Posts Tagged ‘social media’

“A guy walks into a bar…”

Kidding. 

It actually goes more like this “a communicator walks into a meeting and the VP or client says ‘I want bloggers!’” (or we want a “well known” social media consultant!)

I used ‘communicator’ because I don’t want to be accused of continually beating up the PR rank and file and because it’s not always PR folks, it’s also marketers and organizations/clients seeking social media consultants. 

So what’s the pickup line you ask? “I/We LOVE your blog!” 

If you have a blog I am sure you’ve heard it before. Someone wants something from you and they figure the quickest way in is to flatter your blog. What annoys me about this pickup line is the assumption that bloggers are so vane that sucking up with an insincere one-liner will make them give you what you want. A lot of us bloggers don’t blog to be self-important. We blog because it’s a space for us to share our thoughts, insights or opinions and to be a part of the community (whether that’s marketing, social media, golfing, wine, shopping, business, whatever…). 

When I get this line (and my gut tells me they are insincere), I’ll usually say “Hey thanks! So tell, me what posts have you liked or disagreed with the most?” The usual reply: “er, um, ah…” Yeah, thought so. Another indication of insincerity is that they have never once commented or even tried to be a part of the community. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want something from someone who blogs―whether it’s a blog post you seek or consulting services-don’t enter the relationship with a cheesy one-liner. It doesn’t work in a bar and it surely doesn’t work in business because no one wants to be just a person on your list. (Actually, this is just good advice for interpersonal relations…people know when they are being used, no matter how smooth, suave or smart *you* might think you are.) Relationships do matter regardless of the situation.

Next time you find yourself uttering those words, remember that you have just joined the ranks of being “that guy (or girl).” (In case you don’t know what that means… it’s the obnoxious person no one wants to be near.)

Have you heard any other one-liners recently?

After discussing the inauthentic nature of PR in my last post, I hope you know that I do respect and enjoy being part of the PR profession (well, except those PR areas that are broken) and truly believe that most PR folks are engaging in PR in a way that is effective. That said, I still believe that ghostwriting from PR pros (or profs) isn’t necessary or authentic (I am not sure that there’s much that can convince me…but I’ll keep an open mind, I promise).

I thought it might be a useful conversation to discussion how PR 2.0 will keep you SO busy providing strategic services/counsel for your clients or employer you won’t need to worry about ghost blogging and tweeting as a source of income or a way to show value for one’s job. And I know for a lot of PR agencies and pros that might not truly understand the nature (dare I say, culture) of social media, those are areas of concern. I get it, I really do. 

While this might not be as interesting as a debate, perhaps it will prove to be more useful. 

Today’s typical and traditional PR person does a lot of the following tasks: 

• Builds relationships with third-party resources (usually the media, sometimes bloggers)
• Maintains existing relationships
• Does research
• Listens/Analyzes (usually online/print pickups)
• Writes plans
• Provides counsel
• Creates targeted messages
• Conveys timely news with constituents (but typically media and maybe bloggers)
• Builds a brand’s reputation
• Maintains a brand’s image
• Deploys crisis communications
• Clips or tracks pickups or mentions
• Provides measurement of campaigns
• Handles some marketing communications (including collateral, website content if a marketer isn’t part of the team)

 With PR 2.0 you can add the following to your skills, deliverables and job description:

• Monitors brand in real-time
• Listens/Analyzes online conversations or mentions in real-time
• Responds promptly
• Conducts primary research in real-time
• Engages in two-way conversations with ALL constituents (in-house PR folks)
• Participates in social networking in a value-add way (in-house PR folks)
• Develops new online skills (blogging, wikis, RSS, etc.)
• Understand the importance of building relationships with all constituents (media, bloggers, employees, investors, fans, friends, followers, detractors, etc.)
• Responsible for Search Engine Optimization
• Identifies & engages with influencers and brand evangelists (in-house PR folks)
• Manages communities of constituents (in-house PR folks)
• Integrates new technologies into PR plans
• Shares industry information, not just key messages
• Builds communities
• Engages evangelists to help create word of mouth
• Understands that engaging in PR 2.0 will help at time of crisis
• Stays up-to-date on trends
• Trains management, co-workers and/or clients constantly 

