Where does traditional end, and digital start?

The debate about digital communications versus traditional PR practices seems to ebb and flow, but I have seen quite a few people writing about it recently. To me, it seems like we need to take a step back and forget marketing for a moment, digital or otherwise.

The US Department of Labour looked into the changing workforce in the 21st Century, and highlights the difference not only in the job roles available today, but they way people search for jobs. Looking at this real world example of the changing way people live helps us piece together how to market to them.

So how does this apply to the PR profession? First of all, Pete Hendrick, managing director, at agency Rocket Communications, said the following in an article on PR Moment:

“I think it's widely recognised that the traditional PR agency of old is on its way out”  

I think key point is that “we’re all marketers now”. Sales organisations are transforming to marketing organisations. And the role of marketing will have to be distributed out across the company, to ensure a clear and consistent message is being sent out from every angle, and we as professionals will need to be able to support this. Whilst in the past, traditional communications channels enabled the marketing department to tightly control the medium and the message, digital is fracturing this, and marketing needs to find a new way to retain control of the message.

In essence it’s about helping our clients find the core message, and identify the channels appropriate to convey that message to the audience. It’s about creating touchpoints, creating the journey or narrative, and creating engagement.

The ability to identify and analyse the needs of others is still key, whether you’re looking at digital or traditional comms, says Social Media Today. I would go as far as to say, you must to be able to understand the needs of others regardless of whether its digital or traditional. In today’s fractured media landscape, we as marketers must be able to guide our clients to their target audience, whether they live their lives on Twitter and get all their news from Google Reader, or still have a Nokia 3310 and have never heard of LinkedIn.