PR in a Social Media World: What’s Changed?
Last week I had the opportunity to talk with two well respected editors from the automation industry, Walt Boyes, editor of Control Magazine and Gary Mintchell, editor of Automation World Magazine. I wanted to find about how PR is changing with social media from their point of view. Social media has opened up many new outlets for marketing and PR folks, and editors are actively participating in social media too. What has changed, if anything?
So we recorded a podcast interview with Walt and Gary about how this has affected their role as editors. Have things gotten easier or harder? Both editors have been blogging for years, they were ahead of that curve and have quickly adjusted to working with social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Here are a few of the questions we explored together:
- What is the single biggest thing that has changed in PR with social media networks?
- Blogging and apps like Twitter seem to be the first to break stories, does that change the way you get and treat news? Has the integrity of journalism changed with social media?
- How has pitching changed for vendors? Is there a difference between an online pitch and print pitch?
- Has editor accessibility changed from a PR point of view?
- What’s the best advice you can give to PR professionals when it comes social media and the press?
Download now to listen to the podcast: PR in a Social Media World
What I learned is that stupid is as stupid does in PR. Heck, Walt is known for calling out PR pros on the PR Wall of Shame. Sure, social media is changing the way we can share information. And there are many more outlets, that’s all good. But social media is not necessarily changing our relationships with editors and the press. Any good PR pro worth their salt knows that ALL relationships are important and care needs to be taken. Just because we have direct access to an editor or blogger’s Twitter ID doesn’t mean that’s the best way to pitch your idea. It could be, but every instance needs to be evaluated. PR professionals STILL need to take time to understand what an editor will be looking for and work from there.
The other take away I wanted to share here, without giving away the whole interview… is the role of blogging… and if you were thinking that it might be too late to start up a good technical blog, think again. More are wanted. Chop chop people….
If there are any follow on questions you want me to ask Walt and Gary, just add your comment below. We’d love to keep this conversation going.
Here are the blogs/links mentioned in this podcast:
Jim Cahill, EmersonProcessXperts Blog
Eric Murphy’s MatrikonOPC Blog
We need more editors like Walt and Gary in the world. They know their craft, they know their industry, they write well, and they are responsive.
Thanks Linda, you are so right! Walt and Gary are excellent editors and I so appreciate their style and approach. They definitely set the bar. They are two reasons why I like working in the automation industry.
Juliann, I thought you did a great job with open questions to let Gary and Walt run with their natural enthusiasm.
Any PR or communications person who does not listen to this podcast is really missing out on what they need to do to improve their PR efforts with the trade press.
This is just a snippet of the type of wisdom marketing and sales folks can get at the ISA Marketing and Sales event in September.
Keep these great, learning type podcasts coming!
Thanks Jim for your kind words! Both Gary and Walt are so generous with their thoughts/information, we are lucky to work with them. On your note about more “learning type podcasts”, that’s the plan – more are planned in 2010.
I’m open to suggestions on what information would be valuable for future podcasts, so anyone reading this feel free to leave a suggestion. Better yet, I’ll make a post about it.
Thanks again Jim, your compliments are very much appreciated.
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