Do-It-Yourself PR for E.Factor

1. Do-It-Yourself PR for E.Factor Do It Yourself (Online) Public Relations (Questions via hash tag #diypr ) Chris Abraham President and COO [email_address] @chrisabraham US +1 202 657 4769 UK +44 20 81 44 56 71 DE +49 30 70 12 59 80 Site www.abrahamharrison.com Blog www.marketingconversation.com

2. 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. 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. Online PR and Marketing

3. “ Markets are Conversations” <ul><li>“ 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.” </li></ul><ul><li>“ 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.” </li></ul><ul><li>The Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999, by Chris Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.cluetrain.com/book/ </li></ul> “ Markets are Conversations” <ul><li>“ 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.” </li></ul><ul><li>“ 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.” </li></ul><ul><li>The Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999, by Chris Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.cluetrain.com/book/ </li></ul>

4. Social Media Strategy <ul><li>Set Goals </li></ul><ul><li>Listen </li></ul><ul><li>Find Communities </li></ul><ul><li>Find Influencers </li></ul><ul><li>Content Strategy </li></ul><ul><li>Pick Tools </li></ul><ul><li>Deliver Content </li></ul><ul><li>Engage </li></ul><ul><li>Facilitate </li></ul><ul><li>Measure </li></ul> Social Media Strategy <ul><li>Set Goals </li></ul><ul><li>Listen </li></ul><ul><li>Find Communities </li></ul><ul><li>Find Influencers </li></ul><ul><li>Content Strategy </li></ul><ul><li>Pick Tools </li></ul><ul><li>Deliver Content </li></ul><ul><li>Engage </li></ul><ul><li>Facilitate </li></ul><ul><li>Measure </li></ul>

5. Platform Agnosticism <ul><li>Public Relations needs to become as platform-agnostic as possible </li></ul><ul><li>Traditional PR has suffered tragically from an inability to be platform-independent </li></ul><ul><li>Radio, television, newspapers, co-op, telephone, newsletter, email, social networks, blogs, message boards, forums, email lists, etc... </li></ul><ul><li>Where are your potential customers? Go – and be – there! </li></ul> Platform Agnosticism <ul><li>Public Relations needs to become as platform-agnostic as possible </li></ul><ul><li>Traditional PR has suffered tragically from an inability to be platform-independent </li></ul><ul><li>Radio, television, newspapers, co-op, telephone, newsletter, email, social networks, blogs, message boards, forums, email lists, etc... </li></ul><ul><li>Where are your potential customers? Go – and be – there! </li></ul>

6. Cross Pollination is Key <ul><li>Messaging is a continuum </li></ul><ul><li>Prospecting and engaging is key </li></ul><ul><li>Create outposts “everywhere” </li></ul><ul><li>Meet people where they're comfortable, not where you want them to be </li></ul><ul><li>Help them find their way – and you – there! (Via web sites, email lists, blog posts, direct mailings, etc) </li></ul><ul><li>Make it – and keep it – super-simple </li></ul> Cross Pollination is Key <ul><li>Messaging is a continuum </li></ul><ul><li>Prospecting and engaging is key </li></ul><ul><li>Create outposts “everywhere” </li></ul><ul><li>Meet people where they're comfortable, not where you want them to be </li></ul><ul><li>Help them find their way – and you – there! (Via web sites, email lists, blog posts, direct mailings, etc) </li></ul><ul><li>Make it – and keep it – super-simple </li></ul>

7. Widgets, Badges, Links <ul><li>There are lots of ways to encourage participation </li></ul><ul><li>Twitter, Facebook, and others offer embed codes and scripts to allow you to cross-post and cross-pollinate between your social network profiles and your web pages and corporate sites – requiring little or no coding! </li></ul><ul><li>Work hard on getting your boss or your designer to build in links to your profiles directly on your site. Even Fresh Air Fund ended up taking the leap! </li></ul> Widgets, Badges, Links <ul><li>There are lots of ways to encourage participation </li></ul><ul><li>Twitter, Facebook, and others offer embed codes and scripts to allow you to cross-post and cross-pollinate between your social network profiles and your web pages and corporate sites – requiring little or no coding! </li></ul><ul><li>Work hard on getting your boss or your designer to build in links to your profiles directly on your site. Even Fresh Air Fund ended up taking the leap! </li></ul>

