Mobile PR: A Guide to Communications, Apps and Social Media

MOBILE &
PUBLIC RELATIONS
#CIPRSM | @CIPR_UK

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION � 2
01 HISTORY:
FROM VOICE-ONLY ‘BRICKS’ TO MULTI-MEDIA TABLETS & ‘WEARABLES’ � 2
02 NETWORKS & WIFI ACCESS � 5
03 DEMOGRAPHICS � 6
04 ‘MOCIAL’ � 7
05 PR & MOBILE ‘JOURNALISM’ � 9
06 PR & THE MOBILE WEB � 11
07 PR & LOCAL � 12
08 PR & INTERNAL COMMUNICATION � 14
09 PR & EVENTS � 18
10 TEN TWEETABLE MOBILE PR QUESTIONS.. � 20
CIPRSM GUIDE: MOBILE & PR 1

INTRODUCTION
This guide aims not to replicate other guidance on mainstream social media which can also be
accessed on mobile devices, but to highlight how mobile communications and mobile-oriented
social media is changing PR, and will continue to present challenges and opportunities.
In the course of a generation, the PR industry (like many others) has had to move from an analogue
and largely static working environment to – from the early/mid-1990s – a digitally-connected
mobile world. The pace of change shows little sign of slowing. This guide starts by reviewing the
key developments of the past 20 years to help put the new PR challenges into context. It then
looks at how PR people need to adapt their communication strategies to incorporate mobile
digital channels and content.
01 HISTORY: FROM VOICE-ONLY ‘BRICKS’
TO MULTI-MEDIA TABLETS & ‘WEARABLES’
Until the 1980s, telephones tended to be home or office-based devices that were used almost
exclusively for voice communications, while computers were substantial desktop items usually
connected to a room full of expensive data processing equipment. However, the first UK mobile
telephone services started in the early to mid-1980s (Vodafone can trace its origins to 1983, and
O2, formerly Cellnet, was formed in 1985, for example). But first generation (‘1G’) users were
reliant on analogue transmission technology, and the devices were expensive, cumbersome and
had poor battery life.
Digital 2G mobile phone systems emerged during the early 1990s, adopting the European GSM
standard. This technology also enabled a new variant in communications: text messaging (the first
person-to-person SMS was sent in 1993) which proved very popular, as did the ability to access
and download digital content, such as ringtones, introduced in 1998.
By this time, mobile phone use was increasingly widespread, but the market exploded during the
early 2000s as mobile providers moved from GSM through GPRS and EDGE, to 3G and now 4G –
telecommunications standards that expanded how we used mobile devices for more than voice
communication. For many users, phones are now used more for viewing and moving data – texts,
photographs and other digital media, email, file attachments, web pages, etc – than they were
used for voice conversations. 4G supports bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming video,
and also allowed voice calls to be treated like any streamed media.

Clearly, the revolution in provision of mobile and wireless networks has been accompanied by
a revolution in the design of devices and range of services they can access. The advent of the
personal computer saw, first, self-contained desktop computers increasingly used in offices and
then homes; portable laptops followed, but computers soon became smaller and more integrated
with other telecommunications.
In 1993, the first ‘smartphone’,
the IBM Simon, was launched,
combining mobile phone,
pager, fax machine, calendar,
address book, clock, calculator,
notepad, email, and a stylus-activated
touchscreen with a
QWERTY keyboard.
Other products followed, marketed as personal digital assistants, PDAs: pocket-sized computers
from companies such as Psion and Palm. Web connection usually involved connecting to a PC,
but finally we had a more portable alternative to a laptop or desktop. Alternatives to Psion’s
Symbian operating system, such as Windows CE (later Windows Mobile), also improved users’
experience, while RIM’s Blackberry helped grow the smartphone market.
However, the smartphone market began to change in 2007 when Apple launched the iPhone,
opening its App Store in 2008. Also in 2008, HTC launched the first phone using Google’s open
source Android operating system, and Google opened its app market, today Google Play. The
iPhone was a huge success – as was its sister product, the iPad tablet – but Android smartphone
and tablet adoption also expanded dramatically. Symbian, Windows and Blackberry soon became
minor players in the mobile OS market.
Apple’s iPhone and iPad transformed the fortunes of Apple, and a huge developer community
is building applications to run on Apple’s proprietary iOS platform. However, the devices also
tend to be more expensive than those from rival manufacturers. To avoid lock-in to the Apple
ecosystem and to capitalise upon the lower costs of other devices, other developers and users
have opted for hardware deploying the Android OS.

