Posts Tagged ‘social media’

More commercial possibilities for Twitter

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Although yet to be confirmed by Twitter itself the brand has created an @earlybird channel which is set to be monetised as a daily deals service.

In December, Dell reported $6.5 million in sales following two years of promotions on Twitter, and they aren’t the only brand using the micro blogging website to advertise and promote their brand, products and services many other brands use the free service as a promotional tool.

Whilst typical brand profiles take time to develop a steady following using the @earlybird channel enables brands to advertise specific promotions to a massive audience. This commercial venture will no doubt be a successful one, not only offering exciting offers it places control back into the audiences hands giving them the power to decided whether they want to be exposed to the advertising or not. There is no indication as to when @earlybird will go live, the tweets are currently protected but noise from Twitter camp indicates that what exactly @earlybird is will be revealed shortly.

Tags: ,
View Comments

Is B2B dominating social media?

Friday, May 28th, 2010

For far too long consumer led companies have held the social media throne. Social networks such as Facebook and micro blogging site Twitter have provided them with a direct channel to their target market whilst business to business companies were left somewhat in dust trying to figure out how exactly social media tools could be used for business.

The common misconception held about business to business social media management is that social media is only for young people and Facebook users therefore it won’t work for B2B. Despite still being a commonly held opinion it is entirely false; social media is highly versatile stretching way beyond Facebook, the average social network user age is 37 years old and research shows that 91% of B2B decision makers consume social media. Companies such as Scania, Oracle, and John Deere are all shining examples of how diverse social media is and how it can be used to engage with the market.

These individual cases show that social media provides B2B companies with the perfect suite of online tools to engage with their online market, and a recent article by eMarketer has revealed that B2B companies are now taking advantage of social media even more so than their B2C counterparts. The article confirmed that B2B businesses have overtaken B2C in terms of utilising the various opportunities available online.  Perhaps because, despite knowing of its multiple opportunities it was never as clear cut as B2C for B2B marketers to approach social media. Yes, there were boundaries and B2B’s had to work hard to overcome them but as a result B2B online marketing and its uptake has evolved at lightening speed.

Tags: , ,
View Comments

Social Media, Politics and Me

Friday, March 26th, 2010

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.” — Mother Theresa

I am by no means a political person, I have only voted once before (in the Scottish election) and I am ashamed to say it was a fairly uneducated vote which I now feel could do more damage than no vote at all. However, because of the growing use of social media I am beginning to learn and understand a little bit about politics, stuff I usually just regarded as ‘grown up stuff’. But now I suppose I have to consider myself a grown up and having felt the strain of the recent recession it has now dawned on me that all this ‘grown up stuff’ has an incredible impact on how I am living my life.

Social media certainly can’t take all the glory for introducing me to the wonderful world of politics; patient friends, family & colleagues have filled me in a lot, magazines (Vogue is surprisingly political), TV, and the BBC website have all played a part in tickling my curiosity. But, in the past week with the run up to the budget and the budget itself I have been paying a little bit more attention thanks to Twitter; the commentary via #budget2010 provided me with an interesting insight into proper political debate. Likewise all the #cashgordon chat, despite maybe being for the wrong reasons did get me on to a website which I wouldn’t have previously bothered with.

A couple years ago in the US election, Barack Obama, showed us how to really use the social media channels to his benefit and I am a big believer that social media played a significant role in the success of his campaign. With the upcoming UK election it will be very interesting to see whether British politicians will follow suit and embrace social media?

Of course all the main parties have set themselves up on Twitter and Facebook. The Conservatives have even gone as far to compile Twitter lists of MEPs, MPs, Peers etc but there is not a whiff of David Cameron or George Osborne; unlike the Liberal Democrats where Nick Clegg and Vince Cable are (apparently) Tweeting on a daily basis; with Nick Clegg even trying to get #asknickclegg as a trending topic.

