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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Mobile will be amazing … in about 10 years
2008-09-22 14:08:00
Just about the time when social media marketing truly comes into its own — when you can really mean it when you say everyone is doing it — mobile marketing will take its place as the “next big thing.” That’ll be in about eight or 10 to 15 years from now. Let’s just say 10, give or take a few. Relatively speaking, there’s a small portion of the U.S. adult population active in social media. Still a large number, but still enough room to ignore it and still be successful. Ultimately, you go where your market is, and active social media marketing is not right for everyone. (I say active, but most all businesses should  be monitoring.) While many most businesses and agencies are trying to get a handle on social media marketing and how to justify it, they need to keep an eye on mobile marketing. Because boy oh boy, it’s coming. And, the potential will be much greater than social media marketing. At some point, much more so than social media...
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Game time: Name that employer! Name any blogger!
2008-09-17 15:42:00
A little while ago, I published a post about personal branding versus corporate branding. It was based on a post by Paul Chaney. Later, David Binkowski wrote on a different perspective about it. There’s still a lot of great potential for great discussion about the pros and cons of an employee who blogs at his/her own blog, gets a huge following and that impact on the employer, and on and on and on. While thinking (again) about it Tuesday morning, it hit me. It’d be fun to take a little test. Below are lists of well-known bloggers and corporate blogs. For the bloggers, can you name the employer? For the corporate blogs, can you name the blogger (or any, for those with multiple authors)? Name that employer! Steve Rubel (okay, gotta include some gimmes) Jason Fallis Chris Brogan David Binkowski Kevin Dugan Josh Hallett Paul McEnany Matt Dickman Leo Bottary Robert Scoble (don’t ya still first think MSFT?) Note: While there are many great female bloggers out there, th...
More About: Blogger , Time , Game , Employer

Educate, educate, educate
2008-09-15 05:09:00
Early in my career, the need for continuous education of clients was impressed upon me. Since then, I’ve seen over and over and over yet again that there definitely is a need for continual client education. And, internal, company/employer education as well. In many ways, you can substitute selling when you’re talking about educating. The need to educate or sell clients should be pretty evident. Clients need to have some understanding of what we’re doing for them and why. Yes, results need to be there. However, it’s clients’ understanding and eventual solid trust in us that produce long-term relationships and will keep clients from looking elsewhere for our expertise. As with clients, there is the same need to educate internally — whether you work in-house or for an agency. Of course, we need to educate down the chain — that is people we supervise and those new to the company. A smart sales manager for a former client said his job was to trai...

Business and communications planning…made simple
2008-09-10 14:46:00
Like many others, I belong to various discussion boards and groups. One is the Young PR Pros Yahoo! Group. A few years ago, Greg Brooks posted a reply in a thread that I’ve found very helpful. It’s a framework that clarifies and clearly defines words like strategy, goals and tactics — words easily confused. And words I’ve seen loosely tossed around like buzz phrases. It’s a framework that has helped me remain focused when I’ve developed or been involved in marketing and communications planning and proposal development. I’ve found it very helpful — and I hope you find it helpful as well. Mission: Reason for being; purpose Goal: On-going behavioral target related to the mission. Objective: Measurable step supporting the goal. Achieving an objective consumes resources. Strategy: The approach chosen to achieve an objective; the set of activities or projects designed to achieve the objective. Tactic: An activity or project that supports t...
More About: Business , Planning , Made , Simple , Communications

