New Year, New Habits – If You Like It Then You Better Put a Tag On It

In order to really get a handle on using Twitter, social media users have to understand the platform’s special features and lingo. One of the most important aspects of using Twitter is understanding and incorporating hashtags. A hashtag is a word or phrase with the # symbol placed directly in front of it. The idea of the hashtag is similar to that of a keyword on Google. These symbols can be used to quickly and efficiently search this social media platform for tweets and conversations pertaining to that particular topic. Otherwise the site is a consistent flow of disorganized and unconnected posts.

This way of categorizing topics enables users to find information on a specific area of interest but also allows users to label their tweets within a specific category so that they are easier to locate. Since Twitter is a stream of live information – being able to tag tweets to a specific topic or event allows for a better stream of viewing posts from a variety of users all talking about the same moment or idea.

Want to Create a Hashtag?

The good news is that hashtag creation is available to everyone. If a search of Twitter doesn’t come up with a tag that you’d like to use, it’s simple to create your own. It’s as easy as typing it into Twitter. No other steps are needed. Of course, there are not many hashtags available that haven’t been used yet. Also, an obscure hashtag is not likely to be found unless the creator does some significant promotion to establish presence.

Also, the Twitter Support page clearly states that not all hashtags or tweets are indexed. This may mean using it more frequently to ensure it makes an impact on the platform. The more recent the tweet, the more likely it will be indexed but even that is no guarantee.

Hashtag Ownership

On the surface, hashtags are not really owned by any particular business or organization. They can’t be purchased and users are welcome to use any hashtag on their account, as long as it doesn’t conflict with the Twitter Trademark Policy.

What is a Trademark Policy Violation on Twitter?

Using a company or business name, logo, or other trademark-protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse others with regard to its brand or business affiliation may be considered a trademark policy violation.

However, Twitter users can register their hashtags with Twubs. It’s important to remark that registering a hashtag isn’t the same as registering a trademark. It isn’t a means to keep other people from using it. There is no way to own a tag in the same way that you own a logo or domain name.

Registering a tag means that your brand becomes attached to it and that the tag will get added to a hashtag directory. This directory allows businesses to go into some detail about the tag and why it exists.

Once you have created a unique hashtag and registered it, then it is time to market the tag as much and as often as possible. This is the way to motivate the audience to associate your registered tag with your brand. You’ll never be able to control everything that becomes tagged with your #, but the idea is to generate more presence for your business on social media.

Still have questions about how to effectively incorporate Twitter into your social media strategy? Give us a call and we can help you build an online brand that helps you #BeAwesome and develop a #NewHabit for this year!

~ 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.

New Year, New Habits - The Value of Learning Social Media from a Social Media Manager

Is this the year that you’ve decided to truly invest in social media and make it an integral part of your company’s marketing plan? There were over 179 Million social media users in 2015. That is a huge audience and should not be overlooked when creating a marketing strategy. Incorporating social media make not sound like a difficult task, however there are a lot of variables to consider when dealing with social platforms. Here are some thought-provoking reasons to seek out a social media manager before building your social media strategy.

Social Media Marketing

When doing your own marketing, content is any bit of material created with the purpose to establish or grow online presence.  This includes articles, blog posts, videos, websites, publications, podcasts and curated social media posts. A social media manager’s role is to take the most relevant and interesting content and post it at just the right moment so that the targeted audience will see it and engage with it. This means understanding the various social media platforms – including their strengths and weaknesses – and what content works best for each. It also requires understanding peak times and the best time to post, related to individual platforms. A social media manager stays on top of platform trends and knows the processes behind scheduling just the right type of content at the right time.

Social Media Engagement

Posting consistent social media content is important. However, motivating the audience to engage and then capitalizing on that engagement is the real benchmark of success. Some platforms require more attention than others. Also, there are a variety of tools available to help streamline and promote certain types of engagement. A social media manager is experienced with creating online environments that motivate organic participation. They also understand that engagement is essential and missed opportunities to engage are bad form. In fact, having social media content and not making engagement a priority is a waste of strategy and resources.

Social Media Advertising

With so many people using social media, it is an easy thing to get lost in the shuffle. Newsfeed algorithms automatically filter out quite a bit of content. Sometimes the push to be found requires a boost of social advertising. Most of the social platforms have established their own advertising options. A social media manager is familiar with the details of each of the social advertising possibilities and can show users what ads and campaigns will be more successful. They will also have the expertise to analyze and track the results in order to adapt the best possible strategy moving forward.

There is so much more to social media marketing than drafting some tweets and posts and hoping for the best. Training with a social media manager will ensure that an effective social media strategy is implemented – saving time, money and resources.

Don’t go into social media blind! Give us a call and arrange a time to discuss how we can train you to #BeAwesome with your social media marketing.

~ 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.

New Year, New Habits - Building an Editorial Calendar

Are you new and just getting started with social media? Have you been using social platforms but feel like your engagement is suffering because you don’t have a solid strategy in place? Social media, like any other aspect of marketing, is more effective when a plan is established and followed. Success can be found by winging it but it’s not as likely, and not nearly as sustainable.

Building an editorial calendar is the essential first step when it comes to strategizing your social media efforts. A calendar is a tool that allows business owners to create and curate consistent content in a time efficient way. It breaks down content into platforms, number of posts per day/week, and scheduling for peak times.

Pick Your Platforms

Spend some time examining the diversity of the social media platforms to determine which sites will have the best impact for your business. Each of the platforms has different strengths and weaknesses and one-size fits all plans will fail in impact and efficiency. 

Then it’s time to figure out how often to post and that is also unique to the platform. Facebook posts should be no more than 3 – 10 each week, while Twitter needs at least 5 posts every day. On top of that, an examination of peak times of the day is necessary as well to ensure that posts are hitting at the most effective time.

Posting Times

If you have already been posting to social, the next step is to evaluate what you’ve been posting based on its rate of engagement. Certain posts will attract more attention than others. Start by scheduling and incorporating those types of content into your calendar and build from there.  Most of the social platforms offer some sort of analytics tool if it is not immediately obvious what is working and what is falling flat.

If social media is a new tool at your disposal, start thinking about what posts resonate with you the most when you are using various social media platforms. Check out some competition to see what type of engagement success they are having. Make some notes and use that as a starting point in developing your first editorial calendar.

Curating Content

Once you know where to post, when to post, and what types of content to post – it’s time to start curating content. The first priority should be original content. There should be some original content being created every week. The rest of it should be curated, which means finding content online that can be shared with your audience. When curating, it’s important to stay true to your targeted audience and your brand. Stay focused and on topic. Share information that would be interesting or beneficial to your readers.

To make this more streamlined, start compiling a list of resources. This would be websites, hashtags and other social media tools. There are many social tools available that will automatically offer suggestions based on recent content or a set of keywords.

January is the perfect time of year to begin implementing some #NewHabits, including developing an editorial calendar that can be used to make social media more impactful. If creation of the calendar is out of your wheelhouse or too time consuming, contact our Social Media Team for assistance. We’d love to help you #BeAwesome this year and really ROCK your social content!

~ 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.