Kami Huyse Archives - Deirdre Breakenridge

October 18 2010

PRSA International Conference: Becoming a PR Influencer

Deirdre Breakenridge blogging, Event, PR 2.0, PR 2.0 Technology, Social media, Strategic Communications Breakenridge, communities, Deirdre Breakenridge, Geoff Livingston, influencers, Kami Huyse, Mark Drapeau, PR, PR 2.0, PR2.0, PRSA, public relations, Putting the public back in Public Relations, Sarah Evans, Social media, Social networks 0

The PRSA International Conference 2010 Powering PRogress kicked off on Saturday, October 16th. I arrived at the conference, on Sunday, October 17^th with great expectations. I’ve been looking forward to this conference, knowing that many of the PR professionals who I chat with all year will be in one place. I’m ready to share ideas and network.

Upon arrival at the Washington Hilton, I immediately went to check in on Foursquare. I was happy to see that I could also check in at the PRSA Conference itself. When I see my peers and industry association on Foursquare, our many Twitter chat communities, our groups on LinkedIn, and our dynamic blogs, which help people to better understand PR, social media and communications…to me, we’re powering progress. PR professionals are active in social media and I’m proud of our steps forward and the dedicated professionals who are embracing new communication. In the past, I’ve heard people ask, “Is PR Dead?” I’ve heard this far too many times. I know that’s not the case. As a matter of fact, it’s the farthest from the truth. Social media is reinventing PR and we’re gaining influence.

For me, the PR influencer is powering progress by being a change agent. The PR influencer drives strategic communications that lead to business value. It’s having the passion and commitment to move the needle in a new direction, within our own organizations as well as within our industry. The PR influencer is an educator who creates action and who is a trusted and valuable resource. My panel session today is all about how to become a PR influencer and drive business value. I will be joined by @kamichat @prsarahevans @geoffliving and @cheeky_geeky. We’ll dig into the topic of the PR influencer and how we can capture influence and make progress.

Here’s a brief interview with me and Amanda Littlejohn discussing the PRSA Conference and my session on the Mopwater PR blog.

October 1 2010

The PR Influencer

Deirdre Breakenridge PR 2.0, Social media blogging, Brian Solis, communities, Geoff Livingston, Kami Huyse, Mark Drapeau, PR, PR 2.0, PR Influencer Poll, Putting the public back in Public Relations, Sarah Evans, Social media, Social networks, Vocus 0

On October 18, 2010, I will have the pleasure of joining many of my communications colleagues at the PRSA International Conference in Washington, DC. This year I’ve put together a panel to discuss a hot topic, “The PR Influencer.” Joining me on this panel are Sarah Evans, founder/owner of Sevans Strategy, Mark Drapeau, director of public sector social engagement for Microsoft and Geoff Livingston, co-founder and chief marketing officer, Zoetica. Moderating the panel is Kami Huyse, president and the chief operating officer at Zoetica.

Our session will focus on the “PR Influencer” and what it takes to become an influencer. There are many different views on the subject. Is being an influencer (whether it’s PR or any other industry) a matter of the numbers, a person’s reach or is it the personality and content that a person shares? Is it their Klout (as in Klout.com) or is it the strong connection or bond that they form with the members in their network that make them influencers. Are there different types of influencers, similar to what I wrote about in a recent post, highlighting the Visionary, Rising Star, Educator and the TechnoSav and why do we trust these types of individuals and their insight? We’ll also discuss the new roles of the PR influencer within their own organization and how they can build relationships for a brand and drive value.

Vocus recently conducted a study called the “The Influencer Poll” and enlisted the help of Brian Solis to analyze the study results. There are some very interesting findings about how communications professionals view today’s influencers. Here are a few highlights/key taken directly from the Vocus study:

Influence is different from popularity but… An overwhelming 90% of respondents perceive a big difference between “influence” and “popularity.” However, qualitative review of open ended comments on this question shows the distinction is not always clear. A follow-on question also adds ambiguity, with 84% of respondents saying that there is a correlation between “reach” and “influence” on social networks.

Quality of network and quality of content have a defining impact on influence. The top contributing factors that make a person or brand influential include the “quality or focus of the network” (60%), the “quality of content” (55%), which tied with the “capacity to create measurable outcomes” (55%), and the “depth of relationship” a person or brand has with social contacts (40%).

Content is king, but context is queen. 50% of respondents said that the single most important action a person or brand can take to increase their influence online was to “create, post or share compelling content.”

Views vary on effective measurement. A majority, 29% of respondents, said “action” is the most important measure of effectiveness in social media, yet more than one-third (36%) also ranked “action” as the least important.

Senior execs are willing to pay for influence. 57% of respondents said they would be willing to pay an influencer to help “drive actions and outcomes.” Cross-tab analysis by title, role and organization provided additional insight as to who exactly is willing to pay for influence. A cross-tab analysis by title showed that the executive level, such as CEOs and CMOs (63%), would be most willing to pay for influence.

I look forward to digging deeper into this topic with my peers on October 18^th to uncover the personality, credibility and the clout behind the PR influencer. It’s a fascinating topic and definitely worth the time to study whether it’s the metrics or the personal characteristics that create influence.