At Wildfire, we work closely with brands to guide them through the world of social media, to create an effective presence that really delivers results. But to the uninitiated, managing a public space to share information, engage with customers and increase brand recognition could sound incredibly complicated – or even worse, expensive!

But actually, when you break down the core elements of running an effective social media offering, it’s really quite straightforward and just needs time, planning and a long term commitment to keep up activity.

How do we know this?

One of our long term clients, set-top box manufacturer and digital giant Humax, has recently been recognised by Get Connected magazine as a shining example of how effective Facebook can be to handle consumer engagement correctly. As the columnist George Cole points out, “the best companies are doing what Humax has done, they are embracing the internet’s potential”

Check out our top five tips for using Facebook to engage your customers, or contact our team to find out how we can help you to devise a social media strategy that works for your business.

1. Post regular updates
2. Reply to criticism as well as praise – face things head on
3. Offer exclusive content to your fans – competitions, videos and savings
4. Keep it interesting – less corporate, more inviting
5. Take part in discussions, encourage your Facebook fans to become a community

Related posts:

1. Seven steps to effective social media measurement At a Marketing Week conference I attended recently, one of...
2. Reaching an audience through social media Whilst traditional public relations focuses on targeting influencers (traditionally, journalists)...
3. Social network traffic trumps search engines: are social networks gateways to the web? Fascinating to read statistics from Hitwise today revealing that, for...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Those of you that have read Forrester’s book Groundswell will recognise the process of splitting social media users into different segments depending on their activities. And if you are familiar with traditional PR, you’ll appreciate the process of identifying and targeting ‘influencers’ to effectively get your message out to a wide, but targeted audience.

Well, today, Gartner has made an attempt to meld these two ideas together with the announcement of its User Survey 2010. Gartner suggests that around one fifth of the social media users are ‘key influencers’ that in turn affect the decisions of 74% of the population.

Key influencers: salesmen, connectors and mavens

Gartner defines these influencers as: salesmen, connectors and mavens. The analyst firm also compares these roles very closely to similar roles that exist in an offline environment:

Salesmen have an ability to persuade people to purchase or act in a certain way. While users in this demographic aren’t actually commercial in their actions, they do have the ability to persuade others to take action.

Connectors can be split into two groups: heavy and light. They become the bridging function between two or more groups of people. They have lots of contacts in different niches and even in different social networks and can therefore make important connections between the two.

Mavens are experts in a certain field, giving advice and answering questions. They become almost guru like in the way people flock to them. They therefore become ‘trusted’ sources and can influence and persuade people to purchase in a certain way. Again, as with salesmen, their actions aren’t commercial, but still have an effect on purchasing decisions.

Gartner looked at 4,000 consumers in ten markets and identified six different roles in total. In addition to the three above, the firm also defines users as seekers – the ones asking for information, the self-sufficient – those who prefer to find answers themselves, and the unclassified – those who don’t fit any defined role.

How is this useful?

The key for marketers is to use these user profiles to identify certain influencers and their ‘type’, then create campaigns or content that meets their needs. Salesmen, for example, will need very different resources and content to connectors or mavens and different strategies will work better to inspire and engage with them.

Related posts:

1. Gartner’s IT predictions for 2010 and beyond Leading analyst firm Gartner has revealed it’s IT and technology...
2. Econsultancy report: Social media spend will grow, but you only get out what you put in Econsultancy has today released its latest Online PR and Social...
3. Reaching an audience through social media Whilst traditional public relations focuses on targeting influencers (traditionally, journalists)...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The woes for of the trade publishing world continue today with Data Strategy the latest publication to bite the dust. The marketing title, edited by David Reed, which covered everything you’d possibly need to know about data, has been ditched by Centaur media (as its rivals Haymarket were happy to report today!)

The monthly title will be absorbed into sister title Marketing Week from September. This follows a similar move that occurred back in 2009 for another of Centaur’s marketing titles – Precision Marketing.

Centaur, the publisher of magazines and websites such as Marketing Week, NMA, Precision Marketing (RIP), Design Week and Mad.co.uk, has been in trouble for some time, so the demise of Data Strategy is hardly surprising. I have no doubt that much of the useful content from this title will shift online (although whether Marketing Week will be able to adapt itself to cover more data related news is yet to be seen), but it is still sad to see the back of a title that, although niche, was always worth a read.

