Content & Editorial
In 2017, as the popularity of podcasts continued its incredible growth – 42 million Americans now listen to a podcast each week and the average podcast fan listens to five shows every seven days – we had the fascinating experience of producing and launching podcasts for some of our clients.
One such project was the ThinkSet Podcast, published by Berkeley Research Group, a management consultancy based in the Bay Area. BRG joins a list of innovative corporate communicators getting into the game.
As we work on more and more podcasts, we’ve learned a lot about storytelling in the digital age. Much of what has worked in more traditional business-to-business communications remains relevant. But there are quite a few wrinkles to podcasting that set it apart from traditional content production.
The ThinkSet Project
Edward Newland, business development analyst at BRG, reached out to us in early 2017 about launching a podcast as a sister product to ThinkSet Magazine, a quarterly publication BRG would debut that spring. Newland’s idea was to build each episode around an interview with an author of one of the magazine articles.
We worked with Eddie to determine standing elements of the show – format, music, regular introductory and closing remarks – and showed him how to distribute the series via iTunes and other podcast channels. Before long we were producing two episodes a month, and we plan to do the same through 2018.
Early Assets, Obstacles
Importantly, Eddie’s idea was a good fit for a podcast. He would serve as the host role and anchor – a hallmark of many popular podcasts (think Marc Maron) – and the content from the magazine would provide fodder for lively and informed conversations with people who had deep knowledge and strong points of view.
Eddie also had done his homework about why a podcast could resonate with BRG’s audiences. At a time when breaking through the noise and reaching decision makers has never been more important, or difficult, for professional services organizations, podcasts offer a compelling channel. Podcast listeners, according to Edison Research, are typically more educated than the population at large. They also skew younger – 77 percent of monthly podcast listeners above the age of 12 are between 18-54, compared with 59 percent of the U.S. population in that age range. In other words, podcasts are popular with the current and future generations of decision makers.
And, of course, podcasts provide an owned-media alternative to the printed word or video, which is expensive and heavily reliant on visuals. Podcasts also offer a sort of escape for audiences, like busy executives, who might be experiencing screen fatigue. As Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, wrote in Forbes last year:
“Exciting at first, screens have become exhausting for many users, and podcasts represent a refreshing alternative. Rather than using your eyes, you use your ears; there are silences, pauses, and genuine human voices rather than words and images on a screen.” He also noted that “the cost-to-value ratio for podcasts is incredibly low.”
When Eddie first reached out to us, he had figured out something we had been telling clients for a while: Compelling video footage of thought leaders at professional services firms is hard to get, and often amounts to little more than a lot of people sitting at desks, talking into the camera.
Podcasts also helped avoid a scheduling problem that’s common in today’s world. Eddie’s potential guest list was spread around the globe, so getting them together for a video would be unlikely. Podcasts, of course, don’t rely on video. And while in-studio/in-person recordings remain the gold standard for audio quality, there have been some important advances in remote recording audio quality in recent years.
Employing a new online recording platform, Eddie has recorded episodes of the ThinkSet podcast from his Boston office, interviewing guests across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, all of which is captured by Greentarget producers in Chicago (and, once, in Bangkok).
Tried-and-True Methods
Most of the content we create for Greentarget clients takes the form of writing on a page (blogs, research reports, bylined articles, etc.). But many of the tasks involved carry over to podcasting. For BRG’s podcasts, we conduct extensive background research prior to each episode. Then, we have a discovery call with Eddie and each episode’s guests. This is similar to the work that goes into writing articles and blog posts.
The editing process is also similar. We typically record for up to an hour, with the aim of producing a podcast of 20-25 minutes. Working with Eddie, we pare down the recording to the most impactful and interesting pieces of audio that also coincide with BRG’s overall messaging goals. This is quite similar to the work we do with clients on written content pieces.
Episode 10 of ThinkSet went live this week, and we’re expecting three episodes to be released this month. This isn’t the only way to do podcasts, of course, but it is a good example of a progressive company seizing on new technology and audience behavior to get its insights in the hands of the people it wants to reach.
Though nearly all in-house counsel say information overload a problem, firms plan to create more content – and nearly three-quarters of CMOs say have no documented content strategy.
