Year-end Means Best of Lists...

Approaching year-end, I love a good recap or best of  list.  Please enjoy this one I came across, "50 Best Websites of 2012" from Time magazine.  Many of these sites are not only well-designed for the eye, but also provide a wondrous service or fulfill a niche that earned them a spot.

There is a lot of crap on the internet.  Good, or fun sources for news or better yet, something that makes the day go a little faster or your job a little easier makes for a list that everyone can use.

Personally, I love Buzzfeed, a site that is also a big fan of lists. Check this one out, posted just today: Grumpiest Cat Show Photos.

On a marketing note, lists actually make for great PR tactic, when done properly.  If you are an industry expert or leader in your market creating an official list recognizing best of products, services or other companies creates a great opportunity to reach out to some companies that could be prospective clients or referral partners.  On the other hand, for the right company, creating a list that is a little weird or silly can have good news value or lend itself to social media conversation. Going the practical route also has it's advantages, providing a list of best practices, tips or again, products that is useful to a customer can help create loyalty and show value.

Have you used some of the sites on the Time list? Let me know which are your favorite or send me a link to a  list that caught your attention recently (Does not have to be related to cats, I just happen to be one of those people).

"A Strategic Pacesetter"

More great insight about the value and evolution of public relations… The idea of “creating a larger dialogue” as is suggested in the article referenced below is one of the biggest oversights that companies make when it comes to the integration of their marketing and PR strategy.  Putting the PR function in a silo, restricted to mindless distribution of press releases or generation of byline articles or whitepapers about the same tired topics outside of any strategic context  is simple a waste of time.

With the emergence of interactive online channels, PR is no longer confined to sharing boring, brand-inflating babble with the media (which reporters want little to do with, by the way).  We can share engaging, meaningful stories and information directly with the target publics.

Here are a couple of my favorite highlights from a brilliant article by Stuart Feil, in ADWEEK.  The full article also includes some pretty impressive case study examples of the possibilities that PR has to offer when given the opportunity.

“From spotting trends to crafting messages that will resonate in the community to being able to react quickly to shifting market attitudes, PR agencies have long been able to develop the ideas that get press coverage.  And as social media has amplified what consumers and influencers say about companies and brands, PR’s expertise in reputation management has become more crucial.”

“By planting a seed for a larger dialogue—something beyond products and services—these campaigns often look to activate and engage consumers to take action and change the way they approach an issue or brand.”

Tell me how many companies you know that think of PR as “driving creative engagement”. It's time for 2013 strategic planning. Invite the PR department to the table.

Hallelujah! Credentials to Support a Theory Familiar to those 'In the Know'

The end of the PR vs. Marketing debate will be one of the happiest days of my professional life.  It seems that this era is closer than ever before.  Read this: Will Media Convergence end the 'PR or Advertising' Debate?

Major conferences and the founder of Twitter recognizing that PR and Advertising are all marketing is one step closer to freedom from my silo.  If there is one consistent frustration that I still do not understand about this industry (and by this industry I do mean marketing inclusive of all supporting pieces) it is this: Organizations in every industry, large, small or in-between feel the need to divide marketing into as many individual silos as possible.  PR, paid advertising print and broadcast, social media, digital communications, direct marketing, etc, etc. almost certainly all have their own in-house designated expert.  That expert might work with an outside firm to support their one area of expertise.  Larger organizations might have multiple firms for different purposes, all manged internally by different people.

This is absolutely insane to me, and frankly a little insulting.  Why shouldn't PR be included in major, strategic planning?  How can we prove value if we are not privy to the overarching marketing goals?

People like to talk about integration of tactics and surface level stuff, but very few marketing professionals I encounter are hip to this concept of total integration from the top down.  And the classic, the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing becomes more evident and more frequent as brands find themselves in more spaces in online and traditional media.

So, since marketing people love a solid third party credential to show value... I've got the founder of Twitter on my side.  Argue with that!

See also:
And http://www.usatoday.com/video/news/1839139560001.

"I think we should be on the Twitter," said non-marketing business guy.

Organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries are starving for content, and they might not even realize it.  PR and marketing guys, this is a golden opportunity for us to shine.  On how many occasions in recent months have you been approached with one of the following conversations?

• "I think we should be tweeting or on the Facebook or something."
• "So what do you think about this social media thing for MY  business/industry?"
• "Well, we need a Twitter account and a Facebook page to get the word out."

Swap out any one of those 'Twitters' or 'Facebooks' for 'blog', or 'social media' or another specific site.  I have been doing this for a few years now, and I get it... non-marketing people sometimes need a loooonnngg time and a lot of convincing to catch on to the expertise that their marketing team is offering them from the start.  No problem. So, the boss or the client or whoever it is, is coming around now and saying this is it. Now is the time for us to do the online content thing, go forth and make it be.

The step some companies are missing here is the CONTENT. Should most organizations have a presence in these online spaces? Most likely. That does not mean that all of these channels make sense for every situation.  There is an opportunity for marketers to be creative here.  To satisfy the demands of the person you answer to and the organization's customers, marketers need to be generating content over a number of channels, but while interesting is important, engaging and relevant are key.

Organizations in any industry need to understand how to create this kind of content for their audiences and goals.  Leadership should also understand that no single blog or social media profile is the magic bullet for "getting the word out" about anything.  These are simply additional channels for sharing messages, and an integrated approach, as always, is best.

Here is a great article for getting started with a content strategy, Create Brilliant Content for your 'Boring' Business from Lauren Fairbanks of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

It is possible (likely even) that your organization should in fact be on "the Twitter".  However, there are many factors contributing to using these online content  tools effectively including relevancy, engagement and participation.  Consult a marketing expert to develop a content strategy that is integrated and realistic for your organization. 

This Guy Gets It...

Thank you Mr. Lee, for the very solid advice presented in,  Hey CMO, want to generate strong leads? Well, then you have to be relevant.

 I personally love #5: Embrace a culture of taking risks.  Competition is stiff, markets are unpredictable. Organizations must entrust their marketing teams to make the right decisions in acting as the face of the company, but also in leading the company to growth.  Strategy is important, but there are so many moving parts in engaging the right audiences and generating leads, that risk and flexibility are also a great asset.

Additionally, this article is simple, but needed reminder to the c-suite that the marketing department's main goal is very clearly to generate leads and needs to be perceived and treated that way from top-down to be successful.

Public Relations on an Upswing?

If you're an agency pro, like me, you have probably been having this conversation with yourself and with your co-workers for weeks and months on end.  Followed by the question, "So, why don't my clients see us this way?"  or "How can I more effectively stress the value of total PR/Marketing integration?"

It seems perhaps our time is finally coming and clients are just a little slow to the uptake.  Read the article linked above for some points in guiding the conversation as you continue to gain ground in the marketing departments of your client organizations.

Another Acronym Gone by the Wayside

I guess when the experts are saying it, it must be true.  I caught this article that features some pros who have mastered the various ins and outs of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) during it's relatively short-lived glory.     Good SEO rankings have been a hot topic and coveted achievement across the marketing world in recent years.

In the article, The Death of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR and Real Content, as seen on Forbes.com., experts in the field discuss how this flash in the pan solution is now giving rise to traditional media, in a sense.  As search engine providers wise up to the tactics of SEO gurus, content in the form of original articles, news media and videos regain value as the only means for reaching targets online.

Content which is informative, relevant and shareable continues to be the most effective means of marketing a brand, whatever the distribution channel.

Everyone's doing it... integrated marketing

Read full article.

Direct Marketing News published a great article about non-profit higher education competing in the online marketing tactics.

The article makes reference to for-profit universities previously dominating this space. However, aside from increasing competition for students and tuition, university marketing staffs should be looking at the bigger picture.

All of the top target publics that universities need to communicate with are online.  A large majority of them are also very active on social media.   Potential students, current students, their parents and recent graduate alumni are very important influencers.  Two things in higher education marketing are going to continue to grow in importance:

1) Targeted, personalized communications.  Colleges and universities need to be where their targets are with relevant messages to offer.  As competition for tuition and funding grows, schools need to have the insight to know as much information as possible about their most key targets and get in front of them. Location still plays a big role in choosing and staying connected to a college, as do personal referrals. Digital marketing and online social networking will greatly enhance university marketing efforts.

