The devil is in the details.  That’s a phrase you hear thrown around quite a bit, particularly in PR.  There are so many details that you have to “get right” when you’re doing a PR campaign, launch, pitch, executive briefing book – that even the smallest mistake can have major repercussions.

Today, Netflix announced what some are calling an “abrupt” change in strategy.  And while it may seem abrupt to consumers, every communications professional knows that there were endless hours spent on the topic and corresponding items:  crafting CEO Reed Hasting’s letter to customers, writing and planning the blog post, messaging around the re-naming of the DVD-mailing service to Qwikster, planning for media inquiries, reserving the Qwikster.com domain, preparing to scan for the tone of coverage in the media and on social media platforms like Twitter, wait…Twitter? Was Twitter on the to-do check list? Did the team think about how they would use Twitter and the Qwikster name? Or did the communications team forget to address it?

Whatever conversations did (or didn’t) happen around Twitter don’t really matter at this point, because Qwikster is now getting almost as much attention for the person who owns the Twitter handle. And while the owner doesn’t have any bio information on his profile, it became very clear very qwikly that the person behind the @Qwikster handle is not from Netflix’s communications team – that is, unless Netflix is suddenly a big fan of Sesame Street and marijuana – which I’m guessing isn’t the case.   Ultimately, this oversight won’t hurt Netflix’s business and it will likely be quickly forgotten – but it doesn’t help the perception that Netflix made these strategic decisions hastily.   And, we all know, perception IS reality when it comes to PR.

When something like this happens, I always feel a pit in my stomach thinking about the PR person who is most likely responsible for *not* catching it.   Because that person is having a bad day.  That person is cursing the devil and his details.  And probably Elmo too.

The other night I was at home watching the Boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees, and during a commercial break, the new baseball movie trailer aired on T.V. The movie is called Moneyball, based on the book written by Michael Lewis. If you are not familiar with the story, Billy Beane, the General Manager of the cash-strapped, small market Oakland Athletics recognizes that in order to compete with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox, the organization needs to shift its perspective and come-up with a strategy to economically compete with the big market teams. Utilizing complex statistics and mathematics, the team creates a numbers formula that is applied to each player they draft, trade, and sign, and the end result is a quantifiable model that gives the best predictable chances for a small market team like the Oakland Athletics to win.

Just as the economy drove GM Billy Beane to develop theories to garner the greatest ROI for each player in the movie Moneyball, so too has it had a role in changing the strategy a public relations company must build for its clients. With the economy laboring over the last few years, it has had an unfortunate effect on the media industry by inducing layoffs, consolidation to only  online publications, and in some cases even forced media outlets to shutdown entirely.  Having had the unique perspective of working in public relations for a few years, leaving for commercial business experience, and recently coming back, I have seen first-hand how the public relations industry has adapted to the economy by adopting social media programs to provide additional value for their clients to go along with traditional media outreach. Social media has added an effective way clients can identify with their target audiences, but  just like Billy Beane of the A’s, they too are looking for the best way to quantify the social media numbers to give them the best chance for success.

I read an article on PR Week entitled  Social media numbers don’t tell the whole story, and it discusses how many of the Fortune 100 companies like Coca Cola, Wal-Mart and Disney have dived head-first into the social media world with Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare accounts to generate as many followers and likes as possible. In this economy companies are looking for the best way to analyze their public relations programs, and while these numbers show the popularity of a brand, many public relations experts believe it is the actual engagement of the customer base that truly determines the success of the program. To be fair, the fan count and the size of the community is important, and therefore, is considered a measure of success. However, it shouldn’t be the only metric looked at to determine if a company’s social media campaign is helping with its bottom-line. Even with programs like HootSuite and TweetDeck that try to provide insight on the effectiveness and impact of social media, many companies are realizing that these tools have a long way to go in providing them with tangible evidence to show the parallel between numbers and engagement.

