For the last day and a half I’ve been wandering around (and tweeting rather heavily about) Travel Technology Europe 2013. The exhibition and conference designed for travel technology buyers to source, learn and network with each other. I attended in my capacity as consultant for Keene Communications who heads up their digital PR and social media strategies. It’s good exploring where the travel industry is currently at and where technology is heading.

Whilst all conference materials were based around tourism, many themes were universal. The internet has created a gigantic splash across all industries but travel has their own challenges.

Google is a Threat
Guardian Technology Editor, Charles Author, kicked off the conference with his talk “Google: Organising the world”. He explored how organisations cannot beat the internet but have to join in. In particular, whilst improvements can be made to SEO there is no escaping Google’s fascination with improving their own travel real-estate. Their takeovers of ITA, Zagat and Frommer’s indicate that travel is obviously one their key development areas. This is best shown through Google’s very own search results where, no matter how personalised search results may be, Google’s real-estate will appear at the top of listings.

An animated Charles Arthur

On the second day of the conference I was pleased to have the opportunity to question Nate Bucholz, Industry Head of Travel at Google directly about this occurrence. He admitted that Google wants consumers to come to them but they are not interested in transaction services. An observation that Charles Author had made the day before after Google’s poor track record of handling customer relations.

Google is a goliath across every industry but for travel, the company has started to take the power away from online travel agents. Just how far will Google go? It is a question that more of the technology buyers attending the conference should have questioned Google more heavily about. Plus, plenty of antitrust questions should be asked.

Whilst Google are not evil, they have to walk a very difficult line. For the travel industry, Google is a threat.

SEO is PR
The conference also explored changes happening in SEO. Frequent changes being made to Google’s search algorithm means the SEO industry has to face huge changes every few months.

February 2011 – Google introduced Panda
November 2011 – Fresh Update
January 2012 – Google search plus your world
April 2012 – Google introduced Penguin
June/July 2012 – 86 search algorithm changes

Google is making their search results more credible and personal. In turn this is making it much harder for SEO agencies to deliver results for their clients because traditional link building exercises are not effective in the same way.

Essentially:
Traditional SEO was about search engines.
Modern SEO is about being people centric.

One of the biggest factors affecting Google search results today is social media, especially Google+. SEO agencies have begun involving social media activities as part of their responsibilities so that they can deliver clients better page ranks. The PR industry is already experts at creating diverse content, we are experts at starting conversations but unless we become good at SEO, we may start losing clients.

We know that a valid Google+ profile helps search results but we still don’t know much about how Google influence is measured. The latest industry knowledge indicates that the influence of a Google+ user is measured on the basis of:

-          Their +1s
-          Amount of comments per post
-          Amount of search queries
-          How many people they have circled
-          Number of circles they have
-          Engagement levels
-          Average page rank

Any website at the centre of an SEO campaign needs to involve a Google+ profile. Especially with the introduction of Google Author Rank. A subject which I hope to learn more about at Stephen Waddington’s #CIPRsm talk later this month.

Working with Bloggers
One of the most interesting sessions of the conference was how to work with bloggers. Increasingly PR agencies are looking at spending less money with journalists and instead turning attention towards bloggers instead. Especially for online campaigns this can really help:

-          Raise awareness
-          Target customers
-          Amplify marketing activities
-          Increase website referrals
-          Deliver Quality content
-          Supporting SEO

However, each blogger is very different. One of the best travel bloggers out there is @mrsoaroundworld but she believes that bloggers should not be handled like journalists. Whilst PR agencies may pay for a journalist to visit a destination, it may be wrong for a blogger to accept the same treatment as it removes them from being editorially independent. I’m not too sure what I think about this yet but the idea of PR becoming weird advertorial activity actually makes me feel slightly queasy.

Essentially agencies need to consider the KPIs of using a blogger in the first place and understand a campaign’s overall objectives. In turn, bloggers need to sell themselves more to agencies by selling on the stats they can deliver. Digital PR and social media is completely driven by big data – looking at the results of a blogger outreach campaign should be no different.

As always, let me know your thoughts and thank you Travel Technology Europe 2013 for such a brilliant set of talks.

Quick success wasn’t possible without glitches though as Vine delivered hardcore pornography to the majority of its user base. The popularity of Vine has come at a time when animated gifs have seen resurgence across the internet, particularly on Google+.

