It’s interesting to think that I’ve been in PR for only 3.5 years, yet it has been arguably one the most transformative periods of time in the industry. Bold statement for a relative newbie, but one must think that the rapid decline of traditional media and the emergence (and now explosion) of social media are two the most fundamental changes the industry will ever face when people look back at this time down the road.
Given the rapid changes the industry is facing, it’s no wonder the industry’s top professionals are trying to put a stake in the ground on their vision of what the PR pro of the future will look like, which Ogilvy PR Worldwide did for PR Week magazine’s recent ‘Next‘ conference. There are many leading voices contributing their thoughts, which you see for yourself here. Yet after watching the video, I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.
Sure, there are plenty of interesting perspectives, many of which I believe are spot on. Andy Lark of Dell said that he thinks PR pro’s will need “a really high level of aptitude around all of the new applications that are emerging” and “understand how you can fit those in with your PR programs.” John Bell of Ogilvy PR goes even further to say that “you actually have to apply the internet and web 2.0 and social media to your life to be able to really understand how it can apply to your clients’ life,” which I firmly believe is true. There is absolutely no substitute for living, breathing, and fully engaging in social media before you can intelligently integrate them into strategic communications campaigns.
So why was I disappointed? Not once did I hear anything about improving our industry’s ability to quantify the business impact that we’re delivering for clients. I know this is PR’s holy grail, and has been for a while. But that shouldn’t stop us from thinking of new ways, new tools, and new methods to measure the value and impact that PR has on a company’s business performance. In fact, I think the industry is in the best position it has ever been in to accomplish this. Why? Exactly because of the changing media landscape and movement towards social media (caveat: I know there is lots of debate on the merits of the term “social media.” I’m not a big fan of the term myself, but will continue to use it until something else comes along).
Think about it. When else has PR accurately been able to quantify true engagement with the most influential audience segments like you can do with emerging social media measurement tools such as Radian6? When else has PR been able to definitively measure the amount of potential new business we’re driving to a client’s web site? The list can go on and on. The point is that, yes, PR pro’s must live and breathe social media and think up new, unique ways to use it for clients. But at the same time, it is also up to us to be able to measure the impact those social media channels are having for clients. And to go even further, it is time for the industry to push clients for their business data - whether it’s sales, web traffic, whatever – so that PR can measure the effectiveness of their work against it. This will not only help improve levels of client service substantially, it will hold PR accountable. And by doing so, we will have the opportunity to become true business partners and not just a “nice to have” extension of marketing.
For this very reason, I have decided that 2009 is the year that I transform my own expertise to become a measurement/analytics expert. I have signed up for classes to learn more about web analytics and traditional marketing analytics. I am truly excited to use the knowledge that I expect to gain and figure out how to incorporate it into my own work. Who knows, maybe it will lead me down a different professional path. But for now, I think PR has a huge opportunity at its feet.
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