Carol McGarry

Social media puts a shine on tech marketing & PR

Last week analyst Sean Corcoran of Forrester Research led off a social media roundtable hosted by Schwartz Communications in our Boston office and moderated by agency vice president John Moran. The roundtable also included three marketers from high tech and healthcare companies who shared their real world experiences implementing social media techniques integrated with their PR programs. 

Social media is very real and marketers need to pay attention to it. According to Corcoran, four out of five online Americans now participate in social media each month. While marketers are optimistic about social media, Forrester found that it’s still only a fraction of budgets, with three-quarters of marketers budgeting $100,000 or less to social media marketing annually.

Having said all this, Corcoran cautioned against “Shiny Object Syndrome” when thinking about social media. If you’ve told your agency, “We need a social media program,” without knowing exactly how social media will help you meet your marketing goals, you’ve been infected with Shiny Object Syndrome – the pursuit of social media because it’s the latest marketing buzzword.
 
Corcoran advised that marketers resist Shiny Object Syndrome and instead assess their needs so they can adopt social media approaches that make sense. He recommended an approach he calls POST:

• People – Assess your customers’ social activities
• Objectives – Decide what you want to accomplish
• Strategy – Plan for how relationships with customers will change as  you engage in social media
• Technology – Decide which social technologies to use

He also advised that marketers start small with social media and get some successes under their belts before expanding into new areas. At the same time, recognize that social media is a long-term strategy, not a campaign that you can turn on and off.

Andrew Levitt, founder and CEO of HealthTalker, recommended that marketers start with a strategy, not a social media strategy. Set specific goals and objectives. If a community exists where you can join the conversation, then join in, but if not, create your own.

Mary Pietrowski, director of consumer & e-marketing for Hologic, another Schwartz client, showed a great example of building community. Hologic created Voices of Mammosite to educate women about the advantages of partial breast irradiation as a treatment for breast cancer. The videos on the site profile women who’ve survived breast cancer, speaking directly to other women about their experiences. It’s a fascinating site and an award-winning social media program.

Matt Hines, marketing communications manager at CoreSecurity, brought a B2B perspective to the round table. Blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn are all key technologies that have helped CoreSecurity engage with customers and prospects. For instance, he noted that blogs are a great medium when you want to comment about major news in your market, like the acquisition of a competitor, without formally issuing a release.

Click here to download a PDF file of the presentations given by our speakers. Browse through the Schwartz blogs for more ideas about how to use social media in your PR program at www.schwartz-pr.com/blogs.

Posted by Carol McGarry on November 16, 2009 at 3:16 PM
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Will IT spending impact tech PR budgets in 2010?

This week at the Gartner Symposium/IT Expo, analysts offered some hope to high tech marketers whose budgets have been trimmed during the recession. According to Gartner, the IT market hit bottom in 2009 and will start to slowly climb out of the trough in 2010 with a 3.3% increase in IT spending. However, IT spending won't rebound quickly. Peter Sondergaard, Gartner's global head of research, predicts that the market will not recover to 2008 levels until 2012. Technologies at the top of IT's agenda include cloud services, business intelligence, virtualization and social media.

This is good news for tech marketers caught in the budget squeeze mandated by investors and corporate boards when the recession accelerated. The challenge for marketers now is to position their companies to charge out of the recession in a stronger, more competitive position.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the bottom of the market is the right time to rev up your PR and digital marketing. Why? Because your competitors are also constrained by tight marketing budgets. The company that bets on growth and invests in marketing now will get more attention while the competition is quiet.

Right now PR and digital marketing are all about smart, creative approaches. Here are a few tips:

- Tap into relevant communities rather than investing in building your own. Use tools like Technorati and Radian6 to track social media conversations and figure out where you need to participate.

- Think like a reporter, not a sales person, when you create content for your blog. Attract prospects with useful information that draws inbound links and traffic. Use lots of photos and video, even for technical products.

- Expand your social media circles through blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Turn employees into ambassadors for your company by guiding them to reinforce the corporate brand. Microsoft's advice to thousands of employees who blog about the company: Be smart.

- Recognize the value of "conventional" media. According to the First Amendment Center, traditional media is still the primary news source for 72% of Americans. Traditional media coverage gets widely circulated on social media like Twitter, blogs, even email. It has a huge impact and credibility.

For some interesting examples of investing in marketing during a recession, check out this article by Andrew Razeghi at the Kellogg School of Management:  http://tinyurl.com/6562pf.

Posted by Carol McGarry on October 23, 2009 at 11:11 AM
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Last Minute PR Tips for This Year's International CTIA Wireless Show

As we rapidly approach the start of International CTIA Wireless 2009, here are some tips for securing those last minute media and analyst meetings at the show.

