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Getting the Balance Wrong: Six Cardinal Sins of Corporate Influencer Programs

We at Foskett Services are deeply involved in the mechanics of corporate and industry social media and PR. It comes with the territory, running Tech Field Day, participating in events, and generally getting involved. And this has made us the target of many “influencer programs”, from Microsoft MVP, VMware vExpert, and EMC Experts to Cisco Champions and many more.

Most of these influencer programs get some things right and other aspects laughably wrong. Rather than pick on any one, let’s set up a straw man to point out the biggest sins of corporate influencer programs, as we see it.

How do you treat your champions?
How do you treat your champions?

Introducing the Simplex Sycophant Society

Let’s imagine a company, Simplex Networks, that wanted better to reach out to social media influencers and a crack team of Social Media Expert Consultants convinced them to start an influencer appreciation marketing program. The Simplex Sycophant Society is integrated with the core message of Simplex Networks and functions to externalize marketecture and message management for MBO and KPI acceleration. Or something.

But the poor folks at Simplex have hired the wrong team to manage their program and they’re making some huge mistakes! Let’s dive into their poor decisions.

“We’ll Draw From Our Biggest Supporters!”

Jim and Jon and Jane are always writing and speaking about Simplex. They love their doodads and never miss an opportunity to praise the company. They’re shoo-ins for the Sycophant Society.

But it’s a huge mistake to draw only from “champions” you know and appreciate! The most credible voices are those who are willing both to praise and criticize fairly and deservedly. It can be uncomfortable to see a negative review, but those can be even more important to a company than endless commendation. These programs should educate insiders as well as would-be customers.

It’s also important to reach for unfamiliar voices. We too often believe that the people we know are the entirety of the world, but this is a huge mistake in the segmented world of blogs, podcasts, forums, seminars, and events. Look first for people you don’t know rather than those you do.

“We’re Recognizing our Amplifying Army!”

Simplex pitched their program to bloggers as recognition for hard work but that’s not how they sold it internally. Their Social Media Consultants focused on messaging, amplification, and influencing the “experts” and “MVP’s”!

Be clear on the purpose of the program, both internally and externally. If the program is totally self-serving, you will end up alienating the very people with whom you’re trying to connect! Are you getting the balance right between recognition and influence? Do your “champions” feel valued or put upon once they’re part of the program? How much homework do they have to do to maintain their “award”?

It’s a good idea to set a limit on the size and makeup of the Influencer Army, too. Do you allow partners and employees to join? Why or why not? What are the criteria for inclusion and how will you remove people fairly? These things can quickly get out of hand!

“We’ve Media-Trained Official Internal Interactors!”

The Simplex PR team was very sensitive about opening up so they only allowed a special team of media-trained spokespeople to interact with their program. They were scared that independent writers and speakers might go off message, and there’s no way to go over their heads if they start saying uncomfortable things.

But media-trained spokespeople are boring, and on-message-only chats are unlikely to inspire coverage. The Internet of carefully-crafted marketing has trained us all to cut through the BS with a vorpal blade of wit and cynicism. Slick spokespeople are a relic of “a more civilized age” when writers played the game too.

It’s especially disappointing to see fantastic, credible individuals inside these companies overlooked and stymied in their attempts to reach out to their peers. Look around and you’ll see that the best spokespeople are already speaking and would do a much better job than Mr. Slick if only they were given the support!

“Let’s Have Our Sycophants Push This Out For Us!”

The pitch to Simplex Networks was to use their Sycophant Society simply as another vehicle for one-way marketing communication. So they put together weekly lists of suggested tweets, monthly product-specific writing assignments, and annual production quotas. Then they were surprised that their “champions” started falling out.

What was the point of this program again? It comes back to balance of benefit between the company and it’s champions. It’s ok to ask influencers to share your message but be very careful with this. They’re not just a corporate mouthpiece and you can quickly overstep their bounds of independence. The truly worthwhile will fall out of the program and you’ll be left with the shills. Is that what you wanted from the program?

