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5 Reasons Your Business Should Not Be Using Social Media.

May 4, 2010 by admin 

It’s fashionable to write these – ‘5 tips that will replace years of business experience and distal everything you need to know into less than 500 words’ – type blogs. They are often ‘retweeted’ by people who never read them, but like the headline because it somehow fits with something they think they should be saying.

It seems to be a formula that people consume easily though, so here are my 5 reasons why your business should not be using social media.

1. Because it’s new and cool.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there making social media pitches based purely on fashion. There’s a buzz out there. It’s new and improved. If you don’t have it, you are missing out. Every couple of years, something comes along that changes the way people behave. Just because something is covered by the media, does not mean that real people are using it as part of their everyday lives.

2. Because it’s massive. .

I guarantee you that if you have sat through a social media pitch, that you have been bombarded with figures like ‘If Facebook was a country, it would the 4^th largest in the world’. The country with the 4^th biggest population is Indonesia, yet my bet is that your business has no presence there. What’s more, you probably don’t have any plans to be in Indonesia any time soon. That’s because pure market size is not the only thing that matters to real businesses.

Last week there was a story about how Pepsico were going to use location service FourSquare for marketing purposes. The article reported that FourSquare has a million users. Let’s put that another way – there are about 308 Million people who don’t use FourSquare in the US alone.

3. Because your customers are interacting with each other on social media.

In 2008 there were an estimated 6.5 billion texts sent every month in the UK, but the vast majority were between individuals. There are very few companies (other than mobile networks) that have successfully used SMS text messaging for business.

Just because your customers and potential customers are talking to each other on social media is no guarantee that they want to interact with your business.

4. Because it’s cheap.

Anyone can set up a YouTube account. It doesn’t cost anything to create a Twitter feed or a Facebook page. Creating a LinkedIn Group takes minutes and you can blog away for free on all many of platforms.

Once it’s been set up, you can get an intern or an expert social media consultant to represent your brand assets the best way they see fit, despite in many cases not having any marketing or business credentials.

You’ve probably spent a lot of time and money to create your brand, why risk devaluing one of your most important business assets by cutting corners.

5. Because your competitors are doing it.

I’ve always had a dislike for consultants who think that their technology based model can be applied across industries and businesses without any need for modification. Look out for a social media pitch that tells you that you need to be on social media because there are others in your industry that are doing it. There are probably competitors of yours that do trade-shows or sponsorship or other outdoor advertising that you might not do. Me-too is never a reason to do anything.

1 Reason Your Business Should be Using Social Media.

There are many reasons why your business may benefit from using social media including; better customer service, increased brand awareness, targeted product positioning and understanding your customer’s requirements, but the number one, and only reason that your business should be using social media is…

Because it will deliver you revenue.

Social Media is just another weapon in your sales and marketing arsenal. It has a cost and it has a return. The only reason you should consider using social media for your business is if it is going to have a positive impact on the bottom line.

Value social media the same way you would value any other sales and marketing spend. What are your objectives? How do you know if you have succeeded?

If you are being told that engaging in the conversation is enough and hopefully over time it may lead to sales, then ask yourself how much of your marketing budget you are willing to invest in that hope.

If on the other hand, you are being told how social media can have an impact on key metrics within your business like; transaction frequency, basket value, margin, customer satisfaction and loyalty, market share, recall rate, cost per lead and return on investment, then evaluate those numbers against your current marketing options and make a business decision.

Social Media and Sport – Threats and Opportunities. Part 1.

May 3, 2010 by admin 

The Sportbusiness New Media conference was held in Manchester on Wednesday. I was invited to speak on a panel entitled “Opportunities and Threats of Social Media.” The questions asked of the panel were slightly different from the brief, so the delegates present heard different answers to the ones below, but here are some of my considered thoughts on the issues raised.

Topic One – The positives and negatives of an organisation (brand, governing body or rights-holder) getting deeply involved in social media

The use of the phrase ‘Social Media’ means a lot of different things to different people. For many, it is a catch-all for a few well known sites like Facebook, Youtube, Flickr and Twitter. For others, the definition is broader and includes web 2.0 enabled blogs and some gaming applications.

While there is no doubt that these platforms have a huge number of users, they are hyped a little by the media and those who work in the digital industry. Many sports organisations have reason to ask questions about the relative merit of different platforms, but I think that the time has come where the opportunities do outweigh the benefits.

To put this question into some historical perspective, rephrase the question to “what are the positives and negatives of getting a fax machine or a post box or publishing your switchboard number on your website.

According to figures presented by Comscore at the conference, Facebook is the largest site on mobile – bigger even than Google. This is no real surprise – mobile is a person to person communication media and Facebook is a person to person platform.

So to answer the question (something I was accused on Twitter of not doing on the panel)

Positives.

Social Media is another channel. Another touchpoint. Another mechanism to listen to and communicate with partners, customers and fans. At the very least, these mechanisms make it more convenient for your fans to receive your news and content.

The listening part is important. While some may focus on the negatives of being open to criticism (See Negatives) others see that the feedback channel is a great way to improve the product, to understand what works and what doesn’t and to adapt to that feedback. This is another way of saying that the voices are a diverse set of opinions that are perhaps more useful than the groupthink of old white males that usually make the decisions.

Social media provides an immediacy that other media cannot. This is not just what fans are saying, it is what they are saying now, and in many cases their location can also be determined. The insights from social profiles and monitoring of sentiment in conversations provide a level of demographic information that traditional registration forms can’t match.

Finally, there are demonstrable benefits of using Social Media for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Obviously the more times your team, club, organisation or sponsor is mentioned on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc with a link back to your site, the more highly it will score with Google, Bing and the like. This will become even more important as Google moves to include real-time results in it’s search mechanism.

