managing social media
 

Like it or not this is the age of social media and it gives anyone connected a voice - what that voice is saying is another thing.

I never liked facbook or any IM system - it wastes time. I do use Facebook as a marketing tool simply because most of my clients are on it.

So how do we manage social media? not being on Facebook or twitter or whatever the latest 'thing' is doesn't isolate us from harm.

the average young facebook user has over 500 'friends'(*1) and most of those are in the same age group and area - whatever positive or negative things they say are delivered to that audience. The old addage that a happy client tells 1 person while an unhappy client tells 7 people is still true - just multiplied.

We need to understand social media so we can make an informed decision on participating and managing our exposure.

Discuss (this question counts for 20 point of the total exam).. ah the good old days :-)



(*1)
18-24-Year-Olds on Facebook Boast an Average of 510 Friends

Re: managing social media
 

Hi Paul

Sometimes I really and truly wonder if people (more than like those who are not married or getting married and around the 17 year age group) simply post for the sake of posting?? They don't realise (or couldn't care) if a comment causes damage to your business...they think the whole deal is funny.

I tend to stay away from Facebook if I can but a while back on YouTube I was still allowing people to add comments etc etc and some little bright spark added a comment "This video really sucks and the chick is ugly" ... from that date I disabled all voting, comments and the works so people could make their own decisions about whether they liked my work or not. (The video is question was actually very nice and certainly not worthy of a stupid comment)

I find that is way better to get into closed bridal groups on Facebook where only brides go and that way any feedback you get will be worthwhile ..they are tough to get into as they are a closed shop and a bride needs to invite you to join but they are certainly a better option than having an open page where any little bored teenager can cause havoc with un-appropriate comments and posts.

I'm not a Facebook expert but can you set it up so only "friends" can post on your page??? Things like twitter seem to be even more open to abuse and will harm your business as you surely know. I can see the value of having an FB page but it needs to be "read only" to keep the idiots away!


Chris

Re: managing social media
 

regardless of wether we have one, every bride has a facebook page and posts on a regular basis to each of her friends - that's the point. We can easily disable or moderate comments on our own page but there's little we can do about our clients or prospective clients.

We do however need to be aware of the possibilities.

Re: managing social media
 

No way would I participate on facebook - not yet anyway. Not until a debut wedding trailer that blows people's minds away!

I use Youtube with disabled voting / comments. YES.

But no facbeook or twitter thanks.

Why?

Well because people have a tendency to 'troll'

They wont comment on your videography but start slating the family in the video. I have had a comment on my video on youtube where they have said the bride is ugly and I shouldn't have included a certain shot (had no complaints from the bride).

That's the last thing any one wants to read. Once one person does it, others join in.

Thing is, at the same time, if your video gets a lot of likes, other people like it too as it plays a psychological effect on the brain that if 100 other people like it, then it's obviously good.

But I think there is more damage to be done, than to be gained using social media. Stick to SEO on Google and if your company really is that good, then think about Facebook. But you need A LOT of fans to be honest or a record of work that truly is amazing to get the video viral.

Re: managing social media
 

No own facebook or twitter for my business either and that's not going to change, if the couple paid for the highlights and if I"m allowed to post them on my vimeo account then the couple will embed the video on their facebook page and from there on it will reach their friends and they will share further. See below stats from Vimeo when I posted a video on vimeo and the couple toke it further to facebook, that's almost a 1000 views in less then 2 full days from only their contacts on facebook. So I don't spend any time on this social media but my clients handle this for me :)

Re: managing social media
 

Noa that is a really good point and one that I completely agree with. If a Bride decides to link to her video that you have posted on Vimeo, then the chance of getting negative or stupid comments is very low as her friends are not going to be negative to her. The client is also doing the work for you as you said :-)

I am slightly annoyed though with you Noa, as I think it is such a good idea that I am now going to have to spend even more time doing shorts of my weddings to upload to Vimeo!

Roger

Re: managing social media
 

Noa is right about brides sharing videos on social media.

But on top of that, I'd say that Facebook/Twitter is not only for brides and their friends/family, but a great tool to connect with other vendors from the industry. I always add vendors on social network (florists, makeup artists, DJs, photographers, wedding planners, venues, dress designer, etc.) and most of my referrals come from them.

Everyone wants to be proud to say that they've been part of something great and if I post a video that is impressive enough, those vendors will not only be proud to share it on their own profile, they will also be proud to refer me to their own clients because it gives them credibility.