Slide 1: The Power of Voice
Markets are conversations Silence is Fatal
Slide 2: Social Media Strategy
Set Goals Listen Find Communities Find Influencers Content Strategy Pick Tools Deliver Content Engage Facilitate Measure
Slide 3: Engagement Gap
The difference between the influence of the Internet in consumer decision making and the amount of spending and effort on the part of corporations, organizations and government agencies in trying to interact with and shape the thinking behind those decisions.
Source: CMO Council January 2009
Slide 4: The Engagement Gap
What we are seeing is much stronger sensitivity to engage directly with customers and learn more about what shapes, influences and impacts purchasing decisions and intentions to do business. The move to quantify "customer affinity" and increase "customer advocacy" has become a new measure of marketing effectiveness.
Source: CMO Council January 2009
Slide 5: Monitoring Conversations
Only 16% of US companies are monitoring the online conversations for mentions of their brand.
Source: AdAge
Slide 6: What Is Influencing Your Audience Today?
Search Engines News Engines Other Websites Blogs Micro blogging Peer Reviews Comments Feeds Podcasts Video Social Networks Social News Sites Tagging
Slide 9: New Media Relations Strategy
Direct to the public Bloggers New online media properties Online Journalists Traditional Journalists News Sites Social News Sites
Slide 10: Online Media Relations
Watch Yahoo! News for sites that consistently show up on your keywords Look for sites with a PageRank higher than 4 Contact the reporter or editor Create content for those sites
Slide 12: Bloggers
Listen – tap into conversations around your keywords Find bloggers who write about this topic Rank them by influence, authority, traffic
Slide 13: Bloggers
Read their blogs Comment appropriately and genuinely What can you bring to the party? Build relationships
Slide 15: Mom Bloggers
Slide 17: Design Blogs
Slide 19: Results
Influential design bloggers reviewed the product
Influential Mom bloggers reviewed and recommended the product
Increased traffic to www.flor.com
Over 100 million media impressions, including mainstream media, at a cost of less than 1c per impression
Slide 20: Internet end-users
Publisher creates the RSS file and places it online
Content consumers subscribe to the feed and retrieve its content whenever they want
Other sites and systems
Search engines and directories
Slide 21: Internet end-users
Publisher creates the RSS file and places it online
Content consumers subscribe to the feed and retrieve its content whenever they want
Other sites and systems
Search engines and directories
Slide 22: Internet end-users
Publisher creates the RSS file and places it online
Content consumers subscribe to the feed and retrieve its content whenever they want
Other sites and systems
Search engines and directories
Slide 23: Internet end-users
Publisher creates the RSS file and places it online
Content consumers subscribe to the feed and retrieve its content whenever they want
Other sites and systems
Search engines and directories
Slide 24: Internet end-users
Publisher creates the RSS file and places it online
Content consumers subscribe to the feed and retrieve its content whenever they want
Other sites and systems
Search engines and directories
Slide 25: Social Media News Room
A social media news room is a section of your site for journalists and/or bloggers Make it easy for them to get and use data about the company, the execs, productions and a contact person Offer social media format – images, video, audio, feeds
Slide 26: News Rooms
Have become a primary source of information for working journalists, with nearly 49% reporting visits more frequently than once a week and fully 73% reporting a visit at least once a week.
Slide 29: Suggested Features Social Media Newsroom
Management Bios with links to Social Media profiles PR Contacts info (email address, phone numbers, SM profiles) Case studies News coverage Blog coverage Events Calendar. Trade shows, media tours, speaking engagements. Information/ Interview Request Form
Traditional Press releases Social Media News Releases Video/podcast pages Images (Flickr feed) News Feeds (RSS) Media downloads Links to make sharing content easy - social bookmarking and social news sites Tag Cloud
Slide 30: Additional Reading
Ebooks: Web Sense by Sally Falkow. Effective Internet marketing strategies for entrepreneurs. The Power of Good Content by Sally Falkow. Lean the secrets of how to write for the search engines and keep your visitors coming back for more.
