The Future of Journalism? John Oliver Nails It with Humor and Surprising Accuracy

I’m probably not the only one who has been dismayed by the lack of true journalism in the media outlets on television, radio, online and in print.  John Oliver has put together a brilliant segment on how the steady collapse of print journalism has affected newsroom decision makers. It also doesn’t miss the overwhelming focus media has today on pushing viral social media content into its broadcasts and online outlets in this recent edition of his program Last Week Tonight.

For years, broadcast television and radio have relied heavily on the hard work of print journalists who sniff out news and break scandals.  TV and radio reporters are not usually the gritty journalists who roll up their sleeves and get the kinds of stories that put Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the map.   That’s always been the skill of print journalists at local and national newspapers.

Sure, there have been many credible TV reports that have broken important stories in politics, corporate corruption, and crimes against consumers, but as I sat in many pitch meetings as a producer, our primary sources for story ideas for television programs came from newspapers. magazines, and PR pitches.   Now, digital outlets rely heavily on the newspapers they are quickly replacing and social media as their primary sources.  Is it the death of journalism? Let’s hope not, but you owe it to yourself to invest 20 minutes of your time today to watch John Oliver’s brilliant segment that hits the nail on the head of a profession that is on life support — true journalism.

 

The satirical movie trailer for Stoplight (spoofing the movie Spotlight) is worth the wait at the end. It’s a very clever and humorous look at the reality of today’s newsrooms.

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Follow us on Twitter:  @CMP_MediaCafe

Facebook Sees Big Spike in Small Businesses Paying to Advertise, But Is Small Biz Seeing an ROI?

For almost a decade, businesses have been able to set up a free fan page on Facebook and reach their customers and clients for free, but in 2012, Facebook introduced a new feature: companies could pay to put their posts onto more peoples’ news feeds. First on “CBS This Morning,” the tech giant is revealing that 50 million small businesses now have pages on Facebook. Three million of them are paid advertisers, a 50 percent increase in just the past year.

Small businesses are paying to use social media, in hopes of boosting their bottom line and a recent survey by Manta, a small business directory, found that Facebook is by far the top social network used by small businesses and delivers the most value. But 59 percent of small business owners say they don’t see a return on their investment from their overall social media efforts including Facebook, Google+, Linkedin and Twitter. Read more

IMPORTANT:  The preceding blog post is shared from CBS This Morning.

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Follow us on Twitter:  @CMP_MediaCafe

 

FTC Puts Social Media Marketers on Notice with New Disclosure Guidelines

The U.S. agency updates its FAQ page for endorsement requirements for the first time since 2010. The new guidance could precede a crackdown.

If you hire celebrities or influencers to talk up your brand or if you hold contests with promotional tie-ins to social media, it might be time for a proper-disclosure check up.

That’s because the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that enforces U.S. truth-in-advertising laws, appears to be sending get-tougher signals.

Late last month, the FTC updated the “What People Are Asking” page for its Endorsement Guides for the first time since 2010. The FTC’s basic message — that material relationships read more…

IMPORTANT:  The preceding blog post is shared from Marketing Land and contains essential information for all Marketing and P.R. Pros.  The FCC has similar disclosure rules for broadcast media as well.

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Follow us on Twitter:  @CMP_MediaCafe

Why Twitter Parties are a Social Media Darling

I love Twitter for so many reasons.  Of all the social media tools out there, Twitter is the social media darling that really gets you up close and personal with people you would never have such easy access to in the days before social media transformed the way we communicate with customers, colleagues, friends and fans.

Twitter parties are a great social media tool and one of the best uses of Twitter. When I was a relative novice on Twitter, I discovered Twitter parties. Since my Twitter profile is @TravelProducer, I started participating in Twitter travel parties and the first travel Twitter party I participated in was #TNI, which stands for Travelers Night In. While enjoying the 10 question Q&A over the course of 90 minutes, I got to know a lot of fun people who were either travel bloggers, loved travel or just loved meeting people on Twitter. To my surprise, at the end of the Twitter party I found out that I had won a $450 piece of Hartmann luggage. I thought, “Wow! I didn’t know I could win prizes on Twitter parties.” I was hooked and I became a #TNI regular every Thursday at 12:30 PM Pacific time.

Soon, because of my growing Twitter following as @TravelProducer, I was asked to co-host several of the #TNI Twitter party events and it wasn’t long before I was also recruited to co-host #NUTS every week, a popular weekly Twitter party sponsored by MidlifeRoadTrip.tv that fills the Tweet stream with fun topics (often with a retro theme) for sixty minutes every Tuesday at 12:30 PM Pacific time.  The rest is history and I’ve been co-hosting Twitter parties now for several years and also recently launched @TheValueGal that is edging up on 3,000 followers in just a few short months.

