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In a world driven by social media where nearly half a billion people use those networks to stay connected, it is becoming increasingly important to keep abreast of trends and developments. In particular for those of you who are small business owners, understanding the direction of social media will help you get one step closer to understanding your customer.

Two important pieces of research emerged in the last week, both of which are highly relevant for business owners. The first is a rather surprising one. Facebook and social media seem to be a great current obsession, second only to the obsession with celebrity. You might have thought that celebrities would be the most popular thing on social media, especially as we are always hearing how many people follow Stephen Fry and Lady GaGa on Twitter.

Gaga's twitter page today

But no. According to a study carried out by The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), 20.3 % of people follow or ‘like’ a brand, whichever social network they use. That’s compared to just 13.4 who do the same for celebrities.

But what do they do with the rest of their time spent on social networks? The study says that the most common use for social networks is to view photographs. A staggering 55.9% of our time is spent doing just that. After that, we spend 34.8% of our time making social plans or finding out about events.

So, this is good news for brands. It shows that people are indeed interested in finding out about them via social networks. This should stand as a lesson for all social media Doubting Thomases, who wonder whether using social media actually works business. Knowing that people will like or follow you should provide encouragement to join a social network, if you have not already, or provide an incentive to keep providing great tweets or status updates.

It has been proven that people really do enjoy the social part of social networks, so perhaps the next step is to try and introduce a more sociable way for your customer to interact with you. The opportunity to upload your own photos, with the added incentive of a prize to a social event, such as a gig, keeps your customer happy and in communication with you.

A great example is the relatively small Fair Trade cola company Ubuntu, who ran a competition via their Facebook page to win tickets to the Lovebox weekend music festival. All the customer had to do was take a picture of themselves with a can of Ubtunu cola and upload it to the page. The best picture won the tickets. This has all the elements of great social media, the pictures, the interaction and the reward.

The Ubuntu cola facebook page

The second interesting thing discovered in the survey is that although people are following or liking brands, they are not necessarily connecting with them. Just over 12% asked, had given feedback and only 7% had made a complaint via social networks.

What this tells us isn’t clear. We know that not everyone will make complaints anyway or give their feedback on something offline, so they are unlikely to start doing it online. However, there are always hardcore complainers, who will find fault with most things and moan to whoever will listen.

The problem with social media is that you can’t help but listen, if you see someone’s status being rude about a brand, you see it. You can’t just pretend you haven’t. When someone makes a complaint on Facebook or Twitter, it isn’t just seen by one person but hundreds, thousands and even millions sometimes.

The study also revealed that out of those who had complained via social networks, only 40% had received a quick response. Small businesses need to learn a lesson from this. If you are putting time and money into your social networks, you have to make sure it is working with military precision and you can spend the right amount of time spent on it. If a complaint is responded to quickly, the damage to the name of your brand can be spared – even improved upon. Leave it a while and you could be ruined by the rumblings on social networks.

So, to round up, keep your social networks social, even if they aren’t communicating with you yet, people are watching. And be quick to the mark and respond to any complaints, don’t leave your customer stewing, show them what they can get from their social network interaction with you.

This week Bing seriously upped their game by teaming up with the Facebook developers to try once again to make Bing search results more social.

The idea is that after someone conducts a search on Bing, they will be able to see which of their Facebook friends have ‘Liked’ whatever it is they have searched for. The results which have been ‘Liked’ by your friends will come up at the top of the search results. Bing believes that this will make the results mean more for users who will gain more from the search.

At the moment it only works in the US, but if it does well Microsoft and Facebook plan to bring it to the rest of the world.

But what about Google, which currently has the market dominance? Google has added a ‘Shared by’ link. Their SERPs already incorporate real-time results and the number of times people have shared the article. It also shows you mentions on social-networks.

The difference between Bing and Google’s offerings is that Bing will show you which of your friends ‘Liked’ something, so you don’t just know that it may be popular but can put a face to the ‘liking’.

The question is, do we really need to see which of our friends have ‘Liked’ something we are searching for on Bing? Is it not enough to see that they like your mate’s picture or your amusing status update? And will it really make any difference to your consumer choices?

According to Bing we are constantly calling on our friends to make decisions. For example what was the film like? Do you think that dress is nice? We want to know their opinions and while they might not make up our minds for us, they will probably influence our choices.

