This is just a short post to let you know that, due to a large workload and involvement in a number of exciting startups, spiderhousepr are taking a break and will not be taking on any new clients.
We know this might sound like an unusual decision, however we feel it is important to continue to serve our existing clients and put 100% effort into the startups… rather than taking spiderhousepr to the next level, which would involve a great investment of time.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and wish you the best of luck in your venture!
We all know Facebook make continual changes, however last week they announced some of the biggest changes ever seen in terms of business pages; we are all moving to timeline!
Firstly, the next few months (June 2012) will see FBML completely phased out. Everyone knew it was coming, however it seems as of April its days are done!
Moving on to the most recent announcements…especially those surrounding timeline & business pages (which give you ONLY 30 DAYS BEFORE CHANGES ARE MADE SITE-WIDE!).
Once you “upgrade” to the new system there are some important things regarding your business page & how it is promoted on Facebook….
- You will have a giant header image (max size 850x315px)…at first this sounds good, however Facebook have some tough T&Cs as to what can go into it; no calls to action, sales promotions & no contact details
Full info here: http://www.facebook.com/help?faq=%20276329115767498 - Profile image size has been greatly reduced to 180x180px
- No more default landing tabs! This is one of the biggest disappointments for pages and there is already massive uproar over it. Your application (custom landing tab) still exists and can be moved to a prominent position – to be displayed on your page you need to place it in the top row of your apps.
- There is space for 4 apps in the top row, although you cannot move the “photos” app….so you need to make a decision as to what you want to showcase. You can also create a custom icon/image for your apps which has marketing potential (111x74px)
- You can now submit a “change page name” request (not your vanity url!) http://www.facebook.com/help/contact_us.php?id=262629790471076 You will likely have to provide proof of business name.
- You can see basic insights on pages you do not admin (click on the “likes” box).
- You can pin/highlight stories (posts) by clicking on a star/pen icon. This makes it easier for you to showcase important news and keep it visible.
- Pages can now receive (and respond to) messages from those who have liked them (this must be turned off from the “message permissions” area of your administration panel if you choose not to use it – it is “on” by default). Note that the page can only reply if messaged by a fan – they cannot initiate conversation. This is a great feature and could see a big move for CRM – client relationship management and basic customer services to the Facebook platform. Previously this was difficult due to lack of privacy.
- There was also talk about advertising (most of which has not yet launched at the time of this post), in particular the “reach generator” which increases reach over and above the newsfeed (aimed at targeting existing fans) and the “premium on Facebook” which helps brands spread their stories to new connections.
There are many other features for you to explore, however these are the main ones that may effect how you currently operate. We like most of what we see, however we strongly oppose the removal of the custom landing tab. Although custom tabs can still be created and are useful for presenting business information, custom LANDING tabs are used by many businesses as a “call to action” – a reason to “like” them and as a result these pages will see reduced numbers of Facebook likes from new visitors to the page who often get “caught up” in all the noise and forget to “like”.
UPDDATE:
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This post just summarises what’s happening. however there are much more comprehensive guides online. Here are a couple;
- All Facebook – http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-timeline-pages-guide-2012-03
- Tech Crunch – http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/29/facebook-timeline-for-pages/
- Mashable – http://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-timeline-brand-pages/
- Social Media Examiner – http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-facebook-pages-this-week-in-social-media/
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Astute Labs, a software start-up that is selling its products around the world and ready to grow dramatically, is looking for a Sales and Marketing leader. Based at the Northern Ireland Science Park, Belfast, a vibrant community of digital, science, and technology businesses, with excellent facilities, Astute Labs creates innovative solutions for businesses who want to publish information to their stakeholders through as many web devices as possible in the simplest and most cost effective way, particularly focussed on ‘Mobile’ publishing.
Astute Labs has developed, as the first of a series of related products, the School App Kit Software. School App Kit provides a service to schools, school districts and related companies around the world, through a unified web and mobile presence, including SMS and email, allowing them to communicate effortlessly with all their stakeholders.
Sales & Marketing Position
The role of Sales and marketing Leader will be critical to the development and success of a ‘zero touch’ sales model that has already established significant customers in the UK, Middle East and USA.
- Role: Sales and Marketing
- Responsible to: CEO
- Location: Belfast
Role Summary/Purpose
This Sales and Marketing role is responsible for leading and reaching the sales objectives for Astute Labs’ product portfolio through definition and execution of the “zero touch” sales strategy, delivery of customer and marketing action plans and growth of the company customer base. The role will be measured against agreed KPI’s and objectives defined to ensure increased sales revenue from the global target customer base.
