As a PR professional who works in healthcare, I’ve followed the debate on healthcare reform quite closely.   Like many of you, I’m frustrated.   The problem is huge; costs are rising unsustainably but haven’t translated into better patient care, causing the Social Security Advisory Board to identify healthcare spending as “perhaps the most significant threat to the long-term economic security of workers and retirees.”

Solutions have been debated (and re-debated).  Yet progress has stalled.  The road to health affordability, it seems, is paved with gridlock.

Roadblocks aside, I remain hopeful.  Thanks to technology, a new generation of service providers has emerged and, with it, new access to previously-unavailable data on healthcare costs, outcomes and protocols.  Soon, this data will allow doctors to pinpoint the most successful treatment protocols and payors to create better, more affordable reimbursement models.  Already, such data is powering consumer-based tools, which help patients calculate the out-of-pocket expenses associated with care.

As a result, I believe healthcare will change dramatically, no matter which party wins the White House in November.  Communication will play a central role in this change.  Among the improvements already under way:

• More transparent direct-to-consumer communication, which allows patients to better evaluate their care options and monitor their conditions more knowledgeably.
• More collaborative provider-to-provider communication, which helps clinicians identify best practices and trouble-shoot preventable mistakes.
• Better external communication, which helps pharma companies re-position themselves as end-to-end solutions providers, delivering outcomes to clinicians, payors, employers and patients.

A recent McKinsey Quarterly article titled “Biopharma in the Coming Era of ‘Connected Health’” draws a parallel between the challenges facing healthcare companies today and the computer industry’s evolution over the past 20 years.  “Value shifted away from the computer industry’s physical product – hardware – to the software and services surrounding it,” notes authors Sam Marwaha, Brian Milch and Steve Savas.  “IBM is the model for this transition.  In 1993 … the company embraced industry change and emerged as a leader in IT services by shifting the corporate focus from manufacturing products to solving customer problems.”

As the healthcare sector continues to grapple with reform, data and communication will play a big role in repositioning industry organizations as solutions providers.

Do you believe healthcare organizations are up to the challenge?

Connect with Meg:

Phone: 212.840.0095
Email: meg@blisspr.com
Twitter: @megwildrick
LinkedIn: Meg Wildrick

Since I started my career in public relations, the amount of data I have been able to access about the media has grown significantly. We are talking about the days when media databases were giant books printed quarterly and delivered to your office for everyone to share. You conducted your morning media monitor by reading and cutting (with scissors) articles from newspapers and magazines that mentioned your client. You normally had multiple copies of each publication—one for reading, one for clipping. Pitches were faxed or mailed and feedback was only secured after you made a follow up call a week later. Competitive analysis was stumbling across an article that mentioned them.

Fast forward to today where, in addition to the digitization of our tools, we now can be friends with media on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and read their personal blogs. We can set up Google Alerts for every potential key word imaginable. A clip can now be live within minutes of an interview wrapping up and available online. But are these new forms of interaction and monitoring—the so called big data for the public relations industry—being used to our benefit? Sadly, I don’t think so..

As industries from retail to healthcare have struggled with their own big data projects, so are we. We have all this information but how do we use it? I look at this big data issue as two parallel opportunities for public relations professionals:

The ability to pitch smarter- Media are people too. They have likes and dislikes.  Social media has allowed us a glimpse into their personalities, who they are outside the newsroom. If you follow some of your contacts closely enough, you can uncover when they are working on a deadline, having a bad day or heading out of the office early to attend a conference. Use this information to your advantage. If a reporter mentions he doesn’t like getting pitched via Twitter, don’t pitch him or her that way. Watch how they interact with other PR professionals and see what works and what doesn’t. Keep notes in your media list of these likes and dislikes and refer to them before conducting outreach.

