Guest Blog - Imaginet talks Social Media

Social Media is a great way for businesses to improve their brand image by sharing information about their products or services and communicating with their target audience quickly and openly.  Some of the main platforms include Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, each having their own unique characteristics.  The key is understanding which of these platforms the people you want to communicate with are using.


Case Study - Royvon; a dog kennel based in Merthyr Tydfil

Aims:

1. Increase the boarding turnover by 15% for year July 2010 - June 2011, compared to the year July 2009 - June 2010.

2. Increase awareness of the Royvon brand by as many users as possible interacting with our primary social media page.

3. Increase the levels communication with customers by innovatively using social media to inform them of their dogs’ wellbeing, to a standard that surpasses expectations.

Traditional marketing messages weren’t being received by Royvon’s target audience, as they weren’t in the market for their services. The target market would never consider using a Boarding Kennel due to the industry's poor perceptions.  Research via Google Adwords showed that dog owners were not searching for ‘Luxury Boarding Kennel’, ‘Dog Hotel’ or similar, they would source an alternative maybe a Pet Sitter, a Home Boarding option or choose to travel with their dogs.  Investigations also showed that conventional advertising was very expensive and did not achieve the desired results.  Royvon needed a platform that was easily accessible to their target market that would communicate that Royvon was very different and wasn’t your usual Boarding Kennel.  Social media advertising allowed them to target their demographic at a low cost.  The marketing strategy was to ensure that our prospects felt that we understood them; we cared about them, we can prove that we’ve helped others just like them, we want to establish trust.

Results:

• Through using social media Royvon were able to increase revenue 35%. This is a 20% increase on their original target and was delivered on time and within budget.
• Cost of marketing on Facebook vs sales directly attributed to Facebook for the period gave a ROI ratio of £11.67 per £1 spent
• By the last month of the project (August 2011) Royvon had achieved 2000 active users on their primary social media page. Their conversion rate improved by 9% during this period, their average conversion rate was 55% and by June 2011 their conversion rate had increased to 64%. 
• The final objective was to increase levels of client interaction & satisfaction by our team members which surpassed clients’ expectations. An online survey of Royvon services showed that of surveyed clients rated 70% as highly satisfied and 21% satisfied. 

Top Tips for Social Media First Timers

Have a plan: Define some objectives for what you want to achieve and create a plan for how you will meet these objectives. Don’t be afraid to adjust your plan and your approach as you learn more about social media, your audience and they best way to communicate with them.  

Do your research: Use tools such as the Google Adwords keyword tool and Google Insights for search to find out what your target audience are interested in and searching for.

Provide value: Make sure the content you are creating, publishing and sharing will provide value and be of interest to people.

Keep it simple: Don’t try and do too much too soon or overstretch your resources.

Measure and review what you do: All the major platforms record your activity and provide stats to review, so take a look and see what content gets the best response.

Use Google Analytics to see what traffic referred from social media sites is doing when it gets to your website. Use this information to adjust your approach and the content you publish.

Interact: If someone takes the time to comment on what you do – good or bad – it’s important to respond.

Stay positive and flexible. If you aren’t getting the outcomes you want, review what you’ve been doing, see what’s working and what isn’t and adjust your approach accordingly.