2013-05-25T02:28:37-04:00 Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=philip-keightley Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Philip Keightley Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2874467 2013-03-14T06:33:08-04:00 2013-05-14T05:12:01-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/ public relations consultants wanting to raise awareness of products and services. Here are some of the tools and tactics I believe still have a place in this new media world:

• Developing strong relationships with journalists has become less of a priority as budgets are cut and time is precious, but this may be short-sighted. While communicating via email and Twitter is a quick and efficient way of reaching out to media, actually meeting up face to face, over coffee (or lunch if time permits) can be invaluable in building a positive communications channel. Spending one-on-one time with a key contact who has your full undivided attention means you are able to get your brand or client's message across and the journalist is more likely to remember it in the future.

• Piggyback on a news story with your comment. Press releases are still useful, but in some instances can be a time-consuming process involving various drafts and approvals. Releases can also fall victim to wider events - if it is a strong news day your release may be bumped to the bottom of the pile and the opportunity will be missed. A more time-resourceful PR tool is to regularly monitor the news to identify any potential topics for your client to comment on, pick up the phone to your key contacts and put your client forwards for comment. In many instances, this can be a far more effective method of securing column inches and, in some cases, the journalist will be grateful for you saving the time searching for spokespeople.

• Teaming up with a brand or product that shares your values can be a great way of raising awareness amongst a target group. If your client is a beauty product aimed at high net worth individuals, are there any other luxury brands you can partner with for benefit such as a fashion label, hotel or travel company? By joining together to launch a promotion or customer event, you will reach out to new audiences.

• Entering awards programmes is a great way of raising the profile of your clients' products or services, or the individual stories behind them. Identify the most relevant ones to target and prioritise the benefits based on cost, time and exposure. While initially it may require significant time investment to ensure it is right, the benefits can easily outweigh this. Many organisations running awards programmes will have their own PR agencies which will publicise case studies, and some may have a media partner which will be contracted to write an article on the winners. In addition, including references to awards wins (or shortlisting) on your site with the relevant logo and links will no doubt add credibility.

The world of marketing has changed significantly over the past few decades and, no doubt in the future, online PR tools and social media will continue to become more influential and relevant channels for promotion. However, I would urge marketers not to dismiss traditional PR methods too easily. The objectivity of newspapers, magazines and broadcast media is still valued by consumers, and methods such as the above should be included in a comprehensive marketing strategy to ensure an effective, integrated campaign.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2734290 2013-02-23T13:06:51-05:00 2013-04-25T05:12:01-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
The Grammys took place on 10 February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. According to social search statistics provided by Twitter to Mashable, over thirteen million Grammy related tweets were posted during the show's broadcast. The collaboration between Frank Ocean, Jay-Z and Kanye West was the most tweeted about performance, generating over 116,000 tweets per minute. Such stellar numbers are obviously linked to the glamour of the ceremony and the star appeal of the performers and presenters. However, when analysing the social media output of the @The GRAMMYs Twitter handle it can also be seen that there was a very effective engagement strategy with 520 tweets either posted or retweeted between the 9th and 12th of February.

The pre-Grammy gala took place on 9 February and the @The GRAMMYs social media agency provided exclusive pictures and interviews of celebrities arriving on the red carpet from their official blogger. This was repeated on the night of the Grammys, and they also retweeted posts from performers describing their pre-show nerves and preparations. Such behind-the-scenes content provided followers with information and images they would not be able to receive anywhere else.

During the live broadcast on the US television network CBS, the #Grammys and the @The GRAMMYs Twitter handle were actively displayed on screen. The awards host LL Cool J also read selected tweets on air, which further amplified the sense of engagement with followers on Twitter. Throughout the ceremony, all award winners and performers were posted as live updates to followers around the world. Retweets from celebrity fans congratulating the relevant winners were also posted throughout the night. Amusingly, Twitter also became a medium for acceptance speeches, as winners posted tweets naming people they had forgotten to thank on stage!

