Tag: Social Media Management

Social Seven: Tools of the Trade – Buffer

Social Seven – Social Media Podcast
With Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor



Tools of the Trade – Buffer

Buffer is a content creation and management tool to help increase engagement and save time. Content can be created within the tool and scheduled for posting. There is a queue where content can be added and then scheduled and posted as desired. This allows users to pick the best times of day to post and schedule social media content in advance. 
 

Buffer can be used in tandem with Hootsuite. Buffer is great for tweets and Google+, but can’t be used for Facebook. It is more beneficial to post content natively in Facebook, when possible. However, these tools compliment each other so well that is often best to use them together instead of separately.
Buffer offers up to ten different feeds for favorite social media accounts. Users can add RSS feeds and share links from websites instead the tool’s dashboard. Buffer will pull the latest stories and content for you and allow you to share it.
Buffer analytics are available as well. For some clients, numbers matter and they want to see engagement ratios. There are some aspects, such as dark traffic, that keep users from getting visibility at all since it is mobile activity. How do you track mobile users versus other users? Are those numbers actually right? It’s hard to say. So, it’s important to keep them in mind when viewing analytic reports. Each platform offers it’s own set of analytics. However, Buffer does offer this as an option.

Think Buffer might help you with scheduling content and staying on top of your social media? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live!

Social Seven: Tools of the Trade – Hootsuite

Social Seven – Social Media Podcast
With Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor



Tools of the Trade – Hootsuite

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Hootsuite is one of our very favorite social media management tools. Hollie uses Hootsuite every day and sets it up for her clients.  What she loves about Hootsuite is that there is all the flexibility in the world to customize content. You can also add images, schedule timing, and upload different items. There is also a new functionality now where you can add pictures to different albums and, therefore, add multiple images.
 
 

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Does Canva work with Hootsuite? Yes, you can use your Canva images within Hootsuite and schedule it out. The capture feature takes an image from a blog post or article and automatically puts into the content.
The reporting offered through Hootsuite is a little bit pricey. However, the overview can be beneficial to see a simple snapshot. Plus, it can be sent via email. Clients can also be notified when a post goes out through the tool.
The bulk import option is a lifesaver, especially for Twitter users. Sometimes it is a little bit finicky but saves quite a bit of time. It’s an option to import a lot of tweets all at once. This is great for social media content managers to reuse or repurpose old content. Twitter content moves constantly so it’s unlikely that followers there will ever notice that the content has been posted prior.
Free or paid version of Hootsuite? It’s a reasonable fee for the ease of use and benefit that you get from the tool. There are over 180 apps within the site. However, there is a free version available as well. Users can upload a video from YouTube into Hootsuite.
Should you schedule Facebook posts through Hootsuite? Is there a difference in reach and engagement when posting through the tool? It depends on the type of post.
There is a rumor that Facebook penalizes account owners who schedule posts through other sites or tools because they want users to natively post directly from the site. However, Facebook scheduler doesn’t always work and you can count on Hootsuite posting the content as scheduled. This is still a bit of uncharted territory so be sure to monitor engagement when using Hootsuite and compare it against what you receive when you post to Facebook directly.
Think Hootsuite has a place in your toolbox for scheduling content and staying on top of your social media? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live!

The Scoop on Canva

Social Seven – Social Media Podcast
With Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor


The Scoop on Canva!

Canva is a social media management tool. It allows you to create images for your website, social media, business cards, presentations and other branding needs. There is a free version and an upgraded version. There is also the option to select from premium images and pay for different templates and designs.
The crisp colors, cool fonts and other options in Canva are very nice. Plus, you can import your own images and edit them within the site. This helps to really brand. It takes it from a corporate brand to something a bit more personal. Social media users should be using a lot of images.
Canva is now coming out with Canva for work, which will allow social media managers to better organize design elements for their clients. That will enable this group to separate logos, images, fonts and colors by clients and keep everything separate but still accessible on the site.
When you play with different photo editing tools there can be a bit of a learning curve. This takes advanced graphic design knowledge out of the equation. No need to learn Photoshop or be a graphic designer to create something in Canva. When you use this tool, you feel like you are paying for top-notch design elements. Even the templates are affordably priced. You could make 100 different designs or images and store them within the tool for future use.
Also, Canva has all the major social media platform dimensions. It’s automatically formatted whether you want to make a Facebook ad or a Twitter cover image. Users can also create images using custom dimensions as well.
Canva at work does have an affiliate program for early access to this site feature.
Canva also provides learning tools including a design school. These will teach you how to use the tool. For those with writer’s block, there is a stream of designs from other users to help inspire you to make something new.
Those of you who haven’t used Canva before, check it out. Play with the templates. Go through some of the tutorials and try some different things. It’s an awesome tool. It will change your branding and put yourself into your brand for a change.
Think Canva has a place in your toolbox to design on the fly and spread your message? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live!

“Never bash a competitor, vendor, partner or individual”

When it comes to competition – some may think that spreading a negative message about a competitor may boost their edge, but in fact it encourages a more negative insight on the one “bashing”. As more companies are figuring out how to prospect and sell to their markets online, you want to main the highest level of respect from your clients. By mentioning a competitors name in a post or ad, you are giving visibility to their brand and in turn inviting your customers to ask the question, “Why are they so focused on that company instead of their own?” Think about this as you watch commercials on TV. A simple commercial about a burger combo from a fast food restaurant vs a ridiculously small burger combo from a competitive restaurant may seem innocent as they don’t post the name of the competitor or the logo, but if you have ever eaten at their competitors restaurant, then you know exactly who they are marketing about. They are saying that their food is better. It may be – but now they are making the buyer consider why they ate at the other place – still keeping that other place fresh in their mind.

If you are promoting your own product or service, don’t cross compare. State the facts such as: Here is our menu, here are the calories for each item, here is how we prepare our food, here is our great rate, here is why you would enjoy eating with us. Don’t state: we are better then Joe Bob because our burgers are bigger than theirs, our prices are lower than theirs, our servers smile more . . . you get the picture.

This goes hand in hand with “bashing” an individual, personal or through business. Never say to a prospect, “you would like me better because I don’t wear blue like Sally Sue” or “I like to drive on the left side of the street which makes my driving safer than Jackie Joe”. These are ridiculous statements, but again you understand that presenting yourself in a different way, instead of comparing & competing in a way that promotes a negative outlook on you or another, let your offering do the talking. You are good at what you do because that is what you know best. Stand firm in that. People will choose you because of your integrity & your quality offering; not because you picked out why you are better than someone else.

Food for thought.

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