Infinite Path » Social Media

UK airport shows how social media affects customer satisfaction

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:40:52 +0000

Social media has, for some time now, been lauded as a fantastic tool for companies of all shapes and sizes to embrace.

It’s commonly recommended as a brand strategy; companies are encouraged to interact with their customers via the medium in order to thank them for positive feedback and work on anything which needs a bit of tweaking.

And, according to London City Airport, the use of social media has quite a significant impact on customer satisfaction.

It claims to have drawn in a loyal customer base which is three times more likely to engage with the hub via Twitter and Facebook, compared to the customers of other airports throughout Europe. The customer satisfaction scores are extremely high – 8.7 out of ten – a record level for the hub and this is said to be mainly down to its use of social media channels.

The airport is always keen to respond to its customers’ queries and concerns and this has led to it attracting a growing army of followers on the medium. It tries to keep its customers up to date and informed at all times, which, unsurprisingly, pleases the travellers who use the travel hub.

Chief commercial officer at London City Matthew Hall said social media has, over the past two years, “transformed the way the airport communicates and interacts with customers”. It really does go to show the impact social media can have on creating a loyal customer base.

In order to really make social media work, you’ll need to be consistent – reply to all of your customers, regardless or whether they’re positive or negative in their feedback. And you also need to do it frequently, it won’t work unless you regularly check and update your pages, ensuring your customers stay interested in your social media offering.

Facebook and Skype team up to thwart Google+

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:17:33 +0000

Facebook has reached an agreement with Skype which will see the social networking site add video chat to its list of services.

The move has been seen as a response to Google’s latest attempt to gain ground in the social media sector, with Google+ offering video conferencing as one of its standout features.

It is also likely to lead to stronger ties between Facebook and Google’s closest search rival Microsoft, which recently agreed a £5 billion deal to buy Skype.

Quite whether the Skype/Facebook tie-up will pay off remains to be seen. The social networking site’s instant messaging service is far from reliable and this will doubtlessly lead to scepticism about its ability to integrate video chat successfully.

That said, it offers obvious upsides to both companies – Facebook should be able to offer a service which rivals the videoconferencing of Google+ and Skype will be able to leverage the 750 million users Facebook currently has.

In fact, you could argue that the social networking site, which was rumoured to be preparing a bid for Skype before Microsoft pounced, will end up with all of the benefits the potential acquisition would have brought it without having to shell out £5 billion for the privilege. Not a bad piece of business if things work out.

Of course, the project will only bear fruit if it can be implemented successfully, but regardless it certainly shoes that Google+ won’t have everything their own way.

Wayne Rooney’s hair and Anthony Weiner’s weiner – why Twitter isn’t a magic wand for online reputation management

admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:01:17 +0000

Twitter and Manchester United players have had something of a fractious relationship of late with Darron Gibson reportedly being forced from the site because of abuse from fans of the club, while Ryan Giggs also has a well-documented, fraught relationship with the services despite not even being a member.

It’s little wonder then that United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is less than impressed with the service, suggesting people should get “down to the library and read a book” instead. For once though, and in this case unsurprisingly, his players haven’t heeded his words and several of them remain on Twitter. And perhaps Sir Alex should be a little more open minded, especially after his star striker Wayne Rooney successfully used the service to deflect some adverse publicity over the weekend.

Rooney was snapped coming out of a hair transplant clinic and the images were featured on the back page of a popular Sunday newspaper. Faced by a story which, with a lack of actual football to report on, could have run for days before another inconsequential scoop was found to take its place the striker used Twitter to confirm he had indeed had a transplant. This, combined with the picture of the end result which he later posted, ensured the story was largely nipped in the bud. There was no speculation and no desperate paparazzi following him around hoping to get a snap of his new barnet.

The story still ended up in the papers but “Wayne Rooney admits to hair transplant” is harder to spin out than “Has Rooney had a hair transplant?”. In fact, the stories have focused as much on his use of Twitter than the actual “substance” of the matter.

