How Much Is A Social Media Manager Worth?

Let’s start this time with some statistics:-

Social networks earned an estimated $8.3 billion from advertising in 2015

38% of organizations spent more than 20% of their total advertising budgets on Social Media channels in 2015, up from 13% the previous year

 91% of retail brands use 2 or more Social Media channels

 What those figures tell us is that Social communication is now an essential and effective part of any marketing strategy or business plan. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and lately Instagram and Snapchat are transforming the way businesses and organisations talk to and build relationships with their customers, clients, stakeholders and supporters.

So if these digital channels are so essential and effective why, in so many cases, when you see Social Media Manager jobs (or similar) advertised you are lucky if you see the salary on the right side of £20,000 pa.

If the content created on our Social channels works so well with not unreasonable financial rewards why are businesses reluctant to pay a more attractive and substantial wage to those responsible for bringing their platforms to life?

I have a theory…….go on admit it, you thought I might.

I will give you an analogy from my radio past, I think it’s relevant. We used to give away tickets to live concerts on a very regular basis. Sometimes tickets to see some of the biggest and best-selling artists in the world and the response to take part to try and win these coveted prizes was always nothing short of enormous. Yet, on many occasions we would discover post-event that a portion of our ticket winners hadn’t bothered going to the very event they’d won a ticket to attend.

It’s all about perceived worth. If you have a free ticket and the weather’s a bit poor, you’re feeling a bit tired or you simply can’t be bothered to make the effort to put on a clean shirt then you can simply make the decision not to go. You haven’t lost a bean.

If those same tickets have cost you £45 each you will make sure that come hell or high water you’ll be there. The freebies have no worth, while the paid-for tickets do because your bank account is a little emptier.

My theory is because Social Media has become part of everyday life –  2.3 billion people are active Social platform users – it’s a hobby, a pastime, a way to pass an hour scrolling through gossip, videos and any number of other things that pass before our eyes, its value as a business tool is sometimes underestimated and undervalued.

I have dealt with many businesses and organisations who have used Social and been disappointed with the returns they’ve seen, or rather not seen. No engagement, no traction for their content and certainly no ROI for the time spent on their digital channels. In almost all cases the reason for this under par outcome is their approach and attitude towards the media.

The number of times I’ve heard “we let Julie do our Social Media because she has Facebook”. And they wonder why it’s not working.

The way you use Social for your personal and private use is totally different from a strategic, targeted business approach and I content this is causing a muddying of the waters when it comes to placing a value on someone’s job. Perception is reality and sometimes it’s very difficult to change that.

I should add as we close that this is not always the case, there are businesses who clearly value those who create and produce their Social content and reward them appropriately, as they should. I do despair though when I see job adverts for a Social Media position which in many cases pay less than £20,000 pa for a full-time position.

So what do they expect? What calibre of applicant do they think they’ll get?

I accept that we can’t all be wheeling home barrowfuls of cash at the end of each working week. However, all I ask is that those who hold the purse strings while accepting Social communication and marketing as essential in business, reward those responsible for carrying out the jobs in a way which reflects its importance.

2 Words To Improve Your Social Customer Service

A strange thing just happened……………….

That’s a good opening line, straight out of “50 Great Opening Lines For Your Blog”.

Anyway, a strange thing did just happen. I started to write this blog and came across one written by Ian Anderson Gray entitled:-

Stop Saying Thank You on Social Media & Say Something Meaningful!

He had based this on a similar blog by Mark Schaefer who is probably the Social and Marketing expert I respect more than any other. However, on this subject I have to disagree with the great man.

Saying “Thank You” is easy, just two little words that take but a second to say and type but to the recipient can make all the difference.

I always say it has never been easier to provide gold-standard customer service using Social communication. Conversely you could argue it has never been easier to get it wrong, and business and organisations do, time and time again.

Part of a successful customer service strategy is some appreciation when a customer or stakeholder does something which benefits you as the service provider. One of the great parts of Social Marketing is the ability to turn customers, clients and supporters into “Brand Ambassadors”. Those people who will fly the flag for you on the Social web, extol your qualities and if you’ve really built a solid relationship with them, defend you when you’ve received negativity.

Think of saying “thank you” as a deposit into your “Goodwill” account. Each time you are appreciative of an act of Social interaction and engagement the account grows richer. The benefit here is that when you need to deal with a troublesome situation you can withdraw from this “Goodwill” account and hopefully resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction.

