Tag: Social Media

How Your Business Can Become LIMITLESS Using Social Media

How Your Business Can Become LIMITLESS Using Social Media

Have you been feeling limited by the slow growth of your small business this year? For many small business owners, the work of going above and beyond for your clients or customers is top priority but they worry about staying in front of people and positioning themselves for success. For an everything CEO, there never seems to be enough time to market their biz effectively.

Have you really tried social media marketing yet? My guess is that you haven’t had the time or the expertise to really give social media a shot and you’ve found your past efforts to be lackluster at best. This is quite common but businesses who become discouraged with social media marketing are missing out on a BIG opportunity to show up for their ideal audience.

Your social media channels allow your business to be exposed to entirely new audiences. The growth potential of this online marketing tool allows businesses to scale much more quickly than word of mouth or in-person efforts.  If you have taken the steps to properly and robustly build out your social media channels, you can not only show up in search results, but can grow your followers and fans to a whole new level!  

If you are tired of feeling like your work never gets noticed, it’s time to properly build out your social media platforms for search success!

Hashtags

Yes, hashtags are more than silly phrases strung together to get a good laugh. They are search engine rockstars! Using the right hashtags will drastically increase how many people find your page or profile on social media. 

Action Item: Develop a list of 50-75 hashtags to rotate on a consistent basis in your social media posts. You’ll want to use 3-5 on any Google My Business posts or on any shares on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If you are using Instagram, you’ll want to use 15-30 on each post. It is imperative to have a large list to choose from because you’ll have more success when rotating them out than if you just use the same ones on each post.

The Right Words

When you are writing copy for your website, your social media, or anything else you share online, keyword phrases are super important. You need to use the exact language that your ideal target audience will type into a search bar to find what you do. If you aren’t sure what someone might type into Google to find you and your business, ask around. Do some simple searches yourself. Need a new plumber? Pay attention to the exact words you use online to find a plumber in your area to help you. You can also use tools, like Moz, for ideas on what people might be searching for in your area or industry. Then use those exact phrases when you are writing your captions for social media.

Action Item: Make a list of 20 keyword phrases someone might type to find your business online.

Engage, Engage, Engage

If your plan is to post content and then move on to other things, you are going to be disappointed in your results. Social media is designed to be social. We aren’t telling you to sit on top of your social media all day, every day but you do need to make time to respond to your followers and engage with other people online. Too many small business owners disappear after posting or only respond to the people who are engaging with them. I know it sounds repetitive, but if you aren’t responding to comments or engaging in further conversations with the people engaging with you, it is very much a 1 way relationship.  If you take the time to care and respond, your audience will remain loyal fans.

Want to feel limitless on social? Use these platforms! Find people in your industry, your area, your networking group, or circles and comment and share their posts. Ask interesting questions and start engaging conversations in forums and groups. 

Action Item: Send 15 minutes each workday responding to your audience and interacting with other people on your preferred social media channel.

Social media marketing works if you do the work and if you understand how these platforms both penalize and reward you for the ways you show up.

If you are overwhelmed, let’s start with our best tip. Every platform is searchable.  Every word matters.  Do you have a few paragraphs in the about section of each of your social media accounts? Are they padded with the right, searchable keywords? Is your messaging current? Not sure what your online presence says about your business? Now is the time to revamp your online assets! This commitment in time, money, and effort will produce results you never expected and it’s a great way to position your business better online without making a long-term financial commitment. Give the Social Media Advisor team a call today to discuss options.

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.

Are You Incorporating Your Networking Goals with Your Social Media Marketing Goals

Are You Incorporating Your Networking Goals with Your Social Media Marketing Goals?

Networking, virtually or in person, can really enhance the connections you are building and support your efforts in social media marketing. I’ve been using networking as a marketing growth tool for the entire time I’ve been a small business owner and social media manager. While the groups have changed over the years, the benefit of connecting with other biz owners on a regular basis has remained the same.

Find New Followers

How does networking and social media connect? Exposure to any new group is an opportunity to find new followers for your social media channels. There are clever and engaging ways to encourage new people to follow you on social media and once you’ve identified how to do that, the sky’s the limit! It’s important to have 1-3 goals for any networking meeting, event or opportunity and one of those could be convincing 1-5 people to follow you on your favorite social media platform or channel. Give them a good incentive to go out of their way and hit the follow, like, or subscribe button to make this task even easier!

Invite Your Followers

Have you considered inviting your followers to your next networking event? You can build trust with your followers or customers by inviting them to connect deeper while networking.  How does inviting others to network with you enhance their own businesses and endeavors? This gets you valuable face-to-face time with them while they get the benefit of marketing their efforts with new people. Not only is this a win-win situation, if it’s successful for them the trust you’ve built is likely to convert to success for your biz in the future.

