Feb 24, 2011

Where hyperlocal news meets the “like” button

On Tuesday evening, I received a message via Facebook from Cynthia Cotte Griffiths, a friend and fellow hyperlocalist from Maryland. It was the kind of message that made me wince, smile and then slap my knee at her ingenuity.

First, the wince. Cotte Griffiths announced that she and her business partner, Brad Rourke, were pulling the plug on their Rockville (Md) Central news website. After three and a half years in publication, both had grown tired of juggling content creation and advertising sales, she told me. Furthermore, competition from Patch, another indie website, the local print publication and the municipal government’s site made their reporting redundant, Rourke blogged.

Then came the smile. Rockville Central would live on as a news source through its Facebook page, where their fans were already gabbing about current events. With a combination of news aggregation and original reporting, “we can create a true community hub,” Cotte Griffiths wrote.

And then the knee slap. Even though Cotte Griffiths and Rourke won’t generate advertising revenue from their Facebook page, they can establish themselves as social-media experts with tabs on the local vibe. That can translate into serious revenue from social-media consulting, building an online presence for small businesses, nonprofit groups and even government agencies.

Then another knee slap. Facebook is already a mobile-friendly service, whether one uses its mobile website or a native (platform-specific) app. That gives the Rockville Central fan page greater reach without having to “mobilize” its own website or develop an expensive app. The technical witchcraft has already been done for them.

And still another knee slap. Cotte Griffiths and Rourke can take their social-media savvy onto Twitter, where they can generate revenue from sponsored tweets. Also, they can use the multimedia-heavy publishing platform Tumblr to build a portfolio of marketable stock photos or to publish original audio or video content, though Tumblr’s community of users is still small relative to Facebook and Twitter.

By the time I reached the closing salutations of Cotte Griffiths’ message, my knee was swollen from the slapping and I was swearing up a storm. (“Fucking genius!” came up a lot.) Sure, they’d have to stay ahead of the social-media curve in case some future service turns Facebook into MySpace. In the meantime, they can provide hyperlocal information, foster dialog among neighbors, and make bank as consultants.

One day after our Facebook exchange, the news of Rockville Central’s transition had made its way through Twitter. And by Wednesday evening, members of the Online News Association were talking about it at a mixer inside the offices of The New York Times. Some were intrigued, others were disappointed that local news would take this route.

I’m hitting the “like” button on this one.

Illustration courtesy of Flickr user Christopher S. Penn.

Mar 23, 2010

When social media becomes free marketing

Yesterday, I bitched about businesses that were always on the lookout for free advertising from the local media. Now I’m telling fellow hyperlocalists this: When an opportunity comes up to promote your news outlet for free or cheap, jump all over it. Just remember that nothing’s ever really free.

One of the best ways for online hyperlocal organizations to market their stuff on the cheap is via social networking. (I don’t know if print-only outlets find it as useful.) However, an online analyst wrote last week that the type of information consumed depends on the social network being used. Facebookers tend to link to broadcast media for whatever reason, while Tweeters link to other social networks and photo- and video-sharing sites.

Either way, these social networks should be used as more than just RSS feeds. Instead, they should be extensions of a media outlet’s brand. And that’s where the “free isn’t really free” comes into play. Successful marketing via social media requires lots of work, but it can also pay off in a big way.

For example, the Twitter feed to my former hyperlocal news site offered followers more than just links to newly minted articles. I linked to other outlets’ stories, forwarded funny photos from the neighborhood, and most importantly, gave readers a peek into how my publication’s articles were researched and written.

Admittedly, some tweets were mundane. But some really shared the stupid, lonely and fun hyperlocalist experience, and I credit this personal interaction for a 40-percent jump in readership in 2009:

“Citizens advisory board is voting on whether or not to vote.”

“Going for coffee. Who wants?”

“Researching new donut shop on Fenton Street.”

Likewise, the outlet’s Facebook fan page and Tumblr page offered readers previously unpublished photos and videos, entertaining stories from other local publications, and announcements to special events. I don’t think Facebook did much to boost readership, but it did offer some demographic information on who my readers were. The Tumblr page did even less, but the project was a fun extension of my website’s brand.

Personally, I don’t pay any mind to Facebook’s “contextual” ads, and more power to Twitter if it can tap into that revenue stream. Their power as marketing tools are worth a quick glimpse at an advertisement — even a small fee for business users — and the sweat off my brow.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user zyphichore.