Get More Attention on Twitter

This infographic from Fusework Studios offers guidelines on how to get more engagement on Twitter with just a few simple tweaks.

A Twitter infographic by Fusework Studios

The Key Message Is Dead: Hail Content Marketing

There is fat chance anyone is listening to your carefully crafted,

committee approved, centrally delivered key messages.  

A friend recently asked me "isn't content marketing what we've always done?"

In a way she's right.  Communicators have long practiced elements of content marketing -  messaging, knowing audiences, distributing information etc.   The difference now is social media,the mega paradigm-buster.

Social media has accelerated information delivery to breakneck speed. Everyone potentially has a publishing platform for their opinions, and all of us can precisely choose what information we let into our lives and what we block.

No one is dependent on what you say.  We are outrageously spoiled for choice when it comes to information and we can choose where we get it, when and how.

Let's say your company, not for profit or agency tells me something.  Instantly I can go online to check its accuracy or access a staggering volume of contending data, commentary or analysis.  Many hierarchical organisations particularly government bodies still find it difficult to accept that the logo on your letterhead adds little authority to their arguments. 

You can longer claim sole expertise based on who you are.  Google has made all of us experts ... or at least let us think we are.

There is a fundamental difference between old style PR and content marketing.  And it is this: unless we are prepared to provide audiences with information that is helpful, entertaining or both, we stand little chance of connecting with, let alone persuading them. 

The era of the one-way key message blasted from the hierarchical bunker is dead.  Perhaps it served us well in the past.  But today people want dialogue not monologue.  There is fat chance anyone is listening to your carefully crafted, committee approved, centrally delivered key messages.  

Listening, continuously offering valuable insights helping those we need to reach, shared conversation and letting others own your topic hold today's keys to successfully reaching customers, clients and citizens. 

Creating Compelling Content For Footall Fans

 When Hawthorn player Cyril Rioli spectacularly marked a football last year he did so in the heat of the moment, for the team, for the game.

But Rioli's effort also provided a rich source of content for the 100 plus communications staff  employed by the Australian Football League (AFL).  

The flying mark, a unique feature of Australia's own football code, is a highly visual demonstration of the game's  athleticism.  

The communications staff quickly seized the Rioli moment as a content marketing opportunity to spread the imagery across its own multiple platforms and make sure it was talked about in bars, clubs and taxis throughout the football world.. 

The League's own online commentary team endlessly talked about it, the imagery was available to fans on their mobile phones and it was plastered across the official website which attracts 3.2 million unique visits every month.

The AFL is one of Australia's pioneers in content marketing.  Throughout the coming 2013 season the League and its clubs plan to offer fans a rich sporting smorgasbord of:

• Scores and game highlights
• Breaking news gathered by its in-house journalists 
• Videos, images, ladders, tables, ratings and other graphics
• Game analysis from its commentary teams
• Online and on demand TV shows
• Audio captured from the training park and after the final siren 
• Player profiles and bios
• Historical information and quirky insights
• Fan comment
• ...plus endless lists categorizing players, game highlights and other data in endless ways

This season the football playbooks will be matched by the content marketing playbooks of the AFL's marketers  singularly  focused on using compelling content to drive fan loyalty.

Thanks to a presentation by AFL Head of Content Matt Pinkney

at the recent Content Marketing World conference in Sydney. 

How To Succeed In Change Management

Change Management from Bob Crawshaw

Changing behaviour in organisations is one of the toughest challenges communicators face. IABC Canberra presenter Tina Chawner recently offered insights on the subject based on her UK experiences.

Media Success for Sporting Clubs

  My recent presentation to 23 sporting clubs in Australia's national capital, Canberra. The seminar was sponsored by the ACT Government's sports and recreation program.

6 Smarter Ways to Market in a Flat Economy

Baer spoke on content marketing in Sydney

At the recent Content Marketing World Conference US author Jay Baer unpacked his concept of Youtility: marketing so helpful customers would be willing to pay for it.   

And Youtility is what can make you stand out in a flat economy.  Particularly when people have limited money, short attention spans, an overabundance of information and are spoiled for choice. 

It used to be salespeople provided information then closed the sale with customers relying on them for product knowledge.  Now their job is to close the sale with savvy customers armed with online research and willing to move on if they feel something is not right.   

The role of the marketer is also transitioning - from hyping products to helping customers - offering accessible and timely information that will help their customers make decisions and become brand loyalists.

