Archive for March, 2010

Digital Marketing – What place for Social Media?

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Marketers know about marketing mix, or at least they should, but are they embracing social media as part of their overall digital strategy?

Some are, but not all, and some of those that do, aren’t employing the best methods, mainly down to a lack of appreciation of the true power of social media.

Can a business afford not to include social media as part of their digital strategy?

IMHO, the answer to that is, no.

Although there are markets that will benefit more than others, I still believe that there’s a place for social media in every business, and not just in a marketing strategy.

To put this into some context, here are examples of how social media can play a part in business

  • Enables a deeper understanding of customer needs
  • Gives the ability to track evolving requirements and trends
  • Customers can use their chosen platform to engage with a business on their own terms, enhancing perception, reputation and overall customer experience of the product or service
  • Customers engage with other customers on social media platforms to share experiences of a product or service.
  • A virtual “word of mouth” that can be heard by millions in a matter of seconds

Social CRM, do I hear you cry?

Your customers are already using social media, how can you afford not to?

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Mobile Offerings

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Professional and social users alike have embraced the Mobile world, and now with so many offerings on the market, making a decision as to which device or operating system to opt for, can be quite a challenge. The Smart Phone now sits pretty at the top of anyone’s essential gadget list.  I think this is a great position we find ourselves in, anything that aids productivity and brings us closer together, can’t be a bad thing.

The first step to making a decision is to establish what type of user you are, it’s crucial to get this right from the start, otherwise you could end up with a bad fit, particularly if you are a private/personal user as you may well be tied into a contract.  Most, if not all, of the current offerings, perform the same tasks, but to many differing levels; Blackberry is great for Email, iPhone is great for Multimedia. The type of user you are should dictate your choice. If you’re after a Multimedia experience, then it’s highly unlikely you want a Blackberry…

Obviously the ideal solution, would be an all singing, all dancing handset, unfortunately there just isn’t such a thing at present. There are clear leaders in each Mobile area, such as Email, Interface, Handset, Applications and so on, but no offering that wins everything hands down, not yet.

Nearly every techmag I’ve read recently has had a review of at least one Mobile solution, but nothing we didn’t already really know.  It’s really down to personal preference and making an informed decision.  The main contenders in the Mobile ring, are the likes of Symbian, WebOS, Apple, Android and Blackberry. Windows Mobile 7 Series isn’t available until later this year, although it looks like it will be challenging the best of the rest.

I’ve been a Blackberry and an iPhone user, and neither meets my current requirement. After reading many reviews, talking to other users and experts in the market place, it seems clear that I should be considering Android as my next solution. I’ll be watching to see what Google does with the Nexus One, I’ve read good and bad things…see what you think:

Feel free to leave comments and share your thoughts and experiences with others.

What do you use right now? What experiences have you had, good or bad? What will you be using in the future?

Posted in Gadgets, New Technology | 1 Comment »

Project Management and Social Media

Monday, March 8th, 2010

A short piece on Social Media and Project Management:

http://bit.ly/QTb66

http://projectcentric.co.uk/how_to_manage_a_camel/projectmanagement/what-do-project-managers-need-to-know-about-social-media-pmot/

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Posted in Project Management, Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media Explosion

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Wow, have you seen how many Social Media events that are in the making this year? Too many to count, is the answer to that!

I’ve scheduled to attend a local Twestival (Farnham) on the 25th March and will also be attending the Social Media Forum at Olympia in London on the 15th.  Having just read through a list of upcoming events, I thought I might give some thought to which way this bubble might go? There seem to be more and more Social Media companies, solutions, events etc, that are starting up each week (sounds very familiar, is this a second coming of the dot com bubble?).

I’m completely pro Social Media, anyone that knows me will tell you that. But I do feel that there seems to be a bandwagon mentality to the whole “scene” at the moment, nothing new, we all know that exploitation takes place in every industry… My point is this, and I’m looking at this from a commercial point of view, how are consumers to take Social Media seriously enough to buy into it, when there are so many events and companies springing up?  Are we in danger of losing value?  Should companies merge, should events merge? Should there be an overarching regulatory body?

Social Media seems to be a wild animal that needs to be tamed, even though there are well established solutions.  Helping customers to use those to benefit their business is the main objective for many companies, tapping into that new information stream and providing consumer data, client feedback, two way communication and ultimately an increase in sales.

See the event guide from Mashable.com http://mashable.com/2010/03/01/mashable-events-mar1/

Thoughts?

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »