Do consumers 'like' you?

Social media can be a brand's best friend if used effectively. Platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are great for engaging with your customers, getting instant feedback and giving your business a voice. But you can't share content with users if they don't 'like' you.

Unfortunately, in the world of Facebook, there are so many pages devoted to businesses, brands and individual products that you can not rely on your reputation alone to gain 'fans'; people want to feel like you value their time and attention.

Studies have shown that nearly half of UK Facebook users 'like' a company or brand at least once a month but would 'like' more business offerings if they were given incentives such as competitions, exclusive news, free product samples and discount vouchers.

How big is your following on Facebook? Would you offer rewards in exchange for 'likes'?

Drinks Brand Give Away Olympic Tickets

At Freer PR we love a good give-away; from beauty products with our favourite glossy magazines to follower rewards on our most loved blogs. We also know how much value giveaways and competitions can add to a marketing campaign. Coca-Cola have upped the stakes and are giving away something that money can no longer buy; Olympic Tickets.

Yes, that's right, the popular drinks brand are giving their customers an opportunity to win VIP tickets to next year's Olympics as part of an on-pack promotion. Not only are customers in with the chance to win tickets to see the games other perks of being a VIP are accommodation in a luxury hotel with full hospitality and travel allowance.

Just how did the lucky people at Coca-Cola get their hands on the sold out tickets to giveaway? They are sponsoring the London 2012 Games and by giving away such an in-demand prize their sales figures are likely to go through the roof; a very smart move.

Have you tried product giveaways and competitions to promote your brand? Tell us how successful it was.

Burberry unveil collection on Twitter

We've been waiting for the day when brands would combine two things we love, fashion and social media, to allow us to be one step ahead of even the most serious fashionistas. So imagine our delight when we discovered that Burberry would be displaying their latest collection on Twitter before it even hit the catwalk at London Fashion Week.

In a fashion industry first, Burberry snapped beautiful models backstage wearing their exquisite garments and uploaded them to Twitter for the whole world to see. It was a bold move but one which undoubtedly paid off with the pictures having been viewed thousands of times and creating a hive of publicity for the luxury label.

But the best thing about this move? Fashion lovers and potential customers who weren't able to make it to London Fashion Week were made to feel just as valued as those attending and as we all know customer satisfaction is the most important thing in business, even more so in the huge world of Fashion. 

For Burberry, the 60% of their marketing budget they spend on digital media and advertising is obviously paying off. Has your business developed a digital and social media marketing strategy yet?

Websites that don't 'share' lose free publicity

As the saying goes, “All publicity is good publicity”, so free publicity is even better right? Not if a new report is anything to go by. Research carried out by Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) platform, BrightEdge, has shown that over 45% of websites and blogs do not have 'share' buttons which allow visitors to quickly pass on content to their social networks.

At Freer PR we were bitten by the social media bug a long time ago and like many people, it has become a big part of our lives. We love connecting with others and often help our 'friends' out by sharing their messages. The power of social media is phenomenal and just by adding a 'share' button to your sites you can increase the chances of gaining wider exposure; in-fact it's proven that websites with 'share' facility gain seven times as many mentions on Twitter.

Most basic website and blog templates now come with an in-built 'share' button but if you haven't got one and would like people to be able to pass on your messages then they can be added easily. There are tools such as AddThis that can be installed in a matter of minutes and link to all the social media networks from one simple button.

What are you waiting for? Start sharing today!

Fashion Festival begins in Chester

We love fashion here at Freer PR, in fact, one of our lovely clients has been short-listed for a prestigious Drapers award. So when we heard that Chester would be hosting a two-week long fashion festival, starting this weekend, we were understandably overjoyed.


What better excuse to spend time in our beautiful city than a spot of style building and trend-spotting to ensure we are fully in the know about the latest 'must-haves'. With a variety of events including catwalk shows, makeovers and the 'Face of Cheshire' competition there is sure to be something to suit every taste and budget.

We love seeing Chester city centre packed to rafters with people enjoying all that it has to offer and there is no doubt the Fashion Festival will create a bubble of tourism for the stylish city.

Will you be making a trip to the Fashion Festival? We're wishing you a wonderful weekend whatever you have in-store.

BBC 'most popular' news site: you decide

Yesterday it was reported that the BBC is yet again the 'most popular' news site but here at Freer PR we're not ones to simply accept statistics as fact without looking into things ourselves so we thought who better to ask than you.

We know that the phrase 'most popular' when it comes to this sort of thing can be misleading as what it actually means is 'most viewed' and you don't have to like a site to view it. This is why we took the matter to Twitter and asked our lovely followers where they get their news.

From the responses we received it is clear that individuals engage with a variety of sites depending on the kind of news they are looking for. Matching up with the statistics, BBC news appears to be the 'most popular' when it comes to traditional 'straight-news'. For more light-hearted subjects and gossip Yahoo, MailOnline and Aol seem to be the destination of choice.

The general consensus though, was that all the important news and information about a variety of subjects can be found via Twitter. For many, including our Account Exec, news is found through the sharing of links on Twitter and is read on whichever site the link directs to.

Do you agree with our findings? Where do you get your news?

Fantastic opportunity to work for one of our clients...

Opportunity for Online Marketing Exec 

The role requires creative thinking and an ability to challenge the current norm in an industry that is about to change significantly. You will work closely with the Group Director of Marketing and will be instrumental in delivering a strategic online marketing plan for growth.

Experience and Education

• Educated to degree level or equivalent marketing qualification
• Minimum 2 years proven experience in an online marketing role – candidates who have worked in a wider marketing role but have a specialism in online marketing will be considered.
• Experience of PPC (specifically Google Adwords), whether managed through an agency or in-house, and email marketing essential
• Sound copy writing skills, as well as a creative and analytical mind
• Excellent organisation skills and flexibility, with experience of managing multiple work streams
• Excellent English communication skills (written - including copywriting and verbal)
• A keen interest in all social media platforms and in future online innovations.
• Experience B2B sector is desirable and B2C essential.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint.

Salary – circa £18 - 20k
25 Days Holiday plus Bank Holiday entitlement


Interested candidates should forward their CV to Debbie Edwards at Murlain House, Union Street, Chester, CH1 1QP or email debbie.edwards@law.uk.com