12. Finally, a Synopsis

In the year 2017, if you are not easily found on the internet, you do not exist.  This is the last in a series of articles; “How to Create and Maintain a Social Media Brand – the Lecture Series”.   It’s been a pleasure sharing my knowledge about social media and the independent consumer based business.     Good fortune.

Social Media Workshops

	What to post			Where does the informational, marketing and brand content come from?
Accounts that you need:	Holidays and Trends	Company Updates	How To… info
1.       LinkedIn	Alt week	1 x week	1 x week	Your product in real life, how it can benefit your client… what problem do you solve?   What is your brand about (in terms of benefit to your clients?)  None of this should be in sales or advertising terms.  All of it should sound like a lecture or Ted Talk.
LinkedIn Company Page		1 x week	1 x week
LinkedIn Write Articles			Alt week
2.       Facebook Account	Daily – 1	1 x week	1 week	One liner with title plus link to Blog, YouTube, or LinkedIn Post with information and how to for viewer.
Business Facebook Page		1 x week	1 x week	One liner with title plus link to Blog, YouTube, or LinkedIn Post with information and how to for viewer.
3.       Twitter account	Daily	Daily	Daily	One liner with title plus link to Blog, YouTube, or LinkedIn Post with information and how to for viewer.
4.       YouTube	never	1 x 2 weeks	1 x week	Primarily a Forum for how to do stuff and real info.   Always include links to your websites
5.       Blogs		1 x week	1 x week	Your product in real life, how it can benefit your client… what problem do you solve?   What is your brand about (in terms of benefit to your clients?)  None of this should be in sales or advertising terms.  All of it should sound like a lecture or Ted Talk.
6.       Instagram	Daily-1	1 x week	1 x week	Photos of your products, services, brand, good works, campaigns
7.       Snapchat
8.       Pinterest	Alt week	1 x week	1 x week	Attach links to your company pages on the pictures, reshare other peoples
9.       Google Maps	Daily – 1	1 x week	1 x week	One liner with title plus link to Blog, YouTube, or LinkedIn Post with information and how to for viewer.
10.    Google+ and Brand Account Google Page	1 x week	1 x week	1 x week	One liner with title plus link to Blog, YouTube, or LinkedIn Post with information and how to for viewer.
11.    Hootsuite : to schedule future posts		1 x week	1 x week

11. Hootsuite

In the year 2017, if you are not easily found on the internet, you do not exist.  This is the 11th in a series of articles; “How to Create and Maintain a Social Media Brand – the Lecture Series”.   This is all you need to know to create a social media presence for the independent consumer based business.   Good fortune.

“And the elves were able to do it all in one night…. “   I envy the elves.  No social networker is an elf with such magical powers.  Maintaining accounts and posting takes buckets of time.  Much of the posting is redundant (same stuff or almost the same stuff across many platforms).  If only there was a piece of software that could automate this process!

Well there is.  No one spot can allow you to publish to all networks in exactly the way you need, however, Hootsuite comes pretty darn near close. 

Sign up for Hootsuite and pay for the basic account (you will need it).   Enter in all your social networks.   

Streams allow you to view whats going on in any of your social networks and also to see what you published and what is scheduled.   

Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts ahead.   

Hootsuite allows you to publish on a number of different platforms - one post going many places.   

These 2 features make Hootsuite an essential service.  

Now you can begin publishing most of your stuff from one single location.  The scheduling feature allows you to spend a day on Twitter or Facebook posts, schedule the series and leave the topic for the next number of weeks or months.  It allows you to experiment with time of day publishing and frequencies.  Finally, it allows you to publish bulk or batch entries.  

Hootsuite is an essential service. 

Social Media for Business Workshops

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY TO FACEBOOK!

Today Facebook hits the double digit mark! It’s almost inconceivable that it’s been 10 years since the inception of the most powerful social networking site on the planet. That’s 10 years of sharing, liking and commenting. I doubt that even Mark Zuckerberg himself had any idea of what was to become of his little idea, Facemash, when he was just a kid in a dorm room at Harvard. 

But with a decade under its belt and no signs of slowing down, Facebook has undeniably become a phenomenon that even its harshest critics and skeptics worldwide have come to, if not adopt, then at least recognize for what it is: the way the world communicates. 

Today we use Facebook to connect, re-connect and keep in touch with friends, classmates and neighbors. And that’s just on the personal side. Facebook has become an integral part of doing business – buying, selling, marketing and just plain connecting with clients, prospects and colleagues. Contact management at its finest! Facebook has revolutionized the way we relate and connect on all levels.

In honor of Facebook’s milestone anniversary, here’s a brief look back at how it came to be what it is today…

2003 – Before Facebook, it was Facemash, and simply a means of comparing two photos of Harvard students to choose which one was hotter. (Okay, so Facebook came from, shall we say, less than altruistic beginnings. But, hey, look what we can do with it now!)

