To mark the 10-year anniversary of both Communication Director magazine and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), we've turned to the EACD's regional coordinators and working group heads to describe the changes that have occurred in their area of expertise in the past 10 years. Here, EACD regional coordinators for Germany, Anke Maibach and Martin Camphausen, provide their persepctive.
Ten years back, a buzz was swirling in communications about proposed changes based on the introduction of web 2.0. The premise for the changes was that while the known formats provided readers with the basic information regarding a company's news, they did not fully leverage the then latest wave of social media technologies.
Web 2.0, the then newest breed of internet-based services allowed people to collaborate and share information online, using tools such as blogs, tags and user-generated content. In those days, forward-thinkers in the PR community were identifying opportunities to leverage such technologies to enhance the exchange of information and spread company messages to even more diverse audiences, while continuing to use the proven systems and techniques, like newswire distribution and media targeting which had been successful so far.
Social media stepped away from traditional, text-focused communications. Being designed so that anyone accessing it - whether a journalist, a potential customer, and employee or a curious onlooker - can quickly find and interact with its content.
For the general public, social media enabled greater online accessibility via search engine optimization and linking from interactive websites, also allowing users the opportunity to provide feedback to the authors.
The question then was “can you really use it?” and “will my organisation benefit from the increased functionality?”
Ten years back, social media for communications were primarily used by those in the tech industry - which made sense, since reporters, bloggers and customers in the tech space were familiar with all the social media bells and whistles. If you had a cutting-edge company, using the new communication tools could even be viewed as a benefit in itself, showcasing your business as a trendsetter. Nowadays, everybody - not only corporations – is using social media. The world of communications has become more complex and entwined around public affairs, employer branding, brand, external and internal communications, making it sometimes hard to separate them from each other.
In the beginning social media were perceived somewhat easier and less time consuming, especially with the aid of automated services. Further relying on internet buzz for driving business, the inclusion of links, digital tags and search engine optimization helped to drive this a lot. Today, communicators often complain of the multitude of communication channels for which they are accountable. Additionally, dialogic communication and interaction rather than one-way-communication and the stress factor of exact-to-the-minute-on-demand-reaction on sometimes complicated backgrounds is highly challenging – even for the experienced communicators of the elder generations as they were always used to the non-dialogic way.
In 2006, the best PR was to be aware of what's available and not be too cautious to try different techniques and formats. This still remains true. It must remain true as almost too many new start-ups, apps and channels emerge on the market, while there’s always the question of benefits and audience and stakeholder engagement.
The key then and now - and this remains the most important factor in getting visibility for professional communications - was and is the quality of the content, regardless of the format. Communicating strong content with newsworthy information should always be foremost in your mind. Finding the best format for your content should follow, regardless of the geographies and industries you operate.
This year, the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) and Communication Director are celebrating their joint 10 year anniversary. To find out more about EACD Working Groups, visit the website here.
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