The ‘newcomers’ are often extremely analytical and creative, they demonstrate a deep understanding of consumer behavioral patterns; understand e-commerce and are able to bridge the marketing-technology divide.

Make space and welcome the Head of Customer Service; Head of Loyalty Cards; European E-Commerce Director!   At a recent TCG workshop, I sought to make this point explicitly to welcome the Director of Customer Services of a major financial services brand in India.  “It’s good to meet you, finally”, I said.  “I always knew you existed but have not had the privilege of keeping your company in the past.  Today, as before, customer conversations start and end with you.”

Social media is driving huge brand and corporate change.  It is forcing companies to change the way they work, think, behave and get digitally organised. The customer touch-points today are multiple and social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are demanding new strategies for marketing and customer engagement.  Social CRM is at the heart of the business today and a definite CEO agenda item (http://mashable.com/follow/topics/social-ceo-series).  No longer is this relegated to the humble customer services team but is a massive subset of a new formulae which links people from marketing, technology to customer management. With a new social media mantra and a public voice, the customer is now truly the King!

Social Media has changed business practices and how organisations are organised!!

Who Are You Online?

If you were to ask pre-Millenial generations what they use different social platforms for my finger-in-the-wind poll suggests most would say that Facebook is for their friends and LinkedIn is for work. The former is for their ‘real life’, a real picture of who they are; the latter for their ‘work life’, a glorified CV. After all, we use privacy settings furiously to make sure keg stands and skinny dipping do not show up should a prospective employer Google or Facebook Search us. This divided thinking or platfrom appropriateness is the reason for LinkedIn’s continued success and, I hazard, it’s popularity with C-level management, who make up a surprising proportion of profiles on the platform. This is not how the social media generation views things.

I Am What I Am!

The growth of Facebook as a single identity tool is evidenced by the high usage of Facebook Connect for sites and services that have little to do with the social media platform (though Open Graph may make everything have something do with it…) This is more about convenience than profile however, as the system does not lay your private content out on a digital table for all to see. The growth of BranchOut, however, suggests that as Millenials join the workforce they are happy to expand Facebook to be their work profile as well as their real profile. There is no difference. The sophisticated use of Facebook Privacy settings by this group supports this theory. They are happy that what they do not want to share they have control over, and why pretend to be two people online? Along with Liking your own status updates and checking in to your own home, it’s just not cool.

The Difficult Bit

This is all well and good for the Millenials, and as I said, the growth of BranchOut is unlikely to trouble LinkedIn any time soon. What it does mean however is that companies and HR departments full of non-Millenials who like to keep work and Facebook totally separate thank you very much will have to get used to entering this informal social sphere to engage with and recruit the best talent. Reckitt Benkiser realised this some time ago and launched their own talent sourcing Facebook game. But this is still playing it safe – keeping a discreet and controlled environment in which to assay the latest batch of MBAs. Facebook’s rules are very clear that you can only have one profile, so recruiters cannot (or maybe should not is more accurate) start to speak to prospective employees using anything other than their own real identity.

HR teams will have to get used to really being themselves online which is quite possibly something they are not ready for, or comfortable with. But if you want to find the best fresh blood or your organisation, it’s time to leave the safety if LinkedIn and live a little. Better check those privacy settings now…

Today, we can divide social media into 6 groups: social networks (Facebook and LinkedIn are the best examples), blogs, wikis (Wikipedia, the best-known), podcasts (iTunes), forums, content communities (YouTube or Flickr) and microblogging (Twitter).
For the brands, social media appears as a way to reach new customers and to reflect their feelings. This explains why companies are currently working on “Social Strategies” to define the degree of interactivity that they want to have with their customers. Social media will help the consumer to make a decision. They’ll often consult public opinion to reinforce their purchasing decision. Thanks to technologies such as smart phones or tablets, customers do not need their home computers, accessing social media everywhere. With such easy access to content, it’s clear why print medias are currently facing an important crisis that is mirrored by the decline of the music industry caused largely by piracy but also by social digital channels. Companies can then adapt themselves to these new technologies and benefit from social media. But the relation between the marketers and the consumers has now changed.

Several studies tend to show the positive impact of social media upon a brand and the fidelity of consumers and the purchasing decision. According to a study from the Compete Institute, 56% of those who follow a brand on Twitter would be more likely to buy the products of the brand whereas it is only 47% for Facebook “fans” of the brand’s page. In general, the impact of Twitter on the consumer behaviour is more important than in the case of Facebook, as we can see in the graph below. Twitter, qualifies users as “mature” consumers, and builds a stronger relation between users and brands.

