Weekly Media Monitoring News
May 7th
Our goal is to bring you “interesting stuff” about PR, social media, and marketing each week in Media Monitoring News. Mostly, we focus on media monitoring, PR measurement, and media relations, and other topics core to public relations and marketing. In addition, we include interesting content on personal development and other business issues. This week there’s a boatload of “interesting stuff” including ways to reduce the number of characters when tweeting, how not to apologize in a crisis, how to control social media madness, and avoiding loose business lips in crowded places.
| Editor: | William J. Comcowich CyberAlert, Inc. |
How to Fix the 8 Most Common Errors in Social Media Monitoring
The Measurement Standard
How to Fix the 8 Most Common Errors in Social Media Monitoring is measurement diva Katie Paine’s “Paine Relief” for media monitoring headaches. Many of the media monitoring subscription services including CyberAlert have automated filters to solve the cited issues.
That Which You Measure Will Improve
Cognito Media
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates,” says Pearson’s law. In today’s new era of PR where measurement is valued alongside the more traditional PR skills and techniques, author Tom Coombs looks at what PR should be measuring. The list in That Which You Measure Will Improve includes type of coverage, value and sentiment, message composition and effectiveness, spokesperson activity and effectiveness, and leads (sales, marketing, or other).
Listening for a Crisis
Blog: Crisis Management
Listening carefully and extensively is the best way to catch a crisis early according to Listening for a Crisis. Some crises such as an airplane crash happen instantly with no warning. Many crises develop slowly - discussion about a product flaw, for instance. Listening, followed by corrective action, can often short-circuit an evolving crisis. Savvy crisis managers monitor both news and social media conversation for initial signs of an impending crisis. To listen, you need monitoring tools. The author suggests many f.re.e tools - all of which can be time-consuming to use. Subscription media monitoring services that provide integrated monitoring of both news and social media offer a more cost-effective approach with many features not available in f.re.e tools.
It’s Time for Advertising to Take a Lesson (Gasp!) from Public Relations
Advertising Age
Can advertising learn something from public relations? Are you kidding? That’s the opening of It’s Time for Advertising to Take a Lesson (Gasp!) from Public Relations. The point: the future of advertising is public relations. Social media is forcing brands to employ a new model for interacting with consumers. It’s no longer the strategy; it’s the narrative. That’s what PR does so effectively. Ad agencies need to learn how the disciplines of PR can improve their creative thinking and story-telling. Question: Can PR guys really teach ad guys? (“Guys” is gender neutral.)
How Not to Apologize: A Lesson in “Apology PR”
Crenshaw Communications
With all the questionable behavior in business and government lately, public mea culpas run rampant. How Not to Apolgize: A Lesson in “Apology PR” explains what not to say in a face-saving public apology. The chart is a real tickler!
For Brands, Social Media Shows Returns, but Measurement Hurdles Remain
eMarketer
For Brands, Social Media Shows Returns, but Measurement Hurdles Remain reports the results of a recent survey of C-level executives on social media. Graphs indicate that executives have become convinced of the benefits of engaging in social media with financial payoffs at 4x investment. Fully 84% of executives polled said that social media campaigns had increased the effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts, while 81% said a social media presence had helped their companies increase market share. Almost half of executives said that the major impediment to social media campaigns was the lack of a standardized metric that can measure a return on investment.
Who Are the Measurati that Are Setting Social Media Measurement Standards
The Measurement Standard
Multiple groups are working toward developing standards and methodologies for social media measurement. In Who Are the Measurati that Are Setting Social Media Measurement Standards, Katie Paine maps the key organizations along with the players involved.
Journalists Tweet their PR Pet Peeves
Storify
When it comes to pitching a story, you’ve learned PR lessons in school, from mentors, and on the job. Journalists Tweet their PR Pet Peeves offers advice direct from the fingertips of the journalists being pitched - touchy lot that they are. All in all, the tweets contain helpful hints. Some key points: don’t start an email pitch with “Dear Sir or Madam” or any version of “How are you?” Tit-for-tat, there’s also a list of Pet Journalist Peeves by PR pros.
6 Business Lessons from 50 Shades of Grey
Open Source
It’s considered by many to be just a chick book, but even most men know about 50 Shades of Grey. Really now, how could a chick book have valid business lessons? Go ahead, be incredulous. But, yes, there are at least 6 Business Lessons from 50 Shades of Grey, and they are surprisingly valid.