2) Online search. Having a strong, engaging and interactive online presence will keep schools at the top of prospective students and donors lists.  Marketing departments should make a very strategic effort to keep online content fresh to keep them at the top of searches.  Competing both geographically and by special interest is key.  Additionally, quickly communicate what the [insert college/university] experience is like to get browsers into your sites.

Higher education institutions have it easy when is comes to content: interesting people, cutting-edge programs, expert resources and sports and entertainment.  Maximizing the use of that content with the best mix of marketing channels is where this field's focus should be.

Manufacturing and Healthcare Finally Showing Social Media Adoption

A recent study by International Data Corporation, featured in Bulldog Reporter identified the latest social media trends across industry verticals.  manufacturing and healthcare marketing have notoriously been on the list of the industries lagging on the social media front.  This study shows that some of these slow adopters are finally coming around.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done.  These verticals are not fully utilizing social media tools for highly effective engagement and, most importantly, interactive communications.  Social media is a great platform for increasing brand, product and service awareness, but that is just one facet of the channel and if companies ignore the other interests of their targets they are doing themselves and their potential customers a disservice.

Many organizations across industries are still facing some of the basic challenges of lack of time or resources to dedicate to social media and skeptical c-suites, but manufacturing and healthcare are both particularly unique candidates due to some of the following commonly cited challenges.

Manufacturing:

1. We're a B2B company. 
• Social media is not always about quantity, but should be about quality.  A smaller or midsize B2B manufacturer might not have the same appeal to the masses as a large direct-to-market product manufacturer but, social media can give those companies access to key influencers through highly targeted groups and discussions that might prove to be leads or at least a great resource for knowledge and expertise.
2. Our processes are highly complex (i.e. we don't have anything to share).
• Do beware of jargon-heavy content, unless it is in the context of a discussion with other in-the-know industry folks.  In general, focus on the business lessons surrounding processes or product more so than the technical details.  What did you learn during a certain project or in the face of a challenge?  What was the end result?  How are you helping your clients or growing your business? This is what people find interesting and shareable.
3. Even our industry audience is a narrow one.
• Consider the contacts to be made with organizations or persons outside of your customer base.  Other industry experts across the world, innovation experts, potential employees, current employees. Ultimately, online social networking follows the same principle of traditional networking: You can never know too many people and you never know where your next lead might come from.

Healthcare:

1. Policy is a big concern. 
• Healthcare facilities deal with sensitive information and complicated protection policies when it involves sharing patient information. Understood.  Work with the appropriate experts to ensure the organization and patients are legally protected. There is also plenty of information to be shared regarding new procedures available, widespread health concerns, tips for healthy living, etc.  Most healthcare facilities are likely already incorporating an informative sharing approach in much of their traditional media tactics, why not social media?
2. Conflicting interests and politics.
• This is a common concern for larger healthcare facilities that have many departments, varying teams of physicians and other staffers all with a different agenda.  There is no reason everyone can't or shouldn't get their fair share of the social media pie.  Create a formalized process for submitting content through your agency and marketing dept.  If appropriate, have multiple pages, groups and channels for communicating the various subject matter important to all parts of your organization and publics.
3. What about reputation management?
• Like any other company with a "customer service" component, you are going to have dissatisfied patients and critics.  This is somewhat elevated in the healthcare industry because the consequences of a bad patient experience or complaint about a prescription drug can rise above an annoyance.  We are dealing with the well-being of people.  That said, those patients with very few exceptions, are all online.  Many of them are going online to talk about their experience regardless of whether your organization is online or not.  At this stage in the game, it only makes sense to have a presence to both manage and defend against the bad and leverage the good.  Not to mention, to learn from customer feedback more efficiently and comprehensively than ever before.

