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Blog posts tagged Social media
In social media, listening is key... but only if you act on it
June 14, 2011
So social media isn't about broadcast. OK, yes.
Social media is all about listening? Ummm, well yes but…
It's not just about listening, it's about acting on it too, isn't it?
Think I'm being facetious? (I am, of course, but bear with me).
You can use social listening to work out what the overall sentiment is about your brand, to understand what customers want and to see where your industry is headed etc. But all of that hard “listening” work is for nothing if you're sticking those learnings in a folder marked “insight” somewhere instead of acting on them promptly.
If you see a flurry of customers report on consumer forums that they're unhappy with your new product because it's developing a common fault. Do you:
a) Act quickly to turn their perceptions around with apologies, fixes, refunds and/or replacements, as appropriate
b) Quickly put in place a procedure to make the fix/returns policy much simpler for customers, so they rarely feel the need to vent online
c) Head off any potential (social) media storm by preparing a statement on what went wrong, that you're sorry and all that you're doing to fix it
d) Feed your learnings from customer comments back into the product cycle, to improve the product itself as quickly as possible
e) Collate all your learnings from the whole experience, and use that to do better business in future?
The answer, in my humble opinion, is a, b, c, d and e.
I could say this about any form of research/insight, really. Listen, and be ready to act.
Emily Leary (formerly Cagle) is an expert contributor to Marketing Donut and a communications consultant and blogger.
Be the host with the most at your social media dinner party
May 10, 2011
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, forums, groups, communities… With so much going on in social media, how can you be sure you’re getting the best ROI for your time?
It’s easy to fall into the social media trap and open profiles and pages on every network going. After all, everyone’s doing it, right? But, as my mum used to say: if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too? I didn’t think so…
The real value of social media marketing is in the doors it opens for interaction and engagement with your end user. It’s about creating the opportunities to have conversations with your customers so you can better understand them and they can let you know how they feel. It helps us as businesses to better tailor our services to the needs and motivations of our target audience.
One way to think of social media marketing is as a dinner party (stick with me on this one); treat your activities as you would a dinner party and you can’t go far wrong! Here’s how:
Know your guests
If you want to engage with your target audience, it’s important to understand who they are and what they are interested in — and what you want to achieve with them. This should be the basis of your dinner party plans and will guide the rest of your decisions.
Choose a party location your guests like and can easily access
There’s no point holding your party in London if everyone you want to invite lives in Scotland — in the same way, there’s no point trying to engage on Facebook if the majority of your audience is active on Twitter. Select your party location carefully.
Understand the dietary needs of your guests
You wouldn’t serve meat to a vegetarian (not if you want them to have a good time, anyway!). Do your research to understand what your audience likes and what will provide them benefit, then identify the products you have in your business that appeal to those needs and add value to the party guests.
Be a good host
You’re the host of your party so you need to make sure your guests are comfortable and having a good time. Guide the conversation but don’t talk at them – your party is about conversation and everyone should be able to get involved.
Keep in touch after the party
Be available to your audience beyond your social media interaction – ensure there are ways for people to get in touch and find out more via your website and consider email marketing campaigns.
So don’t just jump on the social media bandwagon because everyone else is — make sure you’re making the most of your time and your investment.
Laura Hampton is a copywriter and online marketer at Zabisco, a digital agency in Nottingham
Find out more in our dedicated section on social media and online networking.
Common-sense social media tips
March 22, 2011
Which network?
There are many different networks, each with their own pros and cons. Spend some time looking at the various options and listening to the online chatter, and assess what suits your business. Where are your customers most likely to be? Does LinkedIn make more sense for you than Facebook?
Where’s the value?
Participate where you can add the most value. Do not just try and be everywhere and likewise do not just stay within your own domains.
Be flexible
Keep flexible and aware. Technology is constantly changing and just because certain networks suit your business today does not mean they will necessarily be the right choices in three months’ time. Look out for key customer trends and where relevant, use them to your advantage.
Who are you?
Develop an online style. Become “human” online with a tone of voice and brand personality; but be true to you. You need a coherent message on your website, through social media, in advertising and in person. Think of your audience. If you are selling kids’ toys for example, is a corporate tone of voice appropriate? If you are selling luxury items is it appropriate to be relaxed and jokey or will this impact on perceived professionalism? Put yourself in the shoes of your customers.
It’s all about the strategy
Have a communication strategy; a framework that covers off how you plan on using the channels you decide to be involved in. This should look at frequency of comms, how to deal with specific queries, who to escalate to, what should be deleted (if anything) and how to deal with public complaints. It is very important that the people responsible for delivering the social media strategy fully understand the communication strategy. A joined-up approach is very important for a business, however small.