Six Ways to Chop that Tweet Down to Size
Marketing Profs
If you’re given to verbosity (and who among us isn’t), Six Ways to Chop that Tweet Down to Size teaches you tricks to write succinctly. (139 characters, started at 163)
12 Annoying Things that Drive People Away from Your Website
Marketing Profs
Corporate websites are valuable resources, but often they make it difficult to get at the information they were designed to deliver.
12 Annoying Things that Drive People Away from Your Website is an idiosyncratic list - but most people will agree with most of the mentioned impediments.
Among the list: music blaring on entry, lack of search, hidden contact information, hard to read text (designers: readability for middle-aged eyes is the foremost design criteria for text), and Flash animation. Does your website include any of the annoyances that drive people away?
Caution: I’ve Been Diagnosed with Social Media Madness
Target Marketing Magazine
The whimisical article The Beginning of the End of Unpaid Internships, lawsuits by unpaid interns against major corporations are going to decimate that tradition. The suits charge that the companies violated a number of laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1947 that specifically lays out a 6-point test, still in use today, for hiring unpaid interns. Suggestion: Review the 6-point test and see if your organization is violating the law. The New York Times recently weighed into the intern issue with Jobs Few, College Grads Flock to Unpaid Internships, focusing on the disappointment of the interns and exposing employers to serious reputation management problems.
Really, can’t most any company afford to pay at least minimum wage?
Talking Business in Flight? Watch What You Say
New York Times
It takes the Old Grey Lady many column inches to deliver a short message in Talking Business in Flight? Watch What You Say. The message: be careful when talking in a crowded place such as airplane, train or restaurant. Be careful what is on your laptop or iPad screen in public places, and use a screen guard to thwart prying eyes.
Weekly Media Monitoring News
Apr 30th
In addition to articles on the core subject of media monitoring and measurement, Media Monitoring News this week wanders into the value of AV production in PR including podcasts and videos for online distribution. It also offers some thought-provoking articles on the value of human curation (selection/filtering), and the power of the new “intelligent” technologies represented by Apple’s Siri. Finally, the issue includes helpful articles on PR job boards and hiring PR interns.
FAQ Your Way through the Social Media Crisis
Melissa Agnes
An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document is usually associated with technology products. FAQ Your Way through the Social Media Crisis explains the advantages, features, content and uses of a prepared-in-advance and tweaked-in-the-moment FAQ. It can be a vital document during a PR crisis.
Demystifying Social Media
McKinsey Quarterly
After all the hype, how could social media be mystifying? In fact, while social media has become enormously influential, it remains an enigma to most corporate leaders. Many C-level executives in major corporations leave social media to the minions because they have virtually no idea of how to harness social media to benefit their organizations. Targeted directly at corporate higher ups, Demystifying Social Media attempts to help executives understand how, when and where social media influences consumers so that they can better develop, approve, launch, and monitor social media initiatives. The discussion concentrates on the four social media functions: monitor, respond, amplify, and lead consumer behavior.
Social Media’s Modern Day Role in PR and Marketing Campaigns
Huffington Post
Among the reasons to read Social Media’s Modern Day Role in PR and Marketing Campaigns (how often do you see PR mentioned ahead of marketing?) are “three great ways to leverage social media for your PR campaign” and “three fun ways to use social media for marketing and business development.”
In her thoughts and highlights, writer Marni Salup alsolooks at “social media’s potential drawbacks.”
Am I Wasting My Time with Social Media?
Huffington Post (Canada)
For a start-up or small business, the options to connect and engage through social media are plentiful and constantly changing. With time being the most valuable resource for a young business, engaging in social media can be time-consuming. So, the natural question is Am I Wasting My Time with Social Media? The answer as it often is: it depends. Used properly, social media can generate leads over a wider “territory” than conventional promotion. But danger lurks in missteps. Follow-up question: where in social media is limited time best invested for long-term results. The answer: Twitter.
Eight Steps to Creating a Better Podcast
Café Yak
Developing and producing a podcast is much like creating a radio program. To attract an audience, you must first entertain. In Eight Steps to Creating a Better Podcast (or better podcasts), Steve Lubetkin, an experience audiovisual developer, takes you through the key steps from brainstorming to distribution, including creating a hook, story development and story-telling, format, production, and editing.
