Will Social Media Kill the PR Star?

A recent post by Jennifer Leggio at ZDNet discussed the recent Horn Group-sponsored panel "Is Social Media Killing PR?".

According to Jennifer, while she doesn't think social media is killing PR, she believes it exposes a weakness in the industry that has always been there: "too much focus on dialing for dollars and not enough focus on making PR stretch to support real business initiatives." She, along with the panel who presented, believes that PR should not just be about editorial calendars and award applications, but about the client's business model. I agree with this sentiment.

When I graduated with my BA in PR back in 2002, we didn't have the social tools prevalent today, but we also didn't have to take any business classes outside of marketing. In fact, the College of Communications was on the opposite side of campus from the business college. If PR is going to adapt and become an extension of the business model, it needs to grow organically, beginning with colleges. Communications students need to understand how business models work, much the same way business students need to understand how to be an effective communicator.

So if PR is going to evolve and maximize the benefits of social media, practitioners are going to have to look beyond the traditional facets of PR and into a holistic blend of business and communications. Jennifer discussed some good tactics including asking clients about their revenue model, sales structure and market share. I'd add that practitioners should take a proactive approach to learning general business. Take classes at your local community college just to get the basics, so that when you really understand your client's business model.