What’s does the future hold for PR?

I recently read a truly interesting article written by a social media specialist who predicted that traditional PR will in fact ultimately become extinct due to the rise of social media. It’s an interesting viewpoint for sure and makes much sense to me as someone who understands all the pros of social media and online PR over traditional PR.

There’s no denying that printed press is in huge decline - isn’t this what many ‘old skool’ PR agencies rely on for gaining coverage for their clients and charging large retainers for? In 5 – 10 years when it finally disappears (and it will) where will those traditional PRs be I ask you?

The article suggested that roughly 70% of today’s PR firms will not survive the onslaught, whilst 30% will reposition themselves and learn new skills to adapt to the rapidly changing communication channels.

It’s not just about Twitter and Facebook (which astonishingly many UK PR professionals believe), there are indeed thousands of tools out there and the list will grow ten fold over the next 24 months as software developers cash in on this industry, which needs all the help it can get at the moment.

An interesting point made in the article was that ‘Companies with the Largest Number of Professional Bloggers Will Win’. Now, if you don’t understand much about social media and you are in PR this probably won’t make much sense to you – but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it – far from it in fact. What it means is that ‘web content is the future of SEO and attracting those all important prospects for your clients’. Your writers will be your most prized possession. Your clients will at some point in the next 24 months integrate a blog into their websites (or they certainly should do) and they will need well optimised engaging content for it to be a success. This opens up a whole new opportunity for savvy PR firms who are often brimming with good writing talent and ex-journalists.
One thing’s for sure and that is the PR firms that either blag the fact they are experienced at social media marketing OR either continue to put their heads in the sand won’t be with us for very long.