Social Media Archives - Page 2 of 2

Why Facebook Marketing Matters

Despite the fact that 70% of Irish businesses are now on Facebook, many still don’t take it seriously as a valuable marketing tool.

It’s an accepted fact that newspaper readership is on the decrease, yet many businesses are still investing enormous amounts of their marketing budgets on print advertising. It often seems more acceptable to some marketers to spend hundreds on a one-off advert in a weekly paper, then to invest that money into a long-term Facebook marketing strategy.

Why is that?

It’s hard to say. Some companies still view social media as a ‘kids game’. That may have been true some years ago, but now, those kids are the very customers these companies are so desperate to reach. So whether we want to accept it or not, from here until eternity, all of those leaving college and entering the workforce will be digital natives. A generation who live their lives through the world wide web – be it researching products, booking services or purchasing goods – it all happens online.

In Ireland Facebook is still the most popular social media platform, with 60% of the population having accounts. To put that into context – 2.4 million people use Facebook in Ireland each month. That’s a lot of potential customers. The largest Facebook demographic is 18 – 24-year-olds, who make up 29% of the Irish audience, while women tend to be more active on the platform then men.

Although Facebook has experienced a slight decrease in users over the last year or so, it is still the most used social media platform in the world. So despite the decrease in popularity, it’s hard to see Facebook becoming any less relevant in marketing terms over the coming few years. In fact, in Ireland 70% of social media users follow brands and businesses online. Talk about leading the horse to water….but of course, we all know the next line to that old saying….

So, the simple truth is – If you’re not investing time and money into marketing your business on Facebook, you’re quickly becoming irrelevant. Call Communications Hub today and let us put together a successful social media strategy for you.

Stay relevant online

Digital Week Skibbereen

As I set off for Skibbereen early last Wednesday morning I was unsure of what to expect. I had followed the growing lineup of speakers for National Digital Week with interest and was very much looking forward to attending some of the events. As bad luck would have it the only day I was free to attend was Wednesday, Digital Week’s opening day. That left me with a choice of two events – Future of Digital Education and STEM, or Farming 2030. Having no connection or real interest (sorry!) in farming, except for being married to a farmer’s son – the non-farming one – I quickly opted to attend the educational conference.

While I certainly have an interest in digital education and STEM, in truth there were other talks that held more appeal – Empowering a Billion Women 2020 & Social Entrepreneurship, and IOT Reimagining a Connected World, being but two. But so it was on Wednesday morning, after a long two hour drive through commuter tail backs and twisty rural roads, I eventually arrived at the West Cork Hotel for my taste of Digital Week.

With no time for a much needed caffeine hit, I was ushered straight through to the function room where Dr Laurence O’Rourke of the European Space Agency was just about to take the stage. As I settled into my seat my focus was drawn to those surrounding me. They were young, very young. They sat, packed into the room like sardines, with every bit of free space – seats, floor, stage – all occupied. I felt a bit of panic gurgle up from my coffee craving stomach. Was I in the wrong event? Had I misread the program? I quickly started looking towards the exit doors. Maybe if I moved quickly I could get out before the speaker began and take my chances with the farming after all. Alas, right at that point my panic was interrupted by the host inviting us to put our hands together for Dr Laurence O’Rourke. I was trapped.

After a few minutes something very strange started to occur. The natural hustle and bustle, to be expected when a couple of hundred school children are in a room, started to subside and before long the room fell silent. That spell of silence remained cast for Susanne Thompson from Discovery, and later in the evening for Stephen Howell from Microsoft Ireland. The young attendees, including myself (not so young), were entranced by the great speakers, interesting props and eye-catching visuals. These energetic and enthusiastic speakers did what so many other speakers fail to do, they connected. They were professionals who judged their audience and adjusted their content and delivery accordingly. To do this with with adults is one thing, but to hold the attention of a room full of young students for over an hour, is nothing short of impressive.

