My five PR resolutions for 2012
Resolution blog posts get plenty of bad press. Mainly because they often become a vain attempt to state the obvious or do the impossible by trying to predict what might or might not happen in the next 12 months.
But the 'resolution process' can be a cathartic one and, despite the fact that resolutions are often forgotten after 31 days, if nothing else it helps focus the mind on the task in hand.
So I thought I'd take a slightly different slant and, rather than predict or set industry-wide resolutions, I'll share with you the five things that, professionally, I'm going to try and focus on over the next 12 months.
The end of tech blogging?
Over the festive break, Jeremiah Owyang, analyst at Altimeter Group, caused a bit of a stir with a post claiming the golden era of tech blogging is over.
PR's crisis of confidence as it looks to define itself (again)
There's nothing more predictable than the PR industry's constant urge to 'define itself'. So today, true to form, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has announced that it is to develop a new 'modern definition' of PR (again).
How social are you? Five steps to the perfect social strategy
I have a firm belief that in five to ten years time, we’ll no longer refer to media as ‘social’. That’s because everything we do will be social by its very nature.
We’re already seeing social functionality dominate much of what we do online, from shopping, consuming news to listening to music. But how equipped are brands to cope with this uber social future?
PR has a big role in joined up marketing, but can it step up?
Joined up marketing should be a reality for every type of business these days, and as more companies realise the benefits a joined up approach will bring, PR should be perfectly positioned to play a key part.
But this will only happen if the industry takes steps to revolutionise itself and portray its changing position and capability to the wider marketing industry.
Five reasons Facebook should still care about location
There has be all manner of speculation and rumour circulating over the last week or so about how exactly Facebook is going to approach the whole 'location' issue after seemingly shutting down its Places and Deals sites.
But much of the evidence suggests Facebook is even more focused on location now that it has been to date.
As I've already suggested, the latest feature updates Facebook rolled out recently actually puts location in a more prominent position; right in front of every user, every time they post a status update. And Facebook has been very clear that 'check-in deals' won't be disappearing anytime soon either.
The move towards social 2.0: mirroring our offline and online social behaviour
The launch of Google+ has caused quite a stir in the ‘digital community’ with many viewing it as a potential game changer while others see only a desperate, and ultimately futile, attempt to try and combat the seemingly unstoppable Facebook juggernaut.
Whether Google+ succeeds or fails, only time will tell. But, for me, some of the subtler – and indeed less subtle – features in this new network points towards a change in our approach to social networking and online social behaviour in general.
New Year's resolutions for the PR industry
Rightly or wrongly, the PR industry has taken a lot of stick over the last year. Allegations that it has fallen behind in the race to ‘own’ social media may or may not be true. But, in an industry that has built itself on perceptions, there is work to be done to ensure it remains a key weapon in any marketing arsenal.
So, given the time of year, I’ve been thinking about five New Year resolutions that the PR industry should consider for 2011.
The social media backlash
At times in the last few years, especially in digital marketing circles, it has seemed as though social media has ruled the world.
However, I’m beginning to sense increasingly suspicion and scepticism in the conversations I have with colleagues and clients.
Seven steps to nailing the perfect social media guidelines
With more and more companies flocking to Twitter, Facebook and the rest, brands that want to take social media seriously and start getting wider internal involvement should consider putting together some social media guidelines.
This will ensure you get the most out of your social media efforts by giving employees the freedom to really get stuck in.
