The Link Between Online Advertising And Public Relations

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Jonathan Gardner, director of communications at Vibrant, a worldwide leader in contextual technology and the leading provider of in-text solutions. For several years now, marketers have sat back and watched as digital media has blurred the lines between communications disciplines. With this in mind, Gardner discusses why PR pros should continue to be mindful of developments in the online advertising world and how these impact the public relations domain...for better or for worse. This post first appeared in PRNewser.
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Going into 2011, it is clear that the worlds of online advertising and marketing are being shaped by tremendous forces. But why should anyone outside of advertising care? Because in our experience, none of the disciplines live in isolation: developments in advertising, communications, and PR all resonate with the others in the marketing universe.

In 2011, we think there are phenomena that are of particular relevance to those throughout marketing and communications: the continuing debate over online privacy (“do not track”) and the evolution of content and social media.

Consumers will need to decide what information they want marketers to have in exchange for access to content and advertising that is relevant to their wants and needs. As Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg put it, the public is unclear if privacy is still a “social norm.” And while government debate over online privacy continues, the industry is advancing an agenda of self-regulation. There is widespread agreement that there needs to be increased transparency in how marketers engage in behavioral targeting.

Whatever the outcome of the privacy issue, marketers are looking beyond behavioral to contextual technologies, which still allow precise targeting at scale. We see surging interest in a whole slate of new contextual marketing innovations that use banner ads, rich media, and video, along with established in-text advertising. This year will bring “super-relevant” dynamic ads with custom content that changes based on the content of a site’s page.

Smart communicators know the new world of content is defined by opportunities – all the new channels for content and the evolution of consumer product companies as “content producers.” PR professionals are stepping up to put in practice what they preach: using social to grow the network effect of communications content, within and beyond their organizations, in B2B and B2C, in every marketing channel. We’ll see amped-up integration of social-sharing and recommendation tools that bridge content and ads, such as toolbars, which have already made inroads with publishers.

As media and technology converge across devices and platforms, the content and channels are crossing boundaries and borders. And so for advertising and communications, what happens in one area will surely be impacting the other in 2011 more than ever before.

© 2011 WebMediaBrands, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Social Media Version Of The Mood Ring

Even though we're only four days into 2011, amazingly insightful research regarding Twitter usage and demographic statistics continues to pour in from all corners of the globe. Case in point: the recently-released results of a joint study by Harvard and Northeastern University which tracked the nation's tweets minute-by-minute over the last three years to determine precisely what their mood is at various time of the day.

A waste of time, you think? Perhaps not. The research revealed that Americans are happiest in the morning and late evening, and most depressed on Thursday afternoons. Interestingly enough, Americans are happiest on Sunday mornings, the study found. Some of these variations can be explained by the three-hour difference between the West and East Coasts; essentially, this means that the West Coast is happy three hours after East Coast residents. A detailed analysis of the study can be reviewed in this post on Business Insider.

To summarize their results, Harvard and Northeastern researchers created the following time-lapse video showing a typical day's tweeting activity, with red being grumpy and green being happy:

And the insights don't end there. According to the researchers, several interesting trends can be observed in the data on both daily and weekly bases. Check out the following graphs, as well as the cartogram illustrating state-by-state variations:

Daily Variations

Weekly Variations

Cartogram

For additional insight on Twitter usage statistics, please check out our pre-Christmas post, entitled "The User Demographics And Usage Patterns Of Twitter," which discusses the prestigious Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project's findings that only 8% of American adults that are online are now using Twitter, among other interesting data.

Social Media Commandment #1: KNOW Your Audience

Happy New Year, one and all!

I thought I'd kick off 2011 with a humorous blog post, and hopefully one that sets the tone for the rest of the year. While busy closing out year-end business today, I happened to come across this hilarious cartoon on Mashable, and I just couldn't resist sharing it here on Marketing Mulligans:

See you later on this year...

The User Demographics And Usage Patterns Of Twitter

According to the findings of a recent study conducted by the prestigious Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, only 8% of American adults that are online are now using Twitter. This statistic was widely reported last week by many mainstream media outlets and technology blogs when the study's results were first released, but a deeper analysis of the research reveals some additional..and truly surprising...insights.

Interestingly enough, in the 10-year lifespan of the Pew Internet Project, this is the first time the organization has surveyed users about a single, company-specific online application or activity because the Project's mission is to look generally at online usage patterns rather than at specific brands or technologies.

First, let's take a look at Twitter's current demographics:

As this chart shows, groups notable for their relatively high levels of Twitter use are:

~ Young adults: Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
~ African-Americans and Latinos: Minority Internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white Internet users.
~ Urbanites: Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.
~ Women and the college-educated are also slightly more likely than average to use the service.

