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Where does social media fit in your business?

Good evening, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

The blog today is about understanding that social media does not operate in a vacuum.  The high tech (not!) diagram below shows where social media fits into business.

FIRST – Set Business objectives, eg to grow the business by 10% in 2010

JOINT SECOND – Set Sales objectives, eg $1million in sales in 2010

JOINT SECOND – Set Marketing objectives, eg to grow market share to 15% in 2010

THIRD – Set Social media objectives, eg increase the number of likers on the Facebook page to 1000 by June 30th

Social media is an activity in a business that needs to be treated as a business activity, not a fluffy add on to make the business/brand look trendy and down with the cool kids.

Before you get into too deep into your social media look at your business objectives and where social media fits into them – is it helping you achieve your business goals?  If not why are you doing it?

Love to hear your comments…  Tell me below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook Page.

Mental Monday: The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

Good afternoon, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

Mental Monday is back this time I am reviewing The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.

This is book has 21 chapters in three parts starting with how the web has changed the rules of marketing and PR, moving onto web based communications to reach buyer and the third part is action plans to harness the web.

The book explains the different areas of marketing and pr including blogging, video, news releases, web sites, website content and writing marketing plans.  It includes lots of examples of how the different ideas have been used in businesses.  The action plan part of the book is all about implementation, for example how to start a blog, what to write etc.  The implementation is at a basic level, so for people wanting detail you will need to go elsewhere.  This is one of those books which you pick up refer to a chapter or two, put it back down and then pick up again next time you need it.  There is a lot of information in it, it is suitable for complete newbies, and for people who know what they are doing there are lots of examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Below are some bits that I enjoyed which are direct quotes from the book…

• The new rules of finding a job require you to share your knowledge and expertise with a world that is looking for what you have to offer
• It is critical to respond quickly to situations as they unfold on the web.  Reacting quickly and honestly in the same forums where the discussions are taking place is essential
• Marketers must take active participation in the communities that matter for their markets.  But you can’t just stand on the virtual sidelines and post only when you have something for sale or a comment about your products and services.
• Social media sites are places that people congregate to discuss things that are important to them
• Thanks to the power of search engines, my blog is also the most vital and effective way for people to find me.  Every word of every post is indexed by Google….
• The good news is that blogging most certainly generates returns for anyone who creates an interesting blog and posts regularly to it
• Should you believe everything you read on blogs?  Hell no! That’s akin to believing everything you hear on the street or in a bar.  Thinking of the web as a city, rather than a newspaper, and bloggers as individual citizen voices provides implications for all net-citizens.
• “you can’t reheat a souffle” John Frazier from Quinn & Co talking about the Tourism Queensland Best job in the world campaign
• For content that is best delivered via audio or for buyers who prefer to listen to content, podcasting is obviously essential.
• The challenge for marketers is to harness the amazing power of viral
• The more I research websites – and I’ve checked out thousands over the past several years – the more I realize that the best ones unite many important factors in a way that is difficult to describe.  They just feel right – as if the creator of the sites cares a great deal and wants her passion to shine through.
• You must now think like a publisher.  You should develop an editorial plan to reach your buyers with focused content in the media that they prefer
• Clearly and simply articulate what you want people to believe
• An effective web marketing plan requires an understanding of the ways your buyers speak and the real words and phrases they use.  This is important not only for building a positive online relationship with buyers, but also for planning effective search engine marketing strategies
• web content sells any product or service and advocates any philosophy or image
• An effective web marketing and pr strategy that delivers compelling content to buyers gets them to take action

If you are just trying to get your head around what can be achieved in marketing online this is a good place to start, it lays out what you need to know in an easy to understand format.  There are lots of examples and ideas to get you going, but David does NOT tell you what to do, if that’s what you are looking for this isn’t the book.  As this Rabbit knows marketing and PR in this internet day and age is not a cookie cutter one size fits all businesses/results.  Instead companies must first workout what they want to achieve, who their buyers are and then engage them.  What works is a matter of creativity, timing and appeal to the audience.  This book will get you started down that road, but for those of you who are not creative, use this to find out more, and then hire someone to get creative for you!

Have you read this book?  Tell me what you think in the comments below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook Page.

