I’m back after missing the Wrap last week while I was at the IABC World Conference in New Orleans. As always, the Friday Wrap is my weekly collection of news stories, posts, studies, and reports designed to help organizational communicators stay current on the trends and technology that affect their jobs. These may be items that flew under the radar while other stories grabbed big headlines. As always, I collect material from which I select Wrap stories (as well as stories to report on the For Immediate Release podcast, along with stuff I just want to remember to read) on my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. If you want to make sure you never miss an edition of the Wrap, subscribe to my weekly email briefing.
News
Web’s inventor wants to re-invent it—Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web as a way for people to find other people’s information, and he isn’t happy with what it has become. “spying, blocking sites, repurposing people’s content, taking you to the wrong websites — that completely undermines the spirit of helping people create,” he said. Berners-Lee met with other top computer scientists to talk about a new approach to the web. The Decentralized Web Summit explored ways web pages could be distributed everywhere without the kind of control made possible by the hosting of sites on servers. The takeaway: The move toward a more open web is great—ensuring people living in China have access to content the government couldn’t block all by itself is an invigorating idea—but it won’t stop most people from using public networks like Facebook to express themselves. The idea of ending the dominance of Google, Facebook, and Twitter sounds good, but the average consumer actually prefers to know where to go for search, networking, and news. Read more
Scripps buys Stitcher—E.W. Scripps has acquired podcasting app Stitcher for $4.5 million. Stitcher will be added to Scripps’ Midroll ad unit, which sells ads for popdcasts. The takeaway: Evidence mounts that podcasts are going mainstream. Your opportunities are to produce podcasts, pitch existing podcasts with your content (for interviews in particular), and to sponsor or advertise. Read more
Report reveals “pervasive” agency rebate collection—Rebates are pervasive in the U.S. media buying ecosystem, according to an investigation by the Association of National Advertisers. The report alleges that “contracts for rebates and other non-transparent business practices were negotiated and sometimes signed by high-level agency executives.” The report lists practices including agencies collecting cash rebates from media vendors and selling low-value research services in order to get media to pay agencies and amass free media inventory credits. The report also found cases of agencies directing client spend to media even when it wasn’t in the client’s best interest. The takeaway: The reaction from agencies has been swift and furious, denouncing the report and arguing that it doesn’t accurately portray the way agencies work. Read more
You can post to Facebook’s Timeline without posting to your News Feed—Have you ever wanted to share content on Facebook without having it appear in your Timeline? The process required you to post the content and then hide it, but no more. Facebook has introduced a feature that lets you post only to the News Feed, allowing you to issue a quick query of your friends or post a short status update that doesn’t clutter your Timeline. It’s available on the website only, not mobile apps (yet), and it’s only for original posts, not those you’re sharing from someone else. Start writing a post and you’ll see a check box that invites you to hide the post from your Timeline. The takeaway: By keeping these posts off your Timeline, where they live forever, you can make your content more ephemeral, a practice that is growing in popularity. Read more
AP launches native ad agency—The venerable Associated Press is about to introduce a new native advertising agency that will deliver sponsored content alongside AP news where it appears on its subscribers’ sites. AP has been losing subscribers lately, and the native advertising move will help those subscribers generate revenue. The agency will mostly produce photos and videos marketers can add to their content, which AP will then introduce alongside the original content its subscribers pay for. The takeaway: Increasingly, native advertising is proving to be a savior for the media business. We still face the challenge of ensuring that it is easily identified rather than masquerading as original editorial content. Read more
Voice calling comes to Slack—Enterprise collaboration tool Slack now lets any user make a voice-to-voice call over any of its platforms (Web, desktop or mobile) for one-to-one and group calls. You can even use emoji while you’re in a call to send a reaction to everyone on that call. The takeaway: Slack just keeps getting better and better. There’s a reason it’s the fastest-growing enterprise software in history. Read more
You can comment on Facebook updates with a video response—Facebook has introduced video comments—developed at the company’s 50th Hackathon—enabling users to respond to updates with video instead of just text. The feature is available on the web, Android, and iOS by clicking the camera icon in the comment field. The takeaway: Commenting back and forth on Snapchat surely inspired this feature, another indicator of video’s soaring popularity. Read more
