Is PR Still Relevant?

I've been reading a number of books and articles that take the position that Public Relations is no longer relevant. Companies generally pay PR agencies boatloads of money for lots of activity but achieve very little in the way of business improvement results.

Criticisms are generally:

• PR agencies pump out press releases that no one reads


• Agencies shmooze editors and journalists from mainstream media on the company's dime, but rarely get substantial ink or broadcast coverage


• Most companies have little to say, and PR agencies manufacture non-compelling, ineffective PR campaigns in order to keep their fees flowing


• PR people don't understand nor wish to engage bloggers

PR agencies speak to journalists and editors from mainstream media. Mainstream media has criteria that governs which companies it will cover. The Wall Street Journal is very unlikely to cover a small, private company. Its readers are disinterested in companies they can't invest in. Editors prefer to cover public companies, because there is much more interest amongst readership in publicly held companies, and the SEC ensures that companies abide by rules for public disclosure.

The disconnect occurs when your potential customers are online investigating the products or services they wish to buy. They look to blogs, trusted online communities (social networks), consumer review sites, and other industry resources. Few would look to mainstream media.

Bloggers speak directly to your customers. Your customers are active participants in online communities / social media. This new media speaks to potential customers at the point in time when they are looking to buy, as opposed to mainstream media that runs by its own editorial calendar.

So, is PR still relevant?

In my opinion, the answer is "yes". There are a lot of myths out there, and a lot of bad PR agencies. Progressive PR agencies have already embraced new media, and know the rules of engagement with bloggers - although bloggers are very skeptical and generally dislike dealing with PR people. Most importantly, a PR agency can help you refine your competitive positioning and messaging to make sure it resonates with your target customers. When you have real news to share, PR agencies can help you "package" it as appropriate to each audience to which you communicate. It can help open the lines of communication across all media outlets to make sure your reach is maximized. It may assist your company in establishing a blog, written for people in your industry. Few companies can do this themselves without PR communications skills and disciplines.

You may have to hunt a little, but look for a PR agency that has a proven track record in your company's industry that can demonstrate solid business improvement metrics.

Richard Edelman has a great blog post on this subject. He was one of the first agencies to embrace new media and blogger relations.

http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2009/07/pr_profiling.html