The SMR Revisited: With Todd Defren
(Note: Not all of my concerns here about social media releases are directly related to Todd’s comments. This post is part interview, part rambling, and chock full of my always-unsolicited opinions.)
I don’t think it’s really a secret - I’m not a huge fan of the social media release (SMR). I raised some criticisms / concerns about the original template in the past, and can’t say that most have really changed.
I’ve also had people tell me that those who don’t act as SMR cheerleaders are essentially “old school.” I think anyone would be hard-pressed to try to lump me in that group. After all, I’m under 30, I specialize directly in online PR, and I work with some of the most tech-savvy groups out there when it comes to PR and marketing. So if I’m not simply having an ill-fated love affair with the old print-em-up-and-fax-em-out press releases, what is it about the social media release that gets me slightly riled up?
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Is PR a Lost Cause?
I talked recently about PR stereotypes, and Judy Gombita of PR Conversations just sent a link to this post: Is PR Innately Immoral?
Since the topic seems to be on a lot of blogs lately, I’d like to give my $.02.
Is there an image problem?
Yes. Absolutely. PR people suck at PR for the industry itself.
Is our reputation damaged beyond repair?
I highly doubt it. If anything, I find small business, online businesses, and independent professionals to be extremely open to really understanding the various aspects of PR and what it can do for them. I don’t know if this is an overall trend, or just the ones I deal with because they like the open and bluntly honest approach I use - I don’t leave room for them to assume I’d do anything unethical on their behalf, and if they ask me to, I don’t - simple business policy.
I don’t work with many larger corporate clients, so I won’t speak on that front, although I imagine most still value PR or they wouldn’t be paying for the in-house teams and firms.
Our real image problem lies with the general public. Sure, that’s a bad thing, and we need to work on that, but it’s never going to make what we do less relevant to our clients. Worst case scenario is that a new name would be slapped on the practices, and we’ll all go on our merry way.
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PR for the Public Relations Industry
Greg Smith of The PR Lab recently commented here that “there’s the problem - we don’t do enough PR to correct the impression’s people have.” His comment was in relation to this post (PR Pros: A Bunch of Shady Sex-Crazed Skirts), which looks at some of the stereotypes people have of PR practitioners (that we’re dishonest, all chicks, etc.).
Similar things have been said here and on countless other PR blogs - who’s handling the PR of the PR industry??? Why do people have so many misconceptions about us and what we do? Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
I don’t know the whys. Personally I’m far more interested in knowing who you think should be responsible:
- Professional organizations?
- Educators in the industry?
- PR firms?
- Each individual PR professional?
Who can do the most good in correcting misconceptions about the PR industry, and how can they do it? Is there anything we can do as individuals (aside from operating ethically ourselves and making sure our own clients better understand what we can, and do, do for them)? Sure, we can blog about it. Does that really help though?
Just curious about what others think we should be doing, or who you think is to blame for things getting as bad as they are.
If PRs and Bloggers Played Nice
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of hearing about so-and-so blacklisting PR firms, or PR people blacklisting bloggers. For christ’s sake, who the hell cares?
PRs are still going to pitch their stories. We’re like dogs… if our actions are validated, we’re not going to change them. If we pitch to blogs like yours, and most of the feedback is positive (or the results are positive compared to the time and energy put in at least), we’re not going to change much overall.
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Life 2.0: Social Media Obsessions and Virtual Inhibitions
The beauty of social media is that it helps to bring us together. We can meet new friends half-way around the world. We can meet colleagues we otherwise might never know. We can meet and work with clients virtually. We can re-connect with old classmates, friends, or loved ones. We can find the hottest news in our peer group, what our favorite blogger was doing five minutes ago, or even find a date.
I’d wager that we can learn more about many complete strangers these days through social media tools than past generations would have known about some of the people they saw and interacted with on a daily basis. It’s all rather exciting stuff. Or is it?
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Stupid PR Quote of the Week: May 19, 2008
With all of the crap going around about Gina Trapani’s latest PR blacklist, it seems fitting that the latest ridiculous quote from the PR blogosphere be along those lines (and I’ll be addressing the issue of blog pitches again a post or two down the road). But for now:
The Offender: Matt Haughey
The Source: Stop Asking, Start Filtering - A Whole Lotta Nothing
The Quote: “the perfect PR person would match me up with topics I write about and when they figure out a perfect product pitch I might be interested in, email me personally once to share it, and ask me for confirmation if I’d like to get future email from them. Unless I reply back with a “yes” don’t add me to a list or pitch me again — it’s a not a good match and is only going to build frustration on my end if you keep sending unsolicited pitches.”
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PR Pros: A Bunch of Shady Sex-Crazed Skirts
OK. So maybe some of us are just two out of the three, but still….
Seriously, let’s talk about stereotypes of the Public Relations industry and its professionals. I came across two posts tonight that leave me a little bit concerned and a whole lot amused.
- PR and the ‘Chick Factor’: What Kent State Learned About the Missing Men of Public Relations - from Bill Sledzik at Tough Sledding
- Mistaken Stereotype of PR - from Caitlin Regan of TGC, a student-managed PR agency at California State University, Chico
It was purely coincidence that I happened upon these two posts side by side, both addressing stereotypes people have of PR pros, especially from a student perspective.
