Cymfony posts a new white paper discussing three forces changing the practice of public relations: overlap with marketing, pressure to quantify results, and a new influence dynamic brought about by the growth of blogs and social media. Among its recommendations are that PR professionals begin to incorporate social media into their communications plan: Identify and communicate with influential bloggers and incorporate a broader blog monitoring program to understand if the messages you place in the media are achieving the desired influence. PR professionals can and must improve measurement as a top priority for 2007. Press clippings are no longer adequate, as executives expect their company units to measure not just outputs bit also outcomes. The 10 Steps to Becoming “Metric Wise” offers some good starting points.
