Writing on Walls

Tue, 14 Sep 10

On Friday morning, some of the NCB team attended a networking breakfast and Facebook seminar presented by Simon Dell of TwoCents Group. Here is a bit about what we learnt that will benefit our marketing practice and (we think) yours too!

Most people think the only time “trust” and the “Internet” will appear in the same sentence is when you’re told not to! However, according to Social Media Simon and the latest information from the Nielsen Company (NC) there is a new form of trust spreading over the web, one that will greatly benefit small businesses over the next decade. The NC’s 2009 Degree of Trust survey has found that, second only to opinions of people known, most consumers will trust an opinion posted online. 70% of survey respondents admitted they would trust a complete stranger’s recommendation if it was posted somewhere on the web. This same percentage was also found to trust a Brand website. When considering the costs of creating an online presence, compared to that of other advertising practices considered less trustworthy, it is hard to understand why this area isn’t always taken seriously.

In order to maximise the benefits that these statistics can bring, the NCB recommends putting at least these 3 steps into motion:

1. Work hard on your brand – are you confident that your customers would recommend you to their friends? What could you do to improve and gain this loyalty?
2. Create an online presence – get your brand/business onto the web. You may have a website in place, but how often do you update the information? Do you utilise the interactivity of the web? Can your customers speak to you or the rest of your target market easily online?
3. Ask for a recommendation – if you’re confident that your business is satisfying your client’s needs, then be confident that they would want to share the success they’ve had with others.

It is human instinct to share information. Simon pointed out in his Facebook seminar that its one of our oldest characteristics. “We’ve gone from writing on walls… to the printed press… and back to writing on walls again – just through digital means.”

So why not benefit from this instinct? Set up your online presence, and do this with a plan in place. Think about objectives, tools and costs… Don’t do it half-way!

To hear Simon's tips for utilising Facebook for business download his presentation from slideshare.net/SimonDell

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