Our MyST Blogsite generates highly qualified leads compared to other venues of online lead generation. One of the primary reasons is we have a trust factor, which we built (and continue to build) by providing dependable and accurate information through the blogsite. As a result, actions are more meaningful for business and the customer."
The Independent, A UK newspaper, recently highlighted the PR trend of publishing content. Instead of relying on the media to tell their stories, as they have for the last 100 years, companies are beginning to act like the media.
Public relations is flexing its media muscles like never before and strong-arming its way into areas once considered the exclusive domains of advertising agencies, broadcasters and publishers.
Companies and PR agencies are becoming more comfortable with producing content and videosfor online PR. Savvy Communication schools, like USC Annenberg, are ahead of this curve: they offer electives with classes in Photoshop, video production and other tools needed for today’s digital PR world.
Edelman has taken the lead in the move towards digital content creation with the hiring of Richard Sambrook, the former head of BBC News and the influential business journalist Stefan Stern, a marquee name on the Financial Times. SHIFT is another agency that has is moving in this direction. Their website states:
Forward-looking companies are starting to think like publishers themselves – sharing ideas, spurring conversations, engaging in industry trends and developing valuable digital marketing content that helps propel their brands.
Perhaps this is an area more suited to PR than the ad agencies – the Old Spice videos that caused such a stir may have earned the agency an award, entertained millions on Twitter and YouTube and landed the actor a contract, but the jury is still out on how much benefit the company got out of the campaign.
So where is the ROI in this kind of PR?
Telling stories that raise brand awareness and reach niche markets with value-add content that actually connects with people and moves them to a desired action – that gives ROI.
Brian Solis points out that it’s not just about the ads or the creative, it’s about that ‘last mile’ – the connecting of that content to the right individuals and then to the people they are connected with.
It’s time to move on from how to do social media to the future of social media and PR and how to deliver ROI
If you are attending the PRSA National in DC come to our session on Branded Content on Sunday October 17th. We’re looking at these controversial ideas, how to use analytics to drive effective content and how to deliver that last mile of ROI.
A new survey from Nielsen set out to show that as people use social media they use email less – and surprise! it came out completely the other way around.
“It actually appears that social media use makes people consume email more, not less, as we had originally assumed – particularly for the highest social media users. Intuitively this makes some sense. Social media sites like Facebook send messages to your inbox every time someone comments on your posting or something you’ve participated in, and depending on your settings, can send updates on almost every activity. Also, it’s perfectly logical that as people make connections though social media, they maintain those connections outside of the specific platform and may extend those connections to email, a phone conversation or even in-person meetings.”
SearchEngineLand.com reports that Twitter and Facebook, and the multitude of APIs that allow people to share content without even going to these sites, has transformed the social sharing of content into a crucial online marketing tactic that companies are making a mandatory part of their consumer outreach. The sharing of content is what makes social media so successful.
Social media websites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg, and others have realized that you can’t makesomeone visit your site. Instead of trying to ‘oust’ other sites, they have instead focused on making sure users can share whatever information they want across any medium they choose. SearchEngineLand
Adapt this philosophy to your own PR content.
Make is easy to find, republish and share.
Update your online newsroom and make it social media ready. Syndicate all your news content in feeds.
Add a Share This button.
Use the Social Follow button so that visitors can easily find you on all social sites.
It seems that Baseball did not get the memo about the power of online influencers:
A recent study of 127 Baseball teams found that although many independent bloggers, such as MLBTradeRumors.com and Yahoo! Sports, have upward of two million pages views daily and represent some of the Internet’s heaviest traffic, they rank far behind traditional media on trust and are the most likely group to be rejected (29 percent) for a press pass vs. traditional media (8 percent). Bloggers affiliated with established media outlets, such as the LA Times Sport blog and EPSN.com, earned less trust than traditional media outlets, but significantly more trust than independent bloggers, who were at the bottom of that scale.
“This study speaks to the many cracks in the sports and media relationship that are being revealed with the rise of web-based communication networks,” said Mike Cramer, executive director of the Texas Program in Sports and Media at The University of Texas at Austin, which funded the study. There is a perception that independent bloggers are mere fans who don’t need a press pass to do their job.
