Your Dream Business

Key Takeaways Covered In The Podcast

When people are on your email list, you can market to them directly.

Social media channels are not owned media. These social channels could disappear any day. If that happened, how would you stay in touch with your followers?

As important as it is to build an audience on social media, it is vital that you get your followers onto your list.

A great lead magnet helps you address your audience’s biggest problems.

Content upgrades allow you to pull your podcast listeners and blog post readers in further by providing them

with.

There are considerations and rules you need to keep in mind when running competitions on Facebook or another social channel.

Review your website on an ongoing basis to ensure you are providing clear opportunities for your visitors.

The one thing you need to remember above all else…

Social media is simply a part of your overarching marketing efforts. It should be integrated into all aspects of your marketing, such as list-building.

Highlights You Simply Can’t Miss

Why list-building is so important for your business – 1:59

How list-building fits within social media marketing – 2:32

Strategy #1 for building your email list: Creating a lead magnet – 3:48

Strategy #2: Incorporate content upgrades into your podcast or blog posts - 5:19

Strategy #3: Optimizing your Facebook page call to action - 7:02

Strategy #4: Run a competition on social media for businesses with products – 7:59

Strategy #5: Provide ample opportunities for visitors to engage with you on your website – 11:14

Links to Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode

LeadPages

WooBox

Episode 2 - How Lead Magnets Help You Build Your List and Stay Connected With Your Followers

Want the full transcript?

Click to Download!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

 

• Facebook is a “pay to play” platform now. If you want people to see your posts, you need to pay for it.
• With an ad, you can set an objective. This tells Facebook what you want to achieve, and it picks the audience that has the propensity for doing the thing that matches your objective.
• Facebook is an amazing aggregator of data about people, which allows you to hyper-target your ads.
• An ad offers many more call-to- action button options.
• Boosting a post doesn’t allow you to split-test, which is unfortunate.
• Split-testing allows you to ensure you aren’t wasting money, which is important when determining how to spend your marketing dollars.

 

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

 

There is a difference between hitting “boost” and going into Facebook Ads Manager and creating an actual ad. By working within Ads Manager, you gain greater control over your ad, your audience and your outcome, which can make a great impact on your business’s bottom line.HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

 

• Why you really need to pay for advertising on Facebook – 02:22
• The main differences between boosting a post and creating an advert – 04:08
• How the CTA button language can make a huge difference in your ad – 08:47
• Examples for simple ways to split-test Facebook ads – 10:19
• Your next steps for creating a Facebook ad – 12:10

 

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

 

• Facebook ad creation tool
• Rick Mulready, Facebook advertising guru

Transcript below

 

Hello there, and a warm welcome. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode number five of the Social Media Marketing Made Simple Podcast, and I'm your host Teresa Heath-Wareing. I am so grateful that you decided to download this podcast and give it a listen.

One of the reasons I decided to do a podcast is because I always said that I was much better at talking than I was at writing, and I love sharing content. I love giving you ideas and tips and tools to help you be better at social media marketing. For me, a podcast was a great way to do it so I do really appreciate you listening. Today's episode is no exception, it's something that I am actually super passionate about, as I see lots of small businesses making this mistake.

In fact, I see lots of big businesses doing as well and this is Facebook advertising and just hitting that boost button. When I speak to these businesses, they end up telling me that they have had an experience of Facebook ads and that it just doesn't work and it's a waste of money and it didn't really do anything for their business.

When I dig a little deeper, I realise that when they tell me they've been doing Facebook adverts, what they actually mean is they've been hitting the boost button on some of their posts and it's not really been giving them the kind of results they were after.

Today, I want to walk you through why I don't just hit the boost button. Don't get me wrong sometimes its absolutely fine, you just want to hit that button to put a post like that so a few more people see it. Not a problem, but I want you to understand the difference between hitting boost and actually going into Facebook ads manager and creating an advert and the difference it can make for your return on investment and the sorts of results you can expect from some of these Facebook ads. Let's jump straight in.

 

Why you really need to pay for advertising on Facebook

 

I guess one of the first things I should explain is why you're going to be advertising in the first place. I hate to tell you but it really is common knowledge by now, that Facebook is pay to play and what I mean by this is, if you're not doing any type of advertising on Facebook then the amount of people who are going to be seeing your posts are going to be very, very low.

The algorithm, this is just a word for a set of rules that Facebook put in place basically decides who is going to see your post and who isn't. Recently, Facebook makes some big changes to this algorithm, which basically says that they are going to be prioritising content from friends and family before pages.

Now, like I said this isn't anything really that new, but it's just being taken to another level again. Therefore, if you are using Facebook for your business then you really, really must be advertising now. You know what, some people are really cross at the fact that Facebook is now a kind of pay to play tool, but I'm not actually.

I think that they have created such an amazing tool that enables you to target people that would never have seen your brand or your product or your service previously, that you can then put your adverts in front of them. I think that this is absolutely fine that we have to pay for it. Also, paying for ads can start off quite low, so it's not like they're asking for a lot of money.

However, I am also a very firm believer that you shouldn't pay money when you don't have to. Also, if you're going to be paying money it really should be doing something for you and your business. Hence, why I decided to put together this podcast about hitting that boost button.

 

The main differences between boosting a post and creating an advert

 

Let's walk through what the main differences are between hitting boost and then actually going in creating an advert within Facebook ads manager.

Okay, main difference number one, the first thing is when you create an ad in adverts manager you pick an objective, and this isn't what you do when you hit the boost button, you're just basically saying show this post. Now, the objective is super, super important because you're basically picking the thing that you want the advert to do.

Some of the objectives include video views, page likes, click through to a website or a landing page. It's super important for Facebook to know what exactly you are trying to achieve in your advert, because not only does it show the people you pick from a demographic point of view, i.e. I want males of a certain age or females of a certain age in a particular location, but it also picks the people who have a propensity to do the thing that you are picking as your objective.

For instance, I like watching lots of videos, I, for whatever reason as I scroll through videos catch my eye and that's it I am taken away. What happens in my feed is Facebook often shows me lots of videos, it will also show me lots of video ads because it knows I like videos and therefore it will keep presenting these to me. Whereas if I was a person that liked pages lots or clicked on adverts that took me to websites or landing pages, then it would show me those as well.

It's super important to understand what the actual objective is because Facebook is going to help you find the people who like to do that. Difference number two is, that you have a limited targeting available when you hit boost. Again, what I mean by that is, that one of the most amazing things about the Facebook advertising tool or the Facebook platform in general is the content that they know about us.

Now, from a personal point of view you might think this is a little bit scary because they do know an awful lot about us as individuals. However, from a marketing point of view it's the best thing I've ever seen. They are so smart, basically they look at how we use our social media, they look at the posts that we like, the posts that we click on, the videos that we watch even if you hover over a post that you're looking at they can recognise that.

