Since last two years, there has been a drastic change in the
PR Industry. The traditional PR (Give a Press Release and it will appear)
is giving a way to the Integrated PR (Reviews, Story research, Social Media
Integration).
Story appeared in newspapers / magazine read by ‘X’
people is getting shifted by Story shared by a Blogger or a Journalist on
Facebook, Twitter & Blog which is shared by, re-tweeted by, liked
by and favorite by ‘X’ users.
PR Agencies are hiring Digital Marketing people. Reasons
- A tweet or a post by a recognized journalist or a blogger is Free PR for the company
- A re-tweet / share done by the PR executive is ensuring that the news is spreading
- The same story shared by the company on the website, blog or social media channel is again building the credibility of the brand
- Twitter presence of the PR executives helps them connect better with the Bloggers and Journalist who have their preferences with Social Media because of instant recognition
- There is a possibility of creating hype before the launch of product or news. And it is done by giving hints on the digital blocks which is building your way up to the launch day
Gone are the days when Press Conference was the only way to
network with the Media. Now there are so many ways. You can tweeteract with them, you can
have ‘Bloggers Meet’. Bloggers Meet – Genre based bloggers, Hybrid journalists
and the brand connect with each other on informal note where the company shares
the information and audience tweets, blogs, publishes pictures.
The answer to why PR agencies are hiring Digital Marketing
professionals is – INSTANT PR is generated through this medium whereas a
reviews or release in the newspaper may or may not appear, read or unread by
the audience.
Also a 'social relationship' is developed between a brand & the journalists; which sometimes with better connect can be a healthy relationship.
Off lately, I have come across executives who say forget
connecting with journalist through twitter, we ourselves are not present there.
I was dumbstruck for a while.
Traditional PR is the only way they work. And I was not amazed with the
agency’s growth story!