HC+T Update: August 16, 2013

From: "HC+T Update" <shel@holtz.com>

Subject: HC+T Update: August 16, 2013

Date: August 16th 2013

August 16, 2013
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I'm off to Brazil on Tuesday, and my schedule there will prevent me from producing an Update on Friday, August 23. (I teach through 9 p.m. Thursday night, then I'm back at it at 8 a.m. on Friday morning.) The Update will return on Friday, August 30.

Introducing Social, Visual, a new Flipboard magazine

The trend toward image-centric communication fascinates me. There's plenty of content covering the importance of services like Instagram, Vine, Tumblr, Pinterest and others, along with the rise of the listicle (articles based on lists represented by images, as popularized on BuzzFeed) and other approaches. I've started curating these items in a Flipboard magazine, just so I can give this great new curation tool a try. More information is here.

MixBit is tailor-made for brands

YouTube co-founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley have launched MixBit, a clear competitor to Vine and Instagram's video utility, but with a twist: users can splice together MixBit clips to create videos of up to an hour. The potential for brands to launch hashtag campaigns designed to produce enough clips to create a marketing video will probably be too great to pass up. Read the post here.

Spelling and grammar DO count, according to consumers

The top transgression of brands that tick off consumers who follow them on social channels? Bad spelling and poor grammar. The rest of the list is interesting, too, including brands that try too hard to be funny. But the survey's top finding reinforces my long-held belief that communicators can't be cavalier about copy-editing and proofreading. Read the post here.

This week on FIR

Neville and I interviewed Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, CEO of AirPR, a sort of Match.com for connecting startups with independent PR consultants. On FIR #716, we talked about Google's new link rules for press releases, how crooks are hijacking your Facebook likes, the executive email carpet bomb trend, and how the BBC kept the new Doctor Who a secret.

During the week The New York Times went down and The Washington Post was hacked, one is left to wonder whether these online news services might have been well served with an unhackable analog backup. Maybe a print version? All kidding aside, the Times simply shifted its news publication to Facebook, using the Facebook Notes tool to keep readers informed, mainly about the turmoil in Egypt, until the official site came back online. There was, of course, other news during the week. The stories I found most interesting -- and which were easily missed -- make up this week's Wrap.

Companies ignore social media as a crisis management tool

Smart companies have developed a business continuity management (BCM) effort to ensure the company can continue to operate in the face of a disaster, and given new technologies, a lot of organizations are revisiting their processes. But, according to a study from PWC, these companies are "still behind in leveraging social media as a crucial resource." The accounting firm released its study, "Business Continuity Insights Survey," which revealed 57% of respondents don't use social media as a crisis management resource. Thirty-eight percent are "modestly leveraging it as a tool, but not seeing improvements in their capabilities, whereas 8% of respondents believe that social media has become an enabler for their organization to proactively identify and respond to crisis events."

WeChat passes 100 million non-China users

I keep pointing communicators to the surge in use of messaging apps -- known as OTT apps, for Over the Top. Apps like WhatsApp and WeChat are becoming the primary social networking tool for a growing number of people around the world, posing a challenge to marketers and communicators who have shifted their efforts to social networking platforms. Now comes word that WeChat -- the Chinese-owned service already boasting more than 235 million users, nearly three times the number from a year ago -- has passed the 100 million mark for its non-China users. American-owned WhatsApp boasts 300 million users worldwide. The market outside China for WeChat is mainly in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Last month, it was "the most downloaded mobile communication app from official stores in Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, South Africa and Turkey," according to Theo Merz, writing for The Telegraph. Meanwhile, Keek -- the video-based mobile social network -- has raised $100 million in financing as it reaches 58 million users, according to VentureBeat.

The new normal: A surge in mobile news snacking

Data released by mobile and Web apps analytics company Localytics reveal that "news apps are becoming an increasingly important part of the daily consumption diet, even as habits shift towards shorter, sharper bursts of activity." PandoDaily's Hamish McKenzie notes that people open their new apps 39% more than they did a year ago -- from 18 times monthly last year to more than 25 times per month now -- but the length of time spent reading news during each of those sessions has declined by 26%. The overall amount of time spent reading news on the apps is about a minute longer than the time spent on other types of apps, and 5% more than users spent with news apps a year ago. The report also reveals that people spend "far more time accessing news app content on tablets than on mobile phones -- 50% more, in fact. And the lion's share of social sharing c omes not through Facebook or Twitter, but through private messages." Eighty percent of content shares from apps occur via email. McKenzie suggests that news providers like BuzzFeed and UpWorthy -- which are optimized for social sharing -- reconsider the ease with which content is made available for email sharing, even thinking about the stories most suited to email sharing.

Twitter can predict US elections, study says

A study from Indiana University has correlated Twitter data and US election results. "Specifically, the study found a correlation between the number of times a candidate for the House of Representatives was mentioned on Twitter in the months before an election and his or her performance in that election," writes Robinson Meyer in the Atlantic. "The more a candidate is mentioned on Twitter, the better."

