Letter to my readers: I am extremely happy – oh, okay thrilled then – to introduce you to a free report I’ve coordinated and edited: Public relations 2011: issues, insights and ideas. The report’s 15 articles discuss topics such as why PR agencies lead and in-house practitioners follow, why working in PR is a waste of space if you want to change organisations/society for the better, why more theory – not less – will benefit the industry and the fallacy of transparency being necessary for best practice PR.

The often edgy and opinionated perspectives and insights of some of the world’s leading public relations experts and PR bloggers will soon be available on a 2011 Public relations and managing reputation free report. The impact on issues management of social media, the building blocks of PR strategy (it’s not rocket science), why the teaching of theory in PR uni courses is essential and our industry’s dangerous, and often misguided, emphasis on Facebook are amongst the featured topics. The report’s discussions baulk at mouthing status quo platitudes. The accepted is rejected. Plain sailing is spurned for the allure of stormy waters, where the risk is greater but the excitement heightened.

In response to a recent post of mine on PR agencies’ lack of blogs, it was half-implied that public relations professionals don’t need to blog. Nothing could be further from the truth. Blogs are communication influence and thought leadership central when it comes to effective communication, social media or otherwise, and if PR professionals aren’t getting stuck into blog writing and management, they are yesterday’s news.

It is hard to see anything but social media being the tactical focus for public relations in 2011, but my guess is that most clients of agencies will still be allocating the bulk of their budget to media relations. I don’t think organisations, in general, are sophisticated enough yet to realise there is better ROI to social media than having stories in the media. But 2011 could be the year where this changes.

I was shocked and appalled to discover that most Australian PR agencies do not have blogs. Yet you can bet your bottom dollar that many, if not the majority, of these PR agencies are espousing their clients get on the social media bandwagon (doubtless based on a sincere belief in their clients’ best interests, but also doubtlessly to turn a buck for themselves). So why aren’t more PR agencies actively involved in such a core social media activity – blogging?

It is amazing how many people who work in PR, and how many agencies, do not have blogs. Their benefits are clear: enhancing reputation, credibility and word-of-mouth recommendations; SEO; and walking the Goddamn talk! It is less amazing – even if it is professionally sinful – that if you are a committed PR blogger like me you struggle to find the time to check your peers. Bearing this in mind, I would officially like to go some way towards repenting and recognise some of the excellent PR bloggers out there.

Mobile, hand held devices such as PDAs and iPhones are the future being manifested now for marketing and PR pros. Their use is on the way to swamping that of desk-bound computers and even laptops. For stakeholder engagement to occur effectively, communication professionals must customise their strategies and tactical means of communication to take heed of this development.

TV as we know it, or more specifically the networks themselves, is dead. But TV as a medium is not fatally wounded, Dan Ilic told Frocomm’s 2010 New Media Summit and a move from ‘network’ TV to ‘networked’ TV, such as peer-to-peer TV, is on its way. The predicted death of the networks is attributed to the high cost of broadcasting compared to the internet’s ability to offer cheap, and also live, viewing. But it is also the networks’ descent from flourishing cultural hubs to organisations lacking accountability, credibility, independence and creativity that has sealed their fate.

It is a fundamental part of any Facebook communication strategy to leverage the potential viral dimensions of content featured on the Page, said Edelman’s Matthew Gain at Frocomm’s 2010 New Media Summit. The more it lends itself to viral promotion (i.e. endorsement) the more fans will be attracted to the page (with all of the attendant benefits this can deliver).

This emphasises the need for a well thought out, long term and big picture content strategy. Issues to address include:
• What is the approach to the generation and usage of content across all communication mechanisms, for instance, including the corporate website?
• What communication platform gets the ‘exclusives’?
• I have even asked is PR missing the main digital game by focusing on social media and not the corporate website?

The key to engaging stakeholders through Facebook, said then Weber Shandwick’s, but now Edelman’s, Matthew Gain at Frocomm’s 2010 New Media Summit, is identifying existing communities where fans can be recruited, forming strategic alliances, leveraging off existing communication platforms and utilising Facebook advertising. This post focuses on tactical aspects of utilising Facebook for public relations results.