Tag: Social Media Management

#AwesomeInSocial – Improve Your Credibility with Robust Social Proof

Influence and word-of-mouth are cornerstones to your credibility. This builds social proof. Social proof is the social pressure for consumers to purchase a product or service based on the reviews and influence of others. The more social proof you have, the more customers and clients you’ll gain. It becomes easier as the social proof increases.
But how do you gain a robust social proof?
You gain it through testimonials, ratings and reviews, influencer endorsements, media logos, certifications, subscriber counts, social connections, social shares, clients, and case studies.
Testimonials
A testimonial is a statement made by a customer or consumer that provides an objective viewpoint. This “outsider influence” is something you’ll see more of in this list. It’s important to note that testimonials involve stories about how your product or service bettered their lives in some way. It’s similar, but not the same, as reviews.
Ratings and Reviews
Think about the last time you purchased something online. If the rating was available, did you look at it? Did it influence your buying decision? Of course it did. And if reviews were available, you likely read a few of those as well. The scoring system of a rating is a powerful influence in social proof. A review usually accompanies a rating. The greater your number of ratings and reviews, the more power it holds over the viewing public.
Influencer Endorsements
Influencer Endorsements aren’t the same as testimonials. An influencer is a well-known person or business who has a heavy social media following. A mention of your business, product, or service can cause an instant rise in social proof. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, as your willingness to connect with them builds their credibility. Keep in mind that their reputation is just as important as yours.
Media Logos
You’ve noticed these before, and likely didn’t realize it. “As seen on…” is an excellent example. It’s important to note, you can only use these media logos if you’ve actually appeared on their networks, in their paper, etc. Misrepresentation of your credentials will destroy the credibility you’ve tried so hard to develop.
Certifications and Case Studies
Certifications and case studies are professional endorsements of your credibility. They prove your expertise, and therefore increase your social proof.
Subscriber Counts, Social Connections, and Social Shares
All of these combined build a pressing need to go along with the crowd. Like reviews and testimonials, the more you have, the more you’ll gain. It may take five years to get 10k subscribers, but the next 10k could take one or less. The more influence you have socially, the more people accept your credibility.
Clients and Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is still as strong as ever. People are more influenced by those they know than those they don’t. If a happy client spreads the word about your work, social proof will naturally follow.

Now you know the best ways to build your social proof. Building momentum is key to successfully enhancing your credibility. Take the time to do it right, and you’ll be #AwesomeInSocial.
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.

#AwesomeConsistency – Hashtags & Brand Awareness

Hashtags may have begun as a fundamental aspect of early Twitter’s success, but today they are a mainstay for many social media activities. There are a ton of people using hashtags in social right now, some are doing it well and others, well….not so much. You may be wondering what the hoopla is all about when it comes to hashtags and whether or not they provide real value to your online branding efforts?  For many professionals, the idea of the hashtag may seem unprofessional or even irrelevant. We’re here to tell you that if social media is a part of your marketing strategy, hashtags should not be overlooked.
Hashtags & Search
Are you aware that each of the social media platforms operates as its own search engine? Whether you are in Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, doing a search on any of these sites will pull up an abundance of information that you can’t get simply by going to Google. Each of the platforms is built with this search functionality whether you are looking for a person, a business, a feed, an interest, a job title…all depending on what you are looking for and where you are hunting. In fact, that is really how hashtags grew in popularity, as a way of organizing and searching Twitter to find groups of people with similar interests.
Interested in the origins of this powerful symbol? You can read all about it here.
Finding Your Audience
Researching and using the appropriate hashtags for your brand, business and industry narrows down the field and brings your business into direct contact with its target audience. If you know who your ideal client is, and what hashtags they are using, you’ve developed a direct channel of communication and the opportunity to build and grow new relationships.  To achieve maximum impact, spend time searching these same hashtags and either starting or engaging in conversations on places such as Twitter and Instagram.  Just posting them is a way for people to find you but a combination of posting and engagement is always going to make for a more impactful end result.
Branding & Identity
Creating, and trademarking, hashtags that are unique to your personal or corporate brand enables you to present yourself online in a way that is immediately recognizable to your audience. This can be especially beneficial when initially building presence or when attempting to tie brand concepts together. Once people are looking up your content by these unique identifiers, you can begin developing hashtag campaigns to truly grow presence and reach.
As with any marketing effort, understanding the tool and developing a strategy for using it wisely is the path to success. Spend some time discovering what the right hashtags for your brand are – Kim Garst has a great article on that topic here. Once you know your hashtags, have set some goals, and built a strategy for using them effectively, the returns will convince you of how powerful this approach can be.

Now, go out there and #BeAwesome with your social media marketing by incorporating hashtags!
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.

#AwesomeConsistency – The Value of Blog Routines

Consistency is relevant to your brand in regards to ALL of your content, not just social media. When a business owner thinks about social media marketing, a blog isn’t usually top of mind. However, blogging + social media can be a powerful promotion combination!

You’ve probably heard of other businesses that have been successful either as bloggers or on social media. This is not an either/or scenario as having a content plan for both will boost each individual effort.

