Companies using multichannel marketing to increase their brand power

Multichannel marketing is really taking off with companies looking to increase their profits by communicating their brand across multiple channels and platforms.

QR Codes

The use of QR codes in multi-channel marketing is having a great impact upon how companies are engaging with customers. Starbucks are using QR codes to streamline the way they interact with customers. Instead of waiting in a long line to pay, customers can input pre-loaded card details onto their Starbucks iPhone app to pay more quickly. BestBuy is another company that is effectively using QR codes. Customers can scan product tags in store to see further information about the product that they are interested in. This includes reviews to help customers affirm that the product is right for them and can help drive sales.

Charities are increasingly using QR codes in their online and mobile campaigns. According to a study by Edge Research, 26% of respondents raised more than 25% of funds online. Their research also found that non-for-profit organizations generally agreed that the key benefit for multi-channel marketing was the unification of messages across channels, strengthening their brand and promoting their cause.

During Christmas, Leeds creative based agency ‘Propaganda’ helped homeless charity ‘Simon on the Streets’ with a QR code campaign for those sleeping rough. The agency laid out QR codes printed on cardboard amongst blankets and belongings to replicate homeless conditions. Once scanned by a smartphone or tablet QR reader, users were taken to the Just Giving page to donate money directly to the charity.

For more examples of companies using multi-channel marketing strategies to increase their brand power, click here.

Amazon communicates with clients across multiple channels and platforms.

Amazon in your pocket

The Amazon ‘Price Check’ app can have a great impact upon a user’s shopping experience. Using the barcode scanner allows the user to shop in-store and compare prices directly with Amazon. Commonly, when customers have checked prices and tried out products, they go home and load up their laptops to find better deals. Amazon’s price check lets you do this from their competitors’ shop floor, turning it into an outlet for the company. The ability to save products to your wish list whilst browsing through stores turns virtual shopping into a reality.

The app allows the user to spread the message about the great deals they have just discovered via email, text, Twitter or Facebook. This is a good example of multichannel communication and how Amazon allows the user to easily and quickly spread the word. The online retail giant tightly integrates the web, mobile and social media to provide an effective and purposeful app, providing brand and end user benefit.

According to Internet World Stats, there were approximately 51.5 million internet users in the UK (82% of the population) as of August 2011 with 45% of them accessing the net via their mobile phone (Office for National Statistics). Hawk-like Amazon has seized the opportunity to gain market advantage with their customers having rich devices in their pockets.

Using social media to optimise your online marketing performance

Social Media is a great way for companies to drive their marketing activities and to optimise their online performance.

It’s all gone social

Social media has led to a fundamental shift in communication, reshaping the way that companies interact with companies. It’s having a great impact on everyday life and companies are continuing to embrace it in order to increase their online presence, engage with customers and to build business.

It’s a mistaken belief that you can simply setup a Facebook and Twitter account, post a few status updates and then bobs your uncle, customers are flocking to your site to purchase your products/services. Only if it was that easy, the fact of the matter is that it can be very difficult to see though a social media strategy with many underestimating the time and effort required to succeed in the digital space.

We believe that all companies should know the fundamentals when building their social network and that’s why we are going to offer you essential tips for running your prime social channels:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog
• YouTube

Facebook

Companies should setup a welcome section for its fan page. This will let people know what they can expect from following your brand. It helps to increase signups, your conversion ratings and your ROI. A great landing page with a clear call to action can help your company to save money on advertising costs.

The more likes and diverse comments that the company gets on an update, the more people’s walls and homepages they are shown on, which in turn gives greater exposure to your company. Facebook is a great way to engage with your audience by posting questions, contests, sharing photos or videos and sharing content that will make someone want to keep coming back to the page. It is a great way to drive interactions with your audience.

Google Plus

Using similar tactics to that of Facebook for Google Plus would be an effective way of increasing your presence on that platform. Google Plus was launched last year to compete with Facebook and remains a relatively new social platform with no set guidelines on how to best optimise your marketing performance using this channel. A few quick tips to get you started are:

• To share your blog info on your profile.
• To use strategic keywords and phrases in your status updates, as Google Plus is more open to searching and will allow you to rank higher in traditional Google searches.
• To write unique engaging content for status updates.
• To upload relevant and captivating pictures/videos.
• To make sure that your profile is open to search.
• To use circles to communicate with potential clients, media and prospects. For example you can create a circle for prospective clients and then provide them with industry news, media, and case studies and so on to suit them.
• To use Google Plus hangouts, where you can chat live on video from your computer or mobile device with up to 10 people.

Twitter

When using Twitter, companies should look to share insightful content around their industry and to engage with smart people on subjects that are most meaningful to the company. It is important to build relationships first and then to promote your content.