Microsoft’s comeback started when Windows 8 was launched in late 2012. Although reaction to
its new tiled interface was mixed, the simple touchscreen capabilities it provided to users of new
Windows PCs, mobiles and tablets, plus the easy fit with existing Microsoft back-office IT, were
attractive to company IT directors. If this is sustained, Windows may re-establish a share of the
mobile computing market; however, to complicate matters further, there have been rumours that,
like Blackberry before it, Microsoft might enable support for Android apps on both Windows
and Windows Phone. And another open-source alternative has been launched by the Mozilla
Foundation (the community behind the Firefox browser).
The explosion in smartphone and tablet use since the mid 2000s (2013 was the tipping point
when more than half the UK population had smartphones) has led many organisations to consider
developing content and apps to provide information, services and/or entertainment to customers.
PR people involved in such projects must consider:
// What mobile computing platform is used
by the target audience (podcasts aren’t
just consumed via Apple iTunes – consider
other OS users’ needs, eg Android via
SoundCloud).
// Data security – what information from the
user’s device will an app collect (generally
speaking, collect the bare minimum
needed).
// What type of processing capacity
is available on devices used by the
target audience (an app targeting the
unemployed, for example, is unlikely to be
widely used if it can only be accessed on
expensive, high end devices).
// The bandwidth needed to download and
then interact with the application and its
associated data.
Talk of mobile devices cannot ignore use of
related technologies and of adaptations of
mobile computing to create new products.
For example, smartphone technology can be
reconfigured to be worn – so-called ‘wearables’
include smart watches that incorporate features
of a smartphone, and spectacles (eg: Google
Glass) that have a forward-facing camera and
display content on a small ‘heads-up’ display
viewable only by the wearer.
In-built GPS, compasses, and accelerometers
can be used to monitor position and
movement, and combined with heartbeat
monitors to create fitness measurement tools
(eg: Fitbit). NFC (near-field communication)
technologies also enable smartphones to be
used for financial and information transactions –
for example, Apple’s NFC iBeacons can receive
information transmitted from nearby iPhones
and send messages to the user.

02 NETWORKS & WIFI ACCESS
Almost since the first mobile phones in the 1980s, users have had to weigh up the pros and cons
of different networks and providers, seeking the best balance between cost, signal quality and
reach. However, the connectivity issue has evolved.
The first major change – as described above, reflecting changing network standards – was an
expansion of how we used mobile phones for more than voice communication (to up/download
texts, photographs, music email, file attachments, web pages, etc).
Second, we became less reliant on telecoms providers’ networks. Laptop, smartphone and tablet
users could access internet-based applications and services via locally broadcast wireless Wifi
networks at less expense and often getting a better user experience. Wifi networks are increasingly
used as an alternative to hard-wired systems in homes and offices. Many hotels, coffee shops,
pubs and other venues offer ‘free’ wifi to attract and retain customers using their services.
But even in an increasingly connected world, there will be locations where connectivity is
hampered. Underground or dense building structures can hamper conventional mobile signals,
or the available signal may be over-contended (too many people trying to use a finite amount
of bandwidth). As a result, organisations considering providing mobile-based services will need
to consider whether it will be accessed as a web-based tool or as an app capable of being used
offline, perhaps with synchronisation when adequate connectivity is regained.
This has provided opportunities for telecommunications providers to provider advertising-supported
free wifi to consumers. For example, many of London’s Underground stations have ‘free’ Virgin wifi;
O2 and Sky are among the providers providing connectivity in pubs and coffee shops.

However, the emergence of always-on digital access, and users’ thirst to consume and create
digital content, has highlighted the poor battery life performance of many portable devices. So,
venues wishing to attract the ‘digital native’ are increasingly providing power sockets, and bigger
internet ‘pipes’, so that patrons can plug in and recharge their devices while also staying online.
The use of mobile devices is also widespread internationally. Indeed, in some parts of the
developing world, mobile adoption leapfrogged the availability of conventional landlines and
other cabled telecommunications, partly due to the lower costs of installing mobile networks.
Content provision in such regions therefore is often focused on low-cost devices capable of
operating in low bandwidth conditions and which require less power. For example, the World
Bank and Unesco have various projects looking at the use of mobile phones in education in
developing countries, while a Microsoft smartphone built by the Chinese manufacturer Huawei
was released specifically for the African market in 2013.
03 DEMOGRAPHICS
Almost inevitably whenever there is discussion
of social media, someone will point out how
the “millennials”, or “Generation Y” (Gen Y)
are natural users of new technologies. These
terms refer to people born roughly between
the early 1980s and the early 2000s: the first
generation born into a digital rather than an
analogue world. For them, technology is part
of their everyday lives, not something in the
workplace.
However, after Gen Y, we have a ‘Gen Z’
growing up, not just in a digital age, but in
an often mobile-first age. Their interactions
increasingly tend to take place on smartphones
and tablets.
A US study (Speak Up, part of Project Tomorrow)
looked at mobile technology use, polling 3.4
million students, teachers, administrators and
parents about the use of tech in education
(note: use of mobile in a home environment
is likely to be higher). It found that by ages 8
to 11 more than half of all children had access
to a smartphone or tablet; by ages 14-18, the

