Geo's Tech PR & Social Media Post

PR and Foursquare??

At first, I didn't quite get the appeal of Foursquare. Ok, so I'm supposed to notify the world when I'm at the bank, the grocery store or Babies "R" Us (yes, I'm a new dad)??  That's a lot of sharing! And, why would anyone want to be the "mayor" of the DMV??

So, I decided to try it out to see what all the fuss was about. After a few days, I started to understand the appeal. It's quite addictive, particularly for folks like me who have a hard time being idle. 

Now I have something to do while waiting for my sandwich to be made at Subway or while going through the car wash. I can see why it has become one of today's hottest mobile apps.

As a social media and PR pro, I naturally think about how something like Foursquare could serve as a business communications and marketing tool. I recently came across a guest post by PR pro, Alison Kenney,on the Lindsay Olson's blog (PR recruiter).

Among the key points Kenney makes, are the fact that mobile, location-based services are becoming big business -- projected to generate $12.7 billion in revenue by 2014 (Juniper Research) -- and that "location-based services are a natural fit for tourism and travel-related brands."

You can read the full post, "What PR Pros Need to Know About Foursquare," here.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Geo.

(Stats) Facebook and Twitter Post Large Year over Year Gains in Unique Users

Interesting stats for social media marketers -- according to Nielsen, compared to user activity on social networking sites last year, Facebook and Twitter posted gains of 69% and 45% respectively in the U.S.

More detail here:  http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/facebook-and-twitter-post-large-year-over-year-gains-in-unique-users/

Geo.

7 Scientific Ways to Promote Sharing on Facebook

I came across an interesting article on Brian Solis' blog, which provides a scientific basis for the nature and type of content that is shared most frequently on Facebook. 

The article looks at a number of areas -- the words shared most/least often, the days of the week in which the most sharing is done, how parts of speech impacts sharing, etc. --  and provides some interesting points to consider.

The bottom line -- keep it simple!

Check it out here:  http://www.briansolis.com/2010/05/facebook-sharing-driven-by-simplicity/

Geo.

Twitter has 105 million registered users -- pay attention, corporate America

During it's Chirp Developer Conference today, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone (finally) announced the company's registered user number, and it’s big: 105 million.

And that's not all, Twitter its still adding 300,000 users per day.

Say or think what you want about Twitter -- most people either love it or hate it -- but I think that these numbers should put to rest any lingering doubts corporate America may still have about the viability of Twitter as a legitimate communications and marketing tool.

Now, I know it's far from perfect, the company still needs to figure out how to best monetize the service and a lot of the content is, well, silly (to be kind). And, Twitter is not the be-all-end-all social media tool for all companies and situations.

Still, I have a feeling that this type of news may light a small, but visible fire under communications and marketing managers that may have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right time to jump onto the Twitter bandwagon.

What do you think?

Geo.

TV viewing on the Web increases...a lot more than I expected

I just came across a Mashable article reporting that more and more Americans are watching TV on the Web than ever before.  Ok, so it's not a huge surprise, but the extent to which this trend is happening is what caught my attention. 

According to the study, which was conducted by consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo, 64 percent of Americans get at least some of their TV content online. And for younger Americans, 83 percent said they watched some, most or all of their TV programming online.

I've watched some Web-based programs from time to time, but I'm really surprised at how many people do this regularly. 

What do you think?  How much Web-based TV do you watch per day, per week or per month?

George

PS. You can read the original article here: TV Viewing's Shift to the Web

Social media tools for the PR pro

Providing social media communications services requires a number of PR-related skills, including strategic program development, relationship management and message/content development.

It also requires that the PR pro is experienced with a number of tools and on-line resources that enables her to develop and manage high-impact social media campaigns efficiently and cost-effectively.

It can be a challenge to find the best tools for the job, especially when something new appears on the horizon just about every day of the week, promising more functionality, better performance and new capabilities. 

There are literally dozens of tools that I personally use as a PR and social media professional on behalf of my clients, but I wanted to share just a few ones that you may not be aware of:

1. NetVibes - One of the biggest challenges is keeping track of the huge volume of news and information about your client and its target markets. Netvibes is a free RSS reader that makes tracking news feeds and blog posts a snap. It's powerful and very customizable, enabling you to sort news any way you wish in a tab-based format. You can also develop a custom "dashboard" that will allow your clients to view key social media and news feeds in real-time. 
2. KompoZer - As I've noted before, today's PR pro needs to have a basic understanding of HTML to get the most out of a variety of social media platforms, including blogs and even Facebook. But, for most people, learning a programming language is about as uncomfortable and boring as a dental cleaning. Thankfully, there are a number of tools that enable you to create HTML code and Web pages using a friendly WYSIWYG editor, that functions much like a word processor. I just discovered KompoZer, which I really like for it's ease-of-use and intuitive design.
3. Facebook FBML Test Console - If you're helping clients develop custom Facebook pages/tabs to promote new products or special events, this is a very handy tool. Facebook uses a subset of HTML, called FBML, or Facebook Markup Language, and this tool enables you experiment with designs and code and view how your FBML code will actually look on a Facebook page before publishing. A very handy tool indeed...and it's free!

Well, there you have it. Just a few tools that can help the PR pro improve his skill-set and help him more effectively create top-notch client social media programs.

Any additional thoughts or feedback are welcomed!

Geo.

New work blog post - Tech PR is not about 'spin'

I'm finding that I have less time these days to maintain both my personal blog and work blog, so for a while I'll be splitting my time between the two.

I just issued a new post on the Walt & Company blog that is worth reading, "Tech PR is not about 'spin.'"

I wrote it because I continue to see people in the media -- as well as so-called social media 'experts' -- perpetuate the old myth that PR, especially tech PR, is nothing more than 'spinning' and issuing press releases.

