online marketing

5 minute read: how to create a #hashtag campaign

15th February 2016 by Alan Leave a Comment

Hashtags are a great way of connecting and engaging with an audience but, in order for them to become the marketing vehicle you want or need them to be, you need to take several steps.

Follow our 5 minute how to guide and your hashtag could become an almost too-hot-to-handle-social-media-campaign…

Step 1: Find out what YOUR audience is REALLY talking about

There are two key factors here: identifying your audience and what these people are really conversing and discussing. Just because everyone was talking about the recent leader’s debate here in the UK, doesn’t mean your global audience is.

If you sell holidays, why not find out where people are talking about and why… If you are in the food sector, what foodstuffs are people conversing about? What is the latest super food? And how can they get it or use it?

Step 2: Simplicity is key

Hashtags can be used across a variety of social media platforms but checking out massively successful hashtag campaigns and you will see that they use one channel appropriate to them, and kept the ‘how to enter the competition/campaign/exchange’ as low barrier as possible

For example:

Using Twitter

Follow @LocallyHQ
Tell us what you think the most important website ingredient is, using #creativeweb
Be part of the discussion!

No form filling; no subscribing to a newsletter; no navigating to website. Simple.

Step 3: Be social!

However, having a campaign landing page can work well as some customers will want to explore this campaign further. If you run a #hashtag competition, you will need this as there always have to be rules with these things.

But, the overall aim is to be social so why not have a smorgasbord of happy faces, amazing tweets and great ideas or discussion points to inspire others to contribute?

Step 4: Use traditional media too

If you are planning on running a #hashtag campaign, you need to know it is a long term exercise, not one that will instantly light up the world of social media – unless you are very fortunate.

Any offline or traditional marketing you do can be harnessed too, so keep that #hashtag rolling across your newspaper adverts, flyers, posters…

Step 5: Buy online promotion

Buying online promotion is one way to give you #hashtag campaign a bit of a kick start, should the uptake be slow. There is a paid ability on Twitter to promote a hashtag campaign BUT, like all marketing campaigns, going out on a limb will have far less reach than it being part of a strategic marketing plan.

Step 6: Harness real time opportunities

This is a posh way of saying leaping on the bandwagon of positive news. Hi-jacking is something that many other brands and businesses do but always take care that you are using this appropriately. Anything that plays on the misfortune of others is never a good idea – always be positive.

And finally, always measure the results, as well as reviewing was does work and what doesn’t. Why not build a #hashtag campaign in to your marketing plan?

10 steps for better search results local businesses – Part 2

16th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

In the first instalment of optimising your website for a local audience, we looked at 5 steps: keywords, optimisation, Google Local, local business listing websites and consistency.

Get these 5 steps right and in place, and your website could feature more prominently in local search engine results, perfect if people through the door is part of your business.

Is buying local becoming more important?

Buying locally source food is something that, in recent years, has become not only trendy but also more genuine; consumers are realising that food that has not been in plastic packaging on a plane for 13 hours before it hits the supermarkets, is not the only good quality, well-priced produce on offer.

And it seems that consumers are not just looking at local food but local retailers of other items too. Finally, it seems, we are getting fed up of the ‘same old-same old’ from the hyper stores, and once again looking for the unique, quality items are a great price from local businesses.

And so yes, NOW is the time, with campaigns like ‘small business Saturday’, to trade on the local-ness of your business. You could gain more customers, more fans. more shares, more success – and we all want and need a bit of this kind of action.

Like everything, it takes effort and a smattering of know-how, this in this instalment we cover from steps 6 to 10, the remaining 5 steps that consolidate your presence online, in a local sense.

Step 6: ‘genuine’ reviews

We hinted at this with the local website listings etc. as some of these sites will be review based. However, to expand this point a little further, Google along with other major search engines have hinted in the long and distant past, that genuine reviews are welcome, forming a positive basis for some nice social signals.

However, bribery is not a good idea. On your website, simply ask people to ‘tell us what you think’ or rate it with stars. For WordPress, there are all kinds of review plug-ins and what-not that make it easy for customers to leave a review. If you think people can’t or won’t be bothered (because you can’t be when you shop!), then you really need to change this view.

We are all connected, every second of the day (or so it seems) with the online world, thus people can and do leave reviews, good ones as well as the not so good. So, ask people to rate their shopping experience etc. – if nothing else, it proves your website is alive!

Step 7: social profiles

We have talked about social media a lot, and how, if done right and used well can add value to your website. But, you need to make sure you are not only taking full advantage of them but have also created the right kind of social profile.

What can happen, is that we are faced with “yet another” profile form to fill in; bit bored of writing the same stuff, we skip a few boxes, promising that we will come back and fill them in… but we never do.

So, you know the ‘edit profile’ tab on various platforms? Go back NOW, and open it and fill it in and remember: complete the bit that says where your business is. For those that are on the high street, naming the village/town/city is an obvious one to complete.

(And don’t forget step 5 Consistency)

Step 8: start building local links

Before you scuttle off and buy links, you need to know this is no-no. It is such as a no-no, it deserves to be shouted from the tallest building in your town – do NOT do it. Search engines can spot them a mile off, sniff them as soon as they hit your pages and your website is blacklisted, doomed to the bin from which it is very, very difficult to escape.

In this sense, we are talking about building local links. A great way of doing this is to get involved in some of the local groups of social media, as well as other similar businesses.

If you have great content on your website, that you are updating regularly, and that it of interest to them, then you could have a fruitful relationship beginning to form.

Try this: type in {your location} + blog, and you will have a list of blogs all linked to your town or local area. This could be a great start to some local links…

Step 9: Go mobile!

This doesn’t mean hitching up a caravan on going on tour but, is something we have talked about many times before… and we think it is worth going over old ground. It really is that important.

There are 1 million more mobile devices activated EVERY DAY across the world than there are babies born. This may seem an unbelievable statistic and we have no idea where it came – genuinely, we found it on the internet, so it must be true – but, regardless of its authenticity, it does spell out something we have long suspected: more people are using smart phones and other mobile devices, and this figure is growing.

Whether mobile phone ownership gazumps the daily birth rate is neither here nor there. If your website is NOT mobile ready, then you are missing a huge chunk of the population…

If you are already mobile-optimised, then take another look and make sure all those local contact details are obvious; pay close attention to the ‘contact us’ page.

Step 10: get analysing

Now that you have done all this, you need to monitor, assess and review if this is having an impact and, if so, how much. Of course, being flooded with more enquiries and an increase in custom is all well and good, but as with all things internet, the effects are not always immediate or obvious.

When we are busy, the hard/boring/uninteresting stuff can be shoved aside. We all do it, with different things.

Analysing who is coming to your website and from where, along with other useful information is not too difficult to come by, providing you know what you are looking at, once you have the data in front of you. No one is an expert on everything, so if you need help, just ask.

There are various options online, as you would expect, some that you pay for and some that are free. You can also take advantage of Google Analytics, but again, it all seems a little complicated. However, once you become accustomed to it, know what you are looking at (sort of), what you are looking to see improve (sort of), Google Analytics can be quite helpful.

Paid for software can be easier to fathom, but when money is tight, you may not want an additional monthly fee.

And so there we are, 10 steps to making your website appear in local listings, near the top. For many businesses, this is important to them and, increasingly for customers, it seems that local is beginning to outweigh ‘cheapness’ too, with more people taking time to find the right product at the right price… and if it is just down the road, all the better.

Let us know how you get on… [email protected]

You know all those blogs you write and stuff you create that is content?

People are reading it but, do you know how many? Do you know why? Who are you aiming for…?

There are many challenges in creating content but, it is an activity that many businesses are now spending a little more time, effort, money and thought on creating. With social media channels now even more prevalent in our lives – and the lives of our consumers – local, online businesses have even more outlets through which they can distribute their content.

Content is everywhere…

And it seems that more and more people are creating content and so, how is it faring? A recent survey, conducted annually by marketing and IT company Spiceworks, found that there were some significant changes in the ‘why?’ of content creation.

And, as always, we have trudged through the data and statistics and pulled out the ones that show how we are really using content in the larger field or marketing…

WHY content is created

Back in the day, content was created because… well… everyone else was doing it. Sort of. And we all followed suit. If you were not creating and publishing content, you were not making an attempt to bag your fair share of consumers.

However, it seems that times are changing; ‘customer acquisition’ through content marketing is no longer hogging top spot.

