HC+T Briefing: Podcasting's continued rise

 
From: "HC+T Update" <shel@holtz.com>
Subject: HC+T Briefing: Podcasting's continued rise
Date: October 30th 2015

October 30, 2015
Want to unsubscribe from this newsletter? Click here.

HC+T Briefing is my weekly collection of news stories, posts, studies, and reports designed to help organizational communicators stay current on the trends and technology that affect their jobs. These may be items that flew under the radar while other stories grabbed big headlines. As always, I collect material from which I select Wrap stories (as well as stories to report on the For Immediate Release podcast) on my link blog, which you're welcome to follow.

News

Google Play Music will offer access to podcasts -- I hope you're a listener to at least one of the shows on the FIR Podcast Network. If finding those shows is the reason you're not, life is about to get easier. Google Play Music will offer a variety of podcasts through its interface. Some of the more popular shows -- like Nerdist, TWiT, and How Stuff Works -- will be available immediately, but Google has also opened a page that lets any podcaster submit their shows for listing. (And yes, I've already listed For Immediate Release.) The takeaway: Google's move is clear evidence of podcasting's surging popularity. Read more

Coke launches podcast aimed at teens -- Through a branded content deal with iHeartMedia, Coca-Cola is introducing a podcast targeting teenagers. "First Taste Fridays with Coca-Cola" debuted with an episode featuring a conversation between teens and the artist Maxwell (who is the show's DJ); the episode included the world premiere of new tracks, exclusive interviews, and surprise artist drop-ins. The takeaway: Brand podcasts were common in podcasting's earliest days -- I was particularly fond of Westinghouse's "The American Family," but for a variety of reasons, most brands gave up on the idea. But times have changed, podcasting is hot (and much easier to find and consume), so some brands are revisiting the idea. You should, too. Read more

Facebook makes it easy for iPhone users to share content from third-party apps -- Facebook has demonstrated a new share extension for iOS that makes it easier for users to share something they've found in another app on Facebook. Consider it an improvement of an existing feature, giving the act of sharing content more of a Facebook feel. The extension is rolling out soon to developers that already use the current share extension. The takeaway: Facebook gets the importance of sharing, recognizing the more people share content, the more others click it, driving traffic to other sites and elevating Facebook's value as a traffic source -- while at the same time Facebook is building out its native article capability with Instant Articles. They want to have it both ways, and there's no reason they can't have it. Read more

Royal Bank of Scotland employees to get Facebook at Work -- We haven't heard much about Facebook at Work, the internal social network that looks and works just like Facebook because, well, it is Facebook. Now there's news that Royal Bank of Scotland plans to introduce the business version of Facebook to all 100,000 employees by the end of 2016. A pilot launched this past July. The bank believes Facebook at Work will encourage collaboration and let employees communicate more quickly and efficiently, which was the case during the pilot. The takeaway: The more reports we hear about big companies adopting Facebook at Work, the more common it is likely to become. As one spokesperson from RBS said, "Given how many people already use Facebook in their everyday lives, it was picked up quickly by those on the pilot with minimal training needed." Exactly. Read more

That was fast: Twitter opens Moments to marketers -- Moments is, according to some, Twitter's savior. Because brand new users will be able to find and follow events without having ever followed a single person, it'll make the experience for newcomers better and easier to understand. You have to wonder, though, how popular Moments will be when they include paid-for content. There will be plenty of it, considering Twitter announced it's testing sponsored content a mere couple of weeks after introducing Moments. The takeaway: Marketers anxious to get more out of Twitter will undoubtedly jump all over Moments. How consumers will react is another question. Read more

New site offers details on Google's HR practices -- If you have ever considered adopting any of Google's progressive HR practices, you now have a site where you can learn how Google does it. re:Work is a research-supported site with example of Google's approach to hiring, anti-bias training, and other practices, along with free tools like presentation decks and checklists the company uses. The site -- which Google calls a "curated platform" for sharing management ideas -- will include the practices of other companies as well, like Wegmans and JetBlue. "What's especially unusual about it is Google is not only sharing what they’ve learned, but actually trying to get other organizations to do it better too," said previous Google research collaborator Adam Grant, a Wharton School professor. The takeaway: Transparency is in. Read more

National Geographic is the top social media brand -- Based on an analysis of nearly 20 billion social actions (e.g., likes, shares, comments, retweets, favorites, etc.) across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Shareablee has named National Geographic the top social brand with more than 482.5 million social actions. The venerable magazine also has the biggest share of Instagram followers. Fox News is the top brand on Facebook, while Billboard took the top spot on Twitter. Two Buzzfeed properties (BuzzFeed Video and BuzzFeed Food) edged into the top 25 on the strength of their videos. The takeaway: As the SocialTimes article concludes, "Social video is both the present and the future when it comes to engagement and marketing online. Read more

