Browse Month

March 2012

Brands are tapping into the potential of targeting communities – and so can you!

social media icons

In my second post on the subject of Brands monitoring and making best use of social networks I will focus on your target audiences, and in particular communities or niche markets that are already active in social media. As a company, brand or destination you might feel that you’re only just starting to dabble in social media, whereas your audience has already a much better understanding and might to take you seriously, but fret not! There is more to social media than just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!

What (and who!) do you want to target?

To begin with, let’s have a quick look at the following table:

Social Media marketing chart

This chart is really just meant as a guide, but it is one many of my clients have used over the past years. It focuses on the difference between the sharing / syndication strength of the network in relation to the importance (in terms of time and resources) to your brand / destination. The key point here is that there isn’t only Facebook, LinkedIn or twitter – there are a lot more networks out there your audiences might be interacting with.

This graph may look daunting at first, as you might assume you will have a lot of resource to throw at this, but just stand back and think about this… Keep Reading

Why monitoring your brand on social networks is important

social media iconsA few months ago I gave a talk in London about the use of social media for travel and tourism industries, which I think was very well received (considering I received no complaints but follow-up questions I take that as successful), and one of the key questions that was asked a couple of times was – should brands monitor what is being said about them? Why should they? Is it worth the effort? What do you focus on? How would this be monitored? And more importantly, is there an ROI to be taken from this? So, I thought I’d begin a little set of articles about this.

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Why monitor your brand on social networks?

Before we answer this, let’s take back a step and talk about what we are actually talking about. Monitoring your brand is essentially the continuous discovery of conversations related to your brand with the purpose of engaging and supporting not only your brand, but also your (in many cases potential) customers. Typically, this is done in real-time to allow immediate response to particular topics or situations, e.g. when launching a product, quelling rumours or – just as often – providing support or advice. Keep Reading

Show me Wales – iPhone / iPad app released!

Show me Wales app iconWe have just launched the Show me Wales iPhone / iPad app!

Show Me Wales is a comprehensive tourist guide to Wales including full details of hundreds of attractions, activities, places to eat, towns & villages and places to stay. With plenty of ideas about great places to visit whatever your interests, this app will be an invaluable guide to Wales. The data is fully cached on the phone so you don’t need a signal to use it.

The app allows you to plan a trip to Wales or to find nearby entries when in Wales. The search functionality allows you to:

  • Choose an area
  • Search near a town
  • Search near your current location
  • Drop a pin
  • Filter the data to highlight specific interests

Each entry describes the attraction with pictures, opening times and full contact details, and if you’re looking for accommodation it even allows you to book!

If that is not enough, you can also add places to your favourites, email places of interest to your friends, and a quick link shows directions from your current location by car or on foot.

Screenshot:

ipad and ipone screenshot

 

Download the app (its free!)