We have long talked about content being the door to your business and company, through which consumers and fans will step. And so, of those surveyed 59% were using content as lead generation, whilst keeping a keen eye on becoming leaders in their field (43%) and 40% of those questioned using it as part of their raising brand awareness. Customer acquisition had dropped to 28%…

Content strategy

A content strategy is where you have pre-planned blogs and other content: who is writing, where it is being posted and how it is being distributed. This survey found that those companies who did have a documented content strategy on average had content that performed better than those businesses without one.

Having said that, only 30% of the companies surveyed actually had a content strategy documented – in other words, written down – but overall, three quarters of those surveyed said they did have some kind of plan (verbal, written on a napkin, that kind of thing…)

The lesson – thinking about your content strategy and writing it down produces results and thus, spending some time getting it down of paper, sticking with it and reviewing it can reap rewards.

What kind of content?

Content is a BIG word, that covers all kind of information, produced in a variety of formats and thus this survey produced a series of results that show what companies are producing and sharing…

Blogs – 65%
Social media posts and statuses – 64%
Case studies – 64%
White papers – 55% (unlikely to be used by consumers, but important to other businesses…)

There were all kinds of other content formats named but some of the fastest growing content marketing formats – video, podcasts and the like – were fairly low down on the list. When you remember that this survey also questioned companies about how they content market to other businesses, it seems that there is a divide growing between business-to-consumer marketing and business-to-business.

Content Marketing Challenges

But, as with many aspects of business, there were many challenges that businesses said they faced in terms of content marketing, with the biggest hurdle being lack of time.

And it seems that this time hurdle is now a serious enough challenge for content creation to, at last, be figuring in the marketing budgets of companies; creating and sharing content is something we have always known is important but, this fact alone has not always been enough to act on it. The time has come that businesses can no longer be failing to act!

The lesson – businesses need to be paying considerable attention to the possibility of portioning part of their budget to outsourcing content creation if they do not have the skills and/or time to do so ‘in-house’.

Development

And we all know that, in business, nothing really stands still for long… and content creation and sharing is one aspect that is not static. Ever evolving, it is now time for the micro business to the huge global corporations to take a fresh look at not only what it is producing, but who is doing it and why…

Of those businesses surveyed, 54% put content marketing in with the marketing division of their business or company. Of these marketing people, half of them created all the information, blog, analytical reports etc. themselves; a staggering 92% of information and content creation was developed in-house.

In terms of budgets however, the survey raised an interesting conflict; if a business relied on content marketing as its favoured form of marketing, the production of material in-house raised concerns about how the value of the content (the return of investment, or the ROI – what you get back from the effort you put in) was being measured… and in most cases, it wasn’t. In other words, some very well paid were producing content that maybe wasn’t quit hitting the spot. Are you spending hours poring over blogs and articles? Is it paying off?

The future

The survey asked companies how and what they intended on producing in the future in terms of content creation and marketing…

77% of those surveyed said that content creation within their company was going to increase, with a third of these companies saying they expected this increase to be ‘significant’. NO ONE said they were going decrease their content marketing efforts.

What is this survey REALLY telling us?

Content marketing to customers is essential.
Content marketing from business to business is essential.

The format only varies slightly and many businesses put a lot of time and effort into creating content, but not many are able to pinpoint its value in terms of return of investment.

Despite the online world becoming an even more crowded place, content marketing is far from old-hat or close to dying out, simply because it is still effective.

It builds authority and trust, as well as promoting brand awareness and recognition. Top quality content will be distributed more and more through a variety of social media channels.

How do you create content and, more importantly, how do you market and share it? What are you plans for content marketing in 2015?

How marketing to the modern man is changing…

19th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Admit it, when you think of marketing and customers, you automatically think of women. And to a certain extent, we can forgive you for that. In most cases, women tend to make the purchasing decision, especially when linked to certain kinds of products and services.

However, marketing to the modern man means that you are taking a step into the unknown as knowing the purchasing behaviour men, and understanding why and what they are shopping for is important. Add into this mix the power of social media and you will find that there are some myths developing.

For example, do you assume that men don’t search for bargains? It seems that this assumption is wrong. Men are looking for a good price for a quality product but approach purchasing in a different way to women.

Trawling the statistics

We have taken a look at some data and statistics so that you have a better idea of what it is men are looking for, when it comes to shopping and making purchasing decisions that is…

Firstly, we found that men aged between 25 and 40 years of age (usually fathers too, according to the data) are influenced by the results of major search engines, reliable information from a Microsoft survey. This survey goes on to suggest that a mix of both search engine optimised material, along with targeted pay-per-click adverts are the most effective ways of getting your business notices by men (if they are, in fact, your target consumer).

Secondly, men use the power of social media networks when they are researching products, a statistic that came out of a sizable survey of 1,000 plus social media users in a New York City based survey. From this survey, experts concluded that like women, men like the idea of a product having a story to it; rather than just ‘advertising’ your product, tell your makes consumers why buying from your business is better than buying from your competitors – BUT, keep it positive and focussed on your business, rather than slating the opposition (no one likes the sore loser/victim stance!).

Get the data – get the right eye balls looking at your products and services

Like all marketing, you really do need to know who will be making the purchasing decision when it comes to your kind of product or service. If you are in a market that depends on male consumers, then you will need to bear a whole help of statistics and data in mind…

50% of men, aged 25 to 40 are influenced by both digital adverts and banners – bear this in mind when you look at both your online and offline marketing activities
68% of male smartphone users are more likely to make a purchase from mobile ads – 10% more than female smartphone users
44% of men, aged between 25 and 40, use social media and are influenced by it when it comes to making purchasing decision
44% of men will tell friends of a positive experience of buying online
90% of women will consult with their male ‘other half’ in the event of making what are known as ‘big ticket’ items – again, an interesting statistic depending on what you sell
54% of men will use social media networks when researching products or services they want to buy
58% of men will consult with 4 or more sources of information before they purchase an item
41% of ‘affluent’ males will make the majority of their purchases through sites such as Amazon
43% of men found shopping online a relaxing and enjoyable experience

Marketing to the modern man – the 3 factors to bear in mind

Statistics and data are all well and good but, applying this information in reality can be a little more daunting a prospect. Marketing to male consumers has always been slightly off-centre and more than a little odd; if ever there was a ‘group’ within the wider consumer market that was generalised within the marketing world, it has been men. But, times are changing…

Ditch the clichés

Seeing every man over the age of 25 as a slightly off-beat, sock –and-sandals dad is not going to do you any favours. Finally, this rather awkward appearance of men as consumers is starting to fade and, experts believe this is in part, thanks to the ability of men to now take paternity leave and the like, being more central to family life and parenting that ever before. Being a proactive parent, and deciding to leave the office early to read the bed time story is now more acceptable.

Adverts have, for a long time, shown men to be one-dimensional and less well-intentioned; also, many of the adverts show men in very masculine roles and activities. Just look at the male birthday cards, limited to golf and football from some manufacturers…

Reach out to male consumers, directly

In the past, many adverts and marketing ploys for products aimed at men as the final consumer, have attempted to harness the persuasive power of the female in the home first. In other words, if the wife or girlfriend agreed with the purchase, then the male was more likely to purchase the item.

However, it seems that this is no longer the case (although some experts suggest that this may not have been the case in the first place!). If your product or service is aimed at men, then target the male consumer; don’t bother trying to get the women in the house to make the decision… be bold and confident in your language too!

Consider their unique needs

Look to the big brands for inspiration as to how they target men at certain times in their lives; the best companies and products to take note of are men’s toiletries. Although many of these products are made by the same company, the marketing and advertising of their products differ depending on the age group and life-stage their male consumers are deemed to be at… and the language and marketing activities reflect this accordingly.

And the final lesson in all this…?

Just like any marketing and advertising you need to know your audience or your adverts, as well as all your hard work, will be simply wasted. How do you market to the ‘modern man’?

5 ways to make your social media goals ‘sticky’

29th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Part 2 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 1, we looked at which social media platforms could work for your business, by identifying categories of business.

In this second part, we will be looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

The story so far…

We have looked at the many differing kinds of social media platforms there are and how joining them all, could lead to disaster – after all, you have a business to run and you cannot be updating everything all of the time…

We also looked at some social platforms in relation to specific sectors of business and how they can be used to not only connect with customers, but advertise and market the business too.

But, we also suggested that some social media experts are suggesting that Facebook and Twitter are almost compulsory, but rather than just assume and sign on up, we suggested that this really was you choice – after all, if your customers are not there, why spend hours on it?

Have you made your choices?

By now, you may have decided which social platforms are the right vehicle for your business; for those local businesses with a more visual appeal, using Instagram for example would be a great start. For those with a younger audience, Snapchat could present an interesting forum and YouTube is also popular as ever.

So with choices made, and your business profile created, all you need to do is sit back and watch that popularity counter whizz up and up and up.

(Nothing happens. Carry on waiting)

Social media goals

Without having some form of clear idea or structure, your social media platform will either fizzle in to nonexistence or it’ll be so wrong, that you could actually damage your reputation.

The good news is twofold – this doesn’t have to take ages and they don’t need to be complicated but, to help you out here at 5 easy, simple steps to making your social media aims and objectives stick (and a sneaky step 6 too…)

Step 1: SEE your goals

This is a really useful tip that you can use beyond your social media platforms! We came across Lifetick, a fabulous app that helps you order your thoughts and then see your progress towards the goals you have.

But, don’t forget that your social media objectives should be SMART – specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Setting a goal and being able to measure your progress towards them is essential.

Step 2: Pen and Paper

Even though we are surrounded by technology, sometimes a blank piece of paper and coloured pens are your best gadgets.

Having a social media presence is more than just ‘doing it because everyone else is’; you need to be able to compete with your competitors, gain custom and trade and create a buzz around your product, service and company.

Step 3: Create an action plan

This might take some more time, but it can also be the most fun part.

Example:

Social Platform: Twitter

This is your main social platform that you use to push your brand and company into the business eye, therefore your presence needs to a daily occurrence.

You may want to partake or even create your own #hashtag trend but, you also need to know how successful you Twitter presence is; there are various apps that can do this but one we quite like is Sumall. This app will show you all the analytics involved in your account, providing clear information on which posts worked best and when.

We suggest prioritising your social media presence too and which one is the driving force in your online campaign and presence.

Step 4: Deadlines

The problem with social media is that it is an open ended task… and the problem with open ended tasks is that they can bobble along for a long time… and the problem with is that we never feel like we have accomplished or finished anything.

For some people, this makes no difference to their working day; for others, it is a source of ongoing tension and the feeling of being on a treadmill of ‘finished one thing, straight on to start another’.

To stop this negativity eating away and then your social media objectives falling by the wayside, setting deadlines for which social media projects are reviewed/stopped/curtailed so that something new can start is the way of stopping the rot from setting in.

A deadline, after all, refines the mind and focuses the thinking.

Step 5: Throw in a really big goal

We can be too cautious. The thought of setting a goal and then thinking it may not come off can be a step too far; no one like or seeks failure. But, how about taking a chance? A manageable risk with one of your social media goals that if you don’t get there won’t cause the company to collapse or for you to throw yourself into exile…?

On Twitter, you will have followers… you may have 2,346 at the moment. How about doubling that in 2 months? Off you go…

(There are many examples of stretching goals but we won’t go on; you know the sort but stay away from those ‘dodgy’ followers that tell you for a fiver, they’ll get you a million likes or followers by midnight Tuesday)

And finally…

You have worked hard. You have researched which social media platforms are right for your business, you have created goals and an action plan and you have started your campaign.

You have a review date in your calendar and so, because we are Locally we are going to sneak in another step…

Step 6: Celebrate your success

We have loads of ideas… but we think you can think of something for yourself on this occasion!

Which social media platforms fit your business?

28th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Part 1 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 2, we then suggest looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

We have talked about social media and its impact on your online business many times before. But, if you are still resisting Facebook and/or Twitter, then experts suggest you are resisting an evolution of social media.

Many customers use either of these social media platforms as a reference point for many companies and, with a new regime for businesses advertising on Facebook, these points could become more driven and focused than ever before.

And companies, realising this, are tidying up their act but, there has been an additional step in this process; many businesses here in the UK, as well as across the globe are using these platforms as a way of not just advertising their business to consumers, but hiring new employees too.

But Facebook and Twitter are not the only two social media platforms.

But, we think there is a problem looming on the horizon and it follows a pattern we have seen before, in other aspects of business – the state of trying to do too much, and not doing anything properly.

