There have been many questions raised as to the benefits of using Pinterest for business. The visual content hub is increasingly being used as a way of linking back to other, often text based content. Brands can post images on Pinterest to lead users to content on other platforms, such as their website.

Take Topman as an example, Topman uses Pinterest as a vehicle for promotion, pinning images of its products to urge consumers to visit their official site and make purchases:

Opinions on the use of Pinterest for business may soon change, with Pinterest having announced the roll out of a web based analytics tool, which will allow companies to track their Pinterest traffic. This feature will include data such as how many people have pinned from a site, the number of views each pin has, and how many users have visited a site from Pinterest. This brilliant tool is now available free for companies with a verified website. It’s an ideal way for businesses to discover what content is working for them and what they can improve on. Will the launch of this new analytic platform see a host of new businesses jumping aboard the Pinterest train?

Pinterest is focusing on building foundations to monetise this year. It is said that the web analytics tool is the first of many updates which they are aiming to reveal this year. Other updates include ‘suggestions’ for users based on what they have already added to their boards and a plan to launch international pages later this year.

We wait with interest to see what Pinterest will reveal in months to come…

Picture Courtesy of Pinterest, Red Pinterest Logo, under a creative Commons attribution – sharealike 2.0 Generic License

Picture Courtesy of Topman, Pinterest & Mashable 

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I recently read a blog post that ranked universities in the US on how well they were engaging with social media. I thought it might be interesting to look at how our UK establishments were shaping up alongside them. Traditionally speaking, social media is not something associated with red brick universities. Although UK universities might not have spawned social giants like Facebook from their dorm rooms, our universities do seem to be heavily involved in social media activity.

Whilst researching their social activity it became clear that universities were using social platforms for many of the same reasons that any other brand dabbles in social: to engage with existing fans (or students and alumni in this case), increase brand awareness and to entice potential customers.

To determine which University was most engaged in social media I looked at the Twitter follower numbers, Facebook Likes accumulated the UK’s top 20 universities as well as looking at how many other platforms they were active on.  Surprisingly, despite the age that we live in, some of these universities were still making it hard to track down their networks and some had so many it was just plain confusing.

Without further ado here are the top 3 universities by social media engagement:

Oxford

First off is Oxford. They might constantly be battling it out with Cambridge for the number one spot in the university league tables but they are coming up on top when it comes to their social media. The famous university had very active social profiles. Their Facebook Page in particular is full of fantastic photography and images, branded videos, and competitions to engage fans.

How they did it:

Clear signposting to social media from website, regular updates, engaging visual content, historical references.

Cambridge

Cambridge weighs in at number 2. Cambridge’s approach to social media shares many similarities to Oxford (heavy in the scenic photos of the city etc) but it is Cambridge’s use of other platforms such as YouTube and Flickr that really impresses. Their Facebook has a YouTube app that boasts an impressive range of Cambridge videos and their Flickr allows us to peep into Cambridge life.

How they did it:

Engaging visual content that was highly shared amongst users, excellent use of alternative platforms to Facebook and Twitter and informative, research-based posts.

Glasgow

A bit of a surprise entry, but Glasgow prove they can play with the big boys when you examine their Facebook and Twitter pages. The Scottish University’s social platforms have high fan and follower numbers as well as an impressive range of specialist Twitter pages for different departments and societies. The responses to queries on Twitter are always promptly answered and the university hosts a number of different blogs that let people explore everything from English Literature to how students are getting on when studying abroad.

How they did it:

Having a number of separate Twitter pages to host departments and societies with different interests, quick response times and an impressive range of blogs.

Images courtesy of:

The University of Oxford official facebook page – cover photos

The University of Glasgow’s official facebook page – cover photos

Public Domain Pictures, Old Building Castle Cambridge Student, Pixabay under a creative commons public domain dedication license

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Have you ever tweeted about wanting a new bag, or the latest bit of gadgetry, or pined over a pretty bit of jewellery?  Well now if you tweet about it you may very well be able to own it with Twitter’s new partnership with American Express. Twitter has made a bold new venture into e-commerce with the card merchant which aims to unlock the purchasing power of the hashtag. American Express card members can now tweet hashtags to buy products on Twitter.

Although the micro-blogging site has yet to comment on the new development, American Express has released a statement explaining the process.

“Card members who sync their eligible Cards at sync.americanexpress.com/twitter and tweet special hashtags to buy a range of items such as American Express Gift Cards, products from Amazon, Sony, Urban Zen and Xbox 360.”

