We have CFOs and CIOs, but the CCO – or Chief Communications Officer – only exists in a handful of organizations like IBM, Citibank, and most recently Comcast. They’re a minority, but they shouldn’t be. Professional communicators need a voice and a vote on the board if companies want their words to have the most desirable impact on their destiny.

We need CCOs as business leaders, now more than ever

Why? The world has changed, for businesses and consumers alike. The sweeping influence of digital technology has made our societies not only more global, but more networked and interconnected than ever before. Transfers of data which once took days now take seconds – and that’s at their slowest.

As a result of this sheer explosion in the speed and volume of digital communications, we’ve come to expect different things from social institutions like businesses and governments. We expect them to be transparent in every aspect of their conduct. We expect them to be forthcoming with the information which we require, when we require it. In short, we want to trust these institutions – and we get understandably displeased when they misuse or break that trust.

But we’re also their strongest advocates when they get things right, building their social capital with our praise, recommendation and brand loyalty. The collective impact of this advocacy – through everything from social media to viral videos to flash-mobs – amounts to the greatest market force which businesses can harness to their benefit. Today, effective communications matter more than ever. They don’t exist within a “black box” isolated from other corporate functions, but instead have very real and very immediate impacts on the goals, processes and bottom line of the business.

It’s the CCO’s role to bring together all aspects of the company’s communications. The CCO has to, amongst other things, co-ordinate how the company presents itself through its brand; what sort of tone it adopts when addressing different audiences or stakeholders; where it seeks to cultivate advocacy, and from whom. Just like any other corporate function, this task requires overarching vision from someone who intimately understands the field and how to play it. Jon Iwata (IBM’s senior VP of Marketing and Communications) is a good example of a CCO who’s managed to draw together numerous strands of communications (in this case, from all across the world’s largest computer company) into a unified approach which seeks to leverage all of the company’s reputational, brand and relationship assets

Rather than taking an aggressive attitude to the communications portfolio, Iwata’s strategy has sought to enhance on IBM’s pedigree as one of the world’s most well-respected companies, building its profile as a tech giant with the clout and intention to take on problems none of its competitors can. It’s a move which reflects not only Iwata’s strategic nous in the communications field, but his influence on the rest of IBM’s top leadership – something which is uniquely afforded by the position of CCO. The more recent appointment of D’Arcy Rudnay as Comcast’s CCO points to growing recognition that intangible assets like “brand” and “reputation” and “community” are in fact very valuable ones, and need the sort of leadership or stewardship which the finances, technology and HR of companies are already afforded.

And companies that think they don’t need this sort of leadership are in for some rough surprises ahead. Qantas’ handling of industrial disputes last year, BP’s stubborn silence over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and News Corp’s ongoing phone-hacking scandal all have one thing in common: the leadership in charge didn’t understand how the health of communications impacts the health of the entire business. Sometimes crises are necessary to spark change, but in this case we don’t have to wait.

In a few years’ time, we’ll probably look back on pre-CCO days with a bit of bemusement, wondering why we made such a fuss about such a commonsensical decision. It’s not at all unlikely that the CCO will stand on equal footing with a company’s chief legal counsel – both of whom often deal with the same issues around public trust and reputation just with somewhat different tools. Professional communicators know how to protect business reputations, enhance their brands, and harness powerful community advocacy in a society more networked than any other in history. Why shouldn’t they have a place at the board?

While my sister, a kindergarten teacher who routinely is trying out the latest social tools, can take partial credit for encouraging me to first sign up for MySpace, and later Facebook – the real reason I did it (don’t tell her) is because I viewed it as a necessity for my job as a communicator.

Last month I attended the #140cuse conference at Syracuse University. In advance of the event, I looked forward to learning about new tools, metrics and how gurus from a variety of industries are using social to succeed on the job. While I certainly did learn that, what I also saw – a look at the emotional benefits of social – surprised me, but was definitely a memorable takeaway.

