The lessons keep on coming, especially on how to do this blogging gig. While there is NO one right way to blog — or become an “A-List Blogger — there are some Best Practices that win friends and influence people.
SHARISAX IS OUT THERE will evolve and apply some new strategies in this second year, but four months ago I followed some “best practices” and began a second blog using a very consistent design with fewer categories and a list format.
This Social Media Revolution is changing our lives and our selves: As fast as we are figuring out what to do next, we hear about yet another site, another tool, or another app.
Early Adopting Tech Geeks love this stuff.
But what about the rest of us . . . especially those who may still think “blogging” is a silly word, Twitter is stupid, and Facebook is a waste of time.
How to start doing “it”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century American philosopher and essayist, said that
“We are all looking for someone to tell us what to do.”
That’s one of the reasons why people write books, why bookstores and libraries are great places to hang out, and why book lovers like me scour the shelves for the newest, greatest information.
Find Top Tips in these Articles:The purpose of this blog is to share some of the best advice I’m reading from the most current books on social media and internet marketing — many of these books you will want to read cover to cover.
I covered the first section, ch. 15 on Community Managers in an earlier post. And today’s article only begins to summarize some of the key points in the three very diverse chapters remaining in Part 4.
You’ll find many resources referred to but much deeper explanations are offered in links below, and, of course, the book itself.
Notes from Ch. 16: Socialization of Communication and Service
One of the true values of our technological capabilities is an opportunity — and a responsibility — to “become experts in the markets, products, and services we represent.”
Do not fear negative comments as they can help organizations improve their processes and offerings.
One goal: pull your company into online conversations to help influencers, customers, and prospects gather the information they need. Also empower people to help one another.
MONITORING TIP— Use Google Alerts and “search.twitter.com” –You receive email notifications through Google Alerts for key words that you sign up for. If you use a desktop application like Tweetdeck, then you can set up columns to regularly stream mentions of your keyword from search.twitter.com. You could be receiving regular updates about your company, your products, and your competitors.
NING.COM: A new one for me, but I tried it and like it. Here you can set up YOUR OWN social network. For example, in my fledgling social media consulting business, I can offer SM Newbies a “comfortable” place to gather online and ask me and my interns questions about social media in a Newbie forum.
Finding WHICH communities your customers participate in is critical if you want to engage them where they are.
“Feel the pain and deliver the painkiller.”
If you are listening to problems, you can address them before your customers go elsewhere for solutions.
REVERSE ENGINEERING [one of my favorite concepts to (a) deliberate over and (b) put to USE
Here is the PPBPR 3-step reverse-engineering model:
Determine Who, Where, How — prospects are communicating.
Listen.
Adapt to their needs.
Notes from Ch 17 – The Rules for Breaking News
Concept of embargo: When PR people distribute news to those who will write about it [e.g., reporters, bloggers], the “embargo” sets a time WHEN the news may be broadcast.
Some bloggers are now saying that . . .
“PR agencies are no longer necessary”
Do you agree? Who does — and why? Who doesn’t — and why?
Here’s an opinion on the topic from Steve Rubel – thought leader, lifestreamer, and top PR guy for top international PR firm:
“Does the thrill of the chase make PR obsolete? It’s our view that increasingly, bloggers (and maybe journalists too) simply don’t want our help. Many bloggers — particularly those who cover tech — love to discover new things and experience them on their own.”
Key difference between bloggers and journalists: many bloggers want the news way before the story — because, in many cases, They are the Innovators and Early Adopters.
One key similarity: RELATIONSHIPS are All Important, no matter the medium or the writer/broadcaster.
Ch 18 – A New guide to metrics
The whole idea behind PR 2.0 is that the Old Ways of PR no longer work with today’s audiences OR the people who influence them. Same goes for Old Measurements: Organizations should NOT determine the ROI of their PR campaigns by the number of stories written in newspapers or broadcast on TV.
“PR 2.0 favors engagement more than hits, referrals more than eyeballs, activity more than ad value, sales more than mentions, and market and behavioral influences more than the weight and girth of clip books.”
People = Power
Perception = sum of all the conversations on the Social Web
Measuring the frequency and tone of conversations is the new measure of effectiveness, and here are some tracking tools to check out:
and a host of social networks from Facebook to YouTube.
Tracking conversations finds you WHAT?
