Tag: Social Media Marketing

The Top Three Resources You Should Have in Your Social Media Tool Belt

Beginning the social media marketing journey can feel overwhelming for small business owners. You are already the Everything CEO of your business and you may not have the time to research and try out different tools to find the right ones for you. Since we’ve been in the social media marketing industry for almost two decades now, let us help you narrow down your choices so you can get started right away.

Scheduling Software

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”
Erik Qualman

Unless you want to be on the hook for logging into your social media channels every day of your life, selecting a social media scheduling software is a must. What we recommend for our clients is having a consistent schedule, based on an editorial calendar, of content created and scheduled every month. This doesn’t eliminate the need to show up occasionally nor does it mean that you can’t post more than the scheduled content. It does, however, ensure that you remain consistent no matter what happens during the month and takes the stress off your plate of feeling like you have to show up every day.

The two most popular choices when it comes to social media schedulers, although there are dozens to choose from, are Hootsuite.com and Buffer.com. Most of our clients use one of these platforms. If you have found another you like better, that is completely fine. Most of the scheduling tools available have similar features and functionality.

Image Management

“Visual content is a preview to your great content, ultimately leading to connection!”
Donna Moritz

Data has shown us that quality graphics are necessary to get attention. Simply typing will not get you the attention you need to grow your business. Algorithms have proven this and downplay text-only posts for this reason: People don’t engage with them.

If you aren’t creating your own images, you’ll need to find some stock photography websites in order to download and use copyright-safe pictures for your content. Pay close attention to the copyrights of any images you use and don’t just grab an image from Google and use it. I, personally, know business owners who did not understand this and were fined for their ignorance.

It’s also important to sign up for a graphic design tool to help you create images for your social media marketing. We use Canva.com but there are plenty of similar options available.

Curation Sources

“Provide good content and you’ll earn the right to promote your product.”
Guy Kawasaki

All businesses have to start somewhere. Unless you are currently creating 100% of the content you share online, you’ll need a list of trusted sources to refer to when it comes time to share content or become inspired to create new content. This tool can be as simple as a list of links of publications related to your industry that frequently create and share content that is relevant for your audience. It could be as complex as implementing an RSS feeder (like Feedly.com) that grabs articles and blog posts from websites you love so you only have to visit one place to find quality content. Which tool you use is less important than getting started. The time you invest upfront in gathering these resources will save you time every month in the future.

While there are many, many options when it comes to social media marketing tools that you could invest in, most business owners just need a simple path so they may begin. Once you set up a social media scheduler, figure out what images you will use or create, and decide on what type of content you want to share – you are ready to begin making an impact and connecting with people online.

Are you struggling with not understanding how to use social media for your business?  Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over a 3-month period, we will develop a Road Map of exactly how to use social media for your business. During our Quarterly Strategy Road Map period, we will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and breaking through fears and frustrations regarding social media marketing.

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.

Harvesting Your Marketing Efforts

As you move towards the last quarter of the year, it’s time to start evaluating what you’ve done on social media so far this year and explore what is working and what is not. Social media marketing needs time to build results but it’s still important to keep your eyes on the analytics. What has gone well for your business in the online marketing space and what could use some work?

How can you harvest the marketing efforts from your business through social media?

Consistency

“By being consistent with your followers, you’ll build loyal followers that will share and talk about your brand, you know what they say about word of mouth.”
Wasulu Habib Olawale

There are two big dangers when it comes to failure in the consistency department on your social media channels.

  • You lose trust. Your audience will show up for you but only if you prove that you are there for them first. A gap in consistency may be forgiven but frequent consistency problems send a clear message that being present and showing up isn’t important to your brand. This is not the message you want the world to receive, right?
  • The algorithms will work against you. A social media algorithm exists to capitalize on the momentum. Just posting every day is probably not enough to gain an algorithmic boost, but if you post regularly AND are getting consistent engagement – that’s enough data for these channels and platforms to know people want to see what you are posting. As long as this continues, the algorithm will favor your content. However, when you drop the ball – and the social engagement stops – so will any advantage you were getting from the algorithms. It’s like starting over from scratch each time.

Earning Trust

The hardest part of the know, like, trust equation is earning the trust of your audience. Some of this has to do with the fact that humans are less likely to trust than ever before. Much of it has to do with the fact that the spammers and used car salesman stereotypes have us all skeptical and on edge.

As a new or struggling business owner, the most desperate need you have is to find clients and make money. It puts you in a different position than a business that has a cozy bottom line and is marketing to grow – not to survive. Unfortunately, your customers can sense desperation and hate when businesses vie for their money every moment of every day.

Earning trust then puts you in a situation where you can’t afford to not show up. It puts you in a spot where being generous to gain attention and awareness is vital. Too many business owners do not see these activities as being essential for growth because they don’t have an immediate and obvious impact on the bottom line. However, until you earn trust – people will not open up their wallets for you.

What have you done to earn the trust of your audience, your customers, and your peers this year?

Know Your Audience

When businesses get started with social media marketing they, typically, create and share content that is interesting to them. Mostly because they aren’t sure what to post and, often, because they don’t know their audience.

