Max Gladwell

Public relations has lost its meaning. Are you looking for media relations, blog relations, or consumer relations?

The business of public relations (PR) used to be simple. You hired a firm that had relationships with editors and journalists…relationships that were built through the revolving door that is media and PR. The PR firm pitches your story to their friends in the media, which includes so much schoomzing and schwagging. You get stories written about your company or product, also known as “hits”, which raises your profile.

Except that this has never actually been “public” relations. The PR firm doesn’t work with the public. It works with the media, which makes it media relations. And in the Web 2.0 world, this distinction is more important than ever.

As far as we can tell, public relations is broken. On one hand you have these large, aging firms that don’t get blogging and Web 2.0. On another hand, you have those that are focused so much on blogs that they are valuing quantity over quality. And finally you have those that “get” Web 2.0 so much that they’re trying to make this simple business of publicity into something it’s not.

In the following, we’ll seek to break down what has been inappropriately labeled as “public relations” into its fundamental parts: media relations, blog relations, and consumer relations. As a company, you should know which one you’re getting, the impact it will have, how much it will cost, and your return on investment. Otherwise, you can book that PR retainer as a loss or unpaid debt. If you work in PR, this might also help save your job because PR is one of the first budgets to get cut in a down economy.

Our background in PR dates back to our first entrepreneurial venture in ’94. We didn’t hire a PR firm but rather earned coverage in the major consumer magazines in our industry, such as Men’s Journal and Bicycling, along with television appearances on ESPN and Fox Sports. We were running an adventure-travel outfitter that specialized in mountain biking. From there we jumped over to the journalism and editor side and experienced the work of Edelman, Hill and Knowlton, and other major firms, along with internal communications departments, as part of the media. We jumped back on the marketing side and managed two major firms–Sitrick and Company and Vollmer PR–for an alternative-energy client. Michael Sitrick is the crisis PR guru and literally wrote the book on spin. So we’ve seen our fair share of PR from all angles.

One of the first questions to ask yourself is whether or not you need a PR firm. Jason Calacanis doesn’t think so. His mini-manifesto on PR is excellent. Enjoy it for what it’s worth. We agree in many ways and have often mused that PR folk will be the travel agents of Web 2.0. The only problem is that we’re all not born to self promote, and it’s not necessarily something you can learn. PR is like accounting in that way. You can keep track of your receipts and maybe even keep your books in order. But it takes someone with training or natural-born talent to do the big stuff. Calacanis is a born publicist and self-promoter, and his principles are proven and sound. But your talents as an entrepreneur might be more valuable in other areas of the business, in which case investing in the right type of PR with the right person or firm makes perfect financial sense.

Today, every PR firm fancies itself as a social media firm or else they have a social media division or practice. In our experience, however, this just means they’re doing the same things they’ve always done, only with bloggers. So we have some suggestions about ways that firms and clients should look at the new PR landscape. We call it PR 3.0 not because it’s the next evolution but because there are three primary parts. And to poke fun at PR 2.0.

Media Relations

Since the dawn of mass media, this is what public relations has been about: print, radio, and TV. More recently, it includes mainstream online outlets that are run like traditional media, but these are typically a value add.

These mediums are still the primary channels of information and entertainment, and their value reflects this. Try pricing out ad rates in any national magazine or TV program. Then compare it to the CPM for blogs. Traditional media, especially in print magazines, is finite. You get anywhere from four to 52 issues each year. If your company is featured in one of these, it’s among a fairly select group. Compare that with the infinite universe of the blogosphere and online media. We’ll take a small mention in Wired magazine over a large mention in the blog equivalent any day. Because it’s not just the direct exposure but rather the privilege of having been featured in Wired. That’s where the true value of a big, mainstream hit is realized.

Generating this type of exposure, though, takes solid relationships. Try phoning or emailing the editor of Time or Vanity Fair. In fact, try picking the right editor to direct that call or email to. Not that it would matter, because you’d be wasting your time. That’s what you pay professional PR flaks to do. They get to know your story, craft a pitch, and call the editors and journalists that they (a) used to work with or (b) recently sent a bunch of free stuff to, most likely from a different client. Either way, they have access. PR flaks are to editors what lobbyists are to politicians. It’s not what you know but who you know, and that’s what a client ultimately pays for.

