Coding for Communication from the Beyoncé of the Business World

By: Isabel Illig
 
Now that PRSAA National Conference is over, we can begin to look back on what we learned. One session at the conference was called Code for Communication with guest speaker Brandi Boatner, the social and influencer communications lead at IBM. 
 
A saying from scientist E.O. Wilson quoted at the beginning of the session really stood out to me, "We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom."
 
Boatner said how we reach people when there are so many different ways to do it is our current challenge in the communications world. We need to mix analytics and algorithms with what we do best and create some sort of clear-cut ROI to bring PR to the next level.
 
She went on to tell the audience that there are 15 skills all public relation professionals need:
1.Social media listening
2.Keyword Research
3.SEO
4.Visual Literacy
5.Content Creation
6.Video
7.Social Advertising
8.Influencer Relationships
9.Media Analysis
10.Digital Media Relations
11.Basic coding
12.Google Analytics
13.Metrics
14.Digital Dashboard
15.Reporting ROI
 
Having just five of these skills will get you a good job in the industry, according to Boatner; list them on your resume!
 
Key takeaways from this session were:
1.Focus on public relations AND technological innovation. Observe how communications affects STEM and why.
2.Work to make PRTech prevalent such as MarTech and FinTech
3.Learn basic coding language like HTML or JavaScript. Start small and understand the basic foundations of coding before application. Boatner said, "They told me because I was a girl that I needed to start with JavaScript." When Boatner told the audience, “I went head first because I just wanted to learn; screw JavaScript. I want to code!”
4.Professionals need to understand the 3 A's - analytics or data storytelling, architecture and algorithms of PRTech. The three A’s affect your most important A of all - your AUDIENCE.
5.We need to find new ways to aggregate information, minimize clicks, and make content consumption easier and more enjoyable.
 
Boatner leaves us with this quote, "We must lead the charge and disrupt our own medium of delivery!"