Is PR dead?

I've had several conversations over the last couple of weeks about where PR fits in the marketing/comms mix. And I don't think it's where a lot of lifetime flaks would like.

Perhaps as recently as 10 years ago there was still a degree of consolidation in the media. By that, I mean that most people read the same things. Outside of a couple of industries - advertising and PR spring to mind - this doesn't happen anymore. Aside from the media outlets themselves feeling the pinch of this, it also draws the value of PR results into question. Once upon a time, the right three hits reached most of your audience. Now you're lucky to reach a fraction with those returns.

Putting it into a process model, this makes media hits much more of an output than an outcome. And please don't misunderstand this as a criticism of journalism. There remain many, many excellent journalists, whose ability to identify and articulate a story is a rare skill to be appreciated. It's a reflection of how people consume information, and how people trust different sources for that input now, compared to a decade ago.

But we're not here to talk about the Dantean state of information, truth and unnatural selection. I want to take the positive path out of this. If PR results are less valuable than before, does that mean that they have no value? Not at all.

This discussion requires a framing of what value is: ultimately it's sales in most environments, right? Therefore ABM, pre-sales and partner marketing are the channels most in-tune with not just value, but value metrics.

So what? Well, all of these channels need content. And going back to day one of PR school (disclaimer, I didn't go to PR school!), what's better than third party endorsement? Thought leadership, connected to key sales plays, is a great way to engage with your customer/partner audience, without being too salesy.

So while I don't think PR is dead, it's in need of an health check. The long established talk of how PR can directly connect into pipeline is a bit of a join-the-dots exercise. Plus, it's really difficult to connect the teams (and the platforms) in a lot of business, making it a tough sell. But look at PR as a content general channel instead, and suddenly the value starts to re-emerge as part of the sales and marketing process once more.