How everything links together

This is the kind of illustration I could stare at for hours. I just wish I had recorded where I had found this image, (I’m obviously not using Pinterest as well as I should be)! If anyone does know the source, please let me know so I can credit this. My favourite key points from this illustration are:

• Social media allows you to listen. Together with key word research you can create awesome fresh content that will help you engage your audience and increase traffic.
• Your blog and key lead articles, are where you place this fresh content. You promote your valuable content via social media.
• The more valuable your content the more people link to it, thus increasing your authority, and improving Search Engine Optimisation.
• On-page Search Engine Optimisation techniques include what you can do to optimise your blog  whilst off-page Search Engine optimisation and anchor text work is part of your link building strategy to help you increase authority.
• Social media, content marketing, Search Engine Optmisation, blogs and links are all… linked!

The importance of valuable content
Moving on to another really cool illustration. This one I can credit, and I encourage you to read their full article called, The new SEO rules in a content marketing world. This compares the 2002 world of Search Engine Optimisation with the 2012 view. You can see how important valuable content that humans want to consume and share has become.

A complete marketing mix
Your website, social media, content marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, blogs, links, etc, should be part of a complete marketing mix - Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical Environment. Additionally. like all forms of marketing, successful social media takes planning and resources.

The importance of a social media plan
Here are 7 reasons why you need a social media plan:

1. You need a map to get to your destination.
2. Social media is a tool to drive traffic to your site, to your store, to your call to action – a plan will help you stay focused on what you are trying to achieve.
3. You must have a clear understanding of your business goals. In the planning stages, work backwards, identifying what social media activity needs to take place in order to achieve your goals.
4. Your social media plan must link with your overall marketing plan and your overall business plan.
5. A plan will help you avoid inconsistency and costly mistakes.
6. Your social media plan will ensure someone is responsible and accountable for the social media activity of your organisation.
7. Social media may be ‘free’ but it does require resources. Time and budget is required to deliver good quality content in a ‘sticky’ and ‘spreadable’ way.  Resources are not applied effectively without a plan.

And these are the 12 things your social media plan should contain:

1. Your business goals and how social media can help
2. How your social media plan links with your marketing plan
3. Who your target audiences are
4. An understanding of where they hang out
5. An understanding of what they want to hear – their needs, interests, desires and on buttons
6. Specific social media related goals for the next 6, 12 or 18 months
7. A content plan
8. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely targets for each channel
9. A social media action plan – specific quantifiable activities with required resources
10. Social media policies
11. Training assessment and allocation plan
12. A short, one page, action summary for daily reference

What about social media Return on Investment?
These two videos illustrate social media ROI. The first is a 2009 and the second, a 2012 video. The differences helps to show how social media has moved on.

Social media ROI: Socialnomics, 2009, 4:15

The ROI of social media, 2012, 2.:23

Now, go forth and be social media heroes

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Woolmark, fashion by feelings, 2:48

The Marmarati social media case study, 3:03

Ford, an insight into Ford’s social media campign, 2:51

KLM surprise, 5:32

Barcaffe, let’s go for a cup of coffee, Slovenia and Croatia, 2:11

Mentos, official launch in Eypt, 1:40

James Whelan Butchers, Ireland, being relevant to the contemporary consumer, 3:53

Aditi Technologies, making Aditi go social in India, 2:45

UniverCell, Mahesh Babu campaign, India 2:08

Mahindra spark the rise, India, 2:35

Glad, engage and educate homemakers in the UAE, 2:00

Social media and non profits, 4:02

Some of the tools organisations use to make their social media campaigns so successful are Tweetdeck, Buffer and Hoosuite, Hootsuite being the king of them all, in my opinion.

