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Time for PR to Push the Innovation Envelope
I can’t think of a more exciting industry to be in at the moment.
8 years since I first stepped foot into a PR agency and my parents still can’t put a finger on what exactly I do for a living. They’re smart folks, it’s not their fault. My job and this industry is constantly evolving.
8 years ago, I, like nearly all of my colleagues, drafted messaging frameworks, wrote press releases, pitched stories and created brochures, simple websites or other marketing materials for clients to help tell their story and drive actionable outcomes. These elements are of course still part of the mix, but it’s becoming less of a primary reason that clients are hiring agencies.
In particular, the days of hiring PR agencies to solely serve as “arms and legs” or extra support resources are limited. Clients want your brain power. They want creative ideas. The want innovative ideas that challenge the norm. They want trusted consultation from specialists that live, breathe, study and adopt communications trends. Fast technology advancements are enabling us all to drum up new ways of connecting with target audiences. It’s up to us as an industry to capitalize on effective ways to maximize these connections.
The end impact?
Titles aside, the point is that old PR agency models are changing fast and for good reason. PR agencies now walk into new business pitches against ad agencies, niche social media agencies, marketing shops and everything in between. PR agencies are still often best positioned for integrated communications work as we’ve always been the core behind the message and carrying that message from start to finish. In addition, any good PR agency is chalk full of a mixed bag of specialists these days. People who understand the convergence of owned, earned and paid integrated strategies.
What needs to happen?
You better start pulling the right people into your agency. If you’re hiring junior staff just to fill a perceived “doer” role, you’re doing a disservice to that individual. In today’s world, it’s not enough to just be a “doer”. You better be a doer and a creator. When I look back, I started at an agency where I worked for a senior account executive. From there, I moved on to working for a digital strategy director and my current boss is an executive creative director. Huh? A creative director? Yup, and I love it. I still work at a PR agency but it gives you a sense of how agency models are evolving and diversifying.
Each and every day, I challenge myself and my team to push the learning envelope. To constantly stay ahead of the curve. To not just study PR and marketing trends, but design trends as well. We may not all be graphic designers, but we know the critical importance of building and executing strategies with a keen mindset around user experience and design perception. Together, we work to infuse the same mentality into our colleagues – to always push beyond the status quo and think bigger, better and broader. We don’t just “do”, we create – all the time.
In today’s PR industry, the sky truly is the limit. For any college student looking to crack into PR, I’d encourage you to be prepared for a challenging career that is going to start rewarding proactive thinking and creativity more than ever. Be prepared to do, but know that your ultimate value stems from being able to create. If you think you have what it takes, let’s chat, we may have a seat open for you.
Three Keys to Becoming a Successful Digital Strategist
"Thinker" by J.A.C.K.
So, you’re a digital strategist. But, what exactly do you do?
It’s a question I field at least twice a week and I’ve come to realize that I rarely answer the question in exactly the same way.
In short, I help clients achieve online marketing goals by crafting creative social campaigns and managing a variety of digital projects. I research and dig up communities, brand advocates and other target audiences and think about the best way to reach those audiences. I trendspot and think about new ways of connecting clients and brands to their target audiences and key influencers. I shoot videos, manage website builds, drive brainstorms, analyze design elements, plan blog content and drum up creative marketing and community engagement strategies across a variety of social channels. I help measure, analyze and assess the results of the effort, tweak and do it all over again. Oh yeah, and I drum up new business. That’s just the start…
One thing is for certain – being a digital strategist is never a dull gig. As I’ve specifically focused on digital strategy for the past six years, I’ve naturally had plenty of opportunity to interact with other digital strategists in the industry. In my opinion, there are three key personal qualities that regularly surface among good digital strategists.
1. Flexibility
It’s easy to be impatient in our hyper-connected, million mentions and messages per minute industry. It’s also absolutely critical that a good digital strategist be patient and flexible. A digital strategist at an agency will typically be pulled into five or six completely different projects on any given day. It can be demanding not having 100% background and insight into a project yet still having to deliver input by a set deadline. That’s also what keeps the job exciting and challenging at the same time. My biggest piece of advice for any aspiring digital strategist is to make every effort to get your hands on as many projects as possible. The learnings across different brands and industries will be invaluable down the line.
2. Creativity
Digital strategists are most frequently utilized at agencies to manage particular online marketing projects to support account teams around an integrated communications strategy. Personally, I source creativity from a variety of channels at all points throughout my day and through a LOT of reading and analysis. Oddly enough, most ideas for projects I work on rarely surface during brainstorms or on demand but instead often bubble up while driving, surfing the Web on my own time, working out, or doing something completely non-work related. The end point being that it helps tremendously if you’re rooted in thinking outside the box and good at inspiring and training others on your team to think differently. You will thrive if you are someone that constantly thinks ahead and looks at things from a unique perspective. Proactive creativity is often a distinguishing factor that elevates a digital strategist from good to great.
3. Drive
There is a reason that most digital strategists seem as though they are online or connected at all times. They are.
Some of this certainly stems from the nature of the industry but strong digital strategists have a natural drive and passion to learn about new trends and gather insight well ahead of the curve. We want to be the first ones to apply a new effective creative strategy or tactic that will help our clients achieve their goals. As a result, you often see digital strategists running multiple blogs on their own or actively creating content across the Web to gather, organize and share their thoughts in a coherent format.
BONUS: Ability to Roll With the Punches
In their book Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier talk about how it’s pointless to waste time creating long-range plans. It’s true. In today’s communications world, plans and priorities change in a moment’s notice and things rarely go exactly how you intend. It is a point I stress repeatedly when speaking with college students that are preparing for graduation. If you want to be successful, you need to move quick, be flexible and learn that success typically occurs when you hit 75% of your intended vision.
These three are certainly a start but what other strong personality traits do you often see in solid digital strategists?
Image courtesy of J.A.C.K.
