"People are looking for filters to get the highest quality of content they can," said Ron Bloom, CEO of PodShow Network. I almost missed this quote while reading through chapter eight, "The Talkers" of The New Influencers.
I'm glad I felt compelled to read the side examples, if not, I would have missed this quote that so concisely expresses my reasoning for majoring in Public Relations. Ron hits the nail on the head.
Everywhere you look, whether in your house(atleast mine), at your university, riding your bike or walking your dog, messages are being thrown at you left and right. Every time I turn on my television or radio I am bombarded by audio and visual messages that I really couldnt care less about.
Enter podcasting and videocasting. With new mediums such as these, people are able to boradcast highly targeted messages like never before. I now have the choice to listen to things I actually care to hear about, and be able to respond directly to the creator of the message.
Although podcasts may not be as interactive in nature as blogs, they indeed present many growth opportunities for bloggers looking to capture a specialized niche.
Presently, marketers and PR professionals may be dissuaded from using podcasts or video casts because of the comparably much lower audience than captured on traditional media like television.
However, I belive the "beauty" of mediums like podcasting and videocasting are their ability to capture primarily only active audiences who are currently engaged in learning more about a product, service, hobby, cause, etc.
Reaching the general masses may be good, but reaching the specific masses that are most likely to act on behalf of your cause is GREAT.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Why Do Social Media Campaigns Fail?
I just read an excellent article about the difficulty of generating tangible results from social media camapaigns. This brings up a great question, what are the criteria by which to determine the success of a social media campaign?
In an article posted by Caroline McCarthy, media analyst Adam Sarner expresses his belief that social media campaigns need "...a way to serve both the company putting out the campaign and the audience interacting with it."
How do we as PR practitioners begin to engage our audience in a way that goes beyond just creating "buzz," but also drives people to action (whether that be to engage a specific brand, or influence an action)?
Fortunately, I've been able to find some useful information about how to engage consumers. on
he blogs about engaging consumers through the use of widgets.
According to Spoon, good widgets are the result of 3 factors:
I Suggest you check out the articles, they are good sources for beginning to piece together the puzzle that is a successful social media campaign.
In an article posted by Caroline McCarthy, media analyst Adam Sarner expresses his belief that social media campaigns need "...a way to serve both the company putting out the campaign and the audience interacting with it."
How do we as PR practitioners begin to engage our audience in a way that goes beyond just creating "buzz," but also drives people to action (whether that be to engage a specific brand, or influence an action)?
Fortunately, I've been able to find some useful information about how to engage consumers. on
he blogs about engaging consumers through the use of widgets.According to Spoon, good widgets are the result of 3 factors:
- Give Users a Reason to Come Back
- Make it Customizable
- Market Softly and Carefully
I Suggest you check out the articles, they are good sources for beginning to piece together the puzzle that is a successful social media campaign.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Thank God for Monday
Thank God for Monday.... four words I never thought I would utter. Clearly I didnt know what I was getting myself into when I left on Thursday for the Regional ITA tennis tournament in St. Louis Missouri.
Although the tournmanet was a good experience, it was completely exhausting. To start, the bus ride to St. Louis was just under seven hours. I can't speak for others, but I know I can never seem to sleep well on a bus and usually end up staring out of a window for hours on end.
After what seemed like 10,000 miles of corn, wheat and soy bean fields I finally reached St. Louis. However, regretably, nobody informed me that St. Louis is composed of the most complex series of twisting one-way streets ever conceived by mankind.
Luckily we were fortunate enough to only spend an hour and a half circling St. Louis looking for the Red Roof Inn that was in reality five minutes away from the exit we got off on.
Ridiculously long bus rides and confusing streets weren't even the most taxing part of the weekend. My favorite part of every weekened was ripped away from me..... my sleep.
Although I enjoy playing tennis, waking up at 7 a.m. is not my ideal weekend. Suffice it to say, two days and 13 hours of sleep, five matches and seven more hours on a bus later I am sitting on my couch and am actually looking forward to sleep until 7:30 for my 8 a.m. class.
Although I enjoy playing tennis, waking up at 7 a.m. is not my ideal weekend. Suffice it to say, two days and 13 hours of sleep, five matches and seven more hours on a bus later I am sitting on my couch and am actually looking forward to sleep until 7:30 for my 8 a.m. class.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Democratizing or Reublicanizing of the Web?
In Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's Citizen Marketers, much time is spent analyzing the democratization of the Web. But I ask the question, doesn't it seem that this democracy is being side stepped for the republicanization of the Web?
I completely agree with the basic tenents of their argument, in which increased broadband speed, availability of more tools and open source data sharing lead to the increased ability of citizen marketers to disseminate both compelling and entertaining information.
However, does this not reflect America as a whole in that the majority of people THINK we are living in a democratic society when in fact we are more like a republic? Is it not true of both our government and the evolving blogosphere that a small number of elceted representatives are (for the most part) in charge of the country/ blogosphere?
As with government, when citizen marketers defer much of their authority to several prominent Web figures (like our Digg's and Technorati's) they have transferred a great deal of power to a select few.