Additional benefits of social media

Good Afternoon, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

There are many good reasons why businesses should be using social media, these are the standard…

• Increase brand awareness
• Engage customers
• Build relationships
• Increase sales
• Build trust
• Get ideas
• Listen to customers

However there are also some others that are not mentioned quite as much….

Brand Protection

People are chatting about your brand/business/service saying OMG I had the most awful experience and would never go again etc.  You can listen to this and help change their perceptions (and others with it).  By listening to customers via sites such as Social Mention or Addict-o-matic or even just using Google/Bing or Yahoo you can find out what is being said,  is it good, bad or indifferent?  You can jump in and nip complaints in the bud before they get out of hand, and therefore protect your brand.

Market Intelligence

Use the tools I mentioned above to see what your competitors are doing, what is working for them?  When are they doing it?  How are they doing it?  What are they using?  How often are they using it?  Try to find out where the gap in the market is that you can jump into.

Customer Service

There are already a number of companies using Twitter (mostly) for customer service, eg Best Buy, Telstra and Cisco to name a few.  There are also many Facebook pages using it as a customer service tool with people monitoring the pages continually.

Barrier to Entry

By building up a following for your business/brand/service/product you can create an effective barrier to entry that money can’t buy.  Companies cannot buy trust and loyalty very easily, so for small businesses this can set you apart from larger competitors and effectively prevent others from entering your space.

Retention and cross-sell

This is similar to the selling angle that often gets discussed, but instead of selling products to new customers try to sell different products to existing customers.  They already trust you, have a relationship with you, so it should be easier….

Recruitment

IBM used a gaming video to teach people about business process management, they made it fun, and by doing so changed the perception of IBM with uni graduates, so that they now want to join IBM.  Here IBM changed the company perception and educated customers in a fun way.  People who love what the company is doing will want to join, so they find you rather than you finding them!

Younger generation appeal

Similar in the way that social media  repositions a business’ reputation as a fun, innovative place to work it can also widen the appeal of the businesses products and services.  Coach bags in the USA crowdsourced bag designs because they wanted to appeal to the 14- 24 age group.  Through social media they did this and so repositioned the brand in consumers eyes as appealing to them rather than something my grandma uses!

Staff Engagement

This is something I have experienced in my business where the team pull together to represent the business to customers.  They like to be involved, particularly those who are not usually on the front line because a) they feel valued and b) they feel that they are making a difference.

All of these reasons are even more reason for your business to get involved.  No longer is promoting your business about who shouts the loudest, instead it is about who is creative, innovative, up with the times and are playing where their audience are.

What do you think?  Are there any other benefits that you are experiencing that I haven’t mentioned?  Let me know in the comments below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook Page.

Web 3.0 in Sydney… day 2

Good Afternoon, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

The second day of the Web 3.0 conference was on yesterday, and here are my thoughts/notes from it.

Sandy Carter from IBM

Sandy was without doubt the best speaker of the conference, she gave lots of examples of how companies are using social media as well as good advice on how to run a campaign.  Below is the acronym ANGELS that IBM use for the social media process.

A: Analyse the market
N: Nail the relevant strategy and story
G: Go to market socially
E: Energise the channel and community
L: Leads and revenue
S: Scream

Examples Sandy gave included:

• Coach bags in the USA crowdsourced new bag designs aimed at a younger audience, they got over 6 million engagements from people plus sold out of all bags designed
• Faberge replicated how they guide people through their stores (according to how much they are looking to spend depends on the products they get to see) on their website, by not making all content available to everyone and increased online sales by 50%
• Virtual events (where you attend as an avatar) run by IBM they found that the conversation rate was the same as people who attended a real event
• Romeria Virtual implemented an online pilgrimage during the H1N1 flu outbreak, and it was blessed by the Vatican.  They had 15,000 people make the virtual pilgrimage that year, and are continuing it for those who physically cannot manage it
• Social media success depends on 80% of your time being spent on planning, strategy and objectives and 20% on technology and tools.

Sandy has written a book called The New Language of Marketing 2.0, of which I have a copy to give away, if you want to win it, email me before June 10th Lara@SocialRabbit.net and tell me about your favourite social media example (it can be your own!) and why you like it, I will then mail the winner the book, plus tell you everyone’s examples.

