Sometimes social media platforms can make you look silly...

    

  

Recently we presented to a client about making the most of LinkedIn's functionality and the various features they should be using on the platform. This week some of that information is completely redundant; LinkedIn is making a change to the company pages having announced the Products and Services tab is to disappear on the 14th April. 

So there we were demonstrating the fatBuzz LinkedIn Products and Services tab with a complete list of services, healthy impressions and some good recommendations only to discover it is being dropped later this month. Read more from LinkedIn here...

The problem with social media marketing is knowing where to concentrate your efforts and we've long said the hub of your social media marketing activity should be on a platform that you own and control. There are many tools and platforms out there that will help extend the reach of your message but you should take whatever steps you can to 'future proof' your investment by syndicating content to them rather than creating the content on them.

The changes to LinkedIn means we will lose the recommendations we have on the Products and Services tabs; LinkedIn say we can recover them by copying them to our own document before the 14th April - not really a great result!  

The advice from LinkedIn is to use Showcase Pages in future. Showcase pages are intended to extend your presence on LinkedIn by featuring specific aspects of your business, they are intended for long-term engagement rather than to promote short-term events or campaigns. Read more about LinkedIn Showcase Pages here... 

To promote short-term campaigns you should use Company Updates. You can post and share items like company news, promotions, relevant industry articles, SlideShare presentations, and Vimeo and YouTube videos. Read more about Company Updates here...

The topic of the April New Media Breakfasts is "Choosing the right tools" where we will be looking at how to decide which tools are best suited to your goals; as part of this we will be looking at what you can do to limit the impact of sudden changes to social media platforms and the functionality they offer. You can find out more about the New Media Breakfast presentations here...

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Should selfies be part of your social media strategy?

    

  

The humble selfie, the act of photographing yourself, typically with a smartphone and uploaded to a social media website, has never been more in vogue.

Named as word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013, selfies hit the headlines earlier this month after Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres' became the most retweeted photograph ever.

However, over the last few days, you will undoubtedly have seen more selfies than ever appearing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

That’s because social media users have been posting 'no makeup' selfies, along with the hashtag #nomakeupselfie, provoking an 'impromptu fundraising campaign'.

Now, whether or not the trend is truly about raising awareness, or if it is indeed vanity thinly veiled as philanthropy, there can be no doubt that it has had a significant effect; cancer charities have seen a surge of donations as a direct result of the campaign.

But it’s not just charities who can benefit from selfies; many companies, large and small, can do so too.

We have previously discussed Dove’s social media experiments on the fatBuzz blog, and in 2013, they embraced the selfie as part of its #BeautyIs campaign. The video, which you can view below, aimed to explore how social media is shaping the way the we perceive beauty.

Perhaps one of the biggest selfie success stories was when South African retailer, Urban Hilton Weiner, gave visitors to their store a $10 coupon if they tweeted a selfie of themselves trying on some clothes and used the hashtag #urbanselfie.

Closer to home, Tennent’s Lager’s SelfTie campaign encouraged users to take pictures of themselves with their favourite red T and share it with Tennent’s for the chance to win a VIP trip to Wellpark Brewery or an iPad Mini.

One of our clients, Go Coco, regularly invites its fans to upload selfies using the hashtag #GoCocoSelfie or #GoCocoNuts, while we even got in on the act, sending our clients a Valentine's Day red nose (as opposed to a red rose...), before asking them to upload their selfie online using the hashtag #fatBuzzLovesYou.

So, how can selfies actually help your business? And should they be part of your social media strategy?

Well, encouraging fan engagement is, or at least it should be, one of the most important aspects of social media marketing.

And with Facebook’s reach decreasing almost daily, why not take this simple opportunity to raise awareness, and importantly, increase the reach of your brand, by encouraging your community to upload photos with your product?

By encouraging your community to promote your brand or organisation via the simple mechanism of uploading selfies, you will increase engagement, and maintain your fan base. But not only that, with the average adult Facebook user having 338 friends, embracing the selfie revolution could help you spread your message, and in turn your brand, even further.

What are your thoughts on selfies? Have you ever considered encouraging your community to upload them in order to raise awareness of your business? Let us know by commenting below, or by getting in touch on Facebook or Twitter; even better, send us a selfie!

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank you.

    

  

Social Media Podcast 63 - Meilee Anderson explains a high level of engagement on Facebook

Play the podcast here:

In Social Media Podcast Edition No.63, Gordon White chats to Meilee Anderson, Sales & Marketing Director at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Washington. 

