As a result I’m hoping this post will primarily be useful to two groups of people:

• Students or people who want to work in the social media side of PR – essentially, those who want to acquaint themselves with a few of the tools and principles of social media monitoring.
• Organisations who have heard a lot about social media and would like to see (for free) the conversations taking place around their brand.

Before we start, I would also add, that in order to get a fuller understanding of the conversation around brands, I would advise using a variety of these monitoring tools in tandem, rather than relying on just one service.

Why monitor?
This is a fairly lengthy post and one that I hope people will find helpful, however I feel it deserves some justification. Well here goes…basically, the amount of conversation occurring on social media platforms means that there is a whole load of data out there ready to be mined for our clients – and this data, ultimately can and will help support the decision-making process. It has got to. For too long, Public Relations relied on instinct or even worse group-think, rather than data to inform communications strategy. But that is changing.

As a result PR agencies are increasingly hiring people to solely analyse online conversation, as well as looking for people who have a firm grasp of the basics. Hopefully, this post may enable you to do just that. Social media monitoring is the evolution of offline media monitoring, but agencies want this technical skill along with analysis to be in-house. We have a situation where clients not only want to know what journalists have written, but what consumers have said and importantly, how they can respond.

Another reason for this post is my passion for equipping the next generation of PR practitioners with the right skills for the job. On a daily basis I work with people whose role is to monitor and analyse WOM around our clients and I think there is a case for universities to show students the relevant tools to equip them with the right, practical skills for the job. It is an important to skill to be able to work out where conversations around brands are taking place. I’m hoping this post will point people in the right direction and give them the impetus to play around with the plethora of tools, gain an understanding of how they work and the data they provide.

1. Alexa
Alexa is a web information company that allows you to track the performance of any website. It can give you all kinds of useful data and organises them by country, language or in a custom category. I would recommend downloading the Alexa toolbar to get a better understanding of the information available.

Tip: Check out the Alexa and Google Page Rank plugin which can easily be added to your Google Chrome browser.

2. Blog Pulse
BlogPulse describes itself as an ‘automated trend discovery system for blogs’. Essentially, it is a search engine for blogs that analyses and reports on daily activity in the blogosphere. BlogPulse offers plenty of trend and other analytic information which can shape decision-making and let’s you understand the ‘buzz’ around a brand.

3. Boardreader
Boardreader is a search engine for forums and boards, enabling you to get fast and quality search for your own forum. Boardreader is a great tool for issue monitoring and identifying where conversations around particular brands are taking place.

4. Ellerdale
Ellerdale is a site that helps you understand what is being said on Twitter. It shows you what topics are trending in sports, politics, music, products and more. Ellerdale has the ability to curate a real-time Twitter view of any topic, including which users are the most rewtweeted on that subject, the top articles and the time of day people are most engaged today.

5. Google Alerts, Google Analytics & Google Trends
Google has changed the web forever and it is much more than just a search engine. Have a look at Google Alerts which allows you to sign up to receive email updates whenever specific names or phrases are mentioned. This is a great tool for issues monitoring and let’s you know when people are talking about a brand or issue.

Google Analytics is an excellent web analytics dashboard that gives useful insights into your web traffic. Google Analytics’ greatest strength is its ease of use coupled with comprehensive data which allowing you to analyse who is visiting your website. 

Google Trends allows you to understand what is popular online. It allows you to enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most.

Next: Once you have familiarised yourself with Google Trends, have a look at Google Ad Sense and think how you could make it work for a client. An understanding of online Above-the-Line marketing techniques is always valuable.

6. Ice Rocket
IceRocket is an Internet search engine that has expanded into searching popular social networks, such as Twitter and MySpace as well as allowing searching of news sites and the web.

Tip: Familiarise yourself with IceRocket’s Big Buzz feature that allows you to search blogs, Tweets, news, images and more all from one page.

7. It’sTrending
It’s Trending is like Ellerdale, except that it lists what people share publicly on Facebook. The site serves as a zeitgeist for news, videos, technology, entertainment and more. Whilst, this service is useful, you can only view what people publicly share, so it serves more as signpost for trends and qualitative data, rather than quantitative data.

8. Technorati
Technorati is another great blog search engine. It indexes millions of blog posts in real-time and surfaces them quickly – it is an excellent starting point and brilliant to keep track of breaking stories, opinions, photos and videos across the web. Technorati not only tracks the authority and influence of blogs, but offers an index of influential blogs.

9. Twitterfall
Twitterfall is a Twitter client specialising in real-time tweet searches. New tweets fall into the page and it has many features which make it great for tracking conversation as it happens. This is great for monitoring conversation around a brand or issue.

10. Twitter Search
Twitter Search enables you to search, filter and interact with the large volumes of conversation on Twitter. This search application helps you filter all the real-time information coursing through Twitter.

