At Ph. Creative we are very pleased to be working on the Mersey Tigers new website that is being launched with aplomb!

We're currently building the Mersey Tigers a strong online presence with their new site which will be launched soon. It will include exciting and clear content, fixture and match listings and much more, along with interactive links to facebook and twitter.

The Mersey Tigers may have lost their association to Everton, but the rebrand has essentially opened up the club to a wider audience, like the red side of the city. In line with the new branding the club also welcomes their new captain Andrew Sullivan.

You can catch the Mersey Tigers get their season under way on September 19th when they challenge the Cheshire Jets in the BBL Trophy at the Echo Arena.

Be sure to keep checking our news for the latest on the Mersey Tigers and Ph. Creative...

Rumour has it that an official announcement is imminent for Google's development of a social networking site to rival Facebook.

The Internet giant has had talks with online gaming companies including Playdom Inc and EA Games to include some of their games on the site.

Following the recent announcement of Facebook's 500 million user success, it's only natural that Kings of Search, Google Inc have decided to develop what could be the next social media phenomenon.

This may well work in their favour to once again dominate the web for all search queries. In recent years, social networking sites have become more intimate and trustworthy than search engines when making decisions, such as finding the best restaurants or choosing a city break.  Real reviews and recommendations via social networking sites have taken the lead - results almost seem as though they come from someone you know.

Users have now come to expect a more personal, descriptive answer to their online search query, as opposed to a simple list of sites, and there's a strong trend for preferred choice of options that come from within a users social circle. As Google would agree, social networking is certainly the way forward.

Social Media is becoming increasingly popular in the marketing world, and a highly effective tool in promoting brands for much less money than through traditional channels.

Two examples to illustrate this recently have been The Fairtrade reporting a 12% increase in Fairtrade goods following their online marketing campaigns through customer focus and understanding, and viral videos becoming widespread amongst music music labels.

It's clear that when we go back to basics, it's the very simple marketing techniques that work. In the world of social media marketing, the key being, to create conversation, follow the conversation, and join the conversation. We're all aware that understanding our customers is essential in the marketing process, and how better than to address your target base first hand? Engage your audience, find out what makes them tick, and more importantly, find out what doesn't.

The more time you dedicate to building a strong network of contacts, followers and industry experts, the quicker you build credibility, recognition and ultimately, convert those strangers into twenty minute meetings.

Businesses of all sizes and nature are flocking to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The fact is, that a presence on these platforms not only allows companies to engage in conversations with consumers, but also serves as an outlet to drive sales through deals and vouchers.

And while some of us have been participating in the social web for some time now, the rate of adoption among small businesses is increasing too. Social media as a marketing tool in small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year. Last year, businesses were learning about social media.  This year, it's more about engaging it and using it properly to increase busines opportunities.

Businesses are finding different benefits and techniques to make proper use of social media marketing and it has become the most cost effective way of reaching the people we need to build a network and generate opportunities.

The days of door to door salespeople might be drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean that people have stopped selling things. The Internet is a great resource to get your goods into the right hands, but it can also be a confusing mess of options. How do you find the right people online?

How can you get your products to them?One of social media’s greatest benefits is how easy it is to get brand exposure. Your products aren’t limited by having to set up a physical shop or buy ads in the local newspaper. However, with so many online eCommerce websites available, it can be difficult to find your customers through all the noise.

For this same reason, cold calling is now falling by the wayside, and being replaced with generation Y marketing, which engages those who are already interested in the product or service, as opposed to the old ‘interruption marketing’. The benefit of this is the leverage of multiple contacts from one place, meaning businesses can work smarter, not harder with technology.

E-mail messages that include options to share content on social media sites drive significant increases in click-through rates according to a new study released today by email marketing firm GetResponse.

Of 500 million e-mails sent using the service found that e-mails that included options like share on Facebook or Twitter generated a 30% higher click-through rate than emails without them. Moreover, when e-mails included at least three different sharing options, publishers experienced a 55% higher CTR on average.

We’re seeing a quick move by e-mail marketers into the realm of social. We see the trend of e-mail marketing getting more social continuing, especially with more numbers pointing to the positive return on what’s a pretty simple investment.

From a perception point of view, brands are therefore engaging with new channels. Also, more and more people are choosing to use social media as a lifestyle choice and therefore are easier to engage with through this method. This is an example of understanding the target audience and making it easier to respond to marketing messages.

It looks as though search is about to enter a new era as it begins to mix into social media. Search engines have already attempted to place some kind of ranking on social updates and we already know that search engines take things like follower quality into account in how they rank tweets.

