Hollie Clere, Author at The Social Media Advisor

August 28, 2021
Social Media Marketing

Top 3 Reasons You Should Create Your Own Branded Images for Social Media

We are constantly seeing brands get in trouble for using images that they have curated from various places on the Internet. It’s shocking how many small business owners don’t understand copyright law or the trouble they could get into by saving something from Google or another social media channel and then sharing it on their own social media.

The biggest trouble comes when you use an image you didn’t create and attach your brand colors and logos to it and brand it as yours. You have now violated trademark and copyright laws.

Most of the time, it’s innocent. Businesses aren’t experienced enough in this area to understand that what they are doing is wrong. Seeing other business owners do the same thing is just reinforcing dangerous behavior.

Here’s what you should do instead:

Create Original Images

The best way to avoid this problem is to create your own images to share on social media. If you don’t currently have photos of you or your biz that work, there are plenty of stock photography websites you can use to download images that are legal and appropriate. A few of these websites are free to users. The better images will involve some sort of investment.

Here are some websites to explore for creating your own images:

Brand Photography

If you are struggling to find stock images that resonate with the brand messaging you are trying to create, it may be time to invest in making your own. Brand photography utilizes the services of a professional photographer, skilled in the process of capturing your company’s personality and values on film. Not only will this keep you from getting in trouble with the copyright police, your audience will respond so much more to photos of you than random images of anything else. Just be sure that your agreement with the photographer allows you to share the images digitally. Not all photographers allow for that so you’ll want to look for a brand photographer that specializes in images for social media marketing and pay close attention to your agreement with them.

Connect with your Audience

If you spend your time sharing other people’s content, you are not inspiring them to work with you. This type of content does not relate to your brand, your story, your messaging, or your company culture. It’s easy to confuse those mindlessly scrolling their social media feeds and they won’t connect your post with your work. When you are creating your own branded images for social media you are using your photos, your fonts, and your brand colors. This is the ideal situation for online branding and marketing for any business. These types of posts are instantly recognizable to people who know you and are 1,000 times more interesting to people who don’t.

Are you struggling with not knowing how to use social media for your business? Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over three months, we will develop a roadmap of exactly how to use social media for your business in our Quarterly Roadmap Sessions. Branded images and content are just one of the things we’ll work on together. We will also work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and break through the fears and frustrations small businesses experience with social media marketing. Let’s chat.

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.

August 22, 2021
Social Media Marketing

Top 3 Reasons Professional Headshots Are Needed for Social Media Marketing

You know that businesses that only seem to share quotes and the occasional promotional post on social media? Do you get excited about following them or engaging with their content online?

Yeah, me either.

Social media was always meant to be a social experience. If you want to be successful on social, you need to get comfortable in front of the camera. The most engaging content on social media are photos and videos where a small business owner shows up for their people and shares information, ideas, and opportunities that actually interest, engage, and excite their audience.

You can’t do that hiding behind a graphic you stole off of Google.

Here are our top three reasons to invest in branded headshots for your social media channels:

Content

One of the struggles for any business on social media is the creative aspect of creating content that an audience will engage with. Getting 1-3 branded photo shoots done a year keeps your content fresh, interesting, and attractive. It helps you create content for your audience that will actually get attention and social engagement.

Engagement

Your followers will be less likely to scroll past your content if they see your smiling face! If your followers are into you and what you do, seeing your photos will inspire them to like, comment, and share your posts! This engagement will showcase your content in more feeds, inspiring others to engage and will organically create the sort of attention you want for your social media posts.

Professionalism

While the occasional selfie isn’t going to hurt you, it doesn’t make the same impact as professional, branded photography. It doesn’t matter how good your selfie game is, there are ways to demonstrate your company culture and brand personality that simply can’t be accomplished with a selfie. Branded photography tells the story of you and your company. It removes the veil that small business owners tend to hide behind and is the bridge between you and an engaged audience.

Images of YOU are going to bring higher engagement than any stock image out there. Plan to get a series of great photos done professionally that show your brand voice. What sort of brand images work well? Indoor, Outdoor, doing a fun activity you love, different times of year, they all work! Incorporate blank space in areas for adding quotes and tips to your images later. The key is to show your personality! These images are what people will resonate with and use to connect with you, follow you, and choose to do business with you.

Are you struggling with not knowing how to use social media for your business? Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over three months, we will develop a roadmap of exactly how to use social media for your business in our Quarterly Roadmap Sessions. We will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and break through the fears and frustrations small businesses experience with social media marketing. Let’s chat.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

August 15, 2021
Social Media Strategy

Top 3 Ways to Add Company Culture to Your Brand Messaging in Social Media

If you want your social media audience to be truly invested in your brand and it’s success, sharing your company culture is a great way to show the world who you are, how you show up, and the impact you want to make in the world! Brand advocates don’t just show up. You have to give people a reason to fall in love with your mission and vision.

