A talk given by David N. Ofili at the Annual Conference / AGM of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Edo State Chapter. The event took place on Thursday, September 5, 2019, at Eterno Hotel, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

1. The Impact of Social
Media on Public
Relations in a
Changing World
Talk Given By
David N. Ofili
At The
2019 Annual Conference/AGM of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations,
Edo State Chapter
Date: September 5, 2019 | Venue: Eterno Hotel, GRA, Benin City,

2. There's no such thing as "old school"
and "new school" in the digital era.
Technological advances are a trend,
and they are reshaping the way we
live comfortably and peacefully in our
world. Every citizen of our world will
have to comply at one level or the
other, without which, you become an
alien bereft of comfort and peace in a
world you once were a citizen
“It is not the
strongest of the
species that
survives, nor the
most intelligent,
but the one most
responsive to
change”
Charles
Darwin
Jumpstart
David Ofili

3. Number of monthly
active users
compared to country
population sizes
Social Media Fact File
2016

4. Social Media Fact File
July 2019 ranking by number of
active users (in millions)
Sovereign states and dependencies by population
2019

5. The Core of Public Relations
ONE
PROFESSION
Several
Dimensions
Public Relations
Society of
America
(PRSA)
"Public relations is a strategic
communication process that builds
mutually beneficial relationships between
organizations and their publics."
RELATION
SHIPS
general public
potential customers/clients
investors
employees
government regulators
the media
etc.

6. Summary
The practice of public relations is
to develop and maintain
relationships with organisational
audiences / clients, so that they
are mutually beneficial
Axia Public Relations

7. Public
Relations
in a
Changing
World

8. Characteristics of the Digital Age: Mind Map by Maxine Khan
https://www.goconqr.com/mindmap/3114253/characteristics-of-the-digital-age

9. U.S Employer Nigerian Employer
What Employers Are Asking For

10. U.K Employer
What Employers Are Asking For

11. “When you think of PR in the old school sense, you tend to think of media relations, bloggers, and
influencers. But you don’t necessarily think about PR agencies actually doing the creative work,
coming up with concepts and executing them. Video work often went to ad agencies, as did paid
integrations and sometimes working with celebrities” -- Jim Joseph, President of Cohn & Wolfe –
North America. All of that is changing now.
Times have changed in the world of public relations. Social media is reinventing the profession
and it’s no longer enough to just offer traditional media relations and associated services.
Traditional media is still very important—it’s still any decent PR professional’s “bread and butter”—but a
professional who doesn’t know his or her way around the ever-changing digital landscape is not going to get
very far.
Consumer habits are changing. To stay relevant with today’s average consumer, you have to render your service in
a manner most convenient to them
Many people with jobs and a young family are busy. They don’t have time or the headspace to read a paper from
front to back or sit down at a set time every evening to watch the news, most of which they have already received
as a newsflash through an app.
The news people would have read from a daily paper in the past, they now get from a news app
on their tablet or smartphone.
For some clients and consumers, getting stories in key publications is still what they think about first.
However, it’s important to realize that there are other, often better, ways of reaching target audiences
now.
Reality

12. impactimpact
the
of
SOCIAL MEDIASOCIAL MEDIA

13. Over the past decade, the field of public relations has undergone a lot of
dramatic changes. Many different aspects of technology and
communication advancements led to this, but perhaps none more than the
growth and popularity of social media. Social media changed how people
communicate, as well as when they communicate, where they
communicate, and even who they communicate with.
The age of ‘we talk, you listen’ style of company communication is gone.
The dialogue with stakeholders is the only way forward, because the
emergence of social media has changed the way consumers form opinions
and make decisions. Social media phased out the one-way communication
system of old, and ushered in a two-day communication system between
businesses and their customers.
Overview

14. Social media refers to websites and
applications that are designed to allow
people create and share content quickly,
efficiently, and in real-time, and to
participate in social networking
What is Socia Media

15. ENCOURAGED CUSTOMER FOCUS
Social media compelled many PR brands to start focusing more on their customers, and building positive
relationships. Customers can always go on Twitter and Facebook to sound off about bad customer experiences.
This forces companies to resolve issues speedily to avoid a PR crisis. Companies also use interactions on social
media to improve their business as a whole, especially where complaints and kudos are concerned.
…ON PUBLIC RELATIONS
MORE DIRECT CONTACT WITH PEOPLE
Social media means that interaction with people – customers is a much more direct path. And with the various
marketing tools available through platforms like Facebook, both public relations and advertising can be specifically
targeted for your unique customer base. Even further, the more you interact with your target audience, the more
your social media posts will be seen by your audience. Social media provides the means to save money when
trying to reach your people because you won’t be paying for people who aren’t interested to see your stories.
MAKES PR AFFORDABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
In the past, public relations firms and specialists mostly worked with politicians and large organizations with the
funds to spend for brand management and crisis communications. Today, even small businesses can afford to hire
a college student studying communications, journalism or public relations to manage their online presence. This
makes PR affordable to the businesses that need it, and who cannot afford more professional and experienced PR
assistance.

16. INTEGRATING SERVICES
Social media comprises so many elements, hence, it is forcing many different PR firms and PR professionals to
broaden the scope of their organizations, and the scope of their knowledge respectively. PR agencies are integrating
advertising people, digital marketing people, and big data specialists into their teams to provide a complete package
for their customers. Gone are the days when most PR firms stuck strictly to PR work. That is because social media
efforts require the full team.
GREATER ENGAGEMENT
In the past, communication was a one-way street, where companies put out content and customers had no public
avenue to easily interact with or respond to distributed content. Now, for better or worse, customers engage with
brands and their content by leaving comments, sharing, and “liking.” This also helps brands know how effective
content and ads are in reaching the masses, and boosting visibility, as opposed to the past where the effect of
commercials and newspaper ads could only be measured in sales.
ROUND THE CLOCK INFORMATION ACCESS AND DELIVERY
With social media, there is no time limitation to when an information seeker can access the information they seek.
If not convenient for them during the day, for one reason or the other, they can choose to access the information in
the middle of the night. Likewise, the PR professional can choose to deliver specific pieces of information to a particular
consumer or audience anytime, and the consumer/audience can choose to access that information whenever it is
convenient for them.

17. If the way people receive information is changing, so must
the public relations profession and professional
Media relations aren’t the same as they used to be back in
the days. Professionals need to navigate the new digital
landscape of public relations in order to be successful
Public Relations professionals need to reinvent themselves in
the digital era, otherwise, they go the way of the dinosaurs
Conclusion

18. SEE YOU
IN THE
FUTURE

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Relations: https://www.5wpr.com/new/social-media-public-relations/
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https://www.axiapr.com/blog/what-is-public-relations-2
Hudson, M. (2019, May 8). What Is Social Media? Retrieved from The Balance Small Business:
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-social-media-2890301
Pace, R. D. (2015-11-05, November 5). The Changing World of Public Relations. Retrieved from Everything-
PR: https://everything-pr.com/public-relations-newsroom/
Sawyer, D. (2014, November 7). The changing world of PR. Retrieved from PR Daily:
https://www.prdaily.com/the-changing-world-of-pr/
Stareva, I. (2012). The Impact of Social Media on the PR Industry. Plymouth: University of Plymouth.
Torossian , R. (2015, June 8). What Is The Impact Of Social Media On PR? Retrieved from Business 2
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