As a result the general consensus seems to be Twitter is fantastic and a great way to break down barriers between players and supporters, as well as allowing them to take control . If only things were that simple. Rooney himself has demonstrated that Twitter can have a downside for its celebrity users. Just a few weeks ago his account hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after he seemed to challenge another user to a fight – Rooney’s claim he would put the fan “to sleep” was seen as a threat to knock him out, rather than an offer of coco and a bedtime story. As stories go, it was as minor as news of Rooney’s hair transplant but it should serve as a reminder that Twitter isn’t a one-way ticket to an improved public image.

Anthony Weiner, a US congressman, knows this to his cost. When a photo of a gentleman’s crotch clothed only in a pair of underpants was sent from his account to one of his female followers it quickly disappeared and Weiner blamed hackers. Days later he was force to back down, admitting that the photo was indeed him and he had sent it. What fate will befall Weiner remains to be seen, but there’s no disputing his impropriety has made him a laughing stock and his reputation may never recover.

Although Twitter may seems like an excellent way to bypass the media and get your message directly to the public it’s not without its drawbacks. For celebrities and businesses the service can be an invaluable tool, but it’s also one more place where they need to be on their best behaviour. As Weiner has shown – a little too graphically it seems – it’s hard to cover up your mistakes once they’ve been unleashed on to the internet.

Could Facebook and LinkedIn trigger a new DotCom crash?

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:58:21 +0000

The next 12 months could prove to be a make or break period for two of the world’s most successful social networking sites – and the situation should be enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone old enough to remember when the DotCom bubble burst back in 2000.

Rumours abound that Facebook and LinkedIn are set to float on the stock exchange – the latter because it wants to, and the former because US authorities may force it to.

LinkedIn, which allows professionals to network with one another, has already proclaimed itself to be profitable and seems keen to attract public investment.

Facebook on the other hand is rather less eager to float. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has already said he is against the idea of an initial public offering – the mechanism by which a company enters the stock market – but the decision could be out of his hands.

US law prohibits any private company from having more than 499 investors and although Facebook won an exception from this rule by pointing out most shareholders were staff members, it continues to attract outside investment and it may not be long before the authorities act.

If Facebook is thrust on to the stock market without Zuckerberg’s approval it would do little to instil confidence in their business plan, although his main concern is likely to be the fact the company would have to file detailed financial reports every year – something it doesn’t have to do as a private firm.

Flotation, forced or otherwise, would be a real test for Facebook and LinkedIn as business propositions and will go some way to showing if social networking sites are really financially viable in the long-term.
Which brings us back to the DotCom bubble – could these firms, and others, float, meet with initial success and then fail spectacularly?

Clearly, there’s a possibility, but it should be remember the world is a very different place now compared to 11 years ago.

For starters, the internet is now much more deeply imbedded in people’s lives – widespread take up of broadband and smartphones is the key factor here.

Then there’s the global economy. The DotCom failures of the past were launched into a hugely optimistic financial environment, and then failed when the economic situation worsened. If these launches take place they will be entering a much more uncertain marketplace. Not great, but at least they won’t get swept along in a wave misplaced optimism.

That’s not to say some internet firms won’t launch, burn through their venture capital and then shut down, but at the moment Facebook and LinkedIn look strong enough to take whatever the stock market can throw at them.

Will businesses benefit from Facebook’s latest profile changes?

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:08:59 +0000

Facebook is set to undergo another facelift, presumably in an attempt to maximise future profits.

In future, information such as someone’s home town, job and relationship status will be highlighted at the top of the page and a number of recently-tagged photos will be displayed next to this.

People will also be able to group their friends into categories based on their relationship with one another, while users will be able to highlight other people’s profiles.

The changes are already being rolled out, although it will be next year before all 500 million profiles are updated with the new features.

Writing on the company blog, engineer John Wiseman explained the thinking behind the move.

“The Friends page now allows you to quickly find the people you’re looking for: just search by name, home town, school or a number of other dimensions,” he said.

