At first, social media tended to be lumped in with any other online or digital activity carried out by external agencies. As it gained momentum some agencies (including Neoco) began to specialise and to develop strategies and tools in order to best use these new methods of communication and to track and measure results. Gradually social media evolved into Social CRM as both brands and customers began to directly engage through these new two-way channels.

Unfortunately, as the tools have become more commonplace and the activity has become more familiar, so the work carried out by the specialists in social media has become devalued. Some firms are now choosing to move their social marketing fully in-house in reaction to budget cuts and a false sense of understanding – precisely because these tools are so widely used. A basic assumption is made that just because it’s easy to register and use sites such as Facebook and Twitter it’s easy to manage a brand’s social strategy. However, this is where the problems tend to begin. Firstly, in the majority of cases social is left in the hands of the marketing team’s most junior exec. There is a false sense of belief that the younger the person is, the more ‘in touch’ they are with all things Facebook. This makes no sense as the most inexperienced person is by definition most likely to make a mistake and in social media, that mistake could be broadcast glabally within minutes.

The next common mistake is to launch into social media without any sort of long-term strategy or agenda. Without a defined goal it is impossible to put in place KPIs or other means to measure success or failure along the way. With no way to tell if anything is actually working, brands often become too tactical and forget the two-way nature of social in favour of trying to steer or control the conversation. In addition, the lack of planning often means that companies have not thought about the tone they want to adopt or set out clear guidelines for how they interact online. Online communities quickly see through brands which are trying too hard or don’t engage honestly with users and this can soon lead to further problems.

Once things do go wrong, in-house teams are often left floundering, unequipped to deal with the wide new range of potential conflicts and issues. This is the point at which the prior lack of planning can be devastating and brands can find themselves reacting overly strongly to the slightest perceived threat or criticism. Naturally this tends to make situations worse and minor mistakes can quickly escalate.

This isn’t to say that in-house teams don’t have a role to play – of course they do. They have the knowledge and the long-term planning for the brand which is key to making any strategic decisions. Social CRM is a specialised field though, and it’s important to recognise that outside experience is required to make it work and to avoid the pitfalls. It’s also important to understand that it is a continuous process building relationships and not a one-off plan to get more contacts.

At Neoco we help our clients define their Social CRM strategies right from the beginning. We help them at the initial stages of high-level planning and thinking to make sure that they are clear about their online goals and how to achieve them. Once these goals are in place we help the client to find an appropriate tone of voice and to set out the brand guidelines which will determine how and what to respond to. We can also help to train in-house resources so that moderation can be carried out by the client directly. We make sure that content is relevant and up to date to help foster two-way communications and we help to create special online activities which will keep customers engaged. Finally we track and measure the results, making sure that the client’s goal is reached and making changes where necessary. When this is over… we start again, looking at the results from the previous campaign and setting new Social CRM goals and targets. As campaigns evolve, so do client relationships with their customers, but this can only be truly achieved with the correct skills and knowledge.

Once again I was whisked away to another festival to blog, post and tweet on the activities of the day for a client.

While I was there I saw lots of brands trying to engage festival-goers to participate in a number of different, fun and ridiculous ways to get them talking about their product or service. I get what’s happening here.. Foot fall is high at festivals and organinised outdoor events so brands pay to piggy-back on this ready made audience and hopefully convey their message to them. However, does this strategy work once people start to get boozed up and inhibitions as well as memories start to deteriorate? Plus, from personal experience, revelers prioritise other attractions that got the majority of them excited in the first place – the headline acts and performances from their favourite DJ/pop/rock star.

It got me thinking which is better: virtual interactions with your audience via Social media and multiple channels with a brand or through experiential activities. Well, there’s only one way to find out, FIGHT!! No seriously, I’ve thought about the pros and cons of various strategies and I’ve come to the following conclusions..

The benefits of experiential marketing is that it can really engage audiences giving them a fuller experience through immersion into the brand concept. Plus, experiential activity has the real potential to generate genuine word of mouth recommendations, thus creating real advocates for a brand or service. However, the majority of the time this activity is very localised and the audience reach is limited to the few that are actually present at the event or gathering. The exception to this would be a planned PR stunt, which is designed to not only spark conversation but can also glean main stream media coverage (think T-Mobile flash mobs et. al.).

