lucindigo.com

• Newsvetter - Shel Holtz

Learning: Well targeted and relevant content is all bloggers want to see from PR firms. Services are emerging to assist in “curtailing PR spam”
Read it here

• A sample Social Media Toolkit - MarketingProfs

Learning: I use most of these tools and must emphasise, although it is good to get proficient with a set of services for various business requirements (your “toolkit”) it is also important to keep an eye out for new services to emerge. I came across Digital whiteboard service Dabbleboard today and so far looks very useful and usable.
Read it here

• Why Newspapers must embrace RSS - Seeking Alpha Media Stocks Analysis

Learning: Focuses on a research paper from Forrester call “The fragmentation of yesterday’s newspaper”. General findings include that online news sites should be aggregators as well as publishers and not restrict themselves to publishing their own content.

Felix Salmon of Seeking Alpha is not highly impressed with the way the report treats RSS. There are claims that online publishers avoid RSS as it is difficult to monetise keeping eyeballs off their site and away from advertising. Salmon says in this article that you should see the bloggers as sources of further traffic to your site, not be concerned about the fact if they are accessing your content off RSS they will not see your ads.
Read it here

Brian Solis is a thought leader and influential practitioner in the PR and social media field. I have read his work across a range of channels, most recently with some very strong and insightful TechCrunch articles.

These articles are must read resources for communications professionals that are motivated to stay agile and develop constantly within their role which is now essential. As Brian discusses in the articles below the media landscape has changed and diversified, there are new players with in some cases much larger, niche audiences.

As a result of these ongoing changes “PR is in a long overdue renaissance”. New approaches and strategies are needed. But then again the strategy may need to change next week as a new channel, competitor, or influential voice in the blogosphere emerges.

I have summarised two of Brian’s recent TechCrunch articles below in bullets, as I am sure I will refer back to them, with links for those that want to read more or send on to colleagues. One is relevant to the PR community more generally, as focused on that tool that is the press release, and the second is a little more targeted to those interested in PR specifically for start ups.

Part I - The Evolution of the Press Release

• Some bloggers equate these to spam.
• Well written releases are far from dead. Are relied on for relevant for relevant information.
• Distribution services complement. Use traditional and new tools to reach people through search engines and news aggregation e.g. Techmeme.

Types of Press Release

1.Traditional Press Releases

• Avoid jargon. Too many adjectives. Hype. No “canned” quotes please. Worry less about structure and format and more about the news, story and supporting facts and media elements.
• 400 - 500 words.

2. SEO Press Releases

• Wire services have extra value in search engine marketing (SEM).
• Integrate key words (in front of release - especially in headline, subheadline and esp boilerplate), phrases and embedded links. This makes it easier for them to rank on search engines. Choose 3 words and repeat but don’t overuse.
• Keyword Density: Optimised at 2-8% of total number of words on the page..
• Targets for SEO releases are more customers than journalists.
• “Search engines seem to pay attention to the natural bolded words as well as the repeated words toward the top of the press release”
• Keywords as anchor text to link back to strategic landing pages on your site, then make pages optimised as well.
• Use Keyword tools. Brian’s fave is SEO tool
• Read more about Keywords on Lucindigo here
• Use industry and product names in place of “generic descriptors”
• Other factors contribute keyword buys, keywords on website, affiliate strategies and other tools and campaigns. Stick @ 400 words.

3. Social Media Releases

• New PR approach, Social Media release. I have looked at Social Media releases on Lucindigo here
• SMR’s complement traditional and SEO by combining news facts and social assets in one tool. This is about multimedia content and connecting info across social networks.
• In an SMR you may see offered: headline, paragraph, news facts, genuine quotes, market data (links), socialised content, social tools for bookmarking, supporting documents, tags for indexing and findability, RSS subscriptions, contacts e.g. LinkedIn/Facebook, trackbacks, ability to take parts of it to use as a new story (embed codes).
• An SMR should “contain everything to share, discover and retell a story in a way that is complementary to your original intent and context.”
• Should not cross the wire. Hosted on company blog channel to complement traditional, SEO, company blog posts and other comms.
• Brian creates a full SMR under a prvate, non-indexed URL to share with key contacts in advance of an announcement. Provides all bloggers need to know, no additional research needed.
• “Once the news is public, the SMR goes live with links to the traditional and SEO releases, company blog posts and in turn each also link back to the SMR. Also, wherever the social content is hosted, i.e. YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Utterz, etc., should link to the SMR in order to create a seamless conversation bridge.”

