June 30, 2009 - There are so many people in marketing departments right now who are trying to figure out the future of public relations and advertising. Are they dead because of Social Media? Not in the near future is my guess. Are the efforts of PR and Advertising being reviewed in many organizations? Yes.

Although Marketing Communications which usually includes these two practices should be two-way, there are times it feels like a one-way propaganda machine. Add to this that even when you receive a response as a provider, it might be delayed by weeks. The most valuable of all communication to me is an actual conversation and to get the Marketing Communications team out of "message artillery mode", it may be time to change their mission and daily habits.

Social Media enables Dynamic and Scalable Conversations

With the advent and rapid adoption of Social Media tools and platforms, dynamic and scalable conversation is enabled. This presents an overarching opportunity to recognize that some communication may be one-way from the provider in regard to messaging, but that a multi-person dialogue has higher value. The side benefit of these conversations is getting some qualitative market research from relevant parties. By interacting with more potential buyers, journalists, blog writers, analysts and consultants, the conversations can influence overall corporate messaging and even understanding markets. By those outside players participating in the Social Media conversations, they are now "invested" by using their irreplaceable time. That's a good move toward creating a community of people interested in the vision and success of the provider.

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