According to the IBM/Ipsos study, more than half of the British, German, French and Italian web surfers check social networks before deciding to buy or not a product. Moreover, 35% of the “Fans” of a Facebook Page are using the Page to consult advices of other consumers. However, the conclusions of both IBM/Ipsos and Compete Institute are the same: Most Followers of a brand’s Page are expecting promotions and free samples.

When a consumer has made their choice, thanks to a social media platform, they will go to buy the product or service, in 40% of the cases. Another study has also proved that 56% of Facebook users who have become fans of a brand are more likely to recommend it to a friend. According to a survey conducted by Mr Youth, a New York marketing agency, the exchanges between friends, family and the brands have a direct influence on the purchasing decision during holiday sales. 93% of social media users have indeed made or received a recommendation via Facebook and 22% via Twitter during that period. As a consequence, 65% of users’ recommendations have lead to a purchase.

The agency has also stated that “recommendations of Social Media Users are two times as likely to lead to a holiday gift purchase”. The study also shows the relation between the social media presence and the consumer behaviour. When a brand answers to the post of a user, 80% of them have then purchased a product of this specific brand. Finally, 36% of the users have a greater trust in the brand which has a social media presence.

Social media will become more and more important in the communication strategies of these companies. It is the perfect answer to the need of discussion and exchange. Brands can now reach the consumer and establish a contact, transmit a message and consumers can theoretically receive answers to their questions. During the economic downturn, more and more companies have reduced their communication budget but they have increased expenses for social media by 30%. It is now a priority for big companies but they need also to change their global marketing strategy. They need to become multidirectional, why because the customer is. They need to have good feedback on their social media actions in order to adapt the “discussions” they have with the customers. It is also important to reach the right customer at the beginning of a social media strategy because opinion leaders, such as bloggers, are the ultimate key to a brands success.

New Column-Based Design

While there is a larger point to this article, let’s start with the nitty gritty. For profiles, Google Chat is now easier! Easier in fact than in Gmail, with your contacts on the right hand side of the page now as opposed to the left. As you can see on our brand page, the Stream takes up a large part of the screen, with the infamous white column filled at the top with promote options for brands and trending topics and people and pages suggestions for profiles. This whole section scrolls separately to the edges leaving the Chat column always visible, and even more importantly, the new Navigation Ribbon. This far left column is the control hub, where different products and features sit and which can be edited to change order, or even what appears. Want Games but no Hangouts? Just add one and drag and drop off the other. This, for us, is the standout new feature as it allows for customisation of your social experience in a way that other social media platforms do not. Take note.

Bigger, Better, Faster, More!

The new Cover (heard that before somewhere?) at the top of the page or profile offers more visual real-estate along with a much bigger profile image to show off your pearly whites or corporate logo. The newly designed page allows for much larger images and video in the Stream than before, meaning you should focus on visual content if you are a brand page. The Navigation Ribbon is of course based on how the user wants to see Google+ so is not something over which you have control. And currently there is no way to make applications as you can on Facebook, so that is pretty much it for now.

What Sergey Said…

Vic Gundotra, head of the Google+ project, has said recently that they will put no timeline on releasing an open API for developers to start building on Google+ in the way that they can on Facebook Platform. But does a comment this week from Google co-founder Sergey Brin give a hint as to what the future might hold for developers when looked at in the context of the Google+ design changes? In talking about freedom on the web Sergey is quoted as saying “the rise of ‘restrictive’ walled gardens such as Facebook and Apple, which tightly control what software can be released on their platforms” are among the greatest threats. Moving on from the prima facie content, this must imply surely that Google’s approach to software builds for Google+ will be open and unrestrictive? This is certainly what they have done with the app store formerly known as the Android Market (now called Google Play). One of its key differentiators, for better or worse, is that anything can go on there, whether the Steve Jobs-bot likes it or not.

Now think again about the new Navigation Ribbon – what is the one thing you can do that makes it stand out? You can edit it. You can add or take away products as you see fit, and surely, surely one day this will be where you put apps? The plethora of creative, open, brilliant digital mind-bombs that the ‘unrestricted’ developer community will no doubt produce, given half a chance?

Google have always purported to put the user first and part of that must be Choice. Suddenly the future is clear, though it may not happen soon. Google+ will be your portal to a better social experience, a better internet experience, made to look however you want it to delivering the best the world wide web has to offer in a manner of your choosing. Marvellous.

Useful Resources:

Cover image dimensions – width 940 pixels x height 180 pixels
Profile image – width 252 pixels x height 252 pixels
Great book on Google+ by Guy Kawasaki – What the Plus!

There are lots of ways that you can utilise LinkedIn to expand your business, branding, visibility of your products, potential new partnerships and cultivating new customer streams are standard platform usage. There are however risks. Connecting with people you don’t know, or constantly posting the same content can be dangerous as these methods are likely to project an unstructured approach and image of your business and most likely have a detrimental impact upon your brand. These methods are also seen as bad practice. As with all other social media platforms, such as Twitter, nurturing a community, long-term is far more beneficial than any short term gain.