All about SMR’ on Brian’s PR 2.0 Blog here

Link - Tech Crunch by Brian Solis

• Part II - PR Secrets for Start ups

PR 1.0
Hype, Spin, Buzzwords & spam. Still companies taking this approach.
-Social media facilitates a conversation and humanises the process of communications. It is not online or social marketing. Think conversations WITH not marketing AT.

PR 2.0
Through media gatekeepers is not the only way to reach audiences.
-Listening, engaging with influencers and stakeholders on their level.

The Secrets
“You can not trust the future of your brand with someone who knows how to write a press release, place it on wire and email it to people”

1. You have to “develop the story” for the blogger. Invest time here.

2. Get the right PR people. Takes a lot of time so while DIY PR sounds good, it is not realistic for CEO’s. PR people need to understand the market, technology, benefits and challenges specifically related to your business. if they cannot tick all these boxes then they will not be able to sell it to the media community. Questions Brian suggests you ask the PR company
-Do you have the bandwidth to help us achieve our objectives?
-Who will be on the account and can I meet the rest of the team?

3. CEO can introduce themselves to the bloggers. Read work. Comment on it. Attend a networking event to build “social capital”. This secret was called what pretty much sums it up “participation is marketing”.

4. Identify your multiple audiences at every step of your companys growth stage. Which influencer, blog, channel reaches audience at each step.

5. DON’T launch Monday. Too congested. Embargoes? If yes give journo/blogger time to prepare. Less is more, give it to the person you want to work with it and lower chance embargo broken.

6. Research the preferences that Bloggers /Journalists have for contact. I like this quote, “Do the legwork and outreach that contributes to the reputation you wish to earn and maintain”.

7. It is very important to establish PR metrics first. May be conversations online, referring traffic, registrations or downloads. Conversion will always be forefront.

8. Keep it brief and clear. ELEVATOR PITCH - memorable. relevant.

9. Founders may need to pass the torch for spokesperson. But maybe not if you get media & presentation training. You’ll need to stick the the “tight elevator pitch”.

10. A company blog is critical to keep communication channels open with community. Don’t UNDER or OVER estimate it. Don’t break news on your own blog! Makes it less valuable.

11. PR should reach to traditional media, new media and the magic middle (20-1000 people linking to them). Important for reaching the long tail.

12. Use other social networks as well as Blogs. E.g. Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Deli.i.cious, Friendfeed…. Can get strong referring numbers here and build relationships within these networks.

Link - Tech Crunch by Brian Solis

• Part III - TechCrunch Extra - Old Media still needs to get over its control issues

Many corporates have accessed media monitoring tools for years taking press clippings from hard copy publications which has more recently extended to online mainstream media monitoring, to blogs and podcasts and now further to all social media channels. A description of the latest view of the impact these channels can have on companies from a company providing a solution is (from Radian6):

“The impact of social media on public relations and advertising is fundamentally changing the profession. Brand ownership is no longer solely the domain of the institution. A brand is now defined as the sum of all conversations taking place amongst users and it’s happening regardless of whether you are part of these conversations or not.”

Read an intro to Social Media Analysis here

Nathan Gilliatt of The Net Savvy Executive described (in order of increasing technology below) the types of solutions adopted by corporates for media monitoring.