In the end, one thing is for sure, public relations companies and their clients understand that social media is here to stay. As analytics on social media improves over time, companies will be able to get a clearer view of how the numbers provide them with the best predictable chance to win. It’s as Billy Beane says in the movie trailer, “In this economy it’s adapt or die.”

My college roommate, Monya, had two particularly enviable traits: an indelible eye for whatever nightlife spots/new designers/under-the-radar bands/dining options were cool and the ability to talk to – and become  fast friends with – anyone. Even in an otherwise anonymous, large university, Monya couldn’t strut two steps without running into someone she knew by name, complete with colorful back story on how or why they met. People constantly sought her out for recommendations on everything from what parties to attend that weekend to which professor to avoid when filling out classes schedules. In short, she was a natural born social influencer. I’d post a back-in-the-day photo of us here, but that would A.) mean finding a scanner (pre-Facebook) and B.) reveal an unfortunate, late 90′s proclivity to long hair.

While I’d agree that you can improve your own social skills by learning how to make better small-to-medium talk and putting yourself into varied settings for practice, you can’t teach someone to be a social influencer. People like Monya are born that way - possessing a rare combination of charisma and genuine interest in the people around them – and they have tremendous power to sway their social circles.

Tastemakers with large networks don’t just walk our college campuses, they’re everywhere – especially online. Bloggers, Twitterati superstars and Facebook fiends (and those who are all of the above) affect consumer preferences whether it be on the most reliable diaper or the best cloud service for SMBs.

At Matter, we’ve recognized how the “Monyas” have gone digital and are wielding their influence throughout the social space. To harness the power of these individuals, we’ve created what we call a TIP (Targeted Influencer Program) offering for our clients. TIP is a formalized way to strengthen relationships with those key people who shape buying decisions of their readers, followers and friends. Of course, these programs are customized to each client and depend on a thorough research and measurement process to identify the players in our clients’ spaces and quantify the impact of their social sway both before and during a TIP campaign.

We’ve seen great success for consumer and technology clients already, from positive shifts in overall conversation about their brands across social platforms to changing perceptions of individual influencers, and, if I can use another college reference/term, we’re psyched to help more brands do the same.

I’m a PR newbie.

Well, let me qualify that: I’ve been in the industry just over 4 months now, and it’s amazing how much one can learn about PR in such a short amount of time.

That being said, I walked through the doors of Matter as a clean slate, willing and eager to learn the ropes armed with the skills and experience I had packed along for the ride.

PR lingo? That I had to learn as I went along, as no phrasebook had been tucked into my new hire packet. Vets, you’ll probably get a kick out of the terms I found to be foreign. Future newbies of Matter Communications, allow me to spell out a few things:

OPP: [op] Noun

1. Short for “opportunity” — not just any opportunity, but a coverage opportunity, or strategic outlet that’s been deemed a prime target to convey your client’s key messages.

EOD: [ee-oh-dee] Noun

1. Acronym for “end of day” — a common deadline.

• “I need this by EOD.”

*Note* I believe it was Nick Porter who got to field my awkwardly formal email in response to a deadline he sent me:

Hi Nick,

What does EOD mean?

Thank you,

Talia

PUB: [puhb] Noun

1. Short for “publication” — this could refer to a magazine, newspaper, broadcast media outlet, or blog.

2. A fine malt beverage establishment…at (you guessed it!) EOD, of course.

*Note* Have you seen the new kitchen kegerator?

Hashtag: [hash-tag] Noun

1. The “#” prefix symbol on Twitter — the community-driven tool used for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. It helps those with shared interests find information on Twitter.

• #PRisforlovers (No? Ok, I’m still learning.)

2. Also known as “the pound sign” on your touchtone key pad

UV: [yoo-vee] Noun

1. Acronym for “unique visitors,” or the number of individual web users to visit a site.

• Put on those shades…as of today, Examiner.com has a UV number of 7 million. That’s hot.

FU: [ef-yoo] Verb

1) An acronym for “follow up” — a means of being thorough, checking in, or being the squeaky wheel to get results.