A survey released today by strategic communications firm Greentarget and consulting firm Zeughauser Group shows a near-unanimous feeling among in-house counsel that “information overload” is a problem in their daily efforts to consume information about business, industry and legal topics. Nevertheless, law firms plan to create more content – even though a strong majority haven’t yet documented a content strategy.
The accompanying report detailing the findings of the 2017 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey also shows that law firm chief marketing officers know the information overload problem exists. But just 26 percent said they had a documented content strategy – up from 13 percent in the previous survey in 2015, still surprisingly low. Given that void, this year’s report includes key guidance on content strategy and distribution.
“The slight improvement in the documentation of content strategy is a positive sign. But more law firms need to develop and document their own strategies if they hope to develop and optimally deliver robust content in support of their most important practices. In an era of information overload, strategy brings clarity and the ultimate opportunity for firms is to bring the right content, to the right audiences and the right time on the channels where (and when) they congregate,” said John Corey, founding partner of Greentarget.
To help law firms at this important inflection point, Greentarget and Zeughauser Group have taken a new step in this year’s report: providing guidance to those firms – culled from some top law firm marketers and content strategists – which we hope will drive new thinking and strategic adjustments to content operations across the legal industry.
“The guidance focuses on content creation as well as content distribution, which is becoming increasingly important as firms try to stand out in an increasingly competitive legal and media landscape,” Corey said.
The Highlights:
In-House Counsel Survey:
- Ninety-six percent of in-house counsel said information overload was a problem in their daily efforts to consume information regarding business, industry and legal topics affecting their companies.
- LinkedIn remained the dominant social media tool that in-house counsel use for professional reasons, with 73 percent saying they had used it within the past week – up from 68 percent in the previous survey.
- Despite the flow of so-called “fake news,” traditional media (e.g., The Wall Street Journal and The Economist) remain the most credible sources in the eyes of in-house counsel; 95 percent said those sources were very or somewhat credible.
- Fifty-two percent of in-house counsel ranked law firm content as very good or excellent, compared with 43 percent in 2015.
- Eighty-one percent of law firm CMOs said they will produce more content in 2017 than in 2016, and none said they will produce less. Nearly half (49 percent) of CMOs said their content budgets would increase over last year while the same number said they would remain the same.
- Twenty-six percent of respondents said their firms had documented content strategies, which is up from 13 percent in 2015. Forty five percent said they had undocumented strategies, and 23 percent said they were planning to implement content strategies in the next 12 months.
- The greatest challenge for content marketers was a lack of engagement from attorneys within the firm (46 percent) followed by a lack of staff time (26 percent).
In the moments before the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in a dramatic Game 7 last fall — in what’s been called the greatest game ever — Kevin Saghy, the team’s assistant director of communications, was in a tiny room just off the playing field, waiting for history to happen.
Saghy recounted those halcyon days at a Public Relations Society of America event on April 26 at Harry Caray’s Restaurant in Chicago. He discussed the team’s PR and media strategy — one that’s evolved significantly this decade around the proliferation of social media and the improved fortune of the Cubs.
Saghy, who was joined on a panel by Comcast SportsNet Chicago sideline reporter Kelly Crull and moderator T.K. Gore, also of CSN Chicago, talked about his time with the Cubs, including the intensive preparation required leading up to Game 7. Saghy’s team had to be ready for any outcome – whether it meant the Cubs ending a 108-year championship drought or the team returning to Chicago, consigned again to wait till next year.
“But could you plan for that Game 7 — how it worked out?” Saghy said.
Given the wild finish to the game – the Cubs won in 10 innings — the answer is almost certainly no. But preparation was still important, as was being adaptable, Saghy said. We talk a lot about those two principles at Greentarget, and Saghy’s discussion of his time with the Cubs made us think of a couple other Greentarget values that we try to live and embody every day.
Failing forward — or at least not being afraid to
In early 2015, the Cubs were coming off their fifth consecutive losing season. But with a host of young charismatic players — and with some key free agent signings in the previous offseason, including proven yet quirky manager Joe Maddon — Saghy figured it was time to take more risks on social media.
Saghy’s basic thinking was that fans would be open to a “funnier/edgier” tone if the product on the field was better. It wasn’t all smooth — Saghy recounted one incident in which a rival team was mad about what he felt was a harmless joke. “It was a good reminder about being humble,” he said.