When you listen, you will likely hear seven different types of comments:
Asking for info or help
Answering questions related to your brand
Sharing opinions/observations
Offering suggestions
Expressing dissatisfaction
Promoting competition
Reposting relevant content and market data
“Through proactive and consistent listening, measurement, and refinement, PR will not only justify its role in social marketing, but also more effectively enhance relationships, build trust, cultivate communities, and increase sales . . .”
i.e. INCREASE ROI
What’s YOUR TAKE on the new methods and measurements of Public Relations? If you read this post BEFORE Tuesday, Sept 22 at 8pm EDT / 5pm PDT, you can join me and others for the social media book discussion on Tweetchat. Just put in the hashtag #smbookclub and comment OR just observe.
An archive will be available after the discussion, but you can always weigh in with a comment below.
When I first read chapter 13 in Putting the Public Back into PR, I had my doubts as to whether Twitter was really the place for great convo — i.e. conversation.
But two recent experiences convinced me that rapid-fire, off-the-cuff, succinct wordings could in fact power “engaging” and “enlightening” experiences — not to mention the opportunity for community-building.
Last night I moderated the #smbookclub discussion for Part 3 of Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge’s Putting the Public Back in PR. This morning I participated in their discussion at #PRStudChat. Both complete discussions are archived and be followed simply by searching the hastags.
Content/conclusions from the book discussion:
“Relax and let chaos reveal its relevance to you.”Susanna Stinnet
The conversations [“convos”] are happening. If you are part of them, you can affect change and make a difference.
Companies that use today’s tools will be ahead of the game, even if those particular tools change or lose their vitality.
Social media will continue to evolve; it will not go away.
Social media platforms are great ways to meet people.
Before engaging anyone, first observe and understand the cultures and behaviors necessary to participate in these communities.
Marketing jobs have moved from monologues to dialogue.
Avoid the clutter and build relationships.
Build meaningful relationships that will contribute to company’s brand equity, resources, and overall bottom line.
“Twitter and Facebook are really good for listening and developing relationships — and then driving to where you can talk in more depth either via email or phone.” Paul Salinger
“Social media is forcing changes that should have happened a long time ago in everything related to business.” Cherisse Rivera
Notes for further “conversation/content”:
1) Check out #PRStudChat for hour dialogue between Brian, Dierdre, PR students and pros.
2) Read my reviews of Putting the Public Back in PR:
Who OWNS the responsibility of managing social media conversations for an organization?
Brian and Dierdre conclude that “every facet of a business is responsible for its channel of social monitoring and interaction,” and strategies and tactics for each department can best be directed by a community manager — or one of several other titles:
Community Advocate
Brand Ambassador
Social Media Specialist
Social Media Evangelist
VP of Social Media
Chief Social Officer
Community Relations Manager
Community Builder
The socialization of the corporate marketing infrastructure isn’t a matter ofIF it should happen, but instead WHEN it will happen.
Marketers in every industry are agreeing with a core social media concept that People Do Business with People, not Entities: “Brands don’t engage with people — people engage with people.”
The dynamic of listening to and engaging in everyday dialogue is often referred to as the conversation.
The conversation is between the the organization representatives and the new influencers which comprise customers, peers, employees, partners, enthusiasts, bloggers, reporters, and analysts.
What is it that you learn by listening?
Whether the online conversations are positive, neutral, or negative, the insight garnered from listening and observing will reveal opportunities not just for engagement, but also for gathering real-world intelligence
— the type of information that is “ear to the street” and that you can feed back into your organization to improve the existing service, product, and management infrastructure.
Savvy Communication Skills: shapes editorial and mediates disputes
Gathers Community Input: gathers and shares comments from marketplace conversation
Here’s a definition of the role of the community manager by a community manager — Connie Bensen:
A community manager is the voice of the company externally and the voice of the customers internally. The value lies in the community manager serving as a hub and having the ability to personally connect with the customers and providing feedback to many departments internally.
Community Managers: Please feel free to add your experiences and tips for organizations looking for individuals to fill this role AND for communications specialists seeking these positions.
Many of us who have taught Shakespeare know that the Great Bard based his renowned plays on history or legend — in other words, his genius was not in the originality of plots, but in the art of his storytelling.
Art, imagination, creation are products of passion. Passion is the way we move forward. Passion is the way I, personally, am moving forward.
Book Review – Part One
This blog is a chronicle of my newly embraced career as a Social Media Evangelist. And one of the people most responsible is Brian Solis, who graciously and enthusiastically accepted an invitation to speak to two Public Relations classes at San Francisco State last spring — despite his hectic schedule advising clients, speaking at conferences, attending mashups, and promoting his most recent book Putting the PUBLIC Back in Public Relations.
To my mind, Brian’s book, co-written with Deirdre Breakenridge, is a conversation about a clash — the confrontation between old thinking and new realities.
Change is hard. People like the comfort of the Way it Was, and the Way They Know: but that is hardly a roadmap for progress.