At Microsoft’s Silicon Valley headquarters in Mountain View earlier this month, Mashable was live blogging from the event and reported the following:

‘Zuck is going back to when Facebook got started. “From studying psychology, I knew that a huge amount of people’s brains is focused entirely on processing information about people.” Emotions, expressions etc. This is the most interesting information that people track around the world — it’s hard-wired into us.’

There is certainly something of the truth in this, we do want to know about others around us. However what happens if, to take the example used by Bing, we are looking for a good steak restaurant in San Francisco? We search for it in Bing, the results come up and we’ll probably just choose one of the first results. But with the integration of Facebook, we will see what our ‘friends’ on Facebook have ‘liked’. This of course relies on the fact that our friends are searching for similar things that we are.

Also, I don’t know about you, but a lot of the people on my Facebook are not actually my close friends. If for example someone who I believe has bad taste ‘Likes’ something, I will be even less likely to visit the place. I don’t know whether this means I should do some serious ‘Friend’ culling on Facebook or whether there is a flaw in Bing’s latest developments.

But let’s face the hard facts. In the UK google has roughly  a 90% share of the search engine market, whereas Bing has about 4%. In the US Google has a 71% share and Bing has about 10%. So, we’re not talking about Bing merely being a little behind Google in the market, it is a long way off being the most-used search engine.

By joining up with Facebook though, Bing is upping it’s game. Facebook is, as we know huge and constantly growing, and the network certainly has an impact on internet trends and what people are doing and buying. But it may need more than that to compete with Google. Especially as Google is realising, that it doesn’t matter what size your business is and how well you are doing, you need to get involved with social media or you’re going to get left behind.

Our generation probably considers themselves to be pretty forward thinking, ahead of the times. We happily communicate via social networks, we’ll buy the latest iPhone and we’re pretty much always excited to try new things. It’s funny then that when it just comes to other things we will not budge. Yes I’m talking about the Gap logo.

Last week Gap unveiled a new logo to replace the one that has happily been there for twenty years. The latest one was meant to be a “more contemporary and current” design. Bad move.

Within hours the social networks were going crazy. There were thousands of tweets, Facebook status updates. Six days later, the new logo was pulled and replaced by the one we know and apparently, not until now, knew we loved.

A statement was released on the company’s Facebook page saying:

“Ok. We’ve heard loud and clear that you don’t like the new logo. We’ve learned a lot from the feedback.We only want what’s best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowdsourcing, we’re bringing back the Blue Box tonight.”

It’s an interesting situation and one that certainly shows the power of social media. Twitter and Facebook really are the best kind of focus group you can get. As a company it proves to be is the most effective way to find out about your customer.

Gap realised that they should have listened to their customers in the first place. Marka Hansen, the President of Gap North America admitted yesterday: “We did not go about this in the right way.”

What they should have done is ask the customer first of all. It is so quick and easy to gage a reaction via social networks. It is also very cheap, so really there is no excuse to find out what they want and what they like.

In an interview with the Independent Tom Blackett, the chairman of branding group Siegel+Gale UK, said: “This showed they did no research at all before releasing the new logo. The users of these sites are exactly Gap’s target audience.”

He added: “Gap does need to change things, but what possessed it to swap a design classic for something so bland? People would have liked it, if the logo was creative or dramatically different.”

What is interesting is that Gap does recognise that they need change but perhaps instead of doing something really drastic they chose to do a little PR stunt. To be fair this certainly got them a hell of a lot of publicity. How often in the last year have you found yourself talking about Gap on Twitter and Facebook? Didn’t think so. No one has really been hurt in this exercise, Gap has received a lot of publicity but has also realised that there are a surprising amount of people out there who do actually care about them.

Most of all they have learnt, as have all companies who’ve been taking note, that listening to feedback is paramount. Social networks allow customers to feel they have a say in things they like and dislike. If they notice changes being made as a result of them, then they are more likely to be loyal to you in the future.

Learning about your customer via feedback really is invaluable. It means that in the future you are able to make more informed decisions about what they want and what they require. Any company who believes they use social media just as a show, are wrong, it is helpful for developing the brand, increasing customers and providing more positive feedback. What’s more is that you know the feedback is relevant to you. These people are not just those from a random survey but those who feel passionately about a topic and who, thanks to social media, can express themselves quickly and freely and get what they want.

