The amount of media that’s available to the average user is a vastly much larger superset than anything that’s ever existed in human history. If I was going to start a news business tomorrow, I would start a news business designed to produce not one new bit of news, but instead to aggregate news for individuals in ways that mattered to them.

Clay Shirky, May 2010

The new online publishing industry

In the face of these extraordinary economic times, in a devastated advertising climate, its clear publishers can no longer continue to fund vast amounts of researchers and writers.. Is the print sector dying or has it already reached its consolidation point? It seems the answer is unfolding in front of us, ironically in a very public way…

While Google, AOL and others are busy laying the foundations of their own newsrooms, entrepreneurs are going ahead and doing it on their own using unconventional techniques that make traditionalists shudder….

The publishing industry MUST find a new online model, and mass collaboration and participation is certainly a consideration – citizen journalism is an option that is already moving bloggers more directly into mainstream publishing channels, and increasingly new age digital publishers are recognising the power of the this new era of socialization.

Evolution

Some media owners, its seems, are making the move to protect their content. Personally I think they are in danger of missing a trick, after all the fundamental features of the internet are based on the openness of the web and our ability to access it. Of course how this evolutionary process develops depends on 4 key factors

• Economics
• Culture
• Politics
• Technology

The rise of facebook and socialization in general  has changed the web in such a radical way that publishers MUST reinvent their business models to cater for an online audience that culturally is still evolving, in an economy that is volatile, with new technologies that are arriving daily and a political intervention that is seriously questioning  privacy.

The point at which social media reaches its near maximisation point is when the semantic web is structured in such a way that we are able to ask for something extraordinarily specific and have clear results put in front of us. I wonder if the future of our publishing industry is heading this way… who will create the next Google and facebook empire?… the media sector is certainly well positioned to do so.. But do they have the insight to execute?….

Does the world make sense or do we make sense of the world – A question Rupert Murdock has clearly asked himself….

Or just maybe a new publishing opportunity sits in front of us all?

It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million listeners. Terrestrial TV took 13 years to reach 50 million users. The internet took four years to reach 50 million people…

Social media has captured an audience of hundreds of millions in the last 12 months alone!

At a recent conference of well respected business leaders I was dismayed at the various negative comments based around social media. From my own experience, many more senior executives have taken the stance that its a complete waste of resources. Just to ensure I am not completely mad, I checked out all the speakers on LinkedIN and found, that’s right, none of them…

These highly experienced networkers just don’t get it – Social media is a new era of communication. The problem is – its growing so fast very few grasp its opportunity in the short-term never mind the strategic benefits of early involvement in the long term.

1. Networking – There is no better way to create new contacts.

2. Sales – Used correctly its an ideal tool to skip over gatekeepers.

3. Online marketing – Synchronise your online content and your search rankings are vastly improved.

4. Branding – Its practically free!

5. Online Recruitment – There is no better way to reach passive candidates.

Love it or hate it social media is here to stay, the question is how will it develop?

Real-time search

Google is great for finding the information you need, but try searching for the same information on twitter. Any good?

You have just potentially discovered phase 2 (2010 – 2011) of the social media revolution – Google v Microsoft – The search Wars

Just over 2 years ago many economists were telling us that a recession was looming. In hindsight it was always going to happen, after all, history tells us that our up and down way of life always delivers an era of consolidation. Only one thing is certain, it WILL happen again, the big question is – when and how severe?

What they didn’t predict was the mass banking collapse which would be lived out in the media. Some would say that the media added insult to injury, personally, I think they played an important role in our eventual recovery. In a time of crisis, honestly and transparency is essential, particularly when our trust in those that serve us faltered.

Quick precise action was needed and truly delivered. Some would say Mr Brown was forced into action by the extent of media coverage, others would say it was good economic judgement/leadership. Either way it seems we are out of the cloudy waters and moving into a new era of economic activity.

So are we really on our way to economic recovery?

The two previous longest recessions since the great depression both lasted 16 months, thus -1881-82 and 1973-74. The average recession since 1940 lasted 10.1 months, whilst the current recession, which officially started in December 2007, has now lasted 19 or 20 months (USA figures).

