Tag: Social Media Tools

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.

#SocialMediaStrategy – Top Tools to Create Your Social Media Posts

One of the things that makes social media content compelling and fun is the way it takes advantage of graphics and images. If you are the one creating the content, this can also present challenges since it does require that you have access to specialized tools. Luckily, there are lots of resources available to help you accomplish your objectives. Here are excellent tools to help you create your social media posts. Most of these have a free version available but to get the full slate of features, you’ll need the paid versions.

Making Images

Canva is pretty much cream of the crop when it comes to creating social media posts. First and foremost, it’s user-friendly. Experiment with it, and you’ll be creating eye-popping content in no time at all. Best of all, it’s designed to help you design for all the major platforms with specifications built in. Since they’re recent partnership with free stock photography websites, Pexels and Pixabay, the Canva library of images has gotten quite impressive. There are many competitors out there wanting to take this tool on as a rival, but we’d still recommend Canva any day of the week.

Making Videos

There are tons of tools out there for creating and editing videos for social media. Videos are an important aspect of social media and can be used in a variety of ways. You can post pre-recorded videos to just about every social media channel and YouTube is one of the top 3 most visited websites. There are always ways to go “live” with video on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. You can post videos to both Facebook and Instagram Stories and the new IGTV on Instagram. While there are plenty of tools available to help you get started, both free and paid, our advice is to start with what you already have – your smartphone. Once you commit and become consistent in creating and posting videos, then you can look into ways to improve upon what you are doing.

Finding Content

If you aren’t creating 100% original content, you’ll need reliable sources of content that relate to your business to share on your social media to remain consistent. You can do this a variety of ways including simply making a list of trusted sources to check regularly for content. If you’d like a tool to collect content from all of this sources for you so you only have to go to one site, then look into a RSS Feeder. Feedly works well and has both a free and paid version where you can input your favorite sites and they will curate the content for you.

Editorial Calendar

We can’t state enough the importance of having an editorial calendar before you begin creating content for your social media marketing. When it comes to building an editorial calendar, you won’t need a fancy app or tool to do that. You can do it in a Word document or Google Sheets file. Regardless of how you build this strategy, just make sure you create one. If you are struggling with creating your content calendar, contact us for help!

Before you jump and begin to create content, it pays to develop a solid strategy that includes fleshing out your objectives, which platforms are best for what you are trying to do and scopes out your resources. To make sure you cover all the essential points, why not take advantage of the expertise of The Social Media Advisor. Their Quarterly Strategy Road Map Development is the ideal resource to help you get a quick start and ensure that you are making the most of your time and resources.

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.

#GrowYourAudience – Using the Tools of the Trade in Your Online Marketing

In the world of online marketing, things move fast – so fast that we rarely get the chance to pause and evaluate how we do our work. It’s easy to lose track of all the tools that are available to help us maximize our online marketing efforts.

From social media managers, analytical tools, and other utilities, there are many tools from which to choose from. Some are designed for casual users, some are super techie, some are expensive, and some are cheap. Which ones are best for you all depends on what you are trying to do. But no matter what your skill level or strategy, there are some must-haves. Let’s take a look at five tools of the trade that every online marketer should have in his or her toolbox.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a tool that allows you to schedule and post updates to your social media accounts. You can implement and analyze campaigns across all the platforms you use all from one dashboard. Depending on the type of account you have (yes, there are both free and paid versions) you can track a wide variety of metrics to monitor your efforts.

Canva

Canva is a powerful graphics media program that allows you to create a wide variety of marketing pieces using your own designs or pre-designed templates. It also offers the ability to collaborate with other members of your team. Many of Canva’s most useful features are free.

Google Analytics

When you insert a short piece of code on your web pages, Google Analytics allows you to track and analyze your website traffic. This must have tool for any webmaster will help you understand what your users are looking at, how they get to your website, and if they are using your content the way you intended.

Facebook Pixel

Facebook Pixel helps you monitor whether or not the ads you place on Facebook are working. The Pixel is activated by code you put on your website. You’ll be able to analyze the effectiveness of your ads using a variety of metrics.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is remote storage space that is made available over a network. Among the most well-known cloud storage is Apple’s iCloud but there are other services available. You purchase storage based on your needs. The service will take care of maintaining and backing up your data in a way that is virtually invisible to you.

There are many tools available to help you work more effectively to manage your social media needs. For many people, having these five tools and knowing how to use them is enough; they can make your life easier, make your team more effective, and ensure that your business is running smoothly.

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.

#AwesomeTools – Social Media Editorial Development Tools

One of the hardest parts of maintaining a social media presence is the feeling that you are constantly trying to generate ideas for new and unique material.  And if you don’t have a system for your content generation, you will end up missing great opportunities to connect with your audience and sell your product/service. If you want to take advantage of every opportunity to get your message out there, you need to make use of some social media editorial development tools.
A great way to keep your posts and promotionsorganized is a content calendar. It’s likely that you already have a personal planner or calendar that you track appointments and deadlines in. Think of a social media content calendar as an extension of this, with more bells and whistles.
This is the place to map out your content. You can plan your own content and deadlines (like blog post publish dates), and include things like major holidays, events, and other special dates.
Creating your content calendar doesn’t have to be complicated. You can use good old-fashioned pen and paper, an electronic alternative like an Excel document or Evernote, or do it directly in a social media scheduling tool like Hootsuite or Buffer. I always recommend scheduling your posts to save you time, but if you like to map out content on paper first and then upload it to your online calendar, that’s totally fine!
So how do you build a calendar?  First, you’re going to want to look at your timeline and determine how often you should post, and the best times to post. You also want to take into consideration who your target audience is, so you can source and create content that appeals to them.
Next, include major holidays, some fun, quirky holidays, and other major events that you should be posting about. Let’s say, for example, that your blog centers around women’s health. It would make sense to produce content relating to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is in October.
Once you have a list of holidays and special events, you can start scheduling out your blog posts and social media posts.
Once your content calendar is full ideas, you can use social media scheduling tools to schedule your posts. What’s great about online schedulers is that they help you to collaborate with other members of your team. If you upload a post, everyone on the team can see it and offer feedback. This makes the content generation process even easier.

If you are into social media, and I know you are, then it’s important for you to plan your editorial content. By planning in advance, you can make sure that your social media stays running and current, and that you don’t miss any opportunities to cross-promote on holidays and special events.

 

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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