social media platforms

The Marriage of Twitter and FourSquare

7th April 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

March 2015 saw an announcement from Twitter that they will partner with Foursquare to pinpoint ‘location tagging in tweets’. But, what does this mean for you and your business… if anything at all?

Let’s examine the facts…

Recently, we have looked at how local business, who rely on local customers can harness the global power of social media for their business. There are times, however, when appealing to the local population is the driving force behind a business and letting people know where you are is one thing, but your customers tagging their location is another game entirely.

We have all seen the tweets, status updates and the like that advertise to the world where someone is enjoying *lunch/shopping/white water rafting/car servicing/haircut/everything (* delete as appropriate).

This newly announced partnership between Twitter and Foursquare could essentially mean that specific landmarks, businesses and other points of interest could be tagged.

Can’t we do that already?

Kind of. All it takes is a quick sign in to your Twitter, announce you are enjoying the hospitality and creative, strategic thinking @LocallyHQ and the world knows where you are… or does it?

This partnership of geotagging between these two platforms is being rolled out across the US and Canada in these next few weeks, with other ‘additional markets’, as Twitter called them, to follow.

A partnership based on common sense

It is, according to a variety of industry experts, a marriage made in heaven. Foursquare has seen to be struggling of late, with a large number of users migrating to its spin off app, called Swarm.

Twitter, on the other hand, is always looking to improve user engagement; in a conference earlier on in the year, they announced they had run a ‘test’, sending tweets to users based on where they were at the time. The hard data from this experiment was that users were more likely to open their account within 30 days than those who were not sent ‘geo-tagged’ tweets.

What or who is Foursquare?

Foursquare is a company that produces two apps to guide in you a world “full of amazing experiences”, a direct quote….

Foursquare – launched in 2009, this app is intelligent in that it realises that all out tastes are different, so why produce the same search results? Based on the places you go/have been and the reviews etc. you give them, the app suggest new places that they it thinks you will like (based on this past data).
Swarm –this is the same app essentially but in real time; it is the fastest and easiest way, or so say Foursquare, for you and your friends to ‘keep up and meet up’.

Backed by a variety of investors, some huge names and individuals they call Angel Investors, the numbers behind these apps is quite staggering;

Community – More than 55 million users worldwide with over 6 billion check-ins, millions of which are made every day; however, finding the number of UK users of either app is a tough number to find. Stabbing in the dark, some people the number could be anything up to 5 million. This partnership between Foursquare and Twitter, a social media platform with a strong UK base, they are probably hoping or betting on the fact that their UK numbers (along with the rest of the world population of users) will significantly increase.
Businesses – more than 1.9 million businesses have claimed their location on the apps. A bit like filling in those details on Yell.com, the idea is that you control your business information and input. Clearly worth a punt, if your business is essentially local and fixed.
Employees – around 170 apparently, with headquarters in New York and offices in an Francisco and London

A start-up unicorn?

Those who spend their lives immersed in the stock exchange have called Foursquare a ‘start-up unicorn’ or, it has the potential to be one.

This means that as a new business, it could have the ability to break the $1billion value bench mark in in its first few years of trading. And it seems that once again, as a business, it has multiple ways that it can do this.

Is this a partnership worth following?

It could be.

Twitter is a social media platform that is incredibly popular. Facebook has a 5 year head start over Twitter, so boast bigger numbers but, the power of Twitter’s reach is still strong. Plus, its acquisition of Cardspring in the summer of 2014 means that soon it could be accepting payments online, as well as Twitter businesses being able to offer discounts online that can also be applied in store.

And it seems that Twitter has also become the leader in terms of real time news and breaking stories, as shown by recent events over in the US. With the UK election looming large, its newsfeed was awash with comments and discussion relating to the big 7 leader debate from only last week.

It is certainly a social media platform that packs punch when it comes to authority and credibility; the fall out of Jeremy Clarkson, BBC Top Gear and the now infamous ‘fracas’ featured heavily across the platform but without drowning out other news stories. Again, as quick as tweets appeared, they would disappear down the newsfeed.

Worth keeping an eye…?