Spread links that can be retweeted by your audience, whilst retweeting yourself. If you are wondering how to shorten links so that you have more space to comment, simply visit www.bitly.com enter the URL and your link will be shortened to copy and paste. When tweeting it’s good to include the company’s blog post links but it’s more important to comment on other peoples’ tweets. By promoting others over yourself, the company’s twitter following will grow and there is the chance to engage people whilst driving them back to your blog.

The @ feauture is a good way to reply to your audience when you can. In addition, links should not always be about the organisation’s business topic, it’s good to mix it up by having fun every so often and as a result steady traffic should role in.

Blogging

For many companies blogs are their focal point of their online marketing operation. It is an opportunity for them to establish its identity and directly communicate with those interested in the company’s services. However it’s no longer enough just to write content on a consistent basis. There is so much competition in every niche online nowadays that you have to stand out from the crowd and be unique. To do this it is essential to write compelling content, be an authentic representation within your field and interact with your community as much as possible. Everything you do has to be about the reader in order to serve their needs. Adding media such as pictures and videos can help increase interest in your blog.

It is essential to build up relationships with other bloggers, ways to do this include:

• Content promotion off the blog.
• Commenting on other blogs.
• Quickly responding to comments made on the company’s blog.
• Automatic distribution and syndication.
• Repurposing of content.
• Encouraging social popularity.

These are all ways of building relationships. In the long term after building relationships, there is an opportunity to ask other bloggers to write in return for writing about their products and services.

YouTube

YouTube can be a great way to be entertaining whilst also being informative about your company’s products/services. It’s an effective method of marketing, using your visual creative input rather than relying primarily on written content. Videos on your YouTube channel could include:

• Advice guides for products/services.
• Client testimonials.
• A company background.
• Past, present and future projects.
• Product overview.

After Google, YouTube is the second most popular search engine. It is a useful platform to help build your brand.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a valuable source to network with others in your industry. Essentially, it’s an effective way for working professionals to explore business opportunities with each other. However, LinkedIn can also be a useful source for enticing traffic. Adding links on your LinkedIn profile and email footer can prove to be very effective in building traffic. It would also be positive to post links to social media and blog sites.

To find out how companies are using social media to spearhead their multichannel marketing strategies, visit my multichannel marketing blog.

Here is a great post from the social media top dogs themselves at Mashable, explaining the key behaviours required to succeed in your strategy.

The power of social media

Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for all companies (big and small) and I have the stats to prove it!

I think it’s fair to say that we all know by now that social media is having a major impact on the global marketplace. The social phenomenon is still relatively new with no set marketing rules on how to best optimise your online social performance. Many companies are unsure of what path to take in order to reach consumers. Well, I have some interesting stats that could help to align your social strategy.

Social brand power

Social media is great for companies looking to sell their products/services and for those looking to increase their brand awareness. In the US, it was reported by Edison Research and Arbitron that 80% of social network users preferred to engage with brand on Facebook. Only 6% of users connected to brands using Twitter.

Social mobile power

The number of users accessing social media on their smartphones is growing at a rapid rate. According to comScore analysis, over half of US smartphone owners (50.9%) and 31.7% of European smartphone users accessed Facebook on their device in the three –month period ending June, 2011. Twitter had a smartphone audience of 12.5% in the US and 7.4% in Europe.

Social advice

On average 29% of consumers flock to social networks to seek buying advice according to ROI Research and Performics.

Social budget

SocialMedia Examiner found that seven in ten (71%) of marketers planned to increase their use of search engine optimisation (SEO) in the near future.

46% of social marketers were planning to increase their online efforts.

Social ad spend growth

The number of companies spending on Facebook ads is increasing at an astounding rate. According to IgnitionOne, Facebook ad spend of all clients grew 281% from Q2 2010 to Q2 2011. Impressively, ad impressions for all clients grew 200%.

Burglars using social media to target victims

A survey conducted by security firm Friedland suggests that most burglars are using social media to plan their crimes.

Google Street View is playing a pivotal role in burglars’ crimes. Three quarters of burglars convicted in the past year, admitted that the site was essential in their planning. Google Street View allows you to zoom in on individual houses with burglars using it to gauge security and potential break in routes.

Facebook and Twitter are also being used by criminals. Users posting updates can unwittingly let robbers know about expensive new purchases such as HD televisions or times and dates for when they are out.

In addition to using social media, a fifth of burglars said that they observed homeowners daily routine before carrying out their raids. The survey indicated that the average home burglary took 10 minutes to commit. Furthermore, burglars are said to net on average up to £500 with the majority targeting cash, electrical goods and jewellery, whilst there are those who target documents such as passports.

Only a quarter of burglars said that guard dogs put them off, however 60% stated that they would be discouraged by targeting homes they knew had security alarms.

Convicted burglar, Richard Taylor, said:

“We’re living in the age of the digital criminal and people are taking advantage of social media to access information about would-be victims.”

“We’ll tell them even when we're going away on holidays. We will let them know that we’re not in. We’re inviting them round to our house.”

Expert at Friedland, Jonathan Lim said:

“Taking simple measures, including cutting back trees and shrubs to remove potential hiding places and installing simple alarm systems are all good, cost-effective deterrents that all homeowners can implement to remove their home from the target list.”

Google Plus opens doors to everyone

Google + is now open to everyone after two and a half months of closed testing and being an invitation-only service. On the company’s official blog, Google’s Social Vice-President of Social Business, Vic Gundotra wrote:

“We’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups.”

Google is looking to expand its presence in the social media market with Google + and when quizzed about competitors such as Facebook on the BBC, Gundotra responded by saying:

“Well, we expect people use many different tools to share. The most popular mechanism people use to share today, still is email. Then, of course, there are the other services you mentioned.”

In a way it was an apprehensive response by Gundotra but more so it was realistic. Facebook has been around since 2004 and has accumulated 750+ million users, leaving Google + languishing behind with around 25+ million users at present.

It’s by no means doom and gloom for Google, far from it. To have obtained more than 25 million users at such an early stage is an impressive feat within itself, considering that it took Facebook over three 3 years to acquire 20 million active users. It’s true to say that Facebook was an innovator in the social media market and had no real marketing drive when first launched compared to the powerhouse that is Google. Nevertheless to have 25 million users’ early doors is a great springboard for Google + to go on and achieve great things.

What does Google Plus have to offer?

Google has provided a number of new features on the back of the public launch of Google +, which a writer from Slash Gear sums up nicely:

“Want to video chat via G+ on your phone? You can do that today. Want to broadcast a video for the public? You can do that today. Want to share your screen, share a live-drawn sketchpad, work with Google Docs, or name a Hangout to handle your specific needs? All of that is live today.”

Improvements to Google + Hangouts, includes the ability to utilize them on Android devices (versions 2.3 and higher), however you are unable to use Hangout features on the iPhone and Blackberry. Google + Hangouts is where you can chat live on video from your computer or mobile device with up to 10 people. Beyond the ability to support two way chat for up to 10 people, there are a number of other standout features with the most pioneering app on Google Plus being more about work rather than play. Google Docs is now available live over Hangouts, making live face-to-face collaboration possible on the web for free. Hangouts can be viewed to be a rival of BlackBerry’s BBM and iPhone’s Facetime.

It's the first Plus feature that's categorically different than anything Facebook can do. Facebook has made a number of changes recently, but it’s unlikely that they will go in this direction. Google Docs provides cloud-powered collaboration - outside of the pricey enterprise market. Hangouts allow people to work remotely together and all of these capabilities are for free and without adverts.

Perhaps, Skype can feel more threatened than Facebook. If Hangouts starts off positively and continues to grow in popularity, there is a possibility for it to takeover Skype in the video conferencing scene. Although you can have a call conference with over 20 people on Skype, video calls can only be carried out on a one to one basis compared to 10 people on Hangouts. In addition, the ability to synchronize Google Plus documents while on a video chat is a feature that Skype cannot compete with. Real-time collaboration could be at the heart of success for Google if they communicate the positives and benefits well, which they often don’t. There are a number of Google products that have failed to take off in the past due to their lack of marketing, including Blogger, Picassa, Videos and many more.

There are those who believe that Google + will fizzle out and at best will be a social media equivalent to what Microsoft Bing is to search engines. However, if Google + carries on being innovative, offering new experiences with features such as Hangouts, there is no reason as to why Google can’t make a real go of it. Facebook has felt threatened enough to recently launch a number of new features challenging what were initially Google’s selling points. The social network has renovated friend lists and has made changes to the news feed, which are reminiscent of Google + Circles. It will be interesting to see how the next 12 months will pan out for the two social networking platforms.

At present, Google is trying to aggressively push their social media channels to compete with the likes of Facebook. They invested in Google Plus and will continue to do so in order to increase its popularity to be on a level platform with Facebook.

One in three UK companies block social media

According to research conducted by Clearswift, up to a third of companies block employees from accessing social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.

The internet security firm revealed that there was growing fears about internet security. These fears were down to recent high profile hacking incidents, such as the loss of customer data from the Sony Network.

Chief operating officer at Clearswift, Andrew Wyatt observed:

“It is clear that we have seen some significant changes in attitude towards social media use in the last 12 months. Businesses have reacted to the series of high-profile data leaks and have become increasingly nervous about its usage from the workplace”

“Social networking sites often have little to do with data-loss incidents, but they have become guilty by association, because they are seen as having an impact on a company’s brand,” he added.