Remember the customer is always right! So listen to them! Although Gap has come out of this relatively unscathed, we could have had another Tropicana situation on our hands and that would have been even less pretty then the new Gap logo.

It’s not unusual to find the TV programme you’re watching is not just an ordinary show but you, the viewer, have some sort of input in what happens. It started with reality TV shows such as Big Brother where viewers were given input on which housemate goes and who stays.

The formula proved popular and the show lasted for over ten years. As it came to a close this year, people started to wonder which direction TV would head now. Of course, in the world of the media, when something dies, it doesn’t stay dead. It is usually reborn, bigger, better and more extreme.

And this is what has happened. A new breed of reality TV has been spawned, and this one is without a doubt the child of our current media technologies and preoccupations. Seven Days was launched on Channel 4 on 22 September. Filmed over a week, the programme follows a diverse group of people who all live in Notting Hill, but who don’t know each other and are filmed separately.

But this isn’t just an ordinary TV show, what happens in the programme is decided by the viewer.  An online tool, known as ChatNav, allows viewers to interact directly with cast members. They can ask questions, bad mouth them and tell them what to do next.
The following week, we return to the characters and can see directly how a week under the glare of public opinion has affected them. The concept is a fascinating one, it’s also a major example of a cross-platform initiative, which is something we haven’t seen work before in TV.

Of course we have seen cross-platforming used before. In fact, many business already use it. And you can see why. It is the best way to get yourself out there to a wide range of media users. No one simple watches TV on the couch any more, nowadays they probably watch TV on their laptop, which could be anywhere, while tweeting and talking to a friend on a mobile. So get your business on TV, on twitter, on a mobile app. You can cover all the ground which is becoming more and more crowded with users everyday.

The commissioning editor of cross-platform at Channel 4 spoke recently to New Media Age about where reality TV is going after Big Brother, he said: “That gap left by Big Brother gives Channel 4 the opportunity to rethink its whole approach and try out new things,” he said, adding that the show is “in the spirit of experimentation”.

He went on to add: “As a broadcaster, one of the main things you can give your audience as a payoff that no one else can is an impact on editorial.”

And this is exactly what he is giving us with Seven Days, as the characters who receive the most interest and discussion online will be the ones getting the most airtime in the subsequent episode.
Channel 4 aren’t the only ones, hot on their toes comes ITV. There latest show  is The Only Way is Essex, which is all about the glamorous people of Essex.

But along with this comes Essex Spa, a website, as well as iPhone and Facebook apps. The apps allow you to take pictures of yourself and then retouch them using fake tan, hair bleaching, lip implants and false eyelashes, so you too can look like an Essex girl or boy. And then you can upload them to Facebook.
The show’s website will integrate with Twitter and Facebook and give you all the latest news and back stage footage. There will be live chat, polls and more voting on the show’s outcome.
Kate Bradshaw, deputy MD and head of online commissioning at ITV, said: “This site represents our biggest investment for ITV2 and is the definitive 24/7 hub for fans of everything Essex. We’ll have sneaky previews and snippets as the show is being filmed, all the insider gossip, with a dedicated team accompanying the film crew, and we’ll be tweeting, Facebooking and posting clips all day.”

Head of marketing, Paul Risdale, added to this, said: “The ITV2 audience are extremely digitally savvy so it was important that our campaign included elements across different platforms and destinations. In addition to our more traditional advertising, we hope the Essex Spa app will provide a simple and fun way for viewers to join in with our celebration of all things Essex.”

No media outlet they have not covered in some way or another. This means that you can immerse yourself totally in the show during the ten weeks it’s on TV. Because it covers so many areas, it will be very hard to avoid. In some way it will be brought to your attention.

As a business owner you have to see yourself like a TV show. It’s important to recognise that people want to get involved across every media possible. Make sure you have all the options available for them. It is key to have room for them to have their say. Completely ceding control isn’t necessary, but perhaps allowing some light decision making would go down well, even if it is something like regular polls.

Cross-platforming has been around for awhile, but it is only recently that it is being used to its full extent. If you don’t want to be left behind, make sure you are connecting yourself properly with all media platforms and opening your social media gates to the public.

When you think computer games what normally springs to mind? Teenage boys sitting in dark playing shoot ‘em ups, or racing each other in high speed games surrounded by baddies and scantily clad women?

