Waiheke Social Media

Waiheke Social media account for tourism businesses

2016-12-26T13:59:00.001-08:00

The @waihekeisland Twitter account and the associated @waihekeisland Instagram accounts receive substantial views and engagement over the Summer holiday period from visitors to Waiheke Island. Due to the nature of mobile use amongst visitors these platforms in tandem present an ideal means to drive visitors towards your Waiheke Island attractions. No other Twitter handle related to tourism on Waiheke has the number of followers, reach, or engagement of these two social media platforms.

Contemporary travellers particularly those from asian countries or India demonstrate a reliance more than ever on technology to plan, buy and review products and services.

“With social media forming an increasingly important part of the travel experience, travel providers will need to adopt social media into the way that they interact with their customers, using the channel both to transact and to interact.” Source: New Zealand tourism within the global environment (2014), http://www.tourism2025.org.nz/tourism-2025-archive/new-zealand-tourism-within-the-global-environment/

“...46% of total holiday travellers to Australia are booking some aspect of their trip online prior to arrival, retail outlets and the associated distribution infrastructure play a role in converting the other 54%.1 Stakeholder consultation suggests that this level is as high as 90% in emerging markets and for key purchases such as airfares and tours.”

Source: Tourism Australia Distribution in Australia’s international markets: Situational Analysis March 2013 http://www.tourism.australia.com/documents/corporate/Distribution_Final_Fullreport.pdf

If you are interested in finding out how your Waiheke based business or activity can benefit from the use of these two accounts please contact us.

Why you should start exploring video

2014-01-20T17:32:00.001-08:00

Very interesting video about Facebook vs YouTube that talks about the business models for each platform and why your content may not reach as many people as you think on Facebook. Definitely worth a watch.

Video is a very different kettle of fish though than the average post to a FB page and may require considerably more thought, equipment and time, but my experience lately has been that the return can be considerable. Worth thinking about.

Quick Tip: Facebook Page - Pin to Top

2013-05-16T01:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you may want to "re-use" an older Facebook Page update that's now moved down your Page's timeline. Perhaps it was initially for an upcoming Waiheke event and now, closer to the date, you want to be sure that visitors to your Facebook Page notice this event. An easy way to do this is to use the Pin to Top functionality. To find this option hover your mouse over the post you want to promote until you see these icons appear in the top-right of the post:

Clicking on the right 'pencil' icon will reveal a drop-down menu. From this menu select Pin to Top:

This will shift the post to the top and add an orange bookmark icon to the post:

This post will now stay at the top, causing even new posts to display below it. To remove this post and put it back into the normal timeline flow of your page just hover over the orange bookmark and 'unpin'.

Note: I've just added an email subscription to this blog so if you'd like to be updated on when I make new posts to Waiheke Social Media please subscribe using the Follow by Email option on the top right. Thanks, Brent.

Setting up a Social Media Calendar

2013-04-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

So you're a small business and you're going to take social media seriously, you've got all your accounts lined up, URLs pointing towards your main website, logos in place, etc .. but now what? A good thing to do is to start work on a Social Media Calendar. A social media calendar can help create a cohesive layer to an overall content strategy.

To create the calendar use a spreadsheet - I personally like Google Docs because the spreadsheet is there wherever I am and can be easily shared or viewed by others that you may be working with - but even an old school paper calendar will do. Set aside one hour at minimum to brainstorm and plan the content you aim to highlight in the upcoming days, weeks, or even months. Take into account any significant events that may be taking place over the period you decide to plan for, ie. holidays, special business events, local events, conferences, product releases, and other occurrences that might have a significant social buzz. By including all of the information and links to relevant sites in your calendar, you will have developed a single resource that you can refer to when deciding what to post. For Facebook you should be aiming to post at least once per week and probably not much more than 3 times per week, and for Twitter I try for at least one tweet per day.

If you're using a tool like Hootsuite to manage your social media you even have a calendaring tool built right in where you can schedule tweets or facebook posts ahead of time.

