Tuesday 25 March 2014

Sometimes social media platforms can make you look silly...

    

  

Recently we presented to a client about making the most of LinkedIn's functionality and the various features they should be using on the platform. This week some of that information is completely redundant; LinkedIn is making a change to the company pages having announced the Products and Services tab is to disappear on the 14th April. 

So there we were demonstrating the fatBuzz LinkedIn Products and Services tab with a complete list of services, healthy impressions and some good recommendations only to discover it is being dropped later this month. Read more from LinkedIn here...


The problem with social media marketing is knowing where to concentrate your efforts and we've long said the hub of your social media marketing activity should be on a platform that you own and control. There are many tools and platforms out there that will help extend the reach of your message but you should take whatever steps you can to 'future proof' your investment by syndicating content to them rather than creating the content on them.

The changes to LinkedIn means we will lose the recommendations we have on the Products and Services tabs; LinkedIn say we can recover them by copying them to our own document before the 14th April - not really a great result!  

The advice from LinkedIn is to use Showcase Pages in future. Showcase pages are intended to extend your presence on LinkedIn by featuring specific aspects of your business, they are intended for long-term engagement rather than to promote short-term events or campaigns. Read more about LinkedIn Showcase Pages here... 

To promote short-term campaigns you should use Company Updates. You can post and share items like company news, promotions, relevant industry articles, SlideShare presentations, and Vimeo and YouTube videos. Read more about Company Updates here...

The topic of the April New Media Breakfasts is "Choosing the right tools" where we will be looking at how to decide which tools are best suited to your goals; as part of this we will be looking at what you can do to limit the impact of sudden changes to social media platforms and the functionality they offer.
You can find out more about the New Media Breakfast presentations here...

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Thursday 20 March 2014

Should selfies be part of your social media strategy?

    

  

The humble selfie, the act of photographing yourself, typically with a smartphone and uploaded to a social media website, has never been more in vogue.

Named as word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013, selfies hit the headlines earlier this month after Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres' became the most retweeted photograph ever.

However, over the last few days, you will undoubtedly have seen more selfies than ever appearing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

That’s because social media users have been posting 'no makeup' selfies, along with the hashtag #nomakeupselfie, provoking an 'impromptu fundraising campaign'.

Now, whether or not the trend is truly about raising awareness, or if it is indeed vanity thinly veiled as philanthropy, there can be no doubt that it has had a significant effect; cancer charities have seen a surge of donations as a direct result of the campaign.

But it’s not just charities who can benefit from selfies; many companies, large and small, can do so too.

We have previously discussed Dove’s social media experiments on the fatBuzz blog, and in 2013, they embraced the selfie as part of its #BeautyIs campaign. The video, which you can view below, aimed to explore how social media is shaping the way the we perceive beauty.


Perhaps one of the biggest selfie success stories was when South African retailer, Urban Hilton Weiner, gave visitors to their store a $10 coupon if they tweeted a selfie of themselves trying on some clothes and used the hashtag #urbanselfie.

Closer to home, Tennent’s Lager’s SelfTie campaign encouraged users to take pictures of themselves with their favourite red T and share it with Tennent’s for the chance to win a VIP trip to Wellpark Brewery or an iPad Mini.


One of our clients, Go Coco, regularly invites its fans to upload selfies using the hashtag #GoCocoSelfie or #GoCocoNuts, while we even got in on the act, sending our clients a Valentine's Day red nose (as opposed to a red rose...), before asking them to upload their selfie online using the hashtag #fatBuzzLovesYou.



So, how can selfies actually help your business? And should they be part of your social media strategy?

Well, encouraging fan engagement is, or at least it should be, one of the most important aspects of social media marketing.

And with Facebook’s reach decreasing almost daily, why not take this simple opportunity to raise awareness, and importantly, increase the reach of your brand, by encouraging your community to upload photos with your product?

By encouraging your community to promote your brand or organisation via the simple mechanism of uploading selfies, you will increase engagement, and maintain your fan base. But not only that, with the average adult Facebook user having 338 friends, embracing the selfie revolution could help you spread your message, and in turn your brand, even further.

What are your thoughts on selfies? Have you ever considered encouraging your community to upload them in order to raise awareness of your business? Let us know by commenting below, or by getting in touch on Facebook or Twitter; even better, send us a selfie!

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Sunday 2 March 2014

Social Media Podcast 63 - Meilee Anderson explains a high level of engagement on Facebook



Play the podcast here:

In Social Media Podcast Edition No.63, Gordon White chats to Meilee Anderson, Sales & Marketing Director at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Washington. 

Meilee is a regular contributor to the Social Media Podcast who keeps us up to date with social media related news stories from the USA.  We thought it would be good to catch up with Meilee to find out more about her own role.

Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad is a non profit tourist attraction primarily operating in the Spring and Summer with some special events at key times of the year.  One of the things we were keen to discuss with Meilee is the high level of engagement the Facebook page achieves, even when the railroad isn't operating.

During the discussion Meilee is very generous in sharing what she does to engage her fans and how she engages people on Facebook.

However, it's not all about Facebook and Meilee is happy to chat through some of the other things they are doing, these include:
  • Pinterest and Instagram - Meilee's pleasure at the way these platforms have fitted into her marketing activities
  • Pete Waterman's London & North Western Railway Heritage Company - Might he make a good guest blogger?
  • Blogging - The importance of creating a platform you own and control
  • Influence Marketing - Why Meilee thinks politicians and elected officials may by useful allies
  • WhatsApp - What's the chat in the USA?
  • Facebook Reach - Why it's going to get even more challenging to achieve a good reach for your content on Facebook
  • The Voice USA - How the hit TV show is using Twitter on screen during the show
Some relevant Links:
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Facebook
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad web site
Meilee Anderson on LinkedIn
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Twitter
Mt Rainer Scenic Railroad on Instagram
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Pinterest

We hope you enjoy the podcast, please also share it with your friends and colleagues, you can do so using the share buttons at the top of bottom of this post.

We would also like you to Like the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad Facebook page where you can track the progress of what Meilee is doing to engage fans and build a relevant community. Visit the Facebook page
Play the podcast here:



Would you like a presentation on social media and customer service?
We're offering a range of bespoke or generic presentations on the topic of social media and customer service, if you would like to find out more please go to the following link: Are you prepared to lose control?

Have you listened to the digital copyright podcast?
We continue to see people using images, video content and other files taken from the internet without consideration to potential copyright issues. We would encourage all of our listeners to download Social Media Podcast 50 which clearly outlines what you should and shouldn't do with images sourced online. Find it on iTunes now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT?

If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover in a future podcast please let us know. You can email gordon@fatbuzz.com or send us a message on Twitter @MediaPodcast or, you can post it as a comment on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.


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