Add fresh flavour to your communications mix in 2014

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tourism-australia-thank-you(source: www.facebook.com/SeeAustralia)

If content marketing hasn’t been mentioned in your marketing engine room yet, chances are you’re already behind in the ongoing battle for better customer engagement.

What may have been a new trend a year ago is now business as usual for successful brands. For those still unsure, content marketing should be considered with the early days of social media marketing in mind – immerse in it because it ain’t going anywhere in a hurry.

Here’s a quick guide on content marketing and how it can be incorporated into your marketing communications mix this year.

Content marketing

In March last year, The Australian reported that Australian companies allocated 25 per cent of total marketing spend to content marketing. It’d be much higher now as companies continue to bypass traditional media by creating their own media and content, allowing greater control over message and story with the more direct access to audience.

Think what supermarket giants do with in-store magazines made easier and cheaper for all brands through multiple digital channels that allow images, memes, blogs, case studies, videos and infographics to be shared with their audience.

Here are just some basic ways you can start content marketing now:

–       Curation is key: help customers make sense of all the content on the web with your own personal story, rather than simply regurgitating what others are saying. Develop content that is fresh and your own.

–       What customers want: it’s not about you, it’s about them. Listening to and answering your customers by developing informative and useful content will improve engagement. This is why good infographics are so successful.

–       Innovation: storify.com is an easy to use tool that repackages existing social media interaction into shareable designed content. The right content will blend original work and community-created content together.

–       Mileage from earned media: ever received great coverage in the media and not known how to leverage it? Earned media is great content to use for blogs and social media channels.

Like most things, sensible planning is the best approach to content marketing. Think about how it can flow to all marketing channels before you start producing it – how to best address a highly-informed audience and ensure messages have cut-through among the oversupply of content available through multiple channels.

Bear in mind the balance between both your marketing and communication goals when planning. If content looks too much like advertising, you’re wasting your time.

We love an Aussie success story, so for inspiration check out how Tourism Australia became the most popular destination on Facebook and, in particular, how they engage their audience through encouraging user-generated content and brand ambassadors.

Corporate Trolls

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We are all familiar with the recent case of Charlotte Dawson who used her large online presence to bring to the fore the issue of trolls. Unfortunately, this gave the offenders the public recognition they undeniably crave and we saw every troll come out from under their metaphorical bridges and poor Dawson wound up in hospital.

While this example was a personal attack, the issue with trolls extends to the corporate world and businesses need to be prepared to handle them.

There is a rise in “Corporate trolling” and we are not talking about healthy online banter where people share opinions and views about a product or an opinion. Troll comments are usually unwarranted negativity that is personal, defamatory and generally anonymous.

The perception is that because the comments are made online they are somehow easier to ignore or “block”, but taking it from public view does not eliminate the problem and at times can add fuel to the fire.

Social media is the forefront for trolls and unfortunately victims are not able to confront their faceless attackers thanks to privacy policies that many online platforms have. These policies that exist to protect our online information from being shared is now the “mask” for these online predators.

Earlier this year Commonwealth Bank Australia was the victim of a troll who impersonated one of its senior Bankwest executives. The troll created a fake account under the guise of the staff member and posted inflammatory material about the company. Uncovering the identity of the troll was a costly and unsuccessful exercise because of privacy policies set up by Twitter.          

Social media risk management is fast becoming a profession in itself with businesses looking to their protect brands online and prevent them from becoming prey to these kinds of attacks.

While it’s important your brand is using social media as part of its online strategy, equally imperative is identifying risks of online networking and implementing a plan to deal with issues quickly and effectively.

Staff

Remind staff of their responsibilities online. Employees are able to associate themselves with your brand via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. In doing so they have a responsibility to ensure these connections do not reflect negatively on your brand. Develop a staff policy that covers posts both personally and on behalf of your brand.

Intellectual property

Company trolls are fast becoming an issue. Staff should be warned about the consequence of anyone found leaking sensitive or confidential information online or using “inside” information against their employers.

