You Can't Afford Not to Afford PR

BohlsenPR is, at its core, a traditional PR firm. Collectively, we’ve got more than a hundred years of experience among us. Some of us are even—gasp!— in our 40s. So when we talk about PR, a lot of “I remember when” and “It’s just amazing how” conversations take place. (Some of us remember copying, folding and stuffing press releases to mail them bulk rate from the post office.)

Some of us might be near-dinosaurs, but at BohlsenPR, we practice the philosophy that social media is more about sociology and psychology than technology. We need to understand what makes our clients and their audience(s) tick so we can create and conduct integrated communication plans.

Rarely do we tell clients that social media is not for them, but sometimes we do. Never do we tell clients that social media is the only way to success; we might as well put them in a chaise lounge and ask, “How do you feel?” Even though they may say, “But everyone is doing social media!” or “We don’t have the resources to do it,” we don’t always respond with a nod and an empathetic “We understand.” We tell it like it is.

More and more, we’re finding that so much of our success with traditional media outreach plays into the success of a social media campaign, and vice versa. And you don’t need expensive tools anymore. Today, you can’t afford not to afford PR.

Consider the following:

• In “the old days,” we might have suggested a Video News Release (VNR) to a client. Now, anything video-related can be cross-collateralized over traditional and social media. You can spread a message in any video quality among a gazillion broadcast possibilities and, at the same time, across many social media networks. Cost savings—check.

• Sometimes we’d recommend a client maximize the VNR by also investing in a Satellite Media Tour. No need for this anymore. All that’s needed now is YouTube, Vimeo, and some links to here, there and everywhere. Cost savings—check.

• You say subscriptions are down at local newspapers and you’re not sure who reads them anymore? No problem—go ahead and foster the story, and then post the link on Twitter and Facebook. Reaching your audience—priceless.

We always ask ourselves these same basic questions of our clients:
What kind of grassroots connectedness can we help create with a social media presence?
How can we influence their audience through a social media presence?
Do they have a slogan, concept or identity that has a high retention and repeatability factor?
What kind of tools do they have available or are willing to invest in to cross-collateralize across both traditional and social media platforms?
Can they afford to delve into social media?

Or rather, can they afford not to afford PR?

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Today’s guest post was written by President and Founder of BohlsenPR, Vicki Bohlsen