By Megan Atiyeh
Interesting article by Jay Deragon, When the Shift Hits the Fan, focused on the fact that old marketing and advertising methods will not work in today’s web world. This is not really news. We all know this shift is happening but this article contains some very powerful data that brings this point into laser focus.
- Time spent on social networks is growing at 3X the overall Internet rate, accounting for approximately 10 percent of all Internet time (Nielsen, 2009)
- 93 percent of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media (Cone, Sept, 2008)
When clients think about New/Social Media and see data points like the ones above, there is a tendency to think only about the social aspects of sites like Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere at large. And for some of our technology-focused clients the business value in participating in these sites is still unclear.
The author refers to this opportunity as conversational currency. For our clients the opportunity can be found in a growing online community made up of influential media and analysts, partners, and prospects—where clients can put forth ideas, join conversations with key influencers and benefit from the power of a new mode of message delivery.
One of the key benefits of engaging in new media is that it levels the playing field allowing clients to self-publish content while targeting specific audiences. Building and maintaining relationships with the media is still critical part of PR strategy, but no longer the only way for clients to gain mindshare. The current decline in ad spending and the continued “shrink” happening in our top-tier trade and business media is the unfortunate side effect of this trend, but additional evidence that it’s time to join in or get left behind.
Below are some examples of corporate blogs Engage PR has helped clients launch. EPR has measured results over time by tracking increases in web site traffic and traffic spikes when new blogs are posted or guest bloggers appear. Clients that are actively involved in social media and the blogosphere also serve to increase site traffic by engaging in the conversation.
(From left to right: ZeuBlog from Zeugma Systems, En Garde! from ConSentry Networks, Voice Over LTE from Kineto Wireless, UMA Today by Kineto Wireless)
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