Eight years ago I walked into a room in Birmingham for the last few minutes of an event about digital communications hosted by a relatively new company.
There was about 30 people in the room and a bloke who was at the front came over and introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Dave,” he said shaking my hand. I’d met Dave Worsell for the first time. The event was the first govdelivery annual conference. Fast forward and the company has grown, changed and been re-named as Granicus. Dave remains the same.
On September 26 along with my colleague Darren I’ll compere Granicus’ Public Sector Communications Conference in London.
The event has grown but Dave has stayed the same. So has the ethos of what he and his team does. They believe in really good communications but with a generosity of sharing good learning that chimes with my own. Here’s a thing. Without Dave I probably wouldn’t be doing what I do now and comms2point0 would look very different. It began as a site in 2011 with myself and Darren. In late 2013, I was weighing up whether or not to leave the security of a salary make it my full-time job. A conversation with Dave was instrumental in helping me make the leap and in April 2014, I worked on comms2point0 full-time. Darren followed 12-months later.
So, when I say it gives me great pleasure to compare the event this month, I mean it.
When I say you’ll learn something if you go along to the event, I mean that too.
There will be 13 speakers and a whitepaper that myself and Darren have written. The focus will be on income generation and better communications. I go every year to this event because I always learn things and if you go I know you will too. And Dave is great and he has a great team.
The Granicus UK Public Sector Communications Conference will be held in London on September 26. For more information click here.
I saw the past and I saw the future of newspapers within a few days of each other.
The past? A glorious documentary on the Birmingham Evening Mail from 1993. Unbroadcast it emerged on YouTube from an old VHS copy.
The future? A blog post from the newspaper’s successor as editor Marc Reeves. In it he explained the push towards a digital-first approach that will see a re-brand as Birmingham Live.
What the past looked like
The newspapers of the past were glorious places. They were staffed by journalists whose craft had not changed for a hundred years. Build contacts. Talk to them. Build stories on what they told you. It’s as simple as it is hard. I worked in the largest district office in the largest regional newspaper in the UK. There were 12 of us and three photographers and we were a team.
The Birmingham Mail documentary captured some of that. Big stories saw a reporter go out accompanied with a photographer. The deadline was print. There were some characters.
What the future looks like
For all that I loved working on those old school newspapers when I left in 2005 they were already changing. Journalism was changing too. Where I learned how to write the new journalist wrote, took pictures, blogged, worked with FOI and posted video.
As my career in communications has evolved I’ve seen what you need to do change and evolve. There are at least 40 skills you need. You can’t do all of them but your team should.
Just this month the Oldham Chronicle closed its doors for the last time a victim of the change from print to digital. In its heyday 40,000 copies were sold. When the last rites were read there was little over 6,000.
It is tempting to be sad and declare local journalism dead. From the evidence of those who are doing it, that’s not the case. The old newsrooms are dead. I get the pain of journos who have lived through that. But I also get the excitement of new thinking too.
Birmingham Mail editor Marc Reeves in his Medium post ‘I Do Run A Newspaper’ shows the path he is taking. There will be a print team. There will be a digital team. There wikll be a bit of cross-over. The digital team will focus on communities. Part geographical and part community of interest.
Two lines in particular stand out:
In an analytics-driven newsroom, you go for the stories that engage more people more meaningfully — and tell them using audio, video, data and graphics, if that’s what’s needed.
In the smartphone age, only 5 per cent of the average person’s attention is devoted to news on their device. Can we build a business by limiting ourselves to 5 per cent of people’s attention, or can we own more of the remaining 95 per cent?
Why comms people should be bothered
When I started the comms team was geared around the needs of the newspaper. Some newspapers live on. But if there is no newspaper as we know it, or it has changed from the 1993 model what should the comms team look like?
It should have more than one skill for a start.
It should have the 40 skills I blogged about and more. It should be able to articulate the organisation’s own stories in content that can be shared.
It should see the changes in the tectonic plates.
