Quick Buzz - What is Responsive Design?

How often do you use your smartphone or tablet to access a website? And how often is that website compatible with the device your using to view it?

Since the craze of the iPhone, Android phones and tablet devices began, more and more people have realised that they were losing traffic due to the fact that their website could not be viewed on mobile devices.

Over the years, the way that we view websites has changed massively. Building content was pretty straightforward; you had two browsers, rendering content in a very similar fashion.

Businesses started realising that they had to have a website that was accessible on all platforms, to make  its users time on their site a lot easier, no matter what they visited the site on, whether it be desktop, iPhone or iPad etc.

Ten years on and we had more browsers, more styling techniques, and ultimately, more permutations to design and build for. We not only have multiple browsers to contend with, we also have multiple platforms, with the introduction of tablets and smartphones.

It goes without saying that your site will display on all of the above, but, of course, you want it optimised for your audience. This is where responsive design comes in.

To view more videos, please visit fatBuzz.TV

Here's some examples of the site we've worked on that are now responsive

www.thelustreclinic.com

www.primestaff.co.uk

www.punkroyal.com

If you'd like to know more about responsive design, then please feel free to give Jon, or David a call on 0141 427 0727

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Quick Buzz - Facebook competitions. Are you breaking the rules?

Facebook competitions have always been a great way to create good, fun engagement with your online community, and of course, getting the 'likes' on your page up.

Most of you will be aware of these "Like & Share" competitions that tend to take over your news feed, but did you know these are against Facebook's rules and regulations?

Facebook has had rules and regulations for competitions for as long as we remember, but a number of businesses and big name brands continue to disregard them.

Whether they're aware of the consequences, or think that they won't get caught, then you need to ask yourself; is it really worth it?

Building your community on Facebook takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, so why risk losing all that hard work, just because you were a bit careless with the terms & conditions. If you want to find out what the rules are exactly, then follow this link, and jump to 'Section E - Promotions'.

One of the most important parts of the regulations, is that competitions should be run through 'Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or a Page App'.

To view more videos, please visit fatBuzz.tv

Although it's important to run these competitions through an app or iframe, you can still promote your competition through the Facebook wall. 

For example, one of our clients, Dean's, recently ran a competition to get Facebook fans to name their new mascot, so we created an iframe tab to run the competition on (adhering to the rules of Facebook) but we also created a simple graphic to promote the competition on the wall.

If you're reading this and realising that you are breaching some of the rules we mentioned above, please take the time to read the terms & conditions, and amend your mistakes, because you could wake up tomorrow and no longer have a presence on Facebook.

If you want to run a competition on an iframe tab on Facebook but don't know how to go about it, please feel free to get in touch, and we can discuss it with you. 

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August New Media Breakfast - Instagram and Pinterest

    

  

Instagram and Pinterest - Using image based platforms for social media marketing

Venue: 29 Members Club

Date: Friday 30th August 2013

Time: 7.45 for 8am

Images create more engagement than any other content on social media platforms; people love to share, like and comment on images on just about any topic you can imagine. Sharing images is not a new phenomenon, people have sharing images since ancient times via cave drawings, now advances in mobile technology make it possible to capture, upload and share images and video very easily, even whilst on the move.

Instagram and Pinterest are among the fastest growing social media platforms ever. Launched in November 2010, Instagram reached 100 million users by April 2013 - that figure has officially risen to 130 million users in the last 3 months. With the recent addition of video functionality, the user numbers are set to sore once again. Also launched in 2010, Pinterest boasts some 70 million users and the figure is growing substantially every month.

Both platforms offer great marketing opportunities for all kinds of businesses and the August New Media Breakfast will examine both and explore how their functionality can be used to raise awareness and create engagement for your brand.

THE SPEAKER

The August New Media Breakfast will be presented by Gordon White, Managing Director, fatBuzz Ltd.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 30th August 2013
Time: 7.35 for 8am

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 he 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.

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Another New Face at fatBuzz

Our client list is ever expanding which meant we were on the lookout for a new web developer - and we have found the guy who fitted the bill!

We would like to introduce you to our newest member of the fatBuzz team - Web Developer, Stuart.

Stuart recently graduated from The University of the West of Scotland with an honours degree in Web and Mobile Development.

He has been designing websites since 2001 and started freelance work in January 2008, but fatBuzz is his first full time position since leaving university.

Stuart specialises in creating usable professional websites using the latest W3C web standards guidelines and best practice accessibility, resulting in semantic and SEO friendly XHTML and CSS.

Stuart brings a wide range of other skills to the fatBuzz web team including; graphic design, information design, XHTML/CSS/PHP, and usability standards.

In his spare time, you'll catch Stuart out fishing down in Dumfries and Galloway or playing his PlayStation.

To find out how Stuart can create a user friendly and aesthetically engaging design, whilst ensuring you have a prominent presence on the web - drop him an email on stuart@fatbuzz.com.

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Quick Buzz - Tap into the Diary

We know that it can be hard at times to keep talking about your brand or product online; there is, after all, only so many times you can talk about your company's history, events and achievements.

Now, we're not saying that it's wrong to post about these things, but you need to mix it up a little. You need to think about what your community will be talking about and what will make them engage with your brand.

Yes, they may have liked your page or followed you on Twitter because they have shown interest in your brand, but you have to remember that it's not all about you.

All too often, people focus their content on the brand, product or service and forget about the customer. You should create content that interests your customers and be aware this is not always about you.

One thing we're always telling our clients is to 'tap into the diary'. Take a look at the calendar and see what events are coming up. whether it be the World Cup, Grand Prix, or more recently, Wimbledon.

While Wimbledon was on, the social media activity went through the roof almost as quick as the first ball was served. So, what we decided to do was write a blog post on Wimbledon's activity entitled: 'Wimbledon Making a Racket in the Social Media World'.

Cheesy? Perhaps. But it catches your eye when scrolling down your news feed. A well thought out pun or imaginative headline could be what makes a client or customer read your blog post over your competitor's. 

For more videos please visit fatBuzz.tv

Another example of this is when Canadian artist, Robin Thicke, released his single 'Blurred Lines', with his extremely controversial music video, but also with the hashtag #THICKE and #BLURREDLINES appearing on the screen a grand total of 30 times.

Graeme, one of our Social Media Account Managers at fatBuzz, being a DJ and music enthusiast, jumped at the chance to write a blog post on it, which you can read HERE

What we're trying to say here is don't be afraid to talk about events that aren't to do with your brand, or even within your industry.

Create content around what is happening around the world, and which everyone will be talking about. 

If you'd like to know more on this subject, please feel to contact Derek, or any other member of the fatBuzz team and they'll be happy to help. 

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Quick Buzz - Instagram vs. Vine

One thing we try to do here at fatBuzz, is keep our fingers on the pulse of all things social. This could come in the shape of a new app, Facebook updates, new features on Twitter, or tips from one of the team.

We’re sure most of you are familiar with photo sharing platform, Instagram; and we’re sure most if you also know about it’s update last month which allows users to capture and share video, as well as photos.

And those of you who are interested in capturing and sharing video through social media, we’re sure, will also have heard of Vine.

But, if there are some of you who aren’t aware of what we’re on about, let us quickly explain...

Instagram, the first to be released of the two, is owned by Facebook and was primarily a photo sharing platform. It’s a hugely popular platform which comes in the shape of an app, with 130 million active users.

At the beginning of 2013, Twitter launched an app called Vine. Unlike Instagram, Vine is a video sharing platform.

Vine allows it’s users to capture videos of up to six seconds in length, and can use stop motion technology to squeeze any amount of time into those six seconds.

When launched, Vine was a breath of fresh air, it was easy to use and great for sharing video content.

Then, along come Instagram with it’s big new feature, video. This put the two social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, head to head, but who would win?

There are some significant differences to the two platforms though; while Vine offers six seconds of recording time, Instagram’s video allows 15 seconds.

Also, like it’s photo function, Instagram allows it’s users to add filters over their videos and also pick thumbnails for the videos from any frame within the video; Vine offers neither of these functions.

So, we’ve had Graeme in the office trying both out to see which he thinks is better. To find out his decision, watch our Quick Buzz on this very topic, and once you’ve watched it, why not let him know what you think is better by emailing him at graeme@fatbuzz.com.

For more videos please visit fatBuzz.tv

Don’t forget, if you’re an Instagram user, you can follow us on @fatBuzzltd, and see what we all get up to.

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This truly is social media on the move...

    

  

Yesterday Gordon White and Graeme Geddes visited a new client to get them started on their social media journey; the journey to see them was some 180 miles from our office so we were going to be 3+ hours each way in the car.  Not being ones to waste time, we decided to create some engagement on the fatBuzz Facebook page - here's what we did and how it all turned out.

Firstly, we recorded a short AudioBoo and published it on AudioBoo.com, Facebook, Twitter and iTunes, we did this using my iPhone (and Graeme held it while I drove!).  You can listen to the recording below but the message basically informed people we were starting a journey of around 175 miles and could anyone guess where we were going.  

listen to ‘fatBuzz Roadtrip - Where Are We Off To? #fatBuzz’ on Audioboo

To provide clues we posted pictures of well known landmarks along the route via our fatBuzz Instagram account.