What you are probably more unlikely to imagine is 55-64 year-olds playing games, and even less likely that they are playing a game that involves old cobbled streets and Ken Barlow, but this is, in fact, the reality.

On November 1st ITV is launching an online gaming application for Coronation Street. The new virtual street will be known as Corrie Nation, will launch on Facebook and ITV.com, a month before the soap’s 50th birthday.

Characters Steve McDonald and his wife Becky in the new game

When you think about it though this shouldn’t really comes as such as a surprise. We all know how huge Facebook is, it has over 500 million users and a lot of those users have fallen for the world of social gaming.

Take Farmville, Cafe World and Petville. Currently an astonishing 62,073,318 people use Farmville. This is a game that allows members of Facebook to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting virtual crops and trees and raising livestock. It is the most popular game application of Facebook.

Corrie Nation will work in a similar way. The users will compete against each other to build a 2D Weatherfield, where they can add characters which are the same as the ones that are in the show and then do various tasks to get to higher levels.

The popular game Farmville

The makers of Coronation Street have realised that after reading a recent Ofcom study, media consumers are increasingly spreading their attention across multiple devices. Gone are the days that people merely watched a TV show, now they want everything that comes with it, the live updates, the game, the interaction (incidentally Coronation Street is also starting a blog).

According to New Media Age magazine, social games are played more frequently by 55-64 year olds than the age group 18-34 which you would probably expect. Interestingly, what it also discovered was that out of those surveyed, 34% of them have responded to marketing activity and at least 18% have clicked on an ad.

So what does this mean for you? It seems that this new type of gaming, social gaming, which is steadily growing rather than slowing down, is the place to advertise. It’s a great way to engage the consumer.

It was the director of digital production at ITV, Patricia Wagstaff, that came up with Corrie Nation, she said:

“Coronation Street enjoys a unique place in the hearts of the British public and with an appeal which spans generations, the brand has the potential off-screen to match its phenomenal on-screen success,” she said. “Corrie Nation is a great example of engaging with the Coronation Street audience in new ways and exploiting this world-class brand to deliver further revenues to the business.”

She understands that the social gaming world is a means to make money over anything else and at the moment this seems to be the way to go.

The same Ofcom survey, mentioned earlier,  revealed that people are watching less TV. The viewing figures for Coronation Street show the same thing, today there are between eight to 12 million viewers per episode, whereas in the late 90s and early 2000s there were 15-20 million per episode.

Sixteen to 24 year olds, instead of watching TV, spend 58% of their media diet on computers, mobile phones and other hand-held gadgets. As the gap between what adults and the youth are doing in the world of social media closes, companies can do what Coronation Street are doing and take advantage of it.

Coronation Street will hopefully gain new viewers and make a lot of money from advertising. Young people like to play these games and the older generation are proven to click on advertisements they see.

As a small company you may not have the budget to set up a social networking game, but what you can do is target those who have and get your name out there with advertising.

You know that advert that says ‘there’s an app for that’ for just about everything you want? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get an app to make your business improve massively? Well there is, sort of. Why not hop on the band wagon and make an app for your business?

If you haven’t been persuaded yet, I’m going to give you some reasons why getting your business an app is a click in the right direction.

1. Everyone’s at it:

According to a new study from the Pew Internet Project, 82% of American adults use cellphones and 43% of these have apps on their phone, of which two thirds use them regularly. That works out at about 24% of the US adult population who use them regularly. It also says that when someone has an app, 2 in 3 of them will use it every day and 1 in 4 use them for more than 30 minutes a day.

2. It’s affordable:

You may be surprised to learn that setting up a customised app costs less than you may think. You can spend however much you want, depending on whether you want something basic or more advanced. However much it costs though, the amount of people it will help you reach should far outweigh the price.

3. Lean on you:

Create a function or a service on your app that people can’t and don’t want to live without. It only has to be slightly related to what your company does, but it has to be something that will sell well. The more useful it is, the more popular it becomes, the more money you make and the more business your company gets.

4. Keep it new:

The online world is moving so quickly, it seems that every day there is something new that is getting people talking. If you are already using social media, you will find that starting to use an app is pretty simple. Think of it in the same way as how you use social media, you aren’t selling people something but providing them with something that they can use. To be in with a chance, you have to keep up with he competition, if they have an app, you must too.

