Blog

Social media internetty webby linky things – November 16th

*tap tap, is this still on?*

Some links worth checking out:

A blog post from Drew gives some foundations on how another blog post of his with some interesting numbers got trending on Twitter.

Employers using social media to recruit. Sidestepping recruitment companies.

Facebook and local Governments. Some good examples.

A webcam and software and you can model anything in 3D.

A list of Social Media Agencies around the world. Rockstars there. Real genuine agencies. Be good to see more agencies out there like that.

Boingo working with local businesses with their hotspots. Free access in return for watching a video.

All very Facebook

As more and more people I work with are moving some of their communications to Facebook and expanding what they’re doing they have various needs. If you can do any of the below, let me know by emailing damien < at > mulley.ie with subject: Facebook Work

  • Facebook Ad experts
  • Facebook Page coders – Can you sex up a Facebook Page with HTML and FBML?
  • Facebook App/API coders – What it says on the tin

Hotel Marketing using earned media – Montenotte Hotel photowalk

Last weekend Donncha hosted a photowalk with photobloggers. Pat O’Neill of D4 hotels fame brought Donncha and Montenotte Hotels together for this. (I helped slightly)

Hold Still...We
Photo owned by M. Burrows (cc)

This is a nice example of earned media: Bring photobloggers to your hotel, give them content (this time a view) and enable them to do what they like doing (taking photos). Lots and lots and lots of photos and good sentiment and blog posts circling around your hotel. When SEO and Google Ads start to fail or become more expensive than the cost of a room, you need to up a gear or do something different. Course if you have a speedboat that some photobloggers can hop on, even better!

We’re a while yet from the idea of earned media in Ireland as extolled by Graham Brown, Helge Tennø and others but we’re getting there.

Kaboom! Facebook passes the Million Mark in Ireland

1,010,980 people who live in Ireland are now on Facebook, according to Facebook ad stats.

900k in August.
400k in January.

Gender:
544,080 people who live in Ireland who are female – 53.8%
416,380 people who live in Ireland who are male – 46.2%
(960,460 filled in Gender details)

Age stats:
665,060 people who live in Ireland age 25 and older – 65.8%
440,120 people who live in Ireland age 30 and older – 43.5%
156,640 people who live in Ireland age 40 and older – 15.5%

Older generation versus younger generation:
59,580 people who live in Ireland age 50 and older
74,840 people who live in Ireland are under 18

Ranges:
309,980 people between the ages of 18 and 25 inclusive
450,060 people between the ages of 20 and 30 inclusive

In 5 year increments:
236,460 people between the ages of 20 and 25 inclusive
262,180 people between the ages of 25 and 30 inclusive
191,760 people between the ages of 30 and 35 inclusive
125,200 people between the ages of 35 and 40 inclusive
67,180 people between the ages of 40 and 45 inclusive
40,520 people between the ages of 45 and 50 inclusive
25,760 people between the ages of 50 and 55 inclusive
17,400 people between the ages of 55 and 60 inclusive
20,980 people who live in Ireland age 60 and older

Some September Links

Internal blogging is also good for an organisation.

The dangers of social media for ad agencies. It basically says they are not involved enough and will be left behind.

Making an iPhone App? Some tips on what works.

Some videos to help with creativity.

Facebook Mobile usage up 300% in the past 12 months.

Social networks accounted for 21.1 percent of all online display advertising impressions in the US as of June

Crowd doesn’t like what you did, ask the crowd to make a better suggestion. Kodak gets the public to name their new camera.

Big big article here on what works for SEO and the level of importance of those factors.

Social media search.

Online PR: Companies inviting bloggers and Twitterers to events – Some experiences

I’ve run a good few blogger events (apart from the Blog Awards and Web Awards) including Collision Course, the Bord Gais meets the bloggers event, Show and Tell and a few others where bloggers meet companies. A few more events are on the way.