So what is Facebook trying to achieve through these changes? Well, clearly its primary goal is to boost engagement with the website. Making profiles easier to sort and find will probably increase interaction and help keep users active.

Ultimately though, the social networking site is geared to making a profit and clearly the impact on advertising would have been taking into account when developing the new functions.

Quite what impact it will have on the way things are done depends on to what extent Facebook decides to leverage the extra information it will have available to it. For example, if people do group their friends by interests and relationships, then targeted ads will become easier to place. Sports retailers, for example, could focus on people who have indicated they and a number of their friends are a member of a football team.

Although the changes are unlikely to prove popular with all users, businesses should keep a close eye on them to see how they can be used to their advantage.

After all, Facebook wants to make money and the main way it can do that is by helping to boost the profits of its advertisers.

Are New York businesses right to shun social networking?

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:44:27 +0000

New York is often seen as being on the cutting edge of pretty much everything. Culture, art, fashion, you name it, New York probably got there first.

However, if a recent blog post on New York Time Out is anything to go by, some NYC businesses could be doing themselves harm in the quest for hipness.

The conceit of Sharon Steel’s article is that social media is starting to detract from the experience of living and, to a certain extent, that’s certainly true. Without wishing to sound like my Dad, it seems almost impossible to attend an event at which there isn’t at least one person who watches the whole thing through their mobile phone screen as they record it for posterity.

However, the blog also revealed a growing trend for banning the use of social networking tools in places like restaurants and night clubs, which is frankly baffling. Yes, it’s not to everyone’s taste, yes it can be annoying but prohibiting its use is like opting out of free advertising. If you’re organising an event, the only time you don’t want people talking about it is if it’s a fight club.

The blog even goes so far as to suggest that people will start living through social media, rather than experiencing things themselves. The same could be said for TV, but huge sums are still spent buying ad time and that hasn’t done anyone any harm.

Social media isn’t vital for all businesses, some are lucky enough to have a reputation that transcends such issues. However, for the rest of them ignoring the benefits of digital word of mouth advertising seems deeply foolish.

MySpace revamps ad model

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:50:21 +0000

The corpse of the one-time social networking king MySpace is twitching once again as it attempts to revolutionise the way it advertises.

In recent weeks, the website has conceded defeat to Facebook and shifted its approach, becoming an entertainment portal. Now, as it looks to redefine its position in the marketplace, it has embarked on a new campaign to promote Xbox 360 Kinect.

It’s a bespoke ad, aimed at keeping consumers on MySpace rather than directing them to external sites. According to the website, this will ensure users engage with adverts on a deeper level and, if things go well, it should be the first of many.

Simon Daglish, commercial director of MySpace’s parent company Fox Interactive Media, said: “It’s integrated onto the page and doesn’t take the user away from MySpace. Usually people have to click away in an ad and essentially you’re asking them to change their behaviour.”

It certainly sounds like a good plan, but as always seems to be the case the website is still lagging behind its rivals. Facebook ditched standard ads more than 12 months ago.

Then of course, there’s the issue of users. There’s no point in having fantastic ads if no one looks at them and, having logged on to MySpace for about the first time in three years just now, I personally find the new-look site even more off putting than the old one.

There may be a lot to learn from MySpace’s new approach to advertising, but there’s also a cautionary tale about the problems sites can face in retaining their popularity.

Twitter looks to strike Facebook deal

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:51:40 +0000

Twitter would love to hop into bed with Facebook, but it appears the two firms have been unable to reach an agreement.

Evan Williams, founder of the microblogging service, revealed the company is looking to integrate its user lists with those of the social networking site, but so far its advances have been shunned.

“We are talking to them often to see if there is a way to work together, but so far neither side has seen a way to do that,” he told a Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

He added he was “frustrated” that Facebook had blocked a move which would have allowed people to see if there friends from one service were using the other as well.

To be honest, it’s not all that surprising the social networking site doesn’t want to play ball. Facebook has around 500 million users, whereas Twitter has 75 million. It doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to surmise that this integration would be something of a one-way relationship and clearly the microblogging service has the most to gain.

