PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 37

How Can PR Pros build a
Digital Business with 2020 in Mind?
- Matthew Schwartz
I
t seems like every day communicators are
confronted with a new marketing
discipline/media channel/social platform that
management wants them to master ten minutes
ago. The pace of change is only expected to
accelerate in the next few years, as digital media
starts to eclipse traditional media.
While PR pros can be forgiven if they think that
planning for the next six months or a year will
suffice, they have to play longer ball and try to
look further into the future. Their brands and
organizations depend on it.
During 'PR News Digital PR Conference in Miami
on Monday, senior communications managers
tackled the subject of how to build a digital
business with 2020 in mind. “Moving into 2020,
connected individuals are becoming more and
more important to every organization out there,”
said Allison Sitch, VP of global public relations at
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. “The idea of connection
is to understand what people are talking about and
then bring in those influencers who are valuable to
your organization.”
increasingly inundated with online choices will be
critical. “It's about the community at large and
conversing with the people who really matter,”
Sitch added.
Kai Wright, VP of communications and business
development for the Atom Factory, said that PR
managers will have to take on the persona of an
editorial director. They'll need to steer editorial
scheduling, create editorial calendars and build a
solid bench of editorial contributors.
“What's the voice? What's the frequency? What are
some of the [issues] that your brand can speak to
intelligently?” Wright asked. “You need a strong
pulse on your market, you have to be an early
adopter and have an eye on aesthetics. The Web is
getting much more visual.”
Throughout the next five years, PR managers will
also need to empower their staffs so that managers
focus more on corporate goals and objectives.
“Choose people for your team who you trust,”
Sitch s aid, “and know that they can articulate and
speak to the values of your brand without having
to come back and ask you first.”
How to motivate your audience as they are
PR TIMES AFRICA
VOL 1. JULY 2015
Follow Matthew Schwartz on Twitter: @mpsjourno1
Culled from: http://www.prnewsonline.com/
1ST EDITION
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