When I first joined Twitter, one of the first people I started following was Deirdre Breakenridge. She’d written PR books and I loved that Twitter could help me learn from her beyond just the books. Over the years, our Twitter chats (she hosts the monthly PR Student Twitter chat, #PRStudChat, for pros and students) have teamed up, giving us opportunities to collaborate. Since then, we’ve also teamed up on client projects, spoken on panels together and gotten to know each other very well. I’m (still) constantly amazed at how small Twitter makes the world seem, but I’m so grateful that 140 characters helped me get to know this incredibly smart person, who now I’m so lucky to call a friend.
Want to learn from Deirdre and her advice for navigating the ever-changing PR industry? Keep reading our Q&A…
The industry is evolving faster than ever. What do you think has been the most significant change in the past few months?
It’s difficult to point out one significant change when there are many changes in our industry as a result of disruptive technologies. On a macro level, the focus has been on capturing data and gaining business insights. For example, it’s really interesting that Google is working on a study that gathers health data to figure out a “perfectly healthy human.” Any new technology that connects and creates an assortment of data will continue to challenge data protection and privacy regulations, which is definitely a growing area of interest for communications professionals.
Then, on the micro level, I’ve been watching the structural transformations of PR agencies. The leading firms are rethinking their offerings and evolving to be more integrated to meet the demands of the marketplace. Richard Edelman recently announced his company’s game changing strategy, with a focus on marketing communications and a mantra of “Evolve, Promote and Protect.” It’s these types of bold moves by the larger organizations in our industry that start a wave of change that trickles down to mid size and smaller agencies. Of course, other agencies have taken similar approaches including Weber Shandwick, Ketchum and Golin Harris. Changes on both the macro and micro level will continue to shape our approach to PR and will ultimately affect how we plan, create and execute our communications programs.
Given how quickly things change, what skills are most important to PR students and young pros?
Students and young professionals need to pay attention to data. A new focus on smart data for effective communication now falls into the PR professional’s wheelhouse. Companies are grooming PR analytics engineers who have skill in data capture, filtering, analyzing and gathering insights to develop stronger relationships and be more strategic storytellers. Today, it’s also extremely important for young professionals to communicate company messaging and share stories effectively, with writing skills that range from news releases to blog posts and social media updates through a variety of channels. Additional skills include knowing how to build and manage blogs and other social media platforms, as well as understanding SEO, web analytics, and monitoring and measurement tools. Lastly, businesses need professionals who are flexible in a global environment, learning to manage stress and adapt to disruptive technologies in a changing landscape.
What are some of the hot topics that have emerged through #prstudchat so far this year?
#PRStudChat has covered so many interesting topics in 2014, and it’s always based on what interests the community members. Many of our topics evolve from the daily hashtag discussions. Some of the hot topics for our Twitter chats in 2014 included: Personal Brand Building, Start Up PR, Jumpstarting Your PR Grassroots Program, Tips for Strategic PR Planning and How to Land Your Dream Job, to name a few. These are all topics to address direct questions posed by the community, while at the same time allowing our Twitter Q&A sessions to bring people together for mentoring opportunities post-tweet chat. We’ve seen so many relationships grow out of #PRStudChat as a result of our dynamic discussions and the professionals and educators who are more than happy to share their insights. Although we’ve had many authors, and special guests, some of our best sessions are focused on the community coming together to dissect industry pain points, where everyone from students to seasoned veterans want to share their perspectives.
Lastly, what’s one thing PR pros of any age should be doing to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with the people in their network?
I just wrote a blog post on how to build better relationships, which starts with your very first meeting. If you have the opportunity to meet with someone in your network, whether it’s a phone call, Skype or in-person meeting, then you should prepare as if it was your first job interview. Imagine the possibilities if professionals treated every meeting as if it were their first interview. There would be an increased potential for stronger bonds and more valuable outcomes. Of course, this approach requires extra effort on your part. However, it is well worth the time and energy. When you really prepare for a meeting, and it shows, you are saying that you care about who is in the meeting and you want to advance the relationship. Doing your homework and understanding everything about the person(s) who are participating, their meeting objectives, as well as having your own agenda and goals ready to go, is extremely important. When you think about every meeting on this level, you raise the bar on relationship building. For me, building relationships is my career and it starts with taking every meeting seriously, especially the first one.