With a new social network comes a wave of digital PR advice; three days after launch Stephen Waddington posted “10 ways brands can use Vine” and Neville Hobson recently published “Six reasons why Vine is worth your time”. Many people across the blogosphere are touting Vine as the Instagram of 2013.

I’ve personally enjoyed mucking around with Vine; recording videos of my guitar, fish and making a cup of tea at Keene Communications. It’s an exhilarating feeling seeing users get used to creating content in 6 seconds; some of the stop motion videos are incredible. Yet, just over a week into user adoption I couldn’t help but tweet:

Vine could play a significant role of integrating rich media content into Twitter strategies, especially when it comes to fashion brands. Wouldn’t it be great to see a 6 second video of a model showing off a new clothing range? (Ann Summers could take Twitter by storm!). Heck, Vine will probably become a valuable resource for some of our tourism clients at Keene but… not yet.

Whilst Vine has attempted to curb the pornography issues, some videos are still filtering through (I had a nasty shock last night whilst exploring for new content…). As a person involved working with government entities, a pornography mishap during a campaign could have disastrous consequences.

Vine is still in its infancy and over the next few weeks we can expect many changes to be made. For a start it would be nice if Vine could include support for front facing cameras. Such a small tweak, when it eventually happens, will likely adapt the sort of content being shared across the whole network. People will be showing their faces, not the objects in front of them.

Despite Vine’s young nature some brands have produced some impressive content for Vine. The best videos I’ve seen come from Trident (although a bit gross) and Twitter. For those of us working in digital PR and social media, it is worth trying out Vine and watch how the social network develops. I’ll be using the app occasionally and will always be thinking of ways to use it in upcoming campaigns.

The transformative question is… EC=MC

(Every Company is a Media Company)

The phrase was coined by Tom Foremski and describes how companies are publishing content to its stakeholders, meaning that companies must have an understanding of the publishing tools available. The phase never really caught on in the UK but its effects are being felt across the profession.

PR agencies are publishing an increasingly large amount of content online but still write in a fashion which most would deem unsuitable for the internet age. Digital platforms are not designed for dull press releases but rich, dynamic and engaging content. Therefore, agencies not only need to have an understanding of how to use digital tools but also those who understand the correct tone for the digital age. Essentially, agencies need to understand content curation (and this is another blog post altogether!)

In most cases (only in my experience), the right people are not always the more senior. Instead we should avert our eyes to generation Y. Only they can solve the EC=MC equation.

In 2004, whilst most upcoming seniors were still writing press releases, generation Y were already engaging with digital tools. In most cases these were:

• PHP Forums
• Instant Chat (such as IRC)
• Growing blogging platforms (such as WordPress)
• Building websites from nothing (pure HTML goodness)

MySpace was VERY popular whilst I was growing up and to make any sort of design changes required rather in-depth HTML knowledge. Am I saying PR people should have a knowledge of programming? Yes I am.

The online landscape is as diverse as the cultures living in a student’s dorm. It is more than just social media, far more complicated than “social media gurus” can comprehend. The subtitle of this blog is “Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations and Stuff” because digital has blurred all disciplines and there is even stuff which cannot be categorised.

PR agencies need a helping hand and, in most cases, generation Y is the answer. So go on, give a student a job!

My thanks to Neville Hobson who highlighted EC=MC at his #CIPRsm session last week, “How social do you want your PR?”. To see a full list of other sessions taking place visit the CIPR Social Summer page.

If you search for “Twitter” on the Microsoft marketplace you get 495 apps appear but only a handful of proper Twitter clients. However, as with the Android marketplace, it is difficult to differentiate between smartphone, tablet and desktop apps.

The highest rated app by far is Twitter+ but it quickly becomes apparent that this app is built for smartphones, looking rather peculiar on a 1920×1080 resolution display.

The flagship third-party app for Windows 8 desktop and tablet is MetroTwit. Fitting neatly into the Windows 8 Metro interface, it creates lucidity between the start screen and Twitter use. Although it isn’t nearly as advanced as some of the apps found on iOS devices and has a few bugs which need ironing out (such as freezing, inconvenient refreshing and slow loading).

Why? The relationship between Twitter and third-party developers has become awkward.