Trends
Apps? We don’t need no stinking apps—ComScore’s latest mobility report finds that the average American smartphone user downloads zero apps per month. Outside of the US, the growth of the app market is slowing, with the top 15 apps gaining only 3% last month. There are exceptions; two, to be exact. Downloads of Snapchat and the Uber app continue to grow. The takeaway: If you want to reach people in the mobile space, creating an app is not likely to be your best solution. Instead, look to make connections via messaging apps they have already downloaded and by getting your content into the activity streams they already read. And don’t ignore the potential for a chatbot if you can make it useful or entertaining enough to draw attention. Read more
Facebook Page owner couldn’t care less about reach—The idea behind Dr. Joseph Dearani’s blog isn’t to gain hordes of new followers and expand its reach. According to the Mayo Clinic’s Social Media Network blog, “He wants to provide educational videos and other resources to parents who are considering heart surgery for their children, and who have already contacted his office.” Dearani’s secretary, who fields incoming calls, directs them to the page where they see videos about rare heart conditions, leading to more informed conversations with the doctor. The takeaway: Why not just a blog? Patients and families are already on Facebook. They know how to use it and it’s easy to direct them to the page. This is a genuine strategy that works but isn’t predicated on expanding reach. Your Facebook activities needn’t be based on reach, either. They just needs to be a practical, workable strategies. In this case the strategy is to use a Facebook Page as a destination rather than directing patients and families to a blog. Read more
Periscope adds comment moderation—In an effort to combat trolls, Periscope has made it possible for viewers of broadcasts to report an inappropriate comment. The report triggers a “flash jury” of others watching that stream. If the majority agree it’s abusive or offensive, the commenter is placed on a one-minute time-out with commenting disabled. The time-out gives the user a chance to rehabilitate his or her behavior. The takeaway: Thi self-policing system is wildly different from the approaches taken by Facebook and others, which let you only report and then wait for a decision from the powers that be. It’s an experiment worth watching to see if it’s adaptable elsewhere. Read more
The growing use of “dark social”—I have seen multiple definitions of the term “dark social,” the latest being “harder-to-find content” as opposed to content on channels like Facebook that is called “light social.” The “darker” the channel, the more likely people are to share content via that channel only with close friends. Facebook and Twitter, then, are where you share content for everyone to see; Snapchat is for those closest to you, and WhatsApp, Tinder, Messenger, and Instagram are the most private of channels. Brands should consider content for both light and dark. “While generic messages for an energy drink can run on light broadcast social…imagine how the product might be positioned on a dating app.” Coca-Cola ran a “Naughty or Nice” campaign on Tinder, for example. “Tribecasting” is one way to employ dark social by “stoking interest among a core group of fans early in the process. it involves giving followers bespoke content that is often raunchier or more honest than what eventually appears on Facebook.” The takeaway: The biggest brand failure in social media is 1:1 conversation. Publishing to dark social sites (as defined here) isn’t exactly 1:1, but it comes a whole lot closer. (The more common definition of “dark social” is content that is posted outside of what can be measured, such as links shared via email or text message.) Read more
People flock to mainstream news to verify what they’ve read online—Despite various indicators that the Internet is playing havoc with the news media, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley says all that news clogging the Net is actually leading people to tune into the nightly broadcast, which averaged 7.4 million viewers in the 2015-16 season. Pelley’s competitors at ABC and NBC have also experienced audience growth. The reason: There has never been a time when more bad information has been available and people want to know what really happened, according to Pelley. The takeaway: A lot of people are getting more sophisticated in their online consumption, not accepting as fact whatever they read. Visits to Snopes.com and other fact-checking sites are also up. Communicators should be part of the solution rather than contributors to the problem. Read more
Research
Twitter delivers no long-term “star effect”—At least, not for baseball teams. Research from the University of Missouri analyzed the Twitter usage of Major League Baseball teams, athletes, and fans and found that the “star effect” that came with acquiring star athletes doesn’t translate to social media. “Teams will need to find alternative strategies to building fan engagement other than acquiring high-profile athletes,” according to researcher Nicholas Watanabe. The takeaway: While it’s easy to apply the results to other sports teams, the research should also inform thinking about celebrity endorsements of all kinds. The long-term glow of a celebrity spokesperson (despite his current woes, remember Bill Cosby and Jell-O?) is likely to suffer the translation from TV to social channels. Read more
