Social Media

“Content is fuel. Social media is gasoline.” JAY BAER PRESIDENT, CONVINCE AND CONVERT

Components of Online Marketing

Stats

Social Media Voice

Writing guidelines

campaigns

community building

Creative Assets

Best usage for social platforms

Components of an online marketing strategy

Channels, Website, Search,Email Marketing…

Components (Channels)

Good online marketing strategies are balanced across channels and platforms

• Your website forms the core of your brand and your online marketing strategy.

• It’s important that the brand experience (visuals, words, colours, etc) is consistent across channels.

• If it isn’t, it creates doubt and may erode trust.

• Brands don’t have to use every channel available.

• The key is to understand the customer decision journey, interact at key points along the path and be relevant in those channels.

• This will differ by audience, industry and brand.

How many channels do we have in Marketing?

The website is the core channel

Your website is home base, even if you can sell through other channels

• If you search for a brand online and there’s no website, it makes you doubt that the brand is legit.

• Your website is the home for your blog.

• If you have a website, you’re doing SEO.

• SEO informs paid marketing and online marketing in other channels.

• SEO takes time to deliver results.

• expect six months to a year to realize your efforts fully.

• Ignoring SEO in favour of other channels is off-balance from a strategy perspective.

Social media

• Brands have a presence in social media platforms because it’s a place where a large volume of people spend a lot of time (at the top of the funnel)

• Social media is used to amplify blog content, build community and drive traffic to the website.

• People aged 25-34 spend an average of 2 hours and 37 minutes daily on social media.

• It doesn’t mean brands have to be on all platforms, only the ones that align with their target audience.

Search

• It could be argued that your brand doesn’t exist if it can’t be found in search.

• When people search for something, they have a specific purpose in mind.

• Search is a stronger indicator of purchase intent.

• It’s not as important to rank #1 as it is to be found on the first page.

• Paid search marketing is based on paying for keywords and rank position. It works on a bid-style auction system. Prices can fluctuate daily, by the time of year or other factors.

• Brand terms: Your company name (the lowest cost)

• Competitor: Your competitors’ company names (the highest cost)

• Generic terms: Words associated with your brand, product, or industry (cost varies)

Email marketing

• Email marketing is to be used as a channel for audiences showing a higher level of interest in your brand. (further down the funnel)

• Email subscribers are warm leads for your business.

• Metrics to pay attention to:

• Subscriber growth (subscribes and unsubscribes)

• Bounce rate.

• Open rates and click-through rates.

• Well-written subject lines catch people’s attention and make them curious to read the email.

• Signing up for email is a standard CTA.

• Set a publishing schedule and stick to it (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly)

What is part of a Marketing Strategy?

To be online effectively… you need a plan

What is a social marketing strategy?

It’s a plan to reach specific goals for the business/organization through available social channels.

Social strategies use social media channels together and not as individual components

- E.g., your message and experience should be the same on all platforms.
- It’s important to keep the experience (brand identity, visual identity, etc.) the same throughout all platforms as it contributes to your credibility and trustworthiness online.

So, I need to be on every social channel?

It’s common for businesses to think they must be on every channel to be effective on social media.

The better approach is to be on the channels where your audience is and where you can consistently be present.

Note: Securing your social handles on all social media channels is crucial, even if you will not post. Why?

- A small portion of your audience may be on there, and it gives them a chance to tag you.
- It’s good for SEO.
- It’s a good branding move and avoids other people using the handle.

What is the purpose of social media?

Personal Purpose

Social media serves as a platform for individuals to connect with friends and family, share personal experiences, and stay informed about current events, providing a sense of connection and self-expression.

Business Purpose

For businesses, social media is a vital tool for brand promotion, customer engagement, and market outreach. It enables them to build brand awareness, connect with their target audience, and drive marketing and sales initiatives.

What is an Algorithm in Social Media?

A social media algorithm comprises a set of guidelines and data that determine what content users are served on the platform. Each user’s experience is tailored through personalized algorithms, resulting in unique social media feeds for everyone, ensuring no two users have the same feed.

The business case for social media

IT’S A 2-WAY CONVERSATION

• When a brand is in social media, customers expect that brand to respond

• Using social media as a distribution or advertising channel to only send messaging is a 1-way conversation

• Social media is about being social and about building community.

Stats of note

• 67% of Canadians have at least one social media account.

• 59% of people access their social media every day or most days –over ⅓ check social media at least five times a day.

• 95% of online adults age 18-34 are following at least one brand on social media.

Millennial spending power

• Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach millennial consumers.

• It’s the largest demographic of all time and is projected to account for 24 trillion dollars in total wealth as of 2020.

• As of 2018, millennials were spending 200 billion dollars annually.

Your pictures

What else social media can do

• Social media marketing can help increase brand recognition.

• Social media marketing increases your inbound traffic.

• Social media can help improve your search engine rankings.

• It gives you insight about your customers that you may not be able to get in other channels.

• It helps you reach new customers.

Social media ROI

• Even organic social media has a cost, so there has to be some kind of return on investment (ROI)

• The cost of organic social media is time and resources (people)

• ROI is usually more top of mind in paid advertising (cost of advertising compared to the value of a new business as a result of that advertising)

• To make a compelling business case, you must consider what the business would potentially gain.

• Brand awareness is often a reason (so people know you’re there)

• Exposure to a new audience.

• The ability to participate in relevant online conversations.

• Building trust with an audience.

Social listening

• Social listening is a term used to describe using social media platforms to track mentions and conversations related to your brand and then analyze that information to understand what action you can take as a result of the learning.

• Companies can monitor for words associated with their product, service, or brand, as well as common terms their customers use.

• According to Brandwatch, 96% of untagged brand mentions from customers go ignored by brands on Twitter.

• Online conversation is categorized according to the feeling it invokes, referred to as sentiment (ranges are typically negative, neutral and positive)

How and where should we do social media listening?

Your pictures

Social media is part of your strategy

It’s not the whole strategy. Here’s how it works:
• Understand where your target audience spends time.
• Choose channels that offer the most benefit for them and for you.
• Start with 1 or 2 platforms and then expand from there.
• Make sure you have time to build the account and sustain it (be realistic)
• Plan for the type of content you need for the channel (photos, videos, other)
• Get real about the time and effort it takes.
• Determine if the effort is worth the anticipated results or exposure you’d gain.

FAcebook (meta)

Stats

Facebook is still the king of social media platforms, with 2.45 billion monthly active users.
The largest growing demographic is age 65+
Only 10% of Facebook users are in the US and Canada
World’s #1 active social media platform
2.989 billion monthly active users in April 2023
43.2% of Facebook’s global users are female
56.8% of Facebook’s global users are male

Usage

Connecting with family and friends
Share pictures and videos
Get the news
Follow brands/companies

Facebook personal pages

People create personal Facebook pages to connect with friends and family.
You must send a friend request to connect with someone on Facebook.
The algorithm affects who sees the content you post, but a much higher percentage of your friends will see it in their newsfeeds.
Comments on public pages are viewable by everyone, but most Facebook privacy restrictions prevent people from seeing more than the basic profile of people they don’t know.

