Money Among the Things PR Firms Need In Order to Own Social Media

Stephanie Schwab, principal at digital marketing firm Stephanie Schwab Consulting, offers up three reasons why PR firms will have trouble winning the ongoing social media war on Social Media Explorer.

PR firms traditionally don’t get the lion’s share of marketing dollars, and social media requires money. PR firms “must be ready to create, pitch and win budgets that go well beyond the traditional PR pervue,” she writes.

Schwab also says that PR executives frequently aren’t the tech-savviest people on the block. While younger staff members and digital gurus are well-versed in different social media technologies, executives at the VP level and above need to add to their knowledge. “This will continue to be a huge hole for most agencies, and the shops that come around and get this will have a huge leg up on their competition,” she says.

Finally, PR firms are going to have to learn to talk about advertising. “[PR people] want to work in the world of earned media, not paid; however, without a social media ad spend, some social campaigns will fall short,” writes Schwab.

Your thoughts?

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