The line to the dance was long and crowded...
Photo owned by AndYaDontStop (cc)

Some personal experiences, your mileage may vary:

Invite interested bloggers, not bloggers who have “readerships”
The numbers game is poison. If you are inviting people because they are read by x hundred people instead of them writing well informed blog posts then you might get an uninformed message out to x hundred people. Go for quality, not quantity. Quality travels further. Invite bloggers or Twitterers who you think would be interested in what you are doing and have people who read or follow them that would like to be informed about what you are doing. This means you have to do research and find out who writes about what. Ask other bloggers to help you with this if you don’t know. Also, open the event up to those not on your list if you have spaces. Meet people you don’t know anything about. Saying that, I’ve seen some bloggers who have come along to an event and professed they have zero interest in the event, despite them approaching me or the company to come along.

Personally invite bloggers
Don’t send a mass email with everyone BCCd in. If you think bloggers will find value in the event, start as you mean to go on. Know something about them already, isn’t this why they are being invited? Send an email to each one and for the love of god don’t do a mailshot or copy and paste the same email to each of them. Bloggers and Twitterers are also on IM to each other and ask each other if “so and so PR company” emailed them about an event. You know what’s really nice these days? Personally written notes or cards. Not enough do that. Despite the digital world, many bloggers treasure the analog items.

Give them something of value, as in content
Freebies, yeah, great. Not a lot you can blog about if you get something for free. Give bloggers something they can give to their readers. New, interesting content. An interview, a video of a new drinks cocktail, facts about the company’s new product about to be released. The CEO asked questions that were sent in via their readers.

Give them more control than you’re comfortable with
Don’t suggest a hashtag for the event, let them suggest it. If you are going to run a competition with bloggers or Twitters, get them to use their creativity. They know their audience more than you. They’ll know what will work best in terms of quizzes or the like. Even ask bloggers privately about the way to structure their event. Collaboration works best.

Give more then was expected
Steve Jobs does his one more thing. Do the same. Bill 4/5ths of what will happen at the event. Something not known is nice when presented. A staffer they were not expecting, news before anyone else, test kit for a new product.

Don’t ask when they will blog about this
This is probably obvious but you now and then get “I’m sorry to ask this but my boss wants to know when you’ll be doing a blog post on this” from someone. I once got asked when writing for the Sunday Tribune could I let them know the word count of an article I’d be writing after coming to their event. If bloggers don’t find it interesting they won’t blog it. If you push someone to write then you’re commissioning an advertorial and you’ll get some half-assed job too.

Meet more people for each event, not the same people
They’ll get sick of you, you’ll get sick of them, they’ll get sick of each other. There are plenty of bloggers, invite new ones to your next event. The circuit is starting to happen where the “usuals” are at every event. Spice it up.

It only starts after the event
This is all about relationships being built. It’s not a marketing thing in the traditional form nor is it traditional PR. It also has customer relations thrown in. Use each event to learn more about those coming along. See can you use your contacts to help them out. Know a friend in another company that can get them access to a musician, have you got a sports star you use for events that they’d love to interview? Just even add them to Facebook, Twitter or leave genuine encouraging comments on their blog. See what they come back to you with as well and accept their feedback and suggestions, which leads us to…

Listen and act
You’re get some good feedback at your event and suggestions about things you might want to try. If you can, act on them. You’re bringing people together who are good at expressing opinions. See what you can do to show the bloggers that you are doing more than listening.

What fucking R word?

Hello hello. It’s been a while since this blog was updated. Mulley Communications is currently banging out the hits 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and has gotten to the stage where the Inn is full, workwise.

So we’re busy, very very very busy and will be for the next 3 months at least. Please don’t be offended if we turn you down for work. If you have something really interesting though, sure one of us can sleep less so we won’t slam the door in your face.

Meanwhile, there are a small number of people we recommend to have a chat with if you are looking for help with your online communications/marketing/PR.

Keith Bohanna is an Internet Consultant. He was there when it started, not saying he’s old or anything like…

Nick McGivney is also someone very much worth chatting to in anything online marketing/pr related. He also scares the hell out of the advertising industry and sometimes doesn’t even charge them to do it.

