Bert Dumars

The Home Depot’s Nick Ayres, ?, and Tessa Horehled

me and Jennifer Jones

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Obama Social Media Strategist Dan Siroker speaking at SoCon10

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to talk about social media storytelling at Kennesaw State University. I was there for  SoCon10, and it was great reconnecting with Dave Felfoldi, Bert Dumars, Toby Bloomberg, James Andrews, Carol Flammer and several others from Atlanta’s social media community. And congrats to Leonard Witt and the Center for Sustainable Journalism for pulling together the great day of talks and workshops on social media.

My workshop broke social media storytelling into some of its basic elements. It’s a topic we will explore in greater depth in the first session of PR+MKTG Camp Seattle, which is only a month away.

Storytelling is a core competency of any PR professional.  Good stories drive coverage, generate awareness and build relationships.  But today’s storytellers need more than a good pitch and a receptive reporter.  And a good press release needs to be more than a compelling lede and reasoned argument.

We work in an environment that is nonlinear, operates independently of news cycles, uses multiple authors and resides on a variety of platforms.

By viewing social media as another form of storytelling, we can be more effective in mastering the tools that are redefining our relationships and reshaping our stories.

Five Elements of Social Media Storytelling

1. Disintermediation

Disintermediation is giving the user or the consumer direct access to information that otherwise would require a mediator. In days gone by, that mediator was the reporter or industry analyst; today we go directly to the end user.  The New York Times said it best:

“Gone are the days when snaring attention…meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now PR gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets – a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change PR’s role in the business world.”

Journalists still clearly matter. I am quoting the NY Times. But today PR professionals no longer have to solely rely on journalistic filters to validate us. The challenge of course is identifying these “influentials,” gauging their influence and understanding their rules of engagement.

2. Word of Mouth

In the social media word, links, tweets, retweets, viral marketing and other forms of word of mouth are critical in rapidly reaching large numbers of influentials.  They can be more powerful than a well placed, stand alone story in a national paper.  The challenge here is tapping the right individuals to activate their network of followers, friends and connections.  And in the case of viral marketing, success may require leaving your brand’s comfort zone – infusing humor and the off beat to drive word of mouth. Think about the Will It Blend? campaign by Blendtec.  They took a big risk with the brand, but reaped even bigger rewards.

3. Messaging and Key Search Words

Both messaging and key search words are critical to telling their story, but they pose one of the greatest challenges to PR professionals. Messaging is generally a core responsibility of PR. It’s about repetition and consistency, control and limited flexibility over time.  Messaging is often driven top down from executives whose perception of their company is often different than their customers.

Conversely, key words generally fall in marketing’s camp and are about constant testing, experimentation, and access to feedback loops that allow for new ways to present the brand.  They are generally generated top up reflecting the way people search for the products we sell.

Unfortunately, PR and marketing often fail to align messaging and key words, which limits the power of both. We fail to track the effectiveness of our messaging in search results. Consequently, our messaging may be less effective in reaching and influencing our customers. By paying greater attention to key word/messaging alignment, we are also better positioned to minimize the technical jargon and the corporate speak that we are so accustomed to using.

4. Storytelling as Content Creation

Thinking broadly, our stories are essentially content.  PR is not only about telling stories for others to access; it’s also about customers sharing our stories across their networks.  By posting reports, surveys, graphics, pictures and video, we are giving customers the story elements they need carry our message and tell our stories for us in their own way.

5. Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is almost the flip side of disintermediation. It’s all about customers coming to us with their stories, brand experiences and suggestions.  Companies like Starbucks and Dell are successfully soliciting ideas from their customers – using them to not only tell stories for us, but creating story lines we may never have anticipated.

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Clearly, social media storytelling challenges our assumptions about news and narrative as well as message and messenger.  But I don’t want overstate social media’s role.  Mainstream journalism is not dead and still can exert tremendous influence on online traffic.

To share your ideas on storytelling and how to use social media more effectively to do, go to the PR Camp Facebook page or Linkedin Group.

Let me get back to you.

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PR+MKTG Camp (Facebook, Twitter) is coming March 3 to the Seattle Public Library. With successful 2009 events in Atlanta and New York, we will have camps in five more cities in 2010.  In addition to Seattle, we will be in Chicago, Toronto, London and by popular demand, a camp again in New York. For more information about Seattle, see the registration page at Eventbrite.

