Just as asset allocation remains a fundamental of investing, it could just as easily be applied to other areas of investment operations, such as marketing, communications and more.

While investment managers approach asset allocation with a keen eye on diversification, and investors are told to do similar, many organisations have lately tended to focus their marketing and communications spend on one channel.

Consider how over the past few years, the largest allocation of marketing and communication has focused on all things digital. A large part of this has gone to Google and Facebook, which now control over a fifth (20%) of global advertising spend between them (from nothing over a decade ago). And these two have captured two-thirds (64%) of all the growth in global advertising spend over the past four years, reported AdNews earlier this year (May 2017). Then there is LinkedIn for the business market.

Like investing, is it bad to focus all your marketing assets in one area? Does your organisation need to diversify its marketing and communications?

That, of course, depends on your customers. What do they read and view, how do they best connect with you, what worries them, what motivates them? What channels do they already use – newspapers, radio, television? What social media do they pay the most attention to?

Today’s consumers, like you, tend to use a majority of channels for their information, education and entertainment. So, you need to do the same – in other words diversify your marketing and communication across a range of channels.

The key is to determine the allocation mix that works best for you and your organisation. Here are some things to consider when determining how to allocate your communications and marketing spend.

Digital – More than meets the eye

Whatever your company, digital matters to you because it matters to your clients.
Whether your customers are institutions or mum and dad investors, they’ll be operating largely in the digital sphere, whether they are ordering a taxi, reading the news or searching for investing advice.

So the key question for communications and marketing teams isn’t whether to invest resources in digital media, rather they need to determine which forms of digital media to invest in.

Let’s look at a few popular options.

Google Adwords remains the favoured way to get on page one of Google searches (ahead of Search Engine Optimisation). Advertisers pay to display brief advertising copy, product listings, and video content within the Google search engine. If people use your Adwords to search Google, your product or service displays at the top of the page. Searches conducted on mobile rank you higher than desktop searches in their algorithms.

LinkedIn is increasing in importance for business-to-business marketing, but it has to be educational and useful, rather than self-promotional. One effective way organisations are engaging with their target audience is through the creation of LinkedIn groups. This is where a group is formed and information is posted and curated by an ‘independent’ group owner and ‘members/clients’ are invited to join to learn the latest about their profession, segment, or the like.

Instagram also allows the formation of groups and is particularly useful where visual content is the focus.  Organisations can also form and curate ‘channels’ on YouTube of related content.

Build it and they will come

Meanwhile, organisations are increasingly creating their own channels. This can range from improved websites complete with blogs to direct client communications and video/YouTube channels.

According to PwC, two in three marketers have seen a shift in marketing spend from ‘bought’ to ‘owned’ channels. The survey also found that one in four marketers spend between 20-30% of their budget building and maintaining their own channels.

The nature of owned channels is also changing. Owned channels used to primarily be an organisation’s website. Today, websites are increasingly being developed as portals for communicating—not just a one-way flow of product pushes along with some information, but also enabling some comment and feedback.

Twitter provides another channel and similarly enables an audience to follow a particular Tweet feed, creating its own channel. US President Donald Trump favours this channel to distribute his messages.

Print and Broadcast – Do comms marketing pros still need traditional media?

Old school media still has a role to play in most communications and marketing strategies. While the circulation of many newspapers and magazines are dropping, major publications still have broad reach and the best publications have earned a level of trust from their audiences that gives them authority and status – so traditional media coverage can help you gain credibility.

Also, social media feeds on traditional media. Bloggers often write about the news as they hear it or see it on traditional media, and so if your story makes it traditional media, there’s a good chance it will be seen on social media as well.

The important thing is to choose traditional media outlets that your customers or clients are consuming. For some financial sector firms, that may be the Australian Financial Review.

However, for others, trade media may reach their market better, as it is focused and considered a ‘must view’ if you are to keep up with developments in your industry. This is why some trade media publications are growing while national and metropolitan media have contracted.

So, what should your marketing allocation contain?