Before you dive head first into the world of apps, consider a few things first. What platform are you going to use? Don’t automatically go for the iPhone. Yes, they are known for apps and are really popular but spend time doing research, see what most of your potential clients use?

Think about what exactly you want it to do. Go with a clear idea, the simpler it is the better. Ideally it should offer something related to website, although it doesn’t have to have nearly as much ability, such as using Flash. This doesn’t mean it should be the same as the website, work out exactly why it is an app, not just a mobile version of your website.

Once that is sorted and your app is up and running, watch as your app entices new customers and brings in more money.

Trying to think of new and interesting ways to keep your business’s social media marketing alive and kicking can be tough. When you get stuck, it’s important to find inspiration and the news is a great place to start. I’ve had a look at what people are talking about this week and how this can help your businesses social marketing campaign.

The kids are alright:

Last week I wrote about the Mommy bloggers and this week it’s all about the tweeny bloggers. Think of it as the revenge of the tween (young teen, to the unitiated) fed up with their mothers endlessly blogging about their nappies, then their first day of school and even their first kiss, the tweens have started to take control. The Independent reported that 15 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds are already blogging and one in four are interested in starting.
As we are all aware social media is huge amongst teenagers, so targeting the younger segment of this age group is a sure fire way to get yourself noticed. Send a tween blogger your product, ask them to review and watch as all their friends begin saying to mum and dad ‘I want one of those!’

Bugging you:

According to the New York Times, as America is trying to eradicate the recent infestation of bedbugs, the pest control companies are having a war of their own- which ad will be seen first by those searching for pest control online? The New York Times article says: According to Google, general searches for “bedbugs” have increased 83 percent in the last year and 182 percent for bedbug-related searches in the last four weeks compared with the same period a year earlier.

If there is a sudden epidemic, let’s say bedbugs or swine flu, it may be a great opportunity to generate traffic, but don’t forget your ethical compass. Nothing is more likely to alienate potential customers like jumping on a public health bandwagon. It may be all about making the most of the moment – but unless your product is relevant, be cautious.

Be more open minded:

It can be easy to get caught up in trying to drum up business in the UK and the USA. We forget that money can actually be made elsewhere and we may not be as clued up as we think we are when it comes to social media.
India, for example, is currently in the midst of a social media phenomena- Bubbly. It already has 2 million users and is popular with Bollywood stars and big companies. It is basically a voice- based Twitter, using text alerts and dial-in codes to record and receive voice updates on mobile devices. When a user records audio messages and updates, followers can listen in whenever they want.
The idea for Bubbly came from America and presumably must have been targeted to India where mobile phone usage exceed internet usage. So, if you have an idea, think about where it would really work. Do your research and don’t be afraid to target countries you are not so familiar with.

Silver Surfers:

This may seem pretty obvious but you may not be aware about just how much and how fast social networking among older adults is growing. 42% of online adults age 50+ now use social networking sites, nearly twice as many as the 22% who did so a year earlier, according to a study by Pew Research. They are officially the fastest growing demographic among social network users.
This is a big step for the world of social marketing. It is a real chance to get a product out there to what could be a new market. What’s great is that when a mature adult says they like something on Facebook, their friends will listen. Older people still do have an authority that youngest users just don’t quite have yet. Get the oldies on your side and you’re laughing.

Today marked the launch of an exciting and innovative new website called FashionStake.

A New York-based company has come up with the idea of allowing the consumer to purchase a ‘stake’ in a designers collections. In return they get various privileges, which any fashionista would love, such as pre-order discounts and runway show tickets.

The idea is a novel one; it gives us, the consumer, the chance to fund and shape a designer collection before it has even been produced. It allows you to become more hands on, or to have more online input, in the clothes you will eventually wear.

Firstly FashionStake allows you to  provide feedback, so you can vote for individual pieces and also interact with the designers themselves in discussion boards.

Secondly you can become a buyer. This means you can pre-order from a collection and get a big discount, thought to be about 40%.

Thirdly you can become a funder. Pay $50 and you can purchase store credit, worth up to $125 return on a $50 stake, which you can use to shop till you drop once the collection goes live.

And lastly, for the die-hard fashion fans, you can pay $500 to be a VIP. You will get things like Fashion Week tickets, dinner with one of the designers and even a free item from the collection.