Identifying your target audience is the first step in getting to know them. Once you get to know your audience, they’ll tell you what they need, what their pain points are. They’ll rank your content by engaging with the posts they find the most valuable or interesting.

By paying attention to what your audience loved this year, you’ll have a better understanding of what content to create moving forward. Understanding how to move forward means exploring your successes and failures. In order to harvest the successes of your marketing efforts this year, you’ll have to take the time to examine what does or doesn’t work for your audience.

Are you struggling with not understanding how to use social media for your business?  Not sure when to post, how to post, or what #Hashtags even are? Over a 3-month period, we will develop a Road Map of exactly how to use social media for your business. During our Quarterly Strategy Road Map period, we will work on ads, reporting, creating posts for higher engagement, and breaking through fears and frustrations regarding social media marketing.

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.

Celebrate Your Social Media Marketing Goals

At the beginning of this year, did you commit to getting on social media? Being more present on Facebook (or Instagram, or YouTube)? Did you decide to be more consistent with your posting or more present for your audience?

Whatever social media marketing goals you set for yourself this year, it’s time to honor what you accomplished and celebrate your social media wins!

Branding & Messaging

Is your messaging on social media the same as it was at the start of the year? In the last six months, has your market, audience, culture or team shifted? Taking a look at your brand and your vision for your business and company culture is important for staying relevant and on brand. It’s common for a small business owner to become so focused on getting the work done that they stop being intentional about what they put out in the world.

If you are regularly updating and staying on top of your messaging on your website, when connecting in-person, and on your social media channels – then it’s time to celebrate!

Channels & Platforms

When was the last time you did a social media audit? Do you know which social media channels are performing better than others? Do you know why you are seeing success on one platform but no progress on another? Take time right now to evaluate your time, money and efforts so that you can focus on what works. Share what you’ve learned or what’s working for you on social media. Your audience may resonate with this process, have some advice for you to tweak things and be better, or may be eager to learn from your efforts.

Engagement & Community

One of the hardest things for most small businesses to achieve on social media is engagement. What goals did you have for social media engagement at the beginning of the year and how is that working out for you now? Perhaps it’s time to spark a culture of engagement on your social media channels by starting meaningful conversations, sharing your new ideas or direction, or educating your audience on what is and isn’t working for your business right now.

Brands who are open about their successes and their struggles bring an air of authenticity to social media that people crave. Be brave and celebrate your wins (and your failures) publicly so that meaningful conversations are being had on a regular basis.

If you have made progress at all so far this year on social media, then pat yourself on the back! That means social media marketing has the potential to help you build your brand and grow your business. It’s easy to focus on what doesn’t work but often that leaves business owners hopping from one marketing method to another and getting disappointed in the lackluster results. Success in social media is a marathon, not a sprint, so it’s important to pay attention to what is working and build on that success.

Sharing your successes on social media can be SO beneficial for your small business. Did you know that every social media platform is searchable? Each channel is its own search engine and also appears in the results of popular web browsers (like Google). Every word matters. Have you completely filled out your social media profiles? Is your messaging current? Have you optimized your opportunities to be found in search using your social media accounts? If not, now is the time to get your channels revamped! You’ll be amazed at the results. Book a discovery session here and ask us about Robust Profile Optimizations.

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.

Celebrate Your Networking Goals

Did you set goals for your networking efforts this year? If you want to get the most out of the time you spend networking for your business, it’s essential that you set goals for your efforts. In fact, we wrote all about setting networking goals here.

When you celebrate your wins on a regular basis it helps with confidence, positive thinking, forward momentum, and motivation. Knowing you on the right track with your efforts and that, even when things are tough you are achieving your goals, is a small business success technique.

Identify Your Personal Wins

Midyear is the perfect time to evaluate the various networking groups you participate in. Have you met any of this year’s networking goals? If yes, then celebrate your progress! It takes time and effort to participate at a level where you start seeing true results so, if you are, congratulations! Taking time to honor these small successes gives you the opportunity to evaluate what is and isn’t working, as well pausing to recognize the benefits of all your hard work.

Group Accomplishments

If you are struggling to identify any individual goals you’ve met with your networking groups so far, perhaps there are group accomplishments you could celebrate instead. Has the group grown this year? Did it pivot in an impactful way? Has attending the meetings helped you build an audience or a tribe? Most businesses join networking groups to find clients and make money but there can be other results from attending these events that may benefit your business.

Invite Others

Once you know that you have found a beneficial networking group that is helping you achieve your business goals, one way to celebrate is to share the group with others! Your audience will be motivated by your success and bolstering the group could bring additional benefits your way.

If you did select goals for business networking this year, now is a great time to pull out those goals and do a self-evaluation of your progress. Can you celebrate any networking wins right now?

Sharing your successes on social media allows others to connect with you, build rapport with you, and become motivated by your progress. Did you know that every social media platform is searchable? Each channel is its own search engine and also appears in the results of popular web browsers (like Google). Every word matters. Have you completely filled out your social media profiles? Is your messaging current? Have you optimized your opportunities to be found in search using your social media accounts? If not, now is the time to get your channels revamped! You’ll be amazed at the results. Book a discovery session here and ask us about Robust Profile Optimizations.

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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