InsidEPR

A Integrated Approach To Building Thought Leadership Using Social Media – And why the C-level Needs to be Authentically Involved

By Fran Lowe

A recent IBM research report covered in Mediabistro revealed that although top marketing execs are well aware of the major shift taking place via social media, a majority of them are unprepared to address this new world. Based on responses from 1,700 chief marketing officers (CMOs) from 64 countries and 19 industries, the Global CMO Study reveals that while 56 percent of CMOs view social media as a key engagement channel, only 26 percent are tracking blogs. Additionally, 42 percent are tracking third-party reviews and 48 percent are tracking consumer reviews to help shape their marketing strategies.

I don’t know if the study also asked the CMOs or their C-level colleagues if they were actively participating in social media on their own behalf or that of their company; but, I suspect a sizeable number are still only peripherally engaged and have not yet experienced the power of social media.

Social media offers a way in; a way to connect and collaborate with members of your audience or community that you would never otherwise reach, and an opportunity to influence. But, here’s the thing – it takes passion, time and commitment. It also requires authenticity and a strategic, integrated approach with your overall PR and marketing plans and the ability to talk about issues.

Offering insights and fresh-thinking on issues that impact your market space; discussing and highlighting emerging trends; sharing commentary and new or controversial thinking from others as well as yourself, AND resisting the impulse to “market” your own company and products, is what differentiates social media pros from those who simply see social media as another channel to blast out their marketing or PR messages.

All good communication starts with predefined goals and is built around a sound strategy and compelling messaging. Part of the payoff with social media done right is that you have the opportunity to “socialize” your audience so they will hear and respond to what you are saying. And the key to social media is to use it in concert with all your other strategic communications channels and tools – hence the need for an integrated approach.

Your target audience, whether that is 50 of the top influencers or reporters and analysts covering networking or green IT for example, operates in an interconnected world. Your communications outreach must perform the same way. Consistent, insightful blogging may result in syndication or a speaking opportunity.  Building a highly targeted Twitter following, showing Twitter love and linking to your own blog, website or media coverage can get you listed on key “Top 10 lists” and help establish you as a Thought Leader in your own right.

The point is social media is not a random practice. To attain the results and ROI you would demand from any marketing or PR program, social media needs to be approached strategically as an integral part of outreach over time. It is essential to have the right messages, channels and outlets to reach the audiences you need to reach.

Engage PR is presenting a webinar on Using Social Media to Build Thought Leadership this coming Monday on October 31, in conjunction with Sustainable Silicon Valley. The webinar will guide tech and CSR executives on integrating social media into company strategy, with a presentation and Q&A session.  Additionally, Greg Ness, VP of Marketing at Vantage Data Centers and an Engage PR client, will discuss how he has used social media to build his own personal brand and thought leadership over the past 5 years.

Dear iPhone - I Miss You

By Roya Pakfetrat

A few months ago I did the near impossible - I said good-bye to my iPhone 3S and hello to the HTC Evo 4G. Man, oh, man  - I really miss that pretty little piece of technology from Apple. The Android is fine and dandy but the iPhone changed my life.

At the time, I was switching from a solo plan on AT&T to a family plan with Sprint. Economically, it was the right decision but emotionally and mentally, it was not. Now, of course, Sprint is offering the iPhone – but that’s not why I’m here today.

I may not currently be an iPhone user but I plan to be one (again) soon and in the mean time, I can at least read about the cool new iPhone 4S. Here is some of the latest hype on the new gadget:

• Apple sold 4 million units in just three days. So, if you’re thinking of buying the new phone from the Apple store, note that they are asking customers to reserve it online first.
• With the new “find my friend” application, you can even catch a cheating spouse. What could be better - a single app that helps you track users and end bad relationships!
• With “Stuff” Siri Says, you get a unique view intoApple’s new personal assistant, Siri. This site posts screen shots that capture her comical responses.
• Aside from entertainment, Siri does really seem to be a hit so far. A recent Mashable review from a veteran speech recognition user backs this up:
  “Its speech recognition isn’t perfect, and some of its errors are laughable, but in a quiet environment, its accuracy is nearly equal to that of the desktop version of NaturallySpeaking running on extremely powerful processors.”

Until I get to “find my friends” and tell Siri what to do for me, I’ll just have to live vicariously through the endless bloggers, users and writers who are loving their new iPhone 4S.

Facebook's Latest Face Plant

By Dale Legaspi

People are unhappy about some changes Facebook has rolled out. In other news, the sun rises in the east, the weather is cold in the winter and most of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.

Also, people are resistant to change. I’m usually all about ranting at big companies in my posts, but I think Facebook is only part of the problem here. “I hate the new Facebook” is not good feedback.  Clearly, there is no guarantee that Facebook cares or will change anything, but at least give a specific example of something that is actionable. Here’s my attempt.

The first and most obvious issue I see is that Facebook stayed true to form by doing an absolutely abysmal job rolling these new features out and explaining them to users.  A little blue triangle and a bubble popping up when I scroll over it is not helpful in telling me what is going on and why my homepage was overhauled.  I didn’t know any of it was coming.  At least give me some sort of heads up.

