5 Key Elements of Social Media Success

Each month, people spend the equivalent of 1.3 million years on Facebook. That’s a lot.

But it’s no wonder: we spend a lot of time on Facebook and other social media because we can do a lot – stay in touch with family and friends, stay up-to-date on news and, for many businesses, stay in front of customers and prospects.

For B2B marketers, however, there are still many questions about what to do with social media and how to do it. Fortunately, answering many of these questions – on best practices, strategies, etc. – was the mission of the recent PR + Social Media Summit (#PRSMS) I attended at Marquette University.

The all-day summit featured 15 sessions jam-packed with valuable information, but here are five of the most interesting takeaways:

1. Content remains key. You need to share valuable content with an honest, transparent voice in order to build an active community that fuels conversation and growth. Make it fun, honest, relevant and valuable. Look for stories that are happening within your organization – stories that your audience can’t find anywhere else – and tell them in a unique way.

2. Social = listening. As much as you need good content, you should still listen more than you talk, answer more than you promote, and above all else, provide value. Listen to answer this question: What does my audience need, and how can I help?

3. Not everything happens online. Develop offline elements to your social programs. Get your teams out in the field to interact with your audiences.

4. Think long term. The greatest value of social media is the ongoing relationship, not the initial interaction.

5. Represent the whole organization. To be effective, social media has to be integrated across all functions to effectively communicate your key messages and address customers’ questions or concerns instantly.

What ingredients do you think are necessary for a recipe of social media success? Ultimately, social media engagement is about proving your value, so audiences will share positive interactions with their networks, encouraging others to turn to you for similar business solutions.

For further reading, you can review some of the summit speakers’ presentations at http://www.slideshare.net/prsmsummit.

Selecting the Right Spokesperson for Your Organization

[HINT: It doesn’t have to be someone from the C-Suite]

Consider this: how long does it take you to form an opinion of someone?

(Three…two…one…)

OK – pencils down. What’s the answer? Just one-tenth of a second, according to Noeleen McGrath, award-winning journalist and founder of McGrath Communications.

That’s why it’s important to select the right spokesperson for your organization. With that in mind, the Southeastern Wisconsin PRSA chapter invited McGrath to present at its most recent luncheon on how to choose the right “face” or “voice” for a company.

So what should you look for in potential spokespeople to create that desired first impression? The decision should be based on three elements: message, audience and experience. What message do you want to communicate, to whom, and what experience is necessary to support that message?

While typical spokespeople tend to be CEOs or other C-level executives, they’re not always the right fit. After answering the questions above, the right spokesperson should meet the following criteria:

Appealing:

While it may sound shallow, the truth is that looks matter. By nature, people want to listen to attractive individuals. That said, it’s important to wear the right outfit on camera. After grabbing someone’s attention, you don’t want viewers to lose your message due to distractions (e.g., a lot of accessories are a no-no). McGrath suggested wearing bold, solid colors, which film well on screen.

Confident, trustworthy & knowledgeable:

You want someone who can stay cool, calm, collected and comfortable in front of the camera, which comes through with confidence and knowledge. As a spokesperson, it’s important to never get emotional or aggressive. Once you expose your emotions, you leave yourself vulnerable to providing poor responses to other questions.

Likeable:

Again, it’s important to remember that not everyone is fit for the job. Therefore, cast a wider net within your organization and find “average joes” who can relate to your specific audience. Establish trust by finding someone who can connect with them on a more personal level – do they have kids, live in the same community, or participate in similar activities?

It’s these three key traits that will gain – and maintain – your audience’s attention, helping to make the right first impression. Aside from these points, what else would you suggest when considering spokespeople?

Insights from Our Partner in Japan

It’s a small world after all – but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple one.

For many companies, increasing globalization has brought with it increasing complexities of language and culture. Having people on the ground who are part of the culture in foreign markets is essential.

That’s why we’re pleased to bring you today’s post from TrainTracks Inc., our strategic marketing communications partner in Japan. As a fellow member of IPREX, a global network of independent public relations agencies, TrainTracks helps us understand and connect with audiences in a key Asian market.

Here are some recent insights from Ron Huber, a TrainTracks director.