So how do you use LinkedIn to expand your business?

Here are a few methods across 3 different areas we’ve found to work:

Personal Profile

This space houses all of your employment history, including your current role. However the feature that’s most impactful is the function to post updates, which all of your connections can see. Post content that is firstly interesting and relative to you, however, have clear objectives as you ideally want to drive connections and initiate conversations. Other functions include videos (CV video, Company Product demo etc), slide share (show your last meeting slides to your connections) Travel plans (keep your connections up-to-date on where you are and where you are going) and lots more.  Lastly, you can add additional platforms to make it easier for contacts to connect with, say your Twitter, Google+ and company website.

Company Page

A company page is similar to your personal LinkedIn profile; you have a field to input information on the nature of the company, the employees that work there and the people you’re connected with. People can follow the company, thus subscribing to company updates.  Company updates should be informative, interactive and not consist of repeated content. Content ought be a mixture of blog links, videos and news reports that are relevant to your offering, adding value to your following.

You can ‘Like’ and ‘Comment’ on a company post, like you can on Facebook. As such if your content is targeted enough, you should enjoy successful engagement levels with your following. If you’re a small business, getting your team to read and interact with your posts will help ‘spread the word’ to the rest of your following, and theirs! This interaction with will increase the impressions of your page.

When building a company page ensure the copy is company, brand or service heavy as this will help your page appear higher in search ranking (SEO.) SEO tip: Make sure that as many of your products are mentioned as many times as possible, without repeating keywords numerous times which we see as bad practice, we’d recommend no more than 10. Spend real time ensuring it reads naturally and your keywords do not look out of place. Utilise the Products & Services tab to link to specific pages on your website, this will help prospects get the information they need to contact you directly and make the sale.

Polls

LinkedIn Polls do exactly what you’d imagine. It’s a great way to gain valuable insight into the culture of your connections. You can also see the breakdown of gender, position and age demographic of those who’ve taken your poll, however, you cannot see their names or the details of the people that have voted unless they’ve left a comment.

Posting Polls too often may result in you loosing connections as people may tire of the frequency but asking the right questions will give you a great return on stats and also visibility.

Seeding or sharing the Poll in the groups that you are part of can also increase the engagement of your poll and gain a better insight in to the type of questions that you are likely to post in the future.  Remember the poll ought to be utilised to drive people to look at your page.

TCG Poll tip: You can only have 5 answers on a poll so always have the last option as “If other, please comment”

So overwhelmed with the success, Reliance Communications approached TCG again, this time requesting a further 800 thousand views per month over the following 12 month period. With a number of different TCG proven strategies the SEO team again surpassed the brief. Reliance Communications saw growth of 242% in organic traffic with a total of 8.9 million organic visits to the site.

This explains why the majority of Corporate PR is conducted by an in-house team; the margin for error is narrow, a mismanaged opportunity is potentially costly and the sensitivity of messaging is so very delicate. An effective Corporate PR team will be able to achieve a succession of relevant and impactful pieces of coverage, source profile and speaking opportunities that increasing the validity of the company. In short, a Corporate PR team ought to function as a fully operational PR outlet whilst identifying and engaging investors. Most brands, products and services strive for increased awareness. Without an effective Corporate PR team, potential investors could be overlooked, or worse still; your company could be overlooked.

It is important to promote a corporate brand and build an identity in the industry marketplace. It’s a simple equation; the more public awareness the function can generate the greater chance you have at increased sales, revenue and interested investors.

Another equation to consider is; the larger the corporation, the larger the Corporate PR team.

For venture capital, it is enormously important to have a Corporate PR team as their function is to communicate, manage and provide experts in the particular field, essential tools, information, resources and media relationships. They must be able to offer as much information about the company to as many relevant and targeted people as possible within tightly governed campaigns. In the evolving world of Social Media a Corporate PR team ought to have an Online Reputation Management programme in place. See a previous post Why engaging in Social Media as an amateur is not OK for an insight into why ORM is so important to the corporate image.

PR campaigns are similar to marketing campaigns, however, a PR campaign focuses on generating interest for the company, service, or product and building upon the reputation. Although, Corporate PR campaigns can work together with marketing campaigns to garner additional awareness about a specific product or service. The initial stages of creating the structure for your campaign will include identifying who your target audience is and what the best forms of media are to reach them.

One of the most effective Corporate PR strategies is to ride an existing topic. If there is a large news story at the time, find a way to exploit it by offering expert insight on the topic. Distribute press releases to news media informing them of your spokesperson, their credentials, and the companies.

