This past year saw a number of innovations across consumer and enterprise technologies. The tech IPO, funding and M&A markets were lively. And we saw big changes and personnel moves unfold across the blogosphere and news outlets, such as Michael Arrington leaving TechCrunch. As a result of all this activity, 2011 boasted plenty of big news stories about everything from the cloud and Big Data to social networking, mobile apps and tablets.  Nonetheless, some of the biggest tech stories were born out of poor PR. Let’s take a look back at some of this year’s biggest players in the tech community – and the PR Cherry Bombs they dropped. With the benefit of hindsight, we’ll discuss what can be learned from all this. We’ll dissect what these companies did, and didn’t do, to diffuse and transform their situations into good PR.

PR Cherry Bomb #1 – GROUPON
The company’s CEO and PR rep are both culprits in this Cherry Bomb. In June, Groupon filed its IPO, officially entering the SEC’s mandatory quiet period that prevents companies from promoting its own stock. Over the course of the next two months, Groupon was criticized in the media for pre-IPO financial losses, prompting the CEO to write an internal memo debunking these claims that was subsequently leaked to the press. Meanwhile, the company’s PR rep was caught lambasting a journalist for her reporting on Groupon’s pre-IPO financials, directing her to review the “leaked memo.”  Press and the SEC came down on the company for violating its quiet period.

Perhaps they were feeling anxious about their IPO, but the CEO and PR rep should have been familiar and in compliance with pre-IPO communication rules. With regard to how they handled some of the negative press on the company: they could have served as a resource and provided third-party references to help the reporter get the facts straight rather than blasting her for purportedly misquoting sources. It’s better to build and maintain a positive, ongoing relationship with media, because if anything, a carefully cultivated relationship greatly increases the likelihood of them writing favorably about a company going forward.

PR Cherry Bomb #2 – PAYPAL
One of the most recent PR Cherry Bombs occurred just a few weeks ago. Regretsy, a blog spotlighting handcrafted items mostly from Etsy.com, organized a gift drive for needy kids in the Regretsy community. Just as Regretsy’s owner had done many times before, she set up a PayPal account customized with a “donate” button. Because donations came in so fast during the first few days, PayPal’s internal system triggered a review of Regretsy’s account. Different PayPal reps deemed Regretsy in breach of an existing policy, froze its account, and demanded the company refund all the money, but that it was keeping the transaction fees.

From an outsider’s viewpoint, PayPal’s response appeared rigid and it negatively impacted how people viewed their customer loyalty and service – very important qualities in today’s taxing economic times. Regretsy’s owner immediately blogged about what was happening, setting off a social media firestorm. The backlash was immense, with some saying “PayPal Stole Christmas.”

As it turns out, Regretsy did nothing wrong; PayPal policies were so ambiguous that even its own agents assigned to review the account misunderstood them. In the end, PayPal recognized its mistake and moved quickly to publicly apologize and do the right thing for its longstanding customer. Within 24 hours, a PayPal executive called Regretsy to apologize, unfreeze the account, eliminate any fees for the rest of the year and very generously offer $200 gift cards to each family in the fundraiser.

PR Cherry Bomb #3 – AIRBNB
Airbnb faced one of this year’s biggest PR nightmares. The online housing rental company was fast-becoming a media and tech darling. Then a blog post surfaced by an Airbnb user named EJ who rented out her apartment through the service and came home to find it ransacked and vandalized, her valuables stolen and possessions burned. Although the blogosphere didn’t get wind of the incident until a month after it happened, the details became known about how Airbnb handled the situation and it set off an immediate negative reaction.

The CEO issued what some called a “mild” apology on TechCrunch and the Airbnb user EJ rebutted the apology instantly, stating Airbnb had not been in contact with her in a month, that the agent who helped her transact the rental went silent three days after her initial report of the incident, and – most condemning – the CEO was making veiled threats for her to whitewash her posts since they were damaging to the company. These claims really put Airbnb in the hot seat.

Startup entrepreneurs, corporate executives and PR reps can all learn a lot from this particular incident about how to best handle a crisis. For starters, it’s best to proactively address an incident publicly rather than letting it surface on its own, forcing a company  to later assume a defensive, reactionary position. Also in this case, the company had little to say about how it helps keep customers safe. In times of crises, customers appreciate hearing from the company what they are doing to give their users peace-of-mind. Lack of contact and radio silence tends to only incite more anger and disappointment.