figure was 89%. However, this did not mean that young people were all accessing traditional social
networking sites like Facebook. From the age of 11, almost half of students were using social media
apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine, and a third reported using Twitter. This suggests a shift
towards more instant and mobile app friendly social media over the likes of Facebook (who are
responding by making their networks more mobile-friendly – acquiring Instagram, for example),
and this is likely to have a growing impact on how brands and marketers target these people.
Similar patterns are observed in Gen Y in the UK.
However, at the other end of the age range, the older generation (55+) in the UK are less likely
to use smartphones and more likely to use a desktop or laptop to access the internet, but while,
smartphone and tablet use is expanding, they are less likely to use social media channels.
04 ‘MOCIAL’
To accommodate the growing number of users accessing the web and content through mobile
devices, most social networks have either mobile-compatible sites or applications to support the
demand. Some networks, for example Vine and Instagram, were originally accessible only via the
mobile and as such were designed for use on mobile primarily.
CHECK-IN APPLICATIONS
Mobile facilitates their owners being just that, mobile. This means they can be out and about,
engaging in activities and going about their lives, while offering companies and service providers
a previously unimaginable ability to interact with consumers both in the online and offline world.
These applications and networks allow the user to ‘check-in’ into something. One of the most
recognisable examples was perhaps Foursquare (the check-in function is now Swarm); its initial
function was to allow users to check-in to places. Other networks have added this functionality to
their platform (e.g. Facebook Places).
However, check-in applications aren’t purely focused on places. Dependent on the platform,
users can log a variety of things including events (Foursquare), TV shows or films (TVTag), food
(Foodspotting) and beer (Untappd) which can often create opportunities for savvy communicators
to reach their audience; either through network supported functionality, paid opportunities, pre-planned
campaign activity or other networks.
COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS
With increased mobile connectivity to the web, there’s been increased connectivity between
people. Twitter and Facebook are both seeing increases in the number of users who access
only through mobile (Facebook has announced a mobile-first approach both publicly and
internally). There is a growing expectation among users to be able to access content through
mobile devices as standard.

So, if your campaigns include elements such as running competitions and promotions or gated-content,
particularly if you are doing so natively (ie: through a platform such as a Facebook
application), anticipate your audience’s appetite for mobile access and ensure that applications
are mobile-ready and built to function correctly on multiple devices. Otherwise, you may find that
positive conversations and promotional messaging are drowned out by negative comments and
queries regarding the poor mobile performance.
The same applies for content. Pew Research estimate around 30% of users receive their news
through social media; all these media outlets and other brands are vying for your audiences’
attention. If your copy, imagery or video isn’t optimised for the platform it’s likely to display badly
or load slowly and negatively affect campaign results.
It’s also worth noting the growing trend for
one-to-one communication. Wanting privacy
from family members or employers on other
prominent networks, users are interacting more
with applications like SnapChat and WhatsApp
that feature private, photo and video messaging
functionality that lend themselves to mobile.
While this form of marketing communication
is inefficient on a grand scale, there have been
instances where the adoption of it as a brand
has lead to coverage due to the innovative
nature of the campaign. An example of this
is Taco Bell’s use of SnapChat to launch a
limited edition burrito by exclusively messaging
selected fans. This in turn created a story and
generated buzz across social media.
Again, consider your audience when choosing your platform. Channel adoption rates vary based
on factors including demographics and psychographics. Also ensure you tailor your campaigns
to the locally popular applications – for instance, in Chinese markets consider Qzone and Weibo
rather than Facebook, or engage via QQ or WeChat in place of SnapChat. Each of these have
different functionality so ensure you evaluate all potential pitfalls or possibilities to market your
brand prior to the execution of your campaign.

