I’m not on the DIY PR bandwagon, for a variety of reasons. For one, it cheapens the PR profession as a whole. Public relations professionals, of the agency, in-house and solo variety, are educated, trained management level executive-types (it must be true; I learned this while getting my Journalism degree). While the PR/media/consumer landscape has shifted, (well, maybe more like a 4.5 quake on the Richter scale rather than an aftershock) this is absolutely no reason to believe that PR is now something akin to picking up a can of paint at Home Depot and doing it yourself. I recently attended a session at #OMS11 where speaker Michael Pranikoff, the director of emerging media at PR Newswire, discussed this PR/media/consumer paradigm shift and how PR professionals can adjust to the new PR normal. It was an interesting talk. Pranikoff provided some tips on how we, as PR professionals, can communicate directly with the consumer. He emphasized that the media is no longer our top tier target. I believe most marketers have already, or are adapting their strategies and tactics as I’m jotting this down. But while some might have you believe that PR is an easy DIY project, I’m convinced that this is not a good idea. Take these four reasons why:

1) I’ve worked with many, many very smart engineers, some of them geniuses in their own right, but, they couldn’t write a cohesive sentence if they tried.
Bottom-line: can you develop succinct and grammatically-correct positioning statements for your company and products that are optimized for the search engines?

2) Once you take the PR function under your wing, are you able to devote resources to it, every day? This is our full-time job, we take it very seriously.
Bottom-line: PR requires a sustained effort; it’s not a part time deal.

3) Are you able to think of creative ways to promote your company and products, and research trends to make a valid pitch?
Bottom-line: on a daily basis, we research trends in the market, what your competitors are doing and saying and how we can fit your company and products into the conversation.

4) Do you have the time, money and resources to find the bloggers and reporters that have covered your competitors in the past and establish a relationship with them?
Bottom-line: although there are tools available (I use MyMediaInfo) to research appropriate media contacts that anyone can use, do you have hours to spend on research to find these folks? And, do you have the resources to actually build an ongoing relationship with them?

This list could be longer. Perhaps I’ll write a Part Deux, but what you should take away from this post is that PR is a critical component of your company’s marketing function. There are many moving parts and these parts move fast. We are trained professionals who can write, communicate, develop your entire PR and social media strategy and more. So before you take on PR ask yourself whether you really want to wear this hat too.

Sorry for the long lapse between posts…Blog has been on vacation…and refused to post any pictures! This is not a new subject by any means, but let me put my “spin” on it. I, like most other PR pros, get the HARO (Help A Reporter Out) feed of active media opportunities. One was seeking sources for a story on whether PR is still necessary. The reporter also sought to speak with a company that had gotten into a tough spot because they didn’t have PR representation. This got me to thinking….I believe there has always been confusion about what PR actually is and the rise in popularity of social media might just be compounding that problem. Social media, including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, communities, etc., all play a vital role in establishing and maintaining a company’s brand and I foresee this being even more important as time goes on. But, this in no way diminishes the important role PR plays in the marketing mix. Unless your social media staff has been trained in how to create your company’s messaging, strategic positioning within your industry or how to deal with surly media and blogger types then they should not be trying to manage your PR campaigns, not in the least. Social media has definitely joined the mix as a key player in B2C and B2B marketing, but it is evolving into a separate wing, if you will, like advertising or marcom. As a PR pro who has worked with companies large and small I can honestly tell you that PR is about communications, and much more. I have great respect for those that have mastered social media, especially as it’s still maturing, however, the critical role PR plays in your organization’s reputation management, brand personality and the communication of the value you offer to customers, partners, employees and investors should not be misunderstood or ignored.

So a brand walks into a bar….But really, what do these four things have in common you ask? A whole lot actually. I have nearly 17 years of public relations under my belt, but in a former life I was a CSR (customer service rep) and even a CSR supervisor. I give props to anyone who has, or had, a long-term career in customer service because it is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. So back to my point, PR, advertising and social media, and even front line CSRs, all support brand awareness in some fashion, and being a Twitter aficionado myself, I know that people are out there posting constant tweets, both good and bad, about companies and brands. I admit to have taken to the Twitterwaves to do this myself, and to be honest I came away a much happier Verizon Wireless customer as a result (but I digress). So you may be thinking, what’s the harm of a few negative tweets? For one, Twitter is like a soundwave, it keeps picking up steam and getting LOUDER, and with the help of loyal re-tweeters, this could turn into a full-blown PR crisis. As a large, or small company, it’s important you employ a monitoring service, like CustomScoop, which I recently started using, Radian6, or one of the freebies like SocialMention to keep an eye on what’s being said about your brand on Twitter and in the blogosphere. Employ a PR or social media community manager so that they can respond on your company’s behalf swiftly and in an intelligent manner to rectify the problem to negative tweets and blog posts. WOMM (word of mouth marketing) is extremely powerful, just the fact that your company is non-responsive, or so out of touch with how consumers and your market communicate in mid-2010 is sure to get you a few black marks on your permanent record. I happen to be the obscure (yet transparent) tweeter for an iPhone app developer, and as I monitor the tweets about their apps, my previous customer service experience has definitely been a big help. Most of my time is spent thanking happy customers for their pleasant tweets, or assuring users having trouble with the app that they should email the company’s tech support team for a speedy response. I do not recommend using Twitter to respond to technical problems, this could actually really backfire and there is little or no way to really track customer support issues this way. How many of life’s little problems can be solved in 140-characters? Not too many, so trying to explain why an apps’ GPS issue is related to the iPhone in 140 is an impossible endeavor.

Bottom line: Get out there! Don’t wait to jump into the social media waters. If you haven’t by now you’re really dragging your feet even if your marketing team has told you this is a requirement not a luxury, right? Twitter and the blogosphere are just one more way to improve and expand customer touchpoints, and this will undoubtedly make your brand shine. Don’t look at it as more marketing you can’t afford, look at it as your safeguard that your marketing and branding efforts don’t fail.