NW Women in Business Conference 2013 – Key Takeaways

I attended a conference today which was in parts both inspirational and somewhat surprising.  Whilst the speakers were undoubtedly accomplished and their stories inspirational, a common narrative ran throughout the first part of the day.

Whilst I myself recognise the power of positivity and have seen the benefits to be had from giving positive energy out, I found concepts such as ‘energy spirals’ and the notion that all women have an inner goddess, particularly hard to swallow within the context of business practice.

This feeling was exacerbated I think as a direct result of the softer, feminine approach to business that the first two speakers discussed. Focusing on emotion and spirituality at an event for women seemed a little cliche, enhancing in my mind, the steriotype that women in business are softer, emotional and should not be goal or money oriented.

Despite being a spiritual person and an active practitioner of meditation, I felt slightly uncomfortable with it all. I felt some of the advice was more suited to a holistic retreat environment. The feeling of discomfort, may be as a result of having previously held views challenged, so the jury is still out.

My conversations with a range of different business owners and fellow social media professionals however, did lead to a number of insights gained, summarised below.

Key Takeaways

• Principles surrounding cosmic ordering permeated through the narrative of most of the key speakers
• Sad to say but a fair few women are more than a little bit clueless around tech
• Most businesses understand the importance of social media, but don’t understand the why’s or the how’s
• Many businesses doing social media do not carry out strategically driven activities
• A marketing lecturer stated that she taught, and that all major texts teach, that messaging should be duplicated in exactly the same way across all social media channels; the fact that messaging should be tailored to each audience is not widely held.
• There is very low awareness of the fact that social networks have distinctly different demographics and should be chosen on their ability to target specific groups of customers
• Women are great at multi-tasking but we’d probably get more done and find it beneficial to focus on one thing at a time
• There is strong demand for social media management and a sizeable difference in pricing structures
• For those of us involved in social media management, we are largely preaching the same messages and are both teaching and using effective techniques and best practice

In summary, a very well organised event (well done Black Mango) and most of the speakers were well chosen, insightful and interesting.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!

Sony’s Social Agility Thwarts New XBOX ONE

Forget story telling and building a brand narrative, one of the best things about social media is the fact that it allows for fast, fluid communications that any business can turn to it’s advantage.

The immediacy of social media is very well illustrated by this weeks E3 unveiling by Microsoft of not just the new Xbox One console, but of the anticipated pricing and DRM restrictions, both critical considerations for gamers.

Whilst the Play Station 4 is set to be priced at £349, the new Xbox One comes in at a hefty £429. So far so bad for Microsoft.  The second big reveal was that the rumours were true, anyone purchasing the Xbox One will face strict restrictions when it comes to where they can buy and trade games thanks to DRM (digital rights management) being introduced that will effectively remove peoples ability to lend and trade games.  For console gamers, this alone is a deal breaker.

This lead to a witty and quickly delivered bit of marketing by Sony, who released a YouTube video on the same day of the 10th June 2013 announcement – Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video.

The Step-by-step Sony video on how to lend games to your friends, humorously highlights how super easy it is to trade used Play Station games, a clear dig at the Xbox One’s restrictions.

The speed at which businesses can publish content is one of the greatest benefits of social media marketing. Indeed, this kind of reactive, topical mass-marketing can not be achieved outside of social media.  It takes days, weeks or even months to book billboard spaces and design posters, or to book ad space and create radio or TV adverts.

Use social media like Sony

For businesses the message then is clear – make sure you’re socially agile.  Jumping in and shaping topical conversations as they occur can give you a voice and increase your visibility so remain vigilant and on the look out for all opportunities that present themselves.

It really doesn’t get any simpler, or quicker to execute than a 10 second video published on YouTube. Not all successful marketing activities need weeks of planning to implement, jump in and use wit and humour to get your message across and you might just find that your next activity goes viral.

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You can read more about this weeks E3 console announcements at BBC Technology.

 

Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!

Social Media Apathy – Time to Rethink Your Social Strategy?

With endless talk about social media, any business owner could be forgiven for believing that social media is the be all and end all, the answer to all of their prayers.  If that sounds like you, then now could be a good time to reassess the importance you are placing on social media activities.

Is it time for you to move the emphasis away from social media?

Every year myself and a group of family and friends go on a big mass camp-out to the lovely Shell Island in Wales.  Each year I set up a Facebook Event and invite the usual suspects.  After setting up this years event however, one of my younger sisters failed to respond.  A couple of days later I sent her a text asking if she’d seen the event invite on Facebook.  The response I got from her was ‘No.  I don’t really use Facebook anymore; I don’t see the point of it’, and that got me thinking.

Putting all of your eggs in the social media basket
is now riskier than ever

The fact that someone could miss a Facebook event invite seemed alien to me and raised a number of questions.  Doesn’t she have a Facebook app on her phone that alerts her to new events and such like?  Didn’t she receive a notification email? Doesn’t she log in frequently enough to have seen the invite on her Facebook page?