RICH CONTENT CREATION APPLICATIONS
The advent of smartphones has increased the number of consumers who have the capability to
record images, video and sound; similarly, runners and cyclists can share their routes and times
from apps that track their exercise sessions – in both cases, the captured data is then quickly
uploaded to the web. Data capture combined with web access has increased the number of
online content creators and the number of tools that facilitate this. Social media networks and
applications that have benefited from this include Instagram and Vine, and Strava.
Include content creators in your initiatives and encourage the production of positive brand content
that can help to amplify messaging and offer credibility and authenticity to your campaign.
05 PR & MOBILE ‘JOURNALISM’
When US Airways flight 1549 ditched in the River Hudson between New York City and New Jersey
in 2009, the first images of the incident were captured by passers-by using their mobile phones
and shared via social networks. Twitter users broke the news of the incident around 15 minutes
before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash, around four minutes after
the plane went down. Text messages were soon accompanied by photos (the Twitpic service
became overloaded as users sought images of the crashed aircraft) and grainy videos shot on
mobile phones and shared on YouTube.
This famous incident is just one of many demonstrating the emerging importance of mobile device
users to broadcasters and other news organisations. Photos and videos shot on high-end smartphone
and tablets are now technologically broadcast-quality, and it is common for media organisations to
appeal for photographs, videos and users’ first-hand accounts of breaking news stories.
However, these news organisations no longer hold a monopoly on reporting news. Bloggers,
tweeters and other social network users can use their mobile devices to capture images and
sound and share them almost instantly with their readers, followers and friends. Technology
and social media has combined to enable anyone to become an online broadcaster, reporter or
commentator, and any organisation caught up in an incident or a developing crisis can no longer
‘control the message’. This is also creating new challenges for PRs and for organisations used to
dealing with ‘traditional media’ when it comes, for example, to allow members of the public to
record proceedings or live-tweet from courts, council meetings and other events. PR practitioners
will also need to engage in almost real-time monitoring and reporting; which is facilitated by the
advent of mobile and real-time analytics. C-Suite executives increasingly expect to be able to tap
into customer and stakeholder views and reactions to messages immediately and on the move,
not just while sitting at a PC.

News curation and dissemination can also be enabled via applications such as Flipboard which
allow individuals to compile collections of content and create online publications optimised for
mobile consumption on smartphones and tablets. This reflects a wider shift in the mainstream
media towards provision of digital content that is no longer produced primarily for printed
reproduction, but is created for instant delivery on websites and via mobile apps. Radio programme
podcasts, TV broadcast downloads and magazine and newspaper apps have begun to change
the complexion of the media industry, with the former print publications often deploying video
content alongside the usual words and pictures.
For PR people, the more mobile world means they need to be thinking about how their target
audiences consume news and other content. A news release may no longer be the key deliverable;
photos, video clips and other downloads may be needed to meet different intermediaries’
requirements. Organisations may also be distributing content more direct to stakeholders, posting
it on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and other places where it can be quickly shared.
Continuous or periodic monitoring will also be more important. Television programmes (news,
current affairs, sports and cultural events, etc) are often now watched by consumers who will
simultaneously be discussing the broadcast online – Ofcom (2013) found 25% of UK adults are
now multi-tasking while watching TV: talking on the phone, texting, or using social networks
about what they’re watching.
For example, during the 2013 Wimbledon Men’s tennis final, 1.1 million people worldwide
tweeted 2.6 million times using hashtags associated with the tennis final, with 80% of tweets
coming from mobile devices.

06 PR & THE MOBILE WEB
“Websites are dead.” The view expressed by Dom Burch at a social media conference in 2013 was
slightly more nuanced than it was reported at the time, but the sentiment was right. Gone are the
days when you can build something new from scratch with a desktop PC environment driving your
decision making. At the very least it should not be the starting point.
Mobile traffic continues to surge forward and now outpaces desktop for most sites and social
channels, meaning PR professionals should be cognisant of how people are most likely to view
the content they spend so long crafting.
Twitter and other short-form social platforms are often only the window into longer-form content,
images or videos. Yet many sites are still desktop-only sites that need to be pinched and squeezed
to view. The experience becomes clunky and frustrating for the user, and unless the content is an
absolute “must read”, the chance has been wasted.
PRs and their colleagues therefore need to
be thinking about mobile optimised sites. It is
now considered best practice to create a web
experience that relies on either customised
apps for specific devices, or increasingly
“responsive design” – web pages that shift
and adapt depending on the device you are
viewing them on, or the size of the browser you
choose to open (Tesco’s general merchandise
site Tesco Direct is a good example. Open
the page on a laptop, and drag in the sides of
the browser to see how it quickly resembles a
mobile app or ‘mweb’ site the smaller you go).
This device-agnostic approach should also be adopted by PR professionals when planning their
digital media campaigns. Will the content you produce be easily consumed by those who stumble
upon it? If they share it across devices with their friends will everyone see what they saw?
Since Twitter became even more like Facebook with the introduction of visual images automatically
in the newsfeed, the onus on PRs to consider how their tweets look, not just what the words say,
has never been more important.
The proliferation of augmented reality to bring physical products or point of sale to life also now
needs to be considered.

As with other forms of rich media, the amount of data needed to access the experience, and
the simplicity of the user journey are key. Until free fast Wifi is ubiquitous, or 4G or 5G unlimited
packages are the norm, the loading speed of content should still be on the agenda.
Barriers like clicking links, opening new browsers, waiting for videos to load, or at worst needing
to download additional apps from Google Play or the App Store all become drop-off points,
deteriorating how many people will interact with you.
In many cases the best mobile-led content campaigns are simple, static, A, B, C, D multiple
choices within the newsfeed on Facebook. No heavyweight apps or games or videos required.
07 PR & LOCAL
Mobile smartphones are the catalyst for the ‘Internet of Things’. Soon every device, potentially
even the clothes we wear, will be connected to the Internet, and our every location, mood and
state of being will be monitored by the device in our pockets. Depending on your perspective this
is either tremendously exciting, or rather ominous.
Either way, with the always-on power of Google, and the ability to get high speed data almost
everywhere, consumers are not only constantly connected, they are also more demanding of
the information they need and want to make their lives easier. This presents an interesting
challenge and opportunity for PR professionals managing their brand communications strategy
at a local level.
Local reviews of every store or restaurant in a chain are now as important, if not more so, than
someone’s perception of your brand at a national level. How easily you can be found in search
when someone looks for ‘nearest optician’ or ‘decent curry house in Bradford’ will determine
whether you are top of mind as a potential customer walks nearby with their wallet in hand.
Google has changed its algorithm in recent months to better reflect the number of people using
Voice search rather than text search. As more people adopt hands-free mode, either when driving
or simply on the move (and yes, some will even be walking wearing Google Glass), websites that
are structured to answer questions will be considered more relevant. When typing a query you
are more likely just to enter a few key words, but when you use Voice you are more likely to ask a
question such as ‘where is the nearest petrol station?’.
Does your website adequately answer the top ten or even top 100 questions your customers or
stakeholders ask of you? If not, start there. No mean feat if you operate lots of stores or sites
across the land.

The use of in situ QR codes to unlock additional content are also worth considering, be they on
local billboards, flyers, packaging or point of sale materials. However, their adoption and use in
the UK is still relatively low. Unless they are performing a really useful role (and the implementation
explains this), most people will ignore them.
A QR code on bagged salad in Asda a few years back failed miserably (who really wanted to scan
a QR code mid-shop to find out more about the humble lettuce?). By comparison a QR code on
the email notification you receive in order to swiftly collect a parcel at a drive-through pick-up
point is both useful and time-saving as it avoids entering a 16-digit number.
Retailers in particular are deploying near-field communication (NFC) technologies that can detect
when a consumer is in the vicinity of their store, or even where they are in a store.
An iBeacon, for example, enables a retailer to detect when someone with their app installed has
entered a store. This could prompt a push notification that alerts the consumer to the deals of
the day, or which products are being sampled, or merely welcome them back using their name.
Another iBeacon placed in a category department could detect them when they pass by the
featured merchandise, potentially offering a voucher or coupon to convert them to sale. Finally as
they exit the store, the customer could receive a light touch satisfaction survey ensuring they got
everything they were looking for.
American baseball teams are even installing iBeacons across their stadiums, allowing relevant
messages to be sent to individual groups of fans depending on where they are sat. Slowly, data
about patterns of behaviour will be built up helping optimise when and where to communicate
to different people. As with any communication, its relevance, timeliness, the context in which it
is sent, and frankly whether or not the person receiving it wants to speak to you, will determine
whether localised messaging will be successful.
Technology is opening up more and more moments of truth for brands to talk directly and in
a personal way to people as they go about their normal lives. The brands that understand the
balance that needs to be struck between being useful, helpful, friendly, albeit a little disruptive in
order to stand out, will win. Those that spam too often, are clunky in their comms style, erratic in
their timing, and forgetful in terms of not remembering a user’s preferences or previous behaviour
risk being turned off at best, or completely avoided at worst. Be warned – local PR via mobile
could be a game-changer for your brand, but treat it with care. Once a consumer deactivates your
app, or turns off your messaging it will be very hard to turn them round.

