Lo and behold the return of the Bateman Buzz Meter, our ranking of recent newsworthy events based on PR and Social Media effectiveness. As always, please comment on any current news headlines or PR stunts you think are worthy of the Buzz Meter.

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As the year comes to a close and we reflect back, there’s no denying 2011 has been an incredible year for Bateman Group. The surge we experienced in the fourth quarter; however, has truly been unprecedented. Today, we publicly announced our selection as agency of record by three exceptional companies. These recent additions to our client roster include:

Qualys — Based in Redwood Shores, Calif., Qualys is the leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) IT security risk and compliance management solutions. Qualys solutions are deployed in a matter of hours anywhere in the world, providing customers an immediate and continuous view of their security and compliance postures.

Antenna Software — Based in Jersey City, N.J., Antenna provides mobile business solutions that enable enterprises to build, deploy and manage applications, websites and content across myriad devices for employees, customers and partners.

Sociable Labs — Based in San Mateo, Calif., Sociable Labs provides on-site social commerce solutions for online retailers to maximize social sharing, referral traffic and conversions.

We’ve worked hard over the years to maintain a client roster notable for its diversity — particularly in terms of geography and market position. These recent wins only enhance this by adding an early-stage startup and two fast-growing market leaders that hail from Redwood City all the way to Jersey City. At the same time, Qualys, Antenna and Sociable Labs will strengthen our sector knowledge in IT security, mobility and social commerce markets, respectively. Today we took another big step in our journey to national prominence.

A warm welcome to all three!

The Future of Media Round Up features the top articles and blogs curated by Bateman Group on issues and events related to the convergence of technology, media and communications.

Here’s our take on the most disruptive news, commentary and insights about PR and media from the months of November and December 2011. Please share links to other must-read articles in the comments below if you think we missed anything.

Required Reading:

Redefining Public Relations in the Age of Social Media, The New York Times – From Nov.21 to Dec. 2, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) sought submissions from public relations professionals, academics, and students and the public to help redefine what “public relations” means. The role of public relations has been significantly transformed by the Internet and social media. PR is no longer about solely managing the message. It has evolved to focus on facilitating the conversation between entities and their audiences. This why PRSA’s “Public Relations Defined” effort is calling for a “modern definition for the new era of public relations.” The last time PRSA updated its definition was in 1982. Interested folks can visit prdefinition.prsa.org to share their definitions.

Social Media Help Bosses Tell Their Story, Financial Times – More than three-quarters of the leaders of the 100 biggest US corporations do not have a Facebook page and only two CEOs use Twitter. But among twenty-something entrepreneurs running online companies, 100 percent are fully involved in the scene. The pros and cons aside, a strong reason to use social media is that can be the ideal platform for disclosing compelling stories that aren’t readily accessible to the public. “More practitioners in business should be out there describing their experiences and giving their opinions. It might help correct some of the misinformation promulgated by anti-capitalists, and the general skepticism about wealth creators expressed by much of the media.”

Occupy Movement Pushes CSR to the Tipping Point, CSRHub – The Occupy Movement is forcing banks to examine whether current  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts like philanthropy are enough. Facing the movement’s disastrous effects on client and employee loyalty as well as recruitment, financial firms are being pushed to seriously reconsider going beyond old-school deeds to show true leadership in “doing well by doing the right thing.”

Public Relations Won’t Fix Penn State’s Crisis, PRSAY (PRSA) – The multilayered Penn state crisis has raised a lot of questions and challenges around the university’s reputation. From a PR standpoint, “one thing public relations professionals cannot help people understand, and should never have to, are an organization’s moral and legal failings.”  PRSA’s own Keith Trivitt and Arthur Yann give their PR perspectives on the crisis and make the distinction that the crisis is a management issue and not a public relations issue.

Charlie Miller’s Punishment by Apple Tests a Complex Relationship, Huffington Post – Earlier in November, white hat hacker Charlie Miller’s relationship with Apple was damaged when the company said he violated the terms of his agreement after disguising an app to reveal a security flaw in Apple’s App Store. This incident reflects the tension in the partnership between companies and their security experts. Should flaws be disclosed privately to developers or publically? Bruce Schneier, a security expert, thinks that “if researchers don’t go public, things don’t get fixed…Companies don’t see it as a security problem; they see it as a PR problem. And if there’s no PR problem, it’ll never be a priority.”

Follow @BatemanGroupPR for more opinions on breaking news and issues.

