Category Archives: PR Developments

Social media boom in SA

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One of the most asked questions that I have received is – “Are South Africans using Twitter?”

The time to jump onto the Social Media Bandwagon is most definitely here!

In a recent article on ITWeb the facts about the social media boom in South Africa were laid bare and made for a very interesting read.  Most (if not all) of the larger South African businesses already have a significant and well maintained footprint on both Facebook and Twitter.  However, local SMME’s are the ones who could benefit the most, but are largely misrepresented due to insufficient updates, or they are not represented at all.

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Smartlists – Facebook gets cleverer…

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Okay, so cleverer isn’t really a word, but Facebook is definitely growing more clever with every new feature.  One of the most frequently asked questions of all my new clients is…

“How can I keep my personal and business relationships separate on Facebook?”

Up until now, there hasn’t been an easy answer… that was up until Wednesday.  This report is from AFP.

Facebook, on Tuesday introduced, “smart lists” that automatically sort friends into categories and prioritise news from those dearest to members of the world’s largest online social network.

The rollout of smart lists commences on Wednesday and comes as rival Google+ seeks to win over users by providing sharing in “circles” that mirror real-world social groups such as family, friends, and co-workers.

“This is really something we have been working on for four years,” Facebook director of product management Blake Ross said as he gave AFP a preview of smart lists.
“We think this is the way people will make lists going forward,” he continued.

Facebook began in 2007 letting members individually sort friends into lists for targeted sharing of comments, photos and other digitised snippets of life.

The smart lists feature spares Facebook users the tedium of creating lists by automatically putting friends into groups, with the first four categories being work, school, family and city.
“It is silly for you to spend a Saturday afternoon categorising your friends on Facebook,” Ross said. “We want to make it as easy as possible to organise your friends.”

Smart lists are created and updated based on information people consent to share with friends on Facebook, according to Ross.

“Smart lists take all the pain out of organising friends on Facebook,” Ross said, noting that the feature was optional. “You can always add to or remove people from a smart list after Facebook makes a recommendation.”

Facebook, being the largest online social network in the world, is the place to be in order to keep up with opinions and social trends.  At timslatter.com we believe that businesses need to be present in order to interact with their stakeholders, and create and respond to opinions as they happen.

Public Relations is no longer limited to publishing houses and print professionals… any organisation with a little bit of web savvy can become their own independent publisher and curator of newsworthy content.  For more info – contact us.

Facebook deals… how to use them

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http://memeburn.com/2011/09/facebook-check-in-deals-south-africa-confirms-first-commercial-partners/

Facebook launches an app to boost positive interaction between organisations and their clients - on the ground.

What’s the basis of a good SM campaign? Valuable, authentic, and honest content.  Content that will engage and encourage your followers to act with integrity and support your brand/cause.  Facebook’s latest app, that was recently launched in South Africa enables organisations with a little bit of FB savvy to engage on a far deeper level that will reap an immediate response.

“South Africa is a natural market for this — we are massive users of Facebook on our phones,” says Adrian Hewlett of Habari Media, Facebook’s local sales partner. “There are 4.25-million active users in South Africa, of whom 3.1-million access Facebook through their mobiles. Another 425 000 check in to various places weekly.”
(source)

What this means is that the 425 000 (and growing) Facebook users who use ‘Places’ will be able to check-in to a place and share with their friends where they are.  If the place is running a special, they will be able to redeem the Check-in Deal when they check-in on their Facebook profile.

Whether it’s a free cup of coffee or a discount on merchandise, they will receive immediate benefit from engaging with the organisation through Facebook.  Mazda UK sold 100 cars in two weeks using Facebook Deals!

The service will offer four types of deal to commercial merchants:

  • Individual Deals, a one time deal which offers a discount or free merchandise to existing or new customers
  • Loyalty Deals reward the most loyal customers after a certain number of check-ins
  • Friend Deals offer discounts or vouchers to a group of up to eight friends
  • Charity Deals offer businesses the oportunity to donate money each time user checks in

Obviously, this doesn’t easily fit into all organisations, especially those that provide professional services or are NPO’s.  It does, however, open up opportunity for increased creativity and a new platform to engage with your stakeholders on a more tangible level.  This will be based on a history of good and valuable content generation.

If you offer your clients something to engage with on an ongoing and sustained basis, when you offer them special deals, they are much more likely to engage with that too, because you have an increased level of trust.  At timslatter.com we believe in working towards long-term sustainable relationships that are mutually beneficial.  Offering once-off Facebook deals that aren’t within the framework of a trusted relationship will be far less effective to building brand/corporate loyalty.  In fact – they may even be viewed as spam and end up being detrimental to your brand.