The housing market has started to rebound, business confidence is gathering momentum, leading indicators are giving off positive signals, unemployment whilst still bleak, is not growing as fast, the stock market appears to be more stable and the vast amounts of government cash input is beginning to move into the real economy.

What next?

It seems that the next 6 months will see a new era of acquisition, as strong, yet financially weak business models get consumed by rivals. There is no better time to invest in the future and the latest high tech digital manoeuvres seem to add momentum to this conclusion.

The original giant Microsoft joins forces with yahoo resulting in bing.com, whilst facebook aggressively moves into the real-time search market acquiring friendfeed, a move which is seen to deal with the twitter.com force. Google makes its own movements with caffeine and wave highlighting the dawn of a new search engine war. Analysts are predicting Microsoft and facebook will mash themselves together and facebook’s real-time, social web search results find their way onto Yahoo!, which coincidently deliver Bing search results. Surely google will snap up twitter? Confused?

Over the next decade the digital landscape will be vastly different from what we see online today. News, search, TV, mobile, purchasing and advertising will all evolve into seamless communication channels creating untold mashup opportunities, changing the way we interact at both personal and business levels. High speed broadband will be the standard and ultimately our consumption of all things digital will increase ten-fold.

Its no coincidence that my 11 year old cousin is living her daily life through an interactive mobile phone twice as powerful than the laptop that sits before me.

Lets just hope that our governments learn from this latest banking collapse and insure the digital revolution that’s on its way is governed, monitored and more importantly kept secure from the cyber threats that are growing just as fast.

If they don’t, this current crisis might seem like a walk in the park compared with a future digitally manufactured recession!

As an active facebook user myself, the idea of being recruited via this medium leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Any recruiter considering this social media tool should be aware that there are legal pitfalls, in addition to numerous other dangers. Facebook is a people to people network and intruding on this relationship platform should not be done directly.

There is however the option to create a facebook page which allows recruiters to set up a promotional statement and create a forum of discussion.

• Facebook Pages are indexed in search engines – increasing the likelihood of users finding your organisation through a Google search.

• A Page can have multiple administrators. This lightens the workload of maintaining a page (groups also allow for multiple admins).

• Analyse Traffic. Facebook Pages captures data on visitors.

• There are no limits to the number of fans you can have on a page.

• Sending messages and updates to all your fans at once is quick and easy. And fans receiving those messages can easily forward the message OR post the message to their Facebook Wall.

Case study – Social Media Recruitment – T-MOBILE

T-Mobile had a big concern that they were offering roles to graduates in March and weren’t going to see them again until September. They knew that this sector is very much on-line and very active within social networking, so they set up a forum on facebook for T-Mobile graduates.

Initially graduates were posting messages to each other about “Have you had an interview yet?” “Have you had your testing yet?” “Have you been invited?” “Did you get through?” This provided a great communications medium which T-Mobile consistently monitored. Anything controversial and and a quick “hello we’re still here you know, and you want to work for us so…” was posted into the group.

Julia Porter, T Mobile’s Senior Recruitment Manager

“we watched their relationships evolve and we watched them through their assessment days and then the goodbyes “I didn’t get a job so good luck you lot” and then right through to “Hey, who wants to share a house with me?” right through to “Let’s go out and celebrate” and “We’re all joining next week so what are we going to do?” It was amazing, we had no drop outs at all. The 50 we offered all joined promptly and properly in September

“As we watched them, their relationships grew and blossomed with each other, it was absolutely fascinating how they coached each other, supported each other, looked out for each other really and we didn’t have to do much. We would just let them know we were there and I would put a message on occasionally. Sometimes we had to communicate things that might not be so great, you know, we’ve had to defer your start date and this is why and what’s wonderful is now they’re at T Mobile they are a very strong network still. So, they’re physically together, but every Friday they’re all having lunch together and they all have this fantastic cross functional relationship and I actually really admire them for that because they’ve kept it going. They don’t use Facebook any more, not in work, but they’ve just been good mates since long before they joined us so, yeah, it’s been really powerful.

The benefits for T Mobile are clear to see. Retaining 100% of your graduate intake in addition to transferring their pre-employment network into sound cross functional working relationships.

Setting up a facebook recruiting page, and promoting it via a facebook ad campaign is likely to increase over the next 6 months, particularly as employers become more ‘social media’ aware.