We think so yes, as for those businesses with a high street presence or location, it could be a great way to get your business out there.

BUT, it depends on how popular Foursquare continues to become in the UK. If predictions and forecasts are anything to go by, it linking with Twitter could be the upward bounce that it needs. Since it created the off-shoot Swarm, it has given off the impression of an app struggling to not only grow in the crowded app market place, but maintain its position.

There again, is your local, online business ready to take on this new challenge?

Facebook is changing

27th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Love it or hate it, Facebook is THE social media platform that the majority of us are hooked on. When we should be doing far more productive things – like working – we can be found sneaking our way on to the site, just to peek at who is doing what, with whom.

For businesses, it has been a fabulous platform for zoning in on customers and, on the flip side, for customers to zone in on us. There is engagement, comments, likes and shares abound with many being culturally and socially richer for it.

It has been a platform that has stood the test of time, with even is wobbles not really being a wobble, as such.

There is always a downside…

Apparently, 1 in 3 divorces in the UK mention some form of ‘Facebook factor’ as contributing to the demise of the relationship; maybe it is the photos, or the lists of ‘friends’, or maybe the interaction and the being caught somewhere where you shouldn’t be… proceed with caution, seems to be the tag line here.

However, putting aside all these aside, using Facebook in the way Mark Zuckerberg probably intended it to be used, can reap the rewards.

As a social platform, however, it is not standing still. It has improved and morphed time and time again, with some changes recently announced that could make it a far better place for businesses to be, providing that they harness of its power – and do it right.

F8 is…?

The recent Facebook developer conference held in the US that listed 7 important, upcoming changes to the product. There are 7 changes on the way…

Spherical videos – who can deny the excitement of 360 degree camera technology? Google Maps of course, has been using this for some time now but Facebook announcing that it soon will be able to support this technology within the news feed is rather exciting, especially from a product point of view. Google owned YouTube has also recently announced this technology will be available soon meaning that photos will be a given a real boost.
Track online purchases and communicate with businesses via messenger – we saw a headline recently that summed this up nicely “Now you are can argue with customer services via Facebook!” Messenger has, by tradition, always been for individual users, but Facebook announced at F8 that this app would now also be available for companies and businesses too. You can thank customers for orders, tell them it has been shipped etc. This will either be a very welcome addition to your Facebook business page or, it will be sending shudders down your spine.
Reply to messages using other apps – if you wanted to send messages using other apps, you would have to navigate and use it ‘the long way round’, e.g. by shutting messenger, copying and pasting etc. but now, the Facebook messenger app will let you do this within it; in other words, the development of messenger will now make it far more sophisticated.
Facebook videos can be embedded elsewhere – FB is all about creating and sharing, but in the past, you could only share a link to a video, not the video itself. In this sense, FB might be going head to head with YouTube with the addition that these videos can now be embedded from Facebook to other places on the web.
Comment on a story elsewhere on the web? It will show up on Facebook too – media companies love people commenting, sharing and engaging with the latest scandal, gossip or election debate and thus, by Facebook being everywhere, and linking comments elsewhere with your page, this engagement is broadened considerably.
The ‘Internet of Things’ – bit sketchy on the details but, developers build apps to do all kinds of things, from monitoring calorie intake to opening the garage door. Facebook, not surprisingly, have decided they want to be part of this but, didn’t quite give the detail.
App developers and analytics – again, for those technically minded among you, Facebook will offer a free dashboard to app developers so that they can be boggled by analytics of app usage.

What does all this mean for local, online businesses?

The 360 degree camera technology and the increased sophistication of Facebook messenger could be the aspects that you find most relevant. The ability to sell online, as well as to connect and engage with people takes effort, time and money; it could be that Facebook has just made it easier for you to do this via Facebook.

If nothing else, as this technology is rolled out across the network, it will rejuvenate interest in the social media platform, once again becoming a leader of its field.

Is your business on Facebook? How will these changes affect your business?

Going viral – what #TheDress taught us

11th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

If you have not been on the Internet for the last few weeks (pfft! Who can live without it?), then you will have seen or even partaken in the #TheDress debate (take a look at the science behind the dress colour debate).

A poorly shot photograph shared on Instagram of a blue and black dress started an online debate, with everybody joining in, from Mavis at no. 32 to Kim Kardashian. Some saw a ‘white and gold’ dress and others saw ‘blue and black’.

Whether you joined in or not, unless you are not on any kind of social media, don’t watch TV and basically switch off from all society, then you cannot have failed to have heard about the #TheDress debate.

And this is our very point. The discussions, the engagement and the coverage of this dress and its colour combination, had the nation talking – and beyond – about the product, the company, the psychology and the inner workings of the eye ball.

Of course, Roman Originals, the company behind the dress are now reaping the rewards – and why not? Their website hits have shot up by 500% (yup, you read that right), their phone calls have significantly increased and their sales are doing very nicely indeed, thank you. Drill in to this analysis, and you will see that people are not buying only this particular dress, but all kinds of others products too.

All this got us thinking…

In pensive mood, we hunkered down with the kettle and the chocolate digestives, and took a moment to ponder the power of #TheDress. What ingredients make for a viral episode on social media?

We came up with 5 factors, including a sprinkling of magic fairy dust…

Use of photos

We have said it before and we’ll say it again, photos really make a difference. They can be the source of conversation, repulsion, attraction and confusion. Adding photos of your products and asking or inciting debate is a great way to get attention to your posts and products.

In this case, the original photo was unfiltered and used on Instagram; the comments that then ensued all questioned the original posting that said #TheDress was black and blue. Some say the dress as white and gold, thus the comments started rolling.

Good quality photos are always best, and this photo was not intentionally posted to provoke debate; in fact, the user was quite clear was the colour of the dress was…

Use of #hashtag

Once the momentum started to build around #TheDress and the ensuing debate, the hashtag came in to being. Every time someone commented and the various social media streams, the use of the hashtag ensured that the comment found its way in to the forum.

Get people talking, sharing and communicating

Social media is about making connections, creating discussion and sharing ideas. This online debate is a perfect example of this, but on a gargantuan, global scale. Simply because your viral debate does not measure up in the same reach and magnitude of #TheDress, does not mean it is not having an impact.

Some hashtags are in use for weeks, if not months and others are a mainstay of some of the groups that meet up on a regular basis on various social media platforms; there are various business groups, for example, who meet on Twitter and thus, any tweets that you want to be part of the stream of comments should contain this designated hashtag. Think of it as a call sign…

Magic fairy dust – the one comment, the stroke of luck

In this case, the photos posted on Instagram was a genuine one; it was posted with no more intention than a flash-in-the-pan photo of one of the many products sold at Roman Originals. But, there was a stroke a luck and sprinkling of fairy dust…

… there was one comment, by another Instagram user, that questioned the ‘blue and black’; they say, they saw white and gold… and then someone else joined in… and it started to roll and roll. Before you knew what others the dress came in, THE photo of #TheDress was bounced, shared and re-tweeted thousands and thousands of times.

There were comments and articles on the psychology of what people saw and why; there were debates on the street with the local junior reporter for the local TV catching their break by dangling a tablet in front of the eyes of many a Wednesday afternoon shopper, asking them what colours they saw… the debate was enormous. And, for a change, it was all good fun. We discussed it over our dinner table too; did you?

Cannot be contrived

And we think that this shows a fourth and important final point about the whole #TheDress thing. As hard as you try, some of the best viral exchanges cannot be contrived.

The photo was not posted to incite or excite comment; it was not posted to cogitate favour or stir ill-feeling. It was a photograph that was simply shared, then commented on… nothing more. Even though we try hard with the whole hashtag thing, photos and the like, sometimes something takes off.

Blessing… or curse?

The ‘taking off’ bit can be a blessing and a curse. Roman Originals are a company big enough to deal with the 500% jump in website visitors, the phone ringing off the hook (around 150 calls per hour in the days immediately following #TheDress explosion) and have enough staff to work the barricades and the tills.

For a small, online local business, this may not be the case but, should a social media campaign go viral – and this episode shows that it can, in a blink of an eye and when you least expect it – ride the crest of the wave, for it could be the making of you…

(And the dress…?

