When I was a kid there was an advert for Martini that went something like “Any time, any place, any where – That’s Martini”.

I don’t know why I thought of this as I was driving into Stockholm yesterday but out of the darkness of my brain, something prompted me to think of it. At once I realised that this catch phrase should really be the motto of a B2B’s approach to online content marketing.

Any Time

It doesn’t matter what time zone you’re working in. The Net never sleeps. If your business model includes customers from overseas, for example, it’s vital that you are present 24/7.

That’s easier said than done if you’re a small to medium sized business. But one of the best ways that you can introduce yourself to new audiences is through Twitter.

Hootsuite, my favourite Twitter app, enables you to schedule tweets. This is perfect for posting in different time zones and getting your message out there all around the clock.

The only drawback, however, is that you can’t engage and converse if you’re asleep. One of the best things about Twitter is that it’s almost like instant messaging for many people. Especially B2Bs working with customer service.

Personally, I think Twitter isn’t great as a broadcast medium and it goes against the idea of social media if you use it as such; nevertheless, my own data shows that it can be a useful way of driving links to your blog or website “out of hours”. The important thing to remember is that using it in this way is an added extra and not your default approach to using the channel because scheduled posts don’t really help you build personal connections – a must have for effect social media marketing campaigns.

Any Place?

The title is self-evident but the online communications channels might not be so obvious to you, if you’re new to internet marketing.

Here are my top three places I think you should seriously consider being active on – the most significant first!

1. Your own website OR blog
This is the place you own, control and have full responsibility for. As an online marketing and communications tool it’s a vital stopping point for key stakeholders and potential customers.

This is the place where you can share you best stuff; the online content you’ve created that helps, entertains, informs and serves the needs of your online community.

Services like Facebook and Twitter might go the way of the dodo (remember MySpace?), but your website can carry on rolling like the Stones as long as you’re in business.

2. Twitter
140 character tweets are a brilliant way of communicating with your online audience. You can tell them what’s new, important, interesting, funny, and so on. You can engage in short and snappy conversations, monitor for a crisis and respond to problems, complaint and concerns as if you have the best customer service in the business. All from your smart phone.

Although Twitter is a slow burn, it’s worth investing in building a genuinely active presence on this platform. Just imagine: if you tweet an article, and just three of your followers (customers?) re-tweeted that article to their friends, you could reach hundreds of people who weren’t directly following you. Likewise, if just a few of the followers of each of those individuals re-tweeted, your potential would grow exponentially.

No matter what the doom merchants say about Twitter growth stalling I’ve found it to be a very valuable online channel for introducing people to Jontus Media.
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What with the way that information can spread virally on the Net today, your brand is firmly in the hands of the end consumer. Many businesses have already wised up to this, but far too many are taking the ostrich approach: sticking their heads in the sand.

“Customers Hate Us”

Sooner or later it’s going to hit you. All those lovely fluffy customers who’ve been raving about for years will suddenly turn against you. Or at least one or two who have the potential to wreck havoc because they have many online connections via sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Maybe your product will die a death soon after purchase; maybe your customer service rep ticks someone off with a snotty email or support staff make a major cock-up.

In the good old days (i.e. about 10 years ago) these unhappy folks told their friends and neighbors and it didn’t go further. If you were lucky. If you were unlucky they wrote to the local newspaper or tipped off a journalist. Sure, big brands have suffered a media firestorm over the years.

Nowadays small businesses all the way though to major corporations are at risk because anyone can kick start a multi media online firestorm with a solitary tweet or blog post. Just ask Dell. Or Southwest airlines. Or Nestle. Or Dominos pizza.
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Livepool FC is a club in crisis. A PR crisis, as well as a managerial crisis.

As anyone knows me they’re very close to my heart, but the events of the last few days have really upset me. Both as a fan, and a professional communications consultant.

As you probably know Liverpool parted with their manager of 6 years, Rafa Benitez, last week by “mutual consent”. Since then the British and European press has been full of speculation about who will take over: Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish, Martin O’Neal, Gus Hiddink.

Twitter has been awash with tweets containing the Liverpool FC hashtags: #lfc and #ynwa. To put it bluntly, the Liverpool fans are desperate to know what’s going to happen. Many are upset that their successful manager, Benitez, was effectively given the can. Others are frustrated at the lack of “genuine” news, fed up with the daily speculation in the press.

Managing a Crisis

As BP have recently shown, even big companies are pretty good at sticking their head in the social media sand and avoiding any real discussion. Liverpool are following suit.

The official Liverpool website kept quiet for a few days about Benitez’s departure – which didn’t surprise me. After the shock died down, they’ve simply been content to report what the British press are reporting about the speculation.

Today there were a few fans commenting on video about the speculation regarding the possible new manager, but there’s no word from the site if Dalglish’s reported interest in the post is true. Neither is there any form of explanation from the owners as to why they chose to dispense with Benitez’s services after so many successful seasons at the club.

For all Liverpool FC’s investment in a fabulously designed official site with excellent video content and reports, and a growing presence on Twitter, they obviously don’t have a clue how to use social media. Or perhaps, they’re choosing not to use social media, letting the fans draw their own conclusions and the media continue to speculate about the identity of the club’s new manager.

What Liverpool Could Do Differently

If I’d been at Liverpool the last week or so I would have made sure there was a video post from Christian Purslow, the club’s managing director, assuring fans that although this had been a difficult decision, both parties felt it was the best way for the club to move forward as soon as the story broke.
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