Can’t Buy Me Klout

A lot of chatter about content creation lately… 

Do you consider content management a key factor for your company’s PR efforts? Or perhaps you’re one of those “the future is all about content” marketing soothsayers?

Hey – wake up! Content creation is present-day PR and it always has been. What’s changed/changing is not that public relations people are writing the news; it’s the rate at which news cycles flow, and what media people use to get their news. It’s rapidly changing, expanding, more immediate and more high-tech than ever.

Content creation isn’t just about the news * in words * anymore; it’s about delivering the * content * people want, which includes photos, videos, audio, graphics, tips, tools and further interactive resources. News is on a beeline for multimedia diversity and PR has to make content that leverages that, to be successful in today’s media landscape.

Companies aren’t reliant solely on traditional press/journalism to make their voice heard anymore… PR can travel through any number of social and direct-to-consumer channels – Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and corporate blogs being just the tip of the iceberg. Now we’ve got Instagram, social games (iOS a la Foursquare and Words with Friends, XBLA, etc.), YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Spotify, Turntable.fm, newsletters and proprietary forums… You get the idea.

But if you want to influence consumers, you have to earn some social R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Why Klout will inevitably matter once it goes mainstream >>> “Anyone can ‘do’ social media, so which ones can I trust?”

I won’t attempt to distill social media strategy into a blog post, but here are a few takeaways –

  • Know your audience and speak to them – Ask questions and join in the conversation when your network responds.
  • Stay on topic – Don’t abandon your area of expertise because you think your fans are getting bored. That’s probably why they followed you in the first place.
  • Be consistent, not boring (voice/tone) – Be sure to insert some added value of your own too.
  • Be timely – Old news sucks. News travels faster than ever. Take heed.
  • Keep it simple stupid – I refuse to explain this point.
  • SEO – Still a go in social media. #andhashtags

Klout makes R-E-S-P-E-C-T quantifiable, visual, comparable and standard for everyone. You may not understand how it works, or believe in the way Klout approaches metrics (or believe they are accurate, for that matter), but Klout metrics are consistent for everyone and thus a valid corporate and consumer measurement tool.

Tips for Klout are applicable to any good web content creation, or PR in general, once you get right down to it. Using social media as a direct marketing channel ups the ante on what you present. Likewise, Klout’s metrics system magnifies the results (along with other analytics like tracking web traffic, incoming requests, etc.) if you use social media to connect and promote your brand – like any good business does.

It is no longer acceptable not to be interested in Klout, or to say its superfluous. It’s also not sufficient to simply sign up and check your score every few months. The feedback from data is too valuable not to use it.


On China

It was announced this week that TechCrunch’s Disrupt Cup winner in Beijing, OrderWithMe, raised a $3 million A round shortly after the conference ended in November. TriplePointers Molly and Ashley had the privilege to see this young startup present in the Disrupt Battlefield in China and to meet CEO Jonathan Jenkins (see picture below).

OrderWithMe is just one example of a huge shift of American entrepreneurs starting businesses in China and larger American corporations expanding their business into the East. The hot topic of discussion onstage at TechCrunch’s first international Disrupt Conference was the difference between doing business in China and the United States. Using Groupon’s recent struggle moving into the Chinese market as a running example, Sarah Lacy and other TechCrunch reporters dug to the bottom of why it’s so difficult for American companies to expand in a country with so much opportunity. Groupon may have rushed the process; they failed to carefully analyze the market and customize the interface accordingly. Other US companies fail because of the false perception that running a business in China works just like the U.S. – but modern examples show it is vastly different.

Sarah Lacy invited some of the most successful people in technology to Disrupt. Here are some pieces of wisdom that were shared:
*Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, said large companies can only be successful if they maintain a small company mindset of humility and persistence. Successful companies must pay attention to the demand of users and be responsible for meeting those demands.
*The Android Fever seminar with John Lagerling (Google), David Cao (DCM), and Wang Hua (Innovation Works) pointed out that Apple products are very expensive and have a closed environment, which make it harder for them to thrive in China. China’s markets are usually more open so they favor the open source format of the Android platform.
*Sarah Lacy noticed that China may be accused of “copycat” businesses, but China also sees more business model innovation than in the West.
*Chinese VCs invited to speak at the conference harped on the fact that they look for different types of entrepreneurs and startups than American VCs. Chinese entrepreneurs must be both extremely competitive but also flexible in such a volatile market.

In short, there is still a lot for Eastern and Western cultures to learn about the other. Conferences like Disrupt that bring Chinese and American business people together are crucial and increasingly necessary. China’s participation in the global competition is in no way slowing down, so let’s continue the conversation!

To view videos from TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing, please visit http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/04/top-videos-from-techcrunch-disrupt-beijing-tctv/.

Molly and Ashley with Jonathan Jenkins after OrderWithMe won the Disrupt Cup

Points of Interest – December 2, 2011

Have you had a chance to check out Points of Interest, our company newsletter? Each week, we share a round-up of this week’s essential and entertaining news, as well as a glance at what our clients are doing — and what’s coming up next for us all! The latest issue is right here — and why not consider subscribing, as well?

This week, we check out “Black Eye” Friday, the latest in sinister cell phone innovation, and the handsome men of TriplePoint’s Movember efforts! Read on