Most businesses, PR pros and marketers are currently focused on adopting the most basic aspects of social media: Blogs, blogger relations, and maybe contributing to YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn. I’m not. The evolution continues, and while business adoption remains a daily professional issue with clients, I’m concerned with the next generation of social media tools.
Some say this discussion is not worthy of reading. Wrong. It’s just good business. Online communication tools continue to develop, and those of us who actually practice "PR 2.0" instead of complaining about it have clients that need to communicate through these tools. It’s a no-brainer to stay ahead of the game, discuss new developments, and learn best practices.
In my case, 60% of my clients are technology based. By their very nature they are the first ones to adopt these tools. Innovation must continue for this boutique communications firm to maintain its competitive advantage.
Here’s a look at which trends I’m monitoring…
Video
This weekend I participated in the My ooVoo Day launch (this chat featured Kim Haynes, Jay Moonah, Joseph Jaffe and Robin Good), and really enjoyed it. I could see instant applications beyond just having a chat with folks in my community. How about blogger, analyst and journalist briefings? Face-to-face meetings are always much more effective than teleconferences or even Second Life. Now these briefings can be conducted with a much stronger, powerful tool.
ooVoo highlights a much stronger trend: Video. It’s much more than YouTube. Video continues to get hot as the next generation of visually-enabled social networks gather steam.
Video is getting so hot that in my opinion it’s become critical for the agency to educate itself on a deeper level. It’s a new canvas, one that can be highly effective for storytelling and stakeholder interaction. Based on trends, client requests, and the same gut instinct that drove me into blogging, not engaging would be a mistake. And so investment in education and equipment has begun.
Mobile
A couple of posts were written on this last week. It’s going to take Verizon and AT&T opening their networks for mobile to really take off in the U.S. But once they do, it’s only a matter of time before we rapidly catch up with the rest of the world.
For those of you who think the iPhone is a game changer, get ready. AT&T is in talks with Nokia to bring the high profile N95-6 series to the United States late this year.
Social Networks for Your Particular Community
One thing you can expect. Facebook and MySpace will not be the end all be all for social network marketing. It’s way to big and general for it to be an effective marketing mechanism, particularly for niche and B2B markets. Instead expect further development of geographic, industry and demographic specific networks.
Here are a few examples:
- Hyves – Five million strong for this EU (and very Dutch-centric) social network
- MyRagan – Not a personal favorite, but an increasingly strong pooling place for marketing pros
- IT Toolbox – Two million IT pros get information here.
- BlogHER – It’s been around for sometime, and continues to be very strong and influential with women.
Excellent post Geoff. I, too, have participated in ooVoo conversations and see great potential for my client’s businesses as well as mine. As communicators, we owe it to ourselves and our clients to know about and to understand the potential for all tools–past, present and future.
You forgot about WhyGoSolo. We’re definitely going to become the social media platform for venues, event planners and networking groups to utilize in order to be exposed to an active community of people that connect and go out to do things…be it one-on-one, small groups or bigger groups.
Lewis: Absolutely, got to keep the eye on the prize!
Ann: Because I like you, I’m going to let that little bit of promo stay. ;)
Geoff, great meeting you via ooVoo, it was a surprise and a delight! I can see great potential in this type of multi-person video chat as well, frankly it has got me rethinking the usefulness of video chat for business and in general.
Geoff,
I enjoyed this post. A few observations to “pile on” –
Video – has been around. it is evolving and there are different platforms that are coming to light and can leverage faster broadband networks. i would add that live broadcasting and mobile broadcasting will be the next frontier.
Mobile – the carriers have heard from the first adaptors and are moving toward an open platform. this is in the embryonic stages. although, the mass majority of consumers still prefer price as number one factor in choosing a carrier / phone.
folks are also starting to get interested in dual mode wifi / cellular phones and they will be more ubiquitous now that carriers have invested in enabling hotspots (note T-mobile and at&t efforts) and can serve them – not to mention it saves them capacity (spectrum).
In any case, exciting times to be a part of all this and fun to watch.
Best, Chris
http://www.mobilediner.com/
Geoff – great meeting you in the digital flesh via Oovoo this weekend. Outstanding platform. I went from the extreme of a one-on-one conversation with you to a six person debate in an hour’s span. I expect nothing but great things to come from this technology. How about a virtual jam session? There was little to no latency issues on either of my sessions. Guitarist in Belgium, drums in Australia, bass in U.S. . ..
Geoff,
Re this comment:
“Some say this discussion is not worthy of reading. Wrong. It’s just good business.”
Anyone who read my post about the PR blogosphere being a tad “becalmed” knows that I said nothing remotely related to what you’re discussing in this post. A lot of good folks joined that conversation — 39 comments at last count — some of them in agreement, some not. Point is, I’m not the only one noticing a lull in the conversation.
I’d have responded sooner, but for some reason you linked to the Media Bullseye “post about my post” rather than back to the original. That’s OK, I’m not big on “link love” anyway. It’s a dirty business.
But if someone wants to check it out and compare it to what you said above, here’s the link: http://toughsledding.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/is-it-just-me-or-have-pr-blogs-lost-their-wind/
I’m sorry to be so “wrong” on this one, Geoff. And I’m sorry I couldn’t say nice things about “Now Is Gone.” You need to let it go, and you need to hire an editor before the next edition. Solve the problem, don’t rationalize it.
Jay and Erik: It was very enjoyable! Thanks for participating.
Chris: You are right on. Mobile will be huge, and it’s something that I am closely monitoring, not just from an amateur standpoint but for one of my clients. I still think the U.S. is a little immature for this, but the EU and Asia will see big developments in social media this year.
Bill: Actually in your post, you slam Shel Holtz’s discussion of Utterz, a new media form that can be used for PR. I thought Shel’s post was fantastic, cutting-edge commentary, and I linked to it in this post. Therefore, your bashing of Shel and discussion about new tools is related. As to Now Is Gone, my original comments on the typo post stand. Interested parties can see those comments here: http://nowisgone.com/2008/02/14/becker-recommends-the-book-with-some-stiff-criticism/