www.falkowinc.com •
Slide 31: The Truth about SEO
A new book by Rebecca Lieb, Editor of Econsultancy (USA) and previously Chief Editor of ClickZ. Available at Amazon.com
Slide 32: Resources
RSS Service: PRESSfeed http://www.press-feed.com/ Expansion Plus Inc http://www.expansionplus.com Our blog: pro active http://falkow.blogsite.com
Slide 33: http://www.twitter.com/sallyfalkow
Slide 34: digital PR and Social Media Marketing
Chris Abraham President and COO cabraham@abrahamharrison.com @chrisabraham Daniel Krueger Director of Client Services dkrueger@abrahamharrison.com @d13vk
www.abrahamharrison.com www.marketingconversation.com
Today's Hash Tag #digiPR
Slide 35: A Beginner's Guide to Online PR and Marketing
Before We Start: Don't Be Seduced by the Lure of Astroturfing “You may be attracted to covert online marketing: special ops, black ops, spycraft – “fifth column marketing,” if you will. Don’t be. The blowback that can result from using a false name, a false email (a Yahoo, Google, or Hotmail address created for the campaign and the false name), and a false bio, isn’t worth it. Even though your reputation online is more defined by your contributions to the conversations rather than who you are, the culture of the Internet doesn’t suffer being fooled, duped, or suckered.” If you are ever found out, you are screwed.
Slide 36: “Markets are Conversations”
• “Through the Internet, the people in your markets are discovering and inventing new ways to converse. They're talking about your business. They're telling one another the truth, in very human voices.” • “These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.”
Slide 37: “Markets are Conversations”
• “But learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about "listening to customers." They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.” The Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999, by Chris Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger http://www.cluetrain.com/book/
Slide 38: The Cluetrain Manifesto
• Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived. • Already, companies that speak in the language of the pitch, the dog-and-pony show, are no longer speaking to anyone. • Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance. • Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships. • Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on inside the company.
Slide 39: The Cluetrain Manifesto
• To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities. • But first, they must belong to a community. • Companies that do not belong to a community of discourse will die. • Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate firewall. • The inflated self-important jargon you sling around—in the press, at your conferences—what's that got to do with us? • You're too busy "doing business" to answer our email? Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.
Slide 40: What We Do at Abraham Harrison
• Online Brand Promotion Practice
–
• • • • • • • –
Blogger Outreach
Strategic messaging campaigns to A-list and B-Z-list bloggers Targeted PR-style pitches tailored to social media expectations Plain-talk messaging devoid of any sales or marketing-speak Outsourcing all assets to Social Media News Releases Bloggers produce earned media and so we must earn coverage Poorly-handled campaigns result in Very Bad Things happening Long-term blogger prospecting and cultivation (dossiers, etc)
Social Media Community Engagement • Engaging conversation where it takes place online • Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace, YouTube, Forums, Listservs • Widgets, Apps, Fundraising, Profile Management, Groups and Pages creation & management, blogging, and microblogging
Slide 41: Goals, Expectations, and Audiences
1. 2. 3.
– –
What is the goal of the client (what is your goal?) What is your desired outcome (how do you define success?) What sort of gift are you willing to bring to the party
Online, generosity is always rewarded and stinginess is always punished Gifts can be emotional, physical, ego-driven, exclusive, sentimental, informational, etc
4.
– – – –
Break this down into target audience(s)
Demographic Audience Psychographic Audience Geographic Audience Profile and Celebrity of the Audience
5.
– – – – – –
Where does the audience “live?”
Blogs are often the best earned media Twitter and other microblogging communities Message boards, forums, newsgroups (Usenet) Social networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc) Mailing lists, Listservs YouTube, Qik, Utterz, and other communities
Slide 42: Blogger Harvesting and Prospecting
1. Who do you need to reach? – Activists, animal lovers, educators, parents, moms, dads, politicos, the faithful, shoppers, travelers, sports fans, marketers, democrats, environmentalists, foodies, greens, Los Angelinos, New Yorkers, college grads, Pennsylvanians, etc… 1. Where do they spend time and doing what? – Are they bloggers, on Facebook, Twittering, on YouTube, etc…
Slide 43: Blogger Harvesting and Prospecting
3. Develop lists of blogs and their bloggers • Search Google for exactly what you want “Top mommy blogs,”
“best green blogs” • Leverage blogrolls like you would endnotes • Bloglines’ Most Popular Feeds, http://www.bloglines.com/topblogs • Technorati Top 100 Blogs, http://technorati.com/pop/blogs • Technorati Blog Directory http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/ • AllTop http://alltop.com/
Slide 44: Blogger Contact Information
•
Many blogs have about pages and or offer obfuscated email addresses like cja[at]well[dot]com or embedded in graphics. Sometimes names and emails can be discovered by searching Google for “chris abraham”+email
•
Slide 45: Blogger Contact Information
• “Who is” is a fine resource if a blog is hosted on its own domain name, such as chrisabraham.com – I recommend: More and more blogs “private register” – Private registration hides email addresses. – Domain Tools premium offers historical snapshots of registration information, sometimes showing pre-private register emails. Long-story short: if someone goes out of his way to hide his identity or email, let him go, he does not want to be contacted!