Most importantly, use this information to develop a deeper relationship with members of the press.  I once found out, thanks to Tumblr, that a reporter I had been trying to build a relationship with was heading to my hometown with family members for the weekend and with no idea on where to kill time before a wedding. A quick e-mail with a list of a few bars close to the church opened up a personal dialogue that allowed me to build a strong professional relationship that has grown over time. At the end of the day, remember that the person you are pitching has a life outside their office. You might find something in common and kick off a conversation that will lead to great results.

The ability to create a more refined, focus media strategy – New data streams also provides us with greater insight into our competition. Just collecting this information doesn’t. Create a system where you can keep records of how media is covering you and your competition. It could be as simple as an extra column in a media list or as complex as an advanced database. The key is using this information to refine your media strategy. Perhaps, you have been completely overlooking a reporter, but they cover your client on a regular basis.

Media research has also advanced thanks to online databases like Cision, Vocus and MyMediaInfo. With up-to-date information and background on reporter’s preferred pitch method, it is hard to say you just had the wrong e-mail address when pitching. Supplementing the information these databases provide with your own research and you have effectively harnessed big data for your advantage.

Data will not tell you the right answer; only point you in the right direction. Just make sure you are asking it to the right questions.

Connect with Erin:

Phone: 212.584.5477
Email: erin@blisspr.com
Twitter: @erin_e_burke
LinkedIn: Erin Burke

Both apparently warranted special preparedness recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Given that neither is a national emergency or threat to health (although, I spoke with a lot of smart people who tried to convince me that a zombie apocalypse was imminent because the CDC published its article about the same time the media decided to cover just about every cannibalism arrest around the world), why did the CDC take such an action? Ostensibly, it was to make Americans pay attention. A little controversy can go a long way to getting people to read an article or brochure – even if a lot of people are reading it just to complain about it. I also think someone at the agency thought it would make them appear more hip and in tune with today’s generation rather than a serious, stodgy organization.

But ever since the bridezilla piece came out in July, I’ve been troubled. Not because the agency spent government dollars to develop the pieces. After all, at the heart of each were important reminders about how to prepare for emergencies.

No, what really bothered me was that it ran counter to what I would consider the CDC brand.

The CDC was created to save lives. As its tagline states, its mission is “Saving Lives. Protecting People.” The organization deals with somber topics ranging from natural disasters to disease outbreaks to pathogens of food-borne, water-borne, vector-borne or zoonotic origin. When the worldwide H1N1 pandemic threatened, the CDC was on the frontlines, planning and managing the U.S. response.

It’s not an organization that should make itself a joke.

While these pieces got people talking, the information was presented in such a tongue-in-cheek manner that the agency runs the risk of people not paying attention when a real emergency strikes.

This issue isn’t unique to the CDC. Brand authenticity and consistency are essential to all organizations. What you do and what you say you do must be in harmony for people to believe in what you stand for. What’s more, the people behind your brand must believe in it, as well. You don’t want an Equinox-type fiasco where your creative director tells The New York Times that she never works out and believes “fitness is a fraud.” This kind of coverage, while edgy and irreverent, doesn’t reinforce the company as either a fitness club or temple of wellness (according to the company website, it is focused on the latter), and leaves people wondering why they are investing in your brand or company at all.

That’s not to say a serious company can never be silly. Social media channels offer the opportunity for a little levity, such as an executive who decides to tweet on a regular basis about strange occurrences around the world. The key is deciding up front that this is the direction the company is going to take and maintaining consistency within the channel once you head down this path. Waffling between serious and silly is where companies get into trouble and confuse the people with whom you are trying to communicate.

Do you feel that your brand identity is consistent? Does your organization portray itself in a dependable way that is clear to your customers? If not, what do you think you need to do to fix it?

Connect with Julie:

Email: julie@blisspr.com
Twitter: @julieajohnson1
LinkedIn: Julie A. Johnson

Your asset management clients, whether or not they believe so, are now in direct competition with financial planning websites, which, at one time, were called glorified savings calculators by naysayers.

