Grounded In Reality

The raise of digital media has presented more opportunities for the digital media team to consult on both Web site content and technical (SEO) optimization. To that end, I believe that the new version of Google Analytics will further break down the IT and marketing silos; and both Webmaster and PR professional will be held to higher standards of what works and what doesn’t for online content.

I recommend your spending 5 minutes to watch this features overview video to appreciate how easy it is now for the executive to measure ROI.

Thereafter, send your client an e-mail to discuss embedding the Google Analytics script on their site.  Fair warning: Don’t get too obsessed checking those Web metrics.

Social technographics®–a coin termed by Charlene Li at Forrester Research in a new report about how companies should start thinking about their media campaigns by understanding their audiences rather than beginning by considering the different digital channels and technologies available.

Like all things PR: hello common sense! I mean in a social setting, surely, you wouldn’t talk about the same things, or even use the same language while speaking with your parents as you would with your friends, right? Then why do the same with a media campaign?

It’s interesting to see how the communication strategy roadmap is constantly morphing. In school I was taught, don’t start thinking with the execution. First, think about what you want to achieve and then about what you want to say in order to achive the goal. Now, with the exploding societal effect of Web 2.0, you first start thinking about who your niche audiences are, and then you decide what you want to say to them and finally the how you’d do it.

Just as Steve Rubel mentions, it’s fascinating to see how applicable and appropriate this breakdown of communication strategy can be for a PR professional. Advertising is all nice and entertaining like during the Super Bowl half-time. But, it’s not about engaging your preferred audiences in a conversation as only PR professionals are trained to do.

The tricky/challenging part of this approach however, is that there is no one “right” way of achieving and measuring success. Although personally, I think this, by itself, is a reward on the job! How exciting is it that with a smart and thought out new media campaign we can impact not only perception of our audiences, but also the way they interact and experience these brands!

This constantly changing social technographics® landscape pushes us to think differently not only of the message and the product but also helps us to factor in how our key audiences will use these messages.

A call to action is no longer as simple as “please respond to this email.” It’s more like please respond to this email, post it on your blog, then add a widget about it to your social networking page and then finally discuss it with your family over the dinner table! (or not!)

On the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal, I’m told that, ” You’re a Nobody Unless Your Name Googles Well.” (Techmeme link.)  Highlights from the article:

• About 7% of all searches are for a person’s name, estimates search engine Ask.com.
• More than 80% of executive recruiters said they routinely use search engines to learn more about candidates, according to a recent survey by executive networking firm ExecuNet.
• Nearly 40% of individuals have used search engines to look up friends or acquaintances with whom they’d lost touch, according to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Microsoft Corp.’s MSN unit.

In terms of people search tools, Spock (glowing review by O’Reilly) and ZoomInfo will eat Google’s lunch if it doesn’t care to focus on vertical, people search results.

For working professionals, it is worth asking if your clients (current and potential)  expect to see their name and/or business appear in Google.  If not, why not?  If so, here six easy, inexpensive (many free) ways to quickly establish an online presence: Start a blog, create a Squidoo lens, upload Flickr photos, create a professional LinkedIn profile (yes, it shows up in Google), register a unique domain, and optimize your Web site. (In case you’re wondering, I’ve walked the talk for a nonprofit that I’m volunteering with.)

For my PR brethren, which keywords do/should your clients (high profile individuals and brand) own, and how much time and resource is spent working towards that goal?

In terms of naming a child, I find it rather short sighted for parents to overly concern themselves with the Google results  of their child’s name.  Must be the fear of Google in the air.

Addendum: Fortunately for me, if you are a headhunting “Wilson Tan” on Google, I’m #11 and #13 associated with Paul’s post and my post on this GCI Digital Media blog.  Not too shabby though certainly room for improvement to find myself online.

If…
5.  If they have not pushed you to rethink online monitoring and crisis management.  The 24-hr news cycle is dead ( NYT: “Mr. Imus is an old-school radio guy caught in a very modern media paradigm.”), long live the .5 second news cycle .

4. If they have not encouraged you to give your customers a voice.  Trust in the corporate authority will likely continue to decline, as peer-to-peer influence increases.

3. If they are clueless about RSS, Wikipedia, or Technorati.  These are basic distribution and search tools that any communicator ought to have an understanding of.

2. If they have not asked you to consider flattening the organization by letting employees collaborate via internal wikis or blogs.  The company culture may not be ready for this but at least be thinking about it.  Keep this in the back of your mind for the day might soon come when Jane in creative or Bob in product design could be ideal candidates for the face of your company.

1. If they have not done Google and Wikipedia searches of your brand and products.  Sometimes the simplest things are easiest to overlook.

“It’s always easy to comment from the cheap seats.”

Many people in professional and collegiate sports have said those words at least once or twice in their athletic lives. Many times it’s said in anger or frustration after a tough loss or game.

Well, we received this document from a former reporter, who sent it to someone we work with in the world of public relations. It is as honest a view into a reporter’s soul as you will ever get.

When I was working at USA Today and CNN, I would say that many of us shared this view of the world of public relations.

The one thing I would add is a comment that works in your everyday life - “It’s the relationship, period.”

I have many friends in newsrooms across the country, but I won’t call them just to call about a press release. You have to have respect for what they do and not just call them with a bad pitch for something that doesn’t fit their needs.

Now, what I will do, is call a friend and ask them their opinions and ask who they suggest I talk to in their newsrooms about a pitch. Yet, if it’s not a good pitch, I am not going to waste anyone’s time.  Do that a few times and see how quickly you get voicemail on a regular basis.

Common sense isn’t common, anymore. Use your common sense before picking up the phone to call your reporter friend. This way, you will still be friends for many, many years to come.