Facebook Business pages

A personal Facebook account is required to create or manage a business page.
Facebook business pages have “fans” who “follow” the page (no friend requests)
The Facebook algorithm prioritizes content from friends over business content.
On average, less than 2% of fans on a page will see native posts to the business page in their newsfeeds.
You can add a CTA button on a Facebook business page to direct people to your website, contact you or take another action from the page.
Facebook owns Instagram, if you want to do paid
advertising on Instagram, you must have a Facebook business account.

Facebook Business Manager

Facebook Business Manager is an administrative back-end that allows for role access, better analytics, access to the advertising platform via Facebook Ads Manager, and other features.
It’s native for desktop use; on mobile use the Facebook Page app to manage your page and Facebook Ads to
manage ads.
Not the same as your Facebook business page; only one Business Manager can manage a page; once the page is set up, you grant access to others through your Business Manager.
Some brands use a ghost profile and share login credentials with multiple team members (this is frowned on by Facebook and could result in the page being deleted) or link business pages to personal pages (requiring people to
be “friends” to manage the page)

Facebook content

Posts with photos and videos are 40x more likely to get shared than plain text posts.
Create content that invites conversation and gets people talking.
Curate great content from credible sources and share it with your audience to diversify the content mix.
Facebook groups get better engagement and aren’t as impacted by the algorithm, but make sure you can moderate the group by being part of the discussion and posting to the group regularly.
Use Facebook Creator Studio to publish content and manage messaging on Facebook and Instagram.

Post-performance on Facebook Insights

Analyze the performance of individual posts on your Facebook page.
Look for patterns of specific days, times of day, or types of content that perform well and resonate with your audience.
You can use “Boost post” to pay for more reach on content.
Although it’s tempting to boost underperforming posts, choose top performers and boost those posts to reach additional audiences.
Boosting a post is a good way to test content, but if you want a broader ad strategy, use Ads Manager (accessible only on Facebook Business Manager). Ads Manager allows for a more flexible ad strategy, tailored
messaging, better targeting, and better analytics.

Facebook algorithm

Facebook’s algorithm evaluates every post, ad, Story, and Reel. It scores content and then arranges it in descending, non-chronological order of interest for each user; this process happens every time a user refreshes their feed
There are three main ranking signals to determine where it shows up in your feed:
- Who posted it: You’re more likely to see content from sources you interact with, including friends and businesses.
- Type of content: If you most often interact with video, you’ll see more video. If you engage with photos, you’ll see more photos.
- Interactions with the post: The algorithm will prioritize posts with a lot of engagement, especially from people you interact with.
The algorithm detects signals that determine relevance according to your interests and the content you engage with often.
It then predicts what content to serve and scores it in priority order.

Facebook Features

Groups
- Designated areas where friends, acquaintances, or individuals sharing common interests engage in discussions or exchange information on a wide range of subjects.
Events
- Facebook allows all users and businesses to create event pages for upcoming events. This is an area where event organizers can update attendees and those interested in the event.
Messenger
- A direct message platform where users can chat with family, friends, or businesses. It also allows for group chats, which can have 2+ people included in one chat.

Stories
- Stories are images or videos that last 24 hours and then disappear.
- Stories appear at the top bar of the mobile app.
- They are the first thing followers will see when they open the app.

Reels
- Facebook Reels are short videos ranging from 3 to 90 seconds.
- Reels differ from stories because they do not disappear and allow longer, dynamic content.

Facebook advertising

Ads are labeled as “sponsored” in the newsfeed.
Two advertising models: boosting posts and ads.
Relatively cheap, could be as little as $1 or less per click.
Advanced targeting options, formats, and placements.
Not just for B2C; some B2B brands get great results from Facebook advertising.
It’s about knowing and understanding your target audience.
Ads Manager is the platform within Facebook Business Manager.
Character limits and restrictions on creative.

Facebook Business profile best practices

Audience Engagement
- Use Facebook to engage with a diverse audience through posts, polls, and interactive content
Community Building
- Create and nurture online communities, groups, and pages related to your brand or industry
Paid Advertising
- Leverage Facebook Ads for precise targeting, sponsored posts, and retargeting campaigns
Content Sharing
- Share blog articles, videos, and other long-form content
Event Promotion
- Promote events, webinars, and product launches

Use a recognizable profile photo (professional headshot or company logo, depending on the business)
Use the cover photo as a branding opportunity, but keep the text light and use an engaging image with consistent brand colours.
Add a CTA (call-to-action) button.
Use the About page to tell your audience more about your business and how it helps them.
Post videos and images to your page and monitor analytics to see what resonates.
Respond to comments on your posts to invite dialogue with your fans.

X(Twitter)

Platform overview

Twitter is useful for news, industry topics, sports, politics, and events (and TV spoilers)
Hashtags originated on Twitter as a way to categorize and search for content.
You can follow topics, people, or trends.
Tweets have a 280-character limit; sometimes, writers turn longer tweets into $133.
Content moves quickly on Twitter; studies show the average lifespan of a tweet is only 18 minutes.
Monitor trending topics to see if there’s a conversation you can jump in on (it must be fit for the brand and appropriate)
People often use Twitter to complain publicly, especially about brands.

Content

Content should inspire conversation and show personality.
Tweets with video attract 10x more engagement than those without.
Tweets with GIFs get 55% more engagement.
Use @mentions to tag someone directly (they are notified, but their followers are not)
Share content you like by retweeting it to your followers (tweets your followers have retweeted are shown in your
newsfeed)
Best days and times to tweet: Monday -Thursday from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Twitter handles and profiles

Your handle name should match your company name as closely as possible.
Twitter bios can be up to 160 characters.
Add a recognizable profile photo and cover photo (be consistent with other social platforms)
Show some personality (consistent with your online presence)
For business, link to related accounts (like service or support if there are separate handles)

Twitter handles and profiles

The Twitter algorithm sorts tweets based on:

Recency: How recently a tweet was published.
Engagement: How many clicks, favourites, retweets, and engagement a tweet gets.
Rich media: Types of media included (images, videos, GIFs)
Activity: How active a user is (how long since you’ve last been on the site, how many followers you have, and how much engagement your content gets)

Twitter Analytics

The Analytics platform shows performance over a specific period, including month-by-month highlighted, individual tweet performance, and top followers.

Hashtags

Use a relevant keyword or phrase your target audience would use to search for content.
Limit to 1-3 (hashtags are included in character counts)
Before you use a hashtag, research it by looking it up on Twitter to see if it’s already being used and what type of content is tagged with it.

Twitter Advertising

Promoted Tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted ads.
Target by interest, specific account followers, or other demographics.

Instagram

Platform insights

Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app. You can take, edit, and publish visual content for both followers and non-followers, as long as your account is public. Users can interact with your content via likes, comments, shares, and saves.

Instagram and Facebook are owned by Meta so you can connect the two accounts for a more seamless experience

- Businesses can use Instagram by opening an account (it will be a personal account by default), then once the account is open, head over to settings and privacy, then Account type and tools, and Switch to a professional account, pick a category that best describes your business, then select Business.