She said what?!

Trolls like to attack the vulnerable. Keep messaging in post’s clear and concise. Don’t be left apologising for a comment that was misconstrued or taken the wrong way by a user. Online faux pas spread quicker than wildfire, so always proofread. .

#hashtagsgonewild

Hashtags are an excellent way to comment on trending topics. However creating your own can result in what is called a hashtag hijack. Be wary of personalised tags especially in a crisis.

Customer relations

Indentifying genuine customer concerns from a troll can be difficult. A real issue left by a customer will provide a means of contacting the user, content will have information that is related to a store, time or place and they will be able to provide evidence of the incident. Trolls are usually anonymous and leave little information.

Social media provides a large opportunity for businesses to engage online with a broad audience. Trolls are a minority of that audience and with the right policy you will be able to handle issues and negativity quickly and effectively before they become a trending topic on twitter.

Social Media Age

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If you haven’t already noticed social media looks like it’s around to stay. Choosing to ignore it could mean you are missing out on golden opportunities to communicate with customers, gain valuable exposure for your brand and keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. Whilst I am sure you don’t doubt the importance of social media it is time consuming, at times stressful and involves a whole hearted approach. So if you are considering tackling the world of social media here are a few good reasons to look at involving an agency.

Strategy

Whilst it’s ok to sometimes post fun irrelevant updates too many businesses make the mistake of making these post’s the core of their content. The flip side to this is don’t want to flood your followers/friends etc. with all business and no pleasure either. It is all about balance and finding that balance is easier when you have a strategy. This involves planning content, knowing your audience and having social media guidelines for your business to follow.

SEO, SMO and SEM

These three letter acronyms are on everyone’s lips. If we had a dollar for every time we heard “I want to be the first listing on Google” we probably wouldn’t be writing this blog. Social Media Optimisation, Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing all go hand in hand when increasing your Google ranking. Social media plays an important role in keeping up to date information about your company online and accessible to potential customers, while assisting in flushing out negative sentiment that may be online about your brand. Social media enables you to utilise links and content that works with Google’s search algorithms. Remember, if Google rankings are your goal it should always be coupled with a SEM and SEO plan.

Rules of engagement

The experts in social media will be able to give you tips and techniques on handling social media engagement, good and bad. The potential for negativity is a real risk for any brand but it is not a bad thing if it is handled well and never ignored. Proper engagement and management is just as important as being on the platform. Followers of your page never want blatant advertising, narcissistic self promotion or constant pictures of your two pugs, not matter how cute they are. Keep it real always engaging and remember who you are talking to and why.

Choose your platforms wisely

While it’s great to be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, have a blog and YouTube channel, unless you’re managing social media 24/7 – and let’s be serious who has the time- the result will be stagnant pages. Maintaining quality consistent content is imperative for social media success. An agency will be able to give you expert advice on what platforms your business should be focussing on and assisting in creating quality content for you.

Social media should be treated with as much care and scrutiny as any other form of marketing you decide to invest in. This is why you want to start it off on the right foot. Treat it like any relationship with your customers, and remember you don’t have a second chance at a first impression.

If you are looking at Social Media as part of your PR and Marketing strategy for 2012 contact Ignite PR & Marketing for more tips.

Image Source – Mashable Comics

Hashtag Highjack – Lessons from the #Qantasluxury Fiasco

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You’ve heard the story of Pandora’s Box: Zeus gives the trinket to Pandora as a gift and tells her never to open it, but curiosity gets the best of Pandora and she does anyway.  In doing so she unleashes untold evils into the world, which can never be put back in the box.

Enter #Qantasluxury, stage left.

Just in case you missed it here’s how it went down. On Tuesday November 22 Qantas kicked off a competition on Twitter to win a set of its first-class pyjamas:

It wasn’t long before #QantasLuxury was the top Twitter trending topic in Australia with over 14,700 mentions. Unfortunately for Qantas almost all of them came with a double helping of either sarcasm or outright anger:

#QantasLuxury is getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire

#QantasLuxury is a complimentary cheap hotel room because your airline left you stranded in Adelaide, of all places. Adelaide.

