Hollie Clere, Author at The Social Media Advisor

October 28, 2019
Social Media Strategy

#BePrepared – How to Create Content in Social Media that Your Audience Loves!

You know what they say: Content is king.

But that’s really only applicable if you’re writing content that your audience loves. Otherwise, your content is relegated to the sidelines. It’s more court jester than king.

Churning out content just for the sake of churning out content will get your business nowhere. If you’re not producing quality material, it’s a waste of time for both you and your audience.

If you want to get noticed in this great big online world, your content has to be quality. It has to answer your audience’s questions, solve their problems, or at least be entertaining. It has to make people take notice.

Are your social media posts hitting the mark? If not, keep reading for a few simple ways to up your online game and write content your audience will love:

Know your customers

We’ve talked before about your ideal customer, or “avatar.” By now, you should know them inside and out:

Who are they?
What do they do for work?
Where do they live?
Do they have kids?
What are their hobbies?
What challenges do they need help with?

Keep that person in mind every single time you write a piece of content – even if it’s just a simple Facebook post – and your chances of success will multiply a hundredfold.

Check out the competition

All of the big-name brands monitor the competition to see what they’re up to. There’s no shame in that game!

If you see another brand in your niche that’s killing it on social media, try to figure out what’s working for them.

Maybe they’re sharing more video than you, or they post a lot of quizzes and polls to encourage interaction. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid to take their tactics and work them into your own strategy!

Be responsive

When a member of the public makes a mention of your brand online, whether the comment is good or bad, respond.

Many business owners make the mistake of ignoring online interactions. They assume that if a comment is good, no further action is necessary, because that person is already a fan. If the comment is bad, they may not want to further aggravate the situation by engaging with the detractor.

But a quick response, either way, shows your audience that you care about customer service and value your clients.

Optimize your posts

Last but not least: Do a little keyword research. Yes, keywords matter – even in social media.

Keywords reveal what people are talking about and what they’re likely to be searching for. Use those words in your posts, your social media ads, or your hashtags to ensure you get in front of the largest audience possible.

Writing great content can take time and effort, but if it gets more eyes on your page, it’s totally worth it.

Still feel lost? Check out our Social Power Program, designed to give business owners all the knowledge they need to succeed online – starting NOW.

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.

October 21, 2019
Social Media Marketing

#BePrepared – How to Read Social Media Reports

Have you been using social media for months and months, but you have no idea if you’re even getting any results?

Don’t worry: You’re not alone.

Tons of small business owners post daily to social media without any real idea of what’s working and what’s not.

We get it: Checking all of those reports and trying to interpret the data can be daunting. But it’s important to check your analytics regularly so you can spot trends and improve your strategy where necessary.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do if you know what to look for. These are the key metrics you should focus on for the best ROI:

Followers

These are the people who have “liked” your page and (hopefully) see your posts show up on their timeline. This number is important because the more followers you have, the more engagement and traffic your page will receive. All of those add up to higher visibility.

To see how many followers you have, simply visit your profile page on any social media network and look at the number displayed there. For more in-depth information, you can view insights or analytics reports and see exactly how many followers you gained and how many you lost in any given time period.

Impressions

Impressions are the number of users who saw a post. Most of the big-name social media networks have built-in analytics that will show the number of impressions your posts receive.

Why are impressions important? Because the more people that see your content, the better, obviously!

Check your analytics to see which days and which posts received the most impressions so you can create more of that type of content!

Engagement

Engagement goes beyond audience members just seeing your posts. When they engage, they “like” your posts, leave comments, and share.

Impressions are nice, but engagement gets you in front of new eyes. When an audience member shares your content, there is the chance that everyone on their friends’ list will see it as well.

Like impressions, you should monitor engagement to see which posts receive the most activity – and then make more of them.

Mentions

The best free advertising of all? Brand mentions: When a user talks about your brand of their own volition.

On the flip side, of course, people may mention your brand because they are unhappy with your product or service.

Either way, mentions are worth monitoring and responding to. A quick reply to ANY mention shows that you take customer service seriously and that you value your audience.

Don’t think you have the skills to monitor analytics on your own? Never fear! Our Social Power program will give you all the tools you need to grow your business on social media. Reach out today to learn more.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

October 17, 2019
Content Marketing

#BePrepared – How to Repurpose Your Content in Social Media

How long does it take you to write a really compelling blog post? Three hours? Four? More than that?

And what happens once you’ve posted it? Does it just sit there and languish, all of that effort wasted?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could take that content and repurpose it in other ways? Maybe get it in front of a different audience?

Well . . . why can’t you?

When you write a stellar blog post and you KNOW that it’s useful to your audience, why not share it across the board?

Keep reading for our favorite ways to take those old blog posts and repurpose them for social media, so you can get the most bang for your online marketing buck!

Create graphics. Take short snippets of useful information from blog posts and turn them into quote graphics or take a list and turn it into an infographic. It’s a fun new way to display the same content and (as an added bonus) visual content often drives higher engagement than text alone.
Build a social campaign. If you have a blog that includes a TON of useful information, you can easily break it down into parts and share each one as a separate social media post. Let your audience know that there is more to come and share a new tip or snippet each day. It will get them hooked and keep them coming back for more.
Utilize your newsletter. It would be nice if everyone in your audience always logged on to read your new blogs, but that’s just not the case. Use your newsletter to get in front of fresh eyes by including links to your blog, writing up summaries of new content, or even sending out a “Top 10” curated list of your favorite posts.
Get ‘em hooked on Twitter. Love a good one-liner? Consider Twitter. There, you can take the most impactful quotes, statistics, and facts from your blog posts and share them as punchy little snippets. Phrase them in a way that leaves your audience dying for more and, of course, link back to the original content.

You put a lot of time and effort into your blog posts. It seems silly to just slap them up on your website and then ignore them. By repurposing your content for social media and other outlets, you can gain a new audience and improve your ROI.

If you need help with brand engagement or building a presence on social media, consider our Social Power Program. We’ll give you all the strategies you need to get your business started on the road to online success.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

October 14, 2019
Social Media Strategy

#BePrepared – How to Establish a Social Media Ad Budget

Is it possible to achieve social media success without advertising? Sure.

Is it easy? No way.

In today’s world, gaining an organic audience on social media is nearly impossible.

Unfortunately, however, many small business owners live under the assumption that social media advertising costs way too much money or that it’s too difficult to pull off.

We’re here to tell you that’s not true. You don’t need a ton of training to pull off a successful Facebook ad – and you certainly don’t need a giant budget.

Here’s how to make it work:

Setting a social media budget

The first thing to do when determining a social advertising budget is to figure out how much you want to spend on your social media strategy overall – that includes everything from scheduling tools (like Hootsuite) to hiring outside contractors.

From there, you can determine what portion of that budget you want to spend on social media ads.

For most small business owners, a marketing budget amounts to 5% to 15% of annual revenue – so if you’re making $50,000 a year, you might spend between $2,500 and $7,500 on advertising. Out of that budget, you’ll likely want to spend about 15% on social media advertising.

The bigger picture

When planning your budget, don’t forget that the actual cost of the ad is only part of the total expense. Even if you’re handling the work entirely by yourself, there is still time spent – and when it comes to business, time equals money.

So, what exactly goes into creating a social media ad campaign?

Research
Copy Writing
Design
Strategy
Analytics
More

Those items need to be worked into your social media advertising budget. If you hire someone for graphic design, that cost should be lumped into your ad budget. If you’re doing the design yourself, account for that as well – for example, if it takes you one hour to design an ad, and you charge $75/hour, deduct that amount from your budget.

It’s important to not let those peripheral activities go unaccounted for. If you don’t keep track of your real ad spend, you’ll have no idea what your actual ROI is.

Bottom line? For just a nominal amount each month, you can expand your reach and attract new customers. Totally worth all that time it takes to sit down and create a budget!

Contact us if you have questions about setting a social media marketing budget. Our Social Power Program can teach you how to use ads – and much more – to grow your business on social media.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

Free + Free = Win!

Are you telling your brand story in social media?

Author: Hollie Clere

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

Follow me

Categories

Latest Articles