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Top trends in Content Marketing 2015

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You know all those blogs you write and stuff you create that is content?

People are reading it but, do you know how many? Do you know why? Who are you aiming for…?

There are many challenges in creating content but, it is an activity that many businesses are now spending a little more time, effort, money and thought on creating. With social media channels now even more prevalent in our lives – and the lives of our consumers – local, online businesses have even more outlets through which they can distribute their content.

Content is everywhere…

And it seems that more and more people are creating content and so, how is it faring? A recent survey, conducted annually by marketing and IT company Spiceworks, found that there were some significant changes in the ‘why?’ of content creation.

And, as always, we have trudged through the data and statistics and pulled out the ones that show how we are really using content in the larger field or marketing…

WHY content is created

Back in the day, content was created because… well… everyone else was doing it. Sort of. And we all followed suit. If you were not creating and publishing content, you were not making an attempt to bag your fair share of consumers.

However, it seems that times are changing; ‘customer acquisition’ through content marketing is no longer hogging top spot.

We have long talked about content being the door to your business and company, through which consumers and fans will step. And so, of those surveyed 59% were using content as lead generation, whilst keeping a keen eye on becoming leaders in their field (43%) and 40% of those questioned using it as part of their raising brand awareness. Customer acquisition had dropped to 28%…

Content strategy

A content strategy is where you have pre-planned blogs and other content: who is writing, where it is being posted and how it is being distributed. This survey found that those companies who did have a documented content strategy on average had content that performed better than those businesses without one.

Having said that, only 30% of the companies surveyed actually had a content strategy documented – in other words, written down – but overall, three quarters of those surveyed said they did have some kind of plan (verbal, written on a napkin, that kind of thing…)

The lesson – thinking about your content strategy and writing it down produces results and thus, spending some time getting it down of paper, sticking with it and reviewing it can reap rewards.

What kind of content?

Content is a BIG word, that covers all kind of information, produced in a variety of formats and thus this survey produced a series of results that show what companies are producing and sharing…

  • Blogs – 65%
  • Social media posts and statuses – 64%
  • Case studies – 64%
  • White papers – 55% (unlikely to be used by consumers, but important to other businesses…)

There were all kinds of other content formats named but some of the fastest growing content marketing formats – video, podcasts and the like – were fairly low down on the list. When you remember that this survey also questioned companies about how they content market to other businesses, it seems that there is a divide growing between business-to-consumer marketing and business-to-business.

Content Marketing Challenges

But, as with many aspects of business, there were many challenges that businesses said they faced in terms of content marketing, with the biggest hurdle being lack of time.

And it seems that this time hurdle is now a serious enough challenge for content creation to, at last, be figuring in the marketing budgets of companies; creating and sharing content is something we have always known is important but, this fact alone has not always been enough to act on it. The time has come that businesses can no longer be failing to act!

The lesson – businesses need to be paying considerable attention to the possibility of portioning part of their budget to outsourcing content creation if they do not have the skills and/or time to do so ‘in-house’.

Development

And we all know that, in business, nothing really stands still for long… and content creation and sharing is one aspect that is not static. Ever evolving, it is now time for the micro business to the huge global corporations to take a fresh look at not only what it is producing, but who is doing it and why…

Of those businesses surveyed, 54% put content marketing in with the marketing division of their business or company. Of these marketing people, half of them created all the information, blog, analytical reports etc. themselves; a staggering 92% of information and content creation was developed in-house.

In terms of budgets however, the survey raised an interesting conflict; if a business relied on content marketing as its favoured form of marketing, the production of material in-house raised concerns about how the value of the content (the return of investment, or the ROI – what you get back from the effort you put in) was being measured… and in most cases, it wasn’t. In other words, some very well paid were producing content that maybe wasn’t quit hitting the spot. Are you spending hours poring over blogs and articles? Is it paying off?

The future

The survey asked companies how and what they intended on producing in the future in terms of content creation and marketing…

77% of those surveyed said that content creation within their company was going to increase, with a third of these companies saying they expected this increase to be ‘significant’. NO ONE said they were going decrease their content marketing efforts.

What is this survey REALLY telling us?

  • Content marketing to customers is essential.
  • Content marketing from business to business is essential.

The format only varies slightly and many businesses put a lot of time and effort into creating content, but not many are able to pinpoint its value in terms of return of investment.

Despite the online world becoming an even more crowded place, content marketing is far from old-hat or close to dying out, simply because it is still effective.

It builds authority and trust, as well as promoting brand awareness and recognition. Top quality content will be distributed more and more through a variety of social media channels.

How do you create content and, more importantly, how do you market and share it? What are you plans for content marketing in 2015?

The Psychology of Marketing… or understanding neurological quirks!

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Our recent post on psychology and colour was incredibly popular, not surprising when you consider some of the data that various surveys and the like threw in to the popular domain. Always on the lookout for other factors that impact on what we do in terms of business, we came across some research recently that addressed the issue of psychology and marketing.

Marvelling at the human brain and how it makes decisions, understanding some of the basic cognitive functions can help marketers to reach the consumer; some basic understanding of why we think our message is brilliant, and yet it fails to draw in the crowds, can also be incredibly helpful in how we market our products and service.

So sit back and enjoy a journey through cognitive biases, quirks and flaws… and understand why some marketing campaigns have back fired (or really, really worked!)

Cognitive – what is it?

Cognitive relates to cognition and is ‘concerned with the act or process of knowing, perceiving etc.,’; in other words, it is all about the mental processes of perception, memory, judgement, reasoning and so on. From Medieval Latin, it is a word that explains the process behind why we do the things that we do, and the decisions that we make.

As we all know…

… we sometimes make decisions that we find hard to explain after a passage of time. In most cases, this tends to be a decision that has a negative impact; for example, the ‘why on earth did I do that/say that/choose that?’ questions. The never-answered question of ‘why did I do that?’

Psychologists say that these faulty decisions are down to ‘brain quirks’. There is probably a more technical term, however, it is noted by ‘brain experts’ that some of these decisions we make could actually be linked to our cavemen ancestors – back then, they would have been ‘right’ decisions to make but in the modern day, some of the decisions we make seem ill at ease and out of place.

When it comes to marketing, it can be interesting to understand some of these brain quirks, with 5 being identified as the most ‘common occurring’ ones. When marketing your products or services to your consumers, understanding why some these quirks happen can help you avoid them meaning your consumer could still buy from you…

Brain quirk 1: Attribution Error

Proved in an experiment from the late 1960s, subjects were given an article to read, either for or against a certain hot topic at the time.

