Well done if you stopped.

If you are still reading do you ever wonder what makes it so difficult to stop? There seems to be something about the human being that makes us want to consume words – many of us seem to find it hard not to keep on pressing forward, seeking to find out what’s in the next sentence.

Perhaps this is what fuels our addiction to the (streaming) media?

It’s not just words of course. Moving images, and sound too. We watch. We listen. We consume.

In the light of some research on the use of the iPad in the home that our Insight practice is cooking up, I wondered whether we’re getting something wrong.

It took me years to give up watching TV. I still find it hard to pass a newspaper stand. And the constant chitter-chatter of the radio presenter still has an attraction even on a slow news day.

And what have I done? I’ve replaced those streams with others: Twitter, Facebook, email.

Of course, I celebrate the idea that we’ve at least loosened Big Media’s unique hold on our attention.

For a couple of years I worked in a company trying to change the way source information was delivered to consumers.

And, lo and behold, fifteen years later, a really popular app for the iPad is Flipboard – which allows the user to build their own newspaper out of their own Twitter and Facebook feeds – the totally personalised and customised newspaper dreamt of by media futurists for more than 30 years. And with content that may – or may not – be produced by a media professional; content direct from the source.

But what monster have we created? With the iPad, and the commodity-priced tablets that will follow, a way for anyone, including corporations of course, to reach directly into our homes. A way for anyone’s voice – even mine – to reach you.

And there’s the rub. What are we giving up by allowing our valuable time, our valuable headspace to be used up by the sound and fury of others voices?

Isn’t there value too in a bit of peace, a bit of quiet reflection. In staring into space. Listening to our own voices? Why the rush? What are we running away from? What are we scared of?

I know that in this new world we can create and produce too – I’m writing this post aren’t I?

But that is my problem; yours is that you are reading it.

So stop entertaining yourself to death. Why not go and sit quietly? Eat a peach? Ride a bike? And enjoy.

It was one of those gigs where you are given a topic to cover and you have to adhere to that brief.

My presentation was about Facebook and my remit was to examine the ways that Facebook could be used in the construction industry to drive brand recognition and revenue.

Basically, I had to talk about how the construction industry could use Facebook for 40 minutes.

My first thought was “Yikes! What am I going to say here?” (I know next to nothing about the construction industry).

As I started to research the topic and look for examples of how the construction industry is already using Facebook, my heart sank even lower; case studies of Facebook groups and pages in this industry are few and far between.

So, I took a step back and began to think about why the construction industry might want to consider Facebook as a marketing channel.

Quite frankly, the stats speak for themselves.  Facebook has 19M active users in the UK and 44% of these are over 30 years of age.

That’s a massive amount of people and the demographic is hugely inclusive.

Even for a niche industry the potential audience is still bigger than you might find any other single network.

That convinced me that Facebook was certainly worth considering as a marketing channel for the construction industry but I still wasn’t convinced about Facebook’s value as a B2B comms. channel.

Again, I went back to basics and started to think about what Facebook offered.

The bottom line is that it lets businesses simply and easily create a presence which they can use to engage with an audience and create a dialogue with them (for free).

Also, Facebook forces people to be authentic – unlike other social spaces, when you create a profile in Facebook you use your real name.  And when you create a business presence in Facebook, you use your personal profile to do this.

This actively supports B2B communication, which is about one-to-one relationships– Facebook offers businesses the opportunity to create connections with real people AS real people.

So far so good, but the next question was how could the construction industry engage with their audiences?

Like I said, I’m no expert on the construction industry (they build stuff, right?) but once I started to think about the kinds of reasons why someone might want to connect with a business, I realised that these apply to all industries.

Bingo, I had my presentation – and my core message.

Which is (in less than 140 characters, as is the current twend):

Facebook has lots of users and offers tools to help you reach them.  Work out who you want to reach and what they want.  Give it to them.

