Whilst the roles of a PR and marketer are different at face value, there is little doubt that the two areas have considerable crossover, especially when it comes to social media.
Today, Vocus (a producer of “on-demand software for public relations management”) has circulated a white paper examining the merging roles of PR and marketing, and the debate surrounding who ‘owns’ social media.
For the white paper – ‘Blurring Lines, Turf Battles and Tweets: The Real Impact of Integrated Communications on Marketing and PR’ – Vocus surveyed 1,094 PR and marketing professionals last month about their experiences and views of ‘integrated communications’, which Vocus defines as:
“A management concept that ties all aspects of marketing communication, including, but not limited to advertising, search marketing, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing, together to function in a unified and comprehensive fashion as opposed to functioning in isolation or silos.”
Blurred lines
The key findings suggest that the lines between PR and marketing are blurring, with 79% of marketing and PR professionals stating that they report to the same boss, and 78% reporting formal working relationships when it comes to creating a common communications strategy.
However, whilst the roles may overlap in some respects, 67% of respondents revealed that they hold cross-functional meetings only ‘sometimes’, with a further 19% stating that they held them ‘rarely’ or ‘never’.
Turf battles
The white paper also illustrates that ‘turf battles’ remain rife between marketing and PR professionals, with 33% citing that such conflicts are the single biggest barrier to creating an integrated communications strategy. Budget shortcomings were judged to be the next obstacle, with 20% of respondents highlighting this issue.
Who owns social media?
The concept of ‘turf battles’ is further developed when the debate about who ‘owns’ social media is examined. From the results of the white paper, it’s clear that there is no consensus, with 43% of PRs feeling that they should own it, and 35% of marketers saying the same for their profession. When it comes to corporate blogs, 38% of PRs feel that they should control them, whilst 24% of marketers feel that they should.
Integrated communications
Common ground was found when participants were questioned about the benefits of integrated communications and how to measure them. 48% of PRs and marketers reported that integrated communications increase the overall effectiveness of outreach programs, and that sales and ROI are the most effective ways of assessing an integrated communications strategy.
It’s debatable as to whether this paper reflects the overall experiences of the industry, but it certainly highlights a growing feeling that social media is driving a merging of marketing and PR roles. Similarly, whether this will be resolved into the ‘integrated communications strategies’ envisaged by Vocus remains to be seen, but with the level of conflict described above, it seems unlikely that it will happen any time soon.