When you measure the ROI for traditional media, it’s typically pegged to equivalent ad rates and expressed as “media value”. There are accepted practices in PR for determining this, and the PR firm will give you a monthly report with a list of values and a bottom line. Hopefully it’s more than the retainer you paid.

This is media relations in a nutshell. It’s as old as newspapers, and it’s barely changed since. It’s not rocket science. It’s relationships. When it’s done right, it can be quite effective, and you can measure that success. In fact, there are performance-based PR deals that put rates on nearly every type of coverage. You only pay for what you get. We urge people to explore these, as they properly incentivize the PR firm to not waste your money.

Blog Relations

With the rise of blogs as significant influencers and trend setters, PR firms have embraced this new medium. It is another channel for reaching the public, for sure, but it’s a much different game than media relations. Though blogs are technically media, bloggers don’t necessarily see themselves that way. And when public relations firms lump bloggers in with their media relations, they do everyone a disservice, especially the client. So first of all, if you’re a PR firm that wants to promote a client to bloggers, don’t approach it like media relations. These are much different animals. And if you’re screening PR firms, make sure they know the difference. Just having a “social media practice” doesn’t cut it. This isn’t social media. It’s blog relations, and if a PR firm doesn’t know this, move on.

At Sitrick and Company, which specializes in media relations, they pride themselves on hiring journalists. Why? Because journalists know what it’s like to be pitched and hounded by PR flaks. They know what journalists like and don’t like. They know the level of skepticism and cynicism with which most self-respecting journalists view PR flaks. So they curb all of that crap and deal with their fellow journalists as a peer: once a journalist, always a journalist. So there’s a mutual respect. This is a reality that many PR firms don’t get, but it also translates into blog relations.

If you’re working for a PR firm and you’re tasked with doing “blogger outreach” or managing a client’s blog relations, the best thing you can do is to become a blogger. How simple, right? If you’re in PR, chances are you can write. You’re probably also somewhat of an expert in PR, so you might want to blog about that. Or if you have another hobby or passion, blog about that. If you want credibility and that sense of mutual respect from bloggers, become one of them (one of us). If not, then you’re wasting our time. Go back to media relations.

Beyond this, there’s plenty of banter about PR 2.0 and how it’s so different from, well, PR 1.0, whatever that was. In fact, the high-level differences are pretty subtle. As much as some people want to split hairs and argue semantics, it’s still publicity. It’s still a matter of pitching your client’s story to those who have an audience. You’re not curing cancer. You’re hustling stories. The true difference between mainstream media and blogging is the medium.

There’s been plenty written about the social media press release, which is essentially a different form of release that cuts to the chase and provides multimedia. In our opinion, it should be called a blog release. Because at the end of the day, it’s intended to make a blogger’s job easy.

It’s true that the traditional press release is ineffective for blog relations. It’s the wrong tool. Bloggers aren’t trained, by and large, in the AP style. They haven’t drunk the AP Kool-Aid, and so they look at these stodgy, formulaic documents with the robotic quotes and corporate-speak with an understandable level of WTF. The press release is a relic from the days of one-way communication: company feeds info to media; media feeds info to public. Blogging is a conversation, and so companies have to present their releases in a more authentic and conversational form. Furthermore, the blog release should be a living document that gets updated as that story unfolds in both the blogosphere and mainstream media.

But this isn’t the quantum shift that the preachers of PR 2.0 make it out to be. It’s simply a matter of understanding and adjusting to the medium. It’s clear that many PR firms don’t get this, but it’s not because it’s hard to get. It simply requires separating your firm’s blog relations from its media relations and never mixing the two. Especially when it comes to ROI.

This is where PR firms are really gaming the system. The currency in PR is the hit. And with the rise of blogs, PR firms have been able to generate many more hits with much less effort. After all, there are only so many newspapers and magazines, while there are millions of blogs. What’s more, many bloggers are just looking for good content to post. There are no hard costs involved. They don’t have to bump a story to fit it in. They don’t have to pitch it internally and run it through the editorial approval process. If you’ve done your job as a blog relations pro, you’ve packaged the blog release in such a way that a blogger has to do little more than copy and paste. (More reputable ones will write a largely original post.) This is clearly not as valuable as its print counterpart, and the ad rates and PR effort it takes reflect this: value in, value out.

