Correctly valuing and monetising social media engagement for clients that, unlike other media, can’t be switched on, or pre-programmed in quite the same way, is just one of the challenges specialist social media agencies face.
Conversations with clients recently have often come back to numbers. Yes, numbers meaning prices, but more often, numbers as in number of hours.
Social media is about dialogue. And one of the inherent values of social media that we don’t see anywhere else, is the opportunity to respond to outside occurrences in real time through the sharing of thoughts, ideas and emotions all wrapped up in various forms of conversation be that written, verbal, through images or video.
In order to do that however, you need to be constantly tuned in or switched on. Anyone who has even a smattering of work ethic does not hang up on a conversation, ditch a proposal or walk out on a meeting simply because it’s officially time to clock out. Let’s make no mistake, there are certainly those who don’t work a minute outside when they are paid to do so. And perhaps they’re the smart ones, but that’s a different conversation.
The point is, when your social media audience is most engaged, is when you need to be present and accounted for in the conversation. If that’s midnight, it’s midnight. What clients sometimes find it hard to understand is that this means being constantly switched on. So, when they ask you how many hours you’re going to spend on their social media strategy or campaign this week, the answer should be ‘as many as it needs’ rather than ‘as many as you’re paying for between the hours of 9am and 5pm’.
That’s all very admirable in an ideal world but at the end of the day, we’re all here to make money. Sure, we want to create brilliant work that makes our clients and ourselves successful along the way but we need to be realistic about just how we can do that. So where’s the healthy balance? Where’s the point you switch off?
This isn't about answering all the questions, but one question that has been answered is that being switched on when it counts means you can maximise on all the good stuff and mitigate some of the bad stuff better and more swiftly.
A great example of just that is this case study from Tourism New South Wales.
http://ow.ly/JIJ0
Post: CD
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater
Agencies tend to like the invention of new. There’s nothing wrong with being innovative. In fact, it’s both commendable and desirable, and, in the majority of instances, needed. What they’re sometimes not very good at doing is acknowledging the value in existing work or work (gasp), that is not their own.
So when it is right to take out the tried and tested, dust it off and make it better? When is it ok to say ‘that’s working, it’s working well, so we’re not going to change it (much)’?.
It’s a little bit of practice what you preach….
We’ve always advocated that social media is a long term commitment and by being continually involved in the space you have a voice that gets heard and has credibility. The application of that ethos helped in the creation of a successful social media campaign for Tourism New South Wales starting from somewhere around, ooh, I’d say, the 100m mark?
Our challenge? To raise the profile of Sydney as a destination of choice for young travellers (aged 18-30 years) from the UK and Ireland looking to travel on a variety of visa types.
We already had two things: A youth market contributing 37% of international visitor arrivals in New South Wales, and an engaged fan base on Facebook of a little over 3,000 fans. So we harnessed both of these and used them as a foundation to build even higher.
Facebook became the fulcrum for the campaign. The fan base at the beginning of May 2009 was 3,359. Since then, the number of fans has more than doubled through purely organic growth, with an increase of 4,275 additional fans. The fan base, which has a strong representation from the 18-30 target market, is now host to a total fan base of 7,634. And perhaps ‘fan’ is the wrong word. These aren’t discount driven relationships or pure broadcasting, they are engaged participants having conversations and sharing information.
Of course that didn’t happen all on its own and there was a carefully crafted strategic approach backing it that comprised of both offensive and defensive elements; a lot of research; content creation; seeding in travel and vertical markets; and general passion and enthusiasm for a fun job with a great client.
Better yet were the results. Tourism New South Wales share of online voice in social media for ‘Sydney’ went from 22% in the months leading up to the campaign to 39% at its conclusion including forums, blogs and micro-blogs.
So yes, it’s a lot of hard work too but the point is this. If clients have bothered to take themselves into the world of social media and they’re not doing a bad job, they may need your help and direction which they’ve obviously recognised (and for that we praise them) but don’t disregard their experiences to date. Use what they have and let them share their knowledge and challenges with you. It makes sense and it works. And you know what? You both end up feeling better for it.
