The Days of "The Publicist" Are Over. Welcome The Modern Day PR.

I have had numerous interesting conversations over the last few weeks about Public Relations, which made me wonder whether people actually understand what a PR Professional is or what he/she does in 2019. I came to a shockingly abject conclusion. The majority of SME’s, entrepreneurs, startups and investors have little or extremely limited knowledge about the innovative and creative evolution of Public Relations and Corporate Communications. 

Some may see Public Relations as a waste of budget spent on parties and rubbing shoulders for the sake of being on the front pages of the tabloids. Some others believe that PR can only follow results, such as a successful investment round or the achievement of a major milestone, and not the other way round. Alternately, there is a segment of the population who may think the Public Relations is just a fictional position that offers one the excuse of idling around at home browsing social media and sending chat messages on WhatsApp all day. 

Now this may be sounding fragmentary at first, and as we go further into the article you will see why and how PR can actually help you in:

• Raising Investment
• Becoming a Bestselling Author
• Growing your product/service sales
• Getting Sponsors
• Getting High Profile and Elite Invitations to World-Class Forums and Summits with full expenses paid
• Growing Your LinkedIn Profile (or any other social media account, for that matter, including YouTube video views and subscribers) 

Are you becoming more interested now?

Before going into details about the skills and competencies of a Modern Day PR professional, let’s have a little fun. I am sure you remember the viral meme that spread around the Internet in which people were sharing graphics depicting “What People Think They Do vs. What They Really Do.”

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A LOT HAS CHANGED ....

Over the centuries, Public Relations has transformed into a pursuit that today, at the end of 2019, is quite difficult to grasp in comparison to some of the earliest forms of PR. These messages, scrawled on mud-brick walls around 3,000 years ago by those often called “proto-PRs”, were the first public-relations-like activities, going back in history to the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians. 

The “old-fashioned PR”, as I like to call it, was first applied around the turn of the 20th century, starting in the USA with Europe following shortly after. By the end of World War II, public relations and corporate communications were incredibly popular on both continents. 

According to Tom Watson, who is a professor of public relations in the Media School at Bournemouth University in England, other important influences on the growth of public relations were the formation of European transnational companies, which led to the setting-up of corporate communications departments; and the rise of marketing-led or consumer public relations, with its highly tactical publicity style.

This is my very short description of an early 20th century PR: 

A person who uses his/her skill to construct message-based announcements targeting journalists. The message is used to inform with a push that needs to be picked up by as many journalists in as many placements as possible, which is the ultimate measurement of the entire PR success.

However, today, the 30 November, 2019, the territory of PR has been greatly resurfaced. 

How can PR satisfy the hunger of intensely competing companies popping up like toadstools in the middle of the forest of a digital consumer-driven global market after torrential rainfall? Gone are the days of writing and distributing press releases, then pitching media.

Defining Public Relations as a professional maintenance tool used in order to establish a favourable public image by a company, an organisation, or a famous person, is obsolete, out-of-date, and antique in its own right. 

A 2017 USC Annenberg Global Communications study showed that 87% of professionals believed the term “public relations” would not describe the same type of work they a in five-year stretch.

Additionally, 60% of marketing executives believes PR and marketing will become dramatically more aligned in the near future.

Today a Modern Day PR Expert has to be able to use a multi-channel approach to stimulate both journalists AND consumers with a compelling story-telling push/pull technique. Once all search engines and algorithms are conquered, the ultimate achievement is increased traffic, viral content, and online conversions. 

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WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE AIM OF PR?

What do you think?

Lets just stay with the most traditional avenue of PR: the printed magazine/newspaper. 

Is it to get you into glossy magazines? You can do that by paying one of the contributors a lump sum, pretending it is an “earnt” media piece not a commissioned one, and plaster it all over your social media wall. But what does it do for you apart from earning 500 likes and 200 comments of “Well done” and “Congratulations”? Once a magazine feature is published, you should have a sound strategic plan as to how that feature feeds into your overall marketing campaign and sales funnel and what you want to do with those people who end up in your pipeline as the result of this article. 