My summary slide here shows the variety of ways in which you can engage and give value to people on Facebook but why not check out my full presentation to see how you can put this in to practice?

At the end of my presentation (which, I am relieved to say, was well received), some of the companies I spoke to still had concerns about using Facebook in this way – it just isn’t seen as a viable tool for B2B marketing.

That’s OK.  It’s not my job to sell Facebook to you.

What is important is that you are aware of its potential for business and its place in your social media toolkit so you can make an informed decision.  And I really believe that this applies whatever business you are in!

The five aspects of the deal I picked out for marketers to be aware of are:

1. ‘Real-time’ is the social media soup du jour
2. FriendFeed is a stepping-stone between Facebook and Twitter
3. Google and Facebook are fighting it out
4. Discovering content needs more than Google Search
5. Conversations happen around content

If you’re not familiar with FriendFeed so much, or want to think about what the deal means for the bigger picture, check out the piece. (This piece is for digital marketers so if you’re some kind of sick gnarly social media black-belt you probably don’t need it – you need other things, like daylight and poetry).

This social web thing. It’s hard to keep up, no? Sheesh :)

Hitwise data released yesterday shows that Twitter has continued its inexorable rise in popularity, with UK internet visits to the micro-blogging site up by six times since the beginning of the year – leading to its entry into the top 50 UK websites for the first time.

Whilst the name Twitter and all its related Tweet-isms might be breeding ennui in some jaded marketers, it’s also the case that according to Hitwise this site is receiving

‘more UK internet visits than the Daily Mail, RightMove, MSN UK Search, Directgov, and all retail websites – with the exception of eBay, Amazon UK, Play.com and Argos’

- all of which probably pay large parts in many traditional online media plans.

Not only is that a whole lot of eyeballs but Twitter is also proving to be a valuable referrer of traffic. Hitwise reports:

‘As well as being the 50th most visited website in the UK, it was also the 36th biggest source of traffic to other websites in the UK during March’.

All this activity has lead to a rapid growth in the amount of attention paid to Twitter in companies’ marketing strategies, according to Econsultancy’s UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report, released last week. Compared to last year’s 3%, this year 49% of marketers cited in the report are including Twitter in their social media marketing mix.

Ideally this new focus on Twitter would be part of a holistic social media marketing strategy with the tool being chosen to fit the target audience and set objectives – not just a bit of ‘me too’ activity. Sadly the same report carries evidence that this might not be the case – 19% of respondents aren’t tracking their activity at all and 49% have admitted that they have no idea how successful or otherwise their campaigns have been.

So, we can see that there are sound reasons for brands to engage with Twitter – but it’s essential to first identify a clear purpose for the activity, alongside a set of objectives against which you can then measure your success and justify your investment.

Do you have a project that you would like to discuss with us? Or perhaps you know someone who is thinking about how to implement their digital strategy for 2009 and could do with some useful, actionable input and direction?

If so, we are running a limited edition special offer to help you shine online.  Check it out.

If we can’t be of assistance or if you are not satisfied with the results then we will send you a delicious cake from the lovely Brighton cake boutique Choccywoccydoodah.  Mmm, how can you refuse such a tasty proposal?

“And if you want to know a little bit more about our practice areas and service offerings then check out our “What we do page”.  This will give you guys, the wonderful NixonMcInnes audience, a little more information about the kind of work we are helping folks with.

Just so you know in case it is still not clear; we are a full service agency; this means that not only can our skilled social media consultants help you apply social media to your marketing strategy and help you use this medium to plan specific campaigns, but the consultants are backed up by a fully formed delivery team made up of talented developers and designers able to make your ideas for websites, widgets, applications, blogs, social media press rooms and anything else web wise a reality. You can even get to know the team in advance.

So go on, book your conversation with us now, we are ready, poised to listen to your challenges and lend a hand; guaranteed!

Just e-mail or pick up the phone:

ruth@nixonmcinnes.co.uk

01273 648315.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks to EpicFireworks for the image.

