Social Media Marketing / Design / Princeton, NJ

A few weeks ago I posted the first in a series of write-ups reviewing tools for smarter tweeting.  If you’re managing the Twitter account for your business - and also trying to, you know, run the business - finding an effective way to plan and share content is crucial.  Save time, tweet smarter, and share great content with your followers using these programs!

Last time, I reviewed Buffer, an app that allows you to schedule as many Twitter and Facebook posts as you can write ahead of time.  It’s great - you can prepare all the tweets and posts you need, and not only does Buffer post them, but it will give you metrics to show you how many RTs and clicks you got for each one.

But let’s talk about those clicks… obviously the goal is to share content that gets as many clicks as possible, so naturally, your odds are increased when you have more followers online.  But how do you know when that is?  That’s where Tweriod comes in. 

Tweriod analyzes your Twitter followers and provides you with a chart showing how many of your followers are active at different times throughout the day.  It provides these statistics for each specific day, as well as weekends combined, and weekdays combined, giving you insight on the optimal times to share your content.

Tweriod is free (with slightly limited features) for analyzing up to 5,000 followers.  If you’re just getting started, the free version should suit you perfectly.

Tweriod markets itself to work alongside Buffer, which I have been making use of, but the information the program offers can act as a guideline that you can use with any other sharing app.

There’s a ton of information being shared on social media, designed to lure readers, engage them, make them click, buy, retweet, etc.  When you are just one voice among these millions of other voices, how will you make sure you’re heard? How can you be certain that the content you’re sharing is engaging your followers, and attracting new ones?  Here are some strategies for smarter sharing on social media sites.

1. Mind your post frequency.  Too often and it’s annoying, too little and you get lost in the crowd.  Deciding on how often to tweet or share takes time, and you’ll find your rhythm as you go.  For starters, shoot for a handful of posts per day - more than 3 - and see how that goes.  The key here is consistency.  If you suddenly vanish, the social media world will forget about you and keep moving on.  Dedicate yourself to a regular number of posts - blog posts, Facebook and Twitter posts - and stick with that frequency. 

2. Maximize your reach.  If you’re managing multiple accounts, consider this point raised by Robert Caruso, author of bundlepost.  He argues that strategic posting across each of your social media channels increases the exposure of your post.  If you’re sharing your new blog post on Twitter, share it on Facebook at a different time, and engage a new audience.  The audience on your social media sites fluctuates throughout the day, and if you only share it one time, double-posting on social media sites, you’re only reaching one audience, one time.  With that in mind…

3. Work the metrics.  There are many apps that can work to your advantage when it comes to content sharing.  One of my favorites at the moment is an app called Buffer, which allows you to schedule tweets and Facebook posts ahead of time, and then provides you with the analytics for each afterwards.  (Read my review of Buffer here.)  The benefit to this is being able to see how effective each post was - how many people saw it, how many clicks it got, etc. - so that you can fine-tune your sharing strategy. 

Thinking strategically about how you share will increase traffic to your site, engage your audience, and help you grow your social media presence. 

Looking for a jolt of creativity?  You have to watch this beautiful video shared by artist Whitney Matalone.  She’s an artist working in textiles, and she made this time-lapse video of herself working on a beautiful ikat piece. 

Since (the world knows) I’m a sucker for ikat prints, good colors, and amazing artists, it’s not hard to tell why this video inspired me!  Hoping this brings some inspiration into your day, too.

Somewhere, a prospective client sits and ponders who to give their money to.  (It could be you, but for this story, let’s talk in terms of widgets.)  Many options are laid out before them - widgets of all colors, and styles, by dozens of different companies.  What makes one brand of widget more tempting than the other?  Consciously or unconsciously, the determining factor lies all in the branding. 

What is branding?  Well, it’s more than just a sharp logo.  It’s all the means by which a company presents itself, and it’s a key for a company’s success.  It’s what defines who you are, and what sets you apart from your competition.  It’s what makes that prospective client chose you over another company.

No matter how large or how small, every business should consider branding a marketing imperative.  Since this may seem daunting, let’s take a look at what some of the key components to successful branding are…

Cohesive Visual Style
One of the more obvious aspects to branding, having a well-considered visual presentation for your company will take you places.  Your logo, your business cards, your website, your letterhead, your company car, your employee’s uniforms, your packaging… consistent visual branding will earn you recognition, and speak for your company before you have the chance to.  Create a style sheet for your company and define what the core components are (font, color scheme, logo, etc.)  Don’t have an eye for art or design?  Hire a designer.  (Seriously.)  Having a stunning branding suite will pay for itself before you know it.

Define Your Voice For Consistent Messaging
This is one time when being the CEO and sole employee of your business works in your favor!  People want to know what to expect from a business, and in this regard, having one ‘voice’ is crucial.  If there is more than one person handling your communications, make sure everyone is on the same page.  What are you trying to say?  What do you stand for?  What tone will you use?  A consistent tone and a clear focus will build confidence and make your business seem reliable and established.

Brand Your Services
What makes your company’s offerings better than the guy down the street offering the same services?  Is it your attention to detail?  Do you have a secret ingredient?  Do you go the extra mile on customer service?  Whatever it is that makes you special, tell the story, put a name on it and use it to sell yourself. 

Having a clear mission statement for your business will make the process of branding your company much easier.  Define who you are, and act on that in all aspects of your marketing, with consistency, and the consumers will take notice. 

Watch this video.  It’s brilliant.

Perry Haydn Taylor, founder of the design consultancy group Big Fish talks about the ways in which brands can be built without advertising.  His argument is that there are many, many other ways in which a brand can speak about itself aside from launching an ad campaign. 

In the video from Eat Big Fish (no relation), he discusses the case of Dorset Cereal, a client who that felt that advertising was not in alignment with the company’s values or image.  I laughed to myself as I vividly remember standing in front of the cereal selection at the grocery store and chose a package of this cereal based solely on the packaging.  I find Taylor’s approach to be fascinating… and also a reminder to the world that good design is a powerful force.