The Power of Voice

Markets are conversations

Silence is Fatal
 S o c ia l M e d ia S tr a te g y
●
Set Goals
●
Listen
●
Find Communities
●
Find Influencers
●
Content Strategy
●
Pick Tools
●
Deliver Content
●
Engage
●
Facilitate
●
Measure
 E ngagement Gap
The difference between the influence
of the Internet in consumer decision
making and the amount of spending
and effort on the part of corporations,
organizations and government
agencies in trying to interact with and
shape the thinking behind those
decisions.
Source: CMO Council January 2009
 The Engagement Gap
What we are seeing is much stronger
sensitivity to engage directly with customers
and learn more about what shapes,
influences and impacts purchasing decisions
and intentions to do business.

The move to quantify "customer affinity" and

increase "customer advocacy" has become a
new measure of marketing effectiveness.

Source: CMO Council January 2009

 M onitoring Conversations
Only 16% of US companies are
monitoring the online
conversations for mentions of their
brand.

Source: AdAge
What Is Influencing Your
Audience Today?
●
Search Engines
●
News Engines
●
Other Websites
●
Blogs
●
Micro blogging
●
Peer Reviews
●
Comments
●
Feeds
●
Podcasts
●
Video
●
Social Networks
●
Social News Sites
●
Tagging
New M edia Relations Strategy
Direct to the public
Bloggers
New online media
properties
Online Journalists
Traditional
Journalists
News Sites
Social News Sites
 Online M edia Relations
Watch Yahoo! News for sites that consistently show up on your keywords

Look for sites with a PageRank higher than 4

Contact the reporter or editor

Create content for those sites

 Bloggers
Listen – tap into conversations around your keywords

Find bloggers who write about this topic

Rank them by influence, authority, traffic

 Bloggers
Read their blogs
●

Comment appropriately and genuinely

●

What can you bring to the party?

●

Build relationships
●
M om Bloggers
Design Blogs
 Results
Influential design bloggers reviewed the product
●

Influential Mom bloggers reviewed and recommended the product

●

Increased traffic to www.flor.com

●

●
Over 100 million media impressions, including mainstream media, at a cost of
less than 1c per impression
 Internet end-us ers

Publisher creates the RS S file and places it

online

Content consumers subscribe to

the feed and retrieve its content
whenever they want

O ther s ites and sys tems

S earch engines and directories

 Internet end-us ers

Publisher creates the RS S file and places it

online

Content consumers subscribe to

the feed and retrieve its content
whenever they want

O ther s ites and sys tems

S earch engines and directories

 Internet end-us ers

Publisher creates the RS S file and places it

online

Content consumers subscribe to

the feed and retrieve its content
whenever they want

O ther sites and s ystems

S earch engines and directories

 Internet end-us ers

Publisher creates the RS S file and places it

online

Content consumers subscribe to

the feed and retrieve its content
whenever they want

O ther sites and s ystems

S earch engines and directories

 Internet end-us ers

Publisher creates the RS S file and places it

online

Content consumers subscribe to the

feed and retrieve its content
whenever they want

O ther s ites and sys tems

S earch engines and directories

 Social Media
News Room
●
A social media news room is a section of your site for
journalists and/or bloggers
●
Make it easy for them to get and use data about the
company, the execs, productions and a contact person
Offer social media format – images, video, audio, feeds
●
 News Rooms
Have become a primary source of information for working
journalists, with nearly 49% reporting visits more frequently
than once a week and fully 73% reporting a visit at least
once a week.
 S ug g es ted Features
S ocial Media News room
●
Management Bios with links ●
Traditional Press releases
to Social Media profiles ●
Social Media News
●
PR Contacts info (email Releases
address, phone numbers, SM
profiles)
●
Video/podcast pages
●
Case studies
●
Images (Flickr feed)
●
News coverage ●
News Feeds (RSS)
●
Blog coverage ●
Media downloads
●
Events Calendar. Trade ●
Links to make sharing
shows, media tours, speaking content easy - social
engagements. bookmarking and social
●
Information/ Interview news sites
Request Form ●
Tag Cloud
 Additional Reading
Ebooks:
●
Web Sense by Sally Falkow. Effective
Internet marketing strategies for
entrepreneurs.
●
The Power of Good Content by Sally
Falkow. Lean the secrets of how to write
for the search engines and keep your
visitors coming back for more.
www.falkowinc.com
•
 T h e T r u th a b o u t S E O
A new book by Rebecca Lieb, Editor of
Econsultancy (USA) and previously Chief
Editor of ClickZ.

