What I Learned from #AutoBootCamp

I spent the better part of last week at #autobootcamp in Philadelphia, networking and doing workshops focusing on digital technology in the automotive industry.

I met quite a few great people, and got up close and personal with some great new technologies for advertising, marketing and creating content on social media. One of the best things I learned was that I'm not so far behind the curve. That's a pretty good feeling!

I've only been involved in the digital marketing field in the automotive industry for a few months, but I'm already loving it! There's never a dull moment, that's for sure! Automotive dealerships and manufacturers are always finding new, great ways to participate in new fields of marketing. Although many are afraid to take the leap into the digital realm, many are also leading the stride when it comes to advertising, google adwords, facebook marketing, twitter marketing and advertising and much much more.

TSM Tip of The Day #4

Tip: Did you know that 60% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content on it's site? This is CONTENT marketing, people! Don't waste your brand's space!

TSM Tip of the Day # 2

Tip: Blogs on Company/Brand websites result in 55% MORE visitors and many more RETURN visits! Get your brand noticed by being experts in your field! Don't keep all that knowledge for yourself! Share it!

When is the best time to use Social Media?

So you've got the Facebook Page and the Twitter Account, but you are still having trouble managing your Social Media? We've covered the Why you should use it, and the How you should use it, but what about the When? Is there an optimal time to be utilizing your social media? 

It seems that there is.

Most social media sites seem like they never slow down. It's true that because they're global sites and people around the world use them consistently throughout a 24-hour day it would seem that there's no wrong time, but depending on your target market there might just be one for you. If you're a local business aiming at individuals who operate on roughly the same schedule as you, then tweeting Monday to Friday after work hours will most likely be ideal. 

But did you know that weekdays actually aren't the ideal time to tweet? That's right, because Twitter and Facebook marketing engagements increase over 17% on weekends! That means that there is a whole group of people who are trying to keep their day-to-day lives social-media-free. 

Many offices don't allow access to social media sites or use of private phones during work hours. Others are bound by strict technology rules and are only allowed to utilize social media for work-related purposes. Furthermore, many people find social media altogether too time consuming or regular use makes it too difficult for them to focus on their task at hand. 

8AM - 7PM Sunday through Saturday sees a 30% increase in engagement vs. outside hours. So although there are many people tuning themselves out during work hours, throughout the week there is still an opportunity to engage, it should just be within standard operating hours. 

Also, Did you know that shorter tweets and content on facebook often see higher engagement? Even YouTube videos all have a click-off rate based on when people stop watching. If you don't catch people's attention within the first 100 ch. or 30 secs you're not likely to at all. 

So what do we know then? 

• Tweeting / Facebooking on Weekends is ideal to Weekdays

• Overall the best hours to Tweet/FB are 8AM - 7PM daily

• Using 1 or 2 #hashtags in your tweet increases your overall engagement by 12

• Using MORE than 2 #hashtags DECREASES your engagement #overkill

The key to accurate and efficient content marketing in social media is first knowing how to do it, but secondarily knowing when to action it! Good luck!

Social Forum: Q&A Mondays

You've found yourself at my newest feature! Social Forum is a way for followers and businesses to ask questions related to Social Media and Social Media Marketing... each week I will feature a few questions (and my answers) regarding things like Facebook Pages, Increasing Likes & Brand Visibility! Hopefully you can learn something, too!

Want to ask a question? Post one here on my Facebook Page or Tweet me at @christellasays with hashtag #thesocialmom and you might just find your answer here!

Our first question comes from Jen P. over at Finding Momtopia ...

Jen asks: "Where to draw the line on how often to post on our FB business page? What's too little and what's going to cause our followers to hit the remove button?"

That's a great question! Just like anything the idea of "too much of a good thing is a bad thing" is totally relevant when it comes to social media and marketing, especially for business purposes! Creating brand visibility and consistent engagement is vital to a new or growing brand, however over-using your social feeds can deter people who had previously liked your page from engaging with you in the future.

Avoid "Spamming" When creating post content it's important to steer clear of solely "advertising" to people. One of the reasons people like social media is because they don't feel like it's a complete money grab. Most services are free and although brands do use many of them to highlight products that are for sale, they do it in a way that says "If you like this come and get it" and not "Come buy this now!" -- As I always say it's better to initiate conversations around your products than to just straight up advertise them. Also, to break things up ask questions, generate ideas and share other people's ideas, products and giveaways, too!