The benefits and risks facing political parties entering the social media sphere are relatively the same as any business; you can gain the trust, credibility and love of your followers/supporters by being transparent, genuine and engaging them in conversations. On the downside transparency opens you up to criticism, negativity and, without planning, can lead to failure.

Already the Conservatives have seen that social media can go a bit wrong with their Cash Gordon website being  hijacked but hats off to them for embracing social media and any publicity is good publicity, isn’t it? There will always be people out there, pie chuckers I saw them affectionately referred to on the BBC, who will just throw insults without engaging in relevant debate and the freedom of social media tools, in particular sites such as Twitter and Facebook, provide a prime opportunity for this behaviour. But is the risk worth it?

I have noticed whilst looking around all the various Twitter pages, websites, blogs and Facebook pages is that it is all a bit one sided. There is a post or status update then an influx of comments, and of all the comments I read I did not once see the political party respond. Yes, a lot of commenter’s are pie chuckers  but amongst the trash there is some serious points being made and debates being had- and it is from the comments of these Facebook pages that I feel I learnt something about the party policies not from what the party was saying themselves. Which is all very interesting for me but perhaps not what the party would have intended.

Surely they should be delivering the message not us?

What I find even more bizarre about this situation is that politicians go all around the country trying to talk to various groups of people to communicate their message but fail to use these tools which would put them in direct contact with thousands of potential voters. Despite the enthusiasm of others I felt neither inspired nor enticed to comment on any of the online ‘conversations’ the parties were trying to have,  I would feel out of my depth amongst the other obviously more informed commenter’s and if I did comment it would no doubt be a question and why would I ask a question when I know it won’t get answered? There is this excellent opportunity for politicians to talk directly with potential voters and they appear to be failing on all accounts.

The most engaging use of social media I have seen so far is the Democracy UK Facebook page. It was set up by Facebook so not a politically run social media page but, still, attention should be paid to their way of interacting and encouraging engagement from visitors. Perhaps politicians don’t want to become too transparent for fear of vulnerability, just like my opening quote suggests, and yes they should just do it anyway. Social media is potentially one of the most powerful tools they have in their pockets but to really achieve its maximum effect political parties need to take risks, join the conversation and engage with the potential voters. If the Democracy UK Facebook page demonstrates anything it is that there are people online who want to discuss, debate and connect providing political parties with the perfect opportunity to converse with potential voters and listen to their constituents.

Tags: ,
View Comments

User generated content- friend or foe?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

User generated content refers to content on a website or similar form of media which has been produced, written or compiled by the users of that media/website. The greatest example of user generated content is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that is produced, maintained and regulated by its users; it is the fifth most popular website in the world (Econsultancy) and although it has been subject to several practical jokes it still remains a trusted source of knowledge and information.

The various ways a brand can integrate user generated content within their online presence are;

  • Web Forum
  • Branded social network
  • Open comments on the blog
  • Review section
  • Video/photo galleries
  • Brand wiki

Web Forum

A forum is a place for people to talk and discuss various matters. They are commonly characterised by topic and are created by fans of that particular topic/product/service. Brands can use a forum as a place to talk with and connect customers encouraging them to  discuss the product/service and post questions giving the brand a means of providing additional customer service and technical support.

Examples of brands using forums; BT, Nintendo and Joomla!

Social network

Social networks are the likes of Facebook and Bebo where friends can connect with one another the platforms allowing them to easily talk online, share content and generally interact with other users of the website including brands. A growing trend is the establishment of brand run social networks  where fans of that brand can connect with the company and other fans allowing them to share experiences, keep up to date with the brand, get exclusive promotions and interact with the people behind the brand. Although creating your own social network  gives you greater control and flexibility it is possible to create a similar community on any exisiting social networks; Asos demonstrate both options by having their own community page and a very successful Facebook page with over 170,000 fans.

Examples of company specific social networks; Asos, Reebok andToyota.