They also then obviously look at places we've been to and we check in, they look at who we interact with who our friends are, the types of things that we're interested in. Also, if you then go and log into a different platform and it says, "Would you like to log in with Facebook?" Facebook think great because basically they're getting even more of a picture about you. Then obviously they're going to other data sources bringing together with their data to work out various things.

For instance, I could target on financial information so I could decide I want to target someone who earns between the bracket of this and this, and I'll often get people say to me, well how on earth do they know how much I earn? Well obviously you don't put your salary into Facebook, but if they know what your job title is where you live and you know potentially the type of house you're in, then they can make some assumptions about what you're likely to be earning.

This is the way that obviously some of the data is gathered, as well as like I said them actually being able to track data on things that you do. When you do an ad within ads manager, you get much more targeted options to give you an idea. It includes things like all hobbies, activities, business industry, sport, outdoor, shopping fashion, technology, food, drink, fitness wellness, family and relationships as well as your basic demographics, where they work, where they live, are they parents what relationship status are they, what gender they are, and life events, life events are great so if they're getting married or having a baby.

Then we can look at behaviours, so purchased behaviours, job role. The targeting really is amazing and also the other thing that you can do within targeting when you're creating an advert is you can actually exclude or include people. You can say, "I want to pick everybody that has this but include the people that have this," and that makes it really, really helpful because you can get much more specific and targeted in finding your audience.

 

How the CTA button language can make a huge difference in your ad

 

The next difference between boosting and adverts manager is that you get many more call to action buttons. Now, this might seem like a really silly one as it's quite small, what difference could it possibly make, having a shop now rather than a learn more or a contact us or view more. Well, actually it can make a huge difference. This is something that we often split test on. We might create an ad that has a one call to action and we might then create exactly the same advert to the same sort of audience but with a different call to action, because actually this can make a difference.

You want to be as specific as you can in terms of telling that person that you are advertising to what it is that you want them to do. I joke all the time that we're quite simple creatures and that we need to be told. Having that call to action button it tells them exactly what they want to do is really useful. There's another really good tool that you have within the ads manager that you might not be getting when you hit that boost button.

Last but not least, the final main difference. There are a few more but I've picked out the main ones is that you can split test. This is obviously something that we do in our business every day. We constantly split test adverts not only for ourselves but for clients against each other to see which one is performing better, because we're constantly trying to ensure that the money we're spending isn't wasted. No one wants to basically spend money that isn't doing something for their business.

Examples for simple ways to split-test Facebook ads

 

Now, it doesn't have to be super complicated. You don't have to be doing crazy split test. It can be really simple, as simple as we use this image and then we use this image but everything else stays the same, or we change the call to action button like I've just talked about or we changed the location. So we'll do one advert with the location as the main feed and we might do another advert as the location in Instagram.

But you can't split test if you're literally just hitting the boost button. So you need to be setting up your adverts in adverts manager so that you can create an ad, copy it, change something within that ad and then run them and see which one is performing better, because overall you're going to then be able to tweet your adverts going forward and ensure that you are having the maximum results for your money that you're spending. As I'm sure you can imagine, there are other differences when looking at hitting the boost button or creating an advert from scratch.

However, these are just a few of the key ones that I think can make a big difference to your advert and the success of it. As a bit of a round up, the main differences that we talked about were that we have no objective, i.e., you can't choose the type of advert you're trying to do, so that Facebook can pick the right sort of people that you have limited targeting options, and the better you can target the less you're going to waste your money, that you can't change the call to action button.

Within ads manager you're able to pick multiple different call to action buttons, which again you can split test if you want as well as lots of other things that you can split test to ensure that your advert is performing as well as it possibly can be.

If this podcast has worked, you're going to be super keen to go and test out adverts manager.

 

Your next steps for creating a Facebook ad

 

What are your next steps? Well, the first thing I would do is go and have a look around ads manager, go to www.facebook.com/ads/create/ don't worry I'll put a link of that in the show notes. Then that's where you're going to be able to have a look at setting up your first advert.

However, if you need a bit of help to get started I can highly recommend Rick Mulready, he is a Facebook adverts expert and knows everything there is to know about Facebook ads. He also has several courses and loads of content that you can take to understand ads better. So please go check him out, I'll put a link to him in the show notes.

Ads manager can be a bit technical and sometimes you'll just want to have a bit of guidance walking through it. If you take a look and think you know what, this isn't for me. Then by all means go and find someone who knows what they're doing in order for them to do it for you. There are lots of agencies out there and they will be able to manage your adverts for you.

I really hope this has helped you understand the main differences between just hitting that boost button and creating an advert from scratch within ads manager. Thank you once again for listening to the podcast, it is so appreciated. As always, if you have any questions then I would love to hear them. Why not come along to my Facebook page, Teresa Heath-Wareing and I would love to help you out. Until next time, take care.

Key Takeaways Covered In The Podcast

Facebook is a “pay to play” platform now. If you want people to see your posts, you need to pay for it.

With an ad, you can set an objective. This tells Facebook what you want to achieve, and it picks the audience that has the propensity for doing the thing that matches your objective.

Facebook is an amazing aggregator of data about people, which allows you to hyper-target your ads.

An ad offers many more call-to- action button options.

Boosting a post doesn’t allow you to split-test, which is unfortunate. Split-testing allows you to ensure you aren’t wasting money, which is important when determining how to spend your marketing dollars.

The one thing you need to remember above all else…

There is a difference between hitting “boost” and going into Facebook Ads Manager and creating an actual ad. By working within Ads Manager, you gain greater control over your ad, your audience and your outcome, which can make a great impact on your business’s bottom line.

Highlights You Simply Can’t Miss

Why you really need to pay for advertising on Facebook – 2:22

The main differences between boosting a post and creating an advert – 4:08

How the CTA button language can make a huge difference in your ad – 8:47

Examples for simple ways to split-test Facebook ads – 10:19

Where to look for ideas to create posts around – 8:50

Your next steps for creating a Facebook ad – 12:10

Links to Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Facebook ad creation tool

Rick Mulready, Facebook advertising guru

Want the full transcript?

Click to Download!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

 

• “An hour of planning can save 10 hours of doing.” — Dale Carnegie
• One of the key aspects of social media is consistency. You need to show up every day.
• You need variety in your posts to keep your followers engaged.
• The assets you use with your social posts are just as important as the content itself.
• You need to be present on your social channels! You can’t just post and ignore.
• The better you can get to know your audience, the better you can create content that will interest them.
• The more you post content that provokes engagement, the more people you’ll reach.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

 

The more you engage your audience and the more targeted you get at connecting with your audience with the right type of content, the greater reach you will have. Better reach will encourage the social platforms to deliver more of your content to your audience.HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

 

• An update about how changes in Facebook’s algorithms will affect how your content app – 01:55
• Recommendations and words of warning regarding how to handle the content you publish – 04:30
• The 4-stage process for identifying content needs – 06:31
• The reason it’s important you understand who your target audience are – 07:06
• Where to look for ideas to create posts around – 08:50
• How social media really works – 12:39
• How to create assets—what you’ll use to put posts on social media – 13:30
• Tips for scheduling your posts – 15:59

 

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

 

• MeetEdgar
• WordSwag
• Canva
• Buffer

Transcript below

 

Hello, and a really warm welcome to episode four of the Social Media Marketing Made Simple podcast. And I'm your host, Teresa Heath-Wareing. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so glad you decided to download the podcast and give it a listen.

As you know, this is a brand new venture for me and it's only episode #4 of the podcast. I sat down and thought about what is it I'm going to talk about on this podcast, what am I going to teach you, and what valuable information can I give you that's going to help you market your businesses better generally and on social media.

I thought back to all the questions that I get asked all the time when I'm speaking to marketers and entrepreneurs like yourself. And one of the thing that I constantly get asked about and that people struggle with is how do we come up with content to put out on social media day after day, week after week. You know what? I'm not going to lie to you. This isn't the easiest task that we have.

Coming up with creative and interesting content can be difficult and even more so when you think about the recent changes that have been taking place with the algorithms. Basically, the rules in which things like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram decide what content they're going to show to what people.

 

An update about how changes in Facebook’s algorithms will affect how your content app

 

If you saw my Facebook Live a few weeks back, it's on my Teresa Heath-Wareing Facebook page, you would've seen that I did live talking about the recent changes in Facebook.

Basically, the short version is that Facebook are going to be giving more priority to content that engages people and provokes a conversation. If your content that you're putting out there is not getting much engagement and people aren't commenting or sharing, then the chances are less and less people are going to see your content. It's more important than ever that we think about how we can create engaging and interesting content for our social media platforms.

Today, I have decided to do a podcast on how we go about creating content. I'm going to take you through my step-by-step guide to coming up with and planning my content for social media. Don't worry, I know if you're anything like me, you are probably listening to this podcast while driving, doing school run, getting ready in the morning and therefore, you probably don't have a pen and paper to hand. No problem, I have put together a handy step-by-step plan, which you can download. Head back to the podcast page on the website teresaheathwareing.com and you will find that guide that you can download.

Let's dive straight in and get started. I saw a great quote the other day that sums up this whole exercise in one. "An hour of planning can save ten hours of doing," and this couldn't be more right than when it comes to creating content for social media. Who sat for hours trying to come up with something for social media or days have gone by and you've suddenly thought, "Oh, gosh, I haven't posted for days." I'm sure there's an awful lot of us out there. This is why we spend the effort to plan and schedule our content.

Unfortunately, one of the key things on social media is consistency, and about showing up every single day. I totally get it. Coming up with something every single day to post on social media is hard. But by putting together a plan, it's going to save you time and it's going to ensure that you've got variety on your page because no one wants to see a dull social media page putting out the same content day in, day out.

 

Recommendations and words of warning regarding how to handle the content you publish

 

So, I use my four-step process in order to plan and schedule social media content. But before we get into that, there's just a couple of kind of things that I want you to think about, consider, maybe call them words of warning. When you're scheduling content and coming up with a plan for content, you want to make sure that you do have a mix of scheduled and natural content.

Now, if you are scheduling content and you're not doing the natural stuff, it's unlikely to be as interesting as one that has a mix of both. What I mean is a scheduled post might be, "Here's a blog post that I did or here is a USP or a testimonial," or something like that. A natural post might be, "Look, here's me at an event me, or here's the latest thing come off the production line." Those are the natural posts and they do tend to be more interesting because they seem more real.

Also, scheduling and planning content doesn't mean, "That's it. I can post it. I'm never going to social media again." It's all about being present, making sure that you are there on those social media platforms. The scheduling and the content planning is purely to help you manage your time. However, you can't just post and ignore. You've got make sure you're there as well.

And also, don't over-repeat. Make sure you're not putting the same content over and over and over again. Now, I know that there are several platforms like that, platforms like Meet Edgar. I'll put a link to this in my show notes, that will recycle your content for you. You basically put it a load of content and it will post out and when it gets to the end, it shuffles it and sends it back out again.

You know what? This can be really helpful. However, you have got to have an awful lot of content and able to do that so that it doesn't look like you're throwing it the same thing over and over again. Then also be ready to stop and change at kind of any point. If something happens in the news or something might not be appropriate anymore or it's out of date, then obviously, again, you can't just schedule stuff and think, "That's it. I don't need to worry about it anymore."

 

The 4-stage process for identifying content needs

 

Okay, onto the four-stage process. These four stages are stage one, understand your audience. Stage two, brainstorm your content. Stage three, create your assets, and stage four, schedule your posts. If you don't understand any of these stages, no problem. I'm going to talk you through them.

 

The reason it’s important you understand who your target audience are

 

Let's get started. Stage one, know your audience. Now, I have to apologise. If anybody has ever seen me talk or listen to other content or seen Facebook lives, you will know that I go on about this an awful lot, and it's because I can't stress how important it is that you know who you're talking to, because you can have the best content in the world but if it's talking to the wrong audience, then you're never going to engage the people that you want.

Someone once said it's like putting a billboard in a desert and I couldn't agree more. You really have to get to understand who is it that your target audience are, who are you trying to speak to and I don't just want to know are they male or female, how old are they, where do they live. I want you to think about all the details. I want you to even go to the effort of finding a photo that you think depicts the person that you're trying to target. I want you to think of a name. I want you to think, do they have children? What kind of job do they have? What type of house might they live in? What clothes do they wear? Where do they go food shopping? What motivates them? What do they do on a weekend? What cars do they drive? What are their aspirations and dreams?

I want you to try and get down really deep and understand who is it that you're talking to because the better you can get to know them, the better you can create content that's going to interest them. And I really want you to take some time doing this. I want you to really sit down and think about it, because you know what? This is going to help every single parts of your social media and your marketing for your business.

And also, it's not just about that you might have won, we call them avatar target market. You might have multiple target markets. It might be that for different products, you have different people. Don't feel like you've got to squeeze everybody into that one box. If it is more than one person, then that's fine but you just need to understand who is it that you're talking to.

 

Where to look for ideas to create posts around

 

Once you have figured out who is it you're talking, you can then move on to the next step. Step two, brainstorm content. When it comes to this step, I make sure that I have enough time to sit and focus on creating content without any interruptions. I find that my brain works better when I'm doing things batched together. If I'm hoping to go from writing a proposal or putting together a speech to then trying to drop into create some content, I find it much more difficult. Whereas if I sit down and I think about, "Okay, I need 14 posts or 7 posts." I find that much, much easier.