My sister, who is otherwise technically savvy and by all accounts, a hardware geek, might be in a minority in not actively using Facebook, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a very sizeable number of people just like her, who either don’t use Facebook, or indeed any social media at all or who very rarely use it.

When you take a look at recent social media user figures, for Facebook in particular, it becomes clear that the number of people actively using it is actually falling.

In March 2013 in the UK alone, 1.4 million Facebook users are reported to have failed to login during that month, a drop in it’s active user base of 4.5%.  This drop is not a one off however, over the last 9 months, Facebook has lost 2 million UK users (Guardian Technology 29th April 2013).

Bearing this in mind, focusing all of your attention on social media is a decidedly risky strategy.  Not only will your communications fail to reach many of your potential customers, but depending on which social networks you are using, your audience could actually be shrinking.

The key to successful marketing relies on the marketing mix, and the promtional aspect should contain just that – a mix of activities carried out via a mix of channels.

Rethinking your marketing strategy, what you need to consider

• Social media ‘noise’ is at an all time high,  your customers will be actively having to filter out this noise, deciding what they choose to pay attention to.
• Facebook EdgeRank plays an important role in determining who actually see’s the content you are posting on Facebook – it is variously estimated that only 10%-15% of your Facebook fans will actually even have your posts appear in their timeline at all.
• Although a lot of people use social media, Facebook  ‘active’ users have been consistently dropping over the last 9 months.
• Use analytics tools to find out what social media networks and activities work and actually drive good quality website traffic and assist conversions.
• Remember, some people just don’t use social media on a daily basis and may log in only once every few days or  weeks.
• Some people don’t use social media at all, a narrow focus of your communications means you may be seriously limiting the reach of your communications and failing to reach potential new customers.
• Don’t ignore other highly effective activities like email marketing.
• Don’t assume that you are reaching all or even the vast majority of your target audience with your social media activities.  Members of your target audience still exist outside of the social sphere.

Don’t forget about all of those equally valuable customers who don’t use social media

Social media is here to stay, but  is by no means the only way to get your message out and attract new customers.  It is fair to say that social media is in a league of it’s own when it comes to building relationships, but a multi-channel approach is far more likely to achieve positive, sustainable results.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!

Graphic design freebies – Communication Free Icon Image

Here’s another design freebie for you, ideal for use when you want to convey a theme of communication, talking or encourage someone to get in touch or share their experiences with you. There are 3 slightly different versions of the same graphic, the first is flat, the second shaded and the third has a glassy bevel on it.

Version 1

 

Version 2

Version 3

Please feel free to download and use these images – I place no restrictions on their commercial use, all I ask is that you leave me a comment letting me know you’ve used the graphic(s) and a link to where you have used it so I can take a look!

Enjoy!

Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company.  Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

 

Bad SEO That Will Damage Your Businesses Reputation

I’m currently working on a website for a Cheshire based locksmith and thought i’d take a look at the competition. I entered in a Google search and came across this website http://locksmithcheshire.co.uk I don’t take any joy in naming and shaming, but this is an example that I really couldn’t ignore.

I’m not going to waste my time critiquing the front end design, instead i’m focusing on the content, in particular the first paragraph of copy.  Read the first paragraph for yourself and it’s instantly clear that this is copy written by a cheap SEO provider whose first language clearly isn’t English.

Proving that you can’t write a coherent sentence really isn’t going to win you any customers

I’ve come across this kind of company time and time again.  The use of questionable techniques is one thing and sure, they might be successful in raising your websites visibility in search results, but what’s the point of being found in Google if your content is so terrible that it is more likely to lose than convert customers?

Seriously, this sort of content makes a business look plain stupid and will put far more customers off than it attracts.  My advice? Don’t be tempted to choose an SEO based on price alone. Riding high in SERPs is utterly pointless if your website content is lousy and stops people from using your services or buying from you.

If you are being offered SEO services at a price that seems too good to be true, dig a little deeper or you risk severely damaging your businesses reputation.

Key SEO considerations

• Get more than one quote for SEO services.
• If a company is promising you a guaranteed prime position in search results this has to be balanced with other objectives, like engaging customers with good quality relevant content.
• It is relatively simple to use black hat techniques to bump sites up the search results – these techniques are not just unethical, they won’t provide you with long term benefits and other considerations will often be totally overlooked.
• High quality website content is crucial and will help to generate trust in your brand, a critical component in the decision making process, don’t sacrifice the quality of your content.
• Poor quality copy as in the example above makes you look highly unprofessional and will have a negative impact on conversion rates; people won’t make enquiries, people won’t order from you.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!

Why Buying Facebook ‘Likes’ is a Bad Move

You might have come across some services that offer to provide you with hundreds or even thousands of Facebook ‘Likes’, and for anyone new to Facebook with just a handful of fans, this can seem like a very tempting offer.

Firstly though, you need to stop and ask yourself – why do you want to buy likes? Sure, it’s nice to look popular, but what good will looking popular really achieve? The truth is, nothing at all.

The real value of Facebook comes from genuine fans. These are the people that will be past/existing customers and people who largely, have an actual interest in your brand and what you have to say. They are effectively, receptive sales leads and as such, it is generally worthwhile investing your time into engaging with them as they are far more likely to convert into customers or purchase from you again.

Only genuine fans have a real intrinsic value to your business

The low down is, buy likes and your fans won’t have any genuine interest in your brand and certainty won’t be receptive to anything you do; in which case they are of little or no real value to you. It makes much more sense to build communities organically which is always our preferred approach. Sure, this takes a little longer to achieve, but it will result in a much higher quality of fan who will have real intrinsic value for your business.

Why buying Facebook fans is a bad move

• Your new ‘fans’ will have no interest in your business or your messages – why spend your time marketing yourself to none-prospects?
• Buying fans is often very obvious – a competitor or customer can easily spot a sudden explosion in the size of your community and could very publicly question this, stripping you off the trust you will have inspired in your real fans.
• Buying a community is often a question of ethics and trust and won’t do your reputation any favours.
• Growing a community of fake fans will do little for your business; it’s all about engagement and fake fans won’t engage with you.
• Buying fans will make you look like an amateur, signalling to the competition that you don’t know what you are doing.

If you come across a service selling you Facebook likes or an agency promising you a ready made community or a guaranteed number of fans, you should be on your guard and be aware that organic growth is the only approach guaranteed to provide you with real, sustainable benefits.

I’ve found few examples of businesses that have bought likes and actually benefited; for example, sometimes ‘getting the ball rolling’ on a new community may be helped by the number of fans you have, the thinking being that a busy community is more appealing than a small one; I disagree however.  If your Facebook wall is full of interesting content and lots of interaction, then regardless of that community consisting of 100 or 10,000 people, it’s going to be appealing and will grow.

My advice?  Focus on growing your community organically by publishing great content and being generally engaging.  Not only will you enjoy steady and sustained growth, but you’ll have a community of actual fans who do care about what you have to say and most importantly, are willing to listen.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!

Pin Like a Pro with these 10 Top Tips of Pinterest

I’m a big fan of Pinterest and use it extensively both personally and professionally. Here are my top 10 tips that will having you pinning like a pro in no time.

Verify your Pinterest Account

This is a simple process, requiring you to download a file and upload it to the root of your server. This helps to instill  a sense of trust and authority in you and of course, displaying a link to your website on your Pinterest profile makes a lot of sense.

Think keywords when you name your boards

Make sure you think carefully and give each board you create an informative, keyword focused name.  Also make sure you include a compelling, keyword rich board description. Pinterest is an excellent provider of backlinks, and remember that individual boards will get indexed by search engines.

Pin frequently

In general it’s better to pin a few things every day than it is to pin loads of things once a month.  If you pin every day you will have more visibility in the Pinterest feed for more of the time.

Schedule your Pins

You might get 10 minutes to Pin mid afternoon, or just before you go to bed, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best time for you to Pin. Once you’ve figured out the best times for you to Pin (see previous tip) make the process easier by scheduling Pins in order to optimise your visibility.

Analyse your Pin responses

Keep an eye on the amount of engagement your activity generates, different types of content will be more popular with your target audience than others so keep an eye on what you do, and just like timing, find out what works for you.

Add Pinterest to your website

Make sure your website makes it clear that people can follow you on Pinterest, but don’t just include a link, give people a reason to follow you by outlining a few key benefits.

Make it easy for people to Pin your content

Make sure you have a Pin button on key content and product pages on your website. Making it super easy for people to share your content on Pinterest  is important, but it’s amazing how many retail websites don’t have a Pinterest button installed on their product pages!

Make use of the lack of height restriction

Keep the width of Pinterest images to a maximum of 554px but make the most of the fact there is no vertical size constraint.  Narrow, long Pins are much more eye catching than short images – the longer the better as you’ll instantly grab more screen space, making your content really stand out!

Choose awesome cover images!

On every board you set up you are able to select a cover image.  Go through each board and choose images with the wow factor to help your boards stand out and look as appealing as possible.

Don’t just Pin products, Pin your latest blog articles or eGuides

Arty shots, great photography and the latest must-have products are all very well and good, but don’t miss out on the chance to Pin a greater range of content.  Blog articles, eGuides and eBooks are gaining in popularity and are being more frequently Pinned as people realise it is a great resource for collecting all sorts of content, not just pretty pictures.

My best advice for Pinterest, and the unofficial 11th tip in this article, is to show personality and have fun!

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan is a marketing consultant at Surefire Media, the Cheshire based web design, eCommerce and marketing company. Shell specialises in organic search, content strategy and social media engagement for both B2C and B2B companies.

If you’d like to find out how Surefire Media can help your business, get in touch!