Social media channels and the internet have opened up the frontiers for companies to create their own content and online ecosystems. The need to spend money on wooing the traditional influencers, such a national journalists, and paid-for advertising is waning and why print publications are in decline. Social networking sites have opened a new set of influencers, those that are closely monitored by systems such as “Klout” or “Peer Index”, and who are increasingly listened to by brands.

The new influencers, bloggers and brands embracing their new roles as publishers are giving the established media outlets a run for their money. Take the prolific rise of the Huffington Post, which started in 2005 as a platform for 24/7 news and a collective blogging site. Even in its relative infancy, with almost 4,000 unpaid contributers, it consistently breaks important news stories and attracts eight million unique views a month. This online newspaper outshines many of its big named rivals in terms of its audience, reach and influence.

Some companies have been quick to champion their new publishing role. Take Proctor & Gamble’s “Being Girl” community microsite. This is a great example of how a manufacturing business took on the publishing mantle and gave rivals such as, the American teenage magazine, Girls Life a run for its money. 

The magazine-style site is free to access and covers all the topics (body changes, relationship problems and self-esteem issues) that any teenage-glossy would publish. But it has the added bonus for P&G for being four times more effective than a traditional marketing campaign at engaging with the teenage girl audience.

Content can take on many forms. It could be a blog, a mini explainer video or in the case of giant sports brand Nike, it can be the “fuelband”. This useful wristband (which people wear walking to the shops or running/dancing or whatever activity they do) measures performance (steps taken, calories burned) and syncs up with the Nike training app (so that it can tell you how to improve your stats). Nike has cleverly invented something to make their customer’s lives better which at the same time generates large measurable stats, content for its own site and brand impressions across Facebook each time a user shares their efforts.

Content marketing is adapting and changing as fast as the technology and social landscape is. The demise of the desktop experience, being propelled by new mobile devices, means content is taking a new form. In a short space of time the smartphone, tablet and social revolution has changed the way consumers behave, interact with and consume content. People want short, relevant, personalised and location-based content served up in real time on whatever device they’re on.

 In a time-precious mobile-world – where attention spans at an all time low – the six second easily sharable videos, created on Vine, are now being harnessed by major brands. The engaging, fun or even quirky videos on loop have caught the consumer’s imagination and are readily sharing them on their twitter feeds.

The future for content marketers, as it always has been, is to keep up with the latest trends and technological changes. And to be aware – that consumers are embracing the new methods far faster than many large organisations can deliver. Brands and organisations dragging their feet at this stage will be left behind and lose out to rival start-ups that play by the new rules – giving the consumer what they want, when they want it and on the device they’re using. 

The post Content marketing for a purpose appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Most business logic is based on ROI and by blogging regularly, say up to 15 blog posts per month, you’re more likely to get 5 times more traffic than companies that don’t blog at all says a report from Hubspot.  We believe in living our values and that means knuckling down to blog for our own site as much as possible. The value of this is threefold. We share our knowledge and skills, we keep our site fresh and attractive to search engines and we use it as way to reach out to our existing clients and attract new ones too.

In our latest free ebook, which we’d love you to download and share on social media, we give you an insight into our experiences of blogging.  We’ve given you tips on how to start, where to find your stories and the best content creation tools to use to make your life easier.

The key to a successful blogging strategy is to remember who you’re writing for – your customers and potential customers.  Don’t bambuzal your audience with acronyms, marketing speak or company updates/policy changes.  Try to put yourself in your their shoes – what do they want to know? How can your blog make their lives better, simpler or happier?

Here we give you 7 simple steps to get your blog started:

1. Make your blog useful:

Think about who will read your blog (your customer) and make the content insightful, entertaining and most of all useful.

2. Ensure you’ve done your research:

Collate your research and capture it in one, easy to use & find, place. Evernote is an excellent tool to do just that. It will enable you to  rekindle the ideas when you’re ready to write your blog post.

3. Write in plain English:

Blogs should be easy to read and free from marketing jargon. You should break up the text with headers, bullet points, graphics and photos. This makes it appealing to the reader.

