Social media marketing is not new. We’re all familiar with the basics and brands are actively engaging with their consumers on a daily basis. So, why are people still doing it incorrectly? Here, we share what to do and, more importantly, what not to do when it comes to the basics of social media marketing. Some of this may be second nature to online community and brand managers, but it’s worth reminding ourselves of the basics from time to time.  Taking a step back and reviewing the processes can help make sure your social media  strategy is robust and prepared for the out of the ordinary.

SEO

Recent data from AOL shows how important it is for brands to invest in SEO PR in order to feature well in search engine results. The first ranking position in search results receives 42.25% of all click-through traffic. Results on the first page (first 10 results) receive 89.71% of all click-through traffic. So, what should you do to get that prime first place position?

Do research your key terms. This will give you a clear direction and inform your content strategy and plans.

Do monitor your performance – make a note of where you were to begin with and see how you’re progressing in the rankings. This shows your efforts paying off and also shows where you need to improve.

Don’t rest on your laurels. Keep generating positive and relevant content to help keep your ranking up.

SEO can be a hard to get your head round. SEOMoz has created a great beginners guide to SEO that gives a good understanding of what it is, why it’s important and what you can do.

Social commerce

Social commerce is really taking off. Brands are beginning to see the value of selling through social platforms such as Facebook; ASOS and Best-Buy are good examples of this. It’s still a new area, so what should you be aware of?

Do integrate social commerce into your wider sales strategy and social media strategy. This will make sure all departments are singing from the same hymn sheet and your approach won’t be fragmented.

Don’t jump straight on the band wagon – take time to research social commerce. Ask yourself: is it right for you? How will it fit into your wider sales strategy and social media strategy and is my consumer demographic likely to respond positively?

ASOS is leading the way. Its f-commerce store looks and feels the same as its website, all within its Facebook page, offering a seamless experience for consumers. This type of integration is key. Consumers often don’t see the point of purchasing on a social site if the experience is not like buying from a normal e-commerce site.

Influencer relations

Contacting bloggers and other influencers is becoming the norm among PR agencies. More and more PR firms are conducting influencer relations in addition to outreach to journalists. Gone are the days of press lists. But, should all influencers be treated in the same way?

Do know your audience – take time to research who you want to target. Remember that not all bloggers or influencers think of themselves as journalists so tailor your approach to suit them.

Don’t send a blanket emails – this can be off-putting and gives out the wrong message for your brand, especially when littered with silly mistakes like “Hi [insert name]”.

Doing it right, means great relationships that will be beneficial to your brand. We’re in regular contact with influencers as a social media consultancy and a number of us have a background in traditional PR. We believe influencer relations is about utilising traditional PR skills and adapting them for a new audience.

Community management

There’s a whole world of conversation happening about your brand online, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, blogs or forums. Having a Twitter profile or Facebook page is a given when planning a social media strategy. But, how can you effectively connect with your online audience?

Do research your audience. Find out what social networks they are most active on and this will help inform your strategy. There’s no point setting up a Twitter profile when your core audience isn’t talking on Twitter.

Don’t ignore your community. Listen to what they have to say – their opinions can help build your online presence further and can quickly destroy it too.

We advise all our clients to listen and engage in consumer conversation. A community is a two way street – you have to interact with them so they engage back. You wouldn’t expect the organiser of your local community meetings to dictate things to you, so why should it be any different online?

Let us know if you have any other invaluable tips you’d like to share and we’ll make sure they’re included too.

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Those looking to ensure staff are equipped to represent their brand across social media platforms could do worse than learn from some of history’s most famous and infamous historical figures. So what can your social media training learn from the past?

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Don’t take others at face value - Fake news stories spread like wildfire, especially on Twitter, from the reported death of Charlie Sheen to Rebecca Black’s pregnancy. Even seasoned journalists and media publications have been caught out by news that originated online without any facts behind to back it up. Even today, news that Madeline McCann has been found is a trending topic on Twitter, yet no news outlet has officially confirmed these reports at the time of writing this blog. Neville Chamberlain was easily swayed by a mixture of gullibility and persuasive argument from Hitler in Munich in September 1938. In short corroborate your news from a viable site prior to a blog, retweet or wall post. It pays to be vigilant and accurate rather than timely in many cases. It’s great to break some news early to fans and followers, but not at the cost of your brand integrity.