The number of companies in the UK blocking social media has increased by a fifth in the past year, as 53% of managers indentify social media as an issue for concern. Banks have for many years had blocking policies in place to prevent employees from accessing social networks, it now seems that a number of other industries are following suit.

Moneysupermarket.com has always had a relaxed approach to employees accessing social networks, but they are now looking to implement guidelines for staff to use social media. At the Anglo-Dutch energy company, Royal Dutch Shell, employees are not blocked access from Facebook, however if employees choose to access the site, they are reminded with a pop-up screen not to use personal sites during work hours.

On a global scale, a fifth of companies block their employees from accessing social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Last year, German car manufacturer, Porsche, banned their employees from using social media channels due to their fear of industrial espionage. Although farfetched, firms have become very wary of social media and the potential threat that it can have upon their companies.

91% of companies had become so concerned about data loss that it was stopping them from adopting new technologies, according to Mr Wyatt. He warned that moves to block social media channels could suppress innovation and alienate employees who rely on social media to communicate. If companies were to introduce stricter policies on social networking, 18% of employees said that they would feel demotivated as a result, while 19% said that they would simply work around the rules and 4% would think about leaving!

Ironically, at the same time as restricting staff using social media, companies are looking to increase their social media presence for corporate communications. 31% of UK companies have stated that they are looking to further invest in this area over the coming year. Social media is having a great impact upon everyday life and companies are continuing to embrace it in order to increase their online presence, engage with customers and to build business. Tesco for instance, has over 15,000 followers on their twitter pages and the company’s PR team maintains several Facebook pages for the company, including their main page which has up to 330,000 likes.

Trends on Twitter

Lab42 conducted a survey asking 500 Twitter users how they use the service, who they follow and why. Findings were broken down into a captivating infographic, which has some great insights.

70% of Twitter users access the site on a daily basis with 37% accessing Twitter multiple times a day. Out of the 70% that use the site on a daily basis, 42% tweet more than once a day, nearly double of those 23% who tweet on a daily basis. This portrays the addictive nature of Twitter to tweet on a regular basis and how the majority of users are lured in for the long haul.

Interestingly, only 16% of Twitter users accessed Twitter from their mobile application. I expected that most users would access the site using the web, however I thought that there would be a hell of a lot more users who would take advantage of using the mobile app whilst on the go.

Many Twitter users follow brands with 31% of them at least following 1-5 and unsurprisingly the majority (66%) follow them to try and get discounts. Brands are going out of their way like never before to take advantage of the opportunities presented by social media and entice customers. Offering discounts and the chance to participate in contests via social media, increases traffic to their main sites and in effect their profits. Last year, Sony offered 1,600 Twitter followers the chance to build a customised Sony Vaio laptop and get a 10% discount for the product. Considering that the social media campaign was fairly covert, it worked wonders for Sony as they reported an increase in Sony Vaio sales from Twitter in that period of $1.5 million.

Taking into account that pop star Lady Gaga has more followers than the American president Barrack Obama, perhaps shows that the majority of Twitter users are of a younger generation. This can be backed up with the stats that 27% follow SnOOki, a star from the hit MTV US reality TV series Jersey Shore.

Is social media a negative form of communication for sports professionals?

A couple of weeks ago, Liverpool player Ryan Babel hit the headlines for complaining that he had been left out of the squad for his team's match against Stoke City on social networking site Twitter. "The Boss left me out," Babel told his Twitter feed, "No explanation." At the start of the season, Sunderland striker Darren Bent also complained on the social networking site about his previous club Tottenham Hotspur. The pair of them were reprimanded for their use of Twitter. Last week, the Manchester Evening News went on to claim that Manchester City and Manchester United had placed a ban on social media, which since has been denied.

On a personal level as a Liverpool FC fan, I believe that it was wrong for Ryan Babel to publicly criticise the club and manager for being left out the squad. The reason for this is that firstly, I believe that he did not do himself any favours by posting his opinions on Twitter. Secondly, it was wrong for him to openly be disrespectful to his employers in the public eye, considering that they are the ones who pay his wages.

However, on the grander scale of it all, websites such as Twitter give millions of sports fans the chance to debate, discuss and interact with their sporting idols every day. If sports clubs were to ban players from using social media, it would put up a brick wall between the two. Social Media is a gateway for sports clubs and professionals to better engage with their supporters, wherever they may be.

A better way to encourage the use of social media such as Twitter, would be to draw up a series strict guidelines, so for example, players cannot talk about internal matters or team selection like Ryan Babel did for instance. As a result, sporting professionals would be able to communicate with their supporters, whilst minimising the risk of sensitive information being leaked.