Top Tips for Google +

Google Plus is sometimes seen as the poor cousin of Facebook.  But with 540 million active monthly users, you can not ignore this social media channel if you are in business.  And the fact of the matter is, many G+ users are not on Facebook.  While on a high level, the platform will have many similarities, you will find that the interactions and things shared on G+ have a different look and feel too. 


Here, I thought I would share some helpful hints and tips about using Google+ which I have been collecting over the last couple of months.  The tips below have helped increase my own engagement and follower numbers as well, in an organic way.

Use the Search Tool

It's Google and what do they do really well?  Search engineering!  So use the search function.  You can use the search function to look for people, pages or posts.  So search for topics that match your interests or business and then engage and interact with those posts and pages.  This will help get your name or brand out in the G+ world, and will help increase your followers in a relevant but organic way.

Mention

Use the ability to mention other companies and brands on G+ to increase engagement and following.  If you go to a local cafe and they are on G+ maybe post a photo and a mention about your visit.  If there are brands that would work well with what you are doing, then build a relationship.  In general, you need to give some love to get some.

Communities

There are tonnes of community circles out in G+ land.  Search them out and join them.  Start to interact.  Post topics on the community.  Reply to people's posts.  You will see a much greater return of +1s and interaction if you post to communities than when you put a thought out into the public stream.  Or another way to see it - stop shouting into the wind and go to a clubrooms to chat instead.

Trending or Hot

Like anything, if you keep an eye on the trending or what's hot items going on then you'll be able to tap into that and increase engagement that way.  This will show people that your brand is up with the play, and will ensure your business page appears fresh and active.

Hashtags

G+ will actually give your post some hashtags that it deems relevant to what you have written, but these aren't always relevant because it's an algorithm assigning them.  Help it out by adding some yourself.

Images

Images are usually a good draw for engagement no matter what the social media asset is.  This is no different over at G+.  Use full sized images.  A big trend there is GIFs as well.  If it moves and is funny or awe-inspiring in some way, then it catches people's attention as they scroll through their stream feed.  Those GIFs get quite a lot of interaction as well.

If you use some or all of these six handy hints, I'm sure you will see an increase in engagement and follower numbers in the near future.  If you have any other hints or tips you would like to share, please leave a comment below.  I look forward to adding to this list! 

If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.

July 2014 Instagram Photo Challenge

We are already into July.  How did that happen?  A new month brings a new Instagram challenge.  Thanks to all those that participated last month.  We had some really neat shares. My favourite was under #hands.

Here is the July challenge:

It's another 7 day photo challenge, and a fun networking opportunity for you and your business.  Join in, do one during the month or all seven - whatever suits you best.  Think of it as a fun way to increase the content that you are sharing on your Instagram channel.  Taking part will give your customers a behind the scenes look at your business' fun side.  

I'll be checking in on all our participants and I will be sharing any note-worthy entries month-to-month as well.  So look out for those updates too.


If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.

Creation versus Curation

So you have your business page all set up and you know you need to share some good social stuff with your followers.  Things that aren't always about work, but that fit with your business.  You may have already made some key decisions like "no swear words" or "no text language".  Whatever you feel strongly doesn't fit with your business.  Of course I'm not saying don't swear or use txt spek - you will know if that is the right way to connect with your key audience.  And sometimes a well-timed swear is very well received.

The next big decision (once you have decided what you would like to share) is how you will share it.  Where is this content actually going to come from?   Whether you choose to create new content just for your page or you find things to share that have already been created - remember that appropriate content gathering is a time consuming business.  You do need to put thought and care into it.  And you need a thick skin too - if it doesn't have the impact, reach or go viral for you then chin up and keep on trucking.

Creating

If you opt for creating your own content, then you'll need some tools to do that with.  I have used three different tools myself. 

Firstly, Adobe Fireworks, which you can trial for free for 30 days.  After that there is a cost involved.  I used Fireworks to do all my initial design work for my website and some branded content for my social media channels.  I found the tools good, especially for adding transparent backgrounds to elements.The below image is the type of thing I could make, using my specific brand colours:

Next up was Pic Monkey.  Pic Monkey has free as well as paid elements on their site.  So you can make content either from your images or theirs.  They have a range of fonts, and effects you can add to your pictures as well.  Plus they have templates that are the right size for cover images for your Facebook or you can customise the size of your canvas which is excellent, if you want to make a 403x403 image to suit Facebook.  Here is an example of what you could do with Pic Monkey:

The amazing star background on this image was a free texture I added.  The image was very simple to put together and customise.  It's also very effective.  I love this font.

Lastly, I have been using Canva.  Now Canva has almost totally won me over, though it has to be said that the free options are more limited than with Pic Monkey.  For example, I couldn't get a star image there for free except for stylised geometric shapes.  But there are free images there that you can find if you have good search foo.  And if you find the perfect image and it isn't free, it will only cost you $1 US.  So that isn't so bad either.

This is an example of my Canva work.  But you can see more in any of my social media channels, I do love to play at this site a lot:

Again, the above was pretty simple to put together but very effective.

Creating content doesn't have to be a huge outlay of money for you.  However, it can be time-consuming, especially if you are looking for fresh new content to be created on a daily or more basis. 

Curation

Curating is another option for you, if you don't want to be creating new content or you don't feel you have the design skills to pull it off.  But what is curating?  Well, in basic terms it's having a trawl through your favourite social media outlets, seeing things that speak to you and sharing those on your page.  So it might be a meme another brand has shared that works well for you and your company as well.  Or it might be a fun game that another page has run successfully. 

