Social Media Tools Archives - Page 2 of 3

November 28, 2017
Content Marketing

#AwesomeTools – Where to Share Your Blog

Blogging has come a long way in the world over the past ten years. What started out as a “web log” was really just an online diary for people to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the outside world at large. But then, something amazing happened.

People realized that blogs could be used for serious topics, sharing inspirational messages and more – helping businesses spread topics that are related to their work while helping to establish their brand in their corner of the highly competitive business world. But there is no real point in keeping a blog if no one reads it. That’s why it is so important to learn how to share your blog properly so that it gets the optimum number of views and brings in your potential customers.

Many don’t realize that if you post the same blog word-for-word on multiple sites, then Google will flag you and your blog. That means that if someone types your subject into a search engine, then you will be way down the list and probably not be found as a result. So how do you bypass this?

One easy way is to use social media accounts as a means of linking back to your original blog post. A really great way to do this is with Pinterest and LinkedIn Pulse. Most people think of Pinterest as just a means of sharing craft projects, but it also allows for a variety of different interests to be shared.

LinkedIn is popular as a means of connecting with people in the business community, but LinkedIn Pulse is a publishing section that allows you to copy your blog in without being penalized by Google. This is an invaluable tool to reach your desired audience with your blogs. LinkedIn Groups and Facebook Groups are another way to share your blogs, but be careful that you follow their rules and regulations so you don’t get accused of spamming.

Another tool that really helps you with finding and sharing material is Triberr. This tool allows you to set up your blog content so that you can find similar blog articles, share these with your followers, and also cross-post your own blogs with those that you find. The concept behind the website is that you set up as part of a “tribe” so that you can network and expand your brand base.

Have you heard of Quora? This site allows people to ask questions and have experts in the field answer the question. You can set yourself up as one of these experts and reference back to your blog as part of your response.

There are many ways to network your blog to others so that you can get around Google’s penalties for multiple posts. All that it takes is some savvy planning on your part and you can use your blog to help expand your brand recognition.

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 her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

August 2, 2016
Social Media Marketing

#EducationMatters – Simplify Your Social Media With Tools

This month is all about #EducationMatters. Social Media can be a major time-suck but it doesn’t have to be that way. We’ve listed our top Social Media Tools to help keep you organized, stay on track, and, best of all, save you time so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Canva: Incredibly easy social media imaging tool that takes the guesswork out of image sizes. With over 50 templates available for various social media sites (From Facebook to YouTube channel art), Canva can deliver high quality productions with a wide variety of image and font choices, making it easy to #BeAwesome. Their price range for images are from $0-$1, but you can always upload your own into the template for free. It’s also available as an app for iPad and iPhone. Android users need not worry. There’s a Canva app on the way for you as well!
Hashtracking: Have you ever wondered if a hashtag you use is a relevant one? Or what a popular hashtag would be for a certain product or service? Hashtracking.com takes the guesswork out of hashtags for social media campaigns and events. If you’re not willing to pay for ongoing report options, they offer free social media snapshot reports without a subscription. You simply need to log in to your Twitter or Instagram account to use the service. This is a one-time log-in.
Feedly: Have all your content curation in one spot. Feedly is an RSS aggregator. This RSS reader can gather feeds from multiple sites based on your preferences, add feeds from publications, blogs, podcasts, and even YouTube channels. It works well with Google Alerts as well as a multitude of other apps. The best part of the service is that you can organize all your feeds into collections that make them more accessible in the future. One of its biggest pluses is the integration it has with another social media tool, Buffer.
Buffer: Posting your social-media content across multiple social-media services just got a lot easier. With Buffer you can schedule Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+ pages all it once. To use Pinterest, you’ll need to pay for their service, but the others are free. Please note that you’ll need a mobile device to push out your Instagram posts, but that’s an Instagram requirement, rather than a limitation to Buffer.
Hootsuite: Another option for social media content scheduling and sharing is Hootsuite. Hootsuite can connect to Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. Please note that their free version limits you to three social media accounts. Their pro version is $9.99 a month and allows you to have real-time analytics and 50 social profiles. Like Buffer, you’ll need to use a mobile device to push out your Instagram posts.
Commun.it: For businesses that find Twitter especially valuable, this tool helps the user to manage their engagement and presence on the platform. This relationship management tool allows users to monitor and respond automatically with potential leads on the site. It will also track and monitor accounts you have expressed interest in and report their daily activities to you. As with most of the tools mentioned, there are both free and paid versions that offer different features.
Trello: This website exists as an online program management tool with a free option. Users create lists and cards to organize their projects. For businesses with team member, it is simple to assign different individuals to various cards as an indication for team assignments.
Google Drive & Dropbox: Both of these sites are excellent (and FREE) options for cloud storage that can be easily shared with clients and team. Dropbox is more for just storing the files themselves, while Google Drive is an online document center allowing individuals and team to work within files right on the site.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Social Media Tools. Is there a place where you struggle with time? If so, let us know in comments and we might be able to direct you to just the right tool to help you #BeAwesome at what you do!

