Entries Tagged 'social media marketing' ↓

Freedom of speech has long been embraced by society, but are we really free to say exactly what we think without fear of repercussions?

A short while ago, I wrote a post called Social Media – Why You Should Watch What You Say, in which I talked about how employers use social media to screen job applicants.

But it’s not just your potential working life that could be affected by your tweets and Facebook status updates (or those unfortunate photos taken of you on a big night out), you could also jeopardise your career.

The Drum recently reported on such a case where a council press officer was forced to quit his job after an ill-judged tweet.

Working for Lambeth Council, the press officer in question tweeted, from his own personal account, that “Having spent a considerable amount of time in Streatham, my solutions for supporting the High Road mostly involve napalm.”

Needless to say, his tweet was met with several complaints and, despite an apology, he quit his job.

But was that right? Should he have had to quit his job over tongue-in-cheek comments made on his personal social media account?

And there lies the very murky grey area. Had that comment been made through his official work account, no one would question the outcome. But as it came from a personal account, does that make it any less offensive?

Understanding the power of social media

The news is full of instances where people use social media in naïve ways. Whether it’s something like the case above, or the more serious and malicious practice of ‘trolling’ (the posting of inflammatory messages online with the main aim of provoking readers into an emotional response or otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion – Wikipedia), the use of social media can land people in hot water.

A recent case of trolling was highlighted following a landmark High Court ruling. When a lady from Brighton posted a supportive comment for X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza, trolls ‘left comments falsely accusing [her] of being a paedophile and drug dealer for supporting the singer…’ (The Drum).

The High Court ruled that Facebook had to reveal the identities of the cyberbullies (their names and IP addresses) so civil actions could be pursued again the ‘trolls’.

Do your employees understand your social media policy?

With social media becoming a powerful business tool as well as a social communication tool, it is essential your employees fully understand your social media policy to prevent these types of instances happening.

Your businesses social media usage should concentrate fully on engaging with your customers and adding value to your relationships with them, therefore it is essential your employees fully understand what is expected of them.

• Make sure you list what they can do.
• Ensure they fully appreciate that they are responsible for what they write (whether it’s on behalf of your company or on their private accounts).
• Encourage them to engage with customers using their name and title so the customer knows who they are talking to.
• Make sure they think carefully before posting – it’s Ok to offer opinions, but they must consider how their comments will be viewed by others. After all, what they say (whether using social media during work hours or in their personal time) will reflect not only on them personally, but also as an employee and on the company.
• Ensure they understand what information is confidential and that should not be shared at any time.
• They should bring value to your company through their engagement.

Over to you

What are your thoughts on social media usage?

Do you agree that the council press officer should have lost his job?

What policies do you have in place to ensure your employees don’t overstep the mark?

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts and opinions.

Sally Ormond – Copywriter

Thankfully, no two businesses are the same. Could you imagine how boring that would be?

But because every business is different, their marketing strategies will also be different.

Take Facebook for example, just because you find it helps your business doesn’t mean it will help the guy next door. That’s why it’s imperative you take a good look at your business before diving into marketing. You must think about how Facebook would be best used in order for you to get the most out of it.

Before you hang your head in despair, take a few minutes to read through this very useful post I found on SocialMediaExaminer.com that takes a look at 4 different ways you can use Facebook for your business.

So, grab a coffee while you read 4 Unique Ways to Use Facebook for Your Business and kick start your social media marketing the right way.

Sally Ormond – Copywriter

Most business people you speak with will be on LinkedIn.

Some will actively use its forums and groups, others just set up their profiles, but do nothing else.

I was interested to read an article recently on SocialMediaExaminer.com that takes a look at how you can use LinkedIn to build your business, become more visible and become more engaged with business intelligence. The 10 tips it covers are:

1. Using keywords and phrases
2. Mirroring your online and offline business networks
3. Tag your skills and expertise
4. Link to your website with anchor text links
5. Taking the time to welcome new connections
6. Adding video
7. Note important details and opportunities
8. Tag and filter connections
9. Use context to gather business intelligence
10. Update your CRM with data from LinkedIn

If you’re on LinkedIn this is a really valuable post so I would urge you to take 5 minutes out of your day to have a read of: 10 LinkedIn Tips for Building Your Business.