Highly visual platform; every post must include a picture or video.
Fairly quick and easy growth.
World’s #4 active social media platform
1.628 billion users around the world in April 2023
49.4% of Facebook’s global users are female
50.6% of Facebook’s global users are male
500 million people use IG stories every day.
1-3 of the most viewed stories are from brands.
IGTV is for longer videos
Videos tend to perform better.
Longer captions perform better and are great for
storytelling.
Authenticity is key.

Usage

Follow an interest (91% of people)
Share pictures and videos.
Personal brand influencers.

Account types

Accounts can be public or private (business accounts are usually public)
Anyone can follow a public account.
Follow requests must be approved for private accounts.
You can manage followers under both public and private accounts.

Account types include personal, business, and creator:

Personal accounts are for individuals.
Business accounts include post-performance analytics, follower demographics, and profile CTA buttons; if you want to schedule posts, you need a business account.
Creator was introduced in late 2018 as an account type for influencers who want follower analytics, options for filtering DMs, and content scheduling.

Instagram for Business - Setting up your profile

Instagram Collaborations

Anatomy of an Instagram Business Account

The Grid

Use a variety of photos and find a consistent pattern.
Make sure you show up in your grid (include a picture of you at least once every 6-9 posts)
Create your graphics and images.
Flat lay photos are popular; you lay objects “flat” on a surface and take a picture from overhead.
Use filters; find one you like and stick to it.

Profile guidelines

Profile pic: Use a picture of you or your logo.
Select a category that fits.
Include details about what you do and how your work
benefits your target audience.
Show some personality and give a clear CTA that tells your followers what you want them to do.
Add your website (Linktree) and location.
Use a few emojis.
Bios have a 150-character limit.

Captions

On Instagram, the text portion of posts is called caption.
It’s crucial to be authentic; Write like you talk.
Start with an interesting fact, something to make people curious.
Share something about yourself, but make it relevant for your followers.
Separate sentences with line breaks so it’s easier to read.
Use emojis.
Longer captions tend to work better.

Instagram Features

Stories
- Stories are images or videos that last 24 hours and then disappear.
- Instagram stories appear at the top bar of the mobile app
- They are the first thing followers will see when they open the app
Story Highlights
- Save stories so they do not disappear from your profile
- Identify categories and create cover images to showcase your brand better
Reels
- Long form video. It can be found on your page.
- Create and discover short, entertaining videos.
- Reels fill the gap for informal, high-quality content that lasts more than 24 hours.
Instagram Live
- Start a live broadcast to connect with your followers in real-time.
- Allows your audience to submit real-time comments and questions.
- Boost your visibility! Every time you go live on Instagram, your followers will receive an in-app notification, and your Live will be bumped to the front of their Instagram Stories feed

Profile Guidelines

Hashtags make your content findable.
Think about hashtags like search terms.
You can use up to 30, but you don’t have to.
#ltlsNotAStringOfMadeupWords.
Use location hashtags (#Winnipeg, #WinnipegBusiness)
Use lifestyle or tags that relate to your post
(#WorkFromAnywhere)
Create and use a branded hashtag for your business name (# Squarelysocial)
Avoid using the same tags with every post.
Choose hashtags with at least 10k and less than 100K posts.

How to research and use hashtags on IG

1. Type a keyword into Instagram as a hashtag.
2. A list of similar hashtags will appear in the drop-down, along with counts of how many posts have used the same hashtag.
3. Look for a variation between 10K and 100K posts.
4. Click the hashtag and review the posts that are associated with it.
5. Review the content for topics. Is it related to yours or associated with the content you want to publish? Is it on brand with your aesthetic?
6. Check the date the hashtag was last used; if it’s been more than a day, don’t use it, as it may be outdated or stale.
7. Once you’ve determined it’s a fit, add it to your hashtag list under the appropriate category.
8. Practice refreshing your hashtag list every 3 to 4 months.

Hashtag Tips
- Choose your hashtags wisely, make sure they are relevant to the content of the post
- Research hashtags by typing them into the search bar in the app

Hashtags tools

Analytics

Instagram algorithm

What you see in your Instagram feed is based on who and what you like, not just who you follow.
Consistent posts on a regular schedule are favoured more than multiple posts on an irregular schedule.
Your engagement with other posts in your newsfeed is also a determining factor.
Replies to comments on posts within the first hour increase visibility in the news feed (not just emojis or likes)

Best Usage for Instagram

Visual Storytelling
- Use Instagram for visually appealing content, including photos and short videos.
Brand Aesthetics
- Showcase your brand’s identity through a well-curated feed.
Influencer Collaborations
- Partner with influencers for product promotion.
Stories and Reels
- Utilize Instagram Stories and Reels for short, engaging content.
Hashtag Campaigns
- Encourage user-generated content through branded hashtags.

TikTok

Platform insights

TikTok is a video-sharing app that allows users to create and share short-form videos on any topic. The platform lets users get creative with their content using filters, stickers, voiceovers, sound effects, and background music.
TikTok is a hub for viral trends and challenges. Songs, dances, and trends quickly become viral on and off the platform.
With entertainment being the number one reason people use TikTok, brands can stand out if they push out highly entertaining content that resonates with their audience.
Did you know? Before TikTok became TikTok, it was called Musical.ly and, in China, Douyin.

Users and brands alike have several features available to them:
- Video editing.
- Filters and effects.
- TikTok sounds.
- Voiceover.
- Live streaming.
- Duet.
- Stitch.
- Video replay.

TikTok Features

TikTok Algorithm

Like other platform’s algorithms, the TikTok algorithm observes how users interact with the platform. Every like, share, comment, and length of time you watch a video feeds into this system.
Signal for the algorithm include:
- The videos you give a thumbs-up to.
- The content you share with friends.
- The creators you decide to follow.
- The comments you leave behind.
- Videos you save as favorites.

Best Usage for TikTok

- Short-Form Video Content
- - - Share entertaining and creative videos that resonate with a younger, Gen Z audience.
- Challenges and Trends
- - - Participate in viral challenges and trends to gain visibility.
- Educational Content
- - - Share bite-sized educational content, especially in a fun and engaging way.
- Influencer Marketing
- - Partner with TikTok influencers to promote products or services.

YouTube

Platform insights

YouTube is one of the world’s most popular video-sharing and social media platforms.
Launched in 2005, YouTube is owned by Google.
YouTube is the second largest search engine (second to Google)
YouTube is a video platform that’s driven by two types of users:
- Video creators: People with channels upload videos to those channels.
- Video viewers: People who watch videos, interact with videos, and subscribe to channels.
YouTube is free and does not require an account to watch videos; however, with an account viewers get: personalized recommendations, the ability to subscribe to creators, notifications, and more.

YouTube Features/Services

Subscribe to your favorite channels
- You will receive push notifications from your channels
YouTube Music
- Listen to music on YouTube without ads, offline, and when your screen is turned off
YouTube Gaming
- Live and on-demand video gaming content
YouTube Premium
- Subscription service that brings an ad-free viewing experience to all of YouTube, including all videos, YouTube Music, and YouTube Gaming
YouTube Live
- Broadcast live on YouTube.

Finding Videos on YouTube

Browse videos by entering a keyword or keyword phrase in the search field.
Find videos in topics and categories.
Filter results by date and popularity.
Visit the ‘trending topics’ tab.
View the chart rankings for music videos.
View or subscribe to the ‘Popular on YouTube’ channel.
Check out the ‘Up Next’ videos on the side (web) or bottom (app) of any video page to see related videos.

