This one is tricky – and there’s actually no right or wrong answer. As an interim social media manager for my company (I cover every Friday when Anna’s off) I can see it from both sides. I’ll start with the business perspective – and I’m just going to come right out and say you’d be crazy not to go for a retweet.

In general, customers are pretty terrible at giving feedback, let alone positive feedback, so you need to seize the opportunity and get the praise out there! Come on now, it’s not every day your customers actually get on Twitter to sing your praises is it? And how can it be a bad thing for your followers? Surely they want to know that your company’s doing great and getting the praise it deserves?

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/begley

OK, now we’ve got a very clear business perspective, it’s time to look at it from a follower perspective. And this is where it gets complicated. You see, from a customer perspective, my opinion changes completely. As a prospective customer, I want to know that a company’s getting great testimonials (particularly if they’re not particularly huge) but I can’t stop myself from cringing when I see a business retweeting a congratulatory tweet. Why? I don’t know – I suppose it just comes across as self-indulgent and a little (dare I say it?)… Narcissistic.

Like I said, it’s not that I don’t want to hear that a company’s doing well, it’s just I don’t want it shoving in my face. I suppose it all comes back to the showing off days of the playground – it just feels like the company in question is bragging about getting top marks in the latest arithmetic test or getting a glowing report on parent’s evening. There’s something just a little bit arrogant about this sort of tweet that rubs me up the wrong way… and it’s just downright annoying.

Hmm, I said it was complicated! So what should you do? Just like anything else with social media, I think it’s all about striking a balance and making sure you present things in the right way. There’s nothing wrong with retweeting selected praise – just make sure that’s not all you tweet! Similarly, if you do choose to share your praise, make sure to do it in a humble way – for example, you could add your own intro to the RT – something like “Thrilled to hear some great feedback ”. This will go some way towards offsetting the arrogance that could come with this kind of tweet.

I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Do you have differing views when you’re a business owner and customer or are you all for it? Let us know!

The post Retweeting A Compliment: Bragging Or Brand Building? appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Online collaboration – how things used to be

It’s worth remembering that this phenomenom of posting updates as public messages directly onto somebody else’s profile directly is a fairly recent development, coming into being organically on Myspace (remember that?). Before this, meaningful (and not so meaningful) interaction on the web was conducted in interest specific conclaves, whether that was on messageboards or newsgroups. Discussions lived or died depending on the ethusiasm for a particular topic, with people establishing a presence over time based on their contributions… not solely on a single point of reference as is the case with a Facebook style profile.

If, however, people have largely migrated from group discussion platforms towards those that are more individual-centric, then what’s so different about communities in G+? The answer isn’t anything terribly earth shattering. Quite simply, Google have managed to create a system that’s fully integrated into the other services that we find ourselves using daily, and actually managed to make it a pleasant experience.

Facebook groups – a social network failure

Whatever Facebook have managed to do well, its interface is not one of them. Infact, it’s often horrible to use. Posting is clunky, uploading pictures is temperamental at the best of times, search seems to operate on rules known only to itself, and the feeble implementation of a group feature has proven to be particularly arduous to use. In stark contrast, Google Communities have a slick, streamlined design that actually worksand makes posting and keeping track of a team workflow incredibly straightforward. This is especially true if you use Gmail, where comments can be made directly from within notification emails. Google have taken the best bits of the old collaborative approaches of the Internet and coupled it with the benefits offered by the social network model.

Don’t underestimate Google

Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is to assume that with the creation of G+, Google was just trying to re-invent the wheel and take on Facebook directly at their own game. This clever shift from the profile and status of the individual (at least for collaboration if not necessarily publishing) might well prove to be key to its success, as groups find out the advantages that it offers.

Image used under Creative Commons License – Stuart Maxwell.

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The post Being won over by Google+ Communities appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Picmonkey

Seattle-based Picmonkey has been a favourite of mine since Picnic bit the Google-buyout bullet. It has some similar features to Picnic (which is now the Picasa photo editor) but is constantly releasing new features and filters. Beyond basic edits and touch ups you can add text, borders, graphic overlays and filter effects. My current favourite is the Ombre effect which does this jazzy blue (you can change the colour) fade business.