Research resources
2008-09-02 06:16:00
From time to time, you need a stat to include in a presentation. Or, you’re looking to make a case for an idea or new strategy. Or, simply, you’re looking to pass on good, meaty, worth-while industry trend information to clients or co-workers. I’ve been there before. So, as Labor Day Weekend wraps up and the work week begins, check out below what I hope are some labor-saving research, trend and case study resources. MarketingChats.com eMarketer Aberdeen Group Forrester Research Pew Internet comScore Mobile Marketing Association’s Case Studies Word of Mouth Marketing Association Case Study Library Scarborough Research Internet World Stats I’m sure there are many other great resources. If you have a favorite or two not listed above, please share in the comments. -Mike
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Can people be too transparent?
2008-08-29 13:31:00
Just with the post when I asked if companies can be too transparent, people can, too. Let me explain. ToledoTalk.com is an active, local discussion board. A more politically-focused one — SwampBubbles.com — grew out of it when politics seemed to be reigning on ToledoTalk. I’ve stayed away posting and commenting my political and other potential emotionally charged views on SwampBubbles, as well as local blogs. Why? Because I didn’t want a current or potential client to make a judgment on my employer because of my political or other personal views. Of course, wherever I post or set up a profile, I post who I am in my profile, including my blog and on my blog, I post my employer. So, it’d be easy to find out my employer by checking in on me. Real, serious, professional prospective and current clients very likely wouldn’t have let my views affect how they view my employer. But, some may. And, that’s not a chance I wanted to take. So, I stayed &m...
More About: People , Transparent

Other great points….
2008-08-27 13:26:00
It’s been awhile since I’ve done an “other great points” post, so without further delay, here’s one for today: Not Everyone is as Amazing as Jason Calacanis, Christine Perkett/PerkettPRsuasion Blog ‘It takes a Community, not a Campaign to Build a Brand’ and the 18 Steps to Building Successful Brand Community, Sean Moffitt/BuzzCanuck Companies: Put social media in the hands of your connectors, Mack Collier/The Viral Garden Inside // Out: Fire Eagle, Matt Dickman/Techno//Marketer The Dream Job, Ike Pigott/Occam’s RazR (HHMM. Never thought of that job-search exercise. It looks like a simple way to graphically crystalize what you seek in a job.) The medium may change, but the message still has value, Brad Marley/Airfoil Public Relations Take care and enjoy the day! -Mike
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Don’t mess with those XX chromosomes!
2008-08-22 06:18:00
Any dad will tell you — even if he at first won’t admit it — moms rule the ol’ castle. Well, if not “rule,” then moms make most of the decisions. Maybe it’s a hormonal or evolutionary thing that kicks in once women have kids. I dunno. While I am partial to moms, since I am married to one (note: she became a mom after we married), actually, moms are just a subset of the larger group among us known as women. Yes, women may not often be in formal positions of power and can be quiet or unassuming (well….okay, skip the bad, sexist jokes). But, beware: There’s a lot out there and they are strutting their influence more and more. Don’t believe me? How’s this: Women purchase upwards of 80% plus of consumer products (and that jumps to 94% when you’re talking about home stuff). According to Nielsen Online@Plan, there were 32.4 million women online with children under 18 in their household as of winter 2007/2008, making ...
More About: Mess

Position wanted
2008-08-21 06:39:00
At first glance, I’m going to say that Wednesday, Aug. 20, stunk. I was laid off. However, as far as I’m concerned, I’m parting on good terms. I have good feelings about my time at Hanson Inc., and would recommend the firm. (A bit ironically though, Hanson is seeking to hire solution architects, designers and programmers. If you want a contact name, let me know, or use the email or form on the site.) But, it’s time to move forward. I am looking for gainful employment, project work, freelance assignments — whatever can legally, ethically and morally generate income for my family while adding value to the company signin’ the check! If you are looking for someone who offers experience in: Newspaper journalism (4+ years and periodic freelance since that early part of my career) Public relations, with emphasis in media relations, and experience in other marketing communications (14+ years) Social media monitoring and outreach (3+ years) Strategic p...
More About: Wanted , Position

Can a company be too transparent?
2008-08-19 19:05:00
There seemed to be a lot of talk this morning on Twitter about Dell listening. Okay, actually Dell and Radian6 listening. But, that’s Radian6’s job so that should be no big deal. And, hasn’t Dell been listening? It’s made great, positive headway for how it has become involved in social media — and connecting with and listening to its marketplace. Within a short time span, I counted six tweets about the Dell listening post. http://twitter.com/mmanuel/statuses/89218 9084 http://twitter.com/kamichat/statuses/8921 78331 http://twitter.com/lebrun/statuses/892154 310 (Okay, that’s from Radian6 CEO Marcel Lebrun. So, that one is rightfully expected.) http://twitter.com/jowyang/statuses/89214 3804 http://twitter.com/zenaweist/statuses/892 132780 http://twitter.com/conniereece/statuses/8 92128590 And, I’m sure there are others I missed. My point is about why Dell needs to tell me how it’s listening. Should we really care about the how? I know it is...
More About: Company , Transparent