YouTube Algorithm

YouTube has two goals with its algorithm:

First, find a video recommendation for individuals according to their interests.
Second, it matches videos based on the user’s history and the similar content they have watched earlier; the idea is to match users to videos they WOULD watch.

YouTube Search Algorithm

The factors that will make your video pop up in a user’s search query are:
- Your video’s comments, likes, watch time, which means the overall engagement.
- Your video’s title, keywords, description, which means the metadata and whether it matches the user’s search query or not.

YouTube Recommended Video Algorithm

First, it ranks videos based on their performance. (Videos that are trending are on priority)
Second, it matches videos based on the user’s history.

Best Usage for YouTube

Long-Form Video Content
- Post in-depth video content such as tutorials, reviews, and vlogs.
Educational Content
- Share how-tos, webinars, and educational content.
Storytelling
- Use video to tell your brand’s story and engage with your audience on a personal level.
Monetization
- Consider monetization through ads, memberships, or product placements.
SEO
- Optimize video titles and descriptions for search engine visibility.

Platform overview

Think of Pinterest as a visual search engine; people use; Pinterest for ideas and inspiration on topics relevant to them, especially around life moments like holidays, birthdays, and weddings.
Terminology: posts are pins, people are pinners, collect and categorize pins in boards, and rich pins feature products or services right in the pin.
Set up a business account on business.pinterest.com.
“Pin this” is one of the most popular Chrome browser extensions.
Ads are displayed on Pinterest as “Promoted pins”.

Pinterest content

Content can live a long time, even years because it’s something people continue to search for, it will still be shown.
When you first pin content, it won’t get a lot of likes and comments right away. Over time, your pins will be discovered in search.
Create seasonally relevant pins to take advantage of times when more people are searching.
Inspirational quotes work well on Pinterest.

Pinterest visual best practices

Brand your pins with your brand colours, logo
and fonts to create visual consistency and make them recognizable.
Create different layouts and content types.
Create a Boardstased on what your audience is looking for (this may be different from how you
would sort it)
Pinterest images should follow the recommended ratio of 2:3 or 1000 x 1500 pixels.
Add text that grabs attention using overlays on your pins.
80% of people use Pinterest on mobile.

Pinterest engagement

The primary purpose of Pinterest is to drive traffic to your website.
If your target audience is on Pinterest, it can be an effective channel.
According to Pinterest, they reach 83% of all women in the US age 25-54, which is also the group responsible for 80% of household purchasing decisions.
When you pin content, respond to comments and questions on your pins.
Save content other pinners create (make sure it relates to your brand first, the pinner aligns with your brand and the content adds value for your audience)
Pins can be created and scheduled on the business platform.
Optimize content for views and saves, not likes and comments.
Generally, try to pin content no more than 30 times a day.

Driving traffic to your website from Pinterest

You have to “claim” your website on Pinterest to associate it with your account.
Link to your site regularly from your pins.
Make sure you create your own pins more often than pinning other people’s content.
Add Pinterest share buttons to your website.

Pinterest analytics

Monthly viewers are more important than followers.
Use analytics to understand the demographics of your audience.
Review views, top-performing pins, and boards.

Pinterest SEO

Add relevant keywords to your pins (think of it like SEO for your blog posts)
Add keywords to pin titles covering the product or service and who it’s for.
Add 5-10 keywords and 3-5 hashtags to your pin descriptions.
Use sentence format for the keywords so the descriptions are easy to read.
Hashtags are purely for search, so keep them clean and clear.
Search for your keywords on Pinterest; it will show related terms in order of search volume.
Use those terms as hashtags on your pins.
Create pins that align with those searches.
Tag Pinterest videos.

Pinterest business profiles

Profiles are called a Business Overview page.
Use a recognizable profile photo that’s consistent with other accounts.
Use the About your profile section to tell your audience who you are and how you help them.
This section has a 160-character limit.
Add up to 5 “Featured Boards” to your business profile to highlight the content you want to be seen or content that’s popular.
Include your email address, website URL, and location info if applicable.

Platform stats

It’s a platform where users can connect with people they know professionally and network within their industry.
It’s also a resource to find jobs, research companies, and a place to follow industry influencers.
LinkedIn is the platform of choice for the corporate world.
There are approximately 922.3 million members.
50% of the people using LinkedIn have decision-making authority within their company.
40% of people on Linkedin use it daily; 9 billion posts come from less than 100 million content creators.
94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to share content.
6 out of 10 users actively look for industry insights.
Professional content gets 15x more impressions than job postings.
43.2% of LinkedIn’s global users are female.
56.8% of LinkedIn’s global users are male.

Usage

LinkedIn isn’t the place to anticipate your content going viral; in fact, LinkedIn explicitly emphasizes that it’s “is not designed for virality.” Instead, the platform focuses on the exchange of knowledge and updates among individuals who find value in such information, helping them progress in their professional journeys.
There are approximately 706 million members.
50% of the people using LinkedIn have decision-making authority within their company.
40% of people on Linkedin use it daily; 9 billion posts come from less than 100 million content creators.
94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to share content.
6 out of 10 users actively look for industry insights.
Professional content gets 15x more impressions than job postings.

How does it all work together

Personal profiles are for building your personal brand and connecting with people at a personal level; you can choose to share company content as an individual associated with it.

Company pages are for establishing overall brand presence so that people can find you, get a sense of what you’re about and look at job postings.

Groups are moderated communities that can be really effective at building engagement on a specific topic with people that you may not otherwise be aware of.

LinkedIn Features

LinkedIn Premium
- Paid version of LinkedIn.
- See who’s viewed your profile.
- Get insights on job postings.
- Access to LinkedIn Learning.
LinkedIn Learning
- Online educational platform.
- On-demand learning.
- Available with LinkedIn Premium.
- Expert-led courses.
- Currently, more than 5,000 courses available.

Company page analytics

Visitors: See how many visits you’ve had over a specified period and see their demographics by job function location, seniority, industry, or company size.
Updates: post-performance and company page metrics.
Followers: Check who’s followed your page and when, along with the demographics of your page followers.

Creating content for your company page

The tone and the purpose might be different here than on other platforms; think of that first.
Share important company news and updates, employee highlights, and industry news.
Use the Content Suggestions feature to curate content.
Share posts from employee profiles, members, affiliated groups, and funders on the company page (as appropriate)

Growing your company page

Make sure employees link to the company page from theirs.
Experience section on their personal profiles.
Follow the page.
Tag the company page in posts.
Share content from the company page.
Comment on posts on the company page to increase engagement.
Add the company page to the contact info on their personal profiles.
Page admins can send invites to their connections (use a credit system)
Interact with content under the company account through hashtags.
Tip: Switch to member view to interact through your personal profile on the company page.

LinkedIn: Personal profiles

Cover photo: Customize your cover photo (check mobile and desktop)
Headshot: Use a professional headshot or a work-appropriate photo.
Headline: Create your headline using keywords and a description.
About section: Write your “About” section, consider what your target audience wants to read, and include a CTA.
Work history: Complete your work history and include select accomplishments that highlight the work you want to be known for.
Education: Update the Education section.
Layer in volunteering, awards, or any other accomplishments of note.

