Yesterday, I spoke on a Blogger Relations panel for the Public Relations Society of America National Capital Chapter (presentation below and on slideshare). It was a fascinating panel because literally 65-75 percent of attendees were not personally engaged in social media. Like Joe Thornley says, this is a serious problem. How can you effectively guide your clients or your company if you are not doing it yourself?

| View | Upload your own

I started the discussion with material not in the PPT. Now Is Gone has a total of one in 150 pages dedicated to blogger relations. Today maybe it would have five to 10, based on the feedback and requests for more information. But these requests are somewhat off kilter, too.

Too much of today’s social media promotion focuses on blogger relations tactics instead of true Word of Mouth. Today’s blogger relations focus is a short-sighted approach trying to slam a media relations model on a community oriented space. Instead of pitching skills, PR and blogger relations pros need networking skills. Instead of trying to get coverage and impressions, corporate representatives should focus on how they can fit into the community and deliver value.

My favorite example of this is Radian6, which basically came out of nowhere last fall to become the leading measurement tool for the business. Radian6 understood not only how to measure social media, but how to participate in it. Participation led to free trials for influentials, genuine conversations on how to improve their product, acceptance as members of the community, and resulting widespread adoption and word of mouth.

Social media channels are communities of people. Influencers come in many forms, and a lot of them are on social networks ranging from the macro (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) to the micro (Plurk, MyRagan, Change.org). If you don’t know where the back channel conversation is occuring, then you don’t know the community.

Other panelists included:

One of things I liked about this panel was Rachelle. Rachelle is not a blogger, but she is extremely well versed and has strong social network profiles. She got that this is a community thing, not an individual blogger thing, that bloggers fit within a larger whole.

If marketers are going to be successful in social media, they have to understand its dynamics. It’s much more than just a blog hit or treating bloggers correctly. It’s a wholistic, integrated approach that requires more, including participation, understanding of community needs, content creation, providing influence, and helping other community members. It’s about integrating social media into your traditional marketing, corresponding ad buys, creating non textual content, and understanding word of mouth.

Take a step back. Look at the big picture.

Anna Farmery is one of Great Britain’s leading podcasters. I joined her for a chat on Now Is Gone in Episode 172 of the Engaging Brand podcast this week. During the show we talked about:

* What are the rules of engagement
* How community has changed
* Are companies entering social media for the right reasons
* Where does social media belong ? Is it a communication tool or a customer service initiative?
* Do you need a PR strategy?
* How important is social media training within business?
* Have we reached a plateau…..is there a trick to differentiating yourself from competitors?
* The 3 aspects of branding

If you are trying to figure out social media for your company or agency, give the podcast a listen. I think you’ll get a lot out of it. And special thanks to Anna for having me on the show!

In addition to tomorrow’s Social Media Club DC chat and book signing featuring Brian Solis and I (c’mon out, DC!), Brian and I will be doing another book signing as part of the Tech Set event this Saturday night in New York City.

The DC event will be held at the Barnes and Noble in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington. The New York event will be held at The Hotel Gansevoort, NYC - ROOFTOP BAR (Plunge) in the Meat Packing District). You can register for the DC event here and the New York event here on Facebook.

For those of you unfamiliar with Now Is Gone, here are some recent reviews from: