On slide 10, almost 90+% of the respondents reported that individual marketers or their teams work on writing / blogging:
Slides 14 and 15 described "What Tactics Do Marketers Employ." Of the 26 tactics measured, respondents cited these SEO tactics as the most employed:
Social: Set up / ran a Facebook business profile
Analytics: Analyzed / tracked site speed and page-load times
Competitive: Analyzed competitors' back links
Competiitive: Analyzed competitors' content
Content: Started a new blog or invested heavily in blogging
Blog Posts Are The Number One Type of Inbound Marketing Content Produced
On slide 15, "blog posts" received the highest % of responses as the type of inbound marketing content produced. Social media (e.g., tweets, statuses, etc.) ranked second:
Blogging Isn't Dead (Especially If You Love Writing)
"We've come to a place where those who were never going to stick it out with blogging for the long haul are busy on Twitter and Facebook, where they can share without the burden of having a passion for writing. So, in the end, maybe what's new for blogging is a place where the real bloggers step in and create a new type of copy for the world to consume. A place where more and more creative thinkers get to tinker with words in new and interesting ways. It's a place where you (and everyone else who wants to write and have a voice) gets to be free to try it out and see what kind of audience their words, images and even video connects with. Blogging - as a platform - may never have anything new to show for itself. Blogging - as a creative white space - is still in its early days."
Here's a direct quote and Key Conclusion #5 from the 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report:
Businesses are increasingly aware their blog is highly valuable. 81% of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.” An impressive 25% rated their company blog as “critical” to their business.
And, there are more fact-based conclusions in the 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report. Here are seven (7) reasons from HubSpot's data supporting the continuing relevance of blogging.
1. Blogs Are and Remain the Most Important Marketing Channel
Look Who's The #1 Social Media Channel in Terms of Importance. It's Blogs! LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter all ranked in lesser importance. The hub-and-spoke social media strategy model works with a website or your blog as the center. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are short-from outposts guiding customers back to your website or blog (the long-form hub).
3. Blogs Have the Lowest Cost-Per-Lead of Any Marketing Channel
52% of Respondents Say blogs are "Below Average" in Cost Per Lead. Blogs are the most cost efficient lead generation channel (inbound or outbound). Not surprisingly, trade shows are considered the most expensive.
Here's a direct quote from the respondent survey:
"The worst thing we did in marketing last year was attend several trade shows and events with low yield and ROI."
4. Blogs are Second Only to LinkedIn In Acquiring Customers
57% of Respondents Say Their Company Blog Acquired Customers. LinkedIn ranked first in customer acquistion. 62% of respondents validated its effectiveness. Interesting how "the two least sexy social media channels" ranked first and second respectively.
And, Speaking of Social Media Sexy - Blogs and LinkedIn Outdistanced Facebook and Twitter in Customer Acquisition. Don't believe the hype that long form content is dead. Or, consumer attention spans last only 140 characters or less.
HubSpot's 2012 Data Shows a Direct Correlation Between Post Frequency and Customer Acquisition. At a minimum, post at least once-per-week. But, increasing post frequency from weekly to twice per month provides significant benefits:
50 posts a year goes to 100 posts (that's the equivalent of 100 indexed web pages in Google)
An extra 50 posts, means double the number of keywords increasing SEO relevance
50 more web pages mean 5o more opportunities to earn inbound links (and increase Google authority)
6. Blogs Are Consistently Effective for Either B2B or B2C Companies
At a Minimum, Your Social Media Strategy MUST Include a Blog. The data shows blogs rank second in customer acquisition for either B2B or B2C companies. Number 1 for customer acquisition depended on business-type:
B2B: LinkedIn
B2C: Facebook
A Killer Social Media Strategy Incorporates at Least Three Customer Acquisition Platforms. The companies succeeding in social media are the ones who view these channels as customer acquisition weapons. Based on this data, a three-channel approach geared to customer acquistion by business-type would look like the following:
B2B: LinkedIn, Company Blog, Facebook or Twitter
B2C: Facebook, Company Blog, Twitter
7. Blogs Level the Playing Field for Small Companies
Small Companies Allocate Almost 4x the Marketing Budget to Blogs Versus Large Companies. Social media or inbound marketing channels are where small companies invest their marketing budget (i.e., social, SEO or organic search, and blogs). Large companies prefer outbound channels (i.e., trade shows, PPC or paid search, or direct mail).
