Talking social at #LUL360 Linc Up Live

Listening to Stuart Witts talking about social media working for Marie Curie Care.
It’s all about trust, listening and genuinely interaction. You have to be real and stop ‘marketing’ at people who support your values.
Great conference by the way.

Social Media Works for Small Businesses

This week I spoke to a couple of Lincolnshire based small companies who are reaping the rewards from the social media marketing revolution actively involved with Linc Up Live – LUL360 – a social media event taking place this Friday 24th Feb 2012.

Tim Downing, Celia Lacy and Glenn Le Santo from Linc Up Live

BUILDING YOUR OWN BUZZ

Matt Russell from Web Hosting Buzz based in Lincoln describes the company as an `early adopter’ of all things social, as the hosting sector is immensely competitive.

“Traditionally hosting companies would use message boards and forums to interact with their customers,” explains Matt, “but we quickly decided to experiment with Facebook and Twitter, although we did originally start with a forum and still maintain it. However, we’ve seen a decline in visitors to the forums and a massive increase in customers and visitors to our social media channels.”

Do social media networks deliver as a marketing tool? Matt has no doubts;

“They’ve been successful on multiple levels. The social interaction we get with existing customers is excellent. We collect feedback in real time that is accurate and can react appropriately. We can also easily quiz them on new product and service ideas, plus invite customers onto beta testing programs.”

In the end business is about making money, so what percentage of Web Hosting Buzz customers are reaching the company web site via social media?

“We already had significant traffic in 2010 as we were early social adopters. Right now 40% of our traffic is search, 20% referrals and 20% social. The remaining 20% is brand traffic, type-in traffic and CPC. We’re spending more on social media than we are on AdWords, Adroll, Yahoo etc.”

SOCIAL IS A NEW FRONTIER FOR PR AGENCIES

I asked Charlotte Goy of Cartwright Communications to explain how social media has changed the typical client campaign.

Charlotte says Twitter is arguably the most effective PR tool, especially for B2B clients, with LinkedIn also offering great opportunities for business. Facebook and You Tube are more consumer orientated, but Cartwright Comms strongly recommend both these networks to their client base too.

Charlotte explains more;

“Our typical routine would be sharing the Twitter and blog duties between the agency staff, making sure everything synced together of course and encouraging clients to find their own `voice’ on Twitter – few are brave enough to share real opinions, but I think those companies that do stand out from the crowd.”

For every company, large and small, Charlotte says the key to success is to have a plan,

“Decide which networks you are using and why. For example if you are selling to consumers use social media to get an idea of what people like and how they want to be contacted. There is still something to be said for traditional media and we find our clients still rate newspapers as being effective. I also think that web sites like Polyvore you can see the potential in market research for many traditional High Street brands.”

Charlotte Goy from Cartwright Communications

If Charlotte could persuade a client to spend an extra £500 on social media marketing, what would she recommend?

“I think setting up a campaign that was a kind of treasure trail, a way of getting people to share experiences, would work really well. We know that social media works in terms of bringing in new customers, so it’s worth working out how you start customers on that journey.”

If you want to know more, you can meet them, and many more getting the best from social media, at Linc Up Live this Friday. Hashtag #LUL360 on Twitter and the UK website is here.

The event is taking place at the Doubletree Hilton Lincoln on 24^th February 2012.

SEO Tips: Where Our Eyes Go, Our Money Follows

One the best pieces of advice I heard on the Salford SEO and Social Media Course (#SSMM hashtag on Twitter) in 2010 was that `SEO is fundamentally about human nature – where our eyes go, our money follows.’

Of course it’s true. No matter how we pretend not to be influenced by marketing or advertising, we are creatures who follow a pack instinct – we see that others think something is useful, or enhances their social status and we want it too. We seek approval from our peers, right from childhood – often subconsciously.

You see this process in phone and gadget shops. People talk about tariffs, features, data allowances etc but the real, almost hidden conversation is about status, reputation, brand values, kudos.

PEOPLE SEARCH BY MAKE, MODEL, COLOUR – THEY KNOW WHAT THEY COVET

When you build a website, start with the basics; who will visit and why? What’s in it for them?

We are all time-poor nowadays, so websites need to communicate info rapidly and in a sensible, stylish manner. The design should reflect the brand values of your target customer, the text should echo the type of conversations you would have with your website visitors if you met them in a physical store, or maybe in a coffee shop. Relaxed, not too pushy, informed and quietly confident in your product or service.

