Report Examines Changing Influence Patterns Created by Social Media The Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the understanding and application of new media research, has just released a report that I helped develop, and I hope you'll check it out. It's free.

“New Media, New Influencers and Implications for Public Relations” features detailed findings of a survey of communications and marketing professionals focused on changing patterns of influence that are resulting from social media and other new communications technologies. The survey is interesting, but I think you'll find the case studies of the American Red Cross, Blendtec, The Coca-Cola Company, Emerson Process Management, the Mayo Clinic, MARC Research, Quicken Loans, and the Seattle Union Gospel Mission particularly compelling. Each of these organizations is using different social media in different ways and each is achieving notable results.

I was personally lucky to interview George Wright, the marketer behind the Blendtec viral video phenomenon, and blogger Merrill Dubrow, CEO of MARC Research. Both were great interviews.

You can download a PDF for free or purchase a hard copy through the SNCR bookstore.

Labels: influence, influencermarketing, SNCR

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  Nominate Yourself and Your Clients for a Social Media Award Just three days left to take advantage of discount pricing to submit your entries for the Society of New Communications Research's (SNCR) Excellence in New Communications Awards.

Details are below, but this is basically a good way to get your new-media accomplishments in front of a group of thought leaders and to get an important third-party endorsement for your great work. Jen McClure continues to cultivate an organization that is committed to guiding and advocating for adoption of social media without becoming beholden to a lot of commercial interests. SNCR gets better every year.

By the way, its annual Symposium & Awards Gala is coming up Nov. 13 & 14 in Cambridge, MA. If you want to rub elbows with some of the top journalism, marketing and PR bloggers, this is the place to do it. At $395 for the symposium, it's a good deal.

Full disclosure: I'm a SNCR Research Fellow, which means I do volunteer work for and donate money to this fine organization.

Details from the awards page:

These awards honor corporations, governmental and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, media outlets, and individuals who are innovating the use of social media, mobile media, online communities and virtual worlds and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media, and professional communications, including advertising, marketing, public relations and corporate communications, as well as entertainment, education, politics, and social initiatives.

Awards are granted in six divisions:

• Corporate
• Government
• Media
• Nonprofit/NGO
• Academic
• Technology Innovation (for vendors)

There are seven categories:

• Online Reputation Management
• Behind the Firewall
• Blogger Relations
• External Communications & Communities
• New Media Creation
• Collaboration & Co-creation
• Mobile Media.

It costs $49 to submit. More details here.

Labels: awards, SNCR

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  Please tell us how you use social media

The Society For New Communications Research, of which I am a research fellow, has launched an important project to explore changes to the media and communications landscape resulting from social media and how organizations adopting social media programs are identifying and addressing the phenomenon of the "new influencer." (As far as I know, any relationship between the title of this survey and that of my book is purely coincidental!)

Two anchor elements of this research are surveys of marketers and users of social media. Please take the survey! The more response we get, the better we can share with everyone the current state of social media awareness and usage in organizations.

If you’re a PR or marketing professional, please take this survey first.

If you use blogs or other social media in any context, please take this survey.

The results will be paired with case studies and analysis and presented in a package underwritten by the Institute for Public Relations and Wieck Media.

Labels: research social_media, SNCR

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