4. Be bold:

Use your blog to challenge convention or give your thoughts on some of the burning issues in your industry. Think of the questions and write the answers in your blog.

5. Write with a personality:

Find your inner voice and release it onto the screen. Rip up your English teacher’s rule book and write like you were talking to a friend.

6. Blogging as a package:

Create a content plan and think of each blog post as part of a series or larger content package.  Reuse, rework and recreate your content in other formats on different channels.

7. Be sociable with your blogs:

Use the social channels like Twitter, Facebook and other networks to circulate your blog. If it’s good, it will attract praise and people are more likely to share it.

The post Blogging for business appeared first on White Horse Digital.

As the American content marketing guru, Rebecca Lieb, says: “You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.” And we couldn’t agree more. So we’re offering to take away your pains and conduct a content audit on your behalf. We’ll use our expertise and know-how to rate your content and advise you on whether it’s meeting your business objectives and engaging with your audience.

The content on your site should be fresh, produced regularly and have a purpose – driving engagement with your users. A site littered with stale and stagnant content will not only reflect badly on your organisation it will be de-ranked by the mighty Google. But the chances are, as you’re reading this blog, you’ll know this and have an inkling that your content needs a revamp. Here are just five of the many benefits of having the White Horse Digital team doing a content health check for you.

1.       A fresh pair of eyes:

It’s a well known fact that a writer can’t spot his own mistakes and omissions. It takes a good editor to see the bigger picture and this is where our trained editing skills can help. We’ll look at the style, tone and voice of your content and assess whether it meets your customer’s needs as well as your business objectives. We’ll spot any inconsistencies, duplication and navigational problems as well as looking out for any outdated, irrelevant content.

2.       Uncover some hidden gems:

We’ll help you rediscover hidden content and concepts that you can tackle again from a different angle.  Perhaps you’ll have some case studies that can have a greater prominence or that can be reworked into a new blog post. The audit will unearth evergreen content that can be repositioned.

3.       Discover successful patterns:

Using our analytical skills we can quickly identify where your strengths and weaknesses are. We’ll identify the most/least popular pieces of content, where your users spend most of their time and whether they are responding to your calls to action – e.g. downloading a whitepaper, filling out a contact form or clicking to buy.

4.       Out with the old:

The audit will uncover any content that’s clearly not supporting your business objectives anymore. Perhaps it’s an old blog post that’s totally out of context in today’s environment. Or the content is duplicated elsewhere on the site, is factually inaccurate or not engaging your customers in anyway.

5.       New content ideas:

The new rules of content are about how you can make your customer’s lives easier, better, happier and we, as digital marketers and journalists can help you with ideas on how you can keep up with content marketing trends and do this too. We specialise in creating, writing and producing videos, blog posts, webinars, ebooks, whitepapers and anything piece of content that can help you engage with your users on any channel.

For the months of June and July we are offering to carry out half price content audits. If you’re interested and want to sign up you’ll be entered into a prize draw and have the chance to win an i-Pad mini.

What you get

Our health check is a holistic service that combines fact and opinion:

• A content inventory – the hard facts and figures about all your owned content in a spreadsheet.
• Our audit – we will dive in and rate your content – benchmarking you against your competitors, quality, calls-to-action, outline areas for improvement and a one-page roadmap of recommendations.

The post Five benefits of taking a White Horse Digital content health check appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Most businesses understand that social media is an important part of a successful marketing plan. But with an increasing amount of time and money being spent on developing a strong social presence, it’s becoming increasingly important that businesses can show a commercial return from their social media activity.

So how can brands begin to put an actual figure to the value of a twitter follow, or a Facebook like? Well that’s exactly what the annual report from Syncapse attempts to do. The study was first completed in 2010, and the exercise was repeated and updated recently for 2013.

For both studies, data was collected from over 2,000 panellists in the US, who were asked to identify which brands they had ‘Liked’ on Facebook. Next, information about behaviour was collected for categories of business, as well as individual brands.

The study was able to put a particular figure to each brand, with the average value of a Facebook ‘Like’ found to be $136.38, or just over £89 in 2010, rising to $174.17 or £114 in 2013.

