I couldn’t possibly distill all the wisdom gleaned from that intense week into a blog post, so instead I’ll just record a few of the views and opinions of the experts which particularly impressed me.
On … future trend
(Examining the Social Media-sphere for 2012, Total Media)
I attended the Examining the Social Media-sphere for 2012 hosted by Total Media on the first day.
Kwai Chi from Total Media believes that the timeline layout, coming shortly to Facebook brand pages, will add hugely to the business related Facebook functions (although I’ve also noted separately that @mediaczar thinks that the Facebook shopfront is dead).
On .. Google +
Paulo Ribeiro, head of research of Total Media, shared his research and opinion on Google+.
Google+ is still very new and may looks rather confusing for many people. Is Google+ going to start a revolution in social media and be the next king? Paulo Ribeiro doesn’t think so.
Google+ certainly has its strength, for example, in separating different customer groups and heavy integration with Android. But Paulo thinks that this is rather a “forced” rise of Google+. Google has failed on many social media related products and was really keen on getting a slice of this market. Google empowered Google+ with shared data from other Google products, such as Google Analyst. Undeniably, this is a big progress in social media, but Paulo Ribeiro thinks that Facebook will still be the dominant one for a long time.
For most of the individual users,Google+ is still only a bookmark tool for them. No one is actively engaged in Google+ simply because their friends are not active on it either. So, forGoogle+ to survive, it still needs to find a niche market for itself.
On … how to talk to bloggers
(How to talk to bloggers and your social media community, Total Media)
How to talk to bloggers and your social media community is the second event I have attended in Total Media on the same day. As a community manager, the tips from Sophia Littledale, a veteran fashion blogger, were gold dust.
- Brands need to provide exclusive content to intrigue the bloggers to write about them. A newsletter will simply not do the job anymore.
- Make it a personal approach. If a brand contacted her addressing her real name instead of “Dear blogger”, or, ideally, have shown that they have spent time reading her articles, she would be much more willing to spend the equally valuable time to reply and cooperate.
- Respect the blogger’s influence. Sophia also pointed out some existing problems in the relationships between fashion brands and bloggers. In a fashion show the brand would normally give the most prime seats to professional journalists and squeeze all of the bloggers in a corner. But if you measure the number of people blogger can reach and the reader’s loyalty, bloggers may not be any less important than journalists.