Wit and personality goes a long way – Brands looking to develop a voice and persona of their own, especially in a busy marketplace, should look to Oscar Wilde.  His belief that; ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.’ should not be taken lightly, there are many brands on Facebook and Twitter who are happy to go along with the crowd and not distinguish themselves from the competition for fear of controversy. However, people are far more likely to retweet or share something that they find amusing or useful; this could range from the bizarre Skittles profile to the erudite and compelling Dr Samuel Johnson. However, Oscar’s theory that ‘It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information’ may now be somewhat redundant.

Controlled controversy - Kenneth Tynan made a name for himself as an outspoken theatre critic and writer, oh and the first man to say ‘fuck’ on television. Link baiting or controversy has a role to play in certain aspects of social media activity in order to excite debate and encourage shareability of branded content and messaging. On 13 November 1965, Tynan participated in a live TV debate and was asked whether he would allow a play to be staged in which sexual intercourse was represented on the stage, and replied: “Well, I think so, certainly. I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word ‘fuck’ would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden. I think that anything which can be printed or said can also be seen.” Critics later stated that Tynan’s use of the word was a “masterpiece of calculated self-publicity,” adding “for a time it made him the most notorious man in the country.” Notoriety is not always desired by brands, but publicity and the guts to say something out of the ordinary and that your competitors are afraid to, cannot be underestimated in terms of creating widespread brand awareness. Tynan was always one for breaking down linguistic inhibitions on the stage and in print and I’m positive that if he was still alive he would be confounding expectations on Twitter.

In the next part of the ‘Lessons from History’ series I’ll be delving into the training tips that can be gleaned from the lives of some recommended historical characters. Thanks to @photogirluk @Elle_Emmm @Carrot79 @nickhide @lesanto @Shinybiscuit for their input! Also please feel free to recommend your own historical characters who we could learn a few social media tips from.

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On revisiting the video interview from SES it strikes me that social search is a complex issue that goes beyond the technology.

It is much more than key words, phrases. Much more than Google +1; Bing and Facebook integration; or even trying to work around the new Panda algorithms. It is, as we frequently tell clients, about storytelling.

But there is a problem with storytelling. It is not a natural fit for companies. Brands are engineered to communicate via promotion and broadcast.

Storytelling needs companies to dig deeper into their brand values. Often weaving and creating a story that isn’t just centred on marketing and PR. For example a tech company might look for subject matter expertise amongst its engineers, or a retailer might look for insights and nuggets from its packing and delivery divisions.

Storytelling requires cross company integration, a clear understanding of audience behaviours and motivations (not just a summary of the chatter) and a common objective that you are in social media for the long haul.

Ultimately the effort is worth this investment: because stories told well will be shared. And social search is all about sharing.

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Online crisis phase 1

So, in case you’re not aware of it, the international fashion retailer is facing a bit of a brand crisis. In short, it has been accused by Stevie K of tru.che of copying a line of her jewellery.  In the industry it appears that Urban Outfitters has something of a reputation for copying complimenting other designer’s work.

Stevie has stated on her Tumblr that international fashion brand had ripped of her designs for her “I heart New York” necklace, which can be purchased through Etsy.

This claim struck a chord with the Tumblr community first. The micro blogging site (with its high proportion of fashionistas and creatives, all early adopters) was keen to back the little guy, but from there the movement against Urban Outfitters was picked up by the hugely influential Huffington Post, rounding off his article yesterday, blogger Jason Linkis, openly called for a boycott of the company.

The spike in social media mentions

Here are a few more insights of how the online sentiment has really gone against Urban Outfitters in the last 48 hours. The monitoring of social media estates reveals in the last 48 hours the negative sentiment from consumers is rising against Urban Outfitters. You can clearly see the leap in posts and tweets around the brand from midnight GMT on 26^th May.

Reputation analysis

In the last 48 hours there have been more than 800 tweets with the word hate in conjunction with Urban Outfitters:

The normal average for daily mentions of Urban Outfitters is 1,470

The number of mentions yesterday topped 15,000 (that is a tenfold increase in 24 hours)

Mentions of hate/hating in conjunction with Urban Outfitters – 1,900 /25,000

Mention stealing in conjunction with Urban Outfitters – 1514/25,000

Mentions boycott in conjunction with Urban Outfitters – 6029/25,000

The word cloud below shows just some of the negative sentiment being expressed by consumers on Twitter: stealing, bastards, boycott and hating are prominent.

An inadequate response?