Tap into and create an expanding range of channels to get your messages across.

Apply the rule of diversification – if you put all your eggs in one basket and one basket breaks, all your eggs will be broken. If you diversify across channels and one isn’t cutting through, you can make up for it elsewhere.

Also, the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Bloggers talk about newspapers articles. Facebook can be used to bring potential customers to your website or video channel. There is a symbiotic relationships between the different platforms.

Of course, asset allocation isn’t just about diversification, it’s about analysing which asset types are appropriate for an individual’s risk appetite and one’s expectations of returns.

Similarly, it’s important to not just blindly follow trends, or even to necessarily divide your resources evenly between all available platforms. It’s better to ask what’s the solution for your organisation to reach existing and new customers?

Ask your clients/customers how and where they want to receive content. Listen, and respond.

Some communicators may see this as a potential boon meaning many less writing tasks on their to-do list.  However, I am not convinced our value as communicators will be diminished.

Recently I was assisting a senior executive to develop some responses to a journalist’s questions.  The questions were on leadership and career learnings and were challenging in the sense they were designed to tease out the client’s personal views and life experiences.

While the client was very happy to participate and provide candid responses, and clearly had some passionate views on the topics and interesting experiences to share, they initially struggled to express themselves.  The executive’s language was passive and uncompelling, with repetition of certain words which made every answer sound the same.

Sitting listening, as this person’s communication adviser, I was struck by the thought – what would be the outcome if, instead of working with a person on this, the client used a machine to author the responses?

I could imagine that the responses would have been in the journalist’s email box even before I was back at my desk ready to start writing.   But what would have been the output?

Certainly, the client’s responses, if taken verbatim by a machine, would not have been suitable for print – not because there was anything wrong with them, but because they wouldn’t have entirely reflected what the person was trying to express.

I went back to my desk and didn’t just transcribe what the client said, I interpreted it beyond the words alone.  The client did make some changes to my draft, but very few, and was very happy with the result.

What made the difference was the combination of my knowing the person, having worked with them for some time, and my ability as another human being to recognise and understand a deeper meaning behind their words.  This enabled me to take the client’s raw remarks and reflect them back in a way that also captured the spirit intended.

Will a machine ever be able to do this? I am sure some technology whizzes would say, perhaps, one day.  But probably not as well as a human – and certainly not by next year.

As communicators we know the power of words, but we can’t forget the power of humanity.  Most of us would have experienced times when the best-crafted communications – from speeches to press releases – over which endless hours of blood, sweat and tears had been spent, fail to make an impact with their audiences.

Often this is due to overly engineered language and little or no thought beyond the words.  The emotional connection must always be made for communication to be effective.
So, while we still have the opportunity, before an algorithm wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, play your advantage.  Make It human.

[1] “Gartner Reveals Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2016 and Beyond” gartner.com. Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015, October 2015.

Earlier this year, the number of LinkedIn users reached half a billion worldwide. For those yet to take the LinkedIn plunge, there’s a whole world of valuable connections and insightful conversations that you need to be a part of.

Beyond the networking and recruiting attributes of LinkedIn, the social media channel has an increasingly important role to play in PR programs – both at a company and individual level. As an ‘owned’ media channel, it’s an asset for profile raising, building awareness and sharing thought leadership, where you can directly communicate with your connections and broader audience.

In an era driven by social media, and combined with fewer media outlets, it’s important LinkedIn receives the attention needed. Keeping your LinkedIn presence slick and relevant not only benefits you, but also your organisation more broadly.

Here’s three ways to refine your approach:

Do you have: an active and relevant personal profile?

The first step is checking the basics – are your position title, company and education correct? Aim to link these to the relevant organisation’s LinkedIn presence where possible. LinkedIn is one of the first places a journalist will check to verify information, so this is particularly important for key company spokespeople and C-suite executives who have an industry or media profile.

As you move between roles and companies, ensure your profile is updated to include an end date. It’s confusing when someone is seemingly working at four different companies at once! Correct tenure information gives your profile validation, and detail about your achievements and responsibilities provides clout. Social media is one of the few places where self-promotion is expected and accepted, so make the most of it.