After the Grammys themselves, the complete list of winners were tweeted as well as compilations of the best acceptance speeches and celebrity rewteets. Further calls to action asking followers to tweet their favourite performance maintained the community engagement after the event had finished.

The BAFTAs took place on the same night as the Grammys at London's Royal Opera House. Their Twitter handle posted around half the volume of tweets compared to the Grammys and did not retweet during the ceremony. As with the Grammys, the Twitter handle provided followers with unique behind-the-scenes snippets, as well as spreading their message across different social media outlets.

Before the awards, they asked their followers to tweet pictures of their BAFTA night party pictures to win an official goodie bag. The Twitter handle also provided exclusive pictures of the champagne bar and film stars arriving. In a clever use of Twitter as a social media conduit, the tweets describing the outfits worn by celebrities took followers to live-feed Instagram albums and Pinterest boards.

The timing of the award ceremony presented the @BAFTA Twitter handle with a challenge as the awards were presented two hours before the show was broadcast on BBC television in the UK. Their ingenious solution was to post non-spoiler tweets which announced the winning BAFTA category and then asked the follower to click on a link which would expand the tweet and show a Tumblr picture of the winning film or performer. Once the winners were then broadcast on BBC, a further congratulation tweet with full details of the category and winner was then posted.

Although the BAFTAs and the Grammys adopted subtly different Twitter strategies, they shared a belief that engaging with their followers and providing them with exclusive content was key to successful community management. Award ceremonies provide a glamorous combination of celebrities and prize winners, but rather than just listing the winners in order they have grasped the opportunity to reach out to their audience before, during and after the ceremony.

Such tactics will almost certainly be adopted by the 85th Academy Awards Twitter handle. This highlights how reactive community engagement and allowing followers behind the scenes can be applied by social media agencies to any industry or brand and not just those nights that celebrate talented actors and musicians.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2294622 2012-12-13T13:45:04-05:00 2013-02-12T05:12:01-05:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/ social media agencies in response to the recent tightening of the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm. Whilst there has been a fair degree of discontent, primarily concerned with the perceived unfairness of having genuinely recruited fans and followers and then being omitted from the conversation, the broader picture that brands need to consider can be simplified to whether they are looking to use Facebook as a platform to have genuine conversation with their users or simply as a more glorified advertising channel.

Facebook's argument for the introduction of EdgeRank eighteen months ago was a simple one; the algorithm will ensure that users are only served content that is relevant to them, determined by weighting, affinity and time. In short, if users interacted regularly with brand/page content, then they would continue to be served content from that page. If they did not, then the algorithm would gradually reduce the amount of content served. The challenge to brand pages was clear: be relevant and inspire interaction to maintain the maximum audience.

Whilst the impact of the EdgeRank algorithm meant all brand pages suffered reductions in reach to a greater or lesser degree, EdgeRank in effect offered two paths to redemption; brands could invest in paid advertising or promoted posts to grow and maintain access to a significant audience irrespective of EdgeRank, or they could invest in the quality of organic content to make sure it was as relevant, inspiring and engaging as possible to genuinely interact with users.

A cynic might suggest (as many have on social forums), that Facebook is in a strong position regardless of the route chosen by brands and pages. If they take option one and invest in paid advertising, they fill Facebook's pockets with gold; if they take option two and optimise content to ensure maximum relevancy to users, they make the overall platform significantly more user-centric.

Now, with the tightening of the EdgeRank algorithm, the choice brands face is even more stark. It is likely that this will result in a considerable increase in those that choose to advertise; having invested a number of years in building follower bases ranking in their millions, it is a bitter pill to have overall reach reduced to thousands.

However, it is as important from Facebook's perspective (as well as brand pages themselves) that the balance between taking the paid media route and pursuing the organic, content relevancy approach does not swing too far in favour of the former. Whilst a number of brands/pages may simply be using Facebook as a glorified advertising channel, put off by the continuing challenges to organic engagement caused by increasingly tight algorithms, it is important that the identity of brand pages on Facebook does not simply reflect this, otherwise users will switch off in droves.