Your culture and company values can be represented in a variety of ways:

Frequently Asked Questions

If you haven’t been jotting down the questions you are asked about your business the most, you are missing out on an amazing opportunity to convert those into content for your audience. You can answer these questions in fun ways including social media polls, Share a GIF posts, or behind-the-scenes selfies to pull the curtain back and invite your audience into your world. These types of posts tend to be quite popular and inspire the most engagement.

These questions are also fantastic ways to create brand stories that you already know your people are interested in hearing.

Fun Holidays

If you browse DaysoftheYear.com you’ll discover there is a fun holiday (or three) for all 365 days of the year. Some of these holidays will align with your brand and messaging. Take advantage of these days by creating social media posts, or entire marketing campaigns, that will resonate with your audience. This is a great way to show off your company’s unique personality and demonstrate to folks what is important to you and your business.

Brand Photography

A headshot is nice but it rarely tells a story about your company culture. Brand photography is the solution to this problem. Not only will you have amazing photos to share on your website and in social media, branded photos are an awesome opportunity to showcase your company’s personality, energy, and culture. Get the team together and have some fun! Your followers are there because they are interested in what you are putting out into the world, they’ll love seeing you and your team in action!

Are you struggling with not knowing how to use social media for your business? Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over three months, we will develop a roadmap of exactly how to use social media for your business in our Quarterly Roadmap Sessions. We will work on your editorial calendar, branded content, ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and break through the fears and frustrations small businesses experience with social media marketing. Let’s chat.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

August 8, 2021
Relationship Marketing

Top 3 Ways to Cultivate New Business with Social Media Marketing

You’ve probably been told that your business should be on social media but you’ve just not taken the time to figure it out OR you’ve tried your hand at social but just couldn’t get it to work for you. Just know that you’re not alone. Finding new business on social media is very possible but you may need a guide and a cheerleader to show the way and cheer you on!

Here are our top three ways to find new business on social media:

Consistency

Consistency is the most common piece of advice from social media marketing experts and the one small business owners find the most difficult to follow. Because there is not always an immediate benefit to sharing something on social media, it can feel like your efforts aren’t valued and may be a waste of time. However, every new business on social media starts in the same place. You have to earn the right to have an engaged audience by showing up consistently and sharing content that your audience finds valuable. If you only post occasionally, or when you think about it, you are training people that you aren’t dependable or reliable. You aren’t giving them a reason to stick around. Invest in posting consistently for six months in a row. I promise you’ll see a major difference in your results!

Trust

Trust is the #1 reason people choose to work with any small business. Purchasing is an emotional experience. Recent studies have shown that no amount of logic will convince someone to pull out their credit card or sign the dotted line. There is always an emotional reason behind why we purchase anything. Emotions = vulnerability. This is why trust is so key to the conversion process.

Here are some things buyers may consider before buying:

Have I heard of this company before?
Has anyone recommended this company before?
How does their brand make me feel?
Do they make a social impact?
Are they trustworthy? What sort of reputation do they have?
What can I find out about them online?
Where can I find out what other buyers think about them?
Does their website and social media grab my attention and, if so, does what they share resonate with my values and what I believe in?
What am I going to get out of this exchange?
Are they going to make it worth my time to pay attention or purchase?
Do I trust them? Will they do what they promise? Will this be a good investment for me?

These are just some of the things buyers consider when they are trying to make a purchasing decision. All of them are rooted in trust. The more you show up, the more you share your brand messaging, the more you interact with others online, the more opportunities you have to showcase that you are a trustworthy brand.

Interest

One of the biggest social media marketing mistakes is when a small business talks about what they are interested in without giving any consideration to the interests of their audience. This is why posting too much promotional content is bad news: no one wants to engage with someone who’s clearly only there to get money out of the interaction. While we know that your marketing efforts are about converting followers into customers, it’s essential that what you share is interesting to the audience first and foremost. Otherwise, why should they stick around to see more of your posts? Be interesting, be present, share ideas and information that are valuable to our audience – these are the paths to building the trust necessary for someone to choose to do business with you.

Are you struggling with not knowing how to use social media for your business? Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over three months, we will develop a roadmap of exactly how to use social media for your business in our Quarterly Roadmap Sessions. We will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and break through the fears and frustrations small businesses experience with social media marketing. Let’s chat.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

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

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Author: Hollie Clere

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