After the event I set off on my long journey back home. I left not only enlightened as to how important STEM and digital education is in this country, but truly in awe of my fellow conference goers. They were respectful, confident young people, with a real interest in their futures. They listened, they partook in live surveys and they asked intelligent questions. What a great indication of the future of this small island and the exciting opportunities available to our graduates. What a credit to their schools, teachers and to their parents. And what a great event to be part of #DigitalWeekSkibb

Five tips for advertising on Instagram

With over 300 million users worldwide, Instagram is one of the fastest growing and most relevant social media platforms today. So why do businesses still not use it as a means of marketing and connecting with their clients?

The simple answer is they are unsure how best to use Instagram. Once businesses do start strategically using the picture based social media platform, the vast majority see an instant increase in interaction and referrals to their websites.

So here are some simple tips to help you on your #Instajourney.

Use images/videos that not only sell a product, but sell your brand – who you want to be and the vibe you want to create.
Post content at least once a week (of the Interbrand Top 100 Brands 86 are Instagram users and 73% of these post at least once a week).
Keep it short and sweet. Under 140 characters is a good guide and has the added bonus of being Twitter compatible.
Hashtag clever. Check out what hashtags competitors are using. Think about the audience you want to reach and the action you want them to take. There are no limits to the number of hashtags you can use, but seven or less would be a good guide.
Connect. Research has shown that posts which tag other users experience 56% more engagement. While posts that tag a location earn 79% more engagement.

And finally, don’t be afraid to experiment. Instagram is the home of creative content with posts showing everything from holiday destinations to homemade baking. Work out a formula that works for your brand and your followers and, if you’re not already including Instagram in your marketing strategy, get doing it now. #Instagram #Instamarketing #Instafun

Contact Communications Hub for more information on how to effectively market your brand on social media.

Why it’s important to cyber-stalk yourself

Have you checked out your social media footprint lately?

Well, maybe you should.

Here’s why…

Jobvite’s 2014 annual Social Recruiting Survey shows exactly what hiring managers are looking for when they check out your social media sites.

And the results may shock you.

The data shows a staggering 93% of bosses are checking out potential employees social media profile before making a final hiring decision. Of these, 55% admit to reconsidering a candidate based on what they found online.

Employers note the biggest turn-offs on potential candidates on-line profiles as including any reference to drugs, poor grammar and spelling, and any reference to sexual activity.

On the plus side, most employers are engaging social media to recruit staff now, with 94% using LinkedIn and 64% using Facebook to advertise a job. In fact, 73% of all jobs offered are now filled through social media.

Starting to panic?

There are various sites available to check out your social media footprint. Or anyone else’s you may have an interest in…just saying.

Google and Google Images are a good starting point. Then there’s Pipl.com and Spezify.com if you want to up the ante on your stalking. You can even check for a criminal record. Gives a new meaning to the whole concept of ‘checking references’.

How can you make this right?

In truth, it’s difficult. Check out this article on How easy it is to delete yourself from the web

I’m sure the day will come, and very soon, where we will be able to contract a company to erase our social media history, at an affordable price. It may not too bad for those of us who only discovered social media in our twenties, when most of our crazy days were behind us, but for those who grew up in the shadows of social media platforms, it really is a different story. For many, their social media history created in their carefree teenage years, may haunt them long into their thirties and beyond.

Surely this isn’t fair or right? Or is it? Is this the true meaning of freedom of information?

Check out this social media experiment carried out by Jack Vale Films. It’ll make you think before you post…

The Importance of Online Monitoring

The rise in citizen journalism means that organisations need to constantly monitor what is being said about them on-line. Public relations professionals need to be the ‘ears’ and ‘eyes’ of an organisation and seek out what is being said about the brand.

Here at Communications Hub we use many free tools to monitor what is being said about our clients online – Twitter advanced search, Google alerts andsocialmention.com.

And while it is possible to mostly control what appears on a company’s own social media news feeds using word filters and administrative pre-approval of comments, it is impossible to control hashtags associated with an organisation.