See full description : visit Astute Labs
]]>You’ll see random tweets about music, charity, technology, food & Belfast – not really relevant to spiderhousepr as a digital marketing agency (sure, there were penalty of relevant tweets too; social medial WordPress, interesting stats etc!). I’m also involved in other projects separate from spiderhousepr & so I felt it was better just to tweet as myself! You can now find me at @cmooki although we still have the spiderhousepr account & may start using it again in 2012.
How To Change Twitter Name & Keep Old Address
Although I wanted to transfer all my ramblings to my own name I also wanted to keep @spiderhousepr for future use and also because google links, business cards etc are all directed to this twitter address.
To change your twitter name & keep the old one you’ll just need another email address (which isn’t registered to Twitter) & it’s also easier if you have 2 browsers to use simultaneously…
1. open 1st browser, login to Twitter & go to settings - here you will see how easy it is to change your username
2. open a 2nd browser & got to setup a new Twitter account (if you use a different browser you will not have to logout of your other account).
3. use this 2nd browser window to find the new username you want - when you have found one that is available (it’s difficult!!) simply enter it into your current Twitter settings (should be open in the 1st browser!).
4. using the 2nd browser quickly re-register your old Twitter name
5. done!
The good news is that, unlike Facebook, Twitter frees up the name immediately – all you have to do is snap it up immediately & then update the profile with relevant information. This way any links pointing to the address will not result in a 404 error & the visitor will have information as to the name change.
make sure you update the new profile with info on your move!
by www.thisischris.com
Spiderhousepr Christmas Holidays
Spiderhousepr will be closed from lunchtime (GMT) on 23rd December and will return to the office on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.
No doubt there will be a little bit of internet action in between…but not much as the diary is jam-packed with trip away from Belfast; the west coast of Ireland, Cambridge and a wonderful wedding at Galgorm being the highlights!
Apologies in advance for any inconvenience!
What Have We Been Up To?
Along with keeping our regular clients up to date, we have been working closely with small businesses through the iFactory and Evolution Project schemes, both of which I would highly recommend as thy provide cost effective or free training in social media and other forms of digital marketing such as SEO via subsidised consultations.
iFactory is available to businesses throughout Ireland and offers amazing assistance and mentoring, whilst Evolution Project is for businesses in Castlereagh Council area of Belfast and is entirely free. Beyond marketing, you can also benefit from a range of other consultants and specialists including business advice, finance and technical help.
Beyond that we also have a couple of exciting projects we are working on…and as a result there has been rather few blog posts of late; apologies everyone…and have a very Happy Christmas wherever you are!
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In the first part of this series, we went through the process of getting familiar with Facebook places to help better understand how the check-in works. Today, I want to expand a bit on that to show you how you can actually use the check-in as incentive for customers to visit your location. We’ll also dig into two other players in the check-in market. This will prepare us for the final few parts of the series, where we’ll talk about Groupon style deals, and new media integration.
Why the Check-In Works
People check-in for two reasons:
1. Because we love to talk about ourselves, and checking-in creates a sort of “Truman Show” experience around our daily activities.
2. Check-in services are incentivized and people get rewards for using them.
Though local businesses can use both of these to their advantage, we’ll save point #1 for future discussion and focus primarily on what I like to call “the social media game layer.”
Enter Foursquare and Gowalla
While Facebook does this moderately well, the true champions of the checkin are Foursquare and Gowalla. Gowall-a-waaaaat? If you’re one of our Belfast (Northern Ireland) readers you may be unfamiliar with these players, however both are massive in the US & have growing popularity in the UK – we can certainly learn a thing or two from them…so let’s continue!
This game layer gives people instant feedback, in the form of badges and awards, for certain social media behaviors. For example, every time a user checks in to a location for the first time using Gowalla or Foursquare, they get a special badge. They can also earn badges for multiple visits, or multiple check-ins. The point being that local business owners can contact these services to have custom badges built, and then advertise this in their store.
e.g. Placing a sign on your counter that says: “Foursquare and Gowalla users – check-in here to get a custom badge!”
I know it sounds silly, but you’d be amazed by how many people love virtual currency and rewards.
Offering Deals
To take this a step further, picture this…
A customer walks in to your store and uses their phone to check-in with Facebook, Foursquare, or Gowalla. Suddenly, they get a popup with a special message from you, and a special coupon that they can use right here, right now. Do you think they’d take you up on it, and remember that experience? You bet!
Of course, they’ll also get a special badge for checking in, and a chance to talk about the experience on Facebook, Foursquare, and Gowalla. Now, any time someone new comes to your store, they’ll see these comments too. Suddenly, your store has a hip culture, and people start coming back more often. This is grassroots social media, and it’s something that many big businesses struggle to understand, which is where you can take advantage of them.