One of the day’s first sessions was from George Couros (@Gcouros) a principal at the Parkland School Division in Alberta, Canada. Now admittedly, George’s track was not one I had highlighted in advance of the conference – though I did like the name of his session “140 Characters of Kindness” – sounded refreshing. During his presentation George talked about how his brother first introduced him to Twitter – but it wasn’t until he joined conversations using the hashtag #edchat that he started to discover what a great platform it was to share ideas and thoughts with other like-minded educators. However, what really brought emotion to George’s story (and definitely led to some teary eyes in the audience) was the story of how via one tweet “Taking Kobe (his dog) to the vet” led to an outpouring of care and concern from his followers at the later news that he had to put his long-time pal down.

Shortly after, #140conf producer Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) took the stage to discuss “The State of Now” – which included having the entire audience hug the people next to them at the start of his talk. One of the more powerful thoughts Jeff shared was how via social platforms – our lives are being archived via the pictures we post and the thoughts we share at different moments of time. These “digital breadcrumbs” we leave for our children and grandchildren will give them a perspective into what we were thinking on any given day when we posted a Facebook update or commented on a photo.

Other stories of emotional connections via social were shared from presenters including three-time cancer survivor Alicia Staley (@stales) who discussed “Building Virtual Cancer Support Communities with Twitter Chats” and Amanda Hite (@sexythinker) on “Using Your Social Influence to #BeTheChange” – covering the impact groups of people can have by sharing their networks and influence in support of a joint cause via tweetathons and other shared initiatives.

Looking back at the goal of the #140cuse conference to “expose you to the power the real-time web has to disrupt businesses, change lives and create serendipity” – I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the above stories. And while hearing stories like these will likely prompt me to add a few more captions to photos and engage with communities I’m interested in on a personal level, it will also help professionally. As we continually look for new and creative ways for the brands we work for or represent to engage in unique ways with influencers – it’s an important reminder to consider the power of emotion as a commonality that unites people. Discovering a way to make an emotional connection between a brand and its audiences – via large initiatives or simple Tweets – can be the differentiator for what makes your brand memorable.

My colleague Melissa Chanslor captured this sentiment in a recent post following a SXSW panel, noting that, similar to any form of content, your information needs to be solid and tell a story. This sentiment was echoed by the panelists at the Publicity Club session, which included design and interactive reps from the Huffington Post, CNNMoney, AP and Mashable. An infographic should not just be a visual representation of content in a press release – it needs to be something new or different that adds to the copy.

So what makes a great infographic? Here are a few key points to keep in mind:

• Is it a visual story? – Not every story renders well to visuals. The visual should further the story and bring new information to life. Strong, informative visuals are crucial to the understanding of complex stories, but a visual just for the sake of having one, doesn’t add value.
• Give it the “outsider check” – Could your grandmother or 10-year-old son understand this? Simple and clean infographics are best – give nuggets of information, rather than overloading it with data.
• Exclusivity – Something to factor into your outreach around an infographic – like any news story, the media prefers exclusivity. However, while two reporters being pitched the same news can differentiate their angles, infographics are more restrictive since they cannot easily be modified – making it even more crucial to have exclusive rights.
• Data quality, methodology, and source – Most media sources will want to fact check information so make sure to have your data handy. And of course, independent sources are preferred.
• Think big – Most outlets frown upon promotional content or infographics that have an agenda. A brand or company’s goal with infographics should be to be cited as the source. Consider broader industry issues, upcoming events, or timely news and think about how your data can add to that discussion.
• Consider the format– Will viewers most likely see this on a PC or mobile device? What about Pinterest? Not every format works well cross-platform. Think about your audience and test out your infographic to ensure its viewable on multiple sources.

Another consideration – many media outlets, including the ones represented at this panel, are starting to develop infographics internally. Why? For many, it’s to ensure quality data and consistent format.

This is likely to be a trend we’ll see increasingly more often with key publications. But that doesn’t mean the end of idea sharing. The panelists noted that they’re interested in ideas for infographics and partnering with companies on the development. Perhaps before the next time your company creates an infographic, think about what outlets you’d like to see it published in, and go to them first to see if there’s a way to work together on it so that both parties benefit.

Interested in learning more about infographic development or want to talk to someone about how your company can use them? Contact Text 100 Design Services for more information.

