Twitter, love or hate it its here to stay. So, we either shy away from it or we understand it, embrace it and maximise its business potential.

The three main reasons we find why people do not use Twitter are:
1.    They don’t know how to use it
2.    It sounds silly and they don’t understand the concept
3.    They don’t think anyone in their organisation will have time to use it or embrace it

The concept of Twitter is simple, it’s a place to chat, share information, check the latest news, let people know what you’re doing, highlight latest achievements, promotions and to demonstrate why people should come and talk to you. If you think about Twitter from a ‘business perspective’, this is what most businesses are trying to achieve every day.  Twitter represents a great online vehicle to be able to build a community and reach out with a click of a button.

The trick to Twitter is to work out the best ways to maximise its potential and to integrate it into your everyday business processes. Once you have a number of followers you can communicate to an audience on an instantaneous basis and you’ll wonder why you didn’t start tweeting earlier!

Below is a whistle stop tour of how and why Twitter should be used as a Marketing tool.

Why consider Twitter?
A few quick reasons why you should seriously think about Twitter:
1.    The sheer volume of users - Twitter has over 75 million users you could connect with
2.    Its speed - Twitter is a real time social media platform
3.    Networking facilitation - The ability to network with people and companies within the same industry as you
4.    Mobile Marketing usage - Twitter is accessible on mobile phones meaning you get your message to them at all times

Use it to increase your traffic.
Twitter is a great way to drive traffic to your website.  Twitter is a fantastic environment to make people aware of your brand, share their thoughts, understand your products and services which in turn will drive targeted traffic. You can constantly update, change and post new services and products you offer and drive those who are interested to your website through promotions and quality literature. If you are aware of link building, then twitter provides a very strong reputable link for your site, if you are not aware of link building please have a quick read of our older posts link building.

Increase your reputation.
Twitter is a platform where you as a business can demonstrate your knowledge and expertise to a large audience. By posting interesting tweets, posting links to news articles and even links to your blog, you can show your target audience as well as other businesses in your industry that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re an expert in your field, increasing your reputation online.

Live News Feed.
Twitter is a real time social media platform. So what does this mean? This means that every tweet is immediately posted to your followers. This means that you can get your company’s news into the public eye in a matter of seconds. It has recently been seen that large news stories have been posted on Twitter before reaching respectable news sites such as the BBC. This means instead of having to plan weeks in advance to for you to appear in magazines and papers through press releases, product reviews or feature articles, through Twitter you can post immediately to access customer reaction and feedback.

Networking.
Twitter also has a sophisticated networking facility. This means that you can directly communicate with other businesses or suppliers. You’ll find that a lot of people have a business Twitter account as well as a personal one, giving you the opportunity to directly communicate with CEO’s or Directors of companies. This also means that people will be able to contact you. A business searching for related services can read your profile then message you to register their interest.

These are but only a few reasons of how and why twitter can be a powerful marketing tool. In 2010 it has almost become a necessity for a business to be on twitter, but it’s up to you as a business to maximise the opportunities the platform offers.

On the 11th March Speed Networking Berkshire partnered with Donnington Grove Country Club and Generate UK to host a networking event which saw 37 business professionals from the Berkshire area meet in unique circumstances in a serene and tranquil environment.

Speed Networking is a unique concept which sees individuals meet other individuals through one to one speed meetings. You literally have 90 seconds each to inform each other of your business and to discuss the opportunities or synergies between your two companies.

The idea is not to push your business too hard, it’s to engage and see where the potential opportunities lie. It might not be the person in front of you who represents the opportunity; it may well be a business partner, a colleague or friend that denotes the opportunity?
After round one where half of the room had met each other there was a break for refreshments as this style of meeting whilst enjoyable can be pretty exhausting.