If you are well acquainted with some of the tools listed, I’m confident that this knowledge will stand anyone in good stead at a PR job interview. Alternatively, if you are an organisation I’m hopeful this post will act as a solid introduction to social media monitoring, although I must stress, the free tools are the tip of the iceberg.

I appreciate that there are many, many tools out there and I would be interested to hear what free social media monitoring tools you use and more importantly what you would recommend.

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I was fortunate enough to attend the Edelman Social Entertainment breakfast last week where the findings of Edelman’s fourth annual Trust in the Entertainment Industry survey were presented. Gail Becker, President of the firms Western region, announced the results before Labour MP, Tom Watson, Acting Head of Crossplatform at Channel 4, Matt Locke and Online Community Product Manager at BSkyB, Maz Nadjm gave their views on the issues raised.

• It is the ability to access content across devices, not cost, that is of significance to consumers.
• Spending on entertainment continues to stay strong.
• Those that state that they trust entertainment companies are also more willing to pay for content.

• 73% of 18-24 year olds in the US and 61% in the UK see social networks as a form of entertainment.
• 89% of those in the UK say they would not be willing to give up personal information to access free entertainment.
• 32% of UK consumers and 28% of US consumers trust entertainment companies.

Undoubtedly, this is a bold and innovative move by the university and one that I’m sure will benefit the students. However, when you consider the growing importance of graduate employment figures, it can come as no surprise that university’s are doing their utmost to ensure their students have the best possible chance in the job market.

For me, the concept of Personal SEO is nothing new and the sooner people understand that organisations DO Google potential employees, the better. I’m adamant that Personal SEO is something all young people should be aware of and research by Cross-Tab Marketing highlights why millenials should take note:

• 75% of HR departments worldwide are required to screen job candidates online.
• 70% of recruiters and HR professionals in the U.S. clam they have rejected potential hires based on information surfaced online, and nearly half say that a strong online reputation influences their hiring decisions to a “great extent.”
• 45% of HR professionals screen job candidates on social media sites.

Anecdotally, I also know this to be the case, especially within the PR industry, Stephen Waddington, MD of Speed Communications said: ‘Inevitably employers are using Google as a personal reputation engine and scrutinising these types of sites to review an individual’s career history and work ahead of hiring an individual.’

Indeed, one of the most common phrases I hear is along the lines of ‘if you cannot manage your own online reputation, why should PR agencies entrust you to do the same for clients?’

By the sounds of it, Brand Yourself’s platform will help students monitor and improve their online presence during the all important job search process. Whilst, I feel this will be a valuable, additional service that campus employability teams offer, I would make the case that students should be educated about online reputation management and how to leverage their Personal SEO as soon as they begin studying – not at the final furlong.

Online reputations are best managed over time with quality, organic content, not an afterthought upon graduation.

I’ve been blogging and speaking about Personal SEO for a couple of years now and thoroughly enjoy helping students protect and enhance their online reputation. It’s rewarding and from personal experience, I know what fantastic opportunities can come drop by if you look after your Personal SEO.

Another consideration is that when it comes to using technology to improve graduate employability, the US is normally about 12-18 months ahead of the UK. For instance student blogs, online resumes and e-portfolios are becoming more prevelant in the UK, whereas in the US they have been established for a few years. So I look forward to seeing which UK universities investigate this area.

In the long term I fully expect that more universities will follow Syracuse’s lead as people wake upto the fact that job interviews no longer begins with a handshake, but with a search on Google.

If you would like to have a chat about Personal SEO, do feel free to get in contact.

In order to give you a bit more background, after the #Bigotgate affair I Tweeted how foolish Gordon Brown had been and that as things stood, I would be voting for Nick Clegg*. Shortly afterwards, I received an unsolicited reply from @blackburnvotes which was clearly pushing a political agenda. Things then escalated. I’m personally interested in politics and I am fortunate enough to know people who are active for the main parties, however I’m yet to make my mind up who to vote for – and like most people, I do not enjoy being spammed with political lines, especially on a social space.

Whilst, a few argumentative (or complimentary) Tweets from a party activist will not influence who I vote for, this mudslinging with @blackburnvotes sharpened my focus on Labour weaknesses. Although, the initial approach and engagement may have been well intentioned, in this instance it has resulted in a negative outcome. It has been a counter intuitive tactic. I suppose my big gripe is having someone who I’ve never spoken to before, spamming me with uninvited political views. Indeed, it did cross my mind that @blackburnvotes could be an elaborate troll.

Politics aside, I think this is an interesting case study of how someone, although well-meaning can cause more harm than good. Employees and supporters of organisations are having these sorts of online conversations all the time and whilst, we encourage organisations to embrace social media, in order to fully appreciate the potential benefits and risks it is best to acquaint them with basic guidelines or tips to consider. There are many cases of unofficial sources getting the tone right when engaging on social media, however there are many more who have got it wrong.