There are many ways to promote your business within your Corporate PR strategy, attend networking events, write a weekly or daily blog.

Your website is a hugely important piece of good corporate public relations collateral. Everything anyone could possibly want to know about you ought to be readily available. Potential investors and other parties expect to find detailed content about the products and services of the company. The website needs to include information about the corporate structure of a company. Information that sets your proposition apart from your competitors, and additional information that establishes your company’s expertise in its field. Other optional details include; a history of the company, how it began and how it grew into the company it is today. A link to the company Facebook Page utilising Timeline is a great idea for corporate marketing!

For interested parties to find your website, they must be looking for it or it must be easily found via the messaging the Corporate team has placed. Search Engine Optimization is one of the best ways to increase website views and interest new clients or customers. Search Engine Optimization involves not only listing your web site on the major search engines but also using marketing strategies to gain more web visitors. We’ll explore SEO in a future blog.

Wow! That was a bold statement and we stand by it, but there is no need to panic. The new Pages design should be seen for the great opportunity it is, and in this post we discuss the benefits of different features and how you can approach their use to maximise impact and minimise outlay.

The Cover and the Profile Picture

First piece of advice – use the Cover! We have seen several brands switch to Timeline before today and choose not to have a Cover image with the result that their Pages look anaemic. If you as a brand do not have image assets to call upon you can look to image asset libraries such as Corbis, or why not just get all your staff together for a photo and smile! You must remember though that Facebook Page Terms dictate you must not use this to promote or advertise, or for a call to action – such as ‘Like Us’ with a big arrow pointing down. The Profile Picture is easy; this is where you can put your company logo without having to worry about changing it over time like the old versions on old Page designs.

Apps and Pinned Posts

Timeline Apps are now more than ever the best way to drive Engagement on your Facebook Page. Whether you host competitions, sweepstakes or just games, you should use your post content and advertising to link directly to these rather than to your Facebook Page Timeline. You can still Like-Gate App content as well if you wish to, to drive up fan numbers, and when you design your App thumbnail make it a call to action. The new Pages design of course leaves no opportunity for Default Landing Tabs like ‘the old days’. The new Pinned Post feature is the next best thing and you should also use these to highlight your App content. Remember however that as they only appear for a week try to have a great visual that you change every time to keep the Pinned Posts fresh.

Highlighted Posts and Milestones

Highlighted Posts are a brilliant way of adding visual brilliance to your Timeline, and are great for anything that has an image. These should not be used for just text-based posts though, as they just look awful when stretched to double-width. As with the cover, if you are the sort of company that just does not have visual content then you need to think cleverly about how you can do this – and don’t just steal images from other websites!

Milestones are big part of the new Facebook Pages – Facebook itself talks about content in terms of stories, and what could be better than the story of your company? To make these work as well as they can though, take the time to give each one a great image. You may need to think laterally for this, and we recommend looking at other Page Timeline’s to find inspiration, just remember than you can make any picture interesting with the correct story around it.

So far we have covered the basics which should relieve your panic and get your Facebook Page looking great. Once you have these in place, depending on your resources there are some other things to consider. The first is Messages – in your settings (click Manage and Edit page at the top of your Admin Panel) you will find a tick box to turn these on and off. This enables the new Pages feature giving fans the opportunity to send you private messages, and is great for building relationships and dealing with customer service issues. However, if you do not think your company has the resource to answer every single message we recommended not enabling Messages. The expectation around these private attempts to interact will be much higher than publicly on your Page.

The final extra consideration is Open Graph and your website – Facebook allows you to link actions taken on your company website back to Facebook, reporting on those actions in the Ticker and Newsfeed. So, if you have this enabled and your customers place an order, that can come back to Facebook as a story such as “John Smith ordered an X from YourCompany”. This is close to the holy grail of social activity for brands – having (directly or indirectly) customers recommend you, rather than you recommending yourself.

Be Excited!

You should be excited by the new Pages design – at last brands can tell their own stories in a way that drives engagement and maximises the benefits of that social media can bring. Now go play!

Appendix – Asset Size Checklist

Profile Picture = Width 180 pixels x Height 180 pixels
Cover = Width 851 pixels x Height 315 pixels
App Thumbnail = Width 111 pixels x 74 pixels
Normal/Pinned Post Image = ideal Width 404 pixels x Height 404 pixels
Highlighted Post/Milestone Image = ideal Width 843 pixels x Height 403 pixels (we have found though that images above 550 pixels in width tend to scale up to fill the post, while those of less than this sit in the middle of the post box with grey on either side).

As a direct result to PR activity Recommend.ly also saw a notable increase in subscribers in this small period. To date Recommend.ly have been written about by 4 of the agreed top ten tier titles.