Just a quick post to let you know we will be attending the following events over the next couple of months.

If you are also going or planning to go, don’t forget to come and find us to say hello!

09/03/09 – Social Networking World Forum
Will is speaking on a panel at 15.15 about integrating social media into your traditional marketing strategy.

31/03/09 – IDM B2B Conference
Will is speaking in the afternoon on the subject of why B2B Marketers should engage with social media and how to do it.

01/04/09 – Search Marketing World, Dublin
Will again, this time he is in attendance speaking on the subject of Social Media Marketing: Redefining the Customer.

Should you want to book Will or any of our other social media experts to speak at your event, please get in touch with me, Ruth Baker, Marketing Co-ordinator to discuss the possibilities.

Thanks to Oskay for the photo – http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/

We have been busy at NM Towers with the help of our friends at Hotwire contributing to articles and generally getting ourselves and our opinions out and about on the social media scene.

Here is a round up of the recent press we have been contributing to since the New Year; I hope you find this interesting, please feel free to comment.

Jan-09 – Revolution Magazine – ‘Social Networks Must Prove Their Worth’

Will’s comment in response to the call for social networks to prove their worth to investors and advertisers in 2009…

-    What does 2009 hold for social networks?
-    Is it a case of monetise or die?
-    Have social networks mistakenly focussed on growing their user base rather than generating revenue?

02-02-09 – BBC Radio 4 – iPM

Jenni was interviewed for a Radio 4 podcast featuring passionate debate from across the web with Eddie Mair.  Unfortunately I can not find the sound bite online, however I can give you an overview of what the interview was about below.

As UK workers woke up to several inches of snow on early on a February Monday morning they naturally turned to the web to look for up-to-date weather reports and travel bulletins.  With what seemed like the majority of the UK going online at the same time, traditional web sites began to falter and strain under the weight of so many people accessing their data.

Queue the social web and sites that enable dynamic conversation like Twitter.  Are these the places that people will turn to in future to get the real time information they need?

04-02-09 – Anna’s comments included in an article for TechRadar.com

On Facebook’s fifth birthday Anna gave her thoughts on how the social network has impacted the internet and how new audiences are being brought online.

Five Years on what is Facebook’s future?

24-02-09 – Will in the Argus

Following on from Will’s now famous interview on the BBC, our local Brighton newspaper; The Argus picked up on the story and ran a nice article about it.

25-02-09 – Letter to the Editor in Marketing Magazine

Will’s response to an article written by Alan Mitchell who wrote an opinion piece suggesting that marketers shouldn’t focus on social networks but should turn their attention to community-based advice sharing websites like moneysavingexpert.com.

Thanks to just.Luc for the photo – http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/

Yesterday started like any other day at NixonMcInnes; Will was running the ever popular Measurement Camp when he was suddenly pulled aside by our friends at Hotwire and asked if he would like to provide comment on the breaking news that Facebook had decided to change their terms of service and implement an ‘irrevocable’ licence to do exactly what they want with your content.  Facebook have now returned to their previous terms of use after tens of thousands of users said it breached their right to privacy.  Controversial eh?  So controversial that the BBC picked up on the story and invited Will to comment.  We naturally, jumped at the opportunity, it’s not every day you get to be on the BBC after all.  15 minutes of fame at last.

So Will had to leave Measurement Camp early (apologies to all of those in attendance and thanks to those who were left to wrap up the morning session) and was whisked over to Television Centre in White City where he was interviewed for the BBC lunchtime news.

Back in Brighton, the NixonMcInnes office and various members of the Twitter community eagerly waited to watch him on the TV.

Check out the Twitter chatter that’s been going on; NB this content is liklely to be out of date in a couple of weeks time.

Such an exciting and memorable day, we simply had to shout about it.

We are very proud of our Will, well done and many thanks goes out to Robin Wilson at McCann Erickson for the lead and to Hotwire for securing the opportunitty and organising Will on the day.