Blogging

A company blog accomplishes a great many things. In this world of content marketing, it’s difficult to justify not having one. A blog is great for SEO purposes since it keeps your page looking fresh and consistently updated so that the search engines crawl it on a regular basis. It’s WAY better than an About Us page when it comes to showcasing your brand to your audience and allowing them get to know you – and what you do. It’s an organic, non-pushy sales, marketing and branding tool that often requires little in the way of monetary investment but, when done well, reaps rewards.

Blogging + Social Media

There are a great many benefits to blogging but my favorite is that it makes creating social media content so much easier! Pulling content directly from the blog can be used to great graphics, infographics, quotes, etc. A regular blog means consistent, but still relevant, content to pull from without staring at the screen and wondering what to post next, or posting from the same well over and over. This keeps the content fresh and interesting for everyone involved!

Blog Promotion

Many bloggers experience the same problem and that is their audience doesn’t necessarily think of hitting their website on a regular basis to read their blog. How do blog owners expand their reach and consistently get their content in front of people? They post their blog on their social media platforms! Linking back to your blog on various social media sites gets the information in front of the right people so that they drift to your website organically instead of relying on them to remember to visit your website. This also opens up the opportunity for people to share the blog with their own followers, boosting the reach that could have been achieved by the blog owner alone.

Blogging Routine

Since this month is all about #AwesomeConsistency – understanding the value of setting up a routine is essential. Your audience is being inundated with content – content consumption is at an all time high. Between algorithms, competition and short attention spans, it can be difficult to achieve the viewing numbers small business owners are hoping for. How do you stack the deck in your favor? Consistency. As with social media, having a consistent schedule trains your followers to expect your content on a regular basis. It keeps your brand, image, and content in the running and helps people find you. Having a break in content may convince viewers that you are no longer serious about what you do – that you are on hiatus – or that you are no longer putting the same focus into your work. Since there is more than enough content online to choose from, the potential that they will drift to your competition is high.

There is different advice when it comes to frequency and that it really depend on a lot of factors including your niche, your industry, and your time commitment. We recommend posting a blog at least once a month (at a minimum). The best results tends to come from businesses dedicated to posting weekly. Daily is too much and waiting longer than once a month is not enough. Find the middle ground that works for you so that you can commit to being consistent.

I can’t wait to read what you post and watch you #BeAwesome using the combined powers of blogging, social media and consistency!

 

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.

#AwesomeConsistency – How Consistency Makes Your Brand Stand Out

In our last post, we talked about why consistency is essential to your social media strategy. The focus was mostly on what your audience expects in terms of presence. However, there are many reasons why posting consistently is a game changer for your social and one of them is brand impact. Not only are you vying every day for your target audience’s attention, you are competing against other brands to earn influence and credibility as well.
With our shortened attention spans and the flood of content being directed at us daily, standing out as a brand on social media is no walk in the park. Without consistency, it is difficult to adequately get your vision across to your viewers.  If you haven’t managed to deliver this in social, you can bet someone offering something similar has cracked the code. 
The businesses that are doing this will be instantly recognized – at a glance. You don’t have to read an ad to know if it’s coming from Nike or Apple or Disney. Your peripheral vision, and this instant recognition of their brand, is enough for an audience to immediately pinpoint whose marketing it is. 
How can you switch up your social postings to make them more consistent – and instantly recognizable? 
Schedule
The first step is putting together a solid editorial calendar. Having a set schedule for your posts will help you when creating content but also helps your audience know what to expect from you. Brands can also post above and beyond what their calendar entails as long as they stick to the consistent schedule. 
Style Guide
Having an overall idea of what your brand will look like online is a good idea but having it all put together into a branding style guide is even better. If you are investing any amount of time into developing your brand, then a style guide is necessary for maintaining consistency. Here are some examples of what a style guide looks like to give you an idea of what you will need to pull together.
Tone/Voice
Writers (and copywriters) fully understand how essential developing the right tone for copy can be. Having a brand “voice” will remind you how to remain consistent. Are you sassy? Professional? Informative? If you could describe your brand in three words – what would they be? 
First you have to define your voice and then you have to ensure that you are using the same tone in all your branding. Here is an article to help you get started.
Graphics/Images
Last, but certainly not least, is developing visual content for your online presence, marketing, and social media. 
“Visual content has become so prevalent that it’s no longer just a piece of the marketing industry, but its core.”
Kimberlee Morrison
To get attention today, you have to invest in visual content. Videos, graphics, memes, infographics, slide shows – all of these are visuals. Our attention spans are ridiculously short and a brand needs high-quality, stunning, eye-catching graphics in order to grab attention and get noticed. Consistency comes into play when developing these because you want your audience to instantly recognize you, and your brand, when they glance at content you’ve created. 

If you follow these guidelines, you will find that you are already ahead of the curve when compared to much of your competition. Creating your social media strategy, so you can #BeAwesome at what you do, should involve a plan ensuring your branding is consistent across all channels. 

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.

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