#QantasLuxury is a massive executive bonus while your workers starve and your former customers choke

#QantasLuxury is more than 3mins notice that the whole service has been grounded

My #QantasLuxury experience would be no matter what time or duration of the flight a proper meal is served a cookie is not a meal it’s a joke

#QantasLuxury is flights that leave on schedule because Management doesn’t arbitrarily shut down the airline

#QantasLuxury is planes that arrive intact and on time because they’re staffed and maintained by properly paid, Australia-based personnel.

#Qantasluxury is not being told you can apply for refund online & finding out they only refund via a phone that no one answers for 4hrs

And my personal favourite

#Qantasluxury Somewhere inside Qantas HQ a middle aged manager is yelling at a Gen Y social media “expert” to make it stop

So what went wrong and what can we learn from the Qantas Luxury fail.

Like comedy, in social media timing is everything

What’s puzzling is that a consensus could be reached in the Qantas marketing ranks that this was a good idea. Qantas simply should have known to be more cautious about dipping their toe in the murky waters of social media so soon after the grounding of the Qantas fleet in October. Alicia Kennedy of online monitoring service Meltwater puts it beautifully.

“Had the thousands of people who were inconvenienced by the recent lock out moved past the issue?  Were the public ready to talk about the positives of the company yet again? Judging from a social media analysis, the answer is a resounding no .In the three days after the Qantas grounding, the brand received over 37,000 negative social media mentions and that alone should have sent warning signals to Qantas’ social media team.”

Should have, but didn’t.

Any publicity is NOT good publicity

Some observers will swear this was a deliberate ploy from Qantas to re-engage with customers.

Make no mistake, the grounding of the Qantas fleet has tarnished the brand significantly and this gaffe has rubbed salt into an open wound. The once untouchable flying kangaroo has battled a string of issues that have affected customers, then turned around and given them a public platform to publish their grievances for all to see, share and compare. There’s just no up-side to it.

Bad campaigns = bad news

How is it that Australia’s largest airline, with its multimillion dollar marketing budget, couldn’t come up with a better social media campaign than a pair of pyjamas and a self-serving hashtag. The fact is #QantasLuxury was ill conceived to begin with. Toss in the existing negative sentiment and it goes from being a poor campaign to a nightmare one that achieved nothing beyond highlighting a company out of touch with customers.

Respond – especially if you started it

Twitter facilitates conversations which don’t occur in our day-to-day lives and these are often between customers and brands. As in a real-life chat, you can’t always control the direction of the conversation. It’s a two way street, but you can respond, and you must respond if you initiated the dialogue in the first place.

After announcing the competition and being hounded with complaints, Qantas tweeted the following – “Some very creative tweeps out there. Keep the entries coming”, along with the hashtag “QantasWeHearYou”.

They deserve to be commended for this at least.

Even if it will probably be ignored, a considered, empathetic response which reaffirms your core brand values is always best.

Don’t despair and don’t give up

Whether Qantas handled the saga appropriately is an open question, but ultimately what #QantasLuxury does is highlight the importance of taking full ownership of your brand presence online.

If your brand is being trashed on social media, you must address it. If, instead, you disconnected from your social media platforms and simply choose “not to get involved” you will be viewed as silent and uncaring.

Giving up on social media after bad feedback, or even a campaign as poor as #QantasLuxury, is the worst thing you can do.

If you find yourself totally overwhelmed I recommend revisiting Pandora. Re-read the story and you’ll find that after the contents had escaped, one thing remained in the bottom of the box – Hope!

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How not to do social media

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‘Social media’ is still the marketing buzz phrase, but lots of companies still don’t know how to work with it and make it work for them. Here are a few things NOT to do.

