Technology has become a major part of our daily lives, it affects the way we eat, sleep and use our free time. A recent study by Ofcom showed that we are spending more time a day using media and communications than sleeping.
So what affect does this have on PR? The media landscape has changed beyond recognition. The more seasoned members of our team talk about a time when news desks and PRs communicated by snail mail or fax and copy at newspaper offices was shared internally via vacuum packed tubes.
Back then the idea of reaching tens, hundreds or even thousands of people at the click of a button was incomprehensible. The introduction of email, online portals and social media has had an enormous knock-on effect on the way public relations professionals generate, research and distribute stories and communicate with key stakeholders.
With technology offering us the ability to connect with people instantly, are we losing the art of person-to-person contact without a computer or smart phone acting as the middle man?
Technology has certainly made our lives easier, but it has also made them more complicated. Sometimes the old ways are still best.
Even though it can be much quicker and easier to fire off an email or tweet, picking up the phone helps build relationships and create a lasting impression. Isn’t that essentially what PR is all about?
Editors still want to be “wowed” by us. The importance of still taking the time to speak to journalists on the phone or scheduling a face-to-face meeting should not be ignored. In a world where we’re all too busy and so heavily reliant on smart phones, it’s amazing to think how we ever coped before the internet.
When you’re next looking to pitch that feature idea or send out that press release, hold fire on that email and pick up the phone instead. Take a leaf from the bygone days of PR and see where it gets you.