BuzzTart

These are the tools I use every day – I included them in my last newsletter, but here they are again so you don’t need to search your email:

1.  Amplify – this is a new service that lets you share with all your social networks from one interface (incidentally, NewsMaker only shares manually as we want to make sure the right messages are delivered to the right place on your behalf).
2. Compete – measure your performance in terms of hits and popularity, against your rivals.
3. Addictomatic– introduced to me by the media-savvy Gerry McCusker, this is a tool that reveals what’s been said about your brand, all in one screen, in virtual real time.
4. Social Mention – one of my favourites, allows you track any brand or name and have measurement of its “strength, sentiment, passion and reach” – as the name implies, it includes mentions in social media.
5. Alexa – this is not a new tool but it certainly is one of the fastest and more reliable ways to measure your ranking against websites in your region and across the whole world wide web. It also shows you the top keywords people used to find your pages.

PS: NewsMaker will launch its new platform in 2011. We’ll be using Swayve® software (Sway for Influence and VE for visibility engine). As well as PR productivity tools for publishing and distribution, Swayve lets you track and report on the coverage from your media campaigns in both social and traditional media. Register at Swayve to find out more about our release date.

measuring ROI, public relations, social media, social media metrics, social media ROI

The Australian Festive Season is traditionally the time when all business goes quiet – only to wake up again on Australia Day. This period between Christmas and the end of January is a fertile time for PR professionals to be thinking about their clients’ media communications calendar for the whole year. It’s also a time when radio stations and metro dailies are crying out for topical stories.

Radio stations employ stand-in presenters during this period while newspapers and magazines often work with skeleton staff. They need ideas that are going to entertain, excite and inform.

Here are some surefire ways to increase awareness and attract media coverage from Christmas through to Australia Day.

1. Random acts of kindness
Many people are faced with personal and financial challenges at this time of year. Tell people about your charity or volunteer work and the difference you make*.

2. Trends and opinions
Tell media about your event and especially any anecdotes or strong opinions that were shared – or any trends you’ve noticed in holiday conversations. Include pics if you have them.

3. New Year sales and promotions
In January, everyone is looking for a bargain. Now’s the time to announce your special offers, deals and sales.

4. Run a competition or survey
While you have some thinking time, plan a competition with a prize suited to your customers. Surveys also work well in media – the larger the survey group the better but even small surveys work.

5. Good news week…
Are you looking forward to a prosperous New Year? Tell people about it – we all want to hear inspiring stories about business growth.

6. Take pictures and record video
Make 2011 the year when you capture everything you can as an image or video. The combination of text and video is the most powerful trend in media. Back it up by announcing your video’s existence in a news release so it will be shared widely.

7. Be bold or crazy
Do something mad, fun and not too dangerous…. Or play it safe and make bold predictions about the year ahead. As with point 6, record them on video as well as text to increase their pulling power.

* Join Donortec for great discounts on software and hardware for nonprofits.

Australian nonprofits; nonprofit technology, free marketing, free PR, free publicity, media, media release, press release, public relations, social marketing, social media

Re Cameron England’s story in the Adelaide Advertiser this morning

I’m not surprised that 75% or more of local businesses don’t use social media, as reported in PPR’s report quoted in the article!

Twitter for small business use is under threat because, in the flood of messages, each user has only limited capacity to spend their day chatting up a whole bunch of people who will never become ‘sales leads’. A business needs to know who they’re talking to – you follow for research or amusement but it’s who follows your words of wisdom that’s really important. Is anybody listening or are they just counting scalps?

Further, the trend for some businesses to offshore their tweeting will surely kill Twitter stone dead. Of course I could just unfollow when I see this happening!

Adelaide, public relations, social media Adelaide Advertiser, business use of social media, social media, social media guru

This is the funniest thing I’ve read all day, from Advertising Age. A heated discussion after a US PR firm forgot to BCC her contacts in a press pitch (i love that, makes me feel less stupid!) and were subsequently flamed on Twitter. The bit that caught my eye was … “Then again, some of them are “social-media experts” and we all know that’s a pretty low bar.” (can’t we come up with some other term for “social media” – it’s so last year Found this through #fail where you can find everybody’s bloopers.

