The Social Press October 2014
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The Social Press October 2014
Volume 03
08 Tool Review 09 A note from the Editor 10 Cartoon of the Month 11 Quote of the Month 12 Top Stories 13 Angels on the Loose
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Links by Charlotte
Poem -
17 Social Media Explained by Cemanthe
How To Get The
07 Conversation Started
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by Hannah
14 30 Simple Tips That Can Significantly Improve Your Online Marketing (Part 2) by Dominica
“Hello, what do you do?� by Cemanthe October 2014
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Links One of the things I love about Social Media is that it allows me to tap into everyone else’s expertise. No need to reinvent the wheel when you can just retweet, repin or repost it instead. Following big players and sharing their content allows brands to demonstrate their awareness of current events in their industry without the need to create
screeds of original content. If you sell to customers, they may not be aware of big names further up the tree. Sharing content from these big names educates your customers in both the wider aspects of your industry and your own place in it. But there are pitfalls when sharing content. Here I list some rules to get it right.
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04 Don’t disguise shared material as original content Something that really annoys me is when a company posts an article about a news event which is really a skimpy paraphrase of someone else’s article. And then links to the original and asks, What do you think? I think you should have directed me to the original in the first place rather than get me to briefly visit your website/ blog for something that made me feel patronised. Avoid bias If you link to a newspaper article, you risk upsetting people. Go for a tabloid and you are patronising your audience. Go for a broadsheet and you are a snob. And then there is the political bias to worry about. People on both sides of the fence will shoot you down if you post a link to an article from a declaredly left- or right-wing newspaper. For the same reason, articles from religious/ philosophical sources may
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cause debates about the validity of these views rather than the content of the article. Pitch content at the right level Linking to a BBC news article is fairly safe in terms of bias. However, if you work in a more technical field you may find your customers thing you are oversimplifying things. Link to a technical journal and some customers may be baffled by it. You will know your customers well enough to know where to pitch it. Or post pictures from the more technical journals and news stories from elsewhere to strike a balance. Don’t rely on sharing alone Clearly, there are more things happening in your industry or local area than you have time to create original content for. But don’t rely solely on sharing the content of others. Your audience wants to hear your unique voice and experiences. They want to get to know your brand’s personality.
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Add your own commentary If your entire Social Media output is sharing someone else’s content, your followers are going to wonder why they aren’t just following the original sources instead of you. Also, posting something blind can open cans of worms you weren’t expecting. Your audience might not be sure if you are sharing something because it is amazing or because it is awful. Pretty embarrassing for the first commenters who don’t know the way the wind is blowing. Be very, very careful who you link to I’d like to tell you a story. It was one that captured the imagination of the British public, containing so many of the ingredients of a ripping yarn; a war hero; old people behaving badly; spitting in the eye of authority; and building support for ultra-right-wing political parties.
Did that last one jar a bit? Surprisingly, it didn’t to many facebook users. In May 2014 an old veteran “escaped” from his nursing home to join old army colleagues travelling to France for World War 2 commemorations. His exploits spawned many a meme, including one by Brittain First - a group that splintered from the British National Party on the grounds they weren’t hateful enough. Their image showed photos of Bernard Jordan then and now, told of his daring exploits and urged us to “share to show your respect”. Many people did so - more than 200, 000 of them. Most of them,one hopes, were merely intrigued by the story, but this would be a dangerous thing for a brand to have reposted without researching the provenance.
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The importance of developing a house style Having a house style means that no matter who writes a document, blog post or tweet, they all have the same corporate feel to them. The house style guide may define a minimum size for your logo, correct spacing, suggested font, what resolution photographs must be, acceptable and unnacceptable grammar and vocabulary. It may sound dry, but it can help build your brand personality and project brand values. I believe that brand values are the place to start when writing a guide to your house style. You have already worked out an image for your brand, all you need to do is to see how that translates into “rules” for your online presence. For example, if one of your brand values is “integrity”, have a rule that you don’t use images that you don’t own the copyright or have permission to post. If you value support, have strong community guidelines as to what is and
isn’t acceptable when engaging with your content, and moderate comments accordingly. Quality - have clear recommendations about the acceptable resolution of any images, plus standards for these. Make sure all content is proof-read by more than one person before publication. Consider having rules about acceptable grammar, abbreviations and slang. Fun - allow some more quirky elements, on-trend colours and be more relaxed about abbreviations and slang. Innovation - limit how much you share content from others, and put a time-limit on it! Reliability - scheduling posts at the same time each day or week (for a blog) means that followers get to depend on you. Set out the times for posting, and a system to make sure content is prepared in advance. Compiling a house style guide may not seem like the most interesting use of your time, but done properly it will save you time in revising content. The style guide should be shared with all staff and any outside contractors who write content for you.
