Digital Strategic Communication

Voices in Strategic Communication and Social Media

Strategic communication in the digital world can be advanced by quality research like that presented in a public relations division session at the National Communication Association 2011 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Practitioners might better be able to target particular demographics utilizing social media based upon the work found here.

A Strategic Framework for Targeting Generation Y via Social Media
Melissa Dodd and Shannon Campbell, University of Miami

Using Tapscott’s (2009) eight norms to define Generation Y – freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation – researchers conducted a longitudinal study to assess how generation Y recieves and interprets strategic communication messages from organizations. The study suggests that generation Y’s expectations and corporate marketing practice do not match.  Practitioners overestimate the use of blogs and forums whereas generation Y privileges social networking sites [Kudos to Ms. Dodd for an engaging Prezi presentation. View it here].

An Analysis of the World’s Top 100 University Internet & Facebook Presences
Sheila M. McAllister, Monmouth University

Using the dialogic theory of public relations, Dr. McAllister assessed if and how universities are using Facebook to create online dialogue. The dialogic theory of PR has five overarching tenets – mutuality, propinquity, empathy, risk, and commitment - that organize the relationship between an organization and its publics. Kent & Taylor (1998) developed five principles to enable dialogue on the Internet: (1) usefulness of information, (2) ease of interface, (3) conservation of visitors, (4) generation of return visits, (5) “dialogic feedback loops” or opportunities for two-way communication.

The researcher assessed university websites and Facebook pages of the top 100 universities, according to US News and World Report’s 2009 list. Universities seemed reticent to incorporate dialogic feedback loops in websites or on Facebook, with less than 50% utilizing the feedback possibilities available through social networking. Instead, most are using digital media as a one-way “push” tool for information. McAllister suggests that the interactive potential is not being utilized because organizations “cannot or will not commit to dialogic communication because of the inherent risk involved.”

Digitalization and its Impacts on Publics: The Role of Digitalization on Communication Behaviors Among Publics
Alessandro Lovari, University of Siena (Italy), Soojin Kim, Kelly Vibber, and Jeong-Nam Kim, Purdue University

Researchers examined the impact of digitalization on civic conversation. To begin, they classified publics based upon the technology they used to participate in civic conversations:

• inactive publics - do not engage in civic communication;
• analogical publics - used only traditional media (radio, television, newspaper) to interact with civic issues;
• hybrid or multichannel publics - use and switch between traditional and digital media to interact in civic issues; and,
• digital publics – use only digital media to engage in civic participation.

One astounding finding was that in their survey, 85% of the interviewees fell into the inactive category. In the active publics, the analogical public was the oldest, the hybrid public was generally middle-aged, and the digital public was the youngest. The hybrid public had the highest level of civic participation, but the technology utilized made no difference in the overall level of civic knowledge. The analogical public and digital public were statistically equal in measures of civic knowledge and both were higher than inactive publics.

Effects of Corporate Online Communication on Attitude and Trust: Experimental Analysis of Twitter Messages
Ji Young Kim & Jin K. Hammick, University of Florida

Researchers assessed corporations’ Twitter use to assess relationship ties that corporations used in Twitter messages with their publics. Using a 2×3 between-subjects factorial design, researchers looked at the difference between communal and exchange messages along three levels of interactivity (high, medium, and low). The effects of these differences on participants’ attitude toward and trust in a supermarket brand. The research suggests that both the content and the function of online communication should be considered by brands. For example, customers might be more likely to build a positive attitude toward a brand that they percieve to be engaging in two-way communication.

Embedding a Tweet in your WordPress Blog

Embedding a tweet in your wordpress blog is relatively easy. Here’s how to do it:

Troubleshooting Tips
The most common issues with tweet embeds are:

1. The link to the tweet appears instead of the tweet.
2. The text (without a hyperlink) appears instead of the tweet.

Both of these issues concern the HTML code behind Blackbird Pie. For the tweet to be successfully embedded, it has to be on a line by itself – not visually, but rather in HTML.

If the link appears, try opening your editing window and separating the link from the text.

If the unlinked text appears, open the HTML panel and look at the code to see what else is on the line. Deleting the addition or moving it to another line should cause the tweet to appear.

Questions? Ask them here.

Event Hashtags: Lessons Learned from NCA

The National Communication Association (NCA) may have gotten it right – according to its Twitter followers. With the consecration of the #NCA11 hashtag, for this year’s conference, attendees on Twitter might finally be pleased with the selection. However, use of alternate hashtags by the association Twitter account threatens to upend the discussion once again.

A brief glimpse at the history of NCA hashtags reveals a small amount of controversy. The lessons learned from 3 years of event hashtags (at the bottom of this article) might inform event planners with ideas about how to create and use event-based hashtags. [What's a hashtag?]

