A while back I wrote a post praising Lois Kelly for her list of “Five Ways to Make WOM Matter to CEOs,” a piece which focused on ways to curb a CEO’s skepticism of losing control of brand messaging online. She recounted a presentation she made about conversational marketing where executives in the room balked at the idea of abandoning control, calling it “irresponsible” and “possibly dangerous.” For those in digital PR, I’m sure this situation sounds pretty familiar.

Obviously losing control is a valid concern – after all, we’re in the business of crafting messages – but what I want to know is how in the world have the more traditional methods completely eluded the “lack of control” branding that digital can’t seem to shake off?

Somewhere along the way, I think we’ve forgotten that there’s not a whole lot of control in offline PR either. Even though a press release is crafted with specific messages in mind doesn’t mean that once it gets out there, it’s not going to ripped apart in editorial and offline word of mouth. The only control we have is with the outlets we give that message to and it does not matter if those outlets are online or off. Once that message goes out, it’s gone.

The difference is that we are better able to gauge public feedback online – which can be a huge wakeup call for companies who have been largely unaware about what happens to their perfectly crafted messages once they get out into the unpublished public domain.

Skepticism of digital PR tactics is not about losing control of the message, it’s about staying in denial about what your target audience really thinks. While I maintain that a harmful online mention isn’t necessarily good news, isn’t it better to receive and learn from feedback from your target rather than sweeping it under the rug?