#NewHabits Archives - The Social Media Advisor

January 25, 2016
Social Media Marketing

New Year, New Habits – If You Like It Then You Better Put a Tag On It

In order to really get a handle on using Twitter, social media users have to understand the platform’s special features and lingo. One of the most important aspects of using Twitter is understanding and incorporating hashtags. A hashtag is a word or phrase with the # symbol placed directly in front of it. The idea of the hashtag is similar to that of a keyword on Google. These symbols can be used to quickly and efficiently search this social media platform for tweets and conversations pertaining to that particular topic. Otherwise the site is a consistent flow of disorganized and unconnected posts.

This way of categorizing topics enables users to find information on a specific area of interest but also allows users to label their tweets within a specific category so that they are easier to locate. Since Twitter is a stream of live information – being able to tag tweets to a specific topic or event allows for a better stream of viewing posts from a variety of users all talking about the same moment or idea.

Want to Create a Hashtag?

The good news is that hashtag creation is available to everyone. If a search of Twitter doesn’t come up with a tag that you’d like to use, it’s simple to create your own. It’s as easy as typing it into Twitter. No other steps are needed. Of course, there are not many hashtags available that haven’t been used yet. Also, an obscure hashtag is not likely to be found unless the creator does some significant promotionto establish presence.

Also, the Twitter Supportpage clearly states that not all hashtags or tweets are indexed. This may mean using it more frequently to ensure it makes an impact on the platform. The more recent the tweet, the more likely it will be indexed but even that is no guarantee.

Hashtag Ownership

On the surface, hashtags are not really owned by any particular business or organization. They can’t be purchased and users are welcome to use any hashtag on their account, as long as it doesn’t conflict with the Twitter Trademark Policy.

What is a Trademark Policy Violation on Twitter?

Using a company or business name, logo, or other trademark-protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse others with regard to its brand or business affiliation may be considered a trademark policy violation.

However, Twitter users can register their hashtags with Twubs. It’s important to remark that registering a hashtag isn’t the same as registering a trademark. It isn’t a means to keep other people from using it. There is no way to own a tag in the same way that you own a logo or domain name.

Registering a tagmeans that your brand becomes attached to it and that the tag will get added to a hashtag directory. This directory allows businesses to go into some detail about the tag and why it exists.

Once you have created a unique hashtag and registered it, then it is time to market the tag as much and as often as possible. This is the way to motivate the audience to associate your registered tag with your brand. You’ll never be able to control everything that becomes tagged with your #, but the idea is to generate more presence for your business on social media.

Still have questions about how to effectively incorporate Twitter into your social media strategy? Give us a call and we can help you build an online brand that helps you #BeAwesome and develop a #NewHabit for this year!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

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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 her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

January 18, 2016
Social Media Strategy

New Year, New Habits – The Value of Learning Social Media from a Social Media Manager

Is this the year that you’ve decided to truly invest in social media and make it an integral part of your company’s marketing plan? There were over 179 Million social media users in 2015. That is a huge audience and should not be overlooked when creating a marketing strategy. Incorporating social media make not sound like a difficult task, however there are a lot of variables to consider when dealing with social platforms. Here are some thought-provoking reasons to seek out a social media manager before building your social media strategy.

Social Media Marketing

When doing your own marketing, content is any bit of material created with the purpose to establish or grow online presence. This includes articles, blog posts, videos, websites, publications, podcasts and curated social media posts. A social media manager’s role is to take the most relevant and interesting content and post it at just the right moment so that the targeted audience will see it and engage with it. This means understanding the various social media platforms – including their strengths and weaknesses – and what content works best for each. It also requires understanding peak times and the best time to post, related to individual platforms. A social media manager stays on top of platform trends and knows the processes behind scheduling just the right type of content at the right time.