“Independent bloggers wanting more access to teams need to continue to advance their credibility through trust and by moving themselves out of the fan category and into the social media arena,” said Avery Holton, a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin, surveyed 127 professional baseball teams from every organizational level to measure their “trust” in various media and how they responded to requests for press passes. “Bloggers may be able to achieve this by delivering original, newsworthy content, beefing up their site to reflect the most current in digital media, tracking and reporting increases in their daily site traffic and interacting with baseball front offices on Facebook and Twitter.” Holton has worked as a sports journalist and as a communication director for a Triple A baseball team.
“Anyone looking for a job in today’s competitive market without using social media is at a distinct disadvantage.” So says Leonard Witt, the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication and founder and executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University.
Witt points to data from CareerBuilder:
Social media is one of the top ten hiring trends in 2010.
One in five employers plan to add social media responsibilities to a current employee’s job description.
Eight percent plan to hire someone new to focus or partially focus on social media.
I’m definitely seeing signs of these trends in the marketplace:
An outsourcing company told me their clients are asking for social media training for their employees
A well-known executive search firm has launched a new division specifically to find social media savvy hires
They plan to offer social media training to prospective candidates
A California University is offering a Master’s in Social Media – a Master’s Certificate completed in 8 weeks
An MBA with a social media focus will be available in the US this fall
Will social media training become the next area where ‘everyone’ is suddenly an expert? I hope not.
As Witt advises in his article: “You want to get quality social media training. Ask someone you trust who uses social media for advice.”
One of the key findings from WJEC2 was that social media has become an integral part of journalism and must be included in the curriculum.
Social media sites, including blogs, are now essential items in journalists’ kitbags. They are tools for newsgathering and dissemination; for investigation and crowdsourced fact-checking. Perhaps most importantly, though, they are platforms for engagement with what NYU’s Jay Rosen famously dubbed “the people formerly known as the audience” — each one of whom is a potential source.
At the Denver meeting Eric Newton, Vice President for Journalism at the Knight Foundation, outlined “four transformational trends emerging in journalism and communication schools.”
Expand the definition of who a journalist is and what they can do
Be innovators in the news and content industry, experiment and teach new skills
Teach students the open, collaborative approach to media and news
Provide digital news and engage with the people we once called the audience
As PR people a big part of our job is media relations - understanding the current media landscape, how news is best presented, what journalists need and how best to work with them. If this is their future, it must also be ours.
Just as they need to learn to produce excellent digital content and use open, collaborative tools and methods, so do we. Social media and digital PR training should be high on your list of priorities.
Is your PR team ready to meet this challenge? What does your PR team need to get up to speed?
Active Twitter users are three times more likely to impact a brand’s online reputation via Tweets, blog posts, articles and product reviews than the average consumer, according to a new survey by Exact Target.
Although Twitter’s active user base remains smaller than Facebook’s,these daily users are the most influential online consumers, and their conversations spill over into every other part of the internet.
“The conversations that take place on Twitter fuel discussions across all areas of the internet–from blogs and forums to product reviews and coupon sites–which influence both Twitter and non-Twitter users alike.”
Key findings:
Twitter users want to influence others
Active users watch their follower lists and keep them uncluttered
Your Twitter followers are your most influential consumers – 3X more likely to publish content online
Active Twitter users blog, post reviews, comment on news stories and participate in discussion forums
Their reach goes far beyond Twitter – Twitter’s reach is approximately double its active user base
Tweets are indexed by Google and syndicated by the Twitter API
The real-time data produced by Twitter is simply unparalled
Over time Twitter is attracting the right kind of active users: the influencers who drive the real-time web with content
It’s short, easy to access and quicker than e-mail
It allows access t0 people’s everyday lives – it crosses all boundaries, humanizes and connects
Twitter gives people access to breaking news and events – it’s way faster than mainstream media
People regard a branded account more reliable than an individual account, but they do want the tweeter identified ( @ford tweets from Scott Monty have SM on them)
Followers do respect and trust an individual Twitter account for a high ranking officer in a corporation, as they believe they could effect change and they appreciate the opportunity to interact with them directly
Twitter provides just that – accessibility and interaction: a backstage pass
Why do consumers follow brands?