2009: First Do No Tweeting
At the November 2009 conference in Chicago, Twitter was gaining popularity. The 2009 conference’s unofficial hashtag – #NCA09 – used to create a conference Tweet-up and connect those who employed it. Twitter erupted at the conference after a session to welcome first-time conference attendees. One of the new attendees asked the panel if the conference had a Twitter hashtag. Reportedly, one of the panelists suggested that no one should be tweeting during conference sessions. Barbara Nixon wrote a post about the controversy entitled, “First Do No Tweeting.” The vibrant conversation on Twitter about the snafu prompted NCA’s leadership to issue a response on its Twitter page, using the conference hashtag:

Tweet restrictions during sessions are decided by presenters, not NCA. We do not have any policies against tweeting during sessions #nca09—
  (@NatComm) November 13, 2009

2010: Characters abound
In 2010, at the conference in San Francisco, the association released its choice for conference hashtag: #NCA2010. Around 200 attendees used the official hashtag, writing over 800 tweets over the course of the weekend. The hashtag was met with opposition on Twitter by a few conference-goers who favored #NCA10 over #NCA 2010. They argued that the “20″ in the middle of the hashtag took away two precious characters for intellectual debate. Others opted to use both hashtags to make sure their points were heard:

Someone just stopped by my #NCA10 #nca2010 session (#20 Yosemite Foyer) because they saw my tweet // that's what I'm talkin about!!!—
Andi Narvaez (@andinarvaez) November 16, 2010

2011: Mixed Messages
The hashtag described for 2011 – #NCA11 – has apparently satisfied the association’s twitter following as it has been adopted by many users.  After one interested party asked about the hashtag, the conference offered a direct and clear response:

Hey @NatComm, is it too early to declare #NCA11 as the official hashtag of the 2011 #convention in #NOLA?—
Darrel Enck-Wanzer (@denckwanzer) March 19, 2011

@denckwanzer so far we have been using #NCA11, and we don't anticipate switching over to #nca2011—
  (@NatComm) March 21, 2011

Some, assuming that last year’s model would be applied, began using an errant hashtag: #NCA2011. In recent weeks, the association has used both hashtags interchangeably. These deviations from the branding message could create confusion about the original decision:

Tips and FAQs about the Scholar to Scholar sessions during #NCA2011 http://bit.ly/jOLwzu—
  (@NatComm) June 08, 2011

Times&descriptions for #NCA11 Pre-conferences&Short Courses are posted.They are great additions to your #NCA11 schedule bit.ly/o13mCQ—
  (@NatComm) July 18, 2011

Lessons Learned
The lessons learned from these 3 years might well-inform event planners about hashtags. Conventional wisdom (pun intended) on event hashtags suggests that event planners take the following steps:

1. Select an event hashtag. Consider character limits and choose something that can easily be remembered.
2. Publicize the hashtag. Event planners have excellent platforms for sharing hashtags with attendees: the organization website, the organization Twitter page, and on-site signage at the event.
3. Use the hashtag. Ensure that all organization tweets about the event use the selected hashtag.
4. Encourage attendees to use the hashtag. Retweets, @mentions, and public displays of live tweets at the event can inspire attendees to continue using the hashtag.
5. Manage the hashtag.  If errant hashtags persist, gently correct them with a reply to the writer. The reply might say something like: “@JAMcArthur Thanks for your excellent tweets about the conference. Use the #NCA11 hashtag so everyone can follow along.”

Developing a mindset of innovation

Breakfast was good at this morning’s meeting of Social Media Charlotte, but the real star was SapientNitro’s Joey Wilson. “A company’s mindset is more important than it’s organization,” says Wilson. Change in a mindset leads to a changes in the way a company might operate.

Here are some current mindset changes that could lead to corporate innovation:

• Big vs. Small
  Creativity in media messaging can yeild mass momentum for small voices. Moreover, small events can lead to big issues for a brand.
• Office hours vs. “Always-On”
  Mobility, design, and an always-on mentality offer instant interaction between businesses and their publics. Online, businesses are always open, needing to meet their consumers when they are ready.
• Location vs. Place
  Making the shift from a location-based concept founded in physical structure to an “everywhere-is-here” model creates the opportunity for real innovation.
• Finding Customers vs. Catching Them
  The impressions garnered from a marketing perspective fall into three categories: bought media, owned media, and earned media. Traditional offices are excellent at bought and owned media. However, a lack of attention to or investment in earned media is a common mistake.Earned media is not free. Wilson says, “You can’t hire a tousled-hair kid with a skateboard to tweet for you.” Rather, you have to earn legitimacy by catching impressions.The goal is to turn earned media into owned media.
• Customer Loyalty vs. Consumer Engagement
  By really looking and listening online, an organization can move toward its consumer base. The goal is no longer just to connect a consumer to a brand identity, but rather to make the brand relevant. The key for businesses, says Wilson: “Humanize yourself.”