• PR/Communications has a seat at the table – In nearly 60% of responding companies, the PR/Communications lead reports directly to the “C-Suite” (Chairman, CEO, COO, etc.), reflecting today’s increasingly transparent, communication-intensive environment

• Marketing/product PR is in a state of decline – There has been a substantial decrease in the emphasis on traditional marketing/product PR. This could be attributable to an increasing reliance on social media to promote products.

• The PR/Communications field is expanding to include new functions – PR is experiencing growth in internal communication and customer relationships.

• Budgets are mostly up but agency-of-record relationships are in decline – Public corporations on average reported higher PR budgets than two years ago. However, the AOR model is changing rapidly. In 2002, more than 50% of corporations reported an AOR relationship. This number decreased continuously and has now shrunk to just over 15%. At the same time, the number of agencies used by corporations on an ongoing or project basis continues to increase. This is likely the result of a need for specialized and/or regionally focused agency services.

However, for the purposes of the roundtable the discussion focused on two primary areas of insight – the increasing importance of social media in the overall communications mix and the continued need for more meaningful measurement.

The increasing importance of social media in the overall communications mix

The study revealed that more than 70 percent of PR/Communications departments report budgetary responsibility for social media monitoring and 66% for social media participation. This reflects a 17% and 13% growth over two years ago. Further reflecting a shift to Web 2.0 communication is a rise in responsibility for search engine optimization (SEO). In addition to social media monitoring and participation and SEO, other PR disciplines seeing budgetary increase are corporate communications, executive communications, internal communications and, somewhat surprisingly, corporate external websites. The big loser in the mix product PR, which has experienced a significant decline in spend.

Highlights from the discussion included:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, on the increasing importance of internal communications as a function of PR:

Ken Shuman, Head of Communications at Trulia, added:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, on social media monitoring and participation:

Ken Shuman, Head of Communications at Trulia, on the changing role of corporate blogs:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, added:

John Earnhardt, Director, Corporate Communications at Cisco on the role of video content versus written content:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, on the ‘ownership’ of social media within a corporation:

Lee Flanagin, Senior Director, Corporate Communications at SanDisk, on the challenges of using social for engaging with a B2B audience versus B2C:

The need for more meaningful measurement

The study revealed that corporations report an increase from 4% to 9% of total PR budgets. Companies utilizing “outcome” measures such as influence on stakeholder attitudes and opinions, the bottom line, etc. are much more likely to say they have a good external reputation and are successful than are companies that rely on traditional “PR output” measures — such as clips, impressions, and advertising equivalency.

Highlights from the discussion included:

David McCulloch, Director, Corporate Communications at Cisco on the increasing PR spend on measurement and analytics:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, on the importance of human analysis to reveal more meaningful insights:

Jeremy Woolf, Senior Vice President at Text100 added:

Lee Flanagin, Senior Director, Corporate Communications at SanDisk, on the importance of up-leveling the measurement conversation with the C-Suite:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, added:

Burghardt Tenderich summarized the discussion by drawing three general conclusions:

1. The field overall is expanding. The skill-sets that organizations need are getting broader
2. PR is being up-leveled within organizations with more communications executive having a seat at the corporate management table
3. The future of traditional communications, specifically media relations, is in decline so companies and agencies need to adapt and evolve by taking a more integrated approach.

Stay tuned for the next #HyperTextLive event, which is planned for early August.

Whether it’s sharing your opinion on a recent industry article, commenting on something we posted here on HyperText or asking a question that’s on your mind – we hope you’ll stop by LinkedIn and join the conversation.

A recent GlobalWebIndex report found that B2B decision makers were highly socially engaged and rated conversations with brands on social networks as more influential than webinars, sales presentations, conferences or corporate entertainment. The more complex the decision, the greater the need to ask questions of experts in online communities.

While this is great news, in many cases, they’re jumping straight in, frequently without a safety net.

But a responsible communications function shouldn’t let them speak just because they can. It is easy to create an online profile. And even easier to damage your own – and your brand’s – reputation through careless or thoughtless online behavior. Caution should be part of the decision to engage. While statistics are telling us that our customers want to engage with us in social media channels, the decision to open the social media floodgates should be a considered one.

Knowing how to interact is critical. We should speak as human beings and not in the language of hyperbole, press release or brochure. Just because you can publish, doesn’t mean you should – and folks who understand how people communicate should play a guiding role in helping their business units engage online.

