I'm Not A Celebrity but I am a Hootsuite Certified Professional

Contestants will be hearing a lot of hissing and hooting in the jungle

While the jungle celebrities will be hearing a lot of hissing and hooting as they begin another night in the outdoors, you as a business can feel like an A Lister when you discover all the Hootsuite social media dashboard has to offer.  https://hootsuite.com

 If you are trying to manage a number of social media accounts, it may be time to think about signing up to a social media dashboard where you can manage your social profiles in one place.  With Hootsuite you can manage up to 5 social media profiles for free.  Log on to www.hootsuite.com. There is also Hootsuite Pro for Businesses and Professionals where you can manage from 50 -100 profiles. The next level is Hootsuite Enterprise for large corporations, government departments etc. The different options/ pricing plans are available here https://hootsuite.com/plans.  There are many fantastic features on Hoosuite including the following

• You can view your social networks in one place.
• You can set up streams to monitor home feed, direct messages, mentions, scheduled messages sent.
• You can use keyword and search streams for Social Listening .  These streams can focus on what people are saying in your business arena and give you valuable insights on steering your content.
• You can monitor competitor activity by using keyword streams.
• You can manage engagement on LinkedIn groups
• You can set up Twitter Lists
• You can schedule messages to any of your social networks which is great for advance planning
• There is a Bulk Scheduling option can be used for specific social campaigns
• Autoscheduled messages – updates can be sent out at the optimum time by Hootsuite
• You can use shortened Links to monitor engagement
• You can set up pre-approved draft messages can be saved and sent out to social networks as required – This can be helpful for Frequently Asked Questions

ü  View my listing on the Hootsuite Certified Professionals at

   http://learn.hootsuite.com/social-media-consultants/23514 .  Don't delay, get hooting today! 

   If you think this is something you want to set up for your business, email marian@flourishwithsocialmedia.co.uk or call 07594 969529

Thanks Everyone

Turn your offline contacts into lifetime connections

I've gone to many networking events in the past few months and have acquired many different business cards and contacts along the way. The first thing I always do is connect with these people on LinkedIn, because then I know they will always be a connection and not a business card stuck in a pile somewhere. What amazes me is that not many people do the same. In fact only a tiny % connect with me on LinkedIn. Maybe they are just not interested in me as a connection (they seem very enthusiastic at the time!) or maybe because I'm wired in the social media way, this to me it is the next natural step. As people are constantly changing jobs, you may find in the future they are working for a company you would like to do business with. The beauty about LinkedIn is while people change jobs, their profile remains constant and is updated with new changes. Make your networking count and connect with the contacts you make on LinkedIn If you need company pages set up, monthly social media management or an overhaul of your social media efforts, call me, Marian on 07594 969529 or email marian@flourishwithsocialmedia.co.uk The End

Finally I'm an expert....

My son said last week ' Mom, you know how you are an expert in..............' Hurrah, I thought! Before he had divulged my area of expertise, my mind wandered and I thought, finally, the kids see me as an expert in something other than looking after their countless needs, though often they are forthcoming with many criticisms in that area too. I concluded that they see me walking, talking, living and breathing all things social media, early in the morning and late into the night, so they have to think 'Mom is a social media expert!'. Woohoo! They see the books piled high, 'The Business of Being Social', 'Socialnomics', 'Likeable Social Media', to name but a few. On top of the many books are reports, social media magazines, white papers and tutorials slowly engulfing the house.  They see me trawling through newspapers trying to capture the latest news on all things positive and negative about social media, cutting out the relevant articles on how social media has made a practical positive difference to businesses using it. Printing off blog posts relating to the many different aspects of social media including, increasing Facebook Likes, how social media can increase your turnover, leveraging your testimonials and recommendations, engaging content to share with your followers.....the list is endless. So you can imagine my utter disappointment on the one hand (and slight joy on the other) when my son said 'Mom, you know how you are an expert in ....baking!' Ok, so it's not the area of expertise I've been focusing all my energies on but it was nice to know our Saturday afternoon baking sessions were giving my son a whole new assessment of his mother. One day they will see me as an expert in social media, but until then, I will have to continue to deepen my knowledge.....now I'm off to Hootsuite University

Summers over.....

Ok, so its September and everyone is back into their routines, its time to knuckle down again and feed those content hungry social media channels...here's a few more tips to keep up the momentum (which I too am planning to follow...

Content Calendar and Schedule.

Organisations should set up a content calendar and schedule their posts. Decide how often you want to send out updates on the different platforms.  It can be very easy to get caught up in other pressures and neglect your social media channels for a while.  I know, I've been there.  If you have content already scheduled, at least you know you are still engaging with your audience.  Then as other current information comes to your attention you can add these as extra posts

What is the message you want to get across?