While I have a subscription that gives me access to every feature, this is more than enough to keep you happy for free as well. They also have a pretty sweet Facebook app that allows you to edit photos pulled straight from your FB albums.

Collages

Picmonkey also a handy collage tool that lets you upload multiple photos and lay them out using preloaded templates. Great for product shots and events.

Pixlr

Totally free and 3 options depending on how creative you want to get with your photo wizardry.

Pixlr-o-matic

Not quite as amazing as their mobile app, Pixlr-o-matic still has plenty of game going on. You can upload a photo, apply effects and add overlays and borders. They have quite a few options to play around with, especially if you’re going for bright and playful photos. My only complaint is that the 1:1 cropping function doesn’t allow you to edit what portion of the photo is being cropped. When that’s an issue, I crop photos before uploading them to the app.

Express

Express is basically the web version of their sweet mobile app which means you can apply cool effects like this:

You can also apply text and make basic adjustments. It’s a great feature for someone who likes to play around but isn’t comfortable using more Photoshop-like tools.

Editor

To me, Editor feels very similar to some open source photo-editing programs. You can create new images, edit using layers, paint, burn, dodge, blur and a number of other tools that will be familiar to Photoshop users. One small drawback is not being able to resize an image that you open as a new layer. Though, it is possible that I just haven’t figured out how to do that yet.

Do you have a favourite photo editing app that you’d like to share? Leave a comment and let us know what it is!

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The post Three Online Photo Editing Apps Reviewed appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Two reasons – 1. Because you don’t want to make an uninformed decision that will spectacularly backfire on you and 2. Because (and this is where it gets a bit psychological – so hang on!) you want to assume the correct behaviour for a given situation. No, I’m not kidding you – this is known as ‘social proof’ and is actually all around us.

Also known as informational social influence, social proof is a phenomenon where people follow the actions of others, believing they’re following the right course of behaviour for the particular situation. In a way, social proof is a type of conformity – it’s all to do with following the crowd – because if the majority of consumers are doing it, then in theory it must be the right course of action.

Why Use Social Proof?

Now, social proof might sound a bit like some kind of freaky-deaky mind control and a blatant marketing and conversion ploy that you’d never fall for… but you’d be surprised! Retailers use social proof every day to influence our behaviour – in most cases they do it so suitably that we’re not even aware we’re being manipulated at all!

If you’re an online retailer, social proof can be a great tactic for gently nudging customers towards your more expensive products, encouraging them to add more products to their baskets and encouraging them to upgrade to a more expensive service.

How Can You Use Social Proof?

Social proof can take many different forms and most are pretty easy to implement. I’ll give you some examples so you can work out which is the right tactic for your site:

1. Targeted reviews: Targeted reviews that list key profile information like gender, age and location can help consumers to make a psychological connection with previous customers that have a similar profile to them – reaffirming that the product is relevant and is the right choice for them as a consumer.

2. Best Sellers: I mentioned this one earlier but creating a ‘best sellers’ list is a great social proof ploy that lets potential customers know that these products are selling like hot cakes so they must be great! Think about it; would you be more likely to buy something from a ‘best sellers’ list or a bargain basement bin…

3. “Customers Also Bought”: Used by Amazon and Co, the old “customers also bought” trick is great for nudging customers into adding extra items into their baskets. Why? Because they don’t want to feel like they’re not doing the right thing and missing out.

4. Recent Orders/Last Purchases: The old ‘recent orders’ ploy plays on a customer’s belief that if another customer recently purchased that product (in the last few minutes/hours/weeks), then it must be a good product that’s relevant today. This ploy is used on lots of hotel sites where places are limited and rooms need to booked.

Do you know of any businesses cleverly using social proof or do you use social proof yourself? Let us know!

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The post What is Social Proof and How Do I Use It? appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

They made a change to the admin panel

No, your eyes are not deceiving you! This revolutionary change will make your Facebook Page experience so much better. No, it actually won’t. A small change, but one that a number of blogs deemed it necessary to report. Do we really need digital column inches devoted to such tiny things? I don’t think so. If you use Pages, you would notice the change as soon as you log in. Talk about being desperate to publish something, anything about Facebook. It doesn’t stop there, we see numerous blog posts about little changes to the multitude of other social media platforms. We use them and we notice these things. I think I’ll start blogging about the weather changing as it happens. Oh wait, people can just look out the window. Same thing.

