Tag: Social Media Strategy

Prepping Your Social Media Game Plan for the 4th Quarter

Whether you like it or not, we’ve reached the fourth quarter of your small business year. In a couple of months, you’ll be able to tell whether you made your yearly dreams come true or if you fell short of your expectations for these past twelve months. If you haven’t already, it’s time to put together your social media game plan for the fourth quarter.

The End Zone

This is it. This is the last quarter of the year to make an impact with your small business. It’s time to check your numbers and your goals. Are you on track to reach those milestones by year end? If not, then it’s time to put together some marketing campaigns and promotions and try new things to get you over that finish line. If you are on track, is there anything you can do to stack the deck and go bigger than you even imagined? Now’s the time to plot out your end game strategy for the year.

Blitz

This is the perfect time of year to go big or go home. If you have the motivation, energy, and resources, it’s time to try new things and really put your business out there. Join a new networking group, create a new campaign, host a contest, finally start that email newsletter, buy some ads, or invest in support. Time is limited to make an impact this year and going ALL OUT in the fourth quarter could have truly wonderful results for your business. You can use social media to get the word out, get in front of new people, and connect with power players in your industry.

Holiday Season

Let’s be honest, the fourth quarter of the year is when most businesses make the bulk of their profits. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines or check out. We’ve found that most social media marketing strategies and promotions take at least 60 days to be effective. That means if you have a holiday deal for December, you need to have your ducks in a row at the beginning of October.

Yes, I know, you don’t want to think about the holidays yet. However, by the time you are ‘in the mood’, it’ll be too late to promote your deals/specials. Everything will have holiday brain and will already have plans or be making plans of how to spend their seasonal dollars.

You must get ahead and start planning your holiday marketing strategy now to give yourself plenty of time to promote your offers.

Overtime

Since you aren’t going to want to spend your Thanksgiving planning your New Year, New You plan – go ahead and put together your January social media strategy now. Yes, technically, January is a first quarter game, but your customers aren’t the only ones who will want or need to check out during the holiday season and focus on more important things.

***** Is it becoming more difficult to create content for your small business to use in social media? Is there just not enough time in the day to be as consistent and present as you’d like to be online? The Social Media Advisor team can create a custom editorial calendar for your posts, create messaging and images that are aligned with your brand and culture, and schedule posts so you can take social media marketing off your very busy plate. Hire us to do the work so you don’t have to. *****

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 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.

Top 3 Ways to Add Company Culture to Your Brand Messaging in Social Media

Top 3 Ways to Add Company Culture to Your Brand Messaging in Social Media

If you want your social media audience to be truly invested in your brand and it’s success, sharing your company culture is a great way to show the world who you are, how you show up, and the impact you want to make in the world! Brand advocates don’t just show up. You have to give people a reason to fall in love with your mission and vision. 

Your culture and company values can be represented in a variety of ways: 

Frequently Asked Questions

If you haven’t been jotting down the questions you are asked about your business the most, you are missing out on an amazing opportunity to convert those into content for your audience. You can answer these questions in fun ways including social media polls, Share a GIF posts, or behind-the-scenes selfies to pull the curtain back and invite your audience into your world. These types of posts tend to be quite popular and inspire the most engagement. 

These questions are also fantastic ways to create brand stories that you already know your  people are interested in hearing.

Fun Holidays

If you browse DaysoftheYear.com you’ll discover there is a fun holiday (or three) for all 365 days of the year. Some of these holidays will align with your brand and messaging. Take advantage of these days by creating social media posts, or entire marketing campaigns, that will resonate with your audience. This is a great way to show off your company’s unique personality and demonstrate to folks what is important to you and your business.

Brand Photography

A headshot is nice but it rarely tells a story about your company culture. Brand photography is the solution to this problem. Not only will you have amazing photos to share on your website and in social media, branded photos are an awesome opportunity to showcase your company’s personality, energy, and culture. Get the team together and have some fun! Your followers are there because they are interested in what you are putting out into the world, they’ll love seeing you and your team in action!

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 your editorial calendar, branded content, 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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