#LearnSocialMedia – Are You Using Social Media to its Highest Potential?

We all know that content is king. But it’s not just any king; it’s a very hungry king. Creating good content and putting it out there isn’t enough. It’s a bit like growing a garden. You can’t just scatter some seeds and expect to get fresh veggies all season. For your garden to remain healthy and prolific you have to cultivate it, water it, and weed it.

Social media works the same way. You plant the seeds and then nurture them. That way, you’ll have enough food (and the right kind) to feed the king.

Using Social Media to Its Potential

There are steps you can take to make sure that the time and effort you put into creating social media content is worthwhile. Here are six steps that you can use:

Create A Plan

If your social media strategy is haphazard, then chances are your results will be, too. Take the time to create a plan that takes into account what your goals are and establishes a way for you to measure success.

Reach Out To Influencers

If your content is high quality, then the people who are experts in your field will appreciate it. Find the individuals whose voices are strong and get them involved. That may be as simple as tagging them or require that you engage with them. The best strategy will depend on your industry.

Post And Then Post Again

There are guidelines for the best times to post on the various platforms but they vary. Of course, you don’t want to bombard your audience with the same post over and over again, but it can pay to repost your material strategically. However, some posts are worth sharing multiple times. Just be strategic about when and how often so you aren’t coming across as spammy.

Repackage And Reuse

There are numerous ways to present information. Find content that you can repurpose and post it on additional platforms. A good example of this approach is turning a white paper into a presentation or infographic.

Tailor Your Approach To The Platform

Learn enough about the various platforms so that you can take advantage of the unique ways content is used. The same strategy you use on Facebook may not work for Twitter.

Be Consistent

Unless you are consistent in both your timing and approach you’ll likely find yourself spinning your wheels. Your audience needs to be able to depend on you.

A key advantage of social media is that it is easy to use and can be easy on the budget. But (and this is a big “but”) if what you are doing is not working then it’s a waste of time. One of the best ways to ensure this doesn’t happen to you is to take advantage of the Social Power Program.

The Social Power Program can give you the tools you need to ensure that you are focusing your efforts in the right place. It’s online and cost-effective. Remember, it doesn’t do much good to fertilize your garden if you’re just feeding the weeds.

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.

#BePrepared – Are You Getting Social Media Traffic to Your Website?

As a social media marketer, you spend a lot of time and energy making sure that you are posting high-quality content that engages your followers and customers. And if you are active in the social media space, you likely spend an equal amount of effort (or more) on your website.

But do you have a clear picture of how your social media and your site are working together? In other words, do you know how much of your website traffic is coming from social media?

The critical tool for finding out if your social media is creating traffic for your website is Google Analytics. If you are already using Analytics, then you know that there is a lot it can help you discover when it comes to site traffic sources. Best of all it can tell you in precise terms which social media platform is sending traffic to your site.

At the top level, Analytics can give you a simple breakdown of your visitors and whether or not they enter your site from Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Reddit, and others. This alone can tell you quite a bit and help you determine what you are doing right and wrong regarding converting social media users to website users.

While knowing which platform your users are coming from is great to know, there is much more you can do in Analytics to drill down into your data.

Goals & Conversions

You can set specific targets within Analytics to make sure you are accomplishing your objectives. A typical goal might be something like “sign up for the newsletter” or “subscribes to the email list.” You can also keep track of whether or not your social media users have “converted” into buyers or some other metric that you’d like to track.

Segments

To better understand your users, you can define segments within Analytics. This will help you determine if certain groups of your visitors have common characteristics. Another way to think about segments is in terms of filters. Facebook might be a segment of your visitors.

Behavior

One particularly intriguing feature of Analytics is the ability to monitor what your visitors do once they come into your site, what pages they visit, and what actions they take.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool. It will take some time and study to learn how to use its numerous features, but it is well worth the time. Once you have your Analytics dashboard set up and have a plan for regular monitoring, you’ll be able to make sure that you are maximizing the effectiveness of both your social media marketing and your website.

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.

