Blog Archives
2011 Social Media Trends Roundup
Hopefully your inbox isn’t quite filled to the brim upon your return from the holidays. Any second now, your boss will bolt in asking you to brief your company on how the digital world is panning out for the year ahead. At a loss at where to start? No worries, we’ve got you covered.
In the spirit of fulfilling a growing social media trend around “content curation,” I’ve compiled what I believe to be the best batch of “2011 social media trend” posts that have surfaced. Take some time, soak it in, digest and feel free to share your additional links and thoughts below.
Cheers to a digitally savvy and successful 2011!
Mashable – 4 Social Media Trends for 2011
“E-mail addresses are a safer long-term investment than social media features. Think about all the money companies spent advertising their MySpace pages in 2007. Even on Facebook, your direct messages to fans are relegated to a second tier inbox no one reads. This is something you don’t have to worry about happening in e-mail marketing.“
ReadWriteWeb – 10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2011
“Every company should think of itself as a media company.”
Social Media Today – How Much Will You Spend on Social Media Marketing Next Year?
“Even if companies find it impossible to set a specific budget for social media, they can still take a holistic approach, incorporating it into their marketing planning from the start.”
Social Media Today – Seven Digital Media Trends of 2011
“Media Executives: Forget everything you think you know about where your talent pool is forming. It’s not growing in smaller markets, and with a few exceptions, it’s not coming from your programming or sales internship programs. The real talent—the ones you really want—are entrepreneurial and creative, and they’re not waiting around in your lobby to get a job. They’re trying it on their own.”
SmartBlog on Social Media – Why 2011 Will be the Year of Social Media Convergence
“2011 will be the year of convergence and integration. Fueled partially by consolidation, mergers and acquisitions, and partially by API mashups, we’ll see huge progress in unifying social communication.”
The Next Web – Seven Important Social Media Trends for the Next Year
“There is no doubt that services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook places will continue to grow and be adopted by a larger audience but I don’t even think the most exciting technologies have even been invented in this space yet. The best is yet to come.”
Social Media Explorer – 5 Social Media Trends for 2011
On “consumer content curation” – For brands, this means it’s not going to be enough to create content – you have to create content that gets curated into people’s streams.
Future Lab- Six Social Media Trends for 2011
“While social media schizophrenia (the overload of multiple social profiles) is nothing new to tech mavens, it will become something that more and more “average” users experience as they tweet, Facebook, G-mail, chat, Skype, BBM, SMS, and Tumble their way across the social web.”
Trends 2011 – 10 Digital Trends
“Another way digital is making headway is through disruptive engagement. Digital displays are amusingly catching audiences off guard through unexpected placement and the ability for consumer interaction.”
Entrepreneur – 10 Social Media Trends for 2011
“A Tweet-a-thon is a fundraising campaign on Twitter for which users encourage their followers to tweet about and donate to a particular charitable cause over a specific period of time. These initiatives will gain in popularity as savvy entrepreneurs capitalize on the relationship-building advantages of social media and the good publicity that comes with giving back.”
Social Media Explorer – 30 Social Media Predictions from 30 Social Media Pros
“Social Media will become Conversational Marketing and its practitioners will shift their focus more to ideas and technologies that can create or stimulate conversation versus simply focusing on the engagement in conversation.”
Mashable – 4 Predictions for the Future of Politics and Social Media
“Like the television boom of the 1960s, we are standing on the precipice of a big shift in how public figures are perceived and how campaigns are conducted. Our frontier is social media, and its impact on mainstream political culture is coming on fast.”
Mashable – The Most Popular Slideshare Presentations of 2010
Image courtesy of RoseFireRising.
NOTE: This post also appears on the Weber Shandwick Seattle blog.
PR 3.0 – Do You Have the Skills to Compete?
At this point it is still uncertain as to the ultimate impact our floundering economy will have upon the public relations and marketing world. However, one thing is for certain. The PR/marketing industry has undergone a dynamic shift that requires a new set of skills and a deeper understanding of the power of the Web.
For those currently in the field, it’s critical that you at least develop a baseline understanding of the importance of social media and its overall role in bridging connections between online audiences. For those finishing up college, a proactive approach to developing some of the skills below will certainly help you battle the existing tough job market.