As you might expect, the difference in the value for each brand is created not only by the profit associated with the products those brands are selling, but also by the quality of the activity on Facebook.  So it’s up to brands to make the most of those ‘likes’ by keeping their fans engaged and working hard to encourage them to become brand advocates.

In more general terms, the value has risen over the last three years because the format, and the fans themselves, are becoming increasingly engaged with Facebook, using pages and newsfeeds to share content, both paid and unpaid.

And the rewards for achieving that engagement can be substantial, particularly for premium brands looking to engage customers for life (and hopefully their friends too!). The brand identified with the highest value was BMW, for whom each fan is worth a whopping $1613.

The post How much is a Facebook ‘Like’ worth? appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Here at White Horse Digital we have recognised that some social media sites are a natural fit for our business model and we therefore try and be strategic with our blogging to encourage a better response. Here are 5 ways that I have learnt so far that can increase your chances of building relationships online, get your content shared and as a result, attract more users to your blogs:

1. Embrace Twitter: Twitter is currently known to be the largest micro blogging website so tweeting any posts that you publish must become a regular thing. Your followers are then notified that you might have shared something of interest and if you include a snappy tweet a long side your post you are even more likely to inspire conversation around your topic. As well as this, if you include a hashtag in your tweet it increases the likelihood of your blog getting seen and shared and it can also encourage users to visit your business website or your own personal profile.
2. Return the favour: Don’t leave your followers hanging, social media marketing is all about being responsive to those who are willing to interact with you. Be sure to respond to people’s comments or posts and always thank those who appreciate and share your work with others. Another way of boosting your online connections is to get involved with guest posting. Help to build a friendly blogging community by offering to write material for other blogs or have guest bloggers do the same for you. This also a beneficial SEO method for both parties.
3. Use WordPress: This content management system is highly effective and easy to use for bloggers. Anyone can create and a launch a blog on WordPress in no time and one of the best parts is that the software is completely free. Making good use of the SEO plugins is important as it makes it possible to add social media sharing buttons to every post. Having readers share your information can significantly improve your search engine rankings and expose your content to new readers online.
4. Select topics carefully: Controversial posts get people talking. I have enjoyed writing about the latest apps in social media such as Snapchat and finding out people’s thoughts and opinions on the subject. You don’t always have to agree with what’s going on, but by putting your thoughts into a blog post and boosting conversation you are making people more aware of your name. Creating blog posts that solve a certain problem for marketers is also more likely to get shared and discussed if others are experiencing something similar.
   
5. Join LinkedIn: This professional social networking site can send a healthy amount of visitors to your business if used appropriately. Identifying inventive and relevant groups and putting aside the time to read comment and share your own work can be very beneficial for your personal profile as well as your business. LinkedIn is a home for marketing experts so the chances of you getting a visitor that could benefit you in the future are much higher when you are connected on LinkedIn.

I believe that all of these factors can help drive visitors to your blogs on social media sites. It’s important that you find a casual way to cross promote your different accounts with your blogs included and then I would expect to see your followers grow and your content to be continually distributed around multiple platforms.

If you have any thoughts on my lessons in blogging and social media, contact me @Megwhdigital.

The post Lessons in blogging & social media: 5 ways you can get your content shared and drive traffic to your blog appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Based on a recent Pew report, as many as three in four teens access the internet via their mobiles, tablets or other similar devices and it seems that the youth of this generation are spending the majority of their waking hours welded to mobile phones.

I had a brief converstaion with a few of my peers aged 18-19 about how they preferred to access the internet on a daily basis. This is what they had to say on the subject:

Kees Chamberlain: ’I have recently got a smartphone and I do occasionally use it for accessing the internet. I have my own laptop which isn’t shared with family members; I mostly use this laptop for internet access because I prefer it to mobile internet. However, I will rarely use my laptop for access to social media sites and I prefer to use my smartphone for sites such as Twitter and Facebook.’

