sign up now!

submit an article

give feedback

Learning to Feed Social Media Consumers

By Peter Baron
Carabiner Communications

Unless you have been living under a bus or have just returned from an extended vacation on a remote tropical island, you’ve already taken notice that we are quickly transitioning away from a media distribution model where print publications and wire services act as gatekeepers for information distribution. In the new model, consumers are increasingly going to the Web and using search engines and aggregators to identify and determine for themselves what is newsworthy. The result is an increasingly fragmented audience where news popularity is defined by the individual and their peers much more so than the nightly news anchor.

Don’t let this change in direction frighten you. As PR professionals we should be excited about the multitude of new opportunities it provides for clients who are willing to adapt.

For most, the implications of feeding this increasingly diverse and Internet savvy universe are crystal clear - we have to change the way that we deliver content. No longer is it sufficient to post a static release highlighting an event or new product announcement and expect it to have legs. Stagnant, double-spaced text is hardly persuasive when compared to the dynamic, sometimes interactive tools promoting your competition.

We’re already seeing that today’s consumers, as well as their media brethren, want to use all of their senses when they evaluate new products and services. As such, we have to be responsive in the way that we publicize and promote information.

Appeal to their senses

Journalists learned long ago to engage readers by incorporating visual elements into the printed medium. Today’s media consumers want to see, touch and feel (at least virtually) your announcement. When you incorporate links to photographs and logos with appropriately constructed meta-tags into your press releases, it not only improves the overall quality of the release but potentially increases traction for that release. Thanks to the helpful search engine algorithms, readers who may have overlooked your news announcement based on the title are attracted by the language you use to describe the compelling imagery.

There are a multitude of other media files and formats that you can link to in your release or even host in a client’s online newsroom, but sometimes the most productive avenues for reaching your audience go beyond the boundaries of the traditional press release when we begin exploring the opportunities provided by burgeoning social media outlets.

Give them a peek

What consumers really want is to experience your product or service first hand, or at least gain information from a peer who has. Absent immediate access, a great video will suffice. Why else do you think that by late last year there had been nearly 2 billion views^[i] of the videos on YouTube? If you add in MySpace Video, Google Video and the next 64 top video sharing Web sites, you’ll find that nearly 1% of all Internet activity is spent watching videos online. 

After the low budget yet runaway hit Heelys videos, large agencies promoting mega brands like Nike, Dove, Smirnoff and Nintendo are producing segments for video sharing sites in hopes of capturing their share of the 100 million videos streamed every day^[ii]. As most video-sharing sites prohibit uploads for commercial use, professionals are pushed to produce non-advertising segments that entertain, inform and compel. Why commit so much effort? Beyond the sheer volume of users and corresponding videos published, is the impact that their availability is having on search engines and Web traffic.

Hitwise traffic data shows that the U.S. market share of YouTube visits increased by 70% from January 2007 to May 2007. Not only are search engines responsible for about 20% of traffic to video sites, Clickstream data shows that viewers are responding with a 300% increase in the amount of traffic leaving search engines and going to video sites in the past year^[iii].

Let them listen

Can’t afford, can’t find or can’t create compelling video? Sometimes an audiocast does the trick. With 100 million iPods in circulation there is ample bandwidth for prospects and customers to tap into your message while they are going about their day. Client interviews, executive keynotes, technical support tips and fireside chats each have their place. Whether your audience is getting their content from NPR or PodcastAlley, each will appreciate the opportunity to integrate your information into their busy day while making a personal connection and sometimes gauging the authenticity of your message by the tone in your voice.

Share, share, share

With digital cameras so easily affordable, organizations should be using them to document every thing from trade show participation to community outreach. Got a new employee? A new office? A new product? Capture and consolidate the same images that your staff has been hoarding internally and post them on a photo sharing Web site. Employees and customers alike will appreciate the recognition and you’ll benefit from increased traffic to your Web site and awareness of your products, services and efforts.

Think photo sharing sites are just for personal images? Think again. A recent query of SmugMug found 27 different images using the keyword “Javits” – as in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Almost 300 images can be found on PhotoBucket identified as “new product,” and 61,991 pictures on Flickr.com claim “first place.”

Aside from sharing images that were produced internally, the really ingenious organizations are encouraging customers to post their pictures of your products and services. Sometimes a contest works to create competition for the best image but often just the notoriety of getting their face or family or your Web site is enough enticement. The Georgia Aquarium links to queries of both Flickr and YouTube where visitors have shared 37,749 and 879 files respectively.

The list of opportunities for feeding the demand of social networking sites goes on and on. But as fewer and fewer consumers wait for new information to be pushed their way, it becomes our role as PR professionals to make news and information compelling enough that consumers will voluntarily pull it into their real and virtual worlds. Are you ready for the challenge?
 

^[i] http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115689298168048904-5wWyrSwyn6RfVfz9NwLk774VUWc_20070829.html?mod=rss_free
^[ii] http://blog.ogilvypr.com/?p=46
^[iii] http://weblogs.hitwise.com/leeann-prescott/2007/06/youtube_50_more_traffic_than_o_1.html

---

Peter Baron is founder and principal of Carabiner Communications, a marketing and PR firm serving small and emerging technology companies. With nearly two decades of technology marketing experience, Baron has directed campaigns for such well-known clients as Apple Computer, Ericsson GE, Motorola and IBM.  Baron co-founded SocketPR which was acquired by Hill and Knowlton. Prior to founding SocketPR Baron was a partner and vice president at Alexander Communications (now OgilvyPR Worldwide), where he oversaw accounts covering cross-platform communications, networking, databases and application development tools. His work spans the formative years of the PC industry, all the way to today’s Internet-driven wireless and mobile device markets. He can be reached at pbaron@carabinerpr.com.