Available at Amazon.com
 Resources
RSS Service:
PRESSfeed
http://www.press-feed.com/

Expansion Plus Inc

http://www.expansionplus.com

Our blog: pro active

http://falkow.blogsite.com
http://www.twitter.com/sallyfalk
ow
 d ig ita l P R a n d
S o c ia l M e d ia M a r k e tin g
C h r is A b r a h a m D a n ie l K r u e g e r
P r e s id e n t a n d C O O D ir e c to r o f C lie n t S e r v ic e s
c a b r a h a m @ a b r a h a m h a r r is o n .c o m d k r u e g e r @ a b r a h a m h a r r is o n .c o m
@ c h r is a b r a h a m @ d1 3vk

w w w .a b r a h a m h a r r is o n .c o m
w w w .m a r k e tin g c o n v e r s a tio n .c o m
T o d a y 's H a s h T a g
#digiPR
 A B e g in n e r 's G u id e to O n lin e
P R a n d M a r k e tin g
Before We Start: Don't Be S educed by the Lure of
Astroturfing
“Y o u m a y b e a tt r a c te d to c o v e r t o n lin e m a r k e tin g : s p e c ia l o p s ,
b la c k o p s , s p y c r a ft – “fifth c o lu m n m a r k e tin g ,” if y o u w ill. D o n ’t
b e . T h e b lo w b a c k t h a t c a n r e s u lt fr o m u s in g a fa ls e n a m e , a
fa ls e e m a il (a Y a h o o , G o o g le , o r H o tm a il a d d r e s s c r e a te d
fo r th e c a m p a ig n a n d th e fa ls e n a m e ), a n d a fa ls e b io , is n ’t
w o r th it. E v e n th o u g h y o u r r e p u ta tio n o n lin e is m o r e d e fin e d b y
y o u r c o n tr ib u tio n s to th e c o n v e r s a tio n s r a th e r th a n w h o y o u
a r e , th e c u ltu r e o f th e In te r n e t d o e s n ’t s u ffe r b e in g fo o le d ,
d u p e d , o r s u c k e r e d .”
If you are ever found out, you are screwed.
 “M a r k e ts a r e C o n v e r s a tio n s ”
• “T h r o u g h th e In te r n e t, th e p e o p le in y o u r
m a r k e ts a r e d is c o v e r in g a n d in v e n tin g
n e w w a y s to c o n v e r s e . T h e y 'r e ta lk in g
a b o u t y o u r b u s in e s s . T h e y 'r e te llin g o n e
a n o th e r th e t r u t h , in v e r y h u m a n v o ic e s .”

• “T h e s e m a r k e ts a r e c o n v e r s a tio n s . T h e ir
m e m b e r s c o m m u n ic a te in la n g u a g e th a t
is n a t u r a l, o p e n , h o n e s t, d ir e c t, fu n n y
a n d o fte n s h o c k in g . W h e th e r e x p la in in g
o r c o m p la in in g , jo k in g o r s e r io u s , th e
h u m a n v o ic e is u n m is ta k a b ly g e n u in e . It
c a n 't b e fa k e d .”
 “M a r k e ts a r e C o n v e r s a tio n s ”
• “But learning to speak in a human voice is not some
trick, nor will corporations convince us they are
human with lip service about "listening to customers."
They will only sound human when they empower real
human beings to speak on their behalf.”

The Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999, by Chris Locke, Rick

Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger

http://www.cluetrain.com/book/
 T h e C lu e tr a in M a n ife s to
• W h e th e r d e liv e r in g in fo r m a tio n , o p in io n s , p e r s p e c tiv e s ,
d is s e n t in g a r g u m e n ts o r h u m o r o u s a s id e s , th e h u m a n v o ic e
is ty p ic a lly o p e n , n a tu r a l, u n c o n tr iv e d .
• A lr e a d y , c o m p a n ie s th a t s p e a k in th e la n g u a g e o f th e p itc h ,
th e d o g -a n d -p o n y s h o w , a r e n o lo n g e r s p e a k in g to a n y o n e .
• C o m p a n ie s c a n n o w c o m m u n ic a te w ith th e ir m a r k e ts
d ir e c t ly . If t h e y b lo w it, it c o u ld b e th e ir la s t c h a n c e .
• C o m p a n ie s n e e d to c o m e d o w n fr o m th e ir Iv o r y T o w e r s a n d
ta lk t o th e p e o p le w ith w h o m th e y h o p e to c r e a te
r e la tio n s h ip s .
• M o s t m a r k e tin g p r o g r a m s a r e b a s e d o n th e fe a r th a t th e
m a r k e t m ig h t s e e w h a t's r e a lly g o in g o n in s id e th e c o m p a n y .
 T h e C lu e tr a in M a n ife s to
• To speak with a human voice, companies must share the
concerns of their communities.
• But first, they must belong to a community.
• Companies that do not belong to a community of
discourse will die.
• Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They
want to participate in the conversations going on behind
the corporate firewall.
• The inflated self-important jargon you sling around—in
the press, at your conferences—what's that got to do
with us?
• You're too busy "doing business" to answer our email?
Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.
 W h a t W e D o a t A b r a h a m H a r r is o n
• O n lin e B r a n d P r o m o tio n P r a c tic e
– B lo g g e r O u tr e a c h
• S tr a te g ic m e s s a g in g c a m p a ig n s to A -lis t a n d B -Z -lis t b lo g g e r s
• T a r g e t e d P R -s ty le p itc h e s ta ilo r e d t o s o c ia l m e d ia e x p e c ta tio n s
• P la in -t a lk m e s s a g in g d e v o id o f a n y s a le s o r m a r k e tin g -s p e a k
• O u ts o u r c in g a ll a s s e ts to S o c ia l M e d ia Ne w s Re le a s e s
• B lo g g e r s p r o d u c e e a r n e d m e d ia a n d s o w e m u s t earn c o v e r a g e
• P o o r ly -h a n d le d c a m p a ig n s r e s u lt in V e r y B a d T h in g s h a p p e n in g
• L o n g -t e r m b lo g g e r p r o s p e c t in g a n d c u ltiv a tio n (d o s s ie r s , e tc )
– S o c ia l M e d ia C o m m u n ity E n g a g e m e n t
• E n g a g in g c o n v e r s a tio n w h e r e it t a k e s p la c e o n lin e
• F a c e b o o k , T w it te r , D ig g , M y S p a c e , Y o u T u b e , F o r u m s , L is ts e r v s
• W id g e ts , A p p s , F u n d r a is in g , P r o f ile M a n a g e m e n t, G r o u p s a n d
P a g e s c r e a t io n & m a n a g e m e n t, b lo g g in g , a n d m ic r o b lo g g in g
 G o a ls , E x p e c ta tio n s , a n d A u d ie n c e s
1. What is the goal of the client (what is your goal?)
2. What is your desired outcome (how do you define success?)
3. What sort of gift are you willing to bring to the party
– O n lin e , g e n e r o s ity is a lw a y s r e w a r d e d a n d s tin g in e s s is a lw a y s p u n is h e d
– G ifts c a n b e e m o tio n a l, p h y s ic a l, e g o -d r iv e n , e x c lu s iv e , s e n tim e n ta l, in f o r m a t io n a l,
e tc
4. Break this down into target audience(s)
– D e m o g r a p h ic A u d ie n c e
– P s y c h o g r a p h ic A u d ie n c e
– G e o g r a p h ic A u d ie n c e
– P r o file a n d C e le b r ity o f th e A u d ie n c e
5. Where does the audience “live?”
– B lo g s a r e o fte n th e b e s t e a r n e d m e d ia
– T w itte r a n d o th e r m ic r o b lo g g in g c o m m u n itie s
– M e s s a g e b o a r d s , fo r u m s , n e w s g r o u p s (U s e n e t)
– S o c ia l n e tw o r k s (F a c e b o o k , M y S p a c e , e tc )
– M a ilin g lis ts , L is ts e r v s
– Y o u T u b e , Q ik , U tte r z , a n d o th e r c o m m u n itie s
B lo g g e r H a r v e s tin g a n d P r o s p e c tin g