Katie Reed: ‘Recent statistics all seem very true, I own an iPhone and it’s great for accessing the internet any time that I need to. Apple is a good brand and the iPhone allows me to download any apps that I want including very useful ones such as my University emails. I also use the EasyJet app to book my flights home. I think that portable computers are more than necessary now.’

Eddy Robinson: ‘Most people I know have access to the newest mobile devices. I think smartphones and tablets are a great way to access information on the move and it’s such an easy way of communicating. I think it’s much more convenient to have your own smartphone and they are generally becoming a lot cheaper so it gives people even more reason to invest in them.’

The majority of my peers use smartphones and tablets every day and I think that it is fair to say that digital communication is not just prevalent in teen’s lives, it pretty much controls their lives as it determines the vast majority of the things that they do. Here are the top 5 mobile apps that me and my friends are using:

1 Facebook: Facebook is still the top social networking site and most people I know have the free app on their phones. It closely resembles the Facebook website and you can do pretty much everything that Facebook usually allows you to.

2. Twitter: This app is definitely deserving of a place in the top 5 as similarly to Facebook , almost everyone I know accesses Twitter on their phones and it’s easier to be notified of news and updates whilst on the move as well as socially interacting with friends wherever you are.

3. Draw Something: Draw Something is also very popular at the moment and many of my peers rate it. It’s basically an online version of Pictionary; during each ‘round’ you are given 3 words to choose from of which you must draw. Afterwards, your component (who you normally invite via Facebook) must guess correctly in order to progress in the challenge.

4. Snapchat: Everyone I know is going crazy about Snapchat and it’s certainly like nothing else on the market right now. The idea of being able to send short videos and images that recipients can only view for set periods of time is proving to be highly entertaining for teens.

5. Instagram: This photo-sharing app is one of the current favourites as just like Twitter, you can follow people and they will in turn follow you back. You have the option of making your photos public and new images constantly appear on the news feed of which you can comment on and ‘like’.

All of these fun-based apps are very commonly used among teens, however it must not go unmentioned that the more practical and functional apps also play a key role on mobile devices. For example, my peers use the Newcastle University app which allows you to read the latest University news and access your timetables and recieve updates on free, convenient study areas. Furthermore, we all have apps for our emails so that we are constantly informed of any sudden changes to our course schedules.

So why should brands be targeting mobile users?

According to the Flurry blog, 40 billion people in the past 3 years have downloaded various mobile applications. As we have seen, there is no doubt that the vast majority of teens are using mobiles and as a result, mobile advertising has become the best way for organisations to spread their networks and attract more customers. In order to remain competitive, companies must keep up with the times as more and more people are using mobiles to search the internet rather than desktop computers. It’s important that apps are interative and engaging in order to be effective in increasing companie’s consumer engagement.

If you have any interesting thoughts on this topic, contact me@Megwhdigital.

The post Teens and technology: How teenagers access the internet appeared first on White Horse Digital.

It’s not hard to see why Google+  is on the rise when you look at the intelligent linking of its services online. As well as this, the vast increase in the use of smart phones and tablets is definitely working to Google’s advantage. Google+ has so many new and exciting features: here are 3 key reasons why it’s proving to be a real competitor:

1. Better connections: Even though Facebook is the prime way that most people stay connected online, rather than assisting you in spreading your network, it focuses more on connecting with your existing groups. Google+ is designed to help users build new links and engage with interesting people that share content that you enjoy.
2. More privacy: Facebook is a fast moving company and it has been accused in the past for lacking respect for user data privacy. Google+ has been set up in a way that allows people to be in full control of their privacy online. You can define exactly what you want to see by using Google circles. You can choose what content you want to post and control every circle in your news feed. Running a social network means having a responsible stewardship of any users’ personal information and I think that Google+ has achieved this.
3. Highly interactive: There is no denying that Facebook is still at the top of the charts in terms being a highly effective social networking and interactive site. It has all the features you need to form groups and chat with your connections. However, Google may have beaten Facebook in the area of ‘chat’ as by using their ‘Hangouts’ you can be part of live, virtual meetings with a chosen group of friends or colleagues on video. Furthermore, Google+ now has a new Huddle mobile app that allows users to hold group chats via text messaging.

