In Katie Delahaye Paine's book "Measure What Matters," she redefines the rules for public relations and social media. As all public relations specialists know, social media has made our job easier, and at the same time more difficult. Real-time communication is simplified, but now audiences expect more from the company and measuring success is much harder. With Paine's new rules, perhaps the relationship between the two can be more mutually beneficial.
Her first rule is titled "You're not in control--and never have been." Well, I don't know about any other people, but that's very difficult for me to grasp. I like to believe I'm not a complete control freak, but I have moments where I like to be in control. Knowing I don't have control over something that will be a crucial part of my future job is hard to accept. Paine explains the inability of controlling those with independent minds. She also mentions how social media users become wary when they believe someone is trying to control them. Although this is still difficult for me to accept, I definitely understand what she is saying. Looking beyond the perspective of a company, I wouldn't respond if I felt as if someone was trying to control my mind.
The second rule is titled "There is no market for your message." Wait, what? Aren't we drilled over and over again to NEVER send out a message without a target market in mind? Paine explains how difficult it is to break through the clutter online to reach your target audience, so the most important aspect to focus on is the action people take when they read or hear your message. Conversations and relationships can be influenced if a new approach is taken. Costumers are more able accept or reject the company your message sends, but if you appeal to them as people, they are more willing to converse with you.
Rule three is titled "It's about reaching the right eyeballs, not all the eyeballs." Okay, now this sounds like familiar territory. It's impossible to measure how many people see your message, but if the right people see the message, it will spread. Measuring what happens when a visitor to your website shares information is much more accurate than counting the amount of views. Just because a person visits your website doesn't mean they were influenced by any of your information, or even read anything. I know I go to the wrong websites all the time. I mistype a letter and then I have to correct my mistake once the page loads and it's not the website I wanted. I didn't read any information, I just saw it was the wrong site. So, would it make sense counting me as an influenced visitor? Absolutely not.
Paine's last rule is titled "It's worse to not be talked about at all." Once again, this sounds very familiar. If the public isn't reminded of your business, they will not keep you in mind when buying a product. Your competition may be talked about in negative terms, but if you're not being talked about at all, who is really in the worse situation? According to Paine, your company would be in a worse situation. Even if the company may be in moral dilemma, at least costumers know to look at their product when debating on buying. If your company is not present, costumers won't even think about searching for your company.
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