Be Strategic When It Comes to Social Media Tactics

I was recently referred to a corporate communications executive who was interested in how to best integrate social media into his company’s mix of marketing and public relations activities.

It took me about 20 minutes to overview our sales-focused and lead generation oriented approach. I hit all of the hot issues: how we integrate our social media marketing programs with a client’s sales organization; ways to leverage existing thought leadership content; and the importance of aligning tactical activities with a search engine optimization (SEO) effort.

There was a moment of silence on the phone and then he said, “You know, we have just talked about setting up a Facebook fan page.”

OK…fair enough. A company has to start somewhere when it comes to the adoption of social media. In fact, we typically employ a pilot program methodology when engaging with a new client because it allows a company to ease into social media in a more measured and defined way.

However, even if easing into social media means a straight tactical approach (i.e. Facebook fan page, corporate Twitter account, etc.), it is imperative that a strategy and measurable benchmarks be put in place.

Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) recently revamped its Facebook fan page as part of a Web site refresh. We’ve defined two primary objectives for our presence on Facebook:

1. Use it as a platform for the ongoing promotion of our social media marketing successes on behalf of clients like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, British Telecom (BT), Monster, TANDBERG, BroadSoft, GovDelivery, among others. We’re laser-focused on existing clients and prospects with this objective.

2. Provide a more personal glimpse into Strategic’s culture and the professionals who work for the firm. This content is geared more towards prospective employees and 1099 partners.

Take a look at our Facebook presence and, if interested, sign on as a fan. You’ll receive updates on our client-related social media work.

And never shy from engaging in social media. Even if it is a tactical approach to start, just make sure you have outlined some type of strategy.

Social Media Mission Gulf

Even in the same industry professional missions can be remarkably different.

Consider my 20 years as a public relations practitioner. I have penned my share of strategy documents. I have written press releases and pitched journalists. I’ve organized events and worked industry conferences.

However, my role representing technology and healthcare clients is completely foreign to someone in entertainment PR or crisis communications – and vice versa. We have comparable skill sets, and utilize the same tools and tactics. Yet, our jobs and experience in PR exist on unique plains.

This same mission gulf also exists in social media marketing. At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we are typically retained by growth-oriented clients that have an interest in identifying leads, cultivating sales prospects, enhancing SEO and driving audience engagement.

For us, social media marketing is about helping companies find and grow new sources of revenue.

Rich Pesce’s social media mission is also tied to corporate revenue. However, his job at Sprint is to enhance the customer experience for the company’s wireless users, thereby increasing their loyalty to the company (and the resulting revenue).


“The customer experience with a wireless service is very personal,” Rich told me during a phone call last week. “Online conversations about Sprint are already happening. We use social media to join these conversations and demonstrate responsiveness to the customer.”

Pesce employs a mix of social media tactics to fulfill this loyalty mission. He participates in online communities, searches and engages on Twitter, and is proactive in connecting with bloggers.

“Every time I see someone discussing Sprint I look for ways to make a difference,” he explains. “At the very least I listen and respond. Yet, I also serve as a conduit to our customer care organization.”

While Rich and I both reside in this Web 2.0-powered world, our expectations of social media and benchmarks for success are radically different. Quite a mission gulf, eh?

Like Business, Social Media's Foundation is Trust

For more than 15 years I have played the role of chief rainmaker at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic). In that time, I have helped bring in over $10M in business from more than 100 clients.

Yet, I have never once sold anyone public relations or social media marketing. Yes…those are the services Strategic provides. However, in a business-to-business sales environment what I am ultimately selling is trust.

If I fail to connect with a potential client, it simply does not matter how wonderfully qualified Strategic may be to represent their interests. For a relationship to commence, a client must believe in our ability, and have faith and confidence in our commitment to their success.

This same “trust” must be present for a connection initiated in a social network to naturally migrate into a relationship with measurable business value.

Personally, I like to take ownership of the trust building process by making an investment of time and effort. I constantly identify opportunities to enhance the professional development and accomplishment of my portfolio of social media connections.

In turn, I am candid about my expectation that they do the same for me. Do they have ideas about how Strategic can run more efficiently? Can they refer me to potential clients? How about suggesting a possible new hire?