According to a 2014 study published in the “Emotion” publication thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship. Isn’t that the whole premise of Social communication? To develop strong and long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

When I was managing a team of people in the radio business I tried to pass some of the customer service practices I had developed. One of these was taking time at the end of the day to respond to anyone who had engaged with me during the day if I hadn’t the chance to already do so. It took a matter of minutes but it kept the “Goodwill” account topped up. In my case it helped me become the most listened to commercial radio presenter in Wales for the best part of a decade.

Of course “Thank You” can be just that, two little words said in appreciation of an act or comment. It can also be more than that:

A positive comment on a blog

A comment or a share on another Social platform

An endorsement of your expertise on LinkedIn

A testimonial for your website or YouTube channel

A review of a product or service

And so it goes………..

I thoroughly recommend an excellent on this subject. It’s “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuck. It describes how social media has changed the way we do business and how consumers want to be appreciated for their business. By expressing your gratitude towards them online publicly shows that you do care.

It’s well worth a read.

And er….by the way……thank you for reading.

How Iceland Foods also won at Euro 2016

I was speaking recently at the Digital 2016 event at the Celtic Manor Resort and talked about the benefits of using Twitter for business. I spoke about the ability to use the platform to give a business or organisation a voice and a personality.

There are those who say that a brand cannot be “human” and in broad terms I agree. What gives a business it’s “voice” are the people who create the content and in customer service terms (for this is where that ability to be “real” can be of huge benefit), those who communicate with customers or clients. They are the ones who hold the power.

I write about this because I was impressed by some of the content that Iceland Foods came up with on Twitter during and after the Euro 2016 game last night between England and Iceland.

As soon as the tie was confirmed it was obvious that this was a gold-plated marketing opportunity for the business.

Which is exactly what they did

I don’t know how many people were involved in the process of monitoring and responding on their Twitter platform but it shows a willingness to enter into the spirit of moment while also replying to genuine business communications in a timely and professional manner. If there was a team of people involved then it shows a clarity of brand values and tone of content which is to be applauded.

This was my favourite tweet of the evening

At the time of writing it had received almost 30,000 re-tweets. It also provoked the perfect response in one case.

It is an excellent case study of creative Social communication and customer service and shows the benefits of throwing oneself into an occasion with maximum commitment. I’m sure that there is more to come when they face France in the quarter finals but a tie against one of the home nations was a prime opportunity, particularly given the result.

One of the important things to remember is that you don’t stop when the event is over. I have seen so many businesses pack up the Social shop as soon as it’s all done when there will usually be ample chance for follow up interaction.

All this excellent work clearly stems from a cohesive and firm Social strategy. This is what enables a business or organisation to become “human” and interact in a creative, entertaining and responsible way. Employee Advocacy is a good thing and should be encouraged, although there should be guidelines and safeguards against a “free for all”. It is important that employees and stakeholders buy in to the Social environment and through creating and sharing content become Brand Ambassadors. The communications between Iceland and its customers on Twitter over the last few days will have been shared tens of thousands of times and all of them positive.

There are some customer service headlines we can take away from the way Iceland have used their Twitter channel during Euro 2016.

BUILD CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS – A lot of businesses fail to maximise the potential of Social by just using their digital platforms as another marketing channel. It’s easy to build relationships by engaging in conversation, at all times, not just during promotions or when forced to do so.

CREATE A POSITIVE CUSTOMER BASE – Social Media is now the first stop for many people to report a negative experience. Providing gold-standard service at all times will cut down on the number of times you have to respond to a disgruntled customer. A solid and loyal customer base will often advocate for you when they see negative comments posted.

SOCIAL IS REFLECTIVE OF YOUR BUSINESS – However good you are at responding to Social comments, your customer service will ultimately rest on how well you run your business. If all is well and you have a happy and satisfied customer base that is what will be reflected on the Social web. Conversely, Social channels are the perfect tool to amplify bad experiences.

It has never been easier for businesses to provide top quality customer service at all times. This week Iceland Foods showed exactly how it should be done. Well done to all concerned.

 

 

Do You Use Social In Your Recruitment Process?

This time we’re talking about using Social Media in the recruitment process and there are a number of aspects in the search for new staff that your digital channels can help with.

Let’s start with the use of Social platforms as a way to research background information on applicants, in my opinion a perfectly legitimate tactic. I have spoken to young people about how their digital footprint may affect employment opportunities in the future and in some instances find they feel it an imposition and an unfair practice. I think this is a modern mindset of a generation who deem it normal to publish their life online without the thought for protecting their privacy yet feel somehow hard done by when told that some aspects of their content could be detrimental to future prospects.