One recent notable change is our new name.  We were originally known as PR Camp,  The new name, PR+MKTG Camp, reflects how social media is blurring the boundaries between PR and marketing.  In addition, if PR+MKTG Camp has an agenda, it is to help align the two professions, create more effective account teams and serve the enterprise as the whole.  That name reflects these objectives.

I am working with Dean Landsman of the Landsman Communications Group. We are already building momentum in Seattle. SMC Seattle is also partnering with us,  given our mutual commitment to community building and social media.

Many of the moderators for the four different sessions are already on board.  Here are some of the moderators who are scheduled to participate:

- Elliott Pesut – Campaign Management Specialist, Alaska Airlines

- Sean O’Driscoll - Co-Founder and CEO, Ant’s Eye View

- Buzz Bruggeman – Active Words

- Shauna Causey – Communications/Community Relations Manager, Comcast

- Colleen Moffitt - Founding Partner, Communique PR

- Anne Marshall – Director, Public Relations, Drugstore.com

- Kat Tillman – Senior Account Supervisor, Edelman Digital

- Jon Winsell - Strategic Services Director, Emerge Partners

- Renay San Miguel - Reporter, King 5 TV

- Maya Bisineer – Founder, Memetales

- Betsy Aoki - Sr. Program/Product Manager, Social Media, Microsoft

- Rod Brooks – CMO, Pemco Insurance

- Bill Hankes – Vice President, Corporate Communications, Real Networks

- Monica Guzman – News Gatherer, Seattle P-I

- Kenton Olsen – Manager, Digital Media, Seattle Seahawks

- Brad Nelson - Starbucks

- Wade Rockett - Digital Strategist, Weber Shandwick

- Tac Anderson – Social Media Director, Waggener Edstrom

- Laura Porto Stockwell – Senior Director, Digital Strategy, Wongdoody Communications

NEW ADDITIONS:

- Tom Biro - Vice President, Allison & Partners

- Greg Shaw – Director of Advocacy and Policy
 United States Program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

- Scott Porad – CTO, Cheezburger Network

- Ben Straley – CEO, Meteor Solutions

- Jeff Sandquist – Senior Director of Platform Evangelism, Microsoft

- Shannon Paul – Online Communications Manager, PEAK6

- Xavier Jimenez – Principal, Spring Creek Group

- Kevin Pedraja – Vice President, Sterling Communications

- Patricia Vaccarino – Managing Partner, Xanthus Communications

- Amy Bohutinsky – Vice President, Corporate Communications, Zillow

- John Henry Giddings – Director, West Region, PR Newswire

Agenda

8:00 AM - Registration and Breakfast

9:00 AM – Impact: Understanding how social media is reshaping traditional PR’s and marketing’s principal roles and core competencies

In this session, we examine the impact of social media on storytelling, relationship building, branding, conversations and transactions.

10:30 AM – Impact and Strategy: Aligning PR and Marketing

In this session, we explore how better alignment can improve outcomes.  Discussions will focus on identifying common disconnects between PR and marketing, integrating account teams and defining performance metrics.

12:00 Noon - Lunch

1:15 PM –

Execution: Measuring Success

In this session, we evaluate different tools used to measure success, looking at such criteria as their accuracy, effectiveness, usefulness and cost.

2:30 PM - Strategy and Execution: Achieving Internal Buy in for Your Social Media Programs

In this session, we focus on defining ROI and how PR and marketing can set realistic expectations for achieving buy in from clients and management.

4:15 PM - Wrap Up

Sponsors and Partners

We are still looking for additional partners and sponsors for our event.  We are grateful for the support of Social Media Club Seattle, PR Newswire and Emerge Partners for their support.

Let me get back to you.

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On November 20, 2009, more than 100 PR and marketing professionals participated at the New York debut of PR Camp New York at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. The goal of the one-day event was to share experiences, address problems and identify strategies to tackle social media issues that are facing PR and marketing professionals.

Here is the fifth and final key takeaway from the day’s discussions:

5. What Generational Divide?

Generation Y differs in how it uses social media. They are more nimble, quicker, cheaper and gaining a larger share of the social media jobs.  But attendees at PR Camp thought that Gen Y’s orientation and experience don’t give them a competitive advantage. Despite their age and orientation, they still need strategic direction that Boomers and Xers can provide.