Whilst, I’m sure @blackburnvotes had the best intentions of the party at heart, it has inadvertently made me think about reasons not to vote Labour. Anecdotally, I know a lot of my peers have not made up their minds and 6 May will be a new experience for them. With the election race this close and allegiances yet to be forged, small differences like this, can make all the difference. Whilst, policy is integral, personal experiences and interactions have a big impact too.

Voters want to be wooed, not wound up. Labour probably just lost my vote.

*Subject to change.

Acceleris are looking to appoint an Account Executive or Senior Account Executive with a couple of years experience to work across a range of accounts. They are a fast growing, integrated agency who recently launched the Acceleris Academy as part of their ongoing comittment to staff development – in short they sound like a good bunch to work for.

For more information about the role, please click here.

The presentation details my thoughts on Personal SEO and how this is often a more accurate description of what people term ‘personal brand’. It contains quotes from senior PR colleagues and explains how blogging, putting real work online and networking can generate strong Personal SEO.

It’s always great to meet current PR students and see how other university’s ‘do’ PR education. I was impressed by this group of young people and look forward to seeing how they get on in the industry.

Here is a copy of the presentation – if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

Edelman is looking for Senior Account Executives right up to Account Directors and everything in between, including some techie and admin roles. These positions are across a range of teams and you can find out more by clicking here.

Do get in contact if you have any questions and i’ll try and point you in the right direction.

There is a range of vacancies, however there are some really interesting roles available, particularly within the digital team (I would say that. Disclaimer: that’s my department!).

The digital team are looking for a:
Senior Web Developer , Content Manager, Project Manager, Account Manager and Account Director.

In addition, Edelman is also looking for a range of people to work across the various teams including:
Account Executive, Senior Account Executive, Media Analyst, Medical Writer, Client Relationship Manager, Global Account Strategist, Research Director and Account Director. Healthcare is recruiting across all levels too.

Do let me know if you’ll be applying for any of the roles and i’ll do my best to answer any questions or point you in the right direction.

To read a full list of the vacancies please click here.

The catalyst for the debate once again seems to be PR Week and it continues to be a good forum for industry colleagues to have their say. Stuart Bruce of Wolfstar has also penned a blog with a poll and the consensus, thankfully seems to be that it is wrong to behave unethically on behalf of a client.

It is important to make a clear distinction, namely the difference between unethical behaviours (astroturfing, lack of disclosure, lieing etc) and moral decisions, for instance working on accounts that people may find morally questionable, such as tobacco.

It comes down to rights and responsibilities: I believe we all have the right to opt out of an account for moral reasons, but we also have a responsibility to ourselves, our employer, clients and the PR industry to behave ethically.

Fortunately, all good agencies allow staff to opt out of accounts on moral grounds and I feel empowered that my employer’s position is clear as Robert Phillips stated ‘at Edelman, everyone has the right not to work on a piece of business if they find it ethically or morally challenging.’

I think the sensible approach seems to be that, yes – we should all work in an ethical manner, but from a moral standpoint it is less clear cut what industries are the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ones to work with. The issues are often far more complex than to simply be branded ‘good’ and ‘bad’.

Everyone has a different set of values and the question is: where do you draw the line? Is there a line? Arms, gambling, alcohol, pornography, fast food? Sweatshops, carbon footprints, industrial relations? In fact, under the surface I imagine someone, somewhere has a moral objection to every corporation. However, I firmly believe it is possible for organisations to behave in an ethical and responsible way, whilst carrying out work that some may find morally objectionable.

Indeed, it is these more challenging industries that provide us, as practitioners with the greatest opportunity to demonstrate how PR can be used for social good. We live in a stakeholder society and PR agencies can work in partnership with organisations to devise strategies that engage with these communities and create understanding.

Our end goals are trust and credibility and the most effective way to achieve these aims is through openness, honesty and transparency. Behaving unethically is short-sighted and ultimately, self-defeating. Whilst, I’m loath to make judgments on morality, it is not difficult to make ethical ones. Ethics has to be the cornerstone of the PR industry.

I’d be interested to hear what industries (rather than companies) you would find it hard to work with on ethical or moral ground.

The nomination is for Best Practitioner/Researcher blog and SWT is up against some really great blogs in PiaR, Cyber Footprint, Compelling Communications, Richard Millington and That’s PR.

I must say that I’m delighted and somewhat surprised to have been shortlisted for such a prestigious award at the annual gathering of Europe’s top Public Relations academics.

There will also be awards for the Best Student and Group blogs and the nominations can be viewed on the Publicsphere blog.

The winner will be announced at the EUPRERA Spring Symposium which takes place on 25-27 February 2010 in Ghent, Belgium.

I’ve never been to Belgium…so fingers crossed.