I love reading case studies or detailed analysis of campaigns to see what works … what doesn’t — and then applying some critical thinking. Would I have approached it this way? What would I have done differently? This week, I came across two examples of smart, exceptional work that got me thinking:

• Mint Puts Twitter Lists to Work — “Called Money Tweets, Mint’s newest addition is a great example of how businesses and services can exploit Twitter as a source for topical links to important news stories and helpful information. Money Tweets embraces the functionality of Twitter Lists and Twitter search to bring you posts from trusted news sources, tips from popular money management gurus and the hottest money-related discussions happening online.” Smart, right? There are lots of innovative applications for Twitter lists. How can your company — or your clients — incorporate this new functionality in a way that supports your overall communication goals?
• President Obama’s Remarks at Ft. Hood — This week, President Obama had the difficult task of memorializing the victims of the Ft. Hood shooting. The president, lauded for his public speaking skills, may have set a new standard for crafting and delivering speeches. In fact, many in the media called this his best speech ever. Reporter Marc Ambinder said, “I guarantee: they’ll be teaching this one in rhetoric classes. It was that good.” Politics aside, read the text of the speech. See how the writers crafted a story that struck the perfect tone. From a pure speech-writing perspective, I was struck by the obvious care and thought put into the transitions between each section. Can you learn from this work of speech mastery the next time you have to write remarks for your boss, client or self?

One last thing to leave you with: I made my debut on the PR Breakfast Club this week. In case you missed it, it’s a post about how individuals are using social media to do good. Along those lines, don’t forget to nominate your favorite nonprofit for Geben Gives. Nominations close Monday.

I learned more about the graying of lines between PR and advertising when researching ARAnet, a media company that offers two products: 1) Adfusion, an article-based cost-per-click advertising platform, recently named to the Upshot Institute’s 2009 list of 50 most innovative, powerful and useful online marketing tools; and 2) ARAcontent, which generates feature article placements to help companies build awareness in daily and weekly newspapers, as well as SEO-optimized online placements on hundreds of media websites. Scott Severson, the company’s president, says ARAcontent helps marketers and PR professionals reach and win new customers in a way that is relevant, measurable and effective.

Well, that piqued my interest! Scott was kind enough to answer a few questions and shed some light on integration and how a service like his fits into public relations.

Q&A With Scott Severson

Q: In years past, PR pros didn’t always place as much emphasis on true measurement as maybe they should have. In this current economy, with companies cutting budgets and communicators having to justify their actions, where do you tell PR people to start if they’re “rediscovering” PR measurement — or truly discovering it for the first time?

A:First, as an industry I think PR has let Google take credit for its work for too long, so I think the “current movement to measure the reality of the value that PR” provides is really important.

As PR is not one-size fits all, I always recommend starting with a client-centric approach to measurement. Meaning, measurement should be primarily based on the metrics that are important to the client. For us that used to mean, detailed print and online placement reports along with ad dollar equivalency. While we still provide these reports, our client’s goals are changing. More and more it means, measuring the lift in organic search ranking we generated as a result of our SEO work, or how are we helping our clients reach consumers through social media outreach.

Q: The lines between PR, marketing and advertising are becoming increasingly blurred. In the purest sense, it seems like your product falls under advertising, but I know you believe that integration is key. How do you see a service like Adfusion working as part of an integrated online strategy? And, why should it be on a PR person’s radar — and not just the media buyer’s?

A:Right now it’s a lot like the Wild West out there. There’s a huge online opportunity that is still up for grabs. PR should take note because while Interactive agencies generally understand the online channel better. But no one is better at telling a client’s story than PR. Obviously social media is a big part of this, but leveraging technologies like Adfusion that employ brand story telling in a very measurable way can help PR stake a claim to a larger share of the client’s budget.

Q: ARAcontent generates feature article placements in print and online publications that build awareness of clients’ products and services. Coming from that perspective, what are your thoughts on sponsored posts and sponsored tweets? Can you briefly explain similarities and differences between sponsored conversations and your service?

A: In general I think sponsored tweets and posts fine, if there’s an appropriate level of disclosure (see Jon Burg’s post about his take on recent FTC guidelines). With ARAcontent, when editors are pulling content from our site, it typically runs without sponsorship designation as the editor is making an active choice to run the article based on their interest in the content and they are not being paid to do so (however, some editors do provide sponsorship designation, if that’s their policy). In cases where we push content to online publishers and they have a financial incentive to run it, like they do with Adfusion, we always disclose that it is sponsored content.

Q: As a communication industry veteran, what do you tell practitioners who continue to ignore the power and importance of online communication, or leave it up to their younger staff members?

A: If you want to work in this space you have to embrace change. It’s a job requirement. For those who don’t like change, good luck finding work in one of the industries that isn’t going through this period of accelerated change that we’re presently experiencing. I really think it’s imperative to fully embrace where we’re heading. Regardless of age, none of us can afford to leave the responsibility of learning new things to someone else.

As PR people, what do you think about this kind of service? Have you gone this route? What kind of results did you get? If you haven’t gone down this path, would you consider it? Why or why not?