Earlier this month, the personal finance site LearnVest announced the launch of a suite of upgrades to its platform. The two most significant modifications, according to news reports (GigaOM), are a mobile app, which is typical in the space these days, and the not-so-typical SEC-Registered Investment Advisor designation.

Most asset management firms, especially those on the smaller side, have been reticent to adopt a communications plan for their businesses. Marketing beyond the traditional materials prepared for conventions and one-on-one prospecting has been a difficult cost to validate. Fair. But now the stakes are higher. Perhaps not now, but in the future these websites will be angling to occupy the same media space as the more well-known financial advisory brands of the time. Here are a few ways-of-thinking that can keep your traditional money management messages relevant:

• TALK TECH: If your asset management clients use software to engage with their clients, encourage them to get involved in the media conversation about the process. Discuss how the practice management experience has evolved because of the accessibility and speed provided by technology.
• NEW DOESN’T MEAN BETTER: Be contrarian and, while not the sharpest of angles, talk with the media about certain complexities to money management that can never fully be replaced by a model such as those offered by financial planning websites.
• JOIN THE PARTY: Perhaps your client has the resources to develop a proprietary IP that enhances the client experience. Good for them, but it shouldn’t matter if they don’t. Implement those ideas that are within reason to embrace the times, and be sure that there is support in the organization around it.

If nothing else, take a moment to acknowledge that marketing and communications in an age-old and notoriously conservative business is changing—and fast.

To Connect with Matthew:

Email: matthew@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kirdahy
LinkedIn: Matthew Kirdahy

Consulting firms are overlooking some of the basics when it comes to integrating social media into their PR and marketing programs. In my last post, I covered the highlights of a recent study by AMCF and The Bloom Group on consulting firms’ and their buyers’ use of social media. I mentioned that the firms that will use social to gain a competitive marketing edge will require:

• a greater commitment to listening
• empowering employees to participate
• more regimented and strategic  metrics

Let’s examine each of these a little further.

A Greater Commitment to Listening

While many consulting firms are now using social media platforms, the tendency is to use them more as another vehicle for pushing thought leadership vs. listening or engaging. Most are missing the “social” aspect to social media. Truly successful engagement really requires a commitment on an individual level and many respondents reported that consultants aren’t trained or (worse) permitted to use social media sites (more on that in a moment). AMCF’s research found that , nearly one-third of buyers decided not to use a consulting firm after hearing it mentioned negatively by people on social networks (typically, this occurred very early in the RFP process). However, those comments can be tempered by a phone call from a colleague who has used the firm or a phone call from a consultant at the firm.

• The opportunity for consulting firms: As social budgets increase, firms must commit the time and resources toward monitoring and at least responding reactively to comments. Regardless of whether consultants have the freedom to engage on social outlets, at a bare minimum, companies ought to have an active monitoring program that scans the online universe for mentions of their brand and create a response plan. For helpful tips on establishing a successful social media monitoring program, check out this Mashable article. Notably, LinkedIn is the most frequently cited source of comments about firms – that, in and of itself, is a vast universe of untapped potential for consultants (check out some of the latest updates for improved engagement on LinkedIn here).

Empowering Employees to Participate

Consulting firms have long encouraged consultants to be brand ambassadors – almost all firms in the AMCF study have consultants speak at external conferences and write articles for external and internal publications. But when it comes to social media, things change. Only half of the respondents said consultants were permitted to use public social networks like Twitter and Facebook to talk about the firm, or to post a company blog. Some firms have started to train consultants to use social media, but 44 percent still don’t provide any training and only 36 percent have guidelines for using social media. Consultants can be a difficult group to engage – they are constantly on the road, short on time and often skeptical of the payoff that social media can have on their business.

• The opportunity for consulting firms: Education is key, but marketers will have a bigger influence if they explain and share stories with consultants about (a) the impact that social media can have on the business (see metrics for more on that) and (b) how they can efficiently use it as an extension of the marketing they are already doing (getting the biggest impact with the smallest effort). I’ve found the most effective way to do this is by testing with some under-the-radar projects, so that you can build up some real-life examples applicable to your specific company that illustrates what social media can do. A great guide on how to empower staff in social media marketing is The NOW Revolution by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund.

