Here’s a really interesting post about the future of newspapers and whether or not they should charge. Mark Potts clearly feels that newspapers cannot charge for content because they are not unique enough. He takes issue with the views of the editor of the FT.

In this post there are some fascinating views that are equally applicable to company web sites and online content in the social media age. Companies are no longer entitled to audiences. There really needs to be a lot of thought put into the kind of web site your company wants to have and the kind of content you are going to offer. There is so much competition out there which is just a click away.

The people who were the audience now have access to their own media. People who were restricted to reading articles in papers or watching TV programmes or listening to the radio, can now blog, publish their own videos and create their own podcasts. The fact that these new tools are easy to use and highly accessible is driving the increase in usage of social media.

For some communications professionals, this is a daunting challenge. However the main opportunity for communications teams is to create their own social media distribution platforms.

By creating your own blogs, Twitter channels, YouTube channels, Flickr groups and so on, you can by-pass the traditional gatekeepers (editors/correspondents) you had to deal with in the past and communicate directly with your stakeholders.

Losing control of your messaging is not an issue so much when you develop your own platforms with your own stakeholders because this will give you influence with them and the opportunity to provide a more rounded picture of your organisation; you can rebut/correct stories; you can link to interesting articles; highlight videos worth watching and you can publish content which normally would not get coverage through traditional media due to lack of space, etc.

A number of our clients have picked up on this opportunity which is why they are now developing their own blogs. This is enabling them to join in relevant conversations with their stakeholders, reaching their stakeholders where they are now, as opposed to where they used to be (through traditional media formats).

After a disastrous and well documented early foray into the world of social media, Dell has turned the situation around and is now a clear leader in this fast evolving field. The company has a coherent and well-managed approach towards engaging with and listening to customers through blogs and Twitter.

From this latest update from their chief blogger, it is interesting to read that they are now consolidating their main blogs (when many companies don’t even have any blogs!) Some criticism from customers said they had too many blogs.

Which is maybe a lesson to bear in mind. Focus is crucial and you have to ensure you have something interesting and valuable to say. Interestingly they are now looking at ways of improving how they share the content that is generated through their blogs and online communities.

It’s hard to deny that social media is essential for business that want to promote meaningful dialogue with their customers. But a new study goes further, claiming to have found a direct correlation between financial performance and clever use of social media.

‘Significant positive financial results’ are seen for companies measured as having the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement, says the study, by Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group.

The study took a list of the top most valuable brands and reviewed their use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, wikis, and discussion forums. It scored them on the depth of their engagement for each, ranging from a top score of 127 to a low of 1. The top ten were:

1. Starbucks (127)
2. Dell (123)
3. eBay (115)
4. Google (105)
5. Microsoft (103)
6. Thomson Reuters (101)
7. Nike (100)
8. Amazon (88)
9. SAP (86)
Tie – Yahoo!/Intel (85)

These brands, say the study, generally have dedicated teams active in the social media channels they utilize. Most of them evangelise social media across the entire organisation and view social media as an indispensable tool to help them achieve results. Their approach is conversational, unlike traditional communications and even the early use of blogs by businesses, which were more about issues messages and talking points.

On average the most successful users of social media grew revenues by 18% over the last 12 months, while those who cared least about it saw revenues sink 6%.

Altimeter’s founder Charlene Li thinks the results are a good guide for corporations and brand marketers in every industry. “The success stories we have uncovered provide a blueprint for companies making decisions about how to best apply their marketing and consumer relations resources,” she says.

More about the study here.