How a Video Is Worth 2,000 Words
Vocus
YouTube and other video sharing sites have created powerful new distribution channels to tell compelling video stories about companies, brands, issues and positions. The online videos have the potential to reach huge audiences and attract attention from mainstream media. How a Video Is Worth 2,000 Words is at once a video success story and instruction on proper approaches to online video for corporate and brand PR. Rule #1: Be entertaining. Rule #2: The audience rules. Rule #3: Production values matter. Rule #4: Story is paramount. Rule #5: Work hard on distribution.
Man vs. Machine [The Value of Human Curation]
Click Z
The word curate is defined as “to pull together, sift through and select for presentation.” Some of the best experiences we have are curated. The different wild animals that amazed you at the zoo as a kid? That was a curated experience. Your favorite small, independent bookstore? That’s a curated experience. Now on the Internet, Pandora and Pinterest are curated experiences - with curating done through crowdsourcing. Misleading title aside, Man vs. Machine examines the power of human curation and how the fact that someone has carefully prepared an experience to be discovered and appreciated makes it naturally more compelling. The lesson for PR and brand management? Instead of presenting a catalog of content for users to sort and filter themselves, content could be used more strategically to tell a bigger story and involve users as co-creators of the experience to increase their engagement.
The 10 Commandments of Social Media Content Marketing
Jeff Bullas
“Content Marketing” is among the hottest marketing (and PR) topics online. The often unstated Commandment #1 in content marketing is: have something interesting, entertaining or useful to say to the target audience. Implied: it must be interesting to the audience, not just to the content marketer. The 10 Commandments of Social Media Content Marketing elucidates the building blocks needed for a successful social media content marketing campaign. Bullas’ rule #1: Be focused.
How Siri Is Going to Completely Change Your Job
iMedia Connection
Siri is far more than a cute gimmick in Apple’s latest iPhone. It is the first iteration of a major technological advance called the “Intelligent Automated Assistant” and it is likely to shatter current approaches to search according to author Sean X. Cummings in How Siri Is Going to Completely Change Your Job. Most “vision” articles are bunk; this one is worth reading and contemplating.
Top 10 Public Relations and Communications Job Boards
PR Breakfast Club
The mega job boards like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are often less useful than job boards catering to niche professions. If you’re looking to switch jobs or to latch onto a promotion, Top 10 Public Relations and Communications Job Boards offers a worthwhile list of places to start the job hunt.
Stop! Don’t Hire that Intern
CBS News
Summer is prime time for hiring interns. If you view interns as free labor, you could be in for a rude awakening. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, unpaid interns need to be learning professional skills, and they can’t replace paid employees. Aside from legal issues, Stop! Don’t Hire that Intern examines circumstances under which you should definitely not hire interns.
Weekly Media Monitoring News
Apr 23rd
Media Monitoring News this week focuses on media monitoring in public relations, marketing and employee communications. Two articles look at the subject of crisis communications, with some unusual viewpoints. The issue also features multiple articles on “communications” including proper use of email, the communications skills of great leaders, and a thought-provoking opinion piece on how new communication’s technologies hamper conversation.
12 Most Brand-Saving Reasons for Social Media Monitoring
12 Most (Brian Vickery)
Among the 12 Most Brand-Saving Reasons for Social Media Monitoring is the counter-intuitive “people aren’t talking about you.” It’s a not often cited, but valid reason for social media monitoring - sending a clear signal that marketing needs to be ramped up. Another reason is that “people expect you to find them and respond.” The other 10 reasons are more conventional, but worth reviewing.
Profitable Use of Social Media Monitoring
Social Strategy 1
Social media monitoring is a smart business investment because it can accomplish so much for so little. Profitable Use of Social Media Monitoring explains how to apply monitoring to accomplish multiple business goals. It also makes another important point: if you receive a customer compliment or complaint via telephone or email, you probably respond immediately. But what do you do if somebody mentions your product or business on Facebook or Twitter? Do you even know it’s there? You would if you had an appropriate social media monitoring program in place.
The Best Social Media Monitoring Tools for Your Brand
Business 2 Community (Melissa Agnes)
Melissa Agnes, a social media crisis specialist, is publishing a series of articles on media monitoring and provides links to the previous articles on social media monitoring, including the value of social media monitoring, types of social listening, and methods to identify key words to monitor. Best Social Media Monitoring Tools for Your Brand explores both no-cost and subscription services, mostly expensive subscription services best-suited for major corporations. Do-it-yourself services are time-consuming and less than comprehensive. A low-cost integrated media monitoring service (ahem, e.g. CyberAlert) saves time, is more thorough and includes built-in measurement tools.