2004 – Then came Thefacebook, an “online directory” that connected college students via their own social platform.

2005 – As anyone who has seen David Fincher’s brilliant film, The Social Network, is aware, Thefacebook soon becomes Facebook when Justin Timberlake’s character, Sean Parker, suggests to Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg that they drop the “The” and just call it Facebook.

 2006 – The News Feed is born. Let the real sharing begin! Also in 2006, everyone who wants to, gains access to Facebook. Prior to September of 2006, Facebook's still just a way in which students connect with other students. In this year, however, Facebook becomes accessible to anyone with a computer and an email address (oh, and you have to be over the age of 13).

 2008 – The phenomenon just gets bigger and bigger… 100 million users worldwide!

Also in 2008, Facebook goes mobile…There’s an app for that…

2009 – The “Like” button is introduced…

2011 – The new Timeline is introduced – bigger and bolder than ever before! To mixed reaction, Facebook changes its look and some of its features. I have to admit, I wasn’t a big fan at first, but I’ve since grown used to Timeline and now don’t even remember what life (or Facebook) was like before Timeline!

 2012 – Facebook and Instagram join forces. In April of 2012, Facebook buys its budding rival, Instagram, for a cool billion.

February 4, 2014 – Everyone’s favorite social network turns 10! And a very Happy Birthday to you, Facebook! Now, off to check my News Feed...

9 Easy Things You Can Do to Build Your Brand

Your brand is your business’ very identity. Increasing your brand’s visibility, therefore, is a fundamental component to your marketing strategy. You can spend millions of dollars a year – not to mention an obscene amount of time – propelling your brand to the forefront of the minds of consumers. But are you aware that, thanks to social media, there are a few very easy and non-time consuming ways you can build your brand? 

Without further ado, here, courtesy of branding guru and author, William Arruda, are 9 nine-minute things (along with my own commentary) you can do…      

1.       Build your Network.  It doesn’t have to take hours &hours out of your schedule – even if you just connect with one person a day on Facebook or LinkedIn (it could be someone in one of your LinkedIn groups – or a connection of one of your existing connections), you’ll be amazed at how quickly your network will grow. It is, after all, called “social networking” for a reason!

2.       Bolster relationships.  What good is having a broad network if you do nothing to maintain and nurture it? Stay in contact with your connections. Recommend & endorse connections on LinkedIn. “Like” other brands on Facebook. Send complimentary and/or congratulatory messages to people in your network on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You have to give to receive.

3.       Get a seal of approval. In the culture of social media, it’s about give and take. As you recommend and endorse others, don’t be afraid to request recommendations, endorsements, shares and “Likes” from people in your network. Enlist these from colleagues, satisfied clients and coworkers, past and present.

4.       Record it. Nothing wrong with blowin’ your own horn once in a while either! Document your outstanding accomplishments and achievements for all to see.

5.       Be current. One of the many fine attributes of social media is that they make it so simple to update your profiles as often as is necessary. Unlike websites, social media platforms take only seconds to update. So take advantage of that and ensure that all contact information and status postings are up to date.  And that goes for your photos as well!!

6.       Expand on your thought leadership. Start your own group on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you haven’t already (and shame on you if you haven’t), start a blog and post to it often. Comment on other people’s blogs and answer questions on LinkedIn and Facebook. Post timely and relevant content to Twitter. These are all ways you can showcase your smarts and industry knowledge. Oh, and don’t forget to link your blog to your other social media platforms.

7.       Be real in the virtual world. YouTube is a wonderful thing! Make use of it. Create a video – a bio of yourself or your business - or something that illustrates a facet of your business (a how-to or an informational piece). Go ahead – be a rock star in your own right!

8.       Build a home on the Web. “Link the different places you reside on the Web into one place, with sites like about.me, flavors.me, or vizify.com. Using these tools, you can actually set a site up in nine minutes! Then you can use your subsequent days' nine minutes refining and enhancing it.”

9.       Research. Social media make it easy-peasy! Get to know all you can about your clients, prospects, colleagues and, yes, even - or, especially – your competitors. LinkedIn and Facebook are great places to get some investigating done!

Want Your Posts to go Viral? On Social Media, Timing Is Everything

Ah, the busy life of the business professional – good for you if you’ve implemented a social media campaign strategy into your hectic schedule.  But, did you know that there are certain times of the day and specific days of the week that the content you post is more likely to go viral?  According to data put forth on Bitly.com, it’s true! 

The data indicate, for example, that on Twitter, “…posting in the afternoon earlier in the week is your best chance at achieving a high click count (1-3pm Monday through Thursday). Posting after 8pm should be avoided. Specifically, don’t bother posting after 3pm on a Friday since, as far as being a gateway to drive traffic to your content, it appears that Twitter doesn’t work on weekends.”

