Welcome to the New Age.
Public Relations is an old business. For many years, the PR business has thrived on a familiar formula:
– an event happens (new business, new product news, an event, explanation, need for change in perception)
– a press release is drafted
– the approved release is sent to various media outlets for coverage
– the client is then inserted into the news cycle
It was a business formula that worked. It was simple, a bit time and labor consuming and it relied heavily on details and relationships. PR firms around the world made great business using this model to near perfection.
But times they are a-changin’. Strike that, they’ve changed completely.
Press releases have been typically reserved for certain specific sets of eyes- the press. With the dawn of social media, the press is not necessarily where we get all of our information anymore. In fact, the media can be blamed for much misinformation.
The social exchange of information has been good and bad. Yes, there has been a bevvy of misinformation in the social media stratosphere, but the good is that one can dig only slightly further or allow for a little more time and the truth will ultimately be revealed, to many extents anyway.
The press is still important. There will always be sources and leads that those that are talented in the press to break important news, but now, there are so many more commentators that are available to the public. The public is available to the public, and now they are more informed.
Non-press sources- eyewitnesses, users, experts, the people in the street- are equally as valuable as the information they can share. That’s why PR firms can no longer limit their dealings with the traditional media. PR firms and their clients need to be interactive with their target audience. That is where social media will take the firms that are willing to adapt and change into the new age.
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