8 Simple Steps Towards Reaching A Broader Audience

As I have mentioned in previous posts, your country’s achievements may seem wonderful to you and your Diaspora, but if your goal is to make friends for your country, showing off is not enough, and can sometimes be annoying. I mean, if your country has a strong economy and you are promoting that aspect in a country that suffers from high unemployment, you might start pissing people off.

You must show how your country’s achievements benefit the region or city you reside in.

It is classic “What’s In It For Me” only with the mind-set of ‘What’s In It for Them’ elevated by social media, and creating a win for all situation.

For example, let’s say that one of the pillars of your country’s overall branding strategy is its medical field. It is part of your job to make people aware of the fact that you have a lot to offer in that realm. So what’s the problem? Write a few words, add hashtags and attach an article from a website published in your native country raving all about it and post on your Facebook page, right? Sure if you want it to end right there, but if you want to be effective there are more ways to do it, and here is one of them:

1. Contact the author of the article as well as the hero of the story.
2. Email the article to local bloggers who would be interested in that content and offer to connect them with the above.
3. Contact an online medical publication as well as a specific community that would be positively affected by this breakthrough, and get them to publish the story (written by the blogger who picked it up) on their website, newsletter and social networks. Don’t just post it on their page, it works better for all involved if they post it on their website and later share it themselves.
4. Tell them all that you will be more than happy to promote the post using your mission’s networks as well.
5. Once it is published, keep your promise and share it on your Social Media Channels using effective hashtags.
6. Post on your website that the local publication/blog/organization wrote about this amazing discovery in your country, give the gist of it and share the link to where it was published.
7. Thank the blogger as well as the organization/publication for posting and promise to let them know if and when you receive anything that would be of interest to them and send them the link to the featured article on your website.
8. Use the information in the article and refer to it in an answer you compose in response to that or a related topic on Quora or any other significant Q&A based social network.

By applying these simple and basic PR moves, you will be able to:

1. Deliver your message to a broader audience.
2. Give your country positive exposure.
3. Make new connections with bloggers, organizations and publications that will in the future be open and willing to receive more information from you and also possibly host or co-sponsor joint events, delegations or co-ops.
4. Contribute to the local community and show how relevant you are to their day-to-day lives.
5. Improve your country’s online presence and reputation. The circulation of linked information from one website to another, as well as newsletters, tweets and shares help search engines pick up on you and the story.

Having an APPtitude

I’ve noticed that recently, governments on both local and national levels have entered the marvelous mobile world by developing apps designed to provide citizens, tourists and expats with relevant information serving their needs.

Such initiatives are important tools in providing service and increasing visibility.

It also helps governments on any level position themselves as progressive, in tuned with the public, moving with the times, and well-organized. Especially in an era when people’s patience is wearing thin and bureaucracy, well bureaucracy never goes anywhere.

Going back to some of my previous posts, those who may be seeking this information are already engaged with your country one way or another and though it helps you strengthen their appreciation of you more, it doesn’t do enough for making new friends.

Encouraging tourism or foreign investments starts by raising awareness to what your country has to offer. In addition to campaigns, conferences and other forms of targeted engagement, I propose a slightly less likely utilization of apps:

Wait for it…: Gaming.

Before you raise your brow or go back to checking your emails, hear me out.

Gaming is not just a lifestyle of junk food and avatars. We’ve all resorted to games conveniently available on our phones at least once while attending a boring meeting or lecture or even on the train or flight on some business trip.

According to an article published on Mashable.com,  In September 2012, 251 million people played games on Facebook, up from 226 million in September of 2011. Beyond the growth rate, the scary part is that those number refer only to  Facebook!

Every game we play, whether on an old-school board game or on a savvy flashy mobile phone have one thing in common: A Background.

A background can be a storyline and or a location in which the game takes place. Why not make the background your own?

Now, obviously if your aim is to improve your country’s image and to increase tourism and foreign investments you wouldn’t want to design a bloody war quest set in your land. But if business capital is what you seek, why not complement your efforts by producing a rollercoaster or runner game set in the downtown business quarter of your financial and commercial capital? Or if tourism is your goal, why not use the beautiful landscapes of your country as a background even for an angry birds style game? Sounds silly? Maybe…but you have an opportunity to make your country visible and attractive without an obvious direct affiliation and positioning one or more of your cities with an already well-known and strong place brand that you aspire to become like or even surpass.

