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The Minefield of Social Media Metrics

Measuring Social Media, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media ROI, Social Media Tips No Responses »

May 272013

Measuring social media can be a minefield. For some businesses it seems to be an obstacle that is challenging to overcome. Without tangible outcomes, it is difficult to justify increasing the social media budget so SMEs are overwhelmed on how to move forward.

Every day millions of people around the world are interacting and engaging on social media. And as more people do so, not utilising social media is no longer an option for businesses.

So can social media ROI be measured? The answer is yes and no and it depends on what you see as your return. Here are a few things for business to remember:

There is no Silver Bullet

Just like everything in life there is no one key solution for anything. For business they need to communicate their measures of success and formulate strategies and tactics to attain this success. This requires strategic planning and comprehensive knowledge of your business agendas and audience.

What is the True Value of Social Media?

When it comes to social media ROI it really comes down to first impressions. It is the opportunity to let people know about your brand and develop the possibility to create a new relationship where there wasn’t one before. Engaging and having a conversation with the audience is where the true worth of social media is.

Social Media Metrics don’t Show the Full Picture

The benefit of social media is in the conversation so listen and engage in the exchange of dialogue. Business tends to forget that social media is first a ‘social’ and ‘communication’ channel which has become a business marketing tool. It is not traditional media so stop using it as such.

What is important to note is that not every referral or relationship can be measured and not everything fits into a nice sales funnel but this doesn’t make social media any less effective! So experiment and see what works for your business.

Thanks for reading!

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Social Media and Having the Right Mindset

SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Tips, Social Network Sites, Technology shifts No Responses »

May 062013

As technology rapidly evolves history shows people struggle with the transition. Social media is a case in point. Completely different to traditional media having the right approach and mindset is crucial to get the best from it.

Social media centres around the user, not the product, so the established method of pushing a message in a one-way direction is not very effective. Engagement, connection and conversation are the key to social media in the long term.

Here are some central things to remember when engaging with social media:

Social media is About People: build relationships, gain trust and have a conversation.

Experiment and Innovate: social media is a switch from a monologue to a dialogue. Businesses that best understand this will listen to their audience and interact with them

Connect with your Audience: ask questions, share thoughts and encourage conversation. Provide information but don’t push sell your products or services.

Social Media is Difficult to Measure: business is preoccupied with measuring social media. But it is hard to measure conversation. This doesn’t mean the value isn’t beneficial.

Investing in social media is important, requiring new skills and approaches. Those that don’t think outside the box will have difficultly gaining traction and those who maintain control of the message won’t succeed in getting any message across.

Experiment, share and have fun!

What have you experimented with social media for your business? What works for you?

Thanks for reading!

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Is there Such A Thing As Privacy in Social Media?

Privacy, Privacy & Social Media, Social Media, Social Media Risk No Responses »

Apr 222013

As social media usage continues to grow the privacy debate becomes more intense. The more we interact on social media, the more information we relinquish and the more we diminish our privacy. It is a user driven collapse that shows no bounds exposing individuals to a number of issues including:

identify theft
hacking of personal information
data storage
harvesting of personal information
bullying/stalking and more

Social media sites actively encourage disclosure of information and in most cases information is given up easily. Birthdays, employment information, friends, photos and slowly a picture of your life is accessible online. This information stays permanently online and can be easily searched becoming accessible to any number of people not originally intended to see the information. The default privacy settings on social media sites still remain weak regardless of what the organisations say.

When individuals keenly give up personal information it shifts the boundaries in terms of what is acceptable content to be considered private. As privacy is being challenged in the context of social media are people concerned about this lack of transparency? Or are our expectations of privacy changing?

The most proactive approach moving forward is encouraging a culture of self responsibility and education where users are aware that the more information they give up the less privacy they have. This is especially so with teenagers who still lack maturity and don’t fully understand the consequences of disclosing information.

The line between what is considered personal information in the context of privacy is being blurred. If people are concerned about their information, the only safe way to keep it private is to not put it online.

What to people think – are they concerned about this so called lack of privacy or is it just a perception?

Thanks for reading!

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What are Businesses Doing About Social Media Policy in the Workplace?

Social Media, Social Media in the Workplace, Social Media Policy, Social Media Risk No Responses »

Apr 172013

In an ever increasing online and mobile world, social media is an important tool for business. With the many opportunities that come with it, there are, however, also risks that need to be managed.