Fortunately, there are a number of brand pages out there that take genuine user engagement seriously, invest in the more long-term strategy of ensuring content is relevant to their audiences and use paid media as a support rather than lead strategy.

Philip Keightley is a senior account director at digital PR agency Punch Communications, which specialises in social search.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1828107 2012-08-24T12:32:00-04:00 2012-10-24T05:12:11-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
One brand that seems to be maximising the cult of nostalgia is John Lewis. Its recent advert for music devices through the decades, accompanied by songs and fashion from those times, was widely well received - and rumoured to have cost the brand £20 million. But no doubt they recouped these costs - I noticed recently you can even purchase a CD of music featured in the department store's various advertisements, so they are ensuring return on investment in addition to brand awareness. British Airways also used this tactic with its campaign featuring air travel through the decades. This works on many levels, raising awareness but also ensuring its brand is associated with heritage and longevity. With globalisation leading to increased competition, companies that have stuck around longer are likely to have more loyal fans.

Working for a PR company, it's important to keep this trend in mind. There are a number of methods and tactics that you can use in your strategy to tap into this - whether it is through traditional media activity, online PR or using your skills as a search agency. Firstly, pick your target market carefully. Keep in mind that times have changed and your customers have aged. However, those who were children in the 1970s and '80s may now be parents, and may respond positively to marketing communications harking back to their childhood. Just remember that the product itself needs to have evolved - children are extremely tech-savvy these days and are unlikely to go crazy for a Casio keyboard or a Rubik's cube (sadly).

There are some great examples of using this nostalgia and bringing it into the 21st century. Smartphone apps such as Instagram and Hipstamatic have taken off as they produce an old-fashioned photograph feel. New media offers a number of opportunities for nostalgic marketing and will be significantly less expensive than a large-scale advertising campaign. Brands should look at how they can maximise this through Facebook, Twitter and Google+. As with all successful social media campaigns, users want to be the first person to spot a trend, and will be keen to 'pass it on' if there is an incentive to do so. Online quizzes asking 'which TV character are you?' are always popular, but do keep it front of mind that this needs to be relevant to your product or service.

One other idea to consider is that the use of nostalgia is not necessarily going to introduce your brand to new audiences. Consumers are fickle, and it is important to allocate significant resources to developing strategies to draw in new customers. Nostalgia can't be the only focus.

The recession has certainly led to an increase in 'nostalgic marketing' and for many companies this is proving to be a successful approach to increase awareness and sales. It's interesting to think about what the next generation will be harking back to. In twenty years' time will there be a resurgence of campaigns around Facebook, smartphones and MP3 players? Now, that makes me feel old.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1577142 2012-06-07T08:37:37-04:00 2012-08-07T05:12:03-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
When even Rupert Murdoch states that printed newspapers have only another 20 years before they disappear altogether is it time for PR agencies to accept the inevitable and rethink our strategies for the future? I was fortunate recently to attend a presentation by a famous news anchor who asked the audience (primarily students) how they consumed news. The generational differences were clearly marked. The 'baby boomers' were still purchasing a newspaper and reading it daily, whilst 'Generation Z' were entirely consuming online or via television. Those in the middle, like myself seemed to obtain news from the most diverse sources, combining both print and digital. Purchasing daily newspapers feels like an extravagance when the same content is available for free, and all you are looking for is news and straight editorial, but treating myself to the weekend papers is a routine I won't be giving up anytime soon.

So where do the opportunities lie for PR companies? They still exist, but a more bespoke approach is required. Firstly, who is reading newspapers? The Daily Telegraph, for example, has a predominantly ABC1 readership, many of whom are over 65, so it makes sense to tailor campaigns accordingly to suit these audiences.

Magazines also offer PR opportunities. Deloitte's sixth annual State of the Media Survey from earlier this year found 88 % of people who read magazine content in 2011 preferred to do so in print - a proportion unchanged since 2010. This makes sense to me - feature and image-led content is far more enjoyable consumed in a visually appealing print format. A number of online brands have also gone the other way - fashion site asos.com launched a spin-off print magazine in 2007 and more recently York lifestyle and news site One & Other announced it will be introducing a hard copy offering.