Some try to overcome this resistance with rewards, from free product to cold, hard cash. But this too can backfire if it looks excessive or goes undisclosed in alleged independent content. Work for balance before all else and you won’t have to bribe your influencers.

“We’re Making That an Official Component of the Sycophant Society!”

Simplex saw people come up with all sorts of cool ideas, from social sharing concepts to in-person fun at their events. So they decided to bring these under the “official” Sycophant Society umbrella. Then everything fell apart because it just wasn’t fun anymore.

Companies should be wary of glomming onto erstwhile spontaneous activities and corporatizing them. Enjoy what your influencers do. Support them as needed. But allow them to thrive on their own rather than smothering them!

One additional benefit of keeping activities at arm’s length is deniability: If something negative does arise, it’s good to be involved but not committed to a publication or a party. You can benefit from the honest feedback without being on the hook for it.

“We’ll Invite the Sycophants to our Simplex Day!”

Since they already had an annual analyst and press event, Simplex decided to allow their Sycophants to tag along. But why were they ignoring the financial overview? And what about that golf outing they skipped? Plus, quite a few just couldn’t get time off work.

One reason we started Tech Field Day was the proliferation of events throughout the year. There’s something to go to somewhere just about every week, and multiple things some weeks! Yet independents must be choosy, selecting just a few events to attend out of the yearlong schedule. Even if their company is enlightened enough not to require vacation days for events, there’s an inevitable push-back to be had when requesting time off a dozen times a year.

Moreover, analyst and press days are usually inappropriate for independent techies. There’s too much filler and not enough deep interaction to justify a three-day trip for every company. And we also get back to the “inappropriate influence” factor when you add in golf or ski outings, giveaways, and luxury accommodations.

Rather than just bringing your influencers to your existing analyst and press events, why not set up a special event just for them? Time it to coincide with another industry event to minimize time off, or just join an existing event.

Suggested Tweets

So there you have it: Six things influencer programs too often get wrong. Don’t by like the Simplex Sycophant Society. Get the balance right.

Disclaimer: Did we mention we have many horses in this race? We run Tech Field Day, help with the SolarWinds thwack Ambassador Program and the Aruba Ambassador Program, and assist with outreach for other companies besides. Our primary goal with these efforts is balance between the objectives of the companies and the independent writers and speakers we work with. That’s kind of what this post is all about!

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“Everybody’s On the Internet, and Nobody Cares”

I really enjoy Marco Arment‘s blog and the links he posts and comments on. And I recently read his post, “We’re Just Flipping Through Index Cards”, with a reference to a podcast interview John Roderick by Myke Hurley that got me thinking. John is talking about the music industry, and Marco is talking about the app store. But a lot of it rings true for enterprise IT, too.

The old gatekeepers of information are history

PR Before the Internet

Here’s an example, thanks to Marco’s transcript:

[Ten years ago,] you were dependent on this whole cultural architecture of magazine writers, newspaper writers, college radio, commercial radio, public radio… and if your record got into the stream, and the right person liked it and talked about it, then pretty soon you’ve created a storm of interest that started with one or two people who decided that this record was something that really mattered.

Now substitute “tech press” and “tech analysts” for the influencers he’s referring to and you see where I’m going with this. It used to be that corporate PR could focus on a few well-known individuals to get their message out, just like the music industry focused on DJs and music writers.

I was one of those writers near the tail end; my friend Howard Marks was there in the thick of it. He tells tales of magazines so thick with ads they had to pay extra for articles just to meet postal service “minimum content” rules! And Gartner was the strongest force in the enterprise IT space, with end users paying for their recommendations and following them to the letter.

Democracy Wins!

But that’s all gone now. Storage Magazine folded, and only a few publications remain professional, relevant, and useful (hello, Network Computing!) Even conferences have changed, with independent shows being replaced by vendor-controlled events.

