Infamy is ours at last! Wildfire has featured on tech PR’s notorious gossip blog …the world’s leading….

Our crime? Appearing at the top of the Google rankings for ‘UK Technology PR Agency‘. It may be tongue-in-cheek, but the post makes a valid point: the UK’s larger tech PR agencies (but not just tech) are ignoring the power SEO for their own businesses.

And this begs the question: are they failing to embrace or explore the power of digital as a PR and marketing specialism?

This is a sweeping statement and is perhaps unfair; there are many fine digital-specialists at the leading PR agencies, often cooped up in digital departments, fighting for mind share and budget.

Our focus (and I believe the right focus for our clients) is to weave digital, social media and the Web into everything we do. This means understanding Google, Twitter, SEO and the rest.

The next step is to determine when and when not to use them in campaigns, strategies and projects. Not using social media because that is our ‘specialism’ but because it makes sense for a client’s objectives.

We aim to be the ‘world’s leading’ PR agency, and that means learning and using the very latest trends.

For me, there are two wider issues that this post clarifies:

Marketing is changing at a rapid pace – The PR industry is being forced to wake-up and realise that the world is a very different place to column inches, press releases and advertising value equivalents (AVE). Agencies should be the place where these new techniques, tactics and strategies are identified, developed and designed.

The opportunity for smaller businesses is greater than ever – small businesses can use digital marketing to punch above their weight. Blogs and social networks empower businesses to become publishers and content creators themselves, engaging with customers and prospects directly.

If you’re interested in learning more about how PR and marketing are changing and want your business to punch above its weight, then get in touch.

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