Japan’s Media Landscape

It's been more than six months since the Great East Japan Earthquake. For the many victims of the disaster and the regions directly affected, the effects will continue to be felt for years. For the rest of the country, many struggles still remain, but for many businesses in Japan, the economic outlook appears more positive than initially expected. The general social atmosphere here has largely returned to its peculiar version of normalcy, and for international and global businesses exporting goods and services to Japan the high yen has created an ideal opportunity to grow their market share.

Due in part perhaps to this high yen, but more so because of our growing number of global PR partners, we at TrainTracks have seen a measurable increase in multinational client work. For new clients one of the most important tasks for us is always highlighting the unique characteristics of Japanese media. Every domestic market around the world will of course have key differences when dealing with the media, but Japan is the second-largest advertising and communications market in the world. Therefore it is especially important to recognize and adapt to these idiosyncrasies when planning your communications strategy for Japan.

There are two main aspects to the media landscape in Japan, the first being the way that journalists operate and the second being the ways each specific medium (newspapers, television, magazines, etc.) influence society. For part one of this two-part series let us have a look at the way journalists operate.

Just as with any country, journalists in Japan have their own particular way of doing business. The first aspect of this that our global clients are often exposed to when trying to attract media coverage is that there is tremendous pressure on the journalists to focus on domestic companies. To get past this as a foreign business, you need to localize the news and make the domestic relevance obvious to the target audience. This may involve something as simple as explaining how Japanese investors can utilize the information, but more often you need to explicitly explain how the news will impact Japanese businesses or the economy, even if it seems obvious.

Japanese journalists prefer in-person interviews, whether with the corporate spokesperson or with the agency representative. This means additional time, effort and costs that could be mitigated by phone interviews in markets where that is acceptable or the norm. On top of that most journalists will only do interviews in Japanese – even if they do know some English. In addition the media still prefers Japanese spokespeople even if a professional interpreter is used, so having a local spokesperson is crucial. Top tier executives like CEOs and CTOs from overseas are still welcomed and relatively easy to set up media interviews with, but unless they are willing to spend one week in Japan every month you are going to be missing out on many PR opportunities.

Finally, reporters here do not write articles solely based on press releases as often as they seem to do in other markets, and this is especially true when it comes to the most influential media. While this may also seem obvious to some, reporters like to find their own perspectives and almost always look for objective information based on their own research. This also means that if a press release relies on statistics or other figures, reporters here will often require them to be backed up by an independent third party before including them in an article. Another result of this tendency is that bylined articles (articles prepared by corporations but published as news) are quite uncommon in Japan.

Next month we will look at the media landscape from a publication and market perspective.

Don’t Just Earn Media. Earn Attention.

Back in the day, your target audiences’ main sources of information were dominated by traditional and trade media. It made sense to focus on gaining coverage, or “earned media,” in those outlets.

But in the increasingly interconnected world of social media, the middle man is disappearing. Your customers and prospects go to Twitter and Facebook for news, reviews, suggestions and promotions.

The good news is that you can connect directly with them in these realms. But that doesn’t mean they’ll pay attention – too many choices, too little time. That’s why building brands is no longer just about earned media, but about “earned attention.”

In “Why ‘Earned Attention’ is a Social Media Objective,” (subscription needed) author Deborah Budd highlights the need to tap into target audiences’ emotions, grabbing their attention and generating conversations. The key is to consider what you can contribute to your audiences – customers, partners, employees, industry members – via social media:

• Share content and commentary about industry trends and best practices.
• Highlight what your business offers in the context of these conversations.
• Provide thoughtful updates, such as customer successes, that include a call to action.
• Show your lighter side, which helps to strengthen connections and build loyalty.

In the process, you’ll build trust, demonstrate thought leadership, and position yourself as a valuable partner in an increasingly crowded marketplace. And the attention you earn will flourish, as your audiences become your advocates, disseminating your messages throughout their networks.

What do you think are challenges faced by B2B marketers seeking earned attention, and what advice would you have to achieve this important new objective?

