5 more very important social media tips
- Work out which social media channels are right for you
Not everyone runs TV advertising – it’s simply not relevant for many businesses. With social media – the media planning is as relevant. The media you select will be determined by your objectives – hence why it’s important to clearly understand them.
For example; if you are recruiting – then Linkedin or Facebook may work better than YouTube. If you are launching a new service – then YouTube and Twitter may garner more reach.
Then there’s the B2B and B2C element to consider. There’s evidence to show that Linkedin is currently the most effective B2B resource – and Facebook has more success in the B2C arena.
It may indeed be a case of adding all possible social marketing platforms into your marketing mix. Testing what works and then pulling back on the least effective activities.
However, to be learning by your marketing activity (as we all should be) you have to be monitoring and measuring results. Again, monitoring effectiveness helps you to plan strategically.
Rather than just diving in and mindlessly doing everything – (mousewheel style), expending lots of energy, but going nowhere – effective planning helps you to better understand what’s working and guides you in leveraging activity and ultimately practice intelligent marketing.
- Know which keywords are right for you...
Typically we associate keywords with putting together an online ad campaign, however,keywords are just as crucial when using your social media platforms. David Taylor @2010mediauk – describes keywords as the DNA of our online presence. Don’t overlook using your keywords in all your social media profiles.
- Make sure you are using your keywords on your:
- Profile pages (Twitter, Linked in, Facebook, About me, YouTube etc).
- Signature sign off in your blog .
- Twitter username (@keyword – rather than @name)
- In your tweets
- In your status updates
- When naming your photos
- Facebook Business Page
In order to find out what your businesses keywords are, you could:
Ask the audience - Ask your customers, friends and family what words / phrases they would put into Google if they were looking for your services
Google Analytics – Review the keywords that people are using to find your site
Look at what you’ve got - Go through your website content, marketing flyers etc – anything that you have that describes your products and services – and look for the ‘key words’ – the main words which can describe your services / products in a fewer words as possible.
- Track your keywords and listen in
By the term ‘keyword tracking’ we simply mean setting alerts against relevant keyphrases that are being ‘tweeted’ and shared in the socialmediaosphere.
Brands and businesses often use this approach to track mentions of their products and companies, and developers can use it to track mentions of their favourite languages, frameworks, and open source projects.
It’s a great resource for seeing what’s not only happening with your own brand or business – but also for engaging in relevant and hopefully productive conversations.
Tracking keywords need not be complicated, particularly if you are using a social media platform such as – www.hootsuite.com – a total social management resource where you can align your Facebook profiles, Twitter Accounts, Linked In and others. There are other platforms too eg: Tweetdeck, Tweetbeep etc – but Hootsuite is the one we’d recommend.
- Promote Yourself
If you are using these social media platforms and taking the time to leverage them – then you want to make sure that world and his wife knows they can find you out there. Let them know you’re out there and make it easy for them to find you with icons and links.
Promote your social media presence at any given opportunity. If you have a website – make sure you clearly have links to all your social media profiles. So many people miss a golden opportunity and leave off social media icons or shove them in a tiny corner of their website where no one can see them. You can have a giant ‘follow me’ at the top of your homepage if you so wish – make the most of it. You could have a ‘like’ or ‘tweet’ button next to every blog post article you post. One click and they’re yours to impress.
You can also encourage followers/likes/YouTube subscribers/ LinkedIn connections in many other places – All ‘communications’ and ‘touch points’ be they ‘online or offline’ – should also consider the social media channels. Including follow me@ Twitter names on business cards, letterheads, invoices, promoting blogs on sites and in ads etc. Email footers in Forums should include links to blogs, twitter and sites: Follow us on Twitter @handle, Blog (www.blogname.com/blog), Link with us on LinkedIn, Become a fan on Facebook
Shout it from your online rooftops
- And finally….Follow the Ten Twitter Commandments at all times…
The following commandments, if followed, should give you a full and happy existence on Twitter.
- Thou shall not blabber
- Thou shall not follow random tweeters who are of no value, just to increase one’s number of followers
- Thou shall not neglect one’s Twitter account, becoming inactive and complacent
- Thou shall not talk too much about oneself and one’s achievements (or one’s cheese sandwich)
- Thou shall not expect to be retweeted if thou do not retweet in return
- Thou shall not take followers for granted
- Thou shall not spam
- Thou shall not use ‘eggs’ as one’s profile picture
- Thou shall not use Twitter to stalk or harm others
- Thou shall not send out automated messages to new followers
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Enjoy the post… Vikki
Vikki Mills is Social Media and Marketing Executive at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The agency covers all aspects of online visibility – covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.
For marketing and social media advice – view the Carvill Creative Blog