The group that read the pro- articles were told the writers expressed their true opinion, of their own free will and this was something that sat well with the group.

The other half of the group were told these pro and anti- topic articles were written by people who were coerced into expressing this opinion. But, the interesting result here is that, when questioned, the readers all said that the opinions expressed were the author’s real ones.

Attribution error is where we ignore context and circumstances, attributing -in other words, giving credit – everything to a person or organisation’s personality.

What this means in a marketing sense…

  • The personality of a company is important in the consumer’s mind and this personality will define how it behave towards them

  • A company that gets caught up in a string of unfortunate events, will regain its trustworthiness in the eyes of its consumers if it takes responsibility for these events

  • A company demonstrates its personality through its actions, rather than through its words

Brain quirk 2: Confirmation Bias

We all have opinions and whether you agree or not, we are all biased. We have a skewed vision of something or someone and will seek out information that tends to agree with these preconceptions and existing beliefs.

Confirmation bias is about justifying what we already believe and are more likely to dismiss information that challenges these pre-conceived notions and ideas.

This tends to happen more when the subject is emotional or controversial; we will seek out information that supports us, rather than proves us wrong…

What this means in a marketing sense…

  • First impressions are incredibly important as this is the basis on which the consumer interprets the company now and in the future (and we have all done it! One bad experience and that’s it…)

  • Conversely, making a good, strong impression has sticking power!

  • To get someone to change their mind after a negative impression or experience takes a ‘whole lotta effort’!

  • Consumers are more likely to trust (and buy from) a company that has similar values and beliefs to them

Brain quirk 3: Self-serving bias

Step away from the ‘pick and mix’ because this is not the type of self-serving we mean.

It’s tough, isn’t it, taking criticism? Regardless of how well the bad news about your product, service or performance is given, it stings. And we know this and our brain, being the super thing that it is, will try and protect us.

A self serving bias is when good criticism (is there such a thing?) will be attributed directly to us and how brilliant we know we are… but poor criticism (is there such a thing?) is linked to faults in the evaluation process.

What this means in a marketing sense…

Don’t insult your consumer. It really is that simple but, there are cases where marketing exploits and format are doing just that and could be a huge turn off for your consumer…

  • Informercials – we have all seen them on TV and they cover a wide range of topics from the disgust expressed at NOT cleaning your dishwasher to how to fry an egg. Your consumer will either ignore such a rubbish advert or they will be insulted and never shop with you.

  • The headlines – some headlines deliberately court controversy but there is an incredibly fine line with some of these headlines; attractive they may be, they can also be incredibly insulting. “How over 50s are breaking the internet…” – on one hand, when you read the article it tells you all about how we are becoming increasingly internet savvy at ALL ages but, it could also imply that anyone over 50 is a bit past it…

  • Flaws – OK, we all know that going to the gym 3 times a week and sweating for an hour and half is really good for us (Mmmm…) but, an advert suggesting that we need to do as we are overweight and lumpish is NOT the right way of going about enticing people through your gym doors. Never victimise; always point out the positives of a purchase – like ‘get in shape this summer!’ rather than ‘calling all couch potatoes!’

Brain quirk 4: Belief Bias

This is not the same as confirmation bias; it is something quite different.

Belief bias is when we reject a conclusion because it just seems too extreme or outrageous, even if it IS backed by a completely sound argument or evidence.

And it seems that logic gets in the way; in experiments carried out in the early 1980s, groups of people were given arguments, some with ‘believable conclusions’ and some with ‘unbelievable conclusions’, even those these unbelievable conclusions were based on sound facts and theory. But, the logic of the people in the experiment denied that this could possibly be the case with only a third of those accepting that the ‘unbelievable conclusion’ was a possibility.

What this means in a marketing sense…

Belief bias is incredibly important for marketing purposes:

  • Logic cannot stretch too far when it comes to asking consumers to believe something that seems a little too far-fetched…

  • The conclusion needs to be more realistic in order to make the argument withstand the rigour of ‘too good to be true’

  • Ignore this and keep plundering on with a message that does seem ‘too good to be true’ can and does hurt sales

  • Consumers have a ‘gut reaction’ and this emotional driven response governs a purchasing decision more than logic does; in other words, your marketing to consumers should not be devoid of ALL emotion, but relying solely on logic is not helpful either

Brain Quirk 5: Loss Aversion

Also known as the framing effect,  loss aversion is essentially about our vision of something, and whether the implications or results are positive or negative.

How information is presented is important; a positive frame will create a positive reaction and vice versa – even though the outcome is actually the same.

For example, to illustrate the point, in an experiment, subjects were asked to choose between two treatment options: Option a) would save 200 lives out of 600 or, option b) which would mean 400 deaths out of 600 lives.

Even those these options are the same (and this is a very simplified synopsis of the experiment) the vast majority of people opted for option a), although essentially they were both the same.

The experiment has since been improved, with phrasing of the questions changed etc. to make the negatives less obvious but the results are  the same. In other words, when an outcome is framed as a loss, we take a risk but when the framing of an outcome is positive, we see it as a more sure-fire option.

What this means in a marketing sense…

  • Watch your phrasing – for example, ‘save 25%’ has a better ‘frame’ than pay only 75% although the two are the same

  • Watch your message – and it is a complex space to be in with some products and services, especially in relation to businesses that work in health, body image, keeping fit etc.

  • Watch the headlines – informing someone that the article or blog will help them avoid something (like pain) is, according to experts, more likely to be read than those blogs that promise or guarantee satisfaction and pleasure.

Brain quirks are an interesting subject and, can help in the creation of adverts and marketing that hits the spot with the consumer. And don’t forget, you are not averse to them either…

How marketing to the modern man is changing…

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Admit it, when you think of marketing and customers, you automatically think of women. And to a certain extent, we can forgive you for that. In most cases, women tend to make the purchasing decision, especially when linked to certain kinds of products and services.

However, marketing to the modern man means that you are taking a step into the unknown as knowing the purchasing behaviour men, and understanding why and what they are shopping for is important. Add into this mix the power of social media and you will find that there are some myths developing.

For example, do you assume that men don’t search for bargains? It seems that this assumption is wrong. Men are looking for a good price for a quality product but approach purchasing in a different way to women.

Trawling the statistics

We have taken a look at some data and statistics so that you have a better idea of what it is men are looking for, when it comes to shopping and making purchasing decisions that is…

Firstly, we found that men aged between 25 and 40 years of age (usually fathers too, according to the data) are influenced by the results of major search engines, reliable information from a Microsoft survey. This survey goes on to suggest that a mix of both search engine optimised material, along with targeted pay-per-click adverts are the most effective ways of getting your business notices by men (if they are, in fact, your target consumer).