PR terms we need to ban from the profession
2008-08-14 18:46:00
As we see on a cyclical basis, public relations pros take a beating. While many are sticking up for their profession, we don’t always help ourselves. So, in the spirit of a PSA, have a look at the below words and phrases that should be banned from every PR pros’ vocabulary and branding brainstorm session. Buzz: What are you a bee? Buzz implies short-attention-span, fleeting. What about generating conversations, talk, exposure, etc. Spin: Tops spin, I don’t. Being a “spin doctor” or other usage of the word implies you’re not being straight, avoiding the truth. Flack: Like spin, it sounds flaky, sounds too much like plaque and just sounds derogatory. Hits: When talking about the success of a news release (see next) or story pitch, we often talk about the hits or number of media placements it received. (Guess, if you’re going to pitch, you want hits?) In some cases, hits is a good term, but there are better terms. Particularly, in social media,...
More About: Profession , Terms

Can personal branding take a backseat to corporate branding?
2008-08-13 06:07:00
(UPDATED 8/13/08 approx. 7:20 a.m.: Revised the headline to reflect new thoughts on the subject had this morning. Original headline was: “When should personal branding take a backseat to corporate branding?” and added some additional points at the bottom.) Paul Chaney has a great post with even better comments on personal branding. Go over there and read it, if you haven’t already. I’ll wait… Okay, welcome back! In your reading, you probably saw what I think is a great summary of the benefits of personal branding — and the problem with personal branding. It was a comment by Chris Brogan: “[P]ersonal brands are best when used in synergy with an organization that understands them…. I think that Jason Falls is a god amongst men, and if he quits his job tomorrow and joins Jaiku, I’ll leave Twitter in support. “ Personal branding has tremondous benefits to the employer of the person. Robert Scoble was almost as synonymous wit...
More About: Branding , Corporate

Don’t forget the tried and true basics
2008-08-12 06:54:00
My oldest son turned 10 last weekend. It was an Indiana Jones theme party (my wife throws great kids’ parties), and he received Indiana Jones toys, plus Star Wars and other commercialized toys. He’s already enjoyed playing with them and will in the future. He (and his siblings) have also enjoyed playing with two airplanes one friend bought him (one pictured here). They’re not tied to any movie or TV show. They’re what I would call traditional, tried and true toys. Airplanes. Just like it’s easy to get caught up with toys that echo the hotest new movie and forget about the fun you can have with such non-commercial toys, it’s also easy to get caught up in the latest trend in our professions. But, let’s not forget about some tried and true basics: Know what goal(s) you want to accomplish, and set objectives to achieve the goal(s). Then, develop supporting strategies and tactics to achieve those objectives. Don’t do just do what you di...
More About: True , Basics

You can’t change history…or, can you?
2008-08-07 18:44:00
Recently, I received a request to remove an old blog post because one of the people in it didn’t like the fact that I blogged about the person making a mistake. (I’m keeping it vague because the subject of that particular post doesn’t really matter for this post.) I didn’t remove the post, but did update it, and changed the headline to tone it down some. (Even that wasn’t needed, but I was trying to be nice.) On Twitter, I posed the question if there’s any reason to remove a blog post. I didn’t get any public response (yay or nay and why), but did get some private messages. One person said he’d remove the post. Yes, I know blogging and the stuff I write about isn’t earth shattering. And, removing an old post won’t cause WWIII. Still — and maybe it’s the former journalist in me — I just don’t like changing history. (Though, every once in a great while, I will delete a tweet.) The Internet is filled wi...
More About: History , Change