I don’t know about you, but to me that looks like a pretty busy job to me! All without having to ghostwrite or tweet (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

I cannot take complete credit for these lists. While I have been engaged in PR for a long time, some people just say things more succinctly than I do…and I like to give the credit they deserve. So, please, seriously, if you haven’t read PR 2.0 by Deirdre Breakenridge, add it to your reading list. She makes the transition to PR 2.0 crystal clear, easy-to-swallow, and provides a lot of proof points (i.e. some of the list information is from her book). John Bell at Ogilvy is another source of great information when it comes to the PR pro of the future (be sure to read John’s post when you get a chance). He’s the guy behind this post’s image and some of the items on the PR 2.0 list. 

I am sure that I am leaving things off of both lists, so please be sure to add where necessary if this is too simplified.

Thoughts? Opinions? Objections?

[Image: John Bell]

Yes, yes, I know you’re all running to get your pitch forks so you can pull a Marie Antoinette on me. Hear me out… 

The definition of authentic is pretty simple: not false or copied; genuine; real 

I have been thinking about this a lot and recently had a few conversations with folks where I actually said it out loud. One of those places was the O’Reilly Twitter Boot Camp. I was sitting on a panel with Tony Hsieh (Zappos), Marla Erwin (Whole Foods),  David Deal (Razorfish), David Puner (Dunkin’ Donuts) and someone asked a question (honestly, I forget what it was) and these words crossed my lips: 

You know…PR’s never been authentic. In the past, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written a byline or press release (or my agency has) and after it shows up in print it’s only a matter of time before a co-worker (or a customer or a vendor) comes up and says, “that was a great article by John Smith…I didn’t know he knew so much about X, Y, or Z.” And then I have to tell them “Well, John didn’t really write it. I did (or the agency did). He had some input and reviewed it.” 

Two comments inevitably happen after this exchange: 

“I KNEW he wasn’t that smart!” (Usually from a co-worker that’s been trying to get ink or dislikes John Smith) OR “Wow, I am surprised… I thought our people were always writing these great articles.” 

Either way, it’s been a lose-lose situation each and every time.   

As these words crossed my lips at the Boot Camp I thought for sure my panelists and the attendees would disagree with me, but to my surprise, I saw nodding heads. 

I know what you are thinking…I shouldn’t be telling people that John Smith didn’t write the article, it’s a standard PR practice that everyone knows about. But you know what? I can’t BS people and never have been able to. I am not going to lie and say someone wrote an article that they didn’t. Now, on the flip side…I’ve worked with many a co-worker that has written their own byline or provided tons of input and I give them all the kudos in the world. 

What I am talking about here are the flat out bylines that someone’s name gets slapped on because they haven’t been “given ink” in a while or the press/news release that was fabricated because the VP of Marketing thinks it’s time for one.

Now, I know what you are thinking…that’s just a bad PR practice and I would agree. But I am also not naive enough to believe that it doesn’t happen.

Why has this been rattling around in my head? Because this false notion of PR authenticity is at the foundation of the ghost blogging and ghost tweeting debate and where it goes awry in the social media world. 

I don’t know about you, but these days when I read an article, a tweet, or a blog post I want to know that the person’s name on the article is the person who actually wrote it (yes, yes, I know ghost writing has existed for-ev-ah). That it’s their experience, their emotions, their writing and tone. And if I find out that Jane Doe at an agency really wrote it, well all credibility is gone in an instant. And believe it or not, after a while you can tell someone’s style and tone and when it changes (Um, Oprah book club anyone?!). 

