A few of the folks from the Palo Alto PR 2.0 discussion got together for another chat this week. I talked with Mike Manuel, Josh Hallett and David Parmet about a post Mike did a few weeks ago on the social media services gap. We focus on the unique challenges agencies face when working in social media, and what we as workers on the frontlines can do to improve.
Listen to the podcast:
Technorati Tags: brian oberkirch, david parmet, josh hallett, mike+manuel, podcast, pr2.0, public+relations, Weblogs+Work, Weblogs+Worknotes
A few more thoughts on Sphere's launch. I'd like to talk more generally about how we think about social media and how we talk about and build the tools we need. I have a baseball metaphor, which may be appropriate, given that Sphere CEO Tony Conrad is a baseball geek like I am.
I think we are confused when it comes to social media. Even though we talk about micromedia, microbranding, getting small fast, when it comes to success metrics we revert right back to the lingo of Big. How many results returned? How many page views? How many subscribers? Downloads? Links, comments, etc. This is blockbuster thinking smuggled into a microchunked world. Even today's leading blog search service (who has done a *ton* to advance this field & spread microformats, etc.) perpetuates this kind of thinking with their Technorati 100, most favorited, emphasis on the raw numbers of the blogosphere, etc. Dave Sifry's insights about the magic middle are far more powerful than the quarterly stat pr0n around the growth of the blogosphere.
In his review of Sphere today, Steve Rubel runs a test to find the number of results Sphere returns against other engines, as though that is a useful way to figure out which has more value. Gabe Rivera once remarked about the strangeness of that: that you would measure the effectiveness of a filter by looking at what it doesn't filter out.
So, I applaud Sphere in that the focus is put on quality, relevance, connection. (That's the point of this blog, after all.)
Connection is more than a link. Or, rather, links are not the only measure of connection. Sphere starts to offer some tools to grok that dynamic.
So, we can see a bit more clearly what is actually going on. Social media engagement is nuanced, time consuming. Working the edge means doing your homework. You can't merely get a list of the top bloggers and spam them with your press release link. You have to understand the web of connections they exist in: the ecosystem. That's what Sphere starts to give us.
To baseball. To the untrained eye, baseball games are won & lost in 'key at bats.' Does the guy get a hit or not with the tying run on second? While 'true', this sort of analysis leaves out the thousand small interactions that led up to the game situation. Baseball, too, is a collection of small moments loosely joined into a larger outcome. How often did the pitcher go 3 & 1 and have to throw a hittable pitch? Did an outfielder miss a cut-off man and allow an extra base? Did the shortstop bobble a ball that made a sure double play into a fielder's choice and extend the inning? Did a pitcher go 3 & 2 and give the runner on first an extra head start? Did someone fail to bunt or hit behind a runner to move them along? Did the pitcher throw too many pitches and run over his pitch count early, bringing on an early substitution. Did a batter pull a ball away into a ground out instead of hitting it back through the middle or going the other way for a rising line drive?
You get the drift. Anyone can tell you the final score or highlight the 'big' plays. None of which really gets you inside the game, which is a game of small moments. A game of inches, as the old chestnut has it.
Social media are collections of small moments. One reader at a time. One comment at a time. One post a time. It's a microchunked world. Remixed, recombined. We are nowhere near having the analytical or technological tools to fully engage this new ecosystem. But the only way to get there is to recognize the shortcomings. Our reliance on blockbuster metaphors. Mass mediated thinking. I welcome the launch of Sphere, the next Barcamp, Umair's forthcoming book, and all your comments as ways for us to get there.
Technorati Tags: david sifry, gabe rivera, sphere, steve rubel, technorati, toni+schneider, tony+conrad
Here’s an article I did for Floral Management Magazine. It’s meant as a list of real world blogging tips for marketers who want to really put the new tools in play and change the way they talk to customers. As Mike says: it’s time to get real about how hard it is to really have a bunch of ‘edge’ communications. Love to hear what you think.
Living on the Edge: Blogging in the Real World
Ok, we get it: blogs can be really good for business. Over the past 18 months, a lot of words have been laid down to get people to think about blogs as more than online journals, places for cat photos and outlets for political rants. Big companies like Sun, Microsoft, Boeing, GM and a number of others have embraced blogging as a critical way to have conversations with those who matter to their business. A new blog comes online every second, according to blog search service Technorati. Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have just published the definitive book on business blogging – Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.
Blogs are here to stay. So, how do we actually do this stuff?
