Blog - Industry comments by Ole Bach Andersen

This blog represents the views of Ole Bach Andersen, founder and CEO of Newsperience. The blog is intended to comment on the social media industry. The blog is not intended to handle customer service or product inquiries.
Please feel free to comment on the articles below or contact Ole directly in one of the following ways:

Ole use facebook for friends & family and of course for business
Ole use linkedin for my business connections - check his profile on linkedin
Ole use twitter for connecting with social media professionals all over the world - follow Ole on twitter.
You will also find Ole on skype: ole.bach.andersen or mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and Ph: +45 2084 9488

Social Media and Search (SEO)

Written by Ole Bach Andersen
Sunday, 14 February 2010 07:46
Couldn't believe that I haven't stumbled over this before, but it was brought to my attention by Facebook last week, and I am keen to share it as it has some very interesting relations between search and social media. The key findings in short, when consumers are exposed to both social media and search: - people are more 2.8 times more likely to search for a brands products; - 50% increase in CTR in paid search; - an increase from 4.5% to 11.8% CTR when search for brand product name; - spend 20% more time online when they are exposed to the brands influenced social media; - spend 3 times and much time online as the average online consumer; - consumers using social media are 1.7 times more likely to search with the intention of making a list of brands or products to consider purchasing compared to the average Internet user. See full comments below and the report may be downloaded at the bottom of this article. The study showed searchers who engage with social media, especially those exposed to a brand’s influenced social media, are far more likely to search for lower-funnel terms compared to consumers who do not engage with social media "The study showed searchers who engage with social media, especially those exposed to a brand’s influenced social media, are far more likely to search for lower-funnel terms compared to consumers who do not engage with social media." The referred to funnel is depicted below, and so the statement above really says that searchers exposed to brand social media are far more likely to buy your products! It cannot be more convincing than that. But the study goes on. Further, consumers exposed to a brand’s influenced social media and paid search programs are 2.8 times more likely to search for that brand’s products compared to users who saw only paid search. 2.8 times more likely to search for the brand's product. If we are talking ROI that is a measure to put directly into your search(SEO) equations and start thinking about your social media approach. Alright so your Google adwords costs increase, but is it worth it? Look here: The study also showed a 50 percent click-through-rate (CTR) increase in paid search when consumers were exposed to influenced social media and paid search An increase of 50% in CTR certainly sounds interesting. But could it just curiosity, because conversation triggers checking out brands. No. Among searchers using a brand’s product name in the query, the CTR increased from 4.5 percent to 11.8 percent when users were exposed to both influenced social media and paid search around a brand. So, not only brand, but CTR on products are increased. So people are more likely to buy. In conclusion this report shows that search and social media goes hand in hand and you are likely to increase your customer sales and loyalty by having both social and search in your marketing strategy. However, remember that social is not just another channel. It is a different shoe and you need to know when to wear this shoe, compared to the boots you are familiar with. Source: "The Influenced Social Media Search and the Interplay of Consideration and Consumption" by searchfuel.com and groupmsearch.com. You can download the report here. Write comment (7 Comments)
Last Updated on Sunday, 14 February 2010 08:39

Happy Sociolidays - top social media tip for making happy holidays

Written by Ole Bach Andersen
Tuesday, 22 December 2009 13:06
What are social media holidays? It's taken time off from all the social media tools and spending social time with your family and friends. Thats it. Thats our top happy holidays tip for all of you social media enthusiasts, geeks and gurus out there. Thats it? Nothing else? Lets keep it clean: no! Have a happy social holiday with your friends and family - and the very best wishes for the new year. Write comment (3 Comments)
Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 December 2009 15:17

