Why measurement is crucial to success
I know that I keep banging on about this…but it’s true. Here are some reasons why you MUST measure your social media efforts.
- should you send updates in the morning or the afternoon?
- should you ask questions or make statements?
- are your retweets/comments getting more or less as time goes by?
If you don’t know, you’re working harder than you need to to get the results you want.
Everyone knows that a graph that slopes up to the top right is good…and a graph that doesn’t is bad…so why not monitor your social media efforts so that you can see at a glance which graph applies to your business? The cost and effort for putting in place some basic monitoring is negligible, so why not give it a try. (more…)
Partnerships – why business and personal partnerships are the future of business
People buy from people, we all know that. However, once we have built up trust with clients, suppliers and partners we often advice on things outside of our key specialisms. I don’t mean that we give advice that we’re not qualified to give, but we all have our pet preferred suppliers…individuals or companies that have really impressed us. And, invariably we share this ‘thrill’ of having found an outstanding supplier with our clients. So, why should this be of interest to you? Well, much of my time as a social media speaker is spent talking about how social media is a great tool for supercharging this ‘best buddy’ relationship.
Obviously (and although it goes without saying, I’ll say it anyway) the first thing is that for this to work you have to be good at what you do. Secondly, you have to be credible. Thirdly, you have to be believable and able to represent yourself appropriately – but because you’re an expert, of course all oft those things are true.
The way that you’re clients and acquaintances recommend you to others is brilliant, but it is often hard for them to do so. Not because they have their doubts, but because they don’t have a ready vehicle for doing so. They don’t have a ‘one click’ referral machine – or rather they didn’t – but now with social media they do. And of you play your cards right they could be pinging-off referrals and introductions like a machine gun! All you need to do is teach them how.
Give it some thought and it should all become clear.
Which department should control your social media
Social media is about using web and mobile tools to have an interactive dialogue with people, is is simultaneously a tool for listening and talking, for understanding customer needs and promoting your message, for spreading good (and bad) news…so who should look after it internally.
For most businesses it is a marketing tool. Clearly the marketing function within the business should be setting the strategy and implementing the plan. And this is fine p to a point. However, marketers (and I am one of these) tend to see the world of social (more…)
Why there are only two ways to win business
Being found and being recommended.
Being recommended is all about social media. Social media leverages the power of third party recommendations because your happy customers will find it easier than ever before to share their good experiences of working with you…and because it’s easy, there’s so much more of a chance that they will. To talk about this, why not speak to me about social media consultancy and advice. (more…)
Why Social Media can deliver in ALL areas
For many businesses social media is becoming a must do activity, but for many they’re not quite sure why!
Often social media is viewed as a cheap advertising channel (which of course it can be if you’re careful) but it can be so much more.
Social media can help with; (more…)
8 things you must do if social media is really going to work for you
Here is a short list of pre-requisites for social media success (although it’s not a complete list of course!).
- Measure. Your foray in to social media needs to be run with the same level of professionalism as every other area of your business. So, just doing it and hoping for the best a ludicrous. Knowing how many of your followers you’r engaging is a crucial part of seeing if (with time) you’re getting better or worse it it. Then with luck you can start to see a ROI for your efforts…here’s a bit more on that. (more…)
Why do I need a social media consultant?
Surely there’s no point in using a social media consultant is there? After all, 900,000,000 people know how to use Facebook so it’s not that hard is it?
Well, I suppose at one level that’s right. Everyone can use social media – in fact the social platforms have spent millions developing them exactly so everyone can use them. But using them and using them well are two entirely different things.
What s social media consultant brings is experience in helping you select which if the platforms you should be investing your time on and how to set them up properly from the word go. Clearly you could learn how to do this yourself (you could also learn everything about tax and the law and become your own accountant and lawyer) but this probably wouldn’t be good use of your time…you should be running your business and doing what you do best.
Internship – NEW!
Internship…I have been working as a social media consultant for about three years now. For most clients buying advice and strategy by the hour or day works perfectly well enough. However, I have over the past few months had conversations with some companies that want more…in fact the want exclusive use for a period, like an in-house resource. So, to this end I have started to offer my services for limited periods as an intern, where I do just that, come and work full-time within your environment until the project is completed.
If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d be interested in, please get in touch via my contact page.
For the English pedants…
…or do do I mean pedants of English?
An old friend of mine pointed me at this fantastic info graphic…well worth a read.
Blackberry Playbook
As you all know…I am an Apple fan…G3s, G4s, G5s, iMacs, Macbooks, iPhones and an iPad…but the other day I bought (or do I mean iBought) a Blackberry Playbook – mostly because it’s small and loads of places seem to be selling them for £169.
I got it home, unboxed it and fell in love with the rubberised little chap…except for the truly awful and clunky OS. Nobody in their right mind would ever buy this in preference to an iPad, and despite the fact that it’s under half the price it only offers 1/4 the value!
However, yesterday I updated the software to OS2 and to say that it has transformed the Playbook is an understatement. Now with native email and calendar apps you can start to see just what a great little tool this is.
I’m passionate about the world of social media, what it can do for business and mankind. I work with companies to help them understand what Social Media is and how they can harness its power to have more and better relationships with their prospects and customers. I help my clients integrate social media with their existing marketing and ensure that they get the best possible return on their investment. I work across East Anglia and the South East of England with clients in Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire and London.