Think about it for a moment. If the game you designed allows the gamer to choose a layout setting or even simply advance to different levels using the same group of cities, the long-term effect of associating the place you are promoting, is that it is in the same league as the other cities in the group.

If your game takes place in Tokyo, London, New York and a city in your country, what does it imply about its economic importance or its fashion industry?

This is not a new concept and is found mainly in track racing games, but it is applicable to almost any genre. The better the game, the more people download the app, the more people consume you regardless of their existing perception of you.

All you have to do is decide what aspect of your country you what to amplify in conjunction with your branding efforts, invest a small amount of money or even have an intern do it for you for free and use your contacts to launch the game.

As far as promoting the game goes – the sky s the limit. You might find it effective to promoting the app by giving people who share their high scores on your Facebook page or a game fan page prizes that support your message.

There is really no need to reinvent the wheel. Move with the times, and give people what they love.

6 Ways to Use Quora in the Service of Digital Diplomacy

A while back, I came across a tweet that promised to tell me what are the next up and coming social media sites I should be keeping an eye out for. Given my bombastic job title, I figured I have to read it, just to be in the know and just in case someone decides to challenge my knowledge. I clicked on the link and scrolled down until I reached Quora. What can I say, I fell in love.

Recognizing the potential, I immediately created an account for my consulate. I named it after my consul general, gave a short description of our mission and started following topics, people and questions.

About a week later, I was proud to receive and message from a Quora admin, telling me that we are the first and only diplomatic mission on the site and that he is looking forward to see how we choose to use it for our purposes.

Though the natural inclination is to answer questions related directly to my country’s political issues and foreign policy, I decided to answer question about topics I knew my country had something to offer to the world. My Consul General was surprised and happy to learn that he is an expert on water desalination, solar power, surfing, stem cell research, desertification prevention, innovative education methods, location-based apps, autism research and so much more.

The best part about it all is that the amount of followers the account has pales in comparison to the actual reach, since the questions and topics have so many followers from across the globe.

The most satisfaction I got was not from the “vote ups” but rather the messages reading “I would have never thought of that, I’ll look into it” and other comments of that nature.

The people I managed to reach via Quora would have never been exposed to this information if I had resorted to post it strictly on the mission’s website, Facebook page or Twitter.

Quora truly enables you to reach an audience based on niche interests, most of who are professionals in those fields and appreciate interesting and informative content that has professional value to them.

 Here are a few tips using Quora:

1. Beware and be prepared. It is highly addicting.
2. Follow topics and questions you want your country or government agency to be associated with or that are related to your branding strategy.
3. Answer questions that can help you promote companies, startups, ideas, academic institutions, artists, technologies all located, invented, developed or heavily used in your country.
4. Write answers, not articles, but include links to articles, especially if they were published in a source you have an interested in driving traffic to.
5. If you are asked to answer a question regarding current events or a political issue, treat it as an official statement and abide by your guidelines and directives.
6. If you are fortunate enough to employ interns, let them research and compose answers according to their personal fields of interest. That will motivate them and help them learn more about your country. For the most part, they are younger than you, and being out of this organic line of work, they will find topics that you would never think about. Don’t forget to go over it before they hit post. You know, just in case.

Resisting Temptations: 10 Lessons learned

We all have different considerations that lead us to choose whatever business we are in. Whether it is for financial benefit, a passion or a deeply rooted sense of mission, the hard work we invest makes us venerable to criticism and makes us at times, and yes, emotional.

I admit, I have made quite a few mistakes by allowing those who I like to call taunters (after the ‘French Tounter’ in Monty Python’s Holy Grail) get to me while trying to engage on Facebook, Twitter and sometimes even on Quora.