What happened to the #OSCARS?

James Franco walked onto stage carrying his iPhone — his live tweets part of a strategy co-host Anne Hathaway revealed as “appealing to a younger demographic.” Names of award winners were tweeted out in real-time by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. And before every commercial break, the web address for oscars.com and the #OSCARS hashtag was included in the broadcast footer –  at least until 10:48.

At 10:48 pm, this was the last promotion of the Twitter hashtag - with an hour remaining in the broadcast.

The banner pictured at right was the last Twitter promotion of the night, a full hour before the end of the broadcast. Over the last hour of the show, the broadcast footer displayed only the web address, absent the Twitter hashtag.

As I followed along with the tweets during the live event, I wondered if someone at the event was reading along. In most cases the tweets were light-hearted jabs at the hosts, comments about the red carpet fashions, or notes about who won (or should have).

However, over the course of the evening, many tweets could be interpreted as mean-spirited, hurtful statements that would make any producer cringe. Perhaps the absence of the Twitter hashtag promotion was a premeditated advertising strategy, but it could have been an on-the-spot decision, the strategic result of a wounded spirit.

I often wonder about live events and the use of Twitter. On one hand, using an event hashtag gives the audience license to be a part of the event through comments and tweets. On the other, using an event hashtag opens an event to such participation - the good, the bad, and otherwise.

Supposing that the removal of the #OSCARS hashtag from the broadcast was a strategic choice, I am left with several questions:

1. Does using an event hashtag imply that organizers welcome thoughts of any persuasion – for better or worse?
2. What is the role of an event hashtag – to compile ideas, to generate real-time feedback, or to serve as self-promotion?
3. Does an audience bear a responsibility for civility? After all, they become a part of the event by choice.

I wonder what civility on Twitter might look like during live performances, and how criticism might be constructive and civil while still humorous and honest. Perhaps then, the #OSCARS and other live events might find audience participation they would happily promote.

Made to Stick (Heath and Heath 2007)

Made to Stick: Why some ideas survive and others die (Heath & Heath, 2007)

To make the book stick in our minds, Jim Shoff and Miranda Ervin turn back to an interview with the authors on NPR. ”The curse of knowledge is the arch-villain in our book,” they say. “If you know something, it’s hard to not know it.”

To illustrate, we played the tapper and listener game. Jakita Jones tapped a her pen on the table. She knew what she was tapping  but we didn’t. She tapped and tapped a rhythm until Chanee Vijay noted that it was the rhythm of a song (“Happy Birthday to You”).  Once we recognized, we couldn’t think the rhythm was anything else. Don’t think it applies to you? Try it with a friend. You’ll know the rhythm, but it will take them a moment to realize what’s happening. And, once they know, they know.

The authors offer six core principles to make ideas stick:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credible
5. Emotional
6. Shared in Stories

Ervin has already applied this book to her own coaching. After deciding on the slogan “No Matter What,” she worked on her team’s unity with a clear vision for success. Each teammate created her own commitment – My ‘no matter what’ is…” – and shared her commitment to success with the team.

• Overall Response: Excellent book of communication strategies to help get your messages across.

About Digital Media Book Club: In the growing field of strategic communication, social media rockstars, academics, and digital thinkers are investing time and energy to share their learning with others. In my Strategic Communication classes, students in the Master of Arts in Organizational and Strategic Communication program in the Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte are sifting through a variety of texts to discover the embedded wisdom. These are their thoughts and reactions.

Employees First, Customers Second (Nayar, 2010)

Employees First, Customers Second: Turning conventional management upside down (Nayar, 2010)

“Usually business books focus on the what,” says Stacey Randall. “This book is focused on the how – the process.” Employees First, Customers Second is a vehicle for transparency in an organization. Nayar describes the process utilized by his company, HCL, to create a successful business practice across four steps:

• Mirror, Mirror: Defining where we are as a group of employees and building desire for change.
• Trust Through Transparency: The organization builds internal credibility through open communication with employees.
• Inverting the Organizational Pyramid: accountability is no longer hierarchical, but rather systemic.
• Recasting the Role of CEO: creating sustainable change at the top.

Nayar inverted the “knowledge is power” model, says Randall, by providing financial data to all employees, utilizing internal social media platforms to answer questions about the company, and giving frank answers with full information to any employee who requested it. Employees in the organization flourished. Customers responded.