Instead, I just want you to think about all the ideas that you might have for content and write them all down. They don't have to be full post. They just need to be ideas of the types of posts you might want. I would be thinking about what blogs do you have. Have you got what we would call evergreen blogs that it doesn't matter whether it goes out today or goes out in six months' time. It's still the same correct content.

Think about tips or hints and the questions that you get asked all the time, how can you be of value to people? How can you support them and give them information that they're going to want to know? Also don't forget to tell them things like, did you knows, any awards and accolades. Then, you want to be social. You want to do the more entertaining part. Videos, jokes, don't forget seasonal stuff. We've not long had Valentine's and Mother's Day and therefore, make sure you include some of those posts as well.

Then, obviously, you're going to include some posts around the more selling side of it. You're going to give them your USPs. You're going to talk about service offerings, competitions, any offers that you might have and you're going to be a bit more direct in your calls to action. You're going to ask them to click to your websites or you can ask them to download something or look at something.

Like I said, we sat here. We're coming up with these many ideas as you can possibly think about. Also, on another note, don't just think about your business and what you're trying to sell or your service. Think like the person that is going to be receiving the content. I had a great example when I was talking to a lady who [inaudible 00:11:07] really lovely online shop with gifts and cards and bags and little trinkets and things. We talked about her customer, who was her ideal customer or who is the customer that seems to be coming and purchasing the most.

We kind of drilled down the fact that it was a woman. She was probably a mom or married and she was buying gifts for herself and her husband and children and she had the responsibility of finding those lovely unique and different things. Therefore, we talked about the content that she was posting on social media because she was posting a lot of product content. I said to her, "Okay, so think about if you're talking a woman who's 30-year-old, got children, very busy, running around, what kind of content would be of interest to her?"

She changed her entire outlook on social media and this lovely lady started to post things around running around after the children, looking after the children, trying to get everything done, really finding memes and interesting content that would make you smile or laugh or that you could relate to. You know what? Her social media posts went through the roof because she got under the skin and understood who it was she was speaking to and showed them content. Okay, you might sat there thinking, "Well, what's the point in that? I'm going to be sharing them jokes or memes or videos about funny bits of content but it's not about what I sell or what I do."

 

How social media really works

 

But the point is the way that the algorithm works, the way that social works is they want you to engage people, and the more you engage people and the more you interest people, the more they're going to show all of your content to them. If you've done a couple of really good posts that have been funny and got good reach, then suddenly, when you then do a salesy post or you then do a post that's talking about a product or a service, then you're going to get better reach on that one because you've been providing them with good content.

Also, don't panic. I have put together a list of possible content ideas that you can use that is on the download of the four steps back on the website. We are now onto step three, so we've done step one, which is finding out who your audience is. Step two, coming up with lots of ideas for content and I am going to give you some ideas as well in the download.

 

How to create assets—what you’ll use to put posts on social media

 

And now, step three. This is all about creating assets and if you don't know what I mean by assets, no problem. This is basically the stuff that you're going to use in order to put your post on social media. Are you going to have an image with it? Are you going to do it as a video? Are you going to find an interesting GIF which is basically just a slightly moving image that would go with the concept that you're talking about? Have you got photos or slideshows or graphical elements that you've created?

The assets are almost just as important as the content itself. When was the last time you were scrolling through your social media platform, having a look at it and a text-only post jumped out to you. Not very often. However, how many times have you scrolled through and seen a picture that stood out to you or a video that's caught your attention? An awful lot more, I should imagine.

You've come up with some great content. You've thought some great things to share on your pages and now, you need to create an asset for them. Like I said, it might just be an image. It might be a video. It might be a GIF, but it's really important to think about how you're creating those assets. Now, there's loads of different social media design tools out there that you can use. And a couple of my favourites are Word Swag. This is an app that you can download to your phone where you can create kind of like quote memes so you've got a background image and you got text on the front.

If something you want to say is text-only, then that could be great to produce those. And they're really simple and quick. I'll put a link to that up in the show notes. And also, one of my favourites, and I know that every time I show this to people they love it, is Canva. Now, Canva is an online tool. Again, I will put a link in my show notes and it's amazing. The stuff you can do with it, it's so creative. They give you lots of ideas. You can store colours.

There's a paid version. If you pay for the paid version, you can upload fonts. You can save your branding. But the free version is still fantastic and it's so good and creative that you can create some really lovely images in there as well. Then, obviously, there's loads of online apps that you can use to create little short videos and of course, don't forget going live is super important as well.

 

Tips for scheduling your posts

 

Last but not least, we are now onto step four, scheduling your posts. You know what you're going to be talking about. You've created some lovely images or videos or fonts and GIFs that go along nicely and now, you need to actually schedule it. Now, there are many ways that you can do this. You can do a very basic level where you create an Excel spreadsheet or you literally have a Dropbox with your asset saved in and you have an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document where you've got all of the actual post content itself and you just go in every day and you grab it.

Or, you could use something a little bit more sophisticated where they can actually schedule the post for you. Now, I mentioned Meet Edgar previously. Like I said, that's the one that does the recycling of your posts and I wouldn't recommend using the Edgar until you have at least 60, 70, 80 posts because if you're putting out say, three or four posts a day on Twitter, you're going to burn through that content pretty quickly and you don't want people to keep thinking you're putting the same content out over and over.

Meet Edgar is good if you've got that high level of content. If you're wanting to schedule your content week to week or a few weeks in advance, which is probably what I would suggest to do, then you want to be perhaps looking at something like either Content Cow, Buffer or HootSuite.

Now, I know HootSuite is super popular. I have to say it's not my favourite for no reason other than the fact of I think you just get used to certain platforms in the way they look and I like to have very simple platforms. I'm a very simple person. But I like to see simple things. So, for me, something like Buffer and Content Cow are much more simple layout and much easier to understand but they do a really good job.

I will put links to all of these in the show notes, and basically, all you're doing is you're uploading your image. You're writing your text and you link your accounts to these platforms and you decide what time and day you would like that post to go out. Then, as if by magic...

Key Takeaways Covered In The Podcast

“An hour of planning can save 10 hours of doing.” — Dale Carnegie

One of the key aspects of social media is consistency. You need to show up every day.

You need variety in your posts to keep your followers engaged.

The assets you use with your social posts are just as important as the content itself.

You need to be present on your social channels! You can’t just post and ignore.

The better you can get to know your audience, the better you can create content that will interest them.

The more you post content that provokes engagement, the more people you’ll reach.

The one thing you need to remember above all else…

The more you engage your audience and the more targeted you get at connecting with your audience with the right type of content, the greater reach you will have. Better reach will encourage the social platforms to deliver more of your content to your audience.

Highlights You Simply Can’t Miss

An update about how changes in Facebook’s algorithms will affect how your content app – 1:55

Recommendations and words of warning regarding how to handle the content you publish – 4:30

The 4-stage process for identifying content needs – 6:31

The reason it’s important you understand who your target audience are – 7:06

Where to look for ideas to create posts around – 8:50

How social media really works – 12:39

How to create assets—what you’ll use to put posts on social media – 13:30

Tips for scheduling your posts – 15:59

Links to Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode

MeetEdgar

WordSwag

Canva

ContentCal

Buffer

Want the full transcript?

Click to Download!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

• How often do you go back to reviewing your social profiles to ensure they’re filled in correctly?
• Your profile is your chance to make a great impression on your target audience. You’re brilliant—show it!
• By completely filling out your business’s page information, you will get more eyes on your business and gain greater engagement.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day upkeep of your social media marketing efforts. But sometimes you need to step back and make a broader review of your accounts. To help you keep your pages current and accurate, set up a regular schedule to review your business information. At THW Marketing, we review our page information about once a quarter. We recommend you do the same, at a minimum.HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

• The best profile picture for a business profile – 01:53
• How to make the most of your cover photo – 02:48
• The 3-second rule in social media – 03:37
• Why it’s important to be thoughtful about your About section, especially when it comes to using keywords – 04:39
• The one item on your Page that will allow you to get greater engagement from your audience – 06:32
• Looking to the very near future: Facebook Messenger as a fantastic marketing tool – 07:23

Transcript below

 

 

Hello and welcome to episode number three of the Social Media Marketing Made Simple podcast, and I am your host, Teresa Heath-Wareing. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so pleased you decided to download the podcast and give it a listen.

Basically for those who don't know, I am doing a regular podcast where I am talking about social media marketing and how you can use it for your business. But for today's episode, I just want to take you back to basics for a little bit. Sometimes I think it's really important to go back to the beginning. We talk about all these amazing fancy things that all these social media profiles can now do. But when was the last time you went back to your Facebook page and looked at it as if you were new to the page, and as if you didn't know what your business did. So that's what I would like to do with you today. I'd like us to go back, have a look at the page, and I am going to talk you through some of the key areas that you may have missed when you set up your page. Because often when you first set up your page, you're more interested in getting the page up and running, and not so interested in perhaps making sure that it's all filled in correctly.

And you know, this isn't something I just do ad hoc. This is something I go back and check at least once a quarter. Just to make sure that all the information is correct and that I'm happy with what's still on there. So I am just going to talk you through Facebook today, and I'm going to go through some of the key areas that you might want to have a look at, to make sure that your page is as well-optimized as it can be.

 

The best profile picture for a business profile

 

So let's start with the real basics and start looking at your profile picture. Now, as a business page, I would suggest that your profile picture needs to be your logo. But obviously not just your logo. Take a look at your logo. Does it fit nicely into a square? If it doesn't, make sure that it's not stretched or cropped or distorted in any way. You may even want to think about having a chat with a graphic designer or whoever does your design work and make sure that your logo has a nice square format available to it. And make sure that it's as striking as it possibly can be within that square. Because obviously when people are looking down their timelines, that square is really quite small. So if you have a very detailed logo, people are going to find it difficult to see what it is. So just double-check. Is it bold, and can it be seen from a tiny avatar square?

 

How to make the most of your cover photo

 

The next area I'd like you to go and have a look at is your cover photo. This is the big image at the top of your page. Now this is an area that people do not make the most of. Obviously businesses. This is basically your biggest advert on the page. And what you will find is sometimes people come and visit your page to look at it because maybe they're doing due diligence or just checking you out. But they might not actually engage with the page, so unless you're looking at your insights, which tells you how many page views you've had, you might not think that you're getting much interaction, whereas you are. And therefore one of the key things that they are going to see, is this cover image. Like I said, it's the biggest image on the page, and it's in a real key position. So you need to think about how you can make the most of it.

 

The 3-second rule in social media

 

When I do training with people, we always talk about the Three Second Rule. So if I come to your page, and I don't know who you are or what you do, can I work it out within about three seconds? The reason I say this is because people are so impatient, that if they come to your page, and they can't work out whether you're for them or not, then you might risk them just disappearing off. So make sure that cover photo has a really good, striking image, and it has text on the image that tells them who you are, and what you do.

The cover image is also a perfect opportunity to promote something that you might have going on. So if you have a competition, a new deal, you've just launched something. Then absolutely put that in that cover photo position. And you should make sure that you're trying to update your cover photo as much as possible. We try and do ours about once a quarter, but if you can do it more, then absolutely great, please do so.

 

Why it’s important to be thoughtful about your About section, especially when it comes to using keywords

 

The next area I would like you to take a look at is the About section. The About section is something that you fill in when you first set up a page. And like I said, it's probably something that not many people go back and revisit. Now, the reason the About section's really important is because there's a couple of opportunities in that page, where you've got something called the About Information and also Story.

Now in these two areas, you're going to be able to write who you are and what you do. And it's really important to make sure that you get some keywords in there. So what I mean by key word is the word that someone would type into Google if they were looking for your service. So for instance, we are social media and marketing consultants, trainers and speakers. So those are our keywords. So when you visit our Facebook page, in our About section, that's what it says. But it actually says, "Marketing and social media consultant, social media trainer, social media speaker."

So I'm trying to get as many keywords in there as possible. But also it's your opportunity to sell yourself. Again tell people why you're brilliant, why is it that they want to use this service. And if you can, try and include a call to action, so that the bottom of your story in your About information you encourage them to perhaps drop you a message, or go to your website.

Also while you're in that About section, make sure you have a look at some of the other bits of information that you can fill in. So have you included your contact details, your website, your email address? Have you said whether you've got a menu, if you're a restaurant? Have you made sure you've put what services you're under? Have you put your opening hours? Is there any parking? There's loads of information you can put there about your business. So just have a quick look and make sure you've answered all the questions.

 

The one item on your Page that will allow you to get greater engagement from your audience

 

And the last area I want you to go and have a look at and just make sure that you've done, is under your cover photo, there is a big button to the right hand side, that on mine says, Contact Us, and this is a call to action button. Now this call to action button is great. Because it means that people can do something directly from your page, and you can have lots of different options for this call to action button.

So for instance, you can have things like "book now", "get in touch" by either "call now", and actually what's great with the "call now" button is if you are on a mobile and you hit "call now", then it's going to call them directly, it's going to literally just say "call the number" and they just have to hit okay. So that "call now" if you're a local business, can be really, really effective. You can also do things like "contact us, send a message".

