Tag: content marketing
3 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Social Media Training
I think it’s safe to say that social media has proved itself an incredibly vital tool for any small business! Whether it’s a place to tell your brand story, a community that allows you to directly engage with your customers, or a powerful targeting/listening tool to help you reach important audiences with your message, no other media platform can compete.
Whether you’re a small home-based business or a multi-million dollar corporation, social media provides a level playing field and new opportunities that continue to grow and develop as the years pass and the platforms evolve. That being said, all this potential and change can be overwhelming! As a small business owner, where do you even start? If you need to make a big impact with a small budget, you should consider custom social media training sessions.
Here are three reasons why you should elevate your knowledge while investing in yourself and your business in 2021 and beyond:
It’ll help you reach your goals faster
Some goals can be easily attained based on your current skill set and connections, but others can take a lot more time to conquer due to lack of time, resources or knowledge. Social media training sessions can help you reach those seemingly unattainable and frustrating social media goals faster by empowering you with the knowledge, confidence and skills necessary to get the job done on your own time!
It’s a Budget-friendly short-term commitment
Unlike the cost associated with traditional marketing campaigns or long-term agency contracts, social media training can be booked and paid for on an as-needed basis. No contract is required and you can book as few or as many sessions as you want. Whether you’re looking to invest in training every month to keep your knowledge current, or you’d prefer to invest in one session to help you solve a specific problem you’re currently facing, training gives you that freedom.
It keeps you in control
Many businesses are worried about investing in social media because they don’t like the thought of someone else being in control. Social media training does the exact opposite; it keeps you in the driver’s seat the entire time. You’re in control of the topic, you get to ask all the questions and you guide the session entirely from start to finish. No external access to your accounts and no trusting someone else to create content, just the tools you need to empower you to grow your own business from the inside.
Looking to learn more about how Blab’s training sessions work? Want to book a custom private session? Contact us and let’s get the conversation started!
The Rise Of The GIF
No matter how you pronounce it, the GIF is making a huge comeback! The glitter text and silly pixelated graphics that once graced our personal MySpace pages have returned and they are way cooler than they used to be. Whether it’s a dancing cat, silly character, popular saying or a ridiculous floating food item, there’s something for everyone. As GIFs continue to grow in popularity, more platforms and apps are adding them to our lineup of cool “stickers”.
Earlier this year, Snapchat started releasing moving filters and stickers and had since launched a full GIF library users can slap on their snaps for fun. Even Instagram recently released a GIF database that users can access when they post stories.
As a big lover of emojis and the personality they add to a standard message/response, it’s exciting to see the rise of GIFs since they open up a whole new door when it comes to having fun with content and creative. Almost every Instagram story Blab has posted since the launch of the GIF feature has included at east 1 GIF and I’m not ashamed to admit that! As a funky, eclectic brand, GIFs are a great way to add some personality and movement to every day messages. If you’re noticing the new found popularity GIFs but aren’t sure how to incorporate them, consider these simple tips:
1. Stay True To Your Brand
Regardless of your brand personality, there’s a GIF that’ll work for you. Don’t shy away from them entirely just because you have a more refined or professional reputation. Take the time to look through the databases and search specific words or objects that you could incorporate without the risk of abandoning the brand you’ve worked so hard to build.
2. Know When Enough Is Enough
Unfortunately, there is such a thing as overkill when it comes to GIFs. Does your post really need fireworks, two dancing cats, a winking pizza slice and glitter text? Know when to use GIFs to enhance your message and when to opt out or pair down to keep things simple.
3. Understand Your Audience
The type of content you share depends entirely on the type of people you’re speaking to and GIFs should follow the same principle. Know your audience inside and out and use that knowledge to determine if certain platforms or messages are better suited for GIFs.
20 Questions To Shape Your Social Media Resolutions For 2018
Social media marketing is something that businesses of all sizes struggle to understand and leverage. Often they don’t know where to start, which platforms to use, how to create content, when to post, how to engage etc so approaching this medium as a marketing tool can feel quite off-putting. If you know that you need to up your social media game this year but aren’t sure where to begin, use the questions below to kickstart your goals and get you one step closer to success:
Know Your Target Market
When you’re talking to someone (on any platform), you need to know what matters most to them. You need to undderstand their triggers, likes, dislikes, values, morals and personalities in order to curate content they’re going to engage with. Before you do anything else, make sure you know your audience by asking these four questions:
- Who is your ideal customer? (don’t say everyone)
- What do they enjoy doing in their free time?
- Where do most of them live?
- What can you do to better target your audience in 2018?
Understand Your Motivation
Social media can help you accomplish some amazing things but it isn’t the be-all-end-all of marketing so make sure you know the motivation behind why you’re using it and what you want to accomplish before you push forward:
- Why are you using social media?
- How have other businesses in your industry leveraged social media? Can you learn from them?
- What are your expectations when it comes to social media?
- How will you measure success on social media?
Focus On Engagement
Social media was created to help people engage in a different way so it’s only natural that you focus on how to engage properly once you’ve become active on any platform:
- On a scale of 1-10, how heavily will you focus on engagement this year?
- Are there any hashtags you could use to help with your engagement?
- Can you participate in any fun online events to help build engagement (i.e. Twitter chats, Facebook groups)?
- Should you use the 80/20 rule (80% content from others, 20% your content)?
Create Compelling Content
It’s no secret that content marketing is the new big thing! Creating unique content and finding ways to repurpose and share it across multiple platforms will help you step up your social media game:
- Have you considered starting a blog? If so, which platform works best with the website you already have (i.e. wordpress)?
- Will you create a content calendar that outlines what you’ll post, at what time and how often?
- Will you invest in live video creation? If so, on which platform(s)?
- Will you have a newsletter (i.e. Mailchimp)?
Choose Platform(s) Wisely
Where you put down roots online matters. Match profiles up with your business goals to make sure that you’re moving in the right direction and talking to the right people:
- Which social media platforms do you want to have a presence on? Which would you rather avoid?
- Which new platforms do you want to learn more about?
- Which social media platform(s) will you spend less time on this year? Why?
- How will you measure your success across all platforms?
What other questions can you ask to help you set your social media goals?
Want To Learn More About Social Media? Register For This Workshop!
Super excited to announce that Blab is partnering with Imaginative Group to offer a workshop for small businesses at the Walkerville Brewery on Wednesday November 29th. Want to explore social media but aren’t sure which platforms are most valuable for your business? Looking to incorporate social media into your current strategy but aren’t sure how it’ll work with other elements? Let us help you take the first step towards better understanding the value of social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. We’ll be talking about the most popular platforms and the value they offer businesses, going over case studies to emphasize learning objectives, explaining the value of SEO and understanding the important role that your website plays as part of the bigger picture.
Attendees Will:
1. Learn why investing in social media and digital marketing leads to success
2. See the cost and benefits of integrating social into their current marketing plan
3. Understand how social media can help businesses of all sizes grow and thrive
Join us to discover the value of social media marketing and learn more about how it integrates into a multi-channel strategy. Snacks, coffee and water will be provided free of charge and wine/beer will be available for purchase from the bar. Click here to purchase your ticket!