It should plan a new path while articulating why these changes are being made to those inside the organisation.
It should also be able to listen, be answerable and create content for the new newspapers of the future as well as the bloggers.
There’s always moments when a new digital platform comes into its own.
In 2011, it was Twitter that really came into the mainstream during the London riots. It was where middle managers in the organisation and the public could find out what was happening.
Twitter and Hurricane Irma
In 2017, Twitter is the bread and butter of emergency communications. The US Government department FEMA have been using it and have been using this and the web to shoot down rumour.
In 2017, live video and Hurricane Irma seems to have made a similar transition.
Both platforms allow you to use your phone as an outside broadcast unit and stream to the internet.
Both platforms end up feeding in the media by providing eye-witness reporting from the scene. In an environment where fake news has undermined trust in text, video is hugely important for communications people.
Case study #1: Behind the scenes news room tour
A journalist takes a tour of the TV news room that is keeping people informed of what is taking place.
Case study #2: The calm before the storm
Residents took to walking around deserted streets to show what was happening.
Case study #3: The eye witness
Views from the balcony showing the hurricane as it is striking.
Case study #4: The professional storm chaser
In the US, storm season is met with enthusiasts chasing down tornados and extreme weather. People like Jeff Piotrowski have been using Periscope to connect with people and give a realtime sense of the storm.
I remember where I was when the old news media died for me. It happened in a phone call from a journalist.
“Look,” he started off. “When you write something on Twitter could you do me a favour and give me a call, please?”
I said I couldn’t. Not because I was being awkward but because it wouldn’t work. I suggested he join Twitter himself. This was when Twitter was in its infancy.
Time has passed and the news media is being re-born. Many of the old ways have gone. Digital first has come into play. In other words, not sitting on news until the next edition but publishing it as soon as it breaks and driving traffic to the website.
Time was when all the innovation was happening in local government. There are still bright people doing bright things but as the sector has suffered austerity many have moved on. Newspapers are now working out what the future looks like. They have swapped print dollars for digital dimes. It’s not always pretty to look at for time served journalists. But their need to find an audience to survive teaches lessons for communications people.
One of the best places to see where the cutting edge is is through the Reuters Institute of Journalism. Based at the University of Oxford the body brings academic rigour and research to the sector. There are lessons for communications people too in their Digital News Report 2017.
Resistance to change will be punished
Newspapers have had 20 years to make sense of the internet and have largely failed, the report says. Who creates the news is less important to people in 2017 than the places where they can get it. Audiences and advertisers have embraced new technology. The brighter news organisations have too. But whether the public sector has or not, I’m really not sure. If the expectation of the public sector is that people will come to them for information because they are the public sector history shows a shock is in store. The audience has moved away from newspapers who thought just that.
News in the UK is consumed mostly online
The art of writing a press release is still part of the mix. But as people move away from print media they are consuming news online. But the content of news online is often sharable content from video, images to infographics. Is your content mirroring this trend?
People consume the news online but can’t remember where they read it
‘I read that on Facebook,’ is the response. ‘But I don’t remember who told me.’ This is really significant. It means that people are consuming information without looking too closely at the masthead of what delivered it. Reuters Institute research showed that 47 per cent couldn’t remember the people that served the news they’d read. The important thing for me is to have content on Facebook. It is less important where that presence can be found. So, sure, a Facebook page. But it is most important just to get your content out and circulating.
Whats App as a channel for news is important
We can’t see it so we can’t measure it. But 40 per cent in the UK use Whats App for news and 36 per cent use Facebook messenger. The Guardian, for example, deliver a daily message through Facebook Messenger. If that can be done for news, why not for public sector news?
People prefer an algorithm to serve their news more than an editor
More than half prefer an algorithm setting their news agenda as opposed to 44 preferring an editor, the Digital News Report says. For under 35s the algorithm figure rises to 64 per cent.
So, if people are happy to have their news served to them doesn’t it make sense for your news and messages to be in the places that are going to be hoovered up? This points to Google News and Facebook. There is no direct footprint a public sector organisation can have in Google News but there is in Facebook.
