Twitter: how can a business use it?

"Twitter - so what is the point?" Being involved in digital PR, this is a challenge I hear all the time, partly driven by articles appearing in newspapers written by armchair pundits who don't use it but certainly have a negative opinion.

At thebluedoor we use Twitter alot. Each of us have our own Twitter account and we also have a rather underused company account too. My Twitter name is @AbigailH - please do follow me and let me know if I can help with any Twitter questions that you have.

In order to understand Twitter and its benefits I would advise that you stop reading articles in papers and start using it. Here is some tips that might help you get started:

• Go to Twitter - it's free - and register your own name (or as close as possible) and your business and its brands. Even if you don't intend to use the latter, owning them means that you are protecting them from someone else who might have malicious intentions to spam your brand
• Watch the demonstration video, it is a great starting point
• Fill in your profile and don't forget to put a link to your website or blog
• Use a free application e.g.: TweetDeck / Twirl in order to see conversation
• Follow @hashtags and create business relevant hashtag e.g.: #Habitat (* see below). Hashtags help conversations to be visible
• Follow @MrTweet in order to ‘find’ followers / friends
• Live-Tweet events / news / general industry information, as well as key business information to gather more attention
• Perhaps add links into your Tweets that point into your business’s key online areas. Remember to use key words – there are SEO benefits in Twitter
• Track the ROI by looking at your website's analytics
• Refer to key opinion formers and include their Twitter handle e.g.: @stephenfry. If they are using TweetDeck they might see them and sometimes (if you are lucky!) respond / engage accordingly
• Twitter is great for testing ideas, gathering feedback, and asking questions
• Remember that this is Web 2.0 i.e.: it is talking and listening, not just pushing out company news! – otherwise people will not be interested

* = Habitat got into hot water earlier this week by using inappropriate hashtags such as #iranelection in order to piggy-back a topic that was being discussed (trending).

Twitter does not replace face-to-face communication, but is a very powerful digital networking and collaboration tool for businesses. And in the spirit of that final point, I'm attending tomorrow's TweetCamp in London and am very much looking forward to meeting up with people (many for the first time) who are active on Twitter. If you are going, I can't wait to meet you. And if you're not, there is sure to be lots of live Tweeting going on, so watch out for the #tweetcamp tagged Tweets.

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PR - a guide to getting it right

I was recently asked an interesting question when chatting to a friend of mine: ‘What is the most important thing for a company to look at in terms of its PR needs?’

It got me thinking about all the usual questions organisations ask themselves such as:

• What makes a successful PR campaign?
• Does my company really need a PR campaign?
• How much will it cost?
• Do I need to employ a professional or can I do it myself?

While questions like these are a great starting point, in my opinion, there is one essential question when evaluating PR and marketing requirements: how do you want your company to be established in the minds of your customers, stakeholders, the industry and the media - ‘What is your external positioning?’

To develop an effective PR strategy you have to establish your organisation’s positioning. This is probably the single most important question to answer before you commit to any PR activity. The reason? Because it has a dramatic impact on the direction your PR strategy should take as well as the PR and marketing tactics you employ.

Yes, communications campaigns undertaken without clear positioning have the potential to generate media coverage, but they are unlikely to meet the company’s overall business objectives. And in instances the activity could adversely affect a company’s brand or image.

In order to clarify your positioning, I recommend that you answer the following questions:

• How is your business currently perceived by existing and potential customers?
• How do you want to position your business in the marketplace?
• Is your aim to lead debate rather than follow by establishing yourself as an expert in your sector?
• How do you want your existing and potential customers to see your company, its product or services?

And take the time to discuss your positioning with a PR professional. A good PR consultant should be able to help you assess your current positioning in the marketplace, highlight areas of public perception that may need addressing and help you ensure that together you develop a structured PR strategy with clearly defined aims, goals and metrics.

Once you have decided on how you would like to be positioned, the next step is to determine how to achieve these goals, define your communications strategy, identify your target audiences and set budgets and measurable targets.

Good PR is a craft, one that requires skill and expertise. Whether you elect to use a PR agency, employ an in-house PR professional or opt to manage your PR campaigns yourself be sure that who ever is managing your PR strategy:

• Understands your business objectives
• Has in-depth knowledge of the media
• Can develop a bespoke, strategic and integrated communications plan for your organisation
• Builds proactive and responsive relationships with both its clients and the media.

PR and SEO: living in harmony?

PR is currently experiencing a squeeze from other disciplines. As 'Search' becomes increasingly reliant on good content, SEO agencies are becoming full service agencies. Offerings are becoming broader to include PR. Perhaps this is not surprising as PR has traditionally provided the good, interesting, robust content.

