Some fantastic advice on Social Media Event Management from the Manchester Social Media Surgery #mansms
The Roland Dransfield Blog
Social Media Engagement & Security
A recent report relating to Social Media usage within the workplace has discovered that a third of UK companies are anti social networking. At a time where Social Networking is at the forefront of UK business, this statistic is rather surprising. The report claims also that ‘Only half of managers in the UK were found to trust employees’ use of sites such as Facebook or Twitter’.
This report adds further prove that a Social Media Strategy is paramount to UK businesses. Managers should install a strategy to bridge the communication gaps between senior management and staff. Social Media security measures must be addressed within the strategy to deflate the fear of social network security breaches.
We found the following videos to be of use regarding Social Media Engagement & Security:
Tech Interruption’s Mike Schneider on Social Media Security.
Details of ClearSwifts Social Media Report can be found here: http://www.itpro.co.uk/635962/a-third-of-uk-companies-are-anti-social-network .
How does your company engage in Social Media? Maybe we can assist you.
Please comment.
New figures out today show that there were 2.4 BILLION visits to Twitter and Facebook in January, meaning that web social media traffic has now surpassed entertainment as the UK’s favourite online activity.
Previously sites like the BBC iPlayer had consumed most of our internet browsing time but now social networks and their ability to give us tailored information and relevant news find US have definitely become mainstream.
This, in my mind, has been the killer point of success for social networking sites. They allow us to still digest entertainment news, general news, etc, but they allow us to digest it in one place. Twitter allows users to create a bespoke news stream with content that’s relevant to them and the news channels, brands and individuals they’ve chosen to follow.
Its also obvious from the figures why LinkedIn launched its ‘Today’ stream last week. They’ve had to act to satisfy a savvy audience which wants tailored news on demand.
One area where social networks are slightly lagging is in search with Google still the single most hit website accounting for 9% of UK traffic but it will be very interesting to see how this figure alter as the distinctions between search and social become more blurred..! Watch this space.
As per our last post, our director of digital comms Leanne Forshaw Jones recently took part in a Twitter debate with UK Fast.
She debated the world of Twitter and the do’s and dont’s when using it commercially. It was a fantastic chat and, using their own experiences, the panel came up with some great ways in which businesses can enhance their profile using social media, in particular Twitter.
You can watch one of the videos above or the full series here…
Really would love to get your feedback on these!
We’ve just seen the new spoof style corporate videos from LinkedIn – and we like them!
LinkedIn have shown some real creativity here, creating videos offering SME advice but in a really innovative way.
We’re generally fans of video content (we’ll be adding a page on here soon) and love the way that LinkedIn has taken small business advice and turned it into something that’ll be a success virally.
The 1980s spoof feel to it makes it interesting and to a broader reach than your run-of-the-mill corporate video. There’s also the fact that they’ve used video to really simplify and explain what LinkedIn is – a nice way of positioning the site in front of potential users.
You can watch the series of videos HERE…
Last week our director of digital communications Leanne Forshaw Jones attended a roundtable on Twitter with some GREAT PEOPLE from the digital, communications and marketing industries.
It was hosted by UK FAST at their fabulous offices in Manchester.
Together they debated the do’s and don’ts of Twitter… You can read their thoughts HERE…
Just a couple of weeks ago, operators in the digital world were giving their predictions for 2011 and which online platforms would be the most prominent. I, like others, predicted that location based marketing and video content would rule this year (something I do still stand by!).
However, come January 4th, a new frontrunner for social media platform of the year emerged. Fuelled by the power of the Twitterati and their rapid take up of it, ‘Quora‘ has become the most talked about site of the past few days.
The site is a forum filled with user generated questions and answers. It has adopted the Twitter principle of ‘following’ and you can either follow people, questions or topics. Its been taken up mainly by people looking for answers and commentary in their industry.
One could argue that the site’s success is that its a welcome distraction from the first week back at work but it appears that our thirst for knowledge and forging new contacts online has driven the use of Quora.
I’m really getting into it and hope that this initial interest is sustained. I’ve made new contacts and enhanced contact with existing Twitter pals. I’ve also seen some great questions and interesting perspectives.
All in all I think that the site will be a great resource for professional research, for students and even for journalists looking for useful comments and case studies.
If I were you I’d give it a go… Any questions..?
Follow me on Quora here…
We’ve had an exciting start to the year as we’ve moved into our lovely new office!
Please make sure that you update your records so that you can still keep in touch. Our phone number, 0161 236 1122, is staying the same but our address is now:
Portland Buildings,
127-129 Portland Street
Manchester
M1 4PZ
And if you ever want to pop in for a nosey or a cup of coffee, we’d be more than happy to see you!
So WordPress (our blog platform of choice!) has challenged its users to blog at least once a week in 2011.
The savvy bods at WordPress have realised that for those who blog recreationally this might be a tall order so, they’ve come up with The Daily Post, which features handy little snippets of information about creating a blog.
So, taking their lead we’ve put together our own list of tips specifically for small business bloggers on how to maintain your blog and keep the momentum!
1) Blogs and news are two different things: If you’re hosting your WordPress blog on your own website you need to make sure that its not an exact replica of your news section. The blog is a perfect way to convey your skills and knowledge and should contain more opinion pieces, or commentary on news in your industry
2) Put a face to a name: Where possible use a head and shoulder shot of the person who’s blogging. If I’m reading your thoughts, I want to see you too. Its a good way of people feeling that they can engage and interact with you more.
3) Important images: Whether its an event or new product you’re writing about, take lots of candid images that you can fill your blog with. Lots of images mean less text too and you’ll be more committed to doing it!
4) If you know it, speak on it! If you’re an expert, talk proudly about your field! Don’t worry about hiding behind textbooks and research (although links to these is always useful) but give your views and opinions. Its the best way to portray your skills.
5) if you can’t commit, don’t get engaged! Seriously, its worse having a blog with no posts, or one initial post, than none at all. Social media’s all about engagement so if you start with a blog and entice people to read on it and comment on it, they’ll come to expect more so you have to keep feeding it through. By the way, our digital team can ghost write blogs so that you don’t have to worry about it!
Happy blogging!