Three important things will impact on your curating content.  Firstly make sure it is relevant to your page and your audience.  There is no point filling your social media assets with irrelevant noise.  It has to be relatable and in line with your company image too. Everything you share can have an impact on your reach and your following.  Whether that is negative or positive is dependent on what you select to share.

When you share give credit to the original poster.  It's important to give credit where it is due.  This helps you build your integrity with your audience and it helps the creator too as you will help increase their reach as well.  I would suggest not sharing content that has been created and branded by your direct competitors.  For example if you are both selling bibs in the same quality and price bracket, that might not be the best company to be associating yourself with. But if the business sells bibs and you sell bowls and spoons for first solids, then that's a good alignment to make.  You'll have similar audiences, but aren't directly competing. 

Lastly, add your voice to the share. Tell your audience why you are sharing the content.  Maybe you found it funny, or it reflects how you feel.  Maybe it reminded you of a childhood memory, or just made you hungry.  Whatever you say, add your own spin and flair to it.

Creating + Curating

Of course, you don't have to go all in for creating or all in for curating.  You can mix it up!  Make some, share some.  Get creative when you feel like it, curate when you are all out of ideas. 

And if you are truly at a loss, you can always contract someone else to spend the time on it for you plug plug ;)



If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.

June 2014 Instagram Photo Challenge

Earlier this month, I alluded to upcoming Instagram Challenges from KMedia Ltd.  I launched the first of these day:

I've chosen to do a monthly 7 day photo challenge.  These will be a fun networking opportunity for you and your business.  Join in, do one a month or all seven - whatever suits you best.  Think of it as a fun way to increase the content that you are sharing on your Instagram channel.  Taking part will give your customers a behind the scenes look at your business' fun side.  

I'll be checking in on all our participants and I will be sharing any note-worthy entries month-to-month as well.  So look out for those updates too.


If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.

How to Organically Grow Your Instagram Following

I've been using Instagram  for over a year now, under a personal account.  It's a great app, which allows you to easily make your mobile photos *pop* and makes sharing those photos really simple.  It is one of the biggest players in photo-based social media.  In 2014 Instagram reported 200 million users use the app every month

If you are in marketing or have a brand you want people to take note of, then Instagram can be a great way to get your message out.  An account for a business can be set up relatively easily.  But then once it is set up, what do you do with it?

You need to have some kind of plan for your feed, which should be driven by a set of goals for what you hope to achieve.  You will also want some way to increase your followers, so those goals can be realised as well.

1.  Use hashtags

In Instagram, hashtags are pretty much meta tags for your photos.  They are a great way to index your content in a meaningful way for your followers.  They are also a great way to feed into a trending tag, where appropriate for your brand.  Hashtags open your feed up to be viewed by people outside of your immediate following, with potential to increase your follower numbers too.

Unlike other social media outlets adding a lot of tags is fine, but it's best not to go too overboard.  If you exceed 30 hashtags your photo will not post.  According to a report by Track Maven outlined here, 11+ tags on your Instagram photos should have a positive impact on your average interactions.  I wouldn't stray too far towards 30 though, as you don't want your images to feel like spam.

But which ones?

There are some clear winners
#nofilter - for those natural no filter shots
#photooftheday - this one is often suggested, as many people use it and search by it
#picoftheday - similar to the one above
#selfie - for those self portraits
#instagood - this is another popular one for marketers and users alike
#instacool - what is better than good? cool, of course.

On top of these, you could use #love, #family, #style, #design, #amazing, #friends, etc.

You'll want to do a tag that is brand specific like #kmedialtdnz and then maybe a popular tag or two #picoftheday, #instacool and then add one or two general tags that describe the photo #coffee, #cake maybe even a more specific flavour #carrotcake.

2. Don't be afraid to invite them into your world

Instagram is a great way to connect to your followers and provide some more flavour for your brand.  Behind the scenes photos, and teasers of products you are working on are great topics to post photos of.  Take a photo of fabric swatches, or the offcuts after an afternoon of creating.  Take photos of your breakroom coffee, the weather outside, something that made you smile.  It's called social media for a reason, and they are following you for so much more than just the sales pitch.

3. To filter or not to filter

I am a huge fan of the filters on my personal Instagram account and will hardly ever post something without a filter.  My favourite two are X-Pro II and  Lo-Fi, but sometimes I will select something else.  #nofilter is a very popular option for many users, but you may find that adding a filter here and there is not harmful to your following numbers.  Have fun and play.  You are bound to find yourself with a favourite or two.  Just don't tag those photos as #nofilter if you have used a filter.

4. Run a promotion

There are instructions over at Instagram about how to go about it here.  You have a couple of decisions to make before you launch this:

• Will you have a prize?  If you do a prize try to make it one of your products or store credit. These will be easiest for you and links nicely to your business.
• Pick your promotion hashtag
• Pick the length of your promotion
• Decide your rules or terms & conditions - what do they have to do to be eligible for the prize if there is one.
• Post a photo of your promotion on Instagram.  

I'll be running my own photo challenges coming up and will be advertising these on my various social media channels.  These will be a great opportunity for small businesses to network, and connect with each other as well as new potential customers.  You are welcome to join in.  Connect with me via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Instagram to be notified when these challenges are coming up!


If you live in New Zealand and have need of Social Media Content Management for your business, visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information.