Social Media Engagement

Posting consistent social media content is important. However, motivating the audience to engage and then capitalizing on that engagement is the real benchmark of success. Some platforms require more attention than others. Also, there are a variety of tools available to help streamline and promote certain types of engagement. A social media manager is experienced with creating online environments that motivate organic participation. They also understand that engagementis essential and missed opportunities to engage are bad form. In fact, having social media content and not making engagement a priority is a waste of strategy and resources.

Social Media Advertising

With so many people using social media, it is an easy thing to get lost in the shuffle. Newsfeed algorithms automatically filter out quite a bit of content. Sometimes the push to be found requires a boost of social advertising. Most of the social platforms have established their own advertising options. A social media manager is familiar with the details of each of the social advertising possibilities and can show users what ads and campaigns will be more successful. They will also have the expertise to analyze and track the results in order to adapt the best possible strategy moving forward.

There is so much more to social media marketing than drafting some tweets and posts and hoping for the best. Training with a social media manager will ensure that an effective social media strategy is implemented – saving time, money and resources.

Don’t go into social media blind! Give us a call and arrange a time to discuss how we can train you to #BeAwesome with your social media marketing.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

January 11, 2016
Social Media Marketing

New Year, New Habits – Building an Editorial Calendar

Are you new and just getting started with social media? Have you been using social platforms but feel like your engagement is suffering because you don’t have a solid strategy in place? Social media, like any other aspect of marketing, is more effective when a plan is established and followed. Success can be found by winging it but it’s not as likely, and not nearly as sustainable.

Building an editorial calendar is the essential first step when it comes to strategizing your social media efforts. A calendar is a tool that allows business owners to create and curate consistent content in a time efficient way. It breaks down content into platforms, number of posts per day/week, and scheduling for peak times.

Pick Your Platforms

Spend some time examining the diversity of the social media platforms to determine which sites will have the best impact for your business. Each of the platforms has different strengths and weaknesses and one-size fits all plans will fail in impact and efficiency.

Then it’s time to figure out how often to post and that is also unique to the platform. Facebook posts should be no more than 3 – 10 each week, while Twitter needs at least 5 posts every day. On top of that, an examination of peak times of the day is necessary as well to ensure that posts are hitting at the most effective time.

Posting Times

If you have already been posting to social, the next step is to evaluate what you’ve been posting based on its rate of engagement. Certain posts will attract more attention than others. Start by scheduling and incorporating those types of content into your calendar and build from there. Most of the social platforms offer some sort of analytics tool if it is not immediately obvious what is working and what is falling flat.

If social media is a new tool at your disposal, start thinking about what posts resonate with you the most when you are using various social media platforms. Check out some competition to see what type of engagement success they are having. Make some notes and use that as a starting point in developing your first editorial calendar.

Curating Content

Once you know where to post, when to post, and what types of content to post – it’s time to start curating content. The first priority should be original content. There should be some original content being created every week. The rest of it should be curated, which means finding content online that can be shared with your audience. When curating, it’s important to stay true to your targeted audience and your brand. Stay focused and on topic. Share information that would be interesting or beneficial to your readers.

To make this more streamlined, start compiling a list of resources. This would be websites, hashtags and other social media tools. There are many social tools available that will automatically offer suggestions based on recent content or a set of keywords.

January is the perfect time of year to begin implementing some #NewHabits, including developing an editorial calendar that can be used to make social media more impactful. If creation of the calendar is out of your wheelhouse or too time consuming, contact our Social Media Team for assistance. We’d love to help you #BeAwesome this year and really ROCK your social content!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

January 4, 2016
Content Marketing

New Year, New Habits – Getting Into a Blog Routine

Even if you don’t understand why, you know you need to blog. Everyone is doing it and you keep hearing about the values of blogging. In today’s age of digital socializing, just having a website often isn’t enough. When potential clients and power partners are seeking more information about you and what you do – they turn to the Internet. Larger companies and corporations have a digital footprint of online reviews, press releases, and branding information. However, smaller businesses lack information and personality. There is often only a single webpage with contact information to use for research. The lack of a blog, or the presence of a blog that hasn’t been updated in awhile, is a turn off.

