I spoke recently in my capacity as Search and Social Media Marketing Manager at Moore Legal Technology on Tuesday 30 October 2011 at the Glasgow West Business Club. My presentation considered how professional services organisations can achieve greater results from social media marketing, including enhanced brand loyalty, increased website traffic, greater online presence and, ultimately, the generation of more, relevant business.
I introduced the subject by explaining the various components of return on investment (ROI) in a social media context. These included brand awareness and development, growth of digital assets, development of risk management capability (with a brief mention of the recent Braehead Shopping Centre case) and direct or indirect financial results.
Using examples of successes both personal and for clients, which include law firms and businesses in Glasgow and across the UK, I explained the most useful types of social media for business use. This included LinkedIn, with my 10 top tips for LinkedIn success, which provided insights not only for the one third of the room not using LinkedIn already, but also for the more seasoned users. I also spoke about using blogging to generate business and expand web presence, not least through enhanced rankings in search engines. Also discussed was one of my favourite social media networks, Twitter, in addition to Facebook and StumbleUpon and the newcomer social network of Google+.
I concluded by suggesting that businesses should focus on the benefits and value of social media use in the broader sense, with financial results, e.g. in terms of new customers, inevitably following.
The presentation can be viewed here:-
The presentation generated some useful questions and answers from the audience. This included the following:-
Q: Have I had any experience of LinkedIn ads and are they useful?
A: I noted that around one year ago I used LinkedIn adverts, based on a cost-per-impression basis. I found that my capped budget was quickly used up by many thousands of impressions within around a day and no leads had been generated by the exercise. I explained that while it hasn’t been useful for me, LinkedIn ads have developed in the past year and indeed a focussed campaign used for the right type of business, whether on a cost-per-impression or cost-per-click basis, may still generate useful results. Other more traditional pay-per-click advertising solutions should also be considered such as Google Adwords.
Q: Do older people use social media networks?
A: It depends on the network. I explained that the largest social media network for professionals, LinkedIn, is used most by those aged between 30 and 55 although with over 120 million users, there is still a very significant number of users from outwith that age bracket. The age of users on other social media networks also varies, as users from all age groups use the networks for very different and varying purposes. Twitter’s oldest user, for instance, from 2010 was 104, although he has sadly passed away.
Glasgow West Business Club
I was, thereafter, kindly presented with a bottle of (personalised) Famous Grouse Scotch whisky (as per the embedded image)
The second half of the evening was, as with the usual GWBC format, full of networking. Each GWBC member had a chance to engage with other GWBC members, describe their business and exchange contact details. I can speak from experience in saying that a good deal of business was done on Tuesday evening.
The Glasgow West Business Club is currently seeking further members and can be followed on Twitter and you can apply to join the new LinkedIn group here. I would highly recommend attending at least one of the GWBC’s monthly events (last Tuesday of the month) if you get the chance.
Contact me
If you’d like to discuss web presence, social media activities or legal website design further, please contact me and my colleagues at Moore Legal Technology for a no-obligation discussion on 0845 620 5664 or at enquiries@moorelegaltechnology.co.uk.
