The Future of Media

Last Thursday in Social Media, our class watched a webinar titled The Future of Media: Radical Integration. Fifteen questions were asked to thirty professionals in one hour. The topics covered were social media, paid, earned and owned media, content, engaging customers and creating conversations.

My favorite part of this webinar were there questions about PR people, marketers and journalists and what each knew that the other didn't. I found this very interesting because these are three sets of people who interact constantly and to know what the other thinks you should know can help this relationship grow stronger.

Here's what I learned:

1. What do PR people know that other marketers don't?
The professionals said that PR people use stories to support business objectives and our campaigns are in it for the long haul. We have long-term goals. We also use dialogue and two-way communication instead of monologues used by marketers. This conversation helps tell real stories.


2. What do marketers know that PR people don't?
Marketers use the landscape approach. To them, relationships should be profitable and are not always two-way in nature. The biggest part of this relationship is making the customer complete a call to action. Marketers don't always have big picture thoughts.


3. What do journalists understand that PR people and marketers don't?
Journalists are great storytellers. They have the tools to emphasize what they want to share in a particular story. The are also very aware of recent changes in their field and know how to adapt content to stay relevant.

Sharing this information in the webinar will be helpful for all PR practitioners, marketers and journalists. They can now understand what the other wish they knew and hopefully learn new skills to help them better relate to the other!