Commuters seemingly burst into dance during the filming of a T-Mobile commercial

Virtual and Social interactions on the other hand can involve the masses in a relatively short space of time. A good viral YouTube video for example can reach thousands of views within days if executed well. A brand has struck gold if they’ve kept their audience in mind plus triggering their evolved Social instincts to share relevant content to their peer group. With this in mind digital engagement provides a two-way dialogue so brands can react quickly to what their public is enjoying so can mobilise promotional activities, incentives and implement this across many territories. The only drawback I can think of is that you need to have a big audience to speak to and ideally have built up a large enough following for your message to not fall flat. It’s a case of that old philosophical riddle: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” In my opinion, it’s not all a numbers game as a return on engagement can be done with a few loyal fans, followers or connections providing the content that is shared is relevant and meaningful to them.

I feel that a savvy brand should incorporate the two disciplines in their marketing mix (which, by the way, our client is doing). By using the wide reach of Social media, digital tools and multiple channels in conjunction with regional experiential activity means they are getting the best of both worlds. This approach can only reinforce brand awareness and customer interaction, which hopefully for the brand, creates increased ‘talk-ability’ and real lasting memories.

The other day, Fast Company launched a great promotion idea of trying to find the most influential person in social media. After a discussion in the office, the inevitable name of Justin Bieber surfaced (the teen pop star with claims of being the most viewed on YouTube and most tweeted celeb). So, in the interest of science we ran a little challenge:

1. Create a Justin Bieber profile.
2. Get Justin in the top 20% in no more than 10 tweets.

The tweet limit was really important as the way the Influence Project works is by measuring how many people click your link – it’s reactive, not pro-active.

First we grabbed an image of his Bieberness. This one was nice with the sun and trees in the background.

Now considering the site was already monitoring more than 19,000 social media folk, who were actively messaging/spamming their contacts across Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and anything else, getting our JB to the 20% in only 10 tweets was a tall ask. But, if there is one thing I’ve learnt from this, it’s never under estimate the power of word of mouth when driven by delirious teen-bop fans and a very large lesbian fan club.

Next step was to get tweeting. For convenience, I used one of my own existing Twitter accounts. The fact I already have followers is a moot point as none of them would click to vote for Justin Bieber. I know 95% of my followers on this account personally and they are certainly not Bieber fans.

Yes, ignore my Twitter name and focus on the messaging. I think the link is still live actually.

Now all profiles on the social influence site start at zero. Unfortunately, I forgot to screengrab the profile when it was fresh but it was at zero. Create one yourself to see.

So, the profile was created at 17:00 (GMT) and tweeted twice in ten minutes. The result was climbing from rank 19,155 to 6,432. To clarify, that’s a nose-bleed climb of nearly 13,000 places… in 10 mins… in 2 tweets. That puts him in the top 34%. Pretty impressive numbers

Bieber storms up nearly 13,000 places in 10 mins!

So I then tweeted five times in the next seven minutes and saw him reach the top 18%. Target reached in seventeen minutes!

Only seven minutes later and the Biebernator is still flying!

And once more, two hours later.

Smashing all targets, Justin claims a top 15% place within half an hour of going live!

And finally, once more two hours later. This saw him climb to the top 9%.

Within a few hours of going live, Justin Bieber sits in the top 9% of the list.

What we get to see is the power of Bieber’s fan factor. That only a few tweets in a few hours can deliver thousands of click throughs and take a profile from zero to the top 9%. Whilst it was a fun ‘test’, it still leaves a lot to be considered:

• Would so many people click if it was linked to a product endorsement?
• How many of the fans even cared about the end result?
• What ratio of fans would ‘unsubscribe’ from a similar initiative?

The test was never going to answer these questions, it was just a peep under the curtain of the power of celebs in social media, within which we should also cover the power of fake celebs in social media.

The point is that whilst you may not have Justin Bieber following you, there are likely to be many influencers out there who are advocates for your brand and how many of them do you know? How many of them do you actively engage with and supply with relevant content and tools to empower their messaging about your brand?

If you want to find out more about who the key influencers are for your brand and how to better engage them then just get in touch.