Image via thoughtcatalogue.com. Text by me.

While I’m at it…

Removing the focus away from new notifications in the admin panel and replacing it with post reach figures and the option to promote those posts is does not have the user’s best interests in mind. Ah wait, it’s Facebook, I forgot, they don’t give a wham ban thank-you mam about their users. I want to be able to load up on one of my Pages and immediately see the user activity, no be urged to give Zuck and co more millions. Desperate attempt for further monetisation? You bet. Now, that angle may have been worth reporting.

Just one more thing

I think the digital marketing blogging world needs to up its game in general. That’s another rant for another day though.

Am I wrong? Do we actually need to hear about these changes via a blog other than find them out for ourselves? Tell me! Don’t hold back!

Follow @mike_mcgrail

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The post Friday Freak Out – Stop The Desperation to Blog About Facebook appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Businesses need to choose either a direct sales approach, leading straight to a sale with no need for further endorsement, or self-promotion, showcasing their knowledge and skills to generate leads and do the selling bit later, the traditional way – face-to-face.

In most cases social media is best used to generate leads, or send traffic to your website where you get a chance to do this again. Producing great content that your audience wants to read will help you do this.

For example, you can use social media to build trust by giving away valuable content and offering free advice. By doing this you will give your audience a reason to engage, and continue conversation, until you ask them for that all-important face-to-face meeting.

If you are unable to meet them face-to face then Skype is your friend.

Top 6 Tips for Generating Leads via Social Media.

LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn has an Answers section. Dive right in and answer questions that LinkedIn users have about your specialty, and if your answer is voted the best answer you will gain a point of expertise.

Who has recently seen your profile ~ LinkedIn

One of the best features on LinkedIn is the ‘who viewed your profile’ section. Check if these users are a good target for your products and services, if they are then reach out to them, if not then find out how they came about your profile and try to build a relationship with them anyway, you never know when you might need their help in the future!

Who’s viewed your profile on LinkedIn

Twitter Questions

Add this handy bit of code to your Twitter search bar and change the keyword to something more specific to your products or services -http ? “accounting software”. Adding this code will generate all the questions being asked throughout Twitter on that subject. The idea is, if someone has a question then they might have a problem, and if they have a problem that you can answer, it will help you generate more leads.

Twitter Questions

InboxQ is similar, but this service searches for more than one keyword and will save you having to do multiple searches on Twitter. There is a Chrome extension or you can install the plugin to your HootSuite dashboard.

Create compelling content that people will share

Whilst this is easier said than done, once you get the hang of it you will reap the rewards. Even if your content isn’t great to start with you will be creating more unique content than most businesses and your content will get better with practice.

Share tips, help guides and cheat sheets

Create a landing page offering a cheat sheet or help guide in return for an email, name and telephone number at a push. If someone responds to a great tip then ask if they need more help.

Post regularly, including weekends

I recommend you post at least once a day on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and at least 4 times a day on Twitter, if not more.  Spread the messages throughout the day, as your posts won’t stay long in people’s news feeds.  If you’re not posting you’re less likely to receive any leads. Use a tool like HootSuite, Sprout Social or Buffer to schedule your messages at different times throughout the day and week.

Use your leads to sell the traditional way.

The saying “people buy from people” is a great saying but you need to show results and this is where a face-to-face meeting is crucial.

Face to face meeting. Image courtesy of Muddy Bones on Flickr

When selling over the phone, or through online communication, have you ever felt you get lost, or believe the job is in the bag when it turns out you were flogging a dead horse? During a face-to-face meeting, body language, posture and facial expressions come into play and will tell you how serious the lead is about you and your product. Better still, if you have managed to get them to the meeting through your social media efforts then chances are a trust has already built between you and your current prospect.

Instead of spending lots of money on low quality leads consider using social media to generate leads and meetings. Face-to-face meetings generally have a higher conversion rate because you get a chance to show your knowledge and passion for your business or company.

Once you master this you will be able to fill your week with meetings and generate more sales.

What other ways can we use social media to generate more face-to-face meetings? And do you believe in the power of face-to-face?