In a widely publicised event last year, Twitter made developers aware of terms of use that would come into effect which would limit third-party access to their systems, including:

-          Amount of requests per-hour time limits

-          Obligatory authentication calls to the Twitter database

-          Limits to the amount of people using third-party applications

-          Changes to developer rules

As speculated across a number of blogs, this is a move likely to have been made to enhance Twitter’s monetising efforts by pushing advertising across browser based and certified Twitter apps. It is a move which has alienated and ended the relationship with Twitter for many developers.

Don’t get me wrong. I whole heartedly understand Twitter decision to place limits on the number of certified Twitter applications and to reduce the amount of third-party developers. Twitter is a social network but more importantly, a business – they have to make money. Twitter must wake up when it comes to Windows 8 though.

Twitter is actively stopping developers creating decent Twitter apps for Windows 8. We shouldn’t be surprised though, Twitter has already restricted access to the API warning developers that client building will becoming a frownable offence.

In my eyes Twitter needs to wake up and smell the coffee; Windows 8 isn’t going anywhere yet and their users would like to see a decent Twitter app. When will we get one? Who knows.

My thanks to @welshcuriosity and @webfoldYasin who helped me discover the full extent of the third-party Twitter app issue in further detail.

Many people who have taken the decision to freelance, in whichever field they operate, will most likely have been attracted by the opportunity to be their own boss. The idea of working from home can be particularly appealing.

In practice this is where most will start out when building their business, partly because most start-ups will not require any extra staff (at first) but also because working from home negates the need to pay rent, worry about additional overheads and of course, the commute only lasts as long as it takes to walk from your bed to your computer.

What most people will find in time is that whilst working from home offers the flexibility and freedom they had always dreamed of, productivity can suffer as a result of the multitude of distractions that will inevitably occur within the home. It may be that they have a wife and/or children at home that demand their attention, it could be a tendency towards spending a slightly higher than average amount of time watching funny videos of cats on YouTube, or it could be that you find you are easily persuaded to nip out for a coffee with a friend which then turns into a full day out… home life is full of these distractions and only very few are able to keep a strict working schedule in place.

On top of these distractions, there are other down-sides to working from home. It makes it very difficult to have clients over for meetings unless you have a separate area in which you carry out your work, and when your home is your office you will undoubtedly find yourself thinking about your clients and perhaps replying to emails of an evening when you should be spending that time relaxing with your family.

Although working from home may be a necessity when starting out, there will come a time when you feel the need to be in a place that feels more like ‘work’ – somewhere to get your head down without these distractions, a place to have clients in for meetings, and a place to escape to immerse yourself in your work.

The ideal solution to this problem is to find yourself a professional space in which to do your work – by setting yourself a normal working hours schedule and being in a rented office from 9 to 5 every day will stop you worrying about the fact that you ‘could/should be doing some client work right now’ in the evenings and weekends, and you will find you are far more productive when you are working.

There are various options when deciding to take the plunge, from co-working which involves renting a desk in an already-functioning office environment (which has the benefit of feeling even more like ‘work’) through to renting a fully serviced office to call home – this option can be preferable if you find you are easily distracted by others around you as you can set yourself up on your own.

Serviced office space offers a huge range of benefits:

• A serviced office will usually include a phone line.
• Your visitors will be greeted by a receptionist who will let you know when you have clients in for meetings – your receptionist may also route your calls.
• Meeting rooms may have the necessary equipment required for presentations (projectors etc) so you don’t have to invest yourself.
• When you reach a point where you need to take on additional staff, or if you need more space for your equipment, there will often be larger offices available for you to upgrade to without having to move everything from the building.
• There will normally be no long-term commitment or contract, meaning that if you decide to move or to go back to working from home then you can do so without ease and without that extra expense that a long-term contract may cause.
• There may also be parking, both for yourself and for your visitors.

Finding premises near you is easy – a simple Google search for “offices to rent in essex” for example will present you with hundreds of potential spaces for you to locate your business to, and you will find that although they come at a price, they are not necessarily all that expensive!

Taking that next step and renting an office space may seem like a daunting prospect, but if you are finding working at home to be a struggle then the additional expense of renting an office may well be exactly what you need to take your business to the next level.

