So,,, how are you finding the new ways to communicate?

Something very interesting is happening in the world of digital communication... have you noticed it yet? YOU'LL HAVE ALREADY KNOW THIS ONE - but what else? And how could that help you understand your customers and audiences better?

Just this week I've had a brilliant online conversation about the use of punctuation for intonation, and it seems that many people are still to get up to speed. As it's evolving so quickly in front of our eyes it's easy for many to mistake this new digital vernacular for punctuation errors.
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Here's the post that triggered today's article it was a screenshot of a tweet from a young adult advising that they read periods, full-stops to us Brits, as aggressive.

This produced a conversation thread which I recommend you take a look at, as it highlights the different attitudes to written communication very clearly. Those who learned to write pre-digital tend to be much more inflexible; showing preference for older writing rules, whilst the younger generations are embracing, and evolving, ways to create intonation just by using punctuation.

​So what's it all about? If you didn't catch them in the post above, I've handily added the two articles here.

So,,, now you know. And knowing could help you understand your customers and clients much better.

​Language evolves all the time to indicate emotions, sometimes very subtly, just ask anyone who's gone from writing "kind regards" to "regards" in an email thread!

Once upon a time widgets used to be plastic thingies put in cans of bitter to make the beer froth come out right. Now days widgets are great ways to share interesting content, or complex data in an easily digestible format. Amazing what a bit of code can do.

Its not like we don't have lots of very interesting things to say either.
We've been busy!

Here's a handy how to use social media effectively for events, particularly useful for charities but also works perfectly for product and service launches too.

Now brighter and bolder than ever before, Social Results is here to help you out online.

Finding Twitter lacking, Facebook a frustrating fight, or not entirely sure why but finding Instagram a bit of a mystery?  Never fear, we're here to help make everything work for you.

Nothing like a busy year to put a halt to blog posts!
So what on earth have we been up to?

For the third year running, Emma headed up the marketing and communications for Chilled in a Field Festival. This involved engaging and building a great online community of old and new customers, "Campers" we like to call them, on Facebook and Twitter. She used previous stats to identify useful events listings websites and worked with a great team to get the event listed in good time before the event. 


With SEO copywriting, a periodically updated Google+ page, and administration of Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to monitor and improve use of the festival website the festival now has a Page one Google ranking even if just the word "Chilled" is typed. 

Emma also replaced the outdated email system with MailChimp, and liaised with directors, crew members, suppliers and all manner of print and online media resources to ensure maximum coverage for all.

The upshot has been that the event sold out weeks in advance, was listed as one of the Guardian's top 25 festivals in the UK and Europe and featured twice on the Radio Two breakfast show. Post event, tickets for 2015 have been selling in record time, twice as many tickets sold in the four days following the event than had by the previous January!

Looking forward to 2015 already.


Next up impossible.com where we provided online community management and engagement services, including UI UX and bug reports and identification of key influencers. We have also provided ad-hoc assistance and guidance to the team regarding the best way to approach delicate situations, and challenging behaviour in a positive and effective manner.

Another honourable mention must go to event company Terrapin Tents and Contents, we have been working with the great team to raise the company's profile using social media, live posting and tweeting from events and SEO copywriting in a very specific style and tone. 

We are currently setting up a Google+ business page, and are using Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to monitor traffic and improve the company's SEO ranking. 

We've even helped to find branded merchandise suppliers.

With a few projects in the pipeline we would still very much like to find more businesses and organisations that would benefit from our help. 

If you need something online, real genuine human interaction that enhances your business's reputation for great customer service, translates into sales, and generates a greater awareness of your brand? 

Then you need us.

Get in touch with Emma for independent, honest, ethical, and effective digital marketing with jargon-free technical support. :)

This is a common phrase often found on the internet, or heard in conversation but what does it mean?

The phrase “Feeding the Trolls” refers to giving attention to someone who is on a mission to wreak havoc at your expense and draw attention away from what you should be doing. In the case of businesses this means losing valuable customer relations and engagement you could be having with your real customers. 

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, some people just want an argument. In the end it really doesn’t really matter what the root cause is, if someone has decided to target your organisation in order to start a fight you aren’t going to be able to reason with them. 

Just make sure you know the difference between a Troll, and someone with a real grievance that you can help with.

How to identify a Troll, some or all may apply:

• They use inflammatory language.
  
• They get personal.
• They ridicule other people’s comments and responses.
  
• They will not accept a direct answer to their queries.
• They don't want a resolution they want a fight.
• They want as much attention as possible from you and your followers.
  
• They may even post links to undesirable websites 
  

How to deal with a Troll effectively:

• Be quick, they need to be dealt with swiftly before they gain any ground.
  
• Be polite, never ever sink to their level no matter how tempting.
  
• Censure the behaviour; never the individual. Don't get personal.
  
• No empty threats, advise them that they will be blocked and do it.
• Report any threatening behaviour them to your social network provider.
  