Where do end users go for advice and information about new products? And where to corporate PR and marketing folks go to talk about their wares?

John continues:

Well, five years ago, all of a sudden the conventional wisdom started to change. “Oh, no, we don’t have to do any of that anymore! You just put it on the internet, everybody listens to it, and ‘the crowd’ decides! And you don’t have to do any of that bullshit anymore. You can just tweet about your record, and everybody’s going to listen to it and love it!”

And for a brief moment, when the internet was still comprised mostly of all the right people, it was just the cool kids that were on there. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah could put out a record on Myspace, and the cool kids would all get it.

That was the enterprise IT world about 5 years ago when we started Tech Field Day. A few of us had made the jump to the Internet, and some great new folks started to appear. And what we said mattered just because someone was there, and they were saying something.

Another great thing happened thanks to the Internet (especially blogging and Twitter): Techies became influencers. The old guard ignored the Internet at first. Then they tried to firewall their content and make people pay. Then their empires collapsed. Content was king and democracy won, for a while at least.

What Now?

But in the last few years, things have been changing. Everyone is on Twitter and “social media professionals” have been gaming the system long enough that link fatigue is setting in. Here’s John again:

But, of course, that window was short-lived. Now, we’re back to a world where everybody’s on the internet, and nobody cares. Nobody’s following your tweet link to your record anymore! Except your fans, people who already like you.

My Twitter feed is now 85% links to people’s Kickstarters and YouTube videos. And I only follow people I know! Imagine following your favorite bands — it would be never-ending. Everybody’s trying to promote themselves the same way.

The problem is now, if you hire a publicist, what are they doing? They’re just tweeting about it, too, because the magazines are gone, the record stores are gone… it’s anybody’s guess how to promote a record now. …

I’m sure this sounds familiar to enterprise IT PR and marketing folks. They fill their corporate Twitter accounts with links but get few tweets. They try to build up their Facebook pages because that’s what the pros say to do, but have precious little actual engagement. And they’re inundated with potential social media outlets, from tweeters to online publications to events. But there’s just too much chaff and not enough wheat!

It’s Not the End of the World

In that podcast, John bemoans the decline he sees in the quality of music today, seemingly blaming it on this noisy social media world. I don’t agree.

I only heard John’s views because Marco blogged it. He presumably only heard it because he listens to CMD+Space and respects Myke. And I only listen to Marco because he has a history of posting quality content. See where this is going?

Social media is increasingly filled with noise like the Kickstarter and YouTube links John bemoans. But this just makes it more important to build a reputation and real relationships. “Followers” and “likes” are irrelevant if they’re hollow, and these are proliferating. But nothing can take the place of real credibility. People like Marco, Myke, and John are more important than ever, and they do make a real impact on opinions.

What We’re Doing

The same is true for PR in enterprise IT. You can’t just hire self-proclaimed social media experts and build followers. You can’t trust generic social media metrics without context. You have to build real relationships and have credible conversations with people that are respected in your space. These are the new writers and analysts.

One of the hardest parts of planning Tech Field Day is saying “no” to people we like. We know dozens of great folks in wireless, storage, networking, and the rest, but only a few can go to each event. It’s heartbreaking to tell folks they can’t come this time, but this is what we have to do. Tech Field Day wouldn’t work with 30 people in the room (we’ve tried!) so we have to pick just a few key folks. And our presenters love knowing that they’re reaching top people in their specific area of focus, chosen by their peers.

What makes Gestalt IT, Foskett Services, and Tech Field Day different is us. We’re not some generic social media company. We’re the audience as well as the speaker. We’re enterprise IT people and we would not do this if we didn’t love it. We believe we’re doing the “good work” John is looking for in the music industry: Setting up real conversations and building real connections in an open and democratic way.

Tech Field Day lets companies talk with influencers selected by their peers rather than arbitrary social media metrics

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Always Punch Above Your Weight

Punching below your weight just makes you look like a foolish bully!

