Many of us are thinking about how we weave influencer relations and social media into traditional marketing programs. Todd Defren, a popular blogger and principal at SHIFT Communications, spends a lot of time on this, and in particular on the intersection of PR and social media. He’s raised a valid question: is there a point where the label “PR agency” no longer applies? Should public relations agencies deeply engaged in social media channels adopt a new category, such as social media agency?

There’s no right or wrong answer to Todd’s question. Nonetheless, it’s important for each of us to follow his example, and ask. Growth is messy and organic. We can’t throw a switch to jump from a traditional track to running on a whole new set of rails. Instead, we have to stop and step out of the moment, and take in where we are and ask ourselves what we’ve become.

Influencer relations, mobile communications, and social media will challenge each of us to decide whether to come up with new definitions for our old marketing labels, or to adopt new labels.