• Analyst reports and briefings delivered by any method
• Single-user online dashboard
• Automated alerts and reports delivered by email
• Web-based dashboard used by a workgroup
• Web-based social media analysis platform with workgroup and collaboration features
• Installed social media analysis software on enterprise server
• Social media analysis system with links to CRM, intelligence or collaboration systems
• Custom social media monitoring and analysis platform linked to other enterprise systems

Recently I’ve seen a new range of products and services emerging catered to “social media analysis.” These companies monitor and index social media websites—including blogs, message boards, product review sites and then offer analysis on what the content they find. They can develop reports on the impact on your company’s brand and a recommendation for any communication required. This monitoring goes beyond blogs, podcasts and viral sites to all social media.

Net Savvy Executive’s view on baseline requirements for measuring social media.
1. Measure more than ‘traditional’ media, measure nearly all online vehicles that people are using.
2. Provide real time alerts about a particular product, company, person, competitor or industry.
3. Provide snapshot time reports that can benchmark changes across time.
4. These companies should also have hooks into other data sources, allow information to be pushed in and pushed out to create new times of dynamic reports.
5. Be flexible, cost effective.
6. Make it easy for companies to listen to the voice of the people.

Jeremiah Owyang of the web strategist says, “measuring is more than listening.”

Tools such as Technorati, Talkdigger, Google blog search, opinmind and Sphere will “listen” for you, the next step is measuring, analysing and the next taking action. Read a full list of companies measuring social media on Jeremiah’s blog (link above). They include:

• Umbria
• Buzzlogic
• Cymfony Acquired by Taylor Nelson Sofres, in Feb 07
• Biz360
• Radian 6
• Nielsen BuzzMetrics
• KD Paine & Partners (Analysing Consumer Generated Media since 1995, Katie Paine is a thought and action leader in PR measurement. I recommend checking out KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog)

In Summary: I am not yet sold on the fact there is a need to pay for this type of analysis. Media (Traditional, New, Social) Monitoring tools are good when businesses need to track a mass of complex content, topics and stay abreast of opinions (e.g. an electronic clippings service that is timely and has indexing functionality), but I do not see value in outsourcing analysis of this content to a 3rd party.
I believe this “social media analysis” (or any media analysis) should be done internally and then findings from this spread across the business, with a communications plan developed where necessary. This plan that will constantly evolve, this is the nature of the online medium as new technology and tools emerge, but actions need to be allocated in real-time as issues emerge and need to be managed or responded to. A time lag is there if this content is not in-house which is not at all ideal in these channels.

Outsourcing this analysis to a 3rd party would be sure to destroy credibility with any online communities. If companies want to develop and retain a reputation in social media channels they need to understand them and actively participate in them, not get someone else to do it.
MORE LINKS
Here is a list from PodTech, Measuring Social Media: No cost tracking tools that work
http://www.podtech.net/home/4356/measuring-social-media-no-cost-tracking-tools-that-work

Links to Social Media News to prove that Social Media isn’t just teenagers on Bebo
Social Media for Social good - Charities
http://blogs.mediapost.com/spin/?p=1303

Officials use social media to send health notices - Healthcare
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080520/Virtual_health_080520/20080520?hub=Health

Citigroup scores high in social media marketing - Finance
http://www.banknet360.com/blogs/Item.do?pkId=10594&serviceId=1&biId=

Media Pros: Don’t fear the digital realm - Media
http://www.internetnews.com/webcontent/article.php/3748086/Media+Pros+Dont+Fear+the+Digital+Realm.htm

Some other links on Social Media
5 rules of Social Media Optimisation (with loads added from other contributors)
http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2006/08/5_rules_of_soci.html

5 ways to contribute to social media
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_ways_to_contribute_to_social.php

Some other links on Social Media Measurement
Measuring Social Media efforts - Chris Brogan Blog
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/measuring-social-media-efforts/

Choosing Social Media metrics
http://kdpaine.blogs.com/themeasurementstandard/2007/06/how_to_measure_.html

The Three O’s of Social Media Measurement
http://www.mguerilla.com/media_guerrilla/2007/12/the-three-os-of.html

I have come across some great articles this week outlining how the channels, tools and activities of the PR industry remain in a major state of shift. No time to set a process or get comfortable really. I think this will continue to be the case. As the channels that are used by the public to communicate, seek and provide information change so must the channels those used by PR people.

