After discussing the inauthentic nature of PR in my last post, I hope you know that I do respect and enjoy being part of the PR profession (well, except those PR areas that are broken) and truly believe that most PR folks are engaging in PR in a way that is effective. That said, I still believe that ghostwriting from PR pros (or profs) isn’t necessary or authentic (I am not sure that there’s much that can convince me…but I’ll keep an open mind, I promise).

I thought it might be a useful conversation to discussion how PR 2.0 will keep you SO busy providing strategic services/counsel for your clients or employer you won’t need to worry about ghost blogging and tweeting as a source of income or a way to show value for one’s job. And I know for a lot of PR agencies and pros that might not truly understand the nature (dare I say, culture) of social media, those are areas of concern. I get it, I really do. 

While this might not be as interesting as a debate, perhaps it will prove to be more useful. 

Today’s typical and traditional PR person does a lot of the following tasks: 

• Builds relationships with third-party resources (usually the media, sometimes bloggers)
• Maintains existing relationships
• Does research
• Listens/Analyzes (usually online/print pickups)
• Writes plans
• Provides counsel
• Creates targeted messages
• Conveys timely news with constituents (but typically media and maybe bloggers)
• Builds a brand’s reputation
• Maintains a brand’s image
• Deploys crisis communications
• Clips or tracks pickups or mentions
• Provides measurement of campaigns
• Handles some marketing communications (including collateral, website content if a marketer isn’t part of the team)

 With PR 2.0 you can add the following to your skills, deliverables and job description:

• Monitors brand in real-time
• Listens/Analyzes online conversations or mentions in real-time
• Responds promptly
• Conducts primary research in real-time
• Engages in two-way conversations with ALL constituents (in-house PR folks)
• Participates in social networking in a value-add way (in-house PR folks)
• Develops new online skills (blogging, wikis, RSS, etc.)
• Understand the importance of building relationships with all constituents (media, bloggers, employees, investors, fans, friends, followers, detractors, etc.)
• Responsible for Search Engine Optimization
• Identifies & engages with influencers and brand evangelists (in-house PR folks)
• Manages communities of constituents (in-house PR folks)
• Integrates new technologies into PR plans
• Shares industry information, not just key messages
• Builds communities
• Engages evangelists to help create word of mouth
• Understands that engaging in PR 2.0 will help at time of crisis
• Stays up-to-date on trends
• Trains management, co-workers and/or clients constantly 

I don’t know about you, but to me that looks like a pretty busy job to me! All without having to ghostwrite or tweet (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

I cannot take complete credit for these lists. While I have been engaged in PR for a long time, some people just say things more succinctly than I do…and I like to give the credit they deserve. So, please, seriously, if you haven’t read PR 2.0 by Deirdre Breakenridge, add it to your reading list. She makes the transition to PR 2.0 crystal clear, easy-to-swallow, and provides a lot of proof points (i.e. some of the list information is from her book). John Bell at Ogilvy is another source of great information when it comes to the PR pro of the future (be sure to read John’s post when you get a chance). He’s the guy behind this post’s image and some of the items on the PR 2.0 list. 

I am sure that I am leaving things off of both lists, so please be sure to add where necessary if this is too simplified.

Thoughts? Opinions? Objections?

[Image: John Bell]

You might wonder why I am sharing this news here on The Harte of Marketing. Well, two reasons. First, Geoff Livingston is a good friend who I truly respect and learn from everyday.  And… we just happen to think a lot alike on the topic of social media! So, I wanted to be able to share his good news about being acquired by CRT/tanaka with the marketing/social media community. Second, this is a trend that isn’t going away. I believe we will start to see smart agencies starting to acquire social media agencies and consultants that have solid expertise.

I had a chance to catch up with Geoff to discuss the recent news and asked him about how social media is changing the agency world as we know it.

