Social Media Day: The Review
Yesterday we reported about Social Media Day and then later that night two members of our Internet Marketing team at Brick technology attended the Social Media Day event in Manchester.
It had all been planned for Hannah and James to attend the event and at 5pm they set off complete with a supply of water, energy drinks and cheese strings! On hitting certain parts of the motorway it became apparent that it was rush hour and although stuck in trailing traffic for some time they arrived safe and sound in Manchester. It was here they were greeted by the event organisers, Studio Skylab and offered a complimentary drink before taking their seats.
Everyone had their own individual name badges which contained their company names and their Twitter; ours were @brickweb @brickjames @pearson_h
The event kicked off and speaker Nigel Collier introduced the concept of Social Media Day. One of the most important quotes to take away from the event which just about summed up social media:
“Social media allows anyone to say anything about everything”
- Nigel Collier
Speakers on the day were truly inspirational and their passion for social media couldn’t be more obvious! A favourite was actually the first speakers of the evening, The Greater Manchester Police and both Hannah and James were extremely curious to know how they had managed to integrate social media.
Tweet on the beat!
After having had great criticism from the press about using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a form of link with people they decided to try it out for themselves.
It all began when they decided that they would Tweet and offer people a virtual seat almost within their control centre. Ultimately they wanted to let people know about certain events as and when they happened. After detailed talks into data protection and issues which could arise in regards to naming people and their locations it was agreed by senior police authorities that they could test it out for one day and see what happened.
On this one day their hashtag went worldwide, it was this worldwide interest which made them realise through social media they could have such a huge impact on such a wide audience. It was from this moment that social media was introduced into their media strategy.
Now they use their Twitter, @gmp24_1 as part of their social media strategy to provide information, engage and open conversation with the public. The whole concept has since latched on and Police officer, Ben Scott was the first Police officer to effectively “Tweet on the Beat”.
There are now 45 other offices who tweet, share images and their location so that people in their local area know what is going on and where they can be found should they want to pop and see them!
Although there have been guidelines placed on them in regards to what they Tweet due to data protection issues there has been huge successes with local communities since their social media strategy was implemented.
Greater Manchester Police now review their social media strategy on a regular basis in order to ensure all aspects are addressed and whatever demand there is from people they are there to fulfil it.
Social Media is having a huge impact on our lives, it is for this reason that as a business you need to get your brand or name out there! In a report from the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report results found that from 71% of marketers who used social media as part of a marketing strategy actually managed to increase traffic or subcribers to their websites. Further to this 51% managed to generate qualified leads for their business.