In summary
If you work in communications and PR look outside the sector too for clues on how to communicate better. Newspapers, or rather media companies, are evolving as well as dying. Their business model is based around reaching an audience. There are things they are doing which can teach us all. Often I’ll talk about public sector communications. There can be an inherent laziness sometimes about reaching an audience because there is no bottom line or sales target. But that’s not good enough.
There is nothing that is quite as good as showing you the fractured landscape than video.
Time was when there was one home for video and that was on YouTube.
You filmed it, posted it to YouTube and then pasted the URL all over the web but no longer.
How different optimum video length was born
Social media companies twigged that they were sending away audience for YouTube to make money out. They also twigged that the longer they spent on their own websites the more they could charge advertisers. So, native uploads were born. If you post video to Facebook on Facebook itself then Facebook rewarded you by showing more people your content.
But then it was discovered that the optimum length of video was different depending on the platform. Facebook? 21 seconds. YouTube? Three minutes.
LinkedIn and video
The most recent change is for LinkedIn. The Microsoft company have introduced native uploads. The company in their own guidance suggest from 30 seconds to five minutes as the best time. So, I suggest a middle-of-the-road three minutes. I’ve blogged some ideas on how to use LinkedIn and video here.
More about the video skills workshops I co-deliver here.
At last, LinkedIn has joined the race to encourage people to consume video on the channel.
The long-predicted move sees the platform for professionals allow you to upload directly to the site.
How you can upload video to LinkedIn
Easy. You can do this by adding a video when you are adding an update from your own profile from a PC. There is a video button as part of the range of options. You can also shoot video from your phone or add a video from your camera roll.
At the moment, this is limited to updates in your own name. You can’t do this yet from the company page. For me, this isn’t a huge loss. People connect to people on LinkedIn and let’s face it, the company page is a pretty dull place.
So, cat memes on LinkedIn now is it?
What this does is add some extra dimension to the field. This is unlikely to see an explosion of cat memes on LinkedIn. This isn’t Facebook. But it does mean that when you are looking to communicate a new field has opened-up.
How you can use LinkedIn video
LinkedIn themselves have published a short guide to using video on their platform. This is going to be a bit trial and error, I suspect. You can read LinkedIn’s own advice here.
In short, LinkedIn think:
Something work related.
Less than five minutes in duration.
Tips, a talk or a how-to guide they are keen to share
Interestingly, they are after candid, not-overly produced and over-selling, too. This should pave the way for in-house video that doesn’t cost the earth.
At the moment, they don’t have a live broadcast functionality but I can see that changing.
Five ways to use LinkedIn video
Consultation. If the audience is more professional than other channels, that’s fine. This is where business people and others are. So if you need to get their feedback try here. A short video may work as part of the mix.
Recruitment. If your HR team are looking to recruit a short video may help.
How to guides. There are a range of things that professional people need. Advice on how to complete a planning application, take on an apprentice and many other things present themselves.
Professional opinion. Best practice guides or vlogging could lend itself well to the platform.
Experiment. The field is clear. Dip a toe in the water.
I’ve often said that the secret to decent digital communications in being human.
What is being human? You recognise it when you see it. It can be sharp and witty. It’s not corporate speak and its not jargon.
Often when I’m training I’ll see a look of anguish on people’s faces. They’d like to be human. But they’re worried about what people would think.
Step forward, the @bbcpress Twitter which has been on fire of late. But rather than be a branch of the entertainment industry the account skilfully switches between the humorous to the rebuttal to the more measured. But that’s fine. Choosing which is what makes the account special and why it should be your new favourite corporate account.
If the BBC can you can
Often, people will be reluctant to be human because they are risk averse. That’s fine. The BBC has been a political football for decades. If they can you can.
The Alan Partridge announcement teaser
There’s a great scene where Alan Partridge tries to attract someone he knows from a distance away. It’s painful. So, the teaser is marvellous.