Jay outlined six steps to build a content marketing strategy to set you apart in a tight economy:

• Discover customer needs through market research, keyword search, social chatter etc.
• Map those needs to a specific service or product your organisation has.
• Develop user-friendly information around that product through case studies, tools, tips, apps, videos and other devices.
• Distribute and then market that content through the channels where your customers live.
• Skill your staff to continually come up with information to help customers.

Most importantly recognise that helping customers is a process not a program and marketing today is a marathon not a sprint.  

Other posts:

The age of content is new again 

Four ways to drive content marketing



 

The Age of Content Is Here (Again)

 Content marketing is not new.  

That's the conclusion from day one of Sydney's Content Marketing World Conference where communicators explored the topic from Australian and US perspectives.  

Yes although the term may be recent, content marketing has been around since we were cave dwellers. The fact is we have always shared information with others - passing along knowledge, helping out and warning of danger.

But today organizations face an urgency to provide content to customers, citizens or clients at a time when they are less inclined than ever to pay attention.  Unless you provide something that entertains or informs people about issues they need to know or care about, your message blurs into the background noise of life. 

That's because:

• All of us suffer information overload.  Too many people want our attention and often for their reasons not ours.
• Traditional media models are broke.  They are being pushed aside by new communication platforms which arrive with ever faster speed and can be so very distracting.
• People now openly mistrust brands, governments and other sources of traditional information unless they have a positive relationship with them.

So if you want attention, you - or someone you trust - must provide information that genuinely helps your audience, when they need your information not when you choose to deliver it. 

Content marketing may not be new but it can be challenging particularity for old school organizations wedded to blasting messages to their communities. 

See earlier post. 

Leave The Boss Behind When It Comes To PR

The CEO or Minister should be the last person speaking publicly for your organisation. 

That's if you believe the results of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013.  

Australian results show only 41% of people find the CEO (or equivalent) credible as a spokesperson. And government officials rank only marginally higher.

Yet most PRs reflexively put forward their top leaders when it comes to communications.  That may be counter productive because less than half the people trust them, and even that level of trust is down 8% on 2012 results.

So if the CEO lacks the credibility who could be your communications champions?

Topping the list are academics or experts. 74% of people would believe them. Followed by:

• A technical expert from your organisation (71%)
• A person like yourself (62% and up 31 points from 2012)

• A representative from a non government organisation (62%) 

• A financial or industry analyst (57%)

• A regular employee (51%)

• A government official or regulator (47%)

... and sitting at the very bottom of the trust totem is the CEO (41%).  

It goes against conventional wisdom for anyone but the CEO to speak on behalf of your organisation. But if your communications struggle to cut through, it may be time to consider someone who enjoys more public respect.  

   

Media Beats Out Social in Trust Ratings

We previously reported the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013 which surveys the institutions and individuals people trust.  

Edelman asked 1200 Australians about their confidence levels in media, government, not for profits and business. 

Well ... the latest results for traditional media are surprising and seem to go against prevailing wisdom. For example:

• 83% of the general public trust TV or trust it a great deal
• 78% trust newspapers and radio, with both enjoying exactly the same trust levels
• 75% trust magazines
• 64% trust corporate communications

But levels of trust for social media are way, way below traditional media: 

• 41% of the general public trust Youtube and content sharing or trust it a great deal
• 40%  trust blogs
• 38% trust microblogs like Twitter

 And while crazies of all sorts have invaded the web confidence levels in it as a source of information remain high:

• 78% of the general public trust search engines or trust them a great deal
• 71% trust news/RSS on the web

 So Aussie communicators ....don't trash your media releases just yet.

  
 

Sharing Stories and Knowledge On The Web

This video offers insights into how we share knowledge and information on the web.

Watch Harvard scholar David Weinberger explain.

Survey Shows Government Communicators Likely To Struggle

Each year the powerhouse American PR company,Edelman, surveys what institutions and individuals people trust.  

As part of its 2012 global efforts Edelman asked 1200 Australians about their confidence levels in media, government, not for profits and business. 

Some of the findings suggest people working in government communications are likely to struggle in the coming 12 months because:

• 60% of Australians do not trust government to tell the truth.
• Only 13% of the public believe government communicates honestly and frequently.
• In the last three years trust in government has fluctuated but trust in media, not for profits and business has steadily increased.
• At the same time traditional media - which some pundits say is dying - has enjoyed an increase in trust up from 23% in 2011 to 32% in 2012.

The survey also reports 56% of Australians need to be exposed to information 3 to 5 times to believe it is true. Yet many public sector campaigns are short lived or even still born because Ministers and staffs are continually shifting the PR focus to meet the latest crisis. 
 