Steven

Follow @seftonmedia

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The post Top 6 Tips for Generating Leads via Social Media appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Since that happened, the search I have set-up for my name (a must have thing for all people that create content) over on mention.net has been inundated with alerts showing me the plethora (one of the best words ever, that and discombobulated) of other websites and blogs that have taken the post from SMT (quite possibly automatically in many cases – that doesn’t make it any better) and whacked it up on their site. You may be thinking ‘what you freakin’ freakin’ out about Mike, surely that is great for your personal brand?!? It isn’t great. Why?

• Many of the sites are of a quality that is of the horse-shit variety and I don’t want my name associated with them
• Sites that cover beauty, cars, and celeb news have put the post on their site – where is the chuffing relevance?
• They never, ever provide a link to me or the original post. Some even make it look as if it is their work
• Nobody ever asks if they can do it. That’s what really gets my goat. Have you met my goat? His name is Trevor.

Trevor.

STOP IT YOU ROBBING SEWER MONKEYS!!! IF YOU DON’T, TREVOR WILL TAKE YOU DOWN, DOWN TO CHINA TOWN.

I could go after all of these sites and ask them to remove the content, but funnily enough, I don’t have the time. Over 100 sites in this instance! In the majority of cases this amounts to breach of copyright. The thing is, I wouldn’t be that fussed, as long as they attributed the posts correctly and at a push, had a link.

What can be done about it? Probably not that much without a hell of a lot of work and time. Is your content getting ripped off across the web? How does it make you feel?

Mike

p.s. I’m not blaming SMT for any of this.

Follow @mike_mcgrail

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Goat image courtesy of kkirugi on Flickr and used under creative commons. Trevor is his mate.

The post Friday Freak Out – Stop Stealing My Freakin’ Blog Posts!!! appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Increasingly, the extent to which we have established an online identity is being given ‘real world’ importance. Standing alongside other tenets such as practical experience, or expertise on a particular topic, a wide-ranging and well connected network is often seen as an almost equally significant indicator of somebody worth paying attention to.

You and whose army?

This is evident in the way in which individuals and organisations are increasingly responding to criticisms differently online. Whether it’s down to Klout or clout, those dissenting opinions that would once have been dismissed as just another voice in a sea of many are now commanding greater consideration than ever before.

We’ve all felt the familiar feeling of indignant rage when a company badly lets us down, and can probably bring to mind more than one occasion where we’ve not only vowed to personally never give the perpetrators another penny, but also to make sure all of our friends and family don’t either. This sort of threat to move with your feet must seem fairly empty to those sitting on the other side of a complaint, and not too long ago there were questions about whether brands had given up on customer service completely, with the belief that disgruntled customers would never have any really effect on attrition.

However, whilst it might well be easy to ‘overlook’ an email from a faceless person, things take on a slightly different dynamic when the person who raises an issue does so publicly… and even more so when they come with a fully developed digital persona, along with hundreds (thousands?) of followers who are arguably more loyal to them than to you.

‘You and whose army?’

‘err, well… this one.’

‘Real-world’ impact

There’s more to this than consumer interactions though. It’s not just retailers or other corporate entities that are beginning to take one’s online presence as a mark of status though. Whilst it’s perhaps fairly obvious (or inevitable) that that category would have an interest in keeping influencers happy, the more interesting shift is how this is transposing into different spectrums of life. One of the most clear examples of this in practice is that of the legal action against Twitter users proposed by Lord McAlpine over alleged defamation. Whilst there are a whole host of questions raised by this in of itself (such as what it actually means to retweet), the later decision to drop all action against those users with 500 followers was just as, if not more, significant. Here we seemingly have a recognition, or at least a belief, that those users online with well a well established presence have an abilitiy to genuinely influence and impact others.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future. As use of such networks becomes ubiquitous and second nature, will this continue? For now though, it seems clear that having being held in significant standing online is filtering through to have real-world consequences.

An effective digital presence can be a powerful weapon.

Image used under Creative Commons license – by Alexandre Dulaunoy

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The post Who wants to be an Internet celebrity? appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

1 – Sharpie

Sharpie is a fantastic example. For one thing, they are actually using their product to create some really creative content, yet it doesn’t feel like they’re forcing marketing messages down your throat. They encourage others to get involved and share their own works of art on other platforms (such as Facebook), which helps to create a rounded offering.