How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR
Below is a listing of passages I particularly liked from Part I: THE TRUE VALUE OF THE NEW PR
Public Relations has always been about building relationships. It should never have been about spin.
The first thing a PR practitioner should learn is to uphold integrity and credibility at all times.
Listeners make the best conversationalists.
PR 2.0 is creating a new toolkit with which companies can share content with new influencers as well as customers.
PR has begun to look less like a typical broadcast machine and more like a living, breathing entity capable of also participating in conversations with publics.
The new goal for PR is to understand the communities of people we want to reach and how to engage them in conversation without marketing to them.
PR is rooted in democratized content, strengthened by enthusiasm and market intelligence, and powered by conversation.
We no longer Pitch — we Participate. We no longer Sell stories — we Tell them.
The New PR is all about 3 T’s: Transparency, Truth, and Trust.
The Social Media Book Club discussed Part I of the book last week, and here is an archive of the remarks. Tonight at 8pm EDT [5pm PDT] you can catch the discussion of part II: Facilitating Conversations: New Tools and Techniques on Twitter #smbookclub. Here is a Book Club calendar. For more info, contact @ready2spark
Five incredibly talented and deeply entrenched social media THOUGHT LEADERS fielded questions about “How to get the word out” and win more business now that there’s so much FREE stuff out there.
THE VENUE: Grand Hyatt in San Francisco
THE SPONSOR: San Francisco chapter of the American Marketing Association
THE “WHY”: To discuss whether or not today’s marketing and PR “sucks,” and, if so, What To Do About It.
What would you do if you had a great product in a niche and zero dollars in marketing?
What would you now do if you now had $10,000 in marketing? How would you put it to use?
What is the role of agencies in today’s environment? Should companies simply do their own marketing?
Headlines from the discussion:
PR NEEDS A NEW NAME
NO TRUST IS OBSTACLE FOR PR & ADVERTISING
CROWDSOURCING IS THE NEW INFLUENCER
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
BECOME AN EXPERT IN A UNIQUE NICHE
“TRUTH IN MARKETING”: [Who’d a thunk?]
EVERYONE IN YOUR COMPANY WILL BE FINDABLE
BE YOUR OWN MOUTHPIECE
PR AGENCIES ARE PASSÈ
Selected clips from the discussion
Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray
“For marketing on a shoestring: Tap into personal network for word of mouth. Leverage the people who are your biggest fans.”
Seesmic founder: Loic Le Meur
“The problem with old styles of marketing is No Trust. What I trust are my friends telling me about products they like.”
“Twenty years ago there were 20 influencers. Today there are 6,000.”
“When you engage with customers on Twitter, you can learn what problems need to be resolved.”
“Social Media Marketing: Find the fight people in the right places and offer the right message.”
Steve Patrizi and Renee Blodgett round out the panel of experts
“Online Social Media: No difference between personal and professional.”
“Professionally distributed news releases may only be necessary with major launches.”
“Break out of old marketing by teaching your people to LISTEN and then to RESPOND.”
“The speed of innovation is directly related to the speed at which we are sharing information.”
“Rules are different for social media platforms: MySpace is like your neighborhood bar. Facebook is the backyard BBQ. LinkedIn is your office. You’ll need to act accordingly.”
WHAT DID THE ATTENDEES HAVE TO SAY?
Mark Evans, SFAMA President
Marketing is going through a revolution. The SFAMA is here to embrace this change and help bring together all the moving parts. — Mark
Julia Francis - Ubiquity PR, Wendy Fisher - Moxie Mtkg, Sharon Lee - Shamiko Design, Kelly Connelly - Kelly Connelly Design
MARKETING AND PR “SUCK”? — People will always need them, suck or not. It depends on the approach for them “not to suck”: Change the name of PR to a more friendly and real term like SOCIAL CONNECT, for instance. — Sharon
Bill Bralye
After listening to the panel, I want to devote more time identifying best practices used by companies that are effectively widening their marketing tactics by adding social media to the mix. — Bill
Deb Kockos
I can tell you that most people do not spend their day online exposed to ads or blogs about certain products. Most of the world doesn’t even know what Web 2.0 means. When referencing a conversation on LinkedIn during a recent presentation, the audience looked at me like I was nuts. No one even knew about LinkedIn. We’re definitely in the early adopter stage here. — Deb
John Meyer - UC Berkeley, Laura Dantes - Engagement Strategies
We do need to filter the Hype and remember basic marketing principles. As Renee put it, “What is the problem we are trying to solve?” Focus on strategy, messaging, and reaching the right stakeholder groups using multiple channels. I don’t believe the zero budget Twitter solution is sustainable. — Laura
Cory O'Brien
Marketing and PR don’t suck. They’re just changing rapidly, and the companies that can’t keep up with the changing environment are using marketing and PR methods that “suck.” Social media has closed the gap between the company and the consumer, and there’s a level of speed, honesty, and transparency that is required to play in this field that many companies are not yet comfortable with. — Cory
FOR THOSE WHO’D LIKE TO VIEW GUY’S QUESTIONS AND THE PANEL RESPONSES AND DISCUSSION:
Can’t get enough of thought leaders in panel discussions? Here’s my report on Steve Rubel, Michael Brito, Richard Brewer-Hay, and Angela LoSasso discussing “Beyond the Hype: Roadmap for Social Media”
Part II: My notes on PRWeb Social News Release show
Images are now expected: photo by my friend Susan Ambrosini
For a long time I’ve been telling my students the “dirty little secret” that the term PRESS RELEASE is passè — and people-in-the-know have been referring to these outreach communiquès as NEWS RELEASES.