I’m always amused by those who claim their networking motives are merely altruistic. Charity is certainly admirable, yet in a business setting it comes off as disingenuous, thereby damaging credibility and trust.

Zero Sum and a Competitor Conundrum

Can you be friends with a competitor?

Like most executives, I invest time thinking about the firms we square off against for client assignments. I visit their corporate Web sites, evaluate their social media activities, take note of their press announcements and review new marketing initiatives.

It’s all part of my responsibility to maintain a strong competitive position for Strategic Communications Group (Strategic).

While I have a healthy level of respect for nearly all of our competitors, there are several firms where I have a more cordial relationship with one or more of their principals. I make it a point to spend time with them at industry conferences and events and, whenever possible, refer business opportunities.

However, an Email landed in my Outlook inbox this week that has me re-thinking this dynamic:

Hi Marc

I hear you are meeting with my client, NAME WITHHELD.

Does this mean I can now aggressively go after your clients? I have been holding off going after my friends' clients up till now.

Business is typically a zero sum situation. If my business is to advance, it’s typically at the expense of a competitor.

It’s no secret that Strategic calls on companies represented by other firms. We don’t knock anyone, yet certainly have an agenda to win away business. I expect my competitors to be doing the same with our clients.

After giving this Email some thought, my view remains constant. It is professional (and respectful) to be friendly with a competitor. Friends though? I think not.

Influence Shift Marches On

I suspect more than a handful of marketing and public relations professionals wistfully yearn for the days when market influencers fit neatly into well defined categories.

You had journalists, both business and trades. Then there were a select set of industry and financial analysts. Sprinkle in a few thought leaders from academia and not-for-profits and…poof…you had a target list for your next PR campaign.

This methodology of influencer identification with the goal of shaping market opinion sure got outdated…and fast. The reliance by customers on social networks and online communities has resulted in a dramatic shift in influence, tilting power from traditional sources such as the news media to emerging channels.

Today’s super charged influencer could very well be a blogger, Twitter junkie or Facebook fanatic. Just ask the folks at Za’s Brick Oven Pizza in Columbia, South Carolina. An unflattering tweet by a prominent college basketball coach with more than 1,500 followers sent the restaurant’s business into a tailspin.

Unlike some respected pundits, I certainly believe in the continued importance and impact of the media and analyst communities. Most adhere to a peer review process that produces a higher quality and more credible content.

It’s just time for all public relations practitioners and corporate marketers to shed antiquated notions about where to find centers of influence. Strike a balance in your next promotional campaign, based on who your key audiences rely on.

Are Hotties Destined to be High Performers?

From time-to-time I am asked what brought me to public relations as a profession.

It would be great if I could muster up a tale of interest in communications strategy, creative writing, critical thinking or even the dynamic of decision-making. Truth is, my career path began based on a simple focus: girls.

Let me explain. As an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Maryland one of my priorities was to establish connections with my fellow undergraduates, preferably the female ones.

When it came time to select a major I dutifully researched the programs with the highest percentage of female enrollment. I wasn’t particularly fond of math which ruled out psychology. At the time, I did not care much for children so education was a no go. That left…you got it…journalism with a focus on PR.

I’d like to think I have matured some in the two decades plus since my collegiate days. Fifteen years as an entrepreneur…two kids…a mortgage…and a romantic interest now in only one girl, my wife.

Yet, I have been thinking a bit about my inauspicious professional beginnings after reading Claire Cain Miller’s accounting in the New York Times of the changing nature of PR representation of emerging growth technology companies.

I will leave the debate of the appropriate role of public relations professionals to other bloggers and pundits. My preference is to focus on a subtle undertone in the article: are people more successful in the field of public relations because of their physical appearance?

Gotta say “yes” on this one because of the basic human nature to gravitate towards and more openly engage with people we find attractive. This begins at an early age as the more beautiful children are granted a higher level of attention by their parents, teachers and peers.

This adoration manifests itself throughout life, ultimately producing a professional who is confident in their presence, capabilities and intellect. Consider Brooke Hammerling of Brew PR and the star of Miller’s New York Times article. She certainly strikes me as someone who hasn’t had to deal with too many rejections in life.

