A benchmark for you: If you are not spending 30% of your time in 2013 with data, Ms/Mr Marketer, you’ll fail to achieve professional success. Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google. That’s quite a statement. Does it apply to PR pros too?  As a rule, PR folk are not stats and metrics buffs.  Few [...]

In an interview with Muck Rack John Cangany, Director of Digital Strategy for APCO Worldwide’s Washington D.C. office,  makes some excellent points about how journalists use social media and how a PR pro can tap into this information pool to improve their pitching. Here are some of the gems from the interview: I think the press [...]

Pew has released a report  on the demographics of social media users.  While the largest user  segment overall is young adults, as we have often said, each social site has its own community of users and the demographics do vary. The report has sections for most of the major social platforms. Read the Full report [...]

Facebook recently announced that it is launching a search engine for the social network called “graph search.” Mark Zuckerberg described graph search as the third pillar of the Facebook experience, along with the News Feed and the Timeline. What exactly is this new search product?  Is it going to be a Google competitor?  No, says [...]

According to a 2012 study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Ipsos ASI and Bloomberg, there is a skills gap in business use of social media.  While the majority of businesses are using social media, only 6% say their social media skills and competencies are optimal.  A full 50% claim to be either below [...]

According to the Zeno Digital Readiness Survey many executives fail to consider social media reputation when making business decisions.  In fact, more than one-third of the 300 US  executives (36 percent) say that the CEO of their company does not care, or cares little, about the company’s reputation in social media. (I can only assume [...]

A new survey of 44 global PR firms revealed that 82% want a standard measurement tool  and that measuring ROI is the number of barrier to using social media.

We are rapidly approaching the end of the year and I’m already hearing murmurings about plans for 2013. Here are 10 items that should be on your radar for  your 2013 strategic planning. 1.  Real-Time Media  Strategy Although the majority of businesses are using social media in one form or another a report from the [...]

Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance, in conjunction with The Conference Board, surveyed more than 180 CEOs, senior executives, and corporate directors on what they know about social media and how they use it in their businesses. The Social Media Disconnect The report titled “What Do Corporate Directors and Senior Managers Know about Social [...]

Voorsprung Social Media Technik Audi South Africa has just been hit by a new media iceberg. The lasting effects of this new media storm are going to be damaging beyond the immediate event. The problem with bad news these days, especially when it comes to a brand, is that it can explode online and become [...]