Now you can talk to strangers on Facebook -- Well, not Facebook exactly, but Facebook Messenger, the standalone messaging app. A new feature called Message Requests makes it easy for you to get messages from people you're not friends with. Those kinds of messages used to go into an inbox called "Other" that most users didn't even know existed. "Other" is gone now and those messages will appear as message requests. Users can read the message, then decide whether to reply without the sender knowing. The takeaway: It'll be interesting to see if Messenger users get bombarded with unwanted messages. If so, it opens an opportunity for competing apps to let users know their apps don't let strangers intrude. Read more

Refugees create resource map for newcomers -- The humanitarian crisis facing Europe as refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern hot spots is huge, and countries absorbing refugees are challenged to provide resources. Not to worry; in one case, refugees are handling it just fine by themselves. A group of refugees in Berlin has created a map that shows new arrivals where key resources can be found, such as counseling, healthcare, German language lessons, housing, legal assistance, police, and public transport facilities. The pins go into some detail -- for example, doctor pins show whether the doctors speak Farsi or Arabic. Users can also learn where they can find halal eateries. The takeaway: The "Arriving in Berlin" map is clear evidence that the open Internet is alive and well, despite fears articulated by some that large walled gardens like Facebook are destroying the original vision of the Net. Read more

Sysomos unveils visual data tracking tool -- If you're struggling with analyzing data about what people have typed about your brand, brace yourself. Sysomos has expanded its monitoring service to include image-based tracking. Sysomos previously acquired gazeMetrix, a "visual listening platform," which led to the development of Sysomos Gaze, which recognizes brand logos, products, and people, and is able "to predict momentum for content cycles that are drawing positive or negative attention." The takeaway: This isn't the first tool that analyzes visuals, but it is the first that monitors them the same way a monitoring service monitors blog posts, tweets, and online conversations. There will be more ways to collect and analyze visual data, and we will need to figure out how to use them to our (and our companies' or clients') advantage. Read more

Trends

Can marketers take advantage of 1-second videos? -- Boomerang is a standalone app from Instagram that lets users create and share 1-second videos. When Vine first launched, communicators wondered how they could ever use a 6-second video platform. The solutions presented themselves quickly and Vine became a marketing staple. But 1 second? Why not? GIFs have risen in popularity, the Boomerang app makes creating and sharing them absurdly easy, and it can reach people who aren't already seeing your work on Snapchat. The takeaway: Experimentation is one of the key ways to avoid "content crash," that point where you just can't get audience attention for your content. If I were a brand, I'd be all over Boomerang. Read more

The decline of the Facebook link -- People share links with their Facebook friends at a dizzying pace, but that practice could soon fade into obscurity as content becomes available natively in the Facebook platform. Instant Articles are now available to any iOS user with an Android launch in the works, and a lot of publishers are watching to see how it performs. If people share Instant Articles instead of links, we could see a dramatic decline in Facebook-driven traffic to media sites. The takeaway: This is part of a larger trend toward publishing content everywhere rather than deploying links to a single iteration of content. I wrote about this a couple weeks ago: Content sites as destinations are bound to become less important as content producers from CNN (under its Big Story brand) to Now This News focus on distribution of content rather than driving traffic to their sites. Mobile is driving the trend as users express their preference for content that loads fast, which favors native content versus waiting for a page on another site to load. Read more

SMS sharing is on the rise -- Predictions that we'll see growth in the amount of sharing via SMS text messaging seem to be coming true, propelled by some companies adding SMS share buttons to the usual options (mainly Facebook, Twitter, and email). On BuzzFeed, SMS tops the list of share buttons readers tap when sharing BuzzFeed content, followed by Twitter, email, Facebook, and AddToReadingList. The takeaway: Media companies seem to have figured out an SMS share button is a requirement. Why aren't we seeing more of them on brand content sites? Read more

Suggestion boxes go digital -- More and more companies are adopting online suggestion boxes using software from companies like San Francisco-based Spigit, which is behind programs at companies ranging from Uniliver, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Pfizer to IBM, UnitedHealth, and Citigroup. These sites are used to collect staff ideas on everything from sustainability to new products. The takeaway: While this article focuses on Spigit, it's not the only online tool that has replaced the physical suggestion box -- and with better results, since old-school suggestion boxes were notoriously one-way, while their online replacements are more interactive. Online or off, though, without a commitment to act on suggestions and communication to demonstrate that the best ideas are being turned into programs or products, the tool will be viewed cynically by employees. Read more