(Click here for the full press release…

http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2013/sync-to-buy.aspx)

This expansion into e-commerce comes after the success of Amex Sync offers on Twitter. The site certainly seems to be following in the steps of Facebook who has already entered into e-commerce with Facebook gifts and the want it button on various brand pages in the US. With e-commerce expected to grow by more than 19% a year, this could potentially be a masterstroke by Twitter.

Until now Twitter had largely made its money via advertising and marketing. However this venture with American Express suggests that they are looking for more ways to monetize the site. With a promoted hashtag costing $200,000 a day to run, this new venture could potentially be a great opportunity for smaller businesses using Twitter to make money. With e-commerce being an ever growing part of our purchasing behaviour this is an interesting development that could give many business opportunities…

Graph courtesy of Retail Touch Points, How Big is E-Commerce

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Legal cases involving social media are on the rise. Companies need to be prepared more than ever.

Today we launch our benchmark study on social media and the law. Looking at how prepared UK companies are for social media litigation. You can use the data to evaluate your own knowledge and establish what areas you might need to focus on to protect your business.

Looking at the responses from the survey, 93% of which are involved with social media marketing, there are three rather interesting findings:

We know the risks, but don’t have company buy-in

Over 50% of companies don’t consider social media legal risks to be an issue or a priority. This was unexpected when respondents made it clear that they are very aware of the risks. The data shows that the biggest vulnerability is disclosure of confidential information. 61% are not confident that sensitive information is protected on social media. And recent crisis and legal claims would back this up.

One conclusion from these insights is that senior management are not quite as aware of the risks as those at the coalface of social networking. In our enthusiasm to use social media, maybe the risks were not detailed and plans not put in place.  We need to get companies involved, tighten policies and most importantly educate the business companywide.

Social Media & the law – An infographic by the team at social media consultancy, immediate future

Embed Social Media & the law on your site: Copy and Paste the Code Below

We don’t have to be lawyers, but we should know when to get legal involved

It is quite understandable that that we are not all legal eagles. But we should at least be aware of when laws apply and know when to involve the lawyers. Awareness of the law was quite low; suggesting a bit more education is required. I was surprised though, at the number of participants that were not fully aware of quite well known regulations. Especially those with a marketing background. And particularly those running competitions, promotions and endorsements in social media. Only 6% were very aware of Cap Code regulations.

If you want to remind yourself of some of these regulations, they are available on the ASA website and there is a lovely summary of their application by the social media council at IAB.

Some companies still need to do the ground work

Almost 20% of companies don’t yet have a social media policy. Even if you aren’t actively involved in social, this does leave businesses rather exposed.

A policy though, is just a first step. You need to bring your policies to life. It only takes a slip of the keyboard to publish a personal tweet on a company profile or for one person to more purposefully throw the cat amongst the pigeons.  So think about the processes you need in place, train your people and make technology and tools work for you.

Download the full report and compare your social media legal knowledge

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A new Wall Street Journal Online survey sheds light on the challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with social media.

I say that with two hats on. As an MD of an SMD, I can relate to these business challenges. On the other hand our clients are global brands, so we know their challenges too – we help them overcome them. That said, I am not sure they are hugely different:

1) No time for social

Social media isn’t free. There are hidden (and often substantial) costs in terms of time and content. The survey said that 48% of SMBs spent less than 5 hours per week on social.  Creating content, connecting and engaging with customers and partner is time consuming. It needs dedication and focus.

2) No dedicated resourcing

Over 60% of small businesses have no dedicated resource. This doesn’t have to be new headcount, but instead carving out some time in one person’s day, every day, to give the social the love it needs. It also helps with accountability.

3) No measurement

A whopping 42% of small businesses don’t understand the value of social. They are either not measuring it or they just don’t think it has value. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

4) No social channel strategy

It’s interesting that while Twitter is the third most popular social network, only three percent of SMBs think it has most potential to help their business. Way out in front is Facebook and LinkedIn.  I think this belies a lack of understanding about social channel strategy. It’s horses for courses -  I would argue they all have huge potential to add value, depending  objectives. So for our clients with heavy customer service interaction, Twitter is often paramount.  Our content heavy clients also find Twitter a brilliant way to quickly distribute and sign-post their content. That said we know that LinkedIn can be more effective from a lead generation perspective for some clients.

The statistics in their article come from a  survey was conducted in January 2013 by WSJ/Vistage International, involving 835 small business in the US. The full article can be seen at the WSJ Online

Graph courtesy of Emily Maltby & Shira Ovide, Small Firms Say LinkedIn Works, Twitter Doesn’t, The Wall Street Journal

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The new UK Twitter brand pages have finally hit our shores for those companies that can afford it.

