The past year has literally flown by, full of the thrills and spills you’d expect from starting a small consultancy specialising in a relatively ‘niche’ area like social media and in the middle of a recession!

But life, and business, are about taking risks – and the risk paid off!

The fact is that social media marketing should not be sidelined as “niche”.

It has the potential for ROI like any other marketing discipline – and this has been our most consistent finding over the last 12 months.

For our clients, it’s been about understanding what social media can do by exploring its specific potential for their businesses.

Importantly, understanding where social media fits into a marketing strategy, its role alongside other marketing disciplines and how best to execute and measure it is crucial to its success.

And putting it simply, this is what Friend does.

Our experience over the past 20 years in both traditional and digital marketing means that we have been able to help many clients truly understand social media and its potential for their organisation, in both B2C and B2B arenas.

In the past twelve months, we have helped a range of clients and agencies navigate the social media landscape.

Our clients include:

• NHS
• Nynas Oil / European Road Initiative
• Property Match
• Argent / Brindleyplace
• Masshouse Developments
• Rider Levett Bucknall
• Huntingdonshire County Council
• Gas Street Works
• University College Birmingham

We have also helped lots of marketing and PR agencies with digital marketing and social media research, strategy and training.

So we’re chuffed and, in true social media style, thought we’d share!

Find out more about our social media and online PR services.

With election campaigns getting under way I still believe this. If only the political parties did.

It’s not that they’re ignoring social media but at the moment it’s all a bit style over substance.

They appear to be falling into the trap currently occupied by a lot of businesses and organisations who have also “done” social media in recent times but not really got anywhere with it.

The problem is that like others who complain that social media isn’t working, they are focusing more on the channel rather than REALLY thinking about the content.

A common problem with a lot of social media marketing at the moment is that there is too much focus on the channel – the technology and the means of distribution like Facebook, Twitter, iPhone app and so on.

This is probably because the very genre is defined by the channel – the media.

Which is why a lot of organisations think they’ve “done” social media just because they have a Twitter account or an iPhone app.

But the channel is only a conduit. It’s what is sent and distributed via that channel that holds the key to success. Content, purpose, targeting and resource must be well planned to maximise engagement.

For example, last week the Tory party launched its very own Conservative Party iPhone app.

So cool.

Well actually not quite so much. It’s really a mini-brochure with a few little questionable tools built in, like its swing-o-meter showing election results as they come in. Which will be useful for about 12 hours tops on the night.

The detail on its policies is informative but it’s basically their manifesto in condensed, digital format. For more comment, read Mobsessed’s opinion about the Tory app, it’s good stuff.

And this week we saw the launch of the Labour Party’s social media campaign.

This is much more interesting, using opinions expressed through social media and on the doorstep to “inform” their social media activity. I have no idea what “inform” actually means here though. There’s no clue as to what they will do with all this content.

They’ve also given social media training to key campaign staff. The problem again is that it all feels very token-like. Time will tell.

It’s not all negative. There are some great examples of local and national party activists, party members, MP’s and councillors who really do understand it.

But so far no party has an obvious centralised social media strategy bringing together and mobilising all campaigners to truly listen to and engage with the public and key influencers.

What I’m really talking about here is online PR, and as far as I can see it’s here they are missing an opportunity.

Where is their online PR strategy? How are they creating and resourcing active social media engagement on a daily basis with online citizens: individuals, communities, influencers, bloggers, tweeters, publications and so on?

I can’t see any of that happening on a scale akin to Obama in the US for example.

Maybe it’s coming, or already happening. But I can’t see it, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Online PR is a great way of approaching the task in hand because it diverts attention from the channel, Twitter, the iPhone app or whatever to the meat of the matter – the content, community engagement and the direct conversation.

When the main parties get their head around the fact that this is what social media is about then they may see some success from it in terms of influencing opinion and voting intention.

As things stand, the general public are likely to see through token gestures and do what they normally do when it comes to politics – switch off.

Just as it should in other areas of politics, with social media it’s substance, not style, which holds the key to success.

For example, my cousin is a doctor and it’s impossible to have a conversation with her lasting more than five minutes without it turning into a medical analogy of some sort.

I’m like that with social media, though I admit to sometimes feeling slightly ashamed to be making a comparison between marketing and saving lives! I apologise in advance!

Take the current weather crisis blighting lives and ruining our economy.

Many are blaming it on the poor supplies of salt grit. This is why I love Britain – we spectacularly fail to deal with the recent snowfall and all we can do is rant about the lack of salt as being the cause of everything going down the pan.

