December 19 – Young and Shand directors Ben Young and Duncan Shand appeared in the Herald on Sunday after speaking with journalist Maria Slade about their latest research survey results and tapping into the potential of digital marketing.

Young and Shand surveyed 150 chief executives and marketing managers in an effort to find out how committed New Zealand organizations are to digital marketing.

Among the results 66% of respondents said they were committed, with top firms planning to spend on website design, social media, online video and email marketing.

Facebook is one of Shand’s top picks for 2011 and is predicted to become even more popular with the advent of Facebooks Plates.

Young and Shand understand the mechanics and impact of Facebook inside out, they delivered a successful Facebook campaign for the SPCA and gained 25,000 fans within three weeks, a fifth of whom were interactive users.

In an interview featured on Stoppress.co.nz, 18 January,  Ben Young further disucssed the results of the Young and Shand Digital Marketing Survey.   Young explained the “motivation behind the survey is to try and get a feel for digital as a whole in New Zealand”. 

Young and Shand’s survey received some encouraging results and showed that 96 percent of businesses understood the importance of digital marketing, compared with the US (in a CMO Council and Accenture Suvery) where  only 78 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “digital channels are important to their organisation”.

Click here to view the Herald on Sunday article and here for the Stoppress.co.nz feature.  Visit Young and Shand online at http://www.youngshand.com/ or http://blog.youngshand.com/

Campaign Overview

Social networking, once new and alien, is now part of everyday life. However, what many people still don’t realize is that applications are not only prominent in our social lives; they have become integral to the professional world. 

Blue Banana Principal Linda Coles introduces us to the corporate world of social networking…

A social media trainer, LinkedIn specialist, and SEO consultant, Linda approached Alexander Communications to assist her in building both her personal and business profiles. She wanted to position Blue Banana in the corporate sphere and demonstrate her social media expertise. 

We were pleased to take on this project: with social media being essential to public relations, the team could relate to and understand the project and its complexities..  Working with a clear brief from Linda, AC knew which direction to take and which business contacts to target. 

The background information and examples Linda provided allowed AC to create media releases and key opinion pieces. We were confident that, because of the niche topic, we would be able to convey and leverage Linda’s expertise and past experiences in a still-emerging market. 

Outcomes
Our business contacts were keen to meet the face behind Blue Banana; they were curious and enthusiastic to learn more from a professional social networker.

Business publication Unlimited.co.nz, characteristically quick on the uptake, was first to publish an opinion piece by Linda. The piece discussed the impact of word-of-mouth on businesses and how invaluable networking is within corporate structures – the message was that businesses are so busy trying to buy into spaces, they forget (or don’t know how) to use the powerful online tools at their fingertips. 

AC also secured articles with the  New Zealand Herald and business columnist Gill South. This featured in the Business Herald print pull-out and online at www.nzherald.co.nz.  Linda was also profiled by Glenn Baker in the March issue of NZ Business in an article ‘It’s networking but not as you know it’.

These articles reaffirmed the untapped opportunities of social networking for businesses, and reminded businesses and executives that this could be a stabilizing tool following a turbulent 2009.  

AC successfully raised the profile of Blue Banana and positioned the company strongly at a corporate level. In addition, AC improved Linda’s position as a social media expert and opinion leader; in providing simple communication tips, Linda has become more accessible and transparent as the principal of Blue Banana, and has secured several new projects for 2010.

We are bombarded every day with the news of the death of newspapers and other traditional media thanks to the killer effect of the rise of social media. Quite frankly, it’s not the truth, and hearing it is getting a little tiresome and repetitive.

Sure, where there’s smoke there’s fire, as they say. There is certainly evidence that the decline in newspaper and magazine advertising revenues corresponds with an increasing ad spend in social media.

Looking at it strictly from a first-world perspective, yes, technologies and behaviours like blogging, social media, the iPhone and iPad are permanently changing the way we consume media. However, our newspapers’ (mainly) Australian bosses are not stupid (truly – I have worked with some of them). They will change their business models to reflect the new paradigm. They will buy, they will merge, they will purge. One sure thing is that the large  newspapers, and other traditional media, have been experimenting with new business models for some time. They will crack it eventually, even if it means hiring in some young guns to help change the paradigm (again, this has started already).