See more of 7 Days in Sydney here:
www.facebook.com/seesydney
http://www.7daysinsydney.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/7daysinsydney
www.youtube.com/seesydney
www.twitter.com/sydneysider
www.twitter.com/7daysinsydney
http://www.bestcityintheworld.wordpress.com/
Post. CD
So when it is right to take out the tried and tested, dust it off and make it better? When is it ok to say ‘that’s working, it’s working well, so we’re not going to change it (much)’?.
It’s a little bit of practice what you preach….
We’ve always advocated that social media is a long term commitment and by being continually involved in the space you have a voice that gets heard and has credibility. The application of that ethos helped in the creation of a successful social media campaign for Tourism New South Wales starting from somewhere around, ooh, I’d say, the 100m mark?
Our challenge? To raise the profile of Sydney as a destination of choice for young travellers (aged 18-30 years) from the UK and Ireland looking to travel on a variety of visa types.
We already had two things: A youth market contributing 37% of international visitor arrivals in New South Wales, and an engaged fan base on Facebook of a little over 3,000 fans. So we harnessed both of these and used them as a foundation to build even higher.
Facebook became the fulcrum for the campaign. The fan base at the beginning of May 2009 was 3,359. Since then, the number of fans has more than doubled through purely organic growth, with an increase of 4,275 additional fans. The fan base, which has a strong representation from the 18-30 target market, is now host to a total fan base of 7,634. And perhaps ‘fan’ is the wrong word. These aren’t discount driven relationships or pure broadcasting, they are engaged participants having conversations and sharing information.
Of course that didn’t happen all on its own and there was a carefully crafted strategic approach backing it that comprised of both offensive and defensive elements; a lot of research; content creation; seeding in travel and vertical markets; and general passion and enthusiasm for a fun job with a great client.
Better yet were the results. Tourism New South Wales share of online voice in social media for ‘Sydney’ went from 22% in the months leading up to the campaign to 39% at its conclusion including forums, blogs and micro-blogs.
So yes, it’s a lot of hard work too but the point is this. If clients have bothered to take themselves into the world of social media and they’re not doing a bad job, they may need your help and direction which they’ve obviously recognised (and for that we praise them) but don’t disregard their experiences to date. Use what they have and let them share their knowledge and challenges with you. It makes sense and it works. And you know what? You both end up feeling better for it.
See more of 7 Days in Sydney here:
www.facebook.com/seesydney
http://www.7daysinsydney.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/7daysinsydney
www.youtube.com/seesydney
www.twitter.com/sydneysider
www.twitter.com/7daysinsydney
http://www.bestcityintheworld.wordpress.com/
Post. CD
One great idea and one great blog
The latter first.
If you have ever worked in a creative industry, particularly on the agency side, then you will love this post to David Thorne’s blog 27b/6: http://ow.ly/I1A5. In fact, if you like that post, you’ll probably love the others too, particularly this one: http://ow.ly/I1D9
Now to the good idea. Apparently it’s not fundraising but it is handraising, http://www.ihave.org.uk/ allows charities to create wish lists of required goods and services and for individuals to fulfill those wishes. Requirements are many and varied, for example a marketing strategy, a pint of blood, a laptop, warm socks and old bras. The wish lists are many and certainly varied enough to enable everyone to do something this Festive Season.
Post:RS
If you have ever worked in a creative industry, particularly on the agency side, then you will love this post to David Thorne’s blog 27b/6: http://ow.ly/I1A5. In fact, if you like that post, you’ll probably love the others too, particularly this one: http://ow.ly/I1D9
Now to the good idea. Apparently it’s not fundraising but it is handraising, http://www.ihave.org.uk/ allows charities to create wish lists of required goods and services and for individuals to fulfill those wishes. Requirements are many and varied, for example a marketing strategy, a pint of blood, a laptop, warm socks and old bras. The wish lists are many and certainly varied enough to enable everyone to do something this Festive Season.
Post:RS
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