Within the marcom team, who gets the no

By Robert Wheatley

In the last year there has been unprecedented attention on the rapid growth of social media sites and the astounding audiences they are rapidly aggregating. If there are over 23 million users on Twitter and Facebook has a larger following than the population of Japan, you can understand why marketers are trying to divine the right pathway into this new medium one that is more about conversation and engagement than it will ever be about pushing messages at people.

It stands to reason that the insurmountable evidence of social media’s rise is on the radar screen of every agency out there, no matter the skill set or category of service. Ad agencies, digital agencies, WOM agencies, PR firms — you name it everyone is at work right now to devise their strategic answer for this important communications medium.

The social media environment should be the province of PR. Period.

Social media revolves around authentic forms of communication. It’s about relationship building in its most human sense. Credibility reigns supreme. Authenticity is a prerequisite. Artificial story telling is a no, no. Who has the skill sets, the in-bred knowledge of this form of dialogue to do it right?

Public Relations and the people who work in this discipline have the necessary understanding, mindset, writing skills, attitude, mantra if you will to be effective in an area of communication that requires even demands great sensitivity on how brands reach out to forge two-way relationships.

• This is not the province of cleverness or artistry and movie-making skill sets. Rather human conversation, truth, honesty, reciprocity, education and sharing reign supreme.

In a story on this subject published by firmvoice.com, here’s an excerpt from several luminaries in our business on why PR excels at Social Media.

• Jason Mandell, founder of Launch Squad: PR owns story telling and content. The content is where we have been playing all these years. And social media is about content. Amen and amen. PR’s legacy is to pursue the path of conversation and education, working to inform and assist, not so much to push overt selling messages inside an entertaining wrapper.

• Charlie Kondek of MS&L Digital: Of all the marcom disciplines, PR is he only one that’s most about participation rather than disruption. The mindset and skills required to execute effectively in this space are better suited to those who’ve been doing it, granted in more conventional media arenas, for years.

• Chris Perry, EVP Digital Strategy with Weber Shandwick: We earn the right to generate ideas, shape stories, and foster relationships based on mutual interests. The fusion of these three actions is essential to effectively leverage social media. The trinity is again unique to the PR business.

What you say IS the message in Social Media

We understand the nuances of this form of interaction. We know how to message correctly, how to position ideas effectively in a channel that guards its focus on human conversation and rejects attempts to conduct direct selling inside the gate.

Brands today are first and foremost about relationship building. Social media should be an integral part of the brand communications arsenal. But the keepers of the flame should be the PR team those who’ve grown up in a media environment that is reminiscent and reflective of a messaging form we understand how to construct and deliver effectively.

For the PR business, agencies and clients must step up to the table to provide leadership in this arena that offers promising but perplexing opportunities to brands and businesses.

Do you agree?

Note: in a future post we’ll discuss integration of social media within the mix of other media and go-to-market tools.