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Blog Panel – Part 1: 2009’s Biggest PR Lessons Learned

2009/12/28Meredith EatonTags: , , , ,

This is the first post in a series of three for a blog panel I’m participating in with Krim Stephenson, John Sidline, and Frank Strong.  All four of us will blog on the same topic on the same day.  This first post is on the biggest lesson we learned this year for PR (and marketing).

Looking back over 2009, I think it’s clear that social media has been a huge factor in changing the PR landscape, and along with that came several valuable lessons.  One of social media’s biggest advantages is its ability to energize brand advocates while listening to the market at large.  I’ve commented several times throughout the year about how important it is to not only participate in social media, but to observe (or listen) as well.  Learning how to do this and strike a good balance between the two is an important lesson to help improve PR campaigns and strategies.

Say you’re pitching your client’s product in a certain way, trying to amplify a specific feature you feel is most beneficial, but the buzz on social media is that other features are actually more important to consumers than the one you’re trying to promote.  This is useful information to tailor your pitch and maybe even redirect your campaign strategy.

The other key lesson we’ve learned from social media is the value of transparency.  This is a hot topic that many have written about like Matt Dickman, Gini Dietrich, and Beth Harte, just to name a few of the ones I’ve followed.  We strive to achieve a transparent approach in all our PR and marketing activities, but with social media, it has become that much more important.  We’ve all heard the old saying that perception is reality, but never before has reality been able to influence perception to the extent it does today.

If a product has been hyped as the latest and greatest, but users have found out it really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, the world is going to know.  With everyone tweeting, posting, and blogging about their own thoughts and experiences, the truth is going to come out, but more than that, it’s going to be everywhere and completely accessible.  People know that and expect nothing less than the truth.  Our PR strategies, therefore, need to be as transparent and honest as possible.

Social media is no longer a fad.  It’s here to stay, and these lessons are just two of many that have helped shape the public relations industry and will continue to do so over the coming years.  And by continuing to listen and be transparent through social media, I’m sure we’ll learn many more lessons to help grow and direct our campaigns and sector as a whole.

See what the other panelists are saying on their blogs about this topic:

The next post will be published on Wednesday, December 30th, on how the biggest lessons we’ve learned in 2009 (this post) will shape 2010 and beyond.  Stay tuned!

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  1. #4  Krim Stephenson

    Meredith, great post. I really enjoyed this exchange of ideas, hope we can do it again sometime. Finally getting around to posting my thoughts…

    I’m struck by your point on transparency. If we pulled together a Ten Commandments of Public Relations, somewhere on the list would be Thou Shall Not Try To Hide the Truth. It’s an old cliche that over time the things you want to hide will come out, it’s better to acknowledge everything right away, to get in front of the story, etc.

    We’ve all heard this many times, mostly in the context of disaster communications, but I wonder how seriously we’ve taken it. As an industry devoted to image management, we are at least as good at defensively hiding and spinning as we are at proactively positioning our people and brands.

    Here is the real impact of social media for our business: no more secrets. If there is something remarkable about your brand, good or bad, it will make its way online. Your customer will share it, or an employee will make a comment somewhere, or a blogger will notice it. If you try to react to a bad story by acknowledging 80% of it right away, someone will break down the remaining 20% and roast you for it.

    The problem: social media creates this radical transparency but doesn’t improve our collective ability to tell truth from fiction. So not only will your brand’s dirty secrets come out, so will false rumors that can spread like wildfire.

    10/01/11 14:21

  2. #3  Gini Dietrich

    I am SO HAPPY to see someone else blogging about the changing face of the PR industry. Social media is completely turning our industry on its head and so many firms are turning a blind eye.

    To your comment on listening, as well as participating, RIGHT ON! Isn’t the number one rule to great communications behind a fantastic listener? How can we participate in conversations online (offline, too) if we don’t listen first? And not just listen, but listen intently and listen often.

    Great post – thanks for including me!

    10/01/04 14:15

  3. #2  Meredith Eaton

    Indeed! And I think it’s good to point out, as you did in your post, that all the panelists taking part in this blog panel met on Twitter. Social media strikes again!

    09/12/29 11:29

  4. #1  Frank Strong

    Great post Meredith — and I think we are going to see a theme in all of our answers. As you put it so aptly, “Social media is not a fad.”

    09/12/28 15:34

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