After the digital land grab, PR agencies seem to be faced with a choice: specialise in PR or go all-out into multi-disciplined comms. Is there still a role for the middle ground?
This recent post from the respected Altimeter Group argues strongly that PR has lost its seat at the digital table. Budgets that PR could potentially have owned have typically ended up in the hands of marketing, SEO, niche social media agencies or content specialists.
As a result, the post’s author Omar Akhtar argues that PR agencies must become “big enough to devise, implement and scale social media and content strategies, or be small and focused purely on media relations.”
I’m not sure it’s that clear cut. While many PR agencies may not have made the most of the digital land grab, I believe that PR can play a critical role across the digital landscape.
Where PR fits into digital
If PR’s chief roles are to inform and persuade audiences, and to build and defend reputations, then it surely filters through all areas of an organisation, be it:
– Social media: We’ve seen numerous examples where organisations’ social media feeds have led to a PR disaster
– SEO: If search engines are the most trusted source of information then a negative SERP presence is a reputation challenge. I have argued for years that PR should own SEO, but few have made moves in this area
– Marketing: Want to help push that marketing or ad message? PR owns relationships with the influencers who can help spread the word
– Data: Where are those website hits coming from and why? The chances are PR activity generated a lot of the interest
– Content: Who are the natural storytellers? PR’s copywriting skills come in handy here
– Paid Media: I don’t see this as a challenge for PRs. If anything it guarantees eyeballs for relevant, useful content, albeit at greater cost
[Continues…]
Digital skills PR teams need
While many PR agencies will be content with focussing on media relations, others such as Threepipe have gone for the full-service approach. This Holmes Report podcast with Threepipe co-founder Jim Hawker is worth a listen to learn more about their approach.
For the other PR agencies that want to secure a place at the table in a counsel and execution role, they need to equip themselves with all-rounders, or specialists and this infographic pretty much captures it, although I’d add writing persuasive content for the Web and social media to that list.
I warned (most recently) at the Babelcamp Conference in 2014 that PR agencies must diversify or face extinction. The clock is ticking.