Bottom Line: I highly recommend studying Newsjacking. It's informative, quick-to-read, and filled with insightful how-to-examples. In fact, both books are required reading for any marketing/PR executive, business owner, or brand manager who wants to capitalize on media opportunities generated by the real-time Web.
And, We All Can Do It! David defines "newsjacking" as publishing your personal angle, ideas, or perspective into a breaking news story / event to earn media coverage for your company, brand, or products / services.
Help Journalists Write Their Second Paragraphs. When hot news strikes, journalists scour the Internet via search engines (i.e., Google) and social media (i.e., Twitter, blogs, etc.). Why? They're seeking additional content (e.g., details, opinions, etc.) that can differentiate the point-of-view in their individual news stories.
That differentiating point-of-view or compelling content is the "second paragraph." Journalists seek second paragraph material that:
Delivers credible, authoritative, and valuable information / perspective
Describes "why" something happened
Interprets the event's impact and future implications
Credible Second Paragraphs Can Earn Massive Media Attention. Be fast, use targeted keywords, and provide valuable context in your Tweets and blog posts so journalists can find your contribution to a story with Google searches. Quickly writing an informative blog post and shrewdly publicizing it with Twitter may take an hour or less.
And, the impact can be huge:
"With a single hour's work many people manage to generate more media attention than a whole year's return on a substantial PR budget."
"I've been a marketer for two decades now, and I have never seen a technique as powerful as newsjacking."
2. Newsjacking Favors Faster, Smaller Players
Real-Time Speed is a Newsjacker's Bread and Butter. Speed, decisiveness, and execution drive successful newsjacking. And, you must respond within the hour of a breaking news story. That's why fast movers are great newsjackers.
David Can Trump Goliath. Plus, smaller firms can outplay their larger competitors. The Fortune 500 has the same opportunity to successfully newsjack as any other organization or individual. But, their corporate hierarchies and approval processes are handicaps.
Therefore, smaller firms can outplay their larger competitors:
"What's abundantly true is that newsjacking is easier for nimbler players than its is for the lumbering giants of the corporate world."
"To successfully newsjack or fend off a newsjack, you can't wait for approval. You just have to do it."
Newsjacking Lives and Dies by Speed. The graphic below describes the newsjacking process. Notice how speed drives the entire newsjacking process:
Tracking and staying on top of breaking news
Deciding quickly on your response
Publishing / Publicizing the response instantly
3. Chapter 6 - Ka-Ching: CEO Bags a Cool Million with a Single Blog Post
A Classic, Must-Read Newsjacking Blog Post. Joe Payne is the CEO of Eloqua, a company specializing in marketing-automation. When he learned and verified Oracle entered his industry space, he quickly wrote this blog post: Oracle Joins The Party.
There are multiple reasons why this blog post and the surroundingcircumstances make it a classic, newsjacking case study:
The post provides a valuable and quotable industry perspective
Payne crafted and posted this blog post quickly
The blog post contains verifiable details and statistics
He outflanked a larger competitor (e.g., Oracle) using new media tools
Payne's Blog Post Earned Major Media Attention, Credibility, and $1 Million. When industry analysts and journalists searched Google for news about Oracle, they found Payne's content-rich blog post. And, they quoted it verbatim.
In the following examples, I attached the hyperlink to the actual media coverage if the page still exists:
Business Week - Eloqua Guarantees Success for Market2Lead Clients Affected by Oracle
The aforementioned media coverage (and other coverage) increased Eloqua's credibility. In addition, Payne and his team combined the blog post's media coverage with immediate, next-morning business development follow-up. These combined activities brought Eloqua software deals worth $1 million in new revenue among six (6) new clients.
That's a great outcome especially without the luxury of a multiple phase PR campaign or massive advertising budget.
4. Chapter 7: Become the Go-To Gal (or Guy) in Your Industry
Blogs Are Powerful Newsjacking Assets. Long form content achieves four (4) things:
Provides keyword rich content for search engines to index
Increases the probability journalists will find your blog post when searching Google
Delivers context rich details (hard to do in Twitter and Facebook)
Positions newsjackers as reputable and credible reputable industry authorities
Here's a direct quote from David: "If a blog develops a reputation for serving up informed, insightful, authoritative, articulate, quotable and timely commentary on issues in your industry, journalists will learn to seek you out when issues arise."
