Knowing Your Social Media Audience

I always laugh when I pick up an item in a store and the tag reads “One Size”.  Really?  Do you really believe that this fedora hat sized to fit a giant man will fit my teeny tiny child sized head?  No!  It’s unrealistic, and just as it’s unrealistic in the retail segment, it’s unrealistic to assume that a “one size fits all” approach to social media will work for your business.

I am a firm believer that regardless of what you are “selling” and regardless of who you are “selling” to, the audience on the other end of your social media channels should be able to visualize who they are talking to.  This should be done through the portrayal of your social media personality, which should ultimately reflect your corporate culture and values.  After following someone on Twitter for a couple weeks, I should be able to tell who this person is, what they represent, and what they’re about.

I often joke about my love for my little bunny, Loppy and my inclusion of him through my social media channels.  While it may seem very “left field” from my generally professional tone, the person you see on Twitter is exactly who you would meet in person. Professional – with a side of bunny.  Although my tone is generally the same across my various social channels, the way I communicate on each of them is very different considering there are different audiences on the other end of each channel.  If I were to be communicating through the Answers section on LinkedIn, my tone and approach, although still me, would be very different than when communicating to my audience on Facebook, and then again different if I was filming videos to post on YouTube.  Although you still want to ensure that you are authentic and “you” across your various channels, it is beyond important to understand your audience on each channel and ultimately, what you hope to achieve from each channel.

So the next time you try to paint all of your social media channels with the same brush, think about that fedora hat and my nose poking out from underneath the brim.  One size does NOT fit all my friends.

 

Create the New School: Live. Learn. Create.

Live. Learn. Create.

That’s the concept behind Create the New School.  Create was founded with the goal to provide exceptional education opportunities for creatives.  With a focus on photography, design, fine arts and music, Create exists to provide unparalleled resources and education opportunities in a workshop format.  Workshops are available for beginner creatives or creatives who are looking to develop their new or existing business.

Create will be offering workshops in the areas of business, photography (theory & editing), printing and music and will be hosting them in a variety of local venues around Edmonton.

Lucky for us, the ladies behind Create came to us and asked us to teach the curriculum for their social media marketing classes and of course, we were more than excited to do so!  AND the amazing Erin Walker, of Erin Walker Photography, who is the talent behind the design and photography for Hello Media Co. (and many of our our amazing clients!) will be teaching some of the photography workshops (and an awesome photography for bloggers course!) for Create!

If you would like to explore the classes that Create will be offering for their fall schedule, check them out!

8 Tips to Developing Your Marketing Budget

This week, it’s all about budget.  I am continuously amazed at how many small business owners don’t actually have a budget allocated for their marketing.  Yes, they are spending money on marketing, but they have absolutely no clue where their hard earned dollars are going.  Budgeting and planning goes hand in hand (and you all know how much I love a good plan) so here are some tips to help you in developing your marketing budget.

1. Budget then plan.  Know your budget before you start developing your marketing plan.  That way you won’t plan waste time getting quotes for billboards only to realize you only have budget for transit ads.
   
2. Be realistic.  Know what you can spend on marketing for the year and don’t go beyond that.  It’s must easier to add to the plan once it’s started than to take away from it.
3. Leave some wiggle room.  Leave room in your budget for “miscellaneous” items that may come up during the year (or things that you might have overlooked!).  You might stumble upon a sponsorship opportunity that you just can’t pass up, or maybe a shift in the market will present an opportunity that wasn’t there 6 months ago.
4. Stick to it.  Budgeting takes time so don’t create a budget and then leave it in the dust 3 months into your plan.
5. Do your research.  Don’t just estimate what each initiative will cost you, know what it will cost you.  If you plan to purchase ad space with Pattison Outdoor Advertising, don’t ballpark your numbers.  Have a proposal submitted from the vendors you plan on using and use those numbers to help you determine your budget.
6. Develop a budget spreadsheet.  Create a spreadsheet to help you keep track of your numbers.  Within this spreadsheet, create a separate column for your “budget” and another for your “actuals”.  This will be your new best friend.
7. Update your budget regularly.  As the different elements in your plan start to roll out, update your budget accordingly.
8. Be creative.  Don’t let your budget limit you!  A smaller budget just means that you have a greater opportunity to get creative!  When a client gives me a smaller budget to work with, I look at it as an opportunity rather than a challenge.  Think outside the box!

Ask the People!

“Finding” content is rarely a simple task for companies.  Although each and every business owner has tons things they want to say about their business and different ways they wish to promote it, finding the words to pull it through is often challenging and very honestly, sometimes what we, as business owners, want to say isn’t necessarily what our audience wants to hear.