Using digital platforms to garner extra info on applicants is no different to what used to happen when businesses I’ve worked for discovered that a member of staff knew or had worked with an applicant for a current vacancy. You would ask their opinion of the person in question and would take that assessment of their positives and negatives into account.

Why wouldn’t you?

It should be noted however that employers be aware of context and time when carrying out checks on a candidate’s Social channels as both are important aspects to take into account. There is also the responsibility to follow legal guidelines on discriminating unfairly against a candidate after discovering information about them online.

It is worth noting the success that international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has achieved using their Social channels, primarily LinkedIn, for recruitment. This is despite not setting up a LinkedIn channel until 2014. The company reported that their first recruitment ad on that platform saved them £10,000 in recruitment fees followed by a further £200,000 saving over the next 6 months.

They saw a 400% increase in followers over the same time and now use LinkedIn as their primary recruitment channel. This the reward for focussing on a site where they knew the talent of the future was looking to make contacts for future reference and employment.

Research carried out last year by Recruitment Box found that in 2010, 78% of recruiters were using LinkedIn to find candidates. 5 years later that percentage had risen to 95%. Similarly, 2010 saw just 14% of recruiters posting jobs on Twitter, it has also climbed to 95%. The potential for employee referrals on Twitter has also risen from 16% in 2010, to 93% in 2015.

This is an area that recruiters clearly see as very beneficial to finding the right candidate for their vacancies with 70% of them saying that they plan to increase their investment in social recruiting.

As with every aspect of Social interaction the base of it all is communication, a two way process. While you may be using your Social channels to advertise for and vet future employees, those people are also looking at your business and how your digital platforms represent you.

A company’s “talent brand” is being spoken of more and more of late. This is how their mission statement, vision and corporate culture are perceived on the social web. This plays a significant part in reducing a business’ hire costs and its ability to attract quality candidates. You can keep on top of this by ensuring that your Social channels portray a consistent business message in words, pictures or both.

You should make an effort to foster a workforce of “Brand Ambassadors”. Encourage your staff to talk about their positive experience of life at work on their own social channels, while also sharing the business’ content and success stories. According to a 2014 survey from Monster, 65% of respondents would consider an opportunity for a new job if they learned about it from a personal connection.

It has never been easier for businesses and organisations to build an exciting, vibrant image for themselves in the digital world and the more ways you can find to keep your Social platforms full of interesting, positive content the better when you are searching for new talent.

SOCIAL LISTENING – Sometimes it’s good to stop talking and start listening

Communication is as much about listening as it is talking and Social is no exception. The amount of content being created and published on a daily basis is huge, take a look a snapshot of daily life on the Social web.

Each minute there are:-

600,000 logins on Facebook

67,000 photos uploaded to Instagram

433,000 tweets posted

And that’s just a large tip of an enormous iceberg.

In 2015 the Content Marketing Institute reported that B2B marketers were publishing 70% more content than in the previous year and this is a trend that is only going in one direction.

US Marketing expert Mark Schaefer calls this phenomenon “Content Shock” and it can be overwhelming when you’re trying to be a part of the Social conversation.

This is why I say that:-

SOMETIMES IT’S GOOD TO STOP TALKING AND START LISTENING.

Social listening can be hugely beneficial when you take a step back and focus on making sense of the content that is relevant to your business rather than constantly creating more content to throw into the pot. It is about searching the web and the social space to see what’s being said about your company, your competitors and other topics relevant and important to you and your business.

GENERATE NEW LEADS

Social listening enables you to monitor keywords associated with your business to find users who having problems and asking questions or perhaps experiencing difficulties with a competitor. You can make contact with them and ask how you can help. This also gives you the chance to pitch your business’ benefits and expertise.

FIND NEW CUSTOMERS

You can do this by setting up keyword searches that will constantly track across any Social channels or forums you are part of. Be careful to select the keywords that will give you the most beneficial search returns. You can then join the discussion and find out more information.

Hootsuite’s excellent geo-searching gives you the option to track not only on keywords but on location. If you only do business within a 25 mile radius of your base then you can use these parameters so there is no wastage in your results.

FIND WHERE YOUR COMMUNITY SPENDS THEIR SOCIAL TIME

Social listening enables you to find out where your potential and current customers and influencers are on the Social web. The number of businesses I talk to who don’t have the first idea where to find these people is very high indeed. Follow the conversation and join in when relevant and necessary.  It is also worth highlighting the need for being personal and genuine in the interactions and not see them as purely business pitches.

IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

This is one area in which Social listening is essential, enabling you to identify feedback of all descriptions. You can monitor your brand in a variety of different ways to get a complete picture of where you stand.

For example, monitor Twitter with and without the @ symbol, also track mis-spelling of your company or organisation’s name. This gives you the opportunity to show appreciation for positive comments or to find and respond to disappointed customers, turning potentially negative experiences into positive ones.

There are number of tools available to help you to carry out your Social listening. Click on the names to go their sites:-

HOOTSUITE – As a UK Ambassador for Hootsuite I can recommend their business dashboard highly.

HOWSOCIABLE – HowSociable is a handy tool for measuring yours and your competitors’ social media presence. It breaks down scores for different social media platforms, allowing you to see which social media platforms work best for you and which ones need further development.

SIMPLY MEASURED – Simply Measured makes it easy to analyse your paid, owned and earned activity. They provide insights such as Facebook content, competitor and fan page analysis, key customer service metrics measurement on Twitter, Instagram engagement, content and trends analysis and many others.

GOOGLE ALERTS – A little forgotten these days in my opinion and underused. You can monitor the web for interesting new content, mentions of your brand or even yourself, your competitors, industry leaders and so on. As they’re extremely easy to set up, this is probably a good place to start for beginners.

 

 

 

 

Facebook’s new “Reactions” are out but “Yay” doesn’t make it.

They have been released into the wild after a few months of testing and pre-promotion and have been commented about extensively on a plethora of Social platforms.

Yes of course it’s Facebook’s new set of “Reactions”.

There has been talk for quite a while that the simple Facebook “thumbs up” Like button wasn’t sufficient to convey a variety of emotions and feelings so after much brainstorming, strategizing and focus groups (I expect) at the Facebook factory in Cupertino the cast of the Social giant’s “Usual Suspects” was revealed.

The keen of eye will have noticed that when these first appeared a few months there were seven new options. Sadly “Yay” didn’t make the cut and has been axed from the new selection. It turns out that we thought “Yay” was too vague and didn’t really mean anything. “Yay”’s people say that it took the news well and is planning a solo career.

While it gives a handful of new variants it would be impossible to create a series of graphics that would cover all bases but this new initiative has seen Facebook at the forefront of Social discussion again.

Mark Zuckerberg recently wrote in a Facebook post :-

“Not every moment you want to share is happy. Sometimes you want to share something sad or frustrating. Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years, but not because people want to tell friends they don’t like their posts. People want to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions.”

Of course the new emoticons don’t give any more ammunition to those who merely want to abuse or troll other users. The nearest you get to negativity is Mr Angry who just looks like he’s been out in the sun for too long. You’d be angry too if you had a case of the raving sunburn.

The quest for more ways for users to express themselves was prompted by an argument to provide a “Dislike” button as a counter to the “Like”.

Brian Blau, an analyst with Gartner Research says “the demand for a “dislike” button reflected frustration in not having more choices beyond “Like”. What these emojis do is give greater granularity in expressing what you are thinking and feeling about something that was posted on Facebook”.

And let’s face it, more “granularity” is what we all strive for.

Facebook say that there is data to be gained from measuring how we use these new reactions and one must assume that their introduction must have a tangible purpose. Once you call up your Facebook page the sole purpose from the provider’s point of view is to keep you there. They constantly update their algorithms to ensure that everything you see on your screen is relevant to you. Of course there will be a way of using the data from how we use the “Reactions” icons to tie in with Facebook’s advertising algorithms. Advertisers are always keen to know how people react to their ads; here is a way of giving the more information in that area.

As far as their series of “Reactions” is concerned whether this half dozen of options is the sum total of Facebook’s intentions in that regard is a question that only time will answer.

Time For A New Year Social Media Audit

At the start of a new year when we think about what we want to achieve in the coming months it is also the perfect time to take a look at your Social Media function to make sure it’s in good shape for 2016.

We all have the very best of intentions in early January as the number of new gym memberships that have been set up in the last few days will testify. Of course, a lot of them will remain as a monthly direct debit for a few months without a drop of sweat being spilt. Making resolutions, creating life-plans and planning changes are all very easy to do. It’s putting those ideas into practice that’s the difficult part.

So with all the determination we can muster to ensure all our plans are monitored and executed here are some handy tips for a New Year brush-up.