Knowing Your Issues / Topics Cold Leads to Long Term Credibility. Newsjack the issues and topics in which you are well-informed. That knowledge will make your newsjacking perspective valuable, credible, and authoritative.
Long term credibility is vital in building an authoritative reputation and relationships with journalists. Even more importantly, that credibility and reputation dictates why journalists may or may not seek your input in future news stories.
Why Amdocs and Jeff Barak Are Telecommunications Billing and Customer Care Industry Authorities. In Chapter 7, David describes how Amdocs and Jeff Barak used their company blog to comment on regulatory changes in their industry. Barak wrote this blog post, No Need to Be Bill Shocked, while the FCC conducted meetings in late 2010 to discuss legislation about bill shock.
Journalists searched Google for the latest news about this FCC legislation and found Barak's blog post. His post earned coverage from industry publications (like this one from Penton Media's Connected Planet blog post -- Not Being Shocked by Bill Shock).
5. Learn from Newsjacking Mistakes: The Golden Rules
The Golden Rule Objective (Direct Quote)."When intervening in a news story you should add value - information or insight that contributes to the public's understanding of the situation."
The Four (4) Golden Rules. Kenneth Cole didn't have the benefit of David's advice before sending out that tweet. We now have that luxury:
* Be dignified and statesmanlike. See the Joe Payne / Eloqua Case Study Above (#3)
* Be positive and upbeat, never mean or vindictive. Again, see the Joe Payne / Eloqua Case Study Above (#3)
* Write articulate text in full sentences without chatty slang, industry jargon, corporate-speak (i.e., mission-critical or cutting-edge) or social media shorthand (e.g., IMHO)
* Don't get too cute or clever -- especially where human suffering is involved. See aforementioned Kenneth Cole tweet
6. Newsjackers Monitor News 24/7 Via RSS Feeds
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) Feeds Are a Newsjacker's BFF. David describes how setting up RSS feeds to your favorite news sources, analysts, industry publications, and blogs enables real-time news monitoring. And, staying abreast of leading news events gives you the competitive advantage to respond fast. David mentions these RSS services in his book:
Google Reader
Newsfire
Fast Responders Earn Attention. Here's a how-to video I made two years ago on using RSS (e.g., your iGoogle Home Pages) to monitor postings of your favorite blogs to increase your chances of being an early commenter on new posts. Why? Early commenters earn the author's attention (especially if you're the first commenter).
The same principle applies when monitoring news sources in real-time and responding quickly to capitalize on a newsjacking opportunity:
7. Learn How to Maximize Twitter's Real-Time Capabilities
A Newsjacker' Must-Have Weapon For Monitoring News Flow. Twitter's real-time capabilities make it the ultimate rapid response, news monitoring tool. You can find great second paragraph content and breaking news stories by:
Catching key phrases by creating columns in Tweetdeck and HootSuite
Using Twitter's search function
Setting up a "news" column in Tweetdeck or HootSuite (i.e., a dedicated news column focusing on all the news sources you follow)
A Powerful Fast Response Distribution Channel. When it comes to publicizing and "pushing out" newsjacking blog posts quickly, Twitter rules. Remember, journalists search Twitter to find differentiating second paragraph content.
Use Twitter Hashtags (#). Therfore, include hashtags (the pound key - #) in your tweets to mark them with the unique identifier about a particular subject (i.e., #Cairo). Remember, the hashtag, makes it easier for journalists to instantly locate in Twitter all references to a particular topic. Plus, tweets with hashtags are curated in reverse chronological order (i.e., most recent first).
Twitter Can Help You Directly Contact a Journalist. Most journalists provide or publish their Twitter ID (i.e.@firstnamelastname). Verify their Twitter ID with a quick Google search. Then, include his/her Twitter ID in your tweet so you can directly point him/her to your blog post.
I checked my laptop's Twitter stream around 10 PM Sunday evening for real-time news feeds. And, that's when Twitter informed me of Osama bin Laden's death in real-time.
Our Consumption and Participating in Real-Time News Drives a Traditional Industry's Transformation. I've reflected on the media activities of the past 48 hours. The picture above symbolizes more than the aftermath of September 11, 2011.