In our new PR 2.0/social media world I believe people expect authenticity…especially when they are used to it. When they read a tweet, they want to know that it came from John Smith [or at the least someone from John Smith's company. [Marla Erwin swears no one cares who exactly at Whole Foods is doing the tweeting as long as they get the help they need...and I am sure she's right. But I am betting if they outsourced all their tweets, people would start to have an issue with that. Just an opinion, maybe I am totally wrong. Marla?] 

So, my premise is simple… if someone didn’t write it themselves, it’s not authentic. 

I know people are busy, I know companies are lacking budget and struggle with implementing social media. I think if they can’t engage authentically then they should hold off because social media forces authenticity.

That said, I am open to learning about how you feel about this topic. Especially if you’re a PR practitioner engaged in social media. Am I wrong? Is it authentic to write someone else’s words? 

If so, let me ask this: Is it authentic to copy a Picasso and sell it as such because you’ve ‘represented’ it properly? 

By the way, I have left out some pertinent PR aspects intentionally because I am more curious as to what your thoughts are/reaction will be.

I am afraid of guillotines, so please…be kind.

[Image: iStock]

There’s been a lot of buzz around measuring the ROI of social media here and other places and it seems to come up a lot during the #pr20chats (PR 2.0 chats on Twitter). Sometimes measurement is a deadly sin (lack thereof) and sometimes it’s seen as a holy grail (can’t get there). Whichever it is, it’s not limited to social media…measuring ROI is also a huge issue for marketers and PR folks too. 

Measuring marketing, PR and social media can be relatively simple if you have a plan. And the plan is probably the hardest part, especially getting consensus (management and co-workers), being able to implement it and-most importantly-being agile enough to change on a dime when an element of the plan isn’t working. 

I’ll let you in on a little secret, I didn’t learn how to write objectives (the part of the plan that makes it measurable) in college or on the job. Nope! In fact, I learned how to write measureable objectives from the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) when I took their weekend APR (Accreditation in Public Relations) course about 8-9 years ago. Because understanding how to write a plan with measureable objectives is a large part of achieving the APR, it was also a large part of the weekend course. Since then, I have used what I learned for marketing and PR campaign plans throughout the years and it’s really been helpful to show management if campaigns have been successful (or not) and how I’ve been a contributing member of the marketing team. 

I’ve heard a lot of people say that there isn’t standardization when it comes to measurement. I’d say what I am about to share is as standard as it gets… And if you haven’t already picked up a copy of Katie Paine’s ‘Measuring Public Relationships,’ you better rush on over to Amazon. 

Some of this you might know, some maybe not. In any case, feel free to share your best practices. 

Writing a Plan: The Basic Elements 

A basic plan should have: 

• A goal (One. If you find yourself writing “and” in your goal, you’ll probably need two plans)
• Measurable objectives (as many as needed)
• Strategies (every objective gets its own strategies)
• Tactics (every strategy gets its own tactics)
• A way to measure

 A plan could essentially look like this: 

• Goal
• Objective 1.1
• Strategy 1.1
• Tactic 1.1
• Strategy 1.2
• Tactic 1.2
• Objective 2.1
• Strategy 2.1
• Tactic 2.1
• Strategy 2.2
• Tactic2.2

 [This basic plan assumes you know your or your client know their challenge, audience, budget, etc.]

Basic example: 

Goal: I want to lose weight.

Objective: I want to lose 10 pounds by July 15th

Strategy 1.1: I will go to the gym 5 times a week

Tactic: I will use the elliptical machine, weights and the pool at the gym

Strategy 1.2: I will watch what I eat

Tactic: I will write down everything I eat

Measurement: I lost 8 pounds by July 15th (I didn’t achieve my goal)

Knowing the difference between goals and objectives

When I ask marketing/PR folks what’s their measureable objective is I often hear “to generate more sales” or “to get our key message out.” These are not objectives…they are goals. And because goals and objectives are often confused, it leads people thinking that they can’t be measured in a truly impactful way.

