Top 3 Social Media Must Haves

We’ve been managing social media accounts for small businesses for many years now. There are a lot of tools and strategies out there for any business looking to make social media marketing part of their overall marketing plan. We’ve seen recommendations and hot new resources come and go. In our opinion, there are three tools that every small business needs for their social media marketing efforts.

Editorial Calendar

Every successful social media account starts with a solid strategy. Just posting in the moment and when you think about it is reckless. It does not take into account your goals. (Do you have marketing and social media goals?) It puts you in a position to make up content on the fly. (What is it you are trying to accomplish?) It hinders your ability to be consistent and show up for your audience. (Can your followers rely on you?) All of these issues go away by creating an editorial calendar and coming up with a plan for social media.

Graphics App

Social media has proven that text-only posts simply don’t work. People do not engage with them so the algorithms bury those posts. This means you must have compelling visuals attached to your posts for them to be seen. Whether that is videos, photos, or graphics – you need more than a strong caption. What works well for our clients are investing in a graphics app, like Canva.com, to create social media posts.

Scheduling Software

You didn’t get into business to be attached to social media all day. Once you have a social media strategy, and have created great content, you’ll need to pick a social media marketing scheduling software to ensure you are consistent. That way you can batch content and walk away to get other things done. Just don’t forget to keep engaging with your audience! (But you can build time into your schedule for engagement.)

With all the options out there, and there are many, what we’ve found is that these three tools are a social media must have for our company and our clients.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

Top 3 Social Media Trends for 2022

Now that we are over half-way through the year, what social media trends have emerged? What is working for social media marketing today? Feeling like your stuck and need an inspiring new idea to reach people and increase engagement?

Here are the top 3 social media trends so far for 2022:

Social Listening

Every small business is trying to figure out how to get the most valuable thing in the world – the attention of their audience. Attention is the currency of online marketing. However, that means our audiences have exposure fatigue. All the brands are trying to get in front of them all the time, and it’s exhausting. This is going to separate the really good content creators from the rest of the pack. How do you become a stand out on social media? You build a relationship with your audience and you ask them what they need. Why do they follow you? How can you help them transform their lives? Social listening is becoming a key component in the best social media marketing strategies and your small business should be doing that as well.

Short Form Video

Video isn’t new. Video marketing has been the most effective form of online content for years long. However, long form videos are losing their shine. Unless you are building a YouTube channel, short form video is what people are consuming right now. Whether the videos are for TikTok, Instagram Reels, for Facebook – keep them short, entertaining, and engaging.

TikTok

Miss the early days of Facebook when organic reach and engagement was crazy effective? Yeah, everyone does. Unfortunately, the more popular a social media app becomes, the harder it is to achieve organic results. Right now, TikTok is newly popular and the organic reach is fantastic. So, everyone is jumping ship to try this new video platform. That means there is a short, narrow window before TikTok becomes the new Facebook. And businesses are not missing the boat. Does that mean you should join the TikTok bandwagon? That depends. Can you ramp up quickly? Are you ready to learn a new platform? Is your audience watching videos on the app? Are you willing to make a lot, seriously a ton, of short videos every week? If you answer isn’t HECK YES to each of these questions, I’d recommend not spending the time and energy getting to learn a new channel that you can’t be successful using. If it is a yes, stop reading this blog and starting using the app ASAP. The more you use it, the better you’ll get.

Social media trends are just that… trends. They are no substitute for the long effective tactics of creating a social media strategy, building an editorial calendar, telling stories and building relationships with your audience. If you are already doing these things and want to amp up your efforts right now, these trends may be just the thing.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

Top 3 Social Media Messaging Tips

There is no perfect formula for creating social media content worth sharing. However, there are some things you can do to up your social media marketing game and create content that your audiences wants to share with their people.

Storytelling

The number one tip for any brand on social media is to learn how to tell a good story. Human beings are drawn to stories. Story evokes an emotional response in people. If you want your content to spread, you’ll have to learn to be a storyteller. Your followers will share your content as soon as they start caring about it. Stories make us feel.

With each piece of possible content, ask yourself what the story is behind the content. How can you spin the same idea in a way that uses emotional drivers and makes viewers identify and care?

Keep It Relevant

The most common mistake small business owners make with their social media content is forgetting that they are creating it for their audience. The goal is to sell your product or service, but no one signs up for a social media account to read ads and promotional material. Social media marketing only works if you are creating content that is relevant and interesting for your followers. What do they need to know? Can you inspire them? Educate them? Entertain them? If you are only using it as a bulletin board for what you want people to know, you’ll quickly find out that no one is paying attention anymore.

Know Your People

If you are going to create content and tell stories that are relevant to your audience, you must first know who they are. If you aren’t creating messaging that is meant for a specific audience, you are just speaking to the sky and hoping it talks back. Relationship building and creating community means being intentional about getting to know your followers. If you want to create effective messaging, ask your people why they show up, what they need, and what keeps them coming back. Then create messaging and content inspired and motivated by these responses.

If you aren’t sure what to create on social media, these social media messaging tips are the inspiration you need to sit down and get started. If you want additional help, book a discovery session with me.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

The Top 3 Social Media Marketing Skills for Your Small Business

Social media marketing has changed quite a bit year after year since its inception. It will continue to do so. However, there are some things that remain true no matter what algorithm changes happen. These social media skills will always be invaluable and necessary for successful results.

Communication

All marketing is really about communication between a brand and an audience. Social media is no exception. If you want to excel on social, you’ll need to improve your communication skills. In many ways, social media is the art of having an online conversation. Too many small businesses and brands stop at talking to their audience. That’s easy to do: share information, share promotional information, share cultural content, etc. A true social media expert knows that this was never meant to be a one-way convo. Every caption, every graphic, every post should be created and shared with the intention of having a conversation with your followers.

Relationship Building

I’ll keep saying it, but social media was always meant to be social. Are you looking for a quick sale or to build a relationship with an advocate that keeps coming back and tells other people how great your work is? That promotional post may accomplish the first but rarely helps with the second. If you are just going to post and walk away, then don’t be surprised when your reach is low and your posts have zero engagement. Remember that this is a conversation and that you are working on building a relationship with your audience. Ask questions, connect with others, participate in conversations, respond to your comments, and send time actively engaging with posts on your preferred social media network(s).

Creativity

This one can get tricky because not everyone is creative. Also, creativity isn’t something that shows up on demand all the time. While it’s important to be consistent online, the same repetitive posts do not encourage people to view or engage with your posts. It’s important to switch it up occasionally and allow yourself to be inspired when it comes to your own social media content.

If you are bored with your own online content, it’s a guarantee that your audience is as well. One of the best ways to avoid this is to use the app and pay attention to the content that moves you, gets you to like, comment, or share. Make it a point to get outside of your comfort zone and actively work on creating creative posts that your audience will love.

Regardless of what changes online, building your communication, relationship, and creativity skills will always be at the top of the list when it comes to social media marketing.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

Learn how to use social media to grow your business online with our video series!

  • Learn the fundamentals of social media
  • Learn how to build better brand engagement
  • Learn how to enhance your visitors' experience
  • Learn how to grow your business using social media strategies.

If you want someone to break down aspects of social media to get more clients and build your business using social media, this is the program for you.

Start Learning Today!

Follow me

Categories

Latest Articles

©2008-2023 Clere Communications / The Social Media Advisor