There is also a plethora of contract publishers who manage content on behalf of brands. Relevant, non-competing content will be welcomed by editors wanting to reach a highly targeted demographic. This also applies to in-flight and train magazines that have a captive audience. The in-flight magazine for British Airways, 'High Life' has a monthly circulation of over 180,000 and whilst the criteria for editorial may be strict, the return is highly significant.

Whilst the media landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade or so, this does not mean the death of print media just yet. The UK has an ageing population and older readers are more likely to read newspapers and magazines, and are also more likely to have the disposable income to purchase products and services. Online PR is vital and likely to become more so with increased ownership of smartphones and tablets, but this competitive landscape will hopefully lead to separating the wheat from the chaff. There are still hundreds of thousands of consumers reading magazines and newspaper, and I for one am not ready to discount the power of print media just yet.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1451608 2012-04-25T11:10:15-04:00 2012-06-25T05:12:02-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/ public relations consultants to become blinkered by the need to secure positive media coverage and forget the importance of internal communications. The internal stakeholders, especially your employees, are a business's greatest asset; therefore it is important to ensure they are informed of good and bad news. This has become especially important with the rise of social media, which gives employees the chance to voice opinions and concerns in an open forum, which could ultimately damage a brands' reputation.

There are a number of ways PR agencies and brands can ensure employee communication is a key part of any public relations campaign. Here are a few ideas:
• Communicate relevant news, good and bad. It is important that employees do not hear about company news through the media or friends as this will lead to demotivation. ,Instead give staff as much notice as possible that the news is going out; this will give them the opportunity to ask any questions or voice concerns before it is published in the public domain.
• Encourage employees to spread good news. Communicating positive developments such as client wins, new appointments and encouraging financial results is a fantastic way to boost staff morale. Why not ask them to also spread the good news via their own social feeds too?
• Don't just rely on electronic communication. For larger organisations, a regular newsletter or news update out via e-mail will be enough to keep staff engaged with what is happening in the wider organisation. However, don't merely rely on e-mails to communicate with staff. Conduct regular face-to-face meetings to ensure staff are being listened to and are well informed, this will encourage better relationships between managers and employees.
• Welcome employee feedback. Encouraging employee ideas is a fantastic way of gaining constructive feedback from the people on the shop floor. Putting in place a formal employee feedback system is a positive way of ensuring ideas are taken into account, as well as raising morale as employees will feel their opinion is valued.
• Don't bombard employees with irrelevant communication. Whilst it's important to keep staff abreast of the news about the organisation, it is also essential not to over-communicate with them. Bombarding them with company news that may not be relevant will mean employees are more likely to switch off and will miss updates that are important to them.

Internal communications should be an important consideration for any PR company when conducting a PR campaign, particularly during such times when the economic environment is unstable and consumer confidence is low. Productive strategies to enhance employee relations enable businesses to build on the credibility of managers and the communications process. This, in turn, means employees are more motivated, due to strengthened relationships and their opinions are valued leading to more committed and productive members of staff.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1334069 2012-03-09T04:39:54-05:00 2012-05-08T05:12:02-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
Aesthetically, it is undeniable that the cover image on the Timeline, along with the logo is both visually striking and can be used to the advantage of a page. Now the logo can be complemented with an engaging image to spark the interest of fans and prospects. What brands need to do before rushing into the changeover on March 30th is to consider, in depth, what cover picture to use; there is an opportunity for those brands that get this right to acquire new fans through current fans 'sharing' the page.

From a customer service perspective, I think the introduction of 'messages' is an inspired addition. Anyone working at a PR company or social media agency will understand how important it is to avert crises; messages now allows for issues to be handled privately and away from the rest of that page's community. It is my belief that brands should really focus on this as an avenue for driving online customer service enquires.

