Business Storytelling

We're all pretty immature, here...

I've been thinking a lot about social media measurement lately - for a number of related reasons: social media is playing a bigger and bigger role in marketing every hour; I'm spending more of my time doing social media work for clients and they want things measured; and since I'm doing more of this type of work, I have a personal desire to know it's valuable.
 
Social media, social platforms, social marketing - whatever you call it, it's still evolving.  But it's not just the platforms, tools and their applications that are evolving; we're evolving too - in how we interact, how we think, how we understand the world around us.  And how do you measure evolution?  You can't, really, except in hindsight, because you don't always know where you're going.

Brian Solis has an interesting post on how quickly and how broadly the business world is changing - "The Evolution of Social Media and Business."

Tempering enthusiasm for and commitment to social media with the realism of one who knows the pace of organizational change, one of the clients I've been working with has said insightfully, "We'll crawl before we walk, walk before we jog, jog before we sprint."

I think this parallel to human development is an apt metaphor for social media measurement because it indicates different thresholds of accomplishments for different stages of an evolution.  With an infant or toddler, each word, each step, each new motor skill is a major accomplishment.  Even if your goal was for your child to be an Olympic miler, you wouldn't use quarter-mile splits as a yardstick from the get-go.
 

Give ‘Em What They Want

So, you’d like a few tips, yes?

IDG recently issued a series of research briefs on aligning content and topics to social media platforms and buyer interests.  While the research focused on IT vendors and buyers, I’d guess that the findings apply to other markets as well.  One key lesson is that buyers report a significant preference for best practices on blogs.  So, without further ado, here are a few best practices for you, based on the IDG research.  (For the full reports, please visit the IDG Knowledge Hub)

The key lesson is this: align the format and subject matter of the content you offer to the social media platform.  According to IDG, "The number of available marketing content assets offered by vendors has increased by 60 percent over the past five years. Now, with the advent of social networks the rush is on to tie conversations into all that content. But the randomness of these efforts leads buyers to report that only 39 percent of offered links from social conversations to traditional content are relevant, resulting in buyer frustration and lost sales momentum."

Below are the top-ranked content topics and linked content types for a number of popular social media platforms.

1.    On blogs:

a.    Share: Best practices, news and case studies
b.    Link to: Case studies, ads and tutorials

2.    On forums

a.    Share: Evaluations, news, case studies
b.    Link to: Tutorials, free event registration, evaluation version

3.    On Twitter and Microblogs

a.    Share: News, perspective on industry issues, customer support
b.    Link to: Ads, technical knowledge, free event registration

4.    On Social Networks

a.    Share: News, insight on organization/political challenges, customer support and best practices
b.    Link to: Free event registration, ads, ROI calculators and planning worksheets

Overall, when linking to your company’s content from external sites, maintain an even balance between educational and promotional content.  Buyers responded that they prefer educational content about 43% of the time and promotional content 42% of the time. Don’t overdo it with marketing, but make sure people know about the great company behind the tips you’re providing. 

IDG’s research is valuable in initiating discussion about the importance of tailoring content and links to conversation platforms.  However, the results should not be taken as definitive, due to an extremely small sample size (about 100 respondents).  As IDG notes, "These aggregate findings only represent a starting point for discussion.  There is significant variance by investment type, buying role [and] focus."

In the end, despite the ease social media brings to publishing, it’s still important to know your audience and your surroundings when telling your company’s story. 

Contributed by Catharine Morgan.  Follow her @c_morgan

New Year, New You: 3 Resolutions for PR Clients

Remember that scene in Jerry Maguire when Jerry pleads with Rod, “Help me help you!”  There’s a bit of that in this post.  With that in mind, here are three New Year’s resolutions I hope PR clients – with Greenough or otherwise – will make for 2010. 

1. Be a Social Butterfly

No, social media is not for everyone.  BUT: it is, without a doubt, one of the dominant forces changing the way business is conducted today.  As Forrester analyst James Kobielus recently wrote in a blog post, "Social networks are the future of online life, whether we like it or not.  Before the end of the coming decade, relationships with everyone –including family, friends, colleagues, employers, merchants, suppliers, and government agencies—will hinge on your access to these parties, and they to you, through online communities of all shapes and sizes."

