And, only one of them. While direct marketing and public relations agencies swallow the gift that is social media, form new muscle, and wreak havoc on expanding client programs beyond traditional means, social media relations is only one of the many super foods we eat up every day.
SEO is another. Podcasting. Webcasting. And so on and so on. If you were to sit down and map out the universe of PR, it is expanding, and now involves a smorgasbord (had to look up the spelling of that one) of integrated elements, similar to how we entertain our palettes with a complementary selection of wine, food, and desserts. Yes, I am hungry now.
My data also indicates that as PR people - and those who are without carrying the official title - can strategize and execute a social media PR program with very little and generate great results for clients. But, of course, any good chef - still hungry - would admit that to make a certain dish, you must allow for the right amount of time.
And, results are subjective - oh, lots to talk about here - unless of course you and your client or company identified the objectives up front - and all forks are pointed forward. Social media for the sake of doing social media is at the sake of social media. Unless of course, you know you have to do (social media) - which you do - and you get creative with it, instead of sitting on your hands.
Or, creativity is simply identifying what your competitors are not doing with it, and doing it better, as you can easily find the best practices of most anything these days - on the Internet!
So, which super food is social media. They're not all equal. I think blueberries are one of the best. Walnuts are good too. It's been a long time since I've studied up on this stuff. My running days are long gone. Maybe it's worth applying this kind of thinking into how we strategize a PR program - push social media aside for a moment - and integrate SEO, social media, podcasting, webcasting, etc., all into the mix. Sound like too big a venture?
Probably so. But, nonetheless, worth the exercise. I think that while those blueberries may be the best thing on the super market shelf right now, it's not in excess, and, not without what else balances out that food with what else your body needs. Water, after all, makes up 70+ percent of your body. What kind of water are you drinking? Not drinking enough? Eating dark chocolate? Drinking one or two cups of coffee a day?
And, don't even get me started on what outside of the super food group will make you feel and look better aka exercise just the way advertising, direct marketing, and email marketing can blow your PR - and social media - program, most days...
I'll say it again - even though 55 percent of my current business is social media relations, my core business - media relations - is at 45 - and climbing. Just like any diet, I know what my vocational body needs. It needs to stick to the core of what is driving everything else. The PR objectives are the same, the tools are what's changing.
Maybe one day social media relations will be a significant majority of my PR practice, but PR will still be at the core of my practice, just akin to water being at the source of my life - without it, I would die.