What is the organization’s message.  What do you want to communicate to your audience? What are the values and culture of the organization?  Always remember these key aspects when deciding on the tone of your content. A financial services organisation may have a different tone to a students union. 

Content Strategy

You need a content strategy.  Who will look after producing content and do they have the ability.  Who cares about your content going out and whether it is in line with company objectives? The content should fit with the audience following you as well as satisfying the company objectives. 

Original Content

Keep content original for each platform.  Use compelling headlines that grab attention. Offer help. Highlight the brand in posts as search engines take social networks into account.  Tweet breaking news or write about it on Blogger. If you have the news and the insight, others will come looking for it. 

Showcase your wares

Showcase your wares- social media isn’t just for discussion but sharing and displaying products and services. Images have become increasingly popular in social media.  High quality content is the key to websites search optimisation – Facebook says that posts with photo albums produce 180% more engagement than non visual . 

Thanks for reading everyone.

Have a look at my website www.flourishwithsocialmedia.co.uk

Email me marian@flourishwithsocialmedia.co.uk

Tweet me @flourishsocial

Like my facebook page /flourishwithsocialmedia

Follow my LinkedIn Company page - Flourish With Social Media

And relax.....................

Business content for social media platforms

Im continuing my series on ideas for content for social media platforms which a lot of companies struggle to keep up the momentum.......hope it helps

Your Product

A company producing a product can talk about the ingredients used making the product.  The processes that are used in making the product.  Take photos of your product being made.  Your followers will enjoy seeing photos of how your product is produced.  If it is a food product, your followers will enjoy seeing different creations. 

Competition

You can run competitions to engage your customers.  Run a competition on how long a product takes to make, what weight a product is, what ingredients are in the product.  You can offer to print the winners name in your next newsletter and offer a little prize. 

Share

A great way to engage with your audience is to share relevant content from other sources including articles, web links or videos.  I am currently looking after the content from St Albans Credit Union and often share links from ‘The Money Advice Service’, ABCUL-Association of British Credit Unions Ltd and ‘Which’.  Find interesting content from other sources to share with your audience.  They will know you are working hard to keep your content engaging.

Sports and National Events

Try and engage your audience and talk about major sports and national events. Ask them for their opinion. 

Content for business on social networks

Series continued on content companies can use for their social networks....

Many companies find it difficult to come up with content continuously for their social networks. In my last 2 blog posts I have given some suggestions. These are some more......

Photos
Take some photos of you or your staff carrying out your services. Remember 'a picture tells a thousand words'. Take a photo of one of your staff with a happy customer leaving your business, impressed with what your business has done for them. Ask your customers who pass through your door to follow you on Facebook and Twitter and to let people know what they thought of your product or service.

New Customers
Tell everyone about the number of new customers you have acquired in the last few weeks, months or year. If you are having an improvement meeting with your staff, why not ask your followers what they would like to see improved. Is it delivery time, more expert advice, better customer service or more new products.

Thought Leader
Make sure you are a 'thought leader' in your area of expertise, keep up to date with what is going on in your industry and tell your followers about it. Let them know what you think of the last developments; How you think they will impact your industry? Will prices increase? Will services levels be affected by the changes? Will some products or services become obsolete? Tell your followers about books you are reading, apps you like and YouTube videos relevant to your industry

Continued..Content for Social Media Platforms

Im continuing my suggestions for content on social media platforms today.  Here are some more ideas...

Your Standards

Tell your customers regularly about the standards you conform to.  Do you have higher standards than other companies offering the same service e.g when I decided to do a social media course, there were many being offered but few who were certified by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Are there professional organisations or standards authorities that your products or services adhere to?

How your followers can get in touch

Tell your followers about the steps they should follow when they avail of your services?  Tell them who they should call, email or visit? Give your phone number, email address, and physical locations out regularly.

Changes in your business

Tell followers if you are making changes in your business.  You may be moving premises, launching your products on Amazon, setting up a new computer system, taking on new staff.  Whatever it is, let your followers know about it.  You may be adding new products to your repertoire.  You may be in the middle of writing a book.  These are exciting events for your followers to know about.  You can build up a buzz about certain events.  Businesses now have to be a lot more transparent.  If they are transparent, customers will help them through the times when they are adapting to change and will be patient.

Personal sign off

Whoever posts content on your Facebook or Twitter page, should sign off with their name so people feel connected to a human being rather than a ‘company page’.  Your SOCIAL media channels are there for that reason, to get social.  You want to try and build up a relationship with your followers.  You want your followers to think of you or your company when they decide to purchase a service such as yours.

Daily stories

In any day there will be stories your customers will tell, your staff will tell you, events of the day, news of the day, news in your industry, something you want to offer your customers. It doesn’t always have to be about the business. It can be about a customer who has had a personal or business success such as a new baby a new job or a new business start up.  It could be about the Royal Baby or other National events of importance. Make it personal if you can, not always about the business!