However in the New Media World, we now have the SOCIAL NEWS RELEASE with entirely new rules and capabilities. Naturally I was excited by the prospect of sharing the tips for online news releases offered in the PRWeb/Vocus webinar.
SNR’s — VITAL SEO TOOL
Here are three of the broad-based benefits of Social News Releases:
Their incorporated “links” build Google juice
They provide content for both news aggregators and bloggers
They can create viral exposure through social networks
The Webinar listed five steps for a Great Online News Release:
Focus on two or three relevant key phrases — and get one of those in the headline and the other in the first sentence.
Content is Key: Make certain that your story has news value and is not just a veiled sales pitch.
Distribute the release to all social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Optimize with key words and videos or images.
Use targeted anchor tags [URLs with recognizable labels].
It’s All About BACKLINKS
Go to slide #26++ on Optimized Press Releases for examples of SEO-enhanced social news releases. Notice the embedded video, social bookmarking, live search tracking, and embedded hyperlinks. Multimedia has become an expectation.
Here are two organizational points from the webinar transcript:
The Process has changed: new way of working, new approval procedures, new metrics
Leadership must discuss and adopt a new way of defining success for Public Relations
You can use this template for a Social News Release provided on the Web by Todd Defren, widely respected PR/Social Media expert whose blog PR-Squared debuted the recommended format. For more information check out this Fact Sheet on Todd and the relevance of Social News Releases.
This BabyBoomer does. But nowadays Saturday morning seems to be a great time to catch up on a lot of web stuff that’s going to get me thinking about the FUTURE . . . of marketing, advertising, PR, media and our lives.
So I figured I’d share some of what I liked this morning:
1) Seth’s Blog: “Fidelity vs. Convenience” – Seth commented on a new book that shows us that successful new products/services must EXCEL [x10] vs. their competition in either Performance [fidelity] or Convenience, e.g. movie theater vs Netflix.
2) Future of Advertising slide show by Paul Isakson: One of my favorite quotes tells us that Revolutions Happen When Society Changes Its Behaviors, Not Its Tools.
3) Ad Age story on how Advertising Will Change Forever: The OLD ways do take a long time to “die,” but the future is clearly digital and social.
4) Viral Video: The Ulltimate Word of Mouth. 17-year-old sparks huge sales of Web Cams – Logitech paid $0 for advertising.
5) 21 Tips for Twitter from Forbe’s Mag: (a) short & direct; (b) coupons; (c) viral; (d) customer service; (e) focus groups — to name a few. You can even let customers know their deliveries will be delayed. And don’t forget Employee Recruitment is another use, i.e., publicizing open positions.
6) Creating Newsletters that Work: 5 steps: (a) Plan; (b) Don’t sell too hard; (c) Offer value; (d) Be consistent; (e) Make it interactive.
7. Nourishing Web Relationships: I actually read this blog post a few days ago, but Adam Singer’s “The Future Buzz” is my favorite blog, so I wanted to include this. I love his take on current — as well as “evergreen” — ideas and strategies. As a teacher of public relations, I do know it truly is All About Relationships. Do check out The Future Buzz.
8. A Brief and Informal Twitter Etiquette Guide: I like DM’s for 1-to-1 plans, rather than: broadcasting personal business to everyone. And . . . not every DM or @mention requires a reply. We don’t return every phone message, do we?
9. Five Ways Traditional Media are Using Video: This idea is my understanding of the Future of Advertising, so I was really interested. What I read, however, was a bit disappointing . . . for me. It shouldn’t have been, though, when I thought about it. The Mashable article simply outlined the ways that traditional media are using video . . . to advertise their “wares”: e.g., magazines with private online video channels and publishers using online videos to promote literary works.