Monitoring or Snooping: When Employers’ Social Media Checks Cross the Line
Tech Republic
The continuing uproar about privacy on the Internet now laps over to employer monitoring of staff. Monitoring or Snooping: When Employers’ Social Media Checks Cross the Line makes a stab from a European viewpoint at drawing the line on what monitoring of employee personal social media activity may be permissable - but more importantly recommends that employers establish a well-crafted social media policy for employees.
Launching a Social Command Center (without the Center)
Edelman Digital
Some proponents of media monitoring propagate the notion that monitoring is easy. It’s not. It requires investment of hardware, staff time, and subscription monitoring services. Launching a Social Command Center (without the Center) offers an unvarnished analysis of the required infrastructure and approaches to obtain optimum results.
The First Step in Regaining Control of a Social Media Crisis
Business 2 Community (Melissa Agnes)
The first response strategy is the key element within a social media crisis plan. Properly done, it can immediately help regain control of the situation, easing the flow of negative comments flooding your wall, Twitter feed, inbox and wherever else messages may proliferate. The First Step in Regaining Control of a Social Media Crisis offers sound guidance on the who, what, when, where and how of commencing a strategic crisis response.
9 Social Media Crisis Questions Dole Food Company Failed to Answer
Social Fresh
As Harvard Business School has proven repeatedly, case studies are a valuable learning method. 9 Social Media Crisis Questions Dole Food Company Failed to Answer examines how a big company failed to react properly to a “small recall problem.” The article includes some unusual viewpoints on handling a social media crisis - including use of the corporate home page as a platform together with responding on all social media platforms.
Measuring Social Media ROI; 12 New Factors to Include in the Equation
Viral Cast Media
One still-unanswered question of business leaders is how best to measure social media. As social media evolves, the answer to that question also changes. Measuring Social Media ROI; 12 New Factors to Include in the Equation lists some factors that were not included in the social media measurement mix just a short time ago.
Yogi Berra: 13 Social Media Lessons from the Mound
Heidi Cohen
How do “Yogi-isms” apply to social media? Well, you’ll be surprised at how applicable Yogi Berra’s wisdom can be. It’s certainly fun to recall and review the sayings of the former Yankees catcher in Yogi Berra: 13 Social Media Lessons from the Mound, but more important are the valuable insights that author Heidi Cohen brings in tying Yogi’s sayings to social media.
What to Think About before You Hit ‘Send’
New York Times
Even with the dominance of social networks, all of us still use email extensively for business communications - and have probably gotten a bit cavalier about how we use it. What to Think About before You Hit ‘Send’ offers handy advice on the etiquette of email and how best to use it effectively in business, including the need to use proper grammar and business language. 12 Don’t Be a ‘Dumbass’ Rules for Email by Paul Biedermann in Business 2 Community further elucidates the effective and proper use of email.
Opinion: The Flight from Conversation
New York Times
As we all adopt new communications technologies including IM, SMS messaging, and Twitter, we are unlikely to think about how the use of technology is affecting our personal and business relationships. Opinion: The Flight from Conversation examines those effects. Opening paragraph: “We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.” Here are other thought-provoking quotes:
- “We’ve become accustomed to a new way of being “alone together.” Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and also elsewhere, connected to wherever we want to be.”
- “In the silence of connection, people are comforted by being in touch with a lot of people - carefully kept at bay.”
- “We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship.”
- “Not too long ago, people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the sand and at one another, talking. Now they often walk with their heads down, typing. Even when they are with friends, partners, children, everyone is on their own devices.”
10 Communications Secrets of Great Leaders
Forbes
Even with the availability of new communications technologies, most leaders spend most of their time in some type of interpersonal situation - without interposing technology. 10 Communication Secrets of Great Leaders indeed does offer a list of 10 key communications principles - but here’s the key introductory paragraph: “The number one thing great communicators have in common is they possess a heightened sense of situational and contextual awareness.
The best communicators are great listeners and astute in their observations. Great communicators are skilled at reading a person/group by sensing the moods, dynamics, attitudes, values and concerns of those being communicated with. Not only do they read they environment well, but they possess the uncanny ability to adapt their messaging to said environment without missing a beat. The message is not about the messenger; it has nothing to do with messenger; it is however 100% about meeting the needs and the expectations of those you’re communicating with.” That goes for interpersonal communications, and written communications as well.
