Finding your voice online

finding your voice online

who am I?

• Phil Stephens–Managing Director of Fairhill Online• Bridge between geek and ‘real life’

– IT Professional for more than 10 years– Background in:• Web Development• Project Management• IT Management• Systems Analysis

who is fairhill online?

• Cardiff Web Company– Raising Your Profile Online

• Services Include:–Web Design & Development – E-Commerce Sites– Search Engine Optimisation & Pay Per

Click Management–Web & Email Hosting– E-Newsletter Templates– Social Media Marketing Advice/ Consulting

what will the cover?

• Why bother with Social Media or Blogging• Finding Your Voice• Do I Have To?• Blogging (options)• Social Media (options)• Quick Win• Tools To Help• Measuring Success• Examples• Bear in Mind• Questions

social media & bloggingwhy bother?

• Varies for each individual– Raise the profile of the business

• More brand awareness• Becoming an expert in a field

– Build Relationships• Local/similar businesses• People that are otherwise out of reach

– Keep in touch with customers• News, Customer Support

– Build links to the site/hits on site– Promote offers– ‘Just Because’

• Normally driven by an interest/ Break from ‘the day job’• Often leads to a business rather than created as one

finding your voice?

• The most important thing – it’s all about you!• The method/social media/blog/tools have to suit

you and your personality• Questions to think about

– Do you like writing?– Are you naturally funny?– Are you controversial?– Are you permanently on the road?– Are you or your products visual?– Are you an ‘industry geek’?– Have you got anything to say?!– Best time of day for maximum impact

do I have to?• No!• It has to be right for you• To get the most out of it you need

– Strategy– Plan– Know your audience– Take your time– Manage your time– Plan ahead– Target– Review and Refresh

• Is it Free?– No

• Time• Tools (often free)

• Is it Worth it?– Nearly always ‘Yes’

which one for you? blogging

• Wordpress• Blogger• Tumblr• Integrated Blog• …and lots of others

(it’s about choice)

• Bear In Mind:– Time consuming– Tools to help (for instance pre-publishing)– People to help (copywriters for instance)– Has ‘Longevity’ if the content is good quality

which one for you? social media

• What industry are you in?• What products do you sell? Are they

visual?• Do you have special offers? • Do you have a fan base already in

place?• Are you purely business to business?• Do you have control of your brand?• Are you prepared to release control?

which one for you? social media

• Twitter• Facebook• LinkedIn• YouTube• Pinterest• Google Plus

quick wins

• LinkedIn– Set up/fill out your profile– Put a picture to the name!– Connect to people– Get testimonials

• Why?– Low Risk– Easy to do– Not time sensitive

tools to help you

• Hootsuite• Phone Apps• Tweetdeck• Also lots of ways to integrate–Between SMM tools

how do you measure success?

• Facebook– Likes/Reach/Talking About/Insights

• Twitter– Engagements

• Retweets (RTs)/Followers/#FF (follow Fridays)

– Direct Messages (DMs)

• All– Hits on site (Google Analytics)– Klout (infleunce)– Increased Sales– People getting in touch

• Paid Tools– Adobe Social– Web Trends

some examplescoca cola

Mentos/ Coca Cola Experiment

2005• June 3rd 1st Video

• 4,000 hits /1,000 an hour• June 12th

• Coca Cola spokesperson says ‘Coke should be drunk and not played with’

• End of June• Appear on Letterman Show/Seen by

7.5m• July 9th

• Coke release ‘The Coke Show’ on website

• Second video• Sponsored by Mentos and Coke/4 million

viewers

Did they learn anything?coca cola

• 2012

• Facebook Relaunch Business Pages• Coca Cola one of the launch

site• 41m likes! 300k people talking

about• Your Stories, Video, events

‘apps’

• Release Content Marketing Strategy• Published to the public• Focused on ‘Content

Marketing’• YouTube video has had

130,000 hits• Their own marketing strategy

has itself gone viral!

wiggly wrigglers

What they do

• Run a Farm• Sell Garden and Wildlife

Related Products• (Online and in Shops)

• Farm Shop

How are they social?

• Just about every way possible!• Twitter• Facebook• YouTube• Video on Site• Blogging

wiggly wrigglers

YouTube (104,000 views)Own ‘Cinema’

Twitter (2 accounts/different messages)General (Company/Wildlife)Farmer Phil (Farming)

Facebook Group (3,000 members) Blog (How-To Guide)

dreamy delights

• What they do• Cupcakes• Café/shop• Based in Aberdare

• How are they social?• Facebook

• What do they do well?• Run Competitions/ Special Offers• 1,600 followers• Have recommendations/ fans

• ‘You have to try this shop! amazzzzzing!’• Encourage posts from customers

notes of caution?

• These views are my own– Are they really?– Does it reflect on your company anyway?

• Company Policy– Does your company allow you to tweet/FB?– If they encourage do they assist?– If it’s your company do you have a policy?– Is it reflected in your HR policy?– Do you offer guidance?– Do the staff know the strategy?

• Drunk blogging/SMMing• SMM is not above the law!

notes of caution?

• These views are my own– Are they really?– Does it reflect on your company anyway?

• Company Policy– Does your company allow you to tweet/FB?– If they encourage do they assist?– If it’s your company do you have a policy?– Is it reflected in your HR policy?– Do you offer guidance?– Do the staff know the strategy?

• Drunk blogging/SMMing• SMM is not above the law!

questions?

01443 887 832phil@fairhillonline.co.uk@fairhill_philfacebook.com/fairhillonlinelinkedin.com/company/fairhill-solutions