It's Time to Go the Distance

This afternoon I had lunch with Tony Perkins from AlwaysOn. We discussed his new project - GoingOn - and so much more. One thing Tony and I agreed on is that the marketing community has got 75% of social media mastery under its belt. They conceptually get its importance, how it evolves marketing from a monologue into a dialogue and the importance of listening. What they don't get is the last 25% - how to put this into action immediately. They don't know how to subscribe to RSS feeds and, what's more, develop conversational marketing programs. This is where the money will be made.

This was very consistent with a conversation I had last week with Andrew Bernstein from Cymfony. Andrew's seeing a lot of demand for Cymfony's Consumer Insights tools, but he's frustrated that he can't help them go the distance. He wants to help them master the last 25%. But, you see, that's not his job. Cymfony and others like Intelliseek give their clients lots of rich data and insights but they don't tell them what to do with that information. That's our job.

Now I am biassed, but this is where I think the public relations agencies come in. This is our brass ring. Let's grab it. There will be enough business to go around for all of us. We're not competitors. We're partners. We need to really help marketers understand how to put this into action. That's why I was critical of Edelman's survey. Like everything else, all it did was just give marketers more data.

What we need to do is teach. We need to show PR professionals, media buyers and others how to read RSS feeds. We need to help them get immersed in writing blog posts so they get a feel for what works/doesn't. We need to show them how to monitor blog search feeds and then, appropriately, respond. Believe me, I would love to do this myself and see my agency win the lion-share of dollars here. But I can't. This is too big. We need to do this together guys.

The answers are not found in more surveys, seminars, webinars, trade magazine articles, conference calls and live events. That's for sure. That's all “75% thinking.” We need to go the distance through immersion. Actual blogging is one way to go. We need hands-on walkthroughs. We need to show our clients and teams - either one-on-one or en masse - how to get involved. We need to offer on-the-job training.

The situation isn't going to get any better. Earlier this year I had dinner with Kathy Cripps from the Council of Public Relations Firms. She told me there's a talent shortage crisis in PR. We need to recruit and keep good people. Teaching them new skills - like how to survive and thrive in an increasingly important distributed media world - is a big part of this.

Some folks (ahem) say that as - arguably - one of the PR industry's most outspoken opinion leaders I don't defend it enough. I don't stand up for what needs to be done, they say. That's fine. Now I am! The time for analysis paralysis is over everyone. Another Global PR Blog Week - as noble as it is - is not going to cut it. It's time we throw our talent pool into the blog mudpit and teach them how to swim before they drown. So what should we do? Here are three ideas...

1) Hands-on Workshops: PRSA, Ragan, the IABC, PR Week and other organizations need to start running hands-on industry workshops - not just panels with bloggers. Memo to my friends at these organizations. This is money you're leaving on the table. Start renting rooms that have computers and wifi, not pens and pads.

2) Integration: Let's not do what we did back in the 1990s where we had lots of agencies with interactive divisions that had no connection to the mother ship. We need integration. We need to have every PR practitioner thinking about how they might use these tools in their current campaigns. Give blogs, RSS, podcasts just as much thought as press releases and pitch letters. I put this responsibility squarely on the PR professionals who are running PR campaigns. Innovate!

3) Encouragement: There's no easier way to get people learning about blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, tagging, etc. than to get them to try it. Hill and Knowlton's effort is exemplary. But it's a first step. We need to get more agency heads blogging. By having his own blog, Richard Edelman is on the right track here, but collectively we need to get more of our corporate siblings into the pool. At a we need to teach them how to make RSS reading part of their workaday. At CooperKatz we're there, but we have further to go too.

So what else should we do? Remember - think participation and indoctrination, not just education. I am using Writeboard as a collaborative tool and I love it. I would like to invite Richard Edelman and Phil Gomes from Edelman, Tom Biro from MWW, John Bell from Ogilvy PR, Niall Cook from H&K, Richard Cline from Voce and other “new media” gurus from the PR agency world (including PR Week and other organizations) to join me on a private Writeboard wiki where we can brainstorm some joint action initiatives to immerse PR pros. Then we can take these concepts and present them to a larger group to weigh in. Who's with me?

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