Machines or Humans? The False Choice in Content Analysis
The Holmes Report
As a follow up to an earlier article suggesting that machine-intermediated content analysis is best suited for massive amounts of content while more accurate human analysis can be used for lesser quantities, Mark Weiner of Prime Research offers another perspective in Machine or Humans? The False Choice in Content Analysis. He maintains: “Unfortunately, each comes with drawbacks: automated analysis sacrifices accuracy and insight for speed and an open-spigot of content. Hand-coded analysis sacrifices speed and breadth of coverage for precision and insight. The conventional wisdom is to choose one or the other. Like so much conventional wisdom, the basis for choice is a myth… Universal systems exist which are fast when speed is required; accurate when the stakes are high; and insightful when the issues are complex. Plus, the gaps between “speed,” “accuracy” and “insight” are shrinking with the ascent of “technologically enabled” human coding where accurate data are updated and analyzed daily.”
Social Media Jobs Salary Guide
Onward Search
Are you underpaid as a social media specialist? Social Media Jobs Salary Guide lists the salary ranges for common social media job titles in 20 U.S. markets. If you’re overpaid, keep it quiet — but it’s unlikely because the ranges are awfully wide starting at $14K. Does any company really pay someone only $14K per year or $7.27/hr for a professional job?
Weekly Media Monitoring News
Apr 16th
Media Monitoring News this week features articles covering an unusually wide range of topics. In addition to typical topics like writing skills, media relations and social media marketing, this issue includes articles on the value of automated sentiment analysis vs. human analysis in media measurement, approaches to writing effective requests for proposal, the issue of payola in social media, and things you can do personally to be happier. And, for the first time, there’s an article on Pinterest — the best article, we think, on use of the hot social platform for marketing and public relations.
The Perfect Google Analytics Dashboard
Portent
Yeah, sure. It’s unlikely the claim of perfection is true, but The Perfect Google Analytics Dashboard does include solid perspective and instruction on structuring an effective analytics report in Google.
Ten Blogging Lessons from Chris Brogan
Business 2 Community
If you want to make your corporate blog more interesting and readable, take a look at Ten Blogging Lessons from Chris Brogan.
Lesson #1: Brevity is a must. The rest of the lessons apply to most all writing, not just blogs. How to Breath New Life into a Tired Old Blog, by Susan Daffron on CopyBlogger.com, suggests ways to revive a languishing blog. Choices: take it down, sell it, or reposition and revive it. The heart of the article: methods to relaunch a blog, using Computer Companion as a case study.
12 Most Downright Useful Digital Tools for PR
12 Most
They might not turn you into a PR superstar, but the 12 Most Downright Useful Digital Tools for PR, mostly fr.e.e, will likely make PR pros more productive and better informed.
Why Gawker Is Writing Better Headlines Than the Rest of the Web
Engage, the Blog
Writing compelling headlines may be the most difficult and most important writing skill.
The headline writers at Gawker are masterful in attracting attention and compelling clicks. Why Gawker is Writing Better Headlines Than the Rest of the Web examines some of the successful techniques.
How to Write Headlines and Subheads, by Mark Nichol in DailyWritingTips.com, uses a different lens and adds some techniques.
Social Media: Friend or Foe
CMO.com
The treasure trove of consumer opinion in social media about companies and products simply can’t be ignored or left to get stale in CRM systems or data warehouses. Social Media: Friend or Foe, written by a VP at Clarabridge, a sentiment analysis service, examines how companies can sift through a sometimes overwhelming amount of unstructured data (that’s a technical term usually meaning written words) for consumer feedback analysis (not a technical term).
Four Steps to Take When You Lose a Big Client
Marketing Profs
It’s happened to most every agency and it’s always devastating. Four Steps to Take When You Lose a Big Client offers a plan to recover as quickly as possible. The best method, of course, is loss prevention by listening to what the client means, not just what s/he’s saying.
Government Plans Increased Email and Social Network Surveillance
Guardian
OK, it’s the UK. Nonetheless, it’s scary what they’re planning as explained in Government Plans Increased Email and Social Network Surveillance. In a piece entitled Phone Tracking Big Business for Cell Companies in the U.S., National Public Radio revealed that phone companies which say that they won’t sell your information are giving police departments access to call records without requiring warrants. They are charging police departments for the data. That seems to contradict the privacy statements on carriers’ web sites. The upshot: you can no longer assume that, just because you’re a good citizen, police or national security services won’t be monitoring you — or that only fair-minded judges decide who gets monitored.