Social media could be the Achilles heel in your business; joining all these social media sites is one thing, keeping up with comments, likes, tweets, posts, pins etc. could not only send you into a deep space state of frazzleness, but also earn you black marks from the very people you are trying to impress – your customers.

Not responding to a social media comments, is the equivalent of ignoring the phone when it rings, or not bothering to post out the goods your customers have ordered.

Making the most of the right social media platforms your business

Rather than taking a scatter gun approach and signing up to everything, take some time to consider what it is you want your social media presence to do for your business, and then take some time to review which of the many sites suits your business.

To help you out, we have looked at social media sites and how they fit with sectors of business, making suggestions as to which social media vehicle could be best fit, but the final decision is YOURS!

Retail

Regardless of what you are selling, from scarves to jewellery, designer footwear, furniture, cushions or door stops, the photo is your friend.

Product photos are essential; the wordy description and catchy captions are great but if your consumer cannot see the type of shape or colour it actually is, then you have lost a sale.

Likewise, one of the many photographs you use per product can also be about suggesting to the consumer how your product can be used or what it’ll look when teamed with something else…

Instagram could be the way forward for you. Incredibly popular with retailers large and small, you will find that in terms of fighting for recognition, the smaller retailer will not face such an uphill battle against the ‘giants’.

Commentators have pointed out that Instagram users are a far more relaxed and tolerant lot; your photos do not have been a professional shoot each and every time, and so a shot taken on a mobile phone camera is just as acceptable. In fact, a little wonkiness and fuzziness can work in your favour…

Instagram have plans for 2015 too, that could benefit the smaller business; the site could become a lot more interactive, with all kinds of tools opening up allowing customers to tap on photos and lead themselves straight to you, as well as using video.

Manufacturing

Not so much a public face business, many companies and business to manufacture or create things tend to stay away from social media platforms as such, but there is still a need for you to making contacts and networking out there.

And we feel that networking is the key, which is why business-to-business social media platforms are the ones you should be looking at. We suggest LinkedIn may be the one where you can create the most contacts, depending on what you want to do.

However, don’t ignore your consumers entirely, even if there is another layer of business between you are them. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy and informed when it comes to where their products come from and so, as you make your next product why not consider filming the process and starting your own YouTube channel?

Think no one will be interested? The popular TV show, How It’s Made is very popular, exploding common myths about how some things are created.

Entertainment

We like to think of our clients as a diverse bunch and so we struggled slightly with this heading, but we needed to include the awesome power of video, and real time video ‘snippets’.

Regardless of where you stand on pirate music sites, there is a silent but steady revolution within the media and entertainment sector; rather than fighting the fact that people have not only increasing access to media, but also to sharing it, we suggest you start to embrace it.

We are no experts of Snapchat but, it seems that every teenager and young person across the UK is ‘snapchatting’, as opposed to texting. And, some companies (although not too many yet) have taken up this mantel and have started to update fans and customers using this platform.

But, before you think this is just for those in the entertainment business, there has been successful examples of sports clubs and the like creating a following using Snapchat as well as other companies using small trailers as a means of advertising.

Regulated industries

However, there are some clients who are far more restricted in how they interact with customers and clients; companies and businesses within healthcare, financial sectors and the like are all industries that are regulated or governed by various rules or codes of conduct.

For those companies seeing to use social media, you will need to be aware of any restrictions that prevent you from using them to their full capacity but there are ways and means. Clearly, anonymising any information and not sharing photos without specific prior permission is a must but there are forums out there; we came across Connected Living, a website and social media platform that connects the ‘aging population’ with one another and other forums too, with the overall objective being to prevent isolation.

Technology

For those customers within the technology field, there is no fixed or one-platform-is-better-than-the-other argument, simply because technological businesses tend to lead the field by starting the whole social media platform off to a flying start…

And so, the bitesize lessons from part 1 of social media and business are thus:

Many people consider Facebook and Twitter as a ‘point of reference’ for many people and that joining these networks is essential; you can differ from this opinion
There are many other social platforms out there, some well-known some not-so-well-known
Some platforms are geared specifically towards certain kinds of businesses or industries, with specific objectives as to why they exist
Joining everything can lead to disaster, so do your research and choose the right platform for your business (and where your customers are at)