                                                                                                                           

This does make a lot of sense if you think about it – how productive, after all, do you think most people are after 3:00 on Friday?  The research furthermore maintains that the peak of Twitter activity occurs prior to the optimal time to post.  Twitter’s busiest time tends to be between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.  Should you post on Twitter during its peak hours, while there are more people clicking, it might raise the average number of clicks, however, your posts may not be receiving all the attention they deserve due to the fact that there will obviously be more competition for this attention. 

For Facebook, the data states that, “Links posted from 1pm to 4pm result in the highest average click throughs. The peak time of the week was on Wednesday at 3pm. Links posted after 8pm and before 8am will have more difficulty achieving high amounts of attention. As with Twitter, avoid posting on the weekends.”  It appears that Facebook traffic tends to peak around the middle of the week, from the hours of 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm and begins to fade more after 4:00 pm.  Moreover, the research contends that although traffic counts are comparable at 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, if you post at 7:00 pm, you will garner more clicks than you would posting at 8:00 pm.

With respect to Tumblr, one of our  favorite blogging sites, there’s currently a vast difference from Twitter and Facebook.  The data from Bitly show that posting on Tumblr after 4:00 pm stands to garner optimal results, and that, “…postings after 7pm on average receive more clicks over 24 hours than content posted mid-day during the week. Friday evening, a no-man’s land on other platforms, is an optimal time to post on Tumblr. Bitly traffic from Tumblr peaks between 7pm and 10pm on Monday and Tuesday, with similar traffic on Sunday. ”

So, there you have it – valuable information on optimal times to post on three of the most prevalent social media sites out there.  As you’re undoubtedly pressed for time on most days of your life, knowing what times it’s most worth posting will help with your strategy!  

GRAPH SEARCH: THE “THIRD PILLAR” OF FACEBOOK

And, the Facebook vs. Google rivalry rages on:  First, Google implemented Google+ as a means of making itself more social (and removing itself from the solitary rank of “just a search engine”), in keeping with Facebook’s social networking status.  Then, this past Tuesday, Facebook (commonly known as the largest social network on the planet) implemented “Graph Search” as a means of making itself more useful in the “search” category (although not in the traditional sense – read on…).

The new Graph Search is what Facebook is calling its “third pillar” of service, standing alongside the already implemented News Feed and Timeline.  The concept behind Graph Search is that it allows Facebook users to effortlessly search their “friends’” photos, locations and interests.

But, does Google really have anything to fear?  Probably not.  Graph Search is not a traditional search engine, insofar as it doesn’t search the Web based on keywords.  Graph Search searches are more refined than that and what you’d be searching for on Graph Search would likely not be found on Google.  It’s more ‘friend’ or audience specific than that. In other words, most of the content you will be searching for isn’t public.

Facebook users can now conduct searches that are more personal or intimate, for example, if you want to know whether or not you should shell out twelve bucks to see a just released film, you can search how many of your ‘friends’ have seen and liked the movie.  You can search things like “photos of ‘friends’ taken in the 1970s” or, “’friends’ of ‘friends’ who are male, single and live in Toronto”.  You get the idea.

"Graph Search is a completely new way for people to get information on Facebook," Mark Zuckerberg said at a press conference at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park on Tuesday.  "Graph Search is a really big project. Eventually... we want to index all the posts and all of the content on Facebook. I thought it couldn't be done. This is just some really neat stuff. This is one of the coolest things we've done in a while."

It sounds like it’s all well and good for those who have been waiting for something useful to tap into the wealth of data supported by Facebook, but as with anything else Facebook does, Graph Search has its critics – most of whom are concerned about privacy issues.  Facebook, however, has been insistent that Graph Search will not compromise privacy, claiming that the search feature will not surface any information that is not already publicly available on Facebook. 

Facebook officials stated that, “We’ve built Graph Search with privacy in mind, and it respects the privacy and audience of each piece of content on Facebook.  It makes finding new things much easier, but you can only see what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook.”

So, I’ll look forward to giving Graph Search a try before I pass judgment.  As of right now, Graph Search is available to only a handful of users, but will be rolling out slowly over time.  What do you think?  Ready to give it a try?

7 IMPORTANT THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU POST ON FACEBOOK

Facebook is the medium of choice for many businesses when it comes to a social media marketing strategy.  Why?  Because Facebook has almost a billion users; it has become the social medium on which to connect and because, with its gazillion user-friendly features and apps, it’s just so damn cool!

Here are a few statistics and things (courtesy of consultant, Jeff Bullas, one of my favorite go-to guys for all things social media) you should know before using Facebook as a part of your business’ social media marketing campaign.

1. What Days of the Week are Best for Posting?  Although there’s nothing wrong with posting on Facebook any given day of the week, statistics show that the best days to post are Wednesdays and Sundays.                   