E-MAIL TIDY UP

Not Social but a job that can be quite cathartic and helpful. I have just done mine and it feels like the first step in a process which sets you up for the year. We all have way too many mail in our inbox so a bout of organising (using folders is a good way of sorting out important mails) and deleting is a must. I tend to have an e-mail audit quarterly and it always feel like a job well done.

SOCIAL PLATFORMS

Some questions to ask yourself and your team (if you’re lucky enough to have one)

• How many platforms are we using?
• Are they all working for us?
• Which ones are our primary channels?
• What are our analytics telling us?
• Are there any other platforms that may be suitable for our content?
• Are we managing our platforms as efficiently as we can?
• Do our Social profiles need updating?

All excellent discussion points to consider, and here’s another useful exercise. Take a look at your sites as if you were visiting for the first time. What is your content saying about your business and the services you offer? When I was programming music on radio stations I would use a 20 minute audio snapshot technique as a way of ensuring that that any 20 minute segment of our output would provide a new listener with an audio picture of that station.

CONTENT

Have a look at the content which worked best for you last year. Is there a connection between the posts? Can you create visual content to take advantage in the increased visibility and engagement that visual content is receiving?

My belief is that all businesses and organisations have more content at their disposal than they realise so it’s worth examining every part of what you do for ways to leverage it into your Social communication.

Are you engaging with others enough? Is your customer service the best it can be and do you monitor your channels often enough to be able to respond to comments and questions in a timely manner? Do you share content from your clients, customers, fans, influencers (call them what you will). It’s nice to share.

LISTENING

I think this is one of the major failings when it comes to Social communication because there is a habit of constantly creating and posting and sometimes it good to

STOP……………………………AND………………………….LISTEN

What is competition saying? How much content are they creating? Are you using search functions to monitor questions that are being asked about areas in which you could help?

The search function on Hootsuite is an excellent way to carry out your social listening and by creating streams of saved searches this could and indeed should, be a part of your Social strategy for 2016.

CONTENT CALENDAR

They are an excellent way to forward plan and make sure you don’t miss dates, anniversaries and promotions that apply to your business. I won’t go into too much detail here as there’s a blog on this very subject coming in the next few days.

This is the perfect time for some analysis and debate on your Social platforms, content and strategy and the time you spend asking and answering those questions will stand you in good stead for the year ahead.

Taking A Chance With Your Content

One of the terrific things about Social communication is that, by and large, it’s live and in-the-moment. It’s a shared experience but 1-2-1 at the point of delivery which makes it personal and exciting. I love the immediacy of it and the ability to become part of a conversation or a debate within seconds, leading you to…..who knows where.

We sometimes get so wrapped up in making sure we’re on the most effective platforms, that our content is as creative and relevant as it can be, it’s planned and scheduled according to our content calendar that it’s easy to forget how interesting and rewarding in can be just to “try something”.

I know why this is, or at least I think I do.

When you read about, or listen to someone talk about Social communication and interaction it’s a reasonable assumption that they have come from a marketing background. It’s been a very natural progression for marketers to move into Social as it’s a perfect fit into any marketing strategy.

However, marketers, I would dare to suggest come with a different mindset to someone, oh I don’t know, like me. It’s simply down to where our communication experience has come from.

My three decades in broadcasting have enabled me to create enormous amounts of content, I like to think most of it worked for me, but the law of averages suggests that some of it didn’t. It sounded like a good idea in my head, seemed okay in rehearsal, but when the red light came on and it was released to the world something happened and it didn’t live up to expectations.

What did I think when this happened?

IT DOESN’T MATTER

Simple as that. That is not to say I didn’t care about what I was doing, of course I did. It was simply that in a “live” situation I knew that in a few moments time I could create another piece of content which might fly. That’s the mindset I don’t think those who have a traditional marketing background  have.

This is why Social is so great, you are in that situation. It’s live broadcasting and you get the chance to just “try stuff”. If it doesn’t work then you just create another piece of content and fire that out.

As a business or organisation you will have a Social plan or strategy, you will know which platforms represent what you do best and which ones fit the content you have to offer. You will have looked at your analytics to see when and where you content gets most traction and engagement. I should say at this point if none of the above apply to you, you need to contact me we can put it right.

Having a cohesive Social plan is vital but there is no reason why from time to time you can experiment with your content. You will obviously know the style risks you can take but just having the freedom to have an idea and put it out there in seconds is very exciting.

When you think “I’d love to try that”………..TRY IT.