They say you should never start with an apology, but I’m going to do it anyway. Sorry.
Why? It’s a bit self-indulgent this post – it’s about DTW winning awards.
Our team picked up two hard-won silver awards at the CIPR North East Pride awards this weekend.
OK, so Philip Hammond hasn’t made his autumn statement yet but listening to the mood music it wouldn’t be huge surprise if he stole a soundbite from Tony Blair and tweaked it a bit next Wednesday.
So, it was fascinating to hear from some of the region’s key players at CECA North East’s Infrastructure Vision event this morning.
Highways England, the Port of Sunderland, PD Ports, the North East LEP and the Tees Valley Combined Authority all joined CECA’s national chief executive and head of commercial affairs to give their views on the state of infrastructure investment in the north east.
I’d give it a positivity rating of 7 out of 10 – it was fascinating to hear from both ends of the region.
Key takeaways for me:
Thanks to CECA NE – the rhetoric is good, the reality needs to match up to it.
Thanks for reading
Chris
Twitter launches customer service bots in direct messages.
There are many brands and accounts on Twitter that pride themselves in great customer service on the social network. This is usually because they invest time and money in staff and equipment that can enable them to provide such a service; examples of this include KLM and train networks.
Now, in theory at least, it will be easier for smaller companies to provide a similar level of service as those larger brands with Twitter’s new tool.
So, how does it work?
As a twitter user, you can set up an automated welcome message that greets the customer before they’ve even started typing. The customer can then select different categories of queries that have automated responses; or request to speak directly to an agent.
Think automated telephone systems without the painful dictation (“AGENT…” “Putting you through to…payments”) or dreadful hold music.
Sounds good, so what’s the catch?
Aha – you did ask. You need to open your DMs to everybody (not just mutual follower/followees), which means if you are a brand likely to get bombarded with irrelevant messages, tread carefully and ask the following questions:
So should my organisation sign up?
If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, then exploring this tool further is worth it. We would still recommend a third party customer service system like Sprout Social or Hootsuite, in addition to this to help you filter through the noise and answer questions as efficiently as possible.
It is also worth keeping in mind that Twitter isn’t revolutionising social customer service automation as Facebook launched a very similar tool for their Messenger app earlier this year. At least this way customers and brands that lean towards either Facebook or Twitter have a level playing field in which to implement good customer service.
Ultimately its good to see Twitter recognising this growing area and trying to do something for help, but more fundamentally there are still too many people and brands using social media without defining why they are there or thinking about how they’re going to measure success.
Don’t forget the big picture
My advice is to sit down and challenge yourself or your organisation’s presence on social and get all existentialist and ask the big questions.
Thanks for reading
Jess
The Simply Measured LIFT Conference in Seattle came to a close with a keynote from <American Buzzword> Head of Monetization </American Buzzword> at Instagram, Vishal Shah. Whilst it wasn’t the most inspiring speeches of the whole conference, there was a key takeaway that we now know Instagram are after from advertisers: Thumb-stopping creative..
This term, now a regular in my social media marketing vocabulary, describes and summarises what all marketers want their audience to do – it epitomises the primary objective to any campaign on Instagram: to be noticed.
Three steps to an effecting @instagram campaign. #LIFTSocial pic.twitter.com/3IVDvzQo1r
— beau baumbach (@beaubaumbach) September 23, 2016
As we scroll down the feeds of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, what is it that makes our thumbs pause? Is it an interesting headline? Is it a video title? Is it the content? What was it about the content that made you stop? If you notice on Instagram, the captions aren’t the first thing you look at, it’s all about catching the eye.
According to Shah, there are three best practises we need to follow as marketers to be effective on Instagram:
With creativity at our heart, and amazing designers in house, we plan on continuing to capture the imagination of our client’s audience through creative, immersive content. As we talk to clients about their objectives, this thumb-stopping creative will be at the front of our minds.
Senior Strategist Jess Volpe went to Seattle and had a blast!
Elections – just like buses, none for ages and then……
There’s been enough chatter about the US Presidential election just on this side of the pond to last for the next forty years, never mind four. Most of it is none too flattering for either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump. I won’t even mention the Labour Party leadership (deep sigh).
Twitter verification for the masses!
The gap between the privileged few, and the majority of lowly users is fading – no more will there be an ‘us and them’ atmosphere; freedom and equality is coming to the masses!
For many, getting a verified Twitter account can make a significant validation of a brand’s reputation. Unlike Facebook verified pages (which is linked to a bit of code that you place into your website); Twitter’s verified accounts were at the discretion of Twitter themselves.
Verified accounts can be vital for companies, as it gives a piece of mind to a customer; as Twitter’s registration process is so open, it is very easy for brands and companies to be mimicked. I know of an international company that had ‘local branch’ accounts opened by unhappy employees, leading to unhappy customers when the ‘branded’ accounts posted incredibly inappropriate content.
Now, Twitter has opened up verification to all kinds of accounts it means not only public figures and big brands can benefit from the better reputation those little ticks can mean. All you have to do is fill in a fairly simple form explaining why you think you should be verified.
As someone who has suffered at the hands of Twitter’s treatment of smaller brands (trying to get a handle from an inactive account for a company that owned the copyright…), I really hope this new freedom for accounts means companies of all sizes can boost their marketing credentials.
And although it isn’t quite the laissez-faire process of verification of Facebook, the opening of Twitter’s verification process to everyone adds to the signs that Twitter is trying hard to appeal to large and small companies (other factors hinting to this include the algorithmic feeds, new analytics, and easier ad management platforms).