In some cases, the comms department acts as social media spokespeople but this really is missing the point. The marcom function should not be the sole driver of social media – but it should play a critical support role. We should act as facilitators and ensure our subject matter experts take center stage.

Our new mission in communications is to create a seamless experience across a range of historically disparate social media, digital and offline properties. We do this by arming the right people with the skills to manage online discussions. Wishful thinking? For many, perhaps. But in the social consumer’s mind, the change has happened. Better interaction across business functions isn’t just management dreaming, it’s social consumer demand.

We’ll ultimately help people from all business functions play expanded roles in support of their own objectives. This is a logical next step for those companies that have developed owned media properties across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Based on our experience, it’s best to start with one business function, division or product and build a program around someone with a greater aptitude for social media.

Getting business functions engaged is great in theory, but someone has to get them in the car and make sure the oil’s changed, tires are roadworthy and the destination is mapped out. PR folks have always built one-to-one relationships; we’ve done this with journalists for more than a century. We’ve built community relations programs, managed employee communications and driven discussions with industry analysts.

Strategy is critical and those most familiar with the tools of the trade should help ensure the job is done well.

Editor’s note: A version of this article originally appeared on the PR Week Global Thinktank, as part of Text 100’s partnership with the site.

With the full revelation set to take place on May 7^th, people are now speculating about whether RIM would have liked to have kept their secret longer, and if the early acknowledgement of the campaign has left RIM in a bit of a pickle. As The Next Web blogger, Jon Russell, points out: “The identity of organiser and its (apparent) purpose is due to be unveiled at 3:00pm on May 7, but with RIM now out in the open, and the campaign receiving criticism the world over, it is unclear what more will be said.”

This makes me question the risk of organizing such teaser-based campaigns, for fear that the PR message or indeed, the company behind the campaign, will be exposed all too early and negatively lose control of the message. In a recent AFR article titled ‘How to avoid the post-crisis crisis,’ journalist Emily Parkinson refers to another wave of ’citizen journalism,’ whereby Twitter and Facebook are continuing to give voice to public reporting on events, and where’misperceptions, mistakes and innuendo left uncorrected quickly pass into truth.’

Whilst the aim of RIM’s campaign was obviously to create viral word-of-mouth, in this instance the outcome ran over the desired result, as those reporting on it assumed the mobile maker responsible was Samsung. This highlights the greater risk in viral teaser campaigns and loss of control.

In 2011 Text 100 ran a long-term viral teaser campaign for cloud start-up Ninefold over two months. The campaign used Foursquare and Twitter mechanics to target pre-defined, researched audiences and conduct secret location based treasure hunts with potential business customers. Each treasure hunt was standalone with the final hunt held during Mumbrella 360 as the climax, where the brand was revealed. This viral teaser campaign worked because of its targeted audience insight and scalability of each hunt allowing control of message and execution at a micro-level.

Crowd sourcing with social media is one way you can pre-define audience reaction before a campaign. Yesterday, Arnott’s planted a Tim Tam ‘orchard’ in Sydney’s Martin Place which featured more than 30,000 of the iconic Australian product hanging from trees. The idea sparked from the Tim Tam Facebook page, which saw avid followers wishing for the biscuits to grow on trees. A day later and people are already commenting on the success of the campaign, claiming “LOVED the idea and excitement it generated around Martin Place. I felt like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory,” and “At last, an idea and execution that is actually working.”

I think this was an example of a successful PR stunt as it lasted one day and no secrets were in play. The campaign worked because Tim Tam responded to its fans by giving them exactly what they wanted. At the same time was able to receive positive media coverage, get 6,934* people talking about its brand on Facebook and become a trending topic on Twitter, with even journalists jumping on board saying how much they loved the stunt. The only downside? Being based in North Sydney, Text 100 missed out on all the fun!

What do you think about these campaigns? Are the risks of long-term viral teaser campaigns where control of the message is weaker than a one-off stunt worth the outcome?

*Source Facebook

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on the Text 100 Sydney blog, Digital Comms Down Under.