Employees won’t work for companies lacking CSR values—Two-thirds of American employees recognize that work-life balance is an increasingly archaic idea: Work and life are being blended, and 93% of employees want to work for a company that cares about them as individuals. The 2016 Employee Engagement Study found employees prefer to work for companies that support the causes or issues they care about, and 64% say that’s as important as traditional benefits like wellness programs and tuition reimbursement. More than three-quarters said they want to be active participants in helping their employers improve their CSR practices by providing feedback, ideas, and potential solutions. The takeaway: Companies that exist solely to provide a return to shareholders will fail to attract the best talent. Investment in social causes that bolster the company’s values is fast becoming a requirement. Read more
College grads value culture over compensation—If the last item wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, consider the Accenture study that found 2016’s class of college graduates is “seeking a fulfilling employee experience in their first job” and “increasingly looking at workplace culture, and benefits other than salary, as important factors when making career decisions.” The takeaway: I feel so much better about the theme of the book I’m writing, which is about the employee experience. Delivering that experience now will help attract top-tier talent, but it means making investments in parts of the business traditional investors may not like since they won’t affect the next quarter’s earnings. Read more
Print newspapers will survive—You can’t talk about the print newspaper industry without a chorus of voices proclaiming its days are numbered. A survey of PR chiefs found that three-quarters believe print news will survive. It’s better suited to long-form content. One communications executive with a non-profit said, “Investigative journalism has a future in print. Mud-slinging and celebrity news will live online.” Some believe print newspapers will have to improve their formats in order to continue attracting an audience. Others felt it was a regional matter, noting print could survive in Europe but fade in the U.S. The takeaway: I have long believed that newspapers producing unique content that’s easy to discover will win; those filling the space between adds with wire-service copy will lose. In any case, print in general is not going anywhere. Read more
Interactive content is the future of the web—Three-quarters of content marketers play to increase their use of interactive content this year, according to a Content Marketing Institute study. Eighty-one percent believe interactive content is more effective at the engagement stage of “grabbing attention” and 79% say it enhances retention of brand messaging when integrated with traditional marketing tactics. The takeaway: A dialogue is better than a monologue. Stop talking at people and start using your content to talk with them. Read more
Just-in-time marketing delivers higher ROI than mass marketing—Just-in-time marketing is created when it’s needed and tailored to the interests of consumers when they’re looking for that kind of content…an approach under which companies are three times more likely to exceed revenue growth of peers using mass marketing techniques. According to a survey of 500 CMOs from around the world, just-in-time marketers have boosted their annual revenue by more than 25% versus 12% for those employing the practice of creating and publishing a lot of content designed to reach the broadest possible audience. Accenture was behind the research. The takeaway: Over-producing content can be inefficient and expensive while under-performing with customer acquisition and sales. Just-in-time marketing requires a change of mindset and adoption of new practices, but the payoff is significant. The priority should be to “reach the right customer, and the right time, with the right message or offer to convert a sale.” Read more
Experiential marketing gets attention from easily distracted consumers—Live events are getting more popular among CMOs who find consumers get engaged far more than they do with traditional marketing content. One event-marketing company executive argued that mass-market is dead or dying, leading brands to seek new approaches to reaching audiences. “Live experiences are gaining a bigger share of the pie because they draw on the basic needs of us as humans to connect and socialize.” The takeaway: Don’t view an event as an end game, but rather as the launching point for maintaining a connection with a customer through other means, including online. Read more
AMP works—The Google-led Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative seems to be doing exactly what it promises. More than 90% of publishers employing the technology are getting higher click-through rates. AIM strips HTML of the code that slows loading. It’s a response to the Facebook Instant Articles product that aims to make fast-loading mobile pages available anywhere on the web, not just in Facebook’s walled garden. The takeaway: It’s a mobile world and anything that removes friction between the customer and your content is worth exploring. There already are tools to make it easy to use the AMP version of HTML. Read more
