Posts Tagged Social Media
Social media marketing is catching on
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on July 30th, 2010
Social media is becoming an important marketing tool for businesses, and now that Foursquare is starting to draw a following in the UK, some companies are trying to take advantage.
Foursquare has been around since March 2009, but it wasn’t until recently that it has become available in the UK. The social-networking tool allows people to “check in” at places they visit, whether it’s a local coffee house or bar, to keep friends updated on where they are spending time.
Companies have recently began offering incentives for Foursquare users who check in at their businesses.
They are among a growing number of businesses using social media tools such as Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook. More than half of companies worldwide now use various social networks, and about 40 percent of companies say they’ve had success in finding new customers using them, according to a survey by Regus, which provides workplace solutions to businesses.
The benefit of offering an incentive – a free coffee for every customer who checks in for example – is that it gives customers an incentive for supporting the business. But the power of a site such as Foursquare is limitless because every time a user checks in at a location, a message goes out to his or her friends and followers on Twitter and Facebook, telling them of the user’s location.
It also provides companies analytical information about who is using the site such as when people check in, whether they make a return visit and the demographics of who is checking in.
So Foursquare is another affordable way to market your business, particularly to the younger generation.
Have you got social influence?
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on July 29th, 2010
This has been playing on my mind for some time now. Social commerce has taught us that the companies who listen to their customers and then sell, are the ones that succeed. That is nothing new; but social media has brought this to the fore.
The ability to engage in conversations with customers in real-time, has led to a new explosion of selling possibilities. Customers can not only make or break your products by sharing their opinions and experiences with their peers; but they can do so much more.
In the early days of social media, it was all about celebrities and Twitter accounts. But now, I see a new type of social media celebrity evolving. One with large networks and plenty of opinions to share with them. These celebrities are just “normal” people; but with huge social influence!
So have a think about the social influence you have? How can you leverage it? Perhaps you could start a small business on the back of it. A third-party hub or a community, for example, with content that is recommended by trusted friends and professionals in real-time. Real people participating in social media can unearth incredible amounts of actionable information, with limited barriers to acting upon it quickly.
And once you have a branded community, you can monetise this. Companies will pay you to feature or mention their brand in real-time, and in a relevant context. The more members you encourage to join your community, the more possibilities you will find. You would have created an unpaid army, which companies will want to involve in their own R&D processes, and to help create new applications, or products.
Think about your existing customers, and your own social networks. Identify which accounts you have that are currently underserved. Perhaps, you can generate new business for them, by reviewing their products and inviting your social networks to come up with ideas for them. This will give you a good reason to contact them for new business.
All of us who participate in social networks have a degree of social influence. Your opinions count to your friends. See what you can develop through that. You may surprise yourself!
Dispelling 4 top myths of social media
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on July 26th, 2010
As it becomes clear (at last!) that message control is dead, corporations in every industry are scrambling to learn about social media so they can incorporate it into their marketing mix. Fear and misconception abound. Here are the top four issues companies cite:
Employees will waste time with social media:
Many large corporations block their employees from accessing the Internet altogether. Others try to block employees from accessing personal email or social networks like Facebook during work hours.
With the advent of smart phones, internet access is available to workers everywhere – and employers can’t stop them from accessing the Internet.
The value of workers of having internet access – in terms of research, communication, and speed – is far greater than the threat of lost productivity. Companies like Best Buy, Dell and many others have increased not only customer satisfaction, but also sales, by having hundreds, and even thousands, of employees monitoring and resolving complaints and issues in social media.
Companies have a right to make policies and rules about personal use of the internet, but blocking it during work just doesn’t make sense.
What if people say nasty things about our brand?:
Most people exercise common sense, when reading reviews. That is to say, any obviously vindictive and negative comments will simply be ignored.
And besides, complaints may very well mean that there may be things you need to change about your brand. In that case, you should thank them for letting you know what they are. Then you should make changes.
If you have built an online community that includes people who don’t hate you, that community will rise to your defense and they will handle the problem for you.