Clorox campaign a prime example of content that helps -- One of the most oft-repeated (and oft-ignored) elements of effective content marketing is producing content that actually helps people. For an example, look to Clorox -- maker of sanitation products -- which has launched Clorox Cold & Flu Pulse, which lets consumers track outbreaks of influenza. By using the app, users can get reports on where the flu is likely to appear and how virulent is could be. Clorox is analyzing millions of Twittter conversations to tease out clues about clusters of flu reports. The takeaway: People concerned about the flu will flock to this app once they learn about it, and their perception of Clorox will improve, all without a pitch in sight. Other brands would do well to emulate the underlying concept: Finding ways to use data to serve consumers, building reputation in the process. Read more

Scientists get attention when tweeting from remote locations -- Astronaut Scott Kelly is tweeting from the International Space Station. Astronomers tweet from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in the Chilean desert. Researchers tweet from under the sea at the Aquarius Reef Bae. A British doctor tweets from the Italian/French Antarctica base Concordia. And the list goes on. What's worth noting about these Twitter accounts is their healthy follower counts. The takeaway: If your company has an R&D function with any staff working in remote or exotic locations, enlisting them to tweet could attract a whole new audience and boost your company's reputation. We talk about employees as ambassadors all the time, but this is a tangible application that most communicators probably haven't considered. Read more

Research

The fallacy of employee engagement programs -- When employee engagement surveys reveal a problem, leaders turn to HR to implement programs to fix the problem. Programs range from wellness programs to professional development opportunities. But according to a survey of corporate and internal communicators at more than 300 companies, these programs aren't working. Despite the fact that 71% of the surveyed communicators' employers have engagement initiatives in place, only 36% think their employees are engaged. Millennials are looking for better communication from their companies (and not just better, but digital communication that isn't email). Only 16% of participants said their companies use mobile apps to communicate with employees. The takeaway: Improving engagement requires companies to improve the work experience in ways that are meaningful to the employees they target. Adding a tuition reimbursement program or an open-door policy, when these aren't what employees are missing, won't solve the problem. Read more

Speculation

What would it mean for brands if Twitter dropped the 140-character limit? -- One social media agency exec sees four key implications for brands if Twitter established a no-limit policy on tweets (a step the company has already taken with Direct Messages). First, engagement could be easier as brands are freed to say what they want (though hashtags would still be vital). The move would be part of a broader shift to longer-form content brands need to recognize, brands would be able to offer enhanced customer service on Twitter (where many customers seek it), and brands could benefit from the growth Twitter could enjoy once the 140-character limit is history. The takeaway: I remain skeptical that ditching the 140-character limit would do Twitter much good. The ability to scan short messages is what distinguishes it from other platforms. Once it's more like Facebook, why would people want to use it instead of Facebook? Read more

The latest from the FIR Podcast Network

  • On FIR episode 6, the panel (Christopher S. Penn, Laura P. Thomas, and Martin Waxman) joined me for a discussion about The New York Times' decision to distribute 1 million Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets to subscribers (and PR's baffling lack of interest in VR), the need for communicators to prepare for activist data analysts, the rise of Snapchat (and how one marketing agency is using it to pitch new clients), Snapchat's new geofilters, the possible risks of using Country Top-Level Domains, Facebook's expansion of search to all public posts, why PR is optimally positioned for content marketing, an alternative metric to plain old impressions, and whether Medium might be the 21st-century press release platform. Listen
  • The 21st installment of Digital India features a look at Indian festivals. Listen
  • Jeremiah Owyang, founder and CEO of Crowd Companies, joined me for an FIR interview on new research results that offer insights into how companies can compete in the collaborative economy. Listen
  • Thought Leader Life guest co-host Peter Winick joins host Mitchell Levy and guest Larry Mohol to talk about how to scale up content. Listen
  • Deirdre Breakenridge joins Kevin Anselmo to discuss her experience as an adjunct professor and the creation of a Lynda.com training course. Listen
  • On November 3, I'll speak at Ragan's Brand Journalism and Content Marketing Summit in Denver.
  • I'm on the agenda for Ragan's Visual Communications Summit in New York on November 9.

Join me for a four-week IABC online workshop

If you're among the communicators who feel unprepared for technological advances that will affect your work, join me for a four-week IABC workshop covering four critical emerging trends: virtual and augmented reality, digital signage, live steaming video apps, and the Internet of Things. The course starts next Tuesday! Learn more and register
HC+T provides a full range of services for large organizations, from speaking and training to communication audits and strategic plan development.

Visit us at Holtz.com.


Forward to a Friend
 
  • This mailing list is a public mailing list - anyone may join or leave, at any time.
  • This mailing list is announce-only.

The monthly e-mail newsletter from Holtz Communication + Technology

Privacy Policy: