In this social media era, it's hardly worth drawing distinctions between marketing and public relations any longer. Yes, they exist. But overall, reaching the public increasingly involves conversations on social media, whether you're in PR or marketing. Frank Strong, PR director for Vocus, refers to "integrated marketing" as being what the new Web-powered discipline is about. We're all using a social media blender now. Whether people are listening or not depends on how effectively you appeal to them; engage them.
Layoffs. Consolidation. Lack of sales. And that new-fangled Internet thingy. These are among the reasons newspapers have experienced a terrible demise. And then there's the reporters.
Many flacks have relationships with these writers, editors, and journalists. We feel their pain. In fact, some of the battered and bruised in our beloved profession are the formerly laid off victims of the Intertube.
With PR becoming increasingly involved with the Web and social media, Gary Goldhammer on his Below the Fold blog advises folks to get acquainted with the new Bing approach to searches. Bing's aiming to become a broader, more socially engaged alternative to Google. Its searches, Gary notes, now include "social recommendations from multiple sources..."
We generally don't cover PR's corporate scene, but we can't help taking note of Thomas B. Edsall's piece in The New York Times on WPP, the London-based conglomerate that's been buying up Washington's PR firms and turning lobbyists there from "backslappers" into the "man in a gray flannel suit." Lobbyists used to be "personally vested in the institution of government."
Robert McHenry is a former editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica (from the period when it changed from a door-to-door to electronic version) and hasn't lost his touch for rigorous review of scientific research and claims thereunder. Here, he skewers a press release from the American Chemical Society on whether dinosaurs might rule other planets.
The potential of social networks for sharing is well known; it's the very reason they exist. But their utility in providing vital services may be less familiar. Facebook is likely changing that with the attention it's been giving to stressful situations encountered by returning military veterans and Facebook's interest in providing them with help. Today, the social network and Bluestar Families are hosting a 3 P.M. ET webcast for veterans and families at-risk for emotional crisis — a truly worthy extension of Facebook's reach.
In a recent blog on Social Media Today, Steve James argued a strong case for businesses to have a social media policy. As we all know, social media is rapidly becoming one of the linchpins of today’s PR and marketing tool kits. Just recently, the PRSA commented that the three hottest social media sites right now are Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