We’ll lose control of the brand.
Every person with a computer and even a tiny skill level has the tools to make their opinion about your brand heard by other people. They’re already talking about you.
You cannot control the message in the internet Age. You can affect it, but you cannot control it. Your workers are talking about you in closed Facebook groups designed to keep you out so they can talk about you in peace. Your customers are emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, and that old standby – calling – their friends about their experience with your brand. You don’t have control. You might as well join the conversation. At least that way you can influence what is being said.
Employees will give away corporate secrets on social networks and that will help our competitors and affect the stock price.
If you don’t already have a social media policy, you need to create one.
If you don’t trust your employees to talk to customers, or to represent the brand, you need to look at 1) your hiring practices, 2) your training practices.
The truth is that there are more emerging media success stories than there are failures.
Tapping social media for your market research
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on July 22nd, 2010
The failings of survey panels are nothing if not well-known to market-researchers and clients alike, but still they remain widely used—albeit expensive and slow—tools for collecting data. Aiming to provide higher-quality results at a lower price, Chicago-based Lab42 conducts its clients’ surveys not in artificially assembled panels but in the social networks where target respondents naturally spend their time.
Clients begin by telling Lab42 about their products and their target consumers. Lab42 then helps to craft a survey, with the option of focusing it based on gender, age, location, lifestyle and interests. Next, Lab42 takes the resulting survey to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and smaller niche social networks, using highly targeted incentives to garner attention and responses while consumers go about their day-to-day activities. Two packages are available from Lab42: a premium one for $ 500, with results in three days or less; and a preliminary one for$ 300, with results in 5 days or less. Custom arrangements are also possible.
It’s always refreshing to see services that have traditionally been performed slowly and expensively rethought and remade to reflect new technologies and new societal shifts. Perhaps this is one to try out when researching your next big thing…? Early feedback suggest that people enjoy giving their opinions and can share these with their friends, thus providing you with potential real-time feedback.
How to use Twitter for business: Case study:Pepsi
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 30th, 2010
@Pepsi or @PepsiCo
Pepsi may be a classic brand, but it’s using 21st century tools to collaborate and build relationships with customers. For years, PepsiCo, has had a toll-free number that consumers can call to share product feedback. People call in all the time, and the company considers the line successful.
But when Pepsi brand managers wanted faster and more personal ways to connect with soft drinks enthusiasts, they looked online—and in January 2009, the team started using Twitter to listen to and talk with consumers. (The brand twitters as @Pepsi; the corporation twitters as @PepsiCo.)
“We’re trying to humanize the brand, to make it more accessible to consumers,” says Anamaria Irazabal, brand director for Pepsi. “On Twitter, they can complain or praise, and we can use it as a way to gauge how people are feeling.”
Reaching a new audience
Interestingly, the company finds the conversations on Twitter are different from those on the toll-free line. The callers, says Irazabal, tend to focus on products.
Twitterers, on the other hand, tend to have opinions not just on the products, but on promotions, too. “They feel they’re invited to give their opinions on the how the brand should move forward, and they’re very detailed.”
After the spring 2009 launch of Pepsi Throwback—an initiative that involved packaging with a retro look and real-sugar sweeteners—the company was able to collect quick reactions on Twitter. The company has also found asking questions works well on Twitter. Even something as simple as “How many Pepsis do you drink a day?” generates a lot of chatter.
“Consumers own the brands as much as we do, and they want to share their interests and likes,” says Bonin Bough, director of social and emerging media for PepsiCo. “Twitter is the only medium where we can have a two-way continuous dialog about the brand.”
Fast response
Pepsi brand managers find that Twitter is useful not only for quick responses from consumers but for quick responses from the company, too.
When Michael Jackson—who made high-profile commercials for Pepsi during the 1980s—died suddenly in July, the company used Twitter right away in its “Thank you, Michael” tribute, engaging with fans. “We can move at the speed of culture,” says Irazabal. “Twitter means we can react to something that happens and provide a platform for dialog, That’s the key word. It’s about engagement and building the relationship.”