This time last year I wrote an article for ProBlogger entitled “8 Reasons Why Students Should Blog”. The post is still well received to this day with over 600 re-tweets! The post set out why students should blog but could actually apply to anyone considering taking up the reigns of blogging.  Now that we are the start of another year I have taken the effort to revise a few of the reasons here.

If you are thinking about getting into the swing of blogging this year, here are a few things you should remember.

1)      Your blog shapes the professional internet
Your personal internet is shrinking. Once signed into Google all your results will be personalised based from previous searches and what your network of contacts have recommended. The purpose of this functionality is to make search results more relevant for everyone but at the same time, much content is being censored, being pushed back through the search results.

Think of your chosen industry as a spider’s web, each strand connected to a professional who could have that dream job for you. Blogging enables you to become one of those stands on the web and stand among your industry’s thought leaders.

2)      Mobile is BIG
With the number of smartphone users in the UK to double between 2012 and 2016, from 19.2 million to 41.9 million, it’s essential to be creating compatible content. Blogging is one of the few channels which can easily adapt its content across a whole range of platforms. I know that this blog can be read on my PC, smartphone, tablet, even my Xbox. All it takes is a few free WordPress plugins and you have compatibility which many companies still pay thousands for. The challenge for blogging is to create diverse content which can still hit a number of platforms.

This year I am probably going to write an estimated 25,000 words on this blog of which 12,500 are probably going to be read on mobile devices (judging from this site’s stats).

3)      Blogging takes a lot of stamina
This point remains relatively unchanged from last year because blogging is still tough. The whole public relations industry produces but still struggles with content. The blogging sphere is so crowded that getting your voice heard above others can be really difficult. To tackle this effective blogging requires the support of social networks and, for public relations students, it’s worth adding yourself to the CIPR Conversation.

If you believe that rather tongue-in-cheek point from CEO of Econsultancy, Ashley Friedlein, then 2013 will be the year of the long blog post.

4)      Consider other forms of advertising
There is nothing wrong with trying to make some money blogging. However, using banners ads can be a painfully long process to pay off. Instead consider other forms of advertising such as sponsored posts, anchored links (although this is gradually being killed off due to search changes) or selling premium content. With the growth of eBook readers consider self-publishing short books – the online space is full of money making options.

5)      Your fellow bloggers
It’s all very well learning the latest bit of public relations theory, how to build effective campaigns and having conversations with the experts but go back to the basics. Remember to follow, recommend and comment on other blogs. Blogging is a community activity and in all likelihood your traffic levels will be partly reliant on the recommendations of others.

And remember, blogging is a marathon and not a sprint.

Now, what have I missed?

Introducing social media elements to a public relations campaign requires more focus than tailoring content for Twitter and Facebook (which really is a 2008 mentality). Instead, we should focus on the wider media mix.

Remember: campaigns aren’t split as traditional public relations and social media; instead we just see the media.

When running a public relations campaign this year it is worth bearing in mind:

1)      Break down communication channels
Understand all the communication channels that will be used in a campaign and then build a strategy for how they will all interconnect with each other. This may include the usual mix of GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook & Amazon) but stretch out a little bit. Remember that newspapers and radio can comfortably sit alongside online channels.

2)      Niches can mean big wins
Segmenting audiences online is a tough business and automatic segmentation, such as drilling down on what users have written in their profiles, can miss key influencers in the long run. Remember that people online will congregate around values and that the stakeholders in your campaign can be drilled down to individual value subsets. This is closely aligned to my research last year.

3)      Content is still king
The public relations industry has been creating outstanding content since the time of Edward Bernays. Yet some clients make content creation difficult (through lack of news or tough sells) and this can cause campaigns to really struggle. Tackle this by part sourcing content from online, share the positive sentiment of your customers (remember to keep copyright in mind!).

4)      Remain fresh
Throughout campaigns be open to new strategies and tactics. The next Twitter could be around the corner or already exist as a growing social media site. Keeping up-to-date with the latest digital communication news can be tough. Follow industry bloggers and those who work in digital (like me!). Reading, attending events and trying out new approaches keeps the industry fresh.

5)      Measurement is crucial
Although this is my last point it should really be at the top of the list. Measurement is key for the public relations industry to survive against online advertising and marketing. It happens before a campaign for identifying audiences and influencers, critical for monitoring and necessary for showing results at the end. Before you start any campaign understand how you are going to measure each part of it.