11/05/2012

I hear what you say – or do you?

Today we’re featuring a guest blog post from Andrew Thorp, a speaker and communications skills coach and co-founder of MojoLife in Manchester. At Skout we believe the best PR results come from spending time finding, crafting and articulating a client’s best stories. This is very much Andrew’s ethos too, but in terms of general business communication, as you’ll see below. Thanks Andrew!

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a business networking event and had a memorable experience. It was in a private room in a busy restaurant and the noise from the downstairs bar filled the space and gave it a nice energy. I was introduced to someone who asked me what I did. I replied, “I tell stories.” Now that normally gets a reaction – it’s an unusual thing to hear – but on this occasion he seemed unmoved. I was a tad disappointed but I thought, “Hey ho, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, move on!” So the conversation went elsewhere until someone he knew came across. The chap I’d be speaking to introduced me to his friend. “This is Andrew – he sells storage.”

This reminded me of the reason I set up a concept called Speakeasy couple of years ago. It’s a mechanism for getting feedback from the audience when you present a pitch or an idea. That’s a rare thing of course. People don’t really feel it’s their place to inform you they didn’t ‘get’ what you were talking about, or that you’d scratched the side of your head all the time while presenting!

The psychologists refer to encoding and decoding. When you present an idea you’re the ‘encoder’ but the audience ‘decodes’ it through their filters – these might be past experiences, prejudices, expectations, or just plain-old hearing problems! The result is what you think you said is often not what the audience takes in.

So I suppose the simple message is that it’s important to ask for feedback if you want to be a better communicator. That takes a little courage, but it pays off in the end. But it also requires that we get better at GIVING feedback. It’s a tricky thing to do well and again this can be learned as a skill.

One final point – I’m always encouraging people to develop their own ‘story vault’ so they can use them in conversations and presentations. These ‘mini-stories’ are a terrific tool for building rapport and injecting some fun and personality into your communication. But a lot of people say they don’t have any. I don’t believe that – rather, it’s just a case of recognising them when they occur. Comedians who use observational humour are masters of this. There are things happening to you every day (and things you see happening to others) that could form the basis of a great story. The trick is to recognise them, craft them into a story that makes a point and get good at telling them.

Happy story-telling (or should I say storage-selling?).

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02/05/2012

An introduction to the b2b social media hub

Today I am going to talk about social hubs, a concept that has been gaining a lot of B2B traction during 2012, following early adopters successfully using the approach for the last few years.

If your company is struggling to get full benefit out of its social media activities in a b2b environment developing a social hub to glue your strategy together is well worth considering for social success.

What is a social hub?

A Social media hub is actually incredibly simple. It is a section of your company website that aggregates all of your social media feeds and channels in an easy to reach place, often underpinned by your company blog which should be playing host to interesting, relevant and engaging content aimed at your target audience.

If you think of your various social media channels as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle of your brand, the hub is the completed jigsaw or full picture of what is happening across all aspects of your company.

I would hazard a guess that your organisation has at least dabbled with Facebook, Twitter and Youtube by now and most probably a blogging platform like WordPress or Tumblr too. A social hub brings all these together so they can support each other, bringing some order to the chaos and importantly having a positive impact on social media objectives such as lead generation and brand awareness.

Why are social hubs important to b2b organisations?

Compared to b2c counterparts, b2b organisations can often struggle to get many people to engage with its social networks, especially from within its targeted audiences. You may even start to think that spending time trying to build up your social networks is a waste of time, with your company receiving very little interest, even on the likes of well-established channels, like Facebook and Twitter.

One of the main reasons behind this lack of activity is because unlike consumer facing organisations, it is very unlikely that many people will be searching for your business through the actual social networks themselves. When people are searching for b2b products or services, a company website is still the first port of call for gathering information on potential companies to engage with, not a social network.

This doesn’t mean you need to consign social media to the dustbin just yet however; you just need to make sure that you are using it in a way that supports the way people seek and find your business, products and services and importantly in a way that enhances your company’s web presence. For me this is where the social media comes into its own for a b2b organisation, especially when constructed as an engaging and intuitive social hub.

First of all, creating a social hub on your company website can instantly bring it to life through the use of rich media content like videos, photos, slideshows and blog posts, alongside regularly updated social network feeds. Not only does this show that your company is up to date and on the ball it makes it so much more memorable and engaging than the average b2b site comprising static text and stock images.

On top of this the social hub also acts as a window into your organisation. Through social networks such as Facebook, Google + and Twitter, people can get a real feel for what it would be like to work with your company. If someone searching for b2b product or service is getting a good vibe from your website you have a much greater chance of getting onto that shortlist and winning business.

