Top Tools In Planning and Managing Your Social Media

We talk frequently about content, consistency and planning ahead using editorial calendars.  We have gathered up a handful of content posting tools, management options and response platforms for you to try on for your business and success in online marketing with social media.  


Content Scheduling Tool

From TweetDeck and HootSuite seem to have the most similar options for Content Scheduling, but we prefer and recommend  HootSuite to our clients.  There are not only :”Free” options (for brands with under 3 profiles to manage), but affordable upgraded  options that provide value and (at times) critical options for Team Assignments, App Integration, Custom Reporting and  engagement options right in the platform.  There are over 75 (the list continues to grow and change frequently) application tools  such as RSS feed integration, newsletter integration and a variety of follower tracking options.
If you are looking to optimize budget and scalability, this is a great tool for that. You can register for a trial version of the upgraded option at: http://bit.ly/15gQM7t


Content Idea Tool

All of your content should be rich with ideas, perspectives, tips, testimonials, news and rich with images.  If you haven’t incorporated a Blog yet, definitely consider including one in your marketing strategies as it adds searchable evergreen content to the search engines providing updates to you’re your website, links to your site and a storehouse of content to be used and reused at later times (which helps with visibility and maintaining consistency).

Should you run dry on content ideas, you should consider sharing posts and blogs from influencers in your industry.  This increases your credibility and enhances the expertize in your brand. Sharing (with permission) from influencers is great for industry networking, co-marketing and enhances your viewers relationship with you.

**If you are only sharing your own content, your audience will feel bored and “spammed” with self promotion.

I recommend using “Suggestion” ideas from HootSuite and Buffer: http://www.buffer.com  I find a wider variety of suggested post ideas from my industry influencers, inspiring quotes, etc.  You can customize your options in both tools as well.


Management Tool for Engagement


Managing conversations, replying and pruning followers are key to keep up with fresh visibility and show your presence is active and engaging.  In addition to engagement options in HootSuite and Buffer, I like the functionality of Commun.it  which allows you to clean up your follower list, send auto (customizable) responses to engagement and a variety of scheduling and reporting options.  It really helps you learn more about your audience and how they engage best with you.

To try out Communi.it, click: http://bit.ly/1RKhPv2


BONUS: Tool for Creating Images for your Brand

As an added BONUS, because visual content is key in ALL of your online marketing, I recommend a popular tool called, Canva found at http://www.canva.com

Canva provides you with template and low cost options for creating branded images quickly and easily for your blog, website and social media posts that are already formatted in the dimensions you need for your brand.  It is an easy to use tool that is very cost effective, maintained well and a variety of tutorials are available as well.

Keeping your social media consistent and up to date with the most engagement options possible, I encourage you to try on these tools, build an editorial calendar to maintain visibility and remember, if you aren’t having fun, you are doing it wrong.

To your success!

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

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a "Be Awesome" 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

Why should you develop consistency in Social Media?

Social Media folk talk about consistency frequently.  But realistically, what does that mean?  We are tackling this question with 5 strategies to help you battle consistency in Social Media

Webster defines the term as: harmony of conduct or practice with profession

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Consistency with your Brand

We talk often about your brand.  We frequently see Profiles and Pages built with generic images and inconsistent wording.  Usually Pages and Profiles are merely created with a non-specific purpose, without keyword or target focused branding.  Images should be aligned with the mission, services and products, stories should be in alignment as well.  Creating a Page without purpose or updates, leaves your visitors wanting and curious.  Define your brand by understanding your niche and target market.  You may quickly find that a general tagline or “name” of a service doesn’t clearly encompass the image of the brand as a whole.  Leaving blank spaces and images that don’t really say much about your target audience, will leave you undesirable, unclear and your viewer will lose attention with your brand as a whole.

Consistency with your Message

What does your message say about you and your brand?  Does it speak to your ideal audience?  Can you read over your mission or message and know exactly who, how and what you are offering is a good fit for your viewer?  In more cases than not, your BIG WHY probably doesn’t speak to the true gifts your company offers, the solutions you are offering or pains you are trying to solve.  These are the things that your ideal client is wanting to learn.  A properly crafted message to your niche will clearly tell an appropriate story to your target market and will draw the right audience to your brand.

Consistency with your Posts

We get the question, “How often should we post an update in Social Media?”  Followed up by, “I only want to post once each week or once a month to not bother my clients.”

Due to the nature of information in the world of “Internet of Things”, this suggestion is far too small to build a consistent visibility for your brand.  It will take planning, editorial calendars, offers and calendar alignment to maintain a successful consistent stream of activity for your audience.  Every single platform has a variety of “suggested” post intervals.  Example: You can post once or twice in Facebook each day vs seven to ten times each day in Twitter - both are appropriate, but you will also have to measure engagement, times of day and views to gauge the proper intervals based off your target market and type of content you are wanting to share.  

A discovery session to understand your goals, time and reach is necessary for anyone to consult you on the best options for your brand. PET PEEVE: a SMM (Social Media Manager) who will suggest 5 times each day on Facebook blindly without understanding your budget and target reach - is doing you a disservice.  It is better to post on a regular schedule than to not post at all.

