Another One Bites The Dust

[LondonRascal]

Kadensa wrote: Strange to advocate a course of action which may result in one set of professional people losing work in order to save another.

I don't advocate the loss of work but facts are facts: If you approached a creative agency and they returned some weeks later with what their ideas for the campaign, the cost of so doing would be great. 

The idea would be to save as much costs that local business would have to pay as far as possible because the largest cost will be the payments to Google and Facebook for serving the video adverts in the first place over a period of time.

You Tube and Vimeo have a number of videos created by students ,such as the example below which was Created by Robert Wells for his BETEC ND Media course at Paston College. It is short but a good example of where he had (as part of the course) to produce and showcase his work so he decided to do a promo for Norfolk but I would presume he might have got a greater feeling of pride if instead of being seen by the few it happened to be a feature in a real promotional feature for Norfolk.

To a large degree right or wrong in America many an Intern has contributed to the growth of a company or worked hard on the creation of media within that company for little or no financial reward but that will benefit their studies or future employment through actual experience within the area to which they want a career in.

I'm just shaking some new ideas about some of which may not be suitable or popular.

[rightsaidfred]

Robin

I might be a dinosaur but I certainly wouldn`t look into any advert or company advertised on Facebook or similar social media, I don't use any of them because of far to much in the way of spoof and infected items, if I was interested and looking then I would do a Google search at most other than looking at normal trade advertising.

Fred

[MBA Marine]

44 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:

Robin

I might be a dinosaur but I certainly wouldn`t look into any advert or company advertised on Facebook or similar social media, I don't use any of them because of far to much in the way of spoof and infected items, if I was interested and looking then I would do a Google search at most other than looking at normal trade advertising.

Fred

For every one like you Fred, i should think there are now 3 or 4 that would use the social media websites. 

[LondonRascal]

Fred, I appreciate what you say but let me take myself as an example. 

It all revolves around the Smart Phone. I no longer have an alarm clock, I use my phone that means I wake up and the first thing I do before I have got out of bed is look at the BBC News App and see what is going on according to Aunty, then I will look at Facebook and see what has happened there too - and during that time on Facebook as I scroll up there will be perhaps two adverts, usually video, that auto play as you move past them.  

Often an eye catching advert will make me stop and tap it to get the sound - I have therefore been a 'hit' and I might then swipe to be taken to the company’s own Facebook page. A good example of this was an interactive ‘360 degree’ video advert Easy Jet ran recently where as you watched it (and looked at your phone) you could move left or right and the camera angle would move in real time allowing you to explore throughout the space. The idea was look out for a hidden boarding card, take a screen grab and post a comment – you might then be selected to win a free flight. I did it and I did not win a flight but the fact is I participated. 

As a business, especially one in the travel sector managing your ‘social media presence’ is very important.  You may prefer a potential customer to go to your website and send off an enquiry email or even call you – but now it is more likely someone is on a bus, with phone in hand tapping a question about how much something might cost, or when something might be available in a comment on a photo you posted a week ago of a sunset! 

If you ignore it and roll your eyes did you lose a booking?  If you seem to ‘short and sharp’ they might take that as being offensive and before you know it you have a very public discussion going on in the comments. All the major utility providers and large companies now man their Twitter and Facebook accounts to ready to respond.  These are now main line connections between their business and those who are their customers and because ‘the big boys’ do it and people get used to it, it means the smaller businesses need to be aware too. Might be a Pub who gets  a comment on their Facebook Page asking  ‘can we book a table tonight for 7:30pm’ and that person who decided to ask this clearly expects someone at the Pub to respond – after all they have put up a page live on Facebook so why would hey not?  If they don’t you’ve got an annoyed person who will then consider the Pub terribly and rude for not responding and go rant on their own Facebook tagging the pubs page in too. It is serious stuff. 

There is also a lot of money to be made from people advising other people what to do, how to get social media working for them and goodness knows what else not to mention Facebook taking a nice cut for advertising revenue too. 

[smellyloo]

I wonder how many people spend longer managing social media content than actually doing their work?

[LondonRascal]

The only good thing is just as someone can post someone on it from their phone, so you can be notified on your own - and respond as required. It does not need to be in front for a computer but I think to many 'social media' is the new curse just when they had got to grips with endless emails.

[rightsaidfred]

Robin and MBA

I don't and wouldn't dispute the popularity of Facebook or any other form of social media especially amongst younger generations, however having spoken to many friends who use it very few actually trust it apart from a convenient way to keep in touch, given the amount of hacking and the unsafe sites then its use as an advertising medium is very much in question.

To move this on a bit the hire boat industry on all waterways has been in decline for some 20 years or so the Thames far more and sooner than the Broads, ask Richardsons about their venture with Maidboats, while we all accept the need for and want a vibrant hire boat industry we need to look at the underlying problem not just try and find a quick fix, stag parties find out easily enough about weekend breaks as do many others, when out and about I speak to many hirers some who come for a holiday and enjoy it and will return many others treat it as a one off and will not repeat the experience as it did not fulfill their expectations, many enjoy it as a short break and may or may  not repeat it, the two things that are obvious is Richardsons, Barnes and HW have learnt to embrace the current trend with Stag and Hen parties and short break holidays that are now a major part of their business,  also cost is not a factor as most of the boats out for long periods over the whole season are the more modern and expensive boats.

Fred

[Oddfellow]

14 hours ago, rightsaidfred said:

I don't and wouldn't dispute the popularity of Facebook or any other form of social media especially amongst younger generations, however having spoken to many friends who use it very few actually trust it apart from a convenient way to keep in touch, given the amount of hacking and the unsafe sites then its use as an advertising medium is very much in question.

Fred, like it or not, the internet is here to stay. You're using social media to post your comments about mistrusting social media. Sadly, in any environment, you are at risk of criminality. The next knock at the door might be a scammer trying to convince you you have broken roof tiles whilst his mate goes through your wife's jewellery box.

It's all about being savvy. In every walk of life the adage "if it looks too good to be true" etc. is applicable and so it goes on social media. There are plenty of people out there who will share things that are complete cobblers because quick click on the share button wastes nobody's time but those that read it later, but a few moments spent investigating the authenticity of something would have prevents the propagation of the material in the first place. Social media is just the mechanism, lazy or gullible people are the proliferation cause.  Same in the pub, the cafe, the workplace. 

[MauriceMynah]

"The internet is here to stay"   I certainly wouldn't argue with that Andy, and for a while so is facebook, but we are at a stage where there are a lot of vulnerable people out there and for as long as that's the case there will be criminals only to willing to offer them assistance. Trust in this new technology (and yes, it is "new") will take time.

I would think that predominately the hire yards customers will be ...shall we say...a little older in the tooth than Joe Average. Those who distrust I.T. will also be in that age group. Does it make sound business sense to advertise solely in a place that your primary target avoids?

[MBA Marine]

2 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Does it make sound business sense to advertise solely in a place that your primary target avoids?

It does when you need to encourage the next generations of boater, the number of seniors that avoid certain area's of IT will from this point always be a decreasing number, although from what I see it is already a very broad spectrum of age groups that are hiring,  if that was not already the case then there would not be such large demand within school holiday times.

[MauriceMynah]

Fair point Mark, but I do have a genuine question here. Is the demand within the school holidays as great as is implied. It seems to me (just "seems" ) that the broads are actually busier outside the school hols. The first two weeks in September always strike me as the busiest. You and Andy would know far better than me as to when the bookings are high and the rough age of your clientele.

[ranworthbreeze]

With regards to syndicate shares, school shares usually take longer to sell than standard shares, I have found from selling shares in our syndicate over the last 5 years. 

Regards

Alan

[MBA Marine]

3 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Fair point Mark, but I do have a genuine question here. Is the demand within the school holidays as great as is implied. It seems to me (just "seems" ) that the broads are actually busier outside the school hols. The first two weeks in September always strike me as the busiest. You and Andy would know far better than me as to when the bookings are high and the rough age of your clientele.

Andy Knows far better than I as my business does not deal directly with cruiser hire, but over the last few years I have had dealings in a small way with few hire yards and over the summer hols and half terms demand is huge and these are the weeks that the only boats that are available to hire are at places like ricco's where they just have so many or if you luck into a cancellation.

[rightsaidfred]

Perhaps its my fault for not being more specific but I have no problem with or in using the internet or sites that are responsible, I have been using computers since the early 80s for business and personal reasons and regard it as a useful tool.

My comments regarding Facebook and the like refer to the basically unregulated format where anyone can pretty much put on what they like, talking to friends who use it there is plenty of infected material on there and being security conscious my reaction would be to treat it the same as unsolicited emails and not open any links, something my friends agree with, pretty much all Businesses have proper websites and I daresay many have facebook pages as well so I don't see where there is anything else to gain using this format, its not a problem for me as its not a road I need to go down, in the context of this debate I just see it as a distraction rather than facing up to the realities of current trends.

Fred

[Bound2Please]

10 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:

pretty much all Businesses have proper websites and I daresay many have facebook pages as well so I don't see where there is anything else to gain using this format, its not a problem for me as its not a road I need to go down, in the context of this debate I just see it as a distraction rather than facing up to the realities of current trends.

Fred

I have to say I sell far more from face book than I do my websites. So yes face book works well, and never once have i had a virus from facebook.

Charlie

[ZimbiIV]

One thing to be aware of regarding facebook, I am 60 and do not use it, 2 out of 3 grand kids (1 is too young) think it is for OLD people, so pester power may not be available.

