General News items – Hugo Pickering

10 Sep

The Great Net Neutrality Debate

Net Neutrality is one of those ‘on-topic’ subjects that has swung into focus recently and has caught people’s imaginations. It’s not surprising really as it’s something that threatens to change the way in which we are all able to access content on the Internet, so you could say it’s important!

Having watched the oddly compelling video ‘The Internet Must Go’, which is a clever mockumentary on how the big ISPs in America are trying to shape everyone’s consumption of Internet content, I have some observations on how this will pan out. First, if you haven’t done so already, take a look at The Internet Must Go:

Assuming that your ISP didn’t block the video you now understand the problem as perceived by many. There are polar views on the subject although everyone apart from some of the big ISPs agrees that creating a tiered payment system for content is clearly against the principles of the Internet. It changes everything and is effectively like allowing those with deep pockets to jump the queue for a theme park ride (oh no, they do that already). Alright it’s like only letting rich teams win at F1 (hmmm, I think that’s been happening for years).

Net Neutrality counters the potential for dominance by one or more ‘super providers’

Seriously, this affects us all; even a telecoms provider should be concerned about the potential for being squeezed out if ‘traffic shaping’ threatens their business. In this blog post, Trefor Davies and Pete Farmer discuss the ideals of an open Internet relating to VOIP provision.

Personally I still believe that this will start the ball rolling towards my preferred and predicted model of Internet Providers rather than Internet Service Providers. That’s not just a simple change of name but a fundamental shift from paying a third party to connect you to all content as you do now, to paying only for the very services you want. Effectively premium services would be available as part of a range of packages, so for instance buying a Google Business package would give you access to those premium services you want in your business, as well as the content you need, and the same would be true at home. It’s the payment for those services that subsidises the connection via the Internet and into your home or business. Some people may be worried about the ‘SkyNet’ dominance that would afford those companies able to offer these services, but I for one would rather be held to ransom by a company like Google than BT!

The good bit is that it is still unlikely that one company or even a few will own and operate all the infrastructure in this model, so there is still plenty of scope for earning rental for transit of services, and thereby for new infrastructure projects to thrive.

22 Jan

Social Media and its Growing Impact

Although somewhat US-centric, this infographic from the Socially Aware Blog is a useful indicator of the impact social media has on day-to-day life, when compared to our other activities, the Internet/TV balance, and just how much of our time is now taken up online.

26 Nov

Crowdfunding and social media

Through Cotswolds Broadband I have been looking at crowdfunding as a means of raising a significant proportion of the initial capital required to operate a new rural broadband investment fund. When you are talking about generating upwards of £5 million overall, it’s important to get it right, otherwise the business could struggle. So we are looking at how social media can contribute in reaching a wider audience of potential investors.

This is an opportunity for investors to benefit from not only a slice of the equity, but from generous tax relief in the form of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), as well as future benefits on the successful performance of the business, so it’s all about reaching out to those who already understand the proposition. But are they on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms? I doubt it very much.

However it’s the way these types of investment opportunities work that is the key to ensuring that the greatest number of touch points are exploited, not just a blanket coverage. The approach is like the difference between a blunderbuss and a sniper’s rifle: investors with significant tax obligations work through intermediaries; Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) so it’s that group that we are targeting, and social media has a significant part to play.

LinkedIn is the obvious touchpoint for this group, with a quick scan producing a number of UK-centric groups that are well populated and used by IFAs, the main ones showing over 4,000 members. Reaching out to this target audience can be achieved in a number of ways:

by joining the relevant groups and getting involved in discussions, but that’s very time-consuming, risks being seen as a spammer, and wary moderators will see straight through it
by posting in the ‘Promotions’ tab of relevant groups, but unfortunately very few people actually visit this tab, which was setup to provide moderators with a means of removing the constant stream of personal promotion that used to appear in discussions
by using well targeted LinkedIn ads

I’m not an advocate of social media advertising per se (personally I am not one who clicks on ads in my social media channels), but it certainly has its place, particularly with very focused campaigns, and even more so when a short window of opportunity presents itself. In this case the fund is open for less than three months, so it provides a useful means of quickly reaching a target audience with a CPM campaign to increase awareness and reinforce the opportunity.

Other social media channels have their place, in this instance sponsored stories in Facebook are an effective means of targeting friends of those who already like a page or post. If the campaign has a local aspect or can be targeted at users’ Facebook interests, its effectiveness can be maximised.

The crowdfunding platform itself should provide ample opportunity for users to share content out to their network, so where these shares and comments appear they can be maximised.

So far, these touch points are generating low clickthrough rates, but in a CPM advertising campaign such as this, we are maybe more interested in reach than actions!

Find out more about social media marketing or get in touch to discuss these topics in more depth.

17 Apr

Facebook Pages and Profiles – What are the Differences?

Like every other social media consultant I get asked this one the whole time, so what are the differences and should you care?

Let’s answer that with a question: What exactly is your brand using Facebook for?

Generally the answer would be to market that brand’s products or services, for which the most desirable function is reach – trying to get in front of the maximum number of potential customers. And therein lies the first problem with using profiles – they are meant for individuals and are therefore not crawled and indexed by search engine spiders. That in itself should be enough reason not to try and violate Facebook’s Statement Of Rights and Responsibilities, but perhaps you need more convincing:

Multiple page admins. Pages can have more than one admin as individuals use their own profile to login to Facebook and then administer the brand’s page once they have been granted access. It might seem a bit obvious but unless we are discussing a sole proprietorship (in which case Facebook has a solution for that too), more than one person is likely to be responsible for the brand’s output onto social media. It also means that page admins can remove ex employees or others who may have been given access to the page, at a future date.