 

Looking to the very near future: Facebook Messenger as a fantastic marketing tool

 

Messenger is something that I am going to be talking more and more about as we go on, and in future podcasts, because Messenger in Facebook is what's turning out to be a fantastic marketing tool. There's been amazing stats and things around this. So actually sending people to your Messenger might be a really wise idea at this point, just so you can start interacting with people through Messenger.

But that's another option. You can have things like "sign up", "get a quote", "learn more". There's loads and loads of different options. Also things like download an app, or a game, and even for charities, there's "make a donation". So definitely have a look at that call to action button, and make sure that you put the most appropriate one there for your business. Then what you're going to see in Insights in the analytics, you're going to be able to see how many people actually clicked that button and did what you asked them to do.

I really hope you found this podcast useful. I know we've been back to basics and it might seem a bit simple. But sometimes it's really worth just revisiting these things. Now, what I've done for you, is if you have listened to this and thought, "Great, okay, but actually I'm not sure where you're talking about, or how I get to that bit." Then I have recorded a short video for you just showing you where you can go and change all these various things that I've talked about. So head back to the podcast page, and just click on the video there to download it. I really hope you've enjoyed today's podcast, and have a fantastic week, and I will hopefully see you again soon.

Key Takeaways Covered In The Podcast

How often do you go back to reviewing your social profiles to ensure they’re filled in correctly?

Your profile is your chance to make a great impression on your target audience. You’re brilliant—show it!

By completely filling out your business’s page information, you will get more eyes on your business and gain greater engagement.

The one thing you need to remember above all else…

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day upkeep of your social media marketing efforts. But sometimes you need to step back and make a broader review of your accounts. To help you keep your pages current and accurate, set up a regular schedule to review your business information. At THW Marketing, we review our page information about once a quarter. We recommend you do the same, at a minimum.

Highlights You Simply Can’t Miss

The best profile picture for a business profile – 1:53

How to make the most of your cover photo – 2:48

The 3-second rule in social media – 3:37

Why it’s important to be thoughtful about your About section, especially when it comes to using keywords – 4:39

The one item on your Page that will allow you to get greater engagement from your audience – 6:32

Looking to the very near future: Facebook Messenger as a fantastic marketing tool – 7:23

Want the full transcript?

Click to Download!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

 

• Social media marketing is an incredibly effective means of remaining constantly in touch with your audience.
• You need a means of staying in touch with your social media audience should social media disappear tomorrow.
• Lead magnets are an effective means of gathering more data about your audience, allowing you to remain in contact with that audience outside of social platforms.
• Landing pages are the best tool to use when distributing your lead magnets

 

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

 

All your social media efforts occur on borrowed ground. You do not own the social media platforms you advertise on. You need to be prepared to remain engaged with your social media followers through other means. One of the best ways to do this is to offer lead magnets on your social profiles, which allow your followers to gain something of value in exchange for giving you their email addresses.

 

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

 

• The one question you need to ask yourself about your social media marketing efforts – 00:51
• What a lead magnet is – 02:45
• 9 types of easy-to-create lead magnets – 03:06
• The 7 things that will make your lead magnet enticing and engaging – 04:13
• Amy Porterfield’s best tip for creating amazing lead magnets – 05:23
• Why it’s okay to not worry about “giving away your expertise” via lead magnets – 05:50
• Learn how landing pages can improve conversions for your lead magnets, especially by using the great tool known as LeadPages – 06:47
• The new marketing opportunities you gain by building your email list – 08:16

Transcript below

 

Hello, and welcome to the second episode of Social Media Marketing Made Simple Podcast, and I'm your host, Teresa Heath-Wareing. Thank you so much for joining me for what is just my second episode on my podcast, and today, I'm really excited to share with you, some new techniques and tips that I've been learning, through a course that I've just completed with Leadpages. I am now certified as a conversion marketing expert with Leadpages, so I wanted to share some of their thoughts, and some of the things I learned with you today.

 

The one question you need to ask yourself about your social media marketing efforts

 

Before I get started, though, I wanted to ask you a question. What would you do if social media stopped tomorrow? I'll just let you think about that for a minute, because that's a big question to ask. If there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no LinkedIn, what would you do, and what would happen to your business?

I've spent the last three years solidly working on Twitter, as one of my platforms that I market through, and I'm lucky now that I have over 10,000 followers, which is great. Really pleased about that. However, what if tomorrow, I broke one of their terms and conditions, and they shut my account, or if Twitter just decided, "I don't want to do this anymore," and therefore they decided to close Twitter down, what would happen to those 10,000 people that were following me, and how would I get access to them?

Please don't get me wrong, social media is still super important, and is a great tool for getting your company out to people that perhaps don't know you, using things like Facebook advertising, talking to people on Twitter, making connections through LinkedIn can be a fantastic way of telling people that you exist, and marketing your business.

However, you are marketing on borrowed ground. This ground does not belong to you. Facebook make up their rules, LinkedIn make up their rules, and as algorithms change, and as rules around advertising changes, you might have to think of ways of getting those connections that you make off those platforms, and into your own email database, so that you can market to them directly.

 

What a lead magnet is

 

So, on a very simple term, you are trying to get their email address from them, but you've got to give them a good reason, in order for them to hand it over. That reason is going to be something called a lead magnet.

Now, what a lead magnet is, is something that you're giving away, that is of value, and when I say of value, I don't necessarily mean something physical in all cases. It can be some information, but you're giving it away for free, in order to attract people to your business, and with the ultimate goal of handing over their email address.

 

9 types of easy-to-create lead magnets

 

So, what can a lead magnet be? Well, it can be loads of different things. It could be something like a how-to guide, a worksheet, a handout, some template, an ebook. It could be a discount off a product. It might be something like an email mini-course, or if you're a consultant of some sort, it might be a free Skype call, or a free coaching session. It can be any one of these things. It just has to be of value to the person that you're offering it to.

Because the idea behind it is that if someone will go to the effort of giving you their email address, for some information, they're obviously interested in your product, or what you sell, or your service.

Also, to help you out, I've put together a list of different ideas, of lead magnets that you can do, so if you want this list, then please head back to the page on the podcast, and download that list there.

Okay, so you've decided that you're going to do a lead magnet of some sort. You've decided it might be a handout, or a worksheet, or whatever it is, but now you've got to put that content together, and I have got seven tips in which will help you ensure that your content is the best type of content that you can provide, and that you're going to get people downloading it, and giving you their email addresses.

 

The 7 things that will make your lead magnet enticing and engaging

 

Tip one, solve a problem. Your content has to solve a problem that your customer or prospective customer might have, so what is it that they have problems with, that your service, or your product helps them to solve? So focus on it from a you're trying to help them, and you're trying to solve a problem from them, so make sure that your content solves some kind of problem for them.