What is a Twitter Party? For those of you who may not know exactly what one is, a Twitter Party is an online event sponsored by your brand that you can use to meet your customers, announce a service, launch a product, or simply get people talking about your product. You pick the time, the hashtag, and then people bring into the conversation.

Engage target customers. Twitter parties are a great social media tool to engage directly with people about your product in a genuine way.  They also can help you increase web traffic before, during and after the event, help you can increase Twitter followers or Facebook fans, grow your opt-in subscribers to your company emails, and there is the ability to spread your message rapidly on Twitter.

Economical Social Media Outreach. Twitter parties can also be a relatively low-cost social media advertising method and a great way to engage current customers and potential customers as you get them talking about your industry and brand. Ultimately, the goal is to get your brand name trending on Twitter to increase brand awareness, offer helpful information to the Twitterverse about your product, and track the metrics of participants in your twitter party for further analysis.

Planning a Twitter Party.  Planning a Twitter party can be a little overwhelming if you’ve never done one before and you’re new to the tweet scene.  That’s where CMP Media Cafe can step in and help you through this process with some simple ways to prepare for your Twitter party.  We’ll help you:

• Develop a Twitter party theme.
• Determine a date and time for your Twitter party and/or identify possible synergy of partnering with established Twitter party hosts as a sponsor.
• Write a script to help you with managing the flow of conversation and determine what’s the best way to get the conversation flowing – should you go with a traditional Q&A format, a scavenger hunt format, a mix of both, etc.
• Design and implement a web site landing page for your Twitter party promotion to collect attendee information.
• Write and edit advertising/web site copy.
• Use multiple social media channels for promotion and advertising of your Twitter party.
• Determine appropriate use of giveaways to generate increased participation in the event.
• Identify celebrity or high profile blogger host(s) where appropriate.
• Host the party and identify appropriate co-hosts to expand the reach and metrics of your Twitter party event.
• Provide a detailed post-party report that includes a list of new followers and subscribers, their e-mail addresses, prize fulfillment and details of your hashtag’s performance before, during and after the event.

Brands love Twitter parties because they’re relatively inexpensive, and they have the potential to generate hundreds (if not thousands) of tweets about your brand in just a couple of hours plus many other benefits.

Blogger Outreach. CMP Media Cafe also offers blogger outreach programs and promotions.  Studies show that more and more people seek recommendations and referrals online before making purchasing decisions. Moms are a core demographic and we’ll help you reach them by creating meaningful content through a network of bloggers. Generate more buzz for your brand with a combination of Twitter parties and blogger outreach.

For more information about Twitter Parties and Blogger Outreach, contact me at CMP Media Cafe.

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Copyright (c) 2014. CMP Media Cafe. All Rights Reserved.

How to Use Socia Media for Public Service Announcements

Public Service Announcements are an effective and economical means for delivering the message of a not-for-profit organization or a corporate sponsored goodwill message. Also known as a public service ad, PSAs are a type of advertisement featured on television and radio. The difference is that the objective of a standard advertisement for TV or radio is to market a product, but a PSA is intended to change the public interest by drawing attention to an issue, and encouraging a positive action as a result.

Broadcast television and radio have been a traditional way of distributing PSAs primarily because in the past, it was a way for stations to fulfill FCC requirements that a broadcaster operate in “the public interest.”

Now, thanks to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and more, organizations can get creative and spread their message via social media outlets and expand the audience reach outside of traditional PSA distribution channels.

Here’s a smart photo I came across that was not sponsored by any major animal rights organization, but a small animal rescue non-profit, Ruff Love Rescue.  The message was simple, but powerful.

Please note that this photo was never intended as a social media PSA per se, but it’s a great example of how a little creativity with a powerful message can strike a chord in the social media community and go viral. This photo was actually an advertisement from a magazine in the U.K. but the message is transcontinental.

Statistics do show that Facebook users (where I saw this photo) are more apt to share a photo with large print than any other type of photo or status update.  I saw this photo on my Facebook newsfeed.  It caught my eye and I shared it on my Timeline.  I had at least two shares right off the bat and noticed that of the friends that shared it on their Timeline, they also had two shares each.  Do the math.  It’s effective.  At the time that I’m writing this blog, this photo has had a total of 2578 shares from the Ruff Love Rescue “Fan Page” and only 119 likes.  In Facebook currency though, shares are worth a lot more than likes because that’s how things go viral.  They also use the photo description to link to a dramatic USA Today article on Don’t Think for a Minute that Dogs Can Survive in a Hot Car.