Pimp Your Press Release
The ProActive Report
Talk about attention-getting headlines! When a business writer resorts to incendiary, non-business words in a headline, there’s often little of value in the content — and the attention-getting word has little or nothing to do with the content. Judge for yourself. Is the attention-grabbing word in Pimp Your Press Release appropriately used or vicarious? Does it make you more likely to read future content from the source? There are some valuable PR lessons here.
The Power of Questions
Cognito Media
First, a story. When a young PR practitioner (Bill Comcowich, now CEO of CyberAlert) at a major medical research institute found himself sitting at a lunch table with four Nobel Laureates in medicine and chemistry, he mentioned the brain-power at the table and somewhat impertinently asked the Laureates what they thought was the single most important factor that results in Nobel prize level research. Intrigued by the question, all chimed in enthusiastically with their insights. Others, including the Dean, joined the discussion. After nearly an hour, the group reached consensus. The most important factor in all Nobel prize winning research is the crucial first step: asking the right question. All research starts with a question. If you don’t ask an important research question, it’s not likely you’ll be doing important research. The Power of Questions makes some of the same points made by the most eminent of medical researchers at a lunch table some 40 years ago.
Auto Sentiment Analysis [Infographic]
Evaluating the Media
There is an on-going and heated debate on how best to evaluate sentiment in written content. Humans or Automated Software: which is best? The Auto Sentiment Analysis Infographic offers a sensible answer. Human analysis is best by far for small quantities of content. Automated software can be a useful alternative for huge volumes of news articles and social media posts. In both cases, concentrate on finding real insights, not just producing data.
The State of the News Media 2012
Pew Research Center
How consumers consume news is of great importance to PR professionals. The State of the News Media 2012 by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism offers in-depth analysis of the ongoing revolution in news delivery. Key finding: mobile devices are adding to people’s news consumption, strengthening the lure of traditional news brands and providing a boost to long-form journalism. Eight in ten who get news on smart phones or tablets, for instance, get news on conventional computers as well. People are taking advantage, in other words, of having easier access to news throughout the day — in their pocket, on their desks and in their laps. Problem: Just a few major media organizations are gaining control over those media distribution channels.
Tech Blog Payola?
The Atlantic
Those of us of a certain age recall the payola scandals in radio — essentially a pay to play scheme. Tech Blog Payola? examines the dangers in paying bloggers to mention products in posts. Question: Should bloggers adhere to the journalist’s code of ethics.
What Online Influencers Want from You
Business 2 Community
One positive mention by an influencer like Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal is worth hundreds or thousands of other mentions. Identifying influencers has become an obsession for many marketers and PR pros who aim to capitalize on the influence of popular online bloggers to achieve their marketing goals. But many approach online influencers the wrong way. What Online Influencers Want from You offers insights on how best to approach and influence the influencers. The key: make sure your product or service (and the promotional content) is relevant to the specific influencer; then make personal contact. While email blasts may get some pick-up from bloggers with limited followers, they usually offend influencers.
How to Write a Killer RFP
iMedia Connection
Companies that provide public relations and marketing services see lots of requests for proposals. Most RFPs are overwhelmed with too much boilerplate and omit detailed descriptions of the services required. How to Write a Killer RFP offers some instruction on how to construct a request for proposal that will produce worthwhile responses from vendors. Recommendation: Tell vendors in the RFP as much as you possibly can about exactly what you want the deliverables to be. Answer all questions from potential bidders and share all answers with all bidders. Conducting a fair and thorough bidding process will produce the best services at the best price.
Social Media to Marketers: Get Over Yourself!
Click Z
Lots of opinions get flung around about social media with precious little research backing them up. Social Media to Marketers: Get Over Yourself! capsulates five pieces of social media research — and recommends how to apply the findings.
Pinterest - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Forbes
Pinterest is the hottest social media platform of the last few months. The service enables users to pin images to a “board” usually focused on a single topic. Each image is attached to a link to the Web page where the image resides. Of all the articles on the 3-year-old social media network, Pinterest - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly best explains the strategic implications for corporate marketing and public relations.
15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy
Huffington Post (Healthy Living)
Almost no one would agree to give up every one of the 15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy - but relinquishing just a couple of them (and none are material things) would likely increase your day-to-day happiness quotient.
Weekly Media Monitoring News
Apr 9th
There was a plethora of worthwhile articles this week on media monitoring, measurement and other PR and marketing topics. Media Monitoring News has selected the crème de la crème including multiple articles on content monitoring, social media measurement, Google Analytics, and search engine optimization. Also included are excellent articles on strategic thinking, leadership, and overcoming bad habits.