AUSTRALIA: 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer Data by Edelman

Your Boss Needs To Be PR Savvy

Ever wished your boss knew more about PR?

A CEO who "gets" the value of communications is priceless. But to date there has been little opportunity for them to learn the how to of PR.  

Well thank goodness someone is finally doing something about it.

This year the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is partnering with leading US universities to introduce public relations and reputation management into MBA courses. 

Great initiative.  Are there any Australian university doing something similar for senior managers?

Get Good PR By Thinking Like An App

17.4 million smart devices were activated on Christmas Day
along with 328 million app downloads (Flurry).

Australians downloaded 32 million apps for their smartphones and tablet computers between Christmas Day and New Years Eve 2012. (Flurry Blog)

During the same period  1.76 billion applications were downloaded worldwide: a staggering amount in just seven days.

Apps have become the new power tool of PR and marketing since Apple began the first standardised app  service in July 2008.

Wikipedia reports:

• The Apple Store stocks 650 000 apps with 30 billion downloaded since 2008.
•  Last October Google Play had around 700 000 Android apps and an estimated 25 billion downloads.
• The Microsoft Windows Phone Store has over 120 000 apps.

Apps have become part of our everyday lives.  They provide news and entertainment, connect us to others, help us bank and budget, improve our productivity and make it easy for us to buy, bet, follow our heroes and manage our diaries. 

Apps are so commonplace we no longer stop to consider the technical wonder behind those little icons patiently waiting to be pressed into service on our mobile screens.  

But while the technology is relatively new, apps work on a proven PR formula:

• Give people information they need or want when they want it.
• Make it easy to understand.
• Ensure information is easy to access and remains timely and relevant.
• Remove barriers and make the content easy to share.
• Deliver that information at the point of personal need. 

The communication simplicity of the app surely must offer lessons in the rest of our PR lives.

   

Worst Media Interview Ever?

Last week CNN's Piers Morgan interviewed radio host Alex Jones about gun control in the US following the Connecticut school massacre.

During the interview Jones flipped out with a mixture of emotion and anger.  Decent gun owners across America must have squirmed at seeing their cause so ineptly presented by  Jones. Elsewhere in the world viewers must have asked "are these people for real?"

From a PR perspective you can bet media trainers everywhere will use this as a what not to do example for years to come. 

Journalism Goes Visual

My last post talked about how journalism is becoming more data-based.

This goes hand in hand with the need to present data-driven stories as visually and simply as possible so people can come to terms with complex issues.

In line with this, this week the US- based Boston Globe is recruiting for a data visualization and graphics journalist to create multimedia infographics, data-driven visual explanations, and interactive maps and charts for its print and online publications. 

At present the Globe's graphic department creates both print and online graphics but this new  job will focus online initially.

The paper is looking for an infographic artist with strong curiosity, journalistic integrity, and creativity to contribute visual explanations to its journalism efforts.

Could this area be a growth opportunity in Australian journalism in future? 

The Journalism Trend PR People Must Know

2013 will be the year data dominates journalism and  impacts on how PR professionals work.

This trend will affect us. Journalists will either be a key audience, or remain a critical channel to reach key audiences, in many of our campaigns this year. 

Big Data

Since the mid 1990s journalists have gone online to research stories.  Now there is so much  personal, organisational or issue-related information online, the next step will be mining deeper than ever before into this rich content, to arrive at fresh narratives or strengthen existing stories. 

Increasingly numbers will tell stories.

Reporters now have the tools to sift through mountains of information which previously would warn off even the keenest investigator. Google Fusion Tables, Tableau, datawrapper and other software allow data to be rapidly crunched, collated, analysed and presented.

So expect two things:

• PDFs are where data goes to die. Journalists will increasingly demand you present  data in easily accessible formats.  Releasing information in PDF may you look out of date, unhelpful, suspicious or all three.  
• And beware.  Reporters may now know more about your issues than you think so be prepared when they call in search of a story.

Watch The Guardian's Simon Rogers for more Big Data insights.

Presentation

Another data-driven change in 2013 will be drop and drag software that lets journalists combine text, imagery, video, audio, infographics, hot spots, apps and buttons into a single story package which can be quickly embedded into a news site. And which consumers can navigate when, how and in the detail they need from a story.

A software package called Storyplanet plans a public launch this year.  Reporters and photographers can use its grid-like architecture to build interactive and visually captivating packets of content for a quick upload to their websites. Read more....

So expect journalists to tell their stories using even more multimedia than they do now.  And don't be surprised if the the new presentation tools create more demands on us to offer up more than documents and someone to interview.