It galvanizes how we are both consumers and participants in the transformation and reinvention of a traditional industry (especially how we interact with news content):
#1: Social Networks are Our Real-Time News Channels
More People Found Out About bin Laden's Death Via Twitter and Facebook.Mashable conducted a poll with 20,000+ respondents. Twitter and Facebook easily outdistanced television. Even broadcast television lacks the real-time impact of online media platforms.
Facebook's News Function Goal-- Become "The People's Newspaper." I mentioned earlier how I consult Twitter for real-time news updates. It's no coincidence that Facebook also recognizes real-time news as a competitive differentiator.
Journalists on Facebook Page.The Journalists on Facebook Page is part of the company's strategy to build relationships with journalists. Notice how several status updates pertain to the bin Laden story:
#2: Mobile Devices are the Accepted Real-Time Publishing Platform (Especially the Smartphone)
Urbahn Broadcasted the Tweet From His Smartphone. I'm not surprised Urbahn broadcasted the news on Twitter. But, notice the news broadcasting platform -- his smartphone. Maybe, I'm old-fashioned in thinking the publication of a major news event requires a computer keyboard and wireless Internet connection.
Looks Like Page 29 of David Meerman Scott's Real-Time & Marketing PR Book. Here's the graph from the TechCruch article. Notice how the spike in Google search queries correlates with the real-time announcement on Twitter and eventually trails off:
#4 The Real-Time Marketing & PR Law of Normal Distribution
Notice how this graph shares several real-time attributes David Meerman Scott describes in his book (my notes are in red text):
Breaking News
Triggers
Excitement
Peak
Old News
Done
#5: The Blurring of Trusted, Traditional News Sources
Non-Traditional "Hard News" Sources Provide Diverse Points-of-View. Each of these organizations or individuals is a trusted news source pertaining to technology and online media. Their points-of-view blended their niches with this traditional "hard news" story:
An Important Historical Artifact. The TechCrunch article further states this image is probably the fastest viewed photo on Flickr. The image achieved its viewer volume in less than 38 hours.
Conclusion
How Did You Learn About the Osama Bin Laden Announcement? Were you on Twitter, Facebook, or another social network? Did you head right to Google News or did you go straight to a traditional news source (i.e., New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg, etc.)?
I would love to understand your views on how the news unfolded.
A Historic Moment. This event marks an important time in United States history. Its unfolding in real-time portrays how we choose to publish, search for, and share historical events.
And, our use of social technology during this event reinforces the forever-changing, transformation of all media.
Members of the Social Media ReInvention Blog Community understand I'm an enthusiastic student and fan of David Meerman Scott. In numerous posts, I've referenced David and his latest book, Real Time Marketing & PR.
1. The New Competitive Advantage is Speed & Agility
Leverage and Respond to Real-Time News Events. Companies and individuals who leverage current news events to instantaneously communicate with customers (as these events unfold) hold a distinct competitive advantage over larger, bigger budget rivals. These larger rivals value size and scale (not speed). And, that distinction provides significant opportunity for competitive differentiation.
Real-Time Responsiveness Differentiates Important Service Capabilities. Applications of real-time competitive differentiation include:
Using direct and swift communications in customer service
Preparing for and moving quickly in crisis communications (aka disaster recovery situations)
Developing and testing new products / service offerings
Creating an organizational culture valuing speed and open communications
The Link to Important Business Objectives. All of the aforementioned capabilities achieve one or several of the following business objectives:
Acquiring new customers (e.g., enabiling additional lead generation)
Strengthening existing customer relationships
2. A Mindset of Real-Time Competitiveness
The Real-Time Mindset Means Thinking Differently. Here's my graphical interpretation of David's description of the real-time mindset (page 34):
Blink and You've Lost the Advantage. Gaining (or losing) the competitive advantage depends on WHENyou react/respond to breaking news events. Pages 29 thru 31 explain why ultra-fast, first movers win in real-time deployment:
The Real-Time Marketing & PR Power Law
The Real-Time Law of Law of Normal Distribution
3. Select Your Real-Time Platforms Carefully
Real-Time Differentiation and Capability Isn't Always Obvious - Just Ask Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams. I conducted a back-of-the-envelope analysis of the real-time tools most often cited in Real-Time Marketing & PR. Hands-down, the real-time winner is Twitter.
"We didn't know what we were at first. I think it's pretty clear now that Twitter is a real-time information network (e.g., any previous confusion about Twitter being a social network or Facebook is now over)."