In reality, tech PR is a strategic discipline. It’s about analyzing clients’ corporate and technology assets, target markets, competitive issues, and customer needs, and then devising a customized strategy to reach their key audiences via the right combination of messaging and delivery vehicles. This may include press releases, pitching and other common tools and tactics, but it frequently involves other activities as well, including blogging, social networking and SEO.

And, most importantly, it's about helping a company manage how it interacts with, and is viewed by, its public.

Check out the WaltCast blog to see the full post.

And, as always, your feedback is welcomed!

Geo2

Five reasons why tech companies should blog

Today on our company blog, WaltCast, I wrote a post about how tech companies can benefit from establishing a company and/or executive blog, "Tech PR and blogging -- Five reasons to blog."

At Walt & Company, we spend a lot of time helping our tech PR clients establish and manage blogs. From helping them come up with a clever — and SEO-friendly — title to recommending unique, compelling blog themes and content, our business is more and more about positioning them favorably in the rapidly evolving online world.

The top five benefits I reviewed include:

1. Expanding reach
2. Leveling the tech playing field 
3. Building brand visibility and customer loyalty 
4. Supporting/expanding social media efforts 
5. Improving SEO

Once established, a company blog combined with a strategic PR campaign can go a long way toward helping companies build brand recognition, reach existing and potential customers, and support key business and marketing goals.

Visit WaltCast to view the entire post, and let me know what you think.

Geo2

PR and SEO -- Seven quick tips

Ok, so I've been remiss about blogging lately.  (Shame on me.)

Anyway, I want to get back in the swing of things, and I've decided to start a series of posts about public relations and SEO. In today's professional communications world the two are increasingly interrelated. This means that as a PR pro, you can use a basic understanding of SEO to your advantage -- but only if you know what you're doing.

Over the next several weeks, I'm going to explore this topic more extensively. But for now, I wanted to share some basic tips for you to begin thinking about:

1) Infuse SEO into all aspects of the PR process -- It used to be that 'getting ink' was the PR pro's end game. While this is still important, today you also have to make sure that everything you do also helps clients build and maintain strong online brand visibility. So, every outbound PR document -- releases, white papers, backgrounders, by-liners, etc. -- must be run through the SEO filter for keyword and link optimization. Also, you need to think differently about these documents. For example, consider issuing 'social media releases,' to support -- or instead of -- traditional releases.

2) Optimize "keyword density" for PR materials -- Keywords are key, and when developing outbound PR materials you need to know which words will attract the most search traffic to your client's Web site. The Google Keyword Tool can come in handy here. Once you have your keywords, placement and frequency must be determined. PRNewswire has some helpful resources and tools you should check out, including their SEO tips document and Keyword Density tool.

3) Explore social networking -- If you haven't already, you need to become intimately familiar with the ins and outs of social networking. And, I'm not just recommending this from an academic perspective. At some point, it may make sense for you to recommend/develop a social media program for your clients, so you need to have a working knowledge of this large and fast-growing universe. So, sign up, plug in and participate actively. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Ning, or Yelp, it's critical that you get involved.

4) Blog -- Today, many companies blog. If your clients aren't blogging, many probably will at some point. You need to have a real understanding of how to blog, what makes for compelling content and how to promote a blog. And, you need to know how to set up a blog, including using widgets, configuring sidebars and embedding sharing buttons, such as Share This and Twit This. This brings me to my next point.

5) Learn basic HTML -- Once you start blogging, you'll find that you can do more if you have a basic knowledge of HTML coding. While most blogging engines are pretty easy to use and provide plug-ins to enable most of the functionality you'll need, an understanding of basic HTML will give you more power and flexibility. For example: want to drop a Twit This sharing button at the bottom of your TypePad blog post? There's no TypePad plug-in available, to my knowledge, so you'll have to use HTML. Also, some social media tools, like PitchEngine, allow you to embed basic HTML code in social media releases to add links and text formatting, so it's a good skill to have.

6) Read Google's SEO primer --Since Google pretty much dictates SEO, it helps to be familiar with how Google tracks, classifies and ranks online content as it applies to your client's Web site. While most of this document is written for Webmasters, there are some good nuggets of info in there you can use.

7) Practice on yourself -- If your agency web site, press releases or company/personal blog aren't geared for SEO, how do you expect your client to follow your counsel on this issue? Begin practicing with your own blog so that you're better equipped to help clients.

I hope you find this information helpful. Let me know if you have any comments or feedback.

Geo2

PS. Wanted to throw in a quick plug for my company's new blog, WaltCast. We'll be also discussing PR, SEO, technology and other related topics there, so be sure to check it out.

PR and SEO

With the decline of traditional (print) media and the rise of social media, public relations and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are becoming more interrelated than ever before.

It used to be that the typical PR program was designed primarily to generate 'ink' for client products, services and company news. No longer. Today, PR is more about helping a company establish and maintain strong brand visibility and a positive corporate reputation in the social media sphere, and by optimizing programs to help drive organic search visibility. As such, PR pros. must not only understand the traditional PR craft...they also need to have a basic understanding of how SEO works, and how to employ SEO tactics to improve PR effectiveness.

Lee Odden of the Online Marketing Blog, is posting a 10-part series on this topic. He writes:

"The upcoming series of posts will outline SEO and PR tactics with the most impact, how to choose the best keywords, on page SEO and link building best practices as well as measuring the value of SEO to public relations efforts. It will also cover when PPC is a better fit than SEO, how to combine SEO and social media promotions and the finer points of selling the benefits of SEO to decision makers."

The first five posts are up, and contain some great info. This is a great read for all PR folks.

Check it out!

Geo2