H&M have undertaken a very central-lead approach to social media that means that most of the activity and all of the messaging comes straight out of the head office in Stockholm.  This has also meant that instead of starting up separate Facebook fan pages for each and every nation where they have a presence they run an international fan page that brings together all nationalities (do I need to mention that the language used is English?).

High quality video content from H&M

However, the pictures is slightly different if you have a peak at Twitter, where they have multiple accounts representing different countries including Norway, Israel, Spain, Canada, US… the list is long.  If you look at these channels the following is very different, and the UK based page has only 2,500+ followers (much lower than rivals such as River Island, All Saints and Topman/Topshop).  Why do you think that this is?  My take is that they use Facebook as a hub for activity and information, whereas Twitter is a more tactical channel that will benefit from using the local languages of the different markets.

I especially like their approach to video, and how they update their website and YouTube channels with regular and high quality content (H&M Fashion Video’s) from around the globe.  By glancing at views these are much appreciated by the fans and followers.

Shop H&M online in the UK this autumn

This autumn H&M will start selling clothes online to the UK market, which currently is only available to a limited number of countries (Scandinavia and a few select).  Further, they will introduce a new collection called ‘H&M Home’ with affordable fashion gear for your home – leopard print towels, sheets and cushions in current colors, lace curtains and more.  Do you think it will be well received?

Social media is increasing becoming a factor in how brands communicate with their customers.  The facts are hard to ignore:

- Facebook has over 400 million users worldwide

- 40 per cent of the UK population is on Facebook

- 2.5 million active Twitter users in UK

- Over 30 million tweets per day

- YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world

These are just a few of the social networks out there and there are many more…   However, you don’t have to be signed up to all of them to effectively communicate with your public.  Three regularly updated, channels are better than nine neglected social platforms.  Once you’ve established what social channels best reach your target audience, outlined below are a few tips to get the best out of what’s out there.

5 Social Media Top Tips

Keep updating

Creating a profile page is the first step, not the last.  Content needs to be refreshed, statuses updated, keep on top of it and you’ll find it becomes part of your marketing day.  Even better still is a customised page for your brand that keeps your visual presence uniform on various social websites.

Tone of voice

Social media is an opportunity relate to your audience in a more direct and open way.  Often it’s the personality of the brand or the more human qualities that distinguish your posts from other brands, and in turn will get you a reaction or comment from your audience.  This form of authenticity is in a sense a conversation rather than a lecture or company statement.  Plus you only have 140 characters (for Twitter) so make them count..

Don’t keep talking about yourself

Keep your communication varied and interesting.  You don’t have to keep pitching your product or service, as this can get repetitive and may switch people off your updates.  Remember not all news is newsworthy to your audience.  Do your followers or fans want to know about your admin issues?  Probably not, however they may want to know about a new innovation in the industry or a funny viral video that relates to your line of work.

Use multimedia platforms

Social video websites like YouTube are a great way of demonstrating how a product works in its optimum context.  This can aid the marketing efforts no end if produced correctly and with a bit of imagination.  Plus these videos can receive valuable feedback as well as integrate with other social platforms.

Make all your channels work for you

Combine the reach and high usage on Facebook with the status updates of twitter.  Also post YouTube videos of events or product demonstrations on your Facebook page.  Your social media can work together to provide a cohesive message for all you’re company communications.

Here at Neoco we can identify, consult and look after your businesses social media requirements.   Having worked with leading brands like Topman, Nationwide and Ubisoft – we can help you get in on the social act!

After being selected as the Twitter logo, Kevin the bird piled on the pounds (dollars)

Yeah, I know. That title is pretty cool huh? Twitter is catching up as a sales channel but I switch the ‘catching’ with ‘ka-ching’ (the sound of money ringing the tills). I’m certain my talent as a newspaper headline writer is lost in this job. Anyway, the twittering right now is about Sony Vaio generating £1m in sales from their Twitter channel.

