Posts Tagged ‘tools’


2012 Social Media Trends from IABC DC Metro

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Even though we know digital and online media continues to change, IABC/DC Metro started 2012 with a chapter meeting tackling the latest Social Media Trends.

The panelists included:

Emerging Social Media Trends
Each panelist brought different industry point-of-view to the discussion. Radick took government. Horowitz gave the agency perspective, Steigman reviewed the small business view and Dunham brought insight from publishing and the media.

  1. Government Use: Radick dispelled the myth that the government is behind the curve, but he did see them stalling in advances for 2012 because it is an election year.
  2.  Internal Communications: Radick also thinks there will be more enterprise 2.0 or social media behind the firewall to internal audiences.
  3. Integrated Efforts: Both Radick and Horowitz confirmed they see more integration into all lines of communications.
  4. Influencers: They felt the days of the “social media guru” are dying fast. Horowitz said it’s time to look for persuaders or influencers who can help persuade others to your thinking or agenda.
  5. Small Business: Steigman sees social media platforms as a reliable ecosystem and wonders how they can be used to make it easier to reach customers. She suggested reading Phil Simon’s The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business. She also feels it will be key for business to understand search and the data around it.  
  6. Digital Skills: Dunham is amazed by the use of tablets for tweeting, video, etc. Because many of his colleagues are not digitally inclined, he relies on interns to provide new ideas for using social media to drive more readers to their media properties.  

Social Media Best Practices for 2012
As with all social media discussions, some great best practices come out. Radick reminded us, “Don’t concentrate on social media tools, but concentrate on the principles behind them.

“When asked how to best measure social media, Horwoitz said, “You need to measure based on business goals, don’t measure on tactics.”  

For more helpful social media best practices, you can read Steigman’s highlights of the session on her blog.

What social media trends do you see for 2012? Please share them with the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers.  

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Posted in Career Advice, Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media | 2 Comments »

PRSA-NCC: The Changing Landscape of Social Media

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

“I don’t know what Facebook is going to look like a week from now because, you know, we move pretty fast,“ said Andrew Noyes, public policy communications, Facebook, at the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA-NCC) event on the Changing Landscape of Social Media. The tools we use now are ever changing and new tools and platforms are always emerging.

Panelist Ricky Choi, social media strategist for LivingSocial, reminded the audience, “Social media should be visual, personal and conversational.” He noted that social media will be a better marketing tool than email in three to five years and that social media engagement is the sum of interaction and content. Communicators should try to include context without being salesy.

The evolution of the media is happening, but questions remain regarding the best way to translate personal use to the big picture, Noyes reiterated. Choi suggested more education as one possible solution. Facebook is trying to educate younger users on how to be good digital citizens and understand that reputation is important. The social media giant is working with outside thought leaders to encourage people to use their privacy settings effectively. (more…)

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Posted in Industry Events, Media Industry, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »

How to Speak C-Suite

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Ruth Mesfun*

If you mistook the clattering of keyboards for cicadas in heat and saw your Twitter feed explode with the hashtag #prndigital, yesterday, then you were probably with me at the PR News Digital PR Next Practices Summit at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. The all-day event was a smorgasbord of useful topics and speakers flinging words such as SEO (search engine optimization), influencers, engagement, and fangate pages.

However, if you have ever spoken to your boss about using social media it probably went like this:

justincaseyouwerewondering.com

justincaseyouwerewondering.com

If your digital campaign does not translate to the C-Suite language (increased sales, decreased costs, or high ROI) then it wouldn’t matter if you grow their Twitter page to 100,000 followers. They will pull the plug. 

Here are eight steps I took from the panel on Prove the Value of Your Digital Efforts to the C-Suite featuring Margot Sinclair Savell, vice president of Measurement and Analytics at Weber Shandwick, Angela Jeffery, APR and member of IPR Commission and Nick Panayi, director of Global Brand and Digital Marketing at CSC.

1.      Define organizational goals. Make sure your goals are strictly C-suite speak. (e.g., Our goal is to increase sales by 30 percent.) That way they see that you are on the same level.

2.      Research stakeholders and prioritize. This should be done regardless if you are presenting a digital campaign or not; you should always know your audience.  

3.      Ask yourself: What do they care about? I want to add in a perfect line from Margot Sinclair Savell, “Don’t just measure communications; measure the impact on your bottom line.” 

4.      Set social media objectives that correlate with their goals. Now this is where you link your social media efforts to their C-suite objectives. (e.g., With the Twitter campaign, we are launching, our goal is to increase our followers by 50 percent and positive sentiment by 40 percent which in turn will increase our sales by 30 percent.)  

5.      Choose (the right) tools and establish benchmarks. Once your campaign has launched, use tools and benchmarks to monitor how your campaign is playing out in The Media. Remember to monitor both the social media goal and the main goal (C-suite objective).

6.      Analyze, Analyze, Analyze! Be sure to use both qualitative and quantitative metrics and have these also tie back to your communications and C-suite objectives.

7.      Present to management. Remember to add charts of correlation between the campaign and the C-suite objectives. Translate metrics into the language.  

