Favorite Quotes from Putting the Public Back into PR

Since I just finished Putting the Public Back into Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge, I am trying something new with regards to sharing my thoughts about the book.  There may be a few more posts talking about the book in the future, but for the book is highlighted and I am revisiting all the highlights to pull out my favorite points for discussion and emphasis.  Here are a few of my favorites just in the first 50 pages.  The book is well worth reading especially if you are a PR professional, but even if you are just getting into social media and trying to get a feel for the New Media landscape today.

“Great PR has always been about telling stories in a way that makes people identify with like-minded individuals to share information and build strong relationships.” — p. xx, Preface, Public Back into Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge

Stories are everything.  I am reminded of Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind, that drills this point home in his story about selling wine and if I tell you the story here I will ruin it for you, so if you’re interested read or even better, LISTEN to the book.

“Broadcasting your “message” to your audience with top-down PR campaigns no longer works in New Media.  You have to engage people through the diverse segments that represent your target markets.” — p.14, Public Back into Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge

In other words, know your audience and not just how old they are, where they live and how much income they earn, but really know them.  Know where they spend their time, what they like, how they participate in social media, what they do at work and at home.  Know how they think and what makes them engage in conversation.

“New PR is about people and relationships, not just new tools… PR in the era of Socialized Media requires a fusion of traditional PR, Internet marketing, Web-savvy market intelligence, and the ability to listen and engage in conversations without speaking in messages.” — p.35, Public Back into Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge

Since I started my career in PR and am now in Internet marketing, this quote makes me feel like I am in the right place to listen and engage.

Have you read the book?  What do you think?

Social Media Spending Predicted to Grow by 34% In 5 Years

From today’s PR 2.0 post by Brian Solis today, The Decline of Traditional Advertising and the Rise of Social Media, we see that Forrester Research is predicting strong growth in Social Media and Mobile advertising spending over the next five years.

Social Media spending is predicted to grow by 34% from $716 million in 2009 to a forcast $3,113 million in 2014. Advertising on mobile devices is expected to grow by 27% from $391 million in 2009 to $1,274 in 2014.

Why is this no surprise?

  1. Social media is more easily accessibly on mobile devices
  2. Mobile devices are more accessible (read cheaper) to own than laptops and desktop computers, so more people have them.
  3. What do you carry with you all the time? Your keys, your wallet and…. that’s right, your cell phone.
  4. People are much more accustomed to getting information anywhere anytime, than having to wait to look it up at a specific location, like a library, newspaper stand or even their own desktop computer.
  5. People are much more mobile, traveling more frequently, because being away from the office doesn’t mean being disconnected from work.
  6. Your mobile device is personal and social media keeps you connected with all your friends, colleagues and the relationships that make your world go round.
  7. Mobile application development is rampant.
  8. Smaller is better (i.e. carrying a phone instead of a laptop) and your phone is not just a phone – it’s also your email, your SMS, your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, web browser, your music and almost anything else you want to use it for.
  9. Attention spans are getting shorter and quick messaging is en vogue
  10. Your mobile device is the only thing an advertiser can be pretty sure paying attention to when you’re available to receive information
  11. Because everything is digital it’s much easier to track usage, trends and customer behavior online than it was with traditional media and this leads to innovative ways to personalize information so that it is valuable to each consumer.

If you’re not participating in social media yet, jump right in. As Brian says “Participation is Marketing” and you have to participate first as a person (not a marketer) in order to understand the medium and how to work within it.

Putting the Public Back into PR

I highly recommend Putting the Public Back in to PR by Brian Solis and Deidre Breckenridge. The marketing field is evolving and you need to know how to keep pace with it.