Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts- What’s Next? Over a hundred people were interested enough in the answer to this to show up at a 7AM(!) presentation by Tudor Williams and Shel Holtz.
In the past year, blogs and podcasts have emerged as important communication vehicles. They have not yet become mainstream, but the pace of adoption is accelerating.
Several members of the audience talked about a variety of experience with blogs and podcasts. Experience ranged from people whose companies had not yet begun to explore social media through to active podcaster Donna Papacosta who both blogs and podcasts.
Williams and Holtz suggested that blogs, wikis and podcasts should be introduced only as elements of a comprehensive communications strategy. If they are introduced as “neat new technology,” they will surely fail.
Social media reflect the natural evolution of communications from the sender driven, one to manyh controlled communications model established in the twentieth century. Today, we can have one to one communications controlled by the receiver in which everyone can participate.
Social media have a profound impact on our communications strategies. The immediate availability of information requires immediate response. Communications tools are now integrated on the web and readily interchangeable. Collaboration has become possible at an unprecedented level. We can share information, not just disseminate it. And with all of this, scope of access to information is expanding rapidly to include not just text, but video and audio. Podzinger is an early example of an application that enables the content search of audio files.
Immediacy: The attitude of the day is that “I want it and I want it now.”
Integration: Devices have been integrated and the telephone/BlackBerry has emerged at the centre.
Access: Search engines have created an attitude that “If it’s out there, I can find it.” And the engines continue to evolve and be supplemented. Tudor pointed to Clusty as an example of another new search engine.
Collaboration: Blogs, wikis and podcasts are user friendly collaboration tools. Anyone can do it – without knowledge of coding. And it is not necessary for people to be in front of their computers to access and use these tools. Blogs can can be accessed from web enabled phones. Podcasts are ideal for communication with distributed sales forces who can download the podcast and listen to it at their convenience, in their cars, at home or anywhere else.
One questioner asked whether companies would ever accept the threat to confidentiality that blogs represent. Williams and Holtz pointed out that companies have learned to live with innovations like the fax that have in the past been seen to represent a similar threat. Companies must develop policies for the use of this technology that ensure the security of data.
What is next?
Trends in communication:
- More individual publishing
- More noise
- More media outlets
- More direct communications
- More accountability for results
Trends in marketig
- Customer empowerment
- Atomization of media
- Fixation on ROI
- Integration of marketing communities
- Quest for the cult brand.
Trends in internal communications
- Democatization of information
- Strategy shift – information to influence
- Focus on engagement and loyalty
- Focus on ROI
- Globalization
- Simplicity
- Personalization
What are the implications of these trends?
- Demand for collaboration, access and integration will increase.
- Need for consistent strategic management of the metrics
- Evolution of the social marketing.
Implications for communication strategy
- Collaboration – strategies to share and interact
- Access – strategies to network and connect
- Integration – merging of the three major functions of the internet
Other concepts to watch:
The wisdom of crowds and tagging.
A good session. Unfortunately, the session ran overtime. The people around me had many questions and observations. More time would have enabled them to jump in.