Six Reasons Why Only PR Should Manage Your Online Content

By Peter Boyes

1. We know how to tell the right stories to the right people

 All media relations, but especially social media needs our unique skills in the creation, stewardship and ability to share engaging and relevant stories with the appropriate audiences. Whether you call it content marketing or brand journalism it is a core function of what we do.

Public relations is about telling our clients’ stories using a range of carefully chosen communication styles and media. We have to be great journalists. Social media is another way to tell and share your stories. It is not an IT function or an advertising copywriter’s blank sheet.

2. We are strategic communicators.

Just because ‘technology’ is involved it doesn’t mean that IT people, or video producers or ‘digital experts’ are the right people to handle an organisation’s strategic communications. An understanding of visual storytelling is needed but the paramount importance of words cannot be underestimated in social media. Social media is another form of conversation and conversations are essentially about using words effectively, then listening to the response and reacting accordingly.

Public relations is about effective conversations. We have to be experienced writers, editors, proof-readers and listeners. These are the essential skills for blog posts, tweets, status updates, and online debate.

3. We understand what is relevant for your business.

Social media is not just about random posts that interest the poster. It is about supporting an organisation’s strategic business objectives. To do that posting has to be timely, interesting, and relevant. There is a Goldilocks factor, not too much, not too little, not too bland, not too blatant.

Public relations is about understanding when to say something and when not to. We are experienced in creating content relevant to a specific audience. If we are pitching to a journalist, or your clients, politicians or key opinion leaders, talking to your staff or your customer base, we know how to tailor the type, tone and topic of the content we share.

Yes social media provides us with excellent tools to measure our interactions and better understand our publics and communicate with our stakeholders. But it is only one part of a complicated series of interactions all of which are important in maintaining your social networks and meeting your customers’ expectations of you.

4. We are experienced in building and maintaining relationships.

At the very core of PR practice is the development of fruitful relationships for our clients through effective communications, whether that is with journalists or stakeholders. Many of these professional relationships are maintained by phone, email and now social media. To do that we need to understand your business intimately.

Social media is all about understanding and maintaining those relationships. That is not the role of IT people, ‘digital experts’, website developers or advertising executives. Only public relations has the complete skill set to manage relationships with people we have never met, find accurate information quickly, and meet customer service expectations.

5. We are the issues managers.

Public relations practitioners are highly trained in issues management and crisis communications. It is our job to be aware of issues that are sensitive for you and your business. These are the skills required to identify and manage a social media crisis. At these times you must get your organisation's point of view into the conversation as fast as possible, answer any questions, correct misinformation, and be as helpful as possible. PR is the best agency to handle reputation management within the essential but potentially dangerous digitally viral environment.

6. We are the ears.

Our longstanding experience is getting feedback about our clients' reputations is easily transferred to social media. We know which questions to ask and when and of whom. And most importantly we know how to use that information to inform future communications, create positive organisational change, and improve customer experience. There’s nothing more deadly to an organisation’s profile than surveying or asking questions of its audience and then not using that information to deepen the relationship. Yet with most online surveys, that is what happens every time.