Reader Question: How Is Social Media Changing PR Jobs?
April 8, 2010
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Kendall Winstanley, a North Hastings High School student in Bancroft Ontario asks:
I am a student in grade 12 who is interested in a career in public relations. I am planning on going to Durham College in the fall for PR. Currently, I am doing a report on public relations professionals and how social media is affecting how their job is performed. I read your blog and was hoping that you could give me some more insight into the topic, so I can fully understand it and give the correct information.
First off, congratulations on choosing PR as your field of choice. You couldn’t have picked a better industry. Not only is it a rewarding and challenging field, there’s data which shows the industry is growing, a nice backup for your decision. Employment of PR professionals is expected to increase 24% from 2008 to 2018, a much higher growth rate than the average occupation according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With that said, 18% of respondents to a recent Digital Readiness Report said they have no interest whatsoever in traditional PR. And, for the vast majority of respondents, knowledge of social networks (80%), blogging, podcasting and RSS (87%), and micro-blogging (72%) is either important or very important when it comes to PR and marking hiring.
Further, last year’s PEW survey noted more people rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers, and nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (59%) say they get most of their national and international news online (an identical percentage cites television).
Taken together it’s clear: much (if not all) of the increasing demand of PR professionals will come from those fluent in digital skills.
To get to the question: how is social media changing PR jobs? I’ve actually answered this in quite a few posts, such as:
- 10 Skills All PR Pros Need For 2009 And Beyond
- Why Use Social Media For Public Relations
- 3 Steps for Effectively Using Social Media For PR
- Is Your PR Agency SEO & Social Media Savvy?
- Matt Cutts Is Representative Of Next Generation PR
- How To Choose An Online Marketing Or PR Agency
But I’m just one person, and since many reading this are also active practitioners, I think the community can help Kendall even more.
So today I’m turning the blog over to readers here as many of you live and breathe PR. If you have an insight to share, leave an answer sharing one way you see how social media is changing PR jobs.
image credit: Stephen Aaron Rees via Shutterstock
Jennifer Kutz replied | Apr 8, 2010 (4 comments)
In the relatively short time I’ve been doing PR, I’ve seen social media change my job in quite a few ways. I would say one of the biggest changes I have encountered is around client expectations. Clients now demand that we as PR pros possess both in depth knowledge of social media and its various pieces (blogs, social networks, video sites, etc) plus real experience with implementation of social media marketing tactics. And by experience I don’t just mean having a Facebook account. They expect we have planned and executed on more than one social media campaign and are asking for measurable results.
Times are a changin’, indeed…
Arik Hanson replied | Apr 8, 2010 (9 comments)
I’d echo Adam’s comments about how social media is changing the skill set of tomorrow’s PR pro. In fact, I’ve blogged about it, too (http://www.arikhanson.com/2010/02/24/what-does-tomorrows-pr-pro-look-like/)
However, I think another way it’s impacting our industry is how *we* consume and filter information. I just talked to a colleague last week who said he reads upward of 400 blogs a month. 400! The speed of information has changed drastically the last few years. We either need to learn how to keep up–or, we’ll be left in a fairly large and choppy wake.
@arikhanson
Bayard Saunders replied | Apr 9, 2010 (1 comment)
Here’s what some folks from Microsoft, Comcast, HP and Altimeter had to say on the subject at a SXSW panel… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyFtWeF8t1c
Paul replied | Apr 10, 2010 (1 comment)
In my opinion Social Media is changing PR jobs because it can offer so much more than simple awareness around a brand; it drives direct action through backlinks, which in turn raises page rank, and creates influencers. And with content being such driver of action on the web, social media becomes the perfect outlet. A modern day PR firm simply has to have digital and social media skills to do their jobs effectively in the 21st century. That said, Id love to hear everyones opinions, particularly if they differ widely from mine.