Blog

A blog is an online diary or web log, they are increasingly being utilised by businesses to communicate with stakeholders, however, a blog shouldn’t be a one way street it is there to engage users and encourage feedback. Although not entirely user generated a blog is an ideal place to encourage customer feedback, ideas and conversation and in that sense it is a tool for generating user content. For efficient use of commenting facilities minimise the moderation of comments where possible, respond to any comments left and actively invite readers to get involved by posting their thoughts and comments.

Examples of company blogs engaging with readers; Econsultancy, Playstation and Spotify.

Reviews

Many websites, in particular ecommerce sites, are now providing review facilities providing customers with the chance to provide feedback on the product or service that they recieved. User generated reviews and recommendations are one of the most powerful selling tools for any business  so having positive reviews posted beside products can play an influential role in the decision making process of a potential customer. There are many ways for reviews to be displayed in a website, with most content managed systems it is fairly simple to turn on a review facility, there are also companies such as Feefo who follow every sale with an email requesting feedback which is then displayed on the website adding further authenticity to the review.

Examples of review facilities; MyWardrobe, American Apparel, First Direct and Comet

Video/Photo galleries

On your website you can provide a gallery displaying videos or photos submitted by customers. A gallery could be used in conjunction with a competition, as part of a review facility or simply to show off the product/service. The benefit of having user generated photos and videos is that it can be used across several channels, within the website, on the social media profiles and on a dedicated YouTube channel for videos.

Examples of user generated galleries; Firebox, Oxo and Asos (again!)

Brand Wiki

A company wiki can be utilised for internal use as an effective and affordable alternative to an intranet. Users create, amend and edit the content within the wiki so its not something a company would want to let loose to the general public but along with being an excellent hub for employees to post information and communicate with one another. Within Wikipedia many larger (or reknowned) companies will have a page, it is impossible to completely control the information posted on the page, however, you can ensure that the information is factual, up to date and non slanderous. For any issues with the company wiki read this blog post.

The Pros and Cons of it all

Using and promoting user generated content is an excellent way to engage with customers and can in many cases be an excellent source of inspiration for improving or marketing your service or product. Further to this user generated content can form an integral part of an advertising and online marketing campaign; many companies including Doritos, TMobile, Asos and Oxo all use customer made videos and photographs in some form of marketing material as a means of selling their products.

Of course whenever a company invites people to generate content they are running the risk of receiving a bit of negative comments, to curb this many opt to moderate comment and reviews facilities ensuring only the ‘good’ ones get through. Doing so can have a negative effect; you run the possibility of no one commenting or alternatively no one trusting the comments being made. Instead of moderating consider allowing negative comments to be posted and read by one ‘n’ all but ensure that you respond to it. By engaging upset customers you are showing that your company accepts its mistakes and seeks to learn from them. Look to BT on Twitter who actively enage with customers having difficulty with their BT service turning a nasty situation into an incredibly positive one.

For any company seeking to encourage user generated content the best course of action is to have a set of moderation guidelines and procedures in the case of negative comments or publicity ensuring that everyone understands how the publicity and comments are to be dealt with.

Tags: , , ,
View Comments

The Social Media Diaries | Turning a follower into a sale!

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

We are big supporters of social media and its brand building qualities;  it is the perfect channel to ‘connect’ with your target audience and push your message. However, once you have your hundreds of followers and fans how do you convert them into a sale? According to a recent publication by MediaPost,  at its core social media works best when relying on good old fashioned marketing tactics promotion and customer service.

Your social media campaign should aim to increase brand awareness, drive customers to the website and convert the follower to a sale. The MediaPost article using data published by Razorfish states, “of those who follow a brand on Twitter, for example, 44% said access to exclusive deals is the main reason. And on Facebook and MySpace, 37% cited special deals as the main reason they have “friended” a brand”. As the stats tell us brands must be enticing customers to their websites using promotions and discounts doing so will increase brand interaction and encourage customer loyalty.

