PR in a Social Media Age
I think that people have had to tighten there belts and do more with less. Because of this, PR has had a chance to show that it can be a great way to promote a business cost effectively.
I think that the rise of social media as a PR tool is what is driving the PR renaissance in Canada. People are now much more involved with PR related ideas and events. The rise of Social media as an alternative form of marketing has made a big difference to the PR industry.
The ability to track and monitor PR through social media sources has enabled the industry to bring a lot more interesting data to the table. Street level events, trade shows, business events or event a “flash mob” get a lot of attention and instant feedback from people’s camera phones, Tweets and Facebook Walls.
People will react and post the wearied and unusual events or sightings by posting an image or short report instead of calling a friend. This is because the distribution of that cool sighting or mini-reports can be more efficiently distributed through their social media platforms and the creator of the content will get faster and better feedback. This is what drives the new Viral media content that keeps our social media platforms busy with new stuff to consume.
What is needed are more PR agencies that specialize in these platforms so that they can supercharge there PR campaigns with live feedback from people responding to “twitter blasts” and “Facebook Wall Posting”.