Are You Talking to Me?
By Brian Solis, blogger at PR 2.0 and principal of FutureWorks PR, Co-Author Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and Now Is Gone
I’ve been spending a fair amount of time touring the world in support of my ideas and thoughts on the direction of new PR, branding, service, and marketing communications. My reward and inspiration to continue is sourced from each person I meet and the experiences and challenges they share. I’ve learned that our greatest hindrance to evolve is not our unwillingness to do so, our indoctrination in new media and communications is truly obstructed by the executives to whom we report and serve.
I see it in the eyes of those communications professionals so willing and anxious to learn. The future of marketing, communications, and media indeed lies in their ambition and dedication to originating and practicing more ethical and meaningful strategy and engagement. Our journey is often diverted by the mistakes of those individuals who have yet to realize that their beliefs and methodologies are archaic, ineffective and inevitably ruinous.
Acceptance is the first step to recovery.
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Realizing that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to relevance is the second step. That “power” in this case is the recognition of “who” we serve and attempt to help.
The fundamental flaw with almost every marketing initiative is in its conception. Who it serves and seeks to appease is habitually off target.
The top-down routine that holds many business and marketing executives captive is the reality of the infrastructure, rules, and reward parameters we define. And, while they may lead to profitability, their effects can also lead to the degradation of perception, value, and worth associated with “marketers” and “PR” as industries.
Deservedly?
Sometimes.
Necessary?
No.
There is no one formula for driving profitability.
A changing of the guard is due and it starts with the cognizance of to whom we serve and report. While technically, we answer to our business leaders and the board that governs their activity and performance, when we embrace anything with an outward focus, we must recognize and acknowledge our customers, peers, and prospects – in their voice, words, and sentiments. Doing so, changes everything. Case in point…
Good friend, Robin Wauters over at TechCrunch recently wrote a poignant and revealing post that chronicled the latest in a seemingly endless history of frustrations with press releases and the hyperbole and incoherency rife throughout many.
His post served as a clever plea to strike unnecessary and overused words from press releases including, but not limited to:
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
1. Leading, Leader 2. Best, Most, Fastest, Largest, Biggest 3. Innovative, Innovation 4. Revolutionary 5. Award-Winning 6. Disruptive, Disruption, (added: Market Disruptor) 7. Cutting, Bleeding Edge 8. Next-Generation 9. Strategic Partnership 10. Synergy
And of course, David Meerman Scott has also published The Gobbledygook Manifesto. At the very least, this clever and helpful guide should serve as required reading for anyone in marketing and communications. Copies should also appear anonymously on the desks of those executives to whom either intentionally or unconsciously inpire and sign off on these useless documents. Honestly, who speaks this way? Remember, before we’re marketers, we’re human beings and consumers. We don’t communicate with our friends, peers, and family in this language. Yet, we reinforce these stereotypes with every piece of marketing collateral and press release we write and distribute.
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Expectations funnel both ways.
Command in one way.
While press releases are only one of the tools we use to communicate our story, they processes and methodologies that regulate their creation and distribution are shared throughout organizations in almost every outbound marketing program. Everything starts by answering one question, “W ho am I trying to reach?”
The second and third questions create a domino effect and places us on a path to relevance, “What’s important to them and how can we help?”
The third and fourth are related to social science as it helps us embody empathy and create meaningful stories that resonate, “What are their pains/challenges and how and where do they seek resolution?”
It may seem commonsensical, but perhaps recognizing that common sense is uncommon in communications is half the battle. Transforming the infrastructure to support effectual, sincere, and
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
consequential outward communication and engagement is the first stop in social relevance and market stature. Your job is to make me care… Please also read “Reviving Traditional Press Releases” and “The Evolution of Press Releases.”
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Brian Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media. He actively contributes his thoughts and experiences through speaking appearances, books, articles and essays as a way of helping the marketing industry understand and embrace the new dynamics fueling new communications, marketing, and content creation. Solis is Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning PR agency in Silicon Valley. Solis blogs at PR2.0, bub.blicio.us, TechCrunch, and BrandWeek. Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club and is a founding member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup. Solis has been actively writing about new PR since the mid 90s to discuss how the Web was redefining the communications industry – he coined PR 2.0 along the way. Solis is considered an expert in traditional PR, media relations, and Social Media. He has dedicated his free time to helping PR professionals adapt to the new fusion of PR, Web marketing, and community relations. PR 2.0 has earned a position of authority in the Technorati blog directory and currently resides in the top 1.5% of indexed blogs. BrianSolis.com is also ranked among the most influential blogs in the Ad Age Power 150 listing of leading marketing bloggers. Working with Geoff Livingston, Solis was co-author of “Now is Gone,” a new book that helps businesses learn how to engage in Social Media. He has also written several ebooks on the subjects of Social Media, New PR, and Blogger Relations. His next book, co-authored with Deirdre Breakenridge, “Putting the Public back in Public Relations,” is now available from FT press. Connect with Solis on: Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, Social Median, or Facebook --Subscribe to the PR 2.0 RSS Feed
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis