Online Marketing Blog

Next Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, sees the Social Media World Forum Europe event in London. LexisClick will be attending and I can’t wait to spend two days immersed in the social media world.

Social media is a tricky thing for companies, with many not knowing exactly how to use it to best benefit their business. I spend much of my day immersed in social media strategies, but still think I’ll learn a great deal at this event.

A good starting point, the opening session will look at the current state of social media, including what is popular, predictions about social networks of the future, and the growth of mobile social networking. A panel of experts from companies including M&S Direct and Virgin Atlantic Airways, will then attempt to define social media for the next five to ten years, and explore the changing role of social networking’s influence on other media forms across the world.

The second session of the day will look at how to evaluate and integrate social media marketing campaigns into your current marketing strategy. Building and engaging with a community of clients and fans is a key factor in the success, or not, of your social media campaign, and the first afternoon session looks at how social media can help your brand beat the competition, and what future developments in social media mean for your brand. There will also be a panel discussion providing valuable, practical tips for launching, building and managing your brand on a variety of social media platforms.

An often overlooked aspect of social media, games are nevertheless incredibly popular – I know from personal experience that I lose count of how many of my friends and contacts send requests for barns, bricks, cakes etc from popular social media games such as FarmVille or MafiaWars. Apps are another rapidly growing market, both on such sites as Facebook and also for mobiles.

In a session on Niche Networks, Games and Applications, the market for virtual goods and services will be explored, along with how you can use apps to your brand’s advantage.

Day two of the conference examines how social media can generate revenue, how social media can be monetised, and how advertisers can make best use of social networks in their advertising strategy.

The impact of social media for public relations, business to business relationships and in politics will be the focus of the afternoon sessions, and the conference concludes with an attempt to define what social media will be like in the future – will interactions in virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft or Second Life become as important as other social media platforms? What will social networking be like five years from now?

With more than 4,000 attendees already pre-registered, this event is one not to miss if you want to learn more about how social media can help your business.

You can find out more about the conference by clicking this link, and don’t miss our review next week.

Marketing General, Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing, social media strategy

Look before you tweet...

Social Media – everyone’s talking about it. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube make the headlines on a daily basis – for positive and negative reasons. The vast majority of businesses, organisations and community groups have Twitter feeds, Facebook fan pages, LinkedIn profiles or other forms of social media engagement.

However, social media strategy is still somewhat baffling for many businesses, big and small, and social media campaigns remain complex to analyse – the concept of achieving positive ROI from investment in social media is quite alien to many brand owners. The ‘now’ factor of social media is also something many businesses have yet to master – recently Vodafone were forced to apologise, profusely and repeatedly, after a homophobic tweet was sent on their official account by a member of their team.

As soon as it was spotted, the tweet was deleted, but not before it had been screengrabbed, retweeted and repeated across the internet. With social media, someone, somewhere, is always watching, and it’s impossible to cover something tweeted or blogged by mistake because the chances are, someone will have seen your errant message and, especially if it’s juicy, inappropriate or downright offensive, chances are, they’re going to repeat it.

The most important thing when using social media to interact with clients and potential clients is to take a moment to think. Like sending a drunken text message to an old flame, what seems like a good idea in the heat of the moment may not in fact be as fabulous/funny as you think. So before tweeting, pause a moment. Would you say what you’re about to say if your client was sitting in the office in front of you? Would you stand up and say it to a room full of people? And is it on brand with your company’s profile?

Of course, whoever is looking after your social media campaign is only human, and mistakes will happen. Whether it’s in the form of an innocuous typo or missing link, or tweeting to the wrong account if you manage more than one, or if it’s something a little more serious, such as a disgruntled employee, bad joke or hacked account, there’s only one thing you can do: acknowledge that the mistake has happened.

Trying to cover it up will, in the long run, have a more negative effect on your brand or business. If necessary, apologise. Like Vodafone, if the breach is serious enough, issue a short statement distancing yourself from the offensive message and reassuring your followers that the matter is being dealt with.

Vodafone were also subjects of a – slightly less reported – positive social media story last month, which showed how companies can use social media to interact with customers, investigate and help solve their problems. Popular Conservative blogger Iain Dale went straight to his blog to report his horror when he received a monthly mobile bill of £2,500 from Vodafone. The blog post was instantly tweeted and repeated to friends and followers of Iain on Facebook.

Iain’s tweet was spotted by Vodafone’s web relations team, who undertook a month long investigation and, after concluding that UberTwitter was the most likely culprit, Vodafone waved the charges – totaling £5,400 after the same thing happened for a second month. They even changed his tariff to a better deal, saving him more money. Result? One very satisfied customer, who promptly blogged, tweeted and Facebooked his gratitude.

