Pinterest

Pinterest is a platform focused on visual content rather than text. Often used by industries such as photography, fashion and interior design where the visual element can more effectively portray the product than a slab of text could. Pinterest allows members to search by topic and record 'pins' they like on different boards. For example someone who is looking to revamp their home may search for interior design styles and save those which they like to their "redecorate" pinboard.

For businesses Pinterest provides an opportunity to engage with their customers in a fun way through photos which represent their product, but are not necessarily sales focused. It is a good way to build branding and a company culture. But, what are the other advantages? Images grab attention, particularly in industries where visual representations are more accurate. For a fashion brand, an image of clothing is more enticing for a consumer that the text "new stock arrived". It also breaks up your social media platforms and opens your organisation up to another group of individuals…increasing your overall brand reach.

For organisations it is also a relatively easy platform to operate on. You can easily have a folder of images ready to go for pinterest, which a staff member simply posts at certain times. There is less chance of error when posting an image alone, comparative to when text must be written, reviewed and attached to posts on other platforms.

Getting Verified!

With any level of activity on Twitter, I'm sure you've realised that a handful of accounts are verified.
What does this mean? They gave that blue tick next to their name that says…this is the real deal! I am who I say I am! But, how do you get your business verified…and why does it exist!

It doesn't take an expert to conclude that those whom have their accounts verified are often celebrities or big corporations who are at risk of being impersonated and having a whole bunch of fake accounts floating around on the internet…this means that the tick of approval is necessary for the public to distinguish what is real and what isn't. If your business is in risk of this happening…you're already on the way.

But, in saying so…for many small businesses this is extremely unlikely, however that does not mean that you should create fake accounts in order to have yours verified! All in all, build your brand, be active on Twitter and focus on positively improving your business…don't spend time worrying about being verified on Twitter and fall into the trap of publicly campaigning for verification or attempting to seem as though you have the tick of approval…it will only leave your business worse off.

Hootsuite!

Hootsuite is one of several applications that are a great aid for organisations in social media marketing. It acts as a central dashboard for your social media marketing platforms and allows easy posting between several platforms. It also has features, which allow you to organise and schedule your posts…particularly helpful for those organisations who do not have large resources to dedicate to social media marketing!

Not only does this create a one stop shop for social media platform activity, it also helps your business' posts on various social media platforms to be a lot more streamlined and consistent. Even more importantly, it provides great stats on each of your posts on each platform and helps you to review your activity with a timeline view of your activity.

A real win for both businesses who are savvy social media marketers, and those who need a hand to manage their activity!

Brilliant use of social media...

Screenshot from Treasurer Joe Hockey's Facebook page. Even the government makes use of Social Media marketing platform's and incorporating hashtags. The #Budget2015 has also taken off on Twitter and has 2399 posts on Instagram. Good use of social media marketing for such a heavily discussed topic today.

Fashion on Facebook

Fashion brands are in my humble opinion…brilliant social media marketers.

They utilise Facebook and Instagram exceptionally well to build a large client following, as well as extending their brand awareness and placing their products top of mind for consumers.

This is just one example of a Fashion Brand using social media marketing. This time, in the form of Sponsored Facebook Ads. There is also proof that their is method in the madness of social media marketing by the 519k likes they have on their Facebook page. It doesn't take a genius to conclude that is some impressive social media activity. 

Do or Die?

A continued assessment of whether a lack of participation is a death sentence…

No matter when the online revolution hit you, these days it's a pretty safe assumption that, whether business or personal, social media is a part of your everyday life. But, is not participating in Social Media Marketing do or die for your business? What really happens if you decide not to jump on the bandwagon?

As pretty well anyone conclude, the nature of your business plays a pretty large role in how deadly not being active on social media is. A clothing brand will find the buzz, accessibility and instant nature of social media much more effective and useful than that of a children's TV programme.

In some instances (like this ^) maybe social media platforms, and more so, social media marketing is unnecessary. Maybe in your business you feel that it's a waste of time and valuable resources…and maybe you're right. But, in this day and age where social media is so engrossed in our lives, is a lack of presence in this area tarnishing your brand? Does it take some of the 'shine' away from the branding and the established, well-known, permanency of your product that you have worked so tirelessly to establish? I think it does.

For businesses, social media presence is (in my opinion), as much marketing as those posts on social media which are intentionally used to market to consumers. When i say 'presence' I mean being active on social media as a brand, company or organisation not to necessarily sell your product or persuade people to enlist your services, but just a general presence of your brand. Maybe you post some humorous memes, or allow consumer's an insight into life behind the scenes. This is as much marketing as those intentional posts which say 'hey you…buy our product'. In fact, I think it's more important. How many well-established large businesses and organisations can you find that are not present on a single social media platform…my guess is not many. Do you think boost juice needs to show their followers on instagram that they make juice…probably not, they're an established brand. Their page is simply to reinforce this branding, it's a reminder that they exist and another platform for them to show you what they're about. Does this post below really tell you to hop in the car and buy a juice…no. Does it have the potential to make you do that though…yes.

The censorship debate...

To Censor or not to Censor?

For Businesses this is one of the biggest debates in regard to social media. Even the most "perfect" organisation will not always perform perfectly in each and every customer's view, and thus, each and every business will at times receive negative feedback. Of course, with negative feedback also comes positive…but, when is it okay to censor comments?

Like anything, there is debates for and against. On one hand, sometimes negative comments can stray into the realm of harassment or be rude or offending to parties involved. In these circumstances, while it is still not something that should be taken lightly…it can be a good idea to censor. On some occasions it is also necessary to remove comments for legal reasons and it can also be inappropriate to have rude and negative comments on social media platforms due to the nature of your organisation.

However, the flip side of this is the argument against censoring…is it unrealistic to remove negative comments from your social media platforms? Does this make it clear that you are merely attempting to paint a picture of a perfect organisation? In my opinion, I believe that too much censoring actually creates more of a negative image for the organisation that allowing negative comments to remain on these platforms and simply dealing with them appropriately. A negative comment that is addressed correctly and appropriately is much more effective than a negative comment that is just deleted. Providing a solid reason for why the behaviour occurred or accepting that what happened was incorrect  and then conveying that preventative actions have been put in place to ensure it does not occur again in the future, is not only more effective in terms of those reading the comments on your page but is also a step in the right direction in rectifying the tarnished relationship with the commentor. If you are able to go one step further and provide the commentor with appropriate compensation, which encourages them to publicly acknowledge and accept your apology, viewers are likely to also be more impressed than reading solely positive criticism. This is due to your ability to effectively portray that as an organisation you strive to maintain a high standard, and also follow this standard through into your customer service when things do, on occassion, go wrong.