PR agencies just don't get Social CRM, so they lie to win the work which ultimately fails the client, themselves and the industry at large.

PR focuses on getting a message out and achieving the widest possible reach. It’s essentially a one-way process. Transposed online, this approach boils down to an exercise in collecting the widest possible number of contacts and practically spamming them. Unfortunately, having a big address book doesn’t just create a two-way dialogue. PR firms are not equipped to go beyond shallow relationships which treat all contacts the same – but there’s nothing “social” about being put on a press release mailing list. Worse, PR agencies are often not able to deal with the fallout when things go wrong and the social tide turns against them. Numerous brands have suffered from coming across as smug, cocky or overly-aggressive as a result of seemingly innocuous Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or mobile apps.

In an attempt to win all the business, many PR agencies claim to have a Social Media team, which is often only one person... usually the one who tweets the most

True social relationships are sophisticated and hard to maintain. They require nurturing, support and constant stimulation in order to thrive, and this has to be specific and targeted to the people at the other end. No one enjoys a conversation with someone who just talks at you and doesn’t listen back or engage with what you say.

This maintenance takes specialist knowledge, skills and tools to really work. Unfortunately this is often overlooked because many of the tools are widely used and freely accessible. Too often social media is treated like a bolt-on to a PR strategy – in fact I know of at least one PR agency who told their client that they would do social media “for free”. This attitude devalues the work and knowledge of the firms who really understand what they’re doing in the social sphere and it fosters a view that if someone can build a fan page on Facebook or login to Blogger then they are fully equipped to run a firm’s social strategy.

Sadly this isn’t true. There’s a reason that good Social CRM costs money and it’s the same reason that clients don’t get their neighbour with a camcorder to make their TV ads. Knowledge and skills cost real money, but funnily enough so does damaging your brand. So next time a PR agency tries to tell you that their social media “team” can do it all for free, ask them this:

1. What experience do they have of building long-term social relationships? Can they show examples of actual two-way engagement?
2. What tools and services can they offer which are specific to the social realm? Can they measure the success of their efforts in actual results and real data – and not just give you a figure for the number of people who clicked “like”?
3. What specific technical skills do they have? How are they set-up to react to the evolution of online technology?
4. How are they equipped to dealing with customers online, especially when things go wrong? Including responses outside of ‘office’ hours?

If any of these get a blank look or a politicians answer, you know it is time to talk to someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Parts of the Neoco team celebrating my birthday

Throughout my internship of course I answered phones and made teas but I honestly didn’t mind doing all that because I got the chance to do things that most interns don’t even get near to experiencing. I went to festivals (T4 on the Beach and Lovebox) with Wii game Just Dance and Topman events, got to improve my knowledge by going to various talks by industry experts, found out that I can’t eat a jam doughnut in under a minute, was involved in brainstorm meetings and felt that what I had to say actually mattered, and made a whole bunch of new friends (whom I will miss so much) in and out of the office.

Social media support at Lovebox festival

I learned a lot in just two months, I had no industry experience before I came here and I’m happy to say that I’m leaving with more than I had hoped for. Thank you all for this amazing opportunity and making me feel part of the team and not just a random girl that came into the office for 9 weeks!

Neysa x

Snapshot of our iPhone app Inspired Lives

Inspired Lives facilitate individual and organisational transformation, creating positive and lasting change. The new app will be feeding daily inspirations that sometimes will question things, challenge you and ultimately make you look upon things in a new way. It also allows you to comment, upload your own photos or submit inspirations that may end up in the inspirations feed forwarded to the whole community.

Not only does it look fabulous, it had a high number of downloads in the first few days of launching, and we’ve received much positive feedback from users. It is exciting to see the team at Inspired Lives having conversations and touch points not only with loyal fans and customers but with new voices all around the globe. Have you been thinking about what an iPhone app could do for your brand? If so get in touch and we can discuss the opportunities.

The next step for Neoco and Inspired Lives is to develop a version of the app for Android. However, until then we offer a mobile friendly website version of the app. So go on, be inspired! Download the iPhone app today: http://bit.ly/b9EKLU (Psst, it’s for free too!)