The ultimate aim of PR is to get third-party validation that you are the authority in your field in order to sell a particular product/service to your audience who trust you. 

Today’s consumers – be they looking for hotel accommodation, investment, self-development courses, a pair of shoes, a solar panel heating system, or the latest tech app - buy from “The Authority” who knows his craft, is a liked and popular personality on social media, stands out from the crowd, and is validated by “media, influencers, peers, friends, followers, connections”.

I am a full advocate that today’s PR has to be a Marketing-Sales-Communication Strategist with core skills of print and digital media. 

A PR campaign is taking an idea, using the right tools and right communication channels for the target audience who can engage and provide a feedback loop to the media sources and digital platforms. It is an evolutionary cycle. And a successful campaign is done when the Sales Department or Sales Team report that the sales target has been achieved. 

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FAME AND FORTUNE

Can PR get you into the limelight? 

Let’s pause here for a second. Which one do you think is true?

I can sell more products/my service if I am famous.

I become famous faster by selling more of my products/service.

Answer it is the comment section. 

Let’s be honest. No one wants to do business with you, collaborate with you, partner up with you, hire you, contract you, sponsor you, if you are not showing the public what you can do and how well you can do this. 

Some people assume if they are not famous, or at least already well-known in their close and intimate circles, they are not worthy of PR. Instead, they have to find a way to push their product via information channels to the right demographics; and boy, this is an ultra-Herculean task in the social jungle of product and information overload. This outbound advertising and “begging” will only lead to more struggle and disappointment when you end up with the best product and service, but you have no buyer, you have spent a fortune and there is no money left over for marketing anyway. 

Let’s go back to my original question. Can PR get you into the limelight? 

Of course, it can. And it will.

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MODERN DAY PR

Instead of struggling and spending more of your hard-strapped budget on product development and the latest website gimmicks with automation, have a look at where THE MODERN DAY PR can help you:

1. Content creation (written, visual, video, infographics, and more)
2. SEO Content Strategy
3. Launch Campaign (When your product/service finally comes on the market, you already have ready-to-go buyers on your doorstep)
4. Corporate communications
5. Coaching (A good PR excels at finding gaps and helping fill them in a resourceful way)
6. Media Relations (Yes, traditional media is still part of the picture, and now there are more alternatives in the forms of podcasts and social media “lives”)
7. Social media scheduling (A PR is a great social media user with outstanding results on own account LinkedIn or Twitter)
8. Reputation management (This is a must for any businesses)
9. Web Analytics (A PR should be able to analyse data)
10. Organised paid campaigns (Paid media fits into the PESO model, so the PR should be well capable of integrating the entire system) 
11. Influencer Outreach
12. Collaborations
13. Pitching to Investors, Sponsors, Publishers (Bragging about yourself may be difficult, let someone else do this job. A PR saves you the time in pushing these people with your endless information, and finds the best story and angle to pull the audience in) 
14. Sales Funnel Integration (How you will actually sell) 

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THE FUTURE

The future is bright. The future is MODERN DAY PR.

The impact of integrated PR with digital and social programs will find further ways to disrupt and innovate while media fragmentation is on the raise and the influence of social media continues to score higher as long as “Public remains present” in Public Relations. 

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To connect with me personally, please email [email protected].

About The Author

Mariett Ramm

Public Relations CommunicatePReneur. The Modern Day PR. Bestselling Co-author. Publisher. Editor. Social Content Writer. A woman behind her desk most of the time. If not, she travels for interviews, summits, and conferences. She is a leading Transformation Coach. Humanitarian. Empath. Goodwill Ambassador. Battersea London Dogs and Cats Supporter and proud owner of two Havaneses, Princess Tanta Minc and Sir Bruce.