Blog by: Dara Pickering
Paul Gillin's book, "The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media," offers real-life advice for marketers and public relations professionals alike.
“It’s not that the younger generation shuns the media. They just shun the media their parents use.”
Gillin explains the book is solely about influencers, not necessarily the specific channels used to influence the social media market. This is understandable because our generation has seen these channels rise, adapt and fade over the course of just a few years. For example, Myspace used to be a popular social media site, but its influence has decreased as other sites have risen, such as Twitter and Facebook. These newer sites promise instant news and even networking for business purposes, rather than to tally up the friend list.
Gillin focuses on the world of blogs—the blogosphere as he deems fit. He argues that the lack of structure in the blogosphere is actually driving the usage of blogs. Ordinarily, a lack of structure would irrefutably lead to demise of the channel; however, bloggers create their own individual structure as well as determine what they deem fit as news and entertainment. The decentralized structure protects against spam messages and spam blogs, because individuals monitor their own content space. This phenomenon is changing the face of news and social media as we know it.
So, what does this mean for marketers and public relations professionals? This means that professionals can interact with their audience, creating a mutually beneficial relationship, and exchange information and input through what Gillin labels as “conversation marketing.” The market of today means a decentralized message that creates authenticity through information exchange rather than delivering those messages.
Trust has become an important word to professionals alike. In order to get audiences to deem a message as credible or follow information, professionals must first build trust. However, with the rise of the blogosphere, Gillin suggests that the youth of today is influenced by word of mouth (WOM), taking advice from bloggers or strangers rather than professionals.
Gillin created the five following commandments for the blogosphere:
1) Thou shalt Link—Linking is a form of attribution for blogs. Bloggers
should never steal content, so always link to your sources.
2) Thou shalt not diss— Respect the views of others.
3) Thou shalt be transparent— Bloggers must open themselves up either for ridicule or for praise. You have to show your true self and not be afraid of what others may say.
4) Thou shalt comment—Bloggers must interact in the blogosphere. Gillin
claims commenting is protocol for blogging.
5) Thou shalt not blather—Do not post blogs over 500 words because you do
not want to bore your audience.
Finally, Gillin argues that “no profession stands to influence social media like public relations.” This is due to the understanding of relationships to which many PR professionals have become accustomed. PR professionals also know how to use social media to their advantage, reaching and understanding audiences. The new era of blogs, wikis, and tweets will be one in which communications are shaped for the future.
Looking for a blog? Gillin suggests Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy.com, Disney,and a blog about all things google.
