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Was in a meeting today and the topic of ’social media’ came up, again… It got me thinking about all of the opportunity and work being done by folks in the communications field - but to date, a number of organizations haven’t had the chance to see any of their benefits due to the need for immediate visibility/ROI (see sales).  YES ink is good - YES communities are good, but at the end of the day, people spending money with you and that have a budget being watched closely these days want to see their name in print (do I think that is correct, no - but is it true, in my humble opinion, yes). We in the PR industry know and understand the value of social media tools - but it is getting the client up to speed on its value and need is what takes some time and patience from organizations today.

We as an industry need to understand and realize that there is more of an opportunity out there today and that we have to put our clients in front of it. By finding some balance between traditional and social media tactics, I think you’ll see the most positive results.

As I have been reading in the trades, Twitter and blogs, organizations need to see the value (read into revenue) from social media tools/campaigns in order to accept it fully. Will it come, yes, but for now we need to use our industry smarts and insight to convince them that “if you build it, they will come” - someone already said that right?

WIth the economy still trying to find its way, we in the PR industry are faced with proving our value on a regular basis because a lot of times there are decisions made within our clients organization that even our marketing contacts aren’t aware of. So what we’re doing with a lot of our clients today is the traditional media relations, analysts, messaging, speaking engagements, etc. but we’re also extending our value and services by helping our clients reach the niche communities who end up being - ta da - their real customers, the end users. There are many tools that your company and your PR team can utilize to reach these audiences and market yourself right to them - so don’t get stuck in the traditional need to do A, B, and C public relations program. Open it up a bit and use your agency to open new doors and avenues for you - now is the time to try something new because each day we see more changes and who knows what tomorrow will bring. So talk to your PR team and get their thoughts on what else they can be doing to help further your position or to get that unique spotlight put on the company.