OK, that’s nothing new. I’m guessing you’ve been told by umpteen marketers that you should be blogging.

But how much does blogging really help?

Well, according to Hubspot, companies that blog get:

• 55% more visitors
• 97% more inbound links
• 434% more indexed pages

Not only that, but 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from it.

Still think you don’t need one?

Getting started

Now you’ve been convinced to start blogging, you have to decide a few things:

• The niche you’ll blog about
• The type of articles you’ll write
• Who will blog
• How often you’ll blog
• How you’ll promote it

Your niche

Before you put finger to keyboard, you need to give some thought about the topics you’ll cover. Obviously, it makes sense for you to write about your business activities. So, as I’m a copywriter my blog focuses on copywriting, marketing and social media.

Always stick with what you know, after all, that’s want you’re an expert in.

Type of articles

It’s good to add a variety of articles such as top tips, opinion pieces, how to guides, reporting on industry news etc.

As your blog grows your analytics will show you which articles are the best received. Using that information, you can hone your blogs to draw in more readers.

Who will blog?

If you run a company with several staff, why leave the blog writing to one person when you can ask everyone to contribute.

Just make sure they understand how their posts are to be written (i.e. in the second person with a conversational style and absolutely no jargon) and which keywords they should include. It’s a great idea to add an author’s bio too, that way you readers can put a face to the name.

How often is too often?

The frequency you decide on has to be achievable. If you are the only person in your business, setting a goal of a blog a day is probably not going to happen. I blog 3 times a week, which is manageable.

Set yourself a realistic target and stick to it. People will get used to your posting frequency very quickly so if you suddenly stop, they’ll wander off elsewhere.

Promotion

Many companies make the mistake of thinking that just because they have a blog people will read it. That’s not always the case; you will also have to show them it’s there. Social media tools such as Twitter are a great way to promote your blog and widen its readership.

Over to you

Have you been convinced to blog?

Perhaps you’ve been blogging for a while – if so, leave a comment below and let us hear your blogging success stories.

Worldwide, there are now over 1 billion users of social media . Plus with over a quarter of all adults and half of all teens (Ofcom) owning a smartphone, access to social media sites has never been easier.

So with all those users out there, how do you, as a company owner, view social media?

Do you still see it as a fad (albeit a very popular one), or have you embraced it as part of your marketing and customer service strategy?

The two sides of social media for business

Did you see what I did there?

I asked whether social media was part of your marketing and customer service strategy.

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are 2 way conversations – you can offer advice and offers to your customers/followers and they can make comments and ask questions of you.

But, according to a recent article in The Drum, 70% of complaints made by customers on social media are ignored because many companies still view it as a purely marketing tool rather than a direct link for customer support.

Big mistake.

The research by A.T. Kearney’s annual social media survey found that between 5% and 20% of all complaints to many organisations are made through social media.

Of course, unlike traditional letter or phone complaints, those made using social media are visible to the world. Other customers can sit back and watch how you deal with a situation, giving them a good idea of what type of company you are and how seriously you take customer gripes.

Benefits of social media as a customer service tool

It’s fast.

It’s personal.

It can be used to offer help and advice to those who aren’t customers yet.

What more do I need to say?

Plus, because everything you write (unless it’s a DM through Twitter) is visible to your other followers, you can show yourself off as a company that puts its customers first and is willing to go that extra mile for them.

Brownie points all round.

Basically, using social media as a customer service tool will have a massive reputational impact on your business (sadly, that also means if you get it wrong it will have a negative impact too).

So make sure those in charge of your social media accounts understand your social media policy, monitor them regularly and respond quickly.

Jim Close, Managing Director or Datapoint sums it up:

“Social media tools are for two-way dialogue with customers as well as a (mostly) one-way marketing channel. They differ from more traditional media because often the interaction is globally-visible and there is potential for massive reputational impact. The organisation  that learn this lesson the fastest – and use contact centre systems to do this effectively – will be the ones that win the customer retention race.”

Sally Ormond – Copywriter