Charlotte October 2014
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How to get the conversation started We love sharing with you the joys of engagement through social media and why it can be so important to a business owner, but how can you spark these conversations? It can be difficult at first, a little strange too as you may feel like you are imposing. I suggest thinking of social media as a networking event – there are lots of people that you could have a great conversation with, but you need to get into those conversations, introduce yourself and also get them to happily engage back.
Here are my top tips for sparking an engaging conversation:
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Have engaging content – yes, it starts with you! You need to have content that isn’t all about your product, service and links to your website. Having well created content will help you have people conversing with you, no need to worry about sparking them when you have others doing it with you!
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Look out for updates that are perfect conversation starters. These are the ones that have a question within them, an engaging link or image, or perhaps have an excited feel about them. For example “I’m on my way to a meeting and I cannot wait to get there!” – this would absolutely warrant a response. Think about how you would feel if you were in their shoes, you’d want people to share that excitement and wish you luck, so go for it!
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Join other conversations – are people having a conversation in your stream already? This means they are online and ready to have a chat. Join the subject, especially if it is something you share an interest in. As an example, if I saw two people exchanging about their love of cakes, I would have to join in with a “I simply cannot resist a chocolate fudge cake, oh and a tiramisu, oh goodness my sweettooth @... @...” you are sharing your personality and you have a similar interest – win-win! These are just a few ways to get a conversation started with your following, allowing these to happen will help your business and your profile overall. You will find these people will want to return the favour and engage with you more often, as well as, after a few more great engagements, potentially recommend you to others. Now that would be pretty awesome.
Hannah New Media Angels
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Tool Review Audible Ahhh Audible, not a tool one would think would be for your business, but hold on here. The ability to listen while you work, move, commute, exercise or relax can be an excellent way to learn. When do you have the time to get out the book and read it? Right! Well, you have the ability to learn while you move (or not) with Audible. It has a wealth of business books within it and being able to learn from these highly acclaimed books can be a great way to improve your expertise and give you some “working on the business time� without feeling guilty. A few recommended books to listen to: How to win friends and influence people Dale Carnegie
Pitch Perfect: How to say it right the first time, every time Bill McGowan
All marketers are liars: The power of telling authentic stories in a low-trust world Seth Godin
Hannah October 2014
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A note from the Editor These last few months have certainly been interesting and brought home to me how precious our time is, and how short a life we live. I’ve had a short 4 day trip to South Africa for my gran’s funeral, my own heart related surgery, and moving house…and it really brings home what matters to you.
It’s got me thinking about New Media Angels; where we are, where we’re going, and how much we appreciate the clients we have…who make our life easier by being nice….so thank you! In this month’s magazine we look at what’s happening in the world of social media, how to develop a house style, and targeting the selfie generation. I’ve also started writing poems so I hope you’ll enjoy Social Media Explained.. 2015 looks to be an exciting year in the world of social media with Aplha Apps, better integration, and of course, our own development as a company (more news on that soon). By the time you get this, I’ll be at the seaside on the Kent coast, eating icecream and planning 2015 for New Media Angels. So, if you’re in the area, and the sun is shining, join me! Or I’ll see you at your next meeting.
Cemanthe New Media Angels
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Cartoon of the Month
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Quote of the Month “As an umbrella term, we should think about social media and mobile behaviour as it’s related to psychology, anthropology, communication, economics, human geography, ethnography, et al. After all, everything comes down to people.”
Brian Solis
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Top Stories This months top stories! Why “dark social” matters when considering the customer journey Marketers should not ignore the immense influence of “dark social” -- the interconnectivity of search, social, text and e-mail -- on the consumer journey, even if it’s hard to track, Curtis Hougland writes. They should also seek to create campaigns that tell their stories consistently across all channels, and avoid considering single elements at a time, Hougland writes. More here: bit.ly/1sS7oMK Brands land on anonymous apps to reach mobile users Mobile ad campaigns are turning to applications with an anonymity focus in order to reach consumers, such as Vegas.com’s campaign promoting its hashtag on anonymous social app Anomo. Brands including MTV and Hulu are pursuing pay-forplay campaigns and native ads on Whisper. “If we can get into people’s phones, that’s a market we are willing to pay for,” said Vegas.com’s Dustin Robertson. More here: bit.ly/1rqA8cp Levi’s target gen-selfie with trendy ecommerce site Levi’s are tapping into the image conscious Millennial market by constructing an arty user-populated site, showcasing how people #LiveInLevis. The Economist describes the company’s new direction as “a move away from rust-belt edginess towards a cheerier mainsteam”, noting the company’s decline in revenues since the arrival of low cost fashion outlets. More here: bit.ly/1p5tZDU Net-a-Porter launches real-time sales trending campaign The luxury retail magnate, Net-a-Porter, is launching its first ever digital out-of-home campaign which will display global online sales in real-time. The intuitive campaign is designed to show women what other women are buying across the globe – tapping into the trend fashion of, fashion. The live feed will show the exact pieces being bought as well as exactly where in the world the purchase took place. More here: bit.ly/1BdQGek
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Angels on the Loose Well, what a few months we have had! From my news about my heart, welcoming new clients, to re-working our packages, and learning about Linkedin advertising for snow (yes really!), it’s been all go go go at New Media Angels HQ! Cemanthe has delivered training sessions for the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, City Business Library and on career development for Goldman Sachs.
Hannah and Cemanthe also visited two clients, and we’re planning a team trip to see another for a big meeting in September. We’ve finished 3 websites for clients, and planned a video campaign of stories for an estate agent. Going forward we’re looking forward to planning for 2015 which is only a stones throw away!
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“Hello, what do you do?”
After a thought provoking session with my business coach, who challenges me on every level about every thought, and aims to squeeze me into every traditional business box so I can build my conviction in myself while I fight my way out of the box, I now know what it is that we do as a company. And it’s not social media training. Even though it is. And it’s not websites. Or social media management. In fact, it’s not even design or video or social media. Because yes, we do those as ‘services’ in the traditional, expected, nicely packaged and boxed variety most companies offer. However, if I’m really honest with you, those are just the tangible outcomes of what it is that we actually do.
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15 And what we actually do is: Care For Our Clients. Emotionally, mentally and practically. I really realised this when a former client died last week. I felt like I’d lost a friend as I wrote before, and many other people who knew him were surprised when I said that I cried about losing him for the whole week afterwards (and even now the tears come thinking about it). And that’s truely because for us we don’t see clients or potential clients as walking invoices, myself and my team genuinely feel invested in their business as if we were one of the team, and as if they’re a friend friend. And if a client leaves, as they sometimes need to, they take part of us with them. Definitely a part of my heart.
As the owner of the business, it’s partly my ‘job’ or the expectations that I will care about the clients’ needs, and it would be weird if I didn’t, but I realised this morning it goes to so much more than that. I emotionally care *for* my clients, not just ‘about’ them. Even former clients; I think about them, I look them up online, I send them things that may interest them, I’m happy if they’re successful even if it had nothing to do with me. And what I love about my team is their level of emotional investment in our clients too. If they get something wrong, even if it’s technical and out of our control, they take it personally. We take it personally.
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16 So we offer social media and all of that, but, in the grand scheme of things, that’s all really completely irrelevant. That’s just what we do, but not who we are. And that’s why, at that level of care I have for the people who work with me, both as clients and team, I realised today in my meeting that we can limit ourselves to the amount of clients we work with. It doesn’t have to be everyone. I am now going to handpick more who we take to that next level. I am also going to push my mission forward of helping people to really understand social or the web, even if they’re not our clients, and to be the place people can come to if they’re not sure they’re getting enough from someone else or another company, and I can then best advise them. Because at the end of the day, how much money you had or made, or could have made, is irrelevant to a life well lived. Like Steve Jobs said (paraphrased), there’s no value in being the richest corpse in the cemetery. The meaning of life is ‘people’. And I look at my former client and how many people he moved who have lost something at his passing. Yes, we still need to charge for a majority of our services, because unfortunately my landlord doesn’t take hugs as payment for rent, but our focus will be less on allowing the industry to squeeze us into a box of the services element of what we do and we’ll aim to be more on who we are. And who you are as the client. This is exciting.
Cemanthe October 2014
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Poem Social Media Explained A profile is not a page but a page can be used to raise your profile. But not your profile profile of friends and family‌ Your profile of shenanigns and infamy. A like is not always a like, but a like can be used to appreciate your update. But not on your page where a like is just a follow... That is turning out to be kind of hollow. A friend is not necessarily real life, but redefined to be used for your networking. But not with your real life friends around a BBQ‌ Who will all actually know you. Tweeting is not just for twits, but you can definitely find more than a few, on Pinterest, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and whatever else becomes new. Social media isn’t only for fun, success happens when business is won.