Now, I do recognize I am making a broad generalization. There are attractive people in public relations who fail to rise above mediocrity. And, of course, there are those who are more modest in appearances who achieve tremendous success.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), I am fortunate to work with a highly skilled, talented, creative and confident senior team. They also happen to be quite an attractive lot. I wonder if that’s merely a coincidence.

Social Media and Enterprise Sales Acceleration

There is seldom a quick hit in business-to-business enterprise sales.

Prospects are appropriately demanding. Product features and corporate capabilities must be presented and validated -- repeatedly. Market expertise, thought leadership and industry reputation are constantly judged.

Rush the process and a vendor risks losing the deal. Relationships are cultivated over time and it’s typical for an enterprise sales cycle to be measured in years.

The payoff is sweet. Revenue from an enterprise sale can run well into the millions of dollars. Plus, the lifetime value of a loyal customer can serve as the very foundation of the business.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), the majority of our clients sell sophisticated products or services to government and commercial enterprise customers. As such, our social media and digital communications work has gravitated towards lead generation and sales cycle support for enterprise deals.

We have refined a four-step methodology that allows social media performance to be measured by enterprise deal flow and resulting revenue, rather than merely awareness and positioning.

Step 1 Prioritize the Hot Ones. By working closely with your sales team, a set of prospects can be culled based on their standing in the sales pipeline, intimacy of existing relationship and potential size of the transaction. Typically, we’ll select a list of 15 to 25 prospects which is then reviewed and updated on a monthly basis.

Step 2 Map and Monitor. Compile an overview of each prospect’s engagement in online communities, blogs, Twitter feeds, trade shows and conferences, and advertising activities. Monitor weekly and pay particular attention to new activities and related messaging.

Step 3 Engage in a Prospect’s Communities of Choice. Connect with a prospect through LinkedIn, Facebook and other communities, and then share relevant content from your company’s social media and marketing activities. Also, be sure to demonstrate your interest in the prospect’s views through comments on their blog or invitations to contribute content to your social media programs.

Step 4 Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. There are two important criteria to use when assessing the impact of social media on enterprise sales activities. There are tactical benchmarks, such as number of prospect connections, comment exchange and participation in content development. And then there is anecdotal feedback from the sales team on how social media and digital engagement has helped move deals forward.

Social Media Spend Moves from the Fringe

In today’s environment, marketers and corporate communications professionals face two realities: 1) the audiences they need to reach -- customers, prospects, partners and influencers – have migrated to social networks and online communities; and 2) the budget they have to fund lead generation and branding programs continues to be stressed.

Where will dollars now be found to invest in social media and digital marketing programs?

For the past two years it has been primarily fringe budget -- those modest sums remaining at the end of the quarter that must be spent or forfeited back to the corporate kitty. This financial approach was smart thinking as social media and digital marketing was relatively new and experimental. If a program hit big, then it was kudos all around. If went bust…well there wasn’t much invested in it.

According to a recent forecast from the analysts at Forrester Research, corporate marketing is now pulling from the resources reserved for traditional promotional activities to fund social media and digital campaigns.

Moreover, Forrester projects accelerating growth in social media investments due to marketers seeking lower cost, more accountable channels which are also widely used by their customers.

The Goodness of Social Media Portals

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we know we’re on a good path if 90 days into a social media campaign the client is happily frustrated.

The giddiness comes from the traction that program has gained with our target audiences. We’ve established an editorial strategy, our readership and engagement is expanding, search engine optimization (SEO) is enhanced, and a lead generation initiative is in the works.

Why the despair?

Internal audiences typically take note as momentum builds with a corporate social media program. It generates excitement for the potential of Web 2.0 tools and technologies, which then leads to a wave of unsupervised adoption across the organization. LinkedIn and Facebook profiles are updated. Twitter accounts spring up. Personal blogs take shape.

In a recent post entitled “Three Phases of Social Media Maturation” I refer to this period as “Bridging to Pervasive.” It is very much a positive as an understanding of the value of social media becomes ingrained in an organization’s psyche. Yet, it does present challenges for the corporate marketer.

For starters, there is the issue of consistency in messaging. This is a basic tenet of effective branding – every touch a key stakeholder has with the company should be in-step with an overall positioning strategy. The more tweets, updates, blog posts and comments in social networks from a diverse set of employees across the company the greater the chance for fragmentation of the brand.