Which is your favourite case study?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Something Beckons world of YouTube Pinterest board

Pinterest
Here is a really cool video explaining what Pinterest is and a video on what marketeers think of Pinterest.  Pinterest is all about images and video. So what do you Pin? Use Pinterest to visually illustrate the following:

• Products
• Service
• Brand, products and service in use
• Company culture
• The team, in and out of work
• Premises
• Infographics
• Resources
• Blog posts
• Testimonials
• Recommendations
• Inspirations
• Events
• Activities
• Community involvement

See the Something Beckons ‘world of Pinterest’ Pinterest board for an evolving board of Pinterest for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘world of Pinterest’ Pinterest board

Google+
Here is a simple video introduction to Google+. This social media channel may be way down on the social media league tables but beware, it’s here to stay! See the Something Beckons ‘world of Google+’ Pinterest board for an evolving board of Google+ for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘world of Google+’ Pinterest board

Would you recommend any other relevant videos or pins on Pinterest?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Blogging is great to:

• Position yourself as a thought leader
• Create valuable content, demonstrating your expertise
• Keep your website up to date with fresh content
• Improve Search Engine Optimisation and drive traffic to your website
• Help people and benefit from attraction marketing

See the Something Beckons ‘world of blogging’ Pinterest board for an evolving board of blogging for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘world of blogging’ Pinterest board

Facebook
Here is a simple video introduction to how Facebook can help business. Facebook Pages are great for B2C businesses, but do not underestimate how good they can be for B2B businesses too.  Here are some expertly crafted B2c and B2B Facebook Pages. Be inspired by the experts.

B2C Facebook Pages:

• Converse
• Starbucks
• Disney

BtoB Facebook Pages:

• ClearRisk
• Intel 
• GE

These are some things to think about via these quick Facebook for business tips:

• Be visual – post pictures and albums
• Claim your name
• Make your Page part of your brand (use your logo alongside colours, language and style that reflects your brand)
• Listen
• Interact with fans
• Share relevant content and add value
• Like other relevant Pages and comment on them
• Unless the situation is extreme, don’t delete comments – use these golden opportunities to be human and demonstrate how you handle difficult situations
• Have fun and be human
• Use Facebook’s useful features like Events and Insights (Facebook statistics)
• Use their training and support resources

See the Something Beckons ‘world of Facebook‘ Pinterest board for an evolving board of Facebook for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘world of Facebook’ Pinterest board

Twitter
Here is simple video introduction to Twitter and an incredible video time lapse of international Twitter activity in five minutes. You may also like Gladstone’s video illustration of how Twitter works.

Business can use Twitter to:

• Be people and conversation focused
• Allow interaction through comments and feedback (even bad ones)
• Be relatable, relevant, funny and interactive
• Build relationships, brand awareness and generating leads
• Listen and learn for market research, improvement to  processes and products or services
• Monitor customers, competition, suppliers
• Improve sustomer service
• Create # hashtags for events, offers, movements and create interest in various promotions
• Share knowledge and expertise via tweets containing links to pictures, videos and content
• Have fun

These are some things to think about via these quick Twitter tips:

• Complete your profile and make sure you are not an egg (the default Twitter profile picture)
• Learn and use the lingo like #hashtags and @mentions
• Don’t ignore people – reply to people who reach out to you
• Don’t be a one way street – have conversations and share other people’s content
• Listen, listen and listen some more
• Be polite, but be brave enough to have an opinion
• Be valuable
• Organise your Twitter world with lists
• Use their training resources

See the Something Beckons ‘world of Twitter‘ Pinterest board for an evolving board of Twitter for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘world of Twitter’ Pinterest board

LinkedIn
Here is a simple video introduction to LinkedIn, the ultimate professional network. These are some things to think about via these quick LinkedIn tips for business:

• Ensure you have a personal presence on LinkedIn
• Use the endorsements and testimonials feature
• Consider a Company Page on LinkedIn
• LinkedIn is a great B2B channel
• Use the Groups facility
• Listen and learn by following people and companies of interest and using the tailored news facility
• Be social and valuable and you’ll build powerful relationships
• Use their training and support resources

See the Something Beckons ’world of LinkedIn‘ Pinterest board for an evolving board of LinkedIn for business infographics and tips.