Secondly, men use the power of social media networks when they are researching products, a statistic that came out of a sizable survey of 1,000 plus social media users in a New York City based survey. From this survey, experts concluded that like women, men like the idea of a product having a story to it; rather than just ‘advertising’ your product, tell your makes consumers why buying from your business is better than buying from your competitors – BUT, keep it positive and focussed on your business, rather than slating the opposition (no one likes the sore loser/victim stance!).

Get the data – get the right eye balls looking at your products and services

Like all marketing, you really do need to know who will be making the purchasing decision when it comes to your kind of product or service. If you are in a market that depends on male consumers, then you will need to bear a whole help of statistics and data in mind…

  • 50% of men, aged 25 to 40 are influenced by both digital adverts and banners – bear this in mind when you look at both your online and offline marketing activities
  • 68% of male smartphone users are more likely to make a purchase from mobile ads – 10% more than female smartphone users
  • 44% of men, aged between 25 and 40, use social media and are influenced by it when it comes to making purchasing decision
  • 44% of men will tell friends of a positive experience of buying online
  • 90% of women will consult with their male ‘other half’ in the event of making what are known as ‘big ticket’ items – again, an interesting statistic depending on what you sell
  • 54% of men will use social media networks when researching products or services they want to buy
  • 58% of men will consult with 4 or more sources of information before they purchase an item
  • 41% of ‘affluent’ males will make the majority of their purchases through sites such as Amazon
  • 43% of men found shopping online a relaxing and enjoyable experience

Marketing to the modern man – the 3 factors to bear in mind

Statistics and data are all well and good but, applying this information in reality can be a little more daunting a prospect. Marketing to male consumers has always been slightly off-centre and more than a little odd; if ever there was a ‘group’ within the wider consumer market that was generalised within the marketing world, it has been men. But, times are changing…

  1. Ditch the clichés

Seeing every man over the age of 25 as a slightly off-beat, sock –and-sandals dad is not going to do you any favours. Finally, this rather awkward appearance of men as consumers is starting to fade and, experts believe this is in part, thanks to the ability of men to now take paternity leave and the like, being more central to family life and parenting that ever before. Being a proactive parent, and deciding to leave the office early to read the bed time story is now more acceptable.

Adverts have, for a long time, shown men to be one-dimensional and less well-intentioned; also, many of the adverts show men in very masculine roles and activities. Just look at the male birthday cards, limited to golf and football from some manufacturers…

  1. Reach out to male consumers, directly

In the past, many adverts and marketing ploys for products aimed at men as the final consumer, have attempted to harness the persuasive power of the female in the home first. In other words, if the wife or girlfriend agreed with the purchase, then the male was more likely to purchase the item.

However, it seems that this is no longer the case (although some experts suggest that this may not have been the case in the first place!). If your product or service is aimed at men, then target the male consumer; don’t bother trying to get the women in the house to make the decision… be bold and confident in your language too!

  1. Consider their unique needs

Look to the big brands for inspiration as to how they target men at certain times in their lives; the best companies and products to take note of are men’s toiletries. Although many of these products are made by the same company, the marketing and advertising of their products differ depending on the age group and life-stage their male consumers are deemed to be at… and the language and marketing activities reflect this accordingly.

And the final lesson in all this…?

Just like any marketing and advertising you need to know your audience or your adverts, as well as all your hard work, will be simply wasted. How do you market to the ‘modern man’?

Late payments and lost payments

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And online tools that can help!

As we research topics that could be interest to our clients, we do occasionally come across something that really makes us think. Only a few days ago, we came across a post from October 2014 that we could relate to and, we are sure, so can many of our customers.

Time is of the essence

Tempus fugit (time flies), as the famous Latin saying goes and it is certainly true when it comes invoicing for the work completed by business on behalf of other businesses.

Increasingly, small and online businesses are realising the potential of email their invoices to companies, ready for payment. Some larger businesses, perhaps more cumbersome and lumbering in their accounting procedures, may send out paper invoices. Before this paper invoice is generated and mailed to clients, the hoops that have been jumped through and the swings that have been swung in order to generate it will have been fairly gargantuan.

Keeping track of these paper invoices can be an entirely separate task in itself and, in larger organisations, it is. Once one section has produced the invoice, another section within accounting is responsible for chasing and securing payment. For corporations, this is a huge task…

The 30, 60 or 90 day rule that could be preventing businesses from growing

But, it is not just the time spent in chasing payments that is the issue here; for suppliers, there is a far more pressing concern. How many times have you completed work for someone, submitted your invoice only to be told that the company has a 30, 60 or, worse still, a 90 day payment window?

Although irritating, these payment windows and slow payments from companies have never really been challenged… until now and it is the power of cloud based accounting that is really beginning to push the boundaries of what is an acceptable time lapse between submitting an invoice and being paid.

What is an acceptable time frame between invoice and payment? The answer is… there isn’t. In order for commerce to flow, and for small businesses to manage their cash flow (as well as the larger organisations too), the time has come to kick the 30, 60 or 90 payment period in to touch.

Cloud based invoicing, claim some experts, is introducing transparency, ease of administration and speed to both invoicing and payments, excellent news for the small and local businesses out there trying to manage a cash flow.

A cruel reality

Running a business is about taking a degree of acceptable risk; someone likes your products or services. You may charge a small deposit but, in most cases, businesses will complete the work before payment.

The invoice is submitted and then you must wait… and wait… and possibly wait a little longer. In all this time, you are attempting to manage a cash flow that may have dwindled to nothing, or very little. Late payments, the cruel reality in many a case, are responsible for driving many businesses to the wall.

And, if you think it only affects you, think again. One global insurance company estimates that there is around $2 trillion locked into late payments at any one time across the globe.

And the solution is…

As well-being clear about YOUR payment terms – payment due on receipt is a nice way of saying ‘pay now’ – there are other tricks too…

  • Discounts – before you all faint at such a ridiculous suggestion, experts suggest turning the ‘fines’ for late payments on its head. Include a payment fee, they suggest, on the invoice amount (adding 20% for example) but, if payment is received within xx number of days (you set the time), this 20% is automatically deducted.
  • Get a 3rd party to do it… and chase – some businesses are also realising that investing in their cash flow is important and thus, outsource their invoicing and chasing payments to a third company. For those of us who ‘hate asking for money’, this is a perfect way of completing the transaction.

Cloud computing – does it have the answer?

The crux of the article from 2014 was simple; a clever chap had realised that the issue lay in not only generating invoices, but keeping track of them and speeding up the whole process. At the time, he was working for the Danish Government, who generated thousands of invoices per year as well as paying thousands of invoicing per year to suppliers, large and small.

Developing an online system, he not only made the whole payment system faster and more transparent, but doing business with government departments became a far easier process; local, smaller suppliers felt more confident doing business with departments, and working on larger projects too, for payment was easier and quicker to come by.

Invoicing software – generate invoices and track payments

Running a business is hard enough without worrying about generating the right invoices for the right people for the right amount… and keeping tabs on who has paid and who hasn’t. Larger businesses create their own system and for the smaller business, short on time and skills, there are many online invoicing systems that are just right for your business; some are paid for and some are free.

However, type in accounting or invoicing software and you will have a plethora of apps and programs to choose from. Your invoices and money are important, thus the issue of trust is important when it comes to such things, so exactly how do you make your choice?

  • Subscriptions and size

Many online invoicing systems offer a subscription service by which you buy ‘enough’ invoicing capacity for your business; this works especially well for businesses who may not generate many invoices within a monthly period, enabling you to keep costs down. The dashboard of the online application should be easy to use, self-explanatory and, if possible, offer you the features that are not superfluous to requirements. In other words, make sure it does everything you want without the fancy (expensive) extras.

For example, if you have recurring payments or send out invoices in batches, does the program offer this ability?

  • Security

Just like accessing your bank account online, the security for any online invoicing app should be at a high level. Also called ‘bank level security’, there should be three factors that are apparent (but you may need to read the small print to find them!):

  1. Encryption – data needs to be encrypted to prevent it being useful to hackers
  2. Bank level security – as we have already mentioned, any online app you use, especially where you are creating links to bank accounts or online payment systems such as PayPal should have the highest level of security
  3. Redundancy – this refers to the storage of your data by the provider; in most cases, there will be two server sites, one a replica of the other. Should the system be hacked or compromised due to weather and other natural disasters, you should be able to still access your mirrored data from the ‘other’ site.

  • Billing

These invoicing apps can also be used as a billing gateway; in other words, your customer receives the invoice and they pay via online means. Again, such sites need to have all the security and data encryption expected, as you customers will expect this too. Look for online solutions that off you a range of payment gateways that are popular, such as PayPal and Google Checkout. If your online business operates globally, the more options you have for payment the better.

However, there are processing fees – either on a per transaction basis or a monthly one – from some payment providers, which can seriously cut into your profit margins. Check these fees carefully.

  • Ease of use

A common issue with many services of this ilk is the fact that using them requires a PhD in in Mathematical Computing. If they offer a free trial – as most online software programs do – why not opt for a dummy run, to see how easy it is to use, as well as whether the program suits your business? Many of these software programs offer brilliant features which you don’t realise how useful they are until you have them – for example, tracking sales and payments are two essential components of keeping tabs on the financial health of your business.

  • Scalability

You may be expecting your business to grow in the coming months and that is all fine and dandy… until you realise the online program you have been using will not scale up with your business and you are back to square one.

Those that offer a modular approach work really well; buying more chunks as you need them, as well as add-ons are a perfect of scaling up, without having to buy the ultimate package.

And finally…

Help and support are two key components of online invoicing and financial tracking programs. Many of these apps offer instant chat options, perfect if you have a quick question or query. Email support is also invaluable but, sometimes, there is no compensation for having a telephone chat…

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 2

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In part 1 of what statistics about social media usage can mean to us, as a business, we focused mainly on data and figures that related to Twitter. Knowing the group you and your followers could fall in, as well as when the best times to tweet are, can make your presence on this real time platform work a little harder for you.

In part 2, we carry on looking at social media platforms, identifying statistics for Facebook and a little nod to Pinterest.

And so, what do statistics on Facebook usage teach us?

The favourite, most crowded day of the week when it comes to posts is…. (drum roll please!)

FRIDAY!

Don’t we all love Friday?! The day where we can look back at the week, revel in our accomplishments and maybe plan the weekend… and this more relaxed approach on a Friday may actually mean that we feel more compelled to post a variety of statuses.

With over 225 billion posts analysed as part of this piece of research, we were quite impressed initially but then we looked at the statistics again and came to the same conclusion, but with an additional observation.

The research we came across was presented in a lovely bar graph and Friday was the busiest day for statuses, posts and the like BUT, but a gnat’s whisker. What we learnt from this research was that every day on Facebook was, to be honest, fairly crowded and so dropping a status onto the platform every now and then was probably going to be lost without a trace.

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew Facebook was busy, with statuses and posts having a seconds of air time before it is swamped by something else. Every day is busy and so if Facebook is one of your preferred social media then you need to be constant and consistent with your use of it. Friday, however, seemed the day where shares and likes peaked; some social media experts suggest keeping your better stuff until the end of the week. We think a little frivolity on a Friday never hurt anyone…

Photos work every time on Facebook…

…or so the statistics say. We already know that sharing appropriate visual content, linked with your brand or business is a great way of snagging some much needed eye ball time however, what did take us by surprise was the magnitude of photo-led content.

If you really truly want your posts and statuses shared and liked on this social media platform, then you need to include a photo… take a look at the stats:

In 2014, the most shared posts on Facebook across the globe looked like this…

  • 87% shared had a photo attached to it
  • 4% had a link
  • 4% had an album
  • 3% a video
  • 2% was the just the status itself

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew that photos and graphics were powerful but were not aware of how powerful until we saw this chunk of data. What it doesn’t tell us, however, is how many of these shares are from personal or company accounts, and this may differ.

However, the fact that photos work cannot be avoided but always exercise caution, making sure the photo or image you are using is not only connected or related to your brand, but also appropriate for wider sharing. Coveting favour through controversy is probably best left to those with celebrity status and a team of lawyers on hand.

The social media platforms that drive the most ‘traffic’

We have all been coached over the years to think of social media sites as means of engaging customers and fans, thereby increasing the possibility of these people accessing and using a website.

With so many social media platforms out there, coupled with our desire to be the best, popular and successful, we can sometimes spread our brand a little too thin across everything, everywhere. However, from a bunch of statistics released by Shareaholic, it seems that social media driven traffic splits in to two categories: quantity and quality.

If quantity is what you are after, you need to get your brand on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Simple.

If however, you want a decent conversation or are looking to seriously engage new buyers or customers, then look at the lower performing sites. In terms of time on a website, pages per visit examined by a customer and bounce rate, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn won hands down every time.

Our take on this statistic?