On the bright side, the young company took a hard look at itself and started making substantial improvements to gaps in its offering. To be more responsive to customers, Airbnb established a customer service department, improved security procedures and introduced an insurance guarantee program. In the face of controversy, it’s applauding to implement new measures to demonstrate how the company is committed to dealing with any customer problems.

PR Cherry Bomb #4 – GODADDY
This PR Cherry Bomb comes from a company known for pushing the envelope that finally went too far. GoDaddy.com’s CEO triggered international outrage when video and photos surfaced of him hunting big game in Zimbabwe and boasting about “bagging an African elephant.”  The CEO’s public response was that his participation in this kind of hunt was to aid local villagers, who were being harassed and pushed to the brink of starvation by elephants eating local crops.

Once the video went viral, though, the damage was done. Anger and rallying cries to protest GoDaddy.com were rampant, with individuals canceling their accounts and PETA amassing several thousand signatures in only a couple of days to boycott GoDaddy. Boycott GoDaddy websites and Facebook pages began to crop up. Even a competitor, Namecheap.com, ran an entire PR campaign and promotion to get people to dump GoDaddy and switch over, with 20% of the proceeds donated to savetheelephants.com. GoDaddy’s CEO seemingly didn’t anticipate the emotional response and professional fallout that his actions would cause.

Our personal and work lives are blurred more than ever because of social media and an always-on, connected world. Personal Facebook profiles are tied to professional brand pages; Google+ circles and 1+s are publicly visible; Twitter is a firehouse of permanent public remarks; YouTube and Flickr are easily tagged and searchable. All of these social media channels usher in a new way of conducting our professional and personal matters online, and careful thought needs to go into how we behave, lest the brands and companies we’re tied to suffer the consequences.

PR Cherry Bomb #5 – SONY
It started in the spring for Sony – a security breach where the names, addresses and credit card numbers of 77 million PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts were hacked. It took Sony a whopping seven days to alert the public about the massive security breach. Then in the fall, Sony’s PSN was hacked again, affecting about 93,000 accounts. And then while already under scrutiny for ongoing security flaws and weak links, Sony was blasted for surreptitiously updating its PSN terms of service with a clause prohibiting people from suing the company without first obtaining its consent to do so.

Any security breach involving stolen personal and financial information is a grave matter, as is the amount of time a company takes to report a breach to its affected customers. In the spring hacking incident, Sony took a full week to confirm rumors that were already swirling around on the Internet. It was bad enough that PlayStation users couldn’t log on to their PSNs without even a peep from Sony as to why, but failure to notify PSN users that their personal and private information was stolen (and likely subject to criminal activity) certainly didn’t help matters.

Companies facing a data-hacking incident should alert their customers immediately about the security breach, explain how the company is handling it, and inform customers what they can do to protect themselves. Even under the best of circumstances, it is important for companies to anticipate customer needs, and clearly and transparently communicate changes to their terms of service, pricing, products/services, etc. The poor timing and communication of Sony’s updated TOS led many to believe – right or wrong – it was still tackling security holes.

In Closing
As we move into 2012, we can learn from these PR Cherry Bombs before us, and also take a page from some of the good PR tactics we saw come out of them such as with PayPal and AirBnB.  Some of our upcoming blogs will likewise examine good PR practices and highlight examples where companies got things right from the get-go.

Which incident profiled above do you think stands out as the most deserving of this year’s Cherry Bomb award? And what are some other PR strategies and actions companies could have employed to better handle the bad PR situations they were facing? Let us know what you think!

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
As you’ve probably heard, the last few months have been rough for Netflix as the company tried to raise prices and then spin off its mail-order DVD business and Internet streaming business into two separate companies. The fallout from Netflix’s recent changes has been swift and severe, with hemorrhaging subscribers and a noticeable decline in its stock price.

In response, Netflix abandoned its decision to separate its DVD-by-mail and streaming services, even though industry pundits agree streaming video over the Internet is clearly the wave of the future. All the data seemed to indicate Netflix customers were ready to migrate to streaming — so why is everyone so upset?