Richard Madeley himself has used Twitter to launch a “foul-mouthed” attack on his local council for running out of salt grit, which he says has stopped him getting to important meetings.

“Grrr:still no sign of any gritters here.Looks like our council’s f***** up again” he ranted.

This is just one, celebrity example of the effect the snow has had this week.

Many others, including myself, understand his frustration.

However, it makes me feel annoyed for a different reason. Is it really the lack of salt grit that’s to blame?

Is it not the lack of a more widespread ‘entrepreneurial’ infrastructure in the UK that would mean we could get on with business (as usual) whatever the weather?

Social media technology and communication enable us to work in a much more proactive and reactive way. So even when the roads are closed we can still keep on working. I may have been snowed in but it hasn’t stopped me getting the job done.

I’m not saying that it solves every problem (roads are vital!) but it helps to keep people working and for businesses to be successful. Too few businesses and organisations are set up to take advantage of digital and social media quickly in times of crisis – whether it’s a snowstorm or a Twitter storm.

Collaborative working can happen virtually whether it’s realtime text conversations or video sharing/conferencing. The solutions exist and don’t need to be expensive or complex.

Digital is a key solution to problems like the snowfall we’ve had this week. It reminds us of the importance of initiatives like Digital Britain. It also highlights how really we can’t wait much longer.

If business and society as a whole were set up better, and integrated digital to a greater extent, people like Mr. Madeley wouldn’t have to miss important meetings any more – whilst also alleviating some of the stress on the suppliers of salt grit!

1. The rise of the social media strategy
2. The year of the social media policy
3. Mobile social media goes mainstream
4. Social media sharing up, email down
5. Integration, integration, integration
6. Social media data drives creative and offline strategies too

Read our report “Social Media Gets Serious – Key Trends in 2010”, where I take an in-depth look at each one of these predictions and outline what businesses and organisations can do to stay ahead and get the most from social media in 2010.

Let us know your thoughts too.

Read the full report: “Social Media Gets Serious – Key Trends in 2010”.

In this blog report I look back on 2009 and identify some key trends for social media in 2010, outlining how you can implement them to achieve your goals in the coming year.

Still learning to use the “telephone”?

The rise of social media marketing has been prolific to say the least. It wasn’t that long ago we were saying things like “You won’t catch me on Facebook, it’s a waste of time. Why would I want to know what someone has had for breakfast anyway?” or more simply, “How does this new-fangled thing work?”.

A wonderful analogy is that social media is at a stage similar to where the telephone was in 1915. Back then, businesses were terrified of allowing their employees to use the phone, many banning it outright afraid their employees would go rogue and cause all sorts of trouble, inviting litigation. If we’d stuck to that approach where would be now, I wonder.

The potential for social media is similarly great, but it has been held back so far by the exact same attitude. How many businesses and organisations still ban their employee’s access to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on? The vast majority as it happens. But the tide is definitely turning.

Over the past few years we have seen businesses start to make more “calls” via social media, some even letting their employees use it for business use! Some have gone on to use it even more strategically – targeting, monitoring, responding, recording and analysing their social media activity. Many though are still trying to figure out how this new-fangled thing works and, crucially, what the real benefits are.

2010 looks set to see many businesses really getting to grips with social media and understanding its strategic importance – either on its own or as a slice in the marketing pie.

Time to get serious with social media

The fact is, at the end of 2009, social media IS mainstream, like the telephone. Check out just a random selection of 2009 stats:

• According to a social media study in 2009 by Neilsen, social networks and blogs are now more popular online activities than email.
• If Facebook were a country, its population would be the 4^th largest in the world, just behind Brazil, Russia and Japan.
• 64% of marketers are using social media for 5 hours or more each week during campaigns – with 39% using it for 10 or more hours per week.
• 78% of consumers trust recommendations from friends rather than brands.
• Over-50s are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook.
• Twitter is changing the face of journalism and content distribution

Businesses are now taking it seriously and some are over-hauling their marketing strategies accordingly. Those with a good social media strategy are getting some serious results.

6 key social media trends – and how you can stay ahead

In this report, we have identified 6 of the biggest predictions for social media in 2010 as follows:

1. The rise of the social media strategy
2. The year of the social media policy
3. Mobile social media goes mainstream
4. Social media sharing up – email down
5. Integration, integration, integration
6. Social media data drives creative and offline strategies too

So what does this mean for your business? Here we look at each of these trends in turn, and outline how you can keep ahead of the curve.

1. THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

2010 will be, as one commentator has described, “the year social media goes corporate” as businesses accept that customer behaviour really has changed for good and their business needs to change as a result.

We will see more and more businesses and organisations developing sophisticated social media marketing strategies. They may have created a Facebook Fanpage or Twitter account and maybe thinking, “well that hasn’t done much, what a waste of time this social media lark is”.

Well it is a waste of time if it’s not done properly. A robust social media strategy is vital for it to be successful. For one, it needs time and resource dedicated to it, and I’m not talking about giving the responsibility for social media to the work experience guy in the corner. (Habitat tried that and epically failed in the process!).

Social media require serious attention and respect – and it looks like this particular penny will finally drop in 2010. If you are seen to be shabby in social media you won’t be taken seriously. This is now true for small and big brands alike. Customer expectations are changing and they expect you to be just as available, accessible, respectable and trustworthy in social media as in any other area.

The 7 key considerations of a good social media strategy are:

1. Objectives

Be clear about what you are aiming to achieve: revenue, sales, brand awareness, customer service, database development etc

2. Target audiences

Who and where are they in social media?

3. Channels and platforms

Which ones are right for your business to operate in?

4. Influencers

Who are the people/organizations/media owners you should engage and focus your online PR efforts on?

5. Content

Remember, social networks are tools. Without creating the right content you will be disappointed with the results. It’s all about conversations, innovation and creativity.

6. Sentiment

Respect the environment you’re in and understand how your audiences want to be communicated with in social media.

7. Social media rules of engagement

When, how and how often? There are likely to be different rules of engagement between social media channels – it’s important you understand this and get it right.

2. THE YEAR OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Yes indeed, it’s looking like 2010 is likely to be the year of the social media policy (sorry, I can’t make that sound any more exciting!).

The fact is if your business currently bans access to social media, it doesn’t mean you can stop employees using it. They can still access social networks via their mobile at work and use it freely at home. Without clear company guidelines for social media staff may not recognise that an ‘innocent’ negative comment on a social network related to their job/customers could actually have significant consequences for the business.

So with this in mind – and if only for peace of mind – establish a social media policy. What are you waiting for? Sounds grand but depending on the size of your business, it doesn’t need to be complex – just certain rules of engagement, expectations and consequences of misuse built into employee contracts – similar to those that already exist for email and so on.

You can build in the “use of social media for business purposes” to job descriptions. For example, you could make it a requirement of the job to answer customer queries via Facebook or Twitter.

As long as you have a robust social media strategy and policy in place, social media can only benefit your customers and your business. You wouldn’t tell your employee’s to stop using the telephone to talk to customers now would you…?

3. MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA GOES MAINSTREAM

The digital marketing industry has been heralding the ‘year of mobile’ for years, but guess what – it’s actually here! Social media usage has driven a totally new way in which we use our mobile phones.

2009 has seen a massive surge in the numbers of people who own a smartphone, and 2010 will see this grow exponentially. This means we have mobile internet and social media applications accessible wherever we are – and we are using them.

More and more people are getting used to using mobiles to do the sort of things we’ve just got used to doing on a computer. Things like shopping, surfing and searching the internet, playing games, blogging, Facebook and so on.

This presents opportunities for businesses and organisations to be available wherever and whenever customers (and other audiences) are looking for your products, services or related subjects. Mobile-ready shopping carts for retail businesses will be seen more and more in 2010 – social commerce opportunities are huge.

Mobile-optimised websites are a must for all businesses. But so is having a presence in social media, outside of your own website – social networks, applications etc.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING UP, EMAIL DOWN

We have already seen in 2009 that social networks have overtaken email as a preferred communications method. 2010 could well see a further drop in the use of email as a way of engaging with audiences. People are now less likely to forward, or ‘share’ an email to friends (unless there is a big (usually financial) reason to do so). However, they are now much more likely to share social media content to multiple friends or followers.

So, use email where it is appropriate by all means but don’t ignore the fact that social media are key channels for sharing and recommending content. This is only set to rise in 2010.

5. INTEGRATION, INTEGRATION, INTEGRATION

We are already seeing the rise of third party applications allowing us to integrate our social media experience (e.g. Tweetdeck, Friendfeed, Google Wave, status integrations and so on). This looks likely to continue with the big players taking more of an initiative than that already taken by third party entrepreneurs.

This will increase the efficiency with which audiences will be able to interact, update and share social media accounts through perhaps just one application. Increased efficiency in social media means more ease of use – which means wider adoption, for example by more diverse audiences. This means that social media activity will effect even more change for your business.