Throughout his book, David provides several examples describing how Twitter, TweetDeck and HootSuite are used for important real-time functions:
Monitoring conversations
Responding directly to current customers or new, potential customers
Directing Twitter audience members to long form channels (i.e., the company blog or YouTube) for more details
The New Media Life Cycle Helps in Evaluating the Right Real-Time Platforms (and Avoiding the Wrong Ones). Pages 131 to 135 highlight input and data from Andrew Davis, Chief Strategy Officer at Tippingpoint Labs. Davis explains the New Media Life Cycle as the adoption of any platform (blogging, microblogging, photo sharing, or live video streaming) or content distribution channel (YouTube.com, Slideshare.com, Flickr.com, or Twitter.com).
The New Media Life Cycle openly tracks and analyzes an online platform's current life cycle phase in seven (7) distinct phases:
Experiment
Adopt
Gestate
Escalate
Monetize
Consolidate
Maintain
Early Adopters / First Movers Win. Early adopters understand The New Media Life Cycle, and exploit it to their competitive advantage. They know participating early in an emerging social network matters. Page 134 expains the secret to becoming well known on a social media network is to participate in one that's growing quickly, but is still in the early stage. A perfect example is the fast-growing Empire Avenue - The Social Media Exchange.
Remember Second Life? They're not a Real-Time Player (but Twitter is). Tippingpoint Labs and Google Insights provide data driven examples showing why Second Life is already past its prime (page 134). But, Twitter continues growing and is an outstanding real-time platform (page 135).
4. Managing Crisis Communications Means Real-Time Speed
The Money Insights of Real-Time Marketing & PR. The insights shared on crisis communications and disaster recovery are worth the purchase price alone. Why? The situations described in the book can happen to all of us. No one is immune in a digital age.
In my opinion, these sections require careful study:
Chapter 7: Crisis Communications and the Media (pages 71-81)
Chapter 8: What are People Saying About You This Instant? (pages 92-94)
Build Your Media and Journalist Contacts NOW. David explains how too few organizations (particularly the larger ones) fail to build media and journalist relationships before they need them (i.e., contacts with analysts, editors, and reporters).
Credibility and Trust with Media Contacts Requires Time. A communications crisis requires speed and focus (so you have little to no time). In addition, you compound risk by introducing yourself to your media contacts for the first time.
Five Ways to Build Media and Journalist Relationships. Build your media and journalist relationships before you need them. David provides the following suggestions:
Follow the Publications and Its Journalists
Comment on Their Stories and Blog Posts
Introduce Yourself Via Email
Follow Journalists on Twitter and Engage Them in Conversation
Earn Their Respect by Providing Valuable Content and Information (e.g. No Spam)
When Disaster Strikes, Refer to the Real-Time Communications Checklist. David provides a 9-Point Crisis Communications Checklist. All of his suggestions should be implemented before the crisis hits:
Assigning a crisis communications team
Gathering and storing key contact information inside and outside your organization
Delegating who's the organization's lead communicator
Responding through multiple real-time, online channels (i.e., company blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
IMPORTANT: Respond in the same online medium spawning the crisis. If the event happened in YouTube, respond with your own YouTube video.
5. Real-Time Organizations Have Communication Guidelines
Developing Real-Time Communications Guidelines and Roles in Your Organization. Pages 171 -172 provide an 8-Step Checklist for creating and implementing guidelines. In addition on pages 175 - 176, David introduces his take on a new senior executive position: Chief Real Time Communications Officer. On page 176, he explains the job description in a 14-point bulleted list.
IBM, The U.S. Air Force, and Telstra Succeed as Real-Time Communicators. Pages 161 - 173 describe how each organization uses real-time communications, empowers their employees, and publicly shares their guidelines. IBM's guidelines are shared on pages 162 - 170.
Here are hyperlinks and titles of the communications guidelines for these organizations:
Fortune 500 Executives Please Read This Book. Real-Time Marketing & PR is essential and required reading for C-Level executives, communications, marketing, and public relations professionals. As stated earlier, the disaster recovery and crisis communications advice shared makes it a worthwhile investment (especially if you hold that responsibility for a Fortune 500 organization).
Leaders of Small or Medium-Sized Can Outflank the Fortune 500. David describes how small and medium-sized businesses are practicing real-time communications and ringing their respective cash registers. Their commitment to real-time marketing and PR is how they're outflanking their larger Fortune 500 competitors.