It’s worth logging into LinkedIn every day – the more engaged you are with LinkedIn and your connections, the more value the platform offers. Try to find two things to like, share or comment on each day, connect with relevant groups, and give your connections endorsements where suitable. (They will likely return the favour!)

Do you have: worthwhile connections? 

A major turnoff to using LinkedIn can be the quality of your connections. With so many people using the platform incorrectly to spread fake news or gain as many (irrelevant) connections as possible, your feed can easily fill with spam and trash. We’ve all seen those pointless posts that somehow go viral and it’s onerous having to filter through your feed for insightful gems. Read more about the LinkedIn ‘likes’ protocol here.

Keep your connections relevant – it’s not about having the most connections, but about having the right connections. Remove those who aren’t valuable to your profession or industry.

Do you have: regular and interesting insights to share?

Richard Branson is a well-known thought leader who uses LinkedIn well, regularly posting articles on LinkedIn Publishing. While an extreme example, this shows how simply sharing your insights can create a personal brand and mini community.

Different to a regular ‘status-style’ post, the LinkedIn Publishing platform encourages members to post blog-style content and articles about their expertise or interests. Learn more about how to use LinkedIn Publishing here.

A number of our clients have had success in sharing insightful content on LinkedIn Publishing, positioning themselves as a commentator on a number of topics. LinkedIn Publishing pieces have longevity over regular posts, and are one of the first things a viewer of your profile sees. As a starting point, keep it short and relevant to your industry or area of expertise.

When used correctly, LinkedIn has enormous power as a self-promotion and company profiling tool – but you need to be engaged to find the platform valuable! LinkedIn cannot be a set-and-forget approach, so it’s important that you regularly review your profile, engage with your connections and explore ways to share your expertise.

Still unsure? Honner offers social media training for individuals and companies.

The public relations industry being a hard nut to crack is a no-brainer. However, if you are an overseas migrant trying to make a mark in the Australian PR landscape, you have a fair share of learning to do before you can dive deep into this developed sector.

I had previously worked with the largest PR agency in India, adfactors pr, which happens to be Honner’s partner agency from the prestigious global communication partners network. That made me think I could easily adopt a ‘plug and play’ model of work – apply my PR knowledge from India, and experience from Adfactors (and another boutique agency) to succeed at my Honner gig.

This was not as easy as it may sound in the first instance. To say the least, I ended up on a roller coaster ride during my first year – which has now landed me a portfolio of Honner’s crème de la crème clients and rich learnings from the Aussie Land.

I often get approached by my fellow Indian mates who have either moved to Australia or plan to move soon, asking me for tips to land a PR job in Australia. In all honesty, surviving and thriving in the role is a bigger landmine than getting placed.

Here are my top five tips on how to nail that PR job Down Under.

• Get hold of an Australian writing and talking style guide

This is important.

I am from India, which is ‘considered’ a non-English speaking country. Despite being the world’s second-largest English speaking country by population (second only to the U.S.), only 10% of our folks can understand English and speak in everyday situations with limited proficiency. Very few, only 1% can speak English with mastery. The Australian style of English, however, is a completely different ballgame.

Aussies love short, simple sentences in writing so make sure when you write media releases and other pieces of content for your clients, stick to a maximum of 25-30 words per sentence. Less is more in professional writing everywhere, but even more so in Australia than India.

• Break the ice with coffee

Let’s admit it. Australians love their coffee. It’s always a good idea to approach journalists and/or your colleagues for a coffee catch-up and share your story with them. Once they know of your background and the differences between your world and theirs, they will be able to relate better with you on a professional and personal level.

As part of our media contact program at Honner, I have had ample opportunities to catch up with journalists and know more about them, what they expect from us and how the media works here.

• Events and conferences for networking 

Get involved. Start by attending a few networking events in your industry when you get a chance. (It gets busier with client work afterwards, so make use of your honeymoon period to tap these events).