Wikipedia describes social media as…

“The online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Popular social mediums include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs”.

• Recruitment advertising, employer branding and staff retention are the main clear benefits of using this medium.

Recruitment advertising

At both a direct and passive level social media offers a new route to compliment your online recruitment activity. In a candidate rich marketplace, a general social spread will certainly increase response. The key to gaining the most from this new digital marketing platform is reaching and engaging niche markets. With the latter in mind social media offers a great opportunity, thou be aware of the legal pitfals!

Employer branding

Organisations who follow best practice have a real opportunity to reinvent or strengthen their online brand particularly when reaching out to (for example) ethnic communities. Employer branding opportunities are endless when done correctly.

Staff retention

Sites such as facebook offer employers the opportunity to engage their seasonal workforce offering a new way to keep in contact with employees. Other options include posting photos and video of a recent company team building day out, all with the set objective of increasing moral. Internal company blogs offer additional opportunities.

Getting all these right creates time and more importantly planning. The key to social media recruitment success comes down to execution.

Which brings me onto my final point – If you don’t understand how best to achieve your social media recruitment themed objectives…

….outsource this service to someone who does….

Historically print based media has relied heavily on newspaper advertising sales with most business models represented by 40 – 20 – 20 revenue streams. Thus recruitment, property and motors.

In today’s climate these advertising cash pots have fallen sharply, not forgetting the impact a more more mature digital market is having on these incomes. Whilst all have invested and spread themselves across the digital marketplace, the competition is fierce with many more threats apparent than the days before broadband.

Digital advertising has still yet to peak and is predicted to account for 12% of overall advertising spend in 2009. Whilst advertising budgets are not likely to increase, the digital market share is predicted to double in the next 18 months. Thus based on a degree of overall maturity in digital media and proven ROI. It should also be noted that The UK’s digital economy at present accounts for about 8% of our national income

So, how can print based media giants retain their dominant market share?

Well a life line has become apparent at the expense of ITV and paid for yet again by us, the taxpayer.

Here in Wales a former editor of the Independent newspaper, Professor Ian Hargreaves is carrying out a media review for the Welsh Assembly Government. This follows a recent statement from Labour Assembly Minister, Huw Lewis. who is pushing for grants to be provided to set up a series of “super local” television and radio channels run by newspapers in Wales. CLICK HERE to read full story and CLICK HERE for Huw Lewis’s views.

This has been followed by A group of MPs who have warned that English-language news viewers in Wales could have no choice of broadcaster by 2010. The Welsh Affairs Select Committee said ITV’s “bleak financial outlook” meant the BBC would be the only news provider within a year. CLICK HERE to read full story.

Mr Lewis said: “Wales is perfectly set up to become a centre of excellence for journalism, and yet everywhere we look we see local papers struggling and axing staff, or else ITV are forcing through drastic cut backs.

“Even flagship papers like the Western Mail, South Wales Argus, Daily Post and the Echo – they are all looking to make savings and are losing skilled staff as a result.

Whilst the growing uptake of a digital revolution has naturally gained momentum over the last few years, expect this to intensify when the impact of the UK Governments Digital Britain report is fully actioned.

Gordon Brown said “Just as the bridges, roads and railways built in the 19th century were the foundations of the Industrial Revolution that helped Britain to become the workshop of the world, so investment now in the information and communications industries can underpin our emergence from recession to recovery and cement the UK’s position as a global economic powerhouse.”

He continues “These technological advances will be accompanied by a revolution in content, which they allow. We must develop and sustain public service content, such as commercial regional news, which we all value and rely on, ensuring that it can be delivered across multiple digital outlets by a range of providers accessible to all.” Read fully story CLICK HERE

So what does it all mean?

In simple terms newspaper groups may move into the TV news marketplace, thou via the web not TV. ( Until TV and web are viewed via the same device that is, but that’s another story). The question remains, will they create additional news rooms? or, in the short term use proposed BBC interactive news streams?

If newspaper groups really want to increase their market share and ultimately expand their reach, and The Welsh Assembly seek to continue their push to create more employment opportunities in the media sector….

…..surely this is a no brainier?

A corporate social media campaign is all about harnessing the power of digital marketing, adding a new communication channel into your existing on-line strategy. Get it right from the start!

