media update’s Adam Wakefield spoke to Kimberly Eberl, owner and CEO of United States-based agency Motion PR, about what it takes to work in the PR industry.
What skills are absolutely necessary to work in today's PR environment?
Being a PR professional today means you have to be multi-disciplined, meaning fluid in what is now considered 'traditional' PR, but also being savvy in the digital and social media frontier.
Previously, PR practitioners had to be good at media relations, have creative ideas and know how to run events. Now, PR experts need to know how to run an influencer campaign, be social media pros and know the bloggers – in addition to 'old fashioned' TV and print media. PR pros should be able to switch gears and tactics quickly and be completely versatile.
When working with different clients in PR, how important would you say geography and regional culture are?
Although geography can help with simple logistical details like client meetings and editor meetings, our clients are from all over the US. Most clients realise that geography is not as important as the skill and team working on the business.
In this digital age, having clients across state lines is pretty common. Many independent agencies partner with each other if there is a need for more geographic muscle.
How does Motion PR differentiate itself from the competition when pitching for work?
Motion PR has become a multi-disciplined creative communications agency. We differentiate ourselves from our people and our efforts in digging deeper to both know the clients and know their goals and environments. A PR firm should be able to think with a '360 approach', or an integrated format.
What should a PR firm be able to offer to a client today?
With so many virtual PR firms, PR firms have been able to be more cost-effective. I would argue that firms should be able to cut through overhead elements to have return on investment based solutions.
For more information, visit www.motionpr.net.
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Doing public relations for a client does not necessarily mean being based in the same city as that client. Read more in our article, Heron Agency: a PR agency winning across the competitive US market.