Generate UK were exceptionally proud to partner and sponsor the event and following the break we presented and discussed ways for businesses to increase internet revenues. Throughout the 15 minute presentation Generate UK discussed why online marketing represents such a good option for companies and highlighted the different activities available to help generate more from a website.
In summary the presentation focused on:
•    Increasing Traffic
•    Increasing Reputation
•    Increasing Conversation

Through increasing your internet footprint via quality content you can significantly increase online traffic and reputation, and through analytics an organisation can set realistic objectives to monitor and increase online conversion rates through enquiries and sales.

Following the presentation the event resumed to the second round of meetings. Speaking with people after the event the feedback was extremely positive and these were comments from people who were new to Speed Networking.  Speed Networking is a simple yet effective concept and represents a great way to network.  The event was certainly a worthwhile exercise and on a personal note it really opened my eyes to how other businesses operated.  I would certainly recommend any professional who wants to meet new people and engage with different businesses to attend.

Generate UK met Speed Networking Berkshire last year whilst attending an event themselves and after a number of meetings and discussions which were based on similar values, principles and objectives in business the two businesses seemed to be a good fit to form a professional working partnership.

Drawing on a current relationship with Generate UK, Donnington Grove Country Club hosted the event which represented a fantastic opportunity for the Country Club to show 37 local business professionals the meeting and conference facilities available at Donnington Grove.

The event showed why business partnerships can be exceptionally fruitful and forming successful alliances can only enhance reputations and potential opportunities for business.

Successful partnerships are borne from two companies who possess similar business values however, be warned we would strongly advice companies looking to partner with other organisations to do their research first, as it’s your reputation at stake and certain affiliations could possibly be more damaging than prosperous.

I have to admit that it was unusual for me to be out of the house quite so early on a Sunday morning but this particular trip was for a good reason.  I was off to support the Generate UK leadership team in the Reading Half Marathon, one of the biggest of its kind in the world.  It was an early start to what was to become a really lovely day.

As I stood on a street corner munching my way through a sausage and egg mcmuffin and clapping between mouthfuls, it struck me just what an impressive sight 16,500 people running through Reading town centre really was.  It also crossed my mind that I might miss the Generate UK team that I had so wanted to support in the masses.

I needn’t have worried however; I spotted them as soon as they turned the corner in their matching burgundy vests emblazoned with the “Tommy’s” logo.  Tommy’s, the charity that Generate UK were proud to be supporting fund research and provides information on causes and prevention of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth.  Joe and Mike seemed to be in good spirits and looked like they were enjoying the run.  They were running at a good pace but didn’t stop for a chat as both of them had their sights set on achieving a good time.

After watching the Generate team run off into the distance I stayed in place clapping and cheering other competitors.  The novelty costumes always amaze me especially on what was becoming a particularly warm day, there were a couple of Smurfs, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Scooby Doo and a Giant Bear to name but a few.

I took a walk to the ten mile mark, an area of the course that I am told feels to the runners as if the end is nigh, one way or another!  At this point you are able to watch the runners coming towards you for approximately half a mile.  It’s incredible; there are some that have barely broke a sweat whereas some look close to death, unfortunately by this stage Joe was firmly in the latter camp!
I am pleased to announce that Mike and Joe both finished the race, Mike with a time of 1hr 51, Joe with 1hr 58 beaten at the finish line by the two Smurfs.  Whilst both suffering from fatigue Generate UK were incredibly proud of their achievement and the £600 raised for Tommy’s will certainly go to helping a worthwhile cause.

Tell me… Could you describe and explain social media and online marketing to your grandma, in such a way that she could confidently use it to potentially better a business? I know I couldn’t.

I did however go to a seminar today on this very subject that did exactly that! No the room wasn’t full of ‘grandmas’, but it did break down the mysterious lore that is social media and online marketing into easily digested nuggets of knowledge.
This seminar was hosted by Generate UK at the spectacular Donnington Grove in their ‘Cloud Suite’. The ‘Cloud Suite’ is a luxurious room lined with lovely old paintings, overshadowed by a fantastic painted ceiling. There was free tea and coffee, there was glorious sunshine and there was a friendly buzz as attendees began to arrive.