As my friend Mike Manuel noted at the New Communications Forum this past week, it’s time to move the discussion out of theories about blogging and social media and into the raucous to & fro that is actual conversation. Once you get the big idea (that as marketers our job is to enhance conversations, not try to control them), you need a new set of approaches for getting the job done. The bad news: there are no hard & fast rules. As customers produce their own messages (through blogs, videos, podcasts, photos) at the edges, our marketing has to be flexible, flowing, transparent. Honest. Here’s a handful of real world thoughts to get you started on your own adventure with blogs and other social media:
Get Small Fast.
Social media is an embarrassment of niches. Blogs make small players look bigger & help big players get small. If mass media wastes your message on those not interested, social media helps you offer sharp, targeted stuff that is high value to the right readers. So, you’re not just the floral expert. Maybe you’re the wedding flowers guru. Or you’re the one who’s going to show us the value in everyday flowers. Or you’re going to launch a flower-a-day blog to help us branch out a bit. Drill down. Slice your area in half. And again. Go niche and you’re on your way to better blogging.
Just Do It.
How do you learn to blog? By blogging. Badly at first, but improving with each push of the publish button. See, you’ll quickly learn what gets a response. People will comment, link to you, totally ignore posts that don’t matter to them. Don’t fret endlessly over what platform to use (choose one of the top ones and get cranking). Don’t overdo the fuss over your design (do something clean and sharp that lets people get to the info they want). Don’t overthink it. Start writing a little bit, and see what the world has to say.
Link, link, link.
The most important thing to do in a blog post is provide good links. The second most important thing is to provide really good links. And so on.
Write a Little. Often.
Readership and improved search engine rankings happen through this magical formula: lots of frequent, short posts with links. Have a big idea? Chop it up into a series of posts. Make your blog look alive with routine posts.
Listen. Learn. Rinse. Repeat.
It’s a conversation, right? How can you learn anything if you’re always running your mouth? Pay attention to comments. Respond to them. Use Technorati and other blog search services to track what people are saying about your company, your service, your area of expertise. Respond on their blogs. Great blogging is really about reading, understanding and synthesizing. The writing is mostly flourish.
Ping, Don’t Pitch.
My geek pals & I have a phrase we use when we tap each other for something: ping. When reaching out to other bloggers, don’t approach it as you would an old-school media relations pitch. Offer something of interest to someone you know says Josh Hallett. A great formulation. Engage other bloggers. Comment on their stuff. By all means, let them know what you’re up to. (You’re proud of your content, right?) But, don’t do it in a mercenary way. Focus on sharing valuable, relevant links & material.
Spread the Words.
All blog software creates a feed that is automagically updated each time you post. (Sometimes you’ll see an inscrutable orange box that says XML or RSS. That’s what we mean.) Use these feeds to help you spread the word. You can reflow (or syndicate) your blog content to other parts of your Web site. Make sure to prominently feature your blog feed on your page, on your home page, etc. Let readers get your blog posts via email if that’s what they want. Include your blog address in your email footer.
Search Me.
As Elisa Camahort so rightly pointed out the other day, the phrase ‘blogs are great for Google juice’ gets repeated as though it were a form of magic. Can blogging help you show up better on Google and other search engines? Absolutely. It’s a nice, organic byproduct of having real conversations with people. It doesn’t happen by accident, though. Think about what you want to be known for. (Again, go niche.) Then write about those things. Use those terms. And give it time. Blogging is a long-term play with no good shortcuts. As Jeremy Pepper cautions, though, "don’t just go into blogging for ‘Google Juice’ but because you have passion." Without passion for the topic, the blog won’t continually pull an audience.
Think Beyond the Blog.
When I say ‘blogging’, I really mean all the new tools we can use to self-publish our ideas. Blogs, sure, but there is also flickr and other photosharing services;delicious, digg and other bookmarking communities; podcasting at iTunes, Odeo, AudioBlog and other listing sites; YouTube, Google Video and other video sharing sites; forums, mailing lists and so much more. When you start looking around, the Edge suddenly feels endless. And very exciting.
Updated:
Mike Sansone adds a great point (Rebecca Blood’s incremental value process at work):
Share Your Knowledge. Mike highlights a key part of the blogging way — sharing know how, linking out, providing value as a ticket into the conversation. This is fundamental, and I’m glad Mike added his voice to this piece.