What to Do If Your Content Is Copied
Blog Success
A fascinating article on multiple levels, Why Monitoring Your Top Articles Is Important and What to Do If Your Content Is Copied tells the story of a purloined online article about riding boots, how the author discovered the hi-jacked version had usurped the top Google organic listing, and what the original author (who writes under the pseudonym Glee) did to get back her ranking. In addition to teaching methods of protecting original content, the article is an exceptional example of using first-person story telling to teach an otherwise mundane subject.
Companies Incorporate Social Media Monitoring into Bottom Line
eMarketer
A study of companies worldwide sponsored by IBM and Marist College found that only 52.8% of respondents were currently monitoring open online social media communities or networks, according to Companies Incorporate Social Media Monitoring into Bottom Line. Metrics they tracked in social media? 26.8% of respondents mentioned customer satisfaction and 23.7% said overall buzz. Brand experience was also cited by 21% of respondents.
Strategic PR: When Silence is Golden
Crawford PR
In the whirlwind of working hard to get PR placements (and attention), it’s easy to forget that sometimes the best PR strategy is to say, well, nothing. Strategic PR: When Silence is Golden, written by Kate Schackai, examines those times when closing the blather spigot may be the best PR strategy. The Golden Rule of PR: Always — and only — talk when you have something to say.
The 6 Trickiest Terms in [PR] Measurement — and What They Really Mean
The Measurement Standard (K.D. Paine)
They are the common terms of PR measurement, commonly thrown about but often misunderstood. The 6 Trickiest Terms in Measurement — and What They Really Mean offers precise definitions of ROI, Share of Voice, Share of Mind, Earned vs. Owned, Impressions and Measurement itself.
Raising Your Game: Make Your Move from Spreadsheets to Real PR Measurement
Bulldog Reporter
Many PR departments measure their success by using spreadsheets. It a time-consuming (and expensive if you count the cost of staff time) method which usually produces relatively poor analytics. Raising Your Game: Make Your Move from Spreadsheets to Real PR Measurement (written Kristin Jones, CEO of Wallop! OnDemand, a PR measurement service) suggests initial steps to transition to more effective PR analytics.
Measure Social Media ROI with Google Analytics Social
V3
The introduction of new social media tracking data by Google provides a new marketing and PR measurement tool. Measure Social Media ROI with Google Analytics Social details how best to incorporate the Google data to measure the full value of your social media marketing and PR efforts.
The 8 Google Analytics Features Every Site Must Have Implemented
KISSmetrics
Measuring traffic and results from an organization’s website is a vital component of marketing and PR measurement. Google Analytics is probably the best tool to do that measurement. The 8 Google Analytics Features Every Site Must Have Implemented explains how to get the best results with the least effort.
20 Key Points about Social Media Measurement and Metrics
eConsultancy
20 Key Points about Social Media Measurement and Metrics compiles quotes and case studies from speakers at the recent Social Media World Forum in London. Being a compilation, the quotes are disconnected, but contain some important insights. Here’s one quote: “Your three core metrics are: acquisition (cost per acquisition), retention (engagement metrics) and monetization (value of conversation).” The article includes links to other thoughtful blog posts on social media measurement.
Report: Communication and Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices
University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism
The USC Annenberg Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center has published its seventh biennial Communication and Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices (GAP VII) study. It provides practitioners with practical information they can use to better manage the communication functions in their organizations. If you’d prefer not to delve into the 67-page report, you can peruse the 4-page GAP VII Executive Summary. According to the News Release announcing the study, “Measurement and evaluation are on the rise: Corporations report an increase from 4% to 9% in the portions of their total budgets allocated to measurement and evaluation of PR/Comm programs. This pronounced rise speaks to widespread adoption of social media monitoring tools… How you measure is linked to success:… Companies utilizing “Outcomes” measures such as influence on stakeholder attitudes and opinions, the bottom line, etc. are much more likely to say they have a good external reputation and are successful than are companies that rely on traditional “PR output” measures — such as clips, impressions, and advertising equivalency.”
2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report
Social Media Examiner
The 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report reveals where 3,800 marketers focus their social media activities, how much time they invest, and the returns they achieve. There’s a 5-minute video preview and summary of the study results and a download of the full report available f.re.e until April 19. No 1 Social Media Question: How Do I Measure is an interesting “take” on the report’s key findings.