Since opening our Brooklyn office in March of this year, we’ve seen our business on the East Coast expand rapidly — both organic growth as well as from some exciting new clients we will announce shortly.  As a result, we’re seeking candidates for a Senior Associate (Sr. Account Executive) position at the firm. Base salary is competitive and dependent on experience, plus a generous benefits package that includes 100% paid health, vision and dental insurance; 401K plan with company match; state-of-the-art technology including the latest laptops and iPhones; three weeks paid vacation the first year; nine paid sick days; new business referral bonuses; new employee referral bonuses; domestic partnership benefits; etc. Last, but not least, a nurturing working environment that supports life/work balance like no other.

The candidate should reside in the New York Metropolitan Area with an ability to work full-time from our offices near Park Slope in Brooklyn. He/she must able to set priorities and deliver results using excellent written and verbal communications skills. The candidate also should be accustomed to working autonomously under pressure, be extremely self-motivated, proactive and deadline-oriented. Furthermore, Bateman Group looks for people who are passionate about new and emerging technologies and social media, have an excellent client service ethic, proven experience with technology trades and business media and bloggers, a strong team orientation, and would enjoy the opportunity to work closely with agency senior management on their own career growth. Finally, he/she must able to leave their ego at the door, but not their sense of humor.

Responsibilities include:

—     Providing exceptional client service, from strategies to tactics

—     Creative, proactive communications and business development, including social media

—     Driving account activities, positioning ideas to managers and clients, implementing programs and presenting results as they follow

—     Content development including: plans, press releases, corporate backgrounders, customer case studies, speaking abstracts, awards submissions, contributed articles, etc.

—     Executing proactive editorial and social media/blogger influencer outreach programs

—     Contributing to business development initiatives and internal training programs as requested

Senior Associates (SAEs) should possess 3-5 years of related PR and social media communications or related professional experience, and have the following:

—     Pre-existing knowledge of at least one of the following subject matter areas: 1) Enterprise Software, i.e., application development, web content management; 2) Wireless/Mobility Solutions, e.g., mobile apps, broadband wireless switches; 3) Green/Sustainability services and/or other mission or cause-driven businesses.

—     Excellent organizational, communications (written and verbal) and time management skills

—     Established relationships with technology trade press/analyst/blogger communities as well as business press

—     Prior client service experience required; new business experience preferred

It’s not a text book, but it should be. Going into my fourth and final year at the University of Oregon, I’ve read my share of textbooks, not all of them good. Famed blogger, speaker and marketing strategist, David Meerman Scott, wrote The New Rules of Marketing & PR which I have to say would be a great supplement to marketing or PR instruction.

For those of us who have grown up immersed in social media, some of what he encourages is intuitive, but a lot of it isn’t. We see public figures misuse social media on a daily basis, and we see our friends do it too. From marketing ourselves in pursuit of a job, to managing a corporation’s reputation, to communicating with consumers, Scott explains what’s necessary to be successful with PR and social media in today’s market (job or otherwise).

Without further ado, here are my impressions on Scott’s new book – from my perspective as a journalism student and two-time summer intern at the Bateman Group…

Favorite Part: “Social Media is a Cocktail Party.”

Growing up in social media is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it’s familiar and second nature; it’s a curse because it’s easy to forget the power of a tweet, status update or post. Scott presents a simple set of rules, a mindset really, to think about. He says that the social rules of a cocktail party are the same as those of social media. Some of the things he urges people to consider:

• Do you go into a large crowd of people, most of whom you don’t know, and shout, “BUY MY PRODUCT!”?
• Do you ask everyone for their business card?
• Do you listen more than speak?
• Do you try to meet every single person, or do you have a few great conversations?
• Do you avoid interaction altogether?

I find this are helpful things to keep in mind for those trying to dip their toes in the social media pool (a little late in the game) and those who forget about the power of social media.

One of my teachers last year surprised us all on the first day of class by presenting a slideshow of everything she could find about us online – one slide per student! Some were good, some were embarrassing and some were downright horrifying. If a few of these students had thought about Scott’s cocktail party analogy, our professor may have respected them a little more for the rest of the term. Then again, I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a classy cocktail party in college.

What’s Missing: Cross-Platform Strategies?