•
•
Slide 46: Blogger Contact Information
Slide 47: Topic Universe Example
Slide 48: Example of an Outgoing Message
Slide 49: Example of an Outgoing Message
Slide 50: Example of an Outgoing Message
Slide 51: Example of an Outgoing Message
• We have tried many different styles and this is where we are: – – – – Short, terse, minimal, highly textual, with a clear message and a clear request Any verbiage that sounds like it is selling or marketing must be removed All assets, graphics, movies, or videos are collected into a “microsite” or “SMNR” Do not include conversion GIFs, hyperlinks, hot emails, images, or attachments
Slide 52: http://banclusterbombs.smnr.us
Social Media News Release (SMNR)
Slide 53: http://sharpgreen.smnr.us
SMNR For Sharp Electronics
Slide 54: http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us
SMNR For International Medical Corps
Slide 55: http://freshair-newsrelease.com/
SMNR For Fresh Air Fund
Slide 56: http://www.snugglecreme.com/newsrelease/
SMNR For Snuggle Creme
Slide 57: The SMNR (Steal this Content)
• As you might have noticed, our pitches are very spare • We offload all content, message, keywords, images, links, and videos onto what is essentially a microsite • It is convenient for our clients and handy for our outreaches • We can get metrics and not have to change our clients’ websites
Slide 58: The SMNR (Steal this Content)
To be honest, bloggers are even lazier than journalists. A lot of the time, bloggers steal images and entire tracts of copy, paste it, and then just do a “blockquote” attribution.
You’ll get to define message, keyword-density, and even sneak SEO-optimized links in there, even encouraging organic Googlebombing. This allows you to easily keep everything closer to “on message” than you usually can otherwise: SMNRs rock!
Slide 59: Measure Twice, Cut Once
• Generally, before any outreach, bloggers are combined into a master universe to make sure there are no dupes or doubles. • One blogger can have more than one email – check for doubles. • Make sure the master universe does not contain A-list or “do not contact” bloggers (check twice).
Slide 60: Measure Twice, Cut Once
Slide 61: Respond Quickly & With Love
• At Abraham Harrison, we don’t use autoresponders or let emails wait until morning. When we send out an email outreach, we staff the INBOX almost constantly over the next hours and days • If a blogger gets pissed off by a pitch, we have only minutes to respond • A personal, immediate, and human response can make the difference between earning a blog post or being forwarded to Bad Pitch Blog • When you respond, never lock horns or rise to the bait – people have busy, complex, lives: • "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" -- Philo of Alexandria • Always respond with either support or desperate Mea Maxima Culpa!
Slide 62: Respond Quickly & With Love
Slide 63: Tracking Responses & Mentions
• Be sure to always track who replies. • Also, be sure to remove anyone who asks immediately. • Finally, if you can’t find their email, ask them if they use another – some people collect all their email into one account, usually a Gmail account, and reply from there.
Slide 64: Tracking Responses & Mentions
• Also, be sure to track all blog mentions as they occur • Using Google Alerts and Google BlogSearch is generally good enough • Don’t hesitate to ask your bloggers to pop you the link to their post when they say that they will • Also, don’t hesitate to hold a blogger accountable for posting if he offers
Slide 65: Follow-Up Boldly and Proudly
Slide 66: Follow-Up Boldly and Proudly
Slide 67: Follow-Up Boldly and Proudly
Slide 68: Follow-Up Boldly and Proudly
• If we don’t get a reply from a blogger, we send 3-4 follow-up emails. • We assume that email gets lost, blocked, de-prioritized, ignored, missed, or put off until later – and later never comes because folks are just busy. • The squeaky wheel does get the grease and we get our biggest successes in response to the second and third email outreaches. • We generally allow a week to pass between email followups.
Slide 69: Proof is in the Pudding
Slide 70: Earned Media Mentions
Slide 71: Earned Media Mentions
Slide 72: Earned Media Mentions
Slide 73: Earned Media Mentions
Slide 74: Metrics & Reporting
Slide 75: Metrics & Reporting
• These charts represent volume of social media mentions over time • The green dots represent our blogger PR outreach • Spikes in conversation map perfectly with our digital PR engagement
Slide 76: Metrics & Reporting
This chart compares the same time frame in two different years
Slide 77: Metrics & Reporting
This chart breaks online mentions into social media platform
Slide 78: Thank You For Your Time!
Please Continue the Conversation on Twitter by Using Our Delightful Hash Tag #digiPR
Chris Abraham President and COO cabraham@abrahamharrison.com @chrisabraham Daniel Krueger Director of Client Services dkrueger@abrahamharrison.com @d13vk