An example would be @PRINKSAustralia which encourages professionals in media, PR and advertising, and other communications professionals, to connect, share ideas and a drink or so.

There are a few more events organised by PR organisations like the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) that will allow you to discover new agencies, new people and new opportunities.

• Go shopping!

This is my favourite part.

PR is essentially a client-facing role. It never was and will never be a boring desk job, which is why we love it so much. That also means you always must be presentable, and adapting to Australian fashion is a bonus. I can’t be too sure of men’s fashion, but the ladies out there can always take a trip to popular local fashion brands for your work wear like Portmans, Forcast and The Iconic online store.

I suggest this because it’s easy to do, within your control and makes you feel less out of place in the crowd.

• In the end, public relations is all about relationships 

Needless to say, but PR rests on the shoulders of relationship building. After all, we are all dealing with real people who have their own emotions, preferences and life journeys to share. If you have built likeability among clients, journalists and fellow team mates, things may automatically fall in place and you’ll feel more settled in your role than ever before.

I can attest that despite being stationed in the “quiet corner” at the Honner office (due to my own preferences), I have built some great friendships and everyone has warmly accepted me despite the cultural differences. In fact, Honner is a melting pot for PR pros from different cultures and backgrounds. In the last year alone, I’ve seen overseas recruits from partner agencies in France, London and India – giving us the opportunity to bring our local experiences on board.

I would conclude by saying all-in-all it has been a worthwhile move — a bit overwhelming at the start, but that is part and parcel of every relocation process. The key is to embrace that you belong here now and be confident that you’ll be offered a raft of benefits from working in the Australian PR industry, if you invest enough time and emotion into it.

We see ourselves as partners with our clients and with the other PR agencies we work with globally—collaborating to achieve outcomes that deliver real benefits to an organisation.

We also believe that this equality should extend to every individual; not just those in our team, or our industry, but to every Australian.

September represents an important month for equality and how we in Australia want to be perceived in the world.

On recognising the rights of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) colleagues we are already well behind. The United States, France, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and New Zealand are some of the 23 countries who have already legalised marriage between same sex couples.  The Netherlands was the first country to recognise this right way back in 2001.

It is now our turn to make equality a reality.

Everyone is entitled to their view and opinion. But history repeatedly shows excluding people on the basis of race, religion or sexual preference is not the way forward for a modern, inclusive society. As communication professionals, we understand well that open and respectful dialogue is critical to bringing people together.

Superfriend, Honner’s long term pro-bono client representing some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds and more than 7.5 million individual Australian super members, knows the negative mental health outcomes that are associated with such exclusion.

Studies show that people who identify as LGBTQI are at increased risk of exposure to institutionalised and interpersonal discrimination, which can lead to poorer mental health outcomes and higher rates of anxiety disorders and suicidality, compared to the broader population.

Over 1,600 organisations have already pledged their support for marriage equality. This includes major financial services brands such as the Big Four banks, Mastercard, Visa, Citi, ASX and State Street to name a few.

We are proud to add Honner to this list. After all, equality for all should not be too much to ask in 2017.

One thing the Trump administration could never be accused of is having a quiet news week. Here we look at the key learnings from the US President’s relentless spin campaign.

Use social media to your advantage

President Donald Trump may currently be on a ‘working vacation’ but he is still very much plugged in to his favourite social media platform, Twitter.

Trump has amassed a Twitter following of over 100 million and uses it to break news, share his opinions and feud with critics and celebrities around the clock.

Since being elected, he has used Twitter to repeatedly slam ‘fake news’, to encourage Republicans to step up to the plate for a crucial Senate vote on their bill eviscerating much of the Obama health care law and to comment on his son Donald Jnr’s meeting with a Russian lawyer.

When asked in a recent Financial Times interview if he regretted any of his abrasive tweets, Trump opined that it’s a numbers game.

“I don’t regret anything, because there is nothing you can do about it. You know if you issue hundreds of tweets, and every once in a while you have a clinker, that’s not so bad,” he said.

