Tuesday Tips: Post Pictures on Twitter

For those relatively new to Twitter and Social Media, this might be a surprise. For everyone else who has been around the block a time or two already know this - but you can post more than just words to Twitter, you can post photos and videos as well.

Today's tip: Post pictures to Twitter!

Now, after saying this, there are a few things to remember. You will lose a number of characters when you add an image to Twitter, so keep that in mind when preparing a post to go along with your photo.  Keep the tweet and associated hastags short and sweet.  Make sure the pictures are engaging - since Twitter now shows previews of images in timelines, it is important to make images engaging.

Most importantly - have fun with it.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your social media presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Is Your Facebook Page Up-To-Date

We’ve talked about auditing your Facebook page in the past, but it’s probably time to talk about that again.

Have you recently checked, say in the last three to six months, to see if all the information on your Facebook page is current and accurate? If you haven’t, here are some areas to check:

1. Review About box and about page

The about box on the main page of your website tells your fans and potential fans about you. It includes a brief description as well as a link to your website. Make sure all of the information is current and the link points where you want it to go.

The about page contains a lot more detailed information, as seen below.  Verify and update all of the information or remove information you don’t want to appear there.

2.  Add your call to action

The call to action feature was added, if I remember correctly, in the last six months. If you haven’t taken time to set this up, now is a great time to do it.

3. Review scheduled posts or schedule posts for the upcoming months.

If you have posts scheduled, make sure they are still aligned with the direction you are going with your social media plan. It’s also a good time to schedule future posts, especially holiday well wishes, notifications of hour changes, sales or other information that may come up during the next few months.

4.  Update Milestones

Milestones are a great way to show achievements. It can be something as simple as a number of likes achieved, 5-year anniversary, 10-year anniversary, $1,000,000 in sales or anything you come up with. People like seeing the milestones made by companies they follow.

Optional:

5. Set a featured video

If you chose to set a featured video, it will appear at the top of your About box on your main page.  Adding a featured video is pretty easy. Simply select a video from your uploaded video, or upload a video, then you have an option to add it as a featured video.

Be sure to add a description to your Featured video that way people know what it's about when they go to watch it.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your social media presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Linking in Tweets

Have you ever wondered where to put your links in your tweets?  I know I have and I have experimented with several different ways, but it seems like passion digital has done some research on the topic and they concluded the following:

Get your links in early. Put your key message before your link. Any after thoughts, opinions or additional commentary should go after the link. Intersparce your hastags as well both before and at the end of your tweet, just remember not to use too many hashtags.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your social media presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Show Restraint

Many people new to social media for their brand make one common mistake: they spread themselves too thin and put their brand on social networks that don't support their brand like it should.

Don't make the same mistake - or if you have made the mistake, now's the time to scale it back. Learn which social media networks your patrons are on then embrace those. In addition, when considering adding new social media networks to your marketing plan, make sure the network will effectively support your brand's promise to your customers as well as your customer's perceptions of the brand. If the network doesn't do these things, don't participate on it.

So the ultimate tip here is, exhibit restraint when you start using social media for your brand. Start with 1-3 social media networks then grow from there if it is appropriate.

Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your social media presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Be Consistent

Another tip we've mentioned in the past is be consistent.

Today's tip takes the being consistent a bit further. The advice comes from Donna Moritz, Founder of Socially Sorted (@SociallySorted via Twitter).

“Start out right by being consistent on the platform that you own — begin by creating content on your blog that solves the problems of your ideal customer, include a shareable image in each post, and then share that post on just 1 or 2 social platforms to begin with.”

That's exactly what I've done with this blog. I started out with a blog that receives consistent (most of the time) posts on set days and shared those posts to Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Later on I will add to Pinterest when it is appropriate.

So set up a posting schedule for your blog and try to stick to it - sometimes this may mean scheduling posts ahead of time - but don't be too hard on yourself if you miss a post here and there. The important part is to schedule what is feasible for you and not schedule too much to where it is overwhelming. And then remember to share the posts as they post.

Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Forget what you know

Sometimes the most important thing to remember when taking on social media as a new way of marketing is to forget what you know about traditional marketing because social media marketing is a different beast - sorta.

Danielle Cormier, Social Media Community Manager for Constant Contact advises people who are new to social media marketing to "Forget what you know about traditional marketing, use social media to focus on getting to know your customers.”

And the advice makes sense. Once you learn the ins and outs of social media, you can start incorporating traditional marketing into it, but remember that there are still things that are unique to social media where traditional marketing won't work for it.

Just something to keep in mind as you learn the ins and outs of social media.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Talk With People

This advice is probably one I have a hard time with especially on brands that I help out with on Social Media because I do tend to do more talking to people than with them.

However, the advice below is pretty good advice:

“Don’t talk to people, talk with them.”
Catherine Russell, content writer
*Posted on Constant Contact Google+ Page

This goes back to advice given a few weeks ago about being authentic. Talking with people rather than to them makes you more authentic and gives your brand a voice. Remember that talking with people will also increase their engagement rates, so not only does it make the brand look good and get seen more, it creates and impact on the fanbase as well.

So do your best to talk with people. I know it's something I'm going to work on to do better.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Don't Overthink It, Just Do It

Most of the time, our biggest fears is failure. We make excuses as to why we don't want to jump off the cliff that is social media and often times the biggest thing I hear from people who want to delve into social media but haven't yet is that either they "don't know what I'm doing" or "I am going to break something.

My answer to those folks is a quote from a Social Media Professional:

“You’re not gonna break stuff, just get started!”
Joey C, Creator, GoodMorningGloucester.com
@Joey_C

It sounds simple because it is simple. The first thing you can do is just get started and learn as you go. Most social media managers learned from the bottom and jumping in feet first. There was no school or degree for social media. There were no classes to teach you what to do and let's be honest, social media changes so often and so fast that sometimes those classes are out of date.

So don't be scared. Just get started.

Then check this blog out for tips, hints and questions.  As always, if you have questions, I'd love to answer them. Feel free to leave them in the comments for any blog and I will either answer there or answer as a separate blog post.

Enjoy!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Experiment With Promotions/Discounts

As is true with any form of marketing, sometimes you have to experiment to see what works.  A good piece of advice to experiment with promotions or discounts that are only available to your Facebook fans.

There are a number of ways to do this, from contests that they are only able to enter after liking your page, to a special app that gives them a coupon code after they like the page.  There are several options available and a little research via Facebook support or Google should turn up a plethora of apps advice and suggestions.

I'm steering away from recommending any apps because 1) I don't use any of them myself as my pages don't have anything to sell to offer promotions 2) I'm trying to remain unbiased and by recommending an app makes me biased.

All of that said, consider some offerings for your followers and try it out. It might bring you more fans and more sales.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Share Social Media Links on Marketing Materials

You've taken the time to set up your Facebook page, Twitter account and maybe Pinterest or other accounts, but you aren't getting many followers.  Chances are it's because no one knows you have those things available for them to follow you on. Today's society is very social media driven and if they see that you have a Facebook page or other social media, chances are they will look into it and follow/like/etc.

What this means for you is you need to update your marketing materials, including but not limited to your business cards, receipts, emails, signs, window art, kiosk art, etc.  You can include just your address, or if you're really tech savvy, add a QR code that takes them to the social media platform where they can easily like you and go from there.

Once you have the marketing materials redone, be sure to pass it out and let people know verbally that they can find you on these social media platforms.

Every bit of promotion helps and sometimes hearing it and then seeing it will get them to follow you.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Watch and learn

Today's tip comes from a quote from Twitter:

“Be a lurker in social media before diving in to learn the ropes and create a strategy that will work for your biz.”
--Alyssa Gregory, The Small Business Bonfire
@AlyssaGregory

Or, to summarize: Watch and learn.

This is actually pretty solid advice if you stop to think about it. You can learn a lot about social media by watching brands similar to yours to see what they do, what they do successfully and learn from it, then adapt it to what you want to do with your brand.