Attendees at PR Camp remained divided over the importance of these tensions that exist across generations. Perceived or otherwise, these tensions need not be disruptive. In an open corporate culture, Gen Yers can serve as valuable instructors to foster greater social media adoption. Reverse mentoring programs can help reduce the cost of outside consultants, create a more collaborative culture and boost morale.

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On November 20, 2009, more than 100 PR and marketing professionals participated at the New York debut of PR Camp New York at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. The goal of the one-day event was to share experiences, address problems and identify strategies to tackle social media issues that are facing PR and marketing professionals.

Here is the fourth of five key takeaways from the day’s discussions:

4. What Interactive Marketing Can Teach PR

PR professionals usually focus on showing the clips, but the CMO and CEO of a company are not thinking about clips; they are thinking about the next step.  What are the results after the clip?

When it comes to measurement, PR can learn a great deal from interactive marketing; they are obsessed with measurement.  They are transactional based and therefore do a great job in measuring direct impact.  PR must embrace numbers and become metric obsessed. At PR Camp, less than 20 percent of the audience admitted that measurement was a top priority.

During my introduction I said social media is what plastics was to Benjamin Braddock’s generation in the movie The Graduate: hot, the future and for the young.  But perhaps one of the moderators, Howard Greenstein, president, The Harbrooke Group is right. Perhaps statistics are the new plastic.  Those who control the numbers control the power.

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On November 20, 2009, more than 100 PR and marketing professionals participated at the New York debut of PR Camp New York at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. The goal of the one-day event was to share experiences, address problems and identify strategies to tackle social media issues that are facing PR and marketing professionals.

Here is the third of five key takeaways from the day’s discussions:

3. New Metric – “Congagement”

PR Camp New York revealed we have not reached consensus on what engagement is and how to measure it.  But one thing is certain: how we measure success is changing.

Clients and bosses still want placement in the Wall Street Journal, but increasingly we need to look beyond hits and impressions.  Social media requires us to facilitate and track how people use the content we distribute. Links, retweets, downloads, comments and ultimately clickthoughs are critical performance factors because they measure engagement.  Fostering conversations is still a cornerstone for PR, but we need to think more transactionally.  In short, focus more on the actions that your efforts generate.

How do engagement and conversion relate to each other? Perhaps we should adopt a word suggested by Janine Gianfredi, marketing manager, Google and her breakout group: “congagement.”

Let me get back to you.

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On November 20, 2009, more than 100 PR and marketing professionals participated at the New York debut of PR Camp New York at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. The goal of the one-day event was to share experiences, address problems and identify strategies to tackle social media issues that are facing PR and marketing professionals.

Here is the second of five key takeaways from the day’s discussions:

2. Social Media is Storytelling

It’s true that social media is blurring traditional boundaries and responsibilities. But put PR and marketing professionals in the same room, and it is clear that legitimate differences in expertise and perspective persist.

At its heart, PR is still about storytelling and relationship building.  But where once there was a single messenger with a controlled message, we are now confronted with new ways to tell our story. Traditional press releases with a beginning, middle and end are just one tool in a communications arsenal. They are not going away, but we now must contend with blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. And there are plenty of other smaller or more narrow focus Social Networks or sub-nets (Twitter Lists) to consider for targeting the message.

The most successful practioners understand social media storytelling is not linear, is independent of news cycles, has multiple authors and resides on a variety of platforms.  What we lose in control, we gain in distribution and engagement.

Consider Facebook. The average Facebook user has about 130 friends. Multiply those friends by the number of fans on your brand page, and you have dramatically increased the potential reach and power of your story. These friends are your network of potential storytellers.  Their comments, videos and pictures are part of your story.  The goal is to use these story elements in concert to advance your message and understand that your story will go in directions that you never intended.

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On November 20, 2009, more than 100 PR and marketing professionals participated at the New York debut of PR Camp New York (www.prcampnewyork.com) at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. The goal of the one-day event was to share experiences, address problems and identify strategies to tackle social media issues that are facing PR and marketing professionals.

Here is the first of five key takeaways from the day’s discussions:

1. Social Media Cuts Across The Enterprise

Social media has gained wider acceptance, but internal debate on how to structure our account teams delays progress. In the words of Jonathan Kopp, a session moderator and global director of Ketchum Digital, the digital space is still “a swamp of budget and authority confusion and competition between marketing and PR functions on the client side and between interactive, advertising and PR firms on the service side.”

