Social Media and Online PR: Econsultancy's 2009 report
PR has been through a torrid 18 months, as have most sectors across industry. We launched thebluedoor in Surrey 20 months ago and have grown through the eye-of-the-storm. By taking the necessary lean approach, we are winning business, growing accounts but most importantly delivering our clients fantastic results and great service - exactly what we are paid to do.Key to our offering is integrating online into PR communications strategies, which is why yesterday's report - 'Social Media and Online PR' from Econsultancy has been a must-read for us all.
WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell has been extremely vocal about the role online has in taking PR out of recession - it has an important role within any communications strategy. And this report into the state of the Online PR industry certainly demonstrates that his prediction is more than just crystal ball gazing.
Econsultancy is (in their words) "an invaluable resource for Internet professionals who want practical advice on all aspects of e-business". And, as a word of caution to the results, by its very nature, the people involved and interested in its community and research are digital practitioners or at the least curious about the role online has in business.
Just some useful insights into the social media and online PR industry include:
- Just 10% of businesses are not engaging with any social media activity
- Smaller companies are quicker to jump into the digital space and use the digital tools, due to their inherent ability to be flexible, as well as willingness to experiment
- Twitter's 'darling' status is clearly demonstrated: micro-blogging is the most widely adopted tactic used by 78% of companies
- 59% of respondents do not have social media rules in place for employees to follow
I was interested to see that 24% said that measurement - or lack of - was a significant barrier to more effective social media engagement and direct traffic to sites was the most commonly used metric to measure social media activity. I am currently working with Kate Hartley of Carrot Communications to produce the first online PR measurement guide for the PRCA. To be published in 2010, it is planned to be a useful, practical and informative overview of the best practice methods currently being used.
I have also got a keen eye on the types of agencies delivering social media and online PR for companies - particularly as the SEO industry is going through significant changes. Search is loosing its snake-oil qualities and its value is moving into reputation management, conversations and transparently - the pillars of PR. In Econsultancy's report the highest supplier sector is traditional PR agencies at 15%, followed by Digital agencies (11%), followed by Specialist online PR agencies and Search agencies level-pegging at 8%. (Interestingly 42% responded by saying that no external agency was involved in delivering social media and online PR activities.)
In Econsultancy's 2010 report, I am sure that we will see significant changes in this pecking order, unless traditional PR agencies work harder to up-skill and jump into the digital space properly. And this means using it and doing it rather than simply reading the books, blogs and research papers.
Labels: Econsultancy, Measurement, online pr, PR, PR agency, PRCA, SEO, social media, Surrey
posted by thebluedoor at
07:29
1 Comments:
One thing this report shows is that there isn't a definitive answer to who owns social media.
We need to think consider what we are trying to achieve through it and align that with our overall strategy. The number of people putting control to the IT/SEO guys suggests they are looking at visibility. For those using the comms function to manage the medium it is a strategic tool.
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