But the overall strategy worked. The Cubs went on to dominate their World Series opponents, the Cleveland Indians, as well as all other teams throughout the 2016 playoffs on social media. Even before the World Series run, the Cubs’ strategy seemed to be working. Newswhip reported in April 2016 that the Cubs ranked fourth best for engagement on Facebook – even though they were posting less than any other team.
In addition to compelling video content, which naturally works for a sports franchise, the Cubs’ social media strategy capitalizes on the personality of its likable young team. It’s hard to look through the Cubs’ Facebook and not catch their unbridled passion and joy for the game. Other teams should find a way to emulate this enthusiasm and match their own fans’ zealousness for social success.
Be Authentic
Saghy’s comments rang especially true when we recently recalibrated our social media strategy at Greentarget. A key component for the Cubs, and for us, is authenticity. For the Cubs, this meant altering their tone on social media to mirror their younger players and a loose, energetic clubhouse. By having more fun and interactions with their followers, the Cubs social media team created a social presence that was indicative of the team’s culture.
For us, authenticity in social media, and other external channels like our blog and newsletter, means creating compelling content that we believe will add to a smarter conversation. To do that we use social listening to ensure we have a solid understanding of what our audience is talking about and responding to.
Similar to the Cubs, when we updated our social strategy, we wanted to illustrate how much fun we have on a regular basis. In order to do this, we’ve used more pictures and visual elements and altered our tone to reflect our upbeat and positive culture. The idea is to create social profiles that are representative of who we are and what we value — much like the Cubs did.
Now if someone would just throw us a parade.
Collaboration has been on my mind a lot since we kicked off the new year. As cheesy as it may sound, I can’t help but see it everywhere, particularly at Greentarget. Our team has been working tirelessly to put 2017 plans in motion for our clients, including those we serve on a pro bono basis.
We’ve been so busy that, with March almost upon us, I’m just now getting around to recapping the highlights of Greentarget’s great work — and collaboration — with our pro bono clients in 2016. Last year we set our annual Billion + Change donated-time target at 700 hours and exceeded that by 150 percent. That means we donated 1,055 hours or roughly $300,000 worth of Greentarget’s time, talent and energy to pro bono and community investment causes. Here’s a quick summary:
Pro Bono
- DC Affordable Law Firm: Our media relations and content teams worked with DCALF — a low bono, nonprofit law firm in Washington, D.C., representing low- to moderate-income individuals — to develop an entry for the American Bar Association’s 2017 Brown Award.
- Domestic Violence Legal Clinic: The GT team proactively positioned DVLC Executive Director Margaret Duval around high-profile domestic violence cases in sports in top-tier publications such as Forbes and The New York Times, all the while providing content and social media support for events.
- Fabretto: The GT crew worked with the international NGO, which serves more than 18,000 children and youth through work in seven Fabretto Education Centers and more than 250 local public schools, to promote the organization’s annual Night for Niños events that raise funds to provide services to underserved children and their families in Nicaragua.
- Gigi’s Playhouse: The team developed a comprehensive media plan for Gigi’s, a Down syndrome organization with an established network of 30 centers across the U.S. and Mexico. Our media plan included strategies to support the business operations of the brand, expand national education and awareness programs and provide real-time support for the national launch of their Generation G initiative. We also published a Q&A with the CEO/Founder, Nancy Gianni.
- Greenhouse: Our media relations team helped this nonprofit consultancy lay the groundwork for drawing attention to the transformative work it’s done in education. Our content team helped Greenhouse shape an editorial strategy around its unique perspective on the assumptions we make in our everyday behavior.
- Heartland Alliance: The GT team conducted outreach for Heartland’s Housing Division, which develops and manages sustainable, innovative and high-quality affordable housing. The team positioned executives Michael Goldberg and Nadia Underhill to garner exposure around specific projects and promote thought leadership on the affordable housing debate.
- Plant Chicago: GT helped promote Plant Chicago’s August 2016 “Closed Loop Food Festival,” which included farmer’s market vendors, food trucks, music, beer makers and more. Event details were published in 11 Chicago event calendars, and we secured three media placements and developed a social media plan.
- St. George Island: The team, working on behalf of Native Americans living on St. George Island, Alaska, raised awareness among national and regional media concerning the danger of this community dying out if a promised fishing harbor is not advanced by the federal government.