Is this how you promote public health?
2008-07-31 05:20:00
My company had an outing at the Toledo Mud Hens game the other day. I parked in a parking garage near 5/3 Field, saw the game, had a good time, left and went home. A day later, I happened to look at the ticket and noticed what looked like a PSA. But it wasn’t. Half the front (right) and all of the back of the ticket dealt with how you should prepare if the bird flu broke out locally. And, it was developed by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department “funded by a grant from the Ohio Dept. of Health.” First, did the Ohio Dept. of Health pay for that information to be printed on the ticket? (Ohio tax dollars at work?) Secondly — and more importantly from a marketing perspective — is a parking ticket really the best way to reach people with that information? I mean, who really reads a parking stub? I happened to be because I was in my minivan the next day, waiting for a minute to pick up a friend. Otherwise, I don’t read parking stubs. Is this reall...
More About: Promote , Public , Public Health

Green will only grow if it makes green
2008-07-30 05:57:00
Joel Bittle over at Green BuildingElements makes several good points about how builders should consider the reality of building green. That it can be less costly — at least the same as — traditional building. While the energy part of being or building green can be easily seen — if you can save a few bucks to be green, do it — his points on health (the long-term health affects) and sustainability wouldn’t inspire me to focus on green. (Maybe health, but it depends on the issue. For many health issues, it depends on what it is and if/how close it hits home. Bittle made a good comment about it.) The more conversation and debates there are around green, I think the more it’ll become more mainstream. But, only if it makes personal or business economic sense. Bottomline, I’m not going to be green just to be green unless it affects my bottomline. And, the bottomline for business is one that can steer business into awash of green washing. Companies &...
More About: Grow

The Entertainment Age?
2008-07-18 14:15:00
Are we no longer in the Information Age? What about the Age of Transparency? (Well, guess it can coinside.) Okay, online and mobile video usage is on the rise. And, as more people watch video online, their online devices are being more and more used for entertainment purposes — not news and stuff like that, according to a June 28, 2008, eMarketer story: “Key research from Deloitte Development signifies the shift away from TV to the Internet, with 69% of respondents in the firm’s second annual ‘The State of the Media Democracy’ survey saying their computer has become more of an entertainment device than their TV.” That same Deloitte study also found that 36% of all respondents use their “cellphone as an entertainment device.” And, according to MediaPost’s Research Brief blog (July 16, 2008): “Total hours with video-based entertainment on all platforms is forecasted to expand nearly 35% to about 8 hours (in 2013) on average, as consumers use ...
More About: Entertainment

Gone fishin’
2008-06-28 04:42:00
…and relaxing with the family. Started another post Thursday, but guess it’ll have to wait. Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive and — overall — a great week! –Mike                

It’s about relationships, stupid
2008-06-22 11:45:00
Holy Toledo: Oh-for-May and more than half of June? Oh well, busy stretches (busier than usual) of life and work means little time for blogging fun. While I’ve not been physically blogging, a number of posts have swirled around in my head. One is about the shareability measure: “The Shareability Measure: What Makes Consumers Share Viral Marketing Communications.” (Courtesy of MarketingVox from April 15.) The study is available free until the end of June. The study was conducted by MedTrackAlert and CNET, and presented at the Advertising Research Foundation convention. The study sought to find out “what leads consumers to talk about and spread advertising and marketing messages.” What the study showed and reinforced to me is applicable to all of social media — heck, all types of relationships. To be successful in building relationships, appeal to the egos or self-importance of others: People want to be known as or perceived as experts; the autho...
More About: Relationships , Stupid

Two for one post: Free has a price & teaching tactics
2008-05-01 05:43:00
Maybe it’s USA Today’s fault, maybe blogging is to blame or maybe I have Twitteritis. But, my attention span and getting around to putting together a post of any length is lacking of late. (Good thing there’s a monthly TalentZoo column and the periodic free-lance gig to keep me honest. See page 10.) Regardless, here’s one post with a couple points for your digestion and review: A lot on the Internet is free — but there’s still a price There’s a lot of “things” free about social media. Blogging is free. Social networking is free. Sharing pictures and video is free. Outside of social media, a lot on the Internet is free. Email is free. Job searching is free. And, a lot of information is free. And, some of that information is questionably accurate. As an example, Sandeep Krishnamurthy  has a very interesting article at iMediaConnection: Beware: the search advertising sky is falling. There’s good food for thought in Professor...
More About: Tactics , Post , Teaching , Free , Price

