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Public Relations in the Blogosphere

Neville Hobsonwww.nevon.net12 October 2005

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The New Media Ecosystem

■ “Social software”■ Informal networks■ Conversational media■ Online diaries■ Personal expression engines■ When you want,

where you want,on your terms

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The New Media Ecosystem

■ Blogs■ Wikis■ RSS■ Podcasts■ Videocasts / Vlogs■ Moblogs■ MMS

Tools that facilitate:■ Communication■ Engagement■ Transparency■ Trust

Tool that are:■ Complementary to traditional

communication activities■ Used by organizations who

recognize the social characteristics of effective communication

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The Old World

Investors

Customers

Prospects

Press/AnalystsPartners

Employees

Potential Employees

Influencers

MESSAGESMESSAGES

Competitors

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The New World

Investors

Customers

Prospects

Press/AnalystsPartners

Employees

Potential Employees

Influencers

MESSAGESMESSAGES

Competitors

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Business: Major Influencer

You cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself.And they're going to shake up just about every business - including yours.It doesn't matter whether you're shipping paper clips, pork bellies, or videos of Britney in a bikini, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate.Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective.They're a prerequisite.

Business Week, 2 May 2005

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The Blogosphere: July 2005

■ 14+ million blogs (English language)■ 80,000 new blogs every day■ 900,000 posts per day■ 37,000 posts per hour■ 616 posts per minute■ 10.2 posts every second of every day

= a lot of people talking and connecting= more output than Reuters, AP, etc

DoublesDoubleseveryeveryfivefive

monthsmonths

12-Oct-05: 19.2 million

X

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Podcasts – The Influence of Voice

■ Delivered via RSS■ Time-shifted – listen when

you want■ Detach and go – listen where

you want ■ Wide appeal kicks off in June

2005 – Apple adds podcast support to iTunes

■ Going mainstream – Yahoo! Podcasts in October 2005

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Who’s Podcasting…?

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Growth Drivers

1. It’s easy2. It’s inexpensive3. It’s portable4. It’s available

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The PR Impact

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If You Don’t Pay Attention…

And if you do…

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Don’t be Lame…

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Get It Right

Our only goal was to engage the public regarding our products and services. The blog has become an important unfiltered voice for the company, our customers and auto enthusiasts … We're learning on the run, but now we have an unfiltered voice, a direct line of communication. It has become indispensable.

Bob LutzVice Chairman

General MotorsApril 2005

“

”

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People are Talking About You

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“Citizen Journalism” Milestones

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Why Blog?

■ Build a genuine community■ Personalize your customer relationships■ Thought leadership in your industry/profession■ Make knowledge management easier■ Test new product ideas■ Improve search engine rankings■ …

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Why Podcast?

■ Complementary extension of existing communication and marketing activities

■ An appropriate channel to market■ Reach niche audiences otherwise (financially)

unreachable■ Attract new, younger customers■ Create buzz, build viral marketing effect■ Be perceived to be at the leading edge■ Be the first to market with a cool new medium

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Who Should?

■ Corporate communications, PR, marketing, HR, investor relations, sales, employee communication, customer service, public affairs, community relations…> Externally: engaging with customers> Internally: thought leadership, sharing thinking and

knowledge; news, information

■ Who else?> What about the CEO?

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There Will Be Objections

■ “Another way for employees to waste time”■ “We’ll have no control – think of the risks!”■ “We don’t need this, we have the website, the email

newsletter, the press release …”> Worse: “Hey, we can stop doing press releases now that we

have blogs!”

■ “We can’t allow employees to blog – we have official spokespeople”

■ “It will cost a lot in time and money to maintain”

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Current Thinking

PR/Blogger Surveys

■ Technorati-Edelman Blogger Survey 2005> September; 821 responses; worldwide participation> https://extranet.edelman.com/bloggerstudy/Default.aspx

■ Blog Relations PR Survey> August; 50 PR bloggers worldwide> http://www.blog-relations.com/2005/09/26/responses-to-blog

-relations-pr-survey/

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Current Thinking

PR/Blogger Surveys

Source: Blog Relations PR Survey, August 2005

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What The New Media Ecosystem Is Not

■ A replacement for press releases, brochures, bulletin boards/email lists, public websites or intranets> But blogs can be replacements for static websites or

brochureware sites

■ A substitute for traditional communication tools and channels

■ A surrogate for face-to-face communication■ The answer to all your communication prayers

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What The New Media Ecosystem Is

■ A giant global focus group■ A tool to engage with your

publics■ A dynamic, complementary

communication channel■ Create connections, develop

influence■ Empowerment for your

employees■ Empowerment for all your

publics■ Build genuine community

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Communication Choices

Engage and Participate vs. Transmit

Advocate vs. Preach

Influence and Persuade vs. Command and Control

Informal and Conversational vs. Formal and Instructive

Build Community vs. Tell Your Audience

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Conversation…

■ Neville HobsonAmsterdam

■ www.nevon.net■ +31 629 323 282

+44 20 7558 8222+1 202 470 2425nevonskype

■ neville.hobson@gmail.com

This document is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license. No commercial use, no changes. But feel free to share it, post it, print it, or copy it. Details: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/.

This presentation was created for the session “Public Relations in The Blogosphere” at Emerce Eday, Amsterdam, 12 October 2005.Information: http://www.emerce.nl/eday/.