Using Better Metrics

Most firms are reviewing metrics to assess the success of their social media efforts – but the research found these are largely resigned to viewer counts and basic web analytics. One problem we’ve seen is that a lack of energy, commitment and direction at the leadership level around social media can hold marketers back from defining clear goals and metrics. Don’t let that stop you. In fact, you may be in a better position. Instead, take it as an opportunity to design your own goals.

• The opportunity for consulting firms: Consulting firms must do a better job of goal-setting and developing a more strategic set of metrics that help them track advancements or re-adjust social media strategies as necessary. If leadership direction is lacking, start with smaller projects, testing and learning as you go to determine the best metrics and course of action for bigger campaigns. Equally as critical is SHARING your results with consultants and leadership. Don’t keep them hidden. Establishing a smart set of metrics is not only important for benchmarking progress, but also for engaging and rallying employees/consultants to be involved in the process.

Everyone is resource constrained and short on time these days. Consulting firms that stand out from the pack will be those who identify a focused set of metrics and empower everyone to make a bigger collective impact.

What missed opportunities do you see?

Photo by comedy_nose

Connect with Kellie:

Email: kellie@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kshe
LinkedIn: Kellie Sheehan

You probably see the signs, but are choosing to ignore them.

Your client or supervisor seems increasingly dissatisfied with your performance, but you feel their unfair requests reflect a partial understanding of the full situation.  A new business pitch has you on the run and your current work is becoming neglected.  Or, you’ve identified an issue, but there are much more obvious fires that need to be put out.

Please stop avoiding your quiet problems.  Just because they are not loudly demanding attention does not mean that they don’t exist. In fact, they have the potential to ambush you when you least expect them.

Think for a moment about your current work performance.  Are each of your stakeholders satisfied?  How would you judge the quality of your efforts? How would others judge them? And the hardest question of all—where are you falling short? Take a hard look at these questions and answer them as truthfully as you can.

The bad news? You, and you alone, must be accountable for your own mistakes.

The good news? There is usually an immediate way to start rectifying the situation.  Most of us start to feel better the minute we can start “working the problem.”  Here’s where I begin when I feel worries emerging:

1. First, infuse a sense of urgency to the situation.  Move it to the top of your daily to-do list and keep it there until you make progress.
2. Interview the people involved, deliberately asking for positive and negative feedback.  Absorb it, and don’t discount input that does not align with your own worldview. You may be happily surprised by the fact that simply acknowledging a problem can help to lessen it.
3. Now, stop talking about it.  Instead, think about it.  What trends have emerged in your discussions?  What do you think of your choices to date? What could you do differently? What would yield a better outcome? Please note, this is not an exercise to place blame on others, it’s an exercise to own your missteps.
4. Consider your peers and critics. How can you tap your own team to change the situation? Which naysayers will you need to convince? What do each of these people need to see in your behavior moving forward? What evidence will sway them?
5. Get to work on a game plan.  Scope the size of the problem and design a correlated plan that takes you step by step to solution.  Even big problems can be solved with daily attention and effort.
6. As change begins to take root, don’t let the problem recede. Stay on top of it, using your team and critics to keep you accountable for seeing it through.  If you convinced people of your genuine desire to change, they will be ready to help you now.
7. Celebrate your success…and keep your past weaknesses top of mind.  You are never done with a good lesson. They have a sneaky way of coming back if you don’t keep them top of mind. Here’s an idea. Why not share your failure (and success!) story with someone else? That’s what I just did!

My grandmother always encouraged me to “rehearse my disasters.”  Is it time for you to start?