A second challenge for the corporate marketer is policing the inadvertent disclosure of company sensitive information to participants in online communities. This is of particular concern for publicly-traded companies, as well as organizations in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare or financial services.

One approach to address these challenges without stunting Web 2.0 enthusiasm is for corporate marketing to create a social media portal to serve an entry point to a company’s online engagement. Employees retain a certain amount of freedom about how they participate in social networks and they realize increased readership from the cross-promotion of content with their colleagues.

For corporate marketers, a social media portal brings structure and consistency to the program, while helping them establish and maintain content parameters.

Regional accounting firm Cherry Bekaert & Holland has followed this path with its “Economic Recovery Resource Center." Developed for wealthy individuals and companies of all sizes, this social media portal combines third party content with a mix of blogs from the accounting firm’s subject matter experts. The content is timely and relevant, and, I suspect, aligned with a SEO strategy.

Kudos to the folks at Cherry Bekaert. They are fully engaged in social media while marketing maintains an appropriate level of management and control.

Social Media: Intersection of PR and Direct Marketing

Earlier this month the Chicago chapter of the Business Marketing Association hosted an event that featured a key note address from Edmond Russ, the top marketer at accounting firm Grant Thornton. BtoB Magazine was on the spot with a recap of Russ’ presentation.

From a review of the BtoB article, it appears Russ dedicated much of his discussion to the importance of an ongoing investment in brand advertising and promotion to establish credibility with key audiences. I've heard the arguments before and agree that brand enhancement should be a goal of any external communications program.

Yet, the lack of measurability with traditional advertising and public relations activities has always troubled me.

PR/communications professionals often decry top level corporate brass for cutting back on brand promotion when budgets get tight. Op-eds spring up in trade journals like PR Week, PR News and BtoB that characterize the C-suite as simply not “getting it” when it comes to the value of communications.

Hmmm…I wonder if it is the PR and marketing folk who don’t get it. The understandable view from the office of the CEO is that an activity with a difficult to measure value proposition and ROI is simply not fundable in lean economic times.


I suspect Grant Thornton’s Russ may agree. Here's the content from the BtoB article I found of most interest:

(Russ photo courtesy of Marketplace Masters.)

"When speaking about effective marketing channels, Russ said public relations is successful in reaching out to prospects but has a low level of personal interaction. Direct marketing, on the other hand, is effective in both reaching out to prospects and having a high level of personal interaction, thus helping to build the brand, he said."

Perhaps I should begin to characterize social media as the intersection between public relations and direct marketing. It's about thought leadership content that engages, educates and entertains delivered to key audiences through a more direct and intimate channel.

The ROI can be measured in terms of brand visibility and positioning through search engine optimization (SEO), as well as via lead generation and sales support. Now that’s something the C-Suite will surely understand.

Three Phases of Social Media Maturation

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) we've been through the cycle.

From start-up to execution and now ROI evaluation, we have lived the maturation of social media and digital public relations programs. Our client work has also covered a broad spectrum of organizations, with representation of global firms like British Telecom (BT), Microsoft, Spirent Communications and BearingPoint, as well as emerging growth companies such as GovDelivery and Epok.

During the last few weeks I have made the swing visiting with clients to share the best practices and lessons learned we've picked up along this journey. It was during one of these discussions at a Starbucks tucked in a corner of a shopping mall in Washington, DC that a client helped define the three phases of a social media initiative.

Phase One: Pockets of Innovation

Strategic typically engages with a client in a pilot program environment, with the scope of work aligned with a funded requirement, such as a product launch, thought leadership campaign or industry conference. I assumed this pilot methodology was easily digested because it kept the budget (and risk) relatively modest.

While this is partly true, it's also apparent that certain individuals within an organization emerge as champions of social media. They may recognize that their customers and partners have become engaged in social networks and online communities. You have to fish where the fish are, right?

Or, perhaps it is a competitive threat in which an upstart has stolen away mindshare and momentum through their use of social media as a thought leadership platform.

Regardless of the reason, the social media champion correctly concludes that how companies position, brand, promote and identify leads has shifted. Their desire is to drive innovation in their communications program in a meaningful and measurable way.

