... as the notes application on Facebook has let me down again and I didn't like the look of RSS Graffiti I've decided to give NetworkedBlog another go!
Here goes...
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
Today's Social Media @Whatsnextevent (#wn2011) & Facebook Tips
It was great attending Wales' first Social Media event at the Mecure Holland House, Cardiff today.
A big well done for organising such a great event - the hard work paid off and I'm sure the November event will be even better.
I wanted to give a few words of what I thought as 4 x 1 hour seminars were covered - Video/You Tube, Twitter, Facebook & Linkedin
Video/You Tube - The seminar delivered by Mark Sinclair was quite thought provoking for me as I'd not viewed Videos in the way they were presented today. Certainly something to think about and to discuss with my clients
Twitter - Nick Tadd delivered a great seminar allowing those who aren't actively on Twitter to understand what its all about and some great tips on how to get started and more to the point - if you're going to be on it - then be on it!
Facebook - This was quite disappointing for me as some key things were not covered today - making me worry that those who attending this seminar will go away with the wrong impression about Facebook. Considering this guy was mean to be a leader in digital marketing with a specialism in Facebook he didn't do a great job - in fact, he said that Facebook is that last Social Media platform you should look at (out of 5, to include Twitter (which was 1st), Linkedin, Ecademy & You Tube). Quite worrying that this wasn't backed up by any facts, just his opinion that it is the hardest platform to get to grips with! A recent study by the Social Media Examiner stated that those entering into Social Media use Facebook 1st, followed by Twitter, then Linkedin. He took no consideration of peoples target market.
What made me really worry is that he used his own page as an example, of which 3 things I instantly picked out as this being not not a great example:
For those who did attend the seminar today (and anyone reading this) here are basic some tips on how to get the most out of Facebook for business:
To summarise - all in all a good event and well organised. Just one blip - the Facebook presenter! Would recommend the November event to others as long as the Facebook presenter is reviewed - any suggestions who should do it! ;-)
A big well done for organising such a great event - the hard work paid off and I'm sure the November event will be even better.
I wanted to give a few words of what I thought as 4 x 1 hour seminars were covered - Video/You Tube, Twitter, Facebook & Linkedin
Video/You Tube - The seminar delivered by Mark Sinclair was quite thought provoking for me as I'd not viewed Videos in the way they were presented today. Certainly something to think about and to discuss with my clients
Twitter - Nick Tadd delivered a great seminar allowing those who aren't actively on Twitter to understand what its all about and some great tips on how to get started and more to the point - if you're going to be on it - then be on it!
Facebook - This was quite disappointing for me as some key things were not covered today - making me worry that those who attending this seminar will go away with the wrong impression about Facebook. Considering this guy was mean to be a leader in digital marketing with a specialism in Facebook he didn't do a great job - in fact, he said that Facebook is that last Social Media platform you should look at (out of 5, to include Twitter (which was 1st), Linkedin, Ecademy & You Tube). Quite worrying that this wasn't backed up by any facts, just his opinion that it is the hardest platform to get to grips with! A recent study by the Social Media Examiner stated that those entering into Social Media use Facebook 1st, followed by Twitter, then Linkedin. He took no consideration of peoples target market.
What made me really worry is that he used his own page as an example, of which 3 things I instantly picked out as this being not not a great example:
- Only 107 likes for the page (60+ of which were his 'friends)
- All the feeds were fed in by RSS Graffitti (this means it was all automated)
- Very few posts have any feedback - and those that did were just 'likes' as opposed to comments
For those who did attend the seminar today (and anyone reading this) here are basic some tips on how to get the most out of Facebook for business:
- Post information people care about - consider your target audience and what they would like to hear
- Engage with your audience as this will provide you with more exposure (which can be monitored via FB insights)
- Be consistent and aim to post at least once a day - this will keep you in the fore front of your audiences mind
- Create content and use apps that will allow your page to go viral - FB place check-ins, tagging of photos, events & encourage sharing
- Incorporate your social media into all your marketing and communications - this will allow you to gradually build a relevant audience - its more important to have the right people that like your page
To summarise - all in all a good event and well organised. Just one blip - the Facebook presenter! Would recommend the November event to others as long as the Facebook presenter is reviewed - any suggestions who should do it! ;-)
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Social Media is great but you still need traditional marketing...