Social media platforms enable you to interact with your clients like never before. Complaints, queries and praise can be handled in real time, and if the result is a positive outcome for your client, the chances are you’ll get some positive publicity across the social networks in return.

The key things to remember are to reply promptly to queries, offer to contact customers with problems directly to resolve them, to acknowledge any mistakes as soon as they are noticed and apologise if necessary, and above all, think before you tweet – and make sure your employees are doing the same.

Click the following link to read Iain Dale’s positive social media customer service experience.

Social Media Marketing blogging, facebook, Social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media strategy, Twitter

The deal struck between Microsoft and Yahoo! Last week, which sees Yahoo!’s search facility being powered by Microsoft’s technology for the next ten years, could have big implications for the future of search.

Yahoo!’s website will use Microsoft’s Bing search engine as Microsoft endeavours to take a larger share of the search market from the über-search giant Google. In return, Yahoo! will manage Microsoft’s search advertising business. Yahoo! will receive 88 per cent for ad sales accompanying search results on its site.

Rather than stepping out of the search market, as some rivals have suggested, Yahoo!’s Yoelle Maarek told the Daily Telegraph that the deal was actually “liberating” Yahoo!, enabling its team to focus their energy on front-end search innovations instead of making back-end tweaks.

This is an exciting time for Yahoo!, who also recently announced a partnership with Twitter that enables users to access personal real-time Twitter feeds from their Yahoo! homepage. These deals are both parts of Yahoo!’s goals of becoming more social and increasing its advertising strength.

But what does this mean for the future of search? Could the Google Giant really be under threat?

In three words: We doubt it.

Google has been getting some bad press recently, and is currently subject to European Union antitrust investigations. The online community wasn’t exactly “buzzing” about Google’s entry to the social media market, and in Italy Google executives were jailed after a video of a boy being bullied was posted on the site.

The thing about Google, though, is that it is constantly innovating while competitors chase to keep up. It has recently announced that it will be buying Picknik, an online photo editing service, while the latest beta of browser Chrome includes automatic translation options and enhanced privacy. And among the flurry of bad news last week, Google also launched a new advertising service, DoubleClick for Publishers, which combines AdManager with the DoubleClick DART platform – giving batter ad placement algorithms and enhancements to tracking and reporting of ads.

I think the Yahoo!-Microsoft partnership is an interesting move and ensures that energy and innovation continue to be injected into the world of search at some pace – which can only be a positive thing for everyone.

Read the full Daily Telegraph interview with Yahoo!’s Yoelle Maarek.

Marketing General, Search Engine Optimisation Google, Online Advertising, Online marketing, Yahoo!

Tweeting from work... for work, of course.

US troops are being allowed access to social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook, it was reported on Saturday. According to officials in the US Defence Department, the benefits of using social media far outweigh threats to security.

Like many companies and organisations, the US military are using social media for recruitment, public relations and communications between troops. Military personnel also use such sites to communicate with their families back home.

Until now, the military’s approach to using social networking sites had been inconsistent. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has a prolific following on Twitter, while the US Southern Command gave updates on relief work in Haiti through the microblogging site. But the US Army and Marine Corps banned access to Twitter, and other social networks.

Now it seems the Defence Department is embracing the positive benefits of social media. But the question faced by the department, like by many organisations across the world, is how to use social media effectively, how to take advantage of the possibilities provided by the technology, and how to avoid being taken advantage of.

Just a day before the BBC reported the US Defence Department’s decision, the Daily Telegraph carried a more negative social media story when it revealed that Greater Manchester Police officers had been accused of spending too much time on Twitter whilst on duty – Tweets on the beat were not entirely the PR friendly exercise it was hoped they would be.

During a crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence, police officers were permitted to tweet their progress to keep the public up to date with their actions. More than 90 tweets were sent, but instead of being impressed, the police force’s followers thought that the tweets were too frequent, and commented that the officers should be more concerned in doing their job than updating their status.

Twitter has also been frowned upon by a number of local councils. Swansea Council banned tweeting during council meetings, followed closely by Salford Council, whose ban extended to journalists covering the events. Iain Lindley, a Conservative councillor for Salford, told ConservativeHome that he disagreed with the ban because Twitter “allowed residents to see democracy in action.” Further, he argued, the tweets brought “more transparency and openness” to local government.

The forthcoming General Election is going to be the first of the Social Media age. Barack Obama proved just how beneficial social networks could be to an election campaign during his run for president, and the battle lines have already been drawn by UK parties, who are embracing the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in their campaigns – with varying degrees of success. (Remember Gordon Brown’s creepy smile when discussing MPs’ expenses, which got him all the wrong kind of publicity?)

Social media is something that must be used wisely and well to get the results you want for your business or organisation. I think David Wennergren, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Information Technology in the US, sums it up perfectly.

“We need to take advantage of the capabilities that are out there…” he told the BBC. “The idea is to be responsible and use [social media] to help get the job done.”

This is sound advice for any business, large or small. To find out how LexisClick can help with your social media strategy, contact us today.

Read the full BBC story.

The Daily Telegraph’s story about Greater Manchester Police.

And Iain Lindley’s comments on ConservativeHome here.

Social Media Marketing facebook, Social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media strategy, Twitter

A couple of days ago I told you about the socialmediaworldforum Europe event, Shaping the future of Social Media.

This is Europe’s premier social media event and not one to be missed. Here’s our preview of what you can expect to get from the event.

First, you’ll have access to more than 120 top speakers from a huge range of companies, all of them experts in social media. You’ll be able to learn from real examples from worldwide brands and find out how to adapt a similar social media strategy for your own brand.

You’ll also be able to learn how advertisers are making the best use of social networking to set up and develop revenue streams.

Spokespeople from leading social networks will be discussing their strategy and how they approach the future, and there’ll also be an in-depth examination of the current market as well as predictions of what the future holds.

If you are attending, you can make use of socialmediaworldforum Europe’s pre-show online meeting planner to arrange meetings in advance, helping you improve your connections.

As I say, this is an event not to be missed. We’ll have an in-depth preview next week.

Social Media Marketing Shaping the future of Social Media, social media strategy

Google has become the latest tech giant to come under scrutiny for allegedly breaching the European Union’s antitrust rules. It follows in the footsteps of Microsoft, penalised for its dominance of the browser market with Internet Explorer.

Today’s Daily Telegraph reports that Google is being investigated over claims that its search functions were discriminating against certain businesses in its search rankings.

Google has an approximate 90 per cent share of the UK’s search market and complaints have been received from three companies: price comparison service Foundem; EJustice.fr, a French legal search engine; and Ciao, a European shopping search engine that’s actually owned by Microsoft.

Foundem initially complained about Google in August 2009. The general feeling is that, because these three sites could offer services that compete with Google’s own, they are being demoted by Google’s algorithms.

Google themselves don’t seem particularly fazed by the threat of investigation. They offer a response on their blog, admitting that their search is “not perfect”. However, they remain confident that their business is operating fairly:

“While we will be providing feedback and additional information on these complaints, we are confident that our business operates in the interesets of users and partners, as well as in line with European competition law,” Julia Holtz, Senior Competition Counsel for Google writes on their blog.

Of course, many tech-savy readers will remember that just over a year a go the boot was on the other foot when Google joined the EU antitrust case against Microsoft’s IE browser, accusing the market of being uncompetitive. Internet Explorer was bundled with Microsoft Operating Systems, which Mozilla, Opera and Google (after launching Chrome) did not approve of.

The European Competition Commission ruled Microsoft had to offer their users more choice, and it has been announced today that from Monday (March 1 2010) users will be offered a selection of browsers instead of having IE forced upon them.

We wait with anticipation for the results of the Google inquiry, and the implications any ruling might have for search in the not so distant future.

Read the Telegraph story here.

And the Google Blog response to allegations here.

And the Browser Choice Launch Date story here.

Google Analytics, Search Engine Optimisation

A little something interesting dropped into my inbox today; information about the Shaping the Future of Social Media event held by Social Media World Forum Europe.

The social media event of the year, at least in Europe, takes place at London’s Olympia on 15 and 16 March and is something anyone serious about social media for business can’t afford to miss.

This two-day event features four dedicated conference streams, workshops and an exhibition. Key speakers from a number of global brands, organisations and developers, plus leaders in the field of social media, content producers and agencies will be taking part, alongside many others.

Topics of discussion will include developments in brand engagement via social media, social media monitoring tools and building social media apps; there’ll also be a look at the impact of social media on politics, which will be fascinating with the general election in the offing.

Social media marketing is a hot topic in many industries right now, but is something many smaller businesses (and some large ones!) have failed to grasp. This conference will no doubt provide a great deal of enlightenment.

A free to attend exhibition only pass is available here.

Find out more at socialmedia-forum.com

Social Media Marketing facebook, Google Buzz, Social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media strategy

Mystery abounds in the music world over the identity of iamamiwhoami, an unknown (or at least for the moment unrecognisable) artist taking YouTube by storm.