The US Urban Outfitters Twitter profile with more than 400,000 followers has, responded with the vanilla holding statement – “Hey guys, we see your tweets regarding the I Heart Destination necklace. Please know that our accessories buying team is looking into this.”

So why not kick back, get some snacks and see how this pans out. It’s going to take some deft footwork from Urban Outfitters’ PR dept to turn round this mass of negative sentiment with anything short of a public apology and remuneration for those with a designer axe to grind. This isn’t going to disappear from Google news results for Urban Outfitters for a while…

Here comes Miley

And once influential celebrities get a sniff of it you can be sure that they’ll make the biggest splash of all. In particular, Miley Cyrus’s tweet to her million plus fan base has been picked up in more than 180 news articles, dwarfing the number for the original story.

In short – If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… A celebrity on Twitter.

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Google’s ‘Panda’ update is receiving a high level of search, SEO and even mainstream media attention, but the repercussion for brands engaging in social media is one can of worms begging to be opened.

Big fat juicy worms, like will sites currently considered valuable for brands to engage with suddenly lose their influence?

And has Google search become a crowdsourcing exercise, enabling uninitiated users – or even deliberate hacktivists with a bugbear – to hypothetically ‘block’ a credible brand website out of search?

Malcolm Slade sheds light on the latest Google algorithm, summarising as Google’s effort to provide better quality content-rich results and flush out the thin, low-value ‘spammy’ ones.

Known as the ‘Panda’ update, the algorithm launched in February and lowers the rankings for sites deemed ‘thin’ (affiliate-based, link farms, those with too much mirrored content). According to Google, this impacts 11.8% of queries.

Though we’ve yet to see the function rolled out in the UK, US Google users can now ‘block’ sites they consider to be of little value and in so doing, reduce a site’s rankings.

Without clarity on the algorithm, it is still unclear how UK sites are already caught up in the cross-fire; though Searchmetrics analysis indicates that the impact on a number of UK sites is both intuitive and surprising in equal measures.

While online newspapers such as The Independent, The Metro and The Mirror have all improved in rankings – unsurprising given their rich and frequent content – influential tech and gadget sites such as Zath, Pocket Lint and Electric Pig have significantly dropped in rankings.

Our sources tell us that some of the sites reported to have dropped in rankings are also seeing their traffic plummet as, one can only assume, a direct result.

It already looks like rich-content sites, which built influence through SEO link-building are now becoming the victims. Google itself, acknowledges this, by stating on Google webmaster central that if anyone “knows of a high quality site that has been negatively affected by this change, please bring it to our attention in this thread.” To-date the post has received 1620 replies.

It’s easy to see SEO and content as a chicken-and-egg dilemma, but if the latest Google update highlights anything, it’s the necessity to make creating rich content priority number one.

Source: Holistic Search Marketing

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When Santa Claus comes to town, the rules are simple. You watch out, you don’t cry and you don’t pout.

I put to you that in 2009 the social media marketeers ignored every single one of these rules, pedalling Christmas campaigns that involved risks, made people cry and yes, made them pout. For this reason, I propose last year’s social media marketeers did not want Santa Claus to come to town.

The offending articles

Item One

In 2009 Essex couple Jon and Tracy Morter diced with fire when they attempted to topple Simon Cowell’s UK Christmas Number One monopoly.

The couple used Twitter and Facebook to build a groundswell around shunning X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s single, The Climb, for Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 release, Killing in the Name.

The result? More than one million fans joined the Facebook page and Killing in the Name reached the top of the download chart just in time for Christmas.

Item Two

US blogger Jill Kocher wasn’t worried about bringing tears to ours eyes when she launched a campaign to bring SEO to the charities that needed it most.

Kocher, SEO Manager at Groupon by day and blogger for WebPieRat by night, found local-level charities had little knowledge of SEO and optimisation.

Following her findings, she set out on a mission to provide back links to charities in featured posts in the first instance, followed by arming them with the skills to embed optimised terms into their sites in time for Christmas 2010.

Item Three

Fashionista definitely wanted you to pout. Last year the augmented reality tool was developed for fashion retail sites to help shoppers virtually try on their Christmas party outfits and share the pictures with friends via Facebook.

I think the evidence is clear, social media marketeers do not want Santa Claus to come to town.

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Earlier this week Google added a subtle, but interesting addition to its search function. For some search terms, news results are now displaying a ‘shared by’ number alongside the link. For the searches I’ve tried so far, these ‘shares’ only relate to Twitter but I’ve seen other people comment that it displays Facebook too. Here’s a screengrab of the first page of a search for ‘The Apprentice.’