Technorati Tags: better+blogging, brian oberkirch, elisa+camahort, flickr, mike+manuel
I totally dug hanging out at Joe T. Garcia’s yesterday at the Fort Worth Ad Club Luncheon. Here is a clickstream for the talk I gave — a little social media jumpstart link kit:
Blogging Buzz/Confusion
BusinessWeek story — "Blogs Will Change Your Business"
Forbes paranoia — "Attack of the Blogs"
Blogging Delivered
Blogging Not Exactly Delivered
The Situation: Attention Scarcity
Long Tail blog on Mainstream Media Meltdown
John Moore on the influence of word of mouth
Brand Hijack manifesto
Sifry’s latest state of the blogosphere
Wrong! NY Times on tv-style ads on mobile devices. (Note: don’t try this at home)
Extinction Management
Tools
SixApart (Typepad, MovableType)
Wordpress (hosted option as well)
About RSS
Bloglines
NetNewsWire
(Example of syndicated headlines at Architel site)
Technorati
IceRocket
Delicious
Digg
tech.memeorandum
flickr
Odeo
iTunes podcast support
Robert Scoble
Jonathan Schwartz
English Cut
Stormhoek blog sampling
The Bad
Dell Hell
Dude, You’re Getting Dell’d
The Ugly
Essential Reading
Cluetrain Manifesto
Naked Conversations (check out the blog, too)
Small Pieces, Loosely Joined
Useful Marketing Stuff
MicroPersuasion
GapingVoid
BrandAutopsy
What’s Your Brand Mantra?
Church of the Customer
Media Orchard
New PR Wiki
Marketing Begins at Home
HorsePigCow
Like It Matters
PDF of my slides. (9.67 MB)
Technorati Tags: ad club fort worth, social media, Weblogs Work
The Architel corporate web/blog site has been launched. The open source WordPress architecture allows the company to launch the site and make continious changes to it over time. So you can never say a site is ‘done.’ Kudos go to Dan Cederholm from SimpleBits for the xhtml/css design (as well as the new Architel logo). Weblogs Work integrated the xhtml/css into WordPress (actually three WordPress installs).
Architel is a boutique IT support company located in Dallas, Texas that supports small businesses (20-100) employees. Their unique IT service delivery model (one flat-monthly-fee for all-you-can-eat support) aligns the interests of the small business owner and Architel. The company was a pioneer in this space and is now a pioneer in the ‘blog as corporate website’ meme. Here are screenshots or just visit the site yourself here @ architel.com.
The site was entered in the website design contest at SXSW conference and we are crossing our fingers that the judges will enjoy the tight integration between the blog CMS and Dan’s xhtml and css. What do you think about our work?
Want to get people to remember your name? Well, start out with a cool name, say like Pajamas Media. Now change it to something boring like Open Source Media. Be sure to pick something that is either a direct or indirect infringement on someone elses trademark. Wait for the warning letter, make a little bit of a fuss, blog about it, get a few other people to blog about it (don’t worry they will have fun at your expense). Now hire a branding company and get them to suggest that you change it back to the original ‘cool’ name. At the end of the day everyone will know your new name… [via]
Just a couple of years ago everyone was looking for the next ‘new’ thing in design. I can recall sitting with the Architel guys. They wanted a new website with all of the coolness of Flash and the complexity of Amazon. This year they decided to go ‘retro’ and focus on simplicity. Check out their new site and blog interface at architel.com. Fast Company latest article titled, The Beauty of Simplicity details this new trend. Jason over at 37signals details the article , he suggests,
"staying simple on purpose"
He also expands on the idea by indicating,
The big guys are discovering what the small guys have always known. The small companies leading the way and have been for years. The big guys are following the small guys. The Less movement is bottom up, not top down. There’s a big story here. I wonder which journalist will grab it.
Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade Marketing, predicts that,
In 2006, expect blogs to be standard items in the marketer’s playbook. Corporate blogs will continue to proliferate. Some will earn kudos for their honesty and informative nature, while others will be recognized as blatant, homogenized propaganda and ignored. Content blogs (such as www.AfterHoursCity.com) will deliver “street cred” for marketers smart enough to create their own slice of aggregated info and brave enough to let the consumer-generated content run unfiltered.
Brian coined the phrase and now marketers like Drew are using it. "Blog Monitoring" services are going to be huge according to Drew,
Blog “Monitor” will be the newest, hot job in corporate communications, as marketers try to stay up on both the positive and negative buzz in the marketplace (Dell found out the hard way the importance of this role, as Jeff Jarvis’s “Buzz Machine” shamed them into replacing his malfunctioning computer). Consumer blogs will continue to multiply as mobile devices like Sony’s AIBO support blogging on the fly. Blog networks like WebLogsInc will make it easier for marketers to advertise on these sites, especially the ones that attract consistent audiences with quality writing.