Until now, SEO has played a major role in governing how content is distributed online – and in some cases, how content is created. Copy optimization and keyword distribution are now common strategies (among others) for maximizing the visibility of content online. Nowadays, algorithms also impact directly not only visibility in search engines, but also the way content is structured or even processed. From Robot Journalism to live content optimization, algorithms now rule the world of content. Understanding how those algorithms work will offer a big advantage in terms of insights for those working on the distribution and creation of content.

Optimizing content with algorithms

Content-optimized algorithms already are part of our daily life –search engine algorithms display content in a way that is optimized for the reader, with results also customized based on geolocation, common search terms, etc. Social networks know more about you to serve you not only the most relevant ads, but also the best content (look at the detail of Facebook’s Edgerank for instance). News portals are displayed according to your taste (look at Google News or Yahoo News customization options).

Some websites go even further by adapting their homepage in real-time to account for the most recent trends (see the example of Melty.fr) or by detecting the next big trends (Buzzfeed.com for instance). With the integration of Facebook in media (and media in Facebook), newspaper homepages are getting more and more personalized and computer-assisted editorial content is already a reality.

Affinity content – predicting audience taste from your social graph

Social networks collect data all day long about user preferences and have built databases to profile tastes. Based on content, it’s now possible to determine the affinity not only with a brand but with its content, opening the door of targeted content based on the audience tastes. Some companies are already investigating these options (Curata, Infinigraph or Gravity among them). Don’t be surprised if tomorrow your behavior and tastes make brands be even friendlier with you.

Do robot journalists dream of electric sheep?

What if robots could understand audiences better than humans? Robot journalism isn’t science fiction anymore – it’s becoming reality. In a world where information is becoming a commodity and where economic pressures force content creation to lower costs, robots are the ideal companion for productivity. They already outperform sports journalists in some articles. And the progress in Artificial Intelligence, semantic analysis and trend analysis lets us imagine a not-so-far future where robot journalists would be much more developed.

Content Hacking and Public Relations

If these emerging trends are a reality, the job of PR agencies might have to evolve to adapt to this new type of content distribution. They’ll have to understand how influence is reshaped with the help of algorithms and how to glean insights through this new mechanism. In fact, PR will more than ever have to act as a filter to target a specific audience and make sure that the message gets delivered.

A couple of years ago, search engines disrupted the way content was distributed and accessed online. They led to the creation of Search Engine Optimization as a way to understand how to optimize content visibility. In this age of computer-assisted editorial content creation, content algorithm optimization might be the next SEO. Public relations consultants may have to develop the skills to be ready for new content distribution and creation strategies in the coming years, which involve a new stakeholder: the machine.

Interested in reading further? Some reading suggestions

•  A Slideshare presentation about the arrival of robot journalism in newsroom and the questions it raises.
• NPR and TNW article about robot journalism in sport
• An NYT article about computer generated articles
• A deeper article questioning the role of newspaper in our information society of algorythm on BigThink
• Details about the mixing of Social Media and algorithms in Google News
• Welcome to Robot Land – Slate
• Details about the Buzzfeed content algorythm – Jess3
• Facebook and media sharing – RWW
• Media companies already using computer generated articles – MediaBistro

Image credits

• Robot after all – Kerolic – Flickr
• Camden robots – Kerolic – Flickr

It seems appropriate here to begin with a short story. It begins with a company that sells designer shoes to women with large feet. It ends with a series of failed communication attempts and the eventual (and ingenious) realization that the company’s shoes were actually being bought by men – men who interestingly, ordered the shoes in unmarked packages and lived well above the median income level. Conventional wisdom would conclude that these men were buying gifts for their wives, but in this case, conventional wisdom would be wrong. In fact, what the company ultimately realized was that their shoes were being purchased by a niche market of men who wore three button suits by day and gold sequined dresses by night. Through careful research and customer feedback, the company finally discovered that their product sold to fabulous male cross-dressers.

Your Audience, Your Friend 

I’ve heard this story several times throughout the course of my undergraduate business program and I’d like to report that nobody ever reveals the name of the shoe company. As a matter of fact, the company might not even exist – which is ultimately beside the point. The most interesting take away from this story is in the necessity of audience insight in dictating the appropriate channels of communication. For many of us in the PR world, this is not groundbreaking news. But what is interesting to call out is the need to continuously listen and respond to our audiences. In the world of social media, we are constantly presented with new channels of communication that come at us faster than next month’s rent. If we don’t understand our audience’s interest in these new channels, it’s difficult for us to respond, or even consider making a play here.