I thought I’d use this opportunity to make my video blogging debut, as well. But, I had a couple technical difficulties:

• You may need to turn your speakers up to hear what I’m saying. (Duly noted … I’ll fix that before my next video post!)
• For some reason, embedding video isn’t working today. Grr, right? So, instead, click here for the YouTube video.

My next foray into video should be a little smoother. In the meantime, please take a couple minutes to watch this message and do what you can to show your appreciation for our veterans!

I live in Orlando — so last week’s shooting hit close to home. Those kinds of things happen elsewhere — not in your own backyard! And certainly not on the heels of a shooting on an military base. The news initially broke as I was out to lunch. When I  returned to the office, local TV news was playing in our conference room. At my desk, I monitored Twitter and checked out the local online TV feeds (some much better than others). Throughout the day, I was impressed with the Orlando Sentinel — a paper that catches its share of flack. On this day, the paper embodied quick and relevant.

As PR pros, we understand how social media has changed information dissemination. But, I was impressed with the Sentinel’s “social news” approach. More than a few reporters shared details via Twitter. They developed a photo gallery. The technology reporter created a Twitter list aggregating media outlets tweeting news, as well as locals on lockdown tweeting what they heard and saw. The Sentinel even purchased orlandoshooting.com and redirected it to the site’s main page aggregating news updates.

It turns out that in a crisis, the most relevant reporters and media outlets also embrace speed of information sharing. (Note this common ground between PR people and reporters!) There’s been a lot of discussion recently about citizen journalism — it’s value and downfalls. What do you think it means when traditional reporters become part of the “citizen journalism” culture? How does this shift impact reporting, PR and the news process?

This week, I announced Geben Gives, and since then have been overwhelmed by the support of my social media friends. That got me thinking about all the amazing people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet online. Two examples:

• Lara Kretler, AVP/social media lead at Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations, in Columbus. Lara and I met via Twitter. Then, we met for coffee during one of my trips to Ohio. Since then, she’s been an incredible resource and “connector” as I prepare to move to Columbus. If you’re not connected with her already, go follow her right now. Seriously, she rocks.
• Justin Goldsborough, social media consultant at Fleishman-Hillard, is blogging 30 Causes in 30 Days, as part of #NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). I learned about this because today’s post is about Geben Gives. As I perused the other causes he’s already highlighted this month, I’m humbled to even be included in such great company. Want some inspiring, smart blogging? Check out Justin’s blog.

Have a great weekend!

Here’s how it works:

1. Tweet the following: I nominate [insert nonprofit here and be as clear as possible. If space permits, include a Twitter handle or URL] for #gebengives http://bit.ly/4GAZtu
2. Leave a comment on this post with the name of the organization (be as specific as possible) and its current URL. Then, if you’re on Twitter, tweet the following: “I just nominated [insert organization name] for #gebengives.”
3. Toward the middle of the month, I will announce the finalists, which primarily will be determined by the number of nominations. (However, I do reserve the right to use some personal discretion.) At that point, you will vote for the winner.

The winning organization will get to choose one of the following “packages,” whichever meets their specific PR/marketing/social media needs:

• Let’s Get Social includes an audit of existing social media initiatives, as well as the competition’s social media; brainstorming session with the organization to identify ways to begin (or improve) their social media presence. The deliverable is a social media strategy.
• The “Write” Stuff package is  just what it sounds like. I’ll draft copy for a website, brochure or other collateral piece of the organization’s choosing.
• Art of Storytelling will provide the winning organization with a media relations strategy — including compelling storylines and a customized, targeted media list (which can include bloggers where appropriate), as well as other creative ideas to increase strategic media coverage. Think of this as a media relations toolkit that will help the winning organization hit the ground running.

Nominations are being accepted now through November 18. The winner will be announced on December 1, coinciding with the Geben launch.

A few rules:

• Nominate as many nonprofit organizations as you like. Just provide a separate nomination for each entry.
• You can nominate your own organization. Follow the format above.
• Prior to making an announcement, I will contact the finalists to be sure they want to participate. (Feel free to help me out by leaving the contact’s email in the comments section.)
• The winning organization needs to be able to work with me during the month of December to complete the work.

That’s it. Simple, right? So start nominating your favorite nonprofits!

(P.S. If you’re a for-profit business, you’re not eligible for this contest. But, I’d still love to work with you! Email me at heather [at] gebencommunication.com, and let’s get started!)

Early in my professional career, I learned an important lesson. We worked with a client to create a glossy insert for the daily newspaper. Tons of time went into the piece; yet, somehow all the proofers overlooked a misspelled word prominently displayed on the cover. Oops! Thankfully, it wasn’t my client, but that taught me the importance of quality control.

Fast-forward a few years. The agency I work for has a reputation for high standards. When I first started working here, it boggled my mind that *everything* went through such a rigorous proofing process — whether it was a simple press release … or a high-end brochure. Sometimes, the process would frustrate employees. After all, who doesn’t want things to move along faster?!? But, I get it now. When the quality control process relaxes, bad things happen (e.g., see earlier example).