One of the most important aspects of maintaining strong engagement and acquisition levels on Facebook has always been the storytelling element. To successfully engage with fans, a page has to do just that - firstly, be a compelling read containing interesting narrative and exclusive content and secondly, a platform to listen and discuss. The introduction of Timeline hasn't changed the importance of this; it has perhaps though made the format a little more user-friendly for sharing a story. In essence, adding 'time' to the story gives the brand heritage and context, which can be easily found through a simple date search. The milestones functionality also means key dates in any brands history can be highlighted so fans become aware of anniversaries and launch dates.

The grand unveiling of Timeline for Pages is 30 March and while it is clear that there are some advantageous new developments, I think it is vital that brands carefully consider how best to implement the new design and functionality changes.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1223710 2012-01-23T11:29:10-05:00 2012-03-24T05:12:01-04:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
Whilst it is still relatively early days compared to other sectors, brand usage of Facebook can broadly be categorised as one of significant investment in acquisition in 2010 (when brands saw significant increase in fan numbers predominantly through Facebook advertising) and a concentration on fan engagement in 2011 (when brands invested resource in actually leveraging interactions and dialogue with their significant armies of fans). Following that, expectations were that 2012 would be the year of commercial return, as an increasing number of brands looked to implement social commerce functionality to finally contribute towards the bottom line, following significant outlay in building these audiences in the previous two years.

However, something has happened. After all the hard work and enterprise of 2010 and 2011, the engagement and acquisition figures in 2012 appear to be tailing off and brands and their respective social media agencies are beginning to look into possible causes, and wondering about the consequences. Whilst those who live and breathe social engagement via Facebook will (or at least, should) be aware of the EdgeRank algorithm and the impact of the Facebook F8 functional changes, that fan growth and engagement has in some instances (and more broadly as an industry trend) slowed so significantly is cause for concern, or indeed investigation.

Finally, in a recent study on Mashable, a number of industry experts finally published a piece of analysis that clearly shows the slowing of growth in Facebook brand page acquisition and engagement. The slow down is significant indeed. Evidence as to why this is occurring is not forthcoming and the analysis is speculative, but the figures do speak for themselves. For those who work closely in monitoring, measuring and reporting Facebook figures, it is refreshing to finally have access to data that shows this is a global trend. Potential causes include the introduction of various Facebook algorithms as it strives to ensure only relevant information reaches its hoards of users.

That these algorithms have been introduced is morally justifiable; with so many brands and pages vying for user attention, news feeds can quickly become clogged with marketing messages and Facebook is acting as a moral gatekeeper, ensuring through the measurement of user interaction that only the most relevant and desired content is served to users. However, there is a potential flip side to that in that Facebook has generated a significant amount of revenue from brand advertising to attract and engage users (reports such something in the region of $4billion). A cynic might wonder whether quite that level of revenue would have been generated had brands been aware that they were buying fan communication for a very finite period and that in time, if those fans were not interacting with their content, the messages would stop being passed through. It is a cynical view, but in the absence of evidence one that I suspect will be neither proven, nor disappear.

What remains surprising is not so much that this trend for decline has actually been evident since early 2011, but that it has taken 12 months for any real dissent or questioning to surface, and as yet they are only whispers. However, with the advent and growth of Google+, which reports indicate passed 90m users this week, it will be interesting to see if any further information or indeed discontent comes to light.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1180510 2012-01-03T04:39:09-05:00 2012-03-03T05:12:01-05:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
The feature is one that the vast majority of brands have been after for some time following the launch of pages on Google+; many have become familiar with marketing via brand pages on Facebook and as such, are accustomed to the flexibility afforded by Facebook's platform. Having the ability to add multiple administrators to a page provides numerous advantages, a few of which are outlined below.

Development - It's fairly likely that Google+ will eventually implement some sort of framework on its platform that will allow developers (in-house or at social media agencies) to create applications for Google+ pages, similar to the functionality currently available in Facebook. This will almost certainly require multi-admin access, or at the very least the lack of the new functionality would be a major barrier to developers. This is a pretty important reason for having multiple admins; Google+ will need fresh, unique content to grow enough to compete with Facebook, and developers can supply that content.