During this initial phase, the social media program wins funding, a strategy is defined, an editorial content direction is agreed upon and tactics move to execution. The benchmark is to attract a community of readers, which is carefully tracked on an ongoing basis.

Phase Two: Bridging to Pervasive

There is a proverb that states success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan. This has proved to be spot on when it comes to a social media campaign.

As readership grows, the word spreads internally about the traction generated through social media tactics. There may even be instances in which direct sales and business development opportunities are identified through online channels. This resonates across multiple departments within a company, such as marketing, sales and product development.

This internal buzz stimulates action. Others in the company closely track the campaign and begin to invest more time engaging in their own social media activities. LinkedIn profiles are updated. Discussion groups are joined. Twitter feeds spring up.

For our social media champion, this second phase is about accelerating readership and encouraging dialogue. The editorial content strategy may evolve and multi-media elements -- such as video, podcasts, customer Q&As, etc. --are incorporated into the program. We also see a more consistent flow of comments, as well as other examples of readers reaching out to engage.

The promotion strategy to drive interest and among target audiences also becomes more effective and efficient. There is now a baseline. Readership and participation is measured with hot topics and themes fed to the sales organization as a form of real-time market intelligence.

Phase Three: The Last Mile

With the social media program now established and clicking along, our champion turns to the issue of ROI attached to measurable benchmarks.


At Strategic, we view community, conversation and awareness as merely the starting point. Is there an appropriate way to cross this last mile to identify members of our engaged community as sales leads, potential partners or new hires? (Image created by Ryan Schradin.)

It's in this phase that interaction with the organization's sales team becomes paramount. Thought leadership-based lead generation tactics -- such as educational Webinars -- combined with good old fashioned sales outreach must be defined and put in place.

Although we never stray from what's appropriate in social media participation, the last mile phase is all about justifying the spend to date and making a business case for continued investment.


What has your experience been with the implementation of social media programs? I welcome your comments to this blog post or you can add specific content to this article at this wiki:

Three Phases of Social Media Maturation

A Broader Perspective Revealed

Here is something most public relations agency heads will be loathe to acknowledge. I will never know a client’s business as well as the company’s executive and marketing leadership.

That’s because a client is hip deep in the issues, news, trends and gossip of their industry. As an external consultant, my time is allocated across a set of engagements. I bring market expertise to every relationship, yet often rely on the client for ongoing education and direction about the nuances of their business.

An agency’s most significant value derives from the broader perspective and context it is able to provide about how a client will potentially be impacted by macro-trends. How will a hot issue in the enterprise market possibly play out in the public sector? Are the social media tactics employed to promote an information security solution relevant to a purveyor of enterprise software?

It is our responsibility at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) to provide this insight to assist in both strategic planning and tactical execution. It’s the difference between being a respected counselor versus a spinner of press releases.

Industry conferences present the ideal setting to visit with marketing leaders to discuss their thoughts on priorities and programs. These conversations contribute to my body of knowledge and, in turn, allow me to more successfully fill the counselor role.

Last month at the Satellite 2009 conference in Washington, DC, I spent time with Toni Lee Rudnicki (CMO at iDirect) and Joe Amor of Microspace Communications Corporation.

Here’s a link to a video with highlights from each interview:

Live at Satellite 2009 (three minutes)

While in different segments of the satellite industry, Toni Lee and Joe face a similar challenge: how to grow their addressable market through new applications of the company’s technology, while maintaining an intimate connection with existing customers.

I’m thinking quite a bit these days about this dilemma, how iDirect and Microspace are meeting the challenge head on, and, most important, what it means for Strategic’s clients.

Customers and the Crystal Ball

Last week I had lunch with one of the most successful software entrepreneurs in the country. Although he has amassed considerable wealth (i.e. the pleasure boat he sold last year sports a crew of eight), he’s back in technology as an investor and top executive at a software provider in the mobile management space.

While it was an informal get together, I was quick to hit him up for his thoughts on the market and, in particular, Strategic Communications Group’s (Strategic) business. I learned soon after founding Strategic nearly 15 years ago that the smart CEO is never shy about asking for advice.

So, what gem did I pick up at this lunch? The business you start is rarely the business that succeeds.