In terms of "how much is too much?" it can be a bit relative, but posting every hour or every couple of hours if you don't have a large audience to engage with is probably overkill. There's no rule of thumb, but I like to let my posts linger, give the followers a chance to see them and engage with them before moving onto something else. I'd say if you're not generating a lot of response keep your posts limited to two per day and try to find your "voice" that gets people engaging!

If you've got a lot to say, use the "scheduling" option and post in the future so that you have less to do in the long run!

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Diane D. from  Little Prints Design   asks: "Question on blogging ... should you stick to a particular topic or is it okay to have random topics that don't always go together?"

This is a great question, Diane! It really depends on what your blog is about. If you're writing a lifestyle blog or it's considered "personal" then by all means, it's sort of a free-range type of writing. You have to know your audience and know how they'll take your blog posts, but if you're just starting out the best way to improve your writing is to challenge yourself by writing in many different ways and styles. It's also a great way to see what clicks and when.

If you're writing a blog pertaining to a business or a brand, sometimes steering too far off course may be a bad idea. In most cases companies want to be aware of what their brand entails and not stepping on anybody's toes but  that being said, occasionally writing about something that ties into your brand or blog's personality can work. An example of this would be a Design company who has a blog writing about an interesting concept in design or a new product in the market. It may not pertain directly to what your brand or blog is about, but if you can tie it in, no harm no foul!




Have a question about Social Media or Web Marketing? Tweet it to @christellasays with hashtag #socialmom OR visit my Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/thesocialmom to ask now and you might be featured in next week's column!

Social Media for Small Business: To Blog or Not To Blog

Welcome to So-Me for Small B; A Series on Social Media Integration for Small Businesses!

This will be a regular feature here on T#SM and I hope that you learn something new!

Part One: To Blog or Not To Blog

(Is that even a question?!)

Blogging and Social Media pretty much go hand in hand, but there are right times to blog and wrong ones. The key thing you want to look at when this comes into play is what you will be blogging about. Utilizing Blogging as a strategy to enhance your business is about the same thing social media is really about: Shareable Content. 

So what makes what you have to say shareable? Is it relevant to your business? Can you write regularly about it? Would your target demographic be interested in reading a blog related to your business?

These are all things that you have to think about before jumping on the blogging bandwagon: 

• Don't Blog Just To Blog! Have a reason for blogging, and a passion for it wouldn't hurt either! If you can't come up with at least 20 topics you could blog about off of the top of your head (give yourself a few days to think about it) then maybe a blog isn't the right option for you!
• Is Blogging Relevant to your Business? Anybody can write what they did that day or how their business is doing, but a blog isn't a space for advertising (ahem, not in that sense anyway) and it certainly isn't an avenue for only promoting your products. Just like any aspect of social media, blogging is about sharing and conversation.
  
  Businesses that blogging would be relevant to are businesses that have fresh content all of the time.
• What will make people enjoy reading your blog? Posting pictures of your new products and telling everybody how awesome they are is only half of the job. (Maybe even 1/3!) A great blog teaches you something, and it makes you want to know more! Are tutorials an option for you? Could you talk about how your products are made? Do you have new and exciting information relevant to your industry?
• A Blog Is NOT A Diary! Contrary to popular belief, most successful blogs aren't people sitting down writing about how their day went. They have real content. They produce assets like whitepapers, downloadables, shareables like coupons and tutorials, videos and more. Blogging is about being creative and productive.
• Do you need the cross-marketing platform? Blogs feed into other social media sites and vice-versa, so they can work well as a leverage tool for bumping up your SEO, creating more visibility in the market and even reaching a more targeted audience. This, however, is only achieveable if your blog is rich in content that is actually shareable. News-style formats work well even if its just re-populating existing news stories because they are constantly feeding refreshed content through the system. Blogs that share productive items like Tutorials, DIY's and Infographics are also popular because their content is unique to them and thus even more shareable.

Ultimately it comes down to whether or not your content is marketable! If you think that you can create regular updates that are targeted toward your demographic and relevant to your business, then maybe a blog is for you! But if you're not sure, feel free to post your Q's and I'll give you some A's!