Do I have enough resources?
Think about your resources carefully. Do you have the resource to keep up the level of content you are planning? Do you have the resources to deal with feedback in real time? Do your team understand the communication strategy? Will any training be required to ensure consistency in approach and understanding of various networks? How will you monitor work vs. personal time on social media?
Technology barriers
Do you have the technology to support your strategy? Are there any firewalls that could prevent access? Who do you want to have access to the sites? Could this cause internal conflict?
Take part
Within the networks you decide to join, do not just listen – that will not get you noticed. Do not just sell – that will get you ignored. Find a balance between offering advice, recognising others’ contributions, sharing content and telling people about yourself. The balance will vary depending on the network so make sure you take the time to sense and respect the norm.
What’s too much?
Do not swamp people. Content is king but overload is not! The definition of “swamp” will vary across networks. For example, in a single day people would expect to see more than just you on their Facebook home page. Twitter is different. Because it is constantly moving, followers like information to be shared as long as it is relevant and interesting and therefore you could post a bit more if you wanted.
What are your competitors doing?
See what your competitors are doing and try and get a sense of how you can improve on it. Look at customer comments and what they are asking for. Assess what appears to work for others in your marketplace by looking at customer interactions and use it to your advantage. There is no point in starting right from the very beginning if you do not have to.
Can you handle the truth?
Be prepared for feedback, whether you ask for it or not. One of the best things about social media is the ability to hear customer feedback in real time. This is something many are afraid of but actually they should embrace. In order to build a community online you need to know what you do well and what you could improve, what people like about you and what they don’t, what you have above competitors and where you lack. Treat this information as gold dust. Respond to feedback honestly and publicly, in line with your communication strategy.
Be polite
Thank people publicly. If people say nice things about you and your products, thank them. Engage with them so they know you appreciate their business and opinion. They are more likely to praise you again if they think they will get recognition in return.
Sarah Bale is an expert contributor to Marketing Donut and marketing manager at Simpleweb.
Why SMEs like Mondays - and Wednesdays
March 14, 2011
The SME market is, of course, huge. With a turnover of over £1350 billion, it’s no wonder many companies engage in direct marketing to this lucrative sector, spending nearly £6 billion in doing so. How much of that £6 billion could be saved, or how much could businesses increase their returns, if they had known how the SME market wants to be communicated with?
Luckily, the latest research from the DMA and partners as part of the ongoing survey, The SME Voice, has provided the answers. OK, let’s cut to the chase.
First and foremost, the notion that social media is more powerful than email marketing is not cut and dried according to this report. Email was found to be the preferred method of contact among SMEs, with usage even showing an increase from 69 per cent to 80 per cent as 2010 progressed. One reason may be the rise in popularity of smartphones that allow email to be accessed on the move.
The research also found that SMEs prefer to receive marketing emails on Monday and Wednesday mornings and not more than once a week. It’s a risk though to stick too rigidly to this mantra as we know that the SME market is never stagnant and marketing communication strategies often have to be updated.
Finally, what should businesses be sending to small firms? It may be tempting to bombard them with trumpet blowing and sales propaganda (zzz) but what they actually prefer is a healthy mix of messages focusing on price and product benefits.
Overall the message here is: don’t just presume your marketing material and messages are best suited to your target market — ask them what they want and that feedback will be vital to improving your direct marketing ROI.
So for email marketing, here are the key findings:
- Email rules OK. 80 per cent say so.
- Weekly contact works for email. Calls and direct mail — monthly.
- SMEs like Mondays — get your message in early in the week
John Keating is an expert contributor to Marketing Donut and director at Databroker.
Six ways to innovate with social media
March 08, 2011
For a while I’ve been looking at what a few UK-based marketing agencies, traditional PR consultancies, and fresh-on-the-block digital marketers are doing on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
And it concerns me.
Why?
Because I don’t see much innovation – which, by definition, means ‘something new, and contrary to established customs, manners, or rites’ in the mix.
Hardly anything new or exciting. Very little risk-taking, and nowhere near enough authentic conversation. It’s often a case of same old, same old. Such a shame, given the huge, positive, amazing potential that such platforms represent.
Corporate, safe, sterile, anodyne presences.
I can hear almost hear the comments in these Boardrooms, as social media engagement is discussed.
Comments such as, “let’s get a Facebook fan page”, or “make sure we get the newest Agency account executive to pop some content on a Twitter account” or even “cut and paste the newsletter onto a blog page, that’ll do” – without first asking that crucial question ‘why’ which should underpin all social media activity and engagement.