Quite a few people have picked up on this and response seems to be quite mixed. Many figures are taking it with a pinch of salt but it’s not that much of a stretch. This is a global channel and part of their integrated marketing and PR. From our own experience with clients we’ve delivered social campaigns with a crazy high sales ROI, that if you scaled up to the Vaio activity would be substantially higher. A good example would be our work for Topman… but Sir Phil Green would likely slap me if said any more than that. Needless to say that the main costs are in the set up and once you have a critical mass, directing traffic, response and importantly sales becomes easier and increasingly more effective.

interaction vs proximity graph

Brands are no longer able pitch the credentials of their products to the current social media generation. Push is almost out, but pull is sky rocketing in. Buyers and consumers want trusted and real information from people like themselves and know where to go, to get it. They need it stamped as trustworthy and good for usage (with extra features) not by any company that dreamed up the slogan at a coffee shop meeting, but by the members of a social network that they can see, interact with, and most importantly something that they chose to join. They all have an appetite for the real interaction that generate buzz in which they are a part of. Facebook’s 350 million user posts and its shared 3.5 Billion different content per week, is what these consumers want.

Talk about a lot of possible brand awareness and brand management. People know the members of their social media networks and trust what they have to say. They can access all this information quickly and easily to help them learn about the product, and step into a shop knowing more about the goods compared to the shopkeeper himself.

Social media is about investing in relationships that create more economic value than they cost. It is about engaging with the people who decide whether to buy or not buy what you are selling, like it or dislike it, recommend it or trash it, and even to mould it or to throw it out the window.

A great (and very fun) way to show the power of social media marketing is to enter “(BRAND NAME) sucks” into Google. Put into consideration the fact that around 80% of the information read on the Internet today is not read on the site that it was originally published, but through social media, the word is spread to different websites, blogs, forums and networks. It is no longer just a fad for kids or a way to spread the word about your fart app; social media is evolving as a powerful and a fast paced low-cost, high-reward tool for making the sales, turning profits and taking home the big prize.  The price tag is appealing and it is no holds barred.

Channel Chanel

User-generated content is key to social media and fashion. From blogs to Facebook photo contributions to product reviews, the user-generated content is at its apex. One of the most notable and consistent campaigns that are built around user-generated content and social media has been from the brand Charlotte Russe, The brand’s weekly trivia contest on it’s Twitter channel or virals from their YouTube channel, drives the consumers to their website with the high hopes of snagging some great prizes.

Another great example of user-generated content used is Burberry’s Art of the Trench site. The people are encouraged to upload photos of themselves wearing Burberry’s signature style, the trench coat. Burberry is on a roll when it comes to online advertising to showcase their goods.

Moving into 2010, brands and retailers will be delving deeper into social media to reach online audiences. Digital and e-commerce launches of new products have also been a popular way for brands to keep costs low in a tough economy for luxury products. A variety of mobile platforms have taken off as brands, magazines, and web sites to develop apps with the goal of extending their online presence and widening the distribution channels.

When it comes to developing apps, fashion brands are some of the fastest out of the blocks. Chanel shows its runway collections via iPhone app, and the Gilt Groupe app allows users to shop sample sales and receive alerts as to when sales are starting. Guilt free apps to download for the stylish brand hunter! We’re currently developing iPhone and Blackberry apps for fashion brands around London Fashion Week.

The future of fashion is in digital marketing, not only have these brands started to win over the consumers through social media campaigns, but are starting to create their own niche groups. Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and other major league heavy hitters in the fashion industry have launched their own social networks or added social components to their existing web sites. Or in the case of TOPMAN, we’ve worked to build their community over existing social networks and channels to lighten the load on the brand and keep things relevant to their audience.

It’s been a tough education, but we start to see less one-way discount promotions, and more genuine interaction between the brand and the people, it makes everyone happier and allows sales to boost, with satisfaction of personally acquainting yourself with who you are purchasing your new outfit from.

Grandma loves Tweet(y)

Some still struggle to see the point of being on Twitter. Because how could a simple 140 character platform bring any sort of value whether for your personal social life or for an multinational organisation? Yet many others will say that their Twitter account is their claim to fame, others again will show how the platform has developed their brand, introduced them to their clients and now function as their main port of contact with the surrounding world.