Cemanthe New Media Angels
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30 Simple Tips That Can Significantly Improve Your Online Marketing Part 2
Better Business Website
Effective Search Engine Optimization
Update Your Website It’s 2014, so your business website shouldn’t look like it’s still stuck in the early 2000s. And it’s about more than just looks. Best practices and Web standards change often, so a refresh can help you make sure your website is at the top of its game.
Regularly Post Quality Content Creating and promoting fresh, original, and sharable content on a business blog can help increase your visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) because these social shares signal to search engines that your site is knowledgeable and relevant in a particular topic.
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Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly The 2014 Local Search Study from Neustar Localeze found that nearly 80% of local searches on a mobile phone ended in a purchase. If you’re website isn’t mobile-friendly, you are missing out on these local consumers.
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Complete and Optimize Your Site’s Metadata Metadata on your website (like title tags, descriptions, and alt text) is a critical component of your website’s SEO. Leaving it out can negatively impact how you show up in search results.
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Create and Use a Business Blog Blogging and your business should be best friends. Maintaining a business blog can help boost your site’s SEO; plus, it can set you apart from the competition and demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. It’s a win-win situation.
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Optimize Your Website for Local Search If your law practice only handles cases in Wimbledon, London, then it doesn’t do much good to get it seen by consumers searching for legal consultations in Edinburgh. Make sure your business website includes local information, like a phone number, address, and geo-targeted keywords so that local consumers call you. October 2014
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Be Present on Maps This is especially applicable to consumers searching for your business on the go using apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps. Make sure they not only find you by claiming your local listings and making sure information like your phone number and address are correct.
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Claim Your Google+ Local Page Claiming and optimizing a Google+ Local page is key to showing up in Google Maps and Google’s local search results. Plus, this page provides users with important information like your phone number, operating hours, and ratings and reviews that they use when deciding whether to use your business.
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Engage Your Social Media Fans Social media is a great way to build your brand and interact with potential and current customers. Post engaging content frequently to generate shares and connect with consumers, which can positively impact the number of those who see your content.
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Use Local Keywords Include geo-specific keywords in your website, blog, and even social media copy to drive visits and interest from consumers in your area.
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Use Local Keywords Include geo-specific keywords in your website, blog, and even social media copy to drive visits and interest from consumers in your area.
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Generate Backlinks High-quality links, such as those from influencers, are great for building your authority. Plus, they tell search engines that your business is credible, therefore ranking your website or other sites higher in search engines.
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Get Positive Reviews What people say in reviews matters to consumers. In fact, one study determined that 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation. And as these reviews are visible in search results, having positive reviews with high rankings can help persuade interested consumers to give your business a chance.
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Set Up Google Authorship In addition to building your business brand, building your personal brand can be a great way to get new consumers. Google Authorship can help you do this.
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Complete Your Business Information Yelp is a great hub to host all kinds of information about your small business. From operating hours to business type to payment options to parking information, it’s a great way to help consumers find you and your business.
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Post Realistic Images Images speak volumes, and Yelp features them loud and clear. Post inviting and realistic photos of what consumers can expect when visiting your business.
Glowing Social Media Presence
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Think Before You Post It’s becoming more impossible to take back what you say in social media (hello, screenshots). In order to keep yourself from putting your foot in your mouth, make sure to think before you speak, er, post.
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Have a Social Media Policy Social profiles for your business aren’t the end-all and be-all of your brand. Your employees also represent your brand, both in person and online. Having a social media policy today is important so employees know the rules and expectations for posting online as well.
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Be Careful when Newsjacking Staying in the know is a great idea for generating timely social content. However, if you jump in a conversation online without knowing the origin of the topic, you could risk looking like a social media newbie and potentially coming off as insensitive.
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Stay Alert Social media is the place where consumers voice their opinions about you, good and bad. Having alerts set up to notify you of mentions, comments, or messages can help you make sure you address situations before they get out of hand. How does your business use online marketing to reach consumers?
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Promote Positive Reviews Since Yelp reviews are featured in local search results on all major search engines, generating great reviews is more important that ever. Plus, you can promote these reviews in other places, like your website and social media sites.
Dominica New Media Angels
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What we stand for: http://youtu.be/I1ennL4mK-E
Web: www.NewMediaAngels.com Email: cemanthe@NewMediaAngels.com Direct Tel: (+44) 7886 593 076
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