Something Beckons ‘World of Linkedin’ Pinterest board

Would you recommend any other relevant videos or pins on Pinterest?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Inbound marketing
Any activity that involves earning the interest and respect of your audience, rather than buying it. Inbound marketing is the act of creating free valuable content which you share through blogs, social media channels and ebooks, for example. This content does not sell or pitch. Instead it solves problems. It is useful. It is entertaining. Inbound marketing is also known as attraction marketing because it draws your audience to your organisation through appealing, useful and engaging content that they actually want to experience.

It’s the kind of content that your audience would want, feel good about, appreciate and thank you for. Valuable content positively influences your audience in favour of your message, brand or course. It helps organisations build relationships.

Hubspot describes this as lovable marketing. They have created a series of slides on lovable marketing from leading experts. View them here.

Outbound marketing
The stuff you have to buy to promote your business is called outbound marketing. You buy attention through marketing that involves radio and TV advertisements, cold calling and telemarketing for example. today, I find that most (not all) outbound marketing is unsolicited, unwanted, intrusive and irrelevant.

Is outbound marketing dead?

Not necessarily. Outbound marketing can be used successfully alongside inbound marketing. A radio advert used as part of a marketing campaign that stretches across traditional and social media could be quite successful. The radio is just another avenue for an organisation to reach it’s audience. The most important points here are ensuring each chosen communication channel is relevant to the target audience, and that the campaign is recognisable as one, across multiple channels.

There is also a notable change taking place, particularly on TV adverts. Adverts are becoming more and more entertaining. This is an example of outbound marketing evolving so that it becomes less of an interruption and more of a positive experience. So much so, that the best TV adverts become major talking points in themselves, as opposed to boring hard sell adverts that you want to switch off.

Is inbound marketing the answer?
Not necessarily. It is the preferred choice by many because it is more achievable. It is affordable and realistically doable. In fact Hubspot research has found that inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing.

Valuable content that your audience seeks out is the kind of content that people like, share and interact with. Thus it can create reach and influence far beyond the most expensive outbound marketing technique. But you had better make sure the content you create is actually valuable to your audience. There are many examples of people trying to use inbound marketing techniques, and failing, because their content is boring, repetitive and uninspiring.

We’re interested in you – how are you using inbound and outbound marketing for your business?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

This is a short visual story about why social media is not going away, and why you should care.

Do you agree or disagree with any of these quotes?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Part of an infographic by Kuhcoon

Traditional versus social media
To begin with I’ve taken a deeper look at the word ‘versus’. Historically it has meant things like ‘against’ or ‘turned against’. It is also associated with words like ‘change’, overthrow’ and ‘destroy’.  But a more contemporary understanding, and certainly my use of the word ‘versus’  in this case, is to denote a ‘comparison’, contrasting two things.

Some examples of traditional media are the TV, radio, telephone and newspapers. Social media are those channels that enable people to have conversations and share information online – channels like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. My previous blog goes into more detail about what social media is.

Comparisons between traditional and social media
Traditional media allows people to consume information – people can watch the TV, listen to the radio or read the newspaper. In contrast, social  media enables people to consume information AND communicate information. If they find the content they are consuming valuable, they are likely to share it with their network of friends, followers or connections.

Traditional media provides a limited choice of what one can consume. One tends to only has access to what one buys or subscribes to, and what is available in a given physical location. Social media on the other hand provides all kinds of free information at your fingertips. A wide choice of information from all over the world can be consumed and communicated.

Advertising in traditional media is often intrusive, interrupting the users experience – think of adverts halfway through a TV program and intermittent adverts on the radio. Here the consumer has no choice but to wait for the adverts to end, or change channel. On the other hand, social media has no interruptions. (Although today, consumers can also fast forward or rewind TV, putting another spanner in the works for advertising).

