A 5 step process for creating or refreshing a business blog
Whether launching a new WordPress blog or, as in my case, relaunching an existing blog, there are many issues to consider and a number of ways to approach the project.
Having recently redeveloped and redesigned a WordPress blog, to help other marketers, I thought I would share some of the considerations that we took into account. I've split the project up into two parts; this first post focuses on the objectives, planning and resource considerations. The more "hands-on" functionality and implementation considerations will follow in Part 2.
To add a bit of context, 3 years ago, a brand I now work on, set up a skiing blog called Ski-buzz, run on WordPress. Set up on a free theme and with minimal amounts of additional resource or budget it started life quite slowly. Unbranded, sitting on its own (totally separate domain) and growing slowly…
Layout update offers new header image
Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Twitter blog announcement
Marketing implications of Twitter change
From September 18th Twitter updated their profile page layout. The most significant change relevant to marketers is that a profile image can be uploaded. Recent images uploaded have also been given more prominence.
It’s a move which mirrors a similar feature on company pages for Facebook and in Google+.
The layout change also appears to give more scope for updating the background image to give more information about a company. Increased horizontal space now seems to be available for this than has been possible in the last couple of years.
The examples that Twitter gives of using the new header option aren’t too inspiring. Twitter’s own new profile page is limited.
You can see from this example that the layout change does give more emphasis to your URL and the value proposition, you offer followers through Twitter, now placing…
A tutorial to check your LinkedIn Company Page works well with the latest LinkedIn updates
LinkedIn started in 2002 as a personal profile space where professionals could share their expertise, experience and connections.
Some people naturally wanted to showcase their business and wrongly used the personal profile as a business profile.
To address this need, LinkedIn created Company pages and September 2012 has seen an update in the look of company pages which more closely mirrors the Facebook company page, with a cover image at the top of the page, logo and company name above this (rather than below as on Facebook), followed by the latest news feed. Remember that the Company Activity status updates were introduced in October 2011 - are you using them yet if you're in B2B.
Here’s an example of the Dell company page with…
Spredfast release Social Engagement Index Report which shows different company roles for managing social media status updates
Value/Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Download 30 page PDF research summary - registration required
This report from Spredfast highlights some interesting trends in how businesses are utilising social media channels. The title is a little misleading since it suggests degree of consumer engagement with social media, it goes have some info on this, but we didn't find it so actionable. What we found more interesting is how businesses are managing social media. Spredfast defines 5 roles:
Admins have access to all features and functionality in Spredfast including the ability to monitor, publish, configure, and make administrative changes.
Managers monitor and publish content and manage basic account settings (add and edit users, groups, streams).
Editors monitor and publish content.
Writers create original content and respond to network engagement (content created by this role is often sent through an approval path).
Viewers can…
What is Big Data and how can it be applied for marketing?
It seems "Big Data" should be firmly on the agenda for business improvement according to all the major analyst firms. But what is Big Data? How does it differ from traditional data management and business intelligence?
In this post I summarise the view of three experts I talked to about "Big Data", asking how business can apply it.
What is the scope of big data?
Andy Mendelsohn, Senior VP of Database Server Technologies at Oracle.
One way to think about the scope of big data and how it fits in with previous data technologies is to consider the automobile industry, suggests Andy Mendelsohn. “Henry Ford invented the Model T 100 years ago,” he argues. “Today, Ford makes cars, and they have much better engines, and they have their full sensors and computer systems. But at the end of the day, they're still cars.…
An introduction to issues to consider when starting a social listening or social media monitoring programme
In previous posts, we have shown the vast number of options when choosing social listening software (250 according to this report). But any tool is only as good as the process used to take advantage of the insight generated. While these are potentially immensely powerful tools, they can be a huge drain on time and productivity if not utilised for the right reasons and in the right way. As with any other marketing tool it has to be linked to business growth but just how do you use these tools effectively?
What is Social Listening?
Starting with the basics, you need to scope out what you're looking to use social listening for. Start by defining how you intend to use it to add value to your business. How will you explain it to colleagues. This is…
How the 4Cs model of social business highlights ways to create shared value
In my previous post I asked whether businesses are ready for social business and looked at 10 pitfalls of using social media which suggested many may not be. For those who are becoming proficient in using social media, understanding progression to social business is the next logical step. This begs the ‘what is social business?’ question. In this post I will look at the scope and applications of social business so that you can review how much progress your own organisation has made onto becoming a social business?
What Is Social Business?
So what does the term social business actually mean? Another buzz word coined by highly paid management consultants or a fundamental change in the modus operandi of your organisation, critical to future growth and competitiveness?
In simple terms, a social…
Is it a knockout or a points decision?
Last year Mark Zuckerberg spoke out against email marketing claiming that in the future, email will be replaced by message-based services such as Facebook. While it’s true that we now have more choice when it comes to our preferred method of communication, this doesn’t mean that email no longer has a place. In fact, research has shown that the use of email in our marketing and CRM activities has grown significantly over the past few years. And let’s not forget that in order to sign up to Facebook you still need an email address.
According to a report produced by Royal Pingdom, Internet 2011 in numbers, there were more than 2.2bn email users in 2011 and 3.4bn email accounts, this figure growing by 500m. According to Radicati, this number is expected to grow to 4.1bn by the end of 2015.
There is always a tendency…
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22 Aug 2012
Key issues and 11 questions to consider when selecting a social listening tool
To help with social media monitoring, it's possible to track and trace, in real-time, any digital communication if it’s in the public domain. Social media have, of course, created an explosion of trackable online and public dialogue.
Herein lays an amazing opportunity to gain an endless amount of market and consumer insight and intelligence. But herein also lays considerable new challenges for marketers.
The technology is not the issue
In response to the anticipated market opportunity for monitoring and analysing what consumers are saying on social media there has is a plethora of software tools developed that can perform these tasks.
A colleague dedicated over a year to the creation of a taxonomy and guide summing up the main features, functions and benefits of 250 different social media monitoring tools.
Despite the…
How to cope with unexpected opportunities and problems
I'm part-way through "The Black Swan", where the author explores the "impact of the highly improbable".
There are lots of uplifting messages about our ignorance, wilful self-delusion and inability to make any meaningful predictions about the future.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the related topics of complexity, the unexpected and the unpredictable in email campaigns.
The main problem with dealing with the unexpected (apart from the obvious one*) is the issue of timing. When something goes wrong that needs corrective action, then that action typically needs to be taken fast.
Equally, the quicker you react to an unexpected opportunity, the better you can exploit it.
This need for fast action often conflicts with the reality of campaign planning and execution in email marketing, which can take days, weeks, even months, depending on your organizational setup and…