08 PR & INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
Mobile has an important role to play in supporting internal communication. But more than that,
it is a brilliant way of facilitating two-way conversations – exactly what effective communication is
all about.
We’re not merely talking about making calls – which is often overlooked! – but how using mobile
devices can enhance and transform company communication.
CYOD/BYOD
In recent years the lines between internal and external communication have blurred, often
beyond recognition in some companies. As this shift has happened, so the savvy communicators
understands all the tools and technologies at their disposal and how to make the most of them.
This is also what savvy employees do. Gone are the days when having a clunky, chunky work
phone to lug around alongside their own personal, sleek device was acceptable. Typically personal
mobiles are newer, faster and more effective, which in turn means they can work smarter, faster
and more efficiently.
For many organisations, the older work phones are still a reality. However, what we’ve seen in
recent years, and looks set to continue, is the growth of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and
Choose Your Own Device (CYOD).
// BYOD:
Any device, owned by the employee,
used anywhere. Employees can shun the
standard issue corporate devices and use
their own personal mobiles and tablets to
access company information. This could
be a whole suite of apps and the company
intranet, or merely email.
// CYOD:
Pre-approved device, owned by the
business, used anywhere. These are
company-approved devices that employees
choose from. This means organisations can
offer from more than one vendor and can
streamline their offering.
It’s not just IT and Comms departments who are spearheading the change to BYOD and CYOD
within companies – employees are asking when and expecting it to happen. This both terrifies
and delights companies in equal measure. Conversations like: “How can we ensure our company
data is secure?” and “What if employees want compensating for using their own phones for
work” are commonplace.

There is a growing trend to focus more on
securing the actual data as opposed to the
device. For companies this means you can be
more flexible and allow employees to use any
phone or tablet. Some organisations create
their own apps to safeguard their information,
whereas others merely allow email on personal
or unmanaged devices. For the internal
communicator, understanding the business’
requirements is key to know which route to
choose alongside IT colleagues.
Communication research organisation Melcrum recently published a paper on Mastering
digital, social and mobile communication: Insights from trail-blazers (June 2014). Within it they
highlighted the work HP has been doing internally. Their employees were receiving information
from a wide variety of sources – in the moment and on their preferred device. Because of this,
long lead times on corporate and internal communication just didn’t work. Neither did overly
formal communications that employees couldn’t comment on or share.
They created HP News Now, which was a fresh newsroom approach internally, using a centralised
platform using HTML5 to integrate daily news with employees’ personal news feeds across
desktops and mobiles alike.
They gauged the impact of the new take on content and use of digital by measuring which
content cut through to employees, and how they engaged with it. They created their own
HP News Now Engagement Index and saw that in just three months, employee engagement with
internal communications more than doubled.
This made justifying ongoing investment – and securing the resources to support it – far easier.

DISTRIBUTED MOBILE WORKFORCE
Organisations with mobile workforces, also known as the ‘hard to reach’ by communication
professionals, are ideally suited for mobile communication.
The term covers a multitude of workers – such as those who are mobile because they have to be
e.g. frontline workers like engineers, factory operatives and retail employees – plus those who
choose to be mobile – this includes remote workers who are used to BYOD policies. The key here
is to enable them to collaborate and participate in conversations when they are physically apart.
There’s also a third group – employees who just are mobile. This is typically due to their generation
or their experiences in an increasingly digital world.
Regardless of how your workforce is made up, communicators need to think carefully about how
communication flows in their company and ensure there are opportunities in place for all to feel
included.
There are multiple opportunities to transform your internal communication by using mobile
devices for your workforce. You need to make smart choices by understanding what you’re trying
to achieve and knowing what potential limitations and restrictions are in place.
You’ll also need to consider how you write too, because writing for mobile and writing for web
can and should be different. The focus needs to be on short, sharp, snappy information with clear
calls to action. With the thousands of apps and websites at your employees’ disposal, they’ll need
a compelling reason to ensure the corporate messages are included in their personal diet.
Tip: Work alongside your business partners in IT, Legal and HR to explore the possibilities.
Use of video in corporate communication is having a resurgence, and mobile can work well to
ensure consistency. Being able to distribute a leadership ‘talking head’ style film for example
to devices clearly has tangible benefits, but don’t forget to build in opportunities for two-way
interaction.
Enterprise Social Network (ESN) apps are being improved constantly and there are many to
choose from such as Jive, IBM Connections, Chatter or Yammer. They are optimised for mobile
use and the number of companies choosing to use them to connect their workforce is on the rise.

