Of buzzwords and loose cannons
by Tania Chew on September 11th, 2008
Warning: this is a fairly long post that contains quite a few buzzwords.
More and more often these days, I hear from companies who want to “go digital”. Yes, “digital”, “social media” and “Web 2.0″ are rolling off the tongues of many marketers and it’s great that more and more folks are beginning to recognize the importance of communicating on the fast, fluid and sometimes fickle platform that is the Internet.
However, I find that many folks are clambering onto the online bandwagon and shooting from the hip without proper thought about the whys and hows.
Some common loose cannons:
- “I want to start a blog/Facebook group.”
- “Let’s invite some bloggers to our event.”
- “I want a microsite.”
- “Create a viral video for me.”
While these are all elements that can be incorporated into a digital influence program, they aren’t one-off solutions that can be pulled out of a hat and just thrown into the marketing mix. One of the first things I always ask clients is “what’s your objective?” The next thing I ask them to do is listen. If we don’t know what people are saying about our brand or products online and the places where these conversations are taking place, how can we figure out the best way to engage them?
Starting a blog, Facebook group or microsite is easy as pie. But if you build it, will they come? Keeping something like that going, however, requires commitment and compelling content. Don’t start something if you don’t have the time or resources to sustain it. Having credible, knowledgeable spokesperson(s) to front a corporate blog is key, as is having a rolling calendar of fresh, interesting content to put out there for readers. And, of course, the next step should be opening it up to reader participation and inviting additional contributions. Direct2Dell is a great example of how this works.
I’m all for companies involving bloggers in events, especially when there are interesting announcements, products and/or personalities that are relevant to the bloggers’ interests. But knowing what makes bloggers tick requires involvement. Communications professionals need to be in the same spaces as netizens in order to understand how they work. We spend so much time putting together media profiles and briefing books, building media relationships and poring over newspapers and magazines clipping away…we should do the same with the bloggers we want to engage. Set up an RSS reader and subscribe to bloggers’ feeds for a better understanding of what they write about. Then reach out and comment at the very least. It’s amazing how much one can learn by looking at someone’s blogroll and clicking on. Simply blasting out a generic press invitation to bloggers to try to get more bums on seats and score your “digital outreach” brownie points ain’t gonna cut it. Pat Law’s said it before and Ben Koe has a another neat post on the state of “pitching bloggers” that has spawned a few other interesting reactions from fellow netizens.
And give the bloggers content they can easily use. A standard paper press kit is pretty useless and swag bags will only go so far. Try adapting a social media release with links to more information and multimedia that can be posted, embedded, tagged and shared online. If that’s too daunting, consider jazzing up the standard online press room with podcasts, links (to event photos on Flickr, user videos on YouTube) and other multimedia content.
I can’t stress enough that digital influence is not a magic bullet or a shot in the arm. It can start simply by setting up Google alerts with keywords about a brand or product, and searching for your clients on YouTube and Facebook. That’s where you get your first online insights from. From there, it’s a matter of clicking on and building that knowledge for a better clue about the space.
Brian Koh 
September 11th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Yes! Totally agree on the Social Media Release part! Instead of giving us media kits and hardcopies, send us a link to the details! And upload your product shots on flickr and allow us to embed the various sizes from there. It makes our blogging easier.
Instead of setting up microsites and get people to contribute to it, why not “hire” few bloggers to help talk about it on their site and have a blogroll list to link to their site instead?
September 11th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Thanks Claudia. We actually don’t pay bloggers (if that’s what you mean by “hire”?) as we feel it removes some degree of credibility from the opinions/posts that are generated. Did you have another idea in mind?
September 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I’ve been talking to few other folks too about advertorial vs. editorial. And how bloggers who are committed to doing editorial can get paid for doing what they want but not having to affect any of their credibility. Personally I’m not a person who wants to read advertorial on blogs. But if bloggers who’re full-time blogging, has no way of earning income from their blog, than how can they survive? This is something which few of us have been debating too.
Perhaps this can be one of the discussion during SMB.
September 11th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Before we (and by we I mean both Agencies and Clients alike) attempt to fully understand the purpose of Social Media, the reason for its escalating growth, the nature of how it functions, we choose to skip the hard work and commit the biggest crime against integrity - we copy.
Pressed for returns over a shorter period of time, we find ourselves retreating into the library of best practices, and we leverage on them for our campaigns. Instead of saying we “copyfrom others” (which henceforth does not quite justify our consultation fees), we say “inspired by”. Which is sad.
I reckon that’s why we have one too many ignorant swines mistaking their execution medium as a solution. A Facebook Group is NOT a solution. It is an execution medium for the big idea, aka the solution.
That’s our problem isn’t it? Firstly, we choose not to understand how an environment works, we fast forward to stealing others’ marketing plans (and naively thinking it’d fit like a glove to ours), and then we go “Oh he went on Facebook, lets go on Facebook too…”
Then when it doesn’t work for us, we look at each other and ponder “but it worked for him what!!!”.
And some of us went to INSEAD?
September 11th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I hear ya, CLaudia. Brian and I have discussed it too. Maybe we’ll do a joint SMB/Open Room chat session if Daryl’s keen!
September 11th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
That sounds like a plan! I’m sure we can work that out. SMB5 perhaps? SMB4 already in planning.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:07 am
That’s a good post Tania. It makes for a good read to understand issues faced, better.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I think it’s quite simple still Audience+Message = Success
Nothing has changed from Traditional PR or Advertising.
When advertising started, people balked that brands could so shamelessly promote themselves. Journalists are barely credible these days. So whether the editorial comes from the main paper or a blog rarely makes a different.
The only difference between a journalist and a blogger is the quality of thought (aka credibility/insights). Journalists generally have been trained. Bloggers are raw. Both are refreshing.
Both take awhile to get used to. Eventually, all brands will need a fanbase. Call them groupies, but they are needed. Groupies need to be fed, clothed and tasked with groupie activity.