The Ethical Optimist

There was an interesting article in Gawker that caught my attention this week, and frankly, got me into a bit of a rant, which turned into a bit of a write.  It got me to thinking, “Does it hurt our industry when the big guys take advantage of clients?” (In the essence of full disclosure, I’m a little guy so I’m biased).

Big public relations firms like to talk about all their “resources,” and sometimes that actually equates to client value. But that doesn’t mean you should believe every claim they make about a new service or capability on which they claim some sort of expertise.

And that especially applies to social media.

I suppose PR is no more or less trendy than many other industries, but very trendy it can be! And since social media is all the rage, so too is the rush of claims from top-drawer PR firms that they can offer you a specialized practice to guide you through the world of social media.

I love social media, and yes, it can be a great business tool. (Then again, if it’s just a tool to re-connect with old friends and keep in better touch with current ones, there’s nothing wrong with that.) But the idea that some buttoned-down PR executive, or even some mid-level account executive in a professional blouse with a fashionable scarf around her neck, is an expert on social media? And they’re going to explain it to you?

OK. That’s hilarious.

You know who is an expert on social media? Try a little experiment. Go through your list of Facebook friends, and take a look at the profile pages of all the college-age people on your list. Check out how many friends each of them has.

I know. I have the same reaction: “I don’t know if I’ve even freaking met 1,217 people in my life, let alone have that many friends? How does Brianna do it?”

Brianna does it without even trying. It’s generational. She is part of a generation that excels almost instinctively at social media. I’d suggest it has a lot to do with what they haven’t learned, which is to think in terms of the limitations of old media, old technology and old ways of connecting with others.

The suits in the penthouse suit at your classic, white-shoe PR firm grew up accepting all those limitations. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn social media. It doesn’t even mean they can’t advise clients on it. But it strains credulity to think that they can develop some sort of specific expertise in it, especially one that justifies the offering of an entirely separate service for which clients are expected to pay a separate fee.

The PR industry certainly loves its add-on services, and has for years. Media relations is a standard service, but media training? That’s extra. Putting out your press release is standard, but really putting it out? As in, everywhere? That will require us to charge you a wire fee. (And will we mark that up? Wouldn’t you like to know?)

The PR industry has enough reputation challenges to overcome as it is. We already have to insist that the flack who explains away the polluted river as a good thing is not typical in the field. Firms only make it worse when they claim to offer some sort of special service in the field of social media.

As much as anything else, this is because pretty much everyone – even Brianna – is really just figuring out the true power of social media. Have you really accomplished an objective when you have 2,000 fans for your company’s page? Or is that just the beginning? Are you interacting with them as you should? Have you even thought through your objective in attracting these “fans” in the first place?

And does a fan page really make the best use of social media in the first place?

I know people who have more than 30,000 Twitter followers. That sounds impressive, but does anyone really know its business value? Granted, you could click through and read every one of their profiles (assuming you had about two months with nothing better to do), but does this really constitute any sort of relationship you can build upon – let alone capitalize?

If you find the answers to any of these questions, let me know. And let the big PR firms know too, because right now they’re just guessing along with all the rest of us.

I think a good strategy for the use of social media should be part of PR. It is PR. But it is certainly not some special service at which a bunch of big PR firm types have suddenly become experts. You’d be wise to make them come up with something a lot better than that before you give them any of your money.

Today, I thought I’d share an interesting story that notes some stats about trust and social media. Good reading for my fellow marketing pros!

Ouch! Social Media can hurt.  Just ask Ketchum VP James Andrews who got caught up in a social media whirl when he dissed Memphis, hometown of longtime Ketchum client FEDEX.

Andrews, who was in town for a social media training session apparently tweeted saying “”True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ‘I would die if I had to live here!’”

Okay, as one who’s traveled extensively (and who’s been to Memphis), it’s not the worst thing he could say.  Heck, if you’ve been to Memphis, you might say it yourself (unless you’ve been to Graceland).  It’s certainly not the crime of the century…but you’d never know it from the reaction of FEDEX employees who took the slight to their home town to heart and raised a ruckus.

Both Ketchum and Andrews were compelled to issue a public apology.  It seems a bit ridiculous that a comment many of us road warriors have issued under our breath is cause for a story in the Commercial Appeal, but there you have it…the power of social media in a politically (over)correct world. 

Can you imagine if W.C. Fields had posted his comment about Philadelphia on Twitter instead of his tombstone?  He’d be pilloried!

I actually have a great deal of sympathy for A