Practical actions to reach your audience and generate leads from social media
Have you heard of “social media fatigue”? It refers to a growing backlash against social media. As Facebook and Twitter users get inundated with incessant sales messages, increasing numbers are either un-following and un-fanning business pages, or worse, they are quitting social media altogether.
But don’t let this scare you off from running your social media activities. What works in your favour is the fact that many businesses don’t understand how social media works. Follow the following simple rules, and you’ll stand out from all the spam and sales messages:
Remember what social media was originally intended for. Its purpose was to create online communities where people with common interests could share ideas, information and chat to each other. It was never meant to be an advertising billboard. People…
Google+ best practice tips from Cadbury and H&M
Although brand adoption of Google+ is way behind other social networks, notably Facebook and Twitter, some businesses have jumped in and are making waves to stir up interest, engagement and interaction with their fans on Google+.
Confectioner Cadbury UK (see Google+ case study) and clothing brand H&M (see the Smart Insights details of H&M Google+ case study) are leading the way with their Google+ pages and are utlising the network to great effect.
But what is the "secret to their success"? Here are five best practice Google+ tips from two of the network’s leading lights:
Know your audience
Before jumping into Google+ it’s important to have a good idea of your customers and audience beforehand. Every social network is different and each has its own idiosyncrasies, so ensure that you build a platform…
5 marketing tips from a Premiership footballer
After a prolific rise to almost 1.7m Twitter followers in about 10 months, it appears that Joey Barton knows a thing or two about social media, or at least he has a natural handle on it.
At First 10, we've been working with Joey for about 12 months and it's remarkable how quickly he's understood and adapted to the social media landscape. From helping raise the profile of the Hillsbrough campaign to the rib-poking of Piers Morgan and commentary across sport, politics and culture, he's become somewhat of a Twitter enigma.
Having just designed and built Joey's new website - www.joeybarton.com - we can reveal that it has received some pretty serious attention with 135,000 unique visitors in the first 24 hours of go-live,…
New research shows potential for Facebook commerce?
Value/Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Ecwid/TNS Research
You will have noticed that in 2011 there was a lot of hype about Facebook commerce with many companies announcing the launch of F-commerce stores.
By 2012 we had moved from the peak of inflated expectations to the trough of disillusionment in the technology hype cycle.
This disillusionment or “F*****d commerce” as Marketing Pilgrim put it, was shown with major US retailers like Gamestop, JC Penney, Nordstrom and The Gap all shutting their Facebook stores.
Does this mean the end for F-commerce? Not necessarily. This new research suggests that F-commerce maybe moving along the slope of enlightenment. The research from TNS, predicts that:
"6.1% of online purchases over the next 3 years will be made via Facebook. Although only 4% of GB consumers have purchased goods from Facebook, the research showed that 40% would be happy to buy goods from Facebook if it…
5 practical actions and an example you can follow
Google+ is continuing to gather momentum, with more than 170 million users or more depending on who you listen to. At the same time though, there's a lot of discussion around the number of active users and unconfirmed data that user engagement is weak. There's no question that Google+ hasn't arrived 'main-stream' yet, but we think the growth of it now warrants some attention when planning your content marketing, even if you keep the investment modest.
What's so special about Google+?
Guy Kawasaki said that Google+ is for "passions," that's what differentiates it, and though that's maybe a little vague and consumer orientated, the notion of it makes good sense.
"Businesses should jump on Google+ because it’s the Wild West, so you can stake your claim, as opposed to breaking through the noise on Twitter and Facebook." Guy Kawasaki
Google+ is very different to Twitter…
Social Media from Laurel and Hardy Shhh….
Last week my wife mentioned to me, and I’m not sure how this came about, that Laurel and Hardy, or Stanlio e Ollio to give them their true Italian identity, actually spoke with an English accent, which is why when the English attempt to speak Italian, they tend to find us so funny. Now this might just be my wife’s way of protecting my rather brittle confidence when it comes to talking Italian in her native tongue, but it was a perfect (she wouldn’t have known this at the time) example of delivering content that was both relevant and interesting to the audience, in this case me.
Since 19% of all activity online is spent using social media compared to 6% in March 2007 (comScore, Dec 2011), it goes without saying that…
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July 31, 2012
The makings of the ideal Community Manager
In a recent post on Smart Insights, Steve Kitt laid out some solid reasons why companies should consider having their own online community. Steve makes a good argument, but even if you have your own community and manager, your brand will be fodder for discussion on other communities you have no control over and that’s why having a community manager (CM) is important for every company.
The reason you need a community manager is not only because you need someone to build or manage your own “walled” community, but because you need someone to represent you in all communities across multiple channels where people are talking about your brand. A company does not have to have its own online forum to have a community manager. A brand’s community stretches across a multitude of channels.
A virtual diplomat
A community…
The role of social gifting for retail Ecommerce
Social gifting allows users to send paid-for, discounted or free gift cards to their social network friends via mobile or desktop applications from gifting companies. Start-ups offering a social gifting options include:
Wrapp for Facebook (Europe and US)
DropGifts for Facebook (UK)
Cashstar (US)
Socialgift (an own site embedded solution for group gifting)
How does it work?
Each of the main providers have a slightly different approach with some focusing on individual gifting via social networks and others enabling a group of friends to contribute (ideal for leaving presents or shared family gifts).
Taking the example of Wrapp a Swedish startup now offering the service elsewhere in Europe and the US, retailers can use the service to help their customers remember their Facebook friends’ birthdays and prompting them to send a gift. Personalisation enables Wrapp to recommend suitable gifts based on account age,…
5 Ideas to reinvigorate your social media interactions
Every social media marketer reaches a plateau in terms of the way they interact with their audience. It’s a state where you’ve been active for quite a while and have garnered a respectable number of fans and followers who you're interacting with in a set way. Being on a plateau isn’t bad - it’s comfortable, steady, and it’s a good state to be at if you’re planning your next move.
However, there are also some dangers of spending too much time on a plateau. Being too comfortable is a one way street to complacency, so while you’re free to bask in your respectable accomplishments, don’t stay on it for too long. Always be on the lookout for new social media heights that you can reach.
Not sure where to start? Below are some practical ideas you…
10 tests for social media usage which show social business maturity
We have spent the last five years trying to convince companies to engage with social media. From initial scepticism (‘this is all very interesting but it’s really not for us’), interest and enthusiasm for social media in the UK and other countries has grown rapidly over the last 18 months. The CIM social media benchmark research shows that the majority of companies now have some type of social media presence.
However, most remain at an experimental/testing the water stage of social media maturity. Many view social media as another broadcasting channel for talking AT rather than WITH customers. Very few organisations have developed an integrated and coordinated Social Media Strategy fully aligned with and supportive of core business goals and objectives.
Social media pitfalls remain common and suggest a company limited in…