Secondly, how are all these groups ACTUALLY utilizing Twitter? Check out this great chart which compares the frequency of different activities. The service is primarily used for posting personal updates, although 62% post work updates and just over 50% of all Twitter users share news stories and communicate directly with others users via direct message:

So what does all this mean? Even with all the hype and buzz surrounding Twitter as a micro-blogging platform, and its willingness to be embraced by techies, politicos, professional athletes, recording artists, film and TV actors, and many other individuals, the service has much room for improvement in attracting an ethnically-diverse range of users and compelling them to utilize Twitter in a broader spectrum of ways.

Given the success of and reception to this study, I'm sure we will see follow-up surveys from Pew which will attempt to update these findings. Stay tuned...particularly as Twitter's usage and popularity continue to evolve.

The History Of Social Media: A Stunning Visual Timeline

Now here's something you don't see every day, and is definitely worth a look. We, here at CMAC, love this, and we especially love well-designed images like this.

According to Barry Ritholtz on his blog, The Big Picture, we all know social media has become an integral part of modern society. It's as common nowadays as, well, breathing and blinking. Currently, there are popular social networks with user bases larger than the populations of most countries. In addition, there are niche sites for virually every special interest in existence. And there are countless sites to share photos, videos, and status updates, as well as online destinations for new people and connecting with family members and old friends. In the final analysis, there are social solutions for just about every communication need in the world.

So, at this point, now is as good a time as any to take a look at the history of social media...rendered in the following amazing and informative infographic with a comprehensive global history of the medium. You can click on the image for a larger, more detailed view:

Repurposing Good Content: 5 Non-PR Uses For Press Releases

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Mickie Kennedy, founder and president of eReleases, a cost-effective electronic press release distribution service, and a widely-regarded and well-respected PR professional who maintains the company's popular PR Fuel blog. For both corporate and agency PR practitioners, Kennedy offers some excellent and timely advice on how to maximize the utility and reach of the most common deliverable found in PR campaigns: the press release.

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It may seem like a bit of an oxymoron, but press releases don’t just have to be for public relations (PR) anymore. There are, in fact, several uses for that great little story you just wrote besides sending it out to endless news desks and tired reporters. Try these five suggestions out before you resort to using your press release to wrap fish!

1. Turn it Into a Blog Post
The press release is already practically in a blog format, why not go ahead and throw it up on the company blog? If you don’t have one set up, use it as your first blog post! Readers of your press release expect you know what you’re talking about, considering it’s your business; use that same expertise in relating that info to the endless flow of readers on the Internet!

Alternatively, split the press release into multiple blog posts for extra mileage. Find five solid pieces of information you can expound on and turn them into their own individual posts.

If the tone of the press release isn’t quite conversational enough for your blog, do a quick rewrite to bring it up to speed. Also, make sure to update it to include up to date information if you happened to write it a few days or weeks prior – things might have changed in the interim. Of course, you also can’t forget to…

2. Use It As SEO Bait
Reconfigure your blog post to incorporate keywords to bring your website up in its Google ranking. This is called search engine optimization, and should be done to get people to read your blog and, more importantly, visit your website and buy all your products!

Find some other blogs and websites that cover some of the same ground as your blog does and link to them. Eventually you can strike up a relationship and they will help you with your SEO efforts by linking back to your website.

3. Integrate It Into Your Sales Kit
You wrote the press release as a sort of pitch for readers to come to your business, so why not incorporate it into your sales kit? Bringing in new clients and new customers works roughly the same way; convince them that you’re a company worth dealing with and your products or services are something to spend money on. Reconstruct your press release to be more of a direct sales pitch as the original incarnation was (presumably) more neutral. You might even change your sales kit to reflect information in the press release.

4. Start A Social Media Program
Tear that press release apart and find info you can use for a Twitter and Facebook series. Were you using it to announce the specifics of your new product? Spread your posts about all the juicy details across a series of social media posts to create a sense of excitement with your customers. Ask your followers and friends questions about what they would like your product to feature and what they might like to see in future releases. You might be surprised when they state some of the new features you’ve already implemented! And then, of course, you can focus on them for the release, pleasing your customers and making them feel heard all in one fell swoop!

5. Write Your Own Feature Story
Forget submitting the release to news agencies; just write your own feature story with your press release! Use your own writing expertise or hire a writer to take the info in your release to craft a story fit for newspapers or magazines and query them to publishers yourself. This way, you skip the whole process of relying on a tired, grumpy journalist to notice your press release among the huge pile in their inbox.

Send your story out to several possible places for printing – don’t just send it to your local newspaper, also consider trade magazines that deal in the same topics your business does. (Of course, be careful not to anger editors who frown on simultaneous submission.) If your business is releasing a new brand of pet food, send it out to the animal and pet magazines of the world and see what happens!

Make sure, however, that there is no conflict of interest with the story you’re submitting. Does your magazine have a deal to advertise in one pet magazine? Then it probably isn’t the best idea to submit it to their competitors.

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