Be "Findable" Online

Erin CaldwellFollow

Vice President in Digital at Edelman

Apr. 25, 2009•0 likes•1,094 views

Be "Findable" Online

Apr. 25, 2009•0 likes•1,094 views

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Auburn University PR Professional Development Conference (April 17, 2009) Erin Caldwell Account Supervisor Edelman, Digital Public Affairs NOTES: [Slide 1] Being Findable Online [Slide 2] This is happening now -People expect to have the answers to their needs at their fingertips – literally. -It’s important to understand 1) how to be findable when your audience comes looking for you, whether they *know* they’re looking for you or not (will get into this more later) 2) And how to make sure *what* they find about you is what they want you to find [Slide 3] Digital Footprint It’s important to understand your digital footprint. To put that in context … Offline: people know you, people can come into your business and see you face-to-face; have more control over your image Online: Don’t have the same control over your image; what people know about you is what they’ve read or “heard.” More succinctly: they know you based on what Google tells them. So how do you manage 1) how ppl can find you, and 2) what impression they get once they do. Offline: more intuitive, you know what you can do – design nice storefront, appropriate signage, advertisements in the newspaper Online: a little more tricky – because thanks to Google, what ppl will find is not only what you say about yourself, but what others are saying about you. Can’t CONTROL that. But you can INFLUENCE it. [Slide 4] Listen, Engage & Contribute, Optimize So how do you do that? How do you make yourself more findable? Three basic steps: 1) Listening: ALWAYS important; falls off the table way too easily, but should always be the first step 2) Engage & Contribute: Lots of ways to contribute; get your content out thre 3) Optimize: Make sure you do what you can to make your content (from engaging and contributing) easy to find [Slide 5] Listening = your foundation. Helps you identify: Opportunities / Risks Existing Conversation / Blank Slate Critics / Allies / Potential Allies [Slide 6] So where do you GO to listen? How do you tap into those conversations? [for example, google blogsearch and twitter search] Can’t just do this once. You should be constantly listening, constantly evolving your efforts. RSS is the tool that let’s you do that with essentially zero effort. [Slide 7] Staying on-top of the conversation: Google Reader Can easily categorize into folders. Serves up recent “unread” items, much like an email program. [Slide 8] Staying on-top of the conversation: Bloglines Can easily categorize into folders. Serves up recent “unread” items, much like an email program. [Slide 9] Staying on-top of the conversation: Microsoft Outlook 7 Beneficial if Outlook is the main application you use for email, because you can easily forward items [Slide 10] Engage & Contribute There are lots, lots, LOTS of ways that you can contribute and engage with the conversation. By listening and exploring some of these tools/platforms , you’ll figure out the best places to be for your audience. Today, I’ll walk you through the basics of just a few to get your feet wet. [Slide 11] The blogosphere: harnessing the power of citizen journalists An easy “next step” after listening You have two basic options: -Engage -Contribute [Slide 12] Option 1: Blogger Engagement -Be transparent -Personalize the message -Be conversational and avoid jargon -Know that with bloggers, you’re always “on the record” -Recognize that many bloggers have day jobs -Don’t add bloggers to your media list -Email first, post comment second [Slide 13] Option 2: Start Your Own Blog -“Everyone else is doing it” is not a good reason -Add value to the conversation -Be mindful of your comment policy: post it and stick to it -Post often, but not too often -Be thoughtful in how you title and tag your posts [Slide 14] T

Erin CaldwellFollow

Vice President in Digital at Edelman