It is not the risk of viruses (virusii? ) that I do not use Faceache it is the security/boredom issues it endangers.

paul

[LondonRascal]

There are a number of people generally who are against the idea of Facebook on a number of levels. I know one such person personally as I work with her, and she point black refuses to use Facebook but when you begin to talk to her and figure out some of her concerns you see actually they come down to a lack of understanding on how the service works and what it now is -  a fear almost.

So if I may, I'll express what I feel Facebook really is.

If you are someone who thinks Facebook is some kind of social network primarily to aid contact between lost friends and keep you in touch with them in a nice online social circle , I'm sorry you are wrong and living in 2007.

Facebook is not really a 'website' anymore. Most users who use it no longer do so from a fixed computer, more from their Smart Phone or Tablet.  Facebook has become a Brand - a utility almost but with a huge profit motive, very much like Google it wants to aid you in so many areas of your life and have a friendly, usable approach that does not seem to push itself upon you but none the less is very much part of your online and offline world. 

Facebook is additive. Conjure up yesteryear images of teens and telephones, or teens and texting today. We are just love updates and information — gossip, news, hearsay, chat. Curiosity about what’s going on now is a natural human need almost. Of course, times have changed. Telephones have become mobile phones; mobile phones have become smart phones; smart phones have become gateways to the Web and major Apps like Facebook.

I would estimate that half the content that appears in my activity feed is not being generated by my friends actions - it is wither content they are sharing - a funny video for example, or companies small and large engaging with the 'community' thought their own pages and adverts and what has taken off as a great engagement is the video that starts to play the moment you swipe down your feed on your phone.  Despite the fact almost all people who have a Smartphone have a cap on their data use, few seem bothered by the data these videos consume and their need for more - updates, content and so on gets more and more - battery life is their main concern.

You can't get a virus from Facebook - there is a risk a story could propagate shared on by people with a booby trapped link that upon tapping takes you off to a third party website that they has something that on a computer may auto download and infect you or on a phone (if Android based) ask you to install an App that is compromised.  That said Facebook just cannot allow such nasty things to take over because it survives on a seamless and happy experience.  Look how it is clamping down on 'fake news' now.

It has a new feature that has sprung up in more recent times to take on Ebay - a Market Place where you can buy and sell within the App.  It has proved popular in the Broads community as a group where individuals and boatyards can buy and sell, from a whole boat to a used gearbox. Quick and easy to do.

So that is why Facebook is here to stay, because it has evolved from a Social Network into a vastly profitable media platform that covers so much in one place and to be part of that, to have reach and exposure to so many is why I say using it for business promotion and can be very important.  You know, I always worried about Bridge Craft at Acle, with no website and 100% relaying upon repeat customers, word of mouth and Hoseason's to gain bookings - yet there they are now on Facebook costing them nothing and being a good way to grow and interact with people new to the area or regular customers eager to see updates on their newly acquired ex-Alpha craft boat.

[Hylander]

Enjoyed your epistle on Facebook Robin but sorry Hell will freeze over before I go anywhere near it.       Twitter anything any of them.    I trust this Forum and the NBF and that is it.

[MBA Marine]

19 minutes ago, Hylander said:

Enjoyed your epistle on Facebook Robin but sorry Hell will freeze over before I go anywhere near it.       Twitter anything any of them.    I trust this Forum and the NBF and that is it.

Saw this on Facebook!! 

[smellyloo]

40 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

 You know, I always worried about Bridge Craft at Acle, with no website and 100% relaying upon repeat customers, word of mouth and Hoseason's to gain bookings - yet there they are now on Facebook costing them nothing and being a good way to grow and interact with people new to the area or regular customers eager to see updates on their newly acquired ex-Alpha craft boat.

Hardly free .... it requires a great deal of time to create effective social media marketing ..... but if you're addicted to it anyway I suppose you would be on it all day anyway.

I've made several half hearted attempts to understand Facebook but I never can get passed the feeling that the layout and navigation is a complete mess, couple that with the annoying prompts that some oik has reposted a "funny" joke or pic and i'm left with nostalgic hankerings  for phone boxes and party lines!

[Wussername]

I have tried, really tried to get my head round Facebook. I even searched for Bridge Craft Acle. What did i get....diddly squit. Every thing but that which I was looking for. 

Must be doing something wrong I suppose.

Now, where is my Old Moore's Almanac?

Old Wussername.

[rightsaidfred]

How I wish that even being retired I had that much of my life to waste, only yesterday one of my friends had a malware alert after clicking on a so called newsflash, fortunately like me he has good security or it could have been messy at best.

Fred

[MauriceMynah]

I said I'd never go near facebook, but when I lost access to NBN a while back, I needed facebook to get back here, So I used it. Those aspects of it I didn't like seem to be there still, and still I don't like them.

I just can't get my head round the point of it all. Yes Robin, I see it has evolved from the "friends-reunited" days and now carries so much more information, but perhaps that's the problem, There's so much info and I'm not good at filtering it.