Why is the Yes Campaign Winning on Social Media?

This week on the Webwindows blog, we ask why the Yes campaign is winning the fight for Scottish independence on social media, and what you can learn from it.

Social Media is King

If Webwindows has learned anything crafting extensive web marketing campaigns over the past ten years, it’s that social media is king.  By using social media to your advantage, you are not only gaining access to hundreds of millions of potential customers, but you can take advantage of these sites’ ability to amass specific information, to target said customers with pin point precision.

This is a lesson that both sides of the debate over Scottish independence – the Yes and the Better Together campaigns – have taken to heart, in their bids to sway the people of Scotland to vote for them. But who’s been more effective?

Who’s got the Most Followers on Twitter and Facebook?

Let’s start by looking at raw numbers. According to ITV, the Yes campaign got on Twitter first. By doing so, @YesScotland has managed to amass nearly 80,000 followers since April 2012. Meanwhile, @UK_Together got on Twitter a month later, and as of the time of writing, it has only managed to accrue just over 36,000 followers.

Furthermore, the Yes campaign was first on Facebook as well, and has gathered more than 266,000 likes, whilst its equivalent on the other side has only managed to rack up 188,000 likes at the time of writing. So in the raw numbers stakes, Yes has won, but what does it mean for that bastion of social media success, share-ability.

What Can Shareability Tell Us About the Success of the Yes and Better Together Campaigns?

As it turns out, it may have had a huge impact on shareability. ITV have gone on to show that using the neutral hashtag, #indyref, evidence shows that the two most re-tweeted images had a significant pro-independence bias.

Meanwhile, the third most retweeted image was a graph. Specifically, it was a graph from YouGov showing the first time Yes beat Better Together in the polls, again something that is more likely to have been retweeted by supporters of independence. This brings up a valid point. Yes has gone up, whilst no has gone down, further illustrating the comparative effectiveness of the Yes campaign on social media.

Get on Social Media as Soon As Possible

So what does this tell you? Well, in Webwindows’ opinion, it shows the effectiveness of a well thought out, consistent social media campaign. The earlier you start, the more followers you amass, the more interest you generate in your ad campaign. That is why Yes is edging out Better Together at the time of writing in the polls. 

How to Remove Something from Google

This week, Webwindows wants to help you protect your advertising strategy by letting you know how to remove something from Google.

Respect the Awesome Power of Google

Throughout our ten years of providing effective web marketing solutions to businesses, large and small, across the UK, Webwindows has learned to respect the awesome power of Google. One well optimised ad campaign can dominate your search term’s first page on Google.

Because more people search for the products and services on Google than any other search engine on the planet, this means the site can prove invaluable to your marketing strategy. However, sometimes you will be faced with a user who wants to post negative content about you, and when they do, the power of Google can make sure that these posts do a significant amount of damage to the content marketing element of your ad campaign.

What Will Google Remove?

You need to have a strategy in place to deal with such content, but sometimes the best way to deal with it is just to get the content removed from Google. You can’t get everything removed – Google is too dedicated to free speech for that.

They will remove certain things though. These include national identification numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, images of signature, defamatory statements, copyrighted material etc. The last two are your best bet, but in both cases, you have to be able to prove them.

Use Google Webmaster Tools

Once you’ve determined whether you’ve got a case to have something taken down, it’s time to actually remove it. All you need to do here, is report the content in question via Google’s Webmaster tools.

The Webmaster tool is really easy to use, as long as you have a Gmail account. Just find the tool, follow the instructions, garb the link and explain why you want it removed, then wait to hear back from the search engine. If for some reason they don’t remove it though, it is worth contacting the owner of the actual site with the information damaging your ad campaign – they might be willing to remove the information in question.

Google Can Be a Great Tool for Your Ad Campaign.

What Webwindows wants you to walk away from this blog with this week, is the idea that Google is a great tool you can use to emphasise your ad campaign. But that doesn’t mean that you should let the search engine do any damage. Always remember that Google is a double edged sword. 

Facebook Users More Likely to Self-Censor Post Snowden

With new evidence suggesting that Facebook users are more likely to self-censor post Snowden, Webwindows has seen more clearly than ever the need to tread carefully online.

Facebook’s Strength is it Achilles Heal

Through crafting effective web marketing strategies for companies across the UK for over ten years, Webwindows has seen the damage sites like Facebook can inflict on online marketing campaigns.

Their main strength is their Achilles heel. Sites like Facebook – which has over half a billion users – provide you with access to huge swathes of your target audience. Yet one ill thought out post can damage your reputation with that audience, and sink your entire ad campaign.

America is Self-Censoring itself on Facebook

It seems that individual Facebook users are coming to recognise the double-edged nature of the social media site as well. Specifically, the Guardian reported last week that in light of the Snowden affair, users in America are self-censoring discussions about state surveillance on Facebook.

Specifically, a new poll from Pew Research Centre, found that 86% of adults in the US were either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ willing to discuss the issue offline, yet only 43% were willing to do so on Facebook. Meanwhile only 41% of respondents were willing to do the same on Twitter, which many see as a more public forum than Facebook.

How likely is the Typical Facebook or Twitter User to Discuss Snowden?

The report shed further light on the issue, saying that: “The typical Facebook user – someone who logs onto the site a few times per day – is half as likely to be willing to have a discussion about the Snowden-NSA issues at a physical public meeting as a non-Facebook user.

Similarly, the typical Twitter user – someone who uses the site a few times per day – is 0.24 times less likely to be willing to share their opinions in the workplace as an internet user who does not use Twitter.”

You Need to Self-Censor on Sites like Facebook and Twitter

This may not directly apply to online marketing – who’s ever going to think that discussing Edward Snowden would help their ad campaign - but it does remind Webwindows of the need to self-censor online. You never know who is going to see a Facebook post, which is why you need to self-censor, so that one ill thought out post doesn’t offend the wrong person, go viral and sink your entire ad campaign.

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