Shere Marketing Blog

Make a New Year’s resolution – to manage uncertainty

Here we stand once again at the beginning of a new year.  What will it have in store?

12 months ago no-one could foresee all that 2011 would bring.  Some events were expected: the royal wedding; the rugby world cup.  Others, if not expected, might reasonably have been foreseeable to some extent: bailouts of the weaker Eurozone economies;  the spread of Tunisian unrest across the Arab world.  And of course many were neither expected nor foreseen: the Japanese tsunami; the death of Osama bin Laden; riots in Britain; Manchester United being trounced 6-1 at home by Manchester City… 

Businesses face similar uncertainties in 2012.  Much of what will happen to them this year will be unexpected, and some will be unforeseeable.  But there are two key steps you can take to manage the impact of uncertainty on your business and even turn it to your advantage:

There are now over 11 million Smartphone users in the UK and according to Google, 74% of these make a purchase as a result of using their phone to review marketing information.   And research by Deloitte reveals that 88% of those who look for local information on their Smartphone take action within a day.

The key thing about Smartphones as a marketing tool is the ability for marketers to get intimate with the consumer.  We can engage with the individual, and by using softer messages we can seduce, simply because the Smartphone user is already in the palm of our hand – literally!

The Smartphone is usually the primary source of information and entertainment for the user.  They are absorbed by it for hours every day reviewing trends and topics of interest.  Therefore search, context advertising and product association are the best ways to reach them.  Straight display type ads are too brusque.  Be more subtle and generous for greater success.   The research shows that the most popular ways to encourage Smartphone users to respond is through ads offering bargains, free apps or games.

The Smartphone is very different to other media because rather than being a casual observer, flicking through a magazine, opening a mail piece, half hearing a radio advert or glancing at a sales brochure, the Smartphone user actually craves the content their Smartphone delivers.  So when the advertiser’s message is blended with this content, it goes straight into the consciousness, deeper and more persuasively than ever before.

For many their Smartphone has become their drug of choice.  They cannot go more than a few minutes without a fix.  And the shards of information delivered are tiny moments of satisfaction embedded in the brain, creating interest, desire, perceived need.

And we all know what this is: The Sales Process.

10 ways to increase your followers on Twitter

No one wants to have no Twitter followers, but how do you grow your followers?  Here are some simple techniques to increase your followers on Twitter.

1. Add a photo to your profile.
2. Add a bio – include buzz words which will attract the right type of followers.  What are you interested in?
3. Tweet – if you don’t tweet anything – no one can find you! Use Hashtags # to make it easier for people to find your tweets.
4. Tweet regularly (in less than 127 characters makes it easier for other people to retweet your tweets) – think of at least 3 things you can tweet about each day. Be careful not to appear spammy only tweet relevant interesting content that is the key.
5. Re-tweet other people’s tweets.  They are more likely to follow you.
6. Create Twitter lists – if you look organised and are a font of knowledge or information, people will follow you.
7. Get listed – think of a reason why people should list you.  Your job, hobby, what sort of list should you be on? Is this clear from your bio?  Your tweets?
8. Have you integrated your social media profiles?  Do your Facebook or LinkedIn friends know you are also on Twitter?  Let them know.
9. Add your Twitter ID or a link to your Twitter profile  to your email signature, and your website.
10. Be interesting, original and consistent.  Don’t start and stop tweeting.

Do you have any other ways to increase your followers on Twitter?

10 ways to find people to follow on Twitter

You need to grow your Twitter circle by following people, letting people know you are in the neighbourhood, but how do you do this? Here 10 ways to find people on Twitter.

1. To find which of your friends/contacts are already using Twitter, upload your contacts from email address books (Yahoo, Hotmail & Messenger, Gmail, AOL supported).
2. Upload your contacts from LinkedIn
3. Find Twitter lists to follow using  Twitter Directories, E.g. TweetDeck Directory http://www.tweetdeck.com/directory/, and Listorious http://listorious.com
4. Using “Who to Follow” navigation – view suggestions.
5. Using “Who to Follow” navigation - browse interests.
6. Using “Who to Follow” navigation - find users by name.
7. Use Search field to find out who is tweeting about the topics you are interested in, or what your target followers will be interested in.
8. Search Google site:twitter.com/*/YOUR TAG – Eg. Site.twitter.com/*/sports
9. Use Justtweetit or Wefollow.
10. View the following/follower lists of the Twitter accounts you are following to see who they are following/who is following them.

Do you have any other ways to find people on Twitter?

Technological advances have had a big impact on how stories are issued to the press, but people often fail to take advantage of the latest developments when it comes to creating their release and exploiting alternative methods to get it noticed. 

Here are 5 tips for sprucing up your press releases and leveraging some of what modern technology has to offer...