Edelman Digital wrote a really great white paper with a rather dull title of five digital trends to watch for 2009 As a PR person turned marketing generalist, one thing I found particularly interesting was the idea that our our boxed-in titles and roles may be obsolete.  The line between marketing and customer care are blurring and our jobs in 2009 will be as much about customer retention as customer acquisition.

Some miscellaneous nuggets:
Consumer opinions online (61%) are nearly twice as trusted as search engine advertising (34%) and banner ads (26%), according to the 2007 Nielsen Online Global Consumer Study.

Less is the New More – overload is taking its toll. Content we care about will find us through clever combinations of friends and algorithms.

When I first learned PR it was a job filled with control.  We sent out highly crafted material to select audience of influencers and it was all about push, it was not a conversation.  Now just as PR becomes a role that multiple people in a company play, it is also a role that is blurring with customer service and customer care.  As many PR luminaries like Brian Solis keep saying, it’s a conversation. Sometimes letting go of that control has been hard but it has been well worth it.

The same shift, and the same release of control is happening to online marketers.  It is not about what you think is important, it is about what your site users think is important.  Turning site search and navigation over to the crowds might put you out of your comfort zone.  But our roles are changing.  If customer care really is part of our job, then it’s time we faciliate a conversation rather than make a speech.