Dealing with complaints
Although Pepsi finds that nearly all of the conversation on Twitter is very positive, people do sometimes complain via tweets. The brand managers try to address negative comments very quickly.
“We try to gauge the overall tone and type of problem,” says Josh Karpf, manager of social and emerging media for PepsiCo. If somebody doesn’t like a piece of advertising, the company accepts that. But if a person has had a problem with a product or is attacking the company in some way, Pepsi has a process in place to resolve the issue directly. The company responds once in public, and if the person stays negative, they switch to DM and then to email or phone if needed. Internally, a cross-functional team can help solve problems.
The logistics
Pepsi’s assistant marketing manager, Rachel Mills, works closely with two agencies to coordinate the @Pepsi Twitter account. With Mills’s oversight, one agency does the day-to-day twittering. But Mills sees all the tweets, and she gets involved if there’s a problem of any kind. Another agency helps Pepsi develop its digital promotion calendar three months ahead of time.
The calendar—along with guidance on tone of voice and how to respond to certain types of comments—help Pepsi maintain a consistent brand presence across the Web, including its Twitter account.
Finally, Pepsi requires that staffers maintain personal accounts on social media sites—not to interact on behalf of the brand, but to learn about the channels. “It’s very hard to talk to agencies if you have never used the tools,” says Irazabal. “So we ask our teams to use these tools to learn what we can get out of them.”
Measuring success
Like many brands, Pepsi looks at the number of followers it has. But the company also looks at the sentiment of tweets, rating them on a scale from positive to negative. The balance changes from week to week, and the company—which considers itself to be in experimental phase with Twitter—is still figuring out what affects consumer feeling and how to measure it.
Takeaway: “We’ve got a lot ahead of us, and we’re learning every day.” In other words “Have a go”
Advertisers embrace social networks
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on June 29th, 2010
Advertisers and their agencies have embraced Facebook and Twitter, as social media reaches a size and scale few brands can ignore.
Many leading brands have used some form of social media, which agencies contrast with traditional advertising slots bought on television, billboards, or in print.
Unilever’s Dove Soap brand, and P&G’s brands Pantene shampoo and Pampers Nappies have active presences on Facebook, and Coca-Cola this week launched adverts on Twitter.
The leaning is toward “earned media”; the term coined for messages which spread by word of mouth. Even recent controversy over privacy has failed to dent advertisers’ enthusiasm for Facebook in particular, which has almost 500m members and is planning to expand in Asia.
If privacy can be managed properly, many leading advertising agencies, feel that Facebook is something which is incredibly strong, and which will represent a big new platform of communication going forward.
It surprises me just how long leading agencies have taken to commit fully to social media. No doubt, brands are resistant to change, especially when budgets are increasingly under threat. But the measurability of social media can be much more clearly defined than magazines or television. Sure, you can track who has seen it, through readership or viewing figures; but you can’t measure the response to it, as closely as you can through social media.
Consequently, this enhanced level of measurability, enables you to essentially tailor your message accordingly in future campaigns. And this can be achieved at a more cost-effective rate. That is a much stronger proposition in my mind.
Social media is particularly powerful for consumer goods brands. People talk about brands, and companies need to be part of the conversation. If not so much to steer it or indeed influence it, at least to be participative in it.
Social networks create a deeper relationship with consumers, that simply cannot be achieved through TV or magazines. This is why Facebook is, for me, the world’s largest message board from a brand perspective.
Coca-Cola has achieved strong results through its sponsorship of a “trending topic”; using “promoted tweets” to be involved in this week’s World Cup discussions.
This is not so much the future, but the present. The main point, is that you can achieve a closer relationship with your customers, and in an instantaneous and completely measurable fashion.
10 tips on how to keep focused on social media marketing
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Facebook, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on June 28th, 2010
Some of our clients tell us how frustrated they can get with all this social media stuff. Despite the hours they spend on it, they just don’t seem to engage in as many conversations as they had envisaged at the outset. And they start to question whether it is really all worth it.