Using Facebook Promoted Posts

2013-04-10T19:33:00.002-07:00

Last year Facebook shared a statistic saying that a brand pages' content is only seen by 16% of it's fans. Not long after this announcement Facebook released it's Promoted Posts functionality where a brand can now pay $5, $10, $15 or $20 to increase the amount of fans that will see a post on their wall. Facebook users see promoted posts labeled with “Sponsored” directly in the news feed rather than in the right column where Facebook ads are placed. Promoted posts appear both on desktop and mobile and have the same targeting ability that regular posts do, meaning you can geo-target for your companies customers - a helpful feature for businesses like those on Waiheke that might use such functionality to target likely visitor groups (like Aucklanders), or even locals.

For more information on Promoted Posts, see: https://www.facebook.com/help/promote or get in touch with us if you need help.

Wordpress

2013-02-19T17:38:00.001-08:00

Wordpress just keeps getting better and better as a small Content Management System for businesses and organisations. I am almost solely using it to help set up sites and it is also fairly easy for newcomers to get their heads around how to modify existing content or add new content. For example take a look at the new gallery options that have become available. A great improvement over their previous system. If you want a Wordpress site setup for you business or oganisation get in touch.

Social Media course at Waiheke Community Education

2012-05-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

The advent of the Internet and the rise of Social media have had considerable impact on almost all facets of our society. Over four meetings at Waiheke Community Education I will provide an introduction into the foundations of social media, reviewing some of its' history, its' basis in the values of openness and sharing, and its' current dominant platforms.

We will explore and practice how to use social media effectively for a range of use cases and audiences, and review its use in marketing, audience building, and community engagement. We will inevitably need to consider the role of mobile devices. The use of a phone, particularly a smart phone is encouraged in the meetings - please bring them if you have them.

Specifically we will be looking closely at Twitter & Facebook, and the use of a third party client (mobile or web) to access both platforms.

To enrol in the course please visit: waihekecommed.co.nz/courses/social-media-2/

Using Twitter - hashtags and trends

2012-02-18T01:03:00.000-08:00

Well I finally made it to Webstock this year, the pre-eminent New Zealand web conference that attracts some pretty big names from a range of tech related fields like usability, start-ups, design, etc. Like most conferences these days the event was well covered on Twitter with the hash-tag #webstock. Using a hashtag (a # followed by a word) turns the word into a link which other users can click on to see all tweets which include the same tag. Tweeting at conferences creates what is called the backchannel - the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. The almost ubiquity of Twitter on mobile devices makes the backchannel flourish at these events and can facilitate face-to-face networking outside of the presentations as well as providing links to related resources, or just a level of humour to get you through the boring bits! Searching Twitter is a great way for you to see what people are saying about any particular subject you like by performing searches across the Twitterverse. Subjects that are being spoken about frequently can also "trend" and trending topics are displayed on your Twitter page. Trending subjects are also broken down to globally trending and locally trending so you can see what is trending in New Zealand as well as what is trending internationally. If you'd like to know how you can use Twitter for your business or organisation get in touch with us.

Facebook Groups

2012-02-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I posted here but has been a busy six months on the Waiheke social media scene with some new pages flourishing on Facebook. Notably are the Waiheke Trading page and the associated Waiheke Community Noticeboard. These are actually Facebook Groups and are more suited to this type of group activity around specific purposes than the more open Facebook Page option. Groups also have options of being "secret", "closed", or "open" which means that group admins have control whether information or discussions are open to the wider public as well as who are members of the group. Groups can be used in organisational settings to create spaces for conversation and discussion around issues relevant to the organisation.

The Know Social Media Daily

2011-07-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

Andrew Long (@socialspace) formerly of the University of Otago and instrumental in setting up the Internet Research Group Otago (IRGO) has setup a social media newspaper at http://paper.li/nosocialmedi

Basically its an online aggregator, a sort of rss reader on drugs; interesting how the continued use of the newspaper metaphor is lasting in the digital domain. Would make most local journalism professors have uncomfortable sleep though.

My talk on Civic Engagement at NetHui

2011-07-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

I recently spoke at the NetHui conference in Auckland on the topic of Civic Engagement (see post below this one). This is a video of that session; Russel Brown spoke first, then I come on at 21 minutes.

Watch live streaming video from nethui2011digitalcitizenship at livestream.com

Going to NetHui

2011-06-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

I will be at NetHui on Thursday the 30th of June talking with Luke Goode of the University of Auckland Film, Television, and Media Studies department, and Russel Brown, a journalist and broadcaster, and owner of the Public Address blogging network, about Civic Engagement online in New Zealand.

In the short amount of time I imagine we will have, I may talk about a project we worked on at Waiheke Radio in August 2010 after the creation of the Auckland Supercity and the subsequent reframing of local and community board powers.

Under this new structure, Waiheke Radio (a community run low power FM radio station) considered how it could facilitate conversations and discussion around the Waiheke local board election. With a very vocal political community and a record number of candidates standing for election, radio volunteers combined their skills with audio broadcasting and podcasting, with a strong web and social media presence to create a valuable online and on-air conversation and community discussion. I hope to give a brief overview of the project and highlight some areas where community approaches to media might be improved as a model for future political and civic engagement on Waiheke and elsewhere.

Candidates for Waiheke Community Board 2010 page: http://www.waihekeradio.org.nz/candidates

Waiheke Budgeting Service on Wordpress & Facebook

2011-06-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

We've been working away setting up a new Wordpress site for the wonderful Waiheke Budgeting Service and hooking it up with their Facebook Page and soon their Twitter account. RSS Graffiti, an app for Facebook, will take your RSS feed (this comes out of any blogging software like Wordpress) and turn any new posts that are made on your Wordpress site into Facebook status updates. Great way to post once and have the message multiplied across many social media platforms.

Check out their new website here: http://www.waihekebudgeting.org.nz

RSS Graffiti: http://www.rssgraffiti.com/

Website Design with Wordpress

2011-02-09T00:18:00.000-08:00

I will be teaching another course on how to use Wordpress to create websites for personal or business uses this coming March. The course will help you to design your own professional looking, cost effective website using Wordpress, a freely downloadable and user-friendly content management system. Wordpress is ideal for those looking for an easy solution to publish and manage content online, whether for business, blogging or community projects.

Some computer literacy is required for the course and it is beneficial if you have a web-based email address; ie. one you can check from the computer lab at the centre.

Thursdays 7pm to 9pm
5 weeks – 3 Mar to 31 March
Cost $110 (Early Bird Special $99)

Check the Waiheke Community Education site for more information and to sign up for the course.

http://waihekecommed.co.nz/

Candidates for Waiheke Community Board 2010 | Waiheke Radio

2010-09-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

Candidates for Waiheke Community Board 2010 | Waiheke Radio

I think that this is the result of handing in my Masters thesis /case study December 09 on, "Community Radio on Waiheke Island"

Dehumidifiers and Social Media

2010-08-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Waiheke Radio, of which I am a volunteer, experienced some flooding last week during the big rain which also caused slips all over the island. With all the electrical equipment, computers, etc., in the studio it was imperative that we started drying the place out as quickly as possible in order to avoid further damage. The few industrial dehumidifiers that were available at the local hire store were already rented out, so we turned to the community via our social media channels to see if we could borrow a few household dehumidifiers to start the process off. First I tweeted the request on our Waiheke Radio twitter account, which then updated Facebook although we also independently made an update on our Facebook Page. Within minutes I had two donations via Twitter and the Facebook page attracted a couple more. The community and our own volunteers quickly had 9 dehumidifiers up and running in the station in a matter of hours.

Case Study: Emma Hughes Photography

2010-07-28T02:03:00.000-07:00

We recently helped Emma Hughes Photography develop an online social media presence. Emma wanted to develop a Facebook business page but without adding too much extra work to her already busy schedule as a popular wedding photographer. Emma was already a steady blogger on her Wordpress blog, http://www.weddingsonwaiheke.co.nz so rather than recreate content on both platforms we integrated her Facebook page with her blog using a Facebook application that automatically posts her blog updates to her Facebook page wall. In the process we also secured a Twitter account which is automatically updated as well. We also looked at how her blog could be more easily shared across multiple platforms by her readers and installed the AddThis set of icons as well as the Facebook Like widget.

In the three weeks since starting her Facebook Page Emma has attracted 69 fans to the page and is starting to gain some valuable insights into the demographics of her Facebook visitors. Many people may not be aware that Facebook pages also come with an "insights" page that tracks the age and sex of visitors to your page as well as country of origin and other consumption metrics such as media consumption (pictures, video, etc.) Since starting a Facebook page, Facebook is now the third top traffic referrer to her blog, although this traffic does have a fairly high bounce rate according to Google Analytics. This is probably not of too much concern as it might be in other sites, because this is a blog and readers might be expected to only read the story they have been referred to from the post that appears on her Facebook wall.

The above process is a relatively standard and straight forward configuration and works well for people or businesses that are already blogging. If you would like more information on how to set this type of arrangement up for your small business or enterprise please contact us.

Community managers, who needs em?

2010-06-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

A good indicator for the settling of social media into the workplace is the fact that there are now numerous job titles and descriptions describing work within the online landscape. These terms are slowly becoming commonplace amongst recruiters and large organisations with significant consumer bases and marketing budgets. The first one I remember coming across, and one that is increasingly prevalent amongst the job sites, is community manager. There is a lot of conversation around about just what a community manager is, but Jeremy Owyang (one of the originators of the term), outlines some features of the role like this:

Listen
Respond
Inform
Shut up and sit back
Listen more

This is an iterative process, and to me describes a conversation between people in an online community that is sustained over time. The fact that there are now organisations willing to pay people to attend to this type of work online should reveal just how serious these organisations are taking the new media.

This is all fine though if you are a large organisation with marketing money to spare, but what if you are one of the thousands of small businesses trying to reach people who are increasingly spending more and more time online searching for products or services? What characteristics does one require to be a community manager, and do you need to worry?

Firstly, I'd say you need to question whether your type of business, service, or product is one that has some kind of community mulling around it. Wine for example is an industry that absolutely flourishes in online conversations. The amount of blog posts and twitter activity about Waiheke and wine for example are huge and my http://www.twitter.com/waihekeisland account is constantly being followed by wine commentators just because of the association of Waiheke to wine. This is because wine is a conversational community; the very product itself is associated with the art of conversation.

So if you have a product or are in an industry that might attract something of a community around it, or if you are fiercely promoting a specific brand, then perhaps exploring further these characteristics and seeing how you might be able to perform these functions online could be well worth it. A lot of it is about being firstly being able to find the conversations, track them, and integrate yourself into already pre-existing communities and discussions. Twitter for example is a great way to find out what people are saying about a brand or a market, but also a Google blog search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) is a great way to lead you in the right direction.

If you need help getting there, feel free to contact us as well, or post your questions to the Waiheke Social Media Facebook Page.

Waiheke Social Media

2010-05-30T01:50:00.000-07:00

Waiheke Social Media will be a source of information and a service to help Waihekians undersand, utilize, and make the best out of the new social media.

There is a lot of hype around the term social media at the moment, but the idea is here to stay and is highly relevant to our communities, the way we work, and the way we play. The impact of the internet is expansive and its potential in all aspects of life can not be ignored.

The idea for helping islanders understand the landscape and use of social media came out of a course I taught at the Waiheke Community Education Centre on using Wordpress to create websites. In that course many people were becoming very curious about how blogging, RSS, and things like Twitter and Flickr could be used together to form online identities, establish community, or market a business enterprise. These people were not geeks or techies by any stretch of the imagination. They were ordinary people from a wide variety of backgrounds who all lived on Waiheke.

Our aim WSM is to help the people we currently know best: Waihekians. We believe that online media doesn't mean the end of conversations on the beach, in the supermarket, or with friends over a bottle of our fantastic local wine. So in the coming months we'll be blogging (here), working on a Facebook page, and Tweeting about social media and Waiheke Island - listen in.

If you require more personal hands-on assistance on setting up and learning about how social media can help your community business or organisation, please take a look at our Services page.