6. SOCIAL MEDIA DATA DRIVES CREATIVE AND OFFLINE STRATEGIES TOO

The increase in the adoption of social media means that more and more target audiences are interacting online revealing attitudes, behaviours, wants and needs like never before. This means that the social media landscape is a rich source of audience data.

The use of social media data and intelligence for social media strategy purposes is obvious. What, till now, has seemed less obvious is the fact that this data can be used for offline and creative strategies.

Data and creativity have fought a long-standing battle. Social media, however, looks set to break down some of these barriers with more creative campaigns – online AND offline – using social findings and conversations as their basis.

Social media activity is a hotbed of realtime market research data and insight. By monitoring your business online and the behaviours of your target audiences in social media environments, you can generate current market insights that are invaluable across marketing channels and disciplines.

Looking ahead

Here I’ve looked at just some of the most likely trends for social media in 2010. It is by no means an exhaustive list and simply type “social media trends 2010” into Google to find out many more. If you would like more advice or information on any of the above, please do get in touch below.

Simon Heath is Director of Friend.

Admit it, we’ve all done it to some extent or another.

But now we’ve got a good few years of working in social media under our belts, do we still think social media is the be-all and end-all?

Having previously worked in traditional marketing for a long time, specifically direct marketing and CRM, I have found that this experience is invaluable in my social media work now.

The fact is that social media might be only one answer to an overall marketing challenge to reach and engage with audiences to build sales, awareness, data, customer loyalty etc. But it is likely to sit alongside other media channels.

And this is my argument: a thorough understanding of other channels and where social media fits in to the overall marketing strategy is vital to achieve business objectives.

Increasingly social media IS the strategy – it works perfectly on its own. Sometimes it leads strategies and other times it will support strategies. Some argue traditional media still has a key role to play.

Or does it? What do you think?

Can social media work on its own?

1. Launch another attack on Google (Microsoft)

2. Charge for access to content (News Corp)

Two birds with one stone huh.

And from a business perspective it’s almost an obvious move – a match made in heaven (or, if you like, hell).

But this unholy alliance is seriously troubling. Why?

Because it threatens the whole credibility of search, as it has evolved. Google has, to its credit, worked hard to ensure that natural search results are based on merit – not on how much publishers are willing to pay them.

So what’s in it for Microsoft and big publishers like Murdoch? Joseph Tartakoff, in The Guardian yesterday, summed up the spoils for the victors :

“…not only would Microsoft presumably be giving the content of its partners better play, it would also be paying to ensure that their content could not be found directly via the search engine of its arch-rival.”

Should we really be bothered? Douglas McCabe, publishing analyst at Enders Analysis suggests we should perhaps take a chill pill:

“It doesn’t work unless they [Microsoft] get enough people involved”.

But Microsoft is on the case.

TechCrunch has reported that Microsoft have made presentations to major publishers (not just News Corp) setting out their proposition: we will pay you, the content owners, to de-list your content from Google, in exchange for priority listings on Bing.

But if Microsoft are trying to attack Google where it really hurts (their wallet) then they might have to think again.

Google earns virtually no revenue at the moment from news content on Google News, so no great loss there. In fact a recent study in Germany on google.de found that removing publishers’ content had a negligible economic effect for Google.

But lest we forget our old mate the Murdochosaurus.

The loser (money aside) could well be Murdoch. The removal of News Corp content from Google, and the consequent loss of exposure for their brands, will only mean more traffic and visibility for their competitors.

Take the UK, where nearly every one of us use Google – is the loss of The Times or The Sun from Google really going to make us use Bing instead?

Most of us won’t even notice it’s gone!

But, as Tartakoff says:

“For the newspapers… the question is whether Microsoft’s dollars can make up for the loss of traffic that Google generates for them.”

All of this, of course, totally removes the end consumer from the equation.

Microsoft might increase Bing’s market share and Murdoch might be satisfied with some cash from Microsoft – but what about us?

My hunch is that if we are wise to the fact that search results in Bing are based on cash rather than credibility, we’ll stick with Google who we already love and trust.

Or maybe there is a benefit, as one comment by GinSter highlighted in The Guardian yesterday:

“I hope this happens. Google – now with free Murdoch blocker…brilliant.”

The reality is that it could work to achieve short term objectives for Microsoft and the big publishers, but over the long term Microsoft’s strategy kind of stinks.

And as for Murdoch, well it seems to me that he put his stake in the ground earlier this year by saying he was going to put a paywall around all his content – paid for by us, the end consumer.