It’s tempting for companies to smack the little guys around. After all, it’s easier to bump off some new startup by spreading FUD than it is to challenge the top dog in your industry! But easy pickings should be avoided, especially when it comes to online communication and social media: It’s far easier for a company to lose mindshare by calling attention to the little guys than it is to gain anything from even the most justifiable argument. That’s why I advise my clients always to punch above their weight.

Pick a Fair Fight

It’s hard to pick the World Series winner before the Major League Baseball season, and World Cup “Futbol” is similarly competitive, but most fields of battle feature mismatched foes. Consider the University of Connecticut’s amazing “Lady Huskies” basketball team. They just won their 89th straight game, an amazing winning streak. Yet commentators were quick to downplay their success, claiming women’s college basketball just isn’t as competitive as other sports.

Spectators love a “David”, and schadenfreude always clouds a “Goliath”. Who wants to see Michael Shumacher drive another Ferrari to victory? It’s much more fun to see him fail to turn in a top lap, let alone stand on the podium! Seeing the Red Sox knock off the hated Yankees after losing the first three games in the 2004 ALCS was perhaps more important to fans than the two World Series victories that followed.

Social Media Lessons

I am always amused when an industry titan decides to go toe-to-toe with a tiny upstart. Sure, they often win these fights. But simply by taking up the challenge they have validated the whippersnapper’s cause, who often leverages the losing fight in the ensuing PR blitz. David and Goliath is a natural news story, after all!

This is even more true when it comes to companies responding to negative coverage online. Often, an up-and-coming blogger or analyst will intentionally pick a fight to get attention. When the victim punches back, they drag the little guy into the spotlight.

Always Punch Above Your Weight

This is an admirable tactic, and the lesson works in both directions:

  1. Always focus ahead and take on a foe larger than you
  2. Ignore everyone smaller than you – anything you say or do will weaken your position

When it comes to social media, companies should never respond in anger. It’s a rare blogger indeed who is bigger than the companies they cover! Companies should ignore the specific attack and respond with a reaffirmation of their actual value. And shooting the messenger just looks petty!

Keep this in mind the next time you see an angry response to a blogger or analyst!

Image credit: “Boxing Ring Santa Cruz IMS Academy” by KoKo Krispy

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The Four Stages of Vendor Blogging

Successful vendor blogging requires a careful balance between corporate Kool Aid and personal authenticity

It’s not easy to be a public face for your employer, and doubly so when you’re using social media. Blogs, tweets, and the like value personal authenticity (and shun “corporateness”), forcing vendor bloggers to walk a tightrope:

  • Sway too far towards your own personality and beliefs and someone from PR or marketing is going to smack you
  • Sway too far towards the press release mentality of “old communications” and your audience will abandon you

It can be hard to accept this burden, and many a bright young blogger flames out as the reality of the situation settles upon them. Yet some emerge from the trials with a reasonable philosophy and are able to continue – witness the success of folks like Chuck Hollis, Val Bercovici, Barton George, Duncan Epping, Lori MacVittie, Brad Hedlund, and many others.

Let’s consider the stages new vendor bloggers go through as they mature into a viable and authentic voice for their employer.

1) Drinking the Sweet Nectar

It’s tempting to drink the corporate Kool-Aid and jump head-first into the fray with a company-logo shield in one hand and product sword in the other. After all, if social media is a sure way to promote your employer, why not take the plunge and reap the rewards?

Because it won’t work, that’s why. Adults don’t go for overly-sweet drinks, and they won’t read “Corporate Kool-Aid” posts. This category of writing tends to be totally over-the-top corporate cheerleading: Ignoring one’s own faults, jumping on the shortcomings of competitors, and expounding on the merits of simple press-release content.

New employees often start here, but those who have worked for a while often skip this step. This is why some “people who blog and work for companies” aren’t really “vendor bloggers” at all – see, for example, Chris Hoff and Marc Farley. But who is and isn’t a “vendor blogger” is a topic for a different day!