Consumers give online reviews more credit than they deserve—A study from the Journal of Consumer Research found “a substantial disconnect” between objective information in an online review and the degree to which consumers trust them. That is, a consumer seeing a high rating (e.g., 4.6 out of 5 stars) take it more seriously than the information it contains suggests they should. The study analyzed 344,157 Amazon ratings of 1,272 products in 120 product categories, and found disagreement between what the review said and the information published by Consumer Reports’ experts. The takeaway: In the wake of the report, Amazon will give more weight to the most recent helpful reviews, though the researchers argue consumers “should rely much less on reviews than they currently do.” Yet earning positive reviews remain one of the most important tactics marketers employ. Read more
Facebook reach per post is falling for media companies—An analysis of the Facebook pages of about 3,000 media companies found that reach per post for those pages plunged 42% following a change to the algorithm that governs the social network’s News Feed algorithm. The takeaway: If publishing to Facebook is your entire strategy, you’re doomed. We live in a multi-channel world where some companies are even hiring channel specialists to ensure content accommodates the many channels through which media companies and brands deploy it. Read more
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Getty Images dives into VR—Getty Images is introducing Getty Images Virtual Reality Group, with a goal of growing its current inventory of 12,000 360-degree still images that Getty has collected during the past four years. All Getty photographers shooting the Summer Olympics will carry 360-degree cameras. The takeaway: Immersive 360-degree photos and videos are becoming increasingly popular. Consider the next item as further evidence that brands need to explore how 360-degree photos can enhance their own content marketing efforts. Read more
Facebook’s 360 Video enters meme territory—Take a look at some of the Facebook pages that have been launched as home to immersive videos that draw enviable numbers of likes. In many cases, these are 2D videos that have been processed through the free utility that converts them into 3D. The takeaway: Here’s one more new craze that offers an opportunity to get some attention. Find a short videos from your archives that would be “janky, and hilarious in their jankiness,” run them through the processor, upload them and see what happens. As the Motherboard article puts it, “once a technology makes it out of the sphere of thinkfluencers and early adopters, it can actually be weird and cool.” Read more
Twitter is also jumping on the 360-degree video bandwagon—Twitter has added support for 360-degree video, announcing the feature after the NBA began posting 360-degree videos shot using Samsung Gear 360 during the first game of the Finals. The takeaway: See above. 360-degree video will become routine with consumers expecting to see them, especially where they add value and meaning. Read more
Project Tango is now just Tango—Google is dropping “Project” from Project Tango, its Augmented Reality initiative that is ready to ship to consumers. Tango is designed to help users “see more” of their world, such as adding information to a walk through a museum. The takeaway: These tools have been around for years from startups like Layar, but building them into Android devices will help shoot them into more common usage and lay the foundation for upcoming tools like Microsoft’s Hololens. Read more
Mobile and Wearables
An app to help you be a better presenter—“Umm is not a word,” a presentation coach once told me. “They don’t say ‘ummo’ in Mexico.” But Ummo is the name of a new app to help improve your presentation skills. The $2 iOS-only app listens to you rehearse and logs the words, pauses, and filler words (like “uhhh” and “ummm”), presenting you with a transcript. You can instruct the app to beep when you use a filler word and add ones you overuse to the list. It also shows you your words-per-minute pace, volume, and more. The takeaway: I’m waiting for the Android version, but the app reflects the potential for smartphones to serve utilitarian purposes nobody ever imagined. Read more
Facebook introduces diverse emojis for Messenger—Facebook has launched 1,500 new emojis for its Messenger chat app that let users customize the emojis’ skin color. There are more female emoji reflecting jobs like doctors and police officers. The move follows a push from Google to get the Unicode Consortium to make emojis more gender-inclusive. The takeaway: Two actually—emojis aren’t going anywhere and the push to be more inclusive and diverse in communication is gaining steam. Again, companies need to put their values on display. Read more
This week’s wrap image comes courtesy of NASA Kennedy’s Flickr account. It’s of the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), still in its protective wrapping.