Meilee is a regular contributor to the Social Media Podcast who keeps us up to date with social media related news stories from the USA.  We thought it would be good to catch up with Meilee to find out more about her own role.

Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad is a non profit tourist attraction primarily operating in the Spring and Summer with some special events at key times of the year.  One of the things we were keen to discuss with Meilee is the high level of engagement the Facebook page achieves, even when the railroad isn't operating.

During the discussion Meilee is very generous in sharing what she does to engage her fans and how she engages people on Facebook.

However, it's not all about Facebook and Meilee is happy to chat through some of the other things they are doing, these include:

• Pinterest and Instagram - Meilee's pleasure at the way these platforms have fitted into her marketing activities
• Pete Waterman's London & North Western Railway Heritage Company - Might he make a good guest blogger?
• Blogging - The importance of creating a platform you own and control
• Influence Marketing - Why Meilee thinks politicians and elected officials may by useful allies
• WhatsApp - What's the chat in the USA?
• Facebook Reach - Why it's going to get even more challenging to achieve a good reach for your content on Facebook
• The Voice USA - How the hit TV show is using Twitter on screen during the show

Some relevant Links:

Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Facebook
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad web site
Meilee Anderson on LinkedIn
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Twitter
Mt Rainer Scenic Railroad on Instagram
Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad on Pinterest

We hope you enjoy the podcast, please also share it with your friends and colleagues, you can do so using the share buttons at the top of bottom of this post.

We would also like you to Like the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad Facebook page where you can track the progress of what Meilee is doing to engage fans and build a relevant community. Visit the Facebook page
Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

Would you like a presentation on social media and customer service?
We're offering a range of bespoke or generic presentations on the topic of social media and customer service, if you would like to find out more please go to the following link: Are you prepared to lose control?

Have you listened to the digital copyright podcast?

We continue to see people using images, video content and other files taken from the internet without consideration to potential copyright issues. We would encourage all of our listeners to download Social Media Podcast 50 which clearly outlines what you should and shouldn't do with images sourced online. Find it on iTunes now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT?
If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover in a future podcast please let us know. You can email gordon@fatbuzz.com or send us a message on Twitter @MediaPodcast or, you can post it as a comment on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your on-line community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

March New Media Breakfast - What are you talking about 2 - Preparing a Content Calendar for your business

    

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? 2

DATE: 28th March 2014
VENUE: 29 Member’s Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

The March New Media Breakfast will be the Case Studies from the Edinburgh breakfast session in February. You will have the opportunity to gain some content ideas from a further two businesses which are entirely different from those used in the previous breakfast.

One business is an established specialist holiday tour operator, the other an accountancy practice. Regardless of your inductry, there will be something for you in the presentation.

Overall, the four businesses were carefully selected to provide a broad range of case studies across different industry sectors, selling to a large variety of target markets. It is well worth hearing both the presentations as we have taken a different approach with each to avoid duplication of content in the presentations.

One of the biggest challenges we come across when talking to organisations about social media is Content - what will we talk about?

Most companies start out really well with some great ideas to get their story out there but they very quickly run out of steam. We see it every week.

Many of the businesses we talk to think they are boring and don’t have anything to say but we haven’t spoken to any who don’t actually have a library of useful Content, they just don’t know they have it and they don’t realise it is valuable if presented in the proper manner at the proper time.

For the March New Media Breakfast we thought it would be useful to explore Content and provide some ideas about what to talk about. We will also demonstrate how to create and maintain a content plan which will enable you to manage your content and make sure it is being shared with your community at the optimum time.

THE SPEAKER
The March breakfast will be presented by Gordon White and perhaps other members of the fatBuzz team and the case study organisations.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th March 2014
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10+VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 MEMBERS GO FREE 

If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email fiona@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and she will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

    

  

Facebook page managers...are you struggling with the reach of your posts?

    

  

FACEBOOK PAGE OWNERS/MANAGERS 

During my recent meetings with the 4 diverse businesses involved in the New Media Breakfast case studies there has been one recurring issue - the diminishing reach of their posts on Facebook. 

 This is something we are hearing more and more people talking about and it is a genuine concern for page managers. There are things you can do to dramatically improve the reach of your posts without having to spend money to 'boost' the posts. So, in addition to the case study presentation outlined below I will be sharing a couple of these proven tips at the breakfast on Friday.

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

DATE: 28th February 2014
VENUE: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

One of the biggest challenges we come across when talking to organisations about social media is Content - what will we talk about?

Most companies start out really well with some great ideas to get their story out there but they very quickly run out of steam. We see it every week.