Tip two, you need to be specific. If you want someone to download something, you're going to have to be really clear what it is that you're providing them, to make sure they understand, and that they are compelled to download it.

Tip three, make sure it's easy to understand. If they don't understand what it is you're giving them, again, they're going to have difficulty handing over their email address, in order to get whatever it is that you're providing.

 

Amy Porterfield’s best tip for creating amazing lead magnets

 

Tip four is it needs to be too good to give away. Now, the theory behind this has actually come from Amy Porterfield, who has an amazing product. She does courses, and she really does provide a really good product, but her thoughts around this is that if someone is looking at some content of yours, and it is so good, they're going to think, "Wow, if this is what she give away for free, what on Earth would I get if I actually signed up to something, or took her service?"

 

Why it’s okay to not worry about “giving away your expertise” via lead magnets

 

I know that when I've spoken to clients about this in the past, they always get really nervous about giving away their best information, potentially that a competitor might see it, or that it's just sort of giving away their sort of Crown Jewels, or their secrets, or whatever it is, but please do not be concerned about it, because actually, what you find is that as you give away this information, as you help people, and support them to, in my case improve their businesses, or better market their businesses, they're going to become to trust you, and like you more, so if they do need your service, they will come back to you.

Tip number five, it needs to be immediate, so this is where landing pages, and Leadpages, who I talked about earlier, come in, because what Leadpages do is they enable you to create this process, so once I have my content, I can upload it to Leadpages, and I can create a landing page.

 

Learn how landing pages can improve conversions for your lead magnets, especially by using the great tool known as LeadPages

 

Now, landing pages are really important, because when you advertise, say a lead magnet on something like Facebook, you will want them to click through to somewhere, in order to get it, but if you just sent them to your website, they might get distracted. They might start looking at something else, and they might forget to actually download the thing they came over to your site to do.

So that's where landing pages come in really, really handy, and have been proven to convert things better. So, you would create a landing page that effectively just talks about the content that you're giving away. The other thing that lead pages can do is that they can make it immediate, so once someone's completed a form on your landing page, there is a way in which Leadpages can send that information to them straight away, so they're not having to wait at all, in order to get the thing that they've been enticed to download.

Tip number six is it needs to prove that you are an expert. No good giving away content that people might want, but actually doesn't prove you know what you're talking about in your sector, so make sure that whatever it is you're giving away proves that you know what you're talking about.

And tip number seven, make sure that it's easy to access, so don't have any long forms, with lots of information required, or anything like that. This needs to be as simple and as quick a process as possible, in order to engage as many people, and convert as many people as possible.

 

The new marketing opportunities you gain by building your email list

 

So, if you do this properly, you will start filling your funnel with people who are interested in you, and interested in the services that you provide. It's a great way of building your database. And of course, just because you've got them on your email list, does not mean that you need to stop interacting with them on social. Please continue there, and also you can now do really smart stuff, like you could use your email database, to create a custom audience in Facebook, and advertise back to them, because these are your strongest leads.

So, today was just a bit of an introduction about what lead magnets are, so I would urge you to go and have a look at Leadpages. Also, head back to my page, where the podcast is, and download that list of different ideas of potential lead magnets that you can use for your business.

Then, over the next few weeks, we will obviously be discussing lots of different areas of social media marketing, but also, areas around creating your database in order to market to them, through things like lead magnets. I hope you've enjoyed it, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.

Key Takeaways Covered In The Podcast

Social media marketing is an incredibly effective means of remaining constantly in touch with your audience.

You need a means of staying in touch with your social media audience should social media disappear tomorrow.

Lead magnets are an effective means of gathering more data about your audience, allowing you to remain in contact with that audience outside of social platforms.

Landing pages are the best tool to use when distributing your lead magnets

The one thing you need to remember above all else…

All your social media efforts occur on borrowed ground. You do not own the social media platforms you advertise on. You need to be prepared to remain engaged with your social media followers through other means. One of the best ways to do this is to offer lead magnets on your social profiles, which allow your followers to gain something of value in exchange for giving you their email addresses.

Highlights You Simply Can’t Miss

The one question you need to ask yourself about your social media marketing efforts – 0:51

What a lead magnet is – 2:45

9 types of easy-to-create lead magnets – 3:06

The 7 things that will make your lead magnet enticing and engaging – 4:13

Amy Porterfield’s best tip for creating amazing lead magnets – 5:23

Why it’s okay to not worry about “giving away your expertise” via lead magnets – 5:50

Learn how landing pages can improve conversions for your lead magnets, especially by using the great tool known as LeadPages – 6:47

The new marketing opportunities you gain by building your email list – 8:16

Links to Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode

LeadPages

Want the full transcript?

Click to Download!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

• Video is a great way to put across who you are and what you do in a short space of time in a way people can easily understand.
• Live video cuts out all the middlemen! There’s no need for recording studios, video editors and others. (This also cuts out a lot of expenses tied to professionally made videos).
• Live video allows you to truly be authentic and make stronger connections with your audience.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…Social media has changed drastically over the years. What was once run by text is now being taken over by video marketing. You need to make sure you start taking advantage of this marketing tool to remain competitive in the social media world.HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

• Learn the stats that prove video is the marketing method of now – 03:42
• Sample ideas for you to record on live video – 04:17
• How video allows you to make more authentic connections via social media – 06:21
• Things you need to get right before you start recording – 07:30
• How to avoid the pitfalls of reading from a script – 08:19

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

• Teresa’s Facebook page
• Teresa’s Twitter page
• Belive.tv

Transcript below

 

Hello, a massive welcome to the first ever Social Media Marketing Made Easy podcast. I'm your host, Teresa Heath-Wareing. I am so excited to have you here today. I can't wait to share with you some fantastic marketing and social media tips that are going to take your business to the next level. But before we get started, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Teresa, and I'm going to be your host on this podcast. This podcast is going to be kept kind of short and sweet. I'm not going to be going on for ages. What I want it to be, is some really good tips and advice, and nuggets of information that you can listen to quickly, and then you can take away and can use in your own business every single day.

The focus for today's podcast is going to be all around live video, and why you should be using it for your business today. But before we get started on that, I just wanted to really quickly introduce to you who I am. I have been working in marketing and social media for the past 13 years. I have a degree in marketing. I'm also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketers. But about four years ago, I started to see the benefit of social media for businesses, and I started looking at how they could use it to market their business. I decided to go and find some of the most amazing people in the world who knew what they were talking about with social media, and I started to be trained by them.

