A survey of PR practitioners has found that 98% believe that social media has enhanced PR operations and has changed the way that PR’s engage with journalists and clients.
Eighty six per cent of the respondents said they used social media to engage with journalists and 72% said it had helped to forge closer relationships with them. Only 25%* agreed that the PR function was likely to ultimately be absorbed within the digital marketing function.
Great PR Debate
The results were announced at the Hotel Marketing Association’s Great PR Debate, sponsored by TravMedia UK held at the Holiday Inn Regents Park last night.
Joining the panel for the evening chaired by Henry Hemming, Managing Director of TravMedia UK, were Times travel writer Tom Chesshyre; Frank Barrett, Mail on Sunday; Adam Raphael, Editor of the Good Hotel Guide; David Collyer, Director of Marketing UK & Ireland InterContinental Hotels Group; and Dean Harvey, Digital Development Director at Designate.
The panelists debated the future of PR in the digital age and how the PR industry is adapting to a new way of working in the current world of instant communication, via Twitter, blogs and YouTube, among other channels.
PR is sleeping
Dean Harvey of Designate said: “I think PR is sleeping and it needs to adapt and evolve.” He said that people were relying less on brands and more on peer recommendations and that brands needed help to become publishers and release content that was useful relevant and interesting.
Times travel writer Tom Chesshyre said: “Is PR dead? Definitely not in my opinion.” He then gave the audience a series of tips on how to engage more successfully with journalists on Twitter. “It is all about scratching everyone’s back, quote journalists in your tweets and don’t forget that Twitter is meant to be fun when you are deciding on your messages,” he added.
Need to be multi-disciplined
David Collyer, Director of Marketing UK & Ireland at IHG said: “I think the PR industry is safe but you need to be multi disciplined.” In his opinion there was room for digital PR as well as the more traditional methods of PR such as soliciting hotel reviews. “When we receive a positive review in print or online media we see a significant spike in bookings,” he said. Collyer added that he was also a strong believer in the traditional PR agency set up of account director, manager and executive, as the way forward. “You need this set-up to function successfully,” he added.
Case for an independently edited guide
Adam Raphael of the Good Hotel Guide was critical of online review sites such as TripAdvisor and said that their dominance was “far from being healthy in the industry”. He argued that there was still a strong case for an independently edited guide and that the Good Hotel Guide had a ‘squeaky clean’ reputation to live up to.
The best and the worst in the industry
Mail on Sunday’s Frank Barrett countered by saying that online travel review websites summed up the best and the worst in the industry and definitely had a role to play. He lamented that whilst the internet had completely changed his way of working as a journalist he regretted that it had made working practices so solitary. “Nowadays we probably receive about five letters and four phone calls in the office, whereas I receive 400 emails a day,” he said. “I regret that so much time is spent looking at the computer and emails and I carry my phone all the time.”
A new way of working in the digital age?
In a question from the audience the journalists on the panel were asked if they would also need to reinvent themselves to adapt to a new way of working in the digital age.
Tom Chessyhre said it was becoming more frenetic and a less enticing time to be working as a journalist. “We are being asked to do so many different things,” he said.
While Frank Barrett said that people still wanted to read newspapers. “We shouldn’t give up the fight too easily and I certainly hope newspapers will still be around in 20 years time,” he said.
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*For the full survey results go to www.hotelmarketingassociation.com and click on the blog
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