1. Who do you need to reach?

– A c tiv is ts , a n im a l lo v e r s , e d u c a to r s , p a r e n ts ,
m o m s , d a d s , p o litic o s , th e fa ith fu l, s h o p p e r s ,
tr a v e le r s , s p o r ts fa n s , m a r k e te r s , d e m o c r a ts ,
e n v ir o n m e n ta lis ts , fo o d ie s , g r e e n s , L o s A n g e lin o s ,
N e w Y o r k e r s , c o lle g e g r a d s , P e n n s y lv a n ia n s ,
e tc …

2. Where do they spend time and doing what?

– A r e th e y b lo g g e r s , o n F a c e b o o k , T w itte r in g , o n
Y o u T u b e , e tc …
B lo g g e r H a r v e s tin g a n d P r o s p e c tin g
3. Develop lists of blogs and their bloggers

• Search Google for exactly what you want “Top mommy blogs,”
“best green blogs”

• Leverage blogrolls like you would endnotes

• Bloglines’ Most Popular Feeds,

http://www.bloglines.com/topblogs

• Technorati Top 100 Blogs, http://technorati.com/pop/blogs

• Technorati Blog Directory http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/

• AllTop http://alltop.com/
 B lo g g e r C o n ta c t In fo r m a tio n

• M a n y b lo g s h a v e a b o u t p a g e s a n d o r o ffe r
o b fu s c a te d e m a il a d d r e s s e s lik e
c ja [a t]w e ll[d o t]c o m o r e m b e d d e d in g r a p h ic s .

• S o m e tim e s n a m e s a n d e m a ils c a n b e d is c o v e r e d
b y s e a r c h in g G o o g le fo r “chris
abraham”+email
 B lo g g e r C o n ta c t In fo r m a tio n
• “W h o is ” is a fin e r e s o u r c e if a b lo g is h o s te d o n its
o w n d o m a in n a m e , s u c h a s c h r is a b r a h a m .c o m
– I re c o m m e n d :

• M o r e a n d m o r e b lo g s “p r iv a te r e g is te r ”
– P r iv a te r e g is tr a tio n h id e s e m a il a d d r e s s e s .
– D o m a in T o o ls p r e m iu m o ffe r s h is to r ic a l s n a p s h o ts
o f r e g is tr a tio n in fo r m a tio n , s o m e tim e s s h o w in g
p r e -p r iv a te r e g is te r e m a ils .

• L o n g -s to r y s h o r t: if s o m e o n e g o e s o u t o f h is w a y to
h id e h is id e n tity o r e m a il, le t h im g o , h e d o e s n o t w a n t
to b e c o n ta c te d !
B lo g g e r C o n ta c t In fo r m a tio n
T o p ic U n iv e r s e E x a m p le
E x a m p le o f a n O u tg o in g M e s s a g e
E x a m p le o f a n O u tg o in g M e s s a g e
E x a m p le o f a n O u tg o in g M e s s a g e
 E x a m p le o f a n O u tg o in g M e s s a g e
• We have tried many different styles and this is
where we are:

