Are You Communicating Dynamically?
By Chris Bechtel
It took only a few years for the Internet to fundamentally change
the way we communicate. Marketers have learned to take advantage
of this new medium by creating innovative ways to reach their audiences,
from banner ads and interactive pop-ups to personalized e-mail messages.
But what about business communicators? Have we really taken advantage
of everything the ’Net has to offer? With all the choices
for news and information, how do we cut through the noise of the
competition, keep our audiences engaged and influence them to move
in the right direction?
Static vs. Dynamic Communication
The sites that draw the most visitors on the ’Net are always
changing their content—weekly, daily or even hourly. That
content is dynamic, not static. The fresh, often personalized information
continually engages us and makes us want to return. Think of the
Internet as a dynamic communication tool that gives us the ability
to target, focus and change our messages constantly in order to
influence diverse sets of audiences. Too often, our communication
remains static and outdated. Consider the benefits of dynamic communication.
Dynamic Communication Assures Credibility
Think about the sources you trust and why you trust them. You’ll
probably find some common themes: frequently updated content; comprehensive
information; noted sources; clean, simple navigation; information
in a variety of formats (photos, video, audio, PDFs, etc.); targeted,
even personalized, content, all peppered with easy-to-use feedback
and response mechanisms such as registration forms and surveys.
This constantly evolving content, displayed in engaging formats
that fully exploit the Internet’s audio/visual capabilities,
tells audiences that what they are viewing is new, current and credible.
Note that most Reuters stories on the Internet always have a date
and a time (“Two hours and eight minutes ago”). A simple
notation tells us that this is the latest news.
Dynamic Communication Influences Action
Dynamic communication enables us to provide the content that will
engage our audiences and encourage them to act. If our audiences
don’t invest in our firm, write an article about us, buy more
products or services or do anything else we want them to do, we
haven’t done our job.
Journalists, for example, have very specific requirements for the
content they use. Their ability or inability to get the information
they need affects the way they will write a story, and usually determines
whether or not they will write one at all.
The latest Neilson
Norman Group study on “Designing
Websites to Maximize Press Relations” states, “If
journalists cannot find what they are looking for on a web site,
they may exclude or limit information about that company in the
story. According to our users, some test sites were so unusable
that the journalists would have given the companies little or no
press coverage.”
Ecast, Inc. is a San Francisco firm that runs a network of almost
2,000 coin-operated, broadband-enabled digital downloading jukeboxes
in North America. The company has seen its media coverage spike,
according to Bob Cooney, V.P. of Marketing, since it began using
a dynamic content management system for its Internet pressroom.
(see case study)
To interest journalists in your company, you must provide them with
more than just a press release. Consider creating a speakers’
bureau staffed by experts in various subjects within your organization,
or perhaps a hot topics, story ideas, trends or statistics section
to offer journalists ideas for stories that will pique their interest
and make their jobs easier. When you become a better resource for
factual, relevant and up-to-date information, you are more likely
to get media coverage for your firm.
Some Guidelines
Look beyond the text. Dynamic communication should
go beyond mere text. As communicators, we usually have a variety
of audiences that we need to reach. Even when the communication
is internal to our organization, we are usually addressing different
types of employees and executives. Are we delivering our message
in a format that will interest all of them? Some people respond
to images, others to audio, still others to audio and video, or
audio and text. Unless it’s really fresh, text alone is often
not enough to attract a visitor to your site.
Avoid dependence on IT. In order to keep your key
audiences engaged, you need to keep your content alive—and
you need to be able to do it easily, from anywhere, at any time,
without relying on a team of developers.
Learn from savvy communicators. There are many
tools at our disposal, among them e-mail and e-newsletters. Blogs
are also widely used, especially by U.S. politicians who want to
communicate with the public on a regular basis. Former U.S. presidential
candidate Howard Dean used a blog to shape his image and to keep
in daily touch with his supporters.
In his article “Blogs Have Become Part of the Media Machine
That Shapes Politics,” published on 23 February 2004, Wall
Street Journal columnist Lee Gomes wrote, “These blogs
are becoming an alternative news universe, giving everyone with
a PC and a web connection access to the sorts of gossip that was
once available only to reporters on the press bus.”
Don’t forget the power of the moving image.
Multimedia tools are also effective. There are a number of firms
that offer online conferencing and “web casts” that
enable communicators to make presentations with audio (and sometimes
video) and even allow white-boarding (for drawing onscreen) and
live online chat features. Many public companies use these tools
to announce their quarterly earnings. Private companies should consider
using similar multimedia to deliver their messages. Streaming media
(video or audio on demand) is an effective and low-cost tool that
can be employed to display B-roll (company or product footage available
for journalists), pitch a video news release, feature a spokesperson,
communicate with employees or educate partners and affiliates.
Utilize the expertise of your peers. Use tools
that have been built specifically for marketing and communication
professionals employing “best practices,” based on experiences
with leading corporations. Make sure you have the ability to create
content-rich communication vehicles that include photos, video and
even audio, and link those to response and measurement mechanisms.
Avoid maintaining your own hardware. Look for services
and software that can be delivered on demand—when you need
them—over the Internet. No software to install. No long ramp-up
times. Pay as you use. Look for a provider whose service can expand
or contract according to your needs. Think about what makes sense
for your organization and quantify the value and potential cost
savings by leveraging someone else’s existing assets.
Tap the potential. Reap the benefits. The Internet
is no longer in its infancy, yet its potential is still highly under
utilized. Take a step back and assess your current position. Determine
your goals and consider the benefits, in terms of productivity and
results, that a truly dynamic communication vehicle can deliver
to your organization.
Chris Bechtel has been a marketing and communications professional
for more than 12 years, specializing in helping companies maximize
the results of their public relations and advertising programs through
the use of technology and strategic communications. He is presently
the COO and Vice President of Marketing and Product Development
for
iPressroom Corporation.
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