Karen Stocks from YouTube

• There are over 400 million users on YouTube
• The top YouTube channels have over 2 million subscribers
• The Evian Babies YouTube video increased brand awareness by 11% and purchase intent by 4%  in the UK
• Successful videos are all about the level of engagement not necessarily sophistication
• Awesome video on the way things could be going in the future 🙂

Paul Borrud from Facebook

• There are now over 9 million active users in Australia, of these 3 million access it on their mobile device
• 60% of Australian users log on daily and spend  3 hours and 50 minutes on Facebook a month
• Social networking is not about start and stop, but it has to be continuous

Paul’s presentation was very much this is what Facebook can do, and the numbers behind it, nothing ground breaking disappointingly, but more of a sell job – so much for listening to the customer

Alex Crompton from Aussie

• Earn the sale before you make the sale – I love this
• Businesses need to offer customers multiple channels to engage with the business – then they can choose what works best for them
• Aussie have increased their revenue, gross margin and net margin due to deep social media involvement
• social media supports SEO (in case you didn’t know!)
• The slide below is good, it tells you the additional benefits that Alex sees from social media (he’s in the picture on the left)

Brian Giesen from Ogilvy

• Start by listening then plan > engage > amplify > optimise
• He really recommended listening first if your business is unsure about social media, as you can find out where your customers are, what they are saying, what engages them and it gives you a much better indication of how to move forward

Overall there has been some interesting insights into social media from the two days, however nothing groundbreaking, but some ideas to work on.  If you have any comments I would love to hear them below, plus don’t forget to enter to win Sandy’s book!

Facebook Friday: Active Management

Good morning, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

Today’s Facebook Friday reviews a service business – Active Management, a business consultancy firm.

What’s Happening on the Page now

• 325 people like the page
• The page has been going since August 11^th 2009

What’s working:

• Great landing tab using video
• Good regular posting
• Great that they have the URL www.Facebook.com/activemanagement
• The slideshare tab has a number of great presentations on it, however I am a little confused as to why presentations by people other than Active Management are on there

Recommendations

• The info tab basically contains nothing!  This is a huge missed opportunity, it needs to be rich with keywords explaining what the service is and about the company.  Even though there is not that much space in which to write text there is currently nothing about the business.
• Look at increasing the size of the profile pic (there is 180 wide by 540 pixels high to play with) to include an image/s as well to make it stand out more
• Use the thumbnail tool for the thumbnail pic, so that you are not just getting “ctiv” but something more interesting, baring in mind that this needs to standout in likers newsfeeds
• The welcome tab, although it is interesting I didn’t get the same message as the info box “We are Australia’s only fitness consultancy who has been a personal trainer, sales person, manager and owner! We understand your challenges.  We provide you the tools to make your business profitable.”  As a result I am left feeling rather confused I got the impression it was about business coaching….
• Although the posting is regular it isn’t engaging people, there is one guy who comments every now and again, but that is more or less it.  The posts need to be more interesting and engaging, instead of just stating facts/articles.  Ask questions, check out the blog post on Power Posting.  Make it easy for people to respond to posts, give them either or options, ask easy questions.
• There are a lot of tabs on this page, and I suspect that many aren’t being viewed, it would be a good idea to check these out at www.facebook.com/insights and see where people are going and then tidy it up
• The discussion tab hasn’t been used for 6 months, so I would suggest use it or lose it
• The reviews tab – there are no reviews, so either get someone to write one or two or get rid of the tab, it makes it look like there is nothing good to say!
• There is nothing on the notes tab, again use it or lose it
• The “we read” tab has obviously been added and the page admin has thought I’ll come back later and modify this and hasn’t.  This is not a good reflection on the business, it adds to the slight feeling of confusion
• There is a tab called Active Mgmt which has EVENTS, BLOG and MEET JUSTIN TAMSETT.  There is nothing in the events section, so there is not much point of having that if it isn’t used.  The blog is good, but you can’t subscribe to it there and then, you need to go to the box on the wall to subscribe – Facebook are getting rid of boxes, so it would be better if people could subscribe where the blog is.  The meet Justin section could easily be included in the info tab.  This tab is I am guessing created by Thinktank Media, because they have branded it, I would think about this, it gives the impression that Active Management and Thinktank Media are related, I don’t know if they are or not.  But this tab is doing nothing for me, and should be ditched and replaced with a blog tab using an app such as Networkedblogs.  Plus this tab is recommended viewing on the welcome tab, but I think it is disappointing in content
• Check typos when posting
• On the wall 30 minute sales training events are mentioned, these should be added to the events tab if that is going to be used
• There are a number of favourite pages mentioned, so what about using the notes tab to show how Active Management have helped these fitness club, in a kind of mini case study on each one
• How about including interviews with clients and having client testimonials on the Youtube tab
• There are tips on the website, but these could be incorporated into the Facebook page as well, even having something like a tip a day for 7 days, this will keep people coming back to the page, and encourage new people to like the page
• Encourage visitors to tell their story of what they have experienced in their club
• Perhaps have a q&a section on the page once a week for visitors to ask Justin questions
• Invite celebrity posts, eg someone who has been running a club for 10 years to give a top tip and then someone who has been running one for year.
• There are a few call outs for more fans/likers, but give people a reason to join – there are free ebooks on the website offer them these, don’t assume that people are going to spend time finding them

Summary

The Active Management page has all the info in there, but there needs more consistency in terms of message.  Having poked around on the page for about 30 minutes I know think that it is all about business consultancy to the fitness industry, I knew nothing of Active Management before.  However when I first arrived on the page this was not the impression I got, and to be honest I am still a little confused.  I think that there is too much reliance on the visitor clicking onto the website for more info, which if they don’t get it from the Facebook Page they just won’t do.

The page needs to position Active Management as an expert in their field with useful tips, comments and articles.  At the moment it isn’t doing this effectively, as it isn’t clear enough.

Did you love this review? You can get your page reviewed by the Chief Rabbit for only $49.95, just email info@SocialRabbit.net

Web 3.0…. (yes 2 is nearly over!)

Good evening, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

Today this Rabbit went to a web 3.0 conference about the future of social media, it’s a two day conference, today was full of insights that I thought I would share with you…

First of all I wanted to share with you the Social Rabbit cupcakes that a friend made for us to give the delegates to promote Social Rabbit, ps they were yum…

Before I start you are probably thinking what the heck is web 3.0 I’ve only just realised what 2.0 is…  Good question, ok here it is

Web 1.0: Static websites, telling people information
Web 2.0: Listening to customers
Web 3.0: C0-creating with customers

Nick Love from Fox Interactive Media

• 78% of the internets population are engaging in social media
• The social web of the future will be more intuitive
• Reputation is a currency (as in your personal or your brand or business) both on and offline
• He tips reputation tools as increasing due to everyone wanting to be king of the hill
• Advertisers can no longer just insert ad’s they need to be inserting content (we know this of course!)
• He believes in the internet of 1, as in sites will become tailored through content to be specific each person as the web becomes more intuitive and shows you information based on what you like and are interested in
• Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc are just distribution networks for content (I like this idea, as it is saying that they are just vehicles to get your message in and out)

Mark Higginson from Nielsen

He sees 6 trends in the future of social media and web 3.0

• Consumers connecting more
• Enabled mobility continues to grow (ie smartphones – did you know 43% of Australian’s have a smartphone, which means they can go onto the internet?)
• web 3.0 will redefine business models – because of the consumer involvement
• Engaged consumers – because of involvement
• New currencies are being created, eg reputation and attention
• Privacy (an ongoing issue I suspect!)

Michael Kordahi from Microsoft

• People crave experiences
• It’s those with influence online who drive traffic eg sites such as Mashable.com rather than magazines
• People will choose to conform than be wrong – I am not sure about this one….
• With devices think about the social implications of them, not just how you personally use them, but how they will be shared and therefore the content on them shared
• He has developed an interesting website called Blind Search basically he wanted to see if people are using search engines based on brand, eg Google, or if they are using them based on the best results, so on here you can search for something and get the results from bing, Google and Yahoo and then see which you prefer… FYI Google is still ranking top with 39%