• Aggressively contact press attendees on the pre-registered media list. While a standard operating procedure at any tradeshow, aggressive outreach to media and analyst attendees already registered to attend CTIA is a proven method for securing meetings. Most journalists prefer email pitches so make sure you get your point across quickly and concisely.
• Watch the show daily deadlines. While most people assume that news announced at CTIA will often be covered in the show daily, this is not always the case. The media outlets producing the show daily often prefer (and require) to receive news in advance of the show. For this year’s show, RCR Wireless News has a CTIA news deadline of March 23 and the online show daily, Fierce Wireless, has a deadline of March 25.
• Take advantage of the show’s onsite and online press room. At one point or another, journalists and analysts find their way to the CTIA press room. CTIA lets exhibitors place physical press kits in this room and provides an online press room for posting electronic documents. Another bonus of the onsite press room is that it’s a good place to hang around and grab journalists if you have a compelling reason for them to come by your booth (e.g., raffle prizes, free food, etc.)
• Use video at your booth. Flat screen TVs are perfect for trade show booths and most companies are already using them for product demos.  These TVs should also be utilized to show more than just a company logo. Create a quick video that showcases the benefits of your product, run a flashy demo or re-purpose a slide show from a Webinar or similar event.
• Create a media raffle. Is your product interactive? Do you have a compelling demo? Figure out what you want to show media and analysts, and then determine what type of prize (e.g., iPod, TV, etc.) you want to raffle off. Create a media alert about the raffle, hand it out to media at the show, collect their cards when they come to the booth and at the end of each day, raffle off the prize.
• Schedule a media happy hour. Spread the word that the last hour of every show day, media and analysts can come by your booth for free cocktails and finger food. Simply show a press or analyst badge and they can eat and drink for free. (Please be sure to check with show organizers to ensure that they do not have an issue with this strategy.)
• Attend the CTIA social events and parties. Media and analysts like to unwind after long days on the show floor. Pick some of the larger parties (on occasion, publications will throw their own parties) and plan to attend. While there is no guarantee that there will be high media attendance, it’s often a nice venue to casually converse with a journalist and see what they’re planning to cover.
• Grab the folks with the media badges. Dedicate a PR or marketing person at the show to grab media analysts walking by your booth. Most media badges are easily identified and while some journalists don’t like the added attention, most will politely tell you yes or no if their interested in your business.
• Offer a cool tchochkie. Word about fun give-aways gets around the show floor. People with families like free toys to bring home to their kids. Whether it’s a mini-flashlight or a step counter, a cool tchochkie can always help attract media and analysts to your booth, along with other attendees.
• Make your booth photogenic. Media aren't the only people with an audience. Today everyone has followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even on their own blogs. Camera phones give people instant content to feed to their audiences. So think about your booth not just in terms of getting your message across, but how to include something visually interesting that will attract the snap-happy, camera-phone toting hoards.
• Blog from the show floor. While the show floor is the primary source of information for journalists, they also look online to see what other people are writing. By blogging from the floor, or even sending off Tweets, pictures and Facebook updates, you put your company in a position to be seen by both journalists and those outside CTIA who are looking for more information.

Schwartz Communications has lots of experience getting attention at CTIA. For one client, we started work two weeks before the show and garnered coverage that included the Associated Press, BusinessWeek.com, Forbes.com and the CTIA show daily. If you need a hands-on team at CTIA, contact Carol McGarry for more information.

Posted by Chuck Tanowitz on March 9, 2009 at 3:18 PM
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Effect of Open Wireless and Broadband Systems

Post by Schwartz Creative Director and EVP Carol McGarry

In mid-November, MassNetComms and MITX sponsored a breakfast on the Future of Open Networks with a panel of speakers from Google, Nokia, AT&T Mobility and Aegis Media North America:

• Sarah Fay, CEO Aegis Media North America
• Steve Krom, Vice President of AT&T Mobility for New England
• Rich Miner, Group Manager, Mobile Platforms, Google
• Jon Phenix, Nokia

Moderator Josh Martin from Yankee Group asked the speakers to address: How open will wireless and broadband systems be in the future? How will open networks affect digital media, wireless applications and networking companies?

The discussion coalesced around a few major themes: the momentum behind openness, the primacy of the consumer experience and the challenges of developing strong business models. Rich Miner from Google noted that the industry is moving toward openness—the trend has started, putting pressure on all the service providers to jump in--and toward an “all you can eat” approach to bandwidth for consumers. The move to open platforms has created a good opportunity for both entrepreneurs who can develop more innovative applications and for the consumers who use those applications.

Now companies have to figure out how to monetize and embrace openness. The carriers could have opened up their platforms to integrate location but they missed that opportunity. The next opportunity is billing via mobile, said Rich, with the phone as an easy way to put transactions on carrier bills.
While the openness genie is out of the bottle, panelists noted that standards may still be the industry’s Achilles heel. With multiple platforms, the challenge for developers continues to be reaching scale that can support a strong business model. Will competitors standardize? Android could fragment like UNIX or come together as a major platform.