• “FU with the executive and make sure we have the right contact information.”

*Note* Best if used in combination with other words, as was not done on my first encounter with the term:

One-line email from a Matter colleague: “FU.”

Me: “GASP!#$….Why are they so hostile?!?

PR: [pee-ahr] Noun

1. Acronym for “public relations” — doing anything and everything communications-based to help your clients with whatever they need, whenever they need it.

• May include: anything (that will get them positive results that matter…by EOD)

My colleague Rachel Schlacter & I share the above definition. What is your personal definition of PR?

*Note* My friends and family have a very hard time understanding what I do. Explaining it? #Forgetaboutit.  I guess my colleague Matt Mendo (#2) has had similar experiences.

It’s nearly impossible to execute a PR or marketing campaign without getting involved with social media at some level.

The benefits of exuding your brand’s personality on Facebook and Twitter, and interacting with consumers in a fun, pithy manner far outweigh the drawbacks of opening yourself up to public criticism. The problem is that social media can take on a life of its own and accounts can grow to require a lot of time and attention. In some cases, if resources are scarce, brands are forced to reevaluate their audiences and focus their time and energy on one channel over another.

That’s why, when I read fellow social media junkie and industry insider Zeny Huang’s recent opinion piece, “4 Reasons Google+ Brand Pages Will Be Better Than Facebook’s” on Mashable earlier this month, I paused to think, “Could it be?”

Though there’s much we still need to learn about Google+, Huang highlights two potential areas where I do believe this newcomer may have a leg up in this race: search and analytics. As Huang notes, Google has long been a leader in both of those fields. It’s still a guessing game at this point, but it will definitely be interesting to see how brands begin to use Google+ for their marketing and PR efforts, and if they’re able to effectively break into your “circle.”

What do you think? Based on what you’ve seen and read, does Google+ hold a candle to Facebook and Twitter when it comes to helping brands interact with consumers?

Sourced from The New York Times online, "The Elusive Big Idea," by Neal Gabler

Last week I read an article in The New York Times called, “The Elusive Big Idea.”

It scared the crap out of me.

We’re living in a time when information is fast, efficient, neatly-packaged & delivered— suspended in a magical (and convenient!) web of ether just waiting to be accessed.

…But how much of it are we actually processing?

As a new PR professional, I’ve noticed a change in my way of thinking. While I was in school, I took home books or articles, read them at a steady pace, underlined, revisited— and mulled, if you will. Most of the time, I would then sit down and start writing in order to develop and lengthen these study-lounge musings.

I find there to be much less time these days to study and mull. I’m submerged in the deep end of the information pool where quick facts, stats, industry news headlines, blurbs, and witty one-liners leave me drenched. Keeping the best interest of my clients’ business in mind, I pay attention to a much different, and much wider range of topics now than before. Relevant information is quickly bouncing back and forth between status updates, twitter handles, and blog posts. Web addresses aren’t even written in full anymore— our short messages are shortened further by bit.ly’s and tinyURL’s, even embedded behind # and @ signs.  It’s enough to make my head spin. I’ve learned, though, that scanning alone does not produce the best results.

As Gabler writes in his NYT piece,

“In the past, we collected information not simply to know things. That was only the beginning. We also collected information to convert it into something larger than facts and ultimately more useful — into ideas that made sense of the information. We sought not just to apprehend the world, but to truly comprehend it, which is the primary function of ideas. Great ideas explain the world and one another to us.”

Does this new trend of “apprehension” truly make us more informed? Smarter? I’m inclined to say no, that it only gives us the ability to move more quickly —finish the lap— call out a message first in order to win the recognition of passing the baton. We can certainly find the answer to just about any question online, but we need to remember to reflect on what we know first. The relevancy, context, and reliability of what we find must then be considered, as well as how we plan to use our new information sensibly.