10. Social Media Marketing slide show: Pretty basic, but good principles, examples, and tips. Shows what Wal-Mart has done wrong by trying to “control” the process. Also points out how offline activities translate online for entrepreneurs: large and small.
TEN social media marketing slices is a pretty filling meal for one post. But I think I’ll try this again. Let me know what you think. What was most interesting to you. What other sites have you read lately that you’d suggest?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment or sharing it with your followers on Twitter! You can also subscribe by email for more cool interviews and articles from Sharisax is Out There.
When one of my new PR students read last week’s post listing David Meerman Scott’s NEW RULES for PR & Marketing, he suggested that the old rules were still useful.
Perhaps some “old rules” may be, but not the ones DMS pointed out. Here below is my response to Thomas’ comment:
Thomas, have you ever heard the old cliche, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater”? That expression was the first thing that came to mind when I read your comment. In other words, when you are “cleaning up,” make certain that you don’t throw out EVERYTHING.
So I thought I’d reexamine those OLD RULES and decide if any were really worth saving:
1. The only way to get ink was through the media.
Of course, with social media, we are all publishers and do not require the mainstream media to tell our stories.
2. Companies communicated to journalists via press releases.
Organizations of all types — profit, nonprofit, government, etc. — can bypass journalists by posting releases on their own sites as well as using many different platforms to communicate with buyers, employees, community members, shareholders, and any other stakeholders they wish to reach.
3. Nobody saw the actual press release except a handful of reporters and editors.
That’s just not true anymore. People searching for our companies and/or the products we carry and/or services we provide can find releases and news and information on our websites as well as more dynamic platforms like our blogs and Twitter accounts.
4. Companies had to have significant news before they were allowed to write a press release.
DMS tells us over and over that the more we communicate directly with our buyers, the better relationships we can build — and that means sharing lots of newsworthy items, not simply “significant events.”
5. Jargon was okay because the journalists all understood it.
Jargon doesn’t work. You want your audiences to understand everything — about your company and you. Jargon does not figure at all in an Authentic World where Transparency is Key.
6. You weren’t supposed to send a release unless it included quotes from third parties, such as customers, analysts, and experts.
Now these 3rd party quotes easily find their way to the people through tweets, blogs, and updates. People do want to hear from their friends — and social media makes those recommendations so easy.
7. The only way buyers would learn about the press release content was if the media wrote a story about it.
With the opportunity to publish your releases on your own internet platforms — as well as the availability of both free and fee-based wire services, you no longer need to depend entirely on the mainstream media. However, if your messages “go viral,” you can be guaranteed that the media will find you and reinforce your message even more.
8. The only way to measure the effectiveness of press releases was through “clip books,” which noted each time the media deigned to pick up a company’s release.
Measuring ROI has a host of new tools including Google Analytics as well as blog comments and social media update — all of which are easily accessible through tools and search. Of course, for many businesses the true measurement of effectiveness has nothing to do with “clips” and everything to do with sales.
9. PR and marketing were separate disciplines run by different people with separate goals, strategies, and measurement techniques.
It seems safe to conclude that marketing is going to have to be ALL about getting out the brand reputation and the brand message to various audiences — and that is what Public Relations has ALWAYS been about.
So one remaining question could be: What OLD RULES do you think we ought to keep?
Last post we tried to address the responses of naysayers — the “non early adopters,” the social media non-initiates.
Common challenges in any evolutionary cycle. But the fact remains that life does change, and so do we.
And nowhere are these changes more dramatic than with engaged students in our colleges and universities. I’m seeing this “Ah-Ha Awareness” particularly strong among scores of individuals in my Public Relations and Advertising classes at San Francisco State University where many are hearing of this revolution in marketing for the very first time.
After 10+ weeks immersed in All Things Social Media, I asked the students to comment on this experience. Here following are the thoughts of Yoshiko Hill who is currently on a team studying the future of radio advertising:
I had no idea that social media was impacting the advertising, and entire marketing, world in such a significant way. I now realize that social media is being fully utilized by companies as a more cost-effective, targeted method of reaching customers.
Social media creates a dialogue with customers that most traditional media lack. It is especially attractive as an alternative to costly traditional advertisements — especially given the current state of our economy.
Social media is no longer your sibling’s hobby. It is a rapidly evolving revolutionary tool, and if more businesses do not begin to embrace it, they will soon be left behind. — Yoshiko Hill 5-5-09
Hey Businesspeople — small and large:
Are you listening?
Listening to the marketplace in general?
Listening to your customers in particular?
If you aren’t, as Yoshiko warns above, you will be left behind.