Connect with Elizabeth:

Phone: 212.840.0017
Email: elizabeth@blisspr.com
Twitter: @elizabethsosnow
LinkedIn: Elizabeth Sosnow

In our last post on this topic we reviewed the new challenges agencies face in staffing to handle the much broader knowledge base they expect of employees.  PR, marketing, and the other related arts previously had a comparatively limited set of tools that they’d actually use on a regular basis – media relations (print, broadcast, etc.), event marketing, etc. – with the occasional foray into something digital.

Now, in addition to the old tools, we’ve got all the digital arenas (platforms) to play in and on, each with their own set of rules and standards and much more specialized types of media – lifestyle bloggers (or as some like to call a large subset of this group – “mommy bloggers”), bloggers affiliated with mainstream outlets, bloggers who consider themselves journalists, bloggers who don’t want to be journalists but rather paid advocates and so on. 

Throw in the lack of hierarchy and “reputation management” when dealing with non-traditional media types and you potentially end up with situations where rather than a simple pitch rejection, you , your agency or your employee can be skewered  by the very outlet that was pitched. Admittedly, some of the pitches we’ve seen related to these skewerings are very bad. Regardless, this kind of conduct is something I’ve never seen from a “mainstream” publication. The question still remains – how to appropriately rebuild the agency to accommodate all these variables, and the platforms’ appropriate codes of conduct in this new environment.  There are two common approaches:

• Hire for expertise in using the tools
• Hire for expertise in the subject matter

Each of these two approaches has its own set of pros and cons.

Hiring for tool or platform expertise, e.g. someone with a deep understanding of video production, metrics analysis, community management, blogger outreach, etc., provides you with an employee that fully comprehends that specific area, which can be great.  The downside to this is that in times of flux – changing client needs, short-term project work – you have an employee whose ‘man hours’ are not as easily moved around as that of a generalist, their long-term value to the organization is in doubt, and their upward mobility may be more limited.

Hiring for subject matter expertise, e.g. someone who knows financial services backwards and forwards, means you’ve got someone with a thorough understanding of the topic area and speaks the same language as the press, bloggers and end-users.  What you lose is that deep knowledge of the platforms. You do have to adjust for that learning curve – ongoing training is basically a requirement at this point (or have someone internal who has already established some level of expertise come in occasionally and ‘consult’).  If your shop is somewhat siloed in industry categories, this person is likely more able to work cross-client, however.

What approach are you taking?  In our next post, I’ll address the direction we’re taking, and more importantly – why.

Image Courtesy flickr user insidious_plots

As a working mom of two teenage boys, I’ve participated in my share of discussions about work-life balance.  Does flex-time really work?  Is it possible to work full-time and give your children the attention that they need?  Can women climb the corporate ladder and still raise a happy family?

These questions spurred fiery debate this year when Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote a controversial article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All,” for the July/August issue of the Atlantic.  In her piece, Slaughter claims that a high-powered career and family are mutually exclusive.  Contrary to feminist teachings that women can “have it all,” Slaughter says that she left a high-profile job at the State Department to be more present for her teenage sons.

Slaughter’s article prompted a heated response, with many women pointing out that “having it all is an impossible standard” and that Slaughter’s job was so demanding that it would be “incompatible with family obligations and pleasures for men as well as for women.”

I personally believe that most of us – men, women, marrieds, singles – struggle with Slaughter’s dilemma to various degrees.   The pace of work is at an all-time high; for many, personal demands are also on the rise.  If it’s not children whose schedules spill over into work, it’s our parents (who need caregiving), our hobbies (which demand participation) and/or our relationships (which require quality time).  It’s hard to imagine anyone expecting to “have it all.”

Hannah Seligson underscores this argument in her recent New York Times piece titled “When the Work-Life Scales are Unequal: Flexible Hours Can Engender Resentment in the Office.”  Increasingly, Americans who work for companies that embrace flexible hours face what Seligson calls “office class warfare.” In some companies,“employees have come to expect that the demands of their children, in particular, will be accommodated,” she notes.  “And not all of their colleagues are happy about it….Someone, after all, has to make that meeting or hit that deadline.”

