Public Relations and Social Media Richard Bailey, 9 February 2011 www.prstudies.com | @behindthespin | #prlecsm

About this lecture What’s changing ‘out there’ (media landscape)? What’s changing inside the corporation? Where are the points of conflict and contention? How is public relations evolving? ‘Online public relations is not linear. Stuff happens!’ Phillips and Young 2009

Media landscape Once: ‘filter then publish’ Now: ‘publish then filter’ (Shirky 2008) End of the era of mass media, being replaced by masses of media, even ‘me media’ Huffington Post (a blog) has more readers than many newspapers (sold for $315m in Feb 2011) Facebook has 550 million+ users

21st century mediascape Macnamara 2010 connectivity (rapidly approaching ubiquity), communities, co-creativity, collaboration, collective intelligence, communication (two-way not one-way), conducted as... conversation – that is, open discussion that is authentic, not speeches, lectures, political propaganda, ‘spin’, or corporate-speak

Media evolution ‘The late 19th and 20th centuries were dominated by mass media and mass communication that predominantly involved top-down, one-way distribution of information to ‘audiences’ which, in the main, had to passively accept what was given to them. Also, in the mass media model, organisations controlled the messages distributed. ‘This has completely changed with development of Web 2.0-based social media.’ Macnamara 2010

Consumer mindset ‘There’s no market for messages’ This means the end of ‘interruption marketing’ A need for ‘permission marketing’ (Godin 1999) ‘Markets are conversations’ (Cluetrain Manifesto 2000) Rise of activists and single-issue campaigns The end of ‘command and control’? ‘The certainties of consumer expectations, behaviour, segmentation and communications that have underpinned marketing seem to have evaporated. Marketers are struggling to come to terms with splintering social structures, changing tastes and a fragmenting mediascape’. Professor Stephen Brown, Cranfield University

Internet communications One-to-many (broadcast) TV, video, news, celebrity Tweet ‘The distinction between broadcast and communications used to be clear.’ Clay Shirky Many-to-many Twitter, forums, comments on popular blogs, Facebook groups Many-to-one RSS, aggregators One-to-several (network) Blog, Facebook, Twitter, group email One-to-one (conversation) IM, email, DM, Skype

Network complexity ‘A group’s complexity grows faster than its size’. A small network of five members has ten connections. A ten member network has 45connections; a 15 member network has 105. ‘A group’s complexity grows faster than its size’. Shirky 2008 c d e b a

Command and control Based on Phillips and Young 2009 Dom- inant coalition Networked communication Dom- inant coalition Traditional ‘command and control’ management Changing organisational structure

The conversation prism Brian Solis

Corporate landscape Downsize or die? Consider the rise of free, open source projects (Linux, Wikipedia) What’s happening to command-and-control? ‘We see two schools of PR in practice today. One is the incumbent school of “command and control”. This school argues that companies should keep communicating in the same manner and with the same rules that they have always practiced... Some of the smartest are creating a new “listen and participate” school of thought in PR.’ Scoble and Israel 2006

Transparency ‘Transparency ... implies openness, communication and accountability.’ (Phillips and Young 2009) Radical transparency: the management method whereby nearly all decision making is carried out publicly Controlled transparency: the controlled posting and release of information to the internet Institutional transparency: information about an organisation is made available by a wide range of authorities

Porosity Information has always leaked out of organisations, but it’s so much easier today Email, Twitter, blogs, Facebook, text messages ‘A motivated, informed and alert workforce is the best and probably the only defence against unintentional porosity’ (Phillips and Young 2009) Porosity is not always bad; it can add to the authentic voice of the organisation

Internet agency Example: #getgraemeonaplane ‘Agency is the process of transformation of a message as it is passed from one person to another online’ (Phillips and Young 2009) Agency can and does change PR messages Control of the message is lost as it enters the network Example: #getgraemeonaplane

Trust There’s an abundance of media – but scarcity of attention and trust From Edelman Trust Barometer 2011

5. Results and evaluation Planning Research & Evaluation 1. Audit Source: Watson and Noble Where are we now? Where do we need to be? 2. Setting objectives 5. Results and evaluation How did we do? How do we get there? Are we getting there? 3. Strategy and plan 4. Ongoing measurement

1: Audit The internet is the first place we turn for news, competitor and market insight, commentary and real-time views What is being said about you on blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia and social networks? Twitter search for “Leeds Met” What about your web server stats? What about Search Engine Optimisation? How do you compare with your competitors?

2: Setting objectives Situational theory of publics becomes a valuable segmentation model since publics are defined by issues rather than consumer behaviour Are we trying to raise awareness, achieve engagement, change behaviour or all three? What issues could cause us problems? Is risk and opportunity manageable? ‘Online objectives have to coincide with organizational objectives and values, and to do so in ways that will make both transparent to the world. In addition, these objectives need to chime with an online community that has plenty of other places to go.’ (Phillips and Young 2009)

3: Strategy and plan ‘Aims and objectives for online activity have to be part of a strategic, multi-participant, multi-media approach’ (Phillips and Young 2009) ‘The mass market/mass media mindset is hard to leave behind’ (Phillips and Young 2009) The programme should be a mix of activities for old and new media (online media, media online) Strategy is adaptable by nature

4: Ongoing measurement Strategy will include methodologies for monitoring and reporting ‘Online activity can be slow to take off. It can also be explosive!’ Have SEO goals been built in? What about link sharing and affiliate marketing?

Risk and opportunities Phillips and Young 2009 Business complexity Increased likelihood of risk Technical complexity

Risk and opportunities Phillips and Young 2009 Business criticality Increased impact of risk Campaign size

Known unknowns Unknown unknowns What could go wrong that can be anticipated? Risk analysis should be an ongoing process Some things cannot be anticipated. There is no plan B. But is there a monitoring and alert system in place? Trust is a core element in managing the unforeseen. Unknown unknowns

5: Results and evaluation ‘There are very good indicators that can measure the public relations footprint of an organization.’ Trends monitoring: Website/blog visitor numbers Referrals (where the traffic is coming from) Inbound links Subscriptions (RSS) Keyword monitoring News monitoring and reporting eg Cymfony, Radian6

The future of public relations Public relations practitioner becomes: Corporate communication specialist Community manager Conversation manager Public engagement champion Digital brand consultant Relationship manager Reputation manager Risk, issues, crisis manager Job and career opportunities Who do employers recruit?

Case studies ASDA: social media strategy ASOS Life : community First Direct: social media newsroom Shell: issues management and CSR

Recommended reading Gillmor, D (2010) Mediactive, Lulu.com/Kindle/pdf Godin, S (1999) Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers, Simon & Schuster Li, C and Bernoff, J (2008) Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies, Harvard Business Press Levine, R, Locke, C, Searls, D and Weinberger, D (2009) The Cluetrain Manifesto: tenth anniversary edition Basic Books Macnamara, J (2010) The 21st Media (R)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices, Peter Lang Phillips, D and Young, P (2009) Online Public Relations: a practical guide to developing an online strategy in the world of social media, Kogan Page

Recommended reading Scoble, R and Israel, S (2006) Naked Conversations: how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, Wiley  Scott, D (2nd ed 2010) The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasts, Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, Wiley  Solis, B (2010) Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web, Wiley Shirky, C (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations Thomas, M and Brain, D (2008) Crowd Surfing: Suriving and thriving in the age of consumer empowerment, A & C Black