I've done courses online with people like Mari Smith and Kim Garst and Amy Porterfield. I've worked really, really hard over the past few years to really understand social media and how it can benefit your business. I've also written a book, and I do speaking and training. I love it. It's one of the most fantastic jobs I've ever had, and it really does benefit businesses. I am so excited to share with you some of these great tips and advice.

Why am I so excited about live video, and so keen for you to do it in your business? Well, social media and marketing has changed phenomenally in the past few years. What started off as predominately text and then moved on to images, is now moving with the times, and video is the way to go. I love video. It's a great way of putting across who you are and what you do in a very short space of time, that people can quickly understand. Live video is even better because you don't have to hire a film studio, you don't have to get professionals, you don't have to make sure that it's edited and beautiful. Live video is very authentic, and it's open to everybody. That's the beauty of it. It doesn't matter what size your business is, whether it's massive or whether it's teeny-tiny, anybody can go live and do live video. It doesn't cost them a thing. You can put it out there and show people what you do and how you do it, and it's fantastic.

I'm going to take you through why you should do live video. I'm going to give you a few ideas around types of live videos that you can do. I'm also going to give you some tips and things to think about, that if you are going to do live video, some of the ideas that I've got that might help you do it better. Now, I've also put together a sheet for you with 10 ideas that you can use in your business that you can do Facebook Live with, or live video through Twitter. Please go back to the page and download those tips, and get started straight away.

Learn the stats that prove video is the marketing method of now

 

Why video? There are lots of amazing stats out there, like 70% of people that view brands in a more positive light after they've watched a video from them, and one minute video is worth 1.8 million words. There's no doubt that video is a really fantastic marketing tool, but also it gets a much higher reach than any other post at the moment. So if you put a video out on Facebook, then it's going to be shown to more people than if you just put a text or a link or a photo. What sort of things can we do on live video? Possibilities are endless. There are so many things that you can do.

Sample ideas for you to record on live video

 

You really want to personalise this to your business, but some of the really great ideas that you can have are things like, you can do a behind the scenes, so show people if you're getting ready for an event. If you're a cook and you're preparing for a dinner or whatever it might be, then show people, go on live and say "I'm getting ready for this. This is what's happening right now." Product demos. These are fantastic. If you've got a product and it's either a new product or it's a product and it's existing, go on and show people how to use it. It's a really great way that people can interact. Also, invite people to ask you questions about the product and about how you're using it. Questions and answers, these are brilliant. If you're in a service industry, if you're offering a service, this is something that I do, so please go and check out my Facebook page, and I go on and I do live videos where I talk and answer people's questions. These are great.

Things like competition launches or sneak previews. What a fantastic way to announce to the world you're doing something new. By telling people "Come on to the page at 10 o'clock tomorrow, and I am going to be sharing with you something very exciting and something brand new, never seen before," or "We've got something really fantastic to share with you," this is a really lovely way of going live and sharing some really good information with people.

You can also do things like interviews. If you're in an industry where you're an expert or you are a service industry, then you can interview other people. You can also interview some customers. What a great testimonial, that if you have just delivered a product or delivered a service to some customers, and you go live and they say to your audience "Yeah, that was great. It was fantastic." There is nothing more authentic than that.

How video allows you to make more authentic connections via social media

 

I keep coming back to this word "authentic". In marketing it's always been important, but now I think it's more important than ever. We are online so much more. We are interfacing with people digitally, and we're not seeing so much of one-to-one going into a shop, having a conversation. This is one of the ways in which we build trust to do business with people, is that if we feel they're authentic and they're real, then obviously we are more likely to want to do business with them. So going live, there is nothing more authentic than that.

Also, another idea of a live video could be a day in the life of. If you have a big business, or you have business with different roles, then why not let a member of your team go live and explain what they do?

What are some of the things that you need to think about if you're going to do a live video? As I said before, this doesn't have to be perfect, so don't think you need a studio or you need a big microphone or whatever it might be. It can be really authentic.

Things you need to get right before you start recording

 

But there are a few things that you need to just consider before you go live. Think about your surroundings. Try and have good lights. Obviously if you can get natural light, then that's great. Sound is really, really important. They will forgive other things, but if they can't hear what you're saying or it's muffled, you're going to lose them really quickly.

Also, think about being camera-ready. This could mean anything to different people. For me, it's things like, I like my hair to look tidy, I like to have nice make-up on. But I also like to think about my surroundings. What can you see in the background? I don't know about you, but I have watched many a video where I'm too busy looking at what's happening in the background, or that they haven't put away their dirty washing, to actually pay attention to what they're saying.

How to avoid the pitfalls of reading from a script

 

Try really hard not to read a script. Now, this isn't always the easiest thing in the world, and you definitely do need to plan what you're going to be saying, however I think sometimes when you're trying to read a script, you are trying to either remember it and therefore if you forget a bit it completely can throw you off, or people that actually read off something and it's obvious that you're reading.

Another key part of doing live video, is obviously having something interesting to say. Make sure that you have thought about and planned out what you're going to say while you're on live video, so a good intro, who you are, what you do. Then your content, so whatever it is you want to share with the world, and then obviously how you're going to close off, so that hopefully as people sort of drop in and out of the live video, they can get a real feel of whatever it is you're saying is really, really worthwhile.

The other thing that I think is so important to live video, although it is live, is perhaps telling people that you're going to be on. If you know you're going to try and do a live video every week, then tell people "Between two and three on a Friday, I'm going to go live, and I'm going to be talking about different things," so that they can try and plan into their time to come on and see you, because sometimes you'll go on and you'll do live video, and there won't be anybody on, or there might not be many people on. Try not to worry about that. If you just go on as if you're talking to one person, that's the way I like to think about it, I'm talking to one person right there, and as long as I keep that in my head, then it doesn't matter whether you've got people coming on or going, it keeps you focused.

Then one of the last things I'd suggest if you're going to do a live video, is to look at some of the third party systems that are out there. Obviously you can go live from your phone straight from your Pages Manager App on Facebook, or straight from Twitter, but there are some really, really good third party systems that will just add a different element for you. If you take a look on the Resources page of my website, you will see that I talk about a system called BeLive. It's a really cool system where I can use it on my Mac, so I'm sat at my desktop, so I can have some prompts on my other screen that tell me what it is I might be talking about, but then you can put up some text. You can also when someone comments or ask a question, you can also put up their comment and question. That I really, really enjoyed having a go with. I'll be using that again in the future.

Like I said, there is so much to live video, and it really is a fantastic thing to use. I really encourage you all to go on and give it a go. If you're going onto live video, then please come and drop me a message either on our Facebook or on my Twitter page, tell me when you're going to on live, and I'd love to come and watch you. I can't wait to see what brilliant live videos you guys come up with, so please do connect. I've got some great topics coming up in the next few podcasts, and I can't wait to share them with you. Have a great week, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.