Every Company Is A Media Company

Media Tsunami: How Much Media Should You Produce? How Much Is Too Much?

By Tom Foremski

How much media content should I produce?

As a professional journalist this has been a question that I've struggled with over the past five years since leaving the Financial Times.

I can produce a lot of media content, and hopefully, it is all quality media content. But my concern is that if I produce too much it will cause my readers and subscribers to switch off because there is too much from one source.

I know that if some of my sources are too noisy on Twitter, Facebook, even on their blog or web site, I will switch them off because it is too much -- even if all their content is good. I don't want my readers doing the same to me.

This question of how much media is too much media is not just my concern, it should be a concern for others, especially companies. I've been writing about how every company is a media company, (EC=MC - the transformative equation for business) how every company has to get better at producing, distributing and responding to media content.

EC=SC (Every Company Must be a Storytelling Company)

Guest Post by Kathy Klotz-Guest

Tom Foremski maintains that every company today must be a media company. I believe that to be true, but I also think it’s more fundamental than that. Every company must be good at telling stories in the world of new media. If content is king, stories are queen. We know who wields the power!

All great marketing requires great storytelling. The best stories connect viscerally and humanize. Organizations that successfully tell compelling, authentic, even humorous stories about products, customers, about their values and employees, and, in turn, embrace the narratives of their stakeholders, will be the victors in the changing world of new media. And aiding marketers in telling their stories better is online video.

If every company must be a storytelling company, every company should have a video storytelling strategy.  It’s especially important in B2B where video storytelling has the ability to add a much-needed authentic human dimension to company communications.  With video storytelling, success is often not about production values or huge budget. A Flip camera, for example, is inexpensive and video technology is ubiquitous (in cell phones and smart phones, among other devices). Video success today is not about PR talking points, or a factual analysis of features and benefits. The element of human interest matters most; it’s the basis for any great story as every journalist using social media knows.  That hasn’t changed.  It’s just that video today allows for better, richer and more nuanced storytelling than with traditional media.

Today, online video allows for meaningful two-way dialogue. Unlike traditional media, video storytelling often involves real customers in the story and in the process – that is customers can appear in company videos and they can produce their own videos about the company.  Today, consumers don’t want to just view company content – they want to make their own. They want to be part of the story. There’s a back and forth that changes the direction and tone of the company’s narrative to the outside world. Video changes the narrative from a “brand” dimension to one that is multi-layered.  If you know your customer is using video to tell their story about your organization, you have to be engaged in that conversation.

13 Rules of Leadership for Communication, Influence and Social Media Strategy

By Don Bulmer

For many years I have drawn great inspiration and lessons from leaders of all sorts - political, corporate, social and the like.

A political and social leader who has had among the greatest impact on me is former U.S. Army General and U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell.  In his autobiography 'My American Journey' Mr. Powell shares many stories, insights and lessons learned throughout his storied career. 

Perhaps the most important offering in the book are the '13 Rules of Leadership' that he shares.

I refer to these rules often and each time I look at them I learn something new. 

I would like to share them with you - along with commentary as to how I apply each as a communication professional leading in an environment of constant social and business change.

Interestingly, I found a great article authored by David Zinn in 2000 - where he applied the same rules to coaching in sports.  A few of his insights are woven Into the below as well. 

RULE #1: It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning. 

The practice and art of managing communication and influence has changed significantly over the last three years driven in large part by the impressive utilization and growth of social media - further enabled by innovations in the development of mobile technologies and social applications. 

The ability for anyone to publish and communicate instantaneously with reach beyond boarders (only limited timezone) has fundamentally changed how communication professionals manage influence and shape opinion.

Communication professionals are often under pressure (sometimes false) to react or respond to issues in the social web in a matter of seconds or a few minutes - rather than several minutes to a few hours.  The pressure to react or respond so quickly to a negative 'tweet' or blog post before it becomes viral can be great.  It can also often make an issue or situation worse if done in hast.

Because of the viral nature of social media - when you react or act you must do so with a sense of purpose, clarity and honesty.  Sometimes this means taking time to gather facts, background and even asses if a response is warranted - or - if the 'social system' will self correct issues of concern.

It is always best to allow time to assess and condition a situation before reacting...because it might not look that bad after thinking it through.

RULE #2: Get mad, then get over it. 

Social media is a tremendous environment for people to channel their emotion and how they feel about a particular issue or situation.  When people communicate via social media it is often because they want to be listened to - they want to be heard.