Nasty Blog Comments Can Sway How We Remember Stories

I always read blog comments - until there are just too many or I start to believe that many of them are written by people who are paid to take a negative viewpoint. Some of the arguments are just too ridiculous (those are probably real people) while others are totally partisan (paid I assume). Anyway, I never really understood the reasoning behind paid commentary - other than to market a company or product - but it turns out they can also sway opinion. 

In a study published online last month in The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, the New York Times and the previously mentioned publication tested the effect on readers of nasty article comments.

They asked 1,183 participants to carefully read a news post on a fictitious blog, explaining the potential risks and benefits of a new technology product called nanosilver. These infinitesimal silver particles, tinier than 100-billionths of a meter in any dimension, have several potential benefits (like antibacterial properties) and risks (like water contamination), the online article reported.

Then they had participants read comments on the post, supposedly from other readers, and respond to questions regarding the content of the article itself.

Half of the sample was exposed to civil reader comments and the other half to rude ones — though the actual content, length and intensity of the comments, which varied from being supportive of the new technology to being wary of the risks, were consistent across both groups. The only difference was that the rude ones contained epithets or curse words, as in: “If you don’t see the benefits of using nanotechnology in these kinds of products, you’re an idiot” and “You’re stupid if you’re not thinking of the risks for the fish and other plants and animals in water tainted with silver.”

The results were both surprising and disturbing. Uncivil comments not only polarized readers, but they often changed a participant’s interpretation of the news story itself.

To learn more go to http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/opinion/sunday/this-story-stinks.html?hp

Why Marketing and PR Should Go for the Gut

I went to a media training workshop recently and the core message I walked away with was connect on an emotional level with the person interviewing you, and you're golden.

I've been watching top tier advertising lately and the best of it makes me want to help, obtain, or just pick up the phone and find out more. That's because I'm listening and I've made, at the very least, an investment in taking more time to go further.

I write speeches these days, and the most successful tell stories that make audiences feel as though they are part of what we're addressing - if they are not yet. 

We've all been told that emotion sells, that connecting with your audience at a gut level, works. But lately I've done and seen a lot of just that. And I've become more and more convinced that this is what differentiates good from great. Good is respectful and informative and I hate this phrase, but it's appropriate to the audience. Great is what I connect with because it becomes part of me. And that's emotionally charged.

The best way to connect with people is by making them care. If people feel nothing, they do nothing. Think about a married couple in a restaurant. They sit quietly eating - and don't say a word the entire meal. It's not anger or resentment or love that keeps them silent. It's disinterest.

So as marketers and PR people, how do we connect emotionally with those we want to influence? Here are a few thoughts.

1. Help Me Connect Through My Own Lense. If I see myself or a real person in what you're talking about, I'm much more likely to connect and care. If you're trying to get someone to write about a product related to healthcare, first ask questions and figure out what my personal connection might be to that product. Then explain it, so it matters to me, my family, those I love and care about.

2. Tell Me a Verifiable Story. If I know what you're trying to sell me or persuade me to do has a connection to real people, I'll be far more likely to pay attention. Tell me about someone whose life was changed by this product or service. Don't call them a client - call them by a first name and a last one if you can. Make them real people. When I see testimonials on web sites that say a software manufacturer says we transformed their business but they don't tell me how and they don't tell me who - I don't care and worse, I don't believe them. If you can't identify who you are talking about, or at least give me enough details to get me invested in it, then I'm not going to pay attention, let alone care.

3. Have a Real Person Talk to Me. Non-profits are amazing at this but there's a special way to do it that works. I'm tired of hearing about poor, starving children in some remote corner of the world. My donation will build a school, or give them clean water, or whatever. No it won't and please don't insult my intelligence. I hear this same message all the time, from many charities. But if a real person who works for you is telling me this story and they are passionate about it, and you pair that with visuals of the work you're doing, I start caring. It's that simple.

4. Don't Fake It. If you don't care why should I? I have seen thousands of presentations by people who aren't passionate about their work and it's exhausting. They go on and on and on and on, and it never ends. I'm not listening after the first minute so the rest of what they're telling me doesn't matter. If you don't care, or you pretend to care, you sound fake. Persuade me because you really believe in what you are doing. Otherwise you're wasting everyone's time. 

What the Heck Happened to the Today Show?

OK - I'm admitting this. I am a PR person and I still sometimes watch the Today Show. I like to see what they are covering and what they consider important. But there's so little there.

Today I turned off Jenna Bush's pregnancy. She announced it on the air (I was still trying to figure out who she was) but when they called up George and Laura it became pretty clear that she was their daughter. The one who didn't get into trouble - the one who got married - became a teacher like her mom - and can't wait to have her baby. Really?

