OK. So I admit it. I used to be on of those pr people that didn’t understand how social media, blogging and all these other “Web 2.0″ thingamajigs could help my clients get any exposure. I was cynical. I was negative. I REFUSED TO CHANGE!!
But the more I started learning about it, the more I rattled that light bulb inside my head that likes to shine dimly every now and then. The truth is new media and Web 2.0 can help companies communicate with their customers in a way they were never able to do before. Not only can they talk to their target audiences about the products and services they offer, but they can also find out what people think of them, what the strengths are and, most importantly, what weaknesses need to be worked on.
This is all very exciting to me, because 100 years or so, when public relations first became an industry, the idea was to open up the lines of communication with stale marketing messages and robotic quotes in them to the media, but it’s about opening the lines of communication and finding out what the public thinks about your company, it’s products or services, it philosophies and its customer service. It keeps organizations accountable and prevents owners or executives from hiding behind the protective and sheltering curtain of ignorance or, worse yet, avoidance.
While I’d like to think that I am one of the first pr people to understand this and put it to good use, I’m not. There have been many peers of mine who have understood this long before I have and have already helped many companies with this knowledge. But I’m not one of the ones lagging behind either. In fact, the more I research and talk to peers, the more I realize how reluctant they are to put social media to work for their clients, either because they don’t understand the significance or they just don’t want to learn something new at this point in their careers. And for those who do understand, there are many who attempt to treat Web 2.0 much like they would treat the regular media – which just makes us pr people look bad as a whole.
Which is really too bad, because if people would just take the time to learn and understand how new media works and how to properly communicate with it, it could do such great things.
So yes, I understand now. I have changed. I’M A BELIEVER!!! Now if I can just figure out how this all measures up with ROI???
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Have to laugh, since we seemed to have traveled down much the same path re our initial cynicism re “Web 2.o”.
Wrote about this a while back in a QL newsletter article (http://www.quantumleaders.com/new-site/resources_articles_gg01.htm)
Some old dogs can learn new tricks, eh?