2) Stepping Over the Line

Whether they start with Kool-Aid or with self-respect, the next step for bloggers (and tweeters, Facebookers, and other public speakers) who work for companies is to step over the line and get slapped for it. Perhaps they will enter a discussion charged with corporate or real-world politics; perhaps they will overzealously release inside information; or perhaps they will simply overshadow the marketing efforts of the company. Regardless, the repercussions are terrifying: Loss of “the mic”, a reprimand from the boss, or even an employment threat.

This is usually the low point for a vendor blogger. An act of corporate promotion becomes a threat to their employment, and they begin to question the wisdom of it all. “Keep your head down and do your job” seems like a reasoned response. Many an aspiring “public voice” is silenced at this stage. Trust me – I’ve been there, too.

3) Parroting the Press Release

Those who decide to persevere after the corporate slap-down tend to resume with a stripped-down, PR-focused style. Their blog posts contain a straightforward paragraph of praise followed by blocks pasted from official press releases. Their posting becomes less-frequent, too, as their heart has gone out of it.

If the “over the line” stage is personally risky, the parrot stage poses the greatest risk to one’s reputation. We all know that the Kool-Aid tasted great, so we can forgive posts that start with “my new job is awesome!” But seeing a formerly-vigorous individual reduced to quoting corporate marketing is harder to take. If many blogs disappear after phase 2, more are ignored when they reach this phase.

4) Being Honest and Forthright

If they survive the earlier stages, vendor bloggers eventually emerge as honest and forthright voices for their employer. They will try to avoid drawing attention to faults, writing about the highlights instead. When pressed, they will point to their tie of employment and hope the reader understands why they cannot say some things.

Great vendor bloggers are compromised and have sacrificed some authenticity. But their honesty about the situation makes this ok, and their creativity and thoughtfulness keeps the readers coming back.

It’s a tough task and not everyone can do it. But some can, and they earn my respect.

Image credit: “One Hundred + 16 — Drinking the Kool-Aid” by Khürt

“Kool-Aid” is a trademark of Kraft Foods and is used here for the purpose of satire

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When To Embargo Blog News (And When Not To)

Can vendors control the flow of information? Should they?

Conventional PR mechanisms face many challenges in this new Internet-enabled world, but one of the thorniest for product vendors is the question of controlling information prior to announcements. Although there are many benefits to briefing writers and thought leaders ahead of time, there is a difference of opinion on how to handle this. And not all writers are the same, with reporters being focused on scoops and independent bloggers often more interested in considering their take on the news. Then there is the issue of embargo-breaking, and how to handle leaks. What should one do?

You might also want to read my (personal) stance on embargoes.

Embargo vs. NDA

Embargoes and NDAs are two very different things, although many people, including those actively involved in PR, confuse the terms.

  1. An embargo is a time-limited release of inside information. Reporters agree to keep the content of a briefing confidential until a specific date and time, then all bets are off. Embargoes normally rely on the honor system, so both sides must trust each other not to break the terms. Breaking an embargo normally gives one a bad reputation and can interfere with future briefings but lawsuits are unlikely.
  2. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legal contract between two parties that any confidential information discussed will not be shared until it is public. Breaking an NDA can land one in court, with stiff penalties being imposed. Being a legal contract, an NDA must include some sort of “consideration” or reward to the signer; though the information itself is often enough, NDAs are also often used for employees and contractors.

As you can see, an embargo is not an NDA and vice versa. Both have their benefits, but NDAs are really not effective for public relations, especially when dealing with bloggers. Because of the legal peril involved, many will treat information released under NDA with extreme care and may not write or speak about the topic at all for fear of breaking the agreement. Obviously, this is in opposition to the desires of PR representatives! Therefore, I always discourage the use of NDAs except for employees, contractors, or close advisors.

