Yesterday Lisa LaMotta's piece on PR as "The Single Greatest Marketing Tool" appeared in Forbes. I've been reading variations of this article for thirty years. For twenty years I lived it. But it surprises me to see it again, in this era of social media, when traditional PR is fighting for its survival and the mainstream media which traditional PR serves is undergoing radical change.

And, while the headline implies PR is great, still — an assertion with which I wholeheartedly disagree — read the copy closely. The piece opens with the number of media hits Google and Amazon.com have received in the last 30 days. A more relevant stat would be to examine the media hits of any small and medium-sized privately-held company spending an average sum on traditional PR.

You'll also come upon lines like this in the piece:

There are now some 200,000 PR "specialists" in the U.S… Sadly, most aren't very good at what they do…

PR types often promise more than they can deliver, so manage your expectations…

Some firms trot out senior executives at initial meetings only to stick less-experienced staffers on smaller accounts…

Make sure you meet the people who will be doing the actual work…

Average monthly fees for an established U.S. shop are about $10,000, according to a recent survey of 100 firms around the country with revenues over $3 million.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I guess $120,000 a year doesn't buy much in the way of traditional advertising, but then again, people aren't doing that with as much gusto anymore either. Budgets are moving into places where results can be measured, and I mean truly, actually, realistically, honestly measured. 

Lastly, the article suggests you check with PR associations like PRSA for agency referrals. Maybe. Can't hurt. But the Public Relations Society of America probably isn't going to suggest you think about alternatives or additives to traditional PR. One source of who is good and who is not in the PR business are corporations and communications professionals happy with their current firm. An even better source would be anyone who has replaced or dovetailed their traditional PR with new social media strategies and tactics.

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