1)      Sell, sell, sell: social media is all about building relationships, getting referrals, having conversations with people on your wavelength. Use it as a PR tool, not for direct sales. It won’t work otherwise. If you don’t put out good content, there’s no value, so no one will be interested in what you have to say.

2)      Join too many sites: it’s better to do one or two sites really well, than too many badly. Be strategic about which one(s) you choose then make the most of them. Make sure your profiles are always completed and updated regularly.

3)      Be argumentative: it might get some attention in the short term, but think about the long term, who wants to listen to the moaning argumentative colleague in the office?

4)      Take, take, take: social media is about relationships. Those involve give and take. Give advice, ideas, tips, information, thanks, etc, and you will get back. Constantly think about what value you are adding.

5)      Don’t join any groups: social media is an online community, so that involves sharing information and expertise, so joining groups is a great way to contribute, sign post what you’re interested in, what discussions have authority to contribute to, where you can add value.

Finally, even though social media is what everyone’s talking about, good old face-to-face meetings and events are not to be sniffed at. They can be an excellent extension of social media. In fact, social media can be a great way to extend your offline network.

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Going places… understanding Location-based Services and Geo-tagging in social media

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 Social media continues to get bigger and new ways to use the medium are being introduced at a rapid rate.

 In this blog we are going to take a look at (and explain) social media location based services, geo-tagging and the potential these applications have for building brands.

Location-based Services (LBS)

A Location-based Service (LBS) is an information and entertainment application that can be accessed from a smartphone or mobile device. These services are growing in popularity with businesses increasingly using LBS to generate leads and enhance brand awareness.

Geo-tagging

Geo-tagging is a tool that utilises Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in smartphones to assist users to identify a particular place or location. It is used at a local and global level to enable promotion of real-time activities, merchants or locations through social media sites including Twitter and Facebook. Recently geo-tagging has been touted as the next big thing in the social media space.

 Who currently uses Geo-tagging? Anyone who has a smart phone with GPS or has access to the internet and associated social media sites can use geo-tagging. Consumers are using it to let friends know where they are and to get special offers and deals from retailers etc. It is used in gaming applications such as Foursquare, MyTown and Gowalla.

 Businesses are using geo-tagging to offer real-time  promotions or specials and to increase brand awareness.

 FOURSQUARE

What is it?

Foursquare is a location based social network application that incorporates gaming features.

Foursquare defines itself as ‘a mobile application that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. It is a friend-finder, a social city guide and a game that challenges users to experience new things, and rewards them for doing so.’

Foursquare lets users “check in” to a place when they’re there, tell friends where they are and track the history of where they’ve been and who they’ve been there with.

In operation: March 11, 2009

Current number of consumer users: As of August 2010, Foursquare had 3million users worldwide.

Current number of registered users for business: Approximately 15,000

Quick breakdown: Foursquare is a game where users compete for points to win the status of being the ‘mayor’ of a location. It’s a good application for retail businesses as you can incorporate offers and help build customer loyalty

Cost: $0 to join or register a business. Cost of developing an application for a business varies

Best use by a brand we’ve seen so far: Starbucks Coffee

Our verdict: Claim your business name/place now, worth investigating if you have an extensive number of stores and targeting younger generation

FACEBOOK PLACES

What is it?

A location based application for Facebook users that allows users to check themselves or others in from a smartphone

In operation:  August, 2010

Current number of users: Approximately 30 percent of 500 million Facebook users but growing every day

Quick breakdown: Facebook Places allows users to check themselves into locations or places. It also allows friends to check other friends into locations as well. Easy to add locations and incorporate into Facebook business pages.

Cost: $0 for consumers. Businesses can register their location Facebook for free but you will need a business page first.

Best use of a brand we’ve seen: Too early to have any big players – but any business who is already heavily involved in Facebook and has multiple locations will be well placed to take advantage of Places as it grows.

Our verdict: Still in the early stages however, sure to grow with the popularity of Facebook. If businesses start offering incentives and offers to users to ‘check in’ (similar to the Foursquare model) it will gain popularity.