It is available in blue & black, and white & black, red & black, as well as pink and black… but not a white and gold option, just yet. But Roman Originals is planning to create one, allegedly.)

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 2

13th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

In part 1 of what statistics about social media usage can mean to us, as a business, we focused mainly on data and figures that related to Twitter. Knowing the group you and your followers could fall in, as well as when the best times to tweet are, can make your presence on this real time platform work a little harder for you.

In part 2, we carry on looking at social media platforms, identifying statistics for Facebook and a little nod to Pinterest.

And so, what do statistics on Facebook usage teach us?

The favourite, most crowded day of the week when it comes to posts is…. (drum roll please!)

FRIDAY!

Don’t we all love Friday?! The day where we can look back at the week, revel in our accomplishments and maybe plan the weekend… and this more relaxed approach on a Friday may actually mean that we feel more compelled to post a variety of statuses.

With over 225 billion posts analysed as part of this piece of research, we were quite impressed initially but then we looked at the statistics again and came to the same conclusion, but with an additional observation.

The research we came across was presented in a lovely bar graph and Friday was the busiest day for statuses, posts and the like BUT, but a gnat’s whisker. What we learnt from this research was that every day on Facebook was, to be honest, fairly crowded and so dropping a status onto the platform every now and then was probably going to be lost without a trace.

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew Facebook was busy, with statuses and posts having a seconds of air time before it is swamped by something else. Every day is busy and so if Facebook is one of your preferred social media then you need to be constant and consistent with your use of it. Friday, however, seemed the day where shares and likes peaked; some social media experts suggest keeping your better stuff until the end of the week. We think a little frivolity on a Friday never hurt anyone…

Photos work every time on Facebook…

…or so the statistics say. We already know that sharing appropriate visual content, linked with your brand or business is a great way of snagging some much needed eye ball time however, what did take us by surprise was the magnitude of photo-led content.

If you really truly want your posts and statuses shared and liked on this social media platform, then you need to include a photo… take a look at the stats:

In 2014, the most shared posts on Facebook across the globe looked like this…

87% shared had a photo attached to it
4% had a link
4% had an album
3% a video
2% was the just the status itself

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew that photos and graphics were powerful but were not aware of how powerful until we saw this chunk of data. What it doesn’t tell us, however, is how many of these shares are from personal or company accounts, and this may differ.

However, the fact that photos work cannot be avoided but always exercise caution, making sure the photo or image you are using is not only connected or related to your brand, but also appropriate for wider sharing. Coveting favour through controversy is probably best left to those with celebrity status and a team of lawyers on hand.

The social media platforms that drive the most ‘traffic’

We have all been coached over the years to think of social media sites as means of engaging customers and fans, thereby increasing the possibility of these people accessing and using a website.

With so many social media platforms out there, coupled with our desire to be the best, popular and successful, we can sometimes spread our brand a little too thin across everything, everywhere. However, from a bunch of statistics released by Shareaholic, it seems that social media driven traffic splits in to two categories: quantity and quality.

If quantity is what you are after, you need to get your brand on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Simple.

If however, you want a decent conversation or are looking to seriously engage new buyers or customers, then look at the lower performing sites. In terms of time on a website, pages per visit examined by a customer and bounce rate, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn won hands down every time.

Our take on this statistic?

Just like we have hinted at before, you need to be involved in the ‘right’ social media for you and your brand. Facebook and Twitter are the big hitters in terms of numbers, and think about joining Pinterest too. If, however, you are interested in more ‘quality’ targeted traffic then the other social media sites may suit you better.

Overall, a broad social media strategy is required… IF you have the time and means to pull it off (and there is lies the problem for so many small, online and local businesses).

Figure out what is good engagement

Time for some real number crunching!

Social media of all kind is about engagement; it is about people feeding back to you, you feeding back to them, having a conversation, posting reviews… you get the idea.

Many moons ago, when Facebook was at its highest peak, the standard for social engagement statistics (and what constituted success), was marked; but, as other social media sites have come along and our tastes have changed, experts on social media marketing and reach have spent some time scratching their heads, pondering what makes for successful engagement NOW.