Finally, when it comes to b2b marketing, lead generation is often the key metric. By having your social media channels easily accessible from your website and social hub you are able to capture new followers to your social networks directly from your website. Followers captured in this manner are, on the whole, going to be genuinely interested in your business and have decided to follow you in order to keep up to date with the latest information from your company. Now you have the chance to turn this interest into sales by feeding new content directly to their social feeds, coupled with the all-important calls to action.

To be honest we’re only just scratching the surface here, the list of benefits goes on and on. For example, if your company is keen on hiring the best young talent, a vibrant social hub is a fantastic way to position your business as an exciting place to work.

Social hub examples

I truly believe that social hubs will become the norm for all organisations over the next few years as social media becomes further embedded as an essential communication method for business. I have decided to leave you with a number of good examples of b2b organisations who are already using social hubs to good effect, and if you think it’s about time your organisation upped its game socially we’d love to chat to you.

Cisco – Social@ Cisco: http://socialmedia.cisco.com/

Dell – Social Media: http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/about-dell-social-media

Hubspot – Hubspot blog: http://blog.hubspot.com/

Chris Walmsley

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11/04/2012

For great PR, mine and refine, don’t just fabricate!

Many people take the view that to achieve great PR results they must manufacture or fabricate stories because their businesses or clients have no real content of interest to the audiences and media they want to target. This is particularly pertinent in B2B PR where products and services are often thought of as boring, especially where more mainstream media attention is concerned.

But in many cases this lack of raw materials is simply not true. More it’s the fact that people haven’t searched hard enough for the rich content within their businesses that can be utilised to build brand and raise awareness. Its often a case that more time is spent asking questions, testing ideas and discussing possibilities with clients rather than churning out mediocre PR. PR people and agencies in particular have a duty to leave no stone unturned in order to find the stories that lie within their clients’ bedrock. It’s just plain lazy to skim the surface and waste precious budgets always creating content from scratch.

At Skout we always seek to find and use our client’s most precious PR assets. Last week for our client vielife this took the form of a rich deposit of sleep data, collected from employees of vielife’s UK customers through its online health and wellbeing platform. We’re not talking some flimsy PR-led survey of just about 100 people here but nearly 40,000 genuine data records on sleep habits correlated with other important health issues.

Working with vielife’s medical experts and data analysts we helped to turn these raw materials into a story with relevance and appeal for a broad audience. Doing so removed the media shackles that often restrict B2B companies in the range and scope of coverage they can achieve. This, coupled with a well planned media strategy, enabled us to gain the ambitious outcomes we wanted for vielife – and all from existing untapped content.

So, starting with a Sunday exclusive, vielife’s sleep story took the whole of page six in The Observer’s April 1st edition. Other national, business and broadcast media followed last week including BBC Radio, Guardian Online, The Mail, The Express, City AM, Human Resources and People Management. Even corporates like Aviva and Silentnight got in on the act!

Most organisations are sitting on PR assets in the form of people, data, opinions, products and ideas that are the raw materials for great stories. They often fail to be mined and refined for an effective outcome.

What are the PR natural resources within your business? Why not spend an hour or so thinking about them and writing them down – have you utilised them effectively and what would it take to do so?

Rob Skinner

Categories: B2B, Media, PR, Public Relations Comments: 0

08/11/2011

Skout PR earns growth badge with successful second year

Skout PR, the Manchester based, B2B PR company is enjoying its status as a growing player in the PR market after a successful start to its second year of operation, which has seen new clients and the appointment of new staff.

Skout has seen its revenue increase by 120% in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year and has moved into new offices at Broadstone Mill in South Manchester.

Growth has been fuelled by some exciting client wins in two core target markets, national b2b technology firms and North-West based enterprises. These include Redstone, one of the UKs largest dedicated IT infrastructure providers. Hazel Grove based MAN Diesel & Turbo UK and Plasma Clean, a Manchester University spinout undertaking major global expansion.

Rob Skinner, managing director, Skout PR, said, “After a profitable first year of trading it is fantastic to be on target for growth in year two. Our aim is to build up a communications business which leads through the quality of its work, never losing sight clients’ business goals and offering distinct and high quality communications services for organisations in the North West and in specific markets across the UK.”

In 2011 Skout bolstered its business infrastructure with the appointment of Chris Walmsley as social media and PR consultant. Recognising the changing communication landscape Skout is planning to broaden its digital and social media services to ensure that existing and future clients are able to be seen and heard across the full media spectrum.

With a new service offering in place and firm client foundations Skout hopes for continued growth throughout the year.