For 2010, I hope companies resolve to at least consider social media with an open mind.  Dig a little.  Listen.  Explore.  Dell recently reported being able to trace $6.5 million in revenue to Twitter. As Vice President, Social Media and Community, Manesh Mehta explained in an article on The Huffington Post, social media can give you insights into your business that you can’t find anywhere else.

"Today's corporate leaders are struggling to figure out how to use social media to further their business strategy. At Dell, we believe this is backwards thinking. Social media isn't a means to further a corporation's strategy, it's a means to help determine it."

Even if social media doesn’t make it into the marketing plan for 2010, you should know why it’s not there, why it’s not right for your business.  Times are changing, and chances are, if social’s not right for you today, it might be tomorrow.  Be ready.

Catch a wave, and you’re sittin’ on top of the world?

Recently I was working on a writing project for our client Numara Software and was invited to use Google Wave by a product marketing manager there.  He was testing it out and thought it might cut down on the number of e-mail attachments we had flying back and forth and help us collaborate more easily.  I’d seen the buzz about Google Wave in the headlines, but didn’t really know what it was about.  But, hey, something invite-only from Google?  Of course I’d try it!

So I set up my account, signed in, and got ready to wave… whatever that could be.  I had something that looked like an e-mail inbox on my screen, and in it something suspiciously message-looking called “Welcome to Google Wave.”  I clicked and was greeted by a “Dr. Wave” in a white coat breaking glass in a pitch black science lab.



Thinking that I was smarter than this crazy mad scientist, I started clicking around elsewhere on my screen.  Dr. Wave disappeared.  Then I couldn’t get him back.  The video was nowhere to be found.  45 seconds into my Google Wave experience, I was confused.  (Never fear, a little sleuthing on YouTube, and I successfully tracked down the escaped mad scientist.)

If you haven’t used Google Wave yourself, it’s hard to conceptualize what it’s like.  Computerworld’s Preston Gralla provides a helpful, straightforward review in “Google Wave: It’s innovative, but is it truly useful?”



Google describes Wave as “an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.”

Reporters on the Payroll?

Much has been made about the shrinking state of the media, both on this blog and in countless other outlets. Newspapers and magazines are folding and/or downsizing at a staggering rate and reporters are tasked with covering multiple beats, often for less pay, all while worrying about what the future holds for their industry. As a result, many outlets simply don’t have the time or resources to cover evergreen features in the extensive manner they once did.

This situation poses a variety of challenges for companies. California professional hockey team the LA Kings has come up with an interesting solution—hiring its own fulltime reporter, Rich Hammond, to cover the team’s games at home and on the road for its Web site. Hammond previously covered the King for the Los Angeles Daily News and, in his new role, has been given total autonomy to write whatever he wants to about the team, regardless of the fact that he is a salaried employee.

In his coverage of the announcement, New York Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena questions whether fans will continue to view Hammond’s articles as “news” or if the posts will be deemed PR spin because of his direct affiliation with the Kings’ management team. Hammond argues in the reverse, pointing out that he no longer needs to run his articles by an editor and thus will be producing more genuine content than when he wrote for the Daily News.  He told Yahoo! Sports, "There's no filter on it… It's not subject to any review. I'm not filing to any person; I'm filing to the Internet."

To date, the reporters-on-payroll trend exists fairly exclusively in the professional sporting world. But as the media landscape continues to evolve one has to wonder if other industries might soon join in. I have to admit I’m a little intrigued by the concept, but I wonder how impartial I would be were I in that situation. Can a reporter write concise, accurate copy if he or she is being paid by an organization that has a vested interest in positive coverage?

As always, we welcome your thoughts.

Submitted by Kate Finigan. Follow her @PRKateFin

Media World A-Twitter Over Washington Post’s Twitter Policy

Newspapers, the heralded vanguard of free speech, are currently embroiled in a heated debate about how that freedom applies to them.  About a week ago, The Washington Post responded to an editor’s Twitter posts with an organization-wide memo with guidelines on social media. 

Narisetti took down his Twitter account, but Google’s caching function lets one see what it looked like shortly before it was taken down.

