The way marketing is being handled in social media has been a topic that comes and goes. Putting up a big fight are the PR agencies that have dominated traditional marketing methods for years. They aim to dominate the big brands in social media and feel that they’ve got all the guns and ammo necessary to make that happen. There also beliefs that they have something that other, smaller social media firms don’t have – time tested resources and strategies.

The question is whether or not those strategies and resources even apply to the new world that we all live and work in. It’s true that anything and anyone can adapt to changing times if they decide to do so but are the big PR agencies trying to muscle into social media as they currently are or are they adapting “tried and true” formulas to function in this new world.

Story Telling - If you break down public relations and social media marketing then you’ll find this at its source. When pre-selling and content marketing come into play you need to be able to spin an angle in order to make it click with people. People are the heart of the source. Not just the people you connect to but the people that are generating the content. PR agencies, no matter how large, have been mired for years in corporate speak and have rarely been thrust into a situation where it’s less about discussion and more about connection. Old PR was about developing a company story into a news worthy format – people don’t want news worthy anymore. There’s enough “news” circulating the web to choke a mule. People want to feel a connection, not be talked at.

Relationship Building - I mentioned that connection is important, but major PR agencies don’t typically do the kind of connection that most businesses need in social media. Connection with the individual buyer, whether that’s another business or a direct consumer. PR guys maintain connections with journalist, corporate and legal. When it comes to social media engagement, a connection needs to be made with influencers among the buyers. That means bloggers, Twitter users, YouTube dominators. You can’t treat these people like journalists or corporate, they don’t want to be handled that way.

They don’t want to be used and leveraged, they want to feel like the people that are connecting with them are doing it because they legitimately appreciate what they have to offer and they’ll give something back. That’s something a PR agency can’t really give.

Crisis Management - I’ll admit that a strong PR department can quickly snuff out some of the ugliest wildfires. History has proven that when things got ugly, companies would turn to a PR agency or internal PR group that would issue a formal statement to smooth things over and develop a strategy for rectifying the situation. PR guys were like the shuttle team in the movie Armageddon. They’d straddle a rocket and ride it into hell if it meant keeping the corporate nose clean.

Unfortunately people aren’t as accepting of vague generalizations and formal “oops” statements today. Formal statements and “Strategy” plans like “we’re working strategically with multi-level divisions of three off-shore partners to ensure a fastidious closure that will benefit all parties involved” don’t work within social media. The people that network through social media channels will retort with “PPFFFFFT!” PR Agencies are trained to deal with media, and they let the media deal with the people in one-way channels like print and television.

Most PR agencies aren’t prepared for the two-way engagement method of social media. It’s the equivalent of talking with buyers on the street. Again, this goes beyond just B2C, this is B2B as well. In social media, the “bad” can spread at a blistering pace and people won’t be quelled by a general statement. They want to know, both individually and collectively that their concerns will be heard and addressed. In social media, people hold the torch.

In order to make PR and marketing work, a firm understanding of the individual is needed. Social Media is like a complex chain of molecules and the people within make up the bonds. If you want to understand the purpose of the molecule and how to use it and manipulate it then you need to understand the strength and function of each part of that molecule.

Modern agencies that have been born with social media, that have no foundation in the old rules of PR and marketing, are having greater success because they understand people. They’re playing by new rules, and they’re not trying to game the system using tactics that are old hat.

The problem: Some of these large PR firms that are trying to muscle into social media marketing think they’ve got a secret sauce based on past success. In all actually, a lot of them bring in a new project manager and a couple of college interns that made some cool facebook pages. They think they can mingle their old PR playbook with some new talent and run the show.

The result: It’s going to be ugly if they don’t actually adapt and ditch the old playbook. Smaller agencies that understand people are going to rip those big clients away in social media because they’re eager to work hard, they’re scrappy, they make the connection between big company and little person and they just simply “get it”.

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