Getting a bit more philosophical, can you say that you’ve thought through your own worldview, end to end, amidst the blur of contradicting information that’s available to us? If there was a line drawn across a particular ideal you’ve lived by, would you be able to confidently stand on one side armed with sturdy reasoning, or are you positioned a bit more shakily (and perhaps more safely) in the gray middle area? Have you thought through any one thing so thoroughly that you could ignite a fiery debate, and still stand unburned on your own turf?

As intellectual people with such amazing innate potential, I hope we can all say yes.

“We are like the farmer who has too much wheat to make flour. We are inundated with so much information that we wouldn’t have time to process it even if we wanted to, and most of us don’t want to.”

Isn’t it strange to consider that this overload of information, be it significant or trivial, has actually occupied space in our minds meant for new ideas?

For the maintenance of my own sanity, I need to set aside some time to step away, process, think, and comprehend. This is the key to generating innovative ideas! There comes a point when in order to be a good PR pro (or person of real substance, for that matter), we may need to disconnect in order to reconnect to our own thought process.

My favorite blog isn’t a newspaper site. It’s a blog by a lobster dealer who started working on the docks when he was 9 years old. Good Morning Gloucester gives a daily snapshot of life in Gloucester, Mass., the nation’s oldest fishing harbor. It’s hugely popular, with 22,000 to 30,000 page views per day.

The main reason Good Morning Gloucester connects with readers around the world is because it’s so real. The language is how real people talk and the people on the blog come across as real, likable people with interesting stories. There are lessons there for those of us who communicate for a living. Use simple, clear language. Be likable. Tell a good story.

My friend Joey Ciaramitaro is the lobster dealer behind Good Morning Gloucester. We interviewed him for ideas on ways to engage readers, build an audience and create, as he would say, “a blog that doesn’t suck.” Here are his tips.

What do you think? Which tips did we miss?

Though resistant at first, over the past few years I and the rest of the folks at Matter have come to embrace Twitter as an incredibly useful, powerful — and sometimes even fun — vehicle for connecting and communicating. Some of us would even go so far as to say we love Twitter now. Along the way, I’ve learned to keep the following tips in mind, which definitely apply to my fellow PR professionals:

1.) Follow and engage with relevant media. Doing so will keep you on your toes and in the loop. I can’t even count the number of times me or my colleagues have scored an interview opportunity, a competitive advantage, or saved ourselves from an ill-timed phone call simply by paying attention to what the people we pitch are tweeting at any given moment.

2.) Follow your peers. It takes a village to stay on top of the latest news, statistics, resources and “uh oh” moments happening in the wacky world where PR, marketing and social media intersect. Following and engaging with other PR professionals helps all of us pick up on things we should be paying attention to and doing…and helps us avoid the same mistakes others are making, as well.

3.) Keep at it. Sure, we’ve all let ourselves lapse from time to time. But if your last tweet was “Trying to figure out how to use the Twitter” back in January 2009, chances are your clients and colleagues aren’t exactly going to see you as the most credible and knowledgeable expert on social media and communications trends.

4.) Show personality, not poor judgment. Sharing emotions, pop culture tidbits and slice of life observations are a great way to build a following, demonstrate authenticity, and actually enjoy tweeting. But on the web, there is no real “delete” button, since just about everything is captured and cached and seen by someone the second it goes out. So if you’re tweeting in the heat of the moment, step away and take a deep breath before you hit send. If you’re commenting on politics or considering an update that some would consider TMI…all the more reason to truly stop and think before you tweet.

5.) Don’t drink and tweet. It’s never as cute or witty as you thought it was when you sober up. Trust me.

I have recently realized that without meaning to do it, I have fallen in love with Twitter. I love it for my clients, who use it as a way to get closer to their customers and employees. I love it for me professionally because I can see what my smart clients and reporter friends are interested in/reading/looking at/looking for right now. I love it for me personally, because it gives me a good laugh and keeps me up to speed all day long without taking all my time; there’s nothing like 140 characters for efficiency and clarity.

