Right you are! I received a response from a seasoned PR guy about my 9 reasons why an online newsroom helps with inbound marketing article on the NewsCactus Blog last week. He said he completely disagreed with my thesis that technology has contributed to the convergence of marketing, public relations and advertising.

Not sure why he can’t see the writing on the wall. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees, as they say.

And you’re spot on about the press release. It’s not dead. But it’s not really a ‘press’ release any longer. It’s an announcement that’s for all your key audiences, not just the press. It’s an awesome search engine marketing (SEM) tool if used correctly.

But just like television didn’t replace radio, social media won’t replace traditional public relations.

In seeing some initial numbers, I am amazed but not surprised. I am not so much amazed that public relations professionals aren’t blogging (or participating at all in some cases), but amazed that some public relations professionals would neglect what the future of their field because, perhaps, they are too busy doing what they have always done.

One of my students this year told me two of her previous PR instructors said the new release was dead (which is only partly true). If they are not engaged in social media and not writing releases, I hope they are doing better than being pitch callers.

All my best,
Rich