It’s Not Just What You Say, But How You Say It
It’s difficult to know what was most responsible for Netflix’s customer exodus – the price increase or spinoff.  What we do know is that Netflix was woefully out of touch with its customers and absentminded in communicating change. Contrary to what events suggest, there should have been a comprehensive communications plan in place, and customer surveys or focus groups would have helped Netflix determine how to navigate the way forward. It also took Netflix roughly two months after its price increase before it finally apologized to customers – an anemic response that, right or wrong, smacked of irreverence and may have fanned the flames of discontent. Some even argue that Netflix should have announced a return to their old pricing model rather than blindsiding already-angry customers with their decision to split the company in two.

While Netflix’s business decisions may have been unavoidable, its failure to listen and respond to customers was not. Netflix PR missed an opportunity to engage with customers in a way that leveraged their brand loyalty. As noted in a recent New York Times article, Netflix “underestimated the unquantifiable emotions of subscribers who still want those little red envelopes, even if they forget to ever watch the video.”  Consumers sometimes have strong emotional attachments to products that go far beyond their practical utility. Remember “New Coke” and Coca-Cola Classic?

Moving Forward
It will be interesting to see if Netflix learned its lesson on the communications front.  Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix, recently attributed customer anger to the restive mood of the nation, calling out the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movement by name. If Netflix has learned anything from the past few months, it should be not to alienate but rather take its customers seriously when they have something to say.

Netflix’s jumble is a cautionary tale for companies that need to transform or combine new and legacy businesses. How can they learn from this experience and avoid a similar public relations backlash? With so many social media channels to tune into what your customers are saying, companies are not short of ways to listen carefully to customers, gauge perspectives and enter the conversation slowly.

Lessons Learned in the Wake of Netflix's PR Disaster: bit.ly/lessons-learne… via @IgnitePR #pr

— Ignite PR (@IgnitePR) December8, 2011

The opinions you express – and how you express them – can spread like wildfire in social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. That’s great, if that was your intention. However, irreverent remarks or photos can just as quickly come under scrutiny and bring unimaginable repercussions. This past year, as more people and brands than ever brought social media into play, several notable stumbles happened along the way. Here are some real doozies; You make the call; tell us which one do you think takes the cake as the top 2011 Social Media Stinkbomb of the Year?

1. Kansas Governor and staff bullied teen, demanding letter of apology for unfavorable tweet. Teen won public support, a lukewarm apology from the Governor and 16,000+ new Twitter followers.
2. PR agency gets canned after threatening via Twitter to withhold future product reviews from media for any negative reviews of a client’s game.
3. Springboarding off major social uprising in Cairo, Kenneth Cole pushed insensitive tweets to help drive store sales, but instead triggered a landslide of criticism.
4. A social media marketing agency, self-billed as the “Social Media Pioneer,” gets axed by Chrysler after inadvertently dropping the F-bomb using the client’s Twitter handle.
5. Anthony Weiner-Gate. Never a good idea to take racy pictures of yourself and push them onto a social channel … especially if you happen to be a public figure like a congressman or senator.

You Make the Call: Top Social Media Stinkbombs of 2011 bit.ly/skDLKo via @IgnitePR

— Ignite PR (@IgnitePR) December7, 2011

Traditionally and in the simplest terms, public relations was defined as getting positive news coverage for a company, product or service in business or trade press, radio or TV.  It’s clear the times have changed drastically. No longer can traditional public relations tactics cut it alone, but rather now must be blended with a range of tailored social media activities.  And no longer are feature articles in key trade press and interviews on the front page of the business section daily newspaper the only place companies want to be highlighted.  Today, brand activity and engagement needs to happen across a broad range of blogs, social networks and social media channels.

It may be surprising that Facebook is one channel businesses can no longer afford to overlook.  A late 2009 study by Razorfish found that 40% of users become fans of brands on Facebook.  Facebook counts more than 500 million active users worldwide; those numbers and audience are hard to ignore, nor should they be!

Establishing and maintaining an active Facebook Fan page gives companies and brands a broad palette of ways on how they can engage and communicate with their customers, prospects and market in general. For example: consumer brands can push promotions and deals.  Musicians can share tour schedules, enable their fans to purchase chotchkies and schwag and encourage fans to post comments and pictures from concerts.  Celebrities can  champion non-profits and charities to help fundraise amongst fans, etc.  The list of possibilities is unbounded.