As for my last tidbit of advice on this front.  Social media was a totally new, foreign territory to everyone not so long ago. Your organization, leaders and marketing department have been busy doing the jobs they are meant to do.  Have questions? Feel overwhelmed by the concerns and challenges?  Concerned about time and budgetary resources?  Meet with a professional marketing firm to discuss your options in social media strategy. Healthcare and manufacturing professionals understand more than some other industries that there are just some instances that require a truly specified expert.

Hats off to Ann Curry

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Ann Curry this watching what is somewhat of an awkward goodbye.  I am a regular viewer of the TODAY show.  And, although as I PR pro I often find myself griping to colleagues about some of the coverage, I have always respected and enjoyed Ann's reporting.

Visibly upset and maybe even a little angry, her goodbye left some questions to say the least. For starters, what is going on at NBC? Then again, I guess Ms. Curry is just another casualty of the ever-changing news media.   Not that anchoring has not always been competitive, but ratings and advertising dollar pressures are arguably greater now than ever before.

I tuned into some of a live online chat with another anchor of TODAY show past, Katie Couric also this week. A viewer, and fellow news anchor asked her a related question about the changing landscape local news media.  He had just recently been cut from his position at a local station for what I gathered to be related to budgetary and station performance reasons.  Her response was something to the effect of, "I think the local news stations are in pretty good shape actually."  To her credit, she referenced how many stations at the local level were pretty savvy and quick to adopt an integrated approach to news, utilizing online tools to continue engaging audiences and creating ad revenues.  However, from my perspective she glazed over this topic a bit.

Local news outlets are turning over staff members faster than a popsicle would melt in Cincinnati today (100 degrees outside!).  I feel for the news outlets and reporters, anchors, producers that staff them, including Ann Curry, although she had a nice, long run.  But furthermore, this constantly changing newsroom environment also makes the job of a PR professional very difficult.


While there are more places to put news and more opportunities because of how immediately news can be made available, the traditional relationship-building public relations can offer is seriously wounded by the high turnover and thinly spread resources facing local news outlets across the country.  Is the trade off actually paying off for PR?    

What do airlines and PR agencies have in common?

I recently read an article about how the major airlines are faring in the customer service department.  The main issue facing airlines, as I think is true of many businesses across industries in this recovery mode, is that consumers these days want it all.

They want top notch customer service, an above-and-beyond good experience, convenience, first class treatment, if you will.  The problem that the airlines have not all quite figured out yet: consumers are not willing to pay top dollar for that list of requirements.

This issue feels familiar to me in an agency world where all sorts of independent practitioner shops, single service providers and online DIY tools are available around every corner.  Clients have been conditioned by the recession to pinch pennies, a sentiment I can appreciate as an average consumer. However, in the professional service sector, the particulars in determining what is satisfactory and what is not can get a little fuzzier.

So, is there a cheaper alternative to working with a full service agency?  Of course, but what are clients really getting for that investment? In an attempt to revamp their marketing efforts slowly, a client may have tried an independent consultant who, as one person, never has enough time to cater to the client's everyday demands.  They have tried hiring 5, 6 ,7 different service firms on a project-by-project basis, only to discover, after pouring a decent portion of budget into all of these projects, that as a whole things are pretty disjointed and no single area is particularly succeeding. 

What's next?  "Well, if no one else can manage my marketing successfully, I might as well do it myself!"  Client goes and purchases every online tool and magic bullet promise out there to help them to "do their own marketing".

We all know how that one turns out.  Fortunately for the airlines from earlier in our discussion, most of their customers will not haul off and taking piloting lessons and fly themselves to every destination.

I think I just made my point.

Office Schlumps Peddling Crap

Marketing pros working in the professional services sector get the shaft in a lot of ways.  Often we're dealing with small budgets, clientele or management wildly out of their comfort zone and, let's face it, nothing incredibly exciting to sell.  In the eyes of target audiences, professional service firms are regularly seen as just another office schlump peddling their crap which is exactly the same as the next guy's crap. Yuck! I wouldn't want anything to do with that either.

What's a company to do? 
a) Sit back and do nothing. EHHH!
b) Do a bunch of crap and hope something sticks. NOPE!
c) Painfully write a check each month going towards things that don't work. WRONG!
d) Work with a strategic partner that knows the marketing side of things as well as you know the industry (consulting, law, accounting, HR, etc., etc.) side of things and is the ideal complement to your objectives. DING DING!