Since then, perhaps he’s realised it’s not quite as easy as all that and is now desperately hunting for a viable alternative.

And Microsoft have seized on this desperation and offered what looks like a very crude solution that we should care about – especially if more publishers do get involved and this is just the start of a wider trend.

Actually what am I saying, the woman deserves no sympathy. This is she who wrote an article in Friday’s Daily Mail, sensitively titled “Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death”.

Cutting to the chase, she concluded that Gately died of being gay – a terrible ‘unnatural’ lifestyle, his death being confirmation of this and that all gay marriages end in disaster, and quite possibly – death.

I won’t get into personal opinion any further you’ll be pleased to hear (however, read Charlie Brooker’s view for a particular angle!).

This story vividly highlights the effectiveness of social networking for galvanising public opinion towards particular issues, in this case homophobia and bad journalism!

More specifically, it demonstrates the power of Twitter not only as a platform for creating campaign content, but also as a channel and mechanism for distributing it.

Within hours on Friday “Jan Moir” and #janmoir were both rocketed to the top of the trending topics on Twitter, and stayed there almost all weekend.

How did this happen?

I can explain it as social media and online PR in action: the result of the interactions of a combination of content creators and retweeters – individuals (you and I) and relevant influencers (bloggers, organisation reps and mainstream online media predominantly).

These individuals and influencers were sharing their retorts while retweeting others’ content at a ferocious pace. More and more people joined what, in effect, had become a focused and successful campaign against Moir.

Influencers like Stephen Fry and Giles Coren added explosive fuel to the campaign.

At one point, Fry retweeted a humourous comment by a blogger which immediately sent thousands of visitors to his website resulting in the said blogger asking Fry not to do it again as it crashed his server!!

The effect of even one influencer can be immense in social media, driving vast amounts of website traffic (as long as your IT can handle it!).

Mainstream online media lent a hand too, in particular The Guardian who were supremely fast to react, putting editorial about it online right as it was happening – creating yet more content to be commented on and retweeted.

Another feature of this campaign is how it evolved and diversified. It often went beyond the initial Moir article, turning heat on The Daily Mail itself for publishing it in the first place (and its record of homophobia, racism, xenophobia and so on).

At some point around midday on Friday a separate campaign evolved on Twitter and now on Facebook, targeting Daily Mail advertisers like BT and Marks & Spencer.

It was pointed out to these brands that they had display ads on the same webpage as Moir’s piece and so were aligning themselves with right-wing bigotry and they should do something about it. And guess what – they did.

And this is the crux of the matter.

This example could easily be interpreted (as social media has so often been in the past) as a flash in the pan. But this argument against social media is wearing thin these days, and this case study proves why.

It was actually Jan Moir herself who summed it up correctly on Friday (wait for it!).

Not in her original article (phew!) but in her virtually unrepentant response to the furore, she blamed the whole thing on a “heavily orchestrated internet campaign”. Well done Jan, it was indeed such a campaign and the results speak for themselves.

Today it has been revealed that The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has received 21,000 complaints about the article – that’s more complaints in ONE weekend than the PCC has received in the last five years! They are now investigating the matter.

Display advertising from some of the biggest brands in the UK was removed from the webpage. Even when the Mail desperately tried to claw something back by changing the headline of the online article, the advertisers stuck to their guns. (Great brand effect by the way, well done guys!)

The key features of this example are speed, content, opinion, engagement, interaction and of course influence – highlighting again that influence really does now live and breathe online.

In this age of social media and online PR, fully understanding the marketing environment your business operates within is not just vital but now much more possible to do – and less forgivable if you still cut corners.

In the past, research for many clients was almost a dirty word. “Why should I pay to find out what I already know?”

Well it’s different now. The digital landscape is complex but it provides a mine of invaluable information, sometimes (at a basic level) at the touch of a button. The web offers us a vast ‘universe’ (in research speak) and therefore much larger sample sizes – this is good!

It also enables us to go down to levels of detail that often we couldn’t before. Through a defined approach we can fully research brand(s), audiences, products, competitors, channels, conversations, sentiments and so on.

This insight is crucial in order to create a social media or online PR strategy (or any marketing strategy for that matter) that is going to achieve your business objectives.

And it’s not just about upfront research and insight either. We are able to monitor and measure campaign results much more intricately than we could before. This means we can react quickly to market changes or under-performing marketing campaigns (both offline and online). Keeping the focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), we can fine tune ROI as we go.

