Free Range Content: Brief Social media guide

... content, but also because me desire to communicate has been satiated by Twitter.Delicious.com/tag/freerangecontentSlideshare.net/aarronthe old modelHere’s how we’ve done things in the past. The ... managing events. Rather than spending a lot of time retooling-the system, I used Upcoming.org as a social CMS for this one bit of content, which helps make event management easy, which reaching ... managing events. Rather than spending a lot of time retooling-the system, I used Upcoming.org as a social CMS for this one bit of content, which helps make event management easy, which reaching...

... Doesthatprospectmakeyoufeelnervous?Good,itshould.Soherearesomequestionstogetyoustartedinyourinvestigation:www.pr‐squared.com10Haveofficial“rulesofengagement”re:bloggersbeendocumentedanddisseminated?Haveallmarketingemployeesreportingtocorporatemarketing(and/ortoabusinessunit)beeneducatedonthe“rulesofengagement”re:externalblogs?Isthereachancethatanyofthebusinessunitmarketinggroupshaveengagedinapaidorunpaidbloggerrelationscampaignalready?Ifanyofyourmarketingmanagershavepaidbloggerstowriteaboutourproducts/services,didtheyrequirepublicdisclosureoftherelationship?(Ifyoudigupunsettlinganswers,starttheprocessofdisclosinganypaidbloggerrelationshipsASAP.Youcanworryabout“whatwentwrong”later.)Bytheway,doyoutrulyalreadyhave“rulesofengagement”whenitcomestooutreachtobloggers?Thetipsonthenextpagewillgetyoustarted.It’sintheformofabookmark,soyoucanprintoutthepageandtakeascissortoit.AtSHIFT,thereisalaminatedversionofthisBloggerRelationsBookmarkoneveryemployee’sworkstation.Whatabout Social Media Releases?Idon’tsupposeIcouldwriteane‐bookabout Social Media Marketingwithoutmentioningmy“baby,”the Social Media Release(SMR).Whatisa Social Media Release,inessence?A Social Media Releaseconvertsthe100‐yearoldtext‐heavypressreleaseintoablogpost,withallofthecoolfunctionsofablog–includingmultimedia,theabilitytocommentandaggregateinboundlinks,etc.SMRscanpoweradirectconversationwithstakeholdersaboutyournews,andgivethemthecontentelementstocarryyourmessageforwardontheirown.Cool,right?Buthere’saradicalsuggestion:don’tputany Social Media Releasesoutoverthenewswires.WhileIsincerelyapplaudhowfarthewireservices(BusinessWire,Marketwire,PRNewswire,etal.)haveprogressedinall‐things‐ social, Iamunconvincedthat“distribution”istheBigIssuefor Social Media Releaseadoption.Thepowerofthe Social Media Releaseisnotaboutdistribution,it’saboutempowermentandconversation. ... whichmakesmethinkyoumightlikeTHIS.”www.pr‐squared.com0www.pr‐squared.com23SoIrecommendyouputoutawell‐written“traditional”releaseoverthewires,withabuilt‐inlinktothe social media version”atthecompany’sonlinenewsroom.Thusyoucanbypassthewireservices’outsizedSMRfeeswithoutgivingupontheirdistributionplatform.Todothis,however,youfirstneedtocreatea Social Media Newsroom,usingabloggingengine.The social media versionofapressrelease,postedtoa social media newsroom,canallowforeverythingfromrippablemultimedia(video,audio,graphics,etc.)tomoderatedcomments.Additionally,witheachnewsitempostedasablogentry,youcanaggregateallconversationalelementsaboutthatnewsinonespot,viatrackbacksandother social media trackingtools.Thisapproachofferstheaddedbenefitsofbeingalotlessexpensive;maintainingfullcontrolofbrandidentity;andturnsyournewsroom’s“version”ofthereleaseintothetrulyofficialversion.Withsomuchpotentialactivityhappeningaroundeachrelease,it’smorelikelythatanyonewhowritesaboutyournewsonlinewilllinkdirectlytothenewsroom,versuslinkingtotheheretofore“official”releasethatcomesfromtheprofessionalnewswires.ThisboostsSEO.(Infact,youmightalsoconsideranAdWordscampaigntodriveadditionalwebtrafficdirectlytoyourmostimportantnewsreleases.)Socializednews,socializedcontent.It’sjustsomuchmorefriendly!Needexamples?Hereare Social Media NewsroomsfromGeneralMotorsEurope,Cisco,Ford,Electrolux(andSHIFT)!www.pr‐squared.com12What’sitlooklikewhenyoudoagoodjobwithBloggerRelations?What’sthevalue?Herearesomegoodexamples:BloggerRelationsCaseStudy:MommybloggersJustwhenyouthinkthatmostagenciesarestartingto“get”BloggerRelations,awaveofbadexamplespop‐up.Luckily,manyconscientiousPRbloggershavehadthepatiencetoexplainbestpractices,andasanindustrywecanonlyhopeforpositivechange(and/orsomeforbearancefromjustifiablycrankybloggers).Meanwhile,weallcryoutforcasestudies,eh?Here’soneofours:Ourclient,TheNEATCompany,makesahandyportablescanner.Mostofourworkontheaccount,asyoumightexpect,hadbeenfocusedonbusinesspeopleand,specifically,roadwarriors.