All posts in Fundamentals

Fundamentals of Social Media? Erm…

Whether you are devising a business plan for a start-up, creating a campaign strategy for an engagement tool or simply writing a blog post; you have to always consider the basic values of what you are doing and why you are doing it.

So often, we disregard the basics because we think they are the obvious. We think that it’s common sense and we don’t need to waste our time discussing common sense do we?

Fair enough, but in Social Media, common sense isn’t so common.

With a gazillion people trying to learn something about something; a billion brands trying to learn something about people and a million agencies trying to make money out of brands. (Hang on, i’m lost already, can you repeat that…)

Today I Tweeted a very simple Social Media model that I put together off the back of some research a few months ago. It’s simple model based around some core fundamentals that any serious marketers should follow. By serious, i mean the ones that actually care.

Let me break it down for you… Continue Reading

First impressions: The importance of a website

Client: “Hi, would you be able us out with a Digital Strategy for our business?”
Me: “Yeah that sounds great. Send me some links so i can check out your online presence.”
Client: “We don’t have a website but we use a Facebook Fan Page and YouTube channel to market.”

So you run a business or plan on starting a business in 2010 and do not have a website; i suggest you take 10 steps back and re-evaluate where exactly you consider your market to spend the majority of their time.

If your audience is over 60 years old and you are starting a Poker Club for the elderly, then maybe yes you should create a direct marketing campaign at a selective group of old people’s homes and push the online campaign to the side.

However, if you believe that there is a large proportion of your audience using the Web; how can you expect people to buy into your brand if you don’t even buy into your brand yourself?

The Lowdown

The first consultation i will advise on when clients enquire about Digital Strategy involves their website. A Digital Strategy is the plan of action in driving more users and traffic to a source where you can sell or promote a product.

If i ever click on a link and it takes me to a Facebook Fan Page; like the majority of users, i will glance for a few seconds, then proceed to check my own Facebook Profile and begin chatting with my network about Eastenders or Hollyoaks… NOT ABOUT YOUR BRAND!