3 Reasons Why Your Website Needs a Newsroom

Years ago, maybe your company could have managed without an online newsroom – a home base for releases, media coverage, byline articles, event information, team biographies, fact sheets, media contacts, images, logos, etc.

But in the information age, it pays to make as much information as possible available and easy to find.

Here are the top 3 reasons an online newsroom is a smart investment and a crucial component of a successful marketing communications strategy.

Reason #1: Real-time reporting and shrinking staff.

At a time when overburdened media members are facing tighter deadlines than ever, if you don’t make information easily and quickly accessible, guess where reporters, editors or even potential customers are going to go for the information they seek?

A well-developed and populated newsroom turns browsing media into interested publishers who are more likely to tell your story than that of your competitors.

Reason #2: Digital distribution and re-purposing of content.

Remember that release that you wrote, that earned you an interview, which you videotaped and then edited, that you put on your YouTube channel and then announced on multiple social networks?

Well, where is all of that content now? What return is it earning you if no one can find it? All of that owned content should live right there on your newsroom.

• Integrated into social media feeds
• Linked to your blog
• Archived in your releases

Reason #3: Search engines love them.

Search engine spiders are out there crawling for fresh, valuable content. And that’s just what an online newsroom gives them. Quality content built around industry keywords is your ticket to a major traffic spike.

A newsroom also can increase your online real estate – meaning you have more unique pages for search engines to index, increasing the likelihood you’ll be found in search queries.

In a future post, we’ll look at the key components of a successful online newsroom. In the meantime, here’s a pretty good example to shoot for: InsideSH News..

The Dos and Don’ts of Successful Blogger Relations

Like it or not, bloggers are a force to be reckoned with in your PR efforts. But these aren’t your father’s journalists; they must be approached in a different way.

With that in mind, the PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin chapter focused its August luncheon on “Blogger Relations for Dummies (and PR Pros).” Blogger panelists Jon Mueller (@jonmueller) of 800CEORead.com, Nick Chipman (@DudeFoods) of dudefoods.com, and Heather Blessington (@mamaVISION) of mamavision.com shared insights from their interactions with PR pros.

To recap, we’ve outlined a few of the key takeaways:

Do:
• Research, research, research – Rather than crafting the “perfect” pitch, spend more time researching the blogger(s) you’re targeting. What’s the focus of their blog and who is their audience? Read a few of the posts to get a sense of their writing style, and more importantly, learn about their passion(s).
• Make a real connection – Bloggers have a platform and a passion for what they do, so tap into their interests. Point to a specific post you’ve read. Why did it grab your attention?
• Be selective – Narrow down your list for blogger outreach. Select key bloggers who are influential to your target audience.

Don’t:
• Be generic – Personalize your communication. “Dear Blogger …” doesn’t encourage anyone to learn more about your client or its product/service. Simply put, don’t take a cut-and-paste approach. Would you want to help someone who didn’t take the time to learn your name?
• Beat around the bush – Identify what you’re looking for up front. Plant a seed. Collaborate with bloggers to share your story.
• Use industry jargon – Talk to them like a regular person. For most, blogging isn’t their full-time job; they’re also business savvy and know the usual promotion lingo, so don’t invite them to be a “brand ambassador.” It won’t work.

Want to learn more? A video post is now available on the PRSA SE WI blog at: http://prsawis.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/aug-25-2011-pitching-bloggers-luncheon-recap.

Is blogger outreach part of your media relations program? What advice would you give to fellow professionals?

Timing Has Never Been Better for an Ethics Refresher

Hey, we’re all ethical people here.

But these are confounding times—and not just politically and economically speaking. Marketing communications professionals of all stripes are confronting an array of rapid technological and cultural changes.

Even the most upstanding among us can get caught up in confusion and lose sight of what’s right.

So sometimes it helps to be able to refer back to the basics. That’s why we here at Scheibel Halaska have signed on to the Principles and Practices for Advertising Ethics recently set forth by the Institute for Advertising Ethics, a group administered by the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

The principles comprise eight rules to live by, centered on a few simple ideas:

• Honesty
• Transparency
• Fairness

Good reminders to keep us all grounded in these fascinating, challenging days. Go ahead: Read the full IAE principles document.