What Bloggers Want

Each blogger or reporter receiving embargoed information has their own goal in mind.

Many writers want a scoop to driver readership. This gives their publication greater revenue from advertisers. These writers are often more prolific, covering many announcements in hopes of being first or best on the day of the release. These traffic spikes help drive overall pageviews or circulation. The embargo date is important to them since it ensures that their competition will not publish the story first.

Others may want greater access to information, allowing them to fully digest and consider news to present to their audience. Many independent bloggers fall into this category, though some reporters behave in this way as well. The goal here is not the deadline but the extra time for deliberation and the ability to ask questions. They may feel pressure to be timely, but are less focused on the initial spike of traffic.

Companies reaching out to writers must consider their goals. Is this a scoop-driven or a thoughtful reporter? It pays allocate extra time for Q&A with the slower publisher, though they may not write about your announcement at all. Conversely, a company should consider which “scoopers” to reach in order to build a good relationship and encourage publicity.

Why Embargo?

Companies benefit in many ways from embargoed briefings:

  1. They thought leaders to learn about information ahead of time, giving them time to consider the ramifications of the announcement.
  2. Writers can take time to adequately research and compose a piece about an upcoming announcement under less deadline pressure.
  3. Embargoed releases give the writer an advantage over their non-briefed rivals, a valuable benefit to be sure.
  4. All involved in a briefing can discuss the implications of an announcement, ensuring more-thorough understanding.
  5. An embargo offer demonstrates trust and confidence in the writer, engendering goodwill.
  6. The release of the embargo gives a timed blip of publicity, as many sites cover the news simultaneously.

It is hard to find a downside to embargoed briefings, really. Companies benefit, writers benefit, and the wider audience benefits since they get better coverage.

When Embargoes Fail

The only real negative to an embargo is the prospect of someone breaking it. Although some reporters actively disregard embargoes, many respect them. They see the valuable role of the embargo and are willing to play the game and hold off publishing to ensure the flow of good and timely information.

However, the truth is that many embargoes are broken. One common cause is the company itself “going live” with the information on their web site, or that of an affiliate. Tech news hounds often discover new product releases from retailers, international affiliates, and suppliers. This is actually quite a bit more common than a trusted reporter intentionally breaking the news ahead of an embargo! Mistakes can always happen, but trust is usually enough for writers.

Once the embargo has failed, many questions arise. If the information is public, can a reporter “run with it” and publish their stories? It seems that this is considered acceptable among writers: Once news is “in the wild” then it is “fair game.” However, others see it as a badge of personal honor to uphold an embargo even if the news has broken elsewhere.

There is also the matter of the nature of the embargo: Companies sending embargoed releases willy-nilly via email should not expect the same respect as those that arrange personal briefings with executives. One cannot assume that a writer agrees to respect an embargo unless they specifically say they will!

Do Embargoes Right

Companies should absolutely brief writers and bloggers ahead of releases. But they should do it right, following these guidelines:

  1. Rely on in-person or interactive online or phone briefing with trusted writers. Never send embargoed press releases to unknown recipients.
  2. PR pros should request the briefing, giving a few time options including some after regular work hours.
  3. PR should consider the focus of the writer before asking for a briefing, and writers should turn down briefings they are not interested in rather than waste precious time.
  4. Schedule adequate time for the call, allowing for question and answer time.
  5. Send the presentation, press release, and photos ahead of the call.
  6. Give enough time for consideration, follow-up, and writing before the release date but not so much time that the information is forgotten.
  7. Keep the content tight, including just the information to be released rather than future strategic directions.
  8. Don’t ask for an NDA before sharing news, and don’t call your embargo an NDA if you don’t have a contract.
  9. Make sure you specify the time and time zone as well as the date for the embargo to be lifted.

Companies following these guidelines will likely see increased coverage and publicity. Failing to treat writers with respect will likely result in ill-will and breakage of your embargo!

Image Credit: The Real Checkpoint Charley by Will Palmer