A key social media issue is the one involving employees and their personal usage of social media platforms. Some may argue that what an employee posts on their personal platforms is irrelevant to business. However, I disagree with this because if an individual posts comments about their employer then this can impact the business so it is relevant. Negative behaviour in particular can be damaging to a brand and reputation of a business.

Take a look at the Fair Work Commission website and you can see how social media is impacting the workplace. Employers can’t control employees using social media platforms outside work hours. This is fine if nothing is written about the employer; however, guidelines are needed in respect to what employees can post when making reference to their employer on social media.

Any employee who publishes content about their employer on their personal social media platforms needs to remember that this information is public information. Once something is posted online it is there for all to see and if it goes ‘viral’ damage can be substantial.

A strong social media policy can be extremely valuable in managing these risks and providing parameters to employees. A policy needs to be tailored to the culture of the workplace, it needs to be flexible and it needs to have the employees on board.

As the prevalence of social media usage continues employers need to communicate to their employees what their expectations are in respect to social media. Without a social media policy businesses are leaving their reputation in the hands of others. As an employer what are you doing to implement a social media policy?

Thanks for reading!

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How to Choose Social Media to ‘Fit’ Your Business

Brand Awareness, Small Business, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Feb 252013

Social media can be challenging for SMEs in terms of understanding and implementing it. They are constantly being encouraged to set up social media platforms for their business but where do they begin?

As a tool, social media has the potential to reach and connect with customers and to let everyone know about your business. Investing time and money is crucial so make sure the ‘fit’ is the best for your business. Here are some tips:

Research

Spend some timing exploring which social media platform will be the best suited to your business. What does your target audience use, how do they use the platform and how do they interact? This can assist in directing you to what platform is most likely to support you.

Have a Positive Attitude

It may seem like a strange one but most SMEs that get involved in social media do so because everyone else is. This means you are less likely to believe in social media and its potential. Social media needs to be seen as another tool to use for business not the only one.

Start with One or Two Platforms

Anymore and it can become overwhelming in terms of what needs to be done. Once the platform has been chosen, invest in a strategy. Then be patient as you develop and engage with your audience.

Determine your Goals

Set goals so you know what you want to achieve. If you are able to measure your success you can determine whether your strategy is working for your business.

If you what to give social media a try, then make sure you consider what is involved, then put a plan into place and commit to working with it long term. This will more likely bring some success in terms of goal achievement and will keep you flexible enough in a very dynamic environment.

Give it a try and see what happens!

What has worked for others?

Thanks for reading!

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Support Your Clients Through Social Media

Online Media, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Content No Responses »

Feb 182013

Social media has exploded for business use. More and more businesses are now using it to engage with their customers and connect with potential consumers. Not all are using it effectively and some utilise it because everyone else is.

In order for businesses to have success on social media they need to have their clients at the forefront of their minds. If they don’t, their followers or likes will go elsewhere.

So how can businesses support their clients through social media? It is relatively simple and here are 3 key points that must be part of the strategy.

Listen

Such an easy word but not always followed. This means paying attention and letting the conversation flow. What are your audience saying, what are they thinking and how does this concern you? If you don’t listen, you will not be able to gain the information that is useful to your business.

Learn

By listening, you will be able to discover and identify what your audience wants and needs. If you can’t determine their needs then it will be harder to keep your audience engaged and provide them what they want.

Develop

Once you have determined what it is that your audience wants and needs, then develop your content strategy with this in mind. Do they want some particular type of content? Are they after some type of information? New product or service? Develop want it is they want and you will be able to engage them effectively.

Try it and see what happens!

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How to Get Your Message Heard in Social Media Marketing

Online Content, Online Media, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media ROI, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Feb 112013

With an ever-increasing number of online platforms, businesses now have so many choices when it comes to social media. This can provide the false impression that so long as businesses engage with the networks, everything will fall into place. This is not the case and it is important to create a social media existence that is purposeful and strategic.

1. Develop a Strategy

A clear strategy around your reasons for using social media and what you hope to achieve is vital. The strategy needs to combine other business and marketing goals to be part of the overall marketing and communication strategy. This way everything is interconnected and social media platforms are linked to the main business website and vice versa.

2. Social Media is a Marathon, not a Sprint

Social media is about building relationships and this takes time. It requires consistency, engaging with others and learning to listen to what individuals are saying. Spending time having a two-way conversation will be more productive in the long run than forcing a message in a one-way direction.