B2B Social Media Questions Answered

Written by Ole Bach Andersen
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 08:33
I believe that the most frequently asked question within the social media marketing is "What about B2B?” While everybody would like advice that works cross industry, these advices tends to be so generic that they aren't much use or at least doesn't add much new. I usually suggest focusing on a specific sector or type of business and working through communications & pr, branding, marketing, sales, customer service, product development, partner & supplier management, recruitment which are all very different depending on sector and industry. Recently business.com did publish an interesting benchmark study that ran across industries and across job-functions. Here are some of my key takeaways: · Webinars and podcasts were the most popular resource for information (69,1%), while producing webinars and podcasts is only seen as the 11th most important social media initiative. · the customer service job role use social media significantly less than other job roles, while customer service is the second most likely department to drive social media initiatives · ability to see impact of social media initiatives on company metrics are overall well or very well received · Facebook is number one priority for B2B companies! That was a surprise. Or maybe it is simply a matter of lack of alternatives. Twitter is runner up and no surprise here for North American companies, but the services of LinkedIn are simply not strong enough to compete yet. · LinkedIn Answers are being actively used by 71% Here are some non-surprising findings: · advertising and marketing industry and computer and software industry use social media significantly more than others · legal industry use social media significantly less than other industries. · marketing. communications and consulting job roles use social media significantly more than other job roles. · Google (alerts) and twitter are the most used tools for social media monitoring. · YouTube (67%), Flickr(30%) and Slideshare(22%) are the most used content sharing sites that businesses upload to, while you tube and slideshare are the two on top to measure impact on their businesses. Here are some of my concerns with the study: · only people already using social media were asked 77% use more than 10% of their working time with social media initiatives · half of the attendees are from small companies. · the questions asked are mainly focused on how businesses find information on social media, very few questions around how they and their customers engage with each other. But the report is interesting to study - looking forward to the next - taking it a level deeper. Source: Business.com’s 2009 B2B Social Media Benchmarking Study (http://www.business.com/info/b2b-social-media-benchmark-study) Write comment (4 Comments)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 December 2009 11:42

It's a Marathon - not a sprint.

Written by Administrator
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 13:54
'Tis the season - a little early I guess. I certainly haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. For the next month and a half the blogs will flood with predictions for 2010 and the advices that go with them. The first one I found for this season was done by brandingstrategyinsider.com titled "2010 Brings Brands 10 Golden Digital Opportunities" - read the full article here. The 10 golden opportunities listed are: 1. Social Media: A Marathon, Not a Sprint 2. Mash-Ups: Taking Inspiration from Biathlons 3. App Happy: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Crazy 4. Measure Up: Track Every Second 5. POV Power: Don't Just Talk the Talk 6. Expose Yourself: Win the Crowd With Honesty 7. Hold the Presses: Major Comebacks are Possible 8. Go to the Video: Separate from the Pack 9. Mobile Media: Catching Up at Last 10. Be Positive: Attitude is Everything. Let me comment on the Marathon! I actually spend a lot of time arguing that entering the social media sphere is a long term approach - a marathon. Having made a marathon myself, I know it is a long distance, likely to cause pain, but can be tamed by sufficient training and listening from other practitioners. You may hit the wall, you don't know, even highly trained runners do that, but having made the distance is rewarding for lifetime. I still talk about it 16 years later - see! I know it is soo much easier if you can just run a campaign and see the results as you are used with traditional media online and offline. But taking the plunge into social media requires an effort - a willingness to learn and feel the pain - and maybe even taking a different approach to your customers, your communication, your products and your service. And the reward? I won't let you feel it. You gotta feel it yourself. Are you up for it? Write comment (6 Comments)

Dollars - in your Face!

Written by Ole Bach Andersen
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 09:54
We have known this for a while. Facebook will introduce virtual payments, enabling ease of in application payments. And it looks like we are getting closer, as blogs on this subject seems to be increasing. Having an account on Facebook is not new, even the virtual payments is not new, allowing developers to interface to such a system is not new, but introducing it on Facebook the world’s largest social network will be new - and in my perspective the most important step for the businesses out there trying to monetize on their Facebook presence. Still, a business have to obey the (un)written rules of social media to be successful in that space, but when this possibility turns real, we suddenly no longer are restricted to talk about conversion rates and will the users leave the Facebook universe. Soon a business will be able to make a deal directly with the Facebook user within Facebook, without having to leave the space and without the user having to worry about whether this is a secure platform (not more than usual at least). Naturally, Facebook will take their cut. Fair enough. At least they will have to find a level that seems fair to boost a success. My guess - the cut will probably be high. Let's for argument say 30%. No one will sell their ordinary stock for a 30% cut, so now it is really up to the creative forces out there: which goods are will make sense to share between friends and allow Facebook a fair share of the deal? Probably, there will be a lot of virtual goods out there. But why not tap in with new goods, which cannot be found in the physical shops, but makes a nice present. I will certainly be looking forward to receiving selection wines and chocolates for my next birthday from people abroad, right to my inbox - AND delivered to my home address. Write comment (4 Comments)

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