Adfero is looking for a digitally-focused Senior Account Executive to manage website design /development projects and to act as a liaison between our clients and interactive team. Check out more details here, and get in touch with us if you think you may have what it takes.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 2-4 years of experience in a digital agency setting
• Solid project management and organizational skills; ability to manage scope, schedule, budget, quality and communication; detail-oriented and deadline driven
• Excellent presentation, interpersonal and written communication skills
• Knowledge and experience in emerging online media strategy and execution, including social media
• Ability to independently and collaboratively manage digital / interactive / web projects
• Ability to act as a liaison between clients and interactive teams / vendors
• Up-to-date and passionate about new trends and tactics for interactive media, with an eagerness to share this knowledge with teammates
• Looking to learn and grow as a leader
• Understanding of web development project management processes, CMS systems, basic HTML, PHP, CSS and server side applications

To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to jobs@adfero.com.

Lada Gaga

Justin Bieber

Kim Kardashian

The Onion

Ashton Kutcher

Charlie Sheen

Mashable

Hell, even Ryan Seacrest

Identifying valuable influencers to target your audience has nothing to do with quantity. That’s the problem with all of the “influence measurement tools” such as Klout. The metrics of these tools are limited – there is no human analysis. There is only an algorithm which measures quantity. I suspect that the owners of these influence measurement tools would argue otherwise, making a case that the quantity is tied to like-minded social groups.

Not really.

Want to raise your Klout score? Do this: Tweet constantly and tweet about whatever the hottest topic of the day  is, regardless if you give a damn about it or not. Tweet about the latest trending topic, scandal, and celebrities to see your score rise.

Determining the quality of a network is not a task for computerized algorithms. It requires human intelligence. It requires a discriminating approach to whom your audience is, and who the most valuable surrogates in that audience may be.

Let’s consider the legal community. If you have a massive network of Twitter followers filled with spammers, product promoters and porn stars, your reach is limited. If your network consists of legitimate individuals that have a limited to non-existent interest in legal theory or practice, but who are trying to build their own networks through use of automated tools, you’re not building an influential network. You might be building a broad network, but one that is untargeted and unhelpful.

Be selective. Know your audience. Weed out anyone in your network that does not advance your purpose for being online. Think of it as compound interest. If you build a small group of in-the-know followers – no matter your industry – then you will be reaching the holy grail of what PR folks refer to as target audience. Each of these finely selected individuals will, in all likelihood, have their own networks of various sizes, with a significant degree of others who follow your issue and care about the topic you’re promoting. They can, in turn, then share that information with their networks of similarly minded individuals. With each circle outward that you go, the value of the network diminishes of course. However, that is the very nature of social networks.

Do the unthinkable: Make your network small. You will be far better off with a smaller network of people whom only you can know fit the profile of infuencers within your target audience. In the old days, these folks were called surrogates. So shrink. Klout will frown on you. All the social media mavens will frown on you. But your audience will smile. As the content you’ll be providing, and the content you’ll be receiving will be relevant.

CQ ROLL CALL
Jan. 24, 2012 – Midnight
U.S. Chamber Pushes Online Lobbying Blitz on Jobs
By Kate Ackley, Roll Call Staff

Schaper added that after the State of the Union address, business interests would make their voices heard “loud and clear.”

One portal to getting its message out is the chamber’s FreeEnterprise.com website, which Schaper and other chamber strategists say they envision as something of a right-leaning, pro-business Huffington Post, complete with news of the day, blog posts and opinion pieces from business leaders.

Chris Battle, a partner with the Adfero Group, which is helping the chamber on communications strategy, said FreeEnterprise.com is not a typical association website.

“The chamber’s not trying to hide that it is a chamber property,” he said of the site. “But what makes it credible is the outside sources who are contributing. … It has the potential to become an information source and to influence the public debate by providing news and views that are sympathetic to a pro-growth agenda. And you see this coming to a head for the State of the Union.”

At the same time, the chamber is taking out an ad buy in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today as well as paying for a sponsorship of Politico’s Playbook daily email.

“We’re just making sure that we have got every available channel — social media, traditional,” Schaper said.

I have a distinct interest in following these agencies online. I come from them. I have worked at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. I want to follow them. I’d like to keep abreast of what’s going on. I’d like to engage them.

They, however, have no interest in engaging me.

I honestly don’t care that an Army private pleaded guilty to some vague scheme to defraud the government. Not any more than I care to read that the Washington, D.C., Metro Police roused some homeless guy sleeping on the mall. Nor am I interested in the fact that ten people were arrested for health care fraud. Arrested? That means nothing. More importantly, I don’t care for reading about the arrests or even convictions of small-time criminals.

What about my own former agency – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I learn from ICE’s Twitter feed that some guy was deported to the United Kingdom. Am I going to have to read an endless list of people deported?

The continuous desire on the part of government agencies to “control the message,” a concept that went out the window back in the days when discussion boards were all the rage, is self-defeating. Guys: You’re not controlling any message. Other people are talking about you. Yes, they are talking about you every day and every minute – online. Whether you like it or not. You should be talking back. Putting your mission in perspective. Making sure correct information is circulating.

Using your social media platforms to post the equivalent of traffic citations not only gets you nowhere but no one is interested. You’re ability to join the debate and influence the message is crippled. Why? Nobody is reading you. Not even me – a natural ally and consumer of your content.

It’s time for government agencies to put some serious thought into their communications strategies. It’s not 1995. It’s not even 2005. The media landscape is changing, and you’re not adapting. This means you’re losing power over the message you so desperately want to control.

Digital media – from interactive websites and blogs to social media – could be a valuable tool, even an operational tool. Use it.

US Chamber to Launch Own Online News Portal This Week
Virgil Dickson
January 10 2012

WASHINGTON: The US Chamber of Commerce will unveil a revamped FreeEnterprise.com during president and CEO Thomas Donohue’s annual “State of American Business” address this Thursday.

The site will have a full-time staff of six to eight employees who create content for it, as well as guest analysis and opinion from independent voices and material aggregated from third-party news sources. The organization originally launched the site in 2009.

The portal will have a political edge, featuring interviews with figures such as Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. It will also cover political candidates that the group believes has pro-business positions.

The Chamber will promote the site through social media portals such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as search engine optimization. Donohue’s address is also expected to draw significant media interest from major news outlets.

“There is a built-in audience to help get this off the ground,” said Nick Schaper, executive director of digital strategic communications at the organization.

To read the full article, visit PR Week (subscription required).