McDonalds learned this the hard way when in 2012 they created the hashtag #McDStories in the hope of inspiring people to share their memories and happy experiences associated with the fast food chain. The company soon discovered that it is the public who control the meaning of hashtags, and theirs was quickly hijacked to become the hashtag for horror stories involving McDonalds.

Burger King suffered a different kind of social media crisis when in 2013 its Twitter account with 82,000 followers was hacked. The hacker changed their logo and twitter handle to that of McDonalds and tweeted a huge number of tweets containing inappropriate contents and images. The hack went unnoticed for hours, by which time the incident had gone viral. The company not only learned an important lesson about password security and the need for moderators, it also experienced first-hand what happens when you are not constantly listening on-line. On the plus side, the food chain gained thousands of new followers because of the incident.

Despite often having ‘expert’ social media teams, some of the biggest and most tech-savvy organisations continue to suffer social media fails. Last year The Guardian published an article on The top five corporate Twitter fails and it makes for some very uncomfortable reading.

The moral of the story is, it’s no longer just your P’s and Q’s you need to mind, watch your Hashtags too…make sure your company is monitoring its online profile.

The Online Working Day

Being annoyed by your employer sending out of hours emails? Well, it may soon be illegal for them to do so – in Germany anyway.

German Employment Minister Andrea Nahles is considering new “anti-stress” legislation, banning companies from contacting employees out of hours. The move is a reaction to rising levels of workplace stress in the country.

German Employment Minister Andrea Nahles (image: Thomas Rodenbucher/flickr)

“There is an undeniable relationship between constant availability and the increase of mental illness. We have commissioned the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to work out whether it is possible to set load thresholds. We need universal and legally binding criteria” according to Nahles

It is already illegal in Germany for employers to contact staff during holidays. Several major companies such as Volkswagen and BMW have also implemented their own restrictions on contacting employees out of hours.

Recently, car manufacturer Daimler installed software on its systems which automatically deletes emails sent to staff out of hours.

Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?

That’s one of the problems living in the digital age – we are always ‘on’. Your employer probably wouldn’t ring your land line at 11 p.m. on a Friday night, but wouldn’t think twice about sending that email.

Social Etiquette

There’s almost a sense that on-line communications are virtual, and therefore don’t warrant the same social norms as regular off-line communications. And because we are all pretty much on-line 24/7 now, there’s an expectation that you are available 24/7 too.

Gone are the days of clocking out of the office and retreating to your private life. Your private life is now interlinked with your professional life, especially if you are a social media user.

So when your boss sends you that email at 11.00 p.m., it’s hard to claim you didn’t receive it – chances are your boss has already spotted that tweet you just posted, and knows you’re online.

Mental Health

Is it any wonder then that mental health issues are spinning out of control in Ireland, with an estimated one in four people affected. Being unable to switch off because of technology and the changes in how we communicate, are becoming a major cause of anxiety, stress and sleep deprivation.

The growing connection between work and mental health issues led to the HSE recently publishing a guide to help employers reduce the likelihood and effects of work related stress.

(the dynamic turnaround)

It’s a small step in the right direction, but not nearly enough to really make a difference.

What Now?

Will Ireland follow Germany’s lead and make it illegal for employers to contact employees outside of work hours? Only time will tell. In the meantime, when you clock out at 5.30, make sure you clock out on-line too.

What’s the story with content?

Ok I’ll admit it, I’m a little obsessed on content. And when people hear me rattling on about it, most glaze over or politely smile while steadily reversing. So what’s the story with content you may ask? Why is it so important?

While content has always been important when communicating through the traditional channels, like radio, television and newspapers, it was never really vital. These ‘old media’ methods of advertising were one-way communications, they were broadcasts and press releases. People listened to them because they pretty much hadn’t a choice. These were the days before the World Wide Web, when the channels through which people got their news and entertainment were limited. They were the days before sky plus and podcasts. The days before we could pick and choose what information was relevant or interesting to us, and fast forward through the boring ads. Continue reading “What’s the story with content?”