Pinterest has new rules for how brands should conduct themselves
The Federal Trade Commission recently chimed into the social media marketing conversation, and businesses now need to watch their step
Pinterest
Not being an expert on or a user of Pinterest, I thought I would post this blog for those of you who were:
This was the issue the FTC had with Cole Haan following a campaign they had run to win $1,000. “We believe that participants’ pins featuring Cole Haan products were endorsements of the Cole Haan products, and the fact that the pins were incentivized by the opportunity to win a $1000 shopping spree would not reasonably be expected by consumers who saw the pins. Moreover, we were concerned that Cole Haan did not instruct contestants to label their pins and Pinterest boards to make it clear that they had pinned Cole Haan products as part of a contest”
July 2104 Read the article here
What better way to start again after the summer than a reminder that social media is here to stay and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!
Hearing Imogen Woodford, Bath’s social media training & consultancy expert again at Box Business Breakfast on Wednesday reminded me about some of the tips surrounding Twitter. If you need some help with your social media, do contact Imogen; she has launched some training sessions with her Twitter School in both Bristol and Bath which you can follow in their entirety or dip into the topics that are relevant. But some are getting booked up already, so do check out…
Twitter Guidelines
Think before you tweet
You are not in a private room; people are listening
What goes on line stays on line. There’s a US website which picks up (somehow) all tweets removed by politicians even if up for only a few minutes.
It can be costly if you get it wrong
Don’t use Twitter (or any social media for that matter) when you’ve had a drink
Keep far away from your keyboard when you are cross about something
Twitter Practicalities
You can now check out your analytics on Twitter – go to analytics.twitter.com (don’t go for the paid ads above this site) – to see what effect your tweets are having
When using a hashtag to categorize Tweets by keywords, do check out the hashtag first to ensure no one else is using it for a completely different cause; really important to consider how they will be received. See also Twitter’s help page
If you get something wrong, be honest and say so “Tomorrow’s Q&A is cancelled. Bad Idea. Back to the drawing board” has much more resonance than some lame excuse of some inappropriate comments/activity
Use of .@, also known as dot@, period@. The dot before the @ ‘breaks’ Twitter’s built-in threading (connecting your tweets together). Without it, your tweets beginning with @name won’t show up to all your followers unless they happen to follow both you and the person you are replying to. But it’s not suggested to use it all the time; ask yourself “do I want all my followers to see this” and ‘dot’ accordingly, or not! But of course anyone going to your own profile will see all your tweets, irrespective of the .@ use
The only way to ensure a tweet is truly private is to DM (direct message) someone.
Content across your business Social Media
I still like the ‘rule of threes’ I’ve worked with over the years
The largest chunk about you and your business, what you do, who for and how you help solve their problems. It is key to keep this focussed so people do understand your business and what you do.
A smaller chunk with offers
And lastly another smaller chunk about random content that will sustain interest. Otherwise you can find that people will just switch off, especially if you adopt a ‘shouting’ mode of ‘buy me, buy me’.
Twitter Style
My favourite mnemonic: S H I T which applies all through business, but really importantly in sales and through social media. No, I’m not swearing at you; it stands for SINCERITY, HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND TRUST
The 5 Stages of a PR Disaster
Beautifully sketched by Tom Fishburne of marketoonist.com. 5 Steps of PR Disaster
Delighted to report that I’m now also an approved Growth Voucher Adviser for “Marketing, attracting and keeping customers”
Advice in this area aims to help businesses develop effective marketing strategies, and to ensure that they provide the right product/service at the right price, in the right place, at the right time. The advice could be used for market research, targeting existing and potential customers, using social media to extend your reach into new markets , developing pricing strategies and closing sales. Here’s the PDF about what’s covered here: Marketing, attracting and keeping customersr
The Criteria for applying for growth vouchers to help your business grow are :
ither registered with Companies House or HMRC if self-employed). ie NOT UK but England.
There are around six stages in the Growth Voucher programme, depending on whether or not participants have been allocated a voucherStage 1 is where small businesses apply to join the programme on the gov.uk website.
Stage 1is where small businesses apply to join the programme on the gov.uk website.
Stage 2 will involve those small businesses carrying out an assessment of their advice needs, either by meeting with an adviser face-to-face or by completing an online questionnaire. Stage 3: After completing the assessment, applicants will be given a suggestion about which area of strategic advice would be the most appropriate. Applicants will be told, at this stage, whether or not they’ve been allocated a voucher. Stage 4:Applicants will then be advised to find a Growth Voucher adviser on the Enterprise Nation Marketplace. Stage 5:At this stage, applicants might get in touch with you via the Marketplace. It’s essential that the participant agrees on a price for the advice and checks if it’s suitable to be subsidised using a Growth Voucher. Vouchers will cover up to half of the cost of paying for strategic advice up to a maximum of £2,000 (non-inclusive of VAT). Stage 6:After receiving and paying for the advice, small businesses then submit a claim for the subsidy. They will have to provide evidence that the invoice has been paid and give details of the advice they received. Claims will be processed on receipt and should be paid within 30 days.
What’s in and out of scope for the vouchers
Growth Vouchers can only be used to obtain strategic advice that will help the business to grow. It will not subsidise activities such as building a new website or paying for membership of a professional body. Businesses can check with their Delivery Partner before purchasing advice to ensure it qualifies for a subsidy. Read through the description of your business advice area on the Marketplace website to get a better understanding of what will be subsidised.
Any questions?
The quickest way to get support for the Enterprise Nation Marketplace is to use the ‘Support’ tab at the top of the website – or email marketplace@enterprisenation.com. For more information on the Growth Voucher programme itself, visit www.gov.uk or call 0300 4562210.
Already had GrowthAccelerator Coaching?
I’m told that businesses that have had previous strategic support (Growth Accelerator) can still apply for Growth Vouchers, however they must declare this at the application stage