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11/10/2011

Our Survey Said…

PR agencies (even those in Manchester) are well known for delivering survey stories to the media. But there’s a big difference between surveys that just constitute lazy PR and those that really make a point, act as building blocks for a message or campaign and provide a basis for discussion and debate between you and the media.

We’ve recently collaborated with research company Loudhouse on the latter of the above approaches, which amongst other things achieved the lead story in Human Resources magazine for our client. Suzy Timms of Loudhouse has kindly guest blogged for us here outlining why and how surveys must tell stories. Thanks Suzy!

Numbers tell stories, and stories help people engage with brands. As such, surveys and statistics can elevate PR campaigns by providing a compelling narrative built around the attitudes and behaviours of a brand’s target market.

Done properly, PR surveys can generate good media attention, provide useful insights and boost a brand’s profile significantly with its target audience. Done poorly, PR surveys are not only a waste of time and money, but can also damage credibility.

New technologies have made surveys cheaper and easier to execute than ever before and as a result journalists are now deluged with dodgy data and meaningless numbers. Surveys remain a potent tool for content generation if done professionally and presented in a way that makes them stand out from the crowd.

Here are some tips for making PR surveys work for you:

Be clear about why you are conducting the survey – what do you want to get out of it?

Come up with an original idea. See what has been done before and develop alternative angles for research to make sure your idea resonates and captures attention

Carefully consider who you want to survey so it relates to your target audience and the media they will read

Make sure you have a robust sample size so that results are meaningful and credible, especially if you want to analyse any sub-groups such as age, region or industry

Don’t conduct research that directly promotes your brand. Instead use it as a platform to create conversations about things that do or should interest or concern your target audience

Think about telling a story when designing a questionnaire. Having questions that link together to form a narrative will deliver more value and credibility than relying on a single data point. Building a story around contrast and tension is often effective

Consider using infographics. These can make it easy for journalists to get to the key data and make your survey stand out

Make the most of the results. Often a survey can generate more than one story that can be released over time. Putting outputs on your client’s website, creating interactive profiling tools, producing white papers or webinars are just some ways to help give your survey longevity

Get some expert help in putting together a PR survey. This can be a very cost-effective route to ensuring your survey becomes an influential part of your PR campaign

Ask journalists what they want to know – what better way of giving them something they want than getting them involved at the outset

The world doesn’t need any more junk data and phony statistics. People want facts and numbers that mean something to them. When properly thought out and executed PR surveys provide just that becoming both a creative and credible source for the media and key building blocks for successful PR campaigns.

Suzy Timms (@suzytimms)

Categories: B2B, Manchester, Media, News, PR, PR Services, Uncategorized Comments: 0

30/09/2011

Social Media: Don’t just do it!

During my time working in the world of social media I have been staggered by the amount of organisations who have decided that their sole social media strategy should be founded on building a Facebook page, setting up a Twitter feed, or launching a YouTube channel. Precious marketing funds are spent for the sake of it, rather than to achieve a defined business objective.

They have no doubt been caught up in the hype that surrounds these social behemoths which are now household names and have their own entries in the Oxford English dictionary. Wanting to sound forward thinking and edgy in the boardroom they have put forward the “novel” idea that the company should be making waves on Twitter as fast as possible, or maybe their son or daughter has stumbled across a competitor’s Facebook fan page and they simply have to follow suit. In other words they are doing it because everyone else is doing it.

All this was certainly true when I started a previous social media role. A quick flick through the company’s annual report revealed a page along the lines of “our forward thinking digital strategy allows us to engage with our customers through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr”.  In reality all it meant was they had a Facebook page, where potential students asked questions which went unanswered, a Twitter feed linked to their non-existent Facebook status updates, a YouTube channel with a host of random videos and a Flickr account which was being used as an organisational photo dump. In this state the social media was probably doing more harm than good.

Even with all the right intentions I have seen organisations set up a presence on various social media channels and then just sit back and wait expecting hundreds of people to suddenly interact with them in their new social space.

Last year I put together a proposal detailing how one of the UK’s largest metropolitan police forces could utilise social media to run a video competition promoting student safety. Sadly they didn’t take on board too many of the recommendations and decided to adopt an “if we build it they will come” approach. They set up a Facebook page and a YouTube channel but didn’t tell people about it. This ultimately led to the competition failing as no one knew about its existence. It is a shame, because the outcome could have been so different it was a great competition with an important message. The initial brief indicated they had the ability to target tens of thousands of students via email and a small advertising budget, so letting people know about the competition should not have been a problem.

