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Archive for April, 2010
Slideshare.net produces instant results
Apr 16th
In one of our recent podcasts we spoke to online consultant Stephen Davies about Slideshare.net, and how his six presentations on the site have generated more than 30,000 views in the last four years and led to new business leads.
Well, I put a presentation up last week introducing PR and social media to small businesses and within just six days it has received 242 views (at time of going to press) and has led to a noticeable increase in traffic to the RunMarketing.co.uk blog.
Slideshare.net works! I have since added some more of my small business marketing guides on Slideshare (under the parent company name, Planet Content).
Get using Slideshare.net! That’s all I’m saying…
#deact demonstrates Twitter’s echo chamber
Apr 13th
The digirati are not happy bunnies. Why? The Digital Economy Bill (now Act) was passed last week and is controversial for a whole number of reasons, not least the predicted decline in free public wifi spots and the threat of kicking illegal downloaders off the Net permanently. Just how enforceable the Act is time will tell, but what last week did demonstrate is that sometimes the Twittersphere is a bit of an echo chamber.
By all accounts, we have a right to be angry – the debate was rushed, barely attended and clearly most ministers don’t understand the Web or the implications of the Act – scarily, this apparently includes the man charged with developing the UK’s digital economy. I’m not in favour of the Act at all, but this blog’s not about the Bill/Act, there’s been enough of those already, it’s about social media’s impotence in the face of the legislation’s passing.
Social media users have grown used to getting their own way in recent months – think about how they really stuck it to The Man (in this case Simon Cowell) by out-buying his Christmas No.1 candidate with Rage Against the Machine. Yet, for all the noise within Geekdom – particularly Twitter and the blogosphere – against what it we saw referred to as the #debill, there was no changing of minds. MPs weren’t listening. Twitter and, let’s face it, its few tens of thousands of active and vocal UK users, were not being heard. The Guardian, of course, didn’t miss an opportunity to blame to Tories for the Bill’s passing, despite it being a Labour-driven ‘initiative’.
This underlines the limitations of Twitter. It’s great to engage with those within it and they can be incredibly useful connections, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that ‘influencers’ on Twitter are necessarily the same as influencers in the real world.
The Full PR Service
Apr 7th
Planet Content is aimed at helping smaller businesses grow
Planet Content is about as flexible as an agency could be. We’ve been there; we’ve done that – in-house, agency side, traditional media, new media, media relations, analyst relations. We’ve got a lot of the geographical bases covered, too. You’ll find us in London, Birmingham, Hertfordshire, Kent, the M4 corridor and the Solent. We’re virtual, so location really isn’t an issue for us as we work with international clients on both sides of the pond.
This is what we offer:
Analyst Relations: Industry analysts could be key advocates for your product or service. We can make sure you present the right content to the right analysts
Award Entries: Planet Content’s staff were responsible for many agency and client award wins while at Rainier PR. We aim to build on our tradition of drafting successful award entries
Campaign Strategy: PR is our main strength and we can identify the right long- and short-term strategy for you and execute it
Copywriting: Solid, compelling text is more important than ever. Your copy needs to please both readers and search engines. Planet Content includes former journalists and the author of the ‘Best Business Blog 2007’ (Communicators in Business), so copywriting is another of our core strengths
In-house Support: We are all over the south east of England and the Midlands. We can come in and help you develop your PR strategy on-site
In-agency Support: We’ve all got years of agency experience, working up to run our own firms. We can come into your agency to shore up knowledge or experience gaps, or to provide short-term cover
Media Relations: Media relations is our bread and butter. We enjoy fantastic contacts after years in the industry from all corners of trade and consumer tech titles
Media Training: Media training is crucial to your company. One slip-up in front of the press could be costly, so it’s best to know how to engage the press both in person, on screen, on air and over the phone
Messaging: Before you engage in any kind of PR, you need to know what you stand for. We can help you develop your messaging and use it as the lynchpin of your PR
Pitching Training: PR executives need to know how to pitch to journalists, who are more often than not indifferent and sometimes aggressive. Planet Content’s former journalists offer fantastic hands-on, practical pitching training to give your executives confidence
Podcasting: Does your company or clients use podcasts? If not, they’re a great way to communicate with, and educate, your market. We’ve been podcasting for four years and recently launched the RunMarketing podcast for marketers. If you’re thinking about creating and seeding podcasts, we can handle that for you
Product Launches: Your product is your business. We will plan and execute your launch PR strategy for you, doing our utmost to build the business case for your product with the people that matter
Social Media: Traditional PR and new media are merging. Luckily, Planet Content’s members have been at the forefront of this fast-evolving sector and run social media engagement and microblogging campaigns for clients
Start-up Troubleshooting: You may not feel you want a full-service PR programme, but just want some guidance on how to get started. We can come into your company, draw up a strategy for you, create content, develop your messaging and train you up so that you’re equipped to do your own marketing
Just what is “social media’s lost generation”?
Apr 7th
This interview with Unilever’s out-going marketing head Simon Clift in the FT makes fascinating reading. Clift believes there’s a ‘lost generation’ of marketers out there, aged between 30-45, who either haven’t grown up with exposure to social media or haven’t had exposure to it through their children, as older marketers may have. As a result, Clift says, PR is best placed to benefit from the social media age.
I find this an intriguing point as the people who I have learned MOST from in social media have come from Clift’s ‘lost generation’ age bracket. Obviously, with Clift’s standing in the industry what he says comes with authority and is said with a great deal of thought, but speaking personally I just don’t see it.
I look at some of the great social media marketers that I’ve interviewed for RunMarketing and – hopefully I won’t upset anyone here – they’re all pretty much 30-45 years old, the likes of Jenni Lloyd, Roger Warner, Stephen Davies, Kelvin Newman, Josh Feldberg and others.
I think 30-45 is actually the best age to be in social media. Why? Because you’ll already have the background from your 20s in the industry so know how to apply proven marketing principles to emerging social media platforms, as well as have the experience to counsel clients on how to make the most of those platforms. This client counsel is something a fresh graduate could probably not do alone, even if s/he does spend two hours a day on Facebook.
I do agree with Clift that PR is best placed to benefit from social media as, after all, it’s a reputation game. All in all, a healthy social media and PR mix is required to really engage in the Web 2.0 era – whatever age you are!