Notifications

Your connections see a record of every action you’ve taken on LinkedIn
Connections can see if you’ve looked at their profile.
Use it to build connections, get access to new content, and meet new people.

Personal networking on Linkedin

Use the newsfeed to see what content your connections are sharing.
Comment thoughtfully: Did something surprise you?
Do you agree or disagree? Think about how you’re adding to the dialogue.
If others leave comments on your posts, dive in and ask questions to spark conversation.
Always personalize connection requests with a quick greeting, something you have in common and a closer.
Example: “Hi Victoria. It looks like we have some interests in common. I’m in marketing and would love to learn more about
your work. It would be great to connect on LinkedIn!”

Writing Linkedin posts

LinkedIn shows the first 2 lines before using “read more”
Stand out from feed content by using those first 2 lines to draw readers in.
Start with a surprising fact, a bold statement or a question about a common trend, add detail and end with a call to action.
Use white space to break up the lines and improve readability.
Add 3-5 hashtags per post
Examples:
• Women entrepreneurs aren’t what they used to be.
• Surprising facts about women in business.

LinkedIn algorithm - personal profiles

LinkedIn algorithm begins by classifying your post through AI to determine whether it violates any of the platform’s spam guidelines or other community policies. Spam could include:
- Emoji or reaction polls designed to boost engagement artificially.
- Chain letters.
- Requests for likes, reactions, and shares.
- Excessive, irrelevant, or repetitive comments or messages.
If AI is unclear, it gets sent to a human for verification.
The “friendliest” algorithm.
Major shifts in 2019 move away from influencers to favouring content + engagement.
Factors include:
– Keywords in your profile + people you’re likely to know.
–Reactions in the first few hours from your connections give your content extended life in the newsfeed.
-How you engage with other content in your newsfeed.

Pipeline

If your post passes, LinkedIn watches for engagement signals to determine how valuable your post is to people in your immediate and extended networks
If there is good engagement, LinkedIn determines your post is ‘valuable’
- But not all engagement is created equal
LinkedIn uses singles such as:
- How often the content has been viewed and engaged with
- How relevant the topic is based on the identity signals above
- Whether the content shares knowledge or professional advice (more on this below!)
- The language of the content
- How professional and constructive the conversation in the comments section is
- Which companies, people, and topics are mentioned

LinkedIn advertising

Access ads via Campaign Manager.
Expensive: average between $6-$9 per click (compared to $1-$3 per click on Facebook)
LinkedIn advertising tends to be better for brands with a high customer lifetime value in industries that keep customers long.
Ads typically have higher conversion rates.
Targeting by company, industry, or job title.
Ad types include sponsored ads, dynamic ads, and InMails.

Best Usage for LinkedIn

Professional Networking
- Build a professional network, connect with industry peers, and discover opportunities.
B2B Marketing
- Ideal for business-to-business marketing, including lead generation and content sharing.
Thought Leadership
- Share thought-provoking articles and content to position yourself or your brand as an industry expert.
Recruitment
- Post job openings and find potential candidates.
Company Updates
- Share company news, achievements, and updates.

How do the platforms work together?

Cross-Promotion
- Share snippets of YouTube videos on Facebook and Instagram or create teaser content for upcoming videos.
User-Generated Content
- Encourage customers to create content on Instagram and Facebook, which can be shared on all platforms.
Repurpose Content
- Repurpose blog content for LinkedIn articles or create short, engaging versions for TikTok.
Community Building
- Use Facebook and LinkedIn to build professional communities, while Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube engage broader audiences.

Campaigns can be paid or organic

Organic

Organic content online refers to content that is created and shared without the use of paid advertising or promotions. It relies on the natural reach and engagement generated by the content and the platform’s algorithms.

Think about organic, everyday content as the heartbeat of your social media accounts, you need a solid organic presence before considering paid posts.

Examples:

Social media posts.
Blog articles.
YouTube videos.
Email newsletters.
User-generated content. (UGC)

Organic content:

Is cost-effective.
Builds connection.
Has a long-term value.
Helps improve SEO ranking.
Encourages engagement.
Positions you as a thought leader.

Limitations:

There’s limited reach with organic posting.
It’s time-consuming.
A post may work one day, but not the next.
There are a lot of people posting stuff like you.
Limited control over distribution.

Is Organic free? is it better than Paid?

Paid

Paid content is content that is promoted or advertised through paid means. It’s used to reach a more extensive, targeted audience beyond organic reach.

Examples:

Social media ads
- Meta advertising (Facebook and Instagram)
- TikTok.
- LinkedIn.
Google Ads.
Influencer partnerships.
Sponsored content.
Display advertising.

How:

• Define clear objectives for what you want the campaign to do for the brand + the audience.

• Include the channels you’ll use to reach your audience.

• Determine what success looks like (how you’ll know if the campaign has been successful)

• Recognize that building a community in social media takes time

Meta Ads work by targeting a group of Facebook users that all share similar characteristics
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Languages spoken
- Interests and behaviors
- heir connections to your other business-related pages on Facebook
There are eight different types of ad formats: photo ad, video ad, stories ad, messenger ad, carousel ad, slideshow ad, collection ad, playable,
You set up ads through Meta Business Manager.
Ads are served based on your budget allocation and date range.

Specs

Meta Business Manager

What Are Google Ads?

Keyword-Targeted Advertising

Google Ads allows businesses to create and display ads in Google search results and on partner websites. Advertisers select keywords relevant to their products or services.

Auction-Based System

When a user searches for a keyword, Google runs an auction to determine which ads are displayed. The ads’ positions are based on factors like bid amount, ad quality, and relevance.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Advertisers only pay when users click on their ads. You set a budget and bid for keywords, and Google deducts the cost per click from your budget when someone clicks on your ad.

Paid Content

Identifying Paid Content:

Paid ads on social media will be identified by saying ‘sponsored’ or ‘promoted’
Paid ads have a CTA link included on them.
Influencers are required to use hashtags like #Ad, #Sponsored, or #PaidPartnership.

Benefits:

You can reach more people.
You can reach the right people (enhanced targeting)
Results happen quickly.
More reliable return on investment (ROI)
Stand out from competitors.
Make real-time changes.

Limitations:

It can get pricey.
Ad blindness.
Sometimes, people get tired of ads.
There’s a level of skepticism.
People are using ad blockers more.
It’s a short-term strategy.

Should I Use Organic or Paid Content?

Why choose? Use both!

Combining paid and organic content can create a powerful synergy in your digital marketing strategy.

How can you use organic and paid content together?

Boost High-Performing Organic Posts.
Reach back out with retargeting.
Upcycle your organic content.

Tips for creating both organic and paid content:

Your organic content should be providing value.

Your paid content should aim to convert your audience into customers.

Step 1: Understand the “why”

• Define clear objectives for what you want the campaign to do for the brand + the audience.

• Include the channels you’ll use to reach your audience.

• Determine what success looks like (how you’ll know if the campaign has been successful)

• Recognize that building a community in social media takes time

Step 2: Identify who you’re talking to

Consider:

• Who is the primary audience?