For the past month or so I've been working with Kickstart Motorcycles (Port Talbot) to help promote their Open Day to launch the new Aprilia Tuono V4 (that's a motorbike for those who don't know!)
The purpose of the open Day was to raise the awareness of the business which has been running for over 30 years as during these tough times many Motorbike shops across the UK have ceased trading, Kickstart needed to get the message out there to the Bikers of South Wales that the shop is very much still open for business!
With the intergrated Marketing Straegy put into place we certainly proved to the Bikers of South Wales we is well and truly open for business!
So, with a bit of targeted direct mail to selected previous clients, word of mouth and a whole lot of Social Media, Kickstart Motorcycles (Port Talbot) was buzzing today!
When checking how people had heard about the Open Day it was a good mix of seeing it on Facebook, invites via Twitter, invites via the post and 'my mate told me'!
A successful open day and already lots of great feedback on the Facebook Page and mentions from some influential people on Twitter - Kickstart Motorcylces of Port Talbot are well and truly back in the minds of bikers in South Wales (and possible a bit further too!)
Monitoring the Facebook Analytics for the business page also has had indicating the additional exposure Kickstart needed! It'll be interesting to see the insights for today - unfortunately have to wait for approx 48 hours for Facebook to publish!
The lesson here - integrating social media with traditional marketing methods provides you with a receipe for success allowing you to engage with past, existing and potential customers!
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
I'm struggling to find...
I'm delivering a workshop for CPM21 Professional Services tomorrow and wanted to display a Facebook Page (one that I don't administer) but I'm struggling to find one!
The criteria I need to tick is:
For me this has clearly pointed out that there is a gap in Social Media In South Wales for more professional services to utilise Facebook as a communication platform with their audience.
I'd like to hear your opinion - generally this will get people going something on the lines of 'Linkedin is more suitable' or 'Twitter is a better place for this sort of thing' - I'd like to hear your views!
To get started my point here is that I am a heavy Facebook user and I would like to see more professional services using this!
And to add - I subscribed to the Welsh Assembly Government page recently to find that all updates were automatic RSS feeds from another site - I tried to interact with them, to give advice as I think it would be an absolutely great place to provide information to businesses across South Wales - I got an email reply, but it was to say that they couldn't put anything on there to interact with their audience - restricted by the people in charge - surely that's the whole point of Social Media???
OK - rant over - I'll keep looking for a suitable Facebook Page, but if you do find one, please comment on this post with a link!
The criteria I need to tick is:
- B2B - Ideally a professional service like a solicitor or financial services
- To have a Facebook Page NOT a Personal Profile
- Is based in South Wales or West Wales
- Has posted in the past 48 hours (i'd even accept one that has at least posted once this week!)
- Has a voice behind the posts - ie. isn't just automatic RSS Feeds
- Isn't constantly sending out sales messages, but information that would be useful to its audience!
For me this has clearly pointed out that there is a gap in Social Media In South Wales for more professional services to utilise Facebook as a communication platform with their audience.
I'd like to hear your opinion - generally this will get people going something on the lines of 'Linkedin is more suitable' or 'Twitter is a better place for this sort of thing' - I'd like to hear your views!
To get started my point here is that I am a heavy Facebook user and I would like to see more professional services using this!
And to add - I subscribed to the Welsh Assembly Government page recently to find that all updates were automatic RSS feeds from another site - I tried to interact with them, to give advice as I think it would be an absolutely great place to provide information to businesses across South Wales - I got an email reply, but it was to say that they couldn't put anything on there to interact with their audience - restricted by the people in charge - surely that's the whole point of Social Media???
OK - rant over - I'll keep looking for a suitable Facebook Page, but if you do find one, please comment on this post with a link!
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Putting the notes application to the test...
I used to use the Facebook Notes application to feed through/import blogs into Facebook but I found it to be unreliable! So I've decided to give it another go!
I've written this post on Tuesday 10th May at 6pm - therefore I want to see if it works and also how long it will take (as I know it claims to take a couple of hours!)
I don't particularly want to use Networked Blogs to feed a blog through to the page as it doesn't automatically feed through to Twitter and I'd like to have my blogs stored in the menus in the left hand column of the page!
Here goes! :o)
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