The lesson here is that it’s critical to talk to customers, each and every day. Rather than focusing on the now, ask and then listen about future needs. What do they anticipate their requirements to be in six months? Twelve months? That’s how you want to position your company.

Sounds simple enough, yet consider the high-quality companies run by proven management that fail to reinvent themselves. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is one. Then there’s Compaq. And most recently it was SGI’s turn. What was once a $4B a year maker of high end computing servers was just sold off for a mere $25M.

I’d have shook my head in disbelief is someone told me three years ago that in 2009 nearly 75 percent of Strategic’s revenue would come from social media and digital marketing services. The shift in the market has been stunning and, admittedly, somewhat unexpected.

We’ve been fortunate to align ourselves with an exceptional set of clients in the technology and healthcare markets. And, make no mistake, I am talking to each of them on an ongoing basis.

Hope and the PR Hop

With nearly two decades as a public relations professional and 15 years of pitching the service to corporate executives, I have long been tormented by the hard to measure ROI of my craft.

The value proposition of a PR investment is fairly straightforward: the increased awareness and credibility from media coverage and analyst commentary creates an environment in which a company can more successfully execute its growth strategy. People do business with companies they know and trust, and that's what public relations delivers.

Yet, this value proposition rests on the shaky foundation of hope. Consider the media relations process. Here's how it goes...I hope I can get a journalist interested in writing a story. I hope my spokesperson is on message. I hope the reporter gets the story right. I hope someone who is important comes across the article. And I hope it inspires them to take action.

Simply put, this is too much hope for a result with a value that is fuzzy at best.

Social media changes this paradigm. No longer are public relations professionals slaves to the traditional channels of influence. We don't need to hope for the hop from journalist to reader.

That's because in social networks and online communities participants self-identify by who they are, where they work, their responsibilities on the job, and professional and personal interests. We can now connect with target audiences directly with content that engages, educates and entertains.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we've found that by distributing and promoting content based on thought leadership, industry insight and best practices, key audiences will demonstrate interest by how they invest their time. They may choose to follow on Twitter. Request to connect in LinkedIn. Or comment on a blog.

They're raising a hand and, in many instances, communicating they are open to a more meaningful conversation. These contacts via social networks should be viewed as sales leads, potential partners or new hires.

For the public relations professional our work becomes measurable and closely aligned with the success of the business...and there is no hope about it.

Survey Says Trades Take a Fall

Public relations professionals are challenged with information overload. To provide proper context and counsel, we must understand the macro trends shaping a myriad of industry segments, the strategies of market leaders and emerging vendors, and how our company fits into the mix.

The social media era has made the content tsunami worse. Personally, I’ve added a host of blogs, Twitter feeds and LinkedIn group discussions to the periodicals and journals I read on a weekly basis.

Yet, regardless of how many blogs I add to my Google Reader I still consider trade publications like Computerworld, InfoWorld, CIO, Network World and Informationweek a must read. Their writers know the markets they cover better than general business journalists, and they tend to provide reliable and well researched insight and analysis.

In fact, I have had editors at mainstream outlets like BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal and Forbes ask me to send a client’s trade clips before they would seriously entertain developing a story about the company. You had to prove the client was the talk of its industry because the trade media typically sniffed out companies that lacked substance.

Based on a new survey I just reviewed, I may need to rethink my reading priorities. George Washington University professor Don Bates got together with Cision to query 12,000 reporters and editors about the outside sources they rely on for story ideas and research.

The results of the survey are comprehensive and cover a number of important topics. I’ll focus on the unexpected knocks on trade publications, which included:

--Blogs are used almost as often as trades as part of the reporting and editing process.

--For monitoring responses to stories, only Web sites and blogs are considered important. Conferences, trade journals, social networking sites and podcasts are lumped in the unimportant category.

Okay…what’s going on here? I know the trades have suffered due to a decrease in advertising and the lack of a viable Web business model. The resulting cut-backs have taken out many experienced writers who toiled for years to develop the expertise and contacts to effectively report on the most technical industries.

For the trade media to have fallen on par (and even lower) with the mass of peer review-less hacks who together comprise a significant portion of the blogosphere represents a shocking decline in their influence.

