First Friday: The Month of February Review

The first Friday of each month, I do a quick article reviewing topics from the previous month, including links to the articles, breaking it down by platform and theme as well as providing a link to read the full article.

As always, I'm glad to answer questions folks have and look forward to more questions coming my way.

Tuesday Tips: All

• Feb. 18: Choose Your Images Wisely - This post discusses why it's important to pick good images for your Facebook profile, cover images, avatars as well as for posts and other social media.

Tuesday Tips: Facebook

• Feb. 4: Schedule Posts - A reminder that scheduling posts can help keep your page active without making you post new content every day.  
• Feb. 11: Like Content As Yourself - Liking your content you post as yourself instead of your page counts as interaction and engagement.  So do it.

Tuesday Tips: Google +

• Feb. 25: Format Your Posts in G+ - Tips on how to bold, emphasize, and strikeout text in Google+ posts.

Wednesday Words: Facebook

• Feb. 12: People Talking About This (PTAT) - An explanation of what this statistic means on Facebook and why it is important to you.
• Feb. 19: Avatar - Definitely not the blue aliens from the movie Avatar.  This talks about the image used in the tiny square on Twitter, Facebook and other locations.

Wednesday Words: Google+

• Feb. 26: Circles - We threw in a Google Word this month - Circles - which is basically the way you sort your friends on Google+.

Wednesday Words: Twitter

• Feb. 5: Follow Friday - Just what is #ff?  If you don't know, this post explains it.

Thursday Tutorials: Facebook

• Feb. 6: How to Schedule Posts via Facebook - This is a step by step tutorial explaining how to schedule posts using the post interface via Facebook pages.  A useful thing to learn how to do.
• Feb. 13: How to Change From Using Facebook as Your Page to Your Profile - Per an article above saying you should like your page's content as yourself, this guide explains just how to do that - as some people didn't know how to change from liking as their page.
• Feb. 20: How to Find The Info for Optimizing Posts - Information on how to find statistics so you can figure out what times of the day are optimal for creating posts so they will be seen by more fans.

Other Posts

• Feb. 7: Nifty Infographic with Sizes for Social Media Graphics - This article links to a very useful infographic that I now have bookmarked because it tells me what dimensions are needed for every form of Social Media graphic spot.  Good stuff to know.
• Feb. 14: The Hard Truth About How The Facebook News Feed Works Now - Another good article linked from this article talking about what's changed with the Facebook Feed since December.
• Feb. 21: How 6 Hours of Social Media Marketing Can Increase Your Sales - Another article being linked to that explains how just as little as six hours of social media marketing can increase your sales.  A must read for anyone marking sales in social media.
• Feb. 22: Weekend Sessions - Answering questions on whether or not Facebook pages are tied to a specific admin's account, can admins charge other admins for ads and more.  Some good to know info in this weekend post.
• Feb. 24: The Monday Search: Social Media Job Openings Available as of 2/24/14 - A list of social media job openings for those seeking jobs.

Thanks for reading!  Posts will continue to roll out this month and on-going.  Please leave any comments, questions, etc. in the comment section below!

Thursday Tutorials - How to Add Staff to Facebook Pages

!!!IMPORTANT NOTE!!! There has been an update to this tutorial.  If you are not on the updated Facebook page layout, you can continue reading this blog post for instructions on how to add admins.  Otherwise, the new article with updates can be found here:  http://socialmediamarketinghints.blogspot.com/2014/06/thursday-tutorial-facebook-tutorial.html

One of the regular pieces of advice I will give is to add other staff to your Facebook Pages to assist with posting and communicating with your fanbase.  Some folks will sign their posts with who replied.  Others will just make it look like a singular, cohesive team and not sign names.  What you decide to do is up to you.

The first important thing to keep in mind when adding staff members to your page is that they have to have liked the page and be your friend in order for you to add them to a managerial page role.

The second important thing to remember is that there are several roles you can put a person in.  When adding admins to a page, it automatically defaults to adding them as Content Creator - which is likely where you want them to be.  The reason for this is simple.  Adding anyone as Manager means they have as much control as you do of the page.  This means, if they get upset or vindictive for whatever reason, they can remove you as page admin - it doesn't matter if you created it or not.  It also means they can add/remove other staff.  So I strongly encourage you to only add people you absolutely trust as the highest level of Manager to your page.   There are five assignments you can give to admins for your page:  Manager, Content Creator, Moderator, Advertiser, and Insights Analysts.  Over the next few weeks we'll define each of these positions better, but they are reasonably easy to determine by FB's descriptions.