The intention here is not to try and put you and your organisation off utilising social media. It is to highlight the fact that real thought and discussion needs to take place around how the different tools available can be used to benefit your business. Clear goals need to be set out, don’t just say we need a Facebook page or a Twitter feed. Identify why you need to use a certain channel, how it will be used and importantly who will be responsible for it.  If you can’t answer these questions then maybe that social media channel is not for you at this point in time.

I hope to cover each of the main social media tools and channels in more detail over the coming weeks and months in order to give you some food for thought on how your business may benefit from using them, whilst also reviewing some of the lesser known but promising platforms

Finally, to illustrate the point of this post further I would like to turn back to the example of my previous employer to show that it is not all doom and gloom.

Over time we were able to build up a thriving community on Facebook which acted as a central hub for all of our other social media operations. Through this community we were able to answer questions from potential students and guide them through the application process. Many of these students represented thousands of pounds of revenue for the organisation alone, demonstrating a direct business case for doing social media well. Video guidelines were created and soon the YouTube channel was full of interesting and relevant content showing what the school had to offer (with this content then easily embedded on the website to make it more interactive).

I am only just scratching the surface here on how we were able to turn things around but I hope it clarifies the point that with just a little bit of thinking, planning and effort social media goes beyond a fashionable business fad and starts to become a useful business function. Don’t just do it; plan what you want to achieve and why. Then do it!

Chris Walmsley, Social Media Consultant, Skout PR

You can follow me @skoutchris

Make sure you keep up to date with all things Skout at Skout Stories on Tumblr!

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23/09/2011

Skout Stories goes live on Tumblr

There’s an extra-large Friday buzz at Skout PR in Manchester today as we’ve launched Skout Stories, our very own sub-site hosted by Tumblr. On the site you will find some of the news and views we have helped to create and shape, as well as interesting web content we simply like and would like to share with the world. You can find Skout Stories at skoutpr.tumblr.com and we will be updating it every weekday so make sure you keep checking the site and if you are already a Tumblr user make sure you follow our blog!

What on earth is Tumblr?

If you’ve never heard of Tumblr, take note! It is one of the fastest growing social networks in the world. Just 1 year ago they were seeing 1.5 billion page views a month; this has now risen to over 13 billion! It is now starting to make a name for itself, however you may be surprised to learn that it launched way back in 2007.

What is Tumbling?

Tumblr is a blogging platform, similar to Blogspot and WordPress but with an emphasis on simplicity (that’s why we like it!). It takes less than a minute to sign up and get posting, and it works best when text is kept to a minimum. Tumblr blogs are often used to showcase images and videos where traditional blogs are more focused on text based posts. Added to the mix are familiar social networking elements – second nature to Facebook and Twitter users. You can follow the Tumblr blogs of other users and share their content on other social networks with just a click. You can even “re-blog”, which is essentially the same as a re-tweet.

I first came across Tumblr back in 2008 when I was studying at The University of Manchester and thought it was a great platform for hosting a small to medium sized business website. Back then these users would usually originate from the US and the site was dominated by artists, photographers and writers.

Now Tumblr has become a global phenomenon and it is turning into a powerful online tool for businesses wanting to engage with their customers. We’ve also noticed quite a few publications using it as a new channel to their readers and followers. It can act as a great place for collating and showcasing an online content, in a clear and simple manner. It is a versatile platform and can be used as a full website a blog or as an extra piece in the online marketing jigsaw, similar to what we are doing at Skout PR.

Any business or organisation that could benefit from a simple visual digital presence should take a look.

As the amount of Tumblr users continues to increase, it is more and more likely that your customers will be on there too, just like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Even if it is not your number one priority, I would certainly advise keeping an eye on Tumblr’s development and think about how it could be utilised as part of your online marketing strategy. This is especially true in light of the rise of tablet browsing as the very nature of Tumblr means it should thrive on this medium.

You can find Skout Stories on Tumblr at skoutpr.tumblr.com.

You can sign up by clicking on the image below; look how simple it is!

Some good examples of brands using Tumblr can be found here:

http://theeconomist.tumblr.com/ – visual links to news and features

http://universalmusic.tumblr.com/ – to showcase interesting visual content

http://blog.foursquare.com/ – to host the company blog

http://eatsleepdraw.com/ – used as the main community website

Have a great weekend!

Chris Walmsley, Social Media Consultant, Skout PR

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15/09/2011

Skout gets Social with @SkoutChris

Skout PR, the Manchester based b2b communications specialist, plans to expand its social media services following the appointment of Chris Walmsley as Social Media and PR Consultant.

Skout’s client base has grown over the last 12 months; Walmsley will develop and expand Skout’s social media services, alongside its PR services.