– S h o r t, te r s e , m in im a l, h ig h ly te x tu a l, w ith a c le a r
m e s s a g e a n d a c le a r r e q u e s t
– A n y v e r b ia g e th a t s o u n d s lik e it is s e llin g o r
m a r k e tin g m u s t b e r e m o v e d
– A ll a s s e ts , g r a p h ic s , m o v ie s , o r v id e o s a r e
c o lle c te d in to a “m ic r o s ite ” o r “S M N R ”
– D o n o t in c lu d e c o n v e r s io n G IF s , h y p e r lin k s , h o t
e m a ils , im a g e s , o r a tta c h m e n ts
 S o c ia l M e d ia N e w s R e le a s e (S M N R )
h ttp ://b a n c lu s te r b o m b s .s m n r .u s
 S M N R F o r S h a r p E le c tr o n ic s
h ttp ://s h a r p g r e e n .s m n r .u s
S M N R F o r In te r n a tio n a l M e d ic a l C o r p s
http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us
 S M N R F o r F r e s h A ir F u n d
h ttp ://fr e s h a ir -n e w s r e le a s e .c o m /
 S M N R F o r S n u g g le C r e m e
h ttp ://w w w .s n u g g le c r e m e .c o m /n e w s r e le a s e /
 T h e S M N R (S te a l th is C o n te n t)

• A s y o u m ig h t h a v e n o tic e d , o u r
p itc h e s a r e v e r y s p a r e

• W e o fflo a d a ll c o n te n t, m e s s a g e ,
k e y w o r d s , im a g e s , lin k s , a n d
v id e o s o n to w h a t is e s s e n tia lly a
m ic r o s ite
• It is c o n v e n ie n t fo r o u r c lie n ts a n d
h a n d y fo r o u r o u tr e a c h e s
• W e c a n g e t m e tr ic s a n d n o t h a v e
to c h a n g e o u r c lie n ts ’ w e b s ite s
 T h e S M N R (S te a l th is C o n te n t)
T o b e h o n e s t, b lo g g e r s a r e
e v e n la z ie r th a n jo u r n a lis ts .

A lo t o f th e tim e , b lo g g e r s
s te a l im a g e s a n d e n tir e tr a c ts
o f c o p y , p a s te it, a n d th e n ju s t
d o a “b lo c k q u o te ” a ttr ib u tio n .

Y o u ’ll g e t to d e fin e m e s s a g e , k e y w o r d -d e n s ity , a n d e v e n

s n e a k S E O -o p tim iz e d lin k s in th e r e , e v e n e n c o u r a g in g
o r g a n ic G o o g le -b o m b in g .

T h is a llo w s y o u to e a s ily k e e p e v e r y th in g c lo s e r to “o n
m e s s a g e ” th a n y o u u s u a lly c a n o th e r w is e : S MNR s rock!
 M e a s u r e T w ic e , C u t O n c e

• G e n e r a lly , b e fo r e a n y o u tr e a c h , b lo g g e r s a r e
c o m b in e d in to a m a s te r u n iv e r s e to m a k e
s u r e th e r e a r e n o d u p e s o r d o u b le s .

• O n e b lo g g e r c a n h a v e m o r e th a n o n e e m a il –
c h e c k fo r d o u b le s .

• M a k e s u r e th e m a s te r u n iv e r s e d o e s n o t
c o n ta in A -lis t o r “d o n o t c o n ta c t” b lo g g e r s
(c h e c k tw ic e ).
M e a s u r e T w ic e , C u t O n c e
 R e s p o n d Q u ic k ly & W ith L o v e
• A t A b r a h a m H a r r is o n , w e d o n ’t u s e a u to r e s p o n d e r s o r le t e m a ils
w a it u n til m o r n in g . W h e n w e s e n d o u t a n e m a il o u tr e a c h , w e s ta ff
th e IN B O X a lm o s t c o n s ta n tly o v e r th e n e x t h o u r s a n d d a y s

• If a b lo g g e r g e ts p is s e d o ff b y a p itc h , w e h a v e o n ly m in u te s to
re s p o n d
• A p e r s o n a l, im m e d ia te , a n d h u m a n r e s p o n s e c a n m a k e th e
d iffe r e n c e b e tw e e n e a r n in g a b lo g p o s t o r b e in g fo r w a r d e d to B a d
P itc h B lo g
• W h e n y o u r e s p o n d , n e v e r lo c k h o r n s o r r is e to th e b a it – p e o p le
h a v e b u s y , c o m p le x , liv e s :
• "B e kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" --
P h ilo o f A le x a n d r ia
• A lw a y s r e s p o n d w ith e ith e r s u p p o r t o r d e s p e r a te Mea Maxima
C ulpa!
R e s p o n d Q u ic k ly & W ith L o v e
 T r a c k in g R e s p o n s e s & M e n tio n s