If journalists no longer turn to the trades for what is relevant in a specific market should I spend my time with them every week? And, of course, the bigger question is: Will the trades even be viable in the next 18 to 24 months?

Channeling Your Angry Man

In today’s media and message saturated world it’s the angry man who commands attention.

Think Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Oprah Winfrey. The angry man isn’t about gender, ideology or broadcast medium. Rather, it is a person who is intelligent, articulate and, most important, bold enough to share their thoughts even when they cut against popular opinion.

Incorporating an angry man component into the editorial content strategy of your social media program is a must in a business-to-business environment. That’s because regardless of how proactive you are in promotion, readers who fail to find content that engages, educates and entertains won’t return. And nothing helps achieve these objectives more than some healthy controversy.

Yet, there is a fine line between an effective angry man who encourages readership and someone who has slipped into the world of offensive and obscene. The later ostracizes key audiences and can actually damage the prospects of the business. (Image courtesy of www.creditwritedowns.com)

Here are few of my suggestions on how to be a winning angry man:

1. Select topics with competing perspectives and make an argument. Recently, I suggested Web 2.0 companies like Facebook and Twitter charge users as a means of developing multiple revenue streams. I knew this view – regardless of how well presented – would find a hostile reception.

Sure enough, a majority of the nearly 20 comments to my blog post took exception. However, readership of the post was more than five times my typical daily average and the number of subscribers doubled in 24 hours.

2. Steer clear of the three “no-no’s.” That would be politics, religion and sex. When it comes to interaction in a business environment, the chance to offend on these firecracker topics is simply too great.

3. Every so often carefully pick a topic that puts your hand in the hornet’s nest. My experience last year speaking to a journalism class at the American University inspired a blog post titled “Colleges Fail on Social Media.” I shared this post with an online community of public relations students knowing there would be considerable blow back for my generalization.

It came alright and I was flogged in a number of posts that pointed to my blog. The risk of offending this non-influential group was well worth it though, as my readership and Technorati authority received a measurable bump.

4. Consider opposing views and respond intelligently. I make it a point to direct message every rationale commenter to my blog, Twitter feed and LinkedIn posts. I may not agree, but I listen and that’s the foundation of any dialogue.

5. Never stoop to attacks on person or company. There are some in the blogosphere who are quick to refer to others as uninformed, clueless and even stupid. It’s petty and unprofessional.

The closest I came was my blog post about a speaker’s lack of preparation at an event at a high-end business venue. Several weeks later I ran into the individual I criticized at a Social Media Club event. We shook hands and chatted about the industry. He knew my post wasn’t personal; it was just me being the angry man.

Business-Style Humor

Humor is risky because it is so personal.

What I consider a laugh riot, you may perceive as a sign of stupidity or, even worse, a reason to litigate. For this reason, companies tend to shy away from incorporating humor into their social media, marketing and promotional content.

This is a shame though because when done well humor has the unique ability to accelerate the impact of a program. It pushes content viral, leading to a dramatic increase in audience awareness and engagement.


Consider EA Sports and their “Tiger Woods: Walk on Water” video on YouTube. The company’s willingness to playfully poke fun at a glitch in the programming of their own game produced a promotional spot that has been viewed by more than 2.7 million viewers.

I am a self-proclaimed funny guy and I’ve spent more than 15 years peppering business discussions with humor as a relationship-building strategy. I’ve only had a handful of attempts fall completely flat because I recognize that comedy in a business setting delivers best when:

-You poke fun at yourself for something that is minor and insignificant. For instance, my Propecia-armed battle to maintain my thinning head of hair is typically a crowd pleaser.

-The comedic content is relevant to the audience targeted. Recently, a group of my colleagues at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) produced a wonderfully entertaining video to present a set of tactics for our own public relations program. The video hit the mark because it plays on a series internal conversations we’ve had at the company, as well as gently pokes fun at the personalities involved.

Corporate Rats Running Wild

Jack Nicholson, Leonard DiCaprio and Matt Damon delivered exceptional performances in the 2006 crime flick The Departed.

The basic premise: Nicholson (the mob boss) leans on his police informant to find an undercover officer who has infiltrated his organization. It turns out that Nicholson is also on the take, leaking information to federal authorities about the illegal activities of his partners in crime.