Using social media platforms to give customers added value such as insider hints, tips and additional information regarding products can push customers onto your website and help the decision making process. The correlation between such brand engagement and providing above average customer service is high. Big brands such as BT are utilising social media platform Twitter to provide immediate and relevant customer service, e.g. within minutes of a complaint about their service is aired a message is recieved by the complainer asking for contact details with someone dealing with the response as soon as possible saving you the time and effort of phoning and sitting on hold!

BTcare

Online customer service from BT

However, as we touched up on in our Habitat Getting It Wrong post for a successful online marketing campaign you must strategically plan a course of action. Many businesses and brands may rush into setting up social media profiles on the premise that it will ‘be good for the brand’, however, as this post has hopefully communicated there is more to social media than building brand awareness and that it takes a little more than having a big brand to entice friends/fans/followers to your website to purchase.



Tags: , ,
View Comments

The possibilities of social ecommerce

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Social  media and online retailers go hand in hand these days, retailers are wisening up to the fact that social media plays a powerful role in the marketing mix and provides an influential platform for promotion that nothing offline could compete with. However, where the high street will always come up trumps is the sociability factor, yes we can Tweet about an item we want to buy but online shopping still lacks the personal and social interaction many people experience when they are shopping on the high street. Being a keen shopper, both online and on the high street, I always wonder how far online retailers can push the boundaries in terms of creating a user experience that has the best of both worlds. Many are almost there but shopping online still hasn’t turned into the social experience shopping on the high street is, whether that is possible I don’t know but I feel online retailers could be taking greater risks in an attempt to try.

Facebook have a wealth of ecommerce applications letting you recommend products to friends, try clothes on a virtual you and view upcoming collections similarly there are a host of ecommerce social websites where members can chat and browse products amongst other things.  However, there seems to be a distinct lack of retailers bringing social media to their ecommerce website, yes they may have a link to their Twitter and Facebook page but there isn’t anyone really introducing social media into the mix.

It all makes sense in my mind, on the high street it is ritual for girls to go shopping together picking outfits together and assuring each other that ‘no your bum doesn’t look big in it’- I dare say males are in on it as well shopping with friends or at the very least shopping with a girlfriend. This is because shopping is a social activity and shopping online should be no different. Whether you are shopping for an all in sound system or an outfit for a Saturday night it is fair to say that we value the opinion and view of our friends.

With this in mind it got me thinking of the possibilities of online social shopping…

With a large retailer such as Amazon social shopping is definitely a possibility. Imagine if in the not so distant future you were able to go to the Amazon website, log into your Facebook account, and ask your friends what their opinion is of a specific product or alternatively make product suggestions- a functionality that, as you could imagine, would work a treat at Christmas!

One retailer already venturing into such social territories is Asos who this year introduced Asos Community. An online social community for existing Asos customers to chat, keep up to date with the Asos news, post photos and discuss fashion. A brilliant idea and excellent use of social media and with over 60,000 members it is obviously popular but I have to wonder how many of these people actively use the Asos Community as I notice that all existing customers are automatically made community member.

Everyday millions of people log into Facebook (or Twitter, LinkedIn, Bebo or MySpace) and the average number of friends a user has is 130- all it takes is for one friend to recommend a product to his entire friend list for that retailer to gain a couple more customers- some of which may have never even been on the website before!

It really is a simple process, logging into a social media profile is daily ritual for many people and once logged in we often stay logged in for the entire day popping back on every so often to see what the chat is. Is it possible for users to be logged into Facebook, go shopping and on participating website be given updates for that specific website- what your friends have been looking at, what they are recommending to other, what they are reviewing and even what they need your advice about. So far it seems the biggest leap retailers have made is to provide a link where you can Tweet about an item or post it on Facebook through their branded application, which is a bit long and tedious. Social shopping should be easier than that and offer greater interactivity amongst users.

I imagine that we will soon start seeing greater fusion between social media and ecommerce, so far the majority of retailers have taken tentative steps towards introducing social into their ecommerce shopping carts, however, I predict that it will soon become an essential way of enhancing user experience with retailers pushing social shopping to the max.