3. Make it Different

Obviously the usual things apply when on social media, such as add value, have a clear purpose, complete your profile, show personality and so on, however, to stand out, there needs to be an element which is diverse. Try the following:

Use humour
Have a cleverly designed infographic
Use vibrant colours, easy to understand language
Use bold graphics, images, phrases, or titles

Once you have a concept to promote any number of tools can be utilised to make your message stand out. It is just a matter of experimenting and seeing what works. Try one of these and see what happens!

Thanks for reading!

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How to Create Content for your Social Media Platforms

SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Content, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Feb 042013

One of things most SMEs struggle with when it comes to social media is creating content for their platforms on a regular basis.

What you share or post on social media is content whether it’s a one line sentence or a link to an article or video. Social media content should not be randomly posted. It is important that there is a strategic element that reflects your overall business and marketing goal/s. The aim is to grab attention to focus on your expertise and skills. Overall, most networks really only need one quality post every day.

Here are some tips when putting together a content strategy for you social media platforms:

Business goals: determine why you are creating/posting this content. This makes it part of a bigger overall marketing strategy which means there is a purpose to what you creating.
Don’t forget the ‘social’ element in social media: this is what social media is about after all. Make it fun and engaging, be creative and even controversial.
Share other people’s content: one thing that most people believe is that every post needs to be original content. This is important but so is sharing links, infograhpics or articles from other people.
Make customers/clients the content: if you have a great story to tell, seek permission and broadcast the success. Everyone loves a story and it is a great way to demonstrate who you are and make an impact so that it resonates.
Go beyond text: content doesn’t need to be all text. Try creating a video or podcast or post a link to an infographic. People love the visual especially online.

Add one of these suggestions to your social media postings and see how you go! Still struggling with content creation? Feel free to touch base with me.

Thanks for reading!

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Safeguard your Business from Social Media Risks

SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Policy, Social Media Risks No Responses »

Dec 032012

Social media provides SMEs with many opportunities to communicate with customers, provide customer support, strengthen relationships and build brand awareness. These are valuable to any business, however, at the same time, social media also exposes business to risk. These risks can be loosely classified as follows:

Reputational Risk:

Whether it’s employee bad behaviour or damaging customer service, business needs to ask “how protected are the company’s brand and reputation?” There are plenty of examples which illustrate negative social media publicity.

Legal Risk:

From accidental disclosure of confidential information to defamation and false and misleading content from third parties, business needs to comply with laws and regulations.

Operational Risk:

It is essential that organisations know how exposed they are to disruptions to its operations which may occur from viruses or malware. Just as the Internet and email pose risks so too does social media.

Navigating these risks is fundamental to safeguarding business interests and relationships. These risks are no different to the offline world. They have now just progressed to social media and business needs to be alert and proactive.

One of the most effective ways to manage these risks is a Social Media Policy which is implemented together with employee training and education, which is ongoing. A policy must be tailored to each business to cater for diverse values, beliefs and different industries.

As well as minimising exposure to risk, a Social Media Policy also provides the opportunity to deliver guidelines to engage in social media. It can empower team members to responsibly use social media to obtain the organisation’s strategic goals and can be a positive engagement tool.

It is important that all SMEs are proactive and protect their business interests.

Thanks for reading!

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Social Media ROI

Online Marketing, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media in the Workplace, Social Media ROI, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Nov 212012

As more organisations use social media they invest more time and money. This may point to the fact that business will want to ensure there is some return on investment on their commitment of time and money. To date, there is no clear formula that can be used to measure ROI. And although social media ROI may be challenging it is not impossible. Here are some tips:

Determine Costs:

At a very basic level, you can assess the costs of your social media strategy by determining how many hours are spent on social media activities and then multiplying these hours with the appropriate hourly dollar value of the person who is active on social media.

Soft Metrics:

Likes, comments, shares or followers are known as ‘soft metrics’ in social media. They are easy to measure but they are not entirely accurate. However, they shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. They can provide an general brand awareness evaluation that is difficult to quantify but has an effect on the social media platform.

Benchmarking:

Establish your goal/s with a starting point of data. This can then be used to measure the effectiveness of the goals over a period of time. Future data can be measured against this original data to measure the value of what has been achieved.

Know the Purpose of your Social Media Platform:

When you know what your social media platform is being used for, then you will have some idea of whether your purpose is being met. For example, if you want to use the platform to provide customer service each problem solved is a tick in the ROI. What do these ‘ticks’ mean. Well what is the financial value of successfully solving a customer problem?

None of these approaches are complete but are a starting point to use as business adapts to social media usage.

What do people think?

Thanks for reading!

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