Over the past few years, and in the past 12 months in particular, I’ve noticed an explosion in the number of web-based social media analysis tools that help us do this. I could write a book about all of them but for now there’s a great comprehensive list courtesy of Business Week.

I’ve used many of these – both free and paid for – and have my favourites but am always flexible, combining and switching between tools depending on which client I’m working with.

The important point is that one solution on its own is far too limited. Using Google alone to search the web is not enough from a social media and online PR perspective. And simply paying lots of money for the likes of Techigy or Social Radar is a good start but needs to be part of a toolbox – not the toolbox itself. Searching the social web demands a different approach.

And beware – you’ve also got to apply sound marketing and market research expertise to the process too – the information/data is one thing, how it’s organised, interpreted and presented is a whole other ball game.

The good thing is that smart businesses can more and more see the value of sophisticated online research and insight. So I’m still banging the same old drum but it’s a lot more satisfying these days.

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Image courtesy of Wordle.net

Well the Murdochosaurus (see what I did there) reared its head this morning, declaring: “Quality journalism is not cheap.”

He went on to say, “The digital revolution has opened new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free.”

Erm, yes it has Mr Murdoch. Where have you been all these years?

Murdoch’s plan is to charge users to access content on all his news sites. Faced with massive losses across the whole of News Corp (a whopping £2bn net loss) he is looking defensive – and desperate.

Perhaps he is a projection of the panic gripping old media in 2009.  His announcement today looks like a rear guard action by a man who knows his chips are down and thinks that simply asking for money will solve all his problems.

Talking of defensive he also exclaims, “We’ll be asserting our copyright at every point”. Oh happy day for some very expensive lawyers who will be working 24/7 fighting anyone who dares to plagiarise a story in The Sun. I’d like to see their financial projections for this litigation and compare that to the funds they get from subscription or pay-per-view fees. I’ve got a feeling the lawyers are the only ones going to win here.

Murdoch’s attack on free news comes after Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, declared on Tuesday this week that, “…information has a price – it’s valuable and therefore we should charge for it”. But he’s in a lucky position because in his case he does sell FT content and why he can do this successfully gets to the heart of the charging issue.

As media commentator Roy Greenslade says, “[The FT] can charge for its content because its audience is well-heeled and its readers need that information to do their jobs”. The distinction between ‘niche’ and ‘general’ news content is important – people will pay for the former but they won’t for the latter when they can get it for free elsewhere.

The Wall Street Journal is also cited by Murdoch (he owns it) as an example but the WSJ is the same as the FT – its audience is a wealthy demographic and its content is niche, differentiated and authoritative enough to charge for. The same cannot be said for the News of the World, The Sun and to an extent The Times.

Interestingly some are suggesting that it will be the free content providers – the blogosphere and online news aggregators – that are set to win if Murdoch’s plan succeeds.

In Australia’s Business Spectator today, Stephen Bartholomeusz writes, “an increasingly large audience has become completely accustomed to obtaining their news and information for free, the introduction of charges…would inevitably decimate their online audiences and consequently their online advertising revenues – and swell the audiences and revenues of sites that aren’t trying to protect legacy revenues and value.”

In essence Bartholomeusz argues that traditional media is moving too late and, “charging for content is…an admission of failure among the traditional publishers to come up with a better response”.

But is it too late?

The Daily Telegraph seems to suggest not quite. Their digital editor, Edward Roussel seems to have the right idea when he says, “The fundamental value of journalism is that you pull in a wide audience, then you can direct them to a series of high value services that they’ll pay for.”

The Telegraph does this by selling goods and services (panama hats anyone?), successful games (fantasy football and cricket). It also gets revenue from its personal finance site.

The Huffington Post is leading the way for free, authoritative and respected news in the US. To Murdoch and traditional media it is the enemy and is blamed for the threat to The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Huff is a social media and blogging success story by anyone’s standards.

However take a closer look and this example opens a whole new seam of argument.

Conor Clark in The Atlantic writes, “…the blogosphere is completely reliant – completely parasitic – on the very institutions they are driving to bankruptcy”. As he points out, check out The Huffington Post and “see how many of its main stories are from The New York Times and The Washington Post.”

Murdoch and old media should take note – there’s room for everyone. There’s a pay back to traditional media from the blogosphere and news aggregators – and vice versa.

Introducing widespread charging across all titles and all content as espoused by Murdoch will destroy this delicate news eco balance.  A sensitive and sophisticated approach is necessary – not the rampage of a desperate dinosaur.

Follow me on Twitter @simonheath