Anyone want to place a bet on which title will be next?

Related posts:

1. Another one bites the dust: Guardian Tech It’s no secret that the traditional media industry is in...
2. Too much data can be dangerous “The great benefit of digital is that it is measurable”....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

We’ve been running a series of company-wide social media training sessions for a client of ours this week and it’s been amazing to see how receptive and energised the company’s employees have been.

Too often in PR, and also in marketing, we have a ‘them and us’ attitude. We take briefs from spokespeople and blend them into carefully worded press statements. We take products and give them snazzy slogans and endlines that we then push out to target audiences through advertising or DM.

But social media changes the game. Take these old traditional marketing mindsets into the social arena and you quickly get found out and, at best, ignored. We’ve discussed how, more than ever, agencies (of every creed) that are involved in social media, need to take a more supportive, guiding approach and I’ve seen this very clearly this week.

Moving away from the walled garden approach

Often, when we (as an audience) try and engage with businesses on social media channels, we want direct access to the brand; not a PR agency/manager or official spokesperson. Often, we don’t even want to talk to the CEO or managing director.

In many cases, we want to talk to the guys with the knowledge: the insiders. We want to talk to the product team that is working on the new features or functionality. We want to talk to customer services about our latest order. Or, we want to talk to a straight-talking sales rep that can help with our prospecting enquiries.

The companies that are beginning to excel in social communities are really getting this.

So its great to see that, given the chance and the freedom, employees are keen and eager to take up the social media baton and run with it.

It takes a brave company (so kudos to our client) to allow employees to do this and it takes a certain degree of planning, strategising and then monitoring (where we are happy to help out), to get this right.

But it is possible and it gives everyone involved a real buzz when it starts to come to fruition…

Follow me on Twitter

picture credit

Related posts:

1. Why PR agencies must play a more supportive role in social media Forrester’s Sean Corcoran has a really interesting blog post looking...
2. National Rail Enquiries reveals how hard it is to become truly social There has been an interesting debate raging over on Reputation...
3. Econsultancy report: Social media spend will grow, but you only get out what you put in Econsultancy has today released its latest Online PR and Social...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I thought twice about publishing a post about Facebook’s 500 millionth user. On the one hand, it’s a landmark moment for the social media world, so I felt it was worth acknowledging. But, with the world’s media also covering the story, I didn’t want to merely add to the post after post that has already been written on the subject (and will be for weeks to come).

But then I picked up an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, which raised a slightly different, less positive side to this announcement.

It covers research from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, developed by the University of Michigan’s Business School. This year, the index has included Facebook in its regular consumer satisfaction overview and the results aren’t pretty for the web giant. Facebook came out with one of the lowest rankings of any company: 64 out of a possible 100. That puts Facebook in the bottom 5% of all private sector companies in the US.

Other social sites like Wikipedia and YouTube did considerably better with scores of 77 and 73 respectively.

So, despite these incredible growth figures, is the company in danger of alienating some of its most loyal fans?

To be fair to Facebook, they’ve taken the news on the chin with the company’s spokesman Jonny Thaw saying that although they hadn’t reviewed the methodology in detail, “clearly we have room to improve.” He continues: “Building a simple, useful service is the best way to earn and sustain the trust people put in us. That’s why we spend so much of our time and energy focused on improving the products we offer and introducing new ones. We look forward to the next survey.”

So congratulations to Facebook; I’m sure they won’t be resting on their laurels…

picture credit

Related posts:

1. Facebook @ replies and what it means for brands Facebook took another step towards Twitter this week with the...
2. CNN is scared of Facebook; they aren’t the only ones I’ve written a lot recently about what I feel is...
3. Could ‘Google Me’ finally be a Facebook-killer? The internet is buzzing about a tweet yesterday from Digg...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I was quoted in an article in PR Week today, responding to a survey the publication ran looking at reactions to The Times paywall. The PRWeek/OnePoll survey of 3,000 members of the public found 78 per cent did not think the paid-for model would succeed and 67 per cent thought its previous users would visit other newspaper sites instead.