Outputs, Outtakes and Outcomes: Three types of objectives

 For objectives to be measureable they must include (no exceptions):

1.  A specific desire communication or behavioral effect;
2. A designated public (or publics) among whom the effect is to be achieved;
3. The expected level of attainment; and
4. The timeframe in which those attainments
   are to occur.

Basic Example: To increase number of presentation downloads by online public #1 by 20% within 3 months. (Pretty easy, right?)

Once you understand what is required for a measureable objective, then you need to understand what type of objective makes sense: output, outtake or outcome. 

• Output: Physical products (i.e. whitepapers, tweets, blog posts, articles, etc.)
• Outtake: What will the publics take away? (i.e. messages, perceptions, understandings)
• Outcome: What quantifiable changes in attitudes, behaviors, or opinions (i.e. did they buy something?)

 Here’s the catch:

Outputs are easy and it’s apparent whether or not you did what you said you would in your plan (was that whitepaper written and tweeted out?). Outtakes require bench marketing and monitoring (how do you know where you ended up, if you didn’t know where you started). And Outcomes require heavy lifting. Because, and this is VERY important, Outcome objectives are usually where ROI ties in, and an organization will need to track all efforts and follow them, most likely, through a CRM system, which isn’t always easy to do. 

So what’s the point to this post? Well, people are losing patience when it comes to conversations around social media (as well as marketing and PR) not being measureable. Everything is measurable; you just need to make the time to plan for it. And trust me, as I have said in the past, I have never worked for an organization that enforced or required a plan. That said, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have one. A plan is a great way to show, whether you’re client or agency side, your value as a marketing, PR or social media pro. That said, no one ever said it was easy… 

What do you think? Too basic? (That was the point.) Not real-world enough? If so, why are we trying to complicate it? 

As always, I am interested in your thoughts, experiences and where this is all heading.

In our little social media world we always talk about what organizations are doing wrong and the seven deadly sins that are made when it comes to PR 2.0, but not about what they get right. [And I say 'little' because, let's face it, PR 2.0 isn't mainstream yet.]

There are lots of PR pros working hard to get it right every day and when things come together, there’s an amazing sense of accomplishment and success. But all too often, it’s short-lived and overshadowed.

So then, what are the seven holy grails of PR 2.0? What is it that we continuously strive for like we’re King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable? [Feel free to think Monty Python if it gives you a chuckle.]

This week’s #pr20chat brings us some interesting grails…

Grail #1: Having researched benchmarks (overall or per campaign) [Susan Cellura]

Grail #2: Quality testimonies across multimedia platforms [Lisa Devaney]

Grail #3: Quantifying how much the needle has moved [Stephanie Mrus]

Grail #4: Agreement on Objectives (Output, Outtake and Outcome)

Grail #5: Consistent key messages regardless of vehicle or voice [Stephanie Mrus]

Gail #6: Having evangelists broadly share key messages [Susan Cellura, Stephanie Mrus, Wendy Van Parys, Lisa Loeffler]

Grail #7: At its heart, an organization and its employees must live what it’s doing in social media/PR 2.0 [MattSnod]

Other notable grails mentioned:

• Complete transparency between client and agency [Narciso Tovar]
• Overhearing (in public) people talking about an initiative you helped bring to life. [Len Kendall]
• Extracting & quantifying Word of Mouth results from clients to measure success. [Lisa Loeffler]
• Breaking down silos. [Stephanie Mrus]

One thing to keep in mind when reading (and responding) to the list of grails is that there are many PR pros come from different backgrounds, experiences and types of organizations. There are no standards across the board…just yet. So, if you think any of these aren’t grails and have achieved some or all of them, it would be great if you could share your insights so we don’t continue to think that these grails are only legends in our own minds.

How do we achieve these grails? What’s holding us back? What would you add or remove?

One that I’d add is PR pros understanding how to communicate and partner with ALL publics (not just the media and bloggers).

NOTE: #pr20chat is every Wednesday night at 8pm EST on Twitter. Feel free to join in anytime and to offer up topics for discussion.

[Image: iStock]