I’ve even seen – horror of horrors – a digital marketing agency engaging in direct marketing via Twitter. A scam-based ‘campaign’ designed solely to get hold of email addresses for future direct selling. Awful.
I blogged about it here at the time, seeing as I was one of the unfortunate individuals to be spammed.
Here are six ways to use social media with innovation in mind:
1. Take an interest in other people – and pass on their content. It will get you noticed – the Law of Attraction. It really does work: these people will notice you back, in time, and reciprocate.
2. Take risks – be authentic, speak with your actual voice on social media platforms. Get the vibe of your business or Agency out there: let people know what working with you looks like, feels like.
3. Be real – don’t tell me about how many new widgets you manufactured this month, let the person who actually makes them tell their personal story. Your business is brilliant, but you have to get this story out there – from each employee outwards.
4. Be selective – don’t set up a Facebook page if you don’t have to. Select which social media platforms are best – it may be that your business or Agency only needs a real presence on one or two – and focus your attention, effort, and energy there.
5. Be unique – don’t copy what your competitors are doing: show your audience the uniqueness in your business or Agency, give them your biggest unique asset, your people. Get everybody involved, to tell their stories in a way which makes your business or Agency so attractive, natural engagement form others will follow.
6. Stop talking and start listening – too many Agencies (PRs are the worst culprits) are so busy shouting about how brilliant they are, and how many industry (navel-gazing) awards they’ve won, they forget the audience. Less broadcasting, more listening please.
These six simple steps, executed over a few months, will transform and innovate social media engagement for you. Guaranteed.
SlideShare: The YouTube of PowerPoint
February 23, 2011
When we talk about the business use of social media, we tend to make a few distinctions. The first is that some social marketing channels are better for talking to consumers (Twitter and Facebook) and that others are better for networking with businesses (LinkedIn, Ecademy).
Then we talk about engagement (having conversations, basically) and broadcasting (pushing out a message). Social media types generally view broadcasting as a no-no. But there’s a place for it. YouTube straddles the divide between the two - it’s a broadcast that encourages interaction via comments, shares and simply embedding the video in your own site. YouTube is great and video works really well as a promotional tool. But we’re very aware that not so many small businesses have the confidence, the time or the technical skills to make a video.
So what other options are there? There’s podcasting, but the same caveats apply. This week I’ve been taking a look at something that does pretty much the same as YouTube, but using software that many business owners will already be familiar with. If you’ve ever used PowerPoint to create a sales presentation, you can use SlideShare to broadcast it to the world. SlideShare is basically the YouTube of PowerPoint. You create a presentation, download it and share the link. Other people can view it, comment on it, embed it in their own site.
Presentations may not necessarily be as immediate as videos, but think about it: how much more convenient is this than emailing a great big file to lots of people over and over? And what about the opportunity to pick up ‘floating’ prospects who just happen to be browsing in a related topic area?
So what can you use it for? Well, most people seem to use it to talk about the service they provide (there are a lot of consultants touting their expertise), particularly in social media; some people are using it to preview longer publications; some people are using it to present statistics or arguments; yet others are using SlideShare as a basic product catalogue. Personally, I think simple step-by-step guides work well and can be helpful to businesses selling products that require a degree of technical skill (being a cyclist, I rather like this one on fitting a bike tyre).
Much like YouTube, the quality of presentations is variable and they range from the trivial to the profound. But it’s fun looking at things and you might just find a useful outlet here for your own business. If you do, the same rules apply as for a presentation to an audience: be clear, be simple, illustrate your point well and don’t use loads of text, like these guys.
Anyway, the reason I was looking at SlideShare is because I’ve been reviewing some content produced by one of our sponsors, business software company SAGE. I’ve been looking specifically for material that is of use to small business owners - ie, not pushing product, but sharing knowledge. Frankly, this is something not many FTSE 100 businesses do, but Sage are a bit more savvy with their social media use than a lot of other big firms. I came across this SlideShare presentation - I like the way it intersperses the more general observations with specific tips about using social media in your business. Equally smart is that when you think of Sage, you don’t think social media - but that’s how oblique modern marketing is.
I’d be keen to hear what you think about SlideShare and whether we should produce a guide to using it effectively. I’d also like to know what type of content you like to read generally - maybe you subscribe to an e-newsletter, read a blog or always click the links from a particular business Twitter account? Post your thoughts or a link to your favourite content and we’ll make sure we look at what’s interesting to you and your business.
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