So, it’s great for designers who want to launch a career, it’s great for the owners of FashionStake who don’t have that much money to support all up and coming designers and it’s great for the consumer. It offers them the interactive aspect that you don’t get when buying clothes in most shops and there is also a social media feel to it that people want.

Is this the way forward for all new online businesses? If you lack the funding to do everything you want, then this seems like a good alternative because you get the money and also a fan base. It’s using the principle of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding.

We know this idea does work, to an extent anyway, look at Ebbsfleet United, the English football club.

In 2007 instead of allowing the club to be owned by millionaires, it was announced that it would be taken over by the website MyFootballClub.com.

27,000 members of the website paid £35 which provided the £700,000 takeover fund and they were all given an equal share in the club, although they do not make a profit.

Similar to FashionStake, the members vote on transfers, player selection, even the kits.

Initially ideas like this do very well, especially with all the press involved and people like to be a part of exciting new projects.

Ebbsfleet United is still owned by the members of MyFootballClub.com. However in March of this year, only 800 out of 4000 members have continued to pay membership fees. The initial idea clearly works but the future of the club may be rocky. Speculation suggests that the club had far too many debts in the first place for this to succeed.

What about FashionStake? Presumably it will do very well in the first year but whether it will stay the distance is anyone’s guess.

But if you are looking for an injection of funding, a chance to get your customers involved and drum up a little publicity, crowdfunding seems to be the wave to ride.

Let’s forget about all the teen-based online attractions for a minute and take notice of the latest thing making waves on the web, yes it’s the mummy bloggers.

Ok, so if you’re not a mother, it’s probably unlikely you have come across these, but put ‘mummy blog’ into Google and see how many you are faced with: metropolitanmum.co.uk, potty-diaries.blogspot.com and littlemummy.com to name but a few.

Starting in America, like most things, mummy, or ‘mommy’ blogging as they like to call it, is a big deal. And as with most things that are a big, companies realise that this means money and will find some way for them to get in on the act.

But what exactly is this ‘mummy blogging’? It’s basically a mum, or sometimes a dad, talking about their experiences of parenting. It’s the ins and outs of what is like to have a child, covering everything from nappies – which are good to use? Recipes – what work well with children? And great days out – where to go? Can you see a theme here?

Recommendation is the common theme running throughout these blogs. Women are one of the most influential consumer groups and it is thought that typically they are the ones who buy products for their children and make decisions on the big household items to buy. So, if a woman sees that another woman liked a product or a place they will be more likely to use it or go there.

How can you use the mummy bloggers? If you have a product that you think could be useful in any way at all to mums, families, couples, then target them. Ask them to write a blog about it. Even the big shot companies are doing it.

This year Universal Pictures contacted the most well-known mummy bloggers in the USA at the time of the release of their movie Despicable Me. One mum Jennifer Donovan, who has been blogging for six years, was flown to the LA, put up in a luxury hotel and met all the stars of the film. Of course, she then blogged about it and openly admits a little more time was devoted to it, than perhaps if they hadn’t given her the trip.

The head of digital, online and mobile marketing at Universal, Doug Neil said: “We believe that the parents can be big influencers for us, and helping to sell the film and get their interest in promoting the film to their audience, as a stamp of approval for being a good wholesome safe film for families.”

In the UK, things are on a smaller scale, but advertisers and PR agencies are still keen to get their products out there and they know that mummy bloggers are a great way to do this.

As a business, it is an affordable and effective way to get your product seen and talked about. Elisa Camahort Page, the chief operations officer of BlogHer.com , a leading US-based community for women bloggers, said: “Blogs also act not only as a loud speaker for the person writing but as entertainment for those reading.

“People are twice as likely to report turning to blogs for anything about information-sharing,” she says, citing the results of a recent BlogHer survey that compared blogs to other social media. The BlogHer directory lists almost 22,000 blogs and about 28 per cent of those are about parenting, she says, with fresh voices joining the blogosphere all the time.

So, particularly if you are small business, it is clearly worth targeting bloggers is an ideal opportunity. The mummy bloggers are often looking for ways to make a little money or to get freebies, so will be more than happy to try out your product.