However, in publicly courting Facebook, Twitter has to be careful it doesn’t isolate its existing user base. Many who sign up for the site do so because it doesn’t harvest the sort of information social networking sites do, by cosying up to Mark Zuckerberg, Williams could set alarm bells ringing among those 75 million users.

That said, those same users also have to come to terms with the fact Twitter is a business and the “free” service they enjoy has to be paid for somehow.

With Williams claiming there are “a million ways” for the company to make money, there could be 75 million people who have to get used to some serious changes in the next year or so.

Just how social will Facebook’s social inbox be?

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:08:43 +0000

As you’d expect the announcement that Facebook is to provide users with a “social inbox” received a mixed response. Some dubbed it an email killer, while others saw it as another attempt by the company to erode online privacy.

Of course, the truth is the project, which will unite users’ SMS, email, instant messages and Facebook messages in one place, will neither kill email nor turn the social network into an all seeing eye.

Centralising everything should prove attractive to some consumers, but traditional email will survive because it is so well entrenched in people’s habits.

According to Facebook, the service will offer another huge advantage – people will get unprecedented control over who can contact them, with users able to prevent anyone other than their Facebook friends sending them messages if they so desire. Some have claimed this will put an end to spam. It won’t of course – the existing Facebook messaging service is vulnerable to phishing, as is any service where people can be duped into clicking links.

So if it’s not going to kill email or end spam, what is Facebook’s aim? According to Augie Ray, Forrester Research analyst, the site wants to become “the digital tool for facilitating real-world friendships”.

“Facebook isn’t interested in being a tool for your flood of bills, email newsletters or other communications – it’s about facilitating and enhancing your personal relationships. In that way Facebook won’t replace Gmail, but it does want to be the platform for consumers’ personal relationships and communications and leave the boring stuff to Gmail and others,” he added.

Which all seems very nice, if not a little naive. Facebook isn’t “about facilitating and enhancing your personal relationships”, it’s about making money from them, and the social inbox will inevitably be geared towards this goal.

There’s a balance to be struck of course – if the service is too focused on revenue generation it’ll be a turn off for users. However, there’ll no doubt be ads surrounding people’s messages and the system will also provide another way for companies with social media campaigns to contact consumers.

Put simply, last week’s announcement that Best Buy is to sell consumer goods direct through Facebook shows the social networking site is determined to explore innovative ways to make money, and any new features must be viewed in this light.

In an ideal world, the social inbox would provide a perfect balance between the needs of Facebook, other companies and users. It would generate ad revenue and drive up sales without intruding on people’s communications to an excessive degree.

Whether Facebook can pull this off will be key to their future success.

From social networking to social commerce?

admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:29:07 +0000

Forget social networking, social commerce is where it’s at, at least according to one leading US brand.

Best Buy, a consumer electronics retailer, has used Facebook as part of a massive marketing push to promote its new site in the UK. However, its plans don’t end there and over the next few months people will actually be able to buy products through the social networking site.

Speaking to NMA.co.uk, the firm’s head of online marketing, Richard Clark, said: “”We’ve treated our use of Facebook as a relationship-building exercise, but social commerce is definitely something we’re moving towards.
“Now we have an established community, in the next few months we’ll be expanding in that space.”

It’s an interesting move, and it isn’t without its hazards. In the past social networking sites have been viewed as belonging to consumers, firms were welcome but the relationship was more about customer service and advertising than turning sites into online shops.

Given the fact the people Best Buy are targeting will already have some sort of relationship with the site it’s unlikely they’ll be annoyed by the move, although if they start shoving products down people’s throats they could lose a large amount of goodwill and Facebook “likers”.

The real problems will be overcoming apathy – it seems unlikely consumers will be as excited by the move as Best Buy and marketing executives are – and trust – people are suspicious of Facebook at the best of times, so will they really be willing to complete a £400 transaction using it?

However, if Best Buy is able to deal with these issues, it could open up a whole new way of doing business.