http://adage.com/adages/post?article_id=138547

free PR, social media

A University of Sydney study reported in The Australian’s media section this morning says it’s a myth that journos don’t use PR and press release content to generate their stories – instead, 30-80% of content comes from PR efforts.
The article also reports it’s a myth that PR people don’t spin – or to put it another way, it’s true that PR people spin, when directed to do so by their clients. (You always hope that readers are smart enough to see that, equally, journalists work under the instruction of their editors. They have to espouse the party line they don’t always share and sometimes put a negative spin on stories just to increase their newsworthiness.)
The study’s author, Jim Macnamara, says: “PR is a fact of life. Journalists should recognise it as an important communication channel and not deny it. And if there is PR material being used, it should be open and transparent.” Couldn’t agree more – the more quality PR, the better the relationship with the journalist, the better you become as reliable and trusted a source as any other. Bloggers themselves have become both a source of news and a publishing vehicle for PR – there’s another debate in the making.
A debate on this topic will be held on Wednesday this week in Sydney.

Australian Media Alliance, media release, Public affairs, public relations, social media

I read the gorgeous Simon Small’s blog and couldn’t resist a rant on my favourite topic.
As I commented to Simon, I agree that social media is of course another PR outlet – because PR is not just media relations, it’s the whole shebang of getting a message across to people using any medium. But there are a few differences and coming from a background of old school journalism i feel kinda sad that trained journalists may not be perceived of value up against the flood of bloggers. The biggest difference is that journalists are trained to report a story more or less without prejudice (this argument can take place separately LOL) , whereas bloggers ALWAYS have prejudice….
Journalists are paid to to present their story from many viewpoints, and because they get paid they can hone their message to give it depth and/or entertainment value. Eg, i would be deeply saddened, even distressed, if the Australian Financial Review could no longer employ great journalists because of a lack of ad revenue. IMHO – and as I’m actually building a business based on Simon’s premise that the web allows you to control your message, this is not self-serving at all — trained journalists can’t be replaced by casual bloggers unless the whole thing comes down to money. It’s always been said that people get the politicians they deserve; much as i love and adore the social networks – i hope we are not going to get the newspapers and other media outlets we deserve if all their ad revenue goes where the eyeballs apparently are.

Further, yes you can promote your product online rapidly using self-publishing tools combined with DIGGing, Google News etc — but you still need the skills of a GOOD or even GREAT PR person to manage your message – it’s not just about the relationship with a journalist, it is multi-dimensional. Somewhere along the line you want someone to buy your product – Simon does and I do. Somewhere along the line you need to close the deal. I’m interested to see how the wonderful world of social media will wend its way — inevitably towards that sale!
Thanks, Simon, for getting me going with a real blog!! Mmmwaaah xl

citizen journalism, social media, social networking

People use social networks (online or offline) for psycho-emotional reasons. (IMHO) Faced with an overwhelming tsunami (per Mark Pesce) of information, many people are using their personal networked space (facebook, myspace, bebo, twitter, etc) to cocoon, to protect themselves from the deluge. They are using RSS feeds and news alerts to avoid getting all the other information. I believe people will get even more choosy about the content they receive. I’m not saying email marketing is facing extinction but it is certainly ailing.

Also, when interactive TV becomes part of our lives (the Federal Government promises 2010, for god’s sake, make it happen!), can you imagine the impact of social networks? People will be able to watch TV in one corner of the screen while commenting on what they’re viewing in their personal networks… Never mind Idol, Dance or Big Brother, think how that will affect an election outcome when people can vote by remote control without getting out of their chair.

email marketing, interactive media, interactive tv, social media, South Australia, South Australian innovation

Today it’s Anzac Day and I’m preparing some words for the South Australian Government’s Digital Media Showcase. This is a concept to let SA Government Agencies know how they could be using local talent to take advantage of interactive media.

I’ll be sharing a panel chaired by Frank Grasso, one of Australia’s foremost search engine marketers. Frank runs E-channel and Dynamic Creative, a tool for large scale management of GoogleAds. Also on the panel are Jason Neave from ViaMedia, Leonora Beresford of Starcom; Stuart Pool from Adelaide Now; Leila Henderson (me) CEO of NewsGallery; and Jason Dunstone, Managing Director, Square Holes. How we’ll fit in all of that information in a half hour session is a mystery.

On the ‘Serious Games’ panel, Ben Kilsby from simulation company Holopoint cracked me up when he saw that he’d be sharing the stage with Adrian Smith from Sydac and John Buchanan from Carnegie Mellon — Ben says ‘that’s like a garage band finding out they’re sharing the bill with Pearl Jam’. Go Ben.

So congratulations to Ann Clancy, that powerhouse activist and official Creative Industries Catalyst, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and the AIMIA SA committee for getting this off the ground.

Adelaide, interactive media, social media