Blog Archives
Social Media audit time, it’s not just tax season
Ahh tax season is in the air, smells horrible to me but Uncle Sam needs his money! On a brighter note this may be a perfect time to run an audit on social media strategy and profiles. Things are constantly changing in the Social world and it is very realistic that what was working 4 months ago just might be obsolete today. So running a social media audit should not be happening once a year it should be happening quarterly if not more frequently.
So what does a Social Media audit consist of?
First, a master list of all your social accounts with links and passwords etc. The easiest program to use is excel so everything is in columns and you can 
make notes accordingly.
As you’re going through your list check the networks and do some competitive research on each one. For example look at your competitors Facebook page and see if anything has changed in their strategy. Are you seeing more engagement? Has there been a huge spike in fans? Are they running contests? These are all important things to look at, because this could be an indicator that you may need to get more aggressive especially since page post views have plummeted since October. Continue to use the same technique of research down your check list and don’t forget to make notes!
After you’ve done your competitor research take a look at all of your profiles.
Are they up to date? For example did you add a new location, or has your company offerings changed? Do you have a new logo or new website design? If so you want may want to have that looking consistent across the board.
Have their been updates to the social network? Have image sizes changed? Are hashtags still relevant or became relevant? Such as the changes in Facebook or Pinterest.
Syndication- This is important if you are syndicating social feeds throughout your network make sure they’re all working correctly. For example If you have tweets being syndicate to google Plus make sure they are being deciphered correctly. Sometimes characters from Twitter come over looking like code. When looking at syndication this is also a great time explore new sources. There are so many great social management tools out there today. Some of my top favorites are Buffer, IFTT, and of course Hootsuite. Some are better at one thing than the other so you may want to try to mix it up.
Lastly take a look at your social media content strategy. If you find that your social media content calendar is slightly boring incorporate some fun contest ideas. Social contest can really boost engagement and turn a boring social party into a blast again.
If you haven’t done a social media audit in a while this may be very time consuming at first. But remember to do these as often as you can so everything is always up to date. Especially in regards to the competitor research you should do this monthly because you may find a promotion or type of posting that received tons of engagement or vice a versa, you could take this a learn what the mistakes were and make it better.
By,
Tanesha White
Your DigiDiva~
3 Steps to Creating a Social Content Strategy
Social content strategy is a pretty common place marketing term. It’s important to think about this because you can really drive business results and audience value with a well constructed compelling content strategy. Easy said right? I know a lot of small businesses that may look a deer in headlights right about now, but when it comes to creating a social content strategy it doesn’t have to be rocket science. Below are 3 steps to getting started.
1. Think like an Author content, content, content 
Sure content is king, but not all content is created equal. Think about what your objective is in your strategy, how are you going to inspire engagement, are you raising awareness, are you trying to convert leads. Also consider your brands goals whether it is to gain awareness on your products or services, or to maybe learn something about your target market or existing customers. Once you have answers to these questions you can start digging into your existing content library. Use things such as testimonials, launches, customer pics, blog posts etc. Be sure to have social measurements in place as well because you want to be able to see how your audience is reacting to your content.
2. Be an advocate of sharing 
Don’t have blinders on by only caring about your content. Part of having a social presence is being able to share great content with your fans and that means anything meaningful to your brand. This could be industry specific press releases, conversation in your industry, or news from business partners or vendors.
3. Be Engaging
So often it seems like people forget that social media is about being social! Social media has given brands the opportunity to be real people instead of that cold brick and mortar location. Interact with your audience. If your small business follow a hashtag and create conversation around it. Follow threads and discussion from industry thought leaders or partners.
Happy Creating!
By, Tanesha White
One can of Hashtag Spam please, #nothankyou!
Now that Facebook has finally activated hashtags I’m hoping that this doesn’t open up a big can hashtag spam.
I believe having the hashtags in Twitter were very helpful and the 140 character limit kept the hash under control minus the Dr.Oz weightloss miracle direct messages. But, I digress with that one!
If businesses stay with the same mind set when using hashtags then carrying over utilization should be successful. When using a hashtag for business try to use one that is branded by you for example below is a screenshot from a client I have worked with. They are a pest control company. Their website is well branded as stopzbugs.com so it was very fitting to tag all of their useful tips with #stopzbugs.
As you all know that hashtags are useful in grouping information around a topic, company, service, product, etc.. So as you see in this example it’s all the information that they have chosen to show using their hash. This will also be shown the same way in Facebook.
Also be mindful when using broad keywords especially when you’re a business because all kinds of people could be using it in a negative context and it most likely won’t be something you want your brand associated with. Choose to use keywords specific to your industry for example, Scherzinger also used #termites, which links you to a feed that is full of pest industry related news so obviously relevant.
So as you start to cross over and use hashtags in Facebook keep to the same methodologies and remember just because you have more characters to play with doesn’t mean to overcrowd your post with unnecessary hashtags.
Your Diva,
Tanesha White
Infographic of the Week: 2012 Year of Integration
The one major thing I love about infographics is being able to see analytical numbers and all the nerdy data that comes along with the internet in a nice pretty picture. My pick for infographic of the week is this: 2012 The Year of Integration. As a user of the internet it really doesn’t occur how much information is being tracked about your profile or really how many times per day you’re exposed to user generated content. But, as a marketing professional I’m forced to dive into these numbers on daily basis to effectively make the right marketing decisions.Didl you know that 90% of the world’s data was just created within the last 2 years? This and many other interesting facts you will find here. Enjoy!
Infographic of the Week- Social Media Cheat Sheet
This week’s infographic will be a good help if you’re in the boat of wanting to get started with a social media plan, or even if you’ve been dabbling for a bit. I still get questions like, what social network should I start with, or what’s the function of this network, etc? Thanks to Flowtown for creating this social media cheat sheet.
Enjoy!
The Linkedin 10 Do’s and Don’ts
Whether you’re new to Linkedin or a veteran it’s always nice to have a refresher. 
1. Do Upload a Professional Picture
This should be self-explanatory, but it is surprising how many starfish, cars, sunflowers,
people standing on the beach at sunset, and dogs we witness on LinkedIn
profiles. Honestly, who puts a picture of their dog on a professional networking
platform?The point of LinkedIn is to further your networking ability online as well as offline.
You want people to recognize you when you walk into a networking event. And
when you have a picture of your dog, that never happens. Upload a professional
picture to all platforms you are building your personal brand on, whether that is
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or your blog. We know you’ll want to be fun and
creative on those other sites, but don’t do it if you’re trying to create a professional
image.
2. Do Connect to Your Real Friends and Contacts
Just like we tell children not to talk to strangers, the same applies to your LinkedIn
profile. It’s crazy to see how many people connect with strangers all over the
world because they want to “build up” their network on LinkedIn. Connecting
to hundreds of strangers will NOT help your network in LinkedIn.
Remember, the value of LinkedIn comes in the quality of relationships you have, not the quantity.
Think of it this way: If you ever have to ask someone for an introduction to someone
else, it’s rather a big letdown to get a message back that says, “Oh, I don’t actually
know them; they’re just in my huge network.” People like this do not provide
real value, so don’t become one of them.
3. Do Keep Your Profile Current
Let’s use an example for this. Erik is hanging out with Kyle, and there is a funky
smell coming from somewhere. Kyle asks Erik where that smell is coming from,
and Erik nonchalantly says he hasn’t changed clothes in three days. Does that
change the way Kyle is interacting with Erik? Of course!
Just like Erik neglected his appearance, the same concept applies to your LinkedIn
profile. If you neglect your profile, people will tend to forget and avoid you.
4. Do Delete People Who Spam You
In life and in LinkedIn, there are bad apples. There are times when contacts or
connections abuse the system and spam your Inbox with some new multilevel marketing
scheme or a new product or service they’re selling. It’s polite to ask them to
stop and rethink their strategy. They could be new to this, and maybe they made a
mistake. But if they continue to abuse your connection, delete them. They’re wasting
your valuable time by making you wade through their mess. Get rid of them.
5. Do Spend Some Time on Your Summary
Do you ever read an email, newspaper, or blog post when the headline is terrible?
Of course not. Your summary has the same effect on your LinkedIn profile. Be
extremely concise and specific when writing your summary. Get people excited
about reading your profile and connecting with you. Express your personal brand.
Express what you are passionate about. It may even be helpful to have a co-worker
or close connection review your summary.
6. Don’t Use LinkedIn Like Facebook and Twitter
There is a time and place for professional and personal content when building
your personal brand. We have discussed the importance of having places for both.
LinkedIn is a professional network, and although it is important to share some
personal content, don’t use LinkedIn as a personal network. That’s what Facebook
is for.
7. Don’t Sync LinkedIn with Twitter
Similarly, don’t automatically blend LinkedIn with Twitter. LinkedIn gives you the
applications and tools that allow you to connect your account with Twitter, which
means whenever you post a message to Twitter, it automatically posts to your status
update in LinkedIn.
Don’t do this. Ever. If you’re using Twitter correctly, you’re communicating with
connections, asking and answering questions, giving shout-outs to people across
the country, and even making plans for lunch. People on LinkedIn don’t want their
feeds disrupted by all your tweets.
Remember, too, that not everyone uses Twitter, so your colleagues on LinkedIn
may not know how to read some of the special characters and abbreviations
on Twitter.
8. Don’t Decline Invitations. Archive Them
When a stranger asks you for a connection on LinkedIn, archive the invitation
instead of deleting it. There could be a time when you meet this person, and you
can refer to the previous invitation to connect with her. When a connection is
archived, it’s easier to keep track of it.
9. Don’t Ask Everyone for Recommendations
There’s no hard and fast rule about the number of recommendations you should
have. There’s no minimum, and some people think there’s no maximum. Just
remember that not every recommendation is important.
You do need to have at least two recommendations to reach 100% completion of
your profile, but they need to be valuable recommendations. Here are a couple tips
to follow:
• Make sure you know the person—This seems obvious, but unfortunately
it is not. Basically, if you don’t know the person who’s asking
you for a recommendation, send her a nice note that says, “I don’t
know you!” You don’t need to give a recommendation to someone you
don’t know; similarly, you don’t need to accept one either.
• Ask your best clients—Happy clients are the best referral and recommendation
source for you. Make a list of 10 people to ask for a recommendation.
You don’t need 20 or 30 because 10 people talking about
you is more than enough to strengthen your LinkedIn profile and build
your personal brand.
10. Don’t Forget to Use Spelling and Grammar Check
Do you use spelling and grammar check on your résumé? The same idea applies to
your LinkedIn profile. Remember, your profile is technically a résumé, and we’ve
all been taught that our résumés have to be laser perfect. Spell check everything!
Source: SocialMediaToday
The Digital Diva 