How can you move visitors through your online properties?

Here is an example from Tesco Ireland where they are hosting a competition for Easter that takes people from their Facebook Page to their online magazine and to different pages of their website on an Easter egg hunt.

It's a great idea that you could modify for your business - remember to integrate it with your ezine, your instore promotions, your traditional media and your direct mail shots.

If you are a retailer you could reference your competition on your till receipts and if you are a restaurant or case you could promote the competition on your menu - you never know people just may enter when on your premises using their smart phone!

And if you run a competition like this while you won't get more fans of your Facebook Page through like gating, you will build awareness of your Page and if it's engaging people may become a fan.

Furthermore, if you are using a competition to build your data base of prospects, the fact that people enter on your website means that you are not limiting your audience to those who are on Facebook.

One recommendation I would make versus the Tesco Easter competition is whether you need to ask people their age - it's simpler and less obtrusive if you ask people to confirm they are over the minimum age for entry.

How could you adapt this idea for your business? Do leave your feedback on our Facebook Page.

Here is a nice collection of social media case studies from the Board Gais Energy 2011 social media awards featuring the award winners.

I hope this inspires you in your social media marketing in 2012.

 

Are you looking to connect with small businesses using social media?

In a Twitter chat that took place on 28 February 2012, Dell shared their tips for what they have learnt when connecting to small businesses using social media.

I have curated the tips I think you will find the most interesting and helpful here or view the slide show below.

 

[View the story "DellSMBNews shares tips for connecting with small businesses using social media" on Storify]

Source: SEOmoz August 2011

You will find an associated article with 8 tips to grow the views of your online video series on my Google Plus Page here: http://bgn.bz/gp8ovt

What suggestions do you have that have helped you grow the number of views to your series of online videos?

If you are using mobile marketing in your business have you considered using augmented reality to engage your audience.

Here are a number of examples from the UK and Ireland of the use of Blippar a mobile app which integrates augmented reality - the first two links take you to the Android and iPhone app store to download the Blippar app to your mobile phone.

[View the story "Blippar Your Brand - Examples Of Using Augmented Reality" on Storify]

If you are a non profit I am sure you are looking for new ways to raise awareness for your organisation and attract volunteers or donations.

Here is a great example of the Anthony Nolan association doing that in the UK.

Over on their Facebook Page they posted this great image of a 'collection box' but designed as a sofa.

They comment that:

• Right now, there’s £42.9m in loose change down the back of the nation’s sofas
• Just think how many lives we could save with that!
• Don’t let your change disappear behind your cushions.

Pop it in a 'Sofa of Change' collection box instead – and help us provide more lifesaving transplants.

I recall the Anthony Nolan association from when I lived in the UK. Their goal is to save the lives of people with blood cancer by matching them to people willing to donate their blood stem cells for lifesaving transplants.

Apparently only 30% of suitable doners can be found within a family. In 2009/10 Anthony Nolan found 937 matches.

You will find the organisation active through social media on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and their blog.

Learn more about their cause through this video - again a great execution explaining how you can become a stem cell donor.

 

 

If you are in the UK and want to get involved as a stem cell donor contact Anthony Nolan at http://www.anthonynolan.org

I often get asked how social media is relevant to B2B companies and you can see some of the social media B2B case studies I have referneced here such as the Dell Trade Secrets programme, the American Express Facebook Big Break campaign and a presentation on Facebook for B2B companies.

But what about if you are in a sector such as pharmaceuticals or event chemicals?

Here is a presentation that I think you will find of assistance to inspire you - from the chemical organisation BASF about their use of social media in their organisation.

In the presentation it also references their use of an internal social network called connect.BASF and you can read about that here:

BASF Social Media Channels

You can find BASF social media channels here: http://basf.com/group/corporate/en/about-basf/basf-in-social-media/index

You can also find BASF on Google+ here: https://plus.google.com/104831566913061183838#104831566913061183838/posts 9it's not mentioned on their main website at this time

You can find their social media newsroom here: http://newsroom.basf.com

I hope this inspires you to review if social media is relevant for your organisation in 2012 if you are a B2B company beyond using LinkedIn for professional networking and developing a Company Page on LinkedIn.

Remember you can leave me your questions about using social media in your B2B company on my Facebook Page.

 

Are your customers reaching out to you on Twitter for support?

This is an example of how someone having a poor experience of your brand, product or service can lead them to Tweet a message which then can result in coverage in traditional media.

Of specific note - if you have a presence on social media then even if you had not planned to manage customer service issues, customers and consumers are expecting you to listen and respond.

Issues can occur for customers over weekends or late at night and for people across different time zones, so how do you manage customer service outside the 9-5 traditional office hours?

In the example below relating to Easyjet, they actually have a Twitter account called Easyjetcare, but as you will see from the screen shot, it has not been updated since November which is not a positive reflection on them as a company.

As I have written about before, when customers post a message to social media channels for support, they expect a fast response - research I reported on earlier this year referenced that 42% of customers expect a response in 60 minutes or less.

So if you have a Twitter account for your brand, product or service, what processes will you put in place to ensure that your reputation is enhanced rather than being negatively impacted as a result of your social customer relationship processes in 2012?

View the story "Easyjet, Twitter and the case of the guide dog" on Storify]

Have you started to explore Google Plus pages for your business?

One of the elements of Google Plus is the opportunity for you to host online video conferences with others - this  feature is called hangouts.

This week some well known employees of Dell in the US hosted a Google Plus hangout  talking about the of social media by Dell for supporting their customers including the use of social media platforms across the globIn the event they also talk about the fact that they are not listening to Dell customers on a geographic basis - but by language.

You can watch the Dell Google Plus hangout with Richard Binhammer and Lionel Menchaca below.

If you are interested in learning more about Google Plus for lead generation rather than customer service then you can join me at an event I am delivering for the Sales Institute of Ireland on Wednesday 23 November 2011 in Dublin. And if you can not attend the live event you can join me on a live webinar - I will be posting details of the webinar on my Google Plus Page and over at Facebook later today.

 

 

Social Media Roundup: Case study - Driving the news with social media