“Gotoabusinesslunch,thenscanthereceiptonthefrontseatofyourrentalcarbeforeyouleavetheparkinglot;buildyourexpensereportas‐you‐go.”Wegottonsofinkforthisstraightforwardpitch.Butonereporterwhomwe’dbeentalkingtohappenedtoleaveherpostatatechieoutlettoMarthaStewartOmnimedia.Wonderofwonders,NEATreceivedajoinhahigh‐profilehitwithMartStewart:whichpromptlycausedtheNEATscannertohit#1onAmazon.com,swampingthecompany’se‐commercesystemforaday.BetweentheMarthaStewartcoupandafewsubsequent“lifestyle”hits,wequicklyfiguredoutthatthissleekli’lscannerwasahitwithstay‐at‐homemotherswhoneededaneasywaytocapturetheirkids’drawings,theirhouseholdreceipts,familyrecipes,etc.Lo!Anewmarketwasborn.www.pr‐squared.com17• ... Doesthatprospectmakeyoufeelnervous?Good,itshould.Soherearesomequestionstogetyoustartedinyourinvestigation:www.pr‐squared.com10Haveofficial“rulesofengagement”re:bloggersbeendocumentedanddisseminated?Haveallmarketingemployeesreportingtocorporatemarketing(and/ortoabusinessunit)beeneducatedonthe“rulesofengagement”re:externalblogs?Isthereachancethatanyofthebusinessunitmarketinggroupshaveengagedinapaidorunpaidbloggerrelationscampaignalready?Ifanyofyourmarketingmanagershavepaidbloggerstowriteaboutourproducts/services,didtheyrequirepublicdisclosureoftherelationship?(Ifyoudigupunsettlinganswers,starttheprocessofdisclosinganypaidbloggerrelationshipsASAP.Youcanworryabout“whatwentwrong”later.)Bytheway,doyoutrulyalreadyhave“rulesofengagement”whenitcomestooutreachtobloggers?Thetipsonthenextpagewillgetyoustarted.It’sintheformofabookmark,soyoucanprintoutthepageandtakeascissortoit.AtSHIFT,thereisalaminatedversionofthisBloggerRelationsBookmarkoneveryemployee’sworkstation.Whatabout Social Media Releases?Idon’tsupposeIcouldwriteane‐bookabout Social Media Marketingwithoutmentioningmy“baby,”the Social Media Release(SMR).Whatisa Social Media Release,inessence?A Social Media Releaseconvertsthe100‐yearoldtext‐heavypressreleaseintoablogpost,withallofthecoolfunctionsofablog–includingmultimedia,theabilitytocommentandaggregateinboundlinks,etc.SMRscanpoweradirectconversationwithstakeholdersaboutyournews,andgivethemthecontentelementstocarryyourmessageforwardontheirown.Cool,right?Buthere’saradicalsuggestion:don’tputany Social Media Releasesoutoverthenewswires.WhileIsincerelyapplaudhowfarthewireservices(BusinessWire,Marketwire,PRNewswire,etal.)haveprogressedinall‐things‐ social, Iamunconvincedthat“distribution”istheBigIssuefor Social Media Releaseadoption.Thepowerofthe Social Media Releaseisnotaboutdistribution,it’saboutempowermentandconversation.  Social Media Releasev1.0 Social Media Releasev1.5www.pr‐squared.com22www.pr‐squared.com3813.Includealink(notahyperlink)toyourwebsite.Makesuretoincludethehttp://oftheURL.14.Ifthereleasehasasubhead,makesureitincludesakeywordphrase.Searchenginesgivemoreweighttoboldedtext(i.e.headline,subhead).15.Optimizeyourboilerplate–alwaysincludelinksandkeywords.16.Resistthetendencytoshortenterms.Forexample,ifyouarewritingaboutyourcompany’sbrandeddatamanagementsoftwareproduct,you’llbeinclinedtomakethesecondmention“thesolution”or“thesoftware.”However,peoplelookinginsearchengineswilltypein“datamanagementsoftware.”Repeating“datamanagementsoftware”asakeywordphrasewillhelpyourreleasebefound,while“thesolution”willnot.(But,trytokeepthewritingas“natural”aspossible.)17.Ifyourcompanyorproductfallsintoaparticularindustrythatisoftenreferredtobyanacronym,includeboththefulltermandabbreviationthroughouttherelease.Forexample,“CustomerRelationshipManagement”shouldbereferencedbyits“fullname,”and,“CRM.”18.Postallreleasesontheirownpermalinkedpageonyourwebsiteinadditiontosendingitoutoverwireservices.19.Beconsistentwithkeywordusebothinpressreleasesandonyourwebsite.Thewebsiteshouldhaveakeyworddensityofbetween2‐8%.Thistool,www.keyworddensity.com,allowsyoutoenteryourURLandchosenkeywordforacompletekeyworddensityanalysis.20.BuyAdWordsforthosekeywordsthatareverydifficulttogetinthefirstpageofresults(i.e.thosethataremoregenericandcolloquial,orcommonindustryterms).Puttingthisextracashtodrivetraffictoapressreleasecouldbevitaltohelpingtheimpressionsoftherelease,increasingvisibilityandthepossibilityofgreaterpickup.www.pr‐squared.com25ReachingDigitalNativesviaFacebookFirstoff,someoftheFacebookgroupsthatmarketersoughttocheckout,toincrease(andshare!)theirgeneralknowledge,include:•...