The mystery videos, which feature a distorted blonde female singing, have caught the eye of Shane Richmond at the Daily Telegraph, who wrote an interesting piece speculating as to the singer’s identity, while music bloggers and fans are busy trying to guess the puzzle.

Viral videos are of course, nothing new. In fact, they predate sites such as YouTube and Google Video, originally being emailed and forwarded on from one friend to another. With the exponential grow of video and social networking sites, the popularity of virals exploded, and we all have our own particular favourites that we remember months or even years after we first clicked on them.

It goes without saying that virals can be amazing marketing tools – think of the Cadbury’s drumming Gorilla, for example, viewed more than a million times – but what makes a really good viral?

First, and most important, content is king. Humour is vital, of course, but funny is not the only thing that matters – your content should also be suitably different, unlike anything a viewer has seen before, which will make them more likely to want to talk about what they’ve seen, share it with their colleagues and friends.

Your viral content has also got to be something most people can identify with. For example, if you are selling a piece of high-level computing equipment, the ‘geek’ jokes that go down well among your colleagues might not have enough mass appeal for a wider audience (for that read your target customers) to find humour or that word-of-mouth factor in.

The guessing-game element from the iamamiwhoami videos acts as a perfect hook, as bloggers love having a mystery to solve. Names being tossed into the ring as potential stars of the campaign include Little Boots and Christina Aguilera, and if one of them turns out to be the true star, there will be much loved kudos for the blogger who named them first.

Short and sweet is another often-told message about viral videos. Put yourself in your target audience’s shoes: perhaps they’re sneaking a five minute break at work, or are sent a link to your viral campaign in an inbox containing 40 other messages. Remember time is precious – videos of two to three minutes are more likely to be watched and shared than an eight-minute epic, no matter how well produced or funny it is.

For information about how we can help with online marketing, contact us today.

We want to know what your favourite virals are – what stands out to you? Among mine are the hilarious FAIL blog and the Where The Hell Is Matt? series featuring Matt Harding dancing all over the world.

Let us know your favourite virals by leaving a comment on this thread!

Inspiration, Marketing General Online marketing, online video, viral

We’ve got that Friday feeling at LexisClick and while sharing our favourite music, some of our team members from Poland unearthed this fabulous little number. Originally performed by Czech comedian Ivan Mladek back in 1978, the song was revived back in Poland a couple of years ago and became a surprise hit. We love it so much we just have to share it with you.

Be sure to check back next week for the latest online marketing and SEO news. But for now, sit back and enjoy:

Fun Corner, Inspiration online video, viral

I’ve just finished listening to a very interesting webcast by UK Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, during which he was asked about the competitiveness of the UK’s digital economy.

Osborne likened the development of super-speed broadband to that of canals, railways and road systems in centuries past, and I think that’s a fantastic analogy.

Should the Conservatives get elected at the next election (rumoured by pretty much everyone to be in May) they have plans to utilise part of the BBC Licence Fee to pay for the rolling out of superfast broadband to help ensure the UK remains and grows as a competitor in the digital economy.

Listening to Osborne’s speech, I couldn’t help thinking that the same was true for the UK’s millions of businesses.

A recent report by Kelkoo reveals that UK consumers were responsible for almost a third of all European online sales in 2009. The average annual spend by consumers in the UK was £1,102 on 37 items, while the rest of Europe spent, on average, £774 on 20 items.

Kelkoo forecast that in 2010 UK online retail sales will grow by 12.4% to £42.7 billion, while total retail sales will grow by just 1.7%. European online sales will grow by 20% to reach £153 billion.

Bruce Fair, Managing Director of Kelkoo UK, said of the findings: “2010 is when we will really start to see online sales achieving a significant share of overall retail trade in the UK. While the retail industry is showing slow signs of recovery, the online shopping sector bucked the trend in 2009 delivering double-digit growth, and is expected to continue to perform strongly in 2010.”

That means that getting your online marketing strategy right is more vital than ever this year.

With so many businesses, large and small, online, what you first need to think about is what makes your business stand out from the crowd. Can you offer the best prices, the fastest service, the most knowledge and professionalism in your market?

Identifying what it is that makes your business unique – and will attract and retain the customers you want – is an essential part of your business’s online strategy. Then there’s social media – how best can you use it to market your products and services?

These are just a couple of points you must consider when planning your online sales and marketing strategy. For expert advice on all aspects of online advertising, marketing and web design, contact LexisClick today.

Marketing General, Social Media Marketing Online Advertising, Online marketing, Social media for business, Social Media Marketing, Web design