Are You in the PR Dark Ages?

[Jason Kintzler]

On any given day, I have the opportunity to chat with PR pros from around the globe. Sometimes these practitioners are technologically savvy, but most times they're not. Truth is, the majority of them have been pumped full of webinar statistics that mean absolutely nothing to their company or client's bottom line. They've learned to choose numbers on a spreadsheet over genuine engagement and actual sales or attendance.

I've come to the conclusion that as a result of "new PR technologies" like keyword optimization and mass distribution, our industry as a whole has suffered. Who is to blame? Well, everyone really.
If you find yourself saying, "I sent my press release at 90,000 journalists today," and believe that's good PR - you might want to read on.

While the top-down news distribution model has been blown to pieces, the top-down PR distribution model has managed to hang on a little longer. The fact is, traditional PR distribution relies on your audience going to traditional news outlets to find your content. But what happens when the audience stops going to the news outlets? What happens to the top-down distribution model then?

It's time to change your focus and tighten your client's PR budget line item. These days, it's about going after the engaged few - a smaller, more targeted group of friends, fans and followers who offer your brand organic exposure. These people, in addition to bloggers and journalists, help your content become far more viral than the traditional press release ever could.

How could this work? Check out this example of how Jackson Kayak used PitchEngine (from the San Francisco Chronicle).

You might be headed for the PR Dark Ages if:

1) You spend more time on lists than content
2) You look for the "easy button"
3) Your headline is a string of optimized keywords that don't make a sentence
4) You "dry fire" a press release without any context or actual media contacts
5) You email (or fax) your attached press release to more than 30 journalists at once
6) You broadcast your PR
7) You're not reaching influencers who care about your client's brand, organization or event
8) Your client has no friends, fans or followers
9) You think hashtags are the three things that signify the end of a press release
10) You think 90,000 journalists actually read your content
11) You think a Social Media Release is a Press Release with sharing icons on it
12) You publish a release, "because you have to"
13) You use social media as a "channel" for your press release
14) You don't follow @briansolis @chrisbrogan @skydiver or @PRSarahEvans on twitter
15) You're not taking market share away from ad agencies by introducing social media to your clients
16) You've never used PitchEngine to create content designed for the social web

Share this post: http://bit.ly/uwAfd
Follow me on Twitter: @pitchengine