We essentially have to start treating our audiences like our friends. As much as we know about our friends, new things come up all the time. And in order to properly engage, we need a constant stream of relevant information. We have to listen to our audiences and do our research in finding out their current whereabouts and interests, just like we do with our friends. Timeliness is key here. Once we find out where they are, we have to consider whether or not we meet up with them. With the meteoric rise of Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram and others, we’re beginning to see a shift in how consumers distribute their time. Although Facebook and Twitter will continue their reign as beauty queens of the great channel selection show, we’re beginning to see a healthy crop of new faces. Recent use cases from both B2C and B2B companies have shown how a careful understanding of one’s audience leads to creative and effective campaigns.

Rising Stars

Tumblr

Tumblr has been around for some time now but is still somewhat new in terms of being looked at as a go-to social media channel. The microblogging site hit 15 billion page views per month in January 2012 and recently announced plans to further monetize the platform through advertisements. Tumblr is a blogging platform more than anything else and it has to play nice with existing corporate blogs. Companies have to consider the viability of Tumblr as an additional blog channel and the possibility of pushing out complementary content. From Rolling Stone Magazine to Oscar de la Renta, we’ve seen how companies have been effective in using the Tumblr to hone in on a specific angle that complements their broader company story.

At the Text 100 San Francisco office, we largely use it to show how cute we all are (which just so happens to strategically complement the rigorous work that we do).

Pinterest

Despite recent news around laggard growth stats, Pinterest can still be described as hot. Its hotness was confirmed in December 2011 when data from Hitwise listed the photo sharing site as one of the 10 largest social networking services out there. We’ve already begun to see business clamoring to get a piece of this social media pie. What’s most interesting here is how some B2B players have made the case for Pinterest as a valuable channel. HubSpot (a company that sells marketing software and services) recently created a pinboard of marketing infographics that they collected from around the web. Through this campaign, they were able to showcase how Pinterest can be used beyond the promotion of fabulous vacations, delicious food and pretty shoes. This is not to downplay the pinboards of those who do in fact sell fabulous vacations, delicious food and pretty shoes (which are coincidentally some of my favorites), but just to show that the channel is valuable beyond B2C use cases. Text 100 is on Pinterest too!

Instagram

Instagram is still a bit of an abyss when it comes to business applicability. Yes, it’s certainly useful in its ability to make all photos look post-worthy, but the lack of features around sharing and buying/selling leaves a lot of room for apprehension. Recent activities have revealed some general guidelines in how one should approach this space, but the most interesting take away here is the concept of generating relevant content. If businesses seek to have a healthy presence via Instagram, it’s about continuously stepping back and acting as content curators. We have to pull back the promotional veil a bit and realize that company products aren’t always the most worthy content. Whether we post non-promotional material of interest or crowdsource for content, it all goes back to audience insight. Recent momentum from both Pepsi and RedBull further points to the importance of content curation in navigating the world of Instagram.

In Conclusion

Going back to my original point, audience insight is critical when deciding on which channels to focus your social efforts. But even more important is our persistence in understanding our audiences. Companies have to make an effort to systematically listen to what customers have to say and where they choose to spend their time. This is increasingly vital in our current landscape, where new communication channels pop up more frequently than Real Housewives franchises. It’s high time we get out there and craft deeper friendships with our audiences. Throw the net out there and if you’re fierce enough, they’ll happily be your friend too.

Photo credit: Flickr user oxfordian.

Ten Tips for Creating Dialogue in Your LinkedIn Group

LinkedIn has taken the position as one of the leading social platforms for B2B communications. With more than 150 million users, the platform is used almost exclusively for business contacts and business communication, which makes it a very powerful tool for B2B communications. In fact, t recent report from HubSpot says that LinkedIn is almost 300 percent more effective when it comes to generating leads, compared with Facebook and Twitter. One of the most powerful tools to create and drive a community within LinkedIn is LinkedIn Groups, where any LinkedIn user can create a group to discuss an issue, a product or company. Many companies want to encourage two-way discussion in their LinkedIn groups, but often find it challenging to create an ongoing dialogue. From my own experience of managing LinkedIn groups, I’d like to offer some advice on how to create useful dialogue in your LinkedIn group.