Finally, Drew suggests that partnership between big players and smaller, niche players (like WeblogsWork) will become the norm, not the exception,
In the last few months alone, smaller agencies have delivered slap shots to the biggies, stealing away such prestigious accounts as Heineken, Volkswagen, Sprite and British Airways. Agencies like Mother, Strawberry Frog, Renegade Marketing and Crispin Porter and Bogusky (the Wayne Gretsky of the idea pack) are among a handful of firms that are building reputations for delivering channel neutral multi-disciplined campaigns, and driving what will be an enormous shift in how clients approach their agencies in 2006. Big clients are already starting to see the benefits again of having multiple partners, and asking each for “media neutral” ideas; it might not be long before clients designate one firm as the “idea agency”, tasked with coming up with the media & channel neutral idea, while other firms are tasked with execution according to their specialty.
Run a newspaper? Who is enemy number one? Craig Newmark. Why? Craigslist. Free classified ads have taking a painful bite out of newspaper’s revenues. Now Craig has announced that he is going to launch a citizen journalism project that will mirror the "wisdom of the masses" strategy offered by Craigslist. Should newspapers worry? Nah, it will never work… Craigslist is just a fad… Everyone wants to pay for ads… [via]
Another interesting installment of a good discussion over at Shel Israel’s Naked Conversations blog. (Note: we’re finishing up a read of Naked Conversations — the crackerjack business blogging book by Israel and Robert Scoble. Much to talk about there.) Shel has been having a conversation since the BlogOn conference about whether or not blogging integrates with other marketing tactics. Shel says ‘no’ here, and here, and here.
If blogging integrates, it does so with a company’s constituencies, not with the remainder of marketing tools. Marketing should use blogs because blogs communicate well in two directions. They don’t work well when the intent is to push out messages in one direction. They don’t work well for companies that still don’t want to listen to customers.
This does not mean that company bloggers should not collaborate and/or cooperate with marketing and PR.
Others, like Evelyn Rodriguez, Steve Rubel, Dave Taylor and Todd Watson think absolutely that marketing outreach can include blogging. The issue here is the way in which Shel is thinking of (capital I) Integrated Marketing. If, as he suggests, that integration means generating a tight set of messages and pushing that same ‘campaign’ out through various channels (a la the Lincoln Fry blog), then, sure, that’s a dubious use of a blog. Not really an attempt to generate dialogue, but simply a cheap posting tool in the hopes of creating the next ‘viral’ hoo ha.
If, instead, a blog or set of blogs is loosely joined (paging David Weinberger, you’re needed, David Weinberger) to other marketing programs, there is a huge chance for the blog to inform and shape those efforts in a more organic, powerful way. Open sourcing the marketing. Rather than getting corpspeak in my blog, what if we get blog dialogue into our marketing? I don’t think you have to go whole hog (as Tara Hunt has done) and say ‘the marketing program is to blog‘. (But if the buyout rumors are correct it seems to have worked for Riya.)
Additional thoughts on Alex’s post yesterday about billboard advertising for blogs. Of course, putting up a billboard is going to drive some traffic to your blog. Certainly boost awareness. Just like the earlier post about TV advertising having an impact — it ‘works’, but not nearly as well as it used to, and not even close to the kind of cost and attention returns gained by more targeted online means. It’s not a question of if DallasBlogs should run a board to announce their new alternative media project to the general audience it’s designed for. (Scott’s already said that that is how he is getting the majority of his new visitors.) Also, this is an outlier example because the very nature of blogging & DIY media projects is in the bootstrapping, grassroots outreach approach. Media buys are simply contra to this type of project, not that there can’t be some integration, though that’s a whole other post.
Rather, I’m trying to hone in the most effective means of introducing new blogging projects and organically attracting the right types of readers. When the Slidell Hurricane Damage blog was in full operation during the month after the storm, it generated pretty good data about how people discover content and where readers come from. While all sorts of media outlets covered the blog (I think there were three days of CNN blog segments that mentioned the URL and talked about what we were doing), I never saw traffic and activity increase as a result. Much more powerful, actually, was when someone would post a link in a hurricane forum, reblog it on their own site, or choose to syndicate our information as part of a running round up of storm reports. I just think offline requires too much of an action step for them to remember your URL and visit when they are finally back at the machine. You’re after the one-click pitch, I think.
So, if I had to make a working list of the best blog promotion modes right now, I’d list:
The system tends to feed itself. Other bloggers link to you, raising your profile, generating more search results for you, pulling you into more conversation, suggesting new posts, which create more links, etc. It’s a constant process, one which repays close attention, sharing, and savvy. It’s a great way to help a small brand generate a more powerful reach than it ever could via a clumsy, inefficient outlet like an outdoor board.
Last year advertisers were scared to advertise on blogs according to BL Ochman because, "Fear, ignorance and the knowledge that a lot of pioneers got shot." Well that is all over.
Scores of advertisers like Audi and Budget Car Rental are using blog advertising with great success. Read BL’s post here.
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