#ShareYourMessage – How to Show Up as Your Brand

Creating, strengthening, and maintaining your brand is one of the most important things any business can do. It doesn’t matter if you are a small company, a big company, or somewhere in between. Your brand is the first thing your customers will think of when they hear your name.

A carefully crafted brand can give you a leg up on your competition, encourage people to come back, and differentiate you in the marketplace. But regardless of how well your brand is created, it must be reinforced everywhere your customers come in contact with it.

These days, many of your customers may only know you from what they see online. That means that one of the most important places for you to use your brand wisely is social media. Your social media content must be high value, build community, and be consistently engaging. While that may sound like a tall order, some simple rules can help you achieve that goal.

Understand your Brand

You may think you know your brand, but do you really? Write down your brand vision: does it make sense for who you are and the culture of your company? If you don’t believe it, then you can’t expect that your customers will. If it’s not what you want then start working to make it reflect the brand vision you do want.

Know Your Audience

You can do everything right with your content but if it’s not what your customers want you are wasting your time. If you don’t have a clear picture of how to best serve your customers with social media, then you need to find out now.

Be Authentic 

Today’s social media users are seasoned and sophisticated. They can spot a fake a mile away. Regardless of what kind of content you are posting it has to reflect the real you, and it needs to look and sound human.

Be Consistent

Regardless of what platforms you are using they need to share a common message and flavor. Of course, you can tailor your content to the type of information that is best suited for unique social media feeds (i.e., Twitter versus Facebook versus Instagram), but all content should be true to your brand and culture.

Be Active

You can’t build a social media following if you rarely post. Develop a strategy that keeps you front and center of your community’s feed on a regular and consistent basis. Respond to comments and questions promptly and let your visitors know that you appreciate their feedback.

You owe it to yourself and your company to be a watchdog over your brand. Monitor what is being said about you online and keep an eye on what your employees are posting when they are representing the company. Your brand image is your business’s lifeline and if it is not managed carefully and nurtured regularly it can do you more harm than good.

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.

#GrowYourBusiness – Providing Value to Your Social Media Audience

If you are like most social media managers, your first goal is to create content that will get your audience to engage. Share, likes, and comments are all good as gold regardless of the platform. The only problem with using engagement as your key objective is that you have to get people to see your content first. After all, you can’t get engagement if you don’t get views. What’s the best way to ensure that your content gets seen? Make sure you are providing value to your audience.

Let’s think for a minute about what it means to add value. When it comes to social media content, providing value means giving your audience something they can’t get anywhere else. Exactly what that is will depend on your particular circumstance but let’s talk about the top 5 ways you give your users value through social media, regardless of your product or service.

  • Solve a Problem: When you solve a problem for your audience, you are making their lives better and perhaps removing an obstacle that is preventing them from achieving their own goals. There are many ways to create content that solves problems. A how-to can be a great way to do this but so can an answer to a question, a product discount, or an informative product review.
  • Tell A Story: Storytelling is a great way to help your audience learn more about you, your company, and your products. Success stories, stories that give insight into your mission, profiles of your team or your customers, can all help your audience learn more about your and add value.
  • Make Something That is Complicated Simple: Infographics and lists are particularly good ways to turn difficult topics into something that is easily understood. While technical content lends itself well to this type of content, your subject doesn’t have to be technical. A description of a process can also work well in graphic or some other easy to follow format.
  • Teach: Common questions that users have can be fertile territory for developing content that will teach a lesson about your industry, your product, or your company. How-to videos can be particularly good for this along with solving problems.
  • Ask Your Community What They Need: Of course we should know our customers well enough to anticipate what type of content will bring them the most value but sometimes it’s still best to go straight to the source. Reach out to your audience to ask them what they need. You might be surprised what you’re missing.

Developing content that gives your friends, fans, and followers value may take a little work, but it is sure to pay off. Once your community learns that the information you provide will make their lives easier, they are sure to come back for more. They are also like to pass it along to others. Providing value to your followers will pay off in spades in terms of brand loyalty, trust, and online presence.

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