Three Ways Community Management is Evolving

Community management is not a new concept by any means – it’s a function that essentially began in the “old days” of online communication, when people connected primarily through forums and chat rooms. But the rise of social business has given life to the role in a whole new way. What used to be looked at as a role primarily for moderation of niche community forums, is now seen as a necessary function within any company that cares about evolving their business to meet the needs of the social customer.

How to Engage Journalists Through Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

To mark our sponsorship of Social Media World Forum this week, Text 100 carried out some research into the way journalists use social media. We interviewed 72 journalists about the way they use social media channels in their professional lives to research companies and communicate with PR executives. The top-line results of our survey are shown in this infographic, and you can download a full copy of the report with a more detailed look at the survey findings by clicking on this link.

Media Relations Advice from Reuters: PR 101 Still Key in the Digital Era

Communication is the heart of our job. As public relations professionals, we are responsible for communicating with and on behalf of our clients. However, are we certain that we’re always being heard? And even more importantly, are we being heard and interpreted in the right way? Last week I attended the webinar, “How Reuters Journalists Use Social Media to Uncover Today’s Stories” featuring Reuters’ Social Media Editor, Anthony De Rosa and Reuters’ Wealth Editor, Lauren Young. Both Anthony and Lauren discussed how they actively use social media channels to monitor for breaking news, find sources and find out what their competition is up to, but it was also a helpful reminder to remember thePR 101 basics.

Down to the wire for Facebook timeline? Tips for getting your cover photo ready

Down to the wire to migrate your brand’s Facebook page over to Timeline before the March 30th deadline? Still haven’t updated your own Facebook page to Timeline? Here are some tips and resources to help get your cover photo in good shape.

First Click Attribution: The more effective social media measurement model?

You’ve all likely seen the video from Socialnomics that states, “the ROI of social media is your business will still exist in 5 years.”  While those of us in the trenches get it, that’s not a response we can normally use in a business discussion. However during the annual Adobe Digital Summit in Salt Lake City last week, Adobe released a report on ROI of social media that will help marketers get a bit closer to answering the elusive question (full disclosure: Adobe is a Text 100 client). The report sheds insight on how social media ROI is traditionally calculated, and offers up additional methods to showcase the value of social media in a different light.

Journalists still value press releases and phone conversations more than social media channels

When we asked journalists to rate how useful they find social media channels, we also asked them to rate two more conventional information sources commonly used by journalists, corporate websites and the good old fashioned press release. The results surprised us – the participating journalists scored press releases higher than any other information source in terms of how useful they are for researching articles, closely followed by corporate websites. This shows us that while journalists increasingly turn to social channels for information, they still rely heavily on the more traditional tools.

Big Social Media and Digital Trends for 2012 – Part One

Five trends that are likely to shape social business adoption in 2012 and beyond.

New insights on Sina Weibo for the Enterprise

Following the popularity of its Weibo, or microblog (Chinese twitter), Sina introduced an enterprise version of Weibo last April, which was designed for corporations to better utilize it as a marketing tool with extra features such as a bulletin board, corporate videos and related linkages on display on the home page, detailed information on followers’ topic interests, and more. As the anniversary of the launch of enterprise Weibo approaches, Sina and CIC released a white paper to summarize the current situation and recent developments on how corporate entities are leveraging this platform. Below are some of the major takeaways from this white paper. (Note: the original white paper is only available in Chinese and can be found here.)

How to edit Wikipedia pages – a guide for PR execs

We all know Wikipedia is important. When your customers research a product or brand online, chances are its Wikipedia page will feature highly in the search results and is likely to influence their decision. Whether that page is specifically about your brand or more generally about a type of product, what people read there will inform their buying behavior. So, obviously it would be great if you could somehow control the information on those pages. First the good news; the whole point of Wikipedia is that anybody can edit the content of pages – it’s a crowd-sourced encyclopedia. Now the bad news; it’s against Wikipedia’s policies for people with a conflict of interest to edit pages.