Word of click…..

I am overwhelmed by the amount of support that I have received during the distribution of my survey. On Twitter, many people have been ‘re-tweeting’ my survey voluntarily to make it visible to all of their contacts, including key influencers such as Luke Bean, the online marketer for Sony Pictures in Los Angeles. This particular contact helped me to gain responses from overseas, increasing the diversity of my sample and the validity of my research.

Now that I have made a strong social media footprint by participating on several social media channels, I have experienced a considerable snow-ball effect, and am amazed by how rapidly one can network and build online relationships. Having proved myself as a very active member of the Twitter community by following many companies, I am finding that others whom I was not following started to follow me. Using ‘hashtags’ on Twitter has also helped me to gain more responses. This is a way of categorising the tweet by placing a # symbol before a keyword so that related messages are grouped together. This helped to spread the message further than my network, which predominantly consisted of companies in the North East. I also received many connection/ friend requests on Facebook and LinkedIn, and comments on my blog posts.

My methodology therefore in itself highlights the high viral capabilities and the benefits of increased online exposure. My survey has only been open for 1 week, and in that time, I received an impressive 180 responses! Many people have sent me messages to ask for a copy of my findings, and several companies have been willing to have meetings, and have asked me to attend events in the region associated with digital marketing such as the Thinking Digital Conference. The North East Entrepreneurs’ Forum kindly suggested placing the survey link in their next e-newsletter to increase exposure, viral spread, and credibility.

If you haven’t already done so, please complete my survey http://bit.ly/9fofYM

Please re-tweet the link and help to spread the word!

Pissheads The Movie

The hard work paid off, and I’m pleased to say that I now have a first class degree under my belt! My dissertation, titled “Living Through a Revolution: The Impact and Value of Social Media for Marketing and Business Development” also received a first, and can be read here: http://bit.ly/djDvmG . Please leave your comments; I’d love to hear your feedback!

My graduation involved a lot of clapping, hundreds of cringing photographs, and giving a tours of Newcastle for my dad, whilst justifying why I only go back to my hometown about once or twice a year. Unexpectedly, I was also presented with an award for the highest achiever for my degree (well, I say presented…I actually missed my name being called out and was given the award by a friend!) Anyhoo, enough of the bragging, and onto what I’m doing with all of this…

Over the last couple of months I have been doing some social media work for FNA Films, a film production company in Newcastle who have produced some engaging and inspiring work. My job is to promote their latest film in production, Pissheads The Movie. Pissheads is a rude, crude, no-holds- barred comedy film set in Walker, Newcastle Upon Tyne. In short, this film follows four ‘pissheads’ on their quest to save their local pub ‘The Walker Arms’ from being closed down. Finally, a film is being produced that celebrates North East culture, the Geordie accent and the good ol’ British pub! Here is the trailer for the film…

If you like what you see, you can….

Leave your comments on the video and subscribe to us on YouTube!

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Find out more on our website

And spread the word to all your mates!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

The Big Wide World

It seems to me that throughout our youth we are guided from one stepping stone to the next on our journey into adulthood. At each stone, one must take a test to be granted access to the next one. First comes SATs, then GCSEs, then A-Levels, and so on. Agreed, along the way, one reaches certain crossroads where they may choose a different direction, although these options are somewhat limited. After sixth form, some of my friends went travelling, others went into full-time employment, but the large majority  continued with further education at university, which (unregrettably), was the path I chose to take.

With my dissertation bound and submitted, and my graduation in sight, I am over-whelmed by the sheer wealth of choice available to me. Choosing to explore social media for my research topic enabled me to network with a plethora of businesses in the North-East, and I have made many valuable contacts in the region. Several people have put forward job opportunities for handling their social media channels, some of which look particularly exciting. Next week I’m meeting a member of FNA films, a production company in the North East who produce material that exposes the talent and culture of the North East. They look like a charismatic bunch and fingers crossed I’ll be working with them over the summer.

My dissertation, “Living Through a Revolution: The Impact and Value of Social Media for Marketing and Business Development” is now available online:  http://bit.ly/djDvmG

Please have a read and give me some feedback!

The Print Button

Clicking the ‘print’ button never felt so good! My dissertation is now complete and I have to admit, it wasn’t quite the headache that I was expecting. I was so overwhelmed by the amount of support I received, not just by people I had met in person, but also by people who had contacted me through social media itself.

Special thanks go to Serge Gladkoff, President of Logrus International Cooperation and administrator of Localization Professionals group on Linkedin, for his advice in the final stages of my dissertation. Thanks to Serge, my research has been used as one of the reference research materials for Localization World Berlin 2010 panel on using Social Media for language industry.

John Whaling, a sales specialist from Melbourne, Australia, with strategic knowledge of Enterprise 2.0, Social Media, and business development, also contacted me on his own accord to give me advice on survey structure and analysis, and later made suggestions for my work.

With an extensive literature review and a survey of 360 companies, my research found that despite being a recent phenomenon, those who have adopted a social media strategy have recognised tangible benefits, providing a compelling reason for others to also adopt social media for marketing and business development purposes.

Social media has without a doubt put the ‘social’ back into business. By being a vocal activist and joining conversations, companies are increasing their brand exposure, positive reputation and building relationships with a large, relevant consumer base.

Despite my social media project being over, I still consider this work as the backbone to my social media future!

Creating some buzzzzz!

After creating a survey, I am now trying to get as many responses as possible. To do so, I am harnessing the power of the viral capabilities of social media to spreas the survey link. I have been using Twitter, following many companies and in return, they are following me. I am then publicly sending them a link to my survey – and I have been impressed with the support! Not only are people completing the survey, but they are also sending me messages wanting to meet and discuss social media, giving me job offers, requesting further advice, and offering additional support.

Here is the link to my survey….

 http://bit.ly/9fofYM

Anyone who completes it is more than welcome to have a copy of my dissertation or a summary of my findings!

We are what we share…..

I believe that we are what we share. Social media has given us a powerful sense of agency whereby we are able to participate, interact, co-produce and generate our own content. Now more than ever before we have a voice that can be heard by a vast number of people all over the world. We can share our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, and work. With the advent of social media, we need to construct our online identities and perform to our online voyeurs. I believe that we can do this by what we share.

As a final year student at Newcastle University, I am undertaking a research project regarding the value of social media marketing. I believe in the power of social media as a marketing tool, and I want to encourage businesses to leverage the power of social media to develop their companies.

As of today, I want to use my blog to share my experiences of my research project, and my future career in the media. The journey begins….

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