2 – Warby Parker

These guys are a relatively new eyeware company, gathering quite an impressive following for such a new company. They’ve been able to showcase their range of glasses without it looking like product placement or a catalogue by showing cool images in interesting settings.

3 – Red Bull

This may not come as a shock, since Red Bull is already known for promoting extreme sports, but the brand have taken that association and have made some really cool and creative Instagram content. They’ve also managed to create their own hashtag to help with the association with the brand (unsurprisingly they use #givesyouwings). But thankfully they only use one hashtag so it doesn’t look like they’re trying too hard.

4 – Lego

This may not come as a shock to some because this is the perfect platform for a company like Lego. Much like Sharpie, they are able to create some amazing stuff using their product (and of course Lego is all about creativity), which, again much like Sharpie, encourages other’s to share their own creations.

5 – Starbucks

There has been a lot of positive things said about Starbucks use of Instagram but to be fair it is justified. What makes them great is the fact they let their followers control the content. Most of the images that Starbucks create are suggestions sent to them by their followers. Not only are Starbucks able to create come brilliant content but they are also actively joining in on the conversation, which is one of the key aims of a business using social media in the first place.

Of course, this is a tiny sample of the businesses that are building their brand on Instagram. Other brands like Adidas, Burberry and Virgin America are great examples of impressive use of Instagram and no doubt there will be many other smaller companies who are showing off their creative flair!

What brands do you enjoy following on Instagram? Let us know in the comments!

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The post 5 Brands Making Great Use of Instagram appeared first on The Social Penguin Blog.

Instagram is pretty neat. Big audience, cool features, hell, it has even had the pre-requisite privacy controversy. You do see some pretty awesome shots on there, scenery, fixie bikes (!) and buildings. The filters allow us all to be that little bit creative, even ‘quirky’. So why in the name of the big man floating in the sky, use it to punish our eyeballs with these common Instagram abominations…?

Number One – The ‘Selfie’

‘Wow, I am so hot right now, I better twist my arm around and take a shot of myself and share it with the world!’

NO!!! Stop right there. We don’t care. We really, really don’t care. Even if you take multiple shots and add them into a frame thingy. Look at all those freakin’ hashtags! #give #it #a #rest #please! We can see what you look like in your profile picture. That is enough. Are you really so insecure that you need a bunch of people you’ve never met to tell you how fantastic you look? Please stop it. Give us something truly great to look at, other than a pourous close up of your nose.

My selfie was so boring, I fell asleep. #checkmeout #likemyface #tellmeimawesome

Numero Deux – Here’s My Lunch

‘Making my lunch, making my lunch, I am awesome and hungry and I’m making my lunch, I can’t wait to show the world my lunch’

STOP!!! Why in the name of the Mary Celeste do you think we want to see what you’re eating? The only way I would potentially want to see what you were eating is if it was something truly remarkable – perhaps you have just wrestled a crocodile to death, skinned and boned it with your bare-hands and prepared the perfect croc steak. Show me that and I’ll ‘like’ the living crap out if it. Show me your sandwich and your coffee and I’ll find a bus to park my body under. It would be more fun.

Check out my lunch. Wow guy, that’s truly remarkable.

Anzahl Drei – Here’s my pet

‘Hello Mr Cuddles, don’t you look cute today, I’m gonna take a photo of you, add a different filter than yesterday and show you to my Instagram followers, they are going to be amazed at your cuddly wuddly face’

OI!!! No! Your cat looks the same in every shot. Just because your pet is your one true companion, that doesn’t mean we all want to see how Mr Cuddles looks in a pair of bunny ears. If it was an actual cat/rabbit mutant hybrid then yes, but your cat looks the same as all cats. One day that cat will remember that it is cousins with a Tiger and claw your thumb off. Try working Instagram then!

I couldn’t find a real cat.

<rant ends>

Please people, show a little creativity! That applies to brands too of course! Please take this post in the fun way it is intended. And yes, I do have the occasional selfie and food-related shot in my Instagram! No cats though. 

Mike

Follow @mike_mcgrail

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