According to Geoff, “the era of the social media consultant is coming to an end. Social media, as we know it, will need to integrate into all communications functions or else become marginalized. Social media is a capability and a toolset that needs to be incorporated across the communications frontline…including interactive, pr and advertising. It’s a toolset that every communicator needs to be aware of and needs to be able to engage in for the sole benefit of their clients. Social media is not a standalone silo and the social media department as a philosophy won’t work.”

I think those among us who truly embrace social media and want to see it implement widely within corporations, non-profits, universities, government agencies, creative agencies, etc. would probably agree on that.

Geoff’s decision to merge with CRT/tanaka is evidence that social media, even in its infancy, is still radically changing every day.  For those who have been implementing social media as part of communication strategies for years know it’s time for the next challenge-and corporate-wide implementation is most likely it.

So, who is CRT/tanaka you might be wondering? Well, they are an award-winning public relations and marketing located  in Richmond, Va., and New York, with offices in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Norfolk, Va., CRT/tanaka has been recognized with nearly 300 national and regional awards for its strategic counsel, creativity, workplace culture and community service. [Wow!] Their clients include Air New Zealand, BISSELL Homecare, Inc., Charles Schwab & Co., Council for Responsible Nutrition, Council of Better Business Bureaus, GSK, Girl Scouts of the USA, Next Wave Pharmaceuticals, Performance Food Group, Sprint Nextel, Quebec Maple Syrup, Wines from Rioja (Spain), and VHA Inc. [I think we can safely say that they are experts in their field!]

Congratulations to Livingston Communications and CRT/tanaka!

[Image: David Alston]

When my friend Steve Woodruff (yep, the guy of StickyFigure fame) asked me to participate in his ‘Five in the Morning’ series I was excited, yet immediately mortified. “Steve, I never get up at 5AM!” Steve insisted that it’s really “Five, in the Morning” but I don’t believe him! I think he is seriously up at 5am each and every morning hunting down the best posts for you all to read and then he has coffee (an amazing feat in my world). As well, you know me… I am not a fan of creating my own lists because I really hate leaving so many great blog posts out (and I read a lot!). For me it would be more like 50, in the Morning.

Well, it’s almost 8am and I’ve found some interesting posts for you all (and since I am playing catch up from yesterday, they all aren’t from today…):

Let’s face it, kids love piñata’s because they know once it’s cracked open there are a ton of yummy treats falling upon them. And it only takes one experience with a piñata to make them want to do it over and over (gee, sales people and business development people get this already). Geoff Livingston asks why do us adults make getting to the treats so difficult?

Risk aversion is everywhere these days and it’s important to make our communications and connections count. Sometimes the very uphill battle we face can be conquered with simply having the mindset, “If you can’t change it, promote it.” And Valeria Maltoni asks us to consider that very thing this morning and how conversations can help to get up that hill.

“‘Hmmm…how many phone calls and lunch dates do I need to have with her to make her my friend?’ Sounds crazy, right?” Why yes, Lisa Hoffmann, that does sound crazy!! So, why do companies think like this when it comes to social media? Why do they want the easy rules and short cuts to creating relationships?

Lots of people are losing their jobs and clients are walking away from the table, it happens from time-to-to-time and it seems to be happening even more these days. Daria Steigman shares with us 5 lessons we can learn from such situations to make them work in our favor (Hint: relationships and communications).

Susan Murphy shares with us a visual example of what living inside a bubble can do to our relationships, well, outside the bubble. And I don’t mean like the ‘Bubble Boy,’ he lived alone inside his bubble and well, we all know what disastrous outcomes there were once the Seinfeld friends arrived on the scene.

This 5, in the morning post was sponsored by “Relations & Communications LLC.” They have the hard job of always proving their worth, so why not give them a try…I’m sure they’d love the business!

And, finally, if you’d like more 5 in the Morning posts…don’t count on me! But, you can count on Steve Woodruff because he rises with the roosters!

Steve Woodruff’s blog: StickyFigure
And on Twitter you can find him at @swoodruff

[Image: The Consumerist]

Written by Geoff Livingston and me and originally posted on The Buzz Bin.