Many of the businesses we talk to think they are boring and don’t have anything to say but we haven’t spoken to any who don’t actually have a library of useful Content, they just don’t know they have it and they don’t realise it is valuable if presented in the proper manner at the proper time.

For the February New Media Breakfast we thought it would be useful to explore Content and provide some ideas about what to talk about. We will also demonstrate how to create and maintain a content plan which will enable you to manage your content and make sure it is being shared with your community at the optimum time.

To do this we are using two case studies; the first is a 5th Generation retail business, the other a new start manufacturing/retail business.  They are two very different businesses but we hope to demonstrate just how to go about creating a content plan regardless of the business history, size and reputation.

We will also provide some examples of other Content plans along with some Content ideas and examples of good Content by other organisations.

THE SPEAKER
The February breakfast will be presented by Gordon White and perhaps other members of the fatBuzz team and the case study organisations.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th February 2014
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10+VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 MEMBERS GO FREE 

If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email fiona@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and she will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

    

  

Join The fatBuzz Team

In response to an increase in business and the addition of several new contracts, we are looking to bring in a new account manager to join the fatBuzz team.

Ideally, you will be a marketing, journalism or PR professional, who is not only able to write creative, in-depth blog content, but also comprehensive social media strategies and reports.

You will have a good understanding of social media and digital marketing, but more importantly, you will have excellent written and oral communication skills, as you will be expected to build credible relationships with clients from various geographical locations and industry sectors.

The successful candidate will be responsible for creating in-depth blog content, writing clear and error-free copy, and managing various social media platforms.

This role also entails writing comprehensive social media strategies, which includes identifying key influencers and key opinion leaders, writing in-depth content plans, and mapping out key objectives with meaningful KPIs.

The position will be based in our Glasgow office, and although not essential, a driving licence would be a distinct advantage.

Salary and package will be commensurate with experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:

Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent professional experience.
• A strong understanding of digital marketing and social media.
• Journalism, copywriting or blogging experience.
• Exceptional written communications skills, with ability to adapt style to suit different media and audiences.
• Articulate and confident communicator (both written and verbally).
• Excellent time management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and work to tight deadlines.
• Ability to build and maintain working and credible relationships.

Desirable

• Good understanding of Wordpress or other CMS.
• Experience of working with large corporate and/or B2B clients.
• Previous experience in an agency environment.

In the first instance you should send your CV, cover letter and any other relevant information to jobs@fatbuzz.com. Closing date for applications is 28th March 2014. All applications will be strictly confidential.

If you have know someone who would be interested in this role, please share it with them using either the Twitter, Facebook or Share buttons below. Thank you.

    

  

Social Media Podcast Edition 62 - Facebook's birthday provides us all with the opportunity look back

In Social Media Podcast Edition No.62, Gordon White, Derek Howie, Graeme Geddes, Malcolm White and Cameron Wilson, all from the fatBuzz team, chat around the latest news and topical issues from the world of social media.

The recording of this podcast coincided with Gordon's birthday which was on the same week as Facebook's 10th birthday so there was a party atmosphere in the office and during the recording.

It was also the same day as the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the week Twitter's latest financial figures were released so there was lots to talk about.

Here are some of the things we discussed during the recording:

• Facebook's 10th birthday and the 'Look Back' video promotion
• Facebook's diminishing page reach and the effectiveness of boosting posts
• A new report suggesting 50% of children under 10 are using social media tools
• The recent 'Necking' craze - Good or bad?
• Personal branding and employability
• The Super Bowl - Advertising review and a look at what JC Penney did to muscle in on the party
• Trademarking hashtags - Is it worth doing?
• Has the Twitter bubble burst, or has it simply found it's level? 
• The Winter Olympics - Why are the big brands taking all the flack?

We hope you enjoy the podcast, please also share it with your friends and colleagues, you can do so using the share buttons at the top of bottom of this post.


Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

Would you like a presentation on social media and customer service?
We're offering a range of bespoke or generic presentations on the topic of social media and customer service, if you would like to find out more please go to the following link: Are you prepared to lose control?

Have you listened to the digital copyright podcast?

We continue to see people using images, video content and other files taken from the internet without consideration to potential copyright issues. We would encourage all of our listeners to download Social Media Podcast 50 which clearly outlines what you should and shouldn't do with images sourced online. Find it on iTunes now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT?
If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover in a future podcast please let us know. You can email gordon@fatbuzz.com or send us a message on Twitter @MediaPodcast or, you can post it as a comment on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your on-line community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.