Let’s consider a few ways companies, whether startups or big brands, can leverage a Facebook Page.  Any company wants to maximize how they use the open real estate on their company homepage; they don’t want to clutter the important company and product information.  With a Page, this opens up how and what you can share. In addition to some of the basic things a business might include such as blog posts, relevant market reports and white papers, product details, etc., businesses can add tabs and applications to post and share YouTube and Vimeo videos, presentations, Flickr photos, upcoming events, and so on.  Essentially you can turn your Facebook Page into a one-stop shop and display case for all of your business’ online content.

Check out one of Cisco’s most excellent Facebook pages. They use it to raise employee donations, promote the CEO’s blog post and show demos, among many of the other activities they are doing to engage their fans and constituents.  On Booz Allen Facebook’s page, users are guided on where to find the company on Twitter, YouTube, etc., but can also view their latest videos and upcoming forums, employee-focused or industry events, for example, without having to leave the fan page.

To underscore the importance and value of having a Facebook Page to expand your company’s brand engagement, consider this: Google recently started crawling Facebook Pages made public in efforts to expand its real-time search results.  This means now people can more easily find streamlined results for businesses’ media assets that are strewn across the social media universe, such as Booz Allen’s Facebook page and Twitter handle coming up on page 3 of a random Google search.  It’s never to late to set or spruce up your company’s presence and extend its social media footprint starting with a corporate Facebook identity, so jump in and start engaging with your customers and prospects where they are present.

I didn't buy it, read it or see it....

When Monica Lewinsky wrote her tell-all memoir, online reviews started showing up on Amazon despite one small fact — the book had not yet being published.  One reviewer admitted to making up a positive review “out of thin air.” Surprisingly Amazon ended up pulling the fake reviews, but not without a spokesperson defending the company’s “open policy” for the way reviews are submitted.

Fast forward to today and Amazon should rethink their free-for-all policy. In a recent Techcrunch post, blogger Paul Carr points out how bogus, negative reviews are unfairly affecting authors’ new book releases.  Case in point: Michael Lewis’ latest book reflects more than 50% of reviewers giving only 1 star out of 5.  That would be fine ….if these “reviewers” had actually read the book.  Instead these “reviewers” have been quite open about their ax to grind, which evidently they believe is more important than the welfare of each hardworking author, who undoubtedly toiled to write and bring a new book to market.  What also is quite clear is Amazon’s support behind the bogus reviews underscores their financial conflict of interest.  Evidently, the online e-commerce giant is enabling these phony reviews because of one primary reason: they are Kindle customers.  Amazon has opened the floodgates of Kindle owners to post bogus reviews, which really amount to “collective bullying,” for the purpose of trying to strong-arm publishers to release a Kindle version simultaneously when the hardcover hits the shelves (never mind that the author and publisher would take a huge financial hit.) That’s like demanding Hollywood release a new movie, ie: Avatar, in DVD rental the same day it debuts at theaters. The fact that eBook owners are receiving a huge discount on having access to the book content digitally is no different than people who choose to wait for a movie to be released on DVD; they save money because they don’t have to spend full ticket price for seeing the movie immediately.

So Amazon’s revenues and Kindle owners’ satisfaction should take precedence over all?  The bogus reviews are negatively impacting countless authors who have nothing to do with Amazon’s distribution deals for its eBook product.  In effect, Amazon is duplicitously enabling collective bullying by Kindle owners against authors by pummeling them with poor reviews from people who have never ordered the book, much less read it. The phony reviews harm each book’s overall rating and undoubtedly hurt each author’s personal pocketbook.

Amazon could easily implement measures to provide reviews that are void of bogus opinions as much as possible (see an earlier Ignite post making this argument).  The company could easily segregate bogus reviews from people who never purchased the book through Amazon.com, while ensuring customers can indeed rely on genuine reviews from people who have actually purchased and read a book. Maybe Amazon should introduce 2 different rating systems: a star rating for bona fide readers of a book posting a real review and an ax rating for all others who have another gripe, dislike the author’s viewpoints, politics, gender, etc.  In the Techcrunch post, some complained that if they rent a book from the library, they should still be allowed to post a review on Amazon. They could consider posting a tweet or note elsewhere about their opinion of the book. However, in the interest of keeping online reviews genuine, we believe that this smaller majority should not take priority over ensuring Amazon’s online reviews can be trusted.