8.      Continue to build on that foundation: monitor, analyze, and improve. Review and revamp your strategy and tactics, making sure to revise as departmental and C-suite objectives evolve. 

So, how are you proving your value of your digital efforts to the C-suite? Please share your thoughts with me, here, on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

 ***

Before joining the BurrellesLuce team in 2011, as social media specialist, Ruth worked as a marketing assistant in a kitchen design firm and, later interned with Turner Public Relations. She holds a BA in Economics with a minor degree in International Relations from Rowan University. In addition to economics, education, and finance – Ruth is passionate about understanding the business implications of social media, including how it can be used to increase ROI, find and maintain a career, and create a business. Connect with her on Twitter: @RuthMesfun LinkedIn: Ruth Mesfun Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Posted in Industry Events, Media Measurement, Media Relations, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

Give Us Something New Google!

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Valerie Simon

Can Google+ succeed where Google Buzz and Google Wave have failed? While it is probably too early to make predictions, I’ll go out on a limb and share my opinion… unless they unveil something groundbreaking, this latest attempt at social networking by Google will likewise falter.

Social networking is not really about the tools. It’s about the people. In order to succeed, the tools must be designed to innovate how people connect and relate. In order to persuade people to invest the time in a network, tools must offer something new and valuable… a unique selling proposition. Otherwise, why should users invest their time with a new tool when their relationships and communications are already being served by established networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter?

While the initial invite process – one that Google+ has since been shut down because of “insane demand” – makes the network seem promising enough, I have not found anything truly unique in Google+. Yes, it’s cool to drag and drop people into circles, but I am already extremely organized with my Facebook and Twitter lists. Why reinvent the wheel (list, or circle)? Especially if it means walking away from the networks I have already invested time building? Time is limited.

My friend Arik Hanson (who I initially met on Twitter and am now communicating with on Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype and more traditional platforms like the phone and even, gasp, in person), noted that the integration with current tools is the biggest advantage. I’m not convinced that integration is enough.

Opportunities for new networks must be based upon new concepts of how to bring people together in unique ways for distinct purposes. LinkedIn has established itself in the professional arena. Facebook has positioned itself in the more general/ all purpose area. For startups (and yes, I think Google counts as a start up in this area, albeit a start up with tremendous experience and resources), these mammoth social networks are hard to compete with. Because the ultimate reason people use these networks is not the service itself, but the other users.

Let’s get creative Google and utilize your greatest advantage… search. Why not create niche networks that allow people to connect with those searching for similar information. So if I am looking for “Berkeley Heights, NJ” I can (selectively, of course) choose to connect with others who have done the same search in the past 30 days. There’s your circle.

Have you had a chance to try Google+?  Please leave a comment and share your thoughts with BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers.

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Posted in Public Relations, Social Media, Technology | 5 Comments »

Survey: Journalists Do Not Want to Be Contacted Via Twitter

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

A couple weeks ago, the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR) and Middleberg Communications announced the results of the 3rd Annual Survey of the Media in the Wired World. The survey utilized data gathered from 200 (mostly US-based) journalists to study the effects and impact of social media, new media and communication technologies on modern journalism. The results were released at the PRSA Digital Impact Conference on May 6th.Social-Media-Sites_Image

Interestingly, 69 percent of reporters said they use Twitter as a reporting/sourcing tool (this is a 21 percent increase from 2010) with 49 percent saying they have their own Twitter account. But only one percent indicated they’d like to be contacted via Twitter. The disconnect here is interesting to me and I have to wonder why, if they are using Twitter for research, they wouldn’t want to be contacted via the platform. Perhaps they want to listen (aka lurk) and not actually engage – despite the 37 percent who said they use social networking sites to participate in conversations (27 percent specified Twitter). Hmm… that’s a head-scratcher.

Other notable findings: 

  • 92 percent believe journalists’ reliance on social media is increasing.
  • 78 percent say they use company websites as a tool in reporting.
  • 75 percent indicated they use Facebook, with only 10 percent using MySpace. (No surprise there.)
  • 48 percent say they use citizen-generated video; 68 percent say they use citizen-generated photos.
  • 77 percent believe new media and communications tools/technologies are enhancing journalism; 14 percent think social media and citizen journalism will ultimately lead to the demise of the profession. (My guess is these will be the ones looking for a new job soon.)

 Key takeaways for public relations / media relations professionals is that 53 percent of journalists surveyed indicated they prefer to be contacted via email, and 34 percent prefer phone. 

Even as social media continues to change the media landscape, PR Daily surmised journalists still prefer more traditional methods of communication. 

Jen McClure, president of the Society for New Communications Research, stated: “Social media tools and technologies are being used by journalists to monitor issues, stories and content even after a story has been published. The publication of the story is no longer the end result. Today, media organizations and journalists also must serve as curators of content, are looked to to drive conversations and expected to provide information to keep the conversation going even after the story has been published.”

Do you agree with these findings?  Look forward to your thoughts and comments on the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog.

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Posted in Industry Events, Media Industry, Media Outreach, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | 1 Comment »

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