Let’s put this out there, brands on Twitter still don’t have the flexibility the Facebook API allows. Twitter will keep a tight rein on what users can and can’t do and maintains a standard look and feel for the site. So what do the new pages allow brands to do?

Space for a branded banner below company profiles;

Area for a permanent tweet containing rich media or a promotion;

…and that’s it.

Twitter says that, brand pages now round off its offering for business. But, then Twitter would say that wouldn’t it?

WHAT YOU GET (according to the Twitter ad blog)

• Own it

Your enhanced profile page is completely public, entirely yours to brand, and accessible to every viewer. In addition, no other companies’ advertisements will appear on your enhanced profile page.

• Deliver results

Drive traffic around your latest ad campaign, product launch, breaking news, or other timely content by using your enhanced profile page to focus followers and non-followers alike on the Tweets that are the most important to you right now.

• Connect the dots

Want to integrate Twitter into other media? Now you can use your @handle to guide users to a richer brand experience on your profile page.

WHAT WE SAY

I’m being facetious, because you also get £25k of media spend with Twitter. Now, promoted tweets don’t have exhaustive proof of ROI, and while EA appear pleased with the results of their recent trial the wider jury’s still out on their effectiveness. Personally, I feel that promoted tweets and the brand page should be taken as a cost whole, branded pages might justify the financial outlay for an ad product that is yet to prove itself to marketeers and advertisers.

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 New research shows consumers who engage with companies using social media spend up to 30% more than consumers that don’t.

The same research from Bain & Company, suggests they are also more loyal and emotionally connected than customers who are not socially engaged. Bain demonstrated this by looking at the Net Promoter Score (NPS) of customers – the NPS score was 33 points higher for the socially engaged consumer.

To some extent this isn’t surprising – the NPS score of a consumer socially connected to a brand is skewed by a self-selection bias. A consumer chooses to ‘follow’ or ‘fan’ a brand because they have some interest or affinity with it already, indeed they might be a loyal consumer. Other research shows that the main motivation for following or liking a brand on social media is to get the latest information and deals.

Nonetheless, this is useful data when trying to make the business case for increasing investment in social media.

Other useful social media ROI research/data that will help in this area (albeit Facebook focused) includes:

•  1 Facebook fan = 20 additional visits to your website
• The average fan is worth £138
• Fans Are 291% More Likely to Engage With Brand Than Non-Fan

Please let me know if you have other great ROI case-studies.

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If so, you are not alone. New research from econsultancy shows a whopping 85% of brands believe increased social media marketing by competitors will have a significant impact on their social media plans in 2012.

With all innovation, there is an adoption curve (see below) – it looks like the social media laggards are worried they might be losing competitive advantage. For good reason – there is growing empirical evidence that investment in social media has financial benefit. For example, McKinsey showed a correlation between a ‘social business’ and higher profit margins and market share.

Where are you on the social media adoption curve?

So how scared should you be? Before you panic, work out how you are actually doing versus your competitors. Using various tools, you can benchmark some key indicators such as:

Social share of voice

What proportion of the consumer conversation in your market place is your brand or company getting? This can be shown simply as a percentage and tracked over time. Even if you are not doing proactive social media activity – you may be surprised how many consumers are actually talking about your products, services or staff.

Reach

All the research shows (understandably) that the C-Suite tend to focus on the top-line numbers. So you need to compare Facebook fan numbers and Twitter followers so you can get a gauge on the potential reach of rival brands.

Engagement and sentiment

But the big numbers don’t tell the whole story. You need to dig a bit deeper –who is actually engaging with the brand – is it the sort of consumers you would like to be talking to? Are they talking positively or negatively about your rivals?

Once you have all this information, it’s time to work out a social strategy for your business. Convene a cross-functional team (ideally HR, marketing, PR and customer service) to decide on priorities and focus.

If you need help, give us a call and we can help you refine your social media strategy.

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Whether you’re planning your tactical social media campaign or reengineering your business for the social consumer, social media research is invaluable in setting benchmarks.  They help you manage expectations, isolate priorities and best of all, define KPIs that set the evaluation bar.

But there is a dearth of UK and European focused research resources.  Apart from econsultancy’s marvellous internet stats compendium, it can be quite difficult to find individual studies without scouring Google for days!

So to make it easy, below are highlights of the latest social media research, with links to original studies. Better still, they are in 140 characters or less,  and very tweetable, if you fancy sharing a few insights.

