You’d think that by now we would
all know that any business in New Zealand has realised that it needs have an
online presence. We carried out some research with Nielsen last year on behalf
of Business Mentors New Zealand, and this confirmed that the internet is the
key source of information for the `very interested’ segment of the market. That
is those people already predisposed to purchase.
Yet according to MYOB at the launch
of their new initiative to provide a free website building service and their
research reveals that only 32 per cent of New Zealand businesses even have a
website.
I’m assuming that you are up to
speed with this and that you do have a website. If you haven’t, stop reading
this and go immediately to
and come back once you have got it
sorted out.
The internet is your shop front.
Everything we do on behalf of our PR clients is designed to raise the
searchability of their business and its products or services online. So we are
talking not just about making sure they come up on the first page of a Google
search; we are talking about social media. There is a whole host of other
online content that needs to point to our clients’ websites and improving the
content, effectiveness and measurability of that is what I want to cover in
this article.
So first the good news. According to analysts, this is a great time to
be in social media. It has got simpler believe it or not. In the last couple of
years the number of competing social networks has dwindled, making it easier to
pick where you should focus your efforts.
At the top, number one among the
social media networks is Facebook. No surprise there, given the amount of
publicity it has generated recently. With over 850 million users, three out of
every four social networking minutes worldwide in 2011 were spent on Facebook.
At number two is YouTube, with 800
million visitors a month, three billion videos viewed every day and eight
years’ worth of video uploaded every 24 hours.
In at number three is Twitter, with
300 million users. During the 2012 US Super Bowl the current record of 12,000
Tweets per second was set.
And number four is LinkedIn, with
150 million users, including executives for all the Fortune 500 companies.
What we’ve seen as the number of
competing networks has consolidated is that social media has become a
mainstream activity, no longer the domain of tech-savvy teens.
But business continues to lag
behind in adapting to this changing world. A recent business survey in the US
found that 14 per cent of companies were doing nothing with social media, 23 per
cent had taken the first steps, 20 per cent were piloting social media
communications, 27 per cent were in the process of integrating social media
with the rest of their marketing communications and only 16 per cent had fully
embraced it as part of the marketing mix.
In the meanwhile, new social
networks are creating ever more exciting ways to reach and engage your
potential audiences. Witness Pinterest, the online scrap-book board and new
mobile networks.
So, for most of our clients we
ensure they have a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, maybe some YouTube and a
profile on LinkedIn all pointing back to our webpage, right?
Well, maybe. Here’s the bad news.
Now is a very difficult time to be in social media. The downside of social
media’s popularity is that because everyone and his dog are doing it,
businesses have a harder time getting noticed. You’re constantly competing for
your potential customer’s attention against their friends, well-funded brands,
automated apps (news, games, music) and so on.
Not only that but the rules keep
changing. Facebook for example has made some changes that dramatically reduce
the visibility of organisations. A study by the blog Allfacebook.com found that
Facebook page content is now seen by only 17 per cent of fans. So no wonder
General Motors pulled its Facebook advertising claiming that it didn’t sell
cars.
In fact, Twitter and YouTube have
also launched dramatic redesigns in the past year. Twitter has just cut the
automatic posting of Tweets to LinkedIn, which some of us found quite useful. Each
of these changes mean that social media professionals have to re-evaluate their
approach to the online media and how we manage content.
And make no mistake, content is
king. Get it right and your story will sing. Get it wrong and at best you will
be tolerated and at worst the wrath of the gods will descend upon you – you
will be ignored.
So let’s take a step by step
approach to facing this new reality.
First off, Step 1, face up to the
fact that social media is challenging and requires focus and resources. It’s
not a nice to have. It is vital. You must invest.
Step 2, have a strategy and a plan.
These are different things.
A strategy gives you a consistent
vision, buy-in from everyone in the business, systems and processes,
accountability, room for growth and interpretation.
A plan gives you content (relevant
to your strategy and your business objectives), a detailed schedule of outbound
messages, realistic goals and benchmarks, opportunities to optimise and improve
and peace of mind.
Now I know, most businesspeople I
meet either through mentoring or as clients, like most people, have no plan for
what they’re going to post in social media. You have to have decent content and
decent content begins with brainstorming.
You need other people, key players
but not too many. Look at what content you already have. You can use what you
have on your website as a starter. But look at your particular audiences and
what they care about. Does that change seasonally? What are other potential
sources of ongoing content? How will you engage your audience instead of just
talking at them?
You may find it useful to have two
kinds of content plan. A global view for the whole year and a daily view with
pre-written content, or at least topics for each month. But remember it is
always a work in progress. Social media content planning requires constant
evolution.
Ongoing changes in software,
visitor behaviour and new trends can be frustrating or they can be new
opportunities. Curating successful content isn’t about bells and whistles, it’s
about knowing your audience and adapting to their feedback.
Ask yourself some questions:
1)
Does what I am saying enhance my business offer?
2)
Is it evidence based and a consensus view?
3)
Why do people visit my web site/social media?
4)
Where did they come from?
5)
How much do they know about me?
6)
When are they most active?
7)
What motivates them to engage with me?
And remember visibility comes at a
premium on line. You need to step up your pace and don’t be shy. Last year a survey
asked how much social media is too much? The results are surprising. The respondents said more than 36 Twitter
posts a day or 21 Facebook entries, 16 on Google+ or 14 on LinkedIn 14. They all sound a lot to me too. We usually
limit ourselves to a couple per client each day, but even so you’ve got some
scope before you bore the audience.
You need to find the balance that
works for you and that involves being creative and experimenting as well as
measuring what you do. But it also means, some time, some effort and yes some
money too.
And yes, if you call me, we can do
it with you, for you.
Peter Boyes is the managing
director of Boyes PR. He manages the online strategies and curates content for
a number of client organisations.
Any queries to peter@boyespr.co.nz