The guidelines, which were not initially made public, have since been posted on paidContent.org and focus primarily on preventing public announcements of bias, opinion or preference.  Excerpts include:

"When using these networks [Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace are mentioned], nothing we do must call into question the impartiality of our news judgment.  We never abandon the guidelines that govern the separation of news from opinion, the importance of fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language and tone, and other hallmarks of our brand of journalism."

And:

"All Washington Post journalists relinquish some of the personal privileges of private citizens.  Post journalists must recognize that any content associated with them in an online social network is, for practical purposes, the equivalent of what appears beneath their bylines in the newspaper or on our website."

While the paper likely took action because it feared an outcry in response to Narisetti’s tweets (which most agree could be viewed as biased, or even offensive), it has been the response that has generated outcry.  Journalists, media pundits, PR folks and engaged readers alike have all jumped in to debate The Post’s response.

A Day of Social Media Discovery

Maybe you’ve experienced this: you’re at your desk tweeting away and all of a sudden, your tweople start referencing some foreign hash sign. As they get louder and louder, it becomes clear they’re sharing thoughts from a conference or event, so you quickly put in a search and try to follow along.  If you’re like me, you realize that the nuggets they’re spouting off only contain half the story, and you still want to know more (this is why they charge you to attend conferences). 

Having been in that position too many times, I’d thought I’d reverse the roll for you.  I recently attended the Social Media Strategies event in San Francisco (@SocialMediaConf).  As I tweeted throughout the day, I tried to share the best-of-the-best by way of 140 character comments.  If that left you wanting more, here’s where you’ll find the full story.  I’m interested to hear what you think, and I encourage others to do the same following valuable events and information-packed conference sessions.

Here’s @gbender26 from #awsms09

When the Mattel team took the stage, they talked a lot about how they wanted to incorporate their brand image into all social marketing efforts.  Everything from owning Barbie’s signature pink to finding someone who could consistently be the voice of the doll was important to maintaining the image that grown-up girls had grown up with.  The lesson here was that you can’t abandon the tenants of your brand when you jump into the social realm, but you can engage new audiences.  Barbie’s Twitter followers, for example are decidedly older than the girls playing with the doll today.

For Barbie’s 50th birthday, Mattel also incorporated social media – microsites, social network fan pages, videos, etc. – into live events.  I was struck by their use of traditional media as a barometer for the success of their social marketing efforts.

• Barbie turned 50 social media style. Learning how Mattel incorporated play time into comm strategy.
• Barbie had a web site in 1997. In 2009, she's into social networking. Now she's really my hero.
• Mattel uses 80/20 rule for international social media. 80% remains the same, 20% customized per region

MC Hammer appeared with significant fanfare via the show’s Twitter feed.  His lesson for brands, media moguls and the music industry, centered on finding your audience where it already lives.  Social media afforded him the opportunity to rebuild his brand, and he sees the potential for younger artists and emerging brands.  Interestingly, he didn’t have many good things to say about MySpace, despite its focus on the music market.  He seemed to think no one wants to sort through that mess in search of new music. 

• @mchammer says he can make me a star in Hollywood. But in social media, the community creates the star. It's about push vs. pull marketing.
• Taking out the middle man builds stronger connection to the brand. Tell your own story. @mchammer
  

Representatives from the Gap were on board to highlight their social media success, which included fan pages, microsites, video and smartphone apps.  Being featured in an iPhone commercial was a huge win!  Bookending the campaign were traditional marketing research (in-home focus groups) and social media measurement.  Again, Gap mentioned using press coverage as a way to determine social media success. They also tracked user behavior and engagement, all of which was attributed to driving real sales and revenue.

• Gap went into homes to talk about jeans- the first step in better connection to consumers. Didn't use traditional focus groups.
• Don't forget to optimize all your social media content for search! Tagging is a powerful tool.

Here Comes the Sun

Even as summer winds down, here at Greenough we’re still focused on the sun’s rays.  1366 Technologies, a solar energy company that’s shaking up the silicon solar cell world, has joined forces with our team to get the word out about their breakthrough solar cell architecture.  1366 is excited to grow their business and increase awareness, and we’re excited to be a part of an industry that has grown at an astounding rate of 30% per year for the past decade.  You can check out our official press release here.

