Posted At : 4, March 2008 08:28 AM | Posted By : Sapna Balgobin
Related Categories: Online PR, Social Media, Search Marketing, SEO

Blogs are great when you have a real passion for writing something, whether it's for business or pleasure. And blogs are a great online marketing tool; the best will draw a large audience, and will boost your SEO activity.

Here are my 10 golden rules for blogging:

Be very clear of your aims and objectives for the blog.
Keep it simple and focused – try to avoid corporate speak or industry jargon – it's not just another website.
Be passionate and authoritative but with an element of fun.
Update your blog regularly. On average I recommend twice weekly.
Create fresh, eye-catching content – originality is key – be passionate in what you want to say.
Be honest if your blog relates to your products and services.
Encourage conversation; invite and encourage fellow-bloggers to comment, and listen to what they have to say. Invite guests onto your blog.
Bloggers hate being sold to, so avoid using hard sell tactics.
Add inbound and outbound links to your site. The idea is to entice people to your website.
Socialise with other bloggers and encourage them to communicate your key messages.

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Government engages silver surfers with social network

Posted At : 10, December 2007 11:09 AM | Posted By : Sapna Balgobin
Related Categories: Social Media, Online PR

Early last week I was reading an article in Marketing Week and was delighted to see the breadth of organisations embracing the power of social networks, in particular the Government.

The Department for Work and Pensions is the latest organisation to welcome social networking. They will be trialing a new site on Wordpress.com with the Hansard Society as part of the Government’s Generation Experience Initiative, with the express aim of targeting the older generation.

The site http://generationxperience.wordpress.com will be linked to other social networks including MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. It will encourage discussion on every aspect of life, including work and pensions.

Age Concern and Help the Aged are among the groups invited to participate and create debate. Pensions Minister Mike O’Brien commented: “This site fills a gap in the market by providing an online forum for older people to get their views heard.”

Personally, I think social networks offer a fabulous way for ‘silvers surfers’ to voice their opinions. Though widely regarded as orientated towards young people, my belief is that social networking offers opportunities for all age groups, lifestyles and cultures. Most importantly, it brings everyone together online.

From an online marketing perspective we’re seeing increased interest in social networking from businesses in the public and private sectors. Companies are keen to embrace online PR and create buzz through blogging and forums. I believe social networks provide a great channel to engage and build relationships with every age group.

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Social networking: the new national pastime?

Posted At : 15, October 2007 02:52 PM | Posted By : Sapna Balgobin
Related Categories: Social Media, Online PR

This year social networking has taken the online world by storm. According to latest research Brits are logging on to social networking sites more than any other country in Europe, spending an average of 5.8 hours per month.*

UK social networking usage is now the highest in Europe, with 24.9 million unique visitors – 78% of the total UK online population – participating in social networking communities.

Clever companies, like eBay are due to set up their own social networking service based around shoppers’ interests, whilst smaller businesses have taken advantage of free online tools to build their online PR presence.

The online hangouts have also provided the public with the power to influence and voice their views, share interests and create new communities. I commend organizations like HSBC and Cadbury for listening to Facebook groups by responding positively to the “Stop the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off Group!!!” and the “Bring Back the Wispa” campaigns.

Another trend with Facebook I’ve noticed is that people are using it more for work as well as play. As a marketeer, I think it has the potential to become a new way of learning and gaining customer insight, taking away reliance on traditional market research focus groups.

Initially, it was great to use the tool for socialising and to catch up with old friends and family, but now I’m actually using it to network and learn about my professional field. It’s also great for teachers, SEO specialists and people with common interests. It’s slowly becoming my mini search engine tool too, giving people the choice to research, recruit, learn and socialise (out of work hours that is!).

Many people I speak with disagree or simply don’t like the way we are exposed by the concept of social networking…. But I think it’s like the mobile phone, eventually it will become accepted as the social norm. Having a phone on you all the time wasn’t always accepted, but now I don’t know anyone who doesn’t carry a mobile. Do you?

* Research figures supplied by ComScore www.comscore.com

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The opinions expressed herein are the personal opinion of the author and are not intended as statements of fact and do not represent the view of Coastdigital Limited in any way

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