Grow Your Followers

Additionally, networking groups can help you build your tribe of supporters and expand your social media audience through the supportive engagement and shares of the other businesses in your networking group. When you leave a networking group, take time to post about the experience on social media. Tag the group, other businesses that attended, or even people you think may benefit from the next meeting or gathering. Tell your audience your favorite takeaways, give shout-outs, or recommend someone new to you people (if appropriate). By extending your networking through the use of social media marketing, you amplify both your networking AND social media marketing efforts.

Where are you networking and what accomplishments has the group seen over the year so far? What groups have you heard good things about but haven’t tried yet? Some business owners thrive when given the opportunity to connect one-on-one with other people each month. If that sounds like you, let’s talk about how you can optimize your networking returns using social media. Give the Social Media Advisor team a call today to discuss options.

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.

Don't Know What to Post on Social Media?

Don’t Know What to Post on Social Media?

Have you ever found yourself in the mental space of, “Geex, it is 1:00 pm and it has been 3 weeks since I have posted anything on social media and I have no idea what to share?” Why is it so hard to come up with content for your social media channels?

A big part of the problem is that small business owners are trying to create content to sell their product, service, or event without considering their audience. Your social media marketing should be focused on building an audience of like-minded individuals and providing them value every week so they begin to know, like, and trust you enough to want to work with you. 

There’s a simplicity behind what to share on social media that many biz owners overlook. It’s as simple as creating content and social media posts where you spend time sharing your values, your ideas, and your best tips with people interested in the problem you solve.

The best advice we can give you right now is… create an editorial calendar. No more feeling uninspired or stuck when it comes to what to post next. Building an editorial calendar will help you get ahead of creating your content. 

Don’t be that brand that feels scattered and all over the place! Picking a theme for each day will help you keep your values and topics in clear focus. Selecting weekly and monthly themes will help you stay on track towards your goals and ensure you stay relevant throughout all the seasons of the year.

If building your editorial calendar sounds confusing, frustrating, overwhelming, or downright scary, no worries. That is what we help you do in our Strategy Roadmaps or when you sign up for Monthly Posting Support.

If you are using social media yourself, you may have noticed that you engage with pages that share content you can relate with. Simply posting is not enough. You need engaging content that is easy to find and interesting enough to like, comment, or share. Are you ready to define your story and build a long term relationship with a loyal audience? Let’s do a Discovery Session to see which of our programs best fit your social media marketing needs.

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 Components of Successful Social Media Posts

Telling an effective brand story has many layers but is important to map your content strategy out properly as to not overwhelm your audience with too much information at once. There are many moving parts, bells, and whistles for creating content for social media. 

Where should you start? What takes priority? What will ensure your social media marketing efforts are successful?

Editorial Calendar

There are businesses out there that will tell you they decide in the moment what to post and that it feels more authentic. Posting in the moment has its perks but it’s no strategy. Not only is it not a strategy with targeted goals and objectives, many struggle with what to say or post. This level of disorganization can lead to confusion, frustration, and disappointment. 

By creating an editorial calendar, business owners will know what they are posting, when, how often, and what the goal is supposed to be or that post. It doesn’t mean you can’t post in the moment but spontaneous posting should be a bonus, a supplement to your content strategy. 

Know the audience. Know the content that works best for them. Know the best time to post. And, above all, have a plan. What do you want that post to accomplish? What’s the goal? Where are you directing traffic? What’s your call to action? The more information you decide in advance, the more on point you’ll be with your social media marketing.

Plan for Engagement

It doesn’t matter how hard you work on creating and scheduling social media content if no one in your audience ever likes, comments, or shares your work. Engagement is the #1 goal for any social media strategy. Develop a plan in advance by polling your current audience and asking them what type of content they’d like to see from you. Your die-hard followers? Ask them to engage with your posts often so more people are likely to see them. Create conversations (which requires you to check-in and respond). Your audience wants to interact with you, not just a graphic or a quote. Plan for sharing content that will attract new people and keep your current audience coming back again and again.

Hashtag Strategy

Yes, silly hashtags exist and they are mostly for entertainment purposes. However, that is no reason to dismiss hashtags altogether! Since every social media channel is its own search engine, learning how to use hashtags is key in attracting new people to your social platforms. Research popular and effective hashtags for your industry and use them often. If you preferred platform is Instagram – experiment with 15-30 hashtags per post, either in the post itself or as the first comment on the post. For other platforms, 3 to 5 hashtags per post is more than enough.

Overwhelmed? The Social Media Advisor team can help you create a social media strategy and start being consistent online with your business.

Prefer a DIY approach? The Social Power Program exists to help small business owners learn to navigate social media marketing and all its various components and challenges. Members have access to a Private Facebook Support Group, Monthly Ask the Expert Mastermind Sessions, a FREE Ebook, and regular new videos posted to our library to support their marketing efforts as well.  Learn everything from creating an editorial calendar, to designing custom branded images, to use of hashtags, to paid ads and reporting, how the algorithms work, and MORE! Find out more about the Social Power Program here.

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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