Newspaper ads drive Web research; ad revenues dropping. Huh?
2008-04-21 19:45:00
No matter how effective a particular tactic is, if it doesn’t reach a large enough audience, how effective is it really? From MarketingCharts: Print newspapers ads reach people at all stages of the buying cycle - inspiring web research at the beginning and prompting in-store/web purchase at the end, said the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), citing a Google study. Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo conducted the study for Google. “Newspaper advertisements drive readers to the web, where they search, find and obtain products,” said Spencer Spinnell, head of the Google Print Ads program. On the other hand, according to Editor & Publisher, the Newspaper Association of America (same group involved with the above), reported its “worst drop in advertising revenue in more than 50 years.“ According to new data released by the Newspaper Association of America, total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006 — the most s...
More About: Research , Drive

Playing favorites….
2008-04-18 04:38:00
I try not to be an extreme person. I tend to be leary of people who “just love everything.” (Reminds me of the law of diminishing returns.) And, I hate to be around those who seemingly are negative about most everything and everyone. While that approach tends to make me wishy-washy at times — I think — it does help me to keep things in perspective. On Twitter, I don’t “favorite” other tweets too often. But, I thought it be worth highlighting some of the 16 great quotes, lessons and pointers I’ve been fortunate to have seen. Not that my opinion necessarily counts more than others, so for what it’s worth, here are some of my Twittered favorites: Chris Heuer: Blogger relations programs are really more about leveraging personal relations and the reputations we have established in the online world 11:12 AM September 21, 2007 Chris Thilk: More discussion of B2B and social media: It all comes back to knowing the audience and finding t...
More About: Favorites

Everything I needed to know for public relations, I learned being a parent*
2008-04-01 05:35:00
(*First, if you are reading into the headline that I or PR communicators should treat their target audiences like children, you’re reading too much into the headline, taking it literally or trying to start something. That’s not the point of this post. If you still believe it is, please leave. Otherwise, I would most appreciate it if you continued reading and left your $0.02 with a comment.) During some email back and forth a couple weeks ago with Ann Handley regarding a comment I left on her blog, I was reminded how much my children teach me. Then it hit me — that much of what I’ve learned being a parent is very relevant to public relations and marketing communications. Each child is different, so you can’t parent them each the same way. Different temperaments, different personalities, different abilities, different ways they react to me (and my wife. From here on out, whenever I say me, I mean us). The same goes with the audiences we are trying to mar...
More About: Public Relations , Public , Relations , Learned , Parent

Offline v Online: Know thy audience
2008-03-26 06:05:00
Whether you work predominantly in offline marketing (like I used to) or work predominantely in online marketing (like I do now), knowing your audience and where you can find them is invaluable. Blogs, boards and social media in general have been around for many years. However, like most product lifecycles, they’re still in their infancy, still in the growth mode. Being so new, many people and companies are trying to carve out a social media expertise for themselves. That’s fine and good, but don’t get myopic. The United States population now is about 303+ million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Okay, but really, most of us are not marketing to youth. As of July 2003, there were 217.8 million people age 18 and older, with a total U.S. population of about 291 million people. So about 75% of the U.S. population were adults (18+ yoa) in 2003. Let’s assume that’s consistent with 2008. According to eMarketer, nearly 194 million people in the U.S....
More About: Offline , Online , Audience

The need to clearly communicate differentiation
2008-03-19 04:48:00
Often, one of the best results from reading blogs is that it spurs other, related thoughts. The judgement and weight given to how you differentiate your brand and the need for clarity in communication came to mind after reading the Mark Cuban/BlogMaverick post on Branding and Newspapers, a Lesson in How Not to Brand and Market. He makes several noteworthy points about the value of differentiation in branding. For example: Never, ever, ever consider something that any literate human being with Internet access can create in under 5 minutes to be a product or service that can in any way differentiate your business. If you feel that you must offer this product or service as a means of “keeping up” or as a checklist item that you must have for competitive reasons, then do everything possible to brand the product or service in a manner that segregates it from the masses. Perception is reality. If you can leverage your existing brand to create the perception that yours is diffe...
More About: Communicate