I know I’m not alone, but sometimes being on Twitter – even though it’s my job to be current and even though it’s mostly in the background  – feels a little like playing hooky from work. Like when I laugh out loud at something (@30_Rock_Quotes), or I spy (and buy) a great handbag on sale from @kspadesales (only two left! 50% off!), or I read some crazy article about a woman trying to get her husband out of jail in a suitcase. Sometimes, on good days, I feel like I’m at a really great cocktail or dinner party, listening to people who are belly-laugh funny, but who are also being really honest about the things that make them think, or wonder …or just say “huh.”

Now listen, please don’t email me now to tell me it’s FINE to be on Twitter, and tell me all the reasons why. People pay Matter to know all about Twitter, and to help be their voice on it. So, yes, I know I’m not REALLY doing anything wrong, but I can’t stop my 40-something, Irish Catholic conscience telling me that I probably just should not be having this much fun at work all day.

So just for fun, I decided to check around with my super smart Matter colleagues to see who they follow, and why…I did this partly to round out this blog, and partly to be sure that I’m not abusing my Twitter time (refer back to Irish Catholic guilt, which just keeps coming back at you even when you tell it it’s not necessary). I learned some fun things about who people follow, but more importantly why they follow that person. Here’s a top line rundown of why people follow who they do:

They are funny (we all need a good laugh, or 15, every day)

They give me something (leads on stories they’re writing) (oh, and see above bag anecdote – I am not alone on that one)

They give me information (school vote tonight, park committee meeting Saturday, etc.)

They’re famous (Cher, Shaq, Mia – the cobra who escaped the Bronx Zoo @BronxZoosCobra)

They have a genuine voice, it’s engaging to follow them

And here’s where my guilt is assuaged completely. See, the above list effectively captures the sentiment of me and my colleagues, but it also captures the essence of the best practices for strategy, planning and voice that we describe to our clients for their handles.  Be genuine. Give your followers something interesting and tangible (if possible). Be engaging.

How do you feel about this confluence of personal and professional, fun and strategic? For me it’s moments like these, when personal preference and professional best practices come together, that the merging of our work and home lives – the different worlds colliding in a way that makes both better – seems real, and good.

$136.38? $1.34? $0? What’s a Facebook “like” worth to you?

PR teams across the globe, as well as at home at Matter, are increasingly being called upon to help boost the number of likes on their Facebook page. Simultaneously, everyone from research firms to Main-Street businesses are trying to connect a value to that little click of a button.

One company, Eventbrite, this spring tied some figures to the debate, announcing that its Facebook likes were more profitable than its tweets. The company said an average tweet about an event drove 80 cents in ticket sales during the past six months, whereas an average Facebook Like drove $1.34. Another figure floated around last month notes that for retailers, each new fan acquired on Facebook is worth 20 additional visits to their website during a year. The figure, based on data from Hitwise and from Techlightenment primarily focuses on UK online retailers for its study. Social Media Today, however, disagrees, saying hitting the like button is similar to a dead end conversation.

The Facebook Media team weighed in on the conversation last fall. Among the data they shared, they said, “The average ‘liker’ has 2.4x the amount of friends than that of a typical Facebook user. They are also more interested in exploring content they discover on Facebook — they click on 5.3x more links to external sites than the typical Facebook user.”

A study last year of 4,000 panelists by social media measurement firm Syncapse showed an average fan is worth about $136.38 (between purchases and engagement), although for some successful social marketers the value can be dramatically higher, and virtually zero for others. Also last year Fellow Friar Brian Morrissey reported in AdWeek that social media specialist Vitrue, which aids brands in building their customer bases on social networks, “determined that, on average, a fan base of 1 million translates into at least $3.6 million in equivalent media over a year.” Forrester Research at the time cried out that a like is worth zilch.

No matter which calculation you reply on, in the race to be popular and have people like you (a la Jan Brady), companies should consider what value their fans contribute to their business goals. What incentive have they given them on Facebook to make a purchase? How often and in what way do they interact with that fan base? No matter how we quantify a “like,” most people seem to agree that being in tune to your customers’ attitudes is an invaluable commodity.