In addition to this, the announcement of Twitter’s Engage app – an app to help the management of accounts, including more in-depth insights – it is clear Twitter’s investment in the ‘little man’, investment in appealing to the masses (i.e. small businesses), is a demonstration of how the platform can help all businesses return on investment, big or small.
If this isn’t the start of an egalitarian Twitter, I’m pretty sure the revolution will be Twitterised…
Awards are great, but the proof is in the outcomes
We’re chuffed this afternoon here at DTW towers. We’ve been shortlisted for 3 CIPR Pride awards for our work (we find out in December if we have actually won).
One shortlist for media relations work with local authorities across the north east region on a road safety campaign, one for social media work for an Easter campaign with the Law Society (England and Wales), and one for the very grand title of Outstanding Consultancy, which is particularly nice as it really recognises everyone’s contribution.
Awards are great – when you win. I’ve been at great evenings where we’ve won, less great evenings where we’ve come an honourable second or third, and also done the hard yards sitting round the table as a judge on more than one occasion (yes, judges do take it seriously, no it isn’t all fixed, and yes it is hard work).
To me though, whether or not we win none, one, two or three awards in December, the value of our work comes back to one thing. Delivering outcomes that make a difference for our clients. Solving our clients’ problems is what makes us tick and what gets us paid.
Communications, marketing and PR is undergoing a revolution that those who don’t work in the industry (and quite a few who do) find it very difficult to grasp. But one thing doesn’t change – delivering results is what is valued.
Thanks for reading
Chris
PS – In terms of the CIPR I should declare an interest, in that I’m on its national Council for the CIPR – which has nothing to do with judging shortlists for regional awards!
PPS – if you are reading this and feeling grumpy because you didn’t get shortlisted ask yourself three things:
1) Was it really award-winning work? If not, don’t enter it next time
2) How well did you answer the exam questions? Judges like entries that actually address the criteria
3) What did your work achieve – that is the golden nugget that will make the difference between winning, being shortlisted and feeling grumpy
Is Pokemon Go a new marketing platform for business?
There’s a ne
w craze on the loose. You may have observed groups of people walking around your town talking about ‘gyms’ and ‘Pokestops’ and teams. They’ll all be looking at their phones. Or you may have seen videos of stampedes of crowds in New York running into a dark Central Park as they seek a rare ‘monster’.
This is Pokemon Go: a new app from Nintendo’s Niantic that, in its very short life, has more downloads than Tinder, more UK users than Twitter, and has sent Nintendo’s shares through the roof.
Naturally, businesses want to know how they can utilise this craze for marketing purposes.
The way the game works is through geolocation, it uses your phone location to allow you to play Pokemon in the ‘real world’ through augmented reality. It also uses local places as key locations in the game where you can pick up items and play against other players.
It is these locations that businesses want to get their hands on. Well, here are the key things around that:
The key thing about Pokemon Go is the more users and people about, the more activity there will be on the app. This is why Niantic has been put into hot water as more sensitive locations like Auschwitz and the Holocaust Museum in the US have increasing gaming activity due to the number of visitors these places get.
Pokemon No Go areas have appeared across the world
This all leads to the question: how can brands get themselves into the game?
The short answer is: they can’t.
The long answer is: they can’t at the moment, but there are discussions about sponsored locations within the game at some point, but not yet. McDonald’s is already pursuing this with branded locations in the game, but for smaller, local businesses this is a long way off. Remember, it’s only a few days old at the moment!
What businesses can do is utilise the game through other marketing platforms. The RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) recently tweeted that they were a Pokestop. Our office at DTW is a Pokemon Go Gym, therefore, as a business, see what’s around you in the app and market your location in relation to these places. That way, hopefully, you’ll be able to see some footfall benefit from this new craze.
Catch a Weedle outside DTW
The LGA and the CIPR’s Local Public Services Group put on a cracking event looking at devolution and communications in Newcastle today
That depends. How proactive have you been in identifying and engaging with the people and communities who care about the area where you are looking to developing new infrastructure.
Most people and communities lack the opportunity, time, energy and enthusiasm to engage in a lot of debate – and low levels of participation and engagement inhibit the growth of knowledge and understanding in this area. Ultimately, that does you little favour, whether you are building energy from waste facilities, proposing new wind turbines or upgrading transport infrastructure.
Reaching the quiet and busy majority can be vital – because objectors will always be loud and noisy – as is their right. They will be passionate and emotional, well connected and maybe even right, at least about some issues.
So, in order to enable communities to take an active and meaningful role in developments, line with the government’s localism principles, thinking that everything is all quiet is not necessarily a good thing.
Engagement needs to be accessible and inclusive – developers and planners need to use tactics that reach out to all sectors of the community, ensuring you hear from beyond the loudest voices and ‘usual suspects’.
That means using a multi-channel approach to engagement – one size doesn’t fit all. Making the extra effort to engage with all stakeholders will show your desire to involve them in the development of the plans – what you get out reflects what you put in.
For example, we think there is a huge role to play for video, animation and other rich content snippets through local media, project websites, social media channels and in direct engagement to help bring the science or technical fact narrative to life and produce a compelling and clear case to encourage communities and stakeholders to support the process.
So, I’d suggest you stop presuming that no news is good news. It may mean a nasty surprise is just round the corner, and forewarned is forearmed.
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