WHAT’S THE BENEFIT OF HAVING CONNECTED EMPLOYEES?
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report: The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity
through social technologies (2012) states these technologies can create value by improving
productivity across the value chain, potentially contributing $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in annual
value.
While 72% of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to
achieving the full potential benefit. In fact, the most powerful applications of social technologies
in the global economy are largely untapped. The MGI report finds that twice as much potential
value lies in using social tools to enhance communications, knowledge sharing, and collaboration
within and across enterprises.
They estimate that by fully implementing social technologies, companies have an opportunity to
raise the productivity of interaction workers – high-skill knowledge workers, including managers
and professionals – by 20-25%. It also reveals productivity can improve by 20-25% in companies
who have ‘connected employees’.
Gartner predicts that by 2017 mobile apps will be downloaded more than 268 billion times
and generate more than $77 billion in revenue. The majority of these will be B2C apps, but
the expenditure on app licences looks set to rise. Mobile apps look set to become even more
significant, particularly as the use of mobile devices, including wearables, expands into other
areas of business and consumer activities.
BRIAN BLAU, RESEARCH DIRECTOR AT GARTNER:
“ In the next three to four years, apps will no longer be simply confined to smartphones and tablets,
but will impact a wider set of devices, from home appliances to cars and wearable devices.
By 2017, Gartner predicts that wearable devices will drive 50 per cent of total app interactions.”

09 PR & EVENTS
If you’ve been to any conference recently, you’ll know the time for asking for phones to be put
away has past. Regularly phones, tablets and laptops can be seen on tables and knees during
presentations. Consider the audience at festivals, concerts or major sporting events and you’ll
no doubt envisage a sea of faces illuminated by the blue light of mobile phones and tablets
capturing the action.
Whether they’re Instagramming a selfie, recording a Vine or sharing a tweet, today’s audience
member is happier to create content and participate in online conversations than ever before.
The task for anyone hosting or promoting these events is to manage, support and encourage this
content creation. Posts from others not only produce great user-generated content that can be
repurposed again in the future, but help to increase the reach of events through sharing outside
of the current audience. When planning your events consider the following areas:
ENABLING
// Does the venue have wi-fi? If not, is there good coverage across a range of networks?
// Power sockets can be important, especially for longer conferences with delegates who may
have travelled to attend. No one will be able to post if their phone is out of battery!
MANAGING
// Set a clear hashtag and ensure that it’s included on all collateral, both prior to and during the
event and brief the compere to announce it to help avoid any confusion.
// Twitter is strongly connected to news and events and will likely be a key platform for you to
engage with, but do consider others, for example, setting up a Swarm event and encouraging
user check-in could boost mentions.
// Monitor the hashtag during the event and should anything be causing negative conversations
try to address it before it becomes a larger issue.
// Aggregate conversations using Storify or a similar tool, this will create great content that can
be shared easily to amplify the event

INFLUENCING
Consumers increased comfort in creating and sharing content provides opportunities to encourage
the production of user-generated content through stimulus provided by brands
// Is there anything at the event that could inspire sharing? A unique photo opportunity, a rare or
exciting item or maybe a competition?
// Consider soundbites within presentations, beyond media recordings – are there concise, key
phrases, which can be easily captured in a 140 character tweet?
// When designing competitions think about the type of content you want to gain from the event.
What will be useful in the future?
/ Prior to encouraging submissions be sure to check promotional guidelines or terms and
conditions set out by the host network as failure to adhere to these may cause brands to be
penalised, in the case of Facebook this could mean that your page is removed.
/ Make sure that your competition is well-promoted prior to and during the event for maximum
participation. This could entail, inclusion in marketing collateral, mentions during the event
or calls to action around the venue.
When drafting guest lists, you may want to think about influencers on other ‘mocial’ platforms,
as well as traditional journalists and bloggers. For instance, if you have a visual event, inviting
Instagrammers or Viners who are experienced users of the platform can ensure some user-generated
visual content that may be of a better quality than that created by the general public.
Overall, it’s best to think about your event and your audience in terms of what they are likely to
want to cover, what they will need to produce content and how you can facilitate it.