Google Plus is already a favourite among business users with its various apps and analytic tools. It seems that people are enjoying this new overall feel of sharing and collaboration online. On the other hand though, the real question is whether Google+ will ever knock Facebook out of their top spot. I am still inclined to believe that it will never beat Facebook and these are my 3 main reasons why:

1. Partnerships: Many companies are built around Facebook credits because it is already so well established. Facebook also holds an Open Graph platform that effectively enables developers to create immersive apps that links them even closer to the Facebook platform.  Some of Facebook’s partnerships include Spotify, Nike and Zynga.
2. Better features: Partially in response to the establishment of Google+, Facebook has designed some new tools in attempt to outdo those belonging to Google. For example, it is currently rivalling Google’s circles with its ‘Smart Lists’ that puts your information into an organised list and allows you to control who can see your data. They also released their Facebook messenger app in response to Google Huddle which is already proving to be a big success.
3. No space: Most people would argue that there is literally not enough room for two competing social networking sites. Google+ symbolises a fresh start and if we are becoming tired of Facebook this could be the reason people are getting excited about it. However, in reality, no matter what social networking site that you use the underlining need is being able to communicate with others. Are we really concerned with having to grasp the idea of endless numbers of new features? Google+ and Facebook are too similar in their functionalities and there is simply never going to be a big enough place in the market for Google+, especially while Facebook remains so many streaks ahead.

I would really enjoy hearing people’s thoughts on this subject. Do you support Facebook or Google+? Contact me @Megwhdigital

The post Google+ vs Facebook: Who will come out on top? appeared first on White Horse Digital.

According to a recent report, around 58% of Pinterest users are female and it is the first social media site to capitalise mainly from the number of women interacting with it. This does seem to make sense when considering the vast amounts of boards featuring specific interests in topics such as food and home entertainment, wedding planning as well as fashion and beauty. It is clear that these boards are often just used to track things people don’t want to forget, however it seems that women in particular enjoy visually representing their dreams and fantasies by displaying different images for everyone to see.

I was lucky enough to speak briefly with a lady named Jamielyn, a keen user of Pinterest that has managed to earn herself a place on the top pinner’s board, she told us:

‘To answer your question, yes I cross-promote my accounts with the same information written in a different tone. I’m really not sure how I became a tastemaker, I guess Pinterest featured my pins in their newsletter and then named me a tastemaker and as a recommended account to follow. I think just jumping right in, commenting, liking and repinning is the best way to build a strong community.’

It was thought-provoking to hear that something as simple as cross-promoting Pinterest with other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be one useful way for brands to broaden their network. Jamielyn provided me with a Pinterest board created specifically for businesses’ looking for assistance in endorsing their products. It is not just women though that are becoming top leaders on Pinterest and I was determined to discover how these ‘power pinners’ could help other brands learn to make Pinterest their number one traffic driver.

I’ve developed 3 of my own techniques that I think will provide organisations with the key tools to promote themselves more effectively on Pinterest:

1. Focus on your content: Firstly, keep your content organised into the correct categories and always ensure that you add a caption that accurately describes your pin- the description is how people can search and find your pins. If you have interesting content that has done well on other channels already, why not pin it? Pinterest can appeal to a more visually focused audience which in time should broaden your network. It’s easy to fill a board with repins, however the fastest way to increase your number of followers is always going to come down to providing fresh and new content and pinning interesting new items.

2. Get followed: As marketers, we all know the importance of SEO. If you start a company board you can show online users your marketing skills and build your reputation. Pinterest’s search area is still all about keywords and if you load up popular keywords in the description of your pins you increase your chances of gaining more followers. Big search engines can ultimately score links via social media so connecting Pinterest to your site can do nothing but help your brand reach a wider audience.

3. Always track your Pinterest engagement: New tools on Pinterest allow you the insight into your account that you need in order to monitor your success and move forward with the promotion of your brand. Visit Repinly to search popular pins so you can gain knowledge of images that are more likely get likes and repins. As well this, you can use PinReach for trending more Pinterest images. Also, be aware that you need to stay tuned into your audience, follow boards as well as people to gain the access to and the attention of as many users as possible.

