Patrick Hopper is vice president marketing and social media strategist for OpenSystems Media, publisher of Embedded Computing Design and other content (both print and online) serving the embedded computing industry. From hosting webcasts to authoring white papers to leading the marketing initiatives of an engineering-focused publishing company, Pat is in the thick of the new media landscape as it evolves and unfolds.

 

Rick: You recently published a “How To” guide on using Twitter and LinkedIn in the electronics industry. What are the defining considerations that set this guide apart from one for a more general audience?

Pat: The guide began as a journal of tips and techniques for social marketing for use within OpenSystems Media. I devoted nearly six months to going to classes, reading books (I recommend Twitter Power by Joel Comm), participating in discussion boards and doing white board sessions with friends. To save others from this extensive research, I turned the notes I had been taking all through this process into something I could forward to others to assist them with their marketing efforts.

The key elements in “How to” Guide for Social Media in the Electronics Industry are:

• Using social networking to listen, follow, and drive discussions
• Who to follow on Twitter (key thinkers, editors, magazines) and what groups to join on LinkedIn
• Some key third-party tools to help you automate the process

Rick: A webcast last month titled “Using Twitter in the Embedded Marketplace” featured you, Jim St. Leger (marketing manager at Intel), Alban Rampon (community specialist at ARM), and Karen Bartleson (community marketing at Synopsys). What were the key points of wisdom from that webcast?

Pat: More than 300 marketing and management professionals in the electronics industry participated in this social media webcast.    Many of the participants are looking to use Twitter to expand business and awareness, network with partners and press, and develop a tradeshow strategy.  The webcast produced a number of innovative concepts:

• Use Twitter to watch tradeshow activity and drive traffic to your booth
• Establish Twitter classes at tradeshows to show engineers how to listen for key concepts — and even look for jobs
• Use third-party tools such as TwitterFeed, HootSuite, and SocialOomph to listen, monitor, and interact.  These tools can also help automate the Twitter process to deliver the right content at the right time

The webcast, which originated on November 3, is archived at http://ecast.opensystemsmedia.com/index.php?sort=2009&topic (registration required to view).

Rick: From your perspective as social media strategist for a company that has published electronics magazines and other engineering-specific content for more than 20 years, how do you see social media influencing or changing the way engineers find information that’s relevant to their interests?

Pat: Publishers who capitalize on using social media effectively will be better suited to meet the needs of engineers looking for data. OpenSystems Media (and our six leading embedded magazines) have nine Twitter accounts, plus we are members of more than 75 groups on LinkedIn. Each of these social media outlets uses our RSS feeds for the latest news, new products, webcasts and white papers. Thus, as soon as data gets entered into our RSS feeds they are pushed to our website, Twitter accounts, and LinkedIn groups, expanding exposure to a larger audience.

So, engineers looking for information will always have the newest content delivered right to them.  They can subscribe to customized RSS feeds on specific topics, follow key terms on Twitter and join specific groups on LinkedIn.  By registering to receive content that matches their specific interests, they can eliminate a lot of wasted clutter and become more efficient with their projects.

Rick: If you could map these changes to an X/Y axis, where are the trend lines headed over the next three-to-five years?

Pat: The trend to drive immediate and relevant content (to engineers in multiple ways) and the trend to allow engineers and vendors to build discussions will become even more apparent in the coming years. OpenSystems Media’s goal is to integrate our web and social media strategies to meet these ends. So, engineers will have opportunities to read us in print and on the Web (at their desks and with mobile devices of their choice.) They will also access videos, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, RSS feeds, white papers, and seminars. They can comment, forward, discuss, and (most important) build productive relationships within the embedded community.

The end result is that the engineers will be much more savvy, proactive, and knowledgeable as the tools they have at their fingertips make them even more valuable.  If they’re not happy, they have numerous tools to tell the world their issues. The need to build relationships, quality products and fast distribution will become key from a suppliers perspective to meet the demands of the engineering community.  The trend is a more educated community that can share valuable insights on preferred suppliers, pricing, seminars, courses and white papers.

Rick: Thanks Pat. With the current tsunami of new media-related opportunities washing so far inland, it’s a good time to be a swimmer.