At the college level, it’s great to see various PRSSA chapters getting students involved with not only learning about the value of social media but also working with different clients to implement practical social media campaigns. Likewise, agencies are taking steps to make sure employees are up to speed on the changing digital landscape. But, gone are the PR 2.0 days of just talking about blogs and the Web as a valuable marketing platform. The Web is now a necessity for anyone in the communications field and PR 3.0 is upon us.
What are we talking about when we talk about PR 3.0?
Max Gladwell did an excellent analysis of the topic, noting that PR really breaks down into media relations, blogger relations and consumer relations. On a similar note, David Mullen did a great post on how “public relations” has really been redefined as “people relations” in today’s communications world.
The verdict on an accurate definition of PR 3.0 is still out, but more importantly, it’s crucial that we all adapt and learn the skills that will eventually be expected of any PR practitioner.
Here’s my recommendation on 10 skills that will help any PR/marketing person stand out amongst the pack in a PR 3.0 world:
1. Search Savvy
Two words – Research Guru. PR relies heavily on solid research and fact finding. Get savvy on how to dig quick and dig deep to get answers. Hint – Google should be your best Web friend.
2. Web Architecture
Many websites are now constructed from blog platforms such as WordPress.org. Search results are influenced through paid advertising, linking and search engine optimization (SEO). The content on your website makes a difference (Meta-Tags, Keywords, Links). Understand how all this works together to impact overall Web presence.
3. Social Media Savvy
Understand the definition of social media and get that it’s not just about the tools and technologies, but more importantly, the conversations, engagement, interaction and relationships these tools facilitate online.
4. Active Social Media Involvement
You’re not a head nodder that pretends to get social media. You’re not just a content pusher but an engager. You comment, you critique, you add value to existing conversations. You get the crucial importance of listening and monitoring on the Web. You’re actively involved on at least a few different social media sites and are willing to try a new, proven platform to see its role in facilitating online conversations.
5. Blogger Relations
You recognize that a blogger is a blogger and know the different nuances associated with connecting with bloggers. Learn blogger relations 101 and understand how bloggers connect and influence one another.
6. Media Relations
Not so quick, traditional media hasn’t gone away yet. Still at the core of any good PR pro, is an understanding of how to appropriately craft releases and pitch TV, radio and print outlets. It’s more important than ever to understand the need for short, relevant, personal, localized pitches. In addition, recognize how journalists are utilizing blogs as a fluent news publishing platform.
7. HTML 101
You don’t have to be a web programmer, but take an HTML 101 course so that you have the flexible skill base to manipulate web content. Learning the basics of Dreamweaver can’t hurt either.
8. Content Creator
Similarly, no need to be a professional photographer or videographer, but it doesn’t hurt to bolster these skills. Compelling Web content thrives around photos and video. It wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with how to effectively shoot both and what it takes to get that content on the Web in a shareable, searchable format (yes, tags and titles really do matter). Check out Photoshop or iPhoto as well as iMovie or Finalcut to get some basic photo/video editing skills under your belt.
9. Writing
Whether it’s a strategy document, client monthly report, press release, blog post, tweet, video description or website copy, writing skills will always be of the utmost importance for any strong communicator.
10. Measurement
Clients like results. It’s no longer just about quantity of hits or press clips. It’s about quality of conversation and social influence. Be able to recognize and justify to clients how key blog mentions and placements frequently hold more value and influence over traditional media placements. Companies such as Radian6 are helping refine online measurement and many tools have excellent embedded analytics tools (ex: YouTube Insight).
Bonus - Client Relations!
You didn’t think I’d forget did you?! Above all, solid client relations should remain a primary focus for any PR practitioner. Clients look to PR pros to guide and direct, counsel and execute plans that help them achieve their PR and marketing goals. Be the trailblazer that can pave the path to success by conveying the importance of online PR/marketing tactics to clients in a clear, concise manner while remaining flexible and adapting to the changing demands of the Web.
What steps are you taking to align with PR 3.0? What other skill requirements would you add to the list?
-Scott
