I’m a long-time reader of the PR Meets Marketing blog, by Cece Salomon-Lee. As the title suggests, she has talked for years about how PR and Marketing intersect.
Her latest post lists some essential skills she has picked up as her career progressed. It a good list and to some extent it mirrors the transition of my firm from a traditional tech PR shop to a content marketing and social media consultancy. Increased awareness and visibility are now positive byproducts of campaigns designed to increase revenue.
Cece’s list:
1. Search Engine Optimization
2. Content Marketing
3. Public Relations
4. Social Media
5. Pay-Per-Click Programs
Based on my I’d add two more to the list. The first is deep market knowledge of your client’s vertical. If you want to be a true counselor and not an order taker, you need to have an understanding not just of your client’s product or service, but the competitors and trends in the space.
The second is an understanding of sales automation, how your client uses CRM and/or marketing automation tools to track prospects and contacts. Some of my clients use Eloqua and I’ve become familiar with that system. Every client wants demonstrable ROI, so it’s critical to understand how they are scoring the data being provided by a social media engagement.
If you’re in the communications field, how has your role changed in the past five years? Drop a comment and let me know.