By Ronald Rosenberg

As social media tools make major strides in being adopted by corporations, industry watchers predict public relations has arrived at an important crossroad.

PR practitioners can either stay the course -- joining the newspaper industry with its dramatic declines in people, revenue and influence -- or they can help transform companies by capitalizing on social media to develop unique marketing strategies, create visually rich media and take on a new role as content creators for the employers and clients they represent.
 
"You (PR pros) understand the mechanics of truth, you understand how to create a dialog with people, how to create a trusted relationship -- that's what you do," said Paul Gillin, a communication strategist, founding editor-in-chief of TechTarget and author of The New Influencers. "You've done it with the media for many years. Now you have to do it directly with the public that your companies serve, because the media is not going to be around to transfer the message anymore. And that's enormously empowering."
 

Panelists (L to R) David Puner, Brian Halligan, Dan Rashti and Paul Gillin consider a question on ways PR must change to leverage social media techniques in corporate settings.

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Gillin was one of five experts to speak at April's PRSA program, "Social Media -- Now Ready for Prime Time." Enough has changed throughout the media environment that many of PR's tried and true practices must be questioned, the panelists agreed.
 
"Let's remember that PR's sweet spot is the influence of opinion through content," said Larry Weber, chairman of the Racepoint Group, author of Marketing to the Social Web and moderator of the panel discussion.
 
Responding to Weber's prediction that press kits could be gone by 2015 and his tongue-and-cheek comment that Twitter will be the next Associated Press news service, panelists cited a myriad of examples where corporations used social media to more effectively reach target audiences while retaining brand influence amidst the falloff of traditional media.
 
PR professionals are in a position to succeed if they rethink the marketing process for their clients, said Brian Halligan. The CEO and founder of HubSpot, a fast-growing Internet software and marketing firm, is working with Schwartz Communications to develop new approaches for employing social media tools in PR.
 

Sophistication of social media's one-to-many model will continue to grow, Weber predicts.

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"Instead of doing the usual media training of the CEO, writing press releases, engaging with journalists, you sort of throw out that traditional concept out and start to build a marketing transformation agency," said Halligan. "Your clients want social media optimization; they want some hand-holding from experts like you."
 
Starting in October 2008, Dunkin' Donuts was an early corporate adopter of Twitter with tweets offering deals for coffee, Munchkins and breakfast sandwiches as well as replies to dozens of requests and comments daily. The effort addresses the firm's goal of deepening its relationship with loyal customers, noted David Puner, also known as "Dunkin' Dave" for his tweets as communications manager for Dunkin' Brands. Now totaling nearly 50,000 followers (or, in Dunkin' terminology, brand ambassadors), the Canton-based company has expanded its social media presence to a robust Facebook.
 
"Right now is a great time for experimentation and breaking the traditional rules," said Puner, who added that social media provides organizations with a huge opportunity to put their resident experts in contact with consumers and represent the brand.
 
Reaching customers through social media to create a dialog is also important to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, noted the organization's vice president of marketing, Dana Rashti. In a highly regulated industry, and as a non-profit company, the objective was to position Harvard Pilgrim as a thought leader. Starting at the top with blogs from the chief executive on public policy, the outreach also used social media to engage consumers when they were well, not ill, and to raise current issues such as health insurance rates.
 
"The only way to be successful is to connect directly with our customers," said Rashti.

Every year when we turn the calendar to May, I am reminded of one thing: the buildings and grounds crews at my college campus (and probably countless others) will soon spring into action beautifying the grounds for impending Commencement festivities and reunions.  Of course, we all want to put our best faces forward for important occasions, particularly ones that set the stage for the future, as Commencement does.

Last month I hosted a few members of the public relations community at my class, Introduction to Public Relations, at Boston College. The class was treated to four perspectives on the field of public relations. It ranged from a few years' out of school to senior members of the field who have launched their own firms. It remains one of the most popular sessions of my semester and I'm eternally grateful to my friends and colleagues who are so generous with their time.

Most of the evening's questions focused on students' desire to gain insight into the real work of public relations, salary expectations and the tangibles that often are not evident from websites or interviews. At one point, the conversation turned to personal presentation skills and interviewing. The four panelists and I all voiced, in some way, the time-honored advice that we probably heard from Mom or Dad, or some mentor in our careers: "Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have."

While I am the first one to advance substance over style, I cannot help but agree that impressions mean a lot. Stellar design cannot compensate for poorly written copy, and a reporter probably won't listen to a pitch for a story that has no legs. Likewise, all the plantings in the world can't help raise money for an institution that does not cultivate its alumni and the rest of its donor base on a regular basis, a carefully crafted press conference cannot always save a company in the throes of a crisis, and a 4.0 GPA is not enough to secure a job if one arrives at an interview appearing as if the clothes were pulled out of the laundry heap.

But in today's world where everything is a rush job, everything is electronic, and we are all under tight deadlines, all the time, it is hard for most of us to stop and think about that. As the saying goes, we never get the opportunity to make another first impression.

Last week's class (not to mention walking out onto the beautifully manicured lawns on campus) was a great reminder that no matter how familiar we are, it's still important to go the extra mile and treat our audiences -- clients, reporters, potential bosses, potential donors -- as if it's the first time we have met. It's not just the make-or-break moments that matter, sometimes it is all in the day-to-day.

Tom Lee is a partner at 451 Marketing in Boston. (A version of this piece appeared previously on the agency's 451Heat blog.)

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Noted author and marketing strategist David Meerman Scott will preview his forthcoming book at the Chapter's networking and dinner program on Thursday, May 27.

Scott, whose award-winning best-seller The New Rules of Marketing & PR is now published in two dozen languages, will pull back the curtain on his next volume -- a book focusing on content to attract and engage customers.

He's also author of the hit World Wide Raveand three other widely read marketing titles. Scott's marketing and leadership strategy posts appear on Web Ink Now, ranked by AdAge Power 150 as a top worldwide marketing blog.

Mark your calendar for our June program, New Era, New Valuation Shift: A Roadmap for Communicating Value of Intangible Assets.

Three top speakers will address the issue of how PR, IR and financial communication professionals convey details about a company's "intangible assets" like its intellectual capital or unique corporate culture. The need to articulate this kind of information in an accurate and timely way for Wall Street, investors, customers and the trade, business and financial media has never been greater.

Joining PRSA Boston on the June 10, 2010, evening program will be Mary Adams, founder of I-Capital Advisors and co-author of Intangible Capital: Putting Knowledge to Work in the 21st Century Organization; Jeff Corbin, CEO of KCSA Strategic Communications, an integrated IR/PR firm; and a senior corporate IR officer.

More information about the event and registration links are available on the Chapter website.

It's always a good idea to review your PRSA membership data online so the address and other information up to date. Access your record at the PRSA National website. If you need assistance with login credentials or a password, contact Beth Bryant, our Chapter administrator.

News & Views welcomes articles, pictures and news tips. Please send submissions before the 25th of each month to News@PRSABoston.com. 

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