As I said in the article, the problem for The Times is that putting the entire site behind a wall, most potential readers will just stay away:

“By putting its entire site behind a paywall, The Times is hoping the strength of its brand will convince a small, but hardcore, segment of readers to stump up some cash. The obvious question therefore is whether the brand alone is strong enough to convince users to subscribe. If the brand isn’t strong enough, the focus is on whether The Times generates enough valuable and unique content to convince visitors to pay. The challenge for The Times – and its competitors – is to achieve a balance between free and paid-for content. Publishers should provide general news for free, but charge for niche content.”

“It’s an empty world”

This follows comments from US media columnist Michael Wolff, writing on the Newser website claiming that hardly anyone is subscribing to The Times:

“My sources say that not only is nobody subscribing to the website, but subscribers to the paper itself—who have free access to the site—are not going beyond the registration page. It’s an empty world.”

Wolff continues in a more controversial vain and even questions the influence of The Times for the PR industry:

“The wider implications of this emptiness are only just starting to become clear. A Murdoch and Fleet Street veteran with whom I’ve been corresponding about the paywall reported to me on his recent conversation with an A-list entertainment publicist: “What was really interesting to me was that this person volunteered a blinding realisation. ‘Why would I get any of my clients to talk to the Times or the Sunday Times if they are behind a paywall? Who can see it? I can’t even share a link and they aren’t on search. It’s as though their writers don’t exist anymore.’””

I’m not going to start suggesting that clients simply ignore The Times (after all, the print edition still has a fairly impressive readership), but at a time when PRs need to focus on influence and ROI, it’s not something that should be ignored.

Related posts:

1. Why I won’t be paying for The Times So, The Times and Sunday Times will be launching new...
2. Times paywall debate hots up The Times has been busy promoting its new look website...
3. Only 2% will pay for news online Following the launch of The Times paywall earlier this month,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Apple has announced a press conference for tomorrow and the rumours are that the company will use it to respond to criticism of the iPhone 4′s reception issues. Some are even suggesting that it could announce a full recall of the product. This speculation in particular has sent the technology company’s share-price rocketing south.

I’m amazed it has taken Apple so long to get to this stage.

I blogged at the end of June about this growing PR disaster and said that if Apple failed to do something about this quickly, it would be facing an unprecedented public backlash. The company didn’t follow this route (maybe Mr Jobs should subscribe to the Wildfire blog!) and is now in a very tricky position.

Apple is a much loved brand and so, if public reaction to date has seemed muted, then this brand loyalty (and, in some cases, obsession) could be the reason. But brand loyalty only gets you so far and, for many people, it is quickly running out. When this happens, public opinion will quickly turn to anger and the damage to the brand then could be catastrophic.

Apple’s cloak and dagger technique might work for product launches, but when it comes to crisis communications, it’s a very dangerous path.

picture credit

Related posts:

1. Confusing messages from Apple – a PR disaster? Apple is facing intense scrunity that is threatening to overshadow...
2. Apple is the most valuable tech company; but what does this mean? Last week, Apple pipped Microsoft to become the world’s most...
3. 10 things to expect from Apple’s WWDC this week WWDC – Apple’s annual conference for its developer community –...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a hippy – I’ve got a selection of recycling bins and have even installed solar panels – but there’s only so far I’d go for Mother Earth and that line is drawn when it comes to using a compost toilet!

So when I went happily off to Glastonbury last month, I was expecting to find a few like-minded people (and possibly even discover the festival Holy Grail that is the solar powered shower!). Instead I found myself crammed into a tent with a load of 30-somethings, who were dressed as if they’d just wondered off of Primrose Hill, listening to thoughts on sustainable marketing.

A marketing mogul with an interest in the low carbon economy bounded about green ideas to the assembled crowd covering everything from ‘Clean Advertising’ which involves water jets displacing dirt from pavements to create a picture or a logo, to ‘Grass Crafting’ and DM mailers imbedded with seeds.

On principal these ideas seemed great – easy to implement, no expensive billboard rental costs and environmentally friendly to boot. However I still felt uneasy, as if I was being sold a new religion or a bagless vacuum cleaner – would it take off?