The Stereotypes
Here are a few of the stereotypes that were mentioned between the posts, as well as a few I’ve faced personally from people who should know better (feel free to add your own favorites):
- We’re liars.
- All we do is manipulate people.
- We spend all our time schmoozing.
- PR’s for chicks.
- Our job is easy or just one big party.
Caitlin seemed to take particular offense (and who could blame her) with the portrayal of Sex in the City’s character Samantha Jones, whom HBO refers to as “a successful PR exec who knows what she wants- and most of the time, she gets it. She radiates confidence in everything she does, whether it’s landing a star client, getting a table at the trendiest restaurant or bedding the hottest guy in a room.”
Sounds like a typical “day at the office” for me. How about you?
Does Sex in the City go too far with Samantha’s character? I’m honestly asking… I’m not a fan of the show. Yet this is where I’m amused. Call me an optimist, but I’d like to think that most people (or at least a lot of people) are smart enough to know the difference between fact and fiction.
I mean, do you imagine that most doctors act like Hugh Laurie’s character on House? Do you think most in law enforcement act anything like your favorite characters in whatever Law & Order or CSI spin-off you’re into? Maybe you believe in the Boogeyman too.
I’m not saying Caitlin’s got it wrong. I think pop media probably does influence the general view of the Public Relations profession. And I blame us.
Shhh! It’s a Secret!
Caitlin talks in her post about having to defend her PR degree. Do you even feel a twinge of embarrassment when you tell people you work in PR? Do you try to give it another name? Do you just not mention it at all when you can help it?
Personally, I’d rather shout it from the rooftops. “I work in PR, and I’m damned proud of it!!!”
I think that’s the only way we’re ever going to do our part to educate people about PR’s existence, nonetheless the truth behind us and what we do. And apparently, we really need to get on that.
Bill points out the gender divide in PR, especially with Kent State’s PR majors. A recurring theme seems to be that students are going into college having no idea what PR is (which was true in my own case - I pretty much stumbled into the major), or they have a preconceived notion that it’s a “chick thing.”
Hey… the testosterone pool in the PR industry may not be overflowing, but I have to say I’m generally pretty proud of the guys we do have. Even though I don’t always agree with them, I’ll admit that most I’ve come across are pretty competent in the work itself (even the ones I don’t particularly like on a personal level). And quality matters more than quantity, right?
I loved one student’s quote that Bill published, essentially saying that women are better liars and therefore more suited to PR work. Maybe it’s just because I’m the bluntly honest type, but I don’t see that. Do you?
What Can We Do?
Why don’t we have more men in PR? Why don’t students know what PR is before getting into college? Why are we still fighting this stereotype that we’re all a bunch of lying party animals who wouldn’t know real work if it bit us on the ass?
It’s no secret that we do an awful PR job when it comes to the image of PR itself. It’s been discussed seemingly endlessly. I’d like to think things are better now than a few years ago. I find that smaller businesses I work with are usually the most willing to learn about what we do and how it can benefit them, and go into it with the fewest assumptions. At the same time, other groups seem too far gone - their minds probably won’t ever be changed.
So in your opinion, where should we be focusing? Educating future PR pros? Educating our current and potential clients? Working over the louses who still give us a bad name? (I vote for this one.) What can we do? Not on a grand scale even, but perhaps the better question is what can we do right now?
Customer Complaints and Virtual Bitch Slaps: Dealing With Web-Based Criticism
Today anyone can publish anything, positive or negative, about you or your company quickly and easily. A blogger can rant about you (no surprise here). One of your customers can send out a scathing review to all of their social network “friends.” You could be bashed by a popular twitterer. You could find a nasty video criticizing you, your company, your product, etc. up on YouTube. The worst part is that Web-based critiques can go viral. They sometimes spread. Quickly.
So how should you deal with it the next time you come under attack in the social media realm? Should you lash back at the person? Should you pout and whine? Should you ignore it? No. You should take it as an opportunity to start a discussion, evaluate why you’re being criticized, and most importantly do something about it if the complaint has any merit.
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Do People Really Trust Bloggers?
I know I’ve been talking a bit much about blogging lately, and I’m not going to stop just yet. I was sent a link a while ago to a data chart from Forrester Research highlighting sources that people trust the most when it comes to information about products and services.
Not surprisingly, the results show that people most trust feedback coming from people they know. Apparently 83% of those surveyed trust the almighty word of mouth. What did surprise me is that only 30% of respondents said they trusted bloggers for that same information.
Now take those numbers with a grain of salt.
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Facebook Sucks: A New Perspective
Today a comment was left on my post, Top Ten Reasons Facebook Sucks, that I thought was intelligent enough as well as amusing enough to highlight in its own post (you can still find the comment on the original post as well). This perspective comes from a reader named Simone and goes a bit beyond the PR uses of Facebook or other social networks, touching more upon another issue: Facebook’s own hype (including message and delivery on the Facebook apps front and the company’s pandering to the tech crowd). Enjoy:
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