How long have you now been active on social media? Are you still psyched about it – enjoy jumping in there a couple of times of week – speaking directly to your customers, looking for ways to be funny, witty, useful and most of all valuable? Mmmm. If you are now half smiling and a little weary – no need for concern, its natural to run out of steam. Social media for business takes energy, thought and creativity – and let’s be honest, its really tough generating that 365 days a year. Here are my top tips on reviewing what you are doing, finding fresh content and quite frankly not losing the will to live! TIP 1: Look at the frequency of your sharing Facebook has changed a lot over the last … [Read more...] about Five Social Media Essentials
Social Media
The following blog posts cover a variety of topics within the area of social media. We share insights into some of the platforms themselves, the strategy behind using them or simply how to blend this channel into your digital marketing strategy.
How can I make my Facebook posts show on Twitter
This is part of my series of FAQ videos where I answer your questions in person for you. In this edition I answer the question: How can I make my Facebook Posts appear on Twitter? This question, for me, is more like asking permission to press one button and get two jobs done - i.e. social media content automation. In reality trying to repeat the exact same content across multiple platforms is going to set your engagement back a lot. Watch the video below and I will tell you why I'm against automating content and why you should be creating content that is tailored to each of your audiences on Facebook or Twitter. While you can make your Facebook posts appear on Twitter - perhaps its not … [Read more...] about How can I make my Facebook posts show on Twitter
The social media team needs inspiration and input
Sustaining a social media strategy means finding the enthusiasm, motivation and stamina to continually feed the content monster. Part of feeding the content monster comes from idea generation and creativity - which will come from your team either within your social media department, if you have one, or from a handful of people around the organisation. Keeping up the steam of enthusiasm It is very important to ensure that you are nourishing the enthusiasm in your team, because that will ripple out to your social media audience and impact engagement, reach and of course, in the end…your results. Schedule time for refreshing the brain The brain is a muscle and needs exercise. To stay creative, … [Read more...] about The social media team needs inspiration and input
The difference between Facebook Pages and Groups
This is part of my series of FAQ videos where I answer your questions in person for you. In this edition I answer the question that has cropped up many times (especially when I am busy in a Facebook training session): What is the difference between have a Page and having a Group on Facebook? The temptation is to look for the "easier" route on Facebook, however - there is a clear difference between these two Facebook products - so beware. Watch the video below and I will walk you through how these two options are different and then you should have your answer as to which product to use (and when). Remember - you could end up using both...in different ways for your business. It is all about … [Read more...] about The difference between Facebook Pages and Groups
Upskill or die in social media
If there is one thing I’ve learnt about the social media profession its that it is one that needs constant attention and up skilling. If you are already working in this space, you will know that it demands a knowledge base of technology and software all, of course, underpinned by a unique set of soft skills. The technology and software elements alone are growing and evolving at an alarming rate. In short - your social media knowledge needs a regular MOT (in England that means a regular check-up). Essentially, in reality, the training you do today in this field – will need updating in 3 months (if you are lucky). Planning for up-skilling needs to be a very important feature within your … [Read more...] about Upskill or die in social media
How to put your social media training together
Once you have identified who it is in the organisation that needs to undertake social media training, the next thing to work out is how is best to carry out the training. Before you put your training session together there are few aspects to take into account: 1.What are the learning outcomes? What specific working knowledge, skills or learnt techniques do you want the person to walk away with after the session(s)? 2. How much time can the individual realistically take out to do the training Depending on where the person works in the business, you may have some restrictions on how long you can keep them away from the business. This isn’t true for many roles – so don’t take that as a reason … [Read more...] about How to put your social media training together
Spinning a Tale versus Spinning a Sale
Many businesses are so consumed by their sales target, that they completely forget to tell their story. They use sales clichés, boring technical terms, and quite frankly in this day and age uninspiring content leads to uninspired consumers. Think back to when you were a child, remember the fairy tales you sat listening to - wide eyed...silent, anticipating the next chapter. You can picture the content now can’t you? This is how your blog writing should leave your readers. How do you get them coming back for more? You quite simply “tell your story”. Treat each blog post as a “chapter” in your story. Each chapter should have a clear beginning, middle and an end, and leave your audience … [Read more...] about Spinning a Tale versus Spinning a Sale
Ellenborough Park | A hotel social media case study
The Ellenborough Park Hotel is a luxury hotel in Cheltenham…in the gorgeous Cotswolds. Unfortunately, because of the work that I do – the first thing that I do when shopping around for places to stay, is go and look at their social media! As luck would have it – in this case...Ellenborough Park are BRILLIANT at their social media – both in strategy and in implementation. These two things do not always go together I assure you. What do I like about their social media? While they have quite an extensive presence on many platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and are blogging) - they are very good on all of them. This isn’t always true for businesses that choose to be on … [Read more...] about Ellenborough Park | A hotel social media case study
What is Podcasting?
Podcasting is on a growth trajectory (supported in Social Media Examiner’s April 2014 Social Media Marketing Report) and should be one of things you want to learn more about this year. A ‘podcast’, as a basic definition, is a digital file - an audio file (mp3) that people listen to via their mp3 player (iPod or similar); smartphone; tablet or computer. If you produce a podcast – you would do so in order to share your expertise as part of your content strategy as an expert in your field. The idea is to not do this as a once-off activity – but as a consistent route to sharing your story, skills and knowledge regularly – as you would do across your other channels (like blogging, Facebook, … [Read more...] about What is Podcasting?
Attract attention, entice action and inspire advocacy
I registered for Donna Moritz from Socially Sorted’s Visual Marketing Webinar earlier this month and while I got many little gems from listening to Donna - there was one element that really stood out for me. She shared the things that she said applies to what good visual marketing messages should cover, i.e. every image or visual message you put together should do three things: Attract Attention Entice Action Inspire Advocacy Perhaps you will have gathered from either knowing me or by way of my blog that I love the rule of three. Its nifty, short, sweet, cuts to the chase and is easy to remember. So – I was really pleased when Donna shared these three points with us. They also gave me … [Read more...] about Attract attention, entice action and inspire advocacy