I turned it off while Jenna was still glowing and someone brought her flowers. I give her credit she cracked a joke at what they looked like in all their white roseness. But I cannot even remember what it was.

The Today Show was once a good program - what has happened to it? I can't watch it for more than 10-15 minutes without becoming profoundly annoyed and bored. That's not a good sign. So I watched a bit of the advertising and called a Hallmark ad in the first five seconds of it. Schmaltz as my grandmother would say.

Chasing the news of the moment, perhaps is the downfall. The fiscal cliff - enough already. And that's the most educated thing they talk about explaining it in terms an eight year-old could grasp. 

Every day there is another insipid story that is about people and is supposed to be inspiring. I sit here trying to remember one and I can't. It's too blurred with all the other nonsense on television.

Often I just feel horribly sorry for Matt Lauer. Still hanging in there while his co-hosts get even younger, and the pretense of journalism is no longer even that. 

OK let me just say it then - I am not a mindless idiot - please stop treating me like one. I know that network television has become one long reality television program but at least give me something other than canned celebrity interviews, silly stories and news dumbed down. I am an intelligent person, and you've lost me.

The only other thing I've noticed is that the lines outside the studio are very small compared to most years. I guess it's because of Sandy and the lack of tourists. Or maybe it's just that the fan base doesn't really care anymore. Either way whatever happened to The Today Show?

Marketing Accomplishments - Take Credit for Your Work

It's been a grueling political season, and on both sides of the aisle, I've seen talented leaders who don't take credit for the good work they've done. I know there are polls and pundits and fear of saying the wrong thing and having it end up going viral, but there are ways of outlining your achievements that make sense and can help teach people who you are and what you believe in.

In these last few days before the presidential election we're beginning to see more of a focus on accomplishments, and as a citizen and a voter, all I can say is thank goodness. There's only so much negativity one person can handle before it all starts sounding like noise.

Metrics don't just matter, they help seal the deal. Unfortunately, the metrics of this presidential election don't always add up and that diminishes the value of the ones that do. But we live in a world of metrics and we should use what we accomplish both qualitatively and quantitatively. 

Anecdotes are great and they pull emotional strings, but nothing competes with sales figures for marketers, or how many people were driven to a web site and what drove them there, and how long they stayed. 

For PR people, it's where the article about the client ran, how prestigious the media that wrote the story is, how many people clicked within a press release and where they went from there. And then there's the value of strong messaging - messages people remember that don't sound like what your competition is saying. 

So in this last week of the presidential election, no matter who wins, I implore you to stop attacking each other and run on your results. You've got them. 

Why Your News Release Should Not Be Written Like One

As I sit here writing yet another news release, it occurred to me I have never really talked on this blog about why I write them the way I do.

The best outcome of a news release is when someone decides to do a story on a topic. But in today’s online world, chances are small anyone is going to pick-up the phone and interview whoever is quoted and do their own story. You can call them back - particularly if you know them - and maybe get a story out of it. But someone write a story on their own volition based upon most of the awful news releases that are written today - I don't think so.

But there’s a much greater chance that a blogger or reporter will use what the news release says – often close to verbatim – and put their name or no name on it and run it as is, as an article. Why?

Picture a 22 year-old junior reporter, straight out of college, with 10 stories to write that day, or who has a job as an aggregator who finds news by looking at other resources. If he or she gets a news release that is already written as an article, it can be repurposed as a story. Or a blogger can pick up your release and run it, if it's relevant to what he or she writes about.

News releases that are written as news releases can stay up a few hours or just a couple of days, if they go through wire service or other distribution. They are usually not highlighted. No matter where they are picked up, they are categorized as news releases and go to a special place on media web sites that is kind of a dead zone unless I’m looking for a story at that particular moment, that is exactly what you’re writing about, or I find it before it comes down and it's a source on a story I'm working on.

And what's one of the major purposes of a news release. To generate as much traffic as possible to a company's web site and create a bigger online presence than before.

Just write the darn story for them

So your best bet is to write the story for the blogger or reporter – keep it under 500 or at most 600 words. Now do reporters actually do this - depends on who they write for, what the rules are and how much time they have. But all except the ones at top notch media sometimes will and I have the track record to prove it.

Tie your news release to search terms that are popular at that moment – a holiday, current news item, hot topic, industry terms or best yet a celebrity, or big brand name, and media will find it quickly. Put that popular term in the headline if you can. That’s much better than something which says so and so was hired by so and so to do so and so. Sleeping.