John Doerr wrote an excellent article about many of the pitfalls that our professional service clients challenge us with everyday: http://www.servicesmarketingblog.com/top-10-lead-generation-mistakes-made-by-professional-services.

Excellent points, Mr. Doerr, and so true.  A line of thought that I encounter frequently is the idea that in professional services customer relationships and leads are so heavily based on a personal relationship that marketing is altogether pointless. How silly. For starters, marketing can and should involve tactics to retain customers.  So, what are you offering loyal customers to stay around, beyond the convenience of not having to switch providers because you do a "fine job"? And how long can that really last?  Secondly, to Doerr's point, what happens when your personal network runs out?  If a business owner is satisfied to maintain a certain size company, number of employees and revenue, there's no marketing tactic I or anyone else can offer that they'll find value or purpose in doing.

One thing that a professional services firm CEO with any reservations or skepticism can agree to is that some level of marketing is essential to company growth.  Yes, there are many challenges in marketing professional services, but wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to worry about those challenges much at all?  Think about this, all businesses hire an accountant, a payroll company, a law firm and so on to manage matters that are beyond your roles and breadth of expertise (clue: marketing agencies are also in that bucket).

There is something to be said for the b-to-b companies that make branding, company image, customer communications, lead generation and marketing strategy a priority. They look good, stand out and people notice.  Don't be just another fill-in-the-blank type of b-to-b schlump making cold calls and running ads to no avail, get marketing that works!

Every Other Minute

In the busy PR professional services world keeping up with clients and news, the work day is often a fast-paced churn and burn of tasks.  Different times at day's end, I have spoken to a colleague about feeling as though I hadn't really completed anything in entirety because something new and immediate kept coming up, requiring a gear shift.

I might say something like, "Every other minute I was addressing a new project, client, etc. I couldn't really focus on any one task."  Thinking I was using hyperbole to describe my feelings, turns out this description could have been pretty accurate.

According to a recent study, people are switching media uses 27 times per hour.  This is, first of all, mind-boggling, and secondly, a real topic to be reckoned with in multiple functions of marketing. I knew cutting through the clutter was tough, but now we have to cut through the clutter with a message that has less than 60 seconds to grab the attention of, engage and resonate for a customer.  Our windows of opportunity are becoming smaller and smaller.

Settling into Q1

It's the second week in February and I'm finally settling into the  year 2012.  All of the buzz about trend predictions has died down and we are getting a real feel for how the industry is shaping up this year.  One thing I am definitely keeping an eye on is the measurement issue.

I've been sitting with this article from PR Squared for a few weeks.

THE MEASUREMENT SILVER BULLET DOES NOT EXIST – SO STOP SEARCHING

Of the many articles I've read on the subject, this one really resonated.  Measuring standards have certainly been an influence lurking among marketing departments for decades.  However, as more and more neato tools and channels spring up, the demand for ROI increases.  In my view, this "show me the money" notion seems contrary in many ways to the direction marketing strategy has taken in recent years.  Concepts like channel integration and engaging with customers conversationally and through brand "stories" all go in a direction away from rigid measurement systems.

Yet, I'm faced constantly with this topic and clients who are after the hard and fast numbers. As the article suggests, clear cut ways to measure every marketing tactic do not exist. I want to provide value for clients and I'm on a mission to fight the evil influence the whole of marketing is a bunch of fluff and guff.

But, what do businesses really want?  Something that works.  Something that helps them to grow.  Marketing is an elaborate ecosystem dependent on many aspects of a business.  Personally, I think  generally effective standard of measurement is if it is not hurting, it is probably helping.  However, when something is working really well in marketing, it is obvious.  People take notice.  Customers take notice.  Investors take notice.  Good marketing moves the needle on the bottom line.  This looks different for every business. No single tactic is a silver bullet.  No ad equivalent, increase in likes or number of views independently reflects a great measurement of success.  Instead, the value lies in what the article, post or video is moving customers to do.