To add managers, visit your page.  You should see the following screen:

Click on "Edit Page."  This will create a drop down menu with a number of options, as seen below.  From those options, choose "Manage Admin roles."

That will take you to a page like this:

I went ahead and screen shot the drop down menu options at the same time.

So to add an admin, type in their name.  It should start to auto-populate with a drop down menu, then you can select the person you want.  In the drop down menu, select the role you want them to play.  Once done, click save.  You will be asked to type in your password to confirm changes.  You can also use this same menu to remove admins or change their roles.

You can rinse and repeat to add a number of admin - I am unsure if there is a cap on the number of admins a page can have or not as I have never reached a cap.

Hope this helps!

Thursday Tutorials are a series of tutorials designed to help people who may not be as Facebook savvy as other people.  Some tutorials will be targeted towards newbies to the social media world, others will include tutorials for more advanced users.  Thursday Tutorials are written for the layman and are designed with everyone in mind.  You can find all the Thursday Tutorials by clicking on the Thursday Tutorials tag below.

Wednesday Words: Meme

While a lot of the younger and middle generations will understand this term, some of the older generation don’t understand what the word “meme” means.

To define it simply, a meme is, typically, an image with text above and or below it.  Meme’s can come in animated gif format or even as videos, but the most common is a simple image.  “I Can Has Cheezburger” and “Fail Blog” are great examples of Meme posting sites.

Of course, you can create your own memes at those sites, but there is also a site to help you create one from any of the popular meme pictures, found here:  http://www.memecreator.org/

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Monitor Your Social Media

Many companies make the mistake of creating social media accounts on the major networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) but then not doing more than a few minutes with it each week - thinking they've already done most of the work because they are "on social media."

If you are one of those people who think that, you couldn't be more wrong.

If you don't listen to your customers - and don't engage them - you aren't going to retain them and your social media presence is for nothing.  This is especially true if you are a new company or an established company that's new to Facebook and looking to expand your business with social media.

As your social media following grows, you will end up spending more time, possibly ending up with a person who is your social media manager who will handle all things related to social media.  But until you reach that point, you need to engage your customers.  Ask open ended questions to spur conversations, create well versed replies that are NOT canned responses, respond to people who ask questions.  Like their responses in topics.

Remember that social media retains everything you say or post.  You should constantly re-evaluate how you respond to both positive and negative comments and try new approaches from time to time.  Keep things fresh.

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.

Wednesday Words: Circles

Todays's Wednesday Word is a word that, thus far, is only associated with Google+ (G+): Circles.

Circles is how you arrange your connections within Google +.  You can group your connections into circles with which you then select the names of the circles you want to share your posts with.

You can also put people into multiple circles.  I have circles for VIPs, close friends, family, acquaintance and industry contacts.
The interesting thing to note though is while Circles can affect your personal profile on Google +, it can also affect your business page there as well.  People can add your page to circles (which allows them to see some of what you publish), but for them to see more, you have to add them to your page's circles.

And, just like Facebook, this isn't an automatic step.  You have to do this yourself.

Keep in mind, if you want certain articles you post to your page to target certain members of your audience and not others, be sure to put them into specific circles, then select that circle for the item to be posted to.

In the coming weeks, we'll be touching on Google + and how to use it as Social Media along with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

As always, I welcome questions on any of the social media platforms and look forward to answering questions of my readers.

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Format Your Posts in Google +

Unlike most other social media platforms, you can format your posts in Google+ to make certain things stand out more - just remember that in the world of formatting less is often times better than more.

So what do we mean by formatting your posts?  Well you can easily add bold, italics and strike through to the text you add before you hit share.  Personally, I don't use the strike through feature.  I just delete it.

Now the way you can format things on Google+ is different than a WYSIWYG item.

For example.  If you want to bold a word, you surround the word with **.  So...I want to *bold* the word bold, you would put asterisks around the bold as seen earlier in the sentence.*

If you want to italicize a word, put _ _ around it. So the word you want to italicize would look like this: _word_.

To strike through a word, put hyphens on either side of it, like this: -strike through-.

Have fun, but remember: Don't over do it!

*Obviously we aren't on Google+ so it doesn't do it in the blog, but it does do it in posts.   You also won't see it till after you hit post, so your post will be filled with funky symbols until you hit post then it should bold, italicize, etc.

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.