See a need, fill a need: Online tools finally coming of age
2008-03-05 06:00:00
See a need, fill a need: It’s a philosophy that is one of the primary themes of Robots (and what inspired Rodney). You could also say it’s the driving force in a free market, and why many businesses are started. While social media is still in its infancy — it’ll have a long life, so many years is still an “infancy” — many who’ve been involved have several years experience. Some of us, even have a couple! However, while the social media populus has been and continues to grow, the tools available to public relations professionals have been lacking, compared to what we’re used to offline. Offline, there’s media tracking services like Luce (okay, BurrellsLuce) and Bacon’s (okay, Cision), as well as newer online and less costly services like Factiva (via the WSJ) and NewsLibrary.com. If you’re tasked with keeping track of clients’/your employer’s media coverage, it’s great knowing you have other p...
More About: Tools , Online , Finally , Fill

Other great points . . . .
2008-02-28 19:12:00
For your browsing, reading and thinking pleasure, may I direct you to: I’m Done With Social Media, Dave Fleet/davefleet.com The Golden Rule of Media Relations, Kami Huyse, APR/Communications Overtones Demystifying “Above the Fold,” FluidDesign blog The Social Medium is the Message, Marcel LeBrun/Media Philosopher The Press Release Page: A New Approach to an Old Problem, Mike Manuel/MediaGuerrilla And, finally, some co-workers recently started a cigar blog. So, if you are a cigar connoisseur of any kind, check out El Cigarro Maximo. –Mike
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Writing — good writing — is very much lacking
2008-02-27 18:45:00
The basic purpose of any writing/typing is to accurately and succinctly communicate information that is clearly understood by the recipient(s). For some types of writing, maybe being succinct is not as high a focus (such in novel and other writing), and you can have double meanings to play on words. But, the basic premise is to be accurate and understood. Good , quality writing is a skill that is underappreciated and very much lacking across all media. Here’s an example from today on the front page of Yahoo! Taken a glance — which is what we often do on pages: glance or scan — it sounds like that Bobby Brown is not buying cocaine with money, but getting it in exchange for community service. He gives his time to help the community, and gets some drugs in return. Ain’t that nice! Of course, even though we know what it reads, we likely really know what it means. Is it just me being picky? I hope not. Simply, say what you mean and ensure that what you say and ...
More About: Writing

Does social networking bring us together … or ultimately separate us
2008-02-21 05:33:00
I’m not social scientist (though I like to think I play one in my job), but I wonder if there are any studies that show the natural evolution of socialization. And, if that natural evoluation of socialization actually builds up walls rather than bringing the larger community together. Let me explain more of what I think could happen regarding online social networking…. Through blogs, discussion boards, social networks, communities and even virtual worlds, we have opportunities to “meet” and “know” more people than we can via face to face networking. Through my own professional interest, I have way more than 50 blogs in my Bloglines account. Sure, I have other categories for my other, usually personal interests, but none that compare in quantity. Sure, for various work projects and other activities related to work, I explore other topics and niche blogs and communities in social media. But, while they are interesting and I love to learn, if it...
More About: Social , Social Networking , Networking

I have the power — Part II
2008-02-01 06:04:00
Control of branding and “the message” or word-of-mouth talk about a company, product, service, issue, etc., is a common theme in social media. It’s been written about in many books, on many blogs and, heck, even in person I’m sure. And, it came up in a brief back and forth Twitter conversation I had with Geoff Livingston Thursday. Maybe we’re talking about the same thing, but taking a different approach. Maybe it’s just semantics. Or, maybe we disagree. As I’ve said in the past, businesses ultimately have control. Or, at least, the most influence. Let’s start at the beginning: Essentially a company forms when someone sees a need in the marketplace and tries to fill it. (Yes, there are variances, like when a someone makes a product and then tries to find a need, but let’s stick with the basic premise.) Before that company starts, there is no conversation, reputation or perception about it. It didn’t exist. That company marke...
More About: Power , Part