- Women for Afghan Women: The GT Team provided PR support for WAW’s annual gala, 15 Years of Spirit Indestructible. Additionally, we provided media support for major events impacting the organization such as the brutal murder and rape of a 6-year-old Afghan refugee girl and a town hall meeting in response to the Orlando massacre. Furthermore, we’ve interviewed the executive director about communicating from an international war zone.
- Chase Corporate Challenge: The GT team bonded through a hot, sweaty 3.5-mile Chase Corporate Challenge run, which benefits a different Chicagoland nonprofit each year.
- College Possible Visits: GT coordinated two visits to the Kelly and Lake View High Schools to help students with their special circumstance essays. This essay is one of the key components of a college application and empowers students to share their stories and recognize their college potential.
- Ronald McDonald House: A GT crew volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House near Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago to make a delicious breakfast for dinner — mountains of pancakes, breakfast casseroles, baked oatmeal and fruit — for families in need.
In the days immediately after one of the most contentious (and shocking) presidential elections in American history, we attended Social Media Week in Chicago. As you might expect, the election — and social media’s role in it — were the talk of the conference.
After a race in which voters relied on candidates’ social media posts more than their websites and emails as campaign news sources, the conference provided some valuable takeaways.
Personal Versus Professional Divide
Social media, obviously, has professional and personal uses. But millennials — particularly those who’ve grown up with social media — often have difficulty operating effectively in both worlds. Personal posts are often quick and fun, while work posts must be more deliberate and strategic. This is something we think about a lot at Greentarget, where we emphasize thoughtfulness in writing social posts about (sometimes extremely) complex topics.
It’s important for companies to encourage appropriate social posts. Social media is a big part of the digital workspace, where employees are expected to seamlessly collaborate around the world, allowing the diversity of ideas to foster innovation. Unfortunately, employees and leaders at many organizations see social collaboration as a nuisance — when they should see it as a new way to communicate internally as well as with clients and prospective employees.
With the election fresh in our minds, we couldn’t help but think of Donald Trump as someone who effectively blended professional and personal social media messages. While Trump’s critics might find his style troubling, he has pushed boundaries on Twitter and has changed social media’s role in the public discourse. And, of course, he notched an Electoral College victory.
Measurement
As our colleague Pam Munoz wrote recently, measurement will likely continue to dominate conversations about PR strategy, especially those focused on how social media supports and elevates a brand or message. The challenge is that, thanks to relentless change and innovation, social media metrics are constantly changing.
Traditionally we could only measure impact by counting clips and mentions because there was no way to measure the dialogue around news stories. But social media affords opportunities to measure reach and engagement with new metrics like shares, reviews, sentiment and advocate engagement. What hasn’t changed is the need to identify metrics for success at the start of any campaign. Today we can determine the impact of content across social channels by measuring our actual results against what we defined as success factors.
The impact of strong (and measured) results in social media was also on display in this year’s presidential election campaign. Last summer Forbes measured Trump and Hillary Clinton’s followers, social engagements rates, sentiment, SEO, visibility, ad spend and media coverage across a variety of social sites. The article revealed concentrated efforts to leverage social media channels more than candidates had in past elections. The metrics are important because the numbers allowed each candidate to see what worked and what didn’t. It’s important to note that Trump was winning the social media war when the article was written — months before he would win the election.
Social Listening
At Greentarget we pride ourselves in being able to help our clients engage in smarter conversations, and a big part of that is taking a step back and understanding contrary opinions.
This relates to social listening, a theme across several panels, including this one, during Social Media Week. Social listening involves assessing what is being said about a specific entity on various platforms and using it to discover what people are actually talking about. It requires going beyond just monitoring Twitter mentions or Facebook comments; you must dive deep and expand your search past your own personal pages and feeds. It is particularly helpful when trying to pinpoint trends, insights and conversations that matter to specific audiences, something we do frequently for our clients at Greentarget.
Given the prominence of social media in the campaigns, we wondered whether improved social listening could have prevented the shock after the final result. In addition to dominating the social conversation, Trump had more “pro” hashtags than Clinton according to research compiled by Tracx, a social media management platform. The same research also showed that similar trends played out in the swing states, where Trump pulled in nearly four times as many positive hashtags as Clinton.
Keen observers could have spotted these trends in the weeks and months leading up to November 8.
