The company as media outlet:
Your role in the age of Brand Journalism and Content Curation Mark Ragan CEO, Ragan Communications

The history of corporate communications:
CIRCA 1968: • Employee publications • Press releases • Face-to-face communication • Bulletin Boards …and when I say bulletin board, I mean…

CIRCA 2011: The communicator's toolbox
in the age of social media  Online newsletters  Social Media press release  Intranets  Social Networks  Twitter  Facebook  FourSquare  Tumblr  Podcasting  Yammer  Blogs  YouTube  Flickr

And you. . . .

And today? Content is no
longer merely important. It’s the king of the forest.

Content is at the very
center of today’s brand strategy . . . . Intranets Social Networks Corporation Blogging Facebook FourSquare Twitter

What has changed? • Free
distribution channels: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more… • Understaffed newsrooms: Fewer reporters to feed the media beast • Reporters now tap into social media channels for stories • Technology has removed many cost barriers

The original model:

How it is today:

What does all of this
mean for Communicators?

5 qualities of the new
communications superstar: • Expert in all things social media • Become a leading content creator (and curator) for your organization • Practice the fundamentals of good writing and refrigerator journalism • Effectively produce an online newsroom • Build relationships with traditional and new media

The New Formula: Great Content
+ Engagement = Success

Change in thinking: Your new
role as Chief Content Officer • Content producer • Reporter: Ferret out the stories • Conversation starter • Community Manager

Payoff • Lower costs compared
to traditional advertising • Higher brand recognition • Increased efficiency • More influence within the organization

Every organization has a story:
Your job is to find it and produce it

But remember the #1 rule
in the Age of Content Never bore people

The Problem: Corporate and consumer
information worlds are colliding

What content consumers love: •Helpful
posts that practice 'refrigerator journalism‘ •Compelling video •Voice and personality •Social Media integration •Conversation •Integrated customer service

What's the problem? With most
corporate sites

Too much content, none of
it filtered

Clunky navigation: Too many choices

No grumpy editor making the
tough choices: What stays and what goes!

Endless Rabbit holes

Spotty, inconsistent or nonexistent social
media integration

Writing that doesn't get to
the point quickly!

No voice, color or sign
of a human

Doesn't know what it wants
to be when it grows up: Am I a shingle site or a knowledge leader?

Great content

Imagine what a customer might
say: • "I'm not wading through content on Mashable, why do I have to on your site?” • "Why can't you be more like my favorite news site or trade publication?” • "And while I'm at it, why can't it be entertaining and human as well?"

What you'll be hearing: The
new buzzwords of the day

Company as media outlet: Traditional
newsrooms are in decline and media is now more fragmented than ever. Why not fill the void? "The mantra is that every company has to be a media company in their own right, telling their own stories not just through websites but through branded entertainment, video, iPad and mobile applications. Big companies are going directly to the consumer to engage them now, rather than through display or spot ads and the traditional means of trying to reach consumers. You can't just be out there shouting at people about your brand, you've got to engage with them quite carefully, and the editorial skills that I can bring can help with that." --Stefan Stern veteran journalist for the Financial Times and head of strategy for Edelman

Content Curation: For a fraction
of the cost of advertising, you can become the chief content site in your business.

Objective • Position HSBC as
resource to businesses selling abroad. • Establish expertise in International Trade • Provide helpful tools to readers

Editorial Resources • Five full-time
staffers working on site • Uses syndicated content from Bloomberg/Wall Street Journal • Custom content from the Economist • Contract editor to keep distance from HSBC

Philosophy Provide great information and
tools and the customers will follow. “You don’t know who’s a potential customer, right? It could be a business that may be milling around going, ‘I’m not getting any growth in Iowa. Maybe I can sell meat pies in Canada.’ -- Clinton Riley, vice president of public affairs for HSBC North America.

Brand Journalism: Using the principles
and approaches of journalism to create rich content for your customers and prospects. • Credibility • Trust • Storytelling • Breadth of coverage • Timeliness • Integration with social media

So is brand journalism just
a theory? The proof is in the hiring

Who heads digital strategy for
IBM? (It's not a coincidence!)

Who is the new communication
strategist at SAP?

What he says: "In my specific case, my ability to tell stories about the impact that technology plays on business innovation and strategy and competitive
balance and global supply chains and real­time operations and cloud computing and more is enhanced by my being employed within a large, highly profitable, and truly global organization with more than 100,000 customers and deep troves of case­study expertise across thousands of corporations in more than 20 industries. As an SAP employee, I have more access to more information and expertise that can be shared with audiences than I did in my former position on the 'light side'."

Roadmap • Create simple, compelling
news site that engages customers and prospects by providing daily news, analysis and video features for your market • Editorial team headed by a managing editor and team of reporters • Publisher: Manages all business aspects of the site and acts as bridge to senior management • Social Media editor. Integrates content into all social media platforms and manages communities both inside and outside the firewall • Director of measurement and search engine optimization

Benefits: • Become the leading
thought leader in the industry • Simple and efficient way to generate leads, track progress and bond with customers • Build brand recognition among key decision makers and influencers • Bolsters social media presence by providing hot content to share • Gives global sales force tool for connecting to customers

Go To Site

Go To Site

Go To Site In your
face social media integration 63

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64

Content by
employees

Talk back forum Interactive features
Curated content

Personal
tales of
success

Great content + engagement =
success

Easy to
measure
ROI!

Go to site

Integration--Tie everything together Ban the
Scatter Gun Approach

In your face social media
Make it easy to get content

Fish where the List fish
are! headline Easy sharing Great visual

So what's YOUR strategy?

What is my content? •
What is my niche, i.e., cancer research, energy, specialty steel, banking? • What information do my customers or employees need? • Decide ratio of 'curated content' to original • Social media integration: How will I foster sharing • Engagement: How do I keep them wanting more? • Measurement: How will I prove it's a success? • What's the frequency—Less is NOT more

What resources do I have?
• Freelancers or staff • How many reporters/editors do I need • Partnerships with bloggers and other content creators • Technology

Go To Site • http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=OEdVfyt-mLw

PinkGlove

Go To Site

Go To Site

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Providence St. Vincent Medical Center’s
PINK GLOVE dance, owns Google’s search results for Pink Glove. 17 of the first 35 results and 7 of 11 on page 1

Contact Email: CEO@ragan.com Twitter: @MarkRaganCEO
Phone: 773-456-1376