8. Never Build Up a Ghost Town <ul><li>Once you initiate creation of a social network profile, page, blog, or group, mailing list or message board, commit ! </li></ul><ul><li>There is nothing worse than leaving a ghost town or elephant grave yard </li></ul><ul><li>Most blogs and pages are abandoned </li></ul><ul><li>To the persistent and consistent go the spoils </li></ul><ul><li>Update at least once-a-week forever ! </li></ul> Never Build Up a Ghost Town <ul><li>Once you initiate creation of a social network profile, page, blog, or group, mailing list or message board, commit ! </li></ul><ul><li>There is nothing worse than leaving a ghost town or elephant grave yard </li></ul><ul><li>Most blogs and pages are abandoned </li></ul><ul><li>To the persistent and consistent go the spoils </li></ul><ul><li>Update at least once-a-week forever ! </li></ul>

9. YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Etc. <ul><li>We're so obsessed with Facebook we often forget the power of Virtual Online Communities such as YouTube (yes, it is a community first), MySpace (it ain't dead yet), and Flickr (yes, also a community first, then a gallery space) </li></ul><ul><li>Remember the niche social networks as well! Where do you need to be? Golfers? Photographers? Boomers? There are hundreds of niche SNS's with passionate community members (remember Ning?) </li></ul><ul><li>Are you using the correct platform? </li></ul> YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Etc. <ul><li>We're so obsessed with Facebook we often forget the power of Virtual Online Communities such as YouTube (yes, it is a community first), MySpace (it ain't dead yet), and Flickr (yes, also a community first, then a gallery space) </li></ul><ul><li>Remember the niche social networks as well! Where do you need to be? Golfers? Photographers? Boomers? There are hundreds of niche SNS's with passionate community members (remember Ning?) </li></ul><ul><li>Are you using the correct platform? </li></ul>

10. . Brand Grab on Niche Sites <ul><li>There are hundreds of social networks you have never heard of. </li></ul><ul><li>Grabbing your brand on each site is worthwhile, even if you squat </li></ul><ul><li>Join every new service you hear of (Google Wave! Aardvard!) because you never know which one will get big! Huge! </li></ul><ul><li>KnowEm http://knowem.com can help you register all of them for a quick $69 </li></ul><ul><li>Update them using Ping.fm http://ping.fm </li></ul>

11. . 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

12. . 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 &quot;customer affinity&quot; and increase &quot;customer advocacy&quot; has become a new measure of marketing effectiveness. Source: CMO Council January 2009

13. . Monitoring Conversations Only 16% of US companies are monitoring the online conversations for mentions of their brand. Source: AdAge

14. . What Is Influencing Your Audience Today? <ul><li>Search Engines </li></ul><ul><li>News Engines </li></ul><ul><li>Other Websites </li></ul><ul><li>Blogs </li></ul><ul><li>Micro blogging </li></ul><ul><li>Peer Reviews </li></ul><ul><li>Comments </li></ul><ul><li>Feeds </li></ul><ul><li>Podcasts </li></ul><ul><li>Video </li></ul><ul><li>Social Networks </li></ul><ul><li>Social News Sites </li></ul><ul><li>Tagging </li></ul>

15. . New Media Relations Strategy <ul><li>Direct to the public </li></ul><ul><li>Bloggers </li></ul><ul><li>New online media properties </li></ul><ul><li>Online Journalists </li></ul><ul><li>Traditional Journalists </li></ul><ul><li>News Sites </li></ul><ul><li>Social News Sites </li></ul>