Economics influence the rigorous quality control process in place for print products. The cost to reprint a brochure is thousands of dollars. But, how do we approach the online world? It’s easy to fix an online mistake, right? After all, it’s not “permanent” … just change some code. (I get that sometimes things slip through the cracks. Surely, we’ve all written a blog post with a misspelling. But, I think that’s a little different than a website that serves as the “face” of a company.)

When agencies send brochures to clients for approval, they’re supposed to be mistake-free. But, when the client receives a test link, is it just about perfect? Here’s the thing: Quality control isn’t just about dollars and cents. It’s about your reputation. It’s a reflection of your standards.

After graduating college, my best friend and I would joke about the fact that we weren’t high maintenance … we just had high standards. At that time, we were talking about our dating habits. (We were just a wee bit selective!) But, that same concept still applies to my life. I’m not trying to be difficult, but I absolutely believe in the importance of high standards. If you don’t have that, what exactly do you have?

Are you noticing a lax in quality control with the increase of online communication? What steps do we need to take to make sure that our clients receive only our best work product — print or online?

Who doesn’t love discovering new tools that help us be more efficient or try a different approach? I came across two such services that I wanted to pass along. Now, keep in mind, I haven’t actually tested either of these tools yet. But, I do think they look promising and will be testing them out at some point in the near future. If you’ve tried them, let us know what you think!

• prezi — Prezi bills itself as “zooming sketches on a digital napkin.” In other words, it’s a much more interesting, creative way to deliver a presentation. It’s just cool! Finally, something other than PowerPoint. I am in the process of experimenting with it for a talk I’m giving next week. You can check out some sample presentations on their website. Then, think about how you can incorporate what one TechCrunch writer calls “the coolest online presentation tool” the next time you’re speaking to a crowd.
• wetoku — Bloggers can conduct and record interviews via videochat (without installing additional software). Interviews are immediately available to be embedded on blogs. Have a conversation with someone and then share it with readers on your blog. Apparently, it’s that simple! Anyone want to volunteer to test this with me?!?

Social Media = Cocktail Party

I recently spoke to a group of nonprofit executives and shared a quick story comparing Twitter to a cocktail party. If you haven’t heard the analogy, the short version is something like this: You wouldn’t walk into a networking function and start talking non-stop about how great your nonprofit is — and that everyone should donate immediately. Likewise, you can’t approach social media with this “me, me, me” attitude. Instead of only boasting about yourself, find ways to connect with people … develop relationships … be a resource. Then, you’ll reach the point where it’s appropriate to make “the ask.” The point is, you can’t make the ask right away — especially to people you have no prior relationship with.

What about email?

I received an email from a local nonprofit at the beginning of the moth. Keep in mind, I’ve never had ANY interaction with this organization. Ever. This note proceeded an e-newsletter:

It seemed like a very personal message. I’ve never met this person, so it struck me as odd that he wished me and my family well. Signing it with “E” is something you’d do in an informal email to someone you know well … not to someone you’ve never met. Too personal? Or is it just me?

While that initial email seemed odd, I left it alone. Didn’t respond or comment. I gave the sender the benefit of the doubt. It’s just a nonprofit struggling to reach new people.

Then, I received this email asking for a financial contribution:

What do you think? Lines are blurring and we’re living in a rapidly changing environment. I get that nonprofits are struggling for resources. I’m not trying to call out this organization in particular. But, I do think there’s an interesting discussion to be had. Is this approach to fundraising a growing trend in the nonprofit sector, or is this an example of a nonprofit getting too personal, too fast? Or maybe it’s just me …

“An average 74 million people visited a newspaper Web site each month in the third quarter of 2009, equaling just under 40 percent of all active U.S. Internet users,” MediaPost’s Erik Sass reported. The data, Sass said, comes from the Newspaper Association of America, which cited researched by Nielsen Online.

via PR junkie.

Many agencies are creating social media departments — or putting one person in charge of online engagement. I think that’s a flawed strategy for a variety of reasons, but primarily because there isn’t a clear-cut definition of where social media starts and traditional PR ends — and that’s how things fall through the cracks.

Take media relations as an example. If an agency adopts the “silo” approach, blogger relations falls under the social media person’s duties. But, is that one person supposed to connect with  bloggers and identify online outlets for every client? That’s just not realistic. I’d venture to guess it’s actually short-sighted. How can one person keep tabs on the strategy for every single client (especially at medium and larger agencies) to ensure on-target pitches? Online and offline pitching should be strategic; otherwise, you end up with a shotgun approach — securing clips for the sake of getting clips, an outdated, ineffective tactic.

In reality, all PR people ought to be pitching online media outlets in addition to traditional publications. As the study mentioned above  indicates, an increasing number of people are turning to online news sites. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you take the “silo” approach, and don’t require account execs to explore online opportunities, aren’t you missing out on all those readers? It may be easier for the agency to have one “point person” for all things social, but is that what’s actually best for clients? Wouldn’t integration be more effective?

I’m interested in all perspectives on this topic, so please share yours in the comments!