Seeking Communications Manager: Develop, implement and manage communication plans to drive advocacy and behavioural change; Identify and create media opportunities to profile COMPANY’s messages and news; Engage and cultivate members of the media
Both are recent job requirements for a Communications Manager. In the ad #1, it’s the traditional job scope that we, PR professionals, are used to seeing in job ads.
However, times are changing. More and more, job specs for PR Managers will look a little more like ad #2.
If these sound more like the job requirements for a marketing professional, well, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, these job functions were traditionally done by marketers. No, times have changed. PR professionals are also doing what marketers used to do and vice versa, marketers are doing what PR professionals used to do.
It is a very tall order but as budgets shrink, businesses want more bang for their buck. They want professionals who can help their brands orchestrate the journey with their stakeholders, build and strengthen emotional ties, and deliver returns for their brands. And they don’t care if these professionals come from a PR or a marketing agency.
Let’s take a step back to think this through.
Who manages social media reputation – PR or marketing?
Isn’t it a PR professional’s job to help the brand or company build and maintain good reputation? In any case, both PR and Marketing disciplines are part of the brand or company’s overall communications engine. Both are in the business of influence, pulling the organisation in the same direction, ensuring the alignment with the brand or company’s stakeholders while the business continues to sustain growth in the marketplace.
That said, as a practicing PR professional, have you taken time to evaluate your current skills sets. For instance, can you create infographics? Can you create videos – from storyboard to final editing? Have you any experience with social referral campaigns?