The flipside is that Social media marketing can be so compelling and addictive that if you are not careful an hour is gone and you haven’t done a thing. Friends and colleagues often make the observation that there is so much valuable information and tempting headlines that compel us to read and view that like the temptations of the mythoglical Greek Ulysses ‘Sirens’ who lured away away ancient mariners we too can be turned from away from our destination.
So how do we keep on track so that the ‘Sirens’ of Ulysses don’t distract us to destruction and ensure we meet our goals?
1. Check your goals
Why did you set up your social media marketing channels in the first place? Is what you are currently doing on social media moving you towards those goals. Some goals may be quite specific such as to to increase inquiries by 20%. It may be a more general goal such as to connect, engage and communicate or create more brand awareness. It may be to write one blog post a day.
2. Get Focused
You have now checked back to your original goals and now you need to refine and continue to determine what are the most important and prioritize them. For me one major goal is to write our blog post on a daily basis.
3. Set a Schedule & A Routine
Providing yourself with a schedule and a deadline can ensure.. mostly… that the activity is done and then you can move on to the next task.
4. Planning , Creating and Developing Content
To ensure that we have information to place on the social media channels that we are using we need to be constantly brainstorming and keeping an eye out for content to post that provides value to your clients and answers their questions and helps solve their problems.
5. Optimizing your Channels
So you now have the content on your social media platforms….are they set up to ensure that people will find them online and when they get there they will find it easy to view and read. A blog may need some search engine optimisation tweaking and with the changes to Google’s search with the recently announced ‘Google Caffeine’ having more recent content on your web presence is more important than ever. Do you have your LinkedIn profile public and do you have your website, blog and facebook pages entered in the page?
6. Promoting Your Brand on Social Media
A lot of people think that once they have published their blog or posted that the online world is just going to turn up… they won’t .. so you need to tell the world. Tweet it (a few times). Place your content on as many channels as time, money and resources allow. Take your eNewsletter and embed social media buttons at the top and the bottom of the email and also place buttons and links to your blog.. email can be integrated into your whole social media activities.
7. Measuring and Monitoring
Set up measuring and monitoring tools and use them as these can provide the feedback on what is working and what isn’t,
8. Analyze and Adjust your Activities
You now have the numbers on your different activities…. use this tweak and fine tune your activities to ensure that they are producing the best result for the least effort.
9. Communicate and Engage with your Social Media Tribe
Ok .. so you have had your head down and tail up, pumping out great content and doing fantastic things but you haven’t had time to listen and engage. You need to ensure that you are not just doing but also connecting otherwise one day you will look up and the tribe has dissappeared
10. Help Someone in your Social Media Community
Take time to promote and help someone in your online community achieve their goals and you will be find that reciprocation is often forthcoming and your efforts will be paid back in spades.
How do you keep focused?
Facebook looks for growth in China and Russia
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, M-Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on June 25th, 2010
Facebook is looking east for its next phase of expansion, as the US company prepares to take on entrenched competition in China, Russia and Japan to become the first social network company to connect 1bn people.
After relying largely on organic growth to reach almost 500m members, Facebook must now make its first strategic local moves. The facebook founder has thus far not specified as to whether this would involve local customisation of Facebook in these countries, or acquisitions.
Facebook faces large, established competitors in Asian markets, including Japan’s Mixi, Tencent QQ in China, and Vkondakte in Russia.
The facebook founder, at an audience of marketers in Cannes. said that mobile internet would be a big driver of global growth in social media. Some countries now have more mobile usage than web usage; citing India as an example. He also said that the company was “pretty close” to releasing a new mobile service, which would add location data to the platform.
Some tips on social media best practice for business.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Facebook, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 24th, 2010
Social networks and blogs are changing how consumers find places and services, how and where they share their experiences, and eventually, where they will spend their time and money.
Without an understanding of, and participation in, social networks, you can miss shaping and contributing to the decision-making process of those who define the success of your business.
