This week I had the opportunity to both listen to and read some really great information from some even greater people. One item that I have read is Search Engine Visibility: An Edelman Digital Position Paper put together by Steve Rubel, Kevin King, Michael Wiley, and Rick Murray. In this paper search engines and the way organizations can use them effectively is discussed. This subject is important in that a lot of business is done online as well as most people seek out information about companies online. In the paper it is stated “Google alone registered 7.23 billion searches in 2008.” So we can imagine how many searches may have been registered in 2009 or how many will be registered this year.
I will not say that it surprised me but I will describe learning valuable steps to take to become more visible online as very interesting. Of course, as a public relations student I have learned a little about how organizations prefer to be at the top of the list of the various search engines. Over time it becomes clear which companies have really focused an effort towards becoming visible especially when you learn the steps that can be taken to increase that visibility. In the position paper the steps are listed as follows:
- Research
- Teamwork
- Planning
- Experimentation
- Benevolence
Of these steps I believe the research phase to be one of the most important. It is a difficult task to reach a public without first knowing what that public wants or is thinking. In order to become visible an organization must know what a specific public is looking for. This idea is discussed in the paper as well. An organization must familiarize itself with the specific “keywords” that the publics use to find what they are looking for. How awesome is that? A little research allows an organization to effectively reel in potential customers. This is not brand new. At least it should not be to anyone trying to ensure the continuity of an organization.
After reading the information provided it would be very interesting to learn more about the difference between visibility tactics. The four types of searches: paid, optimized, reputational, and social, all have their advantages but I would like to learn more about what disadvantage a company is at after it chooses on route. Also, how effective is it to only choose one or do representatives usually practice more than one together. It seems as though the two that have just begun to emerge (reputational and social) would be the most effective for the current social media path that we are on. I don’t know about you but I am looking forward to learning more about it all.
One of the topics discussed during the interview that really peaked my interest was the idea of organizations humanizing their brands or, in other words and more specifically, creating an online personality that is personable.
I have the privilege of being a Peer Leader for Professor Barbara Nixon’s PR Writing class this semester. As a part of the course the students are required to maintain a blog including posts with topics of the week, reading notes, public relations connections, and comments on other blogs.
Ethics is a topic often discussed in the world of public relations. I would like to briefly discuss it as it is related to Social Media Monitoring. It is easy to pass the act of monitoring social media off as something unimportant when you have no investment in a product, person, or organization but I believe that it is vital activity that practitioners should take part in to ensure a positive reputation for their respective clients.
Even when limited to 140 characters on Twitter people were able to spread the news rapidly. Social media is continuing to change the way we communicate. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon there wasn’t a Tweet911 option for frequent Twitter users.
February 2, 2010
The Comment Tango
This comment tango post has been provided for you to keep up with the comments I leave outside of my blog. I enjoy reading blogs and sharing my thoughts so here is an easy way for you to see what I’m saying:
Comment #6-February 8, 2010
Twitter Strategy: Branded vs. Individual Twitter Accounts by Eric Schwartzman
After reading the information presented here I would love to see more companies adopt the strategies that Toyota or Dell use. I was trying to decide which of the two strategies is more effective but I came to the conclusion that it probably depends on the specific goals of the organization. Both strategies are good because both the brand and the individual is visible to anyone with questions or concerns. One example of an organization simply providing information through a Twitter account is @macTweeter. This account simply pushes out links to information, freebies, and updates. So there isn’t really a need for them to have an individual account for that purpose. I really enjoyed this post. I have learned a lot. I look forward to reading more of your writing.
Comment #5-February 7, 2010
Personal Branding by Dan Couture
Okay, I have to say that before I watched the video I wasn’t too sure if I agreed with what you were saying. However, after the video I see how the idea of personal branding could be considered egocentric. I still believe that it is important to develop yourself as a “personal brand” because then you are able to really focus your energy and your activities more effectively towards a goal. I also believe there is a difference between legitimately branding yourself when creating an online presence and those irrelevant personal brands in the infomercials that we never remember minutes after seeing them. In the video it’s stated that Dr. Phil is a brand and I completely agree but is that to say that someone who is still in the beginning stages is not?
Comment #4-February 5, 2010
How Much Would You Pay? by The Prowl
Wow! This is interesting. I would never pay for a follower. I would actually like to know who came up with the idea in the first place. I would argue that the point of social media is to effectively communicate and not to see how many irrelevant followers you can get on Twitter by paying someone to create accounts. I am actually a little offended to say the least. I work hard for my followers by talking about things that matter. It is almost like cheating on a test.
Comment #3-February 5, 2010
Cover Letter Tips for the Public Relations Major by Meghan Callahan
Meghan, I believe your second point (doing research) is my favorite out of the entire blog post. So many people apply for jobs and never do research. They just go along for the ride because an opportunity presents itself. It has to be upsetting in an interview for an employer to ask a question and get a response that does not line up the companies values or objectives because an individual has not done the proper research to find out what a company is about. These tips for a cover letter are awesome. I am beginning my application process for different schools and jobs so this information will be very helpful.
Comment #2-February 2, 2010
Framing Your Social Media Efforts by Chris Brogan
As a public relations student, I have been learning a lot about how social media is changing the way business is done and the way people interact. For me, it has been interesting to watch companies that never had a large online identity suddenly become social networking specialist. I believe that the information you have provided are things that people need to begin to understand in order to make both their online presence and existing relationships better, more effective. One of my PR professors, Barabara Nixon, has done a good job of making sure as graduating seniors we understand the importance of all of the things you have mentioned especially trying it all together. It’s important for people to not just focus their efforts in one central area but to be present in all of them and use them correctly. A lot of times I see smaller companies that have a Facebook profile/page but have no idea how to start a blog or use video. I appreciate how you have outlined all of this information.
Comment #1-February 2, 2010
Is Social Media Monitoring Ethical? by Meghan Beytagh
My Comment: I believe you may have one of the best Social Media & Ethics posts as of yet. I enjoyed reading your breakdown of Social Media and then the act of monitoring social media as it relates to ethics. I saw that also you referred to Chris Brogan, someone that I have come to admire after being introduced to him by Professor Barbara Nixon. I believe he offers a lot of insight on ethics, social media, and how they relate to each other. I’m not sure if I agree with the statement “social media monitoring was created by the consumers out of the distrust of the information being presented from the corporations.” I feel as though social media monitoring is more so corporations have the ability to monitor what consumers are saying about their brands. In my eyes, most consumers have no idea that companies are out there searching the web, monitoring conversations, and then tailoring their marketing approaches, branding campaigns, and simply their brands to what the consumers are saying they want.
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Filed under Blog Comments for Social Media, PRCA 3030, Peer Leader PRCA 3330, SoTal.PR
Tags: Chris Brogan, Comments, Meghan Beytagh, social media