Just like we have hinted at before, you need to be involved in the ‘right’ social media for you and your brand. Facebook and Twitter are the big hitters in terms of numbers, and think about joining Pinterest too. If, however, you are interested in more ‘quality’ targeted traffic then the other social media sites may suit you better.

Overall, a broad social media strategy is required… IF you have the time and means to pull it off (and there is lies the problem for so many small, online and local businesses).

Figure out what is good engagement

Time for some real number crunching!

Social media of all kind is about engagement; it is about people feeding back to you, you feeding back to them, having a conversation, posting reviews… you get the idea.

Many moons ago, when Facebook was at its highest peak, the standard for social engagement statistics (and what constituted success), was marked; but, as other social media sites have come along and our tastes have changed, experts on social media marketing and reach have spent some time scratching their heads, pondering what makes for successful engagement NOW.

If you chase statistics as part of your social media engagement and you really need to know the answer, then it depends on how many fans you have. Looking at Facebook, as an example…

  • If you have between 1 and 9,999 fans on Facebook, each post should have 28 interactions
  • 10,000 to 99,999 fans, you should expect 118 interactions per post
  • And, with over 100,000 to half a million fans, there should be a minimum of 385 interactions per post

In other words, the bigger you are on social media and the more you grow, the busier your accounts should be.

Our take on this statistic?

Pretty useless really, but those who are very serious about the whole social media thing, growing their reach and engagement statistics etc., these statistics could be a useful bench mark. We suggest that engaging your buyers in meaningful, helpful and informative posts is more important reaching benchmarks that do very little…

Get pinning!

If you enjoy the visual aspect of engagement, then Pinterest is one social media platform that is becoming increasingly popular; if you haven’t used it or come across it yet, take a look at how to use it and what it could offer your business.

Like other platforms, there are certain days that seem to hold the key when it comes to ‘categories of engagement’; on Monday, Fitness seems to be popular (after the sludge of the weekend…?). Tuesday represents the day technology pins are popular, Wednesday pins are attached to inspirational quotes, Thursday is fashion day and Friday is humorous stuff (there’s what weekend link again!). The weekend pins are travel and food and crafts, all hobby and social based.

Our take on this statistic… and all the others?

This proves what we have been thinking for some time and that is that social media is a beast worth taming, but in a way that works for you and your business, and not because you think you should be on that platform. The ‘everyone else is doing it’ seems to no longer work.

Our take would be this;

Take a look at some of these statistics and discard what you think is irrelevant or not appropriate for your business. If you are heading for cult status, then get posting with images on Facebook and Twitter but, if you are growing your engagement, preparing for a marathon rather than a spring, then take a look at the less ‘mass media’ approach.

But, in all cases, you need to be confident in your use of the platform so our ‘advice’ is simple – start small, with one or two social media platforms at most, become an expert on these and stick to them, if they work…

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 1

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Understanding all three components is somewhat essential we feel but unless you have a finely tuned analytical mind, it can be difficult to decipher the good, the bad and the ugly. As the 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli said,

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics”

And so when we came across a shovel load of research, data and statistics about social media, we set our minds to decoding it all, so that you, our prized blog readers could delight and revel in knowing you are doing something right, an important wheel in the social media revolution and tweak those areas that may need some additional work.

We have come across 10 pieces of what we think are fascinating facts, data and statistics about how we and our customers use social media platforms; some are surprising and some results predictable and yet, we stick to what we think are tried, tested and successful methods.

In part 1, we look at 5 statistics and data from surveys, and in part 2 to be published soon, we take a look at another 5. If you use Twitter for your business, you really do need to read on!

What did we learn…?

Who favourites, mentions and re-Tweets your Tweets are NOT who you think

Twitter is all about gaining followers; with a sprinkling of re-Tweets and a few ‘favourites’, your Tweets could be seen by more eyeballs across the globe than in a high street optician’s chain. Cock-a-hoop when we get these weekly stats from statistic and data crunching apps like SumAll, we pay no more attention than this…

… but something more formidable lurks within these re-tweets. Many of us, in the same way that brand snobbery exists when we go shopping for new trainers, will hanker after the re-tweet or the ‘favourite’ from a ‘power user’; in other words, some Tweeters may hanker after the BIG names out there but recent stats show that 91% of mentions come from people with less followers.

Crestfallen, we limp away from Twitter, deflated and defeated… and yet, if you have 3 mentions from people with 500 followers each, that’s another 1,500 pairs of eyeballs… and if they re-tweet it, then are thousands of more eyeballs…

Our take on this statistic?

Cherish every re-Tweet and make sure you enjoy the company of the little guy on twitter for they are just as powerful and valuable as the big boys.

Twitter and communication networks

This is slightly more technical and psychological in application but, once you have the idea, it could be valuable information to have.

Twitter is about conversations and there is some rather interesting research from the Pew Research Centre and the Social Media Research Foundation (we didn’t know they existed either!) that suggests within these conversations there are ‘6 distinct communication networks’…

  1. Divided – much like life, we disagree and in most cases, we rarely seek out the company of people who do not agree with us. This research suggests that Twitter is no different and that there are two, polarised groups on Twitter with different or opposing groups, and never the twain shall meet. Politics is listed as one of the most divisive topics of conversation…
  2. Unified – the research suggests there are up to 6 large groups of people who with a topic as the means of unifying them. These tight crowds of people can be professionals, hobby groups etc.
  3. Fragmented – these clusters tend to be formed around celebrities and brands, with discussions being polarised, a mass amount of information and opinions are generated and shared, but with groups rarely agreeing. Think of this as many small groups across Twitter discussing the latest popular subject or topics…
  4. Clustered – these groups tend to cluster in small the medium sized groups, with the research finding that the majority of conversations being around the latest news stories. Hence global news events can generate content and discussion
  5. In-hub and spoke – think of this as one person standing in the middle of a large group; this person speaks, the surrounding group, hanging on each and every word, then go on to re-tweet every bit of detail. In many cases, the members of this outward ‘spokes’ tend to converse and share with each other too. The fans of the brand look IN on the brand…
  6. Out-hub and spoke – this is where the above groups is reversed, with the brand or business responding to the comments and questions of their customers on Twitter. This creates outward ‘spokes’, unlike number five which is where the information is fed inward. in other words, one brand has many spokes reaching OUT to consumers.

Our take on this statistic…?

Knowing where your brand fits in with these groups can help to understand why you sometimes have a huge amount of engagement with customers but, then it falls away. We find that many of our clients use Twitter as a way of offering customer support but, their customer support strategy makes no mention of this…

Written word verses Visuals

Every year, the Social Media Examiner conducts a survey of over 3,000 marketers and their most recent survey produced rather interesting result…

Although there has been a lot of talk about visuals – graphics, vines, video etc. – it sees that 58% of these 3,000+ marketers are saying that the written word trumps the visual aspect each and every time. Coming in second – way behind on 19% – are graphics such as infographics, followed by videos. Sharing other people’s content also figured in the survey with audio content being in last place.

