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After we had the amazing opportunity to run some questions by Shel Israel yesterday, we thought it would be a good idea to quiz some local social media and digital marketing fans with regards to the year that has passed and what they expect in 2010. These are people who use social media for business and in their personal lives, truly immersing themselves in the field. Read on for some great mini interviews!
We added the interviews below on Jan 4th
Name – Andy Hayes
Twitter Tag - @andrewghayes
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Andy – I help small businesses get noticed online.
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Andy – I’d probably say Google Wave, just because it was a classic example of how it’s possible to get social media wrong even if you’re well established. I lambasted Google Wave for trying to “shift paradigms” with a really crappy product (see http://bit.ly/74lWa1) but there are some good marketing lessons for business out of the whole experience.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Andy - Twitter. A lot of my clients say “Oh, Twitter…it’s all media.” Uhm, since when did we not want easy, revolving door access to media? I never cease to be amazed at the opportunities that continue to present themselves. Sure, Twitter requires monitoring and self-awareness to avoid becoming a time suck, but the potential rewards….wow.
Penguins - What smartphone app would you fail to survive without?
Andy – Email. I don’t use too many of the fancy-schmancy ones, to be honest, and with email I can keep tabs on communications and ensure most parts of my business are still running.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Andy – Something to cut down all the noise. For example, Twitter invaded Facebook and it’s no coincidence that Facebook then changed how the News Feed works, so now I unless I interact with a brand they no longer appear in my default feed. Twitter’s also invaded LinkedIn and who knows where else they’ll be in 2010. So better tools for individuals/small businesses to help cope with the ever-increasing information avalanche.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Andy – Google. They’ve got deep pockets, big brains, and a undeniable place at the heart of the Internet – even if Bing and Yahoo marry up further, Google is still the big boy in town. Will they continue their parade of products and apps? Or will governments finally slap them “you’re too big and important” penalty?
Thanks to Andy for his time! The social media ‘noise’ has been a recurring theme so far! Andy runs a grand twitter feed make sure you follow!
Name – Andrew Girdwood
Twitter Tag – @AndrewGirdwood
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Andrew – As Head of Strategy at a digital agency I look at ways to do, hopefully, clever stuff. e.g. integrating social media and affiliates
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Andrew – That would have to be Twitter, Trafigura and Carter-Ruck. Whether you agree with what happened or not the incident shows just how powerful social media has become and why you need to care about it.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Andrew – Please forgive some bias here! I do recommend the bigmouthmedia news, RSS feed and newsletter. A lot of work goes into that. I also recommend Econsultancy and reading Will Cooper’s coverage of Search and Affiliates for NMA.
Penguins – What smartphone app would you fail to survive without?
Andrew – I’m afraid this is a bit of a common sense one; Google Maps. I use it all the time. A lot of my life is spent running around cities between bigmouthmedia offices, clients, partners and suppliers. I don’t drive. Google Maps has guided me safely countless times over the last year.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Andrew – I’m keen on mobile and social targeting for display. Struggling to pick just one innovation here. There’s so much to do! I want to jazz up affiliate marketing; it could be so much better! I want to slap the laggards of SEO; it’s 2010 now! I want to push the innovation in Display and bosh on the head the media buyers who hold that back. Just one innovation? My next phone will be an Android of some description so let’s have a way for making my data usage on that as as efficient/cheap as possible. Let’s encourage people to pick up their mobile for internet access more often.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Andrew – Oh. I think a good few people will really push social media in 2010. Big names that come to mind include the likes of Cisco or Europcar. On the social brand side I think we’ll see Foursquare and Spotify take even more headlines in 2010.
Thanks very much to Andrew, keep on eye on his recommendations for ‘ones to watch!’
Name – Glenn Le Santo
Twitter Tag – @lesanto
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Glenn – I’ve spent over ten years as a writer and journalist but now I’m also a tweep for hire – I’m a tweetgun – I handle various clients’ twitter accounts.
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Glenn – I hate to blow my own trumpet (honest) but it has to be the day I managed to start a top trend. I thought up #whyitweet which hit the number one worldwide trend slot in less than an hour and stayed there for more than 24 hours. This happened very early in my Twitter ‘career’ and was very exciting. I felt the power of Twitter first hand.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Glenn – It has to be the 2009 Media140 conferences and blog - excellent every inch of the way. Knowledge, contacts and inspiration- all there in abundance.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Glenn – Something so innovative that I have no way of guessing what it might be. But failing that, longer lasting device batteries would be handy.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Glenn – Am I allowed to say – Any that have asked me to help with their strategies? Apart from them, I find Rentokil very interesting. This massive and often slow moving mega-corp manages to run a friendly engaging Twitter account (in the UK). Other brands take note.
Penguins – What smartphone app would you fail to survive without?(this can be from personal life or business!)
An engaging personality is the best ‘app’ anyone can have in their toolbox. I survived many years without a smartphone, let alone apps. I’ll get by even if you take them all away but please let me keep my personality.
Thanks Glenn, interesting to hear from a Twitter ‘Gun for Hire’! All the best for 2010 for you and your brands.
Name – Becca Sibley
Twitter Tag – @beccaspeaks
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Becca – Look for people talking about my company and talk to them. Help them if I can. Tweet. a lot! (Note from Penguins – Becca works as the main Twitter resource for a large multinational customer facing company)
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Becca – Personally – It was a moment I wasn’t there for! A friend @darenbbc gave a speech on serendipity at #140conf and I inspired the speech with my choice of songs! I got mentioned onstage at the Indigo at the O2 arena, I technically shared a stage with Stephen Fry, sort of! Otherwise I guess seeing social media become so mainstream, and being a part of it has been pretty cool. The RATM Christmas number one was pretty special, despite only really seeing it on the periphery; I think it’s pretty amazing that such a relatively small group of people made such a loud noise over something quite trivial(And, no, I didn’t buy either!)
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Becca – Not a “resource” in the traditional sense of the word, but probably the best one you can have, is the people. There are so many people out there who really know their stuff, and will happily debate and discuss whatever you need!
Penguins – What smartphone app would you fail to survive without? (This can be from personal life or business!)
Becca – I don’t use a smartphone for work so it’s personal, but I think without echofon (my twitter weapon of choice!) I’d be lost. I’ve yet to migrate to hootsuite for the iphone, though that is next on my list. When I travel in London I’m heavily reliant on tube deluxe too.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Becca – Oooh, this is a hard one! I think, despite being involved in digital marketing myself, I’d like to see a way of filtering out the noise of social media. I’d like to see digital marketers get clever, and ask their audience what they want rather than bombarding them with noise!
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Becca – I can’t think of one that is really standing out for me off the top of my head. I’ve got a feeling the real winners in 2010 will be the ones who are just starting out. I’d also be interested how the banks take on social media.
Thanks to Becca for her time! Very interesting point re the brands that are just starting out in SM and their potentials to be winners in the space. Hopefully they have been listening and working hard on a strategy!
Name – Jamie Sterling
Twitter Tag – @jamie_sterling
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Jamie – I wish I knew some days! Look after online channels/technical stuff/design for Boudiche working with a great in-house team.
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Jamie – Reckon it would be Michael Jackson’s death – the speed at which this broke and spread I feel was a big turning point for many people with social media, realising it as a quick, accessible and useful channel. From here the massive #iranelection campaign, Rage Against the Machine for number 1 and viral flashmobs/croud sourcing have all shaped our feelings and brand desires as part of being a more engaged population.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Jamie - Twitter – there was nothing better for getting up to the minute news and idea/success sharing from different industries and methods of thinking.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Jamie – More brands using social media properly to interact with their customers – I can tend to rant a bit but very few companies pick up on it, or might and choose to ignore it. The personal touch really matters. And for a gadget innovation, I’d quite fancy an eBook reader which would play nicely with Google Reader/RSS feeds.
Penguins – What smartphone app would you fail to survive without? (This can be from personal life or business!)
Jamie – Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger, UberTwitter and Spotify all get regular use for keeping in touch and staying up to date.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Jamie – I can’t wait to see how the big brands such as Zappos who already using it well really push boundaries; plus seeing what Pepsi etc who are now using it as their main advertising strategy do. However, I’m much more interested in smaller companies really making the most of the opportunity and using it to create real interest about themselves and their products – but I’m yet to see one that’s really impressed me, so here’s hoping 2010 offers up plenty.
Great insight there Jamie thanks very much! Very interesting to hear from a SM user within a small and fairly niche local business. Penelope Penguin is after some fancy knickers, I will send her your way!
Name – Andrew Weir
Twitter Tag – @theWeir
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Andrew – tell stories with words, sounds & pictures, make connections, and consider what’s coming, be a husband and a dad.
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Andrew – I think it was “United Broke my Guitar”. I’d like it to be something more positive, like seeing “find out more” straps on material from Wetherspoons – that’s when SMM moved into the *everyday* category. But the impact of — name — campaign was clear for all to see.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Andrew - I still think my best resource is Google. From simple (!) searches and complex analytics to the news brought to me by Reader – it’s where things come together. Evernote is a close second though…
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Andrew - 2010 will see greater levels of data integration. What you know and what your friends know overlayed to give a clearer picture of collective intelligence. A single panel showing all your interactions & touchpoints.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Andrew – In the UK, BT for sure, the support received from @BTCare as they started to interact with customers on twitter – and make a difference, but they’re still working it out. I’d hope that Virgin start to do more too. They’re the kind of brand that could make a significant impact. The BBC has started to try cool things with crowd sourcing & collective creativity, it’ll be good to see this taken further in 2010. I guess the biggest thing for me will be about the rise of local business – harnessing the channel to make an impact on their markets. Not to change (or take over) the world on their own, but to deliver excellence in their field & in their locality.
Thanks very much to Andrew for his time! We agree that crowd sourcing will become way more apparent in 2010 as brands really start to see the value of it.
Name – Kieron Hughes
Twitter Tag – @kieronhughes
Penguins – Can you please describe what you do in 140 characters?
Kieron – I work on SEO and social media campaigns for a host of different clients at PushON.
Penguins – What was your favourite Social Media story/moment of 2009?
Kieron - I guess the obvious one would be RATM for #1, but personally I wasn’t too interested who won that battle! I would have to say the brilliant Ikea Facebook campaign was my favourite of the year, as it showed how well a good, creative idea can succeed throughout social media.
Penguins – What digital marketing resource helped you the most in 2009?
Kieron – It would have to be Twitter, hands down. I joined Twitter towards the end of 2008, but it was only in 2009 when I started using it properly and seen the impact it can have. From a quick answer to finding a job – it’s helped me massively (and continues to do so).
Penguins – What smartphone app would you fail to survive without?
Kieron – I don’t actually have a smartphone at the moment (although I’m desperate for one), but I think the level of applications you can get now is quite stunning.
Penguins – What innovation would you like to see in 2010?
Kieron – Not so much an innovation, but I’d like to see less companies using social media because they feel they have to. Unless the company is passionate about it’s serivces/product and genuinely wants the opinions of people, then they should just not even bother. Signing up to Facebook/Twitter and then not interacting is quite pointless in my opinion.
Penguins – What brands would you class as ‘one to watch’ in terms of social media strategy in 2010?
Kieron – I’m interested to see how Project Canvas develops within the UK broadcasting companies, as it looks to take social media to the next level. Fully integrated Internet with a TV means people will be online more than ever, and the networking aspects of it look really intriguing.
Thanks to Kieron for his time! Very good point on not using SM for the sake of it! Don’t dip your toes and run away screaming, you need to get soaking! You can read Kieron’s blog here
Well we hope you found this of interest! One thing that is clear from these responses is that no matter how advanced the tech gets, Social Media will also have it’s foundations in good people. Make sure you follow the good people above on twitter!
Stay tuned for more insight from social media fans in the New Year. Happy New Year!!!
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