Author: Hollie Clere

Top 3 Uses of Professional Headshots in Your Social Media Marketing

Images of YOU are going to bring higher engagement than any stock image out there. The more you have to work with, the better you’ll be able to build an online presence – both on your website and in your social media marketing.

Connecting with Your Audience

Plan to get a series of great photos done professionally that show your brand voice – indoor, outdoor, doing a fun activity you love, different times of the year. The variety will be helpful all year long in social media marketing. Leave blank space in areas for adding quotes and tips. The less busy the background, the more area you’ll have to work with. Most importantly, showcase your personality! These images will help you grab the attention of your audience and will help them feel like they are getting to know you. This familiarity is important for connection and connection is what social media is all about!

Building Trust & Credibility

In social media, we call profiles that have no pictures (that just use the generic, standard default image) as eggheads. Avoid the eggheads always. What a lack of a profile picture suggests, whether true or not, is that this person isn’t real. They either don’t really exist, they are pretending to someone else, or they aren’t active on that particular platform or channel.

Because these people are hiding, they aren’t to be trusted or taken seriously. While adding a profile pic won’t make you an expert in your industry – not having one means immediate disqualification. The first step to earning credibility and earning trust online is to simply show up.

Showcasing Your Brand

“Brand photography is one of the best ways to create credibility and increase your like-know-trust factor with your savvy audience.”
Hilary Hartling

While traditional headshots are better than nothing, the best thing to do is invest in the talents of a brand photographer. What is brand photography? The goal of a quality brand photography session is to capture the essence of your brand in photos. These images are less professional and stiff and have more of a lifestyle feel to them. These images increase your brand recognition and help the audience to connect with you in a real, authentic way.

If you want to be found as a business, you have to stop hiding behind other people’s images and content. It’s time to show up so your audience can resonate with you.

Are you struggling with not understanding how to use social media for your business?  Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over a 3-month period, we will develop a Road Map of exactly how to use social media for your business. During our Quarterly Strategy Road Map period, we will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and breaking through fears and frustrations regarding 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.

The Top Three Resources You Should Have in Your Social Media Tool Belt

Beginning the social media marketing journey can feel overwhelming for small business owners. You are already the Everything CEO of your business and you may not have the time to research and try out different tools to find the right ones for you. Since we’ve been in the social media marketing industry for almost two decades now, let us help you narrow down your choices so you can get started right away.

Scheduling Software

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”
Erik Qualman

Unless you want to be on the hook for logging into your social media channels every day of your life, selecting a social media scheduling software is a must. What we recommend for our clients is having a consistent schedule, based on an editorial calendar, of content created and scheduled every month. This doesn’t eliminate the need to show up occasionally nor does it mean that you can’t post more than the scheduled content. It does, however, ensure that you remain consistent no matter what happens during the month and takes the stress off your plate of feeling like you have to show up every day.

The two most popular choices when it comes to social media schedulers, although there are dozens to choose from, are Hootsuite.com and Buffer.com. Most of our clients use one of these platforms. If you have found another you like better, that is completely fine. Most of the scheduling tools available have similar features and functionality.

Image Management

“Visual content is a preview to your great content, ultimately leading to connection!”
Donna Moritz

Data has shown us that quality graphics are necessary to get attention. Simply typing will not get you the attention you need to grow your business. Algorithms have proven this and downplay text-only posts for this reason: People don’t engage with them.

If you aren’t creating your own images, you’ll need to find some stock photography websites in order to download and use copyright-safe pictures for your content. Pay close attention to the copyrights of any images you use and don’t just grab an image from Google and use it. I, personally, know business owners who did not understand this and were fined for their ignorance.

It’s also important to sign up for a graphic design tool to help you create images for your social media marketing. We use Canva.com but there are plenty of similar options available.

Curation Sources

“Provide good content and you’ll earn the right to promote your product.”
Guy Kawasaki

All businesses have to start somewhere. Unless you are currently creating 100% of the content you share online, you’ll need a list of trusted sources to refer to when it comes time to share content or become inspired to create new content. This tool can be as simple as a list of links of publications related to your industry that frequently create and share content that is relevant for your audience. It could be as complex as implementing an RSS feeder (like Feedly.com) that grabs articles and blog posts from websites you love so you only have to visit one place to find quality content. Which tool you use is less important than getting started. The time you invest upfront in gathering these resources will save you time every month in the future.

While there are many, many options when it comes to social media marketing tools that you could invest in, most business owners just need a simple path so they may begin. Once you set up a social media scheduler, figure out what images you will use or create, and decide on what type of content you want to share – you are ready to begin making an impact and connecting with people online.

Are you struggling with not understanding how to use social media for your business?  Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over a 3-month period, we will develop a Road Map of exactly how to use social media for your business. During our Quarterly Strategy Road Map period, we will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and breaking through fears and frustrations regarding 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.

Harvesting Your Marketing Efforts

As you move towards the last quarter of the year, it’s time to start evaluating what you’ve done on social media so far this year and explore what is working and what is not. Social media marketing needs time to build results but it’s still important to keep your eyes on the analytics. What has gone well for your business in the online marketing space and what could use some work?