... pre -social me-dia bloggers from post -social media blog-gers. Through experimentation with a range of years, we found that the birthdates of students in college at the timewhen social media ... emergence of social media technologies. Wefind five years where binary classification is sig-nificantly more accurate than other years: 1977,1979, and 1982-1984. The appearance of social media technologies ... later shifts at 1979 and 1982,and the social networking sites, MySpace andFacebook coincide with the later shifts of 1982-Figure 5: The impact of social media technologies:The arrows correspond...

... Word3 Choosing PayPal for Social Media Isn’t This a Wallet?Where PayPal Fits in Social Media The Last WordPart 2 CHOOSING SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE4 Mapping the Social Media Landscape and KeyWebsitesGetting ... to Social Media, you will learn the following:• How to navigate the social media landscape• The best way to plan and implement a social media branding strategy• How to create content for social ... through social media and viralmarketing. PayPal recognizes this, and helps servemerchants who are eager to fully utilize social media to grow their businesses.In The PayPal Official Insider Guide...

... Yo u n e e d t h e No Bullshit take on social media marketing.Part I: Social Media Is for Hippies. Social Media Marketing Is for Business.”The social media purists laid a healthy foundation ... online social efforts.• Chapter 11,“It’s All About the Benjamins: Social Media MarketingDrives Sales”—How many social media evangelists have told you thatyou can’t sell through social media? ... the social media marketing world nowknows that companies need business outcomes from their social media efforts,namely increased sales, profits, and market share.When the early social media...