Do you have any tips on how brands can increase their presence on Pinterest? I would love to hear your thoughts. Contact me @Megwhdigital.

The post Top Pinterest pinners: 3 ways brands can harness the power of Pinterest appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Some of the barriers to using a modern CRM system were – multiple sources of data, a problem identifying ownership of data, getting C-level buy-in to make the organisational changes, cultural shifts and companies with the wrong staff in the wrong type of job.

It occurred to me as I sat listening to these problems that the larger the organisation, the larger the logistical nightmare it is to make the necessary changes – making a “single view of a customer” out of reach for many. At least for now.

The companies that were cited for great customer informed service were Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks and First Direct bank. These all create timely, relevant and informed content for their customers and have relied heavily on their digital, social and mobile data to stay ahead in the market.

Joining up digital, mobile, social and offline CRM data is how they deliver enhanced customer satisfaction:

1. No duplication

Businesses that have integrated all touchpoints into a single view CRM system are outperforming those that aren’t because they don’t duplicate messages.

2. 1-2-1 conversations

Data drawn from Facebook, email and other social media channels means large multinationals now have an opportunity to have a 1-2-1 conversation with their customers.

3. Increasing real-time relevance

Using mobile as a channel to collect and harness data has allowed companies to create specific, targeted and personalised offerings – such as ecoupons triggered by geodata.

4. Agile customer service

Companies that have embraced, and not shied away from social media, now respond to conversations with customers instantly. This demonstrates agile customer service.

5. Greater opportunity for personalisation

By tracking offline and online activity organisations can personalise content to offer the greatest reward to the customer.

6. Tracking consumers once they’ve left you

Data created by mobile payment from the digital wallet and passbook technology allows you to track the consumer once they’ve left your site (this can give you insight into their behaviour & preferences outside your arena).

My original blog, six benefits of combining digital data with traditional CRM to enhance the customer experience, can be read on Econsultancy.

The post Joining up digital, mobile, social and offline CRM for enhanced customer satisfaction appeared first on White Horse Digital.

Some people believe that Google glass could eventually redefine the way we interact in both a digital and physical world. It certainly seems to have the potential to kick off a lot of innovation within this category, however there are still some factors that are leading me to question whether its distinction will play a major role in the future of Google and technology:

Do we still value conversation?

A recent Pew Internet survey found that 30% of 18-29 years olds have purposefully used their mobile phones as a method of avoiding interaction with people around them. Google glass has the potential to make us avoid engaging in real life conversations and encourage people to become increasingly inwardly focused. The fear is that this new wearable technology could accelerate this theory and in a worst case scenario could affect our psychological health. The world is already becoming consumed by the internet and social media and it seems that Google glass could alienate us even further.

Does it have many new features?

There is no doubt that Google Glass is something we have never seen before.Some of its top assets include various, impressive video apps but aside from being able to access Google translate and Google maps through voice detection, its features can all be found on most Smartphones. Are we mistaken in getting excited at the potential of technological glasses and not focusing on the reality?

Can anyone afford it?

Google glass is far more expensive than any Ipad or Smartphone you can possibly think of. Considering we already have access to some extremely advanced pocket-computers, it seems that Google glass has a lot of persuading to do if it wants people to invest in this new headwear. Consequently, its target audience becomes fairly limited.

What about our privacy?

Due to the device having a basic headwear design, you can’t use its functions without speaking to it. As a result, this supposedly personal display doesn’t appear to be quite so private when considering you have to announce everything you want it to do. It is also questionable as to how comfortable people will feel about the possibility of what they’re doing in public being assimilated by Google. Is it wrong to assume that those people visible through Google glass are consenting?

At first, I was fascinated by Google glass. Cybernetic eyewear is an intriguing novelty in itself and when it’s linked with social networks and other useful apps it seems like it can’t lose. Despite this though, when considering some of its less appealing traits I am not entirely convinced about how successful it will be. What are your thoughts? Contact me @Megwhdigital

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