The Spread of the Check-In
As a final point, the check-in isn’t just for connecting buyer and seller. Every time someone checks in, that data shows up on their profile page, where all of their friends are able to see the places their friends check in most. See the value here?
If I’m in the mood for ice cream, and I see that my friends keep going to the same ice cream spot, maybe I’ll check it out. It’s referral marketing without communication, and it works wonders for small businesses.
To really get acquainted, you’ll want to check out Facebook Places, Gowalla, and Foursquare. If you have an iPhone or Android phone, download their apps (they are free) and play around a bit. If you own a brick and mortar location, send an email to their support teams to see how you can not only get added, but get your own custom schwag. You’re modern now, and it’s a beautiful thing!!!
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Firstly…apologies for the lack of blogging over the past month. Spiderhousepr have been rather busy setting up nearly 100 professional social media profiles during June!
Anyway….time to get back to it & practice what we preach!!!
Over the previous several weeks, we’ve been discussing a variety of social media strategies that you can use for your business, but on a macro level. Today, I’d like to dive in and take a closer look at some of the more practical applications of not just social media, but the Internet in general (watch out for future blog posts on Google Places and Local SEO). We’ll use these strategies to help your local brick and mortar business get more attention, and hopefully, drive more leads and sales through the front door.
To start, we’ll talk about something known as the “check-in,” which happened to be a technology pioneered by Foursquare and Gowalla (don’t feel bad if you don’t recognize the name, we’ll talk about them later), but made recognizable when Facebook implemented something called “Facebook Places.”
Why Facebook Places Matters
Facebook Places allows people to visit your location and “check-in” via Facebook mobile application. While on the surface this seems rather useless, the beauty of the check-in is that when people pull out the Facebook app on their smartphone, it automatically posts a link to your business, including a map to your location.
The interesting thing about this is that people can also post comments about their experience there, meaning that if they’re happy, they might say something great about your business, and if they’re upset, they might post a negative review.
So what does this do for you?
Several things really:
1. You can monitor mentions of your business and see what people are saying.
2. Your business gets displayed to friends of people who check-in, which gives you free advertising.
3. You have a chance to interact with the technologically savvy people in your target market.
The reality of Facebook Places is that people are probably checking in, whether you use it or not. If you aren’t watching or listening, then you are missing out on a lot of great information.
Also, if you can convince people to check-in to your location every time they visit, then you get free publicity via your customers, which is much more effective than an advertisement.
As you can imagine, this is a huge opportunity.
Getting Your Business Listed in Facebook Places
To find out if you are listed in Facebook places, you can search for your business in the Facebook search bar to see if there are any mentions of it. If you find one, you can click the link, where you’ll see text that says “Is this your business?” Click this and you’ll be taken to a registration page to claim and administer your business on Facebook Places.
If you don’t see it, then pull out your smartphone & open the Facebook app (if you don’t have it, ask a friend next time they visit your business premises) and add your location via the check-in feature. From there, check-in and visit your profile. You should now see the option to claim your business.
Once you complete the application, you’ll hear back from Facebook and be given the green light to administer the page.
We’re just getting started here, so in the next installment of this series we’ll discuss how to use Facebook places, as well as some other check-in services that people use. In the meantime, start checking out the check-in!
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August 2011
For the month of August 2011 spiderhousepr are pleased to bring you this fantastic limited offer for a branded Facebook landing tab…
Branded Facebook Tab For Just £79!
Bring Brand Consistency To Your Facebook Page
Order today – offer only valid during August and may be withdrawn at any time!
£79 CUSTOM FACEBOOK LANDING TAB
- Application setup
- Default Landing Tab Set
- Secure https hostingFrom October 2011 FB require all files & applications to be ssl - yours will be! 1 YEAR INCLUDED, then tiny hosting charge of £1 per month - yes; that was not a typo!
- Logo/header image
- ImageLarge image (supplied by client). We recommend something eyecatching - a photo or a 'call to action' graphic
- Web Address
- Email Address
- QR Code generatedSpiderhousepr provide free facilities for generating a QR code, however we will do this for you & link it to your Facebook page
- Business Address
- Social LinksIcons & links to your other social networks
- Like BoxA great feature - a box containing faces of people who have liked your page & a LIKE button
- Facebook Userguide
All images & graphics to be supplied by the client
Get Your Half Price Facebook Landing Tab Today!
This offer is valid for orders placed during August 2011 and may be withdrawn at any time.