• Are there any secondary audiences?

• What kind of content is most valuable to them?

Step 3: Figure out what to say

• Tap into the power of social media as a listening tool.

Social Media Tools

• It’s the largest source of unfiltered business intelligence.

• Think about key industry words, related organizations, and thought leaders already discussing the same things.

• Decide how you can develop messaging that either complements or adds to the conversation (be careful about anything too negative or controversial)

Step 4: Create a campaign theme

• Name your campaign –time to get creative!

• Remember, it’s about building community.

• Go back to your ICP and think about how you can solve that person’s problems.

• Use seasonality in the calendar or your business as a connection point.

• Draw from your brand personality.

• Now’s the time to brainstorm a theme + hashtag for your campaign.

Some other examples you can think of?

Step 5: Measure the results

What digital marketers measure = the performance of individual components.

• Clicks = how many clicks on a piece of content.

• Click-through rates (CTR) = what percentage of those clicks resulted in an action.

• Impressions = the number of times content is seen.

• Reach = how many people saw the content.

Reach shows the number of unique users exposed to your content, while impressions show the number of times your content was displayed to these users.

• Engagement = interactions with the content (reactions, comments, shares)

• Post frequency = how often content is published.

• Website visits, page views, traffic sources = website + blog activity.

What business measures

• Sales (increase or decrease)

• Profitability (profit margins + the cost of doing business)

• Costs (increase or decrease)

• Market share (reaching new markets + or increased market penetration)

• Staff recruitment and retention (talent)

• Customer retention and loyalty (repeat business + referrals)

Tools: The creative brief

• The purpose of a creative brief is to record ideas and fully understand a campaign opportunity before going to the work of developing it.

• It gets everyone on the same page.

• Document the components of your campaign in a creative brief.

• Note dependencies with other teams or departments.

• Include timelines.

• Distribute it to internal stakeholders for review and input before you start writing copy or planning posts.

Structure

Project Name: Brand + Logo
Background Information – Introduction
Project or Content Goal: Values, Mission and principles – Campaign Overview
Target Audience: Audience + Persona
Key Messaging and Tone of Voice
Project Deliverables: Social Media Calendar + Social Media Post(Content and Creatives)
Measurement: KPIs

Writing Content and Call to Actions (CTAs)

A call to action (CTA) is a prompt or directive in marketing content, typically as a button, link, or statement, that encourages the audience to take a specific, desired action. CTAs guide the audience toward the next steps in interacting with a brand or content.

How to create compelling content online

Know your audience Focus on quality, not quantity Hook your audience with a good story Ensure you have good supporting visuals Be consistent with your language, visual components, and posting schedule.

Organic

Audience-centric. Storytelling. Engagement. Educational/Entertaining. Long-term value.

CTA
Blog post on website.
Social media post.
Email newsletter sent to inbox.

Paid

Conversion focused. Product/Service/Promotion highlight. Visibility. Persuasive. Immediate results.

CTA
Facebook ad for gym wear.
Search ad for a marketing business.
YouTube ad for a game.

Give us some examples!

Defining your social media voice

Social Media Voice

•The characteristics that make up your social brand personality.
• It connects to your target persona (ICP) and core values.
• Establishing this gives purpose to the tone of your posts.
• It creates consistency when multiple people are managing an account.

Social media voice + brand voice

• Your social media voice is connected to your brand voice, but it includes interactivity and building dialogue through social interactions and conversations.
• The words should generally be the same, with the additions of:
• The conversations that are relevant for the brand.
• How and when the brand responds to comments on social media.
• What kind of relationships does the brand want to build?
• Changes to words or tone used in social media.

The difference between voice and tone

Tone:
● The way you say it.
●The quality of the words or feelings you express through your chosen words.
● May change depending on the situation.
Voice:
● What you say.
● The words you choose.
● Rarely changes.

Finding the right tone

Communication is made up of 3 parts:
• The actual words you use (7%)
• The tone or delivery in your voice (38%)
• The body language accompanying your words and voice (55%)

Example: The words “thank you” only have a 7% impact on your audience.

The tone is impacted by someone’s personal experience, state of mind, or a myriad of other things, so be careful with the words you choose. Start with empathy, and then go from there.

Brand voice and tone guide examples

• Shopify: https://polaris.shopify.com/content/voice-and-tone

• Mailchimp: https://styleguide.mailchimp.com/voice-and- tone/

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:
https://brand.asha.org/d/qE9e4AIYn7MW/voice-guide

Social Media

Social media is the #1 way to build trust

• Connect with people based on the values you share.

• Build trustworthy conversations –tell the truth, be transparent, and offer help.

• Deliver on your promises and follow The Golden Rule.

• Authenticity –make sure there’s a match between what you share and how you share it with who you are in real life.

Social media copywriting guidelines

Write the copy to answer the question or solve the problem

• Know what your target market wants.

• Address your customer directly with “you” and “your”

• Appeal to emotions; use words that describe a feeling.

• Use numbers (don’t spell them out)

• Address common objections that can be blockers for your audience.

• If you’re a local business, include the location.

• Use a strong CTA.

Apply web writing best practices to social media

• Keep it brief: Social media content is typically shorter.

• Take a less formal tone: Decide how you’ll handle abbreviations, contractions, colloquialisms, and emojis.

• Keep it personal: Use “you” and “me” (be careful about using “we” as a generalization)

• Get specific: Share one concrete idea in a post.

If you’re sharing an article from someone else, pull out one interesting tidbit rather than using a generic “read this great article”

• Action-oriented: Use a strong CTA.

Tip 1: Social media copywriting guidelines

• Don’t focus on what you’re selling; focus on the benefit it gives your customers.

• Use the “so that” test.

Examples:

• Get a membership to our private Facebook community so that you can get help when you need it from people who understand you.

• Get weekly printable PDFs to use a system to keep you on track.

• Get tips on traveling to your favorite places to create an unforgettable experience.

• Learn about ways to make yoga part of your daily routine so that you’ll feel centered, calm, and focused.

Tip 2: Social media copywriting

• Include “yes” questions to help people self-identify and want to read more.

• Draw your ideal customers in to engage with your post.

• Use it as a hook at the start of the post.

Examples:

• Feeling overwhelmed planning your next family vacation?

• Looking for a new way to start your day?

• Ready to embrace your inner beauty?

Eight easy ways to build content

• Show the behind-the-scenes.

• Find relevant hashtag holidays and use trending topics where appropriate.

• Plan around daily themes (#mondaymotivation, #tbt)

• Answer common questions.

• Include user-generated content.

• Update and recycle old content.

• Post about events you’re attending or hosting.

• Start blogging and get 8-10 social posts from every blog.

Building trust through content

Use storytelling techniques

Think about social media writing as a form of storytelling.

A story has a main character, a hero, and a conflict, followed by a climax and resolution.

Make your audience the hero of the story.