Consider the impact online reviews are having on consumers:

• More than half of consumer adults said reviews affect their online transactions, as reported by Harris Interactive.
• Deloitte found 53% use social media to research potential gift ideas.  Put into Lewis’ perspective, gift givers unfamiliar with his work who may just glance at the overall rating of his new book may opt to purchase another title.

As such, vendors that enable online reviews should aim for bona fide, trusty-worthy feedback and recommendations.  The notion of genuine online reviews has once again come into question with Yelp under fire for purportedly having its own staff pad the service with questionable reviews.  TripAdvisor also suffers because the company offers no safeguards, enabling anyone (hoteliers, restaurateurs, etc.) to post reviews—good, bad and ugly.

It is awfully refreshing when you can find vendors that are approaching trusted reviews in a smart way.  Ignite client Zicasso, an online travel site that connects discerning travelers with pre-screened, select travel specialists, is the only online travel site that provides a trusted rating & review systems. Only travelers who have purchased and completed travel using @Zicasso, can post a rating or a review about their trip, on-the-ground travel experts used, hotels, sites visited, etc. The company also imposes strict criteria (3.5 out of 5 stars) that their travel partners have to maintain in order to remain in Zicasso’s trusted network.  This is a great example that qualifying reviews can be done without manipulating the integrity of the review itself.

How do you weigh in on online reviews?

In today’s age of transparency and real-time communication, why do so many small businesses still shy away from social media?  Not only is it a viable communication channel, it is the de rigueur way that people communicate.  Most have migrated to consume information, exchange perspectives, discover companies, seek services, check out product reviews, and they use a broad spectrum of social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, YouTube, etc.

SMBs are supposed to be lean, mean and nimble, so what gives? The irony here is that Fortune 500s have jumped in with both feet to harness social media, leaving their smaller counterparts to continue relying on traditional media channels. According to a report conducted by the Society for New Communications Research titled, “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” Twitter was the social media channel of choice last year.  The report found a 300% increase from 2008 to 2009 in the number of Fortune 500s linking their corporate blogs to corporate Twitter accounts.

In his recent post titled, “The Socialization of Small Business,” Brian Solis cites two major hurdles of social media for 31% of small businesses.  Many believe that their customers are not hanging out on social media channels, and that as business owners, they do not have the time or resources to throw at running a successful media campaign.  Ad-ology’s report titled, “Small Business Marketing Forecast” had some interesting findings, including approximately 50% of SMBs ranked generating leads, monitoring what is being said about their business, and improving customer service as — “not beneficial.”

Being on the PR side, we recommend and work with a lot of our startup clients around building efforts to integrate social media with traditional PR and communication channels.  In some cases, it is an ongoing struggle, because some clients are digging their heels in, believing otherwise.

One SMB client of Ignite’s believes that their customer base is not hanging out in Twitter, and therefore, this channel is irrelevant to their business. With a quick real-time search in Twitter, Ignite found on the first page of results that included two tweets from prospects revealing interest and seeking recommendations for the type of service our client offered, one blogger mentioning our client in a very positive manner, and one competitor trash-talking our client. None of these tweets were related to each other.  Despite this snapshot evidence, our client still isn’t convinced. Ignite even proactively secured the client’s Twitter handles so that they wouldn’t be taken. But by choosing to refrain from adopting social media channels, we can see how this apprehension has impacted our client vis-à-vis its competitors.  Our client’s biggest and smallest competitors have essentially left them in the dust with respect to actively participating with communities in social media channels and having a much stronger market presence.

The road to social media will be a slower route for the SMBs likely for a range of valid reasons: time, unfamiliarity, professional network not as tech savvy, trust, etc.  We’d recommend Twitter as a good first step. It’s free, easy to learn, and isn’t as taxing on entrepreneurs.  Any small business, mom and pop, or neighborhood shop could use Twitter to gain more customers at hyper-local level by offering tips, best practices, coupons, promos, etc. According to a Twitter Brand Survey done by Peter Sorgenfrei and Warren Sukernek, 60% of respondents said they would recommend a brand based on their presence on and usage of Twitter. What’s more, 78% of respondents said they’d be more willing to purchase products from a company that had a relationship with them on Twitter.

