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PR agencies just don’t get social

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Posted By Benn

Most people would accept that there can be some overlap between PR and Social CRM, but the problems begin when PR firms try and use the same old strategies they always use in the online domain and expect to get the same results.

PR agencies just don't get Social CRM, so they lie to win the work which ultimately fails the client, themselves and the industry at large.

PR agencies just don't get Social CRM, so they lie to win the work which ultimately fails the client, themselves and the industry at large.

PR focuses on getting a message out and achieving the widest possible reach. It’s essentially a one-way process. Transposed online, this approach boils down to an exercise in collecting the widest possible number of contacts and practically spamming them. Unfortunately, having a big address book doesn’t just create a two-way dialogue. PR firms are not equipped to go beyond shallow relationships which treat all contacts the same – but there’s nothing “social” about being put on a press release mailing list. Worse, PR agencies are often not able to deal with the fallout when things go wrong and the social tide turns against them. Numerous brands have suffered from coming across as smug, cocky or overly-aggressive as a result of seemingly innocuous Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or mobile apps.

In an attempt to win all the business, many PR agencies claim to have a Social Media team, which is often only one person... usually the one who tweets the most :(

In an attempt to win all the business, many PR agencies claim to have a Social Media team, which is often only one person... usually the one who tweets the most :(

True social relationships are sophisticated and hard to maintain. They require nurturing, support and constant stimulation in order to thrive, and this has to be specific and targeted to the people at the other end. No one enjoys a conversation with someone who just talks at you and doesn’t listen back or engage with what you say.

This maintenance takes specialist knowledge, skills and tools to really work. Unfortunately this is often overlooked because many of the tools are widely used and freely accessible. Too often social media is treated like a bolt-on to a PR strategy – in fact I know of at least one PR agency who told their client that they would do social media “for free”. This attitude devalues the work and knowledge of the firms who really understand what they’re doing in the social sphere and it fosters a view that if someone can build a fan page on Facebook or login to Blogger then they are fully equipped to run a firm’s social strategy.

Sadly this isn’t true. There’s a reason that good Social CRM costs money and it’s the same reason that clients don’t get their neighbour with a camcorder to make their TV ads. Knowledge and skills cost real money, but funnily enough so does damaging your brand. So next time a PR agency tries to tell you that their social media “team” can do it all for free, ask them this:

  1. What experience do they have of building long-term social relationships? Can they show examples of actual two-way engagement?
  2. What tools and services can they offer which are specific to the social realm? Can they measure the success of their efforts in actual results and real data – and not just give you a figure for the number of people who clicked “like”?
  3. What specific technical skills do they have? How are they set-up to react to the evolution of online technology?
  4. How are they equipped to dealing with customers online, especially when things go wrong? Including responses outside of ‘office’ hours?

If any of these get a blank look or a politicians answer, you know it is time to talk to someone who knows what they’re talking about.

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  • http://Website Ryan

    This is very much a 2005 view point. The PR agencies I know have developed sophisticated social media strategies for clients and very much understand how to talk to online audiences. Sure, some PR agencies still spam bloggers, but lumping all PR agencies into this group is unfair on the agencies who are doing a good job.

  • http://www.asliceoflife.posterous.com Chris Brown

    I have to say this is a bit of a blanket swipe across the entire PR industry. Agreed there are many many PR agencies out there who claim they can do Social Media, when in fact it doesn’t go any further than a facebook profile page. However there are a few of us who have spent countless hours meticulously planning social media strategies and not just churning out the same strategy over and over again.

    Many of us deal with crisis management as it is an integral part of the PR world – this most certainly is a skill which can be transferred to the social media realm. Are CRM agencies equipped with the relevant skills to tackle fall out though?

    Going back to PR , I can name many agencies that do more than just ’spam’ people. It takes a lot of work and relationship building to get coverage. A skill which can in fact be implemented in the digital realm as well. So in the end I have to disagree with this blog – anybody can do Social Media if they put the time, effort and dedication into it. It is not a closed nit group which only a small number of individuals can utilise effectively. That’s the beauty of the internet, anybody can access it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/benn.achilleas Benn Achilleas

    Thanks for your comment Ryan but… 2005 view? hardly. I’ve worked with some of the top (by awards, profile and agency ranking) PRs this year (2010) and they haven’t had a clue on what to be doing and how. I’ve actually seen in the news (as recent as the last few weeks) a PR agency winning a big social media outreach project when I know for a fact that their social team consists of one full time guy – who will be staffed up upon the win. Is it the same across every single PR agency? No, but PR agencies who ‘get’ social tend to be the exception to the rule in my experience.

  • http://www.facebook.com/benn.achilleas Benn Achilleas

    thanks for your comment Chris. I think you make a really good point which is that “anybody can do social media if they put in the time, effort and dedication”. My point is that many PR agencies are not doing this. It’s the same in reverse too, we could probably do great PR, if we put in the time, with many transferable skills but we respect good PR as a skill/ sector in it’s own right. Sadly, this respect seems to be one way.

  • http://www.boomerangpr.com Katy Cowan

    I agree that many PR agencies are walking dinosaurs in the world of social media. They’re applying the same old marketing techniques, i.e. one-way conversation, to their digital PR campaigns. I don’t think this article is a sweeping generalisation. I think a huge amount of PR agencies out there, particularly where we’re based in the Midlands, still haven’t got to grips with social media. And that can be for various reasons… It could be that they’re waiting to see if social media ‘takes off’. Or they might be reluctant to embrace new technology or learn new skills. I think you have to have a technical focus to understand this medium and so many agencies still haven’t made the effort to fully embrace the changes taking place all around us. Instead, they merely place a social media button on their home page and claim to offer social media marketing services, when in fact they just use it as a broadcast tool – missing the entire point. It will be interesting to see how traditional PR agencies adapt to social media in the coming years but I fear many might have already missed the boat.

  • http://www.twitter.com/alfox Al Fox – Fox Communications

    Love this. You’ve hit the proverbial nail right on its bonce Mr Benn.

    There are so many big PR outfits out there that still don’t get online PR, let alone social media. And I’ve seen plenty of attempts at a social media presence that are clearly only there to appease the client, then left dormant.

    The other problem PR agencies – or indeed digital agencies have with social media is the time factor. Social media takes a great deal of time to do properly and account managers and executives have far too many clients and task lists to give it sufficient attention.

    So I’d certainly recommend heeding Benn’s questions above – and ensure the person or people that will be working on your account will have the time to give it proper attention. Not just for a month after the contract has been won, but onwards.

    Al

  • http://www.neoco.com Nigel

    I used to work in a PR firm and the approach there was pretty one way and the only valued feedback was from journalists – the very people they were trying to influence! Engaging socially is a relatively new thing for PR’s and they potentially feel that social media and offering it as an add-on to traditional PR services is somewhat shortsighted. Social media and two way engagement is here to stay and is not just another series of online channels to post up or send a press release to.

  • http://www.neoco.com/blog/2010/09/bloggers-add-more-value-than-you-know/ Neoco | Blog | Bloggers add more value than you know

    [...] be savage and merciless in exposing ill-informed or overly tactical approaches, and this is why (most but not all) PR agencies often get it [...]

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