PR has a ways to go. Internally, PR has yet to resolve issues surrounding its own positioning and integration. Should firms market themselves as PR agencies that do social media or social media agencies that do PR? Should we create separate social media plans or PR plans that include social media?

But selling social media internally can’t just be about generating coverage, comments and downloads. It has to have broader value across the enterprise.

David Berkowitz another moderator and senior director at 360i has it right. The most successful social media strategists are those best equipped to communicate with their customers and key constituents, handle customer service issues, tap it for research and development, mine it for its HR/recruiting potential, and use it in other ways that can fundamentally impact their organizations.

Take Frank Eliason at Comcast. He and his team have generated a great deal of positive PR by successfully using Twitter (@comcastcares or http://www.twitter.com/comcastcares) to elevate Comcast’s commitment to customer service.  Similarly, Ernst & Young has used its Careers Facebook fan page to get the message to recent graduates that the accounting firm is forward-looking place to work.

Social media presents an opportunity for PR practioners to extend their mandate and identify new revenue opportunities that don’t merely replace traditional media with new media.

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I am still recovering from Friday’s PR Camp New York.  Check out attendee response on Twitter (#PRCamp). Good feedback only makes me want to do more camps next year. (Any recommendations for cities?)

I am putting together the notes from the discussions. Much was said about Gen Y, client buy in and alignment, but two topics stood out for me: storytelling and measurement.

Let the Numbers Tell the Story

It seemed clear from many  in the room that storytelling (and message development) remain a key point of differentiation for PR professionals. We do it well, even as blogs, Twitter and Facebook transform the way we tell our clients’ stories.

Take the press release.  It’s a time tested storytelling tool. But during the camp discussion, Chris Andrew (@chrisa270), vice-president-group director media at Digitas declared it dead.  And Jonathan Kopp (@jonathankopp), global director at Ketchum Digital stressed the importance of the social press release. But a well written press release with a lead, body and conclusion is not going away.  It still serves as a statement of record and required when the subject is material.

But no matter how well we tell our story, it is still hard to measure its value.  PR continues to struggle with measurement.  What are the best metrics for engagement? Are they any more meaningful and accurate than the old measurements? And what are the best tools to help us measure success?  Many in the room seemed to need help in finding answers.

In many respects, interactive marketing does a better job in measurement.  They have to.  They are more accountable for click throughs and signups.  Numbers rule their world.  Messages rule ours.  But I am not sure we want to cede this ground.

I think social media presents us with an opportunity to play a leadership role in a company’s overall marketing and communications strategy — if only we could demonstrate our effectiveness and deliver meaningful ROI.

It’s time  that PR lets the numbers tell our story.

Peter Shankman leading a break out session on measuring success

Future PR Camps may take these topics head on. What does storytelling look in the age of social media?  What is the best way to sell this new form of storytelling to clients?  And how do we measure success?  We started the process informally on Friday. It may be necessary to formalize the discussion.

It would be interesting to explore social media sites and ancillary data extracting tools.  By testing these tools and developing standards to evaluate them, we will be better positioned to analyze:

- time spent on free vs. premium services

- risk associated with doing no social media

- what to do with the information

- the best distribution path for communication and reports

- geography and behaviors of your audience

- the value to your organization

- the ability to meet your goals

I believe this analysis is critical to better sell our social media programs.

Moderators present their recommendations

Word of Thanks

No event would be complete without the participation of moderators, attendees ,volunteers and of course a sponsors and partners. I would like to thank everyone who participated.  But I would also like to call out Lloyd Trufelman, Bill Sobel, Dean Landsman, Howard Greenstein, Danielle Culmone and Mark Miranda for their help, insight and hard work.

Clients and Partners:

PR Newswire

Advertising Club of New York

Bernardo’s List

Gorkana

Landsman Communications Group

Mashable

New York AMA

NextWeb

PRSA New York

O’Dwyers

SobelMedia

Social Media Club New York

Trylon SMR

212 New York’s Interactive Advertising Club

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Oasis covers the Boomer Generation classic: The Who’s My Generation

The next generation of PR and marketing: Natan, Jennifer, Aditi, Zontee

Go into any agency or corporate marketing or PR department, and you will see the balance of power shifting. The New York Times still matters, but more and more, Generation Y is using social media to reshape how we do our jobs.

As I have posted before, this generation consumes information differently. It’s more apt to rely on its network of friends than traditional news sources, prefers Facebook to Twitter, assumes everything it sees is marketing and views social media as a personal expression of themselves.

