So often my clients find it hard to maintain a constant push of content to their social media. It’s hard to sustain the magic when you are busy making money, filling the pipeline, spending time with family, or enjoying the weekend.
I must confess, I have gotten into the Facebook slump. You know the drill – Anything that comes through your timeline that seems appropriate for your page and you share it. Today I decided I needed to freshen my schedule, do an analysis of my social media data, plan the remainder of my year and get back to the business of marketing my business.
Here’s what I’m going to do to enliven my pages, as well as my client’s and interject some fresh ideas for 2017. Some of this is old school, which is a good place to start. As the ideas start to flow, new ideas and campaigns come forth.
- Creating a plan and sticking to it is fundamental.
- Reading, writing and more
- Data, data, data… then analyze.
Data is my friend.
My plan for 2017 is still sitting in my hard drive. But, first thing that needs to be done is look at the data for 2016 and first quarter 2017. Where did my strategy flourish and where did it slump? As a photographer I am looking 2 to 3 months out to figure out what I could be planning for stock images, or special events where I can focus on portraits. Once or twice a year I look through my city’s website to identify new businesses. They may be looking for photos of their employees, processes or new locations. That means I need to schedule in emails or letters to introduce my company and services. My plan includes a calendar that I keep on my desktop and even print a copy to keep in my planner. That way, if I get an idea, I know where it will fit in the calendar. There are so many ways to calendar your social media; but use a method you find easy and can stick to. While I am good at MS Project, sometimes there is nothing like a spreadsheet to help you create a timeline.
Schedule posts.
I like using WordPress and Facebook schedulers for my pages. Talk about time-savers. Once I have my plan, and calendared my campaigns I can use these schedulers through WordPress, Facebook, or Hootsuite to set up my posts. Yes, you may need to create something new and that may take time, but it doesn’t have to be a novella. I can’t tell you how many clients want to write 7 to 15 paragraphs for their Facebook posts. STOP IT! I will tell you right now, people read the first paragraph and skip to the last one hoping to find the meat of your post. It’s no use to you and can turn followers off. Sometimes the best way to attract fans are the simplist. What attracts your attention when you are on Twitter or Facebook? Images or memes. It can liven the mood or be thought-provoking. Either way, you have captured your audience’s attention with the hope of keeping it once they follow your page. You also want to remember to build in time for analysis and be ready to change direction if you needed.
Re-use content.
We all have great content we have used before. Memes, lists, or worded content that drew attention are all worthy of being re-posted. Don’t discount what you have posted before. Go through your library. There may be a post you can update with new product information, or add comments or interviews that help your audience feel comfortable with you and your company. You can fill in the holes with this valuable resource.
There are always images to fill in the holes.
As I mentioned before, MEMES! Consider images of your products with clever copy added. They don’t all have to be kittens, or coffee. If you invested in having images made of your product or office, use some of those for your memes or add to posts about products and services. It gives a great personal touch and can be good for filling in some of the holes in your calendar. Use holiday images where appropriate. You can consider doing Facebook live to demonstrate a new product or service. Be sure to promote it early enough so your fans can tap into Facebook and see you.
Have you tried interviews?
This is one I wish I had done earlier and with frequency. I have had some great clients and I should have gotten permission to video tape them giving an interview about how they liked my service. I can still share their comments through posts. I have permission to use their images for my promotion and add their comments to create posts that demonstrate the benefits of working with me. You can do the same. Get your client’s picture – and their permission to use their image in promoting your business. Then have them write down their comments, or post them to your page. That way you have great marketing material for brochures and future posts.