Edelman’s annual “Trust Barometer 2010” report says we are no longer living in a shareholders’ world but are instead in a world where all stakeholders are of equal importance.  Meaning, companies need to do more now than ever to actively employ a mixed bag of communication channels to stay on top of not just investors and prospects — but all stakeholders.

As they say, the power to define and control a brand has indeed shifted from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities.  So whether you like it or not, whether you’re prepared to engage with constituents who have migrated to social media channels, or whether you choose to stay on the sidelines, do know that people are defining and controlling companies’ brands and perceptions and that includes yours.

A recent McKinsey & Company survey found that 55% of marketing executives planned to cut spending on traditional media.  In lockstep, Marketing and Public Relations departments at companies are moving their dollars online.  Startups and large companies are increasing spending for email campaigns, online advertising and social media, as well as online search analytics.  Mashable recently reported that even while some are slashing budgets, dollars are still being thrown at social media. 

Despite the economic woes, it’s still essential for companies to find ways to create and maintain brand awareness and mindshare.  This blog post points out that Marketing and PR efforts during a down economy extends awareness with customers and drives sales, and suggests this can be done by using a small, lean and mean outside agency.  One key point from a recent survey by Aberdeen Group notes that in previous downturns, the firms that learned to market smarter fared better than those that decreased their marketing budgets. Further, after the economy bounced back, those firms that marketed during the downturn also yielded better profits.

Here’s a relevant and timely article in the Wall Street Journal that talks about how startups and board members are clashing over whether to save or spend in down times. One insightful quote from the article comes from a board member of a startup noting, “”Companies can’t just save their way to success.”

For tech startups, in particular, or for any company comfortable navigating the social web, there are a plethora of online vehicles to meld with your company’s Marketing and Public Relations efforts that won’t break the bank.  At Ignite PR, we are helping our clients,which range from startups to established public tech companies, undertake various social media activities to stretch their marketing dollars more effectively. 

Which camp does your company fall into on this debate: the save or spend camp?  Equally important, what are your competitors currently doing to expand their business amid this lingering recession?

 
Click Here to take survey

Steve Reubel recently podered whether Twitter may one day replace public relations professionals’ traditional method of pitching press via email.  It reminded us to earlier this year when we asked professionals in public relations to self-police how they interact with press and bloggers via Twitter.  We had our suspicions on whether press and bloggers might be receptive to this approach, so we decided to ask a handful and get their two cents on the matter.  What follows is an aggregation of their perspective, as well as that of ours here at Ignite PR. 
 

Twitter’s greatest value is that it is a place for conversations.  Where brevity rules, a pitch in 140 characters is just too limiting and cannot typically provide enough context. Clearly, there might be an exception here – perhaps with a breaking news announcement and the public relations rep reaching out to targeted press and bloggers that are visibly available on Twitter.  The norm, however, is more likely to be a simple tweet to a journalist that could potentially spur interest, but for the idea to become anything bigger, then the conversation would eventually have to transition over to email or phone. Additionally, most workflow productivity occurs around email, and Twitter is nowhere near supplanting email as the preferred communication tool to drive business.  Lastly, while conversations on Twitter can suggest sentiment around a topic, the signal to noise ratio on Twitter is so high it is difficult to sift through.  The odds are just much greater for a pitch to get lost in the heavy volume of tweet streams than via email.

There are, however, appropriate ways public relations people can use Twitter to interact with press and bloggers.  Here a few examples.  Follow key influencers who cover your clients’ industries (i.e.: mobile, cloud computing, online search, etc.).  Monitor their tweets and read the articles they link to.  Share links or participate in discussions they’re tweeting about from a market-centric standpoint and not a vendor-centric one.  If a bi-directional relationship is established, send the reporter that specifically covers your client’s space a heads up on a pending news announcement.  Show reciprocity and retweet (RT) a journalist’s article or blogger’s post that you found insightful or provocative.  

However, using Twitter to blindly spam journalists with off-target tweet pitches will kill PR people’s opportunity to engage with media and bloggers in a meaningful way.  Twitter’s novelty has opened up new opportunities for key influencers and public relations folks to connect.  If poor pitching practices carry over to Twitter, media will quickly find a way to disconnect PR from this channel.  We remain hopeful that Twitter doesn’t become a hotspot for unsolicited, endless public relations pitches polluting the micro-blogging channel.  Leave that dirty work to the spammers who push seedy content and get-rich overnight schemes.