If you chase statistics as part of your social media engagement and you really need to know the answer, then it depends on how many fans you have. Looking at Facebook, as an example…

If you have between 1 and 9,999 fans on Facebook, each post should have 28 interactions
10,000 to 99,999 fans, you should expect 118 interactions per post
And, with over 100,000 to half a million fans, there should be a minimum of 385 interactions per post

In other words, the bigger you are on social media and the more you grow, the busier your accounts should be.

Our take on this statistic?

Pretty useless really, but those who are very serious about the whole social media thing, growing their reach and engagement statistics etc., these statistics could be a useful bench mark. We suggest that engaging your buyers in meaningful, helpful and informative posts is more important reaching benchmarks that do very little…

Get pinning!

If you enjoy the visual aspect of engagement, then Pinterest is one social media platform that is becoming increasingly popular; if you haven’t used it or come across it yet, take a look at how to use it and what it could offer your business.

Like other platforms, there are certain days that seem to hold the key when it comes to ‘categories of engagement’; on Monday, Fitness seems to be popular (after the sludge of the weekend…?). Tuesday represents the day technology pins are popular, Wednesday pins are attached to inspirational quotes, Thursday is fashion day and Friday is humorous stuff (there’s what weekend link again!). The weekend pins are travel and food and crafts, all hobby and social based.

Our take on this statistic… and all the others?

This proves what we have been thinking for some time and that is that social media is a beast worth taming, but in a way that works for you and your business, and not because you think you should be on that platform. The ‘everyone else is doing it’ seems to no longer work.

Our take would be this;

Take a look at some of these statistics and discard what you think is irrelevant or not appropriate for your business. If you are heading for cult status, then get posting with images on Facebook and Twitter but, if you are growing your engagement, preparing for a marathon rather than a spring, then take a look at the less ‘mass media’ approach.

But, in all cases, you need to be confident in your use of the platform so our ‘advice’ is simple – start small, with one or two social media platforms at most, become an expert on these and stick to them, if they work…

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 1

11th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Understanding all three components is somewhat essential we feel but unless you have a finely tuned analytical mind, it can be difficult to decipher the good, the bad and the ugly. As the 19^th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli said,

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics”

And so when we came across a shovel load of research, data and statistics about social media, we set our minds to decoding it all, so that you, our prized blog readers could delight and revel in knowing you are doing something right, an important wheel in the social media revolution and tweak those areas that may need some additional work.

We have come across 10 pieces of what we think are fascinating facts, data and statistics about how we and our customers use social media platforms; some are surprising and some results predictable and yet, we stick to what we think are tried, tested and successful methods.

In part 1, we look at 5 statistics and data from surveys, and in part 2 to be published soon, we take a look at another 5. If you use Twitter for your business, you really do need to read on!

What did we learn…?

Who favourites, mentions and re-Tweets your Tweets are NOT who you think

Twitter is all about gaining followers; with a sprinkling of re-Tweets and a few ‘favourites’, your Tweets could be seen by more eyeballs across the globe than in a high street optician’s chain. Cock-a-hoop when we get these weekly stats from statistic and data crunching apps like SumAll, we pay no more attention than this…

… but something more formidable lurks within these re-tweets. Many of us, in the same way that brand snobbery exists when we go shopping for new trainers, will hanker after the re-tweet or the ‘favourite’ from a ‘power user’; in other words, some Tweeters may hanker after the BIG names out there but recent stats show that 91% of mentions come from people with less followers.

Crestfallen, we limp away from Twitter, deflated and defeated… and yet, if you have 3 mentions from people with 500 followers each, that’s another 1,500 pairs of eyeballs… and if they re-tweet it, then are thousands of more eyeballs…

Our take on this statistic?

Cherish every re-Tweet and make sure you enjoy the company of the little guy on twitter for they are just as powerful and valuable as the big boys.

Twitter and communication networks

This is slightly more technical and psychological in application but, once you have the idea, it could be valuable information to have.