Customer services / moderation - one of the biggest concerns for brands with established communities within social media is how to deal with enquiries that come through the platforms and also any of the community who are unhappy with the brand for whatever reason. Multiple admin capabilities are essential for this activity so that multiple parties are able to monitor a brand page at the same time, depending on the size of the audience. This will be an essential aspect of social outreach activity as soon as a brand page starts to grow.

Posting from multiple parties - Similarly to customer services and moderation activity, posting from different parties will become considerably easier with multiple admins. Brands won't need to worry about needing to share login credentials across a range of different stakeholders, reducing any risk of confusion. In addition, any users guilty of posting stray posts could be identified through liaison with Google, mitigating any potential digital PR nightmares.

Security - Having one profile that is the sole administrator of a brand page on Google+ could easily be an accident waiting to happen. Should the profile be compromised, this would risk the whole brand page being compromised too with no other access points. Although having too many admin profiles would be just as much of a risk, it is certainly better than only having the one.

All in all, the new multi-admin functionality is certainly a step in the right direction for Google+ in its quest to rival Facebook. It will enable Google+ pages to be managed in a much more efficient way by their respective owners, with added flexibility that could see customer services integration and of course the applications that have become the staple of brand pages on Facebook.

However, this is only one of many steps that Google+ must take to grow. Pages will play a major role in how the network grows in 2012, which will be a pivotal year in defining whether the network is to be a success or a failure.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1122729 2011-12-01T14:49:51-05:00 2012-01-31T05:12:02-05:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/ SEO agencies in the online marketing sphere. Google's latest algorithm update is all about "freshness."

Google's plan is to create the most effective Internet search engine in the world. The latest algorithm update takes Google another step closer to this target by adding freshness criteria to search engine results, meaning the content that appears in search engine results is always as fresh as Google can make it. This isn't to say that the content in the results is going to be in chronological order, only that the results you find will be checked for their age as part of Google's process for determining relevance.

What constitutes relevance? In Google's eyes, hundreds of factors, with freshness being a recent development. What constitutes freshness? Real-time social networks such as Twitter and to some extent Facebook and Google+ have added additional tools to Google's armory, since it can now crawl the content from these networks and deduce which content people are interested in, what it is and if it is relevant for its search results. A similar tool for this is the RSS feed -- long thought to be on its way out -- which Google uses to deduce which content from a website is the freshest. This is, on occasion, replicated in its results. A great example of this is that of the BBC website when a user searches for "BBC news."

This presents a number of opportunities to marketers, regardless of their size and ammunition. By creating unique, fresh content, brands and businesses can now have a bigger chance of appearing in search engines for relevant terms. With a social media campaign, brand awareness and in some cases direct commercial benefits are usually the main objectives, but social media has long been an influencer of search engine results and now the fresh content from social networks can be leveraged to have a direct benefit in search engines. Essentially, by creating a digital social object, whether that is in the form of an application on Facebook, a microsite or even a blog post, the buzz around that content will have a far greater benefit in search.

The freshness update has also added much more to the value of blogs and RSS feeds -- they can now be a core source of fresh content for Google to take into account. We've always known that having a blog provides significant benefits from a marketing and communications perspective -- it is an owned environment which can be used to host content and stimulate conversation, with a bi-product of that being that the website in question is crawled much more frequently, as are the links within blog posts. However, the freshness update now means that blogs and RSS feeds can be more of a driving force when it comes to SEO, since they now have a bit more influence over what appears within a website's search result. There has never been a bigger opportunity for a business blog to have an impact on SEO.

Whilst none of the above represents a titanic shift in the strategy or habits of brands and businesses using blogs or social media, links from both certainly have more potential to add value to social media campaigns through search benefits and vice versa. From the perspective of an integrated PR, search and social media agency, these are huge benefits that should not be missed.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1116212 2011-11-29T19:00:00-05:00 2012-01-29T05:12:01-05:00

Philip Keightley http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-keightley/
Indeed, even when Google decided the time was right, it didn't exactly waltz into the arena accompanied by cheers and a fan fare. It was decidedly low key - nonchalant even, and many spectators will have missed the event entirely. However, the bout has begun and the first blows have been thrown.