Places is also good for increasing brand awareness and connecting with Facebook users in real time. When people check into areas nearby to your business your listing comes up automatically.

GOWALLA

What is it?

Gowalla is a mobile and web service that gives people a new way to communicate and express themselves through the everyday places and extraordinary settings they enjoy.

Gowalla definition: ‘People can capture and share their spot in the world with friends and family, while discovering new places, events and trips as they go. Gowalla offers businesses, campaigns, and organisations the unique opportunity to reward loyalty, reach new consumers, and to create memorable experiences.’

In operation: March 13, 2009

Current number of users: 340,000

Quick breakdown: Gaming application (similiar to Foursquare) except it is built around obtaining stamps in a virtual passport – global. Users can accumulate points, rewards, discounts and badges. Businesses pay for a service to have their store listed or featured on Gowalla.

Cost: Free for consumers, businesses can get a featured listing from $155 US per day.

Best use of a brand we’ve seen: CNN Money for content distribution

Our verdict: Declining popularity compared to Foursquare, too niche market.

Connecting with your social media community

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With the continuing evolution of the social media sphere, we are finding more and more clients are looking towards social media networks to generate leads and raise awareness about their brand.

However, the way most companies are approaching social media is fast and furious.

You can rush things through to catch up with everyone else but if you haven’t thought your approach through properly you won’t get the desired results.

For some this topic might seem a bit ‘101’ Social Media but we continue to come across businesses that don’t really understand how it works and the power it possesses in influencing a brand positively or negatively.

Social media is a real-time medium that has to be approached differently to other mass-advertising channels. Social media networks are more about the ‘soft sell’ rather than the hard sell – no-one likes being sent hundreds of spam emails or receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls – and your social media community is the same. Blatant advertising material on social media channels is unacceptable as most people have joined for a bit of fun. The exception to this is when it is a specific promotion page and people are aware of this when they sign/ join up/follow.

With this in mind, it is important to have clear objectives for why you want your brand or business to engage in social media. Is your target market reached easily via this channel? It’s not good enough just to be ‘on’ it.

Brands can benefit  from building genuine connections with the market on social media but it needs to be consistent with the overall marketing strategy, which includes integrating above and below the line elements. Social  media requires a a long-term commitment but there are a few things you can do to engage fans quickly and easily. Simple things like asking questions or running specific online promotions through applications are two strategies that encourage engagement.

Roger Federer is one of the biggest sports brands in tennis (and sport in general). Part of the reason he continues to remain popular with both sponsors and fans is through his innovative approach to social media. Roger and his team consistently put in efforts to connect with his Facebook & YouTube fans and this has paid off with his number of Facebook fans recently hitting 4, 811, 836. His comments and videos regularly attract feedback in the thousands. I am sure many of you are aware of his recent video for Gillette, which went viral on the internet

The screen capture below is a great example of a recent post he made calling  for fans to ask him any questions they would like answered. Note: this one post attracted 9, 261 comments and 13, 9223 ‘likes’ – one of his less popular ones!

'The Fed' is a social media ace

 You will notice it actually seems like Roger himself is using this page – it is not all marketing material and this is a key element in its success as a fan page.

As a business owner it’s important to start with the end goal in mind so before doing anything consider what you really want to achieve in the social media sphere then act accordingly. Do research, check what competitors are doing and ensure you are familiar with social media tools so you can truly understand how it works and can be applied for your business.

If your business is already engaging in social media, assess how successful it is and  make sure there are consistent efforts to engage and connect with the online community.

Social media is a powerful communication tool but it is not a one size fits all medium.

An introduction to the wire frame

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Working in an integrated agency, the team at Ignite PR & Marketing are more than ‘just’ PRs. We have to be able to offer our clients the whole she-bang and recently I’ve been working closely with one client to redevelop their website.