One thing that I learned in one if my strategic public relations writing classes at the University of Oregon was how to write a Twitter pitch and search engine optimize a press release. While Scott does give tips to make press releases more visible to the average consumer and internet browser, he doesn’t address how to leverage press releases through social media channels and what the rules for doing so are. Since press releases are no longer meant just for the press (according to Scott), distributing them to consumers is that much more important. Scott espouses the importance for brands to participate where their consumers are participating, but didn’t offer enough practical guidance on how to make press releases more visible to consumers where they read news most, online.

I was also looking for Scott to provide a little instruction on how to make social media presence most productive. There’s not a PR or marketing professional in the world who doesn’t understand – at least on some level – the importance of social media. But with so many marketers still misusing Twitter, for example, what are some proven ways to improve engagement? Contrary to what some may think, you can’t just post a link on Twitter to draw followers in. A good percentage of tweets coming from organizations include a link; and not everyone clicks on every link. Creating an attractive pitch that tells your followers the news, why it’s important and lures them to click in 140 characters or less is no easy task, especially if you have complex news.

Overall Grade: A-

It was a great read. A little long, but Scott’s blogger-esque voice made it more entertaining than the typical run-of-the-mill textbook. Although he covers most of his bases, there are some things missing. I would definitely recommend this book to any professor, grad student or entry level coworker.

Now a little over a month since the launch of Google+ and the most buzzed about online service already has 25 million users, estimates ComScore. These stats mean Google+ is growing faster than Facebook and MySpace did in the early days. Further, according to a new survey from Bloomberg/YouGov, Google+ is on track to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, which would place it second behind Facebook as the most-used social site – ahead of Twitter and LinkedIn.  Says the survey, Google+ has already snagged 13 percent of U.S. adults and will add 9 percent over the next year.

It’s no wonder why marketers are so excited about Google+, despite the fact that it’s not technically open to brands. Ford is among the shortlist of brands to test the platform, and understandably its audience is relatively small. At the time of this blog, 12,154 people had added Ford to their circles. This compares with 781,899 people following the brand on Facebook and 75,327 on Twitter.

As a marketer, I am personally a little nonplussed by all the hype around Google+. As a shareholder on the other hand, I love it.

I admit Google+ has some shiny new features that certainly hold promise for marketers once consumers sign onto the service en masse and actually stay on it. For example, Ford’s head of social media Scott Monty says the chat capability has potential for webinars, analyst calls, and even customer service uses for people to have a face-to-face experience with the brand. But it’s not clear whether Google+ brand profiles will support the same functionality for individual users. Just think about how powerful features like Circles could be in supporting audience segmentation and message customization. And potential integration with Google Analytics could give brands just the social ROI metrics they have been waiting for.

Like the Bloomberg/YouGov survey, I predict that adoption of Google+ will continue to grow if only because it has the advantage of being pretty seamlessly integrated into the overall Google ecosystem (search page, Google Docs, Chrome, etc.). This integration should conceivably increase the likelihood that Google search users will check in regularly on Google+. But what will it take for the masses to stay there?  Apparently 31 percent of users polled in the Bloomberg/YouGov survey said they have already abandoned their accounts or not written any posts yet on the site.

As a PR practitioner who spends a large part of the day searching for and reading news from my personalized iGoogle news page,  I check in more frequently on Google+ because the icon is an eye’s distance away, but still spend considerably more time on Facebook and Twitter. This is because the content and interactions I have on those sites are more valuable to me. Although truth be told, I use both Facebook and Twitter increasingly less and less. This brings me to the premise of this post.

Drumroll please.

Above all else, when developing their social media strategies, marketers must remember that the quality of the content will always trump the quality of the platform. This holds particularly true in an era of social media fatigue when consumers are growing tired of how brands are communicating to them via social channels. As Tom Fishburne poignantly said in his recent blog about social fatigue, “It’s not enough for communication to be good for the brand. It has to be good for the consumer.”

So, will social media fatigue kill Google+? Given its steady rise, innovative features, and strong base of early adopters who are charting purposeful best practices, the answer is probably not. However, a good platform with a strong following does not a successful social media program make. At Bateman Group we are admittedly still wrapping our heads around Google+ and formulating our ideas on where, if at all right now it should be used with clients. Given the service is still very much in early adoption mode, it’s currently better suited for most of our clients to communicate with and engage their respective industry influencers versus their direct buyers. Hangout, for example, offers a new twist on how we can engage with influencers but only time will tell if the feature poses too big of a cultural shift to become a mainstream anytime soon.

We’d love to hear from other PR and marketing professionals about how they have begun to incorporate Google+ into their mix of social media tools.

Follow Bill Bourdon on Twitter @bbourdon.