The explosion (good and bad) of the media landscape is presenting all sorts of questions and dilemmas for PRs and journalists in the financial services sector. The terminology and options available are often bewildering for even the most seasoned PR pros. Cognito's latest edition of WoM helps to give an overview of what companies should be doing. Cognito is also about to launch the results of some new research into the use of social media in the financial sector. To ensure you get a copy, please email Tom.Coombes@cognitomedia.com.

For those who are confused as to what to do, here is an at a glance tip guide.

1) Focus on developing quality content
Interesting news, opinion and positioning is more important than ever

2) Evaluate the best channels for your business
Few companies can afford to send everything to everyone. Who are your audiences? What do they read? Which industry sites do they spend time at? Pick your distribution mechanisms accordingly.

3) Plan, don't react
Step back and plan your approach and landscape. Thorough planning and evaluation of the options from the outset is critical.  

We have two ears and one mouth, suggesting we should listen twice as

much as we speak.  FT - A tip for business on social media

highlights how the same rules apply when using social media and why it is

equally important to find out who your listeners are.

The New Yorker's Ken Auletta has a masterful piece ("Non-Stop News") on the Obama Administration's communications efforts and the changing nature of media in this week's issue.   Under guidance from Obama's precocious Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, we are given a picture of a Presidency that is ultra-aware, deliberate and 'on message', sensitive, reactive and oftentimes political, in a media environment that has been put into hyperdrive by technology - which has at once increased competition for content and challenged previous revenue structure - as well as everchanging consumption habits.

There are many lessons for both firms as well as journalists that we may take away from the results Obama and his press team's initiatives have seen in this new epoch:

- Transparency may give you the benefit of the doubt, but certainly won't let you fully control the story

 - New media is essential to engage, but thinking it will replace the press and their "preoccupation with conflict" is naive,   as well as intimating ambitions of something much more severe

- Reactivity sets a mold that is hard to break.

- PR strategy is paramount in an era where 'the story' can shift at any moment

- "We're all wire-service reporters now" - NBC’s chief White House correspondent, Chuck Todd.

- Being proactive and picking your battles still matters, no matter how short the attention span and story cylce seems to favor variety - be it legislation or a company's product offerings.  

With recent landmark setbacks to his party, it'll be interesting to see where history attributes blame for poor democratic performance in the polls, the oft-cited unemployment rate or the hyper-paced news cycle, increasingly incapable of digestion, only constant conflict.  Additionally, the power balance in the Senate will no doubt create many more challenges for Obama's PR program, ones that won't be so easily solved with a beer in the garden. 

We at Cognito constantly assess the developing media landscape in the financial services space and counsel clients on how to best articulate, further industry discussions and manage reputation under these evolving parameters.   The capital markets naturally have a longer running relationship with an audience known for instantaneous reaction to events and data, though even that is increasing with yet-to-be-seen consequences due to technology and structural shifts in the market.  And while on the topic of the capital markets (the one piece of legislation Auletta avoids is Financial Regulatory Reform actually), it is interesting to note other prominent figures who have found themselves victimto today's rapid fire news cycle with varying degrees of success and reactivity vs proactivity in approach.  

The FT's Lucy Kellaway believes, '[Twitter] is potentially the best communication tool there is; the trouble is that most executives are making a complete hash of using it.' She suggests Tweeting has two clear advantages: keeping communications to a minimum and spreading simple messages so that 'followers' go looking for more information. She illustrated this with Alistair Darling's 'real-time' update of the Budget report last Wednesday. Apparently it worked for her!

Cari Tuna at the WSJ, reiterates an important point: companies are new to this form of communicating and they aren't sure where they can go. After a couple of 'early bird' problems, some technology firms remain cautious about taking the leap into the unknown and with good reason. Intel says it will avoid 'using blogs and Twitter for investor issues, because it fears violating SEC disclosure rules or inviting public criticism in a company-hosted forum'.

Nevertheless there are tangible benefits of being connected, 'allowing [businesses] to spread company news and track the opinions of employees, investors and outsiders.' All that's needed is a little caution. Firms need to create a simple social-media policy before leveraging new forms of technology.

Cognito is working with its clients to devise good social-media strategies and used in the right way, Tweeting can help position your proposition in a positive light.