Twitter is about conversations and there is some rather interesting research from the Pew Research Centre and the Social Media Research Foundation (we didn’t know they existed either!) that suggests within these conversations there are ‘6 distinct communication networks’…

Divided – much like life, we disagree and in most cases, we rarely seek out the company of people who do not agree with us. This research suggests that Twitter is no different and that there are two, polarised groups on Twitter with different or opposing groups, and never the twain shall meet. Politics is listed as one of the most divisive topics of conversation…
Unified – the research suggests there are up to 6 large groups of people who with a topic as the means of unifying them. These tight crowds of people can be professionals, hobby groups etc.
Fragmented – these clusters tend to be formed around celebrities and brands, with discussions being polarised, a mass amount of information and opinions are generated and shared, but with groups rarely agreeing. Think of this as many small groups across Twitter discussing the latest popular subject or topics…
Clustered – these groups tend to cluster in small the medium sized groups, with the research finding that the majority of conversations being around the latest news stories. Hence global news events can generate content and discussion
In-hub and spoke – think of this as one person standing in the middle of a large group; this person speaks, the surrounding group, hanging on each and every word, then go on to re-tweet every bit of detail. In many cases, the members of this outward ‘spokes’ tend to converse and share with each other too. The fans of the brand look IN on the brand…
Out-hub and spoke – this is where the above groups is reversed, with the brand or business responding to the comments and questions of their customers on Twitter. This creates outward ‘spokes’, unlike number five which is where the information is fed inward. in other words, one brand has many spokes reaching OUT to consumers.

Our take on this statistic…?

Knowing where your brand fits in with these groups can help to understand why you sometimes have a huge amount of engagement with customers but, then it falls away. We find that many of our clients use Twitter as a way of offering customer support but, their customer support strategy makes no mention of this…

Written word verses Visuals

Every year, the Social Media Examiner conducts a survey of over 3,000 marketers and their most recent survey produced rather interesting result…

Although there has been a lot of talk about visuals – graphics, vines, video etc. – it sees that 58% of these 3,000+ marketers are saying that the written word trumps the visual aspect each and every time. Coming in second – way behind on 19% – are graphics such as infographics, followed by videos. Sharing other people’s content also figured in the survey with audio content being in last place.

Our take on this statistic…?

We have said many, many times before that original written content that oozes quality, authority, brand awareness and leadership on a range issues places you far more firmly at the centre of things on social media. Keep in mind the power of storytelling too…

Twitter and response times

Twitter is a great social media for many different kinds of businesses and brands BUT, there is something that you should be acutely aware of…

Twitter is essentially seen by consumers are a real-time platform; in other words, they comment and you respond… but not at your leisure. It turns out from a survey carried by a technology firm that customers have firm opinions about the time a company takes in responding to them.

But, if you think that responding in an hour is a close-shave for your business, you need to know that customers who contact you via Twitter with a complaints actually expect an almost instant response.

Our take on this statistic…

You MUST take your responsibility on social media seriously; if not, you could do more damage than good. If you are using Twitter as part of your customer service strategy, then you need to be hot-to-trot when it comes to responding.

However, if you are a small, micro or start up business, manning the barricades can 24 hours a day can turn into a monster task. It can be managed however, but always be conscious and aware that your customers have high expectations and your response needs to fit within this high standard.

Twitter and night owls

And finally, in this first part of social media, statistics and decisions, we look at data that suggests the best of time of posting and re-tweeting. If you have the time and inclination (as well as the right software!), you too can monitor a bunch of tweets – about 1.7 million, like TrackMavern did to create a wonderful looking bar graph that tells us one thing… the best times to re-tweet is between 9pm and midnight.

Do you know what Late-Night Infomercial Effect is? This is sharing content at a time when the share volume is lower, so your content stands out more. In terms of the best day, the same bit of number-crunching found that Sunday was also the best to tweet.

Our take on this statistic…

Why not try out this after-hours theory on Twitter by setting your tweet schedule for between 9pm and midnight? The same survey also suggested that more re-tweets came from Tweets that has exclamation marks and capital letters in them…

COME BACK AND READ PART 2 SOON! #makingtherigthsocialmediadecisions

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)