To my mind, work-life balance is possible in some professional environments and not in others.  Feasibility depends on many factors, among them:

1. Your definition of balance:  If you expect to find a high-profile, leadership role that allows you to telecommute and be home every day by 5 pm, you’re likely to be disappointed.  You can be both a business leader and a full-time parent, but probably not at the same time.  At our company, roughly one-third of the professionals have part-time, flexible schedules; most accept reduced salaries and/or less senior positions in exchange for predictable hours.
2. Your willingness to compromise:   Balance requires compromise – on your part and on others’.  My colleague, Elizabeth Sosnow (herself a working mother with three young boys), has a nice way of describing this.  “If a full-time employee expects flex-time, they need to give as much as they get.  Think of it as a bank.  You need to make quite a few deposits (of goodwill, overtime and dependability) before making a withdrawal.” At our firm, we give people a lot of flexibility but also a lot of accountability.  Professionals are free to set their own schedules, but not at the expense of teamwork or output.
3. Company culture:   Some jobs are more flexible than others.  At our firm, team-members are trained to communicate closely and provide back-up for one another.  This enables a mom or dad to work from home to accommodate a parent-teacher conference.  It also allows new grads to leave early to attend their college homecoming weekend.  The key is clear communication, so that nothing falls between the cracks — and reciprocity, so that the same people aren’t always cast in the roles of “giver” and “taker.”
4. Support network:  The big wild card is the size of the weight on your shoulders and the resources you have at your disposal.  Anne-Marie Slaughter had a rebellious teenage son, who was spiraling out of control and needed her attention in NJ– miles away from her State Department job in Washington, D.C.  In circumstances like these where family dynamics are strained and support is far away, it’s particularly difficult to balance the demands of work and life.

Despite small trade-offs, I’ve been incredibly lucky to be part of a firm that makes work-life balance possible.   I know that I’ll never “have it all.”  But I’ve been able to make choices that work for me and my family.  Overall, I believe that most professionals at our firm have the right mix of accountability and freedom to make meaningful contributions in their personal and professional lives.

With Labor Day just behind us, do you believe that true work-life balance is possible?

Connect with Meg:

Phone: 212.840.0095
Email: meg@blisspr.com
Twitter: @megwildrick
LinkedIn: Meg Wildrick

A 2011 University of Southern California survey found that the average American is bombarded by the equivalent of 174 newspapers worth of data a day. I can only image what the number looks like for a typical public relations professional.

Every PR person I know has their own method for staying on top of news for clients and personal interests. Without consuming all this information, we limit media relations’ effectiveness. How else can you be aware of the trends unfolding in the media and on social channels? From Google Alerts to Twitter, your options are varied and expansive. However, I always find myself turning back to one tool: Google Reader.

Some might say that Google Reader is outdated; who cares about RSS anymore?  But thanks to a variety of features and a simplistic design, you will be hard pressed to convince me of a better way to digest the news.

Here are a few reasons to consider Google Reader:

• It is simple. While RSS might not be top of mind for you, most Web sites, especially those that develop their own content, have RSS feeds on their Web page. By adding the Google Reader app to your Bookmarks Toolbar, you can subscribe to feeds on almost any site with one click. Even better, you don’t need to share your personal information to gain access to content, as you do for newsletters or e-mail alerts. Need to also monitor Google Alerts? You can direct them, along with Twitter feeds, to Google Reader too.

• It is searchable.  Being able to search all the content in my Google Reader is critical because I scan a lot of news on a daily basis. Sometimes I remember part of a story but forgot the outlet or the author. Thankfully, I can search in Google Reader and find the content I am looking for quickly. Even better, I can limit my search to items I have read or items from a particular feed.

• It is social. If you read something interesting you can also share it with your friends and colleagues right through Google Reader.  Integration with Google + makes syndicating with people in your circle easy, but you can also synch your Reader with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instapaper, amongst others. Fans of FlipBoard can also synch Google Reader with the app for reading on the go.