10 TEN TWEETABLE MOBILE PR QUESTIONS...
01 What mobile computing platform is
used by your PR target audiences,
and what connectivity they use?
02 Can your mobile-based service be
accessed in a browser, or should it be
an app that can be used offline?
03 Could your PR campaign capitalise on
the ‘rich media’ expertise of Instagram
and Vine users to generate content?
Downloading and reading this skills guide is worth
5 CIPR CPD points.
04 Is your copy, imagery or video
optimised for the platforms
it’s likely to displayed on?
05 When anyone can become a
mobile reporter, photographer or
videographer, how will you adapt
your crisis management plans?
06 A picture speaks a thousand words.
Is your mobile-oriented content
using visual images effectively?
07 Running a local or even hyper-local PR
campaign, could you create interactivity
using QR codes or NFC technologies?
08 Is your internal comms team up to speed
on the pros and cons of allowing users
to bring or choose their own device?
09 Does your PR event venue have wi-fi?
If not, is there good coverage
across a range of networks?
10 Think “soundbite” in presentations – are
there key, concise phrases which can
be captured in a 140 character tweet?

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
PAUL WILKINSON FCIPR (@EEPAUL)
Paul Wilkinson is the founder of pwcom.co.uk Ltd, a specialist PR, marketing and construction technology
consultancy. He has been working in construction industry marketing and public relations since 1987, in-house
at Halcrow, Tarmac Professional Services, and BIW Technologies, and as a consultant with some of the sector’s
best-known names in professional services and information technology. Paul is also a leading authority on the
use of construction collaboration technology platforms, deputy chair of the Information Systems Panel of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, and a steering group member of Constructing Excellence and of Construction
Opportunities for Mobile IT. A Wikipedian and member of the CIPR’s social media panel, Paul is a B2B exponent
of social media, having co-founded the built environment social media community Be2camp in 2008.
RACHEL MILLER MCIPR (@ALLTHINGSIC)
Rachel Miller MCIPR PG (Dip) is an internal communication and social media strategist and was named
one of the UK’s leading social business influencers. She started her career as a journalist and founded All
Things IC consultancy after a decade of working in-house. From conducting communication audits and focus
groups with tiger keepers, to advising on social media strategy and training frontline railway employees how
to use Twitter, Rachel’s current work reflects the changing world of communication today. Her clients include
Tullow Oil Plc, Heathrow Express, Zoological Society of London, London Ambulance Service, Northern Trust
bank, Cambridge Assessment, St Andrew’s Healthcare and Notting Hill Housing Trust.
DOM BURCH MCIPR (@DOMBURCH)
Dom Burch is Head of Social for Asda, having deliberately dropped the word ‘media’ from his title in the
middle of 2013. He is very proud to be a member of the CIPR Social Media Panel which he has been a part
of since its inception in 2010. Dom is one of the UK’s leading thinkers on social media strategy and is a regular
speaker on the PR/Social Media conference circuit. He has worked for Asda since 2002 and held a number of
roles within the PR and corporate affairs function, including food and farming PR manager, head of corporate
comms and head of PR. In February 2013, Dom created a dedicated social media team at Asda and took the
decision to focus solely on driving Walmart’s social strategy in the UK with a view to sharing best practice globally
within the wider business. Dom sees his role as one of ‘social innovator’ within the organisation, helping the
company understand the benefits of social business practices, not just social marketing and communication.
JOANNA HALTON MCIPR (@JOANNAHALTON)
Joanna has devised, implemented and managed a pan-European social media campaign for Holiday
Inn, launched a pioneering social media customer services for myHermes and provided monitoring and
reporting for a number of police forces including Greater Manchester and Merseyside Police. In 2013 she
was honoured with the Mark Hanson Social Media Communications Award which recognises the brightest
and most promising talent in the industry. Joanna sits on the CIPR Social Media Panel and regularly speaks
at digital and social media industry events. She also uses her Digital Marketing Communications Msc,
Google Squared accreditation and extensive industry experience to educate the next generation of
communicators through guest lecturing at MMU on content, digital PR & social media.

Mobile PR: A Guide to Communications, Apps and Social Media

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (20)

Ähnlich wie Mobile PR: A Guide to Communications, Apps and Social Media

Ähnlich wie Mobile PR: A Guide to Communications, Apps and Social Media (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Mobile PR: A Guide to Communications, Apps and Social Media