Platform-specific writing guidelines

Twitter

Tweets with visuals get 150% more retweets than
plain text.
280 character limit.
Jump onto trending topics.
Tag people or accounts in your tweets.
Use 1-3 hashtags per tweet (check them first)
Create an event hashtag and keep the
conversation rolling.
Ask questions and run polls.
GIFs are popular

Facebook

Shorter posts get better engagement (aim for 100
characters)
88% of users are on mobile when they check
Facebook.
Avoid putting text on your images; put it in the
post instead.
Use more than one image to create gallery or carousel posts.
Hashtags aren’t commonly used on Facebook.

Posts can be up to 1,300 characters; however, it gets truncated after two lines.
Find relevant articles from other publications and share them by adding your comments to them; tell your network, what you liked, didn’t like, or what surprised you.
Don’t limit your posts to your job or your company; think about your industry or content about your core values, culture, or leadership.
Your network is notified of every action, including when you like other content or have been mentioned in a post.
Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable; post when you’ve had a hard day, needed help solving a problem or want to learn about something new.

Instagram

The grid: Your top 9 posts are important.
Create a consistent visual style.
Shorter captions work better for brands.
Hashtags: up to 30 hashtags; create a brand
hashtag to categorize the content.
Use a mix of topic, lifestyle, and location hashtags.
Links to your website or to content go in your bio
(links in captions don’t work)

Customize for the platform

Resist the urge to publish precisely the same content on every channel.
Your audience can quickly tell when they see 30 hashtags in a Facebook post that content was intended for Instagram, so they’re less likely to engage.
Don’t fill your Twitter feed with Instagram links.
Define a purpose for each channel rather than trying to be everywhere.
Adjust the content to fit the channel (sometimes this means minor tweaks like link references and hashtags)
Keep links and images within the channel they’re
shared on.
Be consistent but realistic; create a publishing schedule you can stick with.

Maximize efficiency

Avoid writing content in-the-moment or “just in time” to hit your next publishing deadline.

Pre-planning and pre-writing content maximizes your brain power, it performs better and is more likely to help you meet your business goals.

Release the content as you need it and schedule it ahead of time.

Try weekly; monthly; even quarterly!

When you don’t have to worry about content, you free up time to build community.

Scaling content production

• Create a document where you can capture ideas as they occur.

• Use your favourite format: Google doc, Dropbox doc, iCloud Notes.

• Set aside one dedicated period of time to write (timebox this)

• Group your ideas into themes that match the seasons in the calendar + in your business.

• Validate your ideas with keyword research.

• Leverage ideas you see from other people & in search results.

• Use time blocking and a batch process.

• Write all of your long-form content first + then social media posts.

• Use social media as a distribution channel.

Pull social media posts from your blog

• Give more life to your blog content.

• Review your blog article and find the main nuggets.

Examples:
• 6 ways to cook chicken — #1-#6 each become their own social media posts.
• How to deal with stress at work — look for your most important ideas to inspire social media posts.

• After you’ve been blogging for a while, update and re-release old blog content.

What is a content calendar?

A central place where you keep track of your content publishing schedule
Detailed overview of upcoming social posts, blogs, video releases, e-blast, etc.
Organized by date and time of posting
Used to plan posts, manage campaigns, and review ongoing strategies
Typically in the form of a document, spreadsheet, or service/software
A good calendar outlines the what, where, when, and why for each post.
Also called: publishing calendar, editorial calendar

Why is having a content calendar important?

It will keep your ahead of the game
It allows you to make sure you have a good flow of content topics
Visualize your content that is coming up
You have time to collaborate with other departments or people outside of your business
You can catch grammar issues and/or typos before you hit post

How to build a content calendar

Figure out which social media platforms you want to be on
- What make sense for you/your business/which ones perform the best for you
- Where does your target audience spend their time online, be there!
- You do not have to be on every social media platform known to man
Determine other content mediums you want to participate in
- e.g.: email marketing, blog posting, etc.
Decide on content buckets for your posts
- What are content buckets? General content categorizes for your posts. For example: user generated content, educational, entertainment, memes, informational, testimonials, infographics, sales (use this one sparingly). Aim for an 80/20 split of valuable content to sales content.

How to build a content calendar

Decide on what information is important to us to include in your content calendar.
- This could include:
  - which platform the content will be posted on
  - the date and time you will post
  - your copy for the post,
  - any visuals that will be included
  - links to assets (e.g.: landing pages, blog posts, etc.)
  - Tip: you may want to include a spot for the published link so you don’t have to search for it through your social media
Plan the best times to post
- while there is some data suggesting the best overall time to post online, every business is different. Experiment with days and times to find the best for your followers.

Have you used a Social Media Calendar before?

Excel Spreadsheets

Pros

Easy data aggregation and organization.
Cost-effective.
Short learning curve and accessible, making collaboration easy.
Easy to customize.

Cons

It is hard to visualize your calendar.
Limited options for collaboration.
It is challenging to get a clear breakdown at a glance.
Can be clunky for tracking multiple channels.

Community management tools or Social Media Marketing (SMM)

These tools are used to schedule social media content so you don’t have to manually post.

Tools with free plans are marked with *

• Ocoya – Radaar
• Hootsuite* (free for one user with less than 3 accounts)
• Buffer*
• ContentCal* (free for one user with 4 accounts)
• Sprout Social
• Meet Edgar
• AgoraPulse
• Co-Schedule
• Later*, Plann, Planoly*
• Tailwind (for Pinterest and Instagram)

Meta Planner

Calendar View & examples

Pros

Makes it more accessible to organize content details.
The most straightforward way to know what’s going out and when.
Can include keywords, color coding, tags, assignments, and content types.

Cons

There’s more to project and content management than publishing dates.
Can be time-consuming to put together
A calendar may not always be effective on its own.

Feather Group

Planner

The Strategy behind?

“Connect. Create meaning. Make a difference. Matter. Be missed.”

-SETH GODIN-

Social media community building + management

Growing engagement & followers organically

• The most significant thing with this is that growing followers takes time and effort; there are no quick or magic ways to do this, but you can get creative with how you do it!

• Look at followers of accounts with similar audiences and selectively follow those that align with your target audience.

• Follow hashtags and engage with relevant accounts.

• Highlight one of your followers in your feed and tag them so they’ll share it with their audience.

• Engage with the content other people share with you (likes, comments + shares)

Interrupting the conversation

When you decide to be part of a conversation either through a trending topic or by leaving a reply or comment on something someone else posted, consider these points:

• Can you provide helpful information?

• Can you correct the wrong information?

• Can you build a relationship?

Responses and creating conversation

• Social media is about being social!

• Build dialogue and contribute in a meaningful way. Take the time to reflect and be thoughtful. Go beyond “great article” or “thanks for sharing”

• Dig deeper to show you understand that you’re an expert or that you can help.

• Take as much time to respond as you do to write content (more if you can)

Replying to questions or DMs

Be specific

• Start with empathy and offer to help; fill in missing information if you can.

• Avoid words like “shortly,” “soon” or “ASAP”

• Your audience defines these terms differently than you do.

• If the hours are specific, include them.

• Use emojis only if it’s appropriate.

• Do not correct their spelling or grammar mistakes (but do correct yours)

Diffusing if conversations take a turn

• Don’t automatically delete or hide posts.

• Do a bit of homework before you respond.

• Don’t respond immediately if you’re angry or frustrated.

• Check the person’s profile and the tone of previous posts; if they’re all inflammatory, chances are this person is a troll

• Assess the potential reputational risk.