Now there is a lot of talk of Facebook "likes" and Twitter retweets taking the place of links. Not that they’re dying out – there's plenty of room for link sharing on either of these services, but in some ways these kinds of sharing are replacing links in many cases.

With Facebook's Open Graph and social plugins devouring the web, suddenly liking is taking the place of linking in some provisional scenarios.

While I don’t think anyone specifically saw the Open Graph stuff coming too long before it was announced, it's still reflective of what we've known for some time. The way people are obtaining information online is diversifying. Google's real competition isn't coming from other search engines. It's coming from different avenues of information access.

The biggest threat to Google the search engine (as opposed to the company, which offers a lot more) is people not having to rely on the traditional search engine. While I don't think Google has anything to truly worry about in terms of losing users, it has to worry more about users just not using it as often. Instead they're getting their information from apps, from friends via social networks and even when they're not necessarily at Facebook but on a site or app, via things like social plug-ins.

Here are 5 reasons Google and Search might not dominate the next decade:

    1. The search process is inefficient
    2. Mobile GPS Eliminates the need for location-based search
    3. Social Matching Could Create Valuable Connections
    4. Content Recommendations to Replace Search
    5. Suggestions Will Be the Core of Our Shopping Experience

On a not so negative note, Facebook likes may not translate to better Google rankings, but so what? It's not about choosing between likes and links. Both are ideal.

The point of all of this is it's not just about getting links anymore. Links will always be of use, but social interactions may equal them in importance, and in some cases may be of greater use to your visibility, and ultimately getting people to your site, your content, your store, or your shopping cart.

LinkedIn has recently launched a number of new share features so that now, in addition to Q&As, groups and personal messages, you can send images, article excerpts, blog posts and other content to your professional connections.

Here are a few ways you can maximise the benefits of LinkedIn shares for your business:

1. Keep Consistent

By posting once a day, and syndicating that post to your business’ Twitter and Facebook accounts, you’ll remain fresh in the minds of your connections and customers. Relevant and valuable content will be appreciated and re-shared. Space out your LinkedIn shares to maximize their value for your network.

2. Find New Talent

If you’re expanding your team, LinkedIn is one of the largest and fastest-growing resources for finding the perfect candidate. Write a brand-appropriate blog post giving very specific details on the kind of person you’re looking for. Give your post a simple, sharable headline that contains the company name and position available.

3. Get Feedback

If you’ve got ideas you want to run by your peers or a nagging business problem that needs a solution, LinkedIn groups and Q&A are popular and effective ways to get feedback. Sharing allows you to cross-post your query across multiple networks and add supporting data such as a picture or website link.

4. Promote Your Events

Whether you’re going to a charity dinner or hosting a meet up for your clients, LinkedIn shares can be great for raising community awareness, driving participation or soliciting volunteers or donations. It’s completely acceptable to ask others to re-share the content across their own networks, particularly if it’s a local event geared towards your own community.

5. Spread Your Word

If you’ve got an article or blog post you’re particularly proud of, LinkedIn sharing can be a great way to broadcast that content to your network. Be sure to include a personal comment on why you’re sharing the link, and tailor the extract to include something descriptive and appealing.

Mobile shopping company miBuys has conducted a survey of 1,600 women on mobile phones and found that the overwhelming majority of them were open to more mobile marketing and mobile shopping. Not that I'm suprised, I could have told them that before they went to the effort of conducting the survey!

94% of respondents prefer to use their mobile phones to surf the Internet even when they’re at home and have laptops and desktop PCs nearby. These mobile users also love their social media sites with 86% accessing Facebook, Twitter or similar networks and 93% saying that they’d feel lost without their mobile phones - once I’ve asked the Ph. girls in the office  I’m guessing we can up that a few more percent!

74% of my fellow mobile-loving females said they sometimes shop for splurge items that they might not necessarily need. The majority even said they’d be open to learning about discounts, deals and event promotions on their phones. So if this is something you could be doing, start now and bag yourself an army of female fans.

MiBuys CEO, Mark Bamber said in a release, “This research sends a clear message to advertisers that women are already engaged and eager to explore new cell phone services. It also supports our belief that cell phones and portable devices can already play a significant role in connecting retail brands with their customers. It is perceived that women are only just embracing cell phone services, but the truth is they’re already well beyond this point and now want access to the entire high street through their cell phone”.

Here are some of the other findings from the survey:

• 85% use the mobile Internet almost daily
• 70% expect their mobile internet usage to increase in the future
• 84% have noticed mobile advertising, and 57% have clicked on mobile advertising
• 67% are interested in receiving mobile coupons or vouchers
• 93% are always on the lookout for bargains
• 93% like being up-to-date with new technology