A blog is a great way for people to discover you and determine whether or not they want to work with you. It’s a way to encourage an online following of brand advocates and individuals passionate about you and your work. It will also dissuade the people that won’t make good clients and partners from contacting you. Once people have a better feelfor your work, they will be more inclined to talk and do business with you.

Developing a New Habit

The common misconception is that it only takes two weeks to form a new habit. Turns out that information isn’t entirely accurate. This studyover the course of 12 weeks showcased that the time differed, depending on the person and the complexity of the habit. On average, it took around 66 days for a new habit to be formed. For some people, it took much longer. The point is that you have to make a commitment and stick to it. Don’t give up on the habit and one day you will wake up and realize it no longer needs to be forced but is an automatic part of your routine.

Scheduling Time to Blog

The first, and probably most important, part of developing a new blog routine is scheduling a set time to do it. It needs to be a time where there are no excuses. Also taken into consideration should be the time of day you feel most inspired and productive. If late at night sounds like a regular time that would work but every time you sit down you are too tired to write – then that schedule will never be successful.

When do you feel most productive?
When do you feel most creative?
When are there fewer distractions?
What time of day could you be most consistent?

Do you spend the first 30 minutes of your day checking your email and/or social media profiles? Put that off until later in the day – when you are tired and drained and distracted. Is 10 am the time of day you find yourself whizzing through projects or client calls? Then schedule a 10 am meeting once a week or month and dedicate it to developing your next blog post.

Developing Your Voice

This is the tricky part. This is true for every type of writer just starting out. Finding and developing your writing voice is essential. However, it’s important to understand that you won’t know what it is at first – and that’s ok. The only way to truly discover your writing voice is simple – you have to write. Write every day, if you can.

Why do you need your own voice? Without it, you come off as boring or unattached. Your voice is your personality on paper. Your audience will become curious and dedicated to you only once they begin to feel like they know you. It shouldn’t feel like they are reading a textbook. Knowledge is important but personalityis the hook.

You will find, that with time, your voice will sort of naturally develop. However, if you are having issues with it there are some things you can do to help locate it.

Aim to write the same way you would talk to people.
Also a good branding exercise, come up with a handful of adjectives that describe you.
Examine blogs you enjoy reading and write down WHY you enjoy them.
Imagine that you are your perfect reader. What are you looking for in a blog?
Ask trusted advisors what they think about your writing voice.
Join some blogging groups for advice and support.

Finding Inspiration

We all have moments where we can’t access new ideas. We get stumped and blocked and frustrated. It’s important to make finding inspiration a regular practice. This means examining when you feel the most creative. What time of day do you usually find the creativity flowing? What activities do you engage in that motivate you? Do you finding listening to music inspiring? Do you get your best ideas during exercise or in the shower? Starting paying attention to when you feel creative and see if you notice any patterns. Then develop a techniqueto jot down ideas during these peak times.

It’s often possible to force creativity into action as well. This will vary based on the individual. Perhaps it means taking time to read a book, or go to a museum, or watch inspirational videos online. Does the sunrise motivate you? Then wake up early from time to time and spend a few moments enjoying it. Create a playlist that you can listen to over and over again as needed. Spend some time reading blogs you enjoy or finding new blogs and voices. Grab a book and learn something. Whatever works for you, make it a part of your regular routine. Do this even when you aren’t stumped for ideas because then you will have a list of concepts already developed for moments when inspiration eludes you.

As with any new habit or activity, only the investment of time and energy will yield results. No one should expect to come out of the gate as an expert on something they have no experience doing.

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”

Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

It’s necessary to continue to dive in there and just do it. You’ll find that, after time, you will get better and that will encourage better results from your blogging efforts. Stop procrastinatingand make a commitment TODAY to develop your new blogging habit. It’s just one more way that I’m encouraging you to #BeAwesome in your business! #NewHabits

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

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New Year, New Habits – Getting Into a Blog Routine

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