Have You Read This Important Book? If you haven't, you're at a key disadvantage relative to competitors. If you have, I'd love to read your comments. Please let me know what you learned (especially the points I failed to capture in this review -- there are so many)!
Full Disclosure: My employer provides management consulting advice to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The opinions and content published within this blog post are mine only.
The Challenge. As cited by the article, the FDA will conduct a hearing on June 28th - June 29th to "focus on competing interpretations of medical data about Avastin's effectiveness in delaying the spread of late-stage breast tumors." The FDA wants the upcoming hearing focused on scientific data. However, Avastin's manufacturer, wants patients to be able to testify.
What's at Stake: Drug Access and Reimbursement. The Wall Street Journal quotes Avastin's cost around $88,000 for a series of injections. The article further states: "The Kalley's say that if the FDA withdraws approval for Avastin as a breast cancer treatment, insurers and Medicare might not cover the costs, even though doctors can still prescribe it for breast cancer."
A Case Study in Integrated Public Relations Strategy
Traditional and Digital Public Relations (PR). Mr. Kalley's and AQABA Web Technologies public relations strategy aligns the support of influential legislators and policy makers and builds public awareness through social media channels. These traditional and digital tactics form an integrated public relations strategy that informs, publicizes, and rallies support from important stakeholders:
Breast cancer patients
Physicians
Lawmakers
News media
* Traditional PR. Meet face-to-face with key Michigan legislators and influential Capitol Hill policy makers. In addition, The Wall Street Journal article references that The Kalleys would be meeting with Avastin's company representatives.
* Digital PR. Publicize in the online channels when meetings with Michigan legislators took place and with who (readily observable in the Freedom of Access to Medicines Twitter stream).
* Digital PR and Traditional PR. Promote within the online channels (i.e., Twitter, Facebook) positive media coverage (i.e., the recent Wall Street Journal article appeared on the front page of WSJ's print Marketplace Section).
Building Public Awareness Via a Social Media Home Base
The Freedom of Access to Medicines Home Page. Mr. Kalley and AQABA created a foundation web page to increase public awareness and build patient advocacy. The web page acts as the home base for the foundation's public and media awareness activities:
Easily Connecting Through Social Channels. If you scroll further down the home page, you'll find the following social media "buttons" on the bottom right-hand section of the foundation's home page. Easily finding these social media "buttons" is critical so the foundation can quickly connect with supporters and advocates who can further spread its mission through online word-of-mouth.
LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are Social Media Content Distribution Outposts
Four (4) Social Media Outposts. The "home base and outpost model" leads viewers back to The Freedom of Access home page from selected social networks. The four outposts distribute content that:
Describes a physician-patient discussion on drug access and reimbursement
Provides real-time updates of important meetings with key legislators/policy makers
Promotes the mission of the foundation
Thanks supporters sharing testimonials
For more information on using a content outpost approach as part of an overall public relations or social media strategy, here are additional resources:
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages Twitter. Real-time updates about meetings with key government officials and policymakers are part of the content strategy. Twitter plays a significant role in promoting the foundation's activities with these stakeholders:
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages Facebook. The foundation's Facebook page provides more detailed updates beyond Twitter's 140 character limits. Facebook's status updates provide summaries and links to online articles the foundation wants to share with supporters.
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages LinkedIn. Mr. Kalley leverages the SEO benefits of his LinkedIn Profile because the #1 Google search result for his name is his LinkedIn Profile:
His LinkedIn Profile describes the foundation's patient advocacy mission and objectives in the Professional Experience Summary Section:
Conclusion
The Freedom of Access to Medicines Blog Launched on May 1st. As of the original publication of this post, the missing piece in the Freedom of Access to Medicines digital public relations portfolio was a blog. However, The Freedom of Access to Medicines Blog launched on May 1st.
Initiative and Creativity in Public Relations. The Freedom of Access Medicines example showcases how an organization can harness The Internet's global scale and reach particularly through social media. Similarly, The Wall Street Journal article references how Avastin's manufacturer employs Weber Shandwick (a large, global public relations firm) to garner public and media support.
One Person's Individual Efforts Augmented by Integrated Social Media Tactics Can Make a Difference. I'm sure other organizations and individuals are taking notice of Mr. Kalley's and AQABA'S combined face-to-face and digital efforts. I plan on following the results all the way to the June 28th - June 29th finish line.