1. During 2011 there were 228 billion UK Internet visits to websites and 28 billion hours spent online
Source: Experian Hitwise Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/uMRrri
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2. 87% of UK businesses will invest more in social media in 2012
Source: Royal Bank Of Scotland (RBS), Dec 2011. Reported in The Scotsman http://bit.ly/th7heE
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3. Almost two thirds (64%) of companies say they are now beyond the experimental phase compared to 54% a year ago
Source: econsultancy Nov 2011 http://bit.ly/to9Je7
Tweet

4. Only 48% of UK companies use social media, compared to 72% in the US and 83% in China
Source: KPMG, May 2011 http://bit.ly/sD194p
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5. Only 6% of business owners are monitoring social media to better understand their customers
Source: Sage UK Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/w0hXfS
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6. 60% of organisations have not yet implemented internal social media training and governance models
Source: econsultancy Nov 2011 http://bit.ly/to9Je7
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7. 25% of marketers regard social signals as ‘very important’ for search rankings, but 57% think it will be important in 3 years
Source: Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/umrYAO
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8. 43% of UK women agreed that they often find out about new breaking stories first via social networks; compared to 27% of men
Source: Ofcom Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/sIjKCm
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And on the media front….

9. MySpace slips out of top 10 of leading social networks in UK
Source: Metro http://bit.ly/rGT5Pa
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10. 60% of UK online population now use Facebook more than once a day
Source: YouGov Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/uAhCm3
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11. 71% with a social networking profile visit a networking sites at least once a day; 20% visit 5 times a day or more
Source: Ofcom Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/sIjKCm
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12. The Daily Mail and the Guardian websites are the most popular newspaper websites in Europe
Source: Ofcom Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/sIjKCm
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13. 2.6m people joined the top 20 Facebook retail pages in the last 6 months
Source: eDigitalResearch Dec 2011 http://bit.ly/uLhLwH
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And just because…

14. Nearly half (47 per cent) of teenage smartphone users admitted using or answering their handset in the bathroom or toilet
Source: Ofcom Dec 2010 http://bit.ly/sbkdwd
Tweet

If you would like to keep up with the latest social media research and stats then please do follow us on twitter
Follow @iftweeter

 
 
Images with thanks to:
Image: jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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There is a perception in the industry that B2B “doesn’t do social”. I have often been asked if B2Bs “should use Social Media?” as part of their marketing mix and if “B2Bs can utilise Facebook?”

GlobalWebIndex – B2B Social Media Strategy – Research Report – 2011

However the results from our recent analysis of GlobalWebIndex data that was published as “Social Strategy for B2B Marketing” could not be more different from this perception. B2B decision makers are the most socially active consumers for all markets and demographics. If anything B2B marketing is a more obvious fit with social media than consumer marketing.

In addition GlobalWebIndex trend data shows that activities such as profile updating and microblogging are expanding quicker among business users than your average consumer. This underlines how B2B decision makers have used social media to develop personal brand and drive their influence.

Interestingly this difference is most marked in developed internet markets where B2B decision makers stand out most from consumer behaviour and usage of social media platforms. In growth markets such as China they are still more active than the norm, but the gap is significantly smaller. This means businesses that operate and sell in the US, UK, Germany or any other high penetration internet market need to focus marketing and sales through social media.

Crucially it’s not just B2B decision makers’ behaviour that leads the way in social media; marketing communications via social channels are also perceived as having an impact on purchasing decisions for products and services they buy for business.

At a global level, social media communications outranked even face-to-face meetings, conferences, client entertaining or traditional trade advertising in most markets, as an influential communication channel. Based on data fielded in June 2011, global decision makers said “Conversations with people from a company/organisation on a social network” was their leading influence scoring 15%; the second ranked motivation was “direct mail”, scoring 13%. Among senior decision makers – those at senior manager level and above – conversations were level with “sales presentations”, both scoring 16%.

The fact that a virtual conversation is seen as more influential than a real life one shows how social media has permeated their lives and importantly for our industry, underlines the importance of empowering all employees (not just sales people) to be active, visible and representing the business online. This fact alone would highlight the need for a radical shift of budget from traditional B2B marketing activities into proactive social media engagement.

In addition “branded communities created by a company or organisation” are seen as more influential than corporate events and entertainment. This prompts the question, is social media changing the way business operates?

One note of caution, company blogs and branded Twitter profiles rank last. This we believe is not necessarily bad news, but very telling in terms of how social media works in B2B. Buyers want to interact online with people and companies need to create structures that enable this. This shows that the true value of social media lies in people, not the platform.

To succeed in this new era of socially enabled B2B communication, firms will have to empower staff to act on a company’s behalf and give them the platform to build a profile, content and relationships in this space.

Tom Smith is MD of Trendstream, a consultancy dedicated to understanding trends in technology adoption and what they mean for consumer behaviour, marketing communications, media and content

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