Scoot Blog

Data Management Scoot Survey Results

Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date online profile can often be an arduous task for businesses however if you are looking to attract new customers, it is also a vital one! In our latest poll we asked business owners;

Do you regularly update your latest information and check your data on the internet and business search websites?

The results show that 65% of business owners do keep their business details up-to-date whereas 35% don’t check their data on a regular basis. Those that do stay on top of their online business data were asked whether or not they did this themselves or if they allocated the responsibility to another employee or an agency. A massive 89% of business owners took responsibility for updating their profiles whilst just 11% let someone else manage their data.

Business owners who did not keep up-to-date with their online information were asked just what was stopping them from maintaining an accurate online profile. Over half admitted that they just did not have the time to post their latest updates or check that their data profiles are up-to-date. 30% of business owners believed that they did not need to put any work into their online data management as it is ‘fine as it is’ whilst just 14% believe that it is just not important!

Utilising platforms such as social media and directory services enables you to keep you customers up-to-date with your latest news and information whilst also increasing brand awareness and bringing new customers to your door. With more and more people turning to the internet to search for local businesses, there has never been a better time to take control of your online presence!

Twitter Poll results

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has taken the world by storm, providing users with a platform to post information, interact with others and keep up-to-date on the latest news.  With over 200 million users as of 2011, Twitter has established itself as a valuable marketing tool for any business. This week we asked local business owners;*

Do you use Twitter to reach more customers?

The poll showed that 62% of business owners did not use Twitter as a way to reach more customers, whilst 38% were taking advantage of the site as a way to attract new customers to their business.

Of the 38% of business owners that did use Twitter to reach their customer, 90% managed their Twitter accounts themselves, with the remaining 10% either allocating time to employees or using an outside agency. When asked about any challenges they face when using Twitter, it seems that many businesses have embraced the word of tweets and retweets with 41% of business owners finding no challenges what so ever. 15% admitted to understanding how the site works but find it hard to decide just how to make the most of the 140 character limit!

Finding time to Tweet

For many business owners, finding the time to start utilising social media can be one of the biggest reasons why many choose to ignore it. Of the 62% of business owners who did not use Twitter to reach their customers, 44% cited having no time as their biggest reason for not logging in whereas 56% of business owners admitted that they just don’t understand how to use it.  Out of the businesses that do use Twitter to reach their customers, 70% spend less than an hour a day updating their customers on their latest news, products and services whilst just 10% rely on a weekly check up.

From this survey it seems that although more businesses were yet to explore just how Twitter could benefit their business, those that do were able to reach their customers without facing any significant challenges and without it eating up too much of their time.

For the latest hints and tips on how to increase your business’ online exposure follow Scoot on Twitter! @Scoot_IT

*290 respondents. Data source- Touch Local

Tweet Tweet!

It seems like everyone is tweeting nowadays, celebrities, politicians, local authorities and most importantly your customers. If your business has yet to embrace the world of ‘hashtags’ and ‘retweets’ you are missing out on the millions of customers that are already finding local businesses and services through what is fast becoming one of the world’s largest social networks. The value of Twitter for a business of any size is immeasurable, the micro-blogging site enables businesses to interact and engage with customers whilst generating a buzz about the company through 140 character updates. Here at Scoot we absolutely love Twitter and our team are always on hand to help out with anything that you need plus all of the latest news and updates from the world of business.

Join the social media revolution

As a business it has become almost impossible to ignore the impact that social media has had on how we choose to reach our customers. With the whole word seemingly tweeting, liking and now +1(ing) everything from customer service to special offers, viewing social media as a fad is one of the biggest mistakes a business can make. If you have yet to even dip your toe into the world of social media, here are our three top tips to getting started!

1. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!

Although it may be tempting to set up your profiles and dive headfirst into tweets and status updates, take the time to think about what you want to achieve from social media. If you are looking to increase brand awareness why not research some of the key issues in business and join the conversations about them on Twitter? If you are looking to attract new customers why not advertise an exclusive special offer on your Facebook page or Tweet out a promotional code to your followers. The most basic aspect of social media is sharing so make sure you take the time to share information that your customers will actually want to read. Blog posts, funny viral videos and or even pictures of new products will soon get the ball rolling and the followers pouring in.

2. Keep going!

If after a week or so you haven’t got the 1000’s of followers that you expected, try and resist the temptation to close the laptop and never speak of Twitter or Facebook again. In order to grow successful social media profiles you need to dedicate time and resources. Sharing out the responsibility is a great way to get more of your team interested in social media and will ensure that there is always a steady stream of information being posted.

3. Spread the love

Whether you are Team Twitter of a Facebook fan, one of the most important things to remember about social media is that you need to cover all of your bases. There are programs available that will send a post to all of your social media platforms however it is best to cater different posts for different sites. Utilise #hashtags when using Twitter to get the maximum effect and take advantage of the extended character limits on Facebook to give your customers all of the information that they need.

Scoot, the UK Business Finder, has announced a raft of new ways for their users to find the information they need. Using the popularity of the best social networking platforms Scoot has developed a range of exciting new products and avenues for businesses to advertise their products, services and special offers to a whole new demographic of customers.

These new innovations now allow users throughout the UK to find businesses on a multitude of new websites as well as the already popular buisness directories. It also allows businesses to access other methods of advertising which may have been beyond their know-how or budgets at a reasonable or even free cost. Innovative products such as the new Video Montage will push businesses onto the major video sites such as Youtube and Metacafe. The Special Offer add-on to the in demand listing product will advertise businesses on Twitter.

Scoot also has profiles on many other social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace. For more info and descriptions of the Social Network Advertising products please visit our site Social Network Advertising.