Working in an agency you will always learn along the way. Collecting skills as you develop in your role. One thing I’m eagerly learning more about, but am by no means a pro at, is web design. For this particular client project I have been working with a local Brisbane web design agency to bring the client’s website to life again. Following lengthy conversations with my client we were able to form a very definite idea about how the new website should look – from the colours, messages conveyed and the site’s navigation.

And this is where I introduce the wire frame.

Wikipedia states a website wireframe is:

A website wireframe is a basic visual guide used in interface design to suggest the structure of a website and relationships between its pages. A webpage wireframe is a similar illustration of the layout of fundamental elements in the interface. Typically, wireframes are completed before any artwork is developed.

Image via Mike Rohde (Flickr)

This visual guide has been a god send and is, I believe, one of the simplest ways for a project / account manager and designer to work together effectively and without butting heads !

Sometimes in an integrated agency we fall into the trap of thinking we can do it all. We become generalists not specialists. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is important to remember to identify opportunities to learn and develop new skills. This project was one such opportunity.

I’ve learnt a lot from this project about how I can better communicate my expectations and ideas and the use of a visual guide such as a wireframe is one way. It allows all parties to clearly see what is being proposed and provides a point for discussion and collaboration.  As a person driven by visual identifiers it, for me, is an easier way to demonstrate to others involved how I ‘see’ a project being developed rather than writing a lengthy project brief.

In collaboration between myself, the client and our web design team we have been able to present a refreshed website that combines design sensibility while checking the boxes of what the client wanted from their online presence.

We’re in the process of finalising the website for an early February launch so, like an Oral B ad, I cannot show you it just yet. In the mean time, check out some wireframe inspiration here.

– Lani Pauli, Account Manager

Tweeting away the day @ work?

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A contact I follow on twitter recently notched up their 10,000th tweet.

Fantastic, I thought, I wonder how long they’ve been tweeting? Well turns out they have only been a user since February 2009. In a flash of calculator driven mathematics not seen since high school I suddenly found myself furiously bashing out statistics.

1,111 tweets per month, I said to myself aloud, 37 tweets per day.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.  Let’s assume they sleep for an average of six hours per night, (The Australian average is seven to eight hours) and let’s also assume they don’t sleep-tweet. If both these assertions are true, then during waking hours they tweet twice an hour, every hour, every day! Calculating to 40 minutes a week on Twitter and this does not account for time spent reading tweets.

This lead me to consider how much tweeting is too much? The fact I ponder this question may have some crying – ‘You don’t understand the benefits of social media, you haven’t watched the latest digital webinar podcast, you obviously didn’t attend the last social media marketing drinks on your boss’ time!’

Alas you are mistaken.  I’m a 25 year old gen Y and social media addict. Hell, I even watch the odd webinar!

So what’s the point? Simply this: If we as marketing, media and communications professionals are going to continue zapping large chunks of work time on Twitter, perhaps we ought to give some consideration to our posts.

Open up the conversation

Twitter is awash with marketing and communications professionals talking to other marketing and communications professionals about marketing and communications. Is there someone else on Twitter you would like to be talking to? If the answer is yes, what do you need to say to engage them?

Engage more

I have seen it many times where some Tweeter will ask for feedback on a topic, recommendations for products, or ask some relevant poignant question only to receive minimal response. Why? Where is all the ‘engagement’ that is so imperative to making social media work?

Consider your content

There’s little merit in grandstanding about the amazing benefits of social media if your tweets are limited to insightful gems like ‘Just ate bacon and eggs for breakky’ or ‘taking the dog for a walk now’. Just like the real world, the most effective methods for opening communication channels are sharing interesting or relevant information and asking questions.

Don’t over retweet

It’s annoying when someone in the office re-sends that funny email which everyone has already seen right? The same applies to re-tweets. If it’s all over Twitter, does it need your RT?

Change the subject

Do any of us really need to read another blog about social media? (oh the irony) There’s so much amazing content which doesn’t make its way to the Twittersphere. Be original, informative and entertaining with the links you post and stand out from the crowd!

– Joseph Keller, Account Manager