The bad economy has brought to bear one unwelcome change.  With a desire to use more cost effective communication forms, companies are looking to social media.  As a result, there are many, many companies, agencies and consultants rushing to offer social media services. Unfortunately, they don’t know what they’re doing.

Companies need to turn a discerning eye onto their potential social media partners. Here’s a quick list of some ways to vet potential social media experts.

1. When asked about listening, gives you a blank stare.
2. Converses at people instead of with them on social networks
3. No tangible past experience delivering return on investment either for themselves or others
4. Doesn’t understand how social media integrates into larger corporate communications or business strategy
5. First recommendation is to blog
6. Believes in delivering messages
7. Will ghostwrite blog posts and other social content for you
8. Is willing to impersonate you online in social networks
9. Trots in “social media expert” for sales meeting
10. Their blog is less than six months old or has no comments
11. Blog only has links to traditional 1.0 media sites
12. Cannot host conversation without constantly interjecting self into said conversation
13. Talks about cultivating your personal brand
14. Will not allow employees to participate in larger conversation
15. Will guarantee results without any prior experiences
16. Just added new social media department
17. Recommends Facebook Group as first tactic
18. Defines social media as only tools (Facebook, blogs, Flickr <INSERT SHINY OBJECT HERE>) as opposed to conversations with communities
19. First campaign involves a contest without a strategy
20. Doesn’t know what Technorati is
21. Talks about applying mass communications theory
22. Posts less than five times a month on their blog
23. Thinks social media is about creating content
24. Suggests publishing promotional copy as social content
25. Believes social media is the sole terrain of either PR or advertising

What would you add to this list?

[Image: Rifle Expert by Randy son of Robert]

Added on 12/19/08:

An hysterical video version from Andrea Vascellari (it’s worth the 5 minutes, Andrea adds on some good ones):

My friend Geoff Livingston and many others believe that it can. From what I have seen so far, social media gives non-profits the ability to reach out, spread the word, develop communities, and have conversations in ways that traditional marketing never could─or at least not in a way that wouldn’t potentially eat up an entire year’s marketing budget.

Seeing it in action has led me to believe that social media and the tools available can help non-profits. But what I have noticed is that blog posts on social causes, Facebook Causes (people join the cause, but that’s about it), tweets on causes, etc. never get the same attention as the latest social media snafu or raging social media debate.

With the world more connected now than it ever has been, non-profits have a way to use these connections to share someone’s pain from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. But what good is that if their social media efforts aren’t moving society for the good of that cause?

I think one of the new challenges non-profits face is the ability to get the people they network with online to move into offline action as well and even perhaps simultaneously.

Geeks who Give

Geeks who Give, here in Philadelphia, proved last night that this combination is fruitful indeed. With over 100+ people attending their charity event and tweet up they were able to collect over 900+ lbs. of food for Philabundance. They built the buzz up using social media and enticed us to donate food (the price of entry) by promising a great time at National Mechanics. And they delivered just that with a cooking demonstration (Fork demonstrated how to make an easy meal completely out of non-perishable foods) and karaoke. Geeks who Give will be utilizing social media for social good throughout the year as they continue to support local charities.

Save Darfur

Another cause that is showing great momentum by utilizing social media for social good is Save Darfur. A little bit about Save Darfur:

“Around the country and across the globe, the Save Darfur Coalition is inspiring action, raising awareness and speaking truth to power on behalf of the people of Darfur. Working with world leaders, we are demanding an end to the genocide, and our efforts are getting results.”

The Save Darfur campaign is utilizing a balanced combination of online and offline activism to help educate people and raise donations to help end this terrible genocide. The Facebook application alone has over 1 million members that have raised $75,000. And their student grassroots effort, Dollars for Darfur, raised more than $450,000 and engaged thousands of schools.

If you are with a non-profit, let us know if social media is working for you and how you combine online and offlice advocacy.

[Image: OneBigU]