Social Media isn't just for idiots...

I read an interesting post on LinkedIn yesterday. A guy from the North West Directors group was clearly trying to be contraversial by suggesting that, in his words, "only idiots think that social media works."

I countered by pointing out that "only idiots DON'T think social media works." And if you think he's right and I'm wrong, here's a story we carried on iSM yesterday...


Dell earns $6.5million from Twitter sales

COMPUTER maker Dell has announced that it has sold $6.5m worth of equipment by using microblogging website Twitter.

This sales figure represents something of a late surge – as recently as June this year the company said it had made $3m of sales via Twitter over the previous two years.

Whilst only a fraction of the $12.3bn sales in the company’s latest financial quarter, it is growing rapidly. The message to businesses is that social media represents a viable way of getting your message out there and generating revenue.

http://bit.ly/8NRwJY

Twitter clocks up 5 billion

Social media site Twitter has clocked up 5 billion tweets. Nevermind the fact that a reasonable percentage of those will be drivel...

We're finding that Twitter is increasingly important and we're using it to successfully drive traffic to the iSM (Information Services Monthly) site - http://www.ismonthly.com, as well as those of clients like MobileBroadbandSupermarket (MBS).

Increasingly, we're finding new applications too - along with MBS, we're planning to use twitter to generate regionalised feedback on the quality of service from Mobile Broadband network providers, so we can enhance the service on their site, but also use it as the basis for regional pieces of PR across the UK.

Read more about the 5 billionth tweet here - http://bit.ly/26b8rI

Social Media Revolution

I spoke at an event a couple of weeks ago about networking for new businesses. I thought it would be useful to go beyond 'organic' networking with people and also look at some of the issues raised by networking via social media.

We've had some success with this approach at BrandSpankin' (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk) using the likes of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (amongst others!). For example we've quadrupled traffic to iSM (http://www.ismonthly.com) using LinkedIn and we've significantly assisted MobileBroadbandSupermarket (http://www.mobilebroadbandsupermarket.co.uk) already as well as built a number of inbound links, which is great for their SEO strategy.

We've also just put a Facebook group together for Scruples menswear. We produce an annual 60 page magazine for Scruples which is distributed to their database of 4,500+ customers that they've gained over 25 years. You can have a look at last year's magazine here:- http://bit.ly/1wGyPt

Our intention is to carry a piece in the 2009 magazine promoting membership of the Scruples Menswear Facebook group. As the number of members grows it will give them an opportunity to message members with offers and updates on new lines, as well as their made-to-measure service. It's cheaper than direct mailing (given that it's free!) and they can track an immediate response!

Businesses that are in any doubt about digital marketing are overlooking the fact that by going digital, you can hit your targets in context and in location, rather than taking an old fashioned, expensive, and somewhat scattergun approach. As mobile marketing explodes onto the scene in the next year or so, the landscape will change beyiond recognition.

Anyway, if you're not entirely convinced, don't take my word for it - check this out:-

http://bit.ly/zZsGU