The Monday Search: Social Media Job Openings Available as of 2/24/14

There are many jobs available out there for people knowledgeable about Social Media, but sometimes finding the job isn't easy.

Don't worry!  I decided to start a new article that highlight three to five or so jobs found on a plethora of sites.  Sites will be linked at the very bottom of the article and listed as sources.  Other sites may be listed as well.

Complex Media is looking for a Social Media Manager

They are looking for someone to fill the following responsibilities:

• Develop social media campaigns for channels including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Vine
• Compile analytics reports on campaign performance, highlighting successes and identifying areas for improvement
• Provide input on all social planning and provide the digital POV
• Consistently participate during the pre-sale ideation phase and post-sale execution
• Act as a partner with the account team and a sounding board for ideas
• Provide continuous cultural, digital and trend forecasting to inform client recommendations and to educate and motivate internal teams
• Be on the pulse of marketing trends and how it applies to the industry

Requirements:

• 2-3 years experience in social media, preferably with a publisher (or brand with high volume of content and multiple inputs)
• Demonstrated success with social media executions on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, and additional emerging tools
• Knowledge of other digital marketing disciplines for integrated strategies (SEO, paid search, paid media)
• Must be comfortable working with a broad range of cross-functional staff—junior to senior, sales, marketing, editorial, design, analytics, etc.
• Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills
• Command of social analytics dashboards and Microsoft Excel
• Successful experience participating in cross-functional teams and with client partners
• A basic understanding of content management systems

If you are interested, and qualify, check out the job listing
here: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter-jobs/jobview.asp?joid=162087&c=jfbatl

Philadelphia Magazine is seeking a Social Media Manager

Philadelphia magazine is searching for a social media manager. Candidate should have 3-5 years of hands-on social media experience and be relentless about following the latest trends and best practices. This position requires someone who takes initiative; can handle multiple projects at once; thrives in a busy, fast-paced setting; and is a team player. Responsibilities include:

• Overseeing the brand's main social media accounts
• Keeping staffers informed of trends and best practices
• Brainstorming and implementing social media strategies for key clients
• Hiring and working with outside social media vendors to execute certain projects

This positions requires someone with an in-depth knowledge of all relevant social media platforms, including experience with Facebook ads, Twitter search and response, Google+/Google hangout, and Instagram infograms.

Check out the full listing here: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter-jobs/jobview.asp?joid=161448&c=jfbatl

Samsung Electronics of America is seeking a Social Media Manager.

The Social Media manager implements the Social Media Strategy and programs across Samsung’s various electronics product categories by using social networking sites to build brand awareness and preference, grow communities and engage with brand advocates. This role coordinates activities between PR, Support and Marketing units within North America, ensuring that Samsung’s voice and messaging is consistently applied.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Implement social media strategy across products in various digital channels.
• Source content from internal marketing groups, manages the social media content calendar and ensures proper voice and messaging is used by Community Manager.
• Work with Analytics and Agency teams to leverage social media optimization methods and increase community engagement
• Monitor trends in the social media ecosystem and raise opportunities to evolve the platform.
• Participate in social media reputation management with PR and Support Teams.
• Provide insights from monitoring to inform future marketing efforts.

Required Knowledge, Education, or Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, information systems or related business discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in an interactive field required, specific experience in implementing social strategy, managing an online community, acting as a brand advocate.
• Deep knowledge of social networking platforms and their potential applications to drive business results.
• Enthusiasm for technology and passion for Samsung products.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.   
• Strong organizational skills.
• Good technical skills with the ability to pick up new tools and ideas quickly.
• Ability to work with in a deadline oriented fast paced team environment, while also assuming leadership when appropriate.
• Experience managing direct reports and/or agency relationships

Check out the job here: http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/11681820?trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A168677641393113454898%2CVSRPtargetId%3A11681820%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

Other listings:

• Media Bistro Job Listings (note not all the jobs listed here are social media positions):  http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter-jobs/?c=stnav
• LinkedIn Social Media Job Listings:  http://www.linkedin.com/job/q-social-media-manager-jobs  and  http://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/j?keywords=socialmedia+manager  or  http://www.linkedin.com/job/q-social-media-marketing-jobs
• CareerBuilder: http://www.careerbuilder.com/Jobs/Keyword/Social-Media-Manager/
• Indeed.com: http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Social-media

The Monday Search is a brief listing of jobs available for those in the social media marketing field.  All jobs are found through internet searches and are just featured because they are of interest to me.  Monday Searches will contain links to sites with other job listings in addition to the ones listed here.