Last week I spent some time at the Public Sector Learning Conference in London. The public sector is not my usual haunt so it was interesting to learn how people in local government and the like were coming to terms with the brave new world of social media.
The theme from the speakers was surprisingly consistent – social media is no passing phase and we must adopt the tools that people are using in their everyday lives if we wish to connect with them and, in this case, deliver effective learning.
Good in Theory, but…
The theme from the floor however was a litle more mixed. Austensibly, the delegates were all elearning converts – representatives of councils and local authorities who have invested in elearning technology. Digging a little deeper though and it was clear that the restraints put in place by many of the organisations in question meant that making the most of the tools available was either frowned upon or, in some cases, banned.
Many delegates had no access to social media tools and networks. Some didn’t even have their own email addresses. Despite the desire of the front line staff to engage in new ways and create new content, it simply isn’t allowed.
Is the Private Sector All That Different?
Clearly organsiations in the public sector have more stakeholders to satisfy, political forces to placate and hoops to jump through. But ….
…. is the private sector really all that different?
It’s often easy to forget that those of involved in social media, digital content and everything else 2-point-whatever are still, very much, early adopters – or at least early majority. The vast majority of businesses still stick with their static brochure style websites (if they have one at all) and they certainly don’t spend their days Twittering or blogging or creating YouTube vids.
So What Needs to Change?
Social media has gone mainstream – and where people go in their private lives, business is sure to follow in increasing numbers.
If we want to accelerate the process however – and this may sound like it was written a decade ago – as businesses and professionals with an interest in pushing media forward (i.e. you), we must continue to make ‘new media’ more accessible and more welcoming.
Case in point: The New York Times recently announced the appointment of a new Social Media Editor. While some greeted the announcement with scepticism and a few snarky remarks, others (rightly in my opinion) were happy to reserve judgement and welcome the fact that NYT were taking social media seriously (although many of the individual reporters and editors on the paper have been social media enthusiasts for some time).
It’s The Fear Dammit
The biggest barrier to social media participation within organisations – public or private – is the fear. The fear of getting it wrong. The fear of getting in trouble. The fear of losing control.
While we should continue to argue the importance of social media and all it entails, we also need to help deal with some of that fear. The best way to do that is to welcome, support and even reward organisations that are willing to dip their toes in the water.
What’s your take? What prevents public and private sector organisations from participating in social media – and what can we do about it?
I’ve often noted here that great content doesn’t have to be written – it can be images, animation, audio, video or even live content.
Case in point: Jamie Parkins, from online video company Vzaar, dropped me an interesting email today with the results of a recent straw poll of Vzaar users. Some of the results included:
- Diamond Jewellery United based in Antwerp Belgium, saw their sales
increase by 65% four months after implementing product videos.
- Industry Recycles who sell second hand equipment, saw an increase in sales over 12 months by over 307%,
- Yesil, an online furniture website, saw a 50% increase in web
traffic transferring to a rise of 30% in sales over the same period.
Admittedly the evidence is anecdotal but it does make sense. Creating great content is often simply about giving the prospective customer what they want – and in these cases they wanted a better way to experience the products before they bought.
How could you use video – or any other content – to better demonstrate to your prospects what you do?
Pic: Flickr
I was browsing through the UK launch edition of Wired magazine today and came cross some interesting quotes.
Wired asked a handful of influential media types how they would invest $100M in media? Here are a few of the answers:
“I’d stop worrying about technology, and would amass a dream team of fantastic, opinionated journalists.” Colin Gottlieb, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, EMEA
“In the vaguely optimistic hope that if you build it they will come, and if you build it very well the advertisers will come too, I’d invest in talent … ” Roger Alton, Editor, The Independent
“My joke answer? I’d invest in TMZ and Perez Hilton. If that’s really where the eyeballs are going for news, advertising money follows the eyeballs … ” Anthony House, Public affairs manager, Google
“It’s about talent – so I’d invest in a talent company.” Stephen Miron, CEO, Global Radio
It interesting that in a time where newspapers and magazines are shedding talent as fast as they shed advertising revenues, some of the smartest minds in the industry are saying that talent is vital to the future of media.
So as businesses creating content, the opportunity should be clear – invest in the best possible talent to create the best possible content.
OK, a quick quiz to get you started. How much do each of these cost to buy?
- A newspaper?
- A magazine?
- A book?
- An industry trend report?
On my way back from a trip to Galway last week, I nipped into a shop to buy a few bits and pieces for the journey, including a magazine. As it turns out the magazine cost a little over €7 (£6.50 / $9) which in turn brought on the inevitable gasp and disapproving looks from my better half. (I usually remember to remove the price tag first.)
To be fair I am a bit of a magazine junkie so the disapproving looks are probably warranted but it got me thinking about how we attach value to content based on its format.
€7 seems a lot for a magazine but that assessment is based on what we think a magazine should cost – not the value of the content inside. And it’s not a volume thing either – a newspaper could easily have several times the volume of content of a magazine yet will only cost a fraction of the price.
You could easily argue that this is down to production costs, supply and demand or a range of other factors but I’d suggest that simple expectation plays a big part. As consumers we make assumptions about both cost and value based on format – the same content delivered in different ways will carry a different perceived value.
As content producers then, businesses must be aware of how format and presentation affect the perceived value of the content we deliver.
Does calling something a ‘whitepaper’ make it appear more valuable than if you used the terms ‘ebook’ or ’special report’? Do visitors to your website value video content more highly than written content? Why does a printed book carry more perceived weight than its digital equivalent?
Before you develop your next piece of content ask yourself if there is another way to deliver that information that would carry more weight with your market.