Or does social media actually have interruptions too? There are adverts on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, and promoted tweets on Twitter. The difference is, the consumer can continue consuming the information whilst the adverts go on in the periphery of their vision, whilst social media channels like YouTube allow consumers to skip ads. There is also an added advantage of social media – adverts can more easily be tailored to suit the individual interests of the viewer, so adverts may actually become useful rather than rude interruptions.

Some argue that social media creates a world that is too loud, with too much information to consume. Because social media enables anyone to create content people go on to argue that social media is largely poor quality information not created by true professionals, as it is in traditional media. This is true to a certain extent, just as it is true for traditional media. After-all  not all traditional media is created by ‘true professionals’ nor would all traditional media pass as high quality content.

One must also bear in mind four points:

1. Firstly, social media is the people’s choice, the most valuable content wins.
2. Secondly, there are tools that enable people to tailor their social media space, choosing who and what they like, follow and share. Tools like lists on Twitter enable people to organise the information they consume.
3. Thirdly, social media allows experts in all fields to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. They can create and curate quality content quickly and cheaply via social media.
4. Finally, there are many professional teams available to help people create quality content via social media. Just like there are professionals available to create quality traditional forms of communication.

Moving from the traditional organisation to the social organisation

Traditional organisations use one way ‘push’ communication tools like the radio, a flier, a billboard or TV advert to reach their audience. In contrast the social organisation encourages two way communication via social media channels. Audiences can now interact with and have conversations with the organisation. The social organisation will listen and encourage this new form of engagement with their audiences.

In the traditional organisation, communication tends to be more generic, to a broad audience. Customers have no real way of connecting with the organisation, or each other. In the social organisation there is more chance of spontaneous one to one conversations, leading to the opportunity for powerful relationships to be built with people who have a real interest and passion for the organisation. In addition, social organisations using social media, can tailor content and conversations to particular groups of individuals.

As well as being able to easily communicate with the organisation, customers of the social organisation can also easily find and talk to each other via linked networks of social media channels. This results in the creation of real communities around an organisation. Note that these online communities can be positive or negative, and whether an organisation is traditional or social is not the point – people will gather together and talk about common areas of interest, brands, products or services, whether the organisation is listening, and part of the conversation, or not.

There is an opportunity available to all organisations to embrace this new world and become a social organisation – one that will benefit from standard word of mouth being transformed into high speed word of mouth. This is a world based on two way communication, relationships and reputation, a world that creates attention, reach and influence – three things that organisations can most certainly benefit from.

Are you aspiring to be a social organisation? What are your thoughts and what has your experience been?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Here’s a list of key points of interest from the video:

• Over 50% of the worlds population is under 30 years old
• Social media has become the #1 activity on the web
• 1 in 5 couples meet online
• The Ford Explorer launch on Facebook generated more traffic than a super bowl ad
• Every second two new members join LinkedIn
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
• 53% of people on Twitter recommend products in their tweets
• 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 14% trust advertisements
• 93% of marketers use social media for business
• Word of mouth has become world of mouth

Just how BIG is social media in the UK?
If you feel that video was a little American, then this video by Simply Zesty, gives a flavour of the state of social media in the UK. BUT it is a 2010 video so things will have moved on significantly since then.

Defining social media
In it’s simplest form, social media is about people having conversation and sharing information online, via channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and others. A more complex explanation is, social media combines technology with social interaction, allowing the creation and exchange of user generated content.

It is changing our world, because is enables discussion and interaction between diverse international audiences. You can tailor how you use social media to be as local or as international as you want, zoning in on whatever topics of interest you have.

Through social media channels anyone can create or curate, anyone can be an author, journalist or publisher. Some argue that this is actually something  negative, causing a deluge of poor quality content, once policed by professional authors, film makers and photographers. But what social media does do is give everyone a voice. Only those producing valuable content get found and shared by the crowd. Those that take the time to learn the tools of the trade, the culture and etiquette of social media will help themselves spread their messages effectively. Also, don’t forget that what might be perceived as poor quality, useless content to some, will be high value content that is worth sharing to others.