When you click through into the News page there’s no ‘shared by’ numbers next to the full list of results, so at the moment, Google only seems to be providing these stats as a brief snapshot on the main page.

What’s interesting in this example is that The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly are not the top results in a Google News search. Is this new social search feature therefore going to affect the way Google ranks its results? It’s unclear at the moment whether this function will be further rolled out across all news results and/or into other search areas i.e. blogs but it’s certainly something that could have an impact on brands’ SEO strategies in the future.

What do you think of this new function? Should sharing be a key factor in Google’s mysterious ranking system?

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Research from Ofcom this week shows that we are all getting better at multi-tasking. This evolution has been spurred by our need to juggle various communications devices and channels.

Rory Cellan-Jones in his BBC blog asks if there should be a moral panic about the way we are all spending our time. With so much multi-tasking there is clearly an overlap in how we use multiple devices together. But, surely you can’t be concentrating on different things on the TV, while surfing a web site, while texting a friend? I know I couldn’t.

Ofcom’s report shows that TV and radio (let’s not forget that) remains the main focus of our attention, whether it is recorded and watched later or watched live. So when sat in front of the same episode of Friends for the 23^rd time, smartphone, iPad or netbook in hand, connected to the web, I would suggest – partly because I actually do this quite regularly myself – that when something catches our eye on the TV we go online and look for more information. I know the broadcasters would be keen for us to hit the “red button” but the speed at which that works is just such a turn off.

This clearly suggests that TV content is influencing the way we search the web, and surely those sites striving for natural SEO success must, just must, include broadcast PR in any optimisation strategy. Another example of where the PR consultant can bring real value to an organic SEO campaign as suggested in my post last week.

Search is changing and the variety of on and off-line channels influencing it are growing all the time.  As digital PR specialists we now need to work out how to truly measure the effect of these different influences on search and site traffic and distance ourselves from traditional PR’s historical evaluation offering.

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The lines between PR and SEO are becoming ever more blurred. Back in February, Matt on his InfluenceFinder blog asked “Is PR the next SEO or SEO the next PR?” Yesterday I came across a new eConsultancy Q&A with John Straw – thanks to the power of Twitter – that again looks at the merging of these disciplines.

To a certain extent I agree with the views in these posts. SEO is definitely a natural extension of the digital PR skill set. That said, there is more a PR consultant offers than just relationships. When it comes to how PR can influence natural search rankings, these relationships are important and at the heart of a PRO’s ability to do his/her job. But, more important in delivering greater click throughs from natural search, is a PR professional’s ability to deliver the right message, in the right format, at the right time to the right influencer. A process and skill set that I am sure a SEO marketer can identify with.

Having the right relationships certainly makes this process easier as it provides the insight into which influencer is best placed to deliver your chosen message to the audience you wish to reach. But without the right pitch you will just be spamming that poor blogger or journalist, damaging any existing relationship you may have had.

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This ash cloud has been quite a strain, my wife and baby are still stuck in Dubai five days after they were due to fly home. The good thing is that they are staying with friends and have a great support network.

What it has shown me is how great the internet really is. Searching for information on Twitter, airline websites with the latest information (sometimes), news sites with real time video and Skype to stay in touch and more has provided real peace of mind.

Let’s talk specifically about use of social media platforms to help deal with the crisis. Twitter has become the web user’s right hand. The way the platform is set up allows a number of really useful things. You can choose to follow everything from airports to sports personalities, each wrestling with the problem of the lack of air travel in their own way. I have put together a targeted list of some of my key sources for keeping up to date. It just takes a little time to search on the site.

With a mix of journalists and news sites as well as the likes of Jake Humhprey and the Formula1 teams struggling to get home from last weekend’s race in China, there is a lot of information out there to wade through. It gives real world insight into what might work for getting the family home and is building camaraderie online.

The next key feature of Twitter is the hash tag, a really useful way to gather conversations on the same topic together. You just need to make sure that you include the right one. It is also proving a great platform for people to help each other out. The #getmehome tag has been widely used and is enabling people to share rides across Europe. I have even seen organisations and companies – one is a car share organisation called Roadshare – that are using these tags to communicate out their services to people with a specific problem; clever.

What will be interesting is to see if there is any direct increase in Twitter users as a result of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter does see a European surge on the back of Iceland’s latest contribution to the global economy – I know, an act of God.

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