And yet we’ve seen binders full of print-outs with all of the blog hits that a PR firm has produced for its client. As if to say, “Look at all the great coverage we’ve gotten for you!” The question is how much are these actually worth? What is the actual value and how is it being measured? What are the metrics? The problem is that not only are PR firms using media relations tactics in pursuing blog relations, thereby damaging their client’s reputations, but they’re trying to pawn off blog hits as just as valuable as media hits. Just because you print them and put them in a binder does not make them print coverage.

What seems to be happening is that these firms are putting interns and associates on blogger outreach for the firm’s low-priority clients, while the high-priority clients benefit from the senior-level relationships that one needs to do effective media relations. These low-priority clients are placated with binders full of blog hits, but to what end? Where is the value?

We’ve developed a system for measuring the value of blog hits that we make available to our clients. As PR skeptics, one of the roles we serve is to analyze our clients’ PR return and suggest adjustments. We know that PR is valuable and that quality media relations and blog relations can earn a significant ROI. Unfortunately, though, you can’t give PR firms an inch. They have to be clear on what’s expected and vice versa. You have to demand execution and performance. Otherwise, you’re wasting time and resources.

Consumer Relations

We use “consumer” for lack of a better term. This is closer to what we’d call social media, because it is a form of PR that puts the people of a company in direct contact with its customers and potential customers. In short, it humanizes a company and builds trust. This is PR 2.0. Unlike media relations and blog relations, customer relations has no go-between or middle man. No one to interpret and tell your story. No pitching and no racket. It is authentic and empowering and sometimes even risky. But the good will and value are second to none.

As a counterpart to customer service, where a company is typically responding to problems, consumer relations engages customers and the broader public in a more positive sense. It celebrates the product or brand and keeps everyone informed about developments, news, updates, and changes in a one-on-one format.

There are many ways to initiate and manage a consumer relations effort. A corporate blog is the easiest method, though it’s far from a one-size-fits-all formula. Corporate blogs require specific strategies with clearly defined dos and don’ts. The risks of corporate blogging increase in proportion to the size of the organization and should be weighed accordingly. That said, it’s one of the best ways to engage with your most dedicated customers and earn valuable feedback.

Companies can also build all manner of social networking applications, microsites, social networks, wikis, and other programs in an effort to engage directly with their customers, while allowing customers to engage with one another. This is participatory PR, which is the best kind when it’s done right.

We’ve often heard PR described as a necessary evil. No one likes paying for it, but everyone needs it. However, if you approach PR with a clear set of expectations. If you’re familiar with the different types of PR and how they function. If you don’t accept excuses but rather demand a return on your investment, PR can be an effective and profitable part of your business strategy.

We welcome comments from PR flaks, PR clients, and anyone who’s ever had a positive or negative experience with PR.

Update: This excerpt from The Cluetrain Manifesto is so brilliant and spot-on that we felt this piece was incomplete without it.

Ironically, public relations has a huge PR problem: people use it as a synonym for BS. The call of the flack has never been an especially honorable one. There is no Pulitzer Prize for public relations. No Peabody, Heismann, Oscar, Emmy, Eddy, or Flacky. Like all besieged professions, PR has its official bodies, which do indeed grant various awards, degrees, and titles. But do you know what they are? Neither do most PR people. Say that you’re an award-winning PR person and most people will want to change their seats.

Everyone — including many PR people — senses that something is deeply phony about the profession. And it’s not hard to see what it is. Take the standard computer-industry press release. With few exceptions, it describes an “announcement” that was not made, for a product that was not available, quoting people who never said anything, for distribution to a list of people who mostly consider it trash.

Dishonesty in PR is pro forma. A press release is written as a plainly fake news story, with headline, dateline, quotes, and all the dramatic tension of a phone number. The idea, of course, is to make the story easy for editors to “insert” in their publications.

But an editor would rather insert a crab in his butt than a press release in their publication. The disconnect between supply and demand could hardly be more extreme. No self-respecting editor would let a source — least of all a biased one — write a story. And no editor is in the market for a thinly disguised advertisement, which is the actual content of a press release.

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