Watching the first few rounds, whilst both Facebook and Google+ have been fair, measured and by all appearances, strict subscribers to the Queensbury rules, they each have their distinct approach and a keen observer might glean some insight into their long term strategy. Like heavyweight battles of the past such as Mac versus PC, the early rounds in this bout for the hearts and minds of the social media audience show two very distinct corners.

Not conned by Google's lacklustre entry and prepared for battle, the announcements by Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook F8 conference with regard to the latest evolution of Facebook functionality were an ode to tactility; a touchy-feely appeal to the heart strings.

Aware, no doubt that Google+ was an opponent not to be underestimated, Facebook had already prepared a response to the initial salvos, and at the F8 conference in September, Zuckerberg landed a couple of impressive blows. In advance of the conference, observers noted a number of technical twitches from Facebook as it readied the platform for change. However, whilst there were expectations and analysis drawn about what these changes might be, when announced, if not quite the knock-out blow, Facebook landed some pretty significant shots and upped the ante in the contest.

The most significant development was the announcement that users' feeds would be replaced with timelines; a chronological story or scrapbook of that users' life. Whilst on paper, this may just sound like an aesthetic change, the punch packed far more weight when its impact on brands or marketers is considered. Not only does the scrapbook give users the opportunity to share more about themselves (one of, if not the the key driver in any social channel), but it sent a message to brands and marketers that they needed to better integrate themselves within a user's life.

The ripples of these announcements went further afield and for those working in digital PR or at social media agencies, involved in the provision of social services for brand clients, there was a very real requirement to interpret, analyse and provide intelligence and consultancy on exactly how campaigns should be tailored to the new Facebook functionality. As a PR agency, it was imperative to get under the skin - to the very core tactical implications of the announcement, rather than report what appeared on the service to be predominantly aesthetic changes.

Allied to this seemingly tactile aesthetic element, was another equally weighty development, namely that users would no longer have to "like" a page (or brand page) to access and integrate with its content. Furthermore, with the introduction of the Facebook ticker (for content deemed less than crucially relevant) and prominence given to content delivered through developed or third-party applications (or Facebook partners), the message on the surface was that Facebook wanted to offer its millions of users a much more personalised and tailored service.

However, the underlying message to brands, marketers and commercial interests was clear: invest in developing apps and be relevant and your messages will be given prominence / don't play along, and thanks to our various algorithms, your content will be seen by an ever shrinking audience.

For the casual observer, the announcements at the F8 conference were a massive hug for the consumer, but in reality, this was a heavyweight punch and one that sent a clear message to brands and marketers, whom it should be remembered, Facebook needs to convince in its battle with Google+.

So, how would Google+ court the all important brands and marketers? Well, it's approach was more cerebral than heart warming, making the most of solid analytical foundations (and given the requirement to court brands and marketers, the failure of Facebook to deliver the level of analytics and reporting that should only be expected when operating at such a significant commercial level, is without question a serious hammer blow - and one that Google could, and surely will, launch at any point).

As a result, its army of influencers (smaller in number than Facebook of course) tend to different requirements. Comprising a much higher percentage or ratio of tech savvy, early adopters, digital enthusiasts and developers, the Google+ audience (so far) is much more difficult to impress, but once impressed, is likely to be a much stronger supporter.

From a functionality perspective, Google has of course been able to study where its opponent has failed to deliver, and develop the means to do so itself. Certainly, the launch of functionality such as hangouts, gives the impression of a tactile, cuddly, consumer offering, but the strong analytical foundations and make-up of the audience should assuage the judges that Google+ is making a very clear statement to brands, marketers and professionals.

So, the contest continues and an audience of spectators and observers await the next instalment. It's been a battle of hearts versus minds, of popularity versus analytics. Facebook may just have edged the first couple of rounds, buoyed by its overwhelming support in the auditorium, but there is a long way to go and Google may just have weapons in its armoury to sneak the contest on points at the end.

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