From the desk of Elaine Schoch...
The New York Times did an article Sunday regarding how the PR industry is leveraging social media channels and key social media influencers more to spread the word for its clients rather than traditional media outlets and influencers.
Influencer relations isn’t new – neither is having a social media program – and it’s a program we at 104 West (and many other firms) have leveraged for years for our clients. The point the article was trying to communicate is that the influencers are changing. They’re not the traditional print reporters anymore, but rather social media players with huge Twitter followings, be it analysts like Jeremiah Owyang or Rachel Happe; consultants/bloggers such as Chris Brogan or reporters/bloggers like Pete Cashmore, or even CEO’s such as Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com.
What disturbed me about this article is that it didn’t go into how you have to have an integrated and phased approach to create a successful program, especially for startups. We all know that social media is making the PR industry evolve and at a rapid pace. The information world we knew has changed and the information gatekeepers are changing guard. However, you can’t just rely on social media to do the job, you have to leverage both new and old media to be effective and sustain a presence. While social media can create hype and drive traffic, it alone can’t sustain an ongoing presence among influencers and a brands customers.
Think about it, how are you going to get to my mom who doesn’t have a Facebook page, she doesn’t reads TechCrunch or RWW or even the Wall Street Journal but rather the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and usually catches her local news on NBC each night. However, she would love to play with Wordnik, the site/startup the article referenced (as an ex-English teacher and wannbe crossword puzzle champ this would be the best site for her!). She might be a “nobody” but she is a power player in her little town in TX and can influence buying/user behaviors – not on the scale that Pete Cashmore can, but trust me, she has a big mouth...
The article goes into great detail about hitting the social media influencers and I completely agree but depending on your brand, social media influencers may not be the best ones for you to focus on. You have to know who your influencers are and WHERE they are. They may not be online tweeting or blogging, instead they could be industry analysts who you need to reach to be included in their reports, they may be reporters who write for a weekly industry newsletter. Now granted, more of these players are creating a presence online, particularly in the blogosphere and Twitter but their audience (your customers, i.e. my mom) may be getting the information else where.
While the PR industry is changing and the communication channels are shifting, the industry is still based on forming relationships and telling your clients story to the right people at the right time. It’s our job to know who the right people are and the right timing – that’s never going to change.
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