You can see the various screenshots from the journey at the bottom of this post.

Everything was going fine until we moved out of 3G range between Perth and Inverness however, we did catch up with all of the posts when we arrived at our destination - Eagle Consulting in Inverness.

Like we do with all new clients, we were visiting Eagle Consulting to get to know the business and the people.  And, to discuss the aims and objectives with some of the key personnel.  It was a very productive day indeed and we left with a clear understanding of the business and, we were extremely well fed too - the hospitality in the North really is quite exceptional!

We were delighted with the outcome of our little social media experiment - you can see on the screenshots just how many people were reached by the various posts and we reckon we around 17 people engaged with the Facebook page...while we were sitting in the car!

What was the point in this exercise?
Firstly, it served as a good and timely demonstration to Eagle Consulting about what can be achieved when you have a relevant community.  Secondly, it passed the time.  Thirdly, it reminded people we're here.  Consider how many times have you heard a statement similar to the following, "Someone mentioned your name earlier and it reminded me I need to have a chat to you".  You never know who might call us today!

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Glasgow New media Breakfast: Personal Brand - What is it and how do you promote it?

    

  

Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 26th July 2013
Time: 7.45 for 8am

Jennifer Holloway from Spark Branding is no stranger to the New Media Breakfast, she has been taking part and sharing her knowledge since 2011, we are delighted she has agreed to come back again an speak at the July New Media Breakfasts in Edinburgh (18th July) and Glasgow (26th July).

Jennifer, as you would expect, brings her very own personal brand to bear on her presentations which are informative, humourous and extremely beneficial to everyone - yes, everyone has a personal brand whether they know it or not!

Amongst other things, Jennifer will talk about her new book, 'Personal Branding for Brits' and she will personally share some insights from the very successful publication. Here's a taster of what to expect:

PERSONAL BRAND

• You’ve heard the phrase but do you really know what it means?
• You think you might have one, but do you really know what it is?
• You know you should be promoting it, but do you really know what to do?

ABOUT JENNIFER
Jennifer Holloway, author of Personal Branding for Brits, will be going back to basics in our next New Media Breakfast. She’ll explain what a brand is and even help you to start thinking about yours. She’ll also share three ways you can promote your brand without sounding like an idiot. And as anyone who’s seen Jennifer’s sessions before can attest, she’ll be doing it with a lot of energy and a big dollop of humour!

LISTEN TO JENNIFER
Jennifer was kind enough to record an interview for the Social Media Podcast when she talked about her approach to personal branding and the forthcoming breakfast sessions - you can listen to the podcast here:

You can subscribe to the Social Media Podcast on iTunes by clicking here

Read more about Social Media Podcast No.57 and the interview with Jennifer

JENNIFER'S SPECIAL OFFER

You’ll also have a chance to buy a copy of her book at a special rate for NMB attendees, so bring along a tenner on the day and she’ll even sign it for you!

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 26th July 2013
Time: 7.35 for 8am

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 he 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.

    

  

Social Media Podcast 57: Jennifer Holloway author of 'Personal Branding for Brits' talks about the book and your personal brand

In Social Media Podcast No.57 Jennifer Holloway, author of 'Personal Branding fro Brits', joins Gordon White, to discuss her new book.  

During the discussion we discuss why personal branding is so important to everyone.  Yes, everyone has a personal brand whether they know it or not and Jennifer explains her simple approach to personal branding.  Jennifer said, "it's not rocket science" and she demonstrates this with clear examples explaining what she's talking about, just as she does throughout Personal Branding for Brits.

You should listen to the podcast to find out why you need to be aware of your personal brand and the messages you are giving out to the people you meet. Whether you are a business owner trying to build a business or an employee trying to climb the corporate ladder, there's something to learn from what she has to say.

If you would like to meet Jennifer and hear her present on the subject of Personal Branding you should come along to one of the July New Media Breakfasts - Edinburgh (18th July) or Glasgow (26th July).  Jennifer will deliver her entertaining and informative presentation at both breakfasts and you will have the opportunity to buy a copy of Personal Branding for Brits (at a specially discounted price) and she will even sign your personal copy.

Click here to book for the Edinburgh New Media Breakfast
Click here to book for the Glasgow New Media Breakfast
Click here to buy Personal Branding for Brits on Amazon
Click here to buy Personal Branding for Brits directly from Jennifer

We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any comments to make or topics you would like us to discuss, please leave them here on the blog or on our 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.

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