Our take on this statistic…?

We have said many, many times before that original written content that oozes quality, authority, brand awareness and leadership on a range issues places you far more firmly at the centre of things on social media. Keep in mind the power of storytelling too…

Twitter and response times

Twitter is a great social media for many different kinds of businesses and brands BUT, there is something that you should be acutely aware of…

Twitter is essentially seen by consumers are a real-time platform; in other words, they comment and you respond… but not at your leisure. It turns out from a survey carried by a technology firm that customers have firm opinions about the time a company takes in responding to them.

But, if you think that responding in an hour is a close-shave for your business, you need to know that customers who contact you via Twitter with a complaints actually expect an almost instant response.

Our take on this statistic…

You MUST take your responsibility on social media seriously; if not, you could do more damage than good. If you are using Twitter as part of your customer service strategy, then you need to be hot-to-trot when it comes to responding.

However, if you are a small, micro or start up business, manning the barricades can 24 hours a day can turn into a monster task. It can be managed however, but always be conscious and aware that your customers have high expectations and your response needs to fit within this high standard.

Twitter and night owls

And finally, in this first part of social media, statistics and decisions, we look at data that suggests the best of time of posting and re-tweeting. If you have the time and inclination (as well as the right software!), you too can monitor a bunch of tweets – about 1.7 million, like TrackMavern did to create a wonderful looking bar graph that tells us one thing… the best times to re-tweet is between 9pm and midnight.

Do you know what Late-Night Infomercial Effect is? This is sharing content at a time when the share volume is lower, so your content stands out more. In terms of the best day, the same bit of number-crunching found that Sunday was also the best to tweet.

Our take on this statistic…

Why not try out this after-hours theory on Twitter by setting your tweet schedule for between 9pm and midnight? The same survey also suggested that more re-tweets came from Tweets that has exclamation marks and capital letters in them…

COME BACK AND READ PART 2 SOON! #makingtherigthsocialmediadecisions

Your website IS your best marketing tool

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… and so getting it right is not an optional endeavour that you can afford to leave to chance.

In ‘Keeping your website active’ we looked at why leaving your website hanging in mid-air is not the way to gain customers or grow your website. Increasingly, businesses are realising that their online presence needs constant attention but, not just so it climbs the search engine rankings, but because it is the most effective marketing tool they have. It is certainly one of the biggest investments you will make.

Here, we give you our top 10 tips to ensure your website is your best marketing tool…

Tip 1: your website address

If you are at the start of your online journey or are looking to upgrade your website with an exciting revamp, you need to take a few moments to consider your web address. In most cases, companies buy the name of business as a domain name, which is all well and good should that be available. However, there are cases when this is not possible and so, you begin the hunt for a domain address that suits your business.

Short, memorable web addresses are known to work best and then, once in place, make sure you plaster this web address over everything – from your business card to your email signature, to the leaflets being pushed through doors to the advert in the local press!

We love this gaudy example of everything that a website should NOT be…

Tip 2: Review your website

Again, this is for established websites. We have talked previously on reviewing the content on your website, including performing a content audit so that you can identify content that can be easily adapted to provide something new.

There is all kinds of advice out there on the web, but they all point to the same things: relevant, appropriate content, backed up with professional graphics all make a difference in your website fighting its way UP the rankings.

Tip 3: People, not search engines

Although having relevant content that search engines can zoom in on, it can mean that content becomes slightly skewed as we start to write for the web and no for people; in other words, we forget that we are writing for our potential customers.

What can happen is that we become overzealous with the amount of keywords we place in some of these articles and blogs; in other words, we stuff ‘em in hoping that the search engine picks them up and thousands of people will buy from you… but the opposite tends to be true! Never lose sight of the fact that you are writing to inform customers.

Tip 4: Clear navigation

To find out exactly what we mean, type in any old random website enquiry and take a look around a website that you have not visited previously; how easy is it to find what you need? How do you buy? Where do you get the information that you need.

People will visit your website with a specific intention and you need to make all the things they need are visible and clear.

Tip 5: Update content

We have touched on this not only in this post but in many others; if you are serious about your website being a top quality marketing platform for your business you need to update content regularly; you should be making serious efforts to be loading at least one blog per week, more if you want to really make something of your website.

Don’t have time? Why not engage the services of a web content writer?

Tip 6: online discounts

Just like you offer ‘10% off with the voucher’ printed in the local press or leaflets pushed through doors, having online incentives for the customer is also an effective marketing tool.

Having a program of discounts and ‘buy one get one free’ if that is suitable for your business, is also essential if you are serious about using your website as the main marketing vehicle for your business.

Tip 7: consider email marketing

There are many companies who send out regular newsletters or email offers to customers and, with some investment in plug ins or using free online software, you too can create something along these lines.

Again, as with any other marketing method, having a plan as to what and how you intend doing it will mean that you get more from this activity, rather than firing an email off into the dark.

Tip 8: Consistent branding

A common mistake that many newbie businesses make is that they mix and match their branding; in other words, they use a logo on one colour on one thing, and then change it on a whim when they use it on something else.

Colour is not the only aspect that needs to remain consistent with branding; your tagline needs to remain as well as the choice of font. It may seem a small, inconsequential ‘thing’ but, as consumers, we need to ‘see’ a logo several times before our brain starts to recognise it. To truly cement your brand in the customer psyche can take a long, long time so keep at it!

Tip 9: Harness social media

Again, a common thread in many posts and articles by experts but it seems that this message is not always being heeded. Ignoring social media altogether it a dangerous thing but, spreading yourself too thin and having a presence on everything can be just as bad, with no one social media presence doing your business justice.

Our advice is this – choose the social media platform that suits your business, stick with this and use it well, rather than signing up for everything…

Tip 10: Mobile version

Consider too, how your customers will be surfing the web; laptops and desktops are being superseded in some cases by tablets and smart phones. Make sure your website is mobile friendly; in other words, small tweaks are made in layout so that it ‘fits’ with table and mobile phone screens. The vast majority of web hosting platforms will offer this facility…

Understanding your website as a marketing tool is essential in it being able to do its job; it is an online window that sets the tone for the interaction between you and your customers. You have seconds to create the right impression…

Keeping your website alive

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And we don’t mean the up time of servers!

We are continuing our theme that websites are live, living things that need to be fed and nurtured on a regular basis.

