Living in symbiosis

With continuous changes in the marketplace and the rise of social media and digital marketing strategies emerging at the forefront of our profession, the lines between public relations, marketing, and advertising are beginning to blur. Communications efforts of all kinds sit comfortably together under the umbrella known as marketing. Relationships among these agencies are morphing with each passing day, causing the relationships between the agencies and the media to shift.

The relationship between the media and professionals under the marketing umbrella goes beyond symbiosis - it's becoming interdependent. Traditional media is seeking the stories generated and spread by the buzz online. Marketing professionals are pitching prominent bloggers to influence public opinion. Media outlets are reaching out to the marketers before we go to them. The days of the dreaded pitch call are diminishing. If a story has legs, reporters are dying to run with it - and they are racing along side the influencers in the blogosphere to be the first to get the word out.

So now it's time to turn the race into a collaboration rather than a competition. Reporters, marketers, and bloggers are already working together to inform and influence the public through countless lines of communication. Between blogs, advertisements, press releases, newspapers, RSS feeds, television programming, cell phones...the list goes on...professional communicators need to work in a seamless, interdependent manner to fulfill the ultimate goal - providing information to the target audience as quickly, accurately, and efficiently as possible.

I will now get off my soapbox.

Cheers!

-A