Basically, this is a story about what happens when rats run wild. In the end, everyone takes a bullet.

Life appears to be imitating cinema at Yahoo! these days. New CEO Carol Bartz is determined to stop the leaking of inside information to reporters like the Wall Street Journal’s Kara Swisher. One of Bartz’s ideas is to offer cash payments to employees who turn in their colleagues for such transgressions. Ironically, word of this policy leaked to Swisher.

OK…a couple of thoughts on this. For starters, it is incomprehensible for staffers to knowingly violate the terms of their employment agreements and disclose confidential information. There are more appropriate and ethical ways to express dissatisfaction with a company’s policies.

I also continue to be perplexed by the desperate measures employed by smart, experienced executives in an effort to squash leaks. For instance, members of HP’s Board hired private investigators who then used illegal tactics to identify an undisclosed media source.

And now we have Yahoo!’s Bartz who is creating an environment where rats will run wild. The company may in fact put an end to the leaks. Yet, they’ll be left with a culture defined by suspicion and mistrust.

I raised this issue with my colleague Chris Parente who faced a comparable situation at a former employer that battered by leaks to a local business reporter. Chris’ thoughts:

“(The payments) Never could work because it turns a bad situation even more poisonous. Employees spying on each other. That will further erode morale.

The approach that was effective for me was getting executives out of bunker mentality and actually talking with the media about what they could; making sure accurate information was included in the stories.”

Vendor Relationships, Fair All Around

Do you care about the profitability of your vendors?

Before you quickly conclude, “no…that’s their concern,” think about how important the financial health of your vendors is to your own professional well being.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we are fortunate to work with a top flight set of consultants who are critical to our success. Our corporate attorney has been with us from the beginning. And our CPA firm has taken us through more than four years of annual financial reviews. If they were in distress, I’d surely feel pain and our business could potentially suffer.

It is in every company’s best interests to understand and track the profitability of its key vendors, with an eye towards assuring the financial terms of the relationship are beneficial to all parties.

I face this issue when negotiating a contract with a client. Most are fair, yet some companies are intent on extracting the largest possible scope of work for the lowest price – regardless of the impact on our company or employees. This beat you down mentality is amplified during challenging economic times.

Our approach is to be open and honest about our profit margins. We don’t gouge our clients, yet we demand that an engagement be good business.

It cuts both ways though. While companies should expect to compensate their vendors fairly, they should also clamp down on working with firms that run up their own profits at their customer’s expense. For instance, there’s a PR shop I’m aware of that routinely brags to everyone (but its clients, of course) about the firm’s “industry leading margins.”

Here is another example that probably has hit you directly in the wallet. Most of us got jammed up this summer with exorbitant gasoline prices. They couldn’t be avoided, explained the big oil companies. Surprise, surprise…Exxon Mobil just reported a $45.2 billion profit for the year, the largest ever for an American corporation.

Guess who I will never fill up with again?

Own the Point of Interview

Every step in the media relations process is critical to achieve the desired result – high impact editorial coverage that is accurate, timely and in-strategy.

There are no short cuts. You have to read the publication and its Web site, know the journalists and their coverage area, understand the market trends, and craft a compelling, timely pitch.

However, it’s at the point of interview that a media campaign either comes together, or falls flat. This is the time when the executive being interviewed must convince the journalist that their readers will find value in an article which follows a specific editorial path or includes a specific quote. Quality journalists need lots of convincing.

Developing power statements about a company and its products is a proven tactic to ensure time spent with a journalist leads to a measurable result. A few years back I met with a company that designs and manufactures state-of-the-art proprietary hardware solutions (DC to 40 GHz) to facilitate broadband RF signal management for complex cable networks.

What was their power statement? As it turns out, if you’re watching cable television in North America the signal is directed by this company’s product.

A second approach to own the point of interview is to deliver an assessment of a market situation in a creative and unexpected way.

Rick Wesson of computer security consulting shop Support Intelligence recently scored an interview with the New York Times about a new worm called Conficker. His characterization of the worm’s potential impact was masterful:

“If you’re looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon.”

Garnering meaningful coverage from journalists, analysts, bloggers and other influencers comes down to how a company delivers at the point of interview.