There is no doubt that lies great value in identifying what types of people use different social media channels, how they use them, when and why. Reports from 2008 (PEW Internet and American Life Project) presented a picture of how the younger Internet users, 18-24-year-olds, were more likely than any other age group to be found on Twitter. Back then, users aged 50+ accounted for somewhere in the region of 4% of the total usage.

But as Twitter continues to see an incredible growth rate we see tendencies for more mature users turning to the site. Recent research issued by Nielsen Online confirms that twice as many 50-64-year-olds than 18-24-year-olds in the UK are now using the platform. This shift is visible throughout the whole user population. Today, the 50+’s account for over 22% of the entire Twitter audience, making them the second most frequent user group after the 35-49-year-olds (33%).

Check out Ivy Bean who is 105 years old and tweeting away – to 50,000+ followers!

So what is it with Twitter that attracts the 50+’s? Are the younger users loosing interest? What are the implications for organisations? Is this an opportunity for new types of businesses and industries to join? These and many more questions answered by getting in touch with us at Neoco towers. We are helping brands communicate and engage this audience already.

1. You follow them
2. TrueTwit sends you a direct message
3. You click link to confirm you are real
4. You complete irritating Captcha
5. They then allow you to follow them

Such a pain in the arse as I’m getting TrueTwit come up on about 1 in 6 follows now – which means soon it will be one in 5… 4… 3… then everyone will have it. Soon, there will be a script/ robot/ platform to respond to TrueTwit to prove you are a human (or a spammer). Soon there will be something new. Soon we will have robots talking to scripts, talking to robots to prove we are human. Until then, join me in Beloved Raping… sorry, I mean the joy of robots throwing out random words.

habitat look to Iran to help boost sales!

Furniture retailer Habitat has come under fire after it spammed Twitter users through the use of hash tags.

The retailer had been using hash tags, which help users track conversations on the microblogging site, to promote marketing messages that had no relevance to the topics used.

The company’s Twitter feed, HabitatUK, was putting out marketing messages such as ‘Our totally desirable Spring collection now has 20% off!’ on Friday, using tags such as #mms, #Apple, #iPhone and even used an Iranian election hashtag #Mousavi.

The brand pulled all the messages the next day and replaced them with standard marketing and sales tweets, but many members of Twitter had already seen the messages and publicly spoke of their annoyance.

A spokeswoman at Habitat said, “This was a mistake which we’re looking into. What’s important to us is that we always listen, take on board observations and welcome constructive criticism. We will do our utmost to ensure any mistakes are never repeated.”

Rhys Willians, managing partner at Agenda21, said it was another example of a big brand poorly executing a social media idea.

“In its response it has also gone for corporate behaviour, which doesn’t really work,” he said. “It made a mistake. There’s a general acceptance from Twitter users that it won’t operate for free and that there are going to be ads, but brands need to know what they’re doing and execute it correctly.”

Antony Mayfield, head of social media at digital agency iCrossing, said brands need to understand social networks before using them for marketing.

“You need to understand your networks and Habitat understood on a technical level but not on a social level,” he said. “Brands also have to understand that just because it happened on a social network doesn’t mean people outside it won’t know about it too.”

This has just been picked up by the news sites and featured on NMA,

Twitter is so important there right now that Biz Stone announced that they are moving the planned maintenance to tomorrow to allow citizens in Iran to communicate with one another. It’s a pretty big step from the social networking site, and also follows on from the #cnnfail hash tag, criticising the broadcasters lack of coverage of the elections.

It’s all pretty exciting stuff and following on from our last post, highlights the power of social networking sites can have in the real world.

Another satisfied tweeter!

But Paul’s real motivation behind it was to get people thinking. What he has done is show how social media can react in a very short space of time to real word events and how social networking tools aren’t just about small bits of information that are bound to remain digital. Tiny tweets can make real things happen! If you want more info on how Neoco can help your brand react to whatever you may be facing, please get in touch with Neoco!

Read the whole article here
Follow paul @Paul_Clarke