Hopefully it’ll mean we can do more blog posts too!

Facebook hits 900k in Ireland

Following on from other snapshots on Facebook usage in Ireland. It’s August 1st and when we look at Facebook numbers in Ireland by going to the Facebook Ad System, it’s telling us that Facebook has doubled in size in the past 7 months, probably in the past 6 months really given 400k were on it in January.

So right now the stats:

  • 905,980 people in Ireland are now on Facebook. In January there were just over 400k.
  • 612,380 people are age 25 and older – 67%
  • 399,440 people are age 30 and older – 44%
  • 134,660 people are age 40 and older – 14%

Remember though that information is optional for most demographics. So while we have 900k, only half have indicated their relationship status:

439,520 people have indicated they are single, in a relationship, engaged or married for example

The older and younger generation:
52,040 people are age 50 and older
55,820 people are under 18

Other stats:

  • 260,420 people are between the ages of 18 and 25
  • 435,460 people are between the ages of 20 and 30

In 5 year increments:

  • 205,860 people are between the ages of 20 and 25
  • 258,400 people are between the ages of 25 and 30
  • 178,920 people are between the ages of 30 and 35
  • 112,920 people are between the ages of 35 and 40
  • 58,880 people are between the ages of 40 and 45
  • 35,640 people are between the ages of 45 and 50
  • 23,280 people are between the ages of 50 and 55
  • 15,560 people are between the ages of 55 and 60
  • 18,580 people are age 60 and older

2,180 Irish people have Pirate as their language of choice on Facebook

85,620 people are at secondary school

Social Media Expert or Jester

These are my personal opinions and not those of my employer, oh hang on…

Lots of people are now social media experts in Ireland. Twitter is overflowing with them. I got reminded of this by Fergal’s post. Are these social media experts all experts or are they jesters?

Jester
Photo owned by time4coffee (cc)

Some things to consider:

Are they a jester because they are now twitter consultants, yet are on it just three months? This tool is handy for finding that out.

Are they a jester because they tell companies to follow the influencers?
Be they on blogs, Facebook or Twitter. Social media means everyone is an influencer because everyone is connected to the rest of the world in a few steps. Gunning for people with good blog traffic, good blog subscribers and thousands of Twitter followers means you will miss the ones at the edge that start the trickle that start the flood. Go for quality, not quantity.


Are they a jester because three months ago they were Web 2.0 experts?
9 months ago they were business coaches, 18 months ago they were business strategists and two months time they are going to be cloud computing experts?

Are they a jester because they call Twitter users Tweeps and use all these new names?
Using made up words can sometimes be a sign that they can’t evangelise themselves in existing business segments. I’m not too comfortable myself even with social media, beats Web 2.0 though.

Are they jesters because they insist on “managing” your presence?
Why don’t they trust you to run your Facebook, Twitter or blog?

Are these social media ninjas jesters because they are afraid to offend in case they might lose a lead?
Standing your ground means some people won’t like you. Reputation management is not about making everyone like you.

Are they a jester because they are also a coach?
Aren’t coaches people that work in sports or those that tell politicians the best way to lie? A coach is someone who trains someone but never lets them out of their control, right? A coach works with zombies, no?

Are they a jester because they write bullshit posts like this?
Hiiiiiiiiiii!

Social media stats and links – July 15th 2009

Brilliant post from Edelman Digital. It’s not a numbers thing. Not about followers, not about the “influencers”. As Jason says and says so well:

what we need to offer our client is the opportunity to become trusted influencers themselves

YouTube is blowing away the competition in the UK.

April UK online video views were up 47 percent to 4.7 billion from the year before, clocking up 971 million ad views in the process, comScore says. But the winner is clear – YouTube is still swallowing the lion’s share of views, with videos watched 2.4 billion times in the month, up 58 percent from last year.

Face to Face will always beat banner ads, social media ads and whatever comes next but each iteration, we do get closer using tech to that face to face power.

Got your Facebook username? Well done. Make sure the Facebook Page doesn’t outrank you in Google though.