The public relation industry has faced dramatic changes over the last few years primarily due to the increase in the use of technology and associated devices. The media channels have also created vast communication opportunities that majority people are now engaged in for both business and personal reasons. The emergence of social media has created a two-way networking platform where two individuals can easily communicate with no intermediary. Similarly, the formation of online groups and communities is now enabled with people connecting from all over the globe. Statistics show that approximately 65 percent of the American adults are currently using social media. As a result, the platforms have a huge impact not only on the society but also on brands as companies try to reach their target audience. In this case, public relation is no different as people seek to communicate with their clients who are also capable of using the channels.
Positive impacts
Compared to traditional PR, the effects of social media platforms are both negative and positive. From the beneficial side, social media encourages customer focus in that businesses can easily link with their clients all over across the globe (Gensler et al. 2013) Taking an example of Instagram that is well known for its ease of use, all that one needs to do is to click on a photo of the item for an advert and post it for clients to see. The feedback that different customers give can then be used by new clients to make decisions on whether to purchase the product or not (Allagui " Breslow, 2016). In this case, business owners can quickly solve any upcoming issues that are prone to causing PR crisis. In most case, it involves responding to complaints or questions that the customers might be having.
Additionally, the media platforms have made public relations available for small businesses in that they can efficiently perform actions of brand management. Traditionally, large organizations had the upper hand over the upcoming companies in that they could effectively work with politicians and public relation firms to have their products reach the public. Through the technological changes, it is easy in that today even the small companies can quickly reach their target audience by hiring a journalist and public relations to manage their online presence (Fitch, 2015). The strategy makes PR affordable to the businesses that need it and also acts as a solution to the companies that cannot afford experienced PR assistance.
The social media platforms have also enhanced the act of celebrity endorsement in the brand advertisement. The hiring of individuals to help promote a certain brand is one of the oldest marketing strategies in business. However, the continued use of the technology has taken the practice to another level where well-known individuals are being used to raise awareness. The importance of this is that people can get the message better when conveyed by someone they like to see, listen to or follow (Diga " Kelleher, 2015). The main reasons for the use of celebrities in public relations include achieving the traditional PR goals of convincing, creating appeal, establishing customer connections and getting maximum coverage for a brand. An example is a fashion via promotion by Kylie Jenner.
It is also evident that social media has led to integrated public relations. During the technology evolution era, the marketing expertise embarked on the social media bandwagon before the PR assistants could incorporate it into a PR strategy. In this case, the PR experts needed to integrate the marketing techniques with their strategies to achieve success. Taking an example of the Pinterest, it is easy to "pin" contents and images from other sources for clients to view (Guo " Saxton, 2014). Other positive benefits of the social media include great engagements, the creation of a 24/7 business cycle, the creation of unique and engaging content and availability of integrated online services.
Negative impacts
Contrary, there are a few negativities that have been facilitated by the continued use of these platforms. The PR experts are using the available networks on the daily crisis from the forms of getting information from clients to enhancing effective reach on news and messages that need to be communicated (Strömbäck " Esser, 2014). As a result, a primary challenge of focusing on the deadlines other than quality is emergent. People are creating campaigns without making considerations on the effects caused at the consumer edge. Lack of facts in many adverts and online stories leads to most of them acting as baits rather than the expected and authentic content.
Similarly, there is increased competition with the bloggers and online influencers who are using techniques that contradict the traditional PR requirements. In the olden days, decisions were made based on bets channels or well-known individuals who could be used to reach out to the target audience (Bowen, 2013). Recently in the world of social influencers, the voice of the PR experts has been ignored. The influencers can be classified as social media gurus who are contributing to the crowding of the online markets. The case has also contributed to increase in the number of hackers mainly in platforms such as Facebook and google sites.
Lastly, the success parameters in marketing have changed. An example is that currently, publishing a story through the print media is no longer useful (Men " Tsai, 2013). Being know or having a brand recognized means that one has to be present on other platforms such as Twitter and Google. As a result, the work of the PR experts has become highly demanding hence more challenges. As more trends of the digital media evolve, it is important to look out for these changes and work on improving on the weak edges.
Conclusion
It is evident that the social media platforms have great impacts on both the PR and the new agencies. The analysis and discussion done on the most commonly used sites show that the society has a more significant role to play in line with focusing on the positivity. It is still expected that in the next few decades, the public relations will undergo a lot of change in both the aspects of technology and in communication. The public relation agencies are still hopeful that these recent changes will work towards the joining of both traditional expectation and the new positive effects to enhance relevance in their work. Perhaps the hunger for content that grabs the readers content will be changed towards the right form of information. Social media is a tool that can be of benefit to those who use it correctly as compared to those who do not. The above-analyzed areas of interest should act as guidelines on how one can reap maximum benefits from the platforms. Companies should consider including social media in their PR strategies.
References
Allagui, I., " Breslow, H. (2016). Social media for public relations: Lessons from four effective cases. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 20-30.
Bowen, S. A. (2013). Using classic social media cases to distill ethical guidelines for digital engagement. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28(2), 119-133.
Diga, M., " Kelleher, T. (2015). Social media use, perceptions of decision-making power, and public relations roles. Public Relations Review, 35(4), 440-442.
Fitch, K. (2015). The new frontier: Singaporean and Malaysian public relations practitioners’ perceptions of new media. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal. 17-33.
Gensler, S., Völckner, F., Liu-Thompkins, Y., " Wiertz, C. (2013). Managing brands in the social media environment. Journal of interactive marketing, 27(4), 242-256.
Guo, C., " Saxton, G. D. (2014). Tweeting social change: How social media are changing nonprofit advocacy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(1), 57-79.
Men, L. R., " Tsai, W. H. S. (2013). Beyond liking or following: Understanding public engagement on social networking sites. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 13-22.
Strömbäck, J., " Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of politics: Towards a theoretical framework. In Mediatization of Politics (pp. 3-28). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