• B e s u r e to a lw a y s tr a c k
w h o r e p lie s .
• A ls o , b e s u r e to r e m o v e
anyone w ho asks
im m e d ia te ly .
• F in a lly , if y o u c a n ’t fin d
th e ir e m a il, a s k th e m if
th e y u s e a n o th e r – s o m e
p e o p le c o lle c t a ll th e ir
e m a il in to o n e a c c o u n t,
u s u a lly a G m a il a c c o u n t,
a n d r e p ly fr o m th e r e .
 T r a c k in g R e s p o n s e s & M e n tio n s
• A ls o , b e s u r e to tr a c k a ll
b lo g m e n tio n s a s th e y
occur

• U s in g G o o g le A le r ts a n d
G o o g le B lo g S e a r c h is
g e n e r a lly g o o d e n o u g h

• D o n ’t h e s ita t e to a s k
y o u r b lo g g e r s to p o p y o u
th e lin k to th e ir p o s t w h e n
th e y s a y t h a t t h e y w ill

• A ls o , d o n ’t h e s ita t e to
h o ld a b lo g g e r a c c o u n ta b le
fo r p o s tin g if h e o ffe r s
F o llo w -U p B o ld ly a n d P r o u d ly
F o llo w -U p B o ld ly a n d P r o u d ly
F o llo w -U p B o ld ly a n d P r o u d ly
 F o llo w -U p B o ld ly a n d P r o u d ly
• If w e d o n ’t g e t a r e p ly fr o m a b lo g g e r , w e s e n d 3 -4
fo llo w -u p e m a ils .

• W e a s s u m e th a t e m a il g e ts lo s t, b lo c k e d , d e -
p r io r itiz e d , ig n o r e d , m is s e d , o r p u t o ff u n til la te r –
a n d la te r n e v e r c o m e s b e c a u s e fo lk s a r e ju s t b u s y .

• T h e s q u e a k y w h e e l d o e s g e t th e g r e a s e a n d w e g e t
o u r b ig g e s t s u c c e s s e s in r e s p o n s e to th e s e c o n d
a n d th ir d e m a il o u tr e a c h e s .

• W e g e n e r a lly a llo w a w e e k to p a s s b e tw e e n e m a il
fo llo w -u p s .
P r o o f is in th e P u d d in g
E a r n e d M e d ia M e n tio n s
E a r n e d M e d ia M e n tio n s
E a r n e d M e d ia M e n tio n s
E a r n e d M e d ia M e n tio n s
M e tr ic s & R e p o r tin g
 M e tr ic s & R e p o r tin g
• T h e s e c h a r ts r e p r e s e n t v o lu m e o f
s o c ia l m e d ia m e n tio n s o v e r tim e
• T h e g r e e n d o ts r e p r e s e n t o u r b lo g g e r
P R o u tr e a c h
• S p ik e s in c o n v e r s a tio n m a p p e r fe c tly
w ith o u r d ig ita l P R e n g a g e m e n t
 M e tr ic s & R e p o r tin g
T h is c h a r t c o m p a r e s th e s a m e tim e fr a m e in tw o d iffe r e n t y e a r s
 M e tr ic s & R e p o r tin g
T h is c h a r t b r e a k s o n lin e m e n tio n s in to s o c ia l m e d ia p la tfo r m
 T h a n k Y o u F o r Y o u r T im e !
P le a s e C o n tin u e th e
C o n v e r s a tio n o n Twitter b y
U s in g O u r D e lig h tfu l H a s h T a g
#digiPR

C h r is A b r a h a m D a n ie l K r u e g e r
P r e s id e n t a n d C O O D ir e c to r o f C lie n t S e r v ic e s
c a b r a h a m @ a b r a h a m h a r r is o n .c o m d k r u e g e r @ a b r a h a m h a r r is o n .c o m
@ c h r is a b r a h a m @ d1 3vk