In fact, the ‘old’ mainstream media have already started to get more social (see Stuff.co.nz and nzherald.co.nz for examples), while social media are becoming more mainstream (WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). I believe that in the end these media will blend their technologies and start to look more similar – that is, until the next revolution comes along. What’s after social media? When all media is ‘social’? What’s the next thing?  Is it media collaboration? Or co-opetition? I’m not sure yet, but we are working on it.

One prediction I will make confidently is that more journalists will be required to embrace the online world; many leading journalists already use social media for research and story leads, blog regularly themselves and see these things as natural extensions of the craft. Those that don’t embrace it will be left behind – at least in the developed world.

Slightly less relevant but important in terms of world-wide change: looking purely at population statistics in less developed countries, the newspapers (outdoor advertising and radio) are there to stay for a long time yet, and social media is really. . . well, it’s getting social around a water pump, or the community clinic or at local shebeen (pub).

Now where is that iPad so that I can read the news and check out my fave technology mag and the new Lee Child novel!

As you may have guessed, I don’t believe traditional media will die or that social media will take over the world, but the technologies will be shared and the process will sort out the wheat from the chaff  in developed markets. There will be room only for those that can attract revenue and deliver relevant content (and fast). Co-opetition may be the new strategy for media companies.

So you have built a compelling story and you have been quoted representing your company in the media. You have either had an opinion piece published or having been quoted as an expert in your area by a journalist. How do you maximise your success of being quoted? Do you share your media links with interested people?

It’s always good news when the so-called “traditional media” with strong online search engine optimisation and editors and journalists of their own have picked up your news or your quote. Even the  “fast” and more easily controlled online pr engines have great value in communicating your key messages.

What now?

 Well, we have always recognized that internal communication within companies is vital. Creating energy and excitement about new product launches and other company announcements is part of the success formula. If your team is genuinely excited about the latest news and has been part of the building process then it is only logical that they will want to share the news with their immediate friends, customers and contacts. The enthusiasm is likely to rub off and these people will in turn share the news.

After all something good happening in recessionery times is something to be proud about. What’s more? It can inspire others in your industry, suppliers and of course, tip prospects over the edge towards picking up the phone and having that coffee.

Here is a very short list of basic things that you can do to leverage good news, an opinion thats been picked up in the media or an announcement that has been written about:

1. Add a simple one liner underneath your e-mail signature highlighting the fact that “NBR (insert media here) has quoted your company spokesperson (insert name here)  in the latest edition- talking about …(insert title of article here)

2. Create an “In The Media” section on your website and add each media link , along with other client testimonials.

3. Use the “ShareThis” button which many blogs and online media carry these days and share it with your immediate contact base on Twitter, Linkedin.com or Facebook -whichever is the most relevant.

4. The next time you send out an e-mail newsletter , utilize the media link in the copy in an authentic way – sharing the fact that your company has been quoted by the particular journalist from this particular media outlet. Journalists and bloggers are very busy and very short-staffed most of the time.If they have taken the trouble to interview your company spokesperson or use an extract from your traditional or social media release – then be happy, be proud and share this “implied endorsement” with people who are in a position to do business with you, and people who already do.

5.Utilise the shared links on these social media to create relevant conversations with people. An idea, especially an inspired one, shared in the media is the perfect excuse to create a “good old coffee” with someone who has been meaning to do business with you. If you are like most business people, you don’t share ideas in a vaccuum. You share them because you are passionate about them and they are part of your expertise. Sharing your ideas, with your network and in the media often attracts like minded people who would like to do business with you, based on a shared mindset or a skill set that you have that they need.

If you are like most people, the end goal is to do business with people “who get what you do” and who are committed to following your advice and working together for mutual benefit. One sure way of creating opportunities to work with people and businesses is to share ideas that are relevant to them and that help solve a problem that they have.

Next time you have very good pickup in traditional and new media – be sure to use this momentum internally with your own team, to help them confidently connect with existing clients and prospects – helping you grow the business.

What would you add to this list?