• Talk to others for guidance and additional support.

PR and crisis communications

• Define what constitutes a crisis vs reputational risk.

• Determine a process for each scenario, including when legal or others need to be involved.

• Agree on a monitoring schedule and decide who’s responsible when recognizing that if a crisis involves the public, they will also use social media.

• Plan how you’ll measure ongoing commentary and sentiment.

• Resist staying silent.

Watch for patterns

• Notice times of the day and days of the week when volumes are highest.

• Plan for spikes because of seasonality.

• Focus on common questions people ask.

• Connect with other service inputs to plan and prepare to message.

• Communicate and share the findings.

Basics of building creative assets

Use visuals to create engaging posts

Visuals and branding

• When you first start experimenting with visuals, it’s tempting to use a wide variety of colours and designs.
• Remember these visuals also represent your brand.
• Using consistent fonts, colours, and styles across all of your online branding channels (websites + social media) creates confidence (doing the opposite is confusing for your audience)
• With photos, pick a consistent style + filters.
• Be intentional about what visuals you’re creating and why.
• The first thing people notice is imagery, especially in social media.

Are you team Canva or Adobe?

Canva
• Go to canva.com and create a free account

• Spend some time experimenting and having fun with Canva!

Why do people share content on social media?

● To improve the lives of others.

● To define themselves.

● To grow and nurture relationships.

● Self-fulfillment.

● To get the word about causes they believe in.

Best usage for social platforms

Facebook:

Short videos
Blog posts and curated content

Instagram:

High res images
Reels/Stories
Quotes

LinkedIn:

Professional content
Company news
Articles

YouTube & TikTok

Videos

How to build your community

What are some key things to remember:

Ensure you have identified your purpose on the platform.

Maintain consistent brand voice, tone, and messaging.

Do your due diligence researching content your audience wants.

Encourage your audience to participate in the conversation

Post consistently. This schedule doesn’t need to be extensive, but a schedule you can maintain consistently.

Interact with your audience and other businesses regularly

Ideas to build more connection with your audience

Host Q&A sessions.
Create exclusive content for members.
Encourage UGC (user-generated content)
Create challenges or contests.
Give members a place to discuss topics.
Highlight a member monthly.

Can you think of any other ways?

Planning - Identify your objectives

Step 1

Define clear objectives for what you want the campaign to do for the brand + the audience.
Include the channels you’ll use to reach your audience.
Which KPIs will you measure to determine if the campaign is successful.

Identify your segment

Step 2

Who is your primary audience for this campaign?
Is there a secondary segment for this campaign?
What is important to them or what is a specific challenge they have that you can help solve/provide a solution to (research)

Create/gather all creative assets

Step 3

Organize your campaign
- Give it a name.
- Determine what creative assets you need (not an exhaustive list)
  - Graphics
  - Videos
  - Landing page
  - Blog post
  - Ads
Get ready to launch!

Post campaign review

Step 4

Gather all data from all sources
- Website analytics.
- Social analytics.
- Sales numbers.
- Acquired leads.
- Any other data point that supports your KPIs.
Analyze the data against your KPIs.
Revise and retest again (if needed)

Message Appeals

Message appeals are the specific approaches and strategies used to communicate with your target audience.
These appeals are designed to resonate with consumers on an emotional, psychological, or rational level.
They are important because they determine how your message connects with your audience and influences their purchasing decisions.
The choice of the right message appeal can significantly impact the success of your marketing campaigns, as it influences consumer behavior, brand loyalty, and overall sales.

Type of Message Appeals:

This has to link to the Voice-Tone/Brand guideline.

Humour: Amusing, lighthearted, comedic
Emotional: Evocative, heartfelt, empathetic
Fear: Alarming, unsettling, ominous
Scarcity: Limited, exclusive, urgent
Rational: Logical, factual, informative

Which one is your favourite and why?

Planning a social media campaign

Community

Humour Appeals

Benefits of being funny

They stand out in a crowd.
Positive connections to your brand.
“HEY, remember that ad….”

Cons of being funny

What’s funny to one, is offensive to another.
They only remember the punchline.
Ummmmm…. I don’t get it.

Some funny stats

48% of people don’t think they have a relationship with a brand unless it makes them smile or laugh.
80% will recommend that brand to friends and family.
72% will choose that brand over a competitor.
90% of people are more likely to remember ads if they’re funny.

Emotional Appeals

Benefits of using emotional appeals

Make that connection.
Can help differentiate a brand from its competitors.
Highly persuasive and influential.

Cons of using emotional appeals

Lack of message recall (true with humour as well)
You might not elicit the emotion you were hoping for
Not fully aligned with the brand or product

Some emotional stats

70% of viewers who are very likely to buy a product were emotionally triggered by an advertisement.
Click-through rates for headlines with negative superlatives (“worst” or “never”) are 30% higher than those with positive superlatives (“best” or “always”)
95% of purchases are influenced by subconscious factors.
Purely emotional content type Ads copy performs twice as well (31% vs. 16%) compare to those with only rational content

Fear Appeals

Benefits of using fear appeals

They are striking.
Can elicit motivation.
Has an emotional impact.

Cons of using fear appeals

It can become a little ‘much’
They may come with some backlash.
Becomes desensitizing overtime.

Why the fear approach might not work

The audience has become overexposed.
Trigger for defensive reactions.
Lack of perceived severity.

Scarcity Appeals

Benefits of using scarcity appeals

Gives a sense of urgency.
Enhances perceived value.
Taps into FOMO.

Cons of using scarcity appeals

Is it credible?
Becomes overused and predictable.
Missing out on potential customers.

Lack of genuine scarcity

It’s not relevant.
Limited appeal to rational decision-making.

Rational Appeals

Benefits of using rational appeals

They make sense to us.
Can seem very credible and trustworthy.
Allows brands to compare USPs(unique selling point/proposition).

Cons of using rational appeals

We aren’t connecting.
It can quickly become overwhelming.
Most consumers don’t make solely rational decisions.

Let’s Play! 37

Other ways social media and psychology are connected

How

• People like to read and share positive content.

• People put a higher value on something they see people who they know and like using or something they own or have had a personal experience with.

• Most people are visual learners.

• Colour and visual appeal can have a big impact on your customers’ perceptions of your brand.

• Reciprocity applies here –brands that do something for their audience (freebies, contests, giveaways) are more likely to build loyalty.

For brands, it’s all about trust

There’s a growing appreciation for transparency and social consciousness.

• 53% of consumers say they’ll buy from a company that is transparent on social and 73% of consumers are willing to pay more for products that guarantee total transparency*

• People use social media for recommendations and referrals.

• People expect brands to respond.

• Your customers want to know what other people are saying about your brand, product, or service.

How consumers define transparency

Communication: talk to me and tell me what’s going on, even if you don’t know the answer.

Honesty: tell me the truth, don’t attempt to convince me that you know better or more than me.

Openness: Be open to feedback, and be willing to talk about the things that matter most to me.

Clarity: use words I understand, don’t bury me in marketing language or jargon.

Authenticity: talk to me like I’m a human.

Integrity: do what you said you would do, deliver on the promises.

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