Social media tips for regular people...

There's no doubt that it's harder as a small business / individual to make headway in advertising your business on Facebook these days, your reach number get smaller or don't grow much, you don't get all those likes you used to get... You wonder what you've done wrong... 

Likes ain't everything, reach certainly helps, but there's one thing you've got to remember to do and that's to look after the people that have already 'liked' you, that said, here are a few really simple tips to help you out with your social media efforts, maybe you'll reach a few extra people and get that lovely smile back that you once had. 

1. Timing is everything...
I've found that it's good to think about when you're posting your stuff. A small example would be, if you're a small business (say, creative) in Australia and you get this ace piece of content ready and then post it when you've finished it, you know, at ONE AM... Who in Australia is going to see it? Sure, if you're aiming for the morning tea crowd in New York or the afternoon break crowd in London, post away, but if you're after local market - maybe wait until you think they're online. Going a little further, think about silly things like this; Someone that goes to work isn't going to go right to their desk at 9am and jump on Facebook, they might do something like grab a cup of coffee, get to their desk at 8:45, have a quick browse and then strap in for the work day - so aim for when it makes sense that they will see your content. If you don't know what time it is where, use this - it's great www.worldtimebuddy.com

2. Re-Invigorating content...
There's nothing wrong with "re-invigorating" content... Though, rather than simply re-sharing it to your page, it's best if you can use interaction to bring it back to life. When someone likes or comments on your content, it jumps back up the news feed and when it does, there's a chance it to be seen again, so, if someone comments on your content BUMP up it goes, then when you reply you have the same effect - so think about this: if your content is getting comments, use those comments to help put you back in front of people, maybe wait a bit to reply (obviously if it's something that needs replying to, reply right away) and then stick a comment in - wait for another hours or two, or if you're a global brand, wait until another time zone comes alive (if you can) 

3. Links, not always...
There are a few 'rules' regarding social media marketing, and they're mostly just made up - so I'd say make your own rules and stick to them if they're working for you. But, one I do try to stick to is the 5:3:2 rule... (many variations... but I'm currently with, roughly, 5:3:2) What the hell is the 5:3:2 rule? Well, it's pretty simply - 5 bits of curated content from relevant sources within your industry, 3 bits of content you've created directly related to your brand and 2 bits of fun - something to attempt a bit of "human" within your marketing messaging... Sure, it doesn't always work like this - but what I'm saying is don't ever use the ME ME ME ME ME ME model. Ain't nobody got time fo dat. 

4. Support is important...
Point two was about holding fire, waiting a little before you reply... But there's nothing more frustrating for someone that not getting a reply to their social media question - sure, people don't think that we're not all 24/7 or that a small company would only have someone on deck for a couple hours a day. And not just getting an answer a day later (I always try for within 24 hours, usually a lot sooner, but you never know when someone's going to ask a question) Social Media in 2016 is as much a support channel as it is a social network for sharing cute cat pictures - If your customers can't find what they want on your website and it's out of hours, there's a good chance they're going to hit your social media and try their luck - you could use the auto-response feature within Facebook's messaging to let them know you're listening and that you will be in touch, but that doesn't work for page posts or comments by others, so keep your eyes open and make sure everyone gets a reply or a little loving like.

Well, they're four pretty simple tips (tips within tips) that you can adapt to your own brand and have a try with. I'd love to know if you're either doing these things or you're going to try them - feel free to leave a comment or find me on some form of social media, I might even reply! 

--Simon

Social media for Photographers

Should you be a part of every social network?  - No. Should you be a part of any social network at all? - Yes.

I have a good friend, he's not very 'social media' friendly, I mean, he's always busy and he's always working and doing quite well with his photography. He has a blog that he posts on once in a blue moon (however often that actually is, in this case it's not very often) and he tweets, but not really in a 'selling himself' kind of way - just a 'this is what I'm doing today' kind of way. He shares his work via Twitter and Instagram form time to time. He doesn't like Facebook and we've not even touched on the topic of Google+ yet...

Is he doing it all wrong? Could he be getting more work? - No & Maybe

He's currently doing what he can handle doing without bringing someone else in to assist, he's not having to gouge out chunks of time that he doesn't have - he's getting his name out there. But, is he doing it wrong? Well, I personally don't think there's a wrong way to do social media - as different ways work for different people / companies / industries.

There are certainly ways that don't work very well with the majority of people, but they still work with a select few. For example, the pushy, sales only type of social media approach. It's not my thing. Consider this for a minute, you've finished work on a Friday afternoon and you've gone to the bar with your workmates, you're there having a nice cold beverage and someone walks in, pulls up next to you and starts offering for you to buy his photographs, you don't say anything so he says it again... "Buy my photographs, Hire me!" ...this keeps happening until you leave the bar and go to another.  You didn't go to that bar to be sold at, and Facebook / Twitter etc, they're pretty much the same - they started out as a way for friends to communicate - you have to remember that first. Social media marketing needs to be a lot more give than take by businesses.

I personally think that you have a great opportunity to reach an audience that you could generate a sale from, raise awareness in or become a valuable part of by using multiple social media channels.

Feed your audience ice cream, they may just come back for more.

Next Week : Don't Make Your Audience Jump Through hoops for you....

Sime

Social Media ROI and being realistic

ROI - Return on Investment.  I charge a client "x" per month to manage all aspects of their social media. I work very hard to make sure I'm giving good value for money, I don't switch off, I eat, breathe and sleep strategy and communication (with their audience) and I am  always looking for better ways to make sure I'm doing all I can... In short, the return on their investment in social media should be clear, right?

Leads generated via social media oriented destinations convert (sometimes, generally) to trackable website traffic which you then funnel to a sales transaction = Measurable ROI...

It's not that simple, though...

Why ROI isn't clear to me.

Let's say for a minute that your client is a camera bag manufacturer, that they have lots of users in the digital space, and by nature of digital photography, those people spend time on line. So "company a" invest in me to maintain their social communications - that's fine, so far... But, what happens if all of the people that I talk to, reply to, guide, chat with, laugh at or generally interact with over the course of my day, in relation to "company a's social media" then decide to offline it and buy company a's product via standard real world retail channels... (You remember shops, right?)

There's no way that I can track and report an offline sale - it's almost impossible to keep a "for sure" track on the online sales...

So, what if sales were up, everything looked normal, but there were NO conversions "via social" ....but really there are! (remember, they've gone to a shop to buy the product after they talked about it with me online!)

That's where I start to think - well, look... it's not really about ROI, is it? It's about building faith in your brand, it's about providing a good feedback channel and a secondary customer support line in.

Or do I have it all wrong? I'd love your thoughts below, please...

--Sime

Mick Rock The photos made by a legend

I'm off to a private view at Idea Generation Gallery of the new Mick Rock exhibition. If you don't know who Mick is and you're into your music photography - check him out. Here's a short video to help you along the way. Mick Rock Exposed from Idea Generation Gallery on Vimeo.

So, further to last night, it was a typical opening, killed by the staff - first thing I heard when I arrived at the 'Door staff' was (from one to another as if I were not there??!) "we shouldn't let too many in!" ...ah, yeah, I'm on your VIP list bitch, now move it...(not what I said, but what crossed my mind)

That set the tone for the rest of my time at the exhibition... I've been to many private views, none so stuffy as this - a real shame as there were many great images! So, how did I overcome the initial bitch-fest? Put my headphones on, listened to Alice in Chains and checked out Mick's work...

There's more that I found off-putting, mire on that later.

S