Understandably, many would argue that I am way off base, and that Web sites like Digg and Technorati (both of which I have quickly fallen in love with) are merely a representation of what the blogosphere is already chatting about, calculated through numerous complex systems of algorithims and that whole shpeel (like that word? me too). But, as with elected officials, how do we know that special interest groups aren't really running the show behind the scenes?
Maybe this is just my skeptical nature at work, or maybe I'm on to something(wishful thinking perhaps?). I would love to hear back from anyone who can support or even better, contradict my statements.
I completely agree with the basic tenents of their argument, in which increased broadband speed, availability of more tools and open source data sharing lead to the increased ability of citizen marketers to disseminate both compelling and entertaining information.
However, does this not reflect America as a whole in that the majority of people THINK we are living in a democratic society when in fact we are more like a republic? Is it not true of both our government and the evolving blogosphere that a small number of elceted representatives are (for the most part) in charge of the country/ blogosphere?
As with government, when citizen marketers defer much of their authority to several prominent Web figures (like our Digg's and Technorati's) they have transferred a great deal of power to a select few.
Understandably, many would argue that I am way off base, and that Web sites like Digg and Technorati (both of which I have quickly fallen in love with) are merely a representation of what the blogosphere is already chatting about, calculated through numerous complex systems of algorithims and that whole shpeel (like that word? me too). But, as with elected officials, how do we know that special interest groups aren't really running the show behind the scenes?
Maybe this is just my skeptical nature at work, or maybe I'm on to something(wishful thinking perhaps?). I would love to hear back from anyone who can support or even better, contradict my statements.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Accounting 101, and why you should actually care
After just finishing my first accounting test, I'm beginning to realize the full potential of a sound knowledge of accounting principles. Not only is a knowledge of accounting good for any future career, but it comes in handy during trying economic times like those we find ourselves in at the moment.
While surfing for some good Business/ Financial Investment blogs I came across an amazing blog about "sensible personal finance" created by a self proclaimed "...average guy who found himself deep in debt."
The author of blog Get Rich Slowly discusses his journey out of $35,000 debt, and the philosophies and life lessons he learned along the way.
In addition to insightful posts, Get Rich Slowly provides the basic knowledge readers need to begin understanding their own and their countries economic troubles.
One such article I found especially interesting is What is Money? A Basic Economics Lesson from 1947
This blog is a must read for anyone interested in learning a little more about what they can do to save some $$$$ (aren't we all?).
While surfing for some good Business/ Financial Investment blogs I came across an amazing blog about "sensible personal finance" created by a self proclaimed "...average guy who found himself deep in debt."
The author of blog Get Rich Slowly discusses his journey out of $35,000 debt, and the philosophies and life lessons he learned along the way.
In addition to insightful posts, Get Rich Slowly provides the basic knowledge readers need to begin understanding their own and their countries economic troubles.
One such article I found especially interesting is What is Money? A Basic Economics Lesson from 1947
This blog is a must read for anyone interested in learning a little more about what they can do to save some $$$$ (aren't we all?).
Saturday, September 27, 2008
What to take away from the slideshow
I Think this slideshow is an excellent introduction to the uses of important networking sites such as Twitter and the like.
Matt Dickman brings up a great point in his slideshow. Communication mediums are becoming soooo saturated these days the best way to make a real impact is through a MULTI-FORMAT or multi-medium approach.
As Dickman points out, we are practitioners of the 21st century, and as such we have easy access to multiple mediums of communication inclduing; text, audio, video and photography.
So what can we do to make the most of all of these forms of communication? And what does a modern marketing mix containing these mediums look like? All questions I wish I knew the answer too.
But as I crawl my way through this experience I have found a few interesting insights. Once of the most compelling conversations about these emerging questions was posted on The Daily Joe, an interesting blog about "Publishing + Marketing insights in the age of user-generated content from Joe Kutchera."
Kutchera was able to talk with Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra about the emerging trends in the blogosphere and where this is all leading. The conversation is insightful and I would reccomen this as a read well worth your time.
Matt Dickman brings up a great point in his slideshow. Communication mediums are becoming soooo saturated these days the best way to make a real impact is through a MULTI-FORMAT or multi-medium approach.
As Dickman points out, we are practitioners of the 21st century, and as such we have easy access to multiple mediums of communication inclduing; text, audio, video and photography.
So what can we do to make the most of all of these forms of communication? And what does a modern marketing mix containing these mediums look like? All questions I wish I knew the answer too.
But as I crawl my way through this experience I have found a few interesting insights. Once of the most compelling conversations about these emerging questions was posted on The Daily Joe, an interesting blog about "Publishing + Marketing insights in the age of user-generated content from Joe Kutchera."
Kutchera was able to talk with Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra about the emerging trends in the blogosphere and where this is all leading. The conversation is insightful and I would reccomen this as a read well worth your time.
Great Slideshow about Twitter from Matt Dickman
Using Twitter for Marketing, Branding and Customer Service
From: mattanium, 2 months ago
My presentation to the Cleveland Web Association on July 15, 2008. The presentation covers micromedia and its impact on branding, marketing and customer service.
SlideShare Link
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