That’s the question that The Holmes Report set out to answer.

To put science behind the quest, Holmes engaged Sociagility which measured each global agency’s social media footprint. 

Sociagility uses what it calls the PRINT social media performance measurement methodology. 

The PRINT Index measures five attributes of social media performance - popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach and trust - across various social channels. 

Here’s how the data played out.  

“We’re No. 9″ has a nice ring to it, particularly taking into account we’re above mega-shops like Weber Shandwick and Burson. Big - Weber Shandwick’s revenue comes in at $525M and Burson registers at $435M - doesn’t necessarily mean better. 

It also turns out we ranked highest in the popularity score. I hope to find out more about how we took the popularity gold when I talk with Sociagility on January 30 (not that I’m complaining). 

As pleased as I am with the data, I would be remiss if I didn’t repeat our internal mantra - 

Social media is not the prize. 

It’s one of many tools to help clients fortify their online presence.

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We already know participating in social media requires time.

But how many of us scrutinize the ROI associated with this time? 

I hadn’t until a friend and colleague asked me the following questions: 

It’s obvious you’ve made a commitment to social media. How do you justify the time? Can you attribute new clients to your social media effort? Do you believe existing clients stay because of your presence? 

All fair questions. 

Let me take a crack at responding. 

At the macro level, social media increasingly serves as a platform for storytelling. With storytelling a core component of the Agency’s brand, it’s logical that I participate in the channel. 

Plus, I enjoy it - no denying the advantages for a closet introvert - which plays into the rationalization. 

Like everyone, I make choices on what I do and don’t do. For example, you won’t find me on Facebook for the simple reason that I think I get more out of other social media platforms from my time allocation. 

Moving to lead gen, social is just one component of our overall SEO strategy. If you plug “tech pr agencies” into Google, we’ll typically show up on the first page. And if you tie a form of this with Silicon Valley, we’ll typically land high on the first page. Hard to say how much social impacts this, but our new-biz pipeline has been robust over the past year and it’s not because of an improved economy.

I also think it’s fair to say that most companies want to work with a “switched on” agency. The fact that the middle-aged head of the agency embraces social media sends a message to the market that we’re not leaving the digital side to the youngsters. Everyone in the Agency participates.

For existing clients, I don’t think our social media presence has a major impact. 

Now, what they do care about is the expertise we’ve gained and continue to gain by engaging in digital media (social as a subset). 

We just built out a campaign for a company where the objective is straight forward - help to move the existing product inventory. Our ability to integrate traditional PR as well as social, SEO, storytelling, owned media, and PPC into a single campaign directly depends on our day-to-day participation in the digital world. 

Here’s the key and what’s great about social media and the digital sphere: The learning never stops. 

When the Toyota recall crisis hit last year, we built a digital property which amounted to a real-time lab to experiment with different SEO techniques. Using a high-profile event, we wanted to see if it was possible to cut through the noise and land on page one, again with the idea of experimenting with various SEO dials. Mission accomplished. Even today if you search on Toyota PR crisis, you’ll see our digital property shows up in the top five results. 

Even our internal infographic campaign called “Storytelling vs Corporate Speak” that ran last week delivered a ton of insights that we can now apply to our clients. And not just on the PR side since the exercise involved areas like coding the infographic to maximize sharing.

That’s how I justify the time.

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Junko Yoshida, EE Times EIC, penned a grab-you-by-the-throat editorial, “To Vendors, Where’s Your Community Spirit?”

She makes the point that “engagement” has become the new black, but vendors continue to be conspicuously absent in the EE Times conversation:

While the guys with all the money continue to spout the importance of engagement, they seem to believe – for reasons unknown (because they’re not talking) that there’s no need for them to get involved in the community and bare their own souls.

It’s either they think they are above it all (Jeez, I hope not), or they’re fearful of the sort of controversial back-and-forth that sparks “engagement” and knits together the “community.”

As I shared with Junko, I think there’s another possibility.

Vendors in the electronics sector often don’t participate in forums because they don’t perceive value. I always counter with how can interacting with a customer or a potential customer not be valuable?

But many still take the position that until we can show the ROI, it doesn’t make sense to put the time into it.

I wonder if it would help if readers posting comments had the option to add an URL which would enable vendors to track the traffic from the different EE Times forums. It’s not exactly a panacea, but it could be a start.

Junko spoke at our offices last May on the direction of EE Times, sharing numbers that reflected the concept of community gaining traction.  

If you believe in the saying “fish where the fish are,” the chart above makes the case that communication professionals should be facilitating their companies’/clients’ participation on the site.

Update: I had a follow-up conversation with Junko who shared additional context. She estimates that vendor comments represent less than a five percent of the dialog on the property’s forums.

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I’ve periodically addressed how to give your storytelling in a blog a fighting chance to find an audience through search engines.

A colleague recently asked me to take a look at her blog and offer immediate thoughts on how she might improve traffic.

Here’s the note with some minor ”clean-up” which might have relevance for others.

Dear Lost in Traffic,

Competition for online attention is downright brutal.

