Recently, ZDNet’s Jennifer Leggio conducted a survey whose “main purpose was to determine which PR firms are best attuned to social media and are developing the most beneficial social programs for their clients.”

Almost 550 respondents weighed in.  Primarily these were “PR decision-makers at companies with 1,000 or more employees,” mostly from sectors such as enterprise technology, consumer, and Web 2.0.

I’ll admit that a warm glow of delight came over me when I saw SHIFT’s #1 ranking amongst firms most-often referenced by these marketers as an agency that understands the Social Media landscape:

Interestingly, Jennifer also asked these decision-makers which agency they’d consider switching to, if they were to leave their current firm.  This is no small factor, as apparently “40 percent of respondents claimed that they are considering switching agencies.”  We did pretty well here, too:

(Note to those disgruntled marketeers: contact me.)

OK, though I truly do appreciate these marketers’ kindness, that’s enough braggadocio.  Jennifer’s survey raised many other fascinating points, all of which I keenly appreciated. 

Of the write-ups I’ve seen to-date about the ZDNet survey, it seemed most PR folks were glad to see that their clients still felt very strongly about the need for “traditional PR.”  (As if this meant they might still have some time to ward off the scary Social Media monster?)

But the most important, in my mind, was this one (from page 3 of the survey):

“Rather than offering a ‘traditional’ package and an ‘enhanced’ (Social Media) package, consider making it all one program.”

At SHIFT, we focus on engagement wherever it will benefit the client.  Sometimes that’s eWeek.  Sometimes it’s Perez Hilton.  Or TechCrunch.  Or the NY Times.  And in almost every case, the same PR pro who calls TechCrunch is also calling the NY Times, etc.  There’s no false differentiation between “blogs” and “mainstream media.” 

This is about people talking to people, offering relevant content, in a respectful way.  Why overcomplicate it with “specialization” or so-called “enhancements?”  — To charge more money?  That’s short-term thinking that won’t benefit the clients.

There’s still a whole lot more to learn about what happens at the intersection of PR and Social Media.  The road ahead is long.  Kudos to Jennifer Leggio for providing this essential mile marker.

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