I learnt long ago that if we don’t ask, we won’t receive and this is why I believe crowdsourcing to be one of the most effective ways to learn what your clients want to hear from you on your social media channels.  Of course there are tools that we can use to help us understand what kind of content really gets our audience interested, but one of the most effective ways to find out what your audience wants from you is to ask them.  This doesn’t only relate to your social media content but to your business as a whole.  If you are a retailer trying to figure out what type of water bottle to bring into your store, allow your customers to vote on the bottle they love best!  Simple yet effective.

Imagine how effective your social media content strategy would be if you could pulled out all the stops by using tools AND people! *gasp*

If you are interested in learning about some social media management tools to help make your social media content strategy that much more effective, click here to join us at our next social media workshop!

Weekly Wrap Up • May 3, 2013

Here’s went on in the world of marketing and social media for this week with our very own version of the Weekly Wrap Up… Hello Media Co. style.

 

Warren Buffet joined Twitter!

I love seeing people in traditional industries, especially someone who’s been in the industry as long as Warren Buffet, adapt to new technologies.  If you want to follow Warren Buffet on Twitter, click here!

The Playoffs started this week!

Whether you’re a hockey fan or not, this is sure to get your fired up.  Not only is this a great display of what hockey means to these players but it ignites the excitement in the fans.  This is hockey.  Truly.

IT’S SUMMER TIME!

I don’t need to say anything further…

We hosted the 2nd workshop of our 3-part mini-series!

Last night, we hosted the 2nd workshop of our 3-part mini-series and it was all about content planning.  Social media content planning is one of the most important components of your social media strategy and we spent the evening chatting about how they could fully incorporate social media into their business.

 

MISCOMMUNICATION

This is a thing for me again this week.  Let’s all hold hands and sing coombiya in a corner.

Why It’s Important to Get A Social Media Audit

You’ve heard me say it a million times already, planning is important.  But one thing that I haven’t talked about at all is why it is so important to modify and update that plan from time to time.  When we become too submerged in something, whatever that something may be, it is far too easy to become complaisant and comfortable.  When that happens, we are very weary about making changes, but in the words of Shrek, “change is good Donkey” and the more accepting we are to change, the more opportunities we have to improve.  It is for this reason that it is so important to reevaluate and adjust your social media on a regular basis.

Although something worked for your company a year ago, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s working for your company today.  As your business evolves your audience will evolve.  As this happens, it’s important to recognize that what they want now may not necessarily be the same as it was before.  For example, if you are a new company, your business goals may be focused on educating your audience on the benefits of your products whereas if you’re in your third year of business, your audience is now educated and and wants to know unique ways to use your products.  Take a minute to stop and think about how these changes will influence your social media initiatives.  While Facebook may have been the answer to aid in educating your audience, Pinterest may be a better way to demonstrate unique ways to use your product.

But let’s get back to that idea about getting too close to something and becoming complaisant.  It is for this exact reason that it is often best to have someone else sit down with you and evaluate your social media efforts.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve sat down with an organization for a social media audit and their reaction to my feedback has been “I didn’t realize I was doing that” or “after looking at this further, it makes no sense why we’re doing this.”  Heck, sometimes I even have social media audit clients say that they didn’t know how to use certain functions of the different platforms that then increases their abilities to use the platforms effectively.

Moral of the story, a social media audit can genuinely change the way you look at your online presence.  If you are not in the position to hire someone to develop a strategy for your company, this is the next best thing!  We come in, dig around your social media platforms, and then give you some key takeaways to make some big changes to your social media presence.  A fresh set of eyes can make all the difference.  True story.

If you are interested in booking a social media audit, click here.  Let me buy you some coffee and let’s dig into it!

Weekly Wrap Up • April 26, 2013

 

14 Bloggers Share Their Daily Blogging Routine 

The hardest thing about blogging is finding the time to actually blog.  Every day is a busy day for entrepreneurs and I thought that this article could really help a lot of people with their general attitude towards blogging.  My biggest take-away from this article wasn’t so much about when I should take the time to sit down and blog, but rather that when I do take the time to sit down and blog, I should really make that my sole activity and focus on the task at hand.  (click on the title to read the full article)

Laughter

This week, I laughed so hard I cried… Twice!  That’s the sign of a good week!

It finally warmed up!

Although the sun was shining for most of last week, we actually had some warm weather in Edmonton this week!  It was so nice to feel the spring weather finally peeking through behind all that miserable snow & chilly wind.

TD Canada’s Coin Wrappers on the front sleeve of the Edmonton Metro

Ah!  This literally caught my eye as I was walking by and made me stop and pick one up!  Brilliant!  Not only did it look great but it looked different than what readers are expecting to see when they pick up the Metro.  Do I think that people actually sat there and cut out the coin wrappers?  No.  But that’s not the point.  Such a unique way for TD Canada to advertise their personal banking services.

 

 

Logistics

Logistics always crack me up.  Generally speaking the “logistics” are something that the Average Joe would never notice but at the end of the day, that detail matters to someone else (usually the company).   As a result, this creates a lot of work for everyone else.  Instead of getting hung up on minor details, we should all just take a minute and think, “does this really matter in the big picture.”