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

March 1, 2016
Content Marketing

No Need to Start Over – Use Content Management Tools

For the month of March, my team is focusing on getting your online marketing back on track. Have you created, even used, some social media accounts but have let your content slip through the cracks? It’s okay. It can be daunting, as a small business owner, to keep juggling all the things you need to get done each day.

So, there’s a gap in your content. It’ll be all right. While consistency is important in social media and online marketing, a presence is better than no presence. Only this time, you are going to work smarter. There is no point in sending you back into the trenches without a game plan to make it work this time around!

What’s the magic to getting you ramped back up? It’s in knowing and understanding online marketing tools and resources. There are so many tools available now that take the stress, and sometimes the guesswork, out of staying on top of your online content.

Social Media Scheduling

There are many different choices but Hootsuite and Buffer are the most popular. They offer free accounts that will allow you to use many of their features. Scheduling software allows marketers to plan content ahead of time and then post it at the most opportune time of day. Hootsuite also offers suggestions for content in case you are ever in a rut and need a little help. Buffer offers some insightful analytics as well.

Twitter

This platform moves fast and can be difficult to keep up with. Good thing there are so many apps, websites and tools to help make tweeting more manageable.

– Bit.ly – used to shorten links in order to conserve space within that 140 character limit.
– CoTweet – an analytical tool to track engage and analyze conversations.
– Paper.li – a site that gathers online content and displays it in a newsfeed fashion. Can be used for content curation.
– Triberr – A community based site to join tribes of like-minded content creators.
– TweetDeck – a slick desktop management tool for Twitter uses.
– TwitterFeed – got some RSS feeds? This tool allows you to share your tweets through your feeds.
– Twitter Character Counter – This website is a simple to use box to copy and paste your tweets and edit them down so they fit the character limitations of Twitter.

Images

Want to quickly, and easily, create high quality graphics for your blog posts and social media accounts? Check out Canva. This free to use tool is set up to churn out graphics and images in a speedy and hassle-free way. Take your online content from blah to wow in only a manner of minutes!

By planning ahead of time, you could be creating a month’s worth of online content in just a couple of hours. This would keep you consistent and relevant on the web but still free you up to work on your business and keep bringing in new clients.

If you implement some new tools and still find yourself struggling to keep up with your online marketing, contact us at The Social Media Advisor and ask for help! We thrive on helping small businesses #BeAwesome online!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

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 her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

December 25, 2015
Social Media Marketing

Social Seven: Tools of the Trade – Post Planner

Post Planner claims to triple your engagement and reach. Erin used the tool for her own business for a while to compare its effectiveness against simply posting natively to Facebook.

It goes back to posting images versus just posting text. Posts with images get more engagement, likes and shares than if you just use text. People are drawn towards color and visual stories. Text alone is boring. It’s good to have a healthy combination of both. There is a lot less reach with a text only post than if an image is added. One of the things Erin really likes about Post Planner is that they have added the capability to create a post in Post Planner then create an image in Canva and the tool will automatically share it. It combines the two processes into one step and saves time. It’s connected to your Facebook and Canva so all those designs are saved in both places.

Another great thing about Post Planner is that it gives you ideas about what to post. When you are drawing a blank, you can search Post Planner for images, quotes, or engaging questions to ask to boost your content management. This is similar to what Hootsuite and Buffer offers but it is more of a searchable database than a list of links. Post Planner also offers insightsfor those seeking motivation or additional ideas.

Post Planner is only $7 a month to use, with occasional sales to make it even more affordable. Therefore, it is a reasonable, cost effective tool with some decent perks to help keep up with social media management.

We’d love to hear your feedback if you have used Post Planner and it has helped your business or helped you engage your audience.

Think this 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!

Join us each week as Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor dive into conversations about Social Media Tools, News and Guests in the Social Media World!

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