Having the urge and the ability to respond directly has taught me a few valuable lessons which I am happy to share with you:

1. Count to 10. A lot has changed since childhood but that tip is still very relevant, even with the need for quick responses.
2. Anything you say can and will be retweeted against you.
3. Just because they “like” you, doesn’t mean they’ll always like you.
4. A back and forth conversation on our timeline can be left for those who really like you and would gladly comment for you.
5. Your own personal sense of humor or irony can alienate fans who identify with the message but not with its delivery.
6. The account you manage is not your own. The way you navigate the conversation is part of your brand strategy and reflects on it, not your personal feelings.
7. Your taunter is not targeting you personally, but they will be happy to use your emotional outbreak just for fun. They are either bored out of their  mind or there with a deliberate intention to criticize your brand/organization/country with no real wish for a dialogue.
8. Welcome your critics. The human need to be noticed is a large part of how and why social media has grown to these dimensions. Censorship repels even the loyal fans and lessens the engagement.
9. You can’t always predict or control where that comment/tweet or post will end up.
10. If your fans are ganging up on a taunter, calm the discussion down, even if you agree with them. But seriously, don’t  give a person or a comment more attention than they deserve. That will only make them want to keep doing it.

At the end of the day, when managing public diplomacy, and particularly digital diplomacy,

“Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time”

there are always 3 groups you typically interact with:

1. The “Persuaded” – Your supporters who will like, share and comment positively if the agree or won’t comment if  they don’t, just to save face (your face).
2. The “On the Fence” – Those who either have no opinion or are trying to establish one. Put them at the top of your priority list and tip them over to your side.
3. The “No Matter What You Say, You Suck” – those will always be around, and you will never persuade them, especially if you insist on letting them drag you into confrontation. So just keep your level of engagement at minimum and let their arguments against you gain you the sympathy of the “on the fence” crowd, the solidarity of the “persuaded” crowd and let it work to your advantage.

Always remember that being wise is much more important than being right. Let others do your lobbying, beyond the time it consumes of you and the potential slips of the type, it is in your best interest to mobilize others on your behalf. Especially if you represent a government, because the mere fact that you are the government puts a damper on your credibility.

Preaching to the Choir

The Russian embassy in London tweeted me an article they posted. A few things caught my eye and I will be writing about them in posts to come, but one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was that according to the article, the Russian (600) Embassy’s following is the 3rd largest in the UK after the USA (21,000) and Israel (7,200). I find that interesting, especially due to the size of the countries, Diasporas, trade ties and of course relations and interests.

But how accurate is that? Do we measure only pages that state that their belong to the embassy or consulate? What about pages created for niche markets, festivals or other events?

With this thought in mind, I took a brief look at many of its affiliated pages and I realized that while it is remarkably active in social media, Israel doesn’t fulfill its potential, and stays preaching to its own choir.

After successfully establishing Facebook pages for the embassies and consulates around the world, the Israel foreign ministry and staff, as well as affiliated advocacy groups have turned to setting up unique pages focusing on specific aspects they want to amplify in an attempt to reach out to a broader audience through what would be their own fields of interests such as art, fashion, technology etc. The pages are filled with colorful images, messaging and useful information.

After the initial fan drive effect wears off, their fan base remains pretty much stagnant and they find it very hard to expand. Why? I believe it is rooted first and foremost in their very first step: naming the page. The names they choose are almost always directly indicative of Israel – either including the word Israel or a Hebrew word in English lettering.

The content too, is restricted to Israel, and thought there might be abundance and variety of content the country has to offer, it is very limited and consequentially limiting. The direct affiliation with the country, as well as the lack of local content, deters, to my belief, many potential fans.

I bet that if we take 5 of those pages, averaging in 1,500 fans, and cross them, we will find a 70% overlap in both fans and content, leaving only a few of the fans following purely out of niche interest.

Excluding a few, only people who are actually looking for information about Israel will end up finding and possibly liking those pages and will be exposed to the information the country is trying to share with the world in order to broaden the conversation about it and improve its overall image. That leaves the true target audience – the unaware, the unconvinced unengaged.

Understanding this very basic point can easily give them more for their money, which is invested less in Facebook ads and more in the people who are paid to maintain the pages. By the way, those people have many other responsibilities and are not fully minded and geared towards this task. Most of the time, it is a task they picked up on the way, and they don’t all have marketing or PR backgrounds. In many cases, the job is left to interns who do their thing and leave after 3 months; therefore the very important strategic element, tone and continuity are left behind.

This is of course not restricted to Facebook.

