By adaptive - March 28th, 2012

Hi all, Hope everyone is well? Here's your pick of the latest news... Social or search? [W]ith a world gone social networking crazy, it’s still important for companies to think about whet...

Hi all,

Hope everyone is well?

Here's your pick of the latest news...

Social or search?

Social Verus SearchWith a world gone social networking crazy, it’s still important for companies to think about whether they have taken their eye off the search ball. With the arrival of Google+ that straddles both environments, it’s even more important to ensure you get the mix right.

In MDG Advertising’s new infographic social and search are compared. Clearly an integrated approach is always needed for all marketing activity, but search and social do offer unique opportunities: If your company needs to target highly specialised customers for lead generation, the consensus is that search is a better option than social media.

Brand awareness is clearly ideal for social media as companies can connect on an intimate level with their brand advocates. And MDG’s infographic makes it clear that search is the preferred option when consumers are looking for local business services.

The message is clear that one size definitely doesn’t fit all in the marketing stakes. Clearly understanding the differences between social and search is vital for all corporations to ensure these channels are used effectively.

Pinterest competition from Peugeot

Peugeot Pinterest CompetitionPinterest is the new kid on the social media block, but brand owners are starting to use the platform creatively. Peugeot Panama recently launched a competition on the site that asks its customers to complete puzzles on the company’s Pinterest page.

The use of Pinterest as an engagement tool is an interesting concept that could be applied to virtually any product. Peugeot ask their Pinterest visitors to choose a model and then search their website and Facebook page for the missing pieces of the puzzle. The first person to complete the image wins.

Using Pinterest in this way is certainly innovative, but the competition does lack clarity, with Peugeot having to explain how their competition works. As a first attempt at using Pinterest in this way, the company should be commended.

Given in evidence

Social Media LawSocial media is now not simply a marketing tool, but a source of evidence that is being used increasingly in the courts. In 2011 saw a definite trend where cases referenced the leading social media sites. It is now common practice for solicitors to search social media sites for evidence and other information as they prepare their cases.

In an environment that is also increasingly litigious, ensuring that your exposure across the social networks completes with all relevant laws and regulation is of paramount importance. However, due diligence must also extend to company policy regarding the use of social media.

Pam Loch, Managing Partner at Loch Associates Employment Lawyers said: “Two cases in 2011 highlighted the stark contrast in approach that Employment Tribunals can take when deciding whether an employee has been dismissed unfairly or not. The case of Preece v JD Wetherspoons plc shows that, where an employer has a clear social media policy in place, it can be fair to dismiss an employee who has made inappropriate comments about customers on Facebook.

“It was decided that the employer had been justified in their decision to dismiss the employee for gross misconduct as the comments she had made on her Facebook page breached the employer’s clear policies on e-mail, Internet and social media use.”

Today corporation must be vigilant about every aspect of their social media exposure, as legally they have a duty of care towards their employees, but at the same time, must protect their own commercial interests from damaging litigation. The advice is always to have a social media policy in place and ensure this is regularly updated.

In Brief...

Boehringer Ingelheim uses crowdsourcing to develop new molecules

Pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Kaggle are using the principles of crowdsourcing to help them solve scientific problems related to the development of new molecules. The companies wanted to access the entire scientific community that is online to help then develop a new model and algorithm that can predict the endpoint to a molecule by only knowing its composition and structure. Kaggle have already successfully run competitions to find new scientific processes.

Nuji reports huge growth in click-throughs

Social shopping site Nuji has announced a massive increase in its growth of 730% via click-throughs from its site. In addition, 167% of the sales made are attributed to those clicks. As a rival to Pinterest, Nuji allows its users to tag items of interest. To date, users have tagger over 300,000 products from 15,000 stores. In addition the company also started to offer incentive points with 300 points equating to a 20% discount on any goods bought via its ‘loyalty mechanic’. What Nuji’s impressive growth clearly shows is that social commerce is still about incentives.

Should your business be on Pinterest?

A new infographic from Intuit offers all corporations in the B2B and B2C sectors an easy flow-chart based decision-making process when Pinterest arrives on the company agenda.

Flush on Facebook

Unilever are using an innovative approach to promoting their range of cleaning products. Their Flush of Fortune game is hosted on a special website, but players must login via their Facebook accounts. The game consists of 12 toilets – the promotion is for Domestos bleach – that are arranged in a roulette wheel. Players can begin to try their luck on a daily basis. The game will run for three weeks. Players’ activity is automatically shared on Facebook, with players also automatically informing their followers that they are flushing for a chance to win £1,000.

Until next time….

The Useful Social Media team.

Next Reads

comments powered by Disqus