A special shout-out and thank you to Kristen Nicole (@KristenNicole2), Nick Hoover (@iweeknick) and Anthony Ha (@anthonyha) for sharing their thoughts with us on this topic. If you’re not following these bloggers and reporters on Twitter, we highly recommend that you do.

Social media has become a defacto communication channel, compelling tech startups, small businesses and large companies to supplement their marketing and public relations efforts by forging ahead to discover how to harness social media to integrate it with their existing web 1.0 efforts.  A recent search on Indeed.com for jobs in “social media” returned over 2,000 opportunities. Particularly within the last few months, a plethora of companies are quickly realizing that they need to incorporate a social media strategy and begin to manage their online brand and reputation.  One can speculate whether Domino’s unfortunate social media crisis set in motion a decision from its rival Pizza Hut to hire a social media intern.  Sony, AAA, NBC, Yellowbook — all have positions open in social media.  

Steve Rubel previously blogged about the social media job landscape, which at that time – circa 2006 – the highest trending opportunities were in podcasting, blogging, RSS, and wikis.  Fast-forward to today and there’s a new landscape of job opportunities under the “social media” term. Blogging, podcasting, RSS and wikis are still valuable social media components, but the migration of companies moving to understand and tackle social media more holistically seems to be taking root. 

Social Media Job Opps On Rise

With Twitter expected to swell to 50 million users by this summer (that’s 60 days from now!), you can appreciate why companies want their new social media hires to be fluent in Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, community building, etc.  Equally important for marketing and public relations teams is building and managing communities and networks in social news and bookmarking sites such as Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Newsvine, etc., developing and sharing creative content across multimedia channels like YouTube or UStream, and attracting fans or building out groups on Facebook and MySpace, and so on.

Companies need to first identify where their customers and prospects are “hanging out” online and what type of social media tools they are using. Are they active in a particular forum? Are they participating in a Yahoo group or a Friendfeed room?  Is your target market one that would be receptive to consuming online videos or are downloadable reports and presentations more appropriate?  It’s important to weigh, prioritize and focus your social media efforts around that to ensure your Marketing, Internet marketing and public relations messages and activities are strategically integrated with your offline, traditional efforts and activities.  For example, an automaker showing off its fastest car can convey its speed much better in an online video uploaded to YouTube.  Talking about how fast the car goes via a tweet on Twitter just isn’t as compelling.  On the other hand, a company such as AAA would benefit from using Twitter, and not YouTube, to update customers on say transportation discounts.  The point nonetheless is: now is the time to act. Establishing a social media strategy and then selecting the right mix of social media tools to integrate with your traditional marketing and public relations efforts is absolutely a step in the right direction.

Still don’t get Twitter? Send us a tweet @IgnitePR and we’ll be happy to send you 10 ways to leverage Twitter for Marketing & PR.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica when they were still with Fastcompany.TV around a couple of our clients in the cloud computing space.  Now as bonafide ‘Rackers’ with their new employer Rackspace, a leading cloud computing hosting provider, the duo are embarking on building a new decentralized community of Internet fanatics called Building43.  Scoble’s footprint as an uber power user of social media tools, mobile apps and web services will undoubtedly lend a 360 degree view that bodes well for the new vanguard online community. Increasingly, people all around the world have grown accustomed to working, communicating and sharing ideas, information, opinions, recommendations, etc., online — whether for work or socially.  In the midst of this massive behavioral change underway, it’s vital to listen and respond to relevant conversations, debates, and perspectives on blogs, forums, Twitter, Friendfeed, etc. Scoble points out that it’s not just about getting your marketing message out there anymore; it’s about listening, interacting and controlling your online brand.

As PR professionals we agree and see tremendous value in engaging both our clients and ourselves in real-time conversations that are happening 24/7 through Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, etc.  Over the past year, startups and the biggest brand name companies have begun to harness social media tools in order to stay connected with customers, employees and constituents online, pay attention to what customers, partners, and employees are saying, and be part of these conversations.  If this is all new to you and perhaps moving too fast, or you don’t know where to start, we’ll point you to Scoble’s twitter @scobleizer, suggest subscribing to his friendfeed, or check out their upcoming Building43 online community.  Arguably Scoble is one of the biggest early adopters and users of the ticker tape of web-based tools and mobile apps surfacing so just following him is a good step to staying in the know.