Island Web Works

I’m probably the biggest advocate for social media in our office and when I’m not coding, I’ll probably be banging on about the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, etc. Getting the benefits of “the social” to corporate ears has been a challenge but one which is yielding results in the form of some exciting ideas. Imagine my surprise and - should I say, pride - when I returned from my annual Wimbledon sabbatical to be told that Charles was just finishing his latest blog post.

We all have access to this Island Web Works blog, which allows us to represent ourselves and the company professionally, giving users an insight into what we can tell people about the exciting projects we are working on. We have an internal policy which promotes openness and inclusion. If someone wants to blog, they are welcome - so long as it is at least vaguely related to our work!

We all tweet using the Island Web Works @iww_iom ID.

For the content that isn’t work-related, we now all have our own blogs and I’m going to take this opportunity to publicise them a little more.

Andreas - The Greatest Show on Earth

Andreas is a biologist at heart and we have some fascinating discussions in the office about nature, evolution and humanity. His blog develops on some of these discussions and adds his own views and questions on the reasons behind life, the universe and everything.

Andreas is also tweeting as @heinakroon.

Charles - WalkingMann

Charles is a keen walker and we regularly chat about his latest adventures on this lovely island. There are hundreds of footpaths criss-crossing the island and Charles seems enthusiastic about treading each one. His blog covers these walks, his experiences and impressions. He also includes some great photographs of landmarks along the routes and a very useful series of route maps.

Nathan - Live to Work

My “main” blog is my view on politics, work/life balance and gadgetry. I attend a few events a year which excite me enough to blog about them and I also try to include my recommendations on gadgets which I have found useful. This blog was started in 2007 in conjunction with a previous project I was involved with and has covered a variety of issues including Police accountability, voting reform, the BCS and public transport - fascinating!

Nathan - Blogging About .NET

This blog is quite a lot quieter but is focussed more on my professional coding side of my work. If I have been working on something sufficiently challenging that I feel others can benefit, it’ll probably end up here. My blog is but one of many on this site, and is indeed a site full of .NET coding geniuses.

I am also tweeting as @programx.

Of course, the posts and comments on these blogs and Twitter streams are personal to the respective authors and are therefore entirely unrelated with this blog.

We have some exciting plans for expanding blogging on the island which we hope to announce in the next few months.

Nathan Social Media Blog, Wimbledon

Like it or not, the social media era is upon us and now users have got bored of sharing photos, playing FarmVille and poking each other, businesses are starting to get in on the act. Facebook is not just a site for wasting time, but is fast becoming a way for companies to interact with their followers.

I was asked today why companies take the time and effort to create Facebook Pages when they have perfectly good web sites. The answer is simple: Engagement with your clients.

Building a community around your brand or company is difficult. Building that community on your own web site which people may not know about is even harder. That’s why major companies like Microsoft, Red Bull, Harley Davison and VW turn to Facebook to engage with users, because the Facebook Community is already huge.

Creating a presence on Facebook is pretty simple and involves going through a short procedure to generate an initial page. You can then add content such as news discussions, photos, videos and any other content Facebook supports.

The next step is to market your Facebook presence. You can add badges to your existing online presences such as your web-site, and also add links to your out-going emails, press-releases and marketing material.

As users discover you, they can become “Fans” of your page and participate in discussions on your page. As a company, you can push out marketing messages, news and invite discussion that you find interesting to these users. For example, the cut-out from my own feed on the right shows Wimbledon and The University of Salford engaging with me as a user. By becoming a Fan, I have “opted in”, which makes me to be a very viable target for marketing.

Another reason is that even if you have the best site in the world, users do forget about your site - it’s natural. Facebook marketing is an ideal way to remind users of your activity. I no longer forget about what happens at Wimbledon except for two weeks and I’m still interested in what is happening at my old University even though I left it … well, I’m not saying how long ago!

Using your Facebook channel effectively can be challenging, particularly when identifying what benefit your Facebook and social media activity is having on your bottom line.

If you want to combine your web-site with Facebook as a marketing channel give us a call and we’ll help you navigate the minefield. Or, you can join me and the rest of the island’s Social Media Club every Third Thursday at Paparazzi at 12.30pm (held by Strive PR) where we help introduce people to the benefits of social media and chat about the hottest trends.

Nathan Social Media Facebook, Social Media