At the risk of stepping onto a soapbox —

Many people associate the quality of a blog to fame; i.e., the more famous you are, the better the blog.

That’s partly why the self-publishing of books has skyrocketed. These folks often don’t have much of substance to say. Instead, the book delivers “street cred” which in turn brings more people to the site.

Short of writing a book, here are a few suggestions.

When I go into your source code on your blog home page, I can see the title tag is the name of your blog.

This wastes valuable real estate.

If people already know the name of your blog, they’re going to find you.

The meta data doesn’t actually show up to the visitor and should capture keywords/phrases that would bring relevant traffic to your blog.

And these same keywords/phrases should also be applied to the meta keywords on your home page. Right now, I can see this function isn’t even used.

When you plug the name of your blog into Google, look at the description that does publicly show up to potential visitors. Are these the right words to encourage the person to click?

At the 10K-foot level, you need think of yourself as both the editor and publisher. As an editor, you’re doing terrific. I would say the publishing side needs more of a promotional mentality … which doesn’t have to come at the expense of your narrative.

I wrote on this topic “There’s Enough Room In This Town For Both Storytelling And Keywords” and put together a post that includes a SlideShare deck called “If You Build It, They Generally Won’t Come,” which might be useful.

Of course, you want to make sure you’re getting the right (relevant) people. In our case, I’m looking to expand the Agency’s reputation for storytelling in the corporate world, so I focus on “storytelling techniques” and derivatives of “business storytelling.”

Traffic aside, I still view the blog as a creative outlet that’s enjoyable. Being an introverted smart ass, the blog also serves as an outlet.

I suppose what I’m saying is it’s OK to be a little selfish and factor this into what you want out of your blog.

Good luck.

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Words matter.

To be more specific, our choice of words goes a long way in determining the perception of others (just ask Netflix).

This concept beautifully comes to life in the video, “The Power of Words.”

Andrea Gardner, who heads the online marketing firm Purplefeather based in London, created the video.

Her sense of storytelling immediately comes through in the “About” section on the firm’s website:

I was working for a large newspaper group and contemplating a complete career change in the year 2000 when I decided to test this ‘law of attraction’ that I’d been reading about. So I visualised the most improbable item I could think of - a purple feather - and set the challenge that if it showed up in my life within a week, I would start my own copywriting business.

Exactly a week later, just as I’d dismissed it all as new age bunkum, I looked across the room to see the exact replica of the purple feather I’d visualised, balanced on the windowsill! After I started breathing again …

Andrea was good enough to answer a few questions on storytelling and “The Power of Words” video.

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Q: I really enjoyed the “Why Purplefeather?” section on your website. Did you find it difficult to share such a personal story? Did you have any concerns about potential clients who shy away from the metaphysical?

A: Thanks and yes it took a lot of mmm-ing and ahh-ing before reaching the conclusion that if I wanted to create a business that was in alignment with my personal values where we operate honestly, honourably and effectively, I was going to have to “walk my talk’. Many people have commented favourably on this page and it doesn’t seem to have deterred clients from more traditional commercial backgrounds.

Q: How do you get your clients to buy into a storytelling approach to communications? Or is it a self-selecting process in which prospects who already believe in storytelling gravitate to Purplefeather?

A: The ‘Power of Words’ video is also used as our commercial pitch so once people have seen that they are more curious about our approach. We encourage clients to turn their marketing process inside out and focus on why they’re in business and how that inspires the way they are making a difference rather than looking at their products/services and USPs. It’s more of a values-driven approach and helps them distil their unique message more effectively.

Q: Tell me a little about the genesis for the “Power of Words” video. Was this a story that had been percolating in your mind for some time? Did you storyboard the video?

A: ‘The Power of Words’ was not our original idea; it has been around for many years in various forms. We’ve always credited Alonso Alverez Barreda who created ‘The Story of a Sign’ on which it was based, however we were very conscious that it could be dramatically shortened and repurposed for the web. We originally intended to use it to promote my book ‘Change Your Words, Change Your World’ - which is entirely original and will be published in April 2012 - but when we trialled it at a business presentation, every one of the delegates had an emotional reaction and we recognised it conveyed Purplefeather’s values perfectly.

Note: You can see Mr Barreda’s “The Story of a Sign” which won at the NFB Online Competition at Cannes 2008, below.

Q: Did you know the video was powerful and would touch people before it went live?

A: Yes. However we were very surprised and delighted by the response because it sat for just over a year on YouTube without very many views.

Q: What do you say to prospects who come to you asking for a video that will generate 10 million views on YouTube?

A: I don’t believe anyone has the ultimate solution when it comes to viral marketing because much depends on the timeliness of the message and we’re all still on a learning curve. However there are some tips which can help create the conditions where uptake is more likely. Namely:

• Keep it short. Under 2 minutes if possible.
• Every scene/word has to earn its living online. Edit hard!
• Appeal to people’s emotions - humour and conscience work well. Emotive music helps too.
• For an international audience keep verbal communication to a minimum. 

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Thank you, Andrea.

We’ll be looking for your book in 2012.

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