I started to investigate the use of clean advertising within the realms of the all-important client budget and to my surprise found that eight clean adverts, which comprise of a single logo, weigh-in at less than a full page ad in your average lifestyle magazine. I looked into it further and, as clean advertising is designated as ‘street cleaning’, there is no need to apply for council permission or pay any fees if your adverts are on public land, so there is another cost saving.

So cheap and sustainable, but it is effective? Well this depends on how it’s used – to direct people to events or exhibitions, this could be a real winner and would be perfect for kicking off a series of guerrilla marketing tactics, but as a standalone marketing tool, in my opinion it lacks cohesion and needs something else to validate it such as a microsite or leafleting campaign.

Sustainable marketing is making its mark, albeit slowly, but is not something that would be likely to replace the more traditional forms of consumer outreach. So whilst it could be added to the marketing mix, I don’t think it’s (yet) the revolution that will transform marketing into a low carbon activity.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Anyone who knows me will know I’m partial to (more than) the odd beer at my local pub. But when it closed indefinitely last month, us villagers were quick to up sticks and walk the 20 yards across the road to join the Royal British Legion.

I’ve paid my subs for the year, the membership card sits nicely in my purse and I’ll admit I’ve become a real fan. The beer is flowing (at a much reduced rate), you always get a warm welcome from old Fred behind the bar and they’ve even got a new bowl for the dog so he can join in the proceedings.

It’s a charity I’m very pleased to be supporting, so I was keen to move my new found allegiance online and look for the British Legion on Twitter.

But oh dear.

I checked out @RBLPOPPY and @POPPYSUPPORT . But where was my warm welcome? The cheery banter? The sense of community?

@RBLPOPPY just shows me a list of URLs about how to become a member of the forces, with no updates since the beginning of this year. I don’t want to sign-up to the army, but I do want to know how my support is helping veterans and wouldn’t mind the odd bit of interaction (akin to my little chats with Fred) via Twitter.  No @ replies either (unless you count the one to Cheryl Cole applauding her on a great X Factor show). Crikey.

@POPPYSUPPORT seems better. A greater variety of news and information provided by the team, but I did get the sense I was being bombarded with links rather than getting drawn into a conversation, and it all appears to be focused around the Autumn to link in with Remembrance Day. Surely it would be better to keep me engaged all year round and use loyal followers to draw in even more fans by the time the poppies go on sale next year?

But now I’m starting to feel a bit mean. I really do like the British Legion and what it stands for.

I guess my disappointment stems from knowing that they do offline communities so very well and wishing they would transfer that sentiment to their online presence, and potentially bring a whole new generation of British Legion fans with them.

Related posts:

1. Don’t believe what you read offline: UK surfers trust online news We are all now confronted by more and more ‘media’...
2. Research: The importance of online brand engagement Razorfish has released some interesting research today that warrants a...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It looks as though the BBC website’s long awaited redesign is about to be unveiled on the public – you can see a gallery of screenshots on the site.

When the UK’s most visited online news portal makes significant changes, those involved in PR need to sit up and take note. The benefits of getting coverage on the BBC are pretty obvious – a link alone can do wonders to your SEO – and it remains the holy grail for many companies.

One of the most interesting developments from the screenshots seen so far is the addition of social media sharing links including Facebook like and tweet this as well as options to email and print articles. My initial reaction to this move by the beeb is “about time”, but it’s still significant and demonstrates the importance of social media for traditional news sites.

Is a new lick of paint necessary?

We’ve work with a number of design agencies and so are well aware of the time and effort that a new website requires. We are also in the final stages of redesigning wildfirepr.co.uk and while we don’t suggest our project is anywhere near that undertaken by the BBC, it has still been a complicated and time-consuming process.

So is a regular refresh important and necessary for businesses? Has the rate of refresh for websites increased in recent years?

The BBC seems to have put the emphasis on making user experience improvements to the site and this I guess must be the main driver for any business. While the actual conversion point for the BBC might be different to a more commercial or ecommerce-focused site, it all amounts to the same thing; a new site needs to work harder to achieve its ultimate goals.

I imagine there will be some nervous people when they decide to flick the switch later this week!

What do you think? Is it an improvement?

Related posts:

1. The BBC is about to get very social It seems that the BBC website is about to get...
2. More tough times and tough decisions for the media Our interview last week with Computing editor Bryan Glick highlighted...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.