Voice search now available across Google platforms

If you've been using voice-based search on Google Now, and liking it, you'll be pleased to know that Google has enabled it on services like Gmail, Calendar and Google+. Liam Tung writes in ZDNet that the Google Search features allows people "to ask questions about commonly queried topics, such as 'is my flight on time?' and 'when will my package arrive?'. The main categories people can query using voice include reservations, purchases, plans, and photos. As long as the details are stored in one of the Google services, Google will return formatted responses to a voice query."

Employees want keyboard with their tablets

As companies explore the possibility to equipping employees with tablets instead of PCs, the iPad and Android tablets may find themselves at a disadvantage while the fortunes of the Windows 8 platform could get a boost. Research from Forrester -- reported for ZDNet by Steve Ranger -- shows two-thirds of workers "believe they would benefit from using a keyboard with their tablet" for writing, dealing with email, and using the custom apps their companies have developed. While third-party manufacturers have made keyboards for iPads and Androids (I use one with my Nexus 7 that doubles as a case), Windows 8 has native keyboards on their Surface tablet, as does Lenovo with its Windows 8-based ThinkPad Tablet 2. Samsung's Galaxy Tab -- an Android tablet -- would accommodate the 27% of workers who prefer a wireless keyboard. About a third of em ployees are fine with touch only.

Can Bebo bounce back?

It's all Facebook these days in the U.K., but it wasn't always so. For a time, Brits turned to Bebo for their social networking. New Statesman's James Evans reports that the site's founder, Michael Birch, has reacquired Bebo for a fraction of what he sold it for in 2008 and has released a tongue-in-cheek video previewing the relaunch of the network. In an interview, Birch reveals that the new Bebo is mobile-only, at least initially.

Livefyre enters the native advertising field

If you comment on blog posts, odds are good that you've encountered Livefyre, which has touted itself as a "conversation platform." (Gini Dietrich's SpinSucks blog is one that uses Livefyre for comments.) The company announced this week that it's launching a native advertising solution "that will turn users' instagram photos, Tweets and Vines into promotional content," writes Ken Yeung for The Next Web. AOL and IGN are among the first publishers to tap into the service to supplement their original content. Yeung notes that an IPG Media Lab/Sharethrough study found that native ads are viewed 53% more than display ads, and "registered 18% higher 'life in purchase intent' and a 9% lift for brand affinity response over banner ads." Livefyre's offering is "a managed service platform whereby the agency or brand shares with Livefyre a creative br ief or concept." Livefyre then kicks into agency mode, working with the client to "develop the look, feel, user interface, and content behind each ad."

Execs to business contacts: "Don't friend me, bro"

More than 60% of senior managers say they're not comfortable being friended by their bosses or those who report to them, according to a survey from Officeteam. Nearly half prefer not to connect with coworkers on Facebook -- and that's up 8 points from 2009. According to Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog, Office Team suggests letting people above you in the organizational hierarchy make the first move. "Proactively sending a friend request could create an awkward situation." The staffing company also recommends that you look at the Facebook friends your colleagues have to see if they include work connections. "If their lists are limited to favorite work pals, they may not be eager to friend a wider group of coworkers."

IPR releases Dictionary of Public Relations Measurement and Research

The Institute for Public Relations has announced the release of the third edition of the free, downloadable Dictionary of Public Relations Measurement and Research. "This third edition covers an expanded number of terms, addition of social media terms and processes, and adds ethics as a category," according to the IPR notice. You can download the PDF here.

On Tuesday, I'm off to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to teach an executive communications certificate program for ABERJE.
On August 15, I'm speaking at a Ragan Communications conference at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco.
On September 25, I'm speaking at an Intuit conference for its company communicators and writers on the writer's role in the social visual communication world.
I'm speaking about content marketing and gamification to IABC/Orange County on October 8.
I'll have a speaking slot at Ragan's Intranet Summit in Chicago on October 16.
I have three speaking gigs the week of October 20: one at the Canada regional IABC conference, one at The Mayo Clinic, and one at IABC's intranet conference in New York, held in conjunction with Prescient Digital Media.
I'm conducting a workshop November 6 at Chesapeake Energy Corporation in Oklahoma City, part of a three-day ragan conference on the role of communications in creating best places to work/
I'll present a webinar on December 4 for Lorman Education on social visual communication. It'll be available to the public.
Next February 6, I'll speak at an industry conference for manufacturers of Omega 3 products on crisis communications. The session is in Salt Lake City.

Have a question?

I'm available to chat on the phone about any aspect of social, digital and traditional corporate communication that may be on your mind. Clients have called to get advice during a crisis, to explore various approaches to a marketing challenge, and to talk about internal social media. Call me at +1.415.881.7435 or email me at shel@holtz.com.

Since 1996, HC+T has helped organizations communicate effectively in the emerging online space using intranets to reach employees and various dimensions of the Internet to communicate with other stakeholder audiences.

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.

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