How can you harvest the marketing efforts from your business through social media?

Consistency

“By being consistent with your followers, you’ll build loyal followers that will share and talk about your brand, you know what they say about word of mouth.”
Wasulu Habib Olawale

There are two big dangers when it comes to failure in the consistency department on your social media channels.

  • You lose trust. Your audience will show up for you but only if you prove that you are there for them first. A gap in consistency may be forgiven but frequent consistency problems send a clear message that being present and showing up isn’t important to your brand. This is not the message you want the world to receive, right?
  • The algorithms will work against you. A social media algorithm exists to capitalize on the momentum. Just posting every day is probably not enough to gain an algorithmic boost, but if you post regularly AND are getting consistent engagement – that’s enough data for these channels and platforms to know people want to see what you are posting. As long as this continues, the algorithm will favor your content. However, when you drop the ball – and the social engagement stops – so will any advantage you were getting from the algorithms. It’s like starting over from scratch each time.

Earning Trust

The hardest part of the know, like, trust equation is earning the trust of your audience. Some of this has to do with the fact that humans are less likely to trust than ever before. Much of it has to do with the fact that the spammers and used car salesman stereotypes have us all skeptical and on edge.

As a new or struggling business owner, the most desperate need you have is to find clients and make money. It puts you in a different position than a business that has a cozy bottom line and is marketing to grow – not to survive. Unfortunately, your customers can sense desperation and hate when businesses vie for their money every moment of every day.

Earning trust then puts you in a situation where you can’t afford to not show up. It puts you in a spot where being generous to gain attention and awareness is vital. Too many business owners do not see these activities as being essential for growth because they don’t have an immediate and obvious impact on the bottom line. However, until you earn trust – people will not open up their wallets for you.

What have you done to earn the trust of your audience, your customers, and your peers this year?

Know Your Audience

When businesses get started with social media marketing they, typically, create and share content that is interesting to them. Mostly because they aren’t sure what to post and, often, because they don’t know their audience.

Identifying your target audience is the first step in getting to know them. Once you get to know your audience, they’ll tell you what they need, what their pain points are. They’ll rank your content by engaging with the posts they find the most valuable or interesting.

By paying attention to what your audience loved this year, you’ll have a better understanding of what content to create moving forward. Understanding how to move forward means exploring your successes and failures. In order to harvest the successes of your marketing efforts this year, you’ll have to take the time to examine what does or doesn’t work for your audience.

Are you struggling with not understanding how to use social media for your business?  Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over a 3-month period, we will develop a Road Map of exactly how to use social media for your business. During our Quarterly Strategy Road Map period, we will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and breaking through fears and frustrations regarding 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.

Celebrate Your Client Retention Goals

Many small business owners set annual goals, but nowhere near as many make goals that relate to client retention. I think most people know by now that it costs more money to replace a client than to nurture and appreciate your current ones, but still businesses just don’t consider the importance of client retention efforts (often until it’s too late).

If you did set goals for client retention this year, take a moment to celebrate your thoughtfulness and follow through on those goals.

Then check out these ideas for client retention that you can implement this year:

Purposeful Partnerships

Have you been keeping your eyes open for possible collaboration opportunities with your clients? Teaming up and working on something together – whether it be a new launch or a community service endeavor – is a great way to celebrate your business relationship by creating something that makes the world better. Be certain to share your successes on your website and on social media.

Share Your Customer’s Success Stories

Hopefully, you have connected to your clients on social media already. If you are, then spend time each week reviewing their most recent posts, engaging with their content, and sharing their successes on your own social media feeds. It’s a fantastic way to show your clients that you appreciate them and what they do and shows your audience how dedicated you are to your clients at the same time.

Client Appreciation

The middle of the year is a great time to think about client appreciation, especially if you haven’t gotten around to showing your gratitude yet. This could look like many things:

  • Sharing how much you appreciate your client on social media.
  • Hosting an online or in-person appreciation event (promoting it through social media or creating an online group where everyone can connect and celebrate together).
  • Writing a handwritten note.
  • Sending a thoughtful gift.

It’s good to do something thoughtful, that puts your clients in the spotlight, at least once a year. If you haven’t had a chance yet, now is a great time to start planning how you will show your appreciation for their belief in you and your business.

Profits and your bottom line are important. Spreading awareness about your business is important. Finding new leads to keep your company growing is important. However, don’t take your attention away once a lead signs on the dotted line and becomes a customer. Client retention is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Solid client relationships will pay dividends in the long run and are worth celebrating often.

By celebrating your clients on social media, you are showcasing to your potential customers what they can expect when doing business with you. Did you know that every social media platform is searchable? Each channel is its own search engine and also appears in the results of popular web browsers (like Google). Every word matters. Have you completely filled out your social media profiles? Is your messaging current? Have you optimized your opportunities to be found in search using your social media accounts? If not, now is the time to get your channels revamped! You’ll be amazed at the results. Book a discovery session here and ask us about Robust Profile Optimizations.

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.

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