3 July 2009
When king of pop Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009, Hollywood entertainment website TMZ.com was the first to break the news, which came two hours before traditional media outlets. And while the BBC and Sky News 24 hour news channels were busy announcing the story as 'Breaking News', micro-blogging website, Twitter, had already seen 22.61% of its users posting 'tweets' in relation to Michael Jackson, and nine out of ten of the most popular topics were dedicated to the star.
This is not the first time that social media had the first scoop on a story, within minutes of US Airways Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson river, Twitter users in New York had posted pictures and messages, breaking the news ahead of the world’s media.
The shift in how news is reported and the change in how we communicate shows the power of social media. With 200 million active users on Facebook and an estimated 14 million people tweeting on Twitter, increasing by 1000% year-on-year in February 2009, social media is snowballing.
From Facebook to Twitter, and LinkedIn to YouTube, large corporate companies, celebrities, teenagers and politicians alike are using these sites to promote their product, whether it's a business, person or website, as a way of appealing to a mass audience. During the current economic climate, social media can be a cost-effective way to get messages across as many of the sites are free to use and highly influential. So should your business be 'signing in' to this phenomenon and does it work for everyone?
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is hosting an event at Regus Cardiff Gate on the morning of Tuesday, 14 July to give businesses advice about developing social media strategies, as well as a guide to deriving real value from online marketing to help Welsh businesses get up-to-speed with this latest technology.
Computer giant Dell’s Twitter experiment made $1m by alerting Twitter followers to sale items, and now offers the 11,844 people who follow @DellOutlet exclusive offers, but it’s not just for the global companies.
Alun John, an online marketing specialist at Cardiff-based Marketing Tom Media, an Accredited Chartered Institute of Marketing Study Centre, said: "I believe, and can demonstrate, that all types of organisations can use digital marketing to help them achieve their objectives
Dectec, which provides product branding for businesses, is a company that reaped the benefits of using social media. Alun John explains: "Dectec traditionally worked with South Wales businesses, but after creating a targeted Google AdWord campaign, they extended their market to the UK, initially, and then on to Ireland and the rest of Europe. The company is now a recognised leader in its industry and its staff numbers have increased by over 100% since the campaign started.
"Digital marketing has been successful for this company, as with my other clients, because it delivered exactly what the audience required. And it’s not just in B2B markets where digital marketing works, I have also used it effectively with hotels, colleges and even on Welsh Assembly campaigns. These companies have also identified something very important – that the customers have moved, and are comfortable, online."
Richard Houdmont, Director for Wales of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: "Many of these social media tools are free to use and incredibly influential. Marketers need to be moving with the times and appealing to their audience, which is why it is so important for them to have an understanding of what’s available.
"These types of websites can seem pretty daunting to businesses and individuals who might not have used them, or even heard of them before, which is why The Chartered Institute of Marketing is hosting an event about the subject in Cardiff to help people gain a better understanding about online marketing and getting return on investment."
Another organisation that has successfully implemented social media into its marketing strategy is Visit Wales with its '1,000 Things' campaign. The interactive website www.wales1000things.com asked visitors to Wales to submit pictures and videos of their experiences in Wales via links to youtube and flickr and in doing so real visitors help ‘sell’ Wales to prospective holiday makers. The website succeeded in making Wales appear fun and fashionable to both potential and past visitors and its efforts won a Chartered Institute of Marketing 'Canmol' Award at the 2008 Awards.
Paula Dauncey, Marketing Manager at Cardiff-based company Imaginet has worked with clients to develop on-line marketing strategies combining social media. Paula, who will be speaking at the event, said: "Social media is changing the internet and on-line marketing drastically. It's no longer about marketing blindly to a target audience, it's about engaging with people on an individual level, being completely transparent and actively encouraging the conversation.
"But, it is also an area that you have to be very careful with, don’t go rushing in as your reputation can be so easily damaged if you don’t approach it in a way that is personal and honest."