The Alan Partridge announcement with the Alan Partridge meme
There was a running gag in Alan Partidge’s first series about wanting a second series. Badly. Really badly. So desperately, you could smell it. So, of course an Alan Partridge meme to announce a new series is the way to go.
Our last commissioning meeting with Mr Partridge didn’t go as we’d have liked. pic.twitter.com/jPjtuGSCcw
All this is content that for local government digital media pioneer Alastair Smith and the rest of the BBC Press Office team can share pride in. Good work well delivered in sometimes difficult circumstances.
Three years ago I was sitting at my desk working through a social media review of an organisation.
The Facebook and the Twitter were okay. Good in places and poor in others.
But the wheels came off when I reached the YouTube channel. A dozen videos. None less than a month old. Two good clips that looked as though money had been spent with a few thousand views. The rest? Dreadful with a few dozen views at best.
Yet, research was showing that people were consuming video at a striking rate.
So, it got me thinking that there was a need to teach the skills to comms, PR, digital and marketing people to get them to start shooting their own content. I sat down with Steven Davies and we drew-up a day of training that would give comms people the skills to plan, shoot, edit and post effective video. Steven has been a joy to work with and his colleague Sophie Edwards has played her part too. It’s been a source of continuing pride and satisfaction that we’ve given people new skills that will help them communicate.
What started as a trial has flourished, grown and improved and I’m so proud of that. I know Steven is too. We’re past the 50 workshop mark. That’s 1,000 people. So, to celebrate here are six things I know.
Videos of real people work best
Your Chief Executive may be a great performer in front of the camera. But people connect best to what you can call ‘real people’. The service users. The seven-year-old kid who is raving about the bouncy castle on the park fun day. The parents of someone whose child spent his last days in the hospice.
You can still include the VIP without driving people away
I get it. You need to get the Councillor in. Or the chief executive. Put them on at the end. Tell them you are giving them the last word. You salute the flag without driving your audience away.
You need to cut your video depending on the platform
On Facebook, 21 seconds is the optimum length of a video. On YouTube it is three minutes. So, edit accordingly for the channel you are on.
You won’t scare people as much filming with a smartphone as you will with a big video camera
Smartphones are great. They fit in your pocket. You have them with you all the time. People are used to have them being pointed at them. So, if you see something that needs filming you can reach into your pocket and with permission film. You can get it there and then.
You are using a channel that people are happy to consume media on
Two thirds of the UK population have a smartphone and two thirds of them are happy to watch video that is less than five minutes. They are already on it.
Here are our next workshops. Or shout me dan@comms2point0.co.uk if you want to explore an in-house workshop.
If you are even vaguely serious about communicating with people in 2017 there is a document Lord of the Rings-style rules them all.
The 246-pages of the Ofcom communications marker report gives you a snapshot into the shifting sandbanks of the communications landscape. I simply can’t overstate how much it can help you do your job.
The document always brings surprises and this year is the same as other years. I strongly suggest you download it and spend a couple of hours with it. You can do that here. There are also inserts for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
To whet your whistle, here are some things public sector communicators should know.
63 things comms people need to know about how people are using the media
We are more mobile and more powered by smartphones
Faster networks go hand in hand with increased data. Data used by each mobile phone have risen by 44 per cent to 1.3 GB per handset. More than 90 per cent of people own a mobile phone and 76 per cent use a smartphone.
Homes are connected, 88 per cent of households are now connected to the internet and 66 per cent use a phone online.
TV and DVD ownership s declining while people are binge-watching TV on demand. More than a third watch back-to-back TV programmes while 30 per cent sit down with the family once a week.
Most popular UK social media channels
YouTube and Facebook still dominate. LinkedIn has fallen away and Twitter has gained ground.
YouTube 42.0 million
Facebook 39.7 million
Twitter 21.9 million
Instagram 19.4 million
LinkedIn 15.9 million
Pinterest 12.4 million
Snapchat 10.3 million
Google Plus 8.7 million
The most checked app is Facebook
Those with the Facebook app on their phone check their accounts almost 12 times a day. This is higher than 10 times for WhatsApp, twice a day for Spotify and once a day for YouTube.
