It's Not So Much How You Say It, But Where You Say It (and the quality of the connection is everything)

 "Biden posted a picture of his historic letter dropping out of the race on X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads. The message was posted to X at 1:46 p.m. ET. It appeared on other social platforms at roughly the same time." - Axios, July 22, 2024

The posting on X was considered by traditional media as the "source." X CEO Linda Yaccarino didn't waste any time seizing this opportunity to position and package X as the platform for news. She observed, "X is where history happens."

It is also historic that Biden did not provide a traditional press event. He did say he was later going to do something like that but gave no definite date. That made his announcement on social "stand alone," at least for now.

Obviously, media as we have known it has lost more power and influence. Social keeps gaining it. Those prominent professional services firms ranging from McKinsey (management consulting) to Apollo (finance) to Paul, Weiss (law) to Edelman (public relations) also could begin bypassing the usual media channels. Those organizations and their partners and principals should establish their influence on social. Their Chief Marketing Officer better become skilled in crushing on such platforms.

In addition, what is posted about them on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl, Reddit, Blind and Glassdoor also is being taken very seriously. That is especially the situation since more and more traditional media has gone behind paywalls. It's on Reddit Big Law that that many of us learned about the major players' donor response to the Biden decision:

"Change we can believe in:

" Among those [in professional services] expected to aid Harris’ bid for the nomination are Centerview’s Blair Effron, Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray, Lazard’s Peter Orszag and Ray McGuire, Paul Weiss’ Brad Karp, and Evercore’s Roger Altman. “100% in,” one donor said Sunday afternoon.""

Yes, paywalls might be a death blow to influence.

A growing number of major brands such as Subaru, Adidas and Audible have already moved in that direction through developing relationships with influencers on social. 

Interestingly that has transformed what we have known as "public relations." In the old days PR, at least the high-paying jobs, was essentially media relations. PR representatives struggled to establish relationships with establishment media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Then they did expand that to digital such as HuffPost and Buzzfeed. 

As many are aware, in the latter, The New York Times is among the few media outlets which are going gangbusters as a business. Among the latter, there is a fight for survival. Remember tyrant social platform Gawker? It never could orchestrate a comeback in the US after the nuclear verdict in "Hulk Hogan v Gawker." Overseas there is another try. A useful platform, paywall free, for understanding the mutations of old-line PR is Reddit Public Relations.

In coaching, most of clients over-50 plan on self-employment. While they are preparing for that transition I recommend that they learn to become proficient in social. Part of that learning curve is keeping up with how genAI is impacting the search optimization game. 

Also key is the importance of in-person networking. That isn't new. It has simply become more critical in the marketing mix. The players with sustained influence, ranging from politico Bill Clinton to law firm chair Brad Karp, have from the get-go been master networkers.

After a few weeks of an email campaign for my newer enterprise, with no new business, I took the in-person approach. Got some bottles of wine and swung by three key retailers to tell my story. Two bought in. It's about the quality of the connection, no longer a numbers game (of, for instance, how many emails transmitted).

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)