• Advise followers of your actions so they understand your rules.
  
• Delete any suspicious links that they may have posted.
  
• Do not identify the individual, do not call them out on another post.
  
• Delete their comments as necessary, if possible
  

Pro Tip: 
Take screenshots, if someone complains about being blocked you have all the evidence you need to support your actions.

On the odd occasion some individuals may announce that they know a better organisation than yours and post links to them. If that organisation is a true competitor, no matter how tempted you might be, don’t get defensive, instead congratulate them on finding a service that meets their needs. You aren’t going to get their custom any way, and if they have been acting unreasonably others will see that your organisation doesn't need to pander to people who exhibit that kind of behaviour.

Your community will thank you for being professional and sticking to your guns. Remember this is your little section of the internet and no one has the right to abuse you or others who have chosen to be there. Much the same as if someone started hollering abuse in the middle of a shop, you’d get the security guards to escort them off the premises.

Having a run-in with a Troll can be very unsettling; no one wants or deserves to be on the receiving end of a tirade of abuse, be it directed at your organisation or your followers. If you find yourself in this situation make sure that you discuss it with someone outside of the network. This is not a sign of weakness and is a tactic used by many people who work with the general public or challenging individuals to reduce the emotional impact difficult exchanges can produce.


To quote Alfred the butler in Batman "Some men just want to watch the world burn"©, thankfully the chances of you having to deal with someone like The Joker are quite slim. 

For further information you can get in touch with us in a variety of ways on our Contact page. Unfortunately we are unable to charter carrier pigeons. :)


©Warner Bros. & DC Comics. All rights reserved.

You have a great product or service, people are interested in what you do, you are increasing the traffic to your website and everything appears to be going swimmingly, then one commenter makes a negative statement about your product or service.

Do you:

• a)   Delete the comment – if you can?
  
• b)   Ignore the comment?
  
• c)   Set your supporters on them?
  
• d)   Block the user and report them as spam?
  
• e)   Attempt to engage them in conversation?
  

The answer is in fact e), with the proviso that if you then find you are dealing with a Troll a combination of options a) to d) may then be appropriate. We'll explain more about Troll handling in a future blog post.

Lets assume we aren't dealing with a Troll but a person with a real grievance, and see that whilst options a) to e) might be tempting they really aren't the best course of action for your organisation:

• a)    Deleting comments runs the risk of being called out. Should that catch on, not only they but others are likely to join in to draw attention to your actions. 
  
• b)   Ignoring the comment, especially if it is in a comment stream like you’d find on Facebook can actually amplify the problem as the lack of response will be public.
  
• c)    Mob rule? Save this one for the Trolls, do not abuse your client’s loyalty and they may just rise to the occasion when you really need them.
  

1. d)   This is as drastic as throwing someone out of a shop and banning them for life, in front of other customers. Do you really want to do that? 
   

So how do you engage with someone who has made a negative comment? Follow these five easy steps:

• Acknowledge their negative feelings
  
• Be positive and reassuring in your response
  
• Clarify the issue and resolve if possible
  
• Don’t Panic!
  
• Explain how you will help them, or how they can help themselves

No matter how trivial a problem may seem to you, remember you are just one of the many experiences that life throws at people everyday. Don’t take it personally and treat that person how you would like to be treated if you were having a bad day.

But why take the time and effort, does this really matter in the end when you need to make sales? 

Many years ago, before the internet, it was well know in business spheres that a person who had a good experience with a company would only tell around half as many people as when they had a bad experience with a company. However, those who had a bad experience that was dealt with professionally and courteously would tell even more people about how great an organisation was. 


Fast forward to today, with the power of social networks amplifying these behaviours a hundred-fold if not more, it's worth taking the time to protect your organisation’s reputation and play the long game when it comes to customer retention. We actually recommend running searches to ensure you can step in to help those who might not be having the positive experience you hope they would with your product or services.

If you don’t have the time, we can make the effort for you.

You do!

We would desperately love to be as stylish as Joan in Mad Men*, and whilst traditional marketing techniques will always have their place we take a fresh and modern approach to bring genuine human engagement to your customers and clients.

Essentially, using social media, we want your customers to fall in love with your company, be interested in what you do and feel valued.

Understanding the different ways networks operate, who uses them and how they like to be communicated with makes a massive difference, one interested and engaged follower is worth a thousand random followers who may or may not even be reading what your company posts.

Too often companies rely on numbers of followers or likes to determine whether their brand is successful, when really they should be looking at the actual sales or interactions, "conversions" as they are known in web analytics geek speak, which are generated by the different networks.

When unscrupulous social media management companies can make it look like a massive spike in follower numbers have occurred by buying banks of "zombie" accounts to follow a brand, or even worse make a Like Farm on Facebook and sell it on its good to know there are people like us who care about honest genuine quality over quantity. 

*we do try!