One of the biggest mistakes that companies can make in social media is not ‘embracing’ the concept.

Social Media has developed into one of the biggest phenomenon’s in communication over the last few years.  It has been able to do this as people have grasped the ease and simplicity of communication on-line.  However, just because of the massive growth of websites like Twitter and Facebook, it doesn’t mean that businesses have been at the forefront of this development and many of them are still stuck in the old world of one dimensional communication.

Being Social on Social Media

One of the major criticisms levelled at businesses on social media is that they do not have themselves set up to take advantage of the medium. Social Media, by the name alone, is Social. That means you need to interact with people. Using computers to automate posts to the world through Facebook and Twitter is fine, but it’s not really the point. The point is to discuss/interact/give feedback to customers and get them involved in a brand, not just passive observers and consumers.

Businesses that have been able to really make the Social Media angle work for them are the ones that have actually been social with their customers.  Typical things include:

• Asking questions – they can be product related, or just general – either way, they are generating some form of interaction.
• Responding – when someone makes a post on a Facebook wall, why not respond, get a conversation going.
• Making it personal and not just preaching the company line.  Typically, Businesses will be interacting with individuals online and so demonstrating a personal side can humanise the company and make them more approachable.

I read an interesting article a couple of days ago on how the recent changes to Facebook could affect small businesses (Have a read if you want to get the low down).  It talked about how Facebook was focusing on the individual and larger organisations and this made it harder for small businesses to get the most out of the medium.  I agree with much of what the article had to say, but am keen to emphasise that there is still much to be had from a small business working on social media.

I am a keen diver and as a consequence have a specialist dive shop that I use to buy most of my equipment from (I might get it cheaper online, but unlikely and knowing that there is a person to speak to when/if something goes wrong is good – we bought a dive bag recently and it started coming apart after one trip – one visit to the shop and it was all sorted). The Dive Shop has embraced Social Media and regularly updates Facebook with information, useful links and updates on various courses that they run.  As I’m invested I always have a quick read of these posts and they make my association with the shop much stronger.

In the new scheme of things at Facebook it will be harder for these posts to appear in my timeline, so the next thing they need to do is start working on people fully interacting with the posts and get some of the ‘influencers’ and ‘active’ people to work with them to spread the word.  They should also start investigating developing content to really start sucking the punters in.

Facebook, as with all the social media channels has it’s pros and cons, but for small businesses looking to engage with their customers, especially for leisure activities, they still represent a very useful channel.

To learn more about social media, why not visit the demistify social media page.

relevant = individual = results

If we’re not being relevant… what’s the point?

I’ve been thinking recently about a quiz that did the rounds on several marketing forums, which said what’s the one word you could use to describe marketing.  Lots of suggestions were made, but the one that really stuck in my head is relevance and relevant marketing.

It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about marketing history or the future, relevance makes things tick – take for example Google and the whole SEO/SEM marketplace.  With all the shouting about Google doing this and Google doing that, at it’s core, Google is about relevance, it’s about responding when you type something into the search bar with a list which as far as it’s concerned is the best relevant articles and resources for the enquiry.  So when people start looking at the whole ‘how to improve your ranking’ and the ‘how do I get value for money on PPC advertising’, the one thing that matters more then anything is making sure relevance is involved – if the link isn’t relevant, people won’t click on it (which infers relevance), and it’ll drop down the ranking.  If people do click and find it’s a relevant answer, the click through rate improves and consequently, Google likes you more!

It’s the same with Personalised URLs…  the whole idea behind personal URLs is not to bombard the respondent with their name, that form of personalisation (or impersonalisation) undermines the potential for the concept.  The more information you have about a customer, the more information you have which can be incorporated into a Personalised URL – thus making it more personal and more importantly, individual…  in fact there should be a difference between ‘personalised URLs’ and ‘individual URLs’ (although I know InURL doesn’t have the same ring as PURL!).  The whole individualisation of the URL makes it more relevant to the customer, getting their interest and improving the chance that they’ll respond in some format – everyone likes to be treated as an individual!

So next time you’re looking at your marketing activity, consider the ‘relevance’ of the communication, as this will have a major impact on how people respond.

To learn more about Google and your website, visit the demystify websites page.

To learn more about Personalised URLs and how they can help you visit the demystify Direct Mail page.

Is the Phone the future of the computer?

Mobile Optimisation is still well behind where it should be.

One of my little bug bears is that everyone talks about QR codes, and how mobile phones are the future, and yet when it comes down to it, not that many websites out there have had any form of mobile optimisation.  I was reading an article earlier today where the author had done a survey and most of the retailer websites out there dont’ have any mobile optimisation.  Surely they’re missing a trick?

Interestingly, despite the obvious clamouring around App stores and how they are changing the way we interact with the internet, it appears that the only reasons to have a specific application are if the content is specific for offline usage, or the app has to interact with another part of the device (camera, gps, etc).  Otherwise, you might as well carry out some mobile optimisation and get a really good mobile website.

When working with customers on websites going forward and they are integrated into their overall marketing mix, it surely has to be on the radar to make the website optimised for mobiles.  Even in a B2B marketplace I find myself whizzing onto my phone’s browser to get some info – and then getting frustrated when I can’t find it due to a non-mobile website…  Mobile Optimisation is here to stay, so don’t miss out!

To learn more about mobile marketing, why not visit the demystify mobile marketing page.

Google Places is great for finding a restaurant

As I’ve travelled throughout the UK for the last few months, whether it be for work or pleasure, I’ve come to love Google places as a great way of finding new places to eat.

I like my food, and so being able to go to new restaurants and have the confidence that they are going to be good and not a complete waste of time is great news…

Using Google Places, I just search for restaurants in the area, scroll down until I find one which has got good reviews, then go there…  it’s nice quick and simple and so far hasn’t let me down.  In fact, as mobile marketing becomes more the norm and people rely on their phones more and more, it would suggest that restaurants should be actively trying to get reviews on Google places, as it will prove great at generating business (of course, it means that they have to have lots of good reviews!).

Of course, when I do visit and enjoy the meal (as I have done), I always make sure to contribute back and give a review so that others can find the same thing.

Also, what’s interesting is how unaware that some of the restaurants are of Google places and that it is a free service…  With freedom of information and mobile researching, more and more need to be aware…  On occasion, I’ve walked through a city centre, mobile phone in hand, typing in restaurant names into my phone to see if they are any good…

Surely an opportunity to drive business and improve your local marketing?…  get yourself on Google places, make sure your website is mobile optimised and encourage people to visit it, maybe even set up a link using a QR code… A great way to generate trial, and then once they are in, get their details so you can keep them informed of offers…etc…

If you want to learn more about Google places, why don’t you check out how to demystify local marketing.