• It is smart. Interested in a particular topic but not sure who else is writing about it? Based on your current subscriptions, Google Reader will recommend other feeds you might want to subscribe to. Google Reader also reports trends based on your content so you can see what feeds you read the most, what time of day you are using the tool and what tags you are using frequently.

The next time you complain about how much information is hitting you inbox on a daily basis, take a moment to consider a transition to Google Reader. As a media relations professional, I believe Google Reader is an invaluable tool in your PR arsenal. Start small, dedicating 10 minutes a day to transition your reading to Google Reader and, in no time, you will be telling your coworkers all about it.

Connect with Erin:

Phone: 212.584.5477
Email: erin@blisspr.com
Twitter: @erin_e_burke
LinkedIn: Erin Burke

Consulting firms are cautiously using social media. They stepped onto the moving sidewalk, but are standing instead of walking. At least that’s what my big take-away is from a new survey report that examined both buyers’ and consulting firms’ use of social media platforms by The Bloom Group, the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) and ResearchNow.*

The good news: there are plenty of untapped opportunities that could give consulting firms a competitive edge if they were to more effectively integrate social platforms into the broader strategy and campaigns. To do so will require a greater commitment to listening, empowering employees and using better metrics (more on that at the end).

First, the goodies. A few highlights from the research:

• Traditional Marketing/PR tactics are still the most effective. Buyers still rank personal recommendations and traditional marketing tactics (i.e., articles, media quotes, firm-produced publications, presentations, search engines) as the most important when searching for consulting firms. Consulting firms also believe the following traditional approaches have the most impact: seminars, conference presentations, SEO, books, email newsletters, mentions in the press, byline articles in external print and online publications.
• Social media approaches are gaining in importance for buyers. Buyers gave slightly higher scores in usefulness to LinkedIn and private online social networks as a means for sourcing  consulting services over prior years. More importantly, nearly one-third decided not to use a consulting firm after hearing it mentioned negatively by people on social networks (typically, this occurred very early in the RFP process or before the RFP was issued). LinkedIn is the most frequently cited source of comments about firms.
• Most firms focus on the basics. The majority of firms are doing the digital/social basics (posting content on social sites, video clips, blogs, online ads), but less than half are taking advantage of tactics like publishing e-books, posting presentations on external sites like Slideshare and posting comments in discussion areas of external publications or sites like Quora.
• Even the basics could use an upgrade. More than half aren’t promoting online thought leadership content through social media at all. While nearly three-quarters allow viewers of their online publications to click and email an article, only 57% offer social media sharing options.
• Quality metrics are largely lacking. Most firms are tracking digital results by using Google Analytics to examine only surface metrics, such as the number of views, instead of evaluating the whole picture; fewer look at number of “likes” or recommends (41%), inbound links (39%) or “shares” of content (32%).

I look at this and see exciting developments for consulting firm marketing and PR programs over the next few years. Social media is expected to comprise nearly one-third of firms’ thought leadership marketing budgets by 2014, compared with only 2% in 2005, so its role in the marketing mix is clearly being acknowledged. The X factor is, how will that be deployed?

The firms that will stand out will be those that can more effectively allocate time, resources and dollars against a select number of integrated campaigns each year and maximize the impact of those to the fullest extent. In other words, it will be those who can go deeper vs. broader and do a better job with some of the social media basics that are currently being overlooked, like listening, making sharing easy and implementing a strategic method of data analysis.  Firms that get smart about using metrics will leapfrog the competition, as that should influence decisions about where to focus and how social is helping achieve desired objectives.

I could ramble on, but I’ll leave you here for now. Expect more in my next post about the opportunities being missed and the importance of creating an environment that empowers consultants to participate.

What are the biggest opportunities that you see for consulting firm marketing and PR programs?

*BlissPR was a partner in this annual research initiative for the first two years.

Photo by vyxle

Connect with Kellie:

Email: kellie@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kshe
LinkedIn: Kellie Sheehan