One criticism of this book is that it is a case study of  successful organizational change, absent of the pitfalls of a failed attempt. The communication structures in an organization have unique issues that could be informed by this model.

• Overall response: A practical book by and for change agents in management. Can flipping the model work for every organization? Yet to be determined.

About Digital Media Book Club: In the growing field of strategic communication, social media rockstars, academics, and digital thinkers are investing time and energy to share their learning with others. In my Strategic Communication classes, students in the Master of Arts in Organizational and Strategic Communication program in the Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte are sifting through a variety of texts to discover the embedded wisdom. These are their thoughts and reactions.

Engage! (Solis, 2010)

Engage!: The complete guide for brands and business to build, cultivate, and measure success on the new web (Solis, 2010)

I assigned several books for a graduate seminar in Digital Strategic Communication, taught at Queens University of Charlotte in the Knight School of Communication’s master’s program. The favorite, by far, was Brian Solis’ Engage!

In our course debrief this week, students raved about the book. For them, it continues to serve as a guide for successful strategic communication practice on the web. One student commented, “I loaned my copy to a colleague last week and I’ve already asked for it back.”

In an age of so-called “social media consultants,” Solis launches himself as a practitioner of and thought leader in social media. His book offers strategic communicators the opportunity to define, understand, practice, and measure web-based promotion and branding. Moreover, it encourages communications staffers who face negative perceptions or concerned hesitation in applying social media technologies to business practice.

The book has both accessibility and depth, which is a hard standard to achieve. Thus, it succeeds as a guide for navigating the social media marketplace.

I also want to thank Brian Solis for being an approachable colleague on Twitter. Twitter opens the focus of businesses, but it can also expand the walls of a classroom. Some of my students conversed with Solis on Twitter. He gave support and encouragement to these learners and experimenters by practicing the open, conversational style he espouses.

• Overall Response: The most applicable guide to social media around. If you only read one book on social media, this is the book.

About Digital Media Book Club: In the growing field of strategic communication, social media rockstars, academics, and digital thinkers are investing time and energy to share their learning with others. In my Digital Strategic Communication class, students in the Master of Arts in Organizational and Strategic Communication program at Queens University of Charlotte are sifting through a variety of texts to discover the embedded wisdom. These are their thoughts and reactions.

Wikinomics (Tapscott & Williams, 2006)

Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything (Tapscott & Williams, 2006)

Premised around four major ideas of a new economy – (1) Openness; (2) Peering; (3) Sharing; and, (4) Acting Globally - Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything suggests that mass communication turns the traditional inward business model toward an outward focus.

The authors point to current business trends in corporations that favor an open approach to idea generation and collaboration. These concepts seem intriguing and commendable, especially in a global market. Why not share and build on the ideas of others.

“That can work in local instances,” says Bill Gary, “but for major companies, that may create redundancies across the company.”  The debate here is whether we build a global car or a local car.  Which target market do we serve?

According to the new laws of Wikinomics, those companies that collaborate and share, with open architecture, will reap the economic benefits of a new economy.

• Overall Response: This book is the anti-Solis. It works as a consulting read for CEOs but not as a vehicle for real social media strategy. Experienced social media users will find it lacking.

About Digital Media Book Club: In the growing field of strategic communication, social media rockstars, academics, and digital thinkers are investing time and energy to share their learning with others. In my Digital Strategic Communication class, students in the Master of Arts in Organizational and Strategic Communication program at Queens University of Charlotte are sifting through a variety of texts to discover the embedded wisdom. These are their thoughts and reactions.

Social Media for Crisis Communication

Social media outlets have a role to play as one tool in an effective crisis communication strategy, say researchers Shari Veil (University of Kentucky), Tara Buehner (University of Oklahoma), and Michael Palenchar (Univ of Tennessee, Knoxville). At the National Communication Association 2010 annual conference, they presented a paper entitled, “Increasing Dialogue in Disasters: Incorporating Social Media in Risk and Crisis Communication.”

During a crisis, social media tools offer powerful opportunities for organizations to:

• listen to the pulse of the crisis
• view social media trends as “a snapshot of public opinion”
• respond, as a demonstration of care and trust
• correct misinformation in real-time
• create a network of credible information and resources during the crisis
• engage, rather than avoid the issues
• pause generic marketing campaigns that might appear inappropriate during a crisis
• humanize the crisis response
• repackage and critique media portrayals of the crisis
• involve stakeholders in the messages

Each of these opportunities puts organizations in touch with their constituencies during a crisis. But, which social media tool is best for a crisis? These researchers suggest that the tool should match the scenario, the timing, the target audience, and the message.