We were all seated in some rather fancy chairs and we covered a variety of things from e-marketing myth busting to the fundamentals of the ‘twitterverse’. I already knew some of the basics that were covered but it was nice to see that all the fundamentals were explained so that everyone else understood the more advanced things that were to follow. Overall it was very well presented and it left no one guessing.

Over the course of the morning I mentally noted a number of clever marketing devices for later use. I learned that no more are the days where one could simply post a few thousand identical links all over the Internet to rank their page from ‘unheard of’ to ‘the industry authority’ in a matter of weeks; nor can you purchase links on leading websites to boost your own rankings… Well, not without major repercussions anyway. The emphasis nowadays is on natural link building, quality and content with a hint of tweeting; although the ‘Tweeting’ is optional.

Natural link building is the activity that promotes the recommendation of your online presence by getting other online entities to refer to your site naturally via a link; this could be as a point of interest, or perhaps in the form of a recommendation of your products or services. This is done of their own accord. This is now necessary because the search engines have ‘wizened-up’ to those manipulative chaps that have previously gone out to the marketplace to spam every existing website with their own links and false recommendations; all in a bid to rank higher on the search engine results. The current digital marketing paradigm now dictates that it is better for a company ‘footprint’ to grow gradually over time as more and more web users begin to trust the site in question and recognise it as an authority in the field.  For those of you that didn’t know, an online footprint is the measurement of your own online presence size… Yet another vital thing I learned today that I have lovingly passed on to you.

Now, can you tell me of something currently going on in your life or workplace that you’ve told other people about? I bet you can. Yet, many companies with an online presence clam-up and communicate next to nothing. If you have some experience in a particular field, enough for you to generate money from, it must be worth shouting about surely?
This is where we come on to the subject of quality and content. I learned today that some companies are beginning to embrace this as a guideline for their online activity. Not too many years ago the majority of companies had a static website that was occasionally updated with some generic company news. Nowadays however, the early adopters of new digital marketing methods and technology are beginning to share their knowledge, views and information online. This interactivity allows users to communicate with the company in a dynamic fashion allowing the aforementioned businesses to stay firmly on the industry pulse; this is due to their grass roots interaction with the end consumer, so businesses are more aware of what these consumers are thinking right now.

How is this done? In a surprisingly simple way actually, it’s all a question of sharing targeted, interesting and relevant content with the web surfers you want to attract to your business.  This does require that you embrace some of the new social media platforms that have recently come to power though i.e. Facebook, Twitter, del.icio.us etc. So although the process may seem straight forward, there is a significant learning curve involved which puts many companies off.
Let me give you an example. Imagine you and I run a fashion outlet for customised clothing and accessories. We could do our traditional market research, develop prototype designs and then hope that when these items finally go on sale they will indeed, sell. This is admittedly, a very short-sighted example but now imagine this; instead of doing our in-house research with a few participants… We opened up a website listing all of our latest designs. We could then use a platform like Twitter to ‘Tweet’ (post information about) those designs to the masses whilst linking back to the main site. This would then open the door to other ‘Twitterers’ (Twitter users) for them to offer valuable feedback on our designs and to perhaps make some valuable recommendations for change. Not only that, but by engaging with the fashion conscious community on Twitter, we could explore what other people in the field are talking about and then throw in our own ‘two cents’ on the subject. We have just outlined a way to improve our customer interaction, improve our market research and product design process as well as establish ourselves as an authority in the field of fashion by expressing our expert opinion in up-to-the-minute conversations on the subject; all the while building natural links and generating traffic to our sales website, hopefully earning some extra money. Of course such a strategy would require much more thought and planning, but such a scenario is not uncommon where clever individuals have managed to leverage this powerful technology to their own business benefit.

The basics however are centred on sharing relevant, quality content with other users in an engaging way so that these users will interact with your business. Got a new product line? Tweet it. Planning a big PR event? Set up an events page on Facebook. Little things like this as part of a wider marketing plan can really level the playing field when competing for business against larger faceless corporations. Consumers like to know there is a bit of humanity in the business workings somewhere, something they can relate to. This is what makes quality content sharing on these innovative platforms so damned powerful.