Updates on future products
Stay informed of future activities
Get discounts and promotions
Be notified of upcoming sales
Get samples and coupons
Fun and entertainment
Access to exclusive content
Learn more about the company
Show support
Share ideas and give feedback
It was recommended
Get direct messages from the company
This is valuable data you can use when devising your Twitter content strategy
For the past 100 years companies have had the luxury of deciding what products they want to make and sell, what their brand message will be and how they will deliver it to their audience. Communication in PR was based on a one-way, two-step flow of communication through mass media.
The Internet changed that.
We’re in the age of social media and markets have indeed become conversations. The media landscape is in a state of flux. Consumers have access to new tools that allow them to easily and quickly access breaking news, find information, publish their thoughts and opinions and communicate with their peers. It also allows them to give you feedback and form a deep relationship with your organization, but you have to be open to this new media landscape and embrace social media. Listen, learn and respond.
With 500 million people on Facebook and 50 million on Twitter it’s no longer a question of ‘should we be doing social media? – but rather ‘are we doing it right?’
The first step in getting it right is to tap into the online conversations and listen to your audience. Social media offers you the opportunity of doing in-depth research, listening to conversations and hearing feedback we’ve never had access to before. There are tools to mine that data and get intelligence that can inform your PR strategy and hone the messaging.
Case Study: Finding New Markets
By listening to mentions of the brand online Hennessy Cognac discovered fans of their brand on a social networking site in the U.S. for African Americans: BlackPlanet.com.
Analysis of these conversations about Hennessy, and further study of the online and offline lifestyle choices of these brand fans, revealed their interests, preferences and how they interacted with the brand. Based on this data Hennessy created a tour called Hennessy Artistry. They sponsored and partnered with well-known African American music artists and DJs and held events and concerts in major cities across the U.S., always making content from these events available to post and share online.
In Q1 of 2010 they held a major launch party for their first new product in 50 years: Hennessy Black. The event was held in Chicago hosted by LeBron James with special guests Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis, Cleveland Cavaliers Chicago Bulls & Chicago Bears. Content about the event reached more than 25,000,000 people through the following websites; ChicagoTribune.com, RedEye/ChicagoNow.com, ChicagoSunTimes.com, HuffingtonPost.com, TheSource.com, BlackPlanet.com.
200+ blogs and websites posted the ‘black carpet’ video interviews with celebrities like LeBron James, Jay-Z and Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis.
When you search Google images for Hennessy Black there are 260 000 results. Since March Hennessy Black has been mentioned in just over 20 000 blog posts.
Listening to the online conversations is not only the first step-it’s a vital step. There is an old PR saying: know before you go. Listening makes is so much easier to get that information and once you have it, you can allocate your resources wisely. You’ll know where to start, who to talk to, what content they respond to and what social sites you should be concentrating on.
When you know the lay of the land it’s much easier to plot a path to your destination. A social media marketing strategy is that roadmap.
According to Google Insights for search there is a rapidly rising interest in social media strategy. And rising right along with it are searches for social media training. These searches are coming from
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
And there’s been steadily increasing news coverage of these two phrases – with the interest in training ramping up mid 2009. The most interest is training is coming from New York City and London. San Francisco, Washington DC and New York City are the top three locations for searches on social media strategy.
The main focus of the stream of news articles is the need for a sound social media strategy as opposed to the unstructured, ad hoc efforts so many companies start out with. The Google News timeline shows 38 just in this last week.
Senior management executives at CPG companies and retailers are clearly giving serious thought to social media and its implications. Many expressed keen awareness of the pressing need for a well-honed social media strategy that harnesses the positive power of social media, effectively addresses/turns around potential negatives, and includes ROI measurement. “If you’re going to tell your [brand] story in a world of blogs and streaming video, you better be able to communicate digitally,” summed up Hershey CFO Bert Alfonso. MediaPost
Irish Government unveils new social media strategy: The Irish Government’s Information Service has built a new social networking-led internet platform based on WordPress, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter called MerrionStreet.ie. “There was a sense in Government that the old way of disseminating information through traditional websites left a lot to be desired and we felt the need to move to a more modern era. Mere text doesn’t cut it and people expect more.” Independent.ie
I liked Srinivas Kandikonda’s article in Technology News about the need for a social media strategy and although he is writing about media organizations, the lessons apply equally to any business today.