Websites objectives

Somewhere in the not-so-distant past, we have talked about website objectives. For all the fancy words and umpteen bullet points, extracted from your team over tea and biscuits, at some point we are sure, you will have mentioned getting traffic through to your site.

This means ‘traffic’ as people and, in many small, online business cases, websites objectives are about turning this traffic in to paying customers. Once you have attracted them the first time, you have the heady task of attracting them again… and again… and again…

On the face of it, this might not seem like too big a task but only if one of your website objectives it to ‘maintain the interest’ of the passing populace.

To maintain interest you must maintain the website, with up to date, vibrant content that, for many websites, means adding new content.

It is a story you will have heard before. Search engines constantly crawl websites looking for the juicy, new bits and so, making sure you have a plan to revamp or add new content – and sticking to it – is essential.

The worst case scenario – if you are worried about your website (it seems to be sinking without a trace), then take a walk through it.

  • Do the links work? (Nope).
  • Does it load quickly? (Nope)
  • Is the information current? (Nope)
  • Is it sleek, modern and fits your business? (Nope).

Need we go on?

Take away lesson – websites that are kept up to date, load quickly with fabulously engaging content will have a better chance of success and being ‘spotted’ by the search engines as being authoritative and trustworthy.

The basics of website upkeep

Just like we need to vacuum the office, wash the tea cups and take the tea towel home once a week, there are basic, menial website tasks that need to be done to maintain the website. You will need to assign this task to someone; we also suggest setting time at least once a month, to check out the whole website (we are not talking social media engagement here – that should be a daily occurrence).

Basic tasks:

  • Ensure information is up-to-date – does a product description, price or P&P rates need adjusting, for example?
  • Proofread the main pages and texts – is there an error that needs correcting? Could you re-write a paragraph so the message is clearer?
  • Graphics – these also need to be checked; are they still relevant? For example, all your Christmas graphics should be safely tucked away till next year
  • Accessibility – do customers know how to contact you? For many potential customers, knowing how they can contact the business (and when) is a sign of trustworthiness
  • Content and news – ensuring thee are kept up to date is also essential along with expansion tasks such as regular newsletters to people who have signed up to your mailing list
  • Announcements – do you have a feature that allows you to advertise promotions of flash sales? If so, have a plan for how to use these.

Take away lesson – although flashy bits are all well and good, if the basics of your website are either not functioning at all, or are not functioning to their full capacity, adding fancy extras will be a waste of time.

Create possibilities

Your website should be active in the sense that it can ‘read’ your business and market place, and create possibilities for people to engage and, if possible, buy from you. But once you have looked at your website and you think you are happy with it, then all is rosy in the garden… or is it?

Just as important as creating your website in the first place with professional help and services, so is keeping it alive and active.

Extend your thinking…

Step 1: The Website Review

YOU review your website in a regular basis, picking up odd bits of spelling and grammar mistakes. You have changed some graphics you no longer like or think are appropriate and you have some new content on there too.

Try shaking up this process:

  • If you have staff, then pass the Website Review task from one person to another; getting different perspectives can be incredibly useful but rather than going for the scattergun approach, get them to look at certain aspects
  • Feedback from customers is also a great way of gaining some knowledge and thoughts from those people who use your website; there are several ways you can entice people to do this, including a prize or two (makes a great news item for your website too!)
  • Test the findability of your website on the various search engines
  • Create a set of recommendations for a future plan for the website

Step 2: Prune, as well as add

New content is essential. In fact, a lot of your time should be about creating or finding new content for your website but, a rose bush will only grow to its true splendour if it is pruned back after a growth spurt. Getting rid of the weaker tendrils on your website will make the core stronger.

Adding more and more content can mean the ‘white space’, the place where the eye rests can be lost, making your pages appear cluttered and slightly chaotic. Look for duplication, as well as content that is no longer relevant.

Step 3: a re-shape, at some point

When you decorate your lounge, you wallow in the newness of it all but, in 2 years’ time, that same paint and finish can start to look tired and dated. You may also decide that now is the time to invest in new flooring, hence the space that was once shiny and new, is re-shaped… and you will need to do this at some point with your website.

But websites are expensive and so you need to get the very best out of your current one, before you go for a re-vamp

Step 4: Seek help

If your website is not working for your business, and it seems like an expensive waste of time, you may need the beady eye of a professional web designer, content writer or marketing ‘expert’ to help you out…

** With the new Growth Voucher scheme in England, you could get up to £2,000 towards the cost of digital help **

Why do most websites fail?

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fail, verb – “to not succeed in what you are trying to achieve or are expected to do”

You carefully selected the colours, you diligently created a brief for the designer and you carefully oversaw the site build. So why hasn’t your website achieved what you expected?

Have you got the right focus?

It’s only natural that you want an eye-catching website that looks good, and that’s why it can be all too easy to get wrapped up the creative process. But if you want to create a successful website, it’s fundamentally important to look beyond the colour, design and feel and focus on the strategy.

Your business is unique, so it’s crucial that any strategy definition is tailored to your specific needs. In fact, if you don’t have a strategic solution in place for your website, the cost in lost opportunities may be higher than you think. Choosing cost over value is rarely an effective way of growing a business.

Want to know how to set the right strategy? These 4-steps will guide you on the path to setting a successful website strategy.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY

What factors are vital to the continued success and growth of your business? It’s only by identifying these that you can begin to consider the purpose of your website.
What are your business drivers?
Organisations often overlook identifying and documenting their business drivers because they assume they are obvious. However, by taking an analytical approach, not only can you can add real clarity, but you can also work out any latent conflicts.

Value drivers are identified by looking at your business priorities, these then determine your business objectives. They might include:
• significant business growth,
• cost management, and
• market position.

What are your project goals?

Once you have identified your key business drivers, you can start to define the project goals and objectives.

STEP 2: REVIEW

What aspects of your business might impact the website strategy? Benchmarking the current situation is key.

What is your brand?

You need to look at your brand value and your brand proposition to fully understand how your business is currently presented to the market.

What are the constraints?

Your organisation’s current policies, situation and frameworks may put constraints upon the website’s strategy, and these will often need to be reflected in the website and content strategy. For example:

• Legal issues – Many businesses operate in specific regulatory and legal situations, so it’s important that you are up to speed on yours.

• Creative guidelines – From colour palettes to typography, and from tone of voice to photographic style, your organisation may already have pre-defined guidelines that it’s essential your website complies with.

What analytics are already in place?

A high-level review of your existing website analytics can very useful at the review stage. It will allow you to gain an understanding of both the current interaction with your website and also to create a benchmark for when you review the site again after implementation.