Negatives.

Many of the negatives associated with Social Media are actually not problems with the technology. A lot of the negative perceptions of social media come from a misunderstanding about the true nature of who is using it and how it is used.

It is true that anything negative will be amplified and accelerated by Social Media. A larger group of people will be exposed to comments and if the correct procedures are not in place then this can get out of control quickly.

Many of the negatives associated with Social Media can be fixed with good business practises and policies, so here are some of the issues to consider.

The use of social media when done properly will require resources that may not exist in the organisation. There is no point in doing it for the sake of doing it, if you are going to engage in a conversation with your most important stakeholders via this mechanism, then you need to show them that you are committed and you take it seriously.

I disagree with the sentiment that you can “throw a rock out the window, hit a teenager and get them to run your social media programme.” Better to invest in training the people who understand your business, its products and culture to represent you and your brands online.

Social Media is two way. This scares a lot of businesses who are worried about criticism. Many sports organisations, particularly governing bodies have a tendency to be faceless bureaucrats, sitting behind gatekeepers and policy. But here’s the thing – people will use social media to criticise you and your policies whether you are there or not. You can’t stop it. You can’t control it. You can’t spin it. The best that you can hope for is that you can influence key people via participating to see your point of view.

Read Part 2 – Monetisation of Social Media for Sport

Pilote Media at the World Yacht Racing Forum. #WYRF

November 17, 2009 by admin 

Pilote Media, publishers of Yachtsponsorship.com and the DARK BLUE BOOK will be in attendance at the 2009 World Yacht Racing Forum in Monaco, to be held at the Grimaldi Forum on December 9-10.

The Who’s Who of yacht racing will be in town to discuss many of the issues that are affecting the sport as a business, to network and to forge partnerships. Pilote Media CEO, David Fuller says:

There are not many opportunities to get everyone together in the same room and talk about issues that affect the business of yacht racing. From where we sit, looking at the sport as a whole, there are plenty of opportunities for sailing to do things better. There are a few innovators, but that doesn’t mean that the sport can’t learn from best practise elsewhere. Networking and getting a view on what others are doing should help the sport to grow.

Via Yachtsponsorship.com, Pilote Media will be using several social media platforms to report on the Monaco event, but they probably wont be the only ones. David says:

As a whole, the sport of yacht racing is still scrambling to understand some of the new media opportunities. Certainly many of the brands in the sport just don’t get it, but there are innovators. Mark Turner’s Twitter updates over the last few days for example, describing the unfolding events with their Open60 BT have been compelling because they have a timeliness and a human element. I imagine that the twitter feeds from the World Yacht Racing Forum will be quite entertaining, so keep watching #WYRF.

The World Yacht Racing Forum is also a great opportunity for Pilote Media to promote the DARK BLUE BOOK. The directory is modelled on similar references for other sports and is a useful resource for anyone in the business of yacht racing. The 2009 edition was welcomed by many as a great way to define those in the industry, allowing the sport to be promoted to sponsors and major event partners around the world.  David commented:

At last year’s forum, the DARK BLUE BOOK was just an idea, but the timing seemed right. Many of those who attended the first World Yacht Racing Forum also appeared in the first DARK BLUE BOOK. Since we published the first edition in April, we have received hundreds of entries for the 2010 version but the forum gives us a great opportunity to partner with brands who want to be seen as leaders in the industry.

WYRF Chairman and World Champion Sailor Peter Gilmour will open the Forum on 9 December before the opening keynote address by Tom Whidden, President and CEO of North Sails on the state of the industry.

Other presentations will feature the commercial case for sailing sponsorship, the impact of yacht racing on host cities and ports, the measure and evaluation of sailing events’ commercial return, sailing sponsorship and new media.

The World Yacht Racing Forum and Design & Technology Symposium will create the platform for delegates to debate the key issues that are critical to the future of yacht racing. The event will focus on the socio-economic aspects of the sport as well as developments in media coverage and the technical and commercial aspects of large-scale sailing events, especially in terms of their organisation and promotion.

For a full schedule and to register for the World Yacht Racing Forum, visit www.worldyachtracingforum.com

Pilote CEO to Present Social Media for Business Bootcamp.

September 29, 2009 by admin 

Pilote Media are proud to annouce their Social Media for Buisness Bootcamp seminar to be held in London on the 14th of October 2009. Presented by Pilote CEO, David Fuller, the 3 hour session is designed to dispell myths about social media and show how platforms like Twitter, Facebook and even ‘old fashioned’ forums and bulletin boards can be powerful business tools.

David, who has worked for global branding giants like Unilever and pioneering social networks says:

It’s a shame that the media focus on the celebrity use of tools like Twitter. There are millions of serious business people in the world who are realising that these platforms are not ‘just for kids’, they are an evolution in the way a brand talks to its customers, suppliers and the wider world.

Pilote have developed the seminar for those in business who are still coming to terms with the variety of tools that are lumped together as social media. In David’s view:

I talk to a lot of people who don’t understand why business hasn’t adopted some of these practises more quickly, but in the main, these people are early adopters. For those who are head down in the day to day running of a business, especially in uncertain times, it is not always easy to get your head around the opportunities and implications of new ideas. One of the problems though, is that social media has been sold as technology and is therefore seen as the domain of the IT crowd. Actually, these tools are for marketing, PR and corporate communications professionals and more and more, those in business development.

David’s Social Media for Business Bootcamp will run on the 14th of October, 2009 in London. For more information visit the event page.

Sponsorship Works - Submit Your Case Study.

August 5, 2009 by admin 

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