The offer works out at half our normal rates & incorporates many advanced features. Your custom Facebook landing tab will bring your Facebook business page inline with your other business branding.
Custom landing tabs are proven to improve conversions on number of Facebook Likes and at this price everyone can afford to have a professional Facebook business page…
The Main Areas of a Facebook Landing Tab
This offer is valid for orders placed during August 2011 and may be withdrawn at any time.
We’ll keep this short and sweet – if you’re looking at this post you probably know why Linkedin is important and you will download the document!
There are 2 main groups of people who benefit from Linkedin;
1. Linkedin Professionals
Regardless of what you do, building your cv on Linkedin in is a powerful way of making you more attractive to potential employers. If your social networking skills are up there, you can also subtly communicate and interact with potential employers well in advance. Researching companies and owners (for interviews) is also very easy with Linkedin. In addition, your Linkedin profile will generally rank very highly for “your name” search engines such as Google.
2. Linkedin Companies & Business Owners
Promotion of your company via a Linkedin company page and your own personal networking skills is virtually a “must” these days. Although public companies are generally picked up by Linkedin you should make sure you check your details are correct. If you are not a public company you will need to add your company. In addition to general details, Linkedin now also allows you to add products and services within your company – have a look at the spiderhousepr Linkedin company profile to see what we mean!
How To Use Linkedin : Your Free Download
You can preview this on Slideshare – it is also free to download. Enjoy!
No Excuses!
This weekend we challenge you to spend 30mins improving your Linkedin presence!
]]>Today, we’ll dig into the final pieces of the puzzle so that you can walk away with an understanding of how to integrate a complete social media experience into your business’ natural marketing efforts.
The Nature of Viral Video
You’ve probably heard of the Old Spice guy and the ensuing viral youtube video campaign that put them at the top of the news wire for weeks, but what about Grasshopper ,or Rebecca Black ,? For that matter, take a look at how companies like TED get their message out, which is through free videos that get picked up and shared en masse in the social media sphere.
Though YouTube is the big player in the market, there are many options for hosting videos, such as Vimeo, Viddler, and Blip.tv. Though most of these sites do not provide any SEO value for posting links in video descriptions, they do give you the opportunity to post a link in order to get video traffic back to your site.
YouTube in particular is great for this because as the most used video platform on the Internet, there are millions of users visiting every day, which gives your videos instant visibility. By posting videos on YouTube, you can also embed them on your own blog or website in order to have multiple visitor entry points into your social funnel.
You can use video to instruct, share, or just help people get to know you and/or your business. Video works great for sales material and testimonials too.
Officially the 2nd biggest search engine in the world, youtube videos rank very highly and often contain a thumbnail within the search (making the listing stand out from the rest!) so combined with keyword research they can be a great source of business leads.
In a nutshell; if you want to get something to rank highly in the search engines, Youtube is a great way of doing it!
Getting Started with Video
Your first step should be to visit YouTube and spend time browsing through some of the more popular content. When you’re feeling good with that, sign up and create your company’s profile. Fill out any relevant information, and when you’re ready, start experimenting with video. You don’t have to make any of it public, but it’s great to get some experience as quickly as you can!
Tumblr, StumbleUpon and Social Bookmarking
Tumblr is so hip that most people don’t know that it’s there. It exists as a sort of underground movement, especially with the younger generations that don’t find any value in Twitter and/or blogging. Tumblr is a sort of micro-blogging platform that enables people to post, re-post, and bookmark their favorite people and pages.
Tumblr is part social network, and part blogging network, and because of this, can be used in ways that the other social networks cannot.
In the same vein as Tumblr lies a multitude of social bookmarking and sharing sites, such as Trunk.ly, Digg, Reddit (major underdog), StumbleUpon, and Hacker News.
Though each of these communities has a particular stylistic element and demographic speciality that makes them unique, they are all places where people share content, and where said content can achieve high amounts of traffic in short periods of time.
Getting Started with Social Sharing
It’s tough to explain Tumblr and it’s cohorts in just one post, but, if you have the resources, I recommend that you visit each of these sites and spend time getting acquainted with their mechanics and culture.
I wouldn’t recommend that you jump in and start posting links, but instead follow a few topics and/or influencers and watch their behavior. You can learn a lot in doing so.
However, these sites are no where near as popular as the previously discussed sites, especially in the United Kingdom so work with your resources and focus where you are going to see most return – especially if you are a small business.
The Right Social Media For Your Business : Wrap Up
Though this is the end of the series, it’s certainly not the end of our social media journey. Hopefully by now, you feel comfortable in your understanding of where to start and more importantly, how to take your learning to the next level. You’ll need it as we progress and move into more advanced topics!
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