Thanks to the exponential adoption of social media and mobile technology, our attention spans have decreased rapidly. Public relations professionals know that they have mere seconds to catch their audience’s attention and deliver a message that resonates. Infographics have become the new playground that offers opportunity to achieve this goal. Professionals in any industry now have the capability to disseminate information via this statistically-driven, image-rich platform. While infographics continue to be used to tell the condensed version of larger story, is this snapshot of a report telling an accurate version of the story?

In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary — we explore the history behind the infographic, discuss the current state of this new medium and discover why industry experts are challenging the validity of data reports.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Infographics —A Good Story Teller or an Elusive Way to Present Data "

The latest monthly survey by the National Federation of Independent Business indicated a brighter employment picture and significant increase in future hiring plans. Similarly, the Manpower survey of hiring intentions, represents the most promising hiring outlook since 2008.

Monster.com has reported an uptick in online advertising in recent months, and a recent study from WantedAnalytics found that hiring demand, specifically in the public relations industry has steadily increased in 2011. In looking at the number of new online job ads hiring for PR managers and specialists over the past 90 days, the study saw a 10-percent increase compared to the same 90-day period in 2010. That report indicates that beyond an increase in specific job openings, there is a fundamental shift taking place in the way the job market functions.

The year ahead will see employers identify new ways to leverage the social networks of employees’ to recruit and retain talent. Over the course of 2010 and 2011, you likely read a great deal about social medial policies. According to the October 2011 Booz & Company/Buddy Media Survey, 65 percent of organizations have social media policies and another 29 percent are in the process of developing or planning a policy.

Social media policies and guidelines are essential; employee networks boast a formidable power.

As of November 2011, LinkedIn claimed more than 135 million members. With policies in place, and employees well connected throughout their respective industry, in 2012, companies will be poised to better harness their employees networks to strengthen the organization. Businesses will find ways to capitalize on these networks by utilizing employee referral programs.

In 2011, all employees became an asset (or liability) to marketing, publicly representing themselves and, as a reflection, their brand online. The coming year will find employees encroaching on HR territory, serving as brand ambassadors to prospective employees. A coordinated effort between HR and public relations to offer continued social media training and guidelines is essential. PR practitioners with social media responsibilities will begin looking at retention and recruitment metrics in their own analysis.

Even those organizations not yet prepared to commit to hiring must take significant steps in 2012, if they hope to retain valuable talent and survive the next decade. Employees whose profiles are on LinkedIn (and Google+) essentially have their resumes “out there” and are more likely than ever before to be approached by a competitor. Organizations that have been retaining employees simply as a result of a fear of the economy will be increasingly vulnerable as savvy growing businesses easily acquire their top talent.

The economic recession of the early 1990s was marked by several years of high unemployment, but five years later, the “dot-com boom” hit. Overnight, it seemed jobs were plentiful, with companies striving to outdo their competitors in perks as they fought to hire and retain talent. The economy will again turn, and the steps organizations take in 2012 will determine whether they are positioned for success.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Talent Acquisition Goes Social "

Editor’s note: This is the 10th in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

Audience fragmentation and downsizing have taken their toll on the traditional news media. One trend filling the gap is “Brand Journalism.” It refers to the practice of an organization employing its own “reporters” to cover its events/announcements and then publish reports using the conventions of news.

Layoffs and rapid turnover mean many PR pros are finding it difficult to establish solid relationships or earn the attention their promotional efforts may deserve. Enter Brand Journalism.

The advantage of Brand Journalism grows with the ubiquity of the Web:

• Google owns 65 percent of the search market share, according to ComScore, and it has added press releases from wire services to its Google News aggregator (though consumers do have the option to filter them out, along with blogs).
• Coincidentally, 65 percent of adults use social networking sites (up from 61 percent in 2010), according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Services like Twitter are attracting more news consumers every day with the speed they can deliver current events (far faster than traditional news outlets).

A company could potentially have more visibility producing its own content as opposed to relying on the news media to carry its message (provided it’s indexed properly).

Brand Journalism is fraught with ethical perils, however. Both Chevron and British Petroleum (BP) drew fire for their own Brand Journalism by employing it during crises and giving themselves undeservedly-positive treatment.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Brand Journalism Brings New Ethical Perils "

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

It’s no secret that the line dividing consumer and professional technologies is blurring. You’ve probably heard of “the consumerization of IT,” and it’s more than a trend — it’s a profound shift toward a technology market where consumers have unprecedented influence and businesses must acknowledge the impact of consumer technologies on their operations. In 2012, and beyond, I expect this movement to significantly transform the way technology PR professionals support and counsel their clients, and the way agencies approach their own IT.

The technologies, particularly those emerging in the mobile space, which IT departments need to accommodate under this “trend,” are first making waves in the consumer market, so it radically upsets the balance of influencers in the technology space.

Along with appealing to the IT decision-maker for whom consumerization presents both a complex challenge and opportunity, traditional B-to-B technology brands need to identify where they fit — if at all — within this movement  and capture consumer awareness and preference, something that may not have previously been a chief concern. The opposite is true for those brands that have traditionally marketed to the consumer. They must learn to communicate to satisfy commercial enterprise demands to fully develop their product’s market potential.

As a technology PR firm, consumerization demands that we present our clients with data and insights to inform how their marketing strategies and messages must adapt for the increasingly powerful consumer segment.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: Consumerization of IT Changes PR from the Inside, Out "

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of 12 guest posts from industry executives predicting key trends that will impact the public relations industry in 2012. Hosted under the hashtag #PRin2012, the series began Dec. 19, 2011, with a compilation post previewing all 12 predictions.

Both a challenge and opportunity for public relations professionals in 2012 is to have more data-driven decision-making processes. I truly believe that PR will never be 100-percent science. It is, and always will be, both art and science.

However, especially for those of us focusing primarily on digital, identifying the right data that can inform our decisions, and then integrating across all channels will position us for success. There are number of new fascinating technologies out there that are taking things to a new level in terms of content optimization and syndication. It’s an exciting time to be in digital communications.

Joe Ciarallo(@JoeCiarallo) is vice president of communications at social enterprise software company Buddy Media. He is also a founding editor of mediabistro.com’s public relations blog, PRNewser.

Continue reading " #PRin2012: A Year of Shifting Metrics and Integration "