“Social media is now a game changer for the b2b companies we represent, it is fantastic that we are now in a position to offer our clients social media solutions alongside our core PR services with Chris’s appointment”, explained Rob Skinner, Skout PR, MD.

Walmsley has spent the last 18 months working as Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator, at INTO Manchester, an international education provider based in Manchester, where he developed and managed thriving online communities through various social media channels.

“I am delighted to be joining Skout, helping to deliver PR for some fantastic clients, as well as bringing social media skills to the table, which will open more doors for them to engage with their customers and stakeholders”, explained Walmsley.

You can follow Chris Walmsley @skoutchris or search for Chris Skout on Facebook.

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12/09/2011

How I learned to stop worrying and love journalists

There was quite a lot on Twitter last week about what journalists hate about PR people and vice versa. An interesting view considering that the two industries support each other. While I can’t speak for journalists I am happy to admit that PR industry still has a lot to get right in this critical relationship.

I’ve decided not to use this blog to add my contribution to what PRs hate about journalists. This isn’t because I daren’t, it’s because I would struggle to think of much. As in any walk of life there are exceptions, but generally it’s a case of give respect and get respect; understand who they are and what they’re interested in and respect that.

The main reason I think PR people are derided by the press is that they don’t get the point of news and reporting. Generally speaking the media reports on real things, tangible evidence and fact. PR falls down because it doesn’t spend the time getting under the skin of the organisation, individual or client being promoted to find the real stories that will genuinely interest the journalists they care about.

I am not talking about helping the media dig dirt here; just getting to the real gems of opinion, innovation and testimony that the media won’t get anywhere else.

Granted it’s not solely the PR people’s fault. Organisations, bigger ones especially, get over protective of their ‘crown jewels’. Too many agendas, procedures, corporate rules and regulations exist; thinly veiled evasions stifling PR creativity and stopping the real positive stories about an organisation getting out.

I recall telling a former client that I had worked with their ex-internal PR manager in a previous job. “Hmm, nice guy, but he always seemed to be thinking about the media’s needs, not ours,” he said. This is very typical of the kind of corporate attitude that good internal PR people and agencies face. There’s a lot of knocking down doors and overcoming non-truths to get to the best stories.

But in truth many PR people don’t dig hard enough, we look for easier alternatives. These often manifest themselves as heavily ‘constructed’ of stories that fall down at the first puff of media hot air. I prefer to put creativity into rolling my sleeves up and getting my hands dirty searching for PR gold rather than trying to pull the wool and fabricate something. And believe me the process of selling a story to the media becomes much simpler when it’s actually real and relevant.

I love good journalists because they give us good PRs a challenge. I love good PRs too – they’re the ones that know how to rise to the challenge.

- Rob Skinner

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23/03/2011

Does global online media access help or hinder those in a crisis?

Today I’m posing a question - does access to global online media help or hinder people in a crisis? Does it benefit them by providing highly balanced and free views from across the world, or does the avalanche of opinion and constantly changing content have the potential to create panic that is detrimental to recovery?

In many world crises today we revere the power of the global media and social networks in getting the truth out there quickly, especially when reporting from conflicts in regions where the media isn’t free and stifled by state control. But there are occasions in my opinion where global media power can be less helpful.

The people of Japan have now been informed by authorities that tap water is unsafe for children under the age of one, due to higher than recommended traces of radioactive iodine. This morning’s Radio 4 Today programme included an interview about this with a Japanese mother who said that it was access to media reports from Europe and the US that made it hard to know what sources to trust (access it here – the 8.23am segment). The suggestion was that had she just been responding to single source information from the Japanese authorities and media there would be a greater likelihood of accepting advice and following instructions. In her case she had chosen to stop giving tap water to her older child too, as I would, despite being told there was ‘minimal risk’.

The web and rise of social networks mean that wherever we are in the world we can tap into endless news and opinion on major world topics at any time, from the highly informed and relevant to the ignorance of hearsay that has a tendency to spread like wildfire. There’s no certainty for the Japanese public on whether their water really is safe but in my view, access to too many opinions about the crisis could serve to reduce trust amongst the Japanese community at a time when they need certainty to cling to. A panic over water supplies, fuelled by the global media’s freedom to report and ensuing mass speculation, could put Japan in a deeper crisis.

It’s true that online and social media plays a critical role in spreading the word and the ‘truth’ in many times of crisis, but often I think it goes too far in the dissection and speculation of possibilities which to the average recipient creates confusion rather than informed knowledge. Do we just need the news, not news about the news, then views about the news?

What do you think? Can global media reporting go too far and become detrimentally confusing for people trying to survive a crisis?

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