By Nicholas Scibetta, Senior Vice President and Global Director, Global Media Network
PR professionals have been getting a bad rap lately by being accused of employing "spray and pray" tactics. As misguided pitches to media outlets are perceived as little more than "spam e-mail," the public relations industry finds itself at a crossroads. Specifically, embracing the Web as a way to dialogue with various audiences means more than simply reaching out to blogs, communicating via e-mail and claiming to have a presence on YouTube. Today’s PR professionals must look at reaching their audiences through a different, often fractured, lens.
From this new lens, a different audience appears — one that consists of a sea of individuals who seek to control the information they receive, and who have the power to do so in ways that communicators sometimes seem reluctant to fully embrace. Second to second, the day’s top stories change for each media consumer — news feeds and customizable searches allow everyone an opportunity to steer their media consumption via a personalized dashboard of information.
The time has come and gone to debate the power of the Web for communicators — acceptance and integration into communications plans is where we need to be. Yet while many claim to be doing this, a recent survey shows the exact opposite, revealing that communications professionals have yet to truly align themselves with the channels that consumers rely upon for their daily doses of information.
Media Myths & Realities: A Public of One, Ketchum and the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center’s 2007 media usage survey, examines the media habits of consumers in the U.S. and BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), as well as communications professionals in the U.S. Looking at more than 40 media channels, the online study asked respondents not only about which channels they use on a day-to-day basis, but also which sources they turn to when making a host of personal decisions. While the research showed an increasingly fragmented use of these channels, word-of-mouth and search engines emerged as the most turned to sources.
So, where does this leave communicators? The continuous creation of new technologies and media channels is speeding up the pace of news gathering and dissemination, while at the same time presenting multiple challenges for communicators in their attempts to reach their target audiences. These media outlets provide infinite possibilities for consumers, offering them numerous channels to turn to for their daily doses of information. Given this media climate, consumers are experiencing personal empowerment like never before, enabling them to create their own media mix.
The Ketchum-USC Survey also showed that despite consumers’ claims that search engines, expert spokespeople and advice from friends and family serve as their primary information sources, communicators place much less emphasis on the implementation of specific word-of-mouth programs or search engine optimization strategies. The wake-up call is here and has been here for some time. By now, we all know that news must be customizable and that to reach our target audience we must optimize these tools.
Still, if you haven’t done anything yet to embrace these new tools, there are at least three basic things communicators should consider and strategically evaluate before implementing a communications program.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): Quite simply, search rules. The survey revealed that across the board, in both the U.S. and BRIC countries, search engines ranked among the top four outlets the public is turning to. Despite the fact that the public is turning to search engines in droves, only 28% of communications professionals claim to have an SEO strategy in place. Organizations should consistently evaluate the strategic value of incorporating both paid and organic optimization strategies into their overall communications mix.
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS): An easy way to distribute your news with potential for big payoff, RSS enables consumers to craft individualized news feeds and can be a strategic option for bringing content-specific news to the audiences who care most about it. The survey also found that communication professionals believe their corporate Web sites are the most effective sources in influencing consumer opinions about the image or reputation of their companies. This begs the question, is your content available via RSS?
- Monitoring: With so many media choices, it’s inevitable that consumer media use will mirror this fragmentation. It’s important to remember that any one of these outlets could be a forum for others to discuss your brand or products. Conversations about your company’s brand, products, services, and so on are happening — whether you like it or not. The question that needs to be asked is, Is your company truly paying attention to what’s being said? Communicators should continuously evaluate their company’s and clients’ online and offline media-monitoring strategies.
There’s no turning back. But the future holds a lot of opportunity — if PR professionals choose to fully embrace it. For more on the survey, visit:
www.ketchum.com/2007mediasurvey.
Nicholas Scibetta is Senior Vice President and Global Director of Ketchum’s Global Media Network. He can be reached at
nicholas.scibetta@ketchum.com.
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