So start thinking about how you can communicate your goodwill message in a powerful way by using this technique on Facebook.  This example was dramatic, but humor is also a very powerful tool for creating a memorable message.  Also, think about ideas that will engage your intended audience to relate to your message.  The photo above evokes emotion among anyone who loves pets, so think in terms of how you will engage your audience to care.

Additionally, notice this organization used a great advertisement that was already created and shared it.  You may need to consult your legal department, but social media does allow you to share a lot of these great assets too.

Finally, be creative, but don’t be commercial.  The social community smells a rat when it comes to an overt advert.

We’ll be addressing how to share your PSAs on Twitter and YouTube in upcoming blog posts.  Until then…

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Copyright (c) 2012. CMP Media Cafe. All Rights Reserved

Are Co-Op SMTs Still Effective in Today’s Media Environment?

No doubt about it, broadcast public relations and how companies get the word out to the media (and ultimately the consumer) has changed drastically in the last several years.  And it’s definitely changed since I left network TV production 15 years ago and started producing for corporate clients.   The shift in broadcast media tools and newsrooms’ colder reception to these tools leaves a lot of public relations experts asking, “Are co-op satellite media tours (SMTs) still effective in today’s media world?” Although this small industry has seen some ups and downs largely due to an unwarranted and biased smear campaign by the Center for Media & Democracy, it’s constantly evolving.  Adjustments are constantly being made to ensure the media is getting what it wants and that all outlets of new media are being used effectively too.

The ultimate question is are you and your broadcast public relations tactics evolving to meet the changes of how public relation efforts are being delivered to the media and are SMTs still viable with new forms of media available to reach the consumer?  There are definitely a lot of new media tools available for your P.R. toolkit.

Internet Media Tours and Social Media.  Some stars with new sizzle in broadcast public relations devices include internet media tours and social media campaigns.  First, I will be blogging about this topic soon, but internet media tours may be the hot new flavor of broadcast P.R., but as someone who has one of the top ranked travel websites I can tell you that they are way overpriced for your true audience reach and the numbers being reported are very distorted. Second, social media has some amazing possibilities (I currently have over 2700 Twitter Followers as @TravelProducer and a Klout score of 62), but even if you’re using social media successfully, it’s still only one piece of the publicity outreach machine you need to be pursuing to maximize any public relations campaign.

All social media has done is increase our options in a similar way that the 500 television stations increased viewing options on TV.  There is no one single way to reach your audience, but an editorial feature of a product, expert or brand in broadcast media continues to the be gold standard to add credibility to your name.  As much as viewing habits are shifting and diversifying to the internet & mobile phones, TV is not only still the originator of most of the news, but it’s still the driving force of credibility.  You see, almost anyone can get featured on the internet these days, but it’s still an elite group that gets featured on television news.

What About Audience Reach and Consumer Impressions.  As a producer, in addition to being creative, I’m also a numbers person and clients are very concerned about audience reach (i.e. consumer impressions).  Let’s talk about audience reach numbers then but let’s ask a few questions first:  What’s the audience reach for the top rated prime time show?  What time of the day are these shows broadcast?  Should a satellite media tour (SMT) expect to reach the same amount of audience numbers that the top rated prime time show gets?  I think you can see where I’m going with this.

The top rated shows on TV in general will get up to 15 million viewers on average during the winter when everyone is home and the numbers can drop almost in half during the summer when the weather is good and people are out enjoying the nice weather instead of being glued to the tube.  Sure, you’ll hear the finale of <i>American Idol</I> will get high audience reach numbers exceeding those averages, but they are the exception to average Nielsen ratings.

So continuing on the numbers theme.  Let’s say a client pays a participation fee on the high end of $15,000 for a Co-Op SMT and the company guarantees an audience reach of seven million viewers (including sponsored content on syndicated television programs).  How much does it cost to reach each viewer (not the CPM, but each viewer)?  The answer is easy.  It only costs $0.002 to reach each viewer – way less than a penny per person.  Can any company produce a printed brochure with product information, purchase mailing lists and place stamps on envelopes to seven million people for that price?  Can you produce a commercial and purchase airtime for a DRTV spot for that amount per viewer?  Even if you could (which you can’t), would the product have the same credibility as the editorial news feature?

It All Boils Down to Credibility.  So the question remains: are Co-Op SMTs still effective in today’s media world?  Given the audience reach results for the dollar value, they’re still a very good bang for your buck.  It’s important to reiterate that no amount of advertising can give your product the credibility that an editorial feature on a television program can.

To find out more about Co-Op Satellite Media Tours and broadcast public relations options, visit us at CMP Media Cafe.

Peace and coconuts,

Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe

Copyright (c) 2011. CMP Media Cafe. All Rights Reserved.