16. . Social Networks Engagement

17. . <ul><li>Does the separation of work and home life exist? Should it? </li></ul><ul><li>People are attracted to the flaws in other people. </li></ul><ul><li>Being human is a selling point. </li></ul><ul><li>“ Wearing your baseball cap to the office” </li></ul><ul><li>“ Attend the party in your bowler hat” </li></ul><ul><li>Controlled openness </li></ul>The Bowler Hat Versus the Baseball Cap

18. . <ul><li>Like Social Networks, dinner parties are fun </li></ul><ul><li>Candor and insight are valued at dinner parties </li></ul><ul><li>Dinner parties are civilized events </li></ul><ul><li>“ Don't discuss religion or politics in polite company” </li></ul><ul><li>Don't be scared, but realize, always, your vicar and boss are “in the room” </li></ul><ul><li>That said, there's a lot to be had at a PG rating! </li></ul>Dinner Party with the Boss and the Vicar

19. . Twitter Engagement

20. . <ul><li>Twitter doesn't care if you believe in Twitter </li></ul><ul><li>Twitter allows anyone to do anything with twitter and use it any way you like – except hurt others </li></ul><ul><li>I guess Twitter is a Libertarian! </li></ul><ul><li>You can use Twitter however you want: news feed, “what I'm doing,” for business, pleasure, engagement or voyeurism </li></ul>Twitter Behaves Like a Digital Dial Tone

21. . <ul><li>There are many “best practices” that people are writing about Twitter </li></ul><ul><li>Reject Twitterati dogma! </li></ul><ul><li>Only rule: “do no harm” </li></ul><ul><li>Create ten account or one! @chrisabraham @robochris @abrahamharrison @marcon </li></ul><ul><li>Try one for your business and one for yourself </li></ul><ul><li>Have some fun! </li></ul>Don't Take too Much Advice on Twitter

22. . @FreshAirFund as Exemplar

23. . Following People on Twitter

24. . Following-Back and Unfollowing Non-Followers

25. . Follow the Influencers and the People They Follow

26. . Follow the Influencers and the People They Follow

27. . FAF Twitter Message Modeling

28. . Crossposting Retweets via Ping.fm

29. . <ul><li>Seesmic Desktop is our new fave tool to help manage, update, and respond to multiple campaigns from one desktop too. </li></ul><ul><li>TweedDeck now offers multi-account tools and a web services that allows you to maintain state across multiple platforms and machines (Apple and PC) </li></ul>Managing Multiple Twitter Accounts

30. . Automating Tedious Twitter Tasks

31. . Resist the Auto-Welcome DM Temptation

32. . Twitter is Now: When You Should Tweet <ul><li>While they may call Twitter a microblogging platform, please don't confuse tweeting with blogging. </li></ul><ul><li>Twitter has more in common with IM, ham radio, and commercial radio than it has with blogging </li></ul>

33. . Growth of @FreshAirFund Over Time <ul><li>Since we have implemented the strategies we have outlined, we have been able to blow the carbon out of the @FreshAirFund Twitter campaign. </li></ul><ul><li>Cross-promoting the @FreshAirFund Twitter account via email, Facebook Groups and Pages has helped accelerate the profile of their Twitter account. </li></ul>

34. . Twitter Isn't a Broadcast Medium

35. . Twitter Isn't a Broadcast Medium <ul><li>#followfriday is a weekly opportunity for tweeple, tweeps, and Twitterers to share the people who they're currently following who they recommend for others to follow. What a gift of support! </li></ul>

36. . Search and Engage with Your Tweeps

37. . Search and Engage with Your Tweeps

38. . <ul><li>Search Twitter for mentions persistently: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for company: “Abraham Harrison” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for services: “digital PR” or “social media marketing,” “blogger relations” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for products: “blogger outreach” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for staff: “chris abraham” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for locale: “Berlin,” “Washington” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for yourself: “abrahamharrison” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Search for questions you can answer </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Follow them, answer questions, reach out, say hello! </li></ul>Search and Engage with Your Tweeps