This new and frantically growing medium is a marketing, PR and communication tool that needs to be planned out thoroughly from the outset. A half hearted or confused social media campaign can be a waste of your time, budget, resources and even damage your brand.

If you do not view it in the same context as email, written communication or even a telephone call, including social media into your digital marketing mix should be avoided. Marketing managers with no interest in new technologies or a grounding in digital marketing should also stay clear.

Integrating this new digital ‘extra’ will open new doors, add new layers of PR and exposure and ultimately increase your digital responses or sales, regardless of the industry you work in. It provides a new level of interaction and communication and is extremely cost effective compared to ‘paid for’ direct marketing strategies.

Your first step should be to create a hybrid instruction facility. i.e. your on-line communication point which incidentally includes your email accounts. This will provide you with the ability to action  and monitor all your social media activity and feedback, without the daily need to log onto the vast amount of on-line networks that you appear on. Managing everything from one source is the only way to manage your campaign efficiently!

As marketing managers begin to understand the benefits these new forms of engagement offer, expect to see a steep rise in social media marketing over the next 12 months. As always those who don’t WILL fall behind.

Do you fully understand the value and benefits of corporate Social media marketing?

Do you understand the media sources you will appear on?

More importantly do you have set objectives and understand your on-line target market?

If not – Leave it alone until you do!

Do you have a digital personality?

Wikipedia – A set of qualities that make a person (or thing) distinct from another

Whilst we all crave for individuality you maybe surprised to know just how similar you are to everyone else, well, if you look at your digital personality that is.

You have a professional persona on Linkedin.com, all your indiscretionsss, are on facebook, myspace, or maybe flicker or waye. Your music habits are on spotify.com and your viewing habits are on iplayer or 4OD. Your buying habits are on ebay and Amazon, your reading interests are on the BBC not forgetting your sexual preferences that maybe derived from Ann summers or a range of pornographic content you may of accidentaly stumbled upon. Now add the tracking statistics of your google, msn or yahoo searches together the whole host of new inter activities on your brand new iphone. Finally lets throw in whatever your IP address associates you to, and yes, that’s right you have yourself a digital personality.

What happens when we construct a computer with as much processing power as a human brain. That’s somewhere in the region of 100 million MIPs, which is a Million computer Instructions Per Second. Its widely thought we will develop machines with that level of complexity at some point in the 2020s. Then we’ll be able to record every detail of a human brain, memory for memory, neuron for neuron, like for like and dislike for dislike, every emotion and value and want, onto that computer.

Add the last two paragraphs together and just how dis-similar will we be? I guess time will tell

Now then, why don’t we add our own individual electronically mapped DNA profile into our brand spanking new super computer and create an al rounded picture of ourselves?

If over 30 years ago we can build the infrastructure to put a man on the moon, why isn’t the above already possible?

Maybe it already is!

Hello, welcome to my first ever attempt at blogging. An experiment that will either fade after a few days/weeks/months or become an endless stream of information that will continue until the next adventure begins, what ever that may be….

BLOGGING

It seems blogging is a trend that is growing frantically by the day, taking many different formats. The likelihood, if your reading this is you already have your own blog. Facebook, twitter, myspace the list is endless and each constitutes its own adaptation of a blog. Some are quite happy to share their day to day movements and thoughts. others just a random statement of their imagination, nevertheless its all ‘in a sense’ blogging.

Some use this form of ‘communication’ as liberating, some as therapeutic, others have a business or marketing agenda and others just enjoy spreading their ego into digital cyberspace.  Nevertheless the outcome is always the the same.

A NEW ERA OF COMMUNICATION

Whilst blogging is certainly not a new phenomenon, it is however growing in popularity particularly in the commercial world offering individuals the opportunity to create their own social brand. If your considering writing a blog yourself do your research first, after all the content of your witerings WILL create a perception, an image, even a personality. Be careful how you broadcast yourself!!

Blogging has many advantages but also many pitfalls so don’t jump in without some initial thoughts. What do you want it to achieve? I recommend this blog as a good starting point, Matt it seems, has become a respected expert on the subject of ‘a social brand’. Well worth a read if you do decide on upgrading your social ‘networking’ persona.

Right, off to get this dodgy tooth out : (

Mark