Speaking of the homepage, Facebook will now feed you the “top” stories since your last visit. Similar to when the newsfeed was announced, people are up in arms about this feature.  What constitutes a top story?  What if I haven’t talked to the person featured in years?  Shame on me, apparently. Guess I should do some pruning on my “friends” list.

Directly to the right of that is the new ticker. The only reason I know it is called the ticker is because I asked a friend of mine who works at Facebook. It feeds me more irrelevant facts, but it does it in real time, so I can be thoroughly annoyed on a constant basis.

There are a number of other features that are either annoying or just outright invasive, but this is a blog—not a novel. However, we would love to see more of your thoughts on the worst new features of Facebook.

Editor's Note:  Thank you Dale for your contribution to our blog  -- we will miss your commentary on social media missteps.

Engage PR ‘round the World, 2011

By Molly Reynolds

We at EPR seized our opportunities to travel this summer. As you can see in the video, the company hat accompanied us to Mexico, Ireland, Italy, Georgia, Alaska, Las Vegas and Sonoma. Closer to home, children and animals alike doffed the EPR cap in the Bay Area. We hope you have as much fun viewing this video as we did gathering its content!

Netflix has a few things to learn from cable operators yet

By Caitlin Mattias

Netflix has been busy hacking away at the DVD rental brick-and-mortar stores of yesteryear ever since the launch of the no-late-fee, mail-order service launched in 1999. Let’s be honest, no one enjoyed rushing to the closest movie rental store only to find that all the copies of “Clueless” had already been rented for the weekend. Not to mention the inevitable late fees when your little brother forgot to drop off the movie after school. The old model was clearly rife with problems, so few tears were shed by consumers as Netflix’s signature red DVD sleeve became a cultural icon.

With all this next-generation thinking and industry-demolition going on, it’s clear that Netflix management was under the impression that their business decisions were touched by the divine. It’s become evident over the last few weeks, however, that the company DOES in fact have something to learn from the traditional cable operators they’re now targeting for extinction.

Ever since Netflix launched their on-demand streaming service, the cable provider ecosystem has had to quickly develop strategies to address subscribers sucking up bandwidth by streaming video. Of course, Netflix isn’t the only site to blame here – YouTube, Hulu and even music streaming services Spotify, Pandora and a legion of others are causing headaches for those managing network data usage.

If there’s one thing that cable providers have learned in the last few years, it’s that customers are fickle  characters. They have no qualms about switching providers, especially if one can offer more customizable services to cater to their household without using a complicated pricing structure. The industry trend today about cable providers is to offer triple-play services, i.e. bundling high-speed internet, television and telephone/voice service.

Somehow, Netflix management didn’t get this memo. In July, the company announced that it would split the DVD rental service from streaming, prompting an outcry on Twitter (where else?). Last month, the frustration of tweets amped back up as the company announced it was spinning off the DVD rental service altogether into a new company named Qwikster. In short, customers would be provided LESS options under one roof and they would have to pay MORE for the services that they had already been enjoying for one monthly price.

It came as no shock that Netflix issued a harried apology via blog post explaining the split late in September. But Netflix Co-Founder and CEO Reed Hastings’ apology and explanation didn’t change the fact that no one wanted the silly name “Qwikster” showing up on their credit card statements. It seems that all Reed and the rest of the management team needed was a little nudge from the stock market (read: stock plunge) to realize this whole spin-off might not work. And a scant three weeks after this bombshell dropped, we learned Monday that DVDs will be staying at Netflix after all.

Maybe those cable guys aren’t as out of touch with consumers as you thought, Reed.

 

Leaving Las Vegas

By Suzanne Panoplos

What happens in Vegas – stays in Vegas.  In this situation, I hope that is not the case.  En route back from Metaswitch’s Customer Forum in Las Vegas, I took time to reflect back on the highlights of the week and wondered what other people would be taking away from Metaswitch's four-day event. Would people remember the great customer case studies?  The industry luminaries and their insightful predictions?  Would it be Thursday’s keynote, Richard Noble, the land speed record holder and his really fast rocket car? 

In most situations, my vote would be on the Richard Noble. After all, with an audience of NASCAR lovers that is predominantly male, how could you go wrong with a presentation about a rocket car that goes  supersonic at 1000mph?  Even though I have to admit that his video demonstration of the car beating a fighter jet in a race was pretty cool, I have to think that the most important takeaway from the forum relates to the relationships that are built at these events.

Whether it is a new relationship, renewed relationship, improved relationship --- this event was all about solidifying relationships. The theme of Metaswitch’s Forum this year was the “Power of M” and as VP of Marketing Steve Gleave was delivering his final thoughts, he compared the relationship between a company and its customer as a “Marriage”.

From a PR perspective, I am not sure we are in the “marrying phase” yet; but, we definitely were able deepen our rapport with our client, their customers and our media/analyst contacts attending the event. The Forum PR team was able to spend time with the folks that we usually only communicate with over email or the phone and hear firsthand what they thought about a variety of topics. From our media/analyst friends, we heard the “back story” on what they thought about the company, our agency and PR professionals in general. (The latter topic is definitely fodder for another blog --- so stay tuned).

So as I leave Las Vegas amidst travel-weary businessmen, Vegas revelers and gamblers whose wallets are now perhaps a bit lighter, I can’t help thinking about the people we met and the “new” relationships we will have moving forward.