I think that breaking out of the paradigm of Facebook + Twitter = social media is imperative. But I’ll get to that in later posts on this blog. But as I said, first things first. If you have an image problem, why the hell would you name a page that is supposed to attract those who wouldn’t normally flock to you, after yourself?

Credit and Credibility: The Double Edged Logo

For everyone in the business world, there is no doubt in the importance of the logo. Since it is the key visual representation of the brand we are trying to create, it is at many times the first thing we attend to before making our content visible. The design has become such an important factor, that any companies have sprung up in recent years offering branding as a design service. Of course, we al know that a visually attractive design means nothing without content, and more importantly, if the brand doesn’t deliver its promise – it will surely fail.

For countries, the lead visual is usually their flag or coat of arms. The flag is almost always the most recognizable visual image that associates people with the country with some exceptions. For cities and places I could also be a unique landmark. The Eifel tower has become a symbol of love that has shaped the perception of Paris as the city of love in the minds of many, just like the Hollywood sign promises stardom and glamour. But the French flag that represents equality, fraternity and liberty does not always make us associate those values with the country and the design and colors can be easily confused with other nations’ flags and symbols. Ironically, the Statue of Liberty is an iconic manifestation of the USA’s brand promise, Freedom, and leaves its French origin almost forgotten.

In a quest to find one visual image that ties in everything they have to say, some countries have resorted in creating an altogether new visual image as part of their branding efforts, namely Spain.

Their success in doing so reflects on the totality of their strategies and their ability to deliver the brand promise.

Whatever flag, logo or symbol they chose, governments have a tendency to pass their message across in a variety of ways, some more effective than others.

Governments tend to view and treat their official websites as their primary interface with the public. They use them to concentrate information, statistics, consular services, media alerts, press releases and statements and of course, pre-written articles and stories that are meant to expose the public to the country’s accomplishments and successes.

The thought is that if the website gains a good reputation, people will go to it to get the latest news, especially in a time of crisis. However, it must be remembered that a mission’s website is not a credible news site. No matter how democratic and open a country may be perceived, the government is and will always be run by internal and external political interests that cannot be overlooked by the critical eye.

Even “show off” articles designed to accentuate a country’s achievements become plain propaganda and have less chances of making an impact.

Advocacy groups who tend to share content from government websites are also victims of the social media revolution, being an organization rather than a real person with his or her own thoughts and opinions.

In the case of digital diplomacy, Social media has made the logo a double-edged sword, and that should be taken into consideration when attempting to get the message make an impact and actually break out of the comfort zone.

Ever find yourself saying to someone “Well of course you would say that, you are bias”? How many times have you read something and quickly deleted it from your mind when you noticed that this groundbreaking research was funded and published by a commercial company that conveniently offers a solution? I bet that this doubt in credibility prevented you from forwarding or sharing it.

This simple logic should resonate with both government agencies and advocacy organizations and drive them to give more thought to who conveys the message when strategizing their digital diplomacy efforts.

In addition to this, there’s the element of quantity. The number of shares, likes and comments encourages or discourages people to share and determines how far the message is carried by an influential trend.

When using a hashtag or discovering a trending topic via twitter search bar, you can’t help but notice how many tweets include the particular hashtag and in what context. Also noticeable are the accounts using it. That has a big effect on the reach of the message. If it is clear that almost only organizations and government officials are using them rather than “simple people”, there is a problem…

Obama’s fake fans saga indicates that although his people understood and shared the points I raised here, their failure lies in the fact that they misjudged the public and underestimated our intelligence. They replaced the real engagement social media is based on with old propaganda methods.

Basically, they took the social out of their dipdip efforts and left it to the amount of professionals running accounts rather than creating enough attractive content for people to share. I am not naive, of course aliases will be used. But just like everything, they should be used wisely.

I would like to see more governments and advocacy organizations try to reach out to new audiences by creating accounts with less obvious affiliation and more original content geared towards people’s likes and interests rather than the grouping by nationality, color, sexual identity, political views etc.

Trying to Define Digital Diplomacy

Being in the field of digital diplomacy, talking about it and wanting to write about it has driven me to Google ‘digital diplomacy definition’ every once in a while. Guess what. Every time I do it, I come across the same things:

1. An opening sentence that reads ” There is yet and official definition for digital diplomacy” (mine included)
2. “The differences between diplomacy and digital diplomacy are…”
3. Stories and articles by or about professionals who engage citizens in the name of the government via their own websites and social media networks.