Interaction with Page Likes. It has been frequently pointed out to me that a page cannot directly interact with individuals. Well that’s not entirely true because once a direct messge has been sent by a user to the page, admins can respond directly to them. However it is true that a page cannot initiate that interaction and that’s the point: this is a marketing medium and spamming individuals with marketing information is the fastest way to getting someone to unfriend you, or worse, hiding posts in their news feed.

Page Insights. Possibly the most powerful aspect of Facebook Pages is the analytics data that Facebook collects on behalf of brands and then shares with them. The power of this data is remarkable and over time builds a profile of users, their habits and the viral reach of content, along with lots of other essential marketing intelligence. This alone should be enough to ensure that a brand uses a Facebook Page rather than a profile.

Facebook Ads and Sponsored Stories. Given the reach of Facebook (845 million users as at December 2011) and its pin-sharp demographic, location and interest targeting, brands can reach the exact niche they serve with ads to support a business page or sponsor stories being shared by their brand advocates.

This is very much a non-exhaustive list of the many differences between Facebook Pages and Facebook Personal Profiles written from the perspective of brands. If you would like to know more about Facebook for marketing then please get in touch.

08 Apr

Please Give Generously to Charity Cycle Ride

On April 13th I will be donning Lycra(!) and setting off from no.10 Downing Street with around 30 other cyclists to raise funds for two charities in memory of a good friend and landlord of our local pub in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, where we will end up on Saturday evening after 120 miles in the saddle.

Mike Willis died in 2010 after a 3-year battle with cancer, so we are proud to help raise funds for Katharine House Hospice and Oxfordshire Association for the Blind. Mike’s daughters Genevieve and Nicola are part of the crowd of former regulars at The Tite Inn and friends taking part.

David Cameron cycling When he was but a local MP and regular at The Tite Inn, David Cameron did a number of charity rides and agreed to set us off from no.10 if he ever became Prime Minister. True to his word we will be starting the ride there at 09:00 on April 13th.

You can help by making a donation for Katharine House Hospice via JustGiving by clicking here – it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

14 Mar

Magic Bus UK roars away

A new website for Magic Bus UK was launched on 5th March 2012 in conjunction with charity fundraising agency partner John Grain Associates. Featuring a multi-level CMS and a fun, engaging design, the site is designed to be easy to manage by the charity and simple to navigate by their supporters, fundraisers and donors. With enhanced visibility in search engines Magic Bus are off to a roaring start with their new website.

As a specialist in websites to support the specific needs of charities, I am often called upon to advise on strategies to enhance online communication channels using websites, social media and direct engagement tools such as newsletters.

Visit Magic Bus UK.

Please get in touch if you have an online project to discuss for your charity.

04 Jan

Latest Effective Social Media seminar

Click to book your place on an Effective Social Media seminar

If you aren’t already actively engaging with more than 800 million Social Media users then you should attend my next two-hour ‘Effective Social Media’ seminar and learn how you can leverage LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social networks for your business, organisation or charity.

The seminar aims to give attendees a solid foundation in the world of Social Media, using interactive sessions and discussion on the social networks that organisations should be using in their marketing mix. You will come away with an understanding of how to plan and manage your digital network communication.

If you have already started social networking you should be using a coordinated Social Media strategy. If not, come and learn how to do so.

The next event is scheduled for 27th January 2012. If you are interested in attending, please contact me or book a place here.

19 Dec

Updated Keyboard Shortcuts Wallcharts

I recently updated my infamous ‘Windows Keyboard Shortcuts’ (as originally blogged back in 2006 here), so here is the updated version:

Windows keyboard shortcuts (PDF 48KB)

But what about Mac users? Okay, here’s a new version for all the Mac lovers out there (me too).

Mac keyboard shortcuts (PDF 98KB)

Feel free to download and distribute the files as you wish!

29 Nov

New website for Cleenol

Industrial cleaning and hygiene products manufacturer Cleenol approached us in early 2011, requiring a new website, since their existing one was getting very long in the tooth. Following a six-way competitive tender for the business, we were awarded the contract to create an online product database and catalogue, together with customer tools aimed at improving customer services.

Working with Cleenol’s own designer who drafted the visual concepts, we developed these into a CMS managed website over which the customer has full control of all database and page content. Searchable by range and industry, customers can now find products more easily and download the appropriate datasheets and product use guides once logged in, thereby acquiring customer details. Future developments will extend the functionality of the database into CRM and ERP.

We are proud of the results which can be seen at http://www.cleenol.co.uk

If you are looking for something similar, please get in touch.

18 Jul

Search Engine Submission Scam

It appears another variation on the domain registration scam and the Domain Registry of America scam, that I have previously discussed in this blog, is appearing via email to domain owners. In this version, an official-looking email informs the domain registrant that they need to register in order to be found in search engines. Of course this is a complete fallacy; there is no obligation on a domain owner to register with a third party for search engine inclusion. The originating company doesn’t even identify itself in the email, merely providing a generic Yahoo email address, and contact details. Hardly a bona fide company to do business with!

The email text varies, but is generally in this form:

Attn: [DOMAIN OWNER] As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that it’s time to send in your registration and save.
Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.
Privatization allows the consumer a choice when registering. Search engine subscription includes domain name search engine submission. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts stated below unless you accept this offer. Do not discard, this notice is not an invoice it is a courtesy reminder to register your domain name search engine listing so your customers can locate you on the web.
This Notice for: [DOMAIN NAME] will expire on [Date] Act today!

Hidden in the text after the alarmist notice are the words ‘you are under no obligation to pay’ – those of course are the most important words in the email – do not be fooled by the rest of the mumbo-jumbo!

Hugo Pickering

Digital Marketing Strategies