Below I will provide these links along with a quick learning from each. They are broken down into sections based on specific areas or tools that have emerged and now need to be within the skill set and awareness of PR professionals. I will write an update on this topic every few months to catch up and see what is sticking around, what is new and what is on the horizon.

• New Media and PR

Why?
Learning: New media channels (blogs, social networks, RSS, podcasts) are becoming more important to some consumers than traditional media channels.
Read @ Readwriteweb

Examples of where New Media and PR meet?
Learning: PR people should read blog posts and decide if their pitch is actually relevant before sending it. Should prove relevance in pitch. PR people should check outreach with tools like Cision for relevance as well as guidelines provided by the blogger. PR ppl will participate in the online communities of clients, no cold calls. When emailing messages shoud be customised, not “FYI, press release” etc. Being ignored is not an invitation for harrassment.
Read @ PR Squared

• SEO for PR

Learning Do keyword research and USE keywords.Write press releases for bloggers, provide a website link for more info if it is there for those that want to seek it out. Use a search engine friendly wire (Business wire, market wire, PRWeb, Prime NewsWire suggested in the US). Count clips and blog posts.
Read @ Social Media Today

• Twitter (Microblogging) for PR (Follow me on Twitter @Lucindigo)

Learning: Some companies only accept pitches from off Twitter.
Read @ Marcom Professional

Learning: MediaSurvey published a list of PR people who are on Twitter. Twitter offers
1) Personal Branding
2) Knowledge
3) Relationships

Read @ PRSquared

Learning: Twitter hasn’t yet caught on with mainstream web users. Twitter adds a new dimension, described as “a highly efficient way to share, discover, and market ideas.” Bloggers/Journalists send out twitters when they post a new item. Twitter needs more stable infrastructure, but danger in messing with the simplicity of this service.
Read@ News.com

Learning: The potential upside of this trend is enormous. Anyone who runs corporate events should be scared of what transpired.
Read @ Social Media Today

• Micro PR

Learning: Public Relations –> Personalised Relations. Micromedia is refining and improving how we communicate with each other. PR people have to condense pitch to 140 characters! #TwitPitch - Some only accepting pitches via this medium. These days, you’ll hear it first on Twitter. Twitter is a channel for casual conversation and network for breaking news. “MicroPR: forcing PR firms to approach us in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model.”

Read@ Brian Solis Blog

Learning: PR people should “Get out of my inbox and engage in a conversation”
Read @ Marcom Professional

• Social Networks & Media and PR

Learning: What Metcalfe’s Law is:
“the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n²). First formulated by Robert Metcalfe in regard to Ethernet, Metcalfe’s law explains many of the network effects of communication technologies and networks such as the Internet, social networking, and the World Wide Web. It is related to the fact that the number of unique connections in a network of a number of nodes (n) can be expressed mathematically as n(n-1)/2.”
Read @ Broadstuff
Learning:
1. Use Technographics: See if your customers are using these tools.
2. Decide if it is right for your company.
3. When talking to executives about a shift to new media/social mktg focus on the value, not the technology.
4. Be prepared for the questions CIO’s and CFO’s will ask. See a full list of “COO and CFO Q’s” at the second link below.
Read @ Web Strategist- How to talk to executives about social media

Read @ Web Strategist - COO and CFO questions

• Blogger Relations for PR

Learning: When pitching…
1. Relationships Matter, make comms personalised
2. Give Me the Information, but don’t drag on - make it succinct.
3. Is it on Topic, for readership base and their interests.
4. Who else has been provided this info? Is it breaking?
5. Give specifics on all things, who, what, when.
Read @ ReadWriteWeb

Learning: A case study of how people launching a new book pitched to Bloggers. Key - Creativity.
Read @ Social Media Ready

• Writing for the Web and PR

Learning: Don’t veer into “undue verbosity.” On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely. Landing Page copy in particular should be in tight, readable form.
Read @ Web Pro News