Lisa Waananen wrote the article and created the infographic describing important trends, data, and priorities of modern media agencies and their clients.
My 8 Takeaways. What are Yours?
#1 Digital Media as a Priority. Media buyers still prefer TV over digital by a 2:1 ratio.
#2 Trivializing Social Media (Not Smart). Public Twitter snafus at Kenneth Cole and Chrysler highlight why all brands need social media guidelines.
#3 Mobile Marketing. Digital Agencies are betting bigger on mobile applications versus their clients (e.g., 75% digital agencies versus 62% of advertising clients).
#4 Measuring Buzz for Data. Measurement is important but the biggest challenge is turning all that data into meaningful action.
#5 The Static Newsletter. Static emails aren't enough. They require compelling content (i.e., video) with social sharing buttons to increase engagement and click-throughs.
#6 Using Social Media - Part 1. 65% of executives feel emerging technologies and Web 2.0 tools increase marketing effectiveness.
#7 Using Social Media - Part 2. 25% of Fortune Global 100 companies use ALL four (4) of the most popular social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs.
#8 Recession Cutbacks. 2011 advertising spending will increase (even in TV).
Conclusion
Infographics are becoming more important in the art of storytelling. I love them because they communicate a lot of data in a visually compelling format. To learn more about infographics, I suggest this post by Adam Singer: Data Visualization and Infographics to Tell Your Story.
I especially like Ms. Waananen's infographic because all the data sources for her research are cited at the bottom of the infographic.
What do you think of the infographic? What are some of the key takeaways you learned? Or, what do you think of using infographics as a storytelling tool?
President Obama dined this past week with several power players from the technology world. As expected, this private event held at the home of John Doerr, a partner with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, & Byers generated significant public relations buzz for the business leaders in attendance.
The embedded video previews the longer Carillo-King interview televised by HBO in late January 2011. I enjoyed this interview because it provides relevant lessons on:
Personal Reinvention Via Social Media Technologies
The Significance of Trust and Reputation (Professional & Online)
The Power of a Relentless Work Ethic
Lesson 1: Reinvent and Adapt to Change
A Traditional Print Journalist Who "Gets" Online Media. King started Monday Morning QB (MMQB) with SI.com 13 years ago. He told Carillo he's better as a new media journalist because he understands:
1. Real-Time Marketing & PR: The importance of immediacy because speed wins
2. Content Quality: Volume is great but it's worthless without quality
3. Content Volume: The Internet rewards high volume (but always remember #2)
He Understands Social Media's Hub-Outpost Model. King's Monday Morning QB functions as his online home base while Twitter and Facebook serve as outposts. Both Twitter and Facebook point his readers back to Monday Morning QB. Here are links to his social media channels
If You Want People to Trust You, Directly Engage Them. King inspires a loyal, tribal-like audience.As I write this post, here are the latest online stats on Peter King and Monday Morning QB (and counting):
503,193 Twitter Followers
5,902 Facebook Fans
3 million weekly page views (according to the Real Sports longer interview)
Look how he answers selected readers' email questions with their names. The selected readers seeing their names and questions published in King's column must feel great!
In the embedded video, King shows Carillo how he alerts his 500K+ Twitter Followers via TweetDeck when the latest edition of his column goes live. It's Social Media Engagement and Content Promotion Strategy 101!
Relationships Founded on Trust and Respect. Former Super Bowl-winning NFL coach and NFL executive, Bill Parcells, described to Mary Carillo why NFL coaches, players, and executives want to work and engage with King. They Trust Him.
In the longer interview, Parcells explained how he respected and admired King's work ethic and integrity. He witnessed how King would do anything to get a story but not at the expense of compromising himself personally.
King has invested 26+ years in building his professional network and reputation. That vast network and stellar reputation provides access to A-List NFL coaches, executives, owners, and players. This makes King's Twitter Feed the place for breaking, real-time news events in NFL Football.
Lesson 3: Unrelenting Commitment
Be Relentless. Peter King covered the NFL for New York Newsday from 1985 to 1989. To succeed, he had to build professional trust with Bill Parcells (then the New York Giants head coach). This was no easy task considering Parcell's sometimes antagonistic relationship with the New York sportswriters.
But, King persevered and won Parcells over. How? Parcells told King he'd be willing to help him if he'd come to the Giants practice facility before 6:30 AM. After that time, Parcell's focused solely on Sunday preparation.