Tags: ,
View Comments

The Social Media Diaries

Monday, July 27th, 2009

All our Twitter related answers have finally been answered (sort of).

Twitter have released a business help guide, Twitter 101, aimed at helping businesses to use and take advantage of the opportunities that Twitter offers.

Whether you believe the hype of Twitter or not it is worth checking out some of the cases studies that put together a very convincing argument for the benefits of Twitter. If your a consumer orientated company then the guide will definitely give you the perfect starting off point but there is a definite lack of attention paid to B2B companies.

There is of course a distinct different between B2B and B2C, and how they use Twitter successfully will differ, there is already some criticism about whether Twitter really can be of benefit to B2B companies and they would stand a chance of turning this negativity around by providing a B2B specific guide.

Check out the guide here to get your business set up on Twitter.

Tags: ,
View Comments

There’s no ‘we’ in social media

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

When it comes to social media are your employees getting as involved as they could be?

A report published by TechCrunch revealed that research conducted by ÜBERCEO on the worlds largest companys has uncovered that:

- Only two CEOs have Twitter accounts.
- 13 CEOs have LinkedIn profiles, and of those only three have more than 10 connections.
- 81% of CEOs don’t have a personal Facebook page.
- Three quarters of the CEOs have some kind of Wikipedia entry, but nearly a third of those have limited or outdated information.
- Not one Fortune 100 CEO has a blog.

Some people may consider these CEO staying well away from social media is for the best but I would have to disagree, yes social media is not for everyone but the company CEO should be setting an example for the rest of the company and making themselves available online is the new digital equivalent of the open door policy, non? Well its an idea…

Anyway, its not just the responsibility of the CEO, or the marketing department, to get involved with the social media marketing. Employees across the board should be getting involved, not only to bolster the success of a campaign but to put across a strong front. There is nothing more impressive to potential buyers or customers than seeing employees demonstrating an involvement and it can really communicate a solid and reliable image.

One company that has really used their employees enthusiasm to boost their image and reputation is American airline Southwest Airlines, whose impressive social media campaigns are devoutly supported by the employees. From employees posting their own Southwest related videos, responding to customer comments to CEO Gary Kelly openly discussing plans to abandon assigned seating on the company blog (plans which were then quickly dropped after a barrage of comments from customers), the involvement of employees from every department has done nothing but benefit the company.

How Southwest Airlines manages to get employees involved in the online activities of the company in the first place I’m not too sure, the company would like us to believe it is because they have such a close relationship with all employees and the employees really do feel pride in their employers, and I kinda believe them- the social media and marketing is obviously working!

But in all seriousness getting employees involved in your online social activity has to start with them being happy in the first place. From there incentives and even some training, showing them how to use all the various bits and bobs online, could get the ball rolling.

Here are some small ways employees & coworkers can get involved with your company social media:

Contribute to the company blog by writing a post relevant to their specific department and commenting on existing blog posts.

Connect with the company on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, although remember that potential clients will be on the company profile pages so no naughty comments or office gossip, and it is worth remembering that these clients may then go onto employees profiles, seeing pictures of the post boy fat necking a bottle of Buckfast at T in the Park may be somewhat offputting.

Respond to any comments or queries that customers are posting online, again keeping it clean and professional.

Talk about your brand, don’t be scared to say nice things about work on Twitter or Facebook.

Send any offers and exciting news to friends and family, viral marketing on even the smallest scale can have an effect.

Many people may believe that social media is only for the experts which I believe is untrue, it is the experts job to plan and to put it into motion, when you get the full support of the employees then a social media campaign can really come to life.

Tags: , ,
View Comments

The Social Media Diaries | Habitat getting it wrong

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Q. How to get Twitter completely wrong?

