programs conducted for clients” won’t ensure a qualified employee either.  Someone’s ability to generate successes for one client, or one project, does not mean they translate to another situation. Case studies are interesting, but in my opinion they aren’t transferable. There are no models for success anymore. There is no way to emulate what you have done in the past and get the same results. Good strategy and support will be defined in each situation, by each professional, and similar.

3) There is more to success online than being ‘clever’  The job description above requests that candidates “love to infuse social media and new media techniques into PR programs in a clever way…” I’m probably reading too much into it - but being funny, or creative or ‘clever’ is just one small piece of a successful social media effort.  We all know that sex sells.  We all remember the funny online videos (or commercials, or gimmicks and campaigns).  The big flashy campaigns certainly get attention, but in today’s hyper-connected world, those blips on the attention radar disappear as quickly as they emerge.  That’s PR 101, the basic stuff.  Being ‘clever’ isn’t going to work well as it did in the past, especially with the audience in control of its media experience, able to skip commercials or tune out the crap.

Social media, and communication/marketing in general today requires a deeper understanding of the audience, a thoughtful approach to how people get and share information, knowledge and understanding of how technology impacts our society, and an appreciation for what role media - not to mention whatever product or service a PR firm is promoting - plays in people’s lives.  Put another way, I wouldn’t consider most of the people who truly understand social media to be particularly ‘clever’.

\Maybe you can’t advertise for someone who is smart, passionate, able to think on their feet, able to analyze situations and make decisions quickly.  Maybe you can’t easily build a job description around a space that is changing constantly, targeting audiences that are evolving continuously, with new tools and new techniques emerging in real time.

Or maybe PR firms can’t, and that’s why most don’t seem to truly ‘get it’ and aren’t likely to any time soon.

TAGS : PR firms social media