The panelists discussed how the industry needs to enable a food chain so that everyone makes money from new applications and evolving business models. Rich Miner noted that Google aims to share revenues from applications with carriers. Jon Phenix from Nokia commented that publishers like ESPN and The New York Times are starting to design properties around mobile. They’re looking to monetize their off deck traffic by integrating mobile into online ad buys, but are not driving substantial revenues yet. 

Sarah Fay from Aegis compared the state of mobile advertising to the early day of Internet advertising with those annoying pop-up ads. Marketers need to overcome the feeling that ads are an intrusion and recognize that they can be a pleasing experience for consumers. Rich Miner cautioned that navigating to an ad is a challenge on most mobile phones and you are constrained on what you can display.

Panelists often came back to the theme of addressing consumer needs. “The mobile phone is the most personal device we carry,” said Steve Krom from AT&T. Service providers need to understand consumer needs, provide many choices and develop the right business models.

Posted by Chuck Tanowitz on December 17, 2008 at 10:30 AM
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Insights from the New England Mobile Summit

This post is from Schwartz EVP Carol McGarry

A recession may be the time we start to see some true innovation in the New England mobile world, if you believe the panelists at the recent New England Mobile Summit.
 

I attended the summit this past month during Mobile Internet World in Boston. The event was organized by Mark Lowenstein, managing director of Mobile Ecosystem, a former Yankee Group vice president and analyst, and previously vice president of Strategy at Verizon Wireless.

Lowenstein assembled a series of lively, informative panels with speakers who included Jon Auerbach from Charles River Ventures; Randy Battat, CEO of Airvana; E.Y. Snowden, Chairman at Tatara Systems; Gennady Sirota, vice president of product management at Starent Networks; and others.

It was interesting to view the mobile marketplace from a regional perspective, and the panelists shared plenty of good news. The New England business ecosystem that supports mobile companies is strong. According to Mark, the region supports about 150 companies in wireless and 170 in related areas, and VCs put more than $1B into Massachusetts companies since 2002.

Plenty of M&A activity has taken place with companies like Nuance making acquisitions. Also, big players like Microsoft, Google and Nokia have opened Boston area offices. Not to mention the successful companies that have spawned startups, like the former Comverse employees who started JumpTap and Airwide Solutions.

That's the history, but what about looking ahead? I was struck by the optimism of the panelists. If you believe them, a recession is the right time to innovate and start a new venture. Randy Battat commented that Airvana was founded and funded during the high tech recession of 2001. Gennady Sirota noted that Starent was formed in the summer of 2001. Large carriers bet on startups during that recession and invested in innovation. Today Airvana generates more than $200M in revenues and Starent employs about 700 people.

The megatrends that speakers pointed to included:

• A sea change in the ability to deliver applications and services for mobile phones-The mobile web is growing 500% per month as devices become more capable and carrier plans become more flexible. Devices like the Apple iPhone and Google Android are providing the full web experience. Meanwhile, open source development for mobile handsets will deliver a better end user experience.
• Access to faster Internet and video-Seventy percent of consumers don't have access to 3G video connections and the vast majority gain access to the web from simple, low-cost devices. According to CEO Jim Ricotta of Azuki Systems, content providers need to repurpose "glanceable" content that works on low and high quality phones.
• Architecture Changes-4G doesn't just mean faster, better and stronger. It also means that the architecture and economics are changing.
• FemToCells are hot-Randy Battat commented that data traffic over cellular networks is growing 60-100% per year, in a trend that should continue strongly through the recession. Tatara Systems Chairman E.Y Snowden described FemToCells as "game changing" in their ability to broadly deliver bandwidth to homes, where 70% of mobile services are consumed.  

 
Untapped opportunities? Panelists cited the ability to access contact databases and location

information from mobile web applications. Another opportunity: cloud services like Google Maps that bridge the desktop and mobile worlds.

A few other interesting insights: One panelist cited TeleAtlas as an example of a company that invites consumer feedback to keep its street atlas information up to date. There were also interesting conversations about global differences. For instance, in India, carriers are sharing their networks to reduce costs in a region where $4/month is the typical mobile phone bill. Getting into regional markets requires adapting business and pricing models.

Who will suffer in the recession? With global carrier consolidation, the infrastructure companies are under enormous pressure in spite of $50B in carrier spending. Nortel and Samsung are showing signs of the strain while Erickson, Nokia and Siemens remain stable. Look to see the infrastructure provider landscape redrawn in coming months.

To see some of the interesting comments by panelists during New England Mobile Summit, check out this video on bnetTV.com.

 

Posted by Chuck Tanowitz on November 7, 2008 at 2:50 PM
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