Are you working with the Adams family or the Brady Bunch?

I've had a bit of a revelation at work this week.  It seems that social media is driven by nepotism. Doh!

Though we tend to think about the various social media platforms as individuals, we should actually be viewing them as families.  Dig just below the surface and they are all interrelated, which means that social media optimisation (SMO), the term used for all the activities you do to ensure visibility of your brand, is now more important than ever.

Knowing how the platforms link, lets you decide where to focus your efforts and the content to produce to increase engagement and build your reputation.  In other words, consider how each social media tool encourages sharing and whether they are trusted by the audiences you're trying to reach, before you rush to create a Facebook page or a Youtube channel.

Choose tactics that play to your strengths as a company and attract your customers, but remember that imagery, video and high quality content need to be part of your plan no matter which platform you use. They may be different families, but they're all run by humans.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list it's worth remembering that

Google owns Google+ and Youtube

Yahoo owns Tumblr and Flickr

LinkedIn owns Slideshare, Pulse and Bizo

Facebook owns Instagram and Whatsup

Twitter owns Vine and Periscope

Just as families favour their own, the biggest social media sites aim to maximise visibility across their channels, so make sure you create content in the most shareworthy format for each group.  Hubspot recently did a great blog piece if you need inspiration.

Which do you favour?

Why do you need Social Media? [Video evidence]

First there was economics, then freakonomics and now socialnomics, a term coined to show the impact of social media on our everyday lifes. Feel left behind yet?

Globally, more people now own a mobile device than own a toothbrush. Let's just hold that thought for a moment (especially if you're a dentist).

Unless electricity runs out, this trend to a wired world can only gather pace. And yet ... I'm still amazed at how many businesses have failed to join the social revolution, citing fear and irrelevance as the top two reasons to avoid joining the online masses.

If this sounds like you, take action TODAY.

A simple google search could get you up and running in your lunch hour and specific tools for mastering each social platform abound.

In case you still need a push, consider these fascinating facts

• 45% of internet users aged 65+ use Facebook
• 73% of US adults use social networks, daily
• 83% of US teenagers use Instagram
• There are more female than male users on Facebook but more males than females on Twitter
• 89% of 18-29 year olds access social media

Your customer is out there - expecting to find you.  Do you really want to disappoint them?

I'd be happy to get you started, just leave your burning social media question in the comments section below.

Do you know your social demographics?

                                                                                                          Image 123rf.com

I read a great blog post recently, by the Fast Company, which listed some surprising statistics around social media. Who knew that

• the fastest growing group on Twitter is 55-64 years olds
• 45-54 year olds rule on Facebook and Google+
• average age of a LinkedIn user is 44, with 2 new members joining every second
• YouTube exceeds Cable network views for 18-34 year olds in the US

It's surprisingly easy to forget that over the last decade the demographics of the key social media tools have shifted considerably.  Has your marketing strategy kept pace?

7 ways to be a better tweep (twitter user) today

Every felt like you're tweeting in slow motion? Or that the rest of the twittersphere knows something you don't?  Here are a few tips you can follow today to make you look like an expert, even if you're still learning on the job.

1. Decide why you're on twitter

I know this sounds like a no brainer, but often I hear people say they're on twitter because they feel they have to be, rather than through any particular plan to engage potential customers, build a brand, share ideas, gather news - the possibilities are endless.  Having a purpose in mind, directs who you follow, what you tweet and how much time you need to devote to this addictive little tool.  What's yours?

2. Make your twitter presence visible

How many people know that you're on twitter?  If your twitter name doesn't appear on your business card, email signature, website, LinkedIn page, voicemail message etc. etc. etc. then you're missing some great opportunities.  Helping people to know you're there also adds a little personal pressure to keep your twitter stream active .....

3. Be more interesting

This is a note to self as much as anything else, but tweeting about the same old subjects in the same old way, can take all the fun out of twitter. Broaden your horizons, look for trending topics (change country for even more variety), or search for complementary ideas that are likely to be interesting to your followers.  The more you inform, engage and entertain, the more your following will grow.

4. Rerun past tweets

Twitter is more like TV than blogging. People don't tend to read a twitter stream from beginning to end, so you shouldn't be afraid to intersperse your new tweets, with old ones.  Good content is always worth revisiting and if you don't recycle once in a while, your newest followers won't get the full benefit of your tweeting skills.  Rerun your best tweets, but not so often that you sound like a broken record. Not sure what your best tweets are? Take a look at My Top Tweet.

5. Aim for retweets

It's not about how many followers you have, but rather how much they value your input. Getting a retweet is like an endorsement.  It shows that others agree with your stance enough to share it with their followers.  This is how authority is built. Think about how and what you like to retweet and fill your stream with similar nuggets.  Hubspot have a great post on how to get retweets.

6. Use hashtags

Hashtags (which look like this # - see the trend boxes above for ideas), let twitter know what your tweet is about and help categorise it for others to find. If you type a word or phrase into the twitter search box and prefix it with a hashtag, you'll see who's talking about a particular topic and that can help you decide on the conversations you'd like to join. My own rule of thumb is no more than two hashtags per tweet - more makes it difficult to read.

7. Fake it 'til you make it

Part of the joy of this social media world is knowing that we're all still learning.  Like any new skill, the more you practise the better you'll be and there's a wealth of information out there to help you.  Here are some of my favourites.

Twitter Guidebook from Mashable

How to build a twitter following from Social Media Examiner

Inspiring brand page backgrounds from Hubspot

Enjoy, oh and follow me on twitter @vlindsay.

Why Do You Need A Company Facebook Page? (Top 5 Reasons)

According to a recent social media report by Technorati, over 90% of brands have a presence on Facebook - pretty astonishing for a tool designed not for selling, but for keeping in touch with friends and family.

So, what is all the fuss about and why should companies have a Facebook page?

Visibility
This is the no brainer.  Having a company Facebook page is a positive step towards building your brand and community.  It's a way of showing your brand has personality and inviting your customers to interact on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis.

24/7 Customer Service
Perception, (which is 99% reality in customer minds), sees a company Facebook page as an instant access, free from elevator music, connection with a brand.  Thrilled by those sunglasses you just bought?  Look for the company Facebook page and share the love.  Discover you've paid more than you needed to?  Find that Facebook page and have a rant.  Like it or not, Facebook gives a very clear view of how well your products or services are doing, in realtime.  Be warned though, your customer expects a response, just as they would had they called your help-line, so make sure there is a dedicated resource monitoring and replying to each comment.

Daily Research and Development Opportunities
With the rapidly evolving new feature set, you can reach out to your audience for feedback on a regular basis.  Ask them questions.  Invite them to rate photos of yet to be released product.  Poll for suggestions. Offer free samples or behind the scenes sneak peaks, to gauge reaction to and interest in, your future plans.  The possibilities are endless.

Engagement
We all know that an engaged audience is a revenue generating audience.  While Facebook is not primarily a sales tool, fans are well used to receiving offers and even getting access to exclusive content from the brands they support.  Lead generation may not be the first thing that comes to mind when setting up your Facebook page, but ask yourself how many spending decisions you've taken, based on something a friend shared on social media.

Measurement
Facebook insights is a great way to measure the success of your Facebook page.  At the click of a button (or two) you'll have the numbers needed to show how engaged your audience is, how your fan base is growing, how people found your page and most importantly reach (how far your content can be shared through friends of your fans). Facebook insight stats are complimentary to those provided on your website by Google Analytics and together they give a picture of how well your marketing is performing.

Still not convinced?  Here are some great examples of company Facebook pages.

Sigmar Recruitment
The Honest Company
Godiva Boutique

'Vine' God's video gift to small businesses

Image credit: www.123rf.com

Hands up who hasn't seen a rush of six second looping video's this week. Anyone? Where have you been?  I am of course referring to the new kid on the social block, Vine - a free mobile app by twitter for iphone and ipod touch.

Vine is a mini movie making machine and is simplicity itself to use. Put your finger on the screen to start recording and take your finger off the screen to stop.  In the time it takes to say 'small businesses of the world rejoice, instant video content is yours', six seconds of footage can be recorded. That may not sound like much, but six seconds of imagery can speak a thousand words.  Think of it as a rather fabulous animated gif.

UNICEF Mothers Day message - Vine in action

Like all new things, it remains to be seen what the world will make of Vine. Anyone with a twitter account might already be bored with the number of videos that have popped up, or even shocked that within a few days of launching, it had been sabotaged by an outbreak of porn. As ever, quality and content will be key for anyone keen to employ this latest technology. Those videos which inspire, entertain and/or inform will always find an audience.

The idea for this post came from [Gawr-Juhs] and they'd be happy to help make your movie making dreams a reality.

Alicia Cowan/Keren Lerner Workshop Review

Seminar Review: Social Media for Business - can you afford to ignore it?

As a break with tradition, todays blog was written by the very talented Eileen MacCallum (www.aweebirdie.com).  

Last week I really joined the conversation. That's to say I went along to one of the workshops run by social media guru Alicia Cowan (http://www.aliciacowan.com/) and equally clued-up designer Keren Lerner from Top Left Design (www.topleftdesign.com).

The day-long seminar aimed to demystify the main social media channels for the common business bod. So folk from all walks of work followed the cheery Muppet-themed (we know, that's why we're here) directions down to the comfy basement of a North London office.

Both prolific tweeters and bloggers, Keren and Alicia talked us knowledgeably through LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging and You Tube (no Facebook due to time constraints), rounding up with a bite-size guide to planning your social media strategy.

Along the way they shared a ton of practical tips, best practices, information sources and tools to make joining the big social media conversation that bit simpler.

Attendees ranged from complete novices to recent enthusiasts. When someone asked, "What is SEO?" they got a relaxed, jargon-free explanation. Another had concerns about how best to manage the degree of personal exposure regular social media interaction can involve. (Solution: dive in but always keep your business goals in mind.) Worries about time-munching Twitter habits were countered with advice on planning and tools, from Buffer (http://bufferapp.com/) to Listorious (http://listorious.com/).

I've had my toe in the social media sea for a wee while now and am keen to improve my online marketing. What I gained was a fuller understanding of each platform's role, plus plenty of practical advice to help me manage it all more effectively.

The volume of information was perhaps bamboozling for the beginner - I did see some eyes go a bit fruit-machine by the end of the day - but regular breaks for energy-boosting cupcakes and some light networking helped ease the pace.

As most of us know, social media is all about sharing. Over this informal fact-packed day Alicia and Keren shared all the stuff they know, to help us share the stuff we know, and I for one left feeling all fired up to chat. #timeandmoneywellspent

What does success smell like?

Have you ever thought about the return you're getting from all the time you spend on line? It would be terrifying to calculate the weekly social media hours count, but now that it's an everyday distraction, we've almost stopped noticing how much time updating the world via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ etc takes.

As a small business, time is money, so while Olly and Molly (youtube above) may seem like another timewaster, I think the idea of a physical indication of how you're doing online is something that really resonates.

To measure your success (in sweets or smells or any other way - watch the video!), you need to know what your social media strategy is. Most obvious uses for social media are

1. Visibility - you need people to have heard of you and know what you do. Brand building. 
2. Find your fans - ideally you want to build a community of like minded people who share your passion for 'insert your company passion here' 
3. Customer choice - you can find out what people like/don't like, measure content views etc. to turn interested parties into customers. 
4. Show your brand is up to date - if you're not on the web, 90% of people won't trust you 

See, it's not time wasted after all.

Kill your customer service with social media

Most of my marketing experience has come from B2B (business to business) scenarios, but recently the distinction between B2B and B2C (business to customer) has become really blurred. Afterall, marketing is ultimately human to human and we're all customers.

Those who think of themselves at B2C have been quick to adopt social media, as a natural extension of their customer service. They get the chance to engage and showcase their brand. A great way to position themselves and demonstrate their companies personality. All well and good, until it bites them.

I was the customer on two occasions this week, with very different outcomes. Firstly I ordered some christmas cards from the little known but rather lovely http://postcarden.com. They shipped as I ordered, but parcelforce failed to deliver. As the days went past, I emailed postcarden and their customer service couldn't have been better. They chased parcelforce on my behalf, proactively emailed me to tell me what was happening every step of the way and offered to send someone round to personally deliver my cards if the lost package couldn't be found. They tweeted what was happening too. I was very impressed.

Contast this, with big brand Waterstones. Inspired by Mary Portas to support the High Street, I went in store and bought 3 books. So far, so good. On return home I checked the waterstones.com site and discovered to my horror that had I purchased on line, the same books would have been £40 cheaper! I tweeted to Waterstones. No response. I took my complaint to their Facebook wall. This time I got a reply, which basically said, it was standard practice to charge more in store, as online they had to stay competitive!!!!

I wonder which brand I'll be telling all my friends about for all the right reasons, and which brand I will be boycotting in the future?!

In a world were perception is 99% reality, it doesn't matter how big brands are anymore, or whether they're B2B or B2C, your customers will judge you on how you treat them on or offline.