Consistency with Communication and Responses

If you are posting in social media, you should expect responses and engagement.  How and what you share will determine the frequency of opportunity you will have to respond and monitor engagement.  Bottom line … if you share something in social media, expect to be prepare to respond in a timely manner.  Timely means same day, in most cases within an hour.  Outside of that time frame, apologize for the delay in response.  If you don’t have a response plan in place and reply within a week, you have lost the opportunity in that engagement.

Consistency with Routine

Developing an editorial calendar is relevant in this response to routine.

  

1. A calendar will keep you in tune with themes, focus, events, relevance and will help you avoid randomly sharing or becoming too self promotional.
2. A routine will help you focus on the best times of day to post, highest engagement and will help you to not flood your audience with too  much content at once.
3. Use tools to keep you organized (HootSuite, Buffer, Commun.it, HubSpot, Tweetdeck, etc) are great resources you should consider adding to your tool belt to maintain the routine you are trying to develop.

Build a solid brand by using the living, breathing circle of consistency and your audience will keep you top of mind as an expert, trusted vendor and key connection in their list of resources.

Are you needing a brand analysis or strategy consulting to build your editorial calendar and consistency?  Give us a shout!

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

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a "Be Awesome" 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

The Power of StoryTelling In Your Brand

“Walking the Talk” means we play in the social spaces we have developed and engage every opportunity possible. In connecting with clients, partners, vendors and prospective clients, we have found many inconsistencies in brands from cover images, to profile images to a branded message that tells a story.

Storytelling in social media is the art of sharing your brand message along with rich keywords, focused demographics, product/services detail and solving pains … without being overly bland.  Most organizations who create a profile in a social platform haven’t mastered this technique as the platforms don’t really talk about their search functions in that way.

Did you know that EVERY single social media platform is essentially its own search engine? By developing the right type of bio fit for the platform, you are optimizing the space it provides with searchable content that is beneficial to your brand.

It is nearly impossible to copy an About section of your website into your social brand and make it search worthy in a platform without knowing what words you can share to make your profile searchable to your ideal target market, but also stand out with clear call to action; unless you have been properly trained on the art of Bio writing in social media.

Consider LinkedIn for example … the platform doesn’t provide the space that they do in each section without wanting each word getting utilized to its optimal performance … ie, a resume written bio won’t show case the same options as a richly worded strategic bio that tells a story.  Whether an individual or business, every section has a purpose, is designed to serve you and speak a message that isn’t tailored to your ordinary resume.

To relate, I tell a story often about an outreach project, where I was looking for Face Painters in a specific area of town.  I searched Google and found limited results, but when I searched LinkedIn, I found more … because the right words were in their profile. I was able to reach out to and select from a small group of Face Painters for my project through this tool.  The results were higher because of what they shared and the outcome resulted in 3 local service providers who wanted to participate in our event.  Yes, three - high grade professional in their craft who were bidding for our project in LinkedIn.

You CAN have a robust following and message with the right Social Media Bio developed for you and your brand.

Let us know if your business could use a little more inbound marketing with less cost of Google Ads and less LinkedIn "resume-like" appearances.

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

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a "Be Awesome" 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

Using Facebook for Business - 3 Things To Plan For

Literally … anyone can create a Facebook Page. Sure, it appears to be easy, fill in the fields, add a few images, invite a few friends to like the page … WRONG.

The Power of the Facebook Bio

Yes, that is easy, but have you taken the time to build a robust profile filled with rich story contained with keywords, demographic and solving pains for your ideal clients?  Chances are, you probably aren’t aware of the power of the sections contained in Facebook, keyword options to make you searchable or the impact of a professionally written bio.

The Power of a Facebook Strategy

There are many ways to cultivate activity on Facebook through updates and a variety of paid campaigns.  Do you truly know which options are best for your budget and reach?  I hear frequently statements like, “I hate Facebook because I put in my credit card and they didn’t charge me what I agreed to” or “I received zero new Followers through boosting” or “I tried ads and they gave me zero activity:.

Developing the right strategies can make or break your campaigns. Being prepared for budgeting for campaigns is key.

Monitor Frequently and Set Up Notifications

Facebook recently updates notification options for engagement on your Pages.  Check out your settings and make sure you select to receive notifications for all engagement activity. Ironically, 4 out of over 20+ pages we are monitoring have received consistent SPAM from fake accounts recently.  It is best to BAN the accounts (which will keep them from further posting to your page under that account name).  We saved ourselves a lot of branding headaches with these newer push notifications!

What not to do in Facebook

Don’t add a credit card (tied to your business bank account) to your account!  You are making yourself vulnerable to mistakes and surprise bills!  Set your budget, purchase a Visa gift card and plan accordingly.  Your account will remain uncompromised and your bank account will be free from surprises. 

If we aren’t having fun, we are doing it wrong!  #BeAwesome

If you would like to learn how to use Facebook for Business, our next Webinar can be found at: http://thesocialpro.eventbrite.com

 

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

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a "Be Awesome" 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