Ownership of internet-enabled devices
It is not just the desktop PC that people are using to go online.
What the internet is used for
General surfing and browsing is most popular (87 per cent) with email (85 per cent), online shopping 69 per cent with social networking 61 per cent, watching TV and video 53 per cent, short video clips 43 per cent. A flat 40 per cent use the web to visit local government or government websites.
Young people watch YouTube most but over 55s are the biggest audience
The peak time for YouTube is 5pm to 11pm.
Most dedicated YouTube viewers are 18 to 24-year-olds with 31.9 hours consumed a month. But this demographic (13 per cent) is smaller than the over 55’s (22 per cent) who consume 6.5 hours of video a month.
There is a generational gap amongst favoured plaforms
Facebook is most favoured by 18-to-24s, with 83 per cent using it. This outstrips the two thirds of over 55’s who use it.
Almost three times as many 18-to-24s use YouTube (68 per cent) compared to over over 55’s. Twice as many of the younger demographic (42 per cent) use WhatsApp compared to their older colleagues and almost double (35 per cent) use Twitter.
Android apps
Google Play leads the field with 96 per cent of android phones carrying the app. Following behind, 88 per cent navigate with Chrome, 86 per cent use maps, 80 per cent YouTube 80 per cent and gmail users are at 71 per cent. Facebook is used by 64 per cent and Twitter 45 per cent of android users.
Winding down is a generational thing
Adults on average turn to live TV with almost 50 per cent using this as a crutch. But 12 to 15-year-olds mostly turn to social media to unwind (27 per cent).
Most look on YouTube and Facebook on a laptop and PC
With YouTube, the PC or laptop is used to view by 71 per cent. Jusy over half use a smartphone and 39 per cent a tablet with 33 per cent using a TV.
With Facebook, PC or laptop is favoured by 67 per cent, 63 per cent for smartphone and 36 for tablet. Just six per cent use TV.
We keep in touch by sharing images and video not SMS
In 2012, SMS was the most favoured way to stay in touch. This has become images and video.
Almost all smartphone users – 97 per cent – use the device to view pictures and images and almost two thirds post images and video themselves.
Holiday pictures are the most popular images shared
24 per cent share holiday pics
20 per cent share pets and animals
20 per cent share landscapes or buildings
19 per cent share funny images
16 per cent myself
15 per cent friends
13 per cent sunrise, sunsets and nature
Emojis have become mainstream
Far from being niche, they are being used more and more. A quarter use them every day while one-in-five think they’re important to their communications. A majority – 80 per cent – think they are fun.
Audio remains important
Radio numbers dominate with almost one-in-nine listening to the radio every week with the average 21.4 hours a week. A third use podcasts every week.
I do try and avoid commenting on news stories on this blog. Others do it perfectly well. But this is a doozy.
You may have noticed that blink-and-you’ll-miss-him White House Director of Communications Anthony Scarramucci lasted 10 days in the post.
What emerged in the last 24-hours is a draft comms plan posted by a blogger sympathetic to Scarramucci. You can read it here. You can also read Buzzfeed’s confirmation that this is not fake news and also a take down of it here. I suggest you do. It’s jaw-droppingly bad.
Bad comms plans and Bob Dylan
Sure, it is in draft format. But it appears an unstructured list. Poorly thought through. With not much sense of direction. No evaluation. Like Bob Dylan in ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ it has no direction at all.
Good comms plans
Good comms plans involve a round table of input from people you want to work with. They are strategy and they are the tactics of how to do it.
They look at where you are now, where you want to go, what the one thing is you’d like people to do, who you’d like to talk to, where they hang out, what time and money you have and how you are going to evaluate. You can add who you are going to tell you are doing this and a timeline for the things you’ll do too.
There are many comms planning templates. This one is mine. You are free to use it.