So the releases that I’m writing tells the story of your news in a way that I know a reporter or even an algorithim will respond too. The problem with many PR people is they don't want to write a news release that moves away from the traditional format they were taught before Instagram. (If you don't know what that is you are definitely out of touch or don't have kids). 

I mean news releases filled with long, clunky thoughts, industry jargon, several lengthy quotes by all the people who matter, and missing anything that might possibly be perceived as negative or upset someone somewhere along the line.

Hello news release trash bin. 

Writers are not going to take the time to put up something that they have to edit and with quotes they can’t use.They want to go home before midnight like the rest of us.

The style of quote that is being used in many news releases is way too long, and has multiple points in it. The point of a quote is to amplify the thought that comes before it. Like a journalist would use one. That extra step – the editing and changing someone else's words requires permission. Even the laziest of reporters knows darn well they can't alter someone else's words. So they won't bother with your news release.

Finally headlines have got to attract the attention of a broad audience, even if your audience is fairly narrow. So for instance, a company that gets a new client or puts out a new product that doesn't change the world - what does really - no one other than a very few trade reporters will care. But if you can tie that news to a broader industry trend, or information on how this is going to change the way business is done, or bring new insight, that’s better. 

Is there a way you can make this greener, cheaper, better, smarter, or a major benefit to big players in your industry or world? Go for it. Just watch the use of big adjectives and tell me the story as a reporter would write it.

That's my rant for the day.

No Great, Great Aunt Bess You Cannot Be My Facebook Friend

When a 90-something relative tried to friend me on Facebook a few months back, I was shocked. I know a growing number of seniors are using the Internet and yes it’s a wonderful way for them to connect with and make friends from their own homes.

It’s one thing to be Facebook friends with my 16 year-old son, but letting a great, great aunt read some of the stuff my friends post. I don’t think so.

Well a new study from the Pew Internet Project shows that online communication among seniors is skyrocketing, and I’d better get used to it.  

As of April 2012, 53% of American adults aged 65 and older report using the Internet or email. For the first time half of all seniors are online. After several years of very little growth among this group, these gains are a definite and important trend for marketers to take note of.

Here’s some additional data:

Daily Internet Use – Among adults 65 and older, 70% of them use the Internet daily, compared to 82% use by other age groups. Once you get into the mid-70s age group, the number of Internet users falls off to 34%.

Cell Phone Usage – 7 out of 10 seniors own a cell phone, up from 57% in May of 2010.

Social media – One in 3 seniors who are online use social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Email – 86% of seniors 65 plus use email, and about 48% use it on an average day.

To learn more go to: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Older-adults-and-internet-use/Summary-of-findings.aspx

Your Business Charity Does Not Begin in My Home

Do I ask your company to subsidize mine? Of course not. So why are so many business executives these days asking parents of college students to subsidize theirs?

This is a rant in case you haven't figured that out yet. Every day online, I see a new posting from companies offering unpaid student internships for the summer. It makes me crazy. It's so totally wrong.

I understand that business is still not what it should be. Businesses figure it's a fair trade to give college kids experience while they make money on their work. Well I'm here to tell you that there's another side to this story.

As the parent of an almost college student looking at annual tuition in the tens of thousands of dollars, I can tell you that the kids don't profit from this approach. The next generation of workers aka college kids, need to learn that when they work hard they get paid for it. That companies value their time and skills enough to compensate them. That when students give their time, it should be to causes they believe in where there are clear benefits for those less fortunate than they are, the environment, the world at large. Not some businesses' bottom line. 

That's how kids develop a value system that will carry them forward and make them productive, compassionate people. Of course there are parents who are willing to subsidize their kids getting business experience but that's because they can afford it. Most parents are not the one percent whose kids take "gap years" and can afford to work all summer long on mommy and/or dad's income. 

My kids will work before, during and after college. It's an economic necessity. And it's good for them to learn the value of work. How can this nation ever create "real jobs" if businesses are taking advantage of student time and saddling they and their parents with more debt? Yes the job market is still lousy and it's doable. But that doesn't make it right.

We're a small company and we always pay our interns. We don't pay them a lot because we can't, but we want them to care about the work they're doing, learn how to do it right, and make a contribution to our growth and theirs. Of course, we could find free interns, but we do it because we don't believe in taking advantage of students and their families. Period.

Besides what happens when your student interns work for free? You get trust fund babies who can afford to do unpaid internships. Not my magnet program son or any of his friends. The best and brightest end up working in a store or a restaurant or a camp or someplace that pays them wages. They have to earn money over the summer to help pay their way. 

They're the children of the 99 percent. And the other one percent of kids. They're on vacation.

Pay your interns because in the end you get what you pay for. And it's not my job to subsidize your company. I don't ask you to subsidize mine.