Planning Your Social Media Content

So, here’s the scoop.  If you’ve been managing a Facebook Page, a Twitter account, or maybe a Pinterest Board, chances are that you’ve sat in front of your computer screen at one point or another thinking, “I don’t know what heck to say next.”  Quite frankly, when I talk to clients about the challenges that they face with their social media initiatives, this is the number “challenge” that I hear.  So… let’s talk about this!

Determining your social media content may not always be easy, but there are some things that we can do to help simplify the process.  The number one tip that I can give you is to take the time at the beginning of the week to plan out your social media content for the upcoming week.  This doesn’t mean go through and schedule absolutely everything, it just means create a plan!  Think about all of the things that are going on in your business’ world.  Now I know this sounds kind of funny by itself but try it.  Right now!  Take two minutes to think about what is going on in your business this week.  Maybe you have a meeting with a buyer.  Maybe you’re taking your staff out for supper for all their hard work.  Maybe your new billboards are going up around town.  Think about all those things and THEN think about how those are relevant to your audience.  Some of those items may be important to them while some of them may not be.

Once you’ve determined those key “events” going on in your business, you’ll be able to plan out your social media for the week accordingly.  Think about the individuals goals and audiences of each of your social media platforms and go from there.  Although it will take some time at the beginning of the week, you’ll spend far less time in front of a blinking cursor wondering, “what the heck should I say!”

On May 2nd, we’ll be hosting the 2nd social media workshop of our 3-part mini-series with WECAN.  This workshop will focus on helping you go through the process of planning out your social media content for the next month!  If you want to join us at next social media workshop, click the link to save your seat!

Weekly Wrap Up • April 19, 2013

Here’s went on in the world of marketing and social media for this week with our very own version of the Weekly Wrap Up… Hello Media Co. style.

 

Kmart Ad Is ‘Ship-Your-Pants’ Funny 

Oh, buddy! How can you not love this!  I’m a sucker for clever ads and this one is too good!

PSY released a new SONG!  (and it’s actually as good as the first!)

The best part about Psy is that is add in an English word every here and there so that we think we’re singing along with his catchy tunes : )

The sun was shining for most of the week!

I l.o.v.e the sun and having it out and about for the majority of the week really kept me smiling this week.  I don’t want to jinx it, but I really do think spring is here!

We hosted the 1st workshop of our 3-part mini-series!

Last night, we hosted the first workshop in our 3-part mini-series with WECAN and it was all about choosing your platforms.  We talked about goals, target audiences, and which platforms would be best suited for their businesses.  And, well, you all know how much I love workshops so this is definitely a : ) of the week!  If you would like to join one of our upcoming edmonton social media workshops, click here for more details and to get your ticket!

 

Miscommunication

When dealing with client projects, I am often connecting with numerous vendors in a day.  We are all busy and sometime this can result in miscommunication or a lack thereof.  Whether it’s a late response to an email request or a non-response to a phone call, when a vendor doesn’t connect when they say they will… it can really throw a kink in things.

A Little Lesson in Social Media From the Edmonton Oilers

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend the Edmonton Oilers game and boy, oh boy, was I ever excited.  The thing about being a die-hard Oilers fan is that even though you go to the game half expecting them to lose, you act like they’re going to win right up until the last whistle.  (don’t mind me, I’m still slightly bitter … I really, really wanted them to win)

The Oilers do such an amazing job with their social media presence.  On Twitter alone, they have a corporate account (@EdmontonOilers), many of the players have individual accounts which they personally tweet from and the Oiler Octane also have a main account as well as individual accounts for each of the members of their team.  Not only do these accounts keep fans up-to-date with the latest in Oilers news, but they also allow us to take a peek into the daily lives of our favourite Edmonton team.

So how is all of this relevant to your business?  Well, just as we feel like Ryan Jones’ (@Jonesry28) friend when he tweets pictures of him playing street hockey with some kids on his block, your community will feel connected to your business when they get that little glimpse into your life.  Too often businesses are concerned about all of the negative “what ifs” of social media and the amount of personal content that they share, but what about all of the positive “what ifs”?  Quite frankly, there are far more positives to the transparency that social media provides to your business by allowing your customers to get to know you!  Not only will this help you develop a relationship with your customers but it will help them trust you and ultimately trust your business.

We are seeing more and more big box businesses try to be personable and relatable like independent businesses so why not stay true to that!  Engage with your audience.  Listen to what they have to say.  Answer their questions.  Respond to their comments.  BE THERE!  If we take the “social” out of social media, we just have media… and wouldn’t that be taking a step backwards rather than forward?

So, the next time you visit your Twitter feed, your Facebook Page, or even your Instagram feed, stop for a second and think back to your friend, Ryan Jones and his game of street hockey.  And well, don’t try to be like Jonesy but… well you get the picture  : )