Google Insights has a gold mine of data on searches, and it's free.

When I searched for keywords related to smartphones recently I was struck by fairly obvious things like iPhone5 searches rising on Google.

But there were also searches for mobile.me, a discontinued Apple contacts/file sharing service. Didn’t expect that. Some things in SEO are unpredictable, that’s why keyword searches are absolutely essential – perhaps twice weekly on larger sites. Unforseen events can often `spike’ searches in all kinds of things related to your core product or service. Look how an Icelandic volcano erupting spiked searches for ferry services or flights from obscure airports to the UK.

OK, back to smartphones; I found three times more people searching for `best’ or `top’ smartphone than I did for `cheapest.’ People want reviews, advice, ammo before walking into that lions’ den otherwise known as a UK phone shop. This isn’t really a price-driven product, no matter what people say to each other down the pub about contract tariffs.

If you drill down into search volumes you find models like `Wildfire,’ ‘Sensation’ or `Cha Cha’ within the HTC category. People are quite specific – they more or less know what they want – then they begin a web hunt for the best deal on that make and model. Same thing happens with cars, laptops, hi-fi, TVs, washing machines, sofas etc.

The brands who do best online are ones who spend time and money on their brand image, supporting reviewers with real credibility. Image sells, `cool’ still counts for something.

Manufacturers also need to give resellers an incentive to finally close the deal online. Because for all our specific searches, or our powerful longing for the latest feature-packed smartphone, sometimes a random shiny new bauble can catch our fickle eyes. That’s what makes us human.

We’re all search magpies.

I’m Twittering on @npointsocial BTW )

Pinterest Could Be a Huge Website Traffic Driver for UK Businesses

Have you started using Pinterest yet? It’s one of the fastest growing social networks at the moment, with an estimated 10 million users in the USA and rapidly growing in countries like the UK and India. Not bad for a social network that’s about a year old.

What is Pinterest? It’s a cross between a pinboard in your kitchen and a poster wall in your teenage bedroom. Stuff you like, photos you’ve taken, books you have read, cars you envy, holidays, shoes or boots you simply must have – and so on. Pinterest is especially popular with women and many have multiple streams of themed content on their profiles.

The social aspect of Pinterest is that you can ‘Re-Pin’ someone else’s photo, or old movie poster, vinyl record sleeve, D&G belt – whatever takes your eye. So if I dedicated a board to retro toys or TV shows, I can easily grab other Pinteresters’ content, or sift my own from Google searches. Whichever is easiest for me, depending on my mood.

retro toys, wedding stuff, shoes - you can pin anything you like

It only takes a few seconds to share a photo, whether it’s something you have just spotted in the street, or a re-pin from your newsfeed. This is one of the reasons for its success – it is so immediate, so viral. I’m a newbie on Pinterest, but I really like it.

BRANDS HAVE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

For brands and business users Pinterest is one to watch for three crucial reasons;

1. It lets you test products by measuring their immediate feedback – how many re-pins, comments, likes etc. If you are a small scale manufacturer or importer that’s valuable market research which could save you over-ordering the wrong items.

2. You can showcase products by category. For example wedding related services, gifts and so on, plus add links to your Facebook or web pages. Pinterest has already driven more traffic to some US e-tailers than Google+ although of course that’s not hard to do, as very few people are actually using Google+.

In SEO terms, Pinterest may well exceed Google+ LinkedIn and Twitter very soon in the UK as a genuine driver of BUYERS to your site, rather than just browsers – just my opinion, that’s all. For me, Google+ has no real product themed activity, LinkedIn is a deathly dull spamfest and Twitter generally drives debate, not traffic.

3. Unlike Twitter, Pinterest doesn’t have debate and conversation at the heart of its function. People are pinning stuff, showcasing, inviting approval and comments yes, but not engaging in real time conversations. Pinterest isn’t where your brand’s most vocal complaints might be found, that would be Twitter and Facebook perhaps. There’s a softer, more casual feel about Pinterest and for any company, that’s a good place to start spreading its core brand values.

If your brand sources goods from ethical suppliers, start a Pinboard showing those suppliers and how your business is transforming lives. If your brand supports charities, start a board. Pinterest allows brands to re-pin images of the people, causes, products, ideas or places that inspire the company.

You don’t have to go over the top, just be friendly and say thanks, because in business it’s always nice to be nice. Pinterest is perhaps the best place to share those values in 2012.