At first I thought it to be the fact that the field is still in its infancy and that no one is ready to set something in stone when it is still crystallizing. Interestingly enough, even the ancient practice of defense/military diplomacy doesn’t yet have an official definition.

I am in no position to try to define digital diplomacy. But I do hope that by sharing some of my thoughts I will be able to contribute to the work process of whoever steps up to the challenge and is accepted by most.

Let’s take a look at a few simplistic definitions of diplomacy and see if and how digital diplomacy applies to them.

Diplomacy:

• The art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations.
• A process of conducting activities with tact in order to bring about good relationships.

Public Diplomacy:

Any of the ways in which a country or organization communicates with citizens in other societies as opposed to diplomacy carried out between 2 or more national governments.

Defense and Military Diplomacy:

Peaceful application of military and defense resources to contribute to the development and maintenance of a country’s foreign relations via attachés who help facilitate agreements, treaties, visits joint drills and other forms of peaceful military engagement.

Given those definitions, is it safe to say that digital diplomacy is a form of public diplomacy in which a government engages citizens in other societies? Yes.

Can we also say that it is a means to facilitate activities (‘with tact’) in order to bring about good relations between countries? Yes.

Can it also be said that peaceful application of military resources to the development and maintenance of a country’s foreign relations can also include secure online portals, messaging, instant messaging, forums and information shares? Yes.

Can we also include a government’s engagement with its own citizens, as well as UN and consular corps diplomats’ online engagements into this whole one-to-many conversation? Yes.

I don’t want to get too wordy, but I did promise to dig deep… So I will be taking these definitions apart separately in future blog posts. Hopefully giving more answers than posing questions.

Condensed Messaging

Back in the day, which was not too long ago, government officials and spokespersons had, in today’s terms, plenty of time to react to press inquiries, statement requests and press releases.

The change in the way we consume media, in this case, led mainly by twitter, compels governments to be quick to respond and proactive.

Direct interaction, instant messaging technologies embedded in social media networks and the collective ADD that characterizes this generation have led to a new definition of speed that makes the elevator pitch give its way to a condensed 140 character message, which is then shared by those who care or who have something of their own to say about it.

Albert Einstein was once requested to give a lecture at a highly respected institution. He was asked how much time he would need to prepare. He answered that for a 2 hour lecture he would only need 15 minutes to prepare, but for a 15 minute lecture, he would need at least 2 weeks.

With all things relative, indeed at times, it feels almost impossible to react thoughtfully and eloquently in rapid speed and with growing competition to stay relevant and not to let your competitor or adversary place you in an inferior position at best, or at worst, make your comment totally irrelevant.

An Introduction

Every diplomatic mission has an ultimate goal based on their country’s strategic interest. Simply put – it is all about making friends.

The challenge for any representative is to get the message across. However, a successful diplomatic effort gets others to convey the message for you.

Diplomatic missions all over the world have recognized social media as an efficient tool to achieve their goals, but I feel that they are using new tools, old school style, failing to understand and utilize the very essence of social media marketing.

Diplomatic missions – embassies, consulates and delegations are still preaching to their own choirs with very little success in reaching out to new audiences which are and should be their top priority.

One can argue that the choir’s broader network does get exposed to the content, but is that really the case and if so, how effective is it?

The initial fan drive’s importance lies first and foremost  in beefing up your following so that you, as a government don’t look pathetic… I found that the easiest way to do that is by asking your friends and relatives who you left behind at home to like your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter. They won’t all do it, of course. Not everyone wants to show that they LIKE something that the government is doing. But I told people it would be a great way for them to keep track of me and what I’m doing. Who would have thought that they would be interested? Lucky for me, they were!

Cultivating your natural audience is important, especially when you are at an early stage of building your following. But once you have done that, the real hard work begins, and that is keeping your audience engaged and motivated to share your content out of interest, and eventually branching out to new audiences who you would have never thought possible to reach.

As we progress in this blog, I will be examining as well as sharing mine and other professionals’ insights on this matter as well as the many issues and challenges not only in building a following but also engaging and fulfilling strategic goals via digital diplomacy.