View Will’s stellar performance.

Jenni recently spoke at an event held by Fresh Business Thinking on the subject of internet marketing and more specifically how small businesses can start to engage with social media and some practical tips of how to get going with your digital strategy.

See the video and view the accompanying slides for a breakdown of:

- five easy tips to get you started with social media
- some examples of how we have been using these approaches with our own clients
- a list of must reads for those bookworms who want to know more

Like what you see?  Sign up to receive more of Jenni’s and our collective wisdom from our range of free, no nonsense ebooks for marketers.

Would you like to book Jenni to speak at your event?  Please get in touch with me, Ruth Baker, Marketing Co-ordinator to discuss the possibilities.

I wrote this for a magazine but they didn’t use it so here it is!

Traffic…

1. No one likes traffic

In the real-world ‘traffic’ is noisy, dangerous, ugly. Perhaps we need to re-think what we mean by traffic online. To me, ‘traffic’ speaks of dumb online consumers, churning their way through life, whizzing, rushing, like clones, sheep, lemmings. Do we really want traffic to our websites?

I don’t think so – I don’t think the CEO, or the CMO, or the Ecommerce Director really wants traffic – they want conversions, results and business.

And increasingly those results that they seek come not from dumb flows of traffic but from real, high-quality engagements.

The first job you have is to start the journey of reframing your team and your agency from the endless pursuit of commoditised streams of traffic to getting everyone understanding the value of the result, and the engagements that lead to that result, over a treadmill like addiction to eyeballs, clicks, and uniques.

2. Make a less leaky bucket

In these uncertain times, one of the best things you can do is work harder with the traffic you’ve already got. Most websites leak results by turning consumers off, who quickly leave for the next competitor’s website.
Through guerrilla user testing, reviewing analytics regularly and using low cost marketing tools like email marketing to drive better results through the assets you’ve already paid for, you can make a less leaky bucket. Instead of buying gallons more traffic, instead get your online assets to work harder for you with the traffic you already achieve.

3. Get others to do the work

The smartest global brands have finally got social media, and often the bit that made the most sense to them was the opportunity to reduce costs AND increase engagement and brand benefits by giving consumers the platforms and permission to do the work for them. With our client T-Mobile we haven’t created (yet) a big fat website to drive traffic – we have instead mapped and then engaged with people online who are passionate about the topics that T-Mobile cares about. The result is that these online influencers take the photos and publish them, create the 30 minute videos and edit and publish them, and create the buzz and interest on T-Mobile’s behalf. Too many online marketers still take too much responsibility, and haven’t realised that the enthusiastic communities’ online want to participate – help them to do the work for you and everyone wins.

4. Fish where the fishes are

If online ‘traffic’ does exist, and we think of it as the combined time spent online of the target market, then it’s clear that this traffic is ‘out there’. It’s in the communities, forums, social networks and other social spaces online.  Rather than assuming that to get your desired business results you need them to come to your website (the ‘driving traffic’ bit) why not explore the big brand case studies on how new tools and techniques can drive results out their on the network? I’m thinking of widgets specifically here. Our client Oxfam fished where the fishes are, and enabled Facebook members to install a widget that virally communicated their engagement with the campaign, but also allowed others to sign up directly through the widget. The result happens out there, on the web, not on your website, but does it matter if the goal is met?

5. Always be trialling

In American sales literature there’s a phrase: ‘Always Be Closing’. For online marketers it should be tattooed: ‘Always Be Trialling’. Online habits and behaviour change so quickly that as online marketers to effectively drive traffic and therefore results, we need to be constantly changing the mix. Have you tried publishing carefully tailored RSS feeds? Have you tried engaging in forums? Have you tried talking to bloggers? Have you tried creating a simple widget? Have you tried recycling product photos on photosharing websites? Always be trialling.

Photo courtesy of – http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbrink/752862951/