Remember they are mummies and they write these blogs because they genuinely love their child and are devoted to giving them the best things in life (well, we hope so anyway). Without wanting to stereotype, women do enjoying sharing ideas and discussing things that work well, especially when it comes to children. So, writing a blog is just an extension of that. It’s creating that word-of-mouth buzz that would normally cost big bucks. And if the blogger doesn’t actually like your product, it really isn’t the end of the world, because online any news generated really is good news.

You may be thinking, firstly, who on earth is Justin Bieber and secondly why am I writing about him? Well, unless you are a tween reading this, which is unlikely, or have young daughters, you’re forgiven for not knowing who he is.

Justin Bieber is an internet sensation. In 2008, his music, which his mum had posted on youtube, was discovered by manager to the stars, Scooter Braun, who arranged a meeting between him and the singer Usher. The rest is history. Bieber went on to be signed by Island Records. His debut release My World went platinum in the US, he was the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Then he released the single Baby in January 2010 and things really blew up.

But what does this have to do with social media you may ask? Well Beiber currently has 4,556,617 followers on Twitter and there are over 200 profiles devoted to the 16-year-old. So, I think it’s fair to say he is doing something right and, it turns out, a few things wrong, all of which business owners can learn from.

I’m going to take a look at what he does and see how it can be applied to your business, so you too can be a teen heartthrob with millions of girls following your every word. Maybe not that, but at the very least, become a small business with a big presence.

Get the big guns involved:

For a middle-class teenage boy who is only 5 foot 2, Beiber has some pretty cool friends. Not just cool, but ones who are hugely influential in the social media world, such as Kanye West (who has only had a twitter account for a few weeks but has already racked up 689,562 followers.) Following and being followed by these big names of the Twitter world, can only be positive. Having someone with a huge amount of followers @ing you or retweeting your comments brings you to the attention of a much larger audience.
Although this may be easy to do if you are Justin Bieber, if you are not you can still get in there with profiles that relate to you and have a large following. Twitter is all about flattery, so flatter someone and make their ego and profile bigger. Even JB does it, just two days ago he tweeted ‘@kanyewest me, u, and the chef 2gether on a song = EPIC. haha. might sound crazy 2 u but even having this convo is living the dream. thanks’

Talk to the ‘small people’

Although there has been plenty of stories saying Beiber is a brat, one thing can’t be denied – he makes a huge effort connecting with fans via Twitter, and there are a lot of fans. Instead of ignoring his crazed fans he will retweet their comments and engage them in conversation.
Beiber, or his management, knows that it is these people who buy his records, so it is them he looks after.
It has been said time and time again, but letting the customer know that you are not a faceless business is essential. A bit of time and effort will make them feel relaxed, trust you and be more likely to buy from you or use your service over someone that ignores them via Twitter or sends out generic messages.

Keep it relevant

This relates to the previous idea. It’s all very well having the followers, but to keep them you have to keep them interested. Beiber knows that the way to do this is to talk about the things they want to know, like his shows or where he currently is. He always directly addresses the people of that town and he will then thank them for their support.
Make sure your business profile isn’t talking rubbish. Before you hit tweet think about what you are saying, will anyone care? Will it make them want to be involved with you more? Always keep in the back of your mind that you are using twitter as a marketing tool, the idea is to get more custom from using it.

Don’t get twitter revenge

However angry you are do not seek Twitter revenge (Twengeance? Twit for Tat?), it not only makes you look immature but it shows you get hot headed in situations, a disaster for a business. People will be reluctant to work with you if you are seen to make rash or malicious decisions.
Just this week JB posted a teenage fan’s number on Twitter in revenge for having the fan having hacked the Twitter account of a friend of Beiber to get the star’s phone number. The boy, Kevin Kristopik, has consequently had to delete his Twitter page and change his mobile number after being inundated with calls.
Beiber, of course will not suffer greatly from his childish act, but if you are a small business you will. Word spreads like wild fire over the internet, so one mistake or one disgruntled text could marr your reputation beyond repair.

So what have we learnt from Justin Beiber? He’s not just a teen heart throb who can kind of hold a tune but he’s a social media, and especially Twitter, guru. Whether his fan base has grown since he joined the world of social media or his Twitter following is expanding as his fame escalates, is redundant because either way he has a huge following that isn’t going anywhere any time soon and that will continue to buy his music. And this is what all businesses want, loyal followers and a big Twitter following.