To most people it would seem like a dream client – and it is! Harry and his crew are all great personalities, and the sport is fun and interesting so creating great digital content will be easier than normal. The sport has a large existing fan base, from which we can reach out to a much broader audience, building strong digital relationships through regular content and engagement.

As for the actual day in Wales – the experience was so much fun! It was my first time inside a rally car with a professional driver. The first few minutes were a little unnerving, especially when speeding up a to the crest of a hill that you can’t see over, not knowing where you were going to end up. Flooring it through various gates, drifting around long bends with shear drops to the side, and all in the Welsh rain made for a client kick-off day I won’t forget in a hurry. Thankfully Harry’s driving was skilful enough to bring me back in one piece.

Big thanks to Harry, Iwan, Chris, Dom and Leon. Watch this space for more HH…

Social CRM assignments rarely get any better than this!  Going to a lovely beach side festival on a summers day and posting on the goings on / activity unfolding at the event.  Pitched up by the Just Dance Disco Bus, with my laptop on a speaker and perched on a deck chair I posted, tweeted, updated and blogged about all the fun that was happening on the bus and the cool goings on around the festival.

Where will I be blogging from next…

V festival, oh yes.. Bring it on!

Find out more about the Just Dance Disco Bus by clicking here

Where you should be the last Friday of every month

The last Fashion Friday was a huge hit with the public and online community yet this  this one went even further. We arranged for several key fashion bloggers to attend the event and ran AAA competitions across numerous online destinations while we also provided a live social feed from the event.

bloggers and fashionistos everywhere

This enabled Topman fan(atic)s from around the UK and world to get an experience of the occasion as well.  Read our Fashion Friday case study to see how we work with  Topman to engage with not just their existing fans but the target audience at large.

Couldn't find a good image to represent HTML5 so went for the 'Dramatic Gopher'

But here’s the rub. HTML5 is still under development, people are still arguing over whether there should be a space between “HTML” and “5″ or not, and any current implementations could possibly change in the future. HTML5 is expected to reach Candidate Recommendation sometime in 2012, and finally become a W3C Recommendation sometime in 2022!

Having said that many browsers are implementing lot’s of the proposed features of HTML5 such as canvas, the video element, and new semantic blocks such as <nav>, <footer> and <section>

And it is the video element we are interested in here. With the popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices, sites that use a lot of video are left with a problem. They are probably using Flash to display their video, and as you may well know Flash is not supported on these devices. HTML5 video is however.

There are a number of implementations of HTML5 video around on the web, some of the best are:
Projekktor (a free HTML5 video player) ()
Video JS (we used a version of this implemention using the Vimeo skin)
SublimeVideo by Jilion (not yet available but will be free for non-commercial use)

The problem now is that while HTML5 video is supported on The latest versions of safari/firefox/opera (and the BETA of IE9), it is not yet supported by internet explorer or older versions of those browsers. We also have the issue that the different browsers support different video formats.

I won’t go into details about the difference between video formats and containers, and which browsers support which formats (see the table on Wikipedia), suffice to say, if you wanted to support HTML5 in all available browsers, you could conceivably have to upload 4 versions of every video on your site – Ogg Theora, H.264, VP8(WebM) and Flash FLV as a fallback.

If you decide that this is the route you want to go down then Camen Design have a great post entitled Video for Everybody that you should check out. I would also recommend reading the excellent video on the web article on the Dive into HMTL5 site.

We decided on a different approach for one of our clients. We didn’t want to force them to upload 4 different files for every video on the site, and we were perfectly happy with playing video through flash on the main website. We just wanted to add support for their videos on Apple’s mobile devices, the iPhone and iPad, requiring that for every video we had a Flash FLV and an MP4 version. It was then a simple case of checking the useragent and serving the MP4 via the video element to apple mobile devices, and the flash version to everyone else.

One thing to remember is that the iPhone supports a maximum video resolution of 640×480, and videos over this size do not play (Arstechnica reckon you can get away with up to a 720×576 resolution, but i’ll leave that to you to play with)

Using this simple method we can ensure that video content is accessible for everyone viewing the site, including those using Apple’s mobile devices. And this accessibility is key for engaging audiences. With so many people using mobile devices to browse now, it’s important you capture the audience when they are interested – as chances are they will not be coming back on their PC to check out that video that didn’t load on their phone.