Social media for business Pinterest board
We created a social media for business Pinterest board which gives a great overview and powerful social media tips.

Are you using social media for business? Could you recommend any other related pins or boards?

This post is part of a series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

Recently, I experienced one of those horrible life episodes everyone dreads. I was running a full day workshop for a group of 25+ delegates. The presentation was very video, website and image heavy so I was reliant on the internet running smoothly. I knew I was taking a risk, and to that end I checked and double checked the venue could provide everything I needed. I was repeatedly reassured it could. But on the day, the venue and its facilities let me down. Neither the internet or sound worked. After two grueling hours of technical shenanigans and a change of room, we got internet access, albeit rather slow. And it was a pure stroke of luck that one of the delegates had speakers in their car.

I was ill prepared for technical failure but had no choice but to make the best of a bad situation. Supported by a group of very understanding delegates, I soldiered on. To tell the truth, the technological mishaps completely threw me off balance. And that affected the rest of the presentation because it messed with my confidence. Starting a workshop two hours late wreacked havoc with my already tight timetable. I had to speed through content and skip some things altogether.

The worst thing was that it affected my audience. Frankly, I really wanted to impress them. Instead everything got off to a bad start, and they had to suffer the consequences of a hideous stop start effect. The presentation just didn’t flow and my meticulously planned workshop fell rather flat. Despite everything, I got positive feedback. But then I can’t help but wonder how much more valuable the presentation would have been if everything had gone smoothly.

At this point, I could just walk away. The audience was understanding. I survived the day. I got paid.

But I felt I needed to do something extra to compensate for how things turned out. I felt I needed to go the extra mile. Driving home that day, feeling rather sorry for myself, I hatched a plan. In addition to an e-book and the presentation slides, every attendee has received an invitation to view this series of blogs, designed to clarify and provide key reference material to any points we missed, or had to zip through. At the same time, the blogs are valuable to other readers. I figured using the tools we talked about during the presentation made perfect sense.

Does anyone else have the ‘go the extra mile’ approach in business? Care to share an example or two of how you have gone the extra mile?

Here is the complete ‘Introduction to social media’ series:

1. An introduction to social media
2. Traditional media versus social media
3. Why social media won’t go away
4. Understanding inbound and outbound marketing
5. Overview of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
6. Overview of YouTube, Pinterest and Google+
7. 12 social media video case studies
8. Linking it all together; social media, Search Engine Optimisation and Return on Investment

We strongly recommend that you set aside a few hours to consider the following 10 questions that will help you unlock how to stand tall and bright in 2013:

1. What marketing and communication challenges and lessons did you have last year?
2. What have you learnt from those challenges and lessons?
3. What do you want to achieve from your marketing and communication activity in 2013?
4. What are your strengths, weaknesses, unique selling points, features and benefits?
5. Who are you trying to communicate with and appeal to? (This is your target audience).
6. Who are your competitors and what can you learn from them?
7. How can you use your website more effectively?
8. Is your on and off line marketing and communication working together?
9. What can you do to engage and interact with your existing and potential customers, staff, suppliers, partners, etc, more effectively?
10. What are the most important actions you need to take?

The most important of these questions is number three. What do you want to achieve from your marketing and communication activity in 2013? This relates to the goals you have for your business in 2013. When you know your goals, you can work backwards and plan all the marketing and communication activities that need to be carried out, and that will contribute significantly to you to achieving those business goals.

If you need help planning your marketing and communication activity for 2013, read more about our Marketing Action Plans which start from £350. Marketing Action Plans involve:

1. Sitting down over coffee (and maybe cake)
2. Recording our conversation which will be driven by us asking a series of questions about your business (this will give us the answers we need for step three)
3. Us going away and writing your 2013 Marketing Action Plan which will contain activities in a recommended order of priority
4. Getting together over another coffee (and maybe more cake) to discuss how to stay committed to this plan so you reap the rewards

Here’s to you standing tall and bright in 2013.