2. What Times of the Day are Best for Posting?  The best time to post on Facebook is between the hours of 8:00 PM and 7:00 AM.  Apparently posting between these hours garner 20% more user engagement.  So, if you want to increase traffic, “likes” and comments, analysis shows that it’s actually best to post during non-business hours, when users are not at work. 

3. How Many Posts a Day Should you Create?  Research dictates that it’s quality, not quantity, that matters most.  Accordingly, posting one or two times per day generates 40% more user engagement.

4. How Many Times a Week Should you Post?  By the same token, according to Bullas, you can, “Achieve maximum user engagement by not overcrowding users’ newsfeeds with too many Posts during the week.  Posting one to four times produces 71% higher user engagement than five or more Posts in a given week for retail brands.”

No one wants to have their News Feeds inundated with an over abundance of posts – especially not if they’re all from the same person or company.

5. What is the Optimal Length for a Post?  With respect to the length of posts, it would appear that more concise posts (posts between one and 40 characters in length) produce higher engagement than do longer posts.  The statistic is, “Posts with 80 characters or less receive 66% higher engagement.”

6. What Kind of Content Sparks Dialogue?  To get the dialogue ball rolling, ask questions of your fans.  If you really want to generate lots of comments, there’s no better way to do it.  If your objective is to really get fans talking, remember that, “question posts generate comment rates double that of “non-question” posts.”

7. What Keywords are Most Effective in Facebook Offer Posts?  People respond best to uncomplicated and undemanding offers.  Tell your fans what they’re getting in straightforward language.  Bullas claims that keywords like “$ Off” and “Coupons” generate the highest fan engagement.  On the flipside, keywords such as “Sale” and “% Off” receive the least fan engagement.

So, now that you’re armed with some of the best advice for posting on Facebook for business – get out there and get posting!!  For more information and to best optimize your social media endeavors, why not join one of our Social Networking for Business seminar/workshops and we’ll equip you with everything you need to know!  Just click on the link for a schedule of workshops in your area.

http://escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

HOW TO WRITE A FACEBOOK POST WITH AN EFFECTIVE CALL TO ACTION

When using Facebook for business, strategy is everything.  The timing of your posts is relevant, what you post is relevant and how you post is relevant.  Sure, it’s okay to post here and there about the frivolities of life, even when posting for business purposes.  But, it’s also important to remember that your Facebook business page and its posts represent the identity of your business.  And, the end game of your strategy on Facebook is to generate productivity.   So, what’s the most important thing a Facebook post can do?  Provide a call to action, of course! 

Here are some tips on how to create an effective call to action within your posts:

1.  Outline the Benefits – In order for someone to complete a call to action, they should be given the incentive and the benefits to doing so.  Make it clear what your audience will get out of completing the call to action – for example, will your product or service solve a problem?  If so, identify that problem and display how your service or product can serve as a specific remedy.

2.  Don’t be a Bore – This one’s a no-brainer, but mention-worthy just the same.  Ensure that your posts are engaging and interesting to people.  You want to grab their attention and entice them to use your services and products.  So, make your posts fun to read!  And, it’s never a bad idea to add some visual stimulation – include photos wherever possible.  They can exponentially complement your posts.

3.  Keep it Encouraging and Optimistic – As with anything you post on Facebook, the idea again is to try to engage and even entertain.  Your posts should excite and inspire people to want to use your CTA (call to action).  Positive feelings will encourage users to share your posts!  More sharing = greater virality.

4.  Ask a Direct Question – An under-utilized tool when creating Facebook posts, asking questions encourages participation and engagement of your Facebook community.  People will be more inclined to respond by clicking a link or by commenting when asked a direct question – something that they really want to answer.  You can also ask a question that can be answered ‘yes’ when people ‘Like’ it.

5. Be Sure to Include a Link – Not each and every Facebook post requires a link, however, a post with a call to action should contain one (unless the only call to action you’re looking for is a ‘Like’ or a comment.  When your purpose is to direct people to other content, a link is definitely in order.

6.  Sweeten the Deal – There’s nothing like a little extra incentive to encourage people to complete a call to action.  You could, for example, offer a discount on your products or services; you could offer a free token gift (a T-shirt or a water bottle emblazoned with your logo would do).  People are generally more likely to respond when there’s something in it for them.

7.  Follow Through – Okay, so your call to action is effective and people are responding.  Now what happens?  It’s absolutely imperative that the rest of the process be as well laid out as the call to action itself.  The single most important thing to remember is to keep it relatively simple.  You don’t want to make people jump through hoops – don’t ask them to provide any more information than is necessary and don’t make it difficult to navigate once they’re there!

Your calls to action are one of the most vital components within your social media marketing strategy.  When created correctly within your Facebook posts, they can be a very effective means of maintaining a primary objective:  generating business for you!