King's solution? Arrive at the Giants facility before Parcells. Parcells remarked how King would greet him at 6 AM (sometimes earlier) at the facility gates. King consistently demonstrated this work ethic and desire to Parcells.
And, he eventually won and earned Parcells' respect and trust. That's why Parcells nicknamed King, "Relentless."
Be Commited. The embedded video doesn't give full justice to King's required weekly, workman-like commitment in publishing MMQB during the NFL season:
1. Completes Sunday evening work on NBC Football Night in America around 10:30 PM
2. Works on MMQB's initial drafts from 11 PM to 5:30 AM
3. Boards the 6 AM Amtrak train to Boston
4. Refines / Posts final draft before 8 AM SI.com deadline
Wow! And, that doesn't include all his other professional and personal responsibilities ...
Conclusion
Inspiring Success Stories Like Peter King Don't Happen Overnight. Members of this community know Successful Social Media Marketing Is Neither Free Nor Easy. There's nothing free in social media. There's nothing free about achieving success.
Peter King achieved his stature over the course of a 26-year career. He's invested significant time in:
Adapting to change (i.e., building new skills to compete in online media)
Building professional and online trust (i.e. integrity and authenticity)
King continues developing new technology skills married with hard-won journalistic instincts. Every MMQB post represents how he sees and seizes online media opportunity.
He epitomizes earning audience attention in a digital age. He masters blogging, tweeting, and facebooking as both journalistic mediums and competitive differentiators.
What are you doing to competively differentiate yourself or your organization? How are you earning audience attention?
Here's the eMarketer graphic showing a demographic breakdown of the Harris Interactive data:
The survey results show 76% of Gen X'ers (34-45 year olds) are either "very confident" or "somewhat confident" their privacy settings in social networks are functioning properly. I'm part of Generation X so this result interests me. Also, I actively participate in social networks. I agree with the Harris Poll based on my participation in The Big 3 U.S. Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn).
Will Something Bad Result From Tweeting, Blogging, or Sharing?
Not So Much. The survey represents 2,331 participants. Based on the research, only 7% of respondents had gotten in trouble at school or work or lost a job opportunity because of social network activity.
But, Always Think Twice. Use common sense as your guide. Similar to when email entered our 1990s professional lives, think twice before selecting "send, publish, or share" when posting something on your social network or blog.
On the Worldwide Web, You Are What You Publish
It's a Cold, Hard Fact. That headline is one of my favorite David Meerman Scott quotes. It also explains why 90% of my social media / social networking participation represents a professional purpose:
Networking with other like-minded professionals (i.e., LinkedIn, Twitter)
Providing links to useful articles / research / blogs about social media, technology or the pharmaceutical / biotech industry (i.e., Twitter, this blog)
Commenting on industry blogs or social media thought leaders' blogs to expand my professional connections and build my online reputation
The other 10% of my social network participation represents a personal purpose (i.e., Facebook). I made the choice to restrict my connections on Facebook to personal friendships only. In Facebook, I connect and share with only a select, few individuals from my professional life. I have a trusted friend who works in the Human Resources function, and this is how she manages her Facebook account.
Here's a direct quote from Mitch's post: "While you retain the rights to the text, images, audio and video that you post online, always consider that the content is now public and shareable forever."
Forever. That's a long time.
Conclusion
There is a Personal Cost Associated with Online Participation. When I made the choice to start actively participating in social media / social networking, I understood this cost. Always be mindful, someone is reading and reacting to your online activity (either positively or negatively). Always be aware of what you tweet, what you post, and who you connect to.
But, The Benefits Outweigh the Costs. Online participation provides access to professional and personal development opportunities traditionally reserved for select individuals:
* Publishing a blog provides an opportunity to demonstrate and build your reputation and thought leadership on a global scale
* Tweeting and connecting provides an opportunity to professionally network on a global scale
* Commenting on industry and thought leaders' blogs provides an opportunityto demonstrate your knowledge and augment another person's research, thoughts, and opinions on a global scale
Sounds Globally Opportunistic, Doesn't It? It is! And, I wish I'd started sooner. And, I'm running as fast as I can to make up for lost time.
The opinions blogged herein represent only those of Tony Faustino and do not reflect those of his employer, persons or companies mentioned herein, or anyone else. The posts on this blog are provided "as is" with no warranties and confer no rights.
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