While social media cheat-sheets and short cuts are available almost everywhere you look, the truth is that we have some work ahead of us. To help, I’ve assembled a list of five best practices to help you build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web right now.
1. Dedicate the time
Because time is a big concern, think about social media as an opportunity cost. Will your investment in identifying and connecting with prospects, customers, and influencers outperform your other activities? The answer is yes for most businesses, so carve out time for strategic experimentation. In short, you get out of it, what you invest.
2. Conquer your fears
Many business owners believe that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business. That’s true, but avoiding social media doesn’t mean that their opinions will never see the light of day.
Your brand is at the mercy of those who take to social media to share their experiences, so you might as well take an active role to contributes to the stature and perception of your brand. You might even learn how to improve your product and service in the process.
3. Listen and research to learn and contribute
Social networking is far more effective when you realize that creating profiles and updating social networks aren’t arbitrary. There’s an art and science to all of this, and the process begins with listening and research.
Step one: create a list of keywords that represent your market and then use the search box in each social network to see what people are saying about you. As you examine the results, you’ll identify the people who are leading conversations and the dialogue that invites and inspires participation. If local business is paramount to success, use services such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn. Also monitor location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt.
4. Establish an attractive and expansive presence
Your presence online is far more valuable than you may realize. While you may think that you should focus on your website, your social-media presence also represents you and what you offer. The ability to showcase your products and services to attract customers and spark conversation is arguably greater on social networking sites than your own website. In any case, connecting the dots between social networks, websites, and the real world is now as important as the service and products that you offer.
5. Use engagement as the new customer service and marketing
It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you that counts. Customer service and engagement overall is a new and genuine form of unmarketing. Customers, prospects, and influencers are already engaging with others to contribute, learn, and discover.
They are forming and sharing opinions and making decisions based on the information they find online—with or without you. You should use engagement as a fast, free, and powerful way to reach and serve customers.
This is your time to engage! Doing so will earn you permanent residence in the hearts and minds of the people who make up your markets. This will expand market opportunities, build brand awareness, stimulate demand, and engender loyalty and advocacy.
Innovation brings a touch of class to online shopping
Posted by Paul McSweeney in World News on June 16th, 2010
E-commerce is not generally seen as the sexiest corner of the internet these days. Amazon has become the world’s general store, eBay the world’s flea market. Wal-Mart and Target offer predictably low prices. Brands sell direct through their websites, but hardly make that their focus.
Many luxury groups have opted out of e-commerce altogether, believing the risks of selling online – such as brand degradation and counterfeiting – outweigh any benefits.
This whole notion of the web being a channel of discounting went against the very aesthetic of these brands. But recent innovation has reshaped e-commerce. Luxury brands are discovering ways to reach customers without sacrificing brand integrity.
Applications on smartphones and the iPad have delivered a powerful interface for users to search, browse and buy goods. Ralph Lauren’s Rugby brand and Gap, among others, have developed their own sophisticated apps.
Indeed shopping is proving one of the most popular activities on touch devices. Sales through eBay’s iPhone app last year topped $500m. Purchases included a Lamborghini, and a Bentley.
All this shows that people are rapidly becoming used to the convenience of getting what they want, when they want it. Buyers are used to finding very expensive goods online. People are also confident enough to make big purchases without having to talk to a sales representative.
Luxury goods are among the most popular things consumers search for online, and a lot of it is their desire to know what’s going on with them, and their desire to own them. Yet meeting the demand and maintaining the luxury brand’s image was a perennial challenge.
Most high-end brands have established online sales through traditional channels, such as resellers and their own sites, and now they are gaining the confidence to venture out.
In addition to new applications, and private sales sites such as Gilt Groupe and Haute Look, one can also point to local deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social, and a new wave of companies that are bringing together location awareness, real-time inventory and deals, and social media.
It’s a huge period of innovation for consumer facing e-commerce. Customers are looking for curation, and social and mobile media are enabling real innovation and entrepreneurship today.