In short, they use social media very differently from the way Baby Boomers and Generation X do.

And even more importantly, in fewer than 10 years, this generation numbering 92 million will become the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. [source: Aon Consulting]

Exploring social media along the generational divide is the focus of one of the sessions at the upcoming PR Camp New York. Four very junior PR and marketing professionals and students will pair off with seasoned counterparts to discuss how they are using social media and what the different generations can learn from each other.

The goal is to use these generational differences to improve communications and performance in the workplace.

Looking for insights into the mind of Generation Y, I asked the four young professionals who are serving as co-moderators to share their perspective on social media.

- Natan Edelsburg is currently majoring in Media, Culture and Communication at NYU and wants to pursue a career in digital marketing.

- Aditi Mehta is a recent college graduate and currently works as an account executive in the client services department for a digital marketing agency called Epsilon.

- Jennifer Kohanim currently works at Fleishman-Hillard, specifically in the digital practice group–working with clients including AT&T and Tommy Hilfiger.

- Zontee Hou is the marketing content editor for Lion Brand Yarn Company.

How do Gen Yers approach social media differently than Boomers and Gen Xers?

The Generation Y anthem: Now Generation by the Black Eyed Peas

Natan Edelsburg: We’re the Now Generation, to quote the Black Eyed Peas. What rock n’ roll was for the Boomers and Gen Xers, social media is for us.

The main difference is that when something new comes out, we like to dive right into it. We want to be part of the new trend, we want to manipulate and mold the new trend, and we want to help develop the newest and coolest forms of media/communication…Boomers and Gen Xers tend to be scared or skeptical about social media.

Jennifer Kohanim: I say I approach social media with far less anxiety than a Boomer and a Gen Xer. In other words, I’m fairly confident that I can figure out the technology…I wonder if Boomers and Gen Xers approach social media with the same confidence and assurance.

Aditi Mehta: People from my generation use social media for all sorts of reasons…Social media sites allow us to constantly be connected to each other on an interactive level, and they serve as entertaining alternatives to boredom, free time and procrastination. I have noticed that Gen Xers and Boomers mainly use social media to network with known colleagues, friends and family, or for professional advancement and networking.

Zontee Hou: I think that Gen Y comes to the table with an attitude that their lives are public to a large extent. Having grown up with reality TV and a tabloid culture on steroids, Gen Yers believe that transparency is key not only to the way they live, but also the way the brands with which they interact present brand image. Authenticity is key.

What Can Gen Yers Learn from Boomers and Gen Xers and vice versa?

Natan: “Instead of being skeptical about new media and avoiding it they need to test/experience it the same way we do. They also need to recognize that our generation communicates differently. We grew up on AIM and texting and then Facebook. We’re used to collaboration and mixing work and play and we need to know that our employers understand that.”

Jennifer: “Gen Yers can learn from the vast historical perspective their older colleagues have. An older colleague can very easily understand the natural cycles of the economy or of a particular company because of their historical perspective, while a younger colleague may only be judging a circumstance in the moment. On the flip side, it seems that younger colleagues often bring a fresh look to the business picture–younger people question more and ask the why’s that make their older colleagues really consider!”

Aditi: “Gen Yers should learn to take advantage of the career advancing and networking aspects of social media sites in the same way as Gen Xers and Boomers. By communicating with Gen Yers, Gen Xers and Boomers can learn how to best market to and reach out to users of social media sites without seeming spammy or cheesy.

“I think the most important thing we can learn from them is that we often need to slow down…We need to remember how patient they were in proving themselves and achieving their success, instead of trying to do everything at once all the time, the way our media habits tend to be.”

Zontee: “I think that Gen Yers can learn to take a worldlier view. This is a generation that has come to the table wanting instant gratification, thinking they know everything. Gen Xers & Boomers offer a broader world view, a sense that some things take time, and a less “disposable” approach to goods and services.

“Gen Xers & Boomers, I believe can learn a great deal about displaying a public passion for those things they care about and how that can effect others; from politics to popular products and games Gen Yers make their voices heard and they want to influence others in a real and tangible way.”

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This is a sampling of what will be discussed at PR Camp New York. And don’t forget the Boomers and Gen Xers need to weigh in. Share your thoughts on the PR Camp Facebook page.

Let me get back to you.

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