39. . No Twitter Community-Building Panacea <ul><li>All community-building takes time </li></ul><ul><li>There are many promises but few panaceas </li></ul><ul><li>If you're a big celebrity or brand already, you're golden! </li></ul>

40. . From Your Blog to Twitter's Sphere

41. . From Your Blog to Twitter's Sphere

42. . Facebook Engagement

43. . <ul><li>Facebook is awesome & everyone uses it </li></ul><ul><li>FB is a walled-garden </li></ul><ul><li>I have over 4k friends </li></ul><ul><li>You can only reach people who are your friends – remember that </li></ul><ul><li>Profiles are for people only; other uses break Terms-of-Services </li></ul><ul><li>Choose Pages for corporate work </li></ul>Facebook Profiles Versus “Fan” Pages

44. . <ul><li>What you do is who you are, or part </li></ul><ul><li>facebook.com/chrisabraham </li></ul><ul><li>Feel free to share with your friends </li></ul><ul><li>I accept all friend requests and have over 4,000 </li></ul><ul><li>My FB friends are as valuable as a lobbyist's fabled “Rolodex” </li></ul><ul><li>Both many friends and a broad base of friends </li></ul><ul><li>People don't read everything but they get to know you as a person </li></ul>Facebook Personal Profiles

45. . <ul><li>Pages are more like Personal Profiles than ever and becoming more like Twitter too </li></ul><ul><li>Personal URL with > 100 fans </li></ul><ul><li>faceook.com/abrahamharrison </li></ul><ul><li>All updates run through the same status updates personal updates to, now. </li></ul><ul><li>Pages can be open to the Internet </li></ul><ul><li>Very hard to prospect for new fans short of promoting for money through Facebook </li></ul>Facebook Pages

46. . <ul><li>On Facebook and Twitter – and on your blog – your followers and friends will tell you where the line is </li></ul><ul><li>Update your status too often and your friends will ask you to cut it out, in the best case, and will unfollow you in droves; in the worst case, they'll block you and report you as spam! </li></ul><ul><li>Aggregate too many RSS feeds in or Retweet badly or cross promote wily-nilly, and the same thing, or worse </li></ul><ul><li>Please don't be afraid, experiment, just listen! </li></ul><ul><li>PS: I have made all the mistakes and I am still OK. </li></ul>Your Followers Will Tell You When Not To

47. . Blogging is Not Dead!

48. . Blogging Still Rules! <ul><li>The demise of blogging has been greatly exaggerated! </li></ul><ul><li>I encourage students to blog their way into jobs </li></ul><ul><li>I encourage companies to blog their way into: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Their own online conversation </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Respected authority </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Internet celebrity (#114 on Power150) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Organic search domination </li></ul></ul>

49. . Why Blog? <ul><li>Zero barrier-to-entry – free services like Wordpress.com and Blogger are as good and as prestigious as fancy blogs – and sometimes better! </li></ul><ul><li>Blogs are highly-textual – blogs have more pages, more text, and more links than your corporate web site, quadruply so if your site is Flash </li></ul><ul><li>Blogs are application – they offer comments, RSS news feeds, permalinks, user-readable URLs, social tools, and so much more! </li></ul><ul><li>Blogs are like cat-nip to Google! </li></ul>

50. . Using Your Blog to Flirt <ul><li>Search for all the blogs and bloggers in your industry and space, even competitors </li></ul><ul><li>Subscribe in Google Reader, etc. </li></ul><ul><li>Read their posts once-a-day (both for news and to foster ideas for your blog) </li></ul><ul><li>Visit their blog and make yourself known by commenting </li></ul><ul><li>Even better, blog a response and link back </li></ul>