However, I believe that this encroachment presents a Pandora's Box of potential problems. Granted - SEO and Digital PR agencies essentially want the same thing - a client with strong search rankings, with traffic converting into leads, even sales. But, the ways of getting there using each discipline is different.

As the PRCA says - PR is all about reputation. PR communicates compelling, robust messages - stories - to a target audience who finds it interesting, useful and relevant. Although 'reputation management' is a bit of a red herring, PR professionals are expert in finding the 'so what' factor - is it new and why would a journalist (and ultimately his or her readers) care.

At thebluedoor, we start at the beginning by understanding a client's objectives in order to advise on a route forward. And in the shiny exciting world of all things digital, this approach to delivering excellent PR must remain the same. The strategic rules of PR have to stay solid - whether it is online or off-line, and wherever possible it is our job to ensure that these channels are integrated. In order to understand the rules of PR, specific industry experience is a must - which is perhaps what not all SEO agencies have. Yes, all industries have good and bad practitioners, but good PR professionals have spent time in the ring. Results don't just happen (in the main): we will have taken time to understand a journalist's agenda, followed their published articles, read the relevant publications and obsessively followed the news agenda.

I feel that it is vital for the different disciplines of SEO and PR to remain true to their origins and not become diluted. Instead of becoming an 'expert' in all things to all people, our combined challenge is to understand each others different but related areas of expertise. Agencies must work together, complementing each other, to achieve the best results for our clients.

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Web 2.0 and social media for PR and internal communication: collaboration in action

The much anticipated and most comprehensive white paper on the digital landscape in Britain – Digital Britain 2012 - is being published today. This report is expected to help establish the Government’s blueprint for the future development of all things digital (technology, the internet and broadcasting) throughout the UK. As the report's author and Minister for Communications, Lord Carter of Barnes stated earlier this year: "Delivering Digital Britain will depend upon a smart industry, working with a committed Government to produce lasting solutions."

Smart industry collaboration is indeed essential to help address some of the more complex challenges faced both within and between an organisation and its publics when embracing Web 2.0. And the time is right for businesses to share, partner and integrate their expertise and knowledge – in the true spirit of this digital age.

Therefore, in collaboration with our sister company theblueballroom (internal communications) and Redcatco (social media and collaboration technology), we are offering companies 360-degree online communications consulting, as well as implementation and training on how best to embed Web 2.0 and social media into business and communications strategies.

We believe this collaboration presents a unique internal and external end-to-end offering for the diverse business function owners who are benefited by the opportunities and impacted by the potential pitfalls that online strategies and tools can bring. This approach will ensure that marketing, IT, customer services, communications (corporate, external and internal), lead generation, new business and HR can benefit from an enriched understanding of how Web 2.0 and social media can enhance internal and external communications strategies.

Surrey Chambers People and Places.

thebluedoor features in this month's "People and Places" in the Surrey Chambers newsletter. If you would like to read the article, you can download the June newsletter here.

The ultimate social networking tool - a journey’s end?

“Are we nearly there yet?” are the words all parents dread hearing from their children, especially five minutes into a four hour car ride. These words are currently ringing in my ears as I read the latest stories around Twitter, Facebook and predictions for the next big thing.

These social networking applications are amazing communication tools and, as a PR consultant, they form a part of my daily life. It’s interesting to see though that we’re already looking at what’s coming next – but will the social networking journey ever end?

Having worked in the PR industry for over ten years, I can still remember communicating with clients and the media via fax and post. A dial-up Internet connection was something to dream about. Today, if Google takes more than a few seconds to deliver up thousands of results to my current information request, I get impatient. And I know it’s a common feeling.

We’ve all become used to the access we have to a world of information and ideas. As a communications professional, it’s an amazing source of inspiration and opportunity. But it’s also interesting to see how these ongoing technology developments impact people.

As soon as something new is announced, the world knows about it. The news of Bing and Wave became common knowledge within hours via Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, etc. etc. This compares dramatically to new technology launches even five years ago, which could take weeks to get the same level of exposure, with trade events being scheduled, press tours arranged and CEOs and CTOs needing to travel large distances for face-to-face meetings/demonstrations. Busy people no longer need to waste hours travelling or sitting in individual meetings – large audiences can be reached within minutes using online multimedia tools. From a people perspective, it means more time spent online rather than in personal interaction. And we’re still asking ‘what’s next?’

It’s great to know that there are always fresh ideas being developed, with support of creative think tanks (Google alone offers several!) and entrepreneurs taking an Open source view to making new tools available as quickly as possible to as many people as possible – Twitter and Facebook to name but two!

While we need to look to the future, we should remember that the journey is half the fun and making the most of the things we encounter along the way is important too. Maybe we should all focus on the positives and making the most of the tools available before looking at what’s around the corner? But hey, looking ahead is human nature and (at least for the moment) the human element is still the common factor in social networking.