Here are his main points:
The need for adoption of social media and delivery to multiple mobile devices is increasingly becoming essential for retaining and attracting new customers
The smart phone is the next content platform. It’s a powerful touchpoint and a highly personal channel. From news and product information to coupon campaigns and location-based marketing companies can engage consumers wherever they are to influence the buying decision and strengthen customer relationships.
Companies are taking a holistic approach to branding and delivering content to various platforms such as televisions, Internet, mobile devices, social media sites, print and other channels.
Good content shared on multiple channels is becoming a valuable asset. Companies that leverage social networking, content and knowledge assets will be those best positioned for future success.
The content that gets published across these channels should be consistent and be managed together
In a recent Washington Post article, 10 Mistakes Companies Make in Social Media, Debbie Weilsaid “Organizations and companies using social media should have a hub on their primary Web site where users can find links or feeds to blogs, Flickr photo galleries and other third-party Web sites. This also gives customers or constituents a single go-to URL” A social media newsroom fits this description perfectly.
Search engine optimization plays a major role in driving traffic to the website. The site should be optimized not only for its own content, but also for the content published on various other channels.
Have one overall keyword strategy. work with your SEO colleagues and incorporate the keywords and phrases into all your PR content – news releases, blog posts, tweets.
A comprehensive social media strategy enables customers, as well as employees, to interact with each other using Web 2.0 tools, integrated with internal and external portals
As the Cluetrain Manifesto said:Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It’s going to cause real pain to tear those walls down. But the result will be a new kind of conversation. And it will be the most exciting conversation business has ever engaged in.
Advanced analytics that can track campaigns that are spread across multiple channels are an essential part of this strategy.
Managing hundreds of pieces of content distributed across multiple channels presents a significant challenge, but there are products available that can help you track all your PR, news and social content. Radian6 is one. Marketwire just acquired Sysomos to do just this.
At the Media Relations Summit in New York City at the end of June there were comments in practically every session about how much the media landscape has changed and that as the jobs description of a journalist changes, so too does the work of a PR person. Content on multiple channels is a big part of PR today. We have to know how to create it, how to distribute is and how to track views and engagement.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Maggie Fox at the Media Relations Summit in New York City last week. She spoke on the session about the future of social media and in this interview Maggie explains how branded content and the intersection paid and earned media is a growing trend she is seeing.
Great minds think alike, Maggie! Branded content is one of the trends in my Future of PR report
Using paid media to extend the reach of your news content is often a controversial subject in PR. Making the most of the online and social media opportunities to leverage great content produced by customers or bloggers makes good PR sense.
Suppose a blogger or video blogger produces content around a remarkable brand or product experience and their blog only reaches ten thousand people. You could use paid social media and online news services to deliver it to other people who might be interested, but won’t ever see that particular blog post. This kind of content has a high trust-factor and sites like digg and foursquare are offering paid content marketing opportunities now. You can also use services like Outbrain and Newsforce to place the content on major news sites. And that audience is growing by leaps and bounds.Newspaper websites had their highest ever number of visitors in Q1 of this year.
Its definitely time to add some new ideas and tools to our traditional PR and media relations skill set.
In Chapter Four of Now Is Gone, we talk about this “ping pong match” between traditional and new media outlets. From the draft material in June of 2007:
One great way to promote your new media initiative remains traditional media, who often use well-respected blogs as sources or even the subject of stories… [Social media attention] drives information into the spotlight forcing traditional media to pay attention – or look like they’ve missed the news, and most importantly the conversation. Blogs [can be] a more effective way of reaching and inspiring traditional media to react than most PR professionals and wire services combined. Ping pong matches demonstrate that weighting one tool by its actual total community and eyeball impact fails. As Seth Godin said in Meatball Sundae, “It doesn’t matter if the socially generated earned media only gets one percent of the hoped for attention if it’s the right one percent.”
However, it doesn’t hurt to make it available to the other 99 percent either.
I spoke with a group of bloggers in Phoenix recently. What I found is that very few had any business from their blogs despite a lot of effort. I have 5 closings and 7 active buyers directly from [our MyST blogsite] in 2008. I know because I ask. One person told me they have been reading my blog for almost a year before they called me to buy a property."