When I first started out in social media, I did a lot of watching. Then I attended a few small conferences here and there to learn more.  These conferences offered some of the same advice - look at what your competitors are doing, then mimic it.  But when you mimic, don't make the mistake and do exactly what they are doing.  Customize it and make it your own.

Making something your own is what makes you unique in the world of social media. Take what you see working for someone else and turn it into something that works for you.

Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Don't Give Up

There will be days - and not just a few - where you will feel that it is pointless to participate in social media.  No one is liking or sharing your posts. No one cares. And it only gets worse when you realize how low your reach and views are. You're ready to give up on social media and throw in the towel.

Don't. Give. Up.

If you are a relatively new, unknown brand, building your customers and followers and getting them to see your posts, much less like them and share them, is difficult. But if you give up now, you will never see where those likes and shares take you once you do start acquiring them.

Let's be honest, it takes time to build a reputation on social media. It takes time for people to see what you are posting and to engage in that.  You must consistently publish useful and meaningful content - whether it be questions, promotional posts, inspirational images, or videos - so your fanbase can find value in visiting your page and supporting your brand.

Many social media posters will tell you it took them months to get interaction on their pages - even up to half a year. I run several pages and some of my smallest following groups have the highest interaction rate, while the ones with thousands of followers have the smallest interaction rates.  It just depends on finding the sweet spot and getting those interactions going.

Pay attention to your stats and which posts draw the most interaction then post similar posts in the future to encourage further interaction.

Just don't give up on it.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Optimize Ads

If you are going to pay for ads - especially for Facebook - you need to make sure that your ads are going to be doing what you want it to do for you.

However, if you don't tell Facebook what you want, it will go with whatever the last setting you used was or what the default setting is (sorry, I don't recall the default setting.  This is why it's important to know what you're wanting to get out of your ad - and each ad you run may have different goals.

Decide what the goals for your ad are before you purchase it.  If you want to promote the page as a whole, promote the page itself, not an article.

If you're wanting to get more visibility on a post, boost that post.

And, more importantly, know your budget.  Don't overspend or underspend if you're looking to reach specific goals.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Take Advantage of Twitter Lists

If you aren't already familiar with Twitter Lists, perhaps you should be.

Twitter users can create, follow lists you or others have created, subscribe to lists or check Twitter Lists as you go about your day.  Twitter lists are used to create an easy way to find people and posts of similar interests.  If you are added to a list, you will get a Twitter notification that you've been added to someone's list along with who's list it is and what the list was for.

Personally, I've been added to Gaming, Ultima Online and Social Media Marketing lists because of the variety of things I post about.

Later this week, we'll have a Thursday Tutorial for how to create lists for yourself.

But I'm sure you're asking: what are lists for?

Well other than allowing you to easily follow postings on various topics, it allows you to easily find said posts and retweet them.  As you may recall, I strongly encourage folks to not only tweet, but retweet posts that would be of interest not only to you, but to your followers.  For example, I often retweet posts about social media when I find some that I think people who follow me would find useful - even if I don't necessarily follow the person who posted it - lists help with that.

If you haven't tried lists yet, there's no better time than now.  Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Know Where Your Customers Are

Your social media plan should be targeted to where your customers are.  If you don't have any (or many) customers on say Pinterest or Instagram, but a ton on Facebook and Twitter, you are wasting valuable time by focusing on two networks that do not reach your customers.

The idea is really simple - especially for small businesses.  Pay attention to your networks, find where your customers are, weed out the networks where your customers aren't and post to the ones where your customers are larger, active and social.

That being said, it doesn't hurt to re-evaluate other forms of social media as your business and customer base grows larger.  As generations shift, so do their forms of social media and if you want to grow, you still have to reach the younger generations and their social networks.

Social networks are always growing and changing - what didn't work last year may work this year or next year.  You won't know if you don't keep an open mind.  Just don't set yourself up to be overwhelmed when you first launch social media by joining every network.  Figure out what works best and go from there.

Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.