Walgreen’s Case Study: Humanizing Social Business
Social Media Today
Most businesses, it seems, are just putting lipstick on social media and using it like they would an old-fashioned broadcast marketing and PR media. Walgreen’s Case Study: Humanizing Social Business looks at how a “big business” used social media to thrill a customer, make a fan for life, and create a brand evangelist. As a bonus, the article contains a code that will get you a 30% discount on 5×7 photo cards at any Walgreens.
Social Media to Marketers: Get Over Yourselves
Click Z (Heidi Cohen)
If your business is debating whether or not to implement a social media program, you’re probably centering your discussions on the wrong questions, according to Heidi Cohen in Social Media to Marketers: Get Over Yourselves. You should be discussing how you can support the social media community, not your firm. The article includes research that indicates that marketers [and PR professionals] aren’t listening to what consumers are telling them on social media. It also includes tips on how to craft a social media strategy that works, including having a PR crisis plan ready in case of emergency.
7 Common SEO Mistakes You’ve Been Making Since 1995
Geek Wire
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been around since the early days of Yahoo and accelerated with the founding of the Google search engine. Basically, SEO properly organizes and labels website content to attain higher organic placement in search results for specific keywords pertinent to your organization or brand. 7 Common SEO Mistakes You’ve Been Making Since 1995 identifies the key things you must do in publishing each new page of website content to achieve higher search rankings. The article is a solid reference on the basics of SEO.
Determine the True Value of Your B2B Search Marketing Program
Search Engine Land
The best way to define search marketing success is NOT just in terms of pre-defined conversions… but rather, based on the value of multiple, desirable online actions. That’s the key point starting point of Determine the True Value of Your B2B Search Marketing Program. Author Particia Hursh offers concrete suggestions on what website actions (in addition to conversions) are valuable and how to measure them.
America’s Most Reputable Companies
Forbes
What makes a good corporate reputation? And why do some companies stand out while others lag? What leads consumers to recommend, stay loyal to, and give the benefit of the doubt to certain companies? As reported in America’s Most Reputable Companies, Reputation Institute measured the reputations of the 150 top U.S. companies earlier this year. The scores were based on four emotional indicators: trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling. The report found that perceptions of the enterprise (workplace, governance, citizenship, financial performance, and leadership) trumped product perceptions in driving consumer behavior. The article includes a ranking of all 150 corporations.
12 Most Valuable Lessons I Learned from Steve Jobs
12 Most (Guy Kawasaki)
Guy Kawasaki, who worked directly with Steve Jobs, shares his 12 Most Valuable Lessons I Learned from Steve Jobs. The first two will almost certainly convince you to read the entire article. 1) Experts Are Clueless 2) Customers Cannot Tell You What They Need. There are real insights here on the beliefs and methods of a business genius.
6 Leadership Tips from Ford CEO Allen Mulally
TheStreet.com
Solid strategic thinking is a key component of personal and corporate success. In 6 Leadership Tips from Ford CEO Allen Mulally, the executive who turned around Ford Motor Company shares his insights on methods to achieve corporate success.
A Cure for Boring Marketing and White Paper Detritus
What’s Next Blog
Most white papers are veiled and boring sales pitches, largely indistinguishable from each other. A Cure for Boring Marketing and White Paper Detritus is to be humorous or be useful. It’s pretty much like the keys to success in social media.
10 Things Online Data Collectors Won’t Tell You
Smart Money
You’ve heard about online tracking and targeted marketing, and the related privacy concerns, but you don’t really understand the technology or the concerns. 10 Things Online Data Collectors Won’t Tell You will teach you the important concepts — and help you look a bit into the future of online marketing.
Selling You on Facebook
Wall Street Journal
Online privacy is emerging as one of the most contentious issues of 2012 — and one that all organizations need to understand, especially marketing and PR specialists. Selling You on Facebook explains how organizations are aggregating personal information from Facebook profiles and apps to draw a “marketing profile” and determine contact information of individuals. It also touches on the questions and issues that result from automated aggregation of personal information.
How to Change Your Life [by Changing Your Bad Habits]
Smart Money
We all have bad habits. We all wish we could ditch them. There are dozens of articles about changing bad habits, but How to Change Your Life offers a unique perspective on how to overcome bad habits by identifying their cues and rewards. Figuring those out gives you the weapons you need to break the habit. One key suggestion: wait 15 minutes before giving in to any temptation.