A. Use an international conflict for your own benefit.

If you haven’t already heard then you will no doubt be astonished to learn that fashionable furniture gurus Habitat has been utilising the current conflict in Iran for their own benefit on Twitter. Sounds a bit crazy huh? They have in fact been using hashtags such as #Iran and #Mousavi to get their name and products into the hotly debated discussions going on in Twitter about the current issues in Iran.

The company deny that they authorised these tweets, which may be true but it does not excuse them from their lack of respect to what is a serious issue, one which they have blatanly used for spamming purposes. Looking at their history of tweets it is clear to see that Habitat are just big fat spammers, and on this occasion they got it very, very wrong.

In the past Habitat have used top trending topics such as #apple and #iphone linking them to products and pages on the Habitat website that are in no way related to the #hastag.  In a sort of apology sort of admission to the #Iran fiasco Habitat stated:

The top ten trending topics were pasted into hashtags without checking with us and apparently without verifying what all of the tags referred to. This was absolutely not authorised by Habitat.

This demonstrates that the company have a complete lack of control over their online activites and have completely been abusing social media tools such as the Trending Topics for their own benefit, and in this instance their arrogance and complete lack of concern has backfired, resulting in outrage across the net.

This debacle highlights the issue of whether businesses should be using social media tools such as Twitter at all. We at 360innovate are firm believers that social media networks can be used for businesses purposes. However, businesses looking to go down that route, who do not seek the use of an agency, should ensure that they think about which social media tools are most suited to your business. In this instance choosing to go onto Twitter was a logical choice for Habitat, many B2C companies are using Twitter very well to connect to their target audience and if well planned relationships can be formed between business and consumer. Habitat failed to achieve this not only by abusing the #hashtags but by misunderstanding what Twitter is all about. Instead of using Twitter as an engaging communication tool Habitat used it as vehicle for self promotion, in the process losing all credibility and the interest of their target market- we really don’t need to be told 5 times about a 20% off sale…

Which leads onto the next point anyone looking to use any form of social media for a specific purpose must really think about what they are hoping to gain and plan how they are going to achieve it. Your business may be on the most talked about social network in town but if your floundering around in the dark you may actually do more harm than good- Habitat being a prime example of this!

Image courtesy of Marketing Pilgrim.

Tags: , , ,
View Comments

Diary of the Twitter Newbies

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Exciting news this week, we broke the 100 followers mark- big deal for us not so much for everyone else who seems to be celebrating their 500 followers. Our 100 followers, however, are an indication that we are doing something right!

We have also discovered lately that we are becoming a lot more comfortable with the concept of micro-blogging, at first we were unsure of what to write about telling people that you’re away to tuck into a bowl of soup just doesn’t sound that interesting does it?? However, as we have started making connections with people in our local area we have also found ourselves lamenting with them about menial subjects such as the rubbish weather and even discussing the books we are reading- showing that chit chat isn’t always boring.

Looking at at it from a business point of view we have also became more comfortable using it as a tool, using our experienced followers to ask if there are any good business networking events going on and for inspiration for our blog, in every instance the response has always been positive and for any prospective business Twitterers we would encourage you to lose inhibitions when it comes to asking for help from the Twitter community.

Last weeks Tip was to retweet, which we have been trying to do. We have a look at what others were retweeting and if we are honest we didn’t really understand the relevance of retweeting what they did… again this led us into uncomfortable territory: do you retweet everything? or just things you are interested in? or just from people you converse with? In the end we settled for just retweeting fun things, such as “RT Whats your favourite movie, mine is Stepbrothers” – not entirely business related but we are newbies, as you know, and the whole concept of retweeting is still a bit beyond us.

I think a little research is still required on the whole retweeting malark… so we will not be setting a new task/tip for ourselves this week. Next week we will give you a proper rundown of how to use retweets to benefit your business- promise!

Here’s our stats from this week:

@laurajdavis

Followers 109 (+21)

Following 183

@Pammyweaver

Followers 115 (+24)

Following 153

Keep posted guys…

Tags: , , , , , ,
View Comments