The technology behind solar is fascinating, and 1366 boasts a local guy at the helm, Dr. Ely Sachs, an MIT grad and researcher who has been a major player in photovoltaics for 30 years.  As an agency, we’re looking forward to working with a company that is truly trying to change the way the world thinks about energy.

Meeting and Moving

I have a lot of green clients, which is wonderful place to be as a PR professional, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to build relationships with a specific groups in the media, i.e. journalists who cover green, energy and environmental issues. Regardless of maturing social media strategies and progress, the mind shift hasn’t happened everywhere.  Clients still want results, outreach updates and how they can get in that column in the Wall Street Journal. It’s a slow progression to move into the new nooks and crannies of media, but until then, I’ve come out of my recession slump and am committed to reminding my most important group of journalists of a few things: Yes, I will read and respond to your work; no, I will not send you mindless, irrelevant pitches; and maybe, if we both be nice, we can make this PR-Reporter thing work the way it’s supposed to: I help you.

These days, you have to work harder for your results.  Reporters are pulled into breaking news left and right, covering multiple, non-related (or loosely related) beats and have to answer to editors who are under mounting pressure to sell newspapers and magazines. While the ancient rules of good PR hold up in this age of “thin media,” I’ve made a few observations:

1.  Narrow your list and specialize when possible. It’s easier to track and respond to reporters if you are only trying to follow 25-30, instead of 100. Some agencies, like ours, are moving in a direction where teams are focused by industry – consumer, technology/IT, clean/green, government, etc. This makes building relationships easier and saves time.
2. Really use the phone. Don’t lie, we’re all phone-shy sometimes. Do whatever you have to do to make time for calls to your key reporters. Think of something interesting to say that they’ll care about, maybe related to a recent story, and drop it in early in the conversation. Show you care.  If what you are trying to tell them is truly relevant, calling is key.  There are too many emails, too much spam and not enough time. I’d say 7-8 out of every 10 times I call a reporter they only have the vaguest memory of my email or never even got it.
3. Get out. This is a tough one but let’s say we all have a short list of 3-4 reporters in our area that you pitch often, have a decent rapport with but need to take it to the next step.  The few meetings I’ve had with reporters have been invaluable – I’ve heard them say the same about good PR people too. Coffee meetings can lay the groundwork for stories and build your general knowledge of the press and different industries, but it also adds to your agency’s credibility and is useful in new business. Connectonline as well; follow your key journalists on Twitter and add them to your LinkedIn contacts.

At the end of the day, the struggle remains getting from point A to point B (point B being the story about your client that we’ve established… still matters). How do you move your efforts forward? For all the finessing we do to get the ear of a reporter, we still must be sharp storytellers and think ahead for them. What do they need to round out a story? Can you help them gather the elements? What other themes tie-in? Ah, for another day.

Contributed by Jennifer Eberline.  Follow her @jeberline

A Little Help, Please?

Are you suffering from information overload?  It seems to be a common plight in this day and age.  One of the things I love most about working in PR is the fast pace of the work, the way the ever-changing news landscape keeps me on my toes.  However, sometimes I feel just plain overwhelmed. There are endless possibilities of articles and blogs to read, outlets to explore, topics to research from just one more angle.   Every second, there is more information, more accessible, and changing more quickly than ever before.

People say this is what’s killing the newspaper, but I see opportunity.  Whether it’s the right opportunity for newspapers to take, well, that’s up to them.  I have two needs:
-          Analyze what’s most important
-          Summarize the pulse of the masses so I don’t miss anything.

As Tom Hayes and Michael S. Malone pointed out in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, The Ten-Year Century, “When a computer chip goes through as many computations in a single second as there are human heartbeats in 10 lifetimes, a 10-year year century seems positively pokey. But we humans have a slower metabolism, which will make this rapid fire of events ever more difficult to comprehend, much less manage.”

Microsoft’s recent series of Bing commercials does a great job of humorously portraying the hazards of information overload.

When technology – Web sites, blogs, twitter, social networks, and the like – churns through news like a chip going through computations, what’s the value of a daily paper?

For those of us with a more sluggish metabolism, I believe it could be a lot.  I say could, because I don’t think we’re quite there yet.  Perhaps it’s because newspapers – like the rest of us,find it hard to keep pace with change, or perhaps the information overload hasn’t become as bad as it soon will.