Marc Lehmann from Saasu.com

• The data lives on the web
• Getting relevance right gives you attention
• Try to identify why people spend time in different websites, eg gaming sites and try to replicate that on your site to engage them

Karen Ganschow from Telstra

• The internet is word of mouth on steroids
• Consumers want brands that reflect their values and ethics
• Social media in a large organisation is all about setting the guidelines, training your team and trusting them to do a good job

Nick Holmes a Court from Buzz Numbers

• 2.3 million Australians have created a blog, but only 1.6 million update it
• Taronga Zoo measures their performance by the number of photo’s uploaded online of people’s visits to the zoo
• Ford uses social media to measure demand, so if a lot of people in one area start talking about a particular model they will check stock levels!
• Look at where people are talking about your and your business to understand where you should be

Darren Sharp from Darren Sharp Consulting

• Influence your audience through – story telling, rites of passage
• Give members recognition for achievements in the group
• Social media is self directed, ie you the consumer decide where you go and what you are going to do/read/comment on etc.

As you can see from the notes above there was a lot going on, hopefully this will give you a tiny insight, tell me what your thoughts are below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook Page.

Free Facebook reminders….

Good Morning, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

Today I am on my soap box, but you ALL will benefit.  First a question….

Lets see how you all end up voting… results will follow.

I am very interested to see what the results say, because this Rabbit thinks that the reason is a lack of consistency due to no consistency in terms of posting and activity in general on the network.  The business starts out really fired up, but then this doesn’t continue, instead they get busy with other activities and their social media activities become a bit of an after thought… is this you?

You may not have a social media strategy which may be why this has happened, in which case you need to get one!

If you have a strategy but just aren’t consistent then it is Super Rabbit to the rescue!

For 7 days we will send you an email a day with a reminder and a tip of the day for your Facebook page, you can sign up whenever you like for FREE, just click on this link http://www.facebook.com/SocialRabbit?v=app_7146470109.  If you are not on Facebook you can still access the tips, the link just takes you to a sign up form.

I hope you take the opportunity to get info from the Chief Rabbit sent to you, it will help you to get your page firing.  We are just trialing this for 7 days, but if everyone loves it we will look at keeping it going.

Tell me what you think about this in the comments, is it going to be helpful?

Should I delete negative comments?

Good evening, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

The answer to: Should I delete negative comments is NO.

Why?

1. A negative comment is a chance for you to fix the situation
2. It is a chance for other customers to see how you handle negative feedback and to get feedback on common issues
3. It demonstrates how good your company’s customer service is
4. It shows your customers that you do listen and do care about them

Often a negative comment on a Facebook wall or on Twitter is a bit of a cry for help, the person is fed up of talking to the customer service department, they are getting no where fast.  They think that by posting a comment in a social media space where more people will see it will shame the company into responding.  However in many cases companies “freak out” (it’s a technical term) and just delete the comment as they don’t want anything negative impacting their otherwise warm and fluffy wall.

However deleting only makes the problem worse… imagine I am cross and complain on the Facebook page wall of the company, I go back the next day to see that my comment has been deleted, I now have 2 reasons to complain!  Not only this company won’t listen to me but they are also rude and are ignoring me….

If you do get negative comments what should you do?

• Answer them calmly, without getting annoyed with the person making the comment
• Deal with it quickly – remember other people are reading into
  a) how long you take to respond
  b) what your response is
• Don’t assume you know the answer, feel free to ask for more clarification or the outcome they’d like
• Don’t be afraid to take the conversation off-line by asking them to email/call you to discuss it
• If the comment is something like “your product sucks” often that isn’t worth a response, if you have a good community built up in your network then they will often slam that person far harder than you could have.  Let your community do this for you, let them defend your company, your brand, your service that’s when you know you have built a great community
• Understand that often the person just needs to let off steam and they are not having a go at you personally!  So don’t make your response back personal.

Make sure your team know what your policy is to negative comments so that they deal with them in a professional and polite way.  After all the goal is to turn those negative comments people (who obviously care otherwise why would they bother to moan….)  into raving fans who tell everyone how wonderful you are, how quickly you sort out issues and how much you care.

Have you experienced negative comments on your social media pages?  Tell me in the comments and what happened when you dealt with it (as I hope you did and didn’t hit delete!)