And there are clinkers aplenty. In June Trump took to Twitter to launch a sexist attack on MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, suggesting he had seen her “bleeding badly from a facelift” at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He has also used the platform to call the much-loved Meryl Streep “one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood”. While once we may have considered Trump’s tweets part of his political genius, his increasingly erratic outbursts suggest a break, or an expert social media adviser, may well be in order.

Don’t put in an email what you wouldn’t put on a postcard

The furore of the week centred on Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jnr, who elected to publicly release some of his own emails prior to their publication by the New York Times. The emails contained messages from Trump Jnr. to publicist Rob Goldstone, confirming a meeting between Trump Jnr. and several Russians offering up damning information on Hillary Clinton.

Media allegations that the release of the emails and the accompanying statement had been orchestrated by President Trump were met with denials from the Presidential camp. Yet the President later admitted to weighing in on the release of the emails but only as a ‘concerned father’.

All risky, evasive and (dare we say?) dodgy tactics we are sure the media will continue to watch with interest.

Choose your people wisely

Following the firing of Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street type with little political experience who spent a mere 10 days as the Republicans’ communications director, President Trump took to Twitter to declare it “a great day at the White House”. Never has such a monumentally bad hire been described in such glowing terms.

The controversial Scaramucci was forced out of his new role following a turbulent series of media appearances and a foul-mouthed tirade to a New Yorker journalist.

It goes without saying that if the person in charge of your communications struggles with communication, you could have yourself a PR problem. And with President Trump steering the ship, we’re sure it won’t be the last.

Employee engagement is a hot topic and there are plenty of opinions on how to motivate the modern, 21st Century worker, as well as on the data needed to best measure said worker’s enthusiasm for the job. It pays to question what you hear.

The 2017 State of Workplace Communications Report by Dynamic Signal asserts that “the key indicator of employee engagement today depends entirely on the success of a company’s communication team.”

That’s a pretty strong statement.

No one disputes the importance of employee engagement. There is a plethora of robust research that has been done over many decades that clearly links employee engagement to better bottom lines. Hopefully, most of us also know this to be true from personal experience working in a great team, in a great environment.

But is it true that the success of a company’s communication team is a “key indicator” of employee engagement?

This comes down to how you define the purpose of internal communication within an organisation.

Too often, internal communication is, unfortunately, a misnomer for information dissemination.

As if to underscore this point, the report says, “Communication teams use email, memos, social media and intranets to reach employees” and yet communication professionals have “zero data on what’s working and what’s not”.

Such activities are often largely exercises in information sharing, not in building engagement.  However, you don’t need data to tell you when people are engaged – it’s palpable.   Walk around the office and have some conversations with employees – you will soon know.

And while there is an important place for email, memos, social media and intranets in supporting employee engagement, the most important communication tool is often left out of the kit – people.

My experience running internal communication and change programs has shown me that the key to employee engagement is people.  People build relationships with people.  People motivate each other.  People engage with other people.

Which people in the organisation am I referring to?  All people and, most importantly, leaders.  Not just ‘appointed’ leaders, but all people throughout the organisation who demonstrate leadership in how they work and how they bring others along with them.

These people are the true enablers of employee engagement.

However, the problem is that employee engagement is often viewed as solely the responsibility of the internal communication team – one of their ‘jobs’.  But effective employee communication does not equal employee engagement.

Good internal communication, even exceptional internal communication, on its own will never deliver an engaged workforce because employee engagement is not solely the remit of the internal communication team – it is broader and deeper.

The pivotal role of internal communicators in employee engagement is one of facilitation.  Internal communicators should work closely with leaders and key people across the organisation on the when, how and why of effective communication.

So, is the success of a company’s communication team a “key indicator” of employee engagement?   I would say yes – as long as internal communication is understood as one element of employee engagement, and that leaders and others in the organisation are embracing their critical role in engaging people.

Internal communicators must move organisations towards greater understanding, acknowledgement, and action on this point.    A conversation may be the best place to start.