I’ve personally been involved with 3 fairly sizeable Sitekit projects in the last few months and I have to admit that the more I use it, the more I like it. I don’t always feel that Sitekit gets the recognition it deserves though. Strangely, you could not call Sitekit a cool product, it’s not web 2.0, it’s not built by a community, and it does not have a vibrant following….. Yet it does what it sets out to do, it is a really great content management system.

 I am now on a mission to make Sitekit the coolest CMS out there…. especially the latest version 9.

Ok, the title suggests 10 reasons why I like Sitekit, so here goes:

1. As a project manager, it’s nice to know that my back is covered when it comes to support. With the best will in the world, it is impossible to know everything about a piece of software. So it is reassuring that you’re only ever a step or two away from the chaps responsible for building and maintaining the software.

2. The audit trail functionality is very powerful. It is one of those features that appeals to larger organisations with extensive publishing processes. However, the ability to roll back to previous versions of content is a great feature for medium sized organisations too. Also, it’s always nice to know who made that fatal change!

3. We’ve built Sitekit websites with version 8 and version 9 and it is no surprise to know that version 9 is an improvement on version 8. What is surprising is how much of an improvement it is. The back end console and usability is a lot stronger and the time to make changes has been reduced. The objective was to go for a more Microsoft style backend that users are familiar with, which comes across really well.

4. Sitekit won’t mind me saying that their system is not for all customers. It has a price point that frankly can put smaller businesses off considering it as a tool, however larger customers with mature online strategies can do a lot with Sitekit. One area that helps to lower the total cost of ownership is the ability to manage multiple sites through Sitekit. With the right license you can manage your sites via one console, reducing your complexity and reliance on multiple systems. It also means you can train your staff on just one system.

5. The flexibility of Sitekit is very good, there are one or two quirks like the hosting and certain APIs, however in the main you can do pretty much what you need to do with the out of the box Sitekit license. I would advise you to check your requirements off with one of the Sitekit staff if you have a lot of bespoke work to do though. The other great thing about Sitekit is that you can create or migrate your existing Intranet onto the Sitekit platform and manage the pages through the system securely.

6. We were able to roll out a new website for an NHS customer within 8 weeks. This site involved nearly 200 pages, different templates for each area and unique imagery. The site was also set up for an Intranet.

7. So far, all of our customers with Sitekit have really liked it. Each customer is different and experience different reasons for considering an enterprise class content management system. Usually, the pain you’re experiencing with non-content managed website can be alleviated with Sitekit, we’d love to have a conversation with you about this.

8. Search engine optimisation is critical to the success of your website; Sitekit really helps you to set up your site in a way that is truly optimised for the search engines. Taking care of your unique page titles, search engine friendly URLs, keywords and meta. As well as integrating directly with your Google Analytics account.

9. One of the less sexy features is the file and image library. You would expect a file and image library in all content management systems, yet the way it is set up with Sitekit really makes sense once you understand the concept. The latest version extends the file and image library to an asset library, which is even easier to use.

10. The last and most important reason we use Sitekit is that is makes us look good. As a digital marketing agency, we’re keen to work with best of breed technology partners. This enables us to focus on our customer’s business objectives and really work closely with them to deliver a website aligned to their goals.

I’ve worked with many content management systems, from open source to big time expensive and most things in between. The criteria I use to gauge how good a system is, is how easy it is for the customer to manage their site and how flexible the site is once built. Sitekit does really well on both points, yes it has its quirks and you’ll need to do a bit of leg work to understand some of the Sitekit specific commands, but this is the same for any new piece of software.

If you’d like to learn more about Sitekit and how it might fit within your organisation, please do feel free to contact us. Depending on your business needs, there are some really compelling reasons for Sitekit both financially and technically. We’d be happy to discuss these with you in more detail.