Strategic Public Relations

Twitter Imitates HootSuite, Is HootSuite Imitating Radian6?

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The PR person in me jokingly refers to it as "an homage." Others might call it plagiarism or copyright infringement.

Does the new Twitter merit any of these descriptions when compared to HootSuite? Not sure, but news about Twitter's new ad targeting, pending analytics and new interface (shown here via my work account) makes it clear that Twitter is trying to become more of an ad platform.

Open API, Closed Business Model
Many will say new Twitter is killing the company's relationship with its developer community. This community helped Twitter vault from being a very handy utility into the third most popular social media site (recently passing MySpace).

But if they're going to make money, they need to nail their ad model and give users more reasons to use their site. It's business.

Twit-Suite6
I've been using both Twitter.com and HootSuite lately.

It's why I finally noticed a feature they added to joint accounts a few months back -- assigning tweets to other users for follow-up. It's not the same as Radian6 routing capabilities, but it was the first thing I compared it to.

So as social media morphs, the applications we're using to access the graph are as well. Consolidating Twitter tools is long overdue. But I don't see HootSuite competing with Radian6 (disclosure: we use Radian6 at Empower). This all simply reminds us that change is good and social media is messy.

Social Blurs Media Lines

In the article, "Wanna Buy a Blog?" Ad Age reports Forbes is selling access to its readers by selling advertisers blogs that operate alongside other Forbes blogs.

"This isn't the 'sponsored post' of yore; rather, it's giving advocacy groups or corporations such as Ford or Pfizer the same voice and same distribution tools as Forbes staffers, not to mention the Forbes brand.

'In this case the marketer or advertiser is part of the Forbes environment, the news environment,' said Mr. DVorkin.

The product itself is called AdVoice, and the notion is that in a world of social media, corporations have to become participants and, in a sense, their own media companies. Corporations these days also have to face the practical problem of fewer business reporters left to pitch. 'There's fewer ways to get your message out and that's a fact,' he said."

Will brands buy access? Yes. Will readers react positively? That's entirely up to the brands. AdVoice shows how the lines between paid, owned and earned media are blurring thanks in part to social media.

It seems like a fundamental discussion. It isn't. Beginning to look at your content as part of a paid and earned mix is the first step to integrating all three. But even if you don't, the technology is already integrating it for you. Social media is designed to help us publish, share and syndicate content seamlessly.

New Content Models Needed
In the past, we neatly organized different forms of media in well-divided silos. But social media is messy. It crosses silos to create an ugly Venn diagram. Circles overlap all over the place and no one seems comfortable with it....whether it's on paper, online or within an organization.

Forbes is creating a new revenue stream. This isn't news. This is what we’ve been telling old media they’ve needed to do for some time now. If a brand puts forth bad, self-serving content, they're pissing away their media spend. Readers will gravitate towards good content and they're sure to out anyone trying to masquerade as anything other than themselves.

The benefit of this social media mess is that we've gained a new level of transparency. This isn't the equivalent of consumers losing the separation between church and state. Or old media and brands making a back room deal at the expense of its readers. AdVoice will clearly distinguish its content from editors content according to the article.

"There's a flow of content that's contextual. Anything can appear in any place as long as it's contextual -- that's the web and we are bringing that sensibility to the magazine."

As their options continue to multiply, consumers are becoming more discerning about the media they consume. Contextual media, along with curated media, will continue to morph the already elastic definition of content. Marketers need to understand the various implications and how this impacts their mix of paid, earned and owned media. But at the end of the day, this is more opportunity than challenge.

Confessions of a Digital Immigrant

Digital Native is an oft-abused term that can bring assumptions with it. But I like the term as it allows me to proudly note that I’m a Digital Immigrant.

Born in 1970, I can tell you that before playlists there were mix tapes. Those same tapes were used to upload DOS software using a tape recorder.

And I remember when our family got our first betamax video tape recorder, cable subscription and I may have even played a few rounds of Pong with my friends. As a result I’ve experienced, and vaguely remember, the before and after that can be created by new technology. At a minimum, it fuels a ton of “When I was your age” speeches I’ll give to my kids.

I’m proud to be a Digital Immigrant. This mix of experiences and perspectives blends with my pragmatic Midwestern upbringing to create more grounded insights. It’s easy to shun the old and gravitate towards the new. But it’s usually better to blend the two. It gives objects a richer back story. It creates a wonderful mashup.

This video from IDEO is one example of how the old and new might blend for a better user experience. 

The Future of the Book. from IDEO.

“We believe that an increasingly digital context can add to our notion of books, instead of taking away from it.” This is exciting and it reminds me that we can gain more than we lose over time.

Marketer as DJ, Plans as Mashups
The video also considers how information overload coping mechanisms like content curation can be used to create a richer experience.  This is important as workforce skill sets change. We’re rushing to learn and teach everyone the new. But we’re as much DJs creating mashups as we are marketers evolving with new technology.

What do we keep and what do we throw out? We need to make sure seemingly basic, but iconic classics like audience/participants, goals and measurable objectives are not forgotten. It seems fundamental. But as we become immersed in the shiny new, we can assume that so much is new that nothing old can be applied to the situation at hand. But these are tunes that always sound good regardless of which shiny new social media beat you blend into them.

Cross-posted to my work blog, Social Study.