Tag: Social Media

What to Look for in a Social Media Speaker

You’ve decided to do an in-person or virtual event and need a social media speaker or trainer. You’ve found a great social media expert and you’re ready to book. But how do you know if this is the best person for your event? How can you make sure that they are going to be able to provide what your audience needs?

Here are some questions that you should ask:

Experience

Social media experts come and go. You want to make sure you hire a social media speaker that’s been around for awhile and has experience with the ups, downs, and twists of working in social media. When social media marketing was a fad, lots of business owners popped up claiming to be experts. However, we have personally seen many social media marketing businesses leave the industry as the sheen of popularity has waned. Some were never truly experts to begin with, they were simply riding the social media bandwagon and hoping to profit big for little effort.

Our team has over 15 years doing this work and no plans for throwing in the towel! We’ve seen the transitions and algorithm changes, and we understand what works over time in the social media marketing world and we can share those insights with your audience.

Current Events

Social media is a rapidly moving target. If you are in the industry, one of your jobs is simply to keep up!

We can, confidently, cover topics like:

  • The latest trends in social media marketing and how they affect your business.
  • How to use social media marketing to boost sales and increase brand awareness with proven strategies and tactics.
  • How to create a successful content strategy that builds relationships with customers while driving sales.
  • Social media crisis management: how to handle negative comments and bad reviews on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more.

Audience Engagement

We understand you want a speaker who can keep your audience engaged during your event. We also know that you need someone who can deliver on your objectives and goals. We are passionate about social media and will use our knowledge and experience to make your event a success.

A great speaker understands the audience he or she is speaking to and knows how to engage them. When you have an industry expert speak at your event, it creates interest in the audience and helps them relate to the topic being discussed.

Time on Stage

We understand that you want a speaker who has experience speaking at events, both in-person and virtual. We also know that you want an expert who can help your audience learn about social media.

A great social media speaker should be able to tell a story that is both engaging and useful for your audience. They should have real-life examples of how they use social media in their own business, as well as tips and tricks that can help you grow your brand.

We’ve worked a lot of stages, both in-person and virtually. Check out the speaker page of our website for more details on our speaking experience.

These are great areas to start digging when looking for your next social media trainer or speaker. If this is what you’re looking for, we’re the right fit for your event!

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.

Showing Gratitude in Your Social Media Messaging

Marketing your business online is more challenging than ever before. As more small businesses are created, there is an ever-increasing amount of noise on the Internet. Everyone wants your attention. Everyone wants your business. It’s easy to lose focus of what really matters as a small business owner.

Are you showing what your company is grateful for in your social media messaging? November is the season of gratitude and an excellent opportunity to praise and celebrate your customers, your power partners, and your vendors. 

Stay True to Your Vision

What is your vision for your small business? This vision is a key element in creating content to share online. Whether you use it as a guiding compass or incorporating it into your social media and brand messaging, your vision is where everything starts. Your vision is what inspires you to do the work you do and it inspires others to follow you, sign up, and spread the word about your brand. This month, we are challenging you to take your vision and GO BIG on social media with your content by combining your vision and your gratitude into social media messaging.

Keep It Simple

One way to avoid overwhelm in your social media marketing AND to show your respect and appreciation for your people is to have a plan! If you develop a plan using simpler systems, your online marketing can be fun! Discovering and implementing new tools and systems to streamline your marketing efforts helps you to free up time in the long run and get clear on where your priorities are. 

If you need help getting started, our team is well versed in creating a marketing roadmap for small businesses. We teach our clients how it all works using online tools and walking you step by step through each process. These tools will help you create content in an easy way and incorporate strategies that help you get found organically.

Honor Your People

Once you have a plan, supported by your vision, then it’s time to shout out your gratitude to the world! Take this opportunity to tell the world just how grateful you are for the people that help you do what you. This is the perfect time of year to create appreciation content for your audience, your clients, your team, and your collaborative partners. Whether you create shout-outs to share on social media, promote a giveaway or contest for your followers, or give a behind-the-scenes tour of how it all works (and all the amazing people involved) – folks love to consume real, authentic content that gives insight into your mission and vision. 

Do you have to show gratitude in your social media marketing? Of course not. However, my team has found it’s an effective way to grab audience attention, get engagement from followers, and inspire loyalty from your team and partners. 

How do you use social media? Pay attention to the people and pages that inspire you to like, comment, and share their content. What makes these content creators so relatable? The answers to these questions are the first steps into designing a social media strategy and content marketing plan that works for your business. Are you ready to define your brand story and build a long-term relationship with a loyal audience? Let’s do a Discovery Session to see which programs best fit your small business needs and get your ramped up before the new year!

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.

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

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:

Canva.com

Pixabay

Unsplash

iStockPhoto

Dreamstime

Shutterstock

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.

Top 3 Reasons Professional Headshots Are Needed for 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!

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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