Police Embrace Social Media

I was watching morning news program when they went to a live media conference about a siege in Sydney. All I could focus on was the well placed “f” and”t that most people these days recognise as logos for Facebook and Twitter.

Great to see the NSW Police are embracing Social Media and using it on their “promo” materials…something we are constantly telling our clients to do – put your Twitter, Facebook, blog links on everything that will be seen by clients, colleagues and potential clients – email signatures, brochures, business cards, websites.

To Plan Or Not To Plan?

I came across a discussion post today on LinkedIn group Social Media for Non Profit Organizations which asked whether it was wise to plan what you post on Facebook, Twitter etc or do you post what’s on your mind at the time?

It is important to create some sort of Content/Editorial Plan that lists potential content ideas for all of your Social Media platforms to get the mind thinking about specific things to post and to create engagement and discussion.

For our clients we use Lois Kelly‘s Nine Block Conversation Planner which they found very useful and most of the time come up stories and content that they hadn’t thought about before. It is amazing how many times we ask our client for content ideas and they get stuck on the typical marketing babble. When they have clearly defined areas to think about such as David vs Goliath and Glitz and Glam, they can, most of the time, come up with loads of content.

We then convey that into a Content Plan, which is particularly handy if there is more than one person at the organisation that is posting to their Social Media platforms.

In saying that it is also a good idea to post things, when relevant, that may not have been included in an original plan.

More than anything though when posting anything to your Social Media platforms you need to do it regularly and make sure you are genuine and authentic.

Learning from Stephanie Rice

Having worked with Olympic Silver Medallist Tatiana Grigorieva for a number of years, I learnt quickly how an everyday athlete can turn into a media superstar overnight. After her silver medal win at the Sydney Olympics, everyone wanted to know about her and she quickly became an instant covergirl. It was therefore very important to portray who the real Tatiana was to the media and the public.

At that time there was no such thing as Twitter and Facebook and therefore it was harder for us to portray who she was and really get her personality out there. When she signed up for Dancing With The Stars, we thought the best way for people to get to know her was to blog about her experiences on the show and what was happening behind the scenes.

Now that Social Media platforms such as Twitter are the norm for people and businesses, it is more important than ever to know your brand’s (person or company) message and what you want people to know about you.

Recently, Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice ‘tweeted’ about her excitement over the Wallabie’s win against South Africa. In the heat of the moment she chose to use an offensive word in her tweet which has caused major controversy.

She is now in the media for all the wrong reasons and has been dropped by her sponsor, Jaguar. But it only highlights the need to be aware of your personal brand and how you want people to see you.

And we can learn from what has happened. For a business, it is important to develop your brand’s message and personality and work out strategies for how you are going to convey that on Social Media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

News-making Tweets

News-making Tweets

The Huffington Post has recently posted their list of the 11 most memorable news-making tweets which is a reminder of how powerful Twitter is in providing up-to-date information and quite often reporting the news in real-time well before TV stations and newspapers.

Probably the one of the most memorable that comes to mind is a tweet about the Hudson River crash where a by-stander tweets “I just watched a plane crash into the Hudson River”. The Huffington Post also includes a NASA astronaut tweeting from space, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and the Haiti earthquake.

Yes, Twitter is great for finding out what is being said about your company/your industry as well as a facility to provide your clients, prospects etc with articles and information but we find one of the best ways to use Twitter is as a search tool to get real-time results what people are talking about, the latest articles and resources in your field and of course on what’s making news.

Facebook Fans more likely to buy

Facebook Fans more likely to buy

New US findings from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate published on eMarketer.com show that social networking users are more inclined to purchase from brands that they are a Fan/Follower of.

It also found that 60% of respondents claimed that being a Facebook Fan of a brand increased the chances that they would recommend that brand to a friend. Twitter followers were nearly eight in ten.

Research was also undertaken in to why users become fans of a brand in the first place. Top reasons were:

• Receive discounts and promotions
• They are a customer already
• Show others their support or likeness
• It’s fun and entertaining
• First to know information
• Gain exclusive content

These new findings certainly show that not only is it important to have a Fan page for your brand but that you need to provide users with something they can’t get anywhere else like special promotions and exclusive content for them  to click that “Become a Fan” button.

Are Australians Finally Getting Social Media?

For a while now we realised that Australian companies were not understanding the power of Social Media and how it could generate business for them, increase their brand awareness and better their relationship with consumers/clients.

Well hopefully the new results from Nielsen’s 2010 Social Media Report will convince them even more that this is where the future of doing business, of building a brand and of interacting with consumers lies.

Whilst the results show increases in social networking site usage more importantly it shows that nearly two in five Australians are now interacting with companies via social networking sites such as Facebook which “reinforces notions that Australians are open to engaging brands and companies online” (Nielsen Online).

The Report also found that nearly nine in ten Australians are looking to “their fellow Internet users for opinions and information about products, services and brands. According to Nielsen Online’s Research Director Melanie Ingrey, Australian engagement with online word-of-mouth communication is going to increase in coming years as Social Media plays an increasingly important role in consumer decision making.

So do you want to miss on this worldwide phenomenon and amazing resource. There may even be a whole community of people that are talking about your company, your products, your industry – good or bad – without you even knowing…do you want to be left behind?

It’s time to practice what I teach…again!

Flickr: SOCIALisBETTER

Well well well…how bad am I. I haven’t blogged since November!!

I have been so busy working on Social Media plans of my clients that I haven’t had enough time to write for my own blog. When clients now say they don’t have enough time to blog or Facebook, I will understand! But I am learning from my mistakes..

We are now putting together what we call a Social Media Playbook for our clients so that they can make time to be a part of Social Media.

In my readings over the last year there has been a lot of criticism for people calling themselves “Social Media Experts”. I have now realised that it’s not about being an expert it’s about continuing to learn. And it’s not about preaching it’s about teaching.

So that’s where our Playbook comes into it. Instead of spending time on “doing” all the aspects of Social Media for our clients (eg. updating their Facebook Fan Page), we are compiling our knowledge and sharing it with our clients. We are becoming their Social Media Coaches…and it’s seems to working.

One case is a client who didn’t know a lot about Facebook etc but knew it was important and was willing to learn. After spending a bit of time with them and being available to answer any question they had, they are now Twittering, Facebooking and blogging away and getting results.

So as we keep compiling, I’ll keep sharing what we learn here. And it won’t be long before another post. I promise!

Public Relations & Social Media: Important tools for 2010

A survey undertaken by Vertical Response in the US found that small business owners ranked PR and social media marketing amongst the most important tools for success in 2010.

More than two thirds of respondents planned to increase their use of email marketing and social media next year.

Whilst the respondents of this survey were US small businesses, in Australia, and Adelaide particularly, we are starting to see more businesses understanding how important social media can be to their business as it is not only cost-effective and easy to use but a great way to communicate directly with customers, prospects and key influencers.

Some of our new clients we are putting social media strategies together for include Internet Television broadcasters AustraliaLiveTV, real estate company Brock Harcourts and financial planners Hedges Asset Planning.

More youth Twittering

According to an eMarketer article new research has shown that more young people are using Twitter. Pew Internet and American Life Project results show 33% of online adults aged 18-29 use a status updating service such as Twitter.

The 30 – 49 age group, who had previously been considered the core group for Twitter were at 22%.  This coincides with a previous survey from Sysomos that showed 66% if users who disclosed their ages on Twitter were under 25.

Perhaps this is because Twitter and Facebook etc have become part of pop culture with regular mentions on hit TV shows in the US and Australia such as Ellen and Rove as well as being used increasingly by young celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.

Personally I have also found there to be an increasing number of younger people using Facebook. My sisters at 18 and 20 are now heavy users of Facebook, as are their friends, where as before they would only use MySpace. Again this probably has something to do with the increased profile amongst celebrities their age and on TV shows aimed at them. But it also shows an increase in the statistics too.

Check Facebook shows that the highest age demographics using Facebook is 18 – 34. Previously the fastest growing demographic was 35+.

 

Have seen a shift with MySpace and Facebook as well. Before MySpace was the place to be if you were young now it seems that Facebook is taking over. My sisters at 18 and 20 and all there friends have now embraced Facebook and are regular users. Which is prved in tthenumbers. CheckFacebook.com shows that in Australia that the highest users are the ages between 18 and 34.

Farmers Union toughens up. Now can we?

Picture: Matt Turner, The Advertiser

Came across a news piece the other day in The Advertiser about the new ad campaign for Farmers Union Ice Coffee. The slogan “We’ve toughened the F.U.I.C up” has received complaints about the use of offensive language. It stands for Farmers Union Ice Coffee and is promoting their new plastic bottles.

Under the Australian Association of National Advertisers code of ethics, strong or obscene language should be avoided, and that the board would consider the advertisement at its next meeting.

Pardon me but when has FUIC been an obscene word or even a word at all? Yes we all know what word it is similar too but they haven’t actually used THAT word. So how can it be offensive?

Are they now going to ban fashion giant French Connection UK from using FCUK and particularly using it on tshirts (“too busy to fcuk “) to imply the naughty word! However it certainly getting us talking about the ad.

I think it is about time people toughened up. Yes it’s meant to be a play on words but it is also meant to be a bit of a laugh.

In the same way that Vegemite iSnack2.0 got us talking, the question really is, is it making people go into a shop and buy the stuff rather than just getting written about in traditional media and online.

It’s clever. It’s witty. And it has gotten people talking about the brand. Only time will tell if it gets them buying too.