STEP 3: RESEARCH

Research is important. You might like the look of your website, but your favourable opinion is no guarantee of the website’s effectiveness within its target audience. That’s why it’s vital you gather the opinions of everyone associated with your website.

What do the stakeholders think?

With any project there are multiple stakeholders, from the business owners, through the management and then the end users. You can gather stakeholder input through interviews or through workshops. Workshops are particularly effective for larger numbers of stakeholders.

What do your users think?

If you already have an active website that you’re planning to redesign, it’s a great idea to find out how people currently use it. An in-depth analysis of the existing user analytics combined with user surveys could throw up some invaluable information for your strategy.

What do the experts think?

If your aim is to conduct effective and successful research, then it’s well worth seeking input and advice from experts in web marketing and web design.

What are your competitors doing?

A quick online search can offer rich pickings when it comes to finding out about your competitors’ online presence, so make sure you take the time to study them. There are more tools than search that can give a deeper insight, however the only thing they can’t tell you is how effective your competitors’ website strategies are for their business.

STEP 4: DEFINE

The final stage in creating your website strategy is to define some essential tenets that will add clarity to the process.

What is the customer journey?

How do your customers interact with you online? If you want to understand their digital behaviours, then you need to map their customer journeys, be it on Facebook, Twitter, review sites or your website.

What are the personas of your customers?

Who are the customers who visit your website? Make sure you clearly identify their personas so you can shape your website strategy around them. To do this properly, you need to go above and beyond simply identifying customer segments – you need to get down to the nitty gritty of who your potential audience is.

What is the governance of your website?

It’s a good idea to use this stage to establish exactly who is accountable for the governance and management of your website. The fact is that over time this digital asset will depreciate, so it’s crucial that you decide who has responsibility for maintaining the site’s ongoing value proposition.

What happens once your strategy is in the bag?

So, you’ve identified your business drivers, you’ve reviewed your current situation, you’ve researched what you need to do and you’ve defined your terms. What then? Well, that’s when you can move onto implementation, confident in the knowledge that everything you do is underpinned by a sound strategy. A strategy that’s guaranteed to set your website up for business success. And that’s when the fun really begins.

Although each implementation is different, all projects tend to follow a similar process made up of the following stages:

  • planning,
  • design (both content and functionality)
  • build (both content and functionality)
  • testing
  • accepting
  • implementing.

succeed, verb – “to thrive, prosper or grow; to accomplish what is intended.”

Leave a comment below if you would like to have access to the strategy tool we use when planning web design projects – we’ll send you a link.

5 ways to make your social media goals ‘sticky’

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Part 2 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 1, we looked at which social media platforms could work for your business, by identifying categories of business.

In this second part, we will be looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

 

The story so far…

We have looked at the many differing kinds of social media platforms there are and how joining them all, could lead to disaster – after all, you have a business to run and you cannot be updating everything all of the time…

We also looked at some social platforms in relation to specific sectors of business and how they can be used to not only connect with customers, but advertise and market the business too.

But, we also suggested that some social media experts are suggesting that Facebook and Twitter are almost compulsory, but rather than just assume and sign on up, we suggested that this really was you choice – after all, if your customers are not there, why spend hours on it?

Have you made your choices?

By now, you may have decided which social platforms are the right vehicle for your business; for those local businesses with a more visual appeal, using Instagram for example would be a great start. For those with a younger audience, Snapchat could present an interesting forum and YouTube is also popular as ever.

So with choices made, and your business profile created, all you need to do is sit back and watch that popularity counter whizz up and up and up.

 

 

(Nothing happens. Carry on waiting)

 

 

 

Social media goals

Without having some form of clear idea or structure, your social media platform will either fizzle in to nonexistence or it’ll be so wrong, that you could actually damage your reputation.

The good news is twofold – this doesn’t have to take ages and they don’t need to be complicated but, to help you out here at 5 easy, simple steps to making your social media aims and objectives stick (and a sneaky step 6 too…)

Step 1: SEE your goals

 

This is a really useful tip that you can use beyond your social media platforms! We came across Lifetick, a fabulous app that helps you order your thoughts and then see your progress towards the goals you have.

But, don’t forget that your social media objectives should be SMART – specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Setting a goal and being able to measure your progress towards them is essential.

Step 2: Pen and Paper

 

Even though we are surrounded by technology, sometimes a blank piece of paper and coloured pens are your best gadgets.

Having a social media presence is more than just ‘doing it because everyone else is’; you need to be able to compete with your competitors, gain custom and trade and create a buzz around your product, service and company.

Step 3: Create an action plan

 

This might take some more time, but it can also be the most fun part.

Example:

Social Platform: Twitter

This is your main social platform that you use to push your brand and company into the business eye, therefore your presence needs to a daily occurrence.

You may want to partake or even create your own #hashtag trend but, you also need to know how successful you Twitter presence is; there are various apps that can do this but one we quite like is Sumall. This app will show you all the analytics involved in your account, providing clear information on which posts worked best and when.

We suggest prioritising your social media presence too and which one is the driving force in your online campaign and presence.

Step 4: Deadlines

 

The problem with social media is that it is an open ended task… and the problem with open ended tasks is that they can bobble along for a long time… and the problem with is that we never feel like we have accomplished or finished anything.

For some people, this makes no difference to their working day; for others, it is a source of ongoing tension and the feeling of being on a treadmill of ‘finished one thing, straight on to start another’.

To stop this negativity eating away and then your social media objectives falling by the wayside, setting deadlines for which social media projects are reviewed/stopped/curtailed so that something new can start is the way of stopping the rot from setting in.

A deadline, after all, refines the mind and focuses the thinking.

Step 5: Throw in a really big goal

 

We can be too cautious. The thought of setting a goal and then thinking it may not come off can be a step too far; no one like or seeks failure. But, how about taking a chance? A manageable risk with one of your social media goals that if you don’t get there won’t cause the company to collapse or for you to throw yourself into exile…?

On Twitter, you will have followers… you may have 2,346 at the moment. How about doubling that in 2 months? Off you go…

(There are many examples of stretching goals but we won’t go on; you know the sort but stay away from those ‘dodgy’ followers that tell you for a fiver, they’ll get you a million likes or followers by midnight Tuesday)

And finally…

You have worked hard. You have researched which social media platforms are right for your business, you have created goals and an action plan and you have started your campaign.

You have a review date in your calendar and so, because we are Locally we are going to sneak in another step…

Step 6: Celebrate your success

We have loads of ideas… but we think you can think of something for yourself on this occasion!