Features of Facebook’s Timeline that Suck for Small Business
March 29, 2012
By Bianca Board, Web123
Things change. Contracts come to an end, great TV shows get cancelled, your kids go to university. Hey, that’s life! But for a small business, placing your bets on a single resource means that any drop of change can be a tidal wave.
Facebook recently rolled out massive changes to business pages, and this small business tsunami you might have heard of – Timeline. I’m not usually one to whinge about Facebook changes, but this particular round of forced “upgrades” is particularly unwelcome. While a few of the features are clever and sleek, there are many more that are going to pose major setbacks for small business social media strategy.
Web123's new Timeline
Design
The most talked about part of Facebook Timeline for business pages is the Cover Image: a big, splashy banner that goes across the top of the page. Sure, this is a pretty cool way of showing off a brand, but it presents some major problems for business. Facebook has set some really tight guidelines on what’s allowed in this “digital billboard”.
If you’re like most business owners, the very first thing you would normally do when introducing your business to prospects is tell them about your offerings and share your contact details. With the old Facebook design, this was easily done in your Skyscraper image and Welcome tab. Logical, effective…. Timeline’s Cover Image might be cool to look at, but those “first meeting” details are strictly forbidden from the design: no contact info, no calls to action, no promotions or sales. Further, the Profile Picture is now a tiny 180 x 180. That means there’s space for your logo and nothing more. Sorry about your sales pitch, guys.
The worst part? Like it or not, you’re going to have to convert your Page to this new layout anyway, and you’ve only got until March 30 to get ready. Many small businesses paid good money to have custom designs done for their Facebook Pages. Now with Timeline, the Skyscraper needs to be scrapped and there are other holes in the design that need to be filled before the new layout goes live. We’ve had to rework our offerings and, unfortunately for both us and our clients, the changes are enough that we’re forced to charge a fee to recreate these designs for the new layout. From one small business to the next, it sucks.
Function
Another Feature Fail of the new Facebook is the demise of Default Landing Tabs. Sending new visitors to an enticing, strategic branded image was a powerful way of earning new “likes”. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses worldwide shelled out for custom designs to make their businesses “likeable” – driving traffic and building a fanbase however possible. Timeline drives a near-fatal blow to this high-conversion feature, sadly. The custom designs set up to run through third party apps still work, however they’re a secondary feature that now users must go searching for. If you had multiple third party apps on your Page, your next problem is going to be choosing among them, since you can only have 3 immediately visible in the top row of your Page (excluding Photos) . Easter egg hunt, anyone?
Perhaps it’s Facebook’s way of telling the world that they’re just as sick of the words “fan engagement” as the rest of the digital world is, but they’ve always taken a major swing at how fans interact with businesses. Everyone was initially super excited about being able to send private messages with individuals as your business (think of how much easier it would be to resolve complaints or share pricing information!), but no one ever dreamt that Facebook would be gagging users on brand Pages. In the new Timeline layout, fan comments are no longer a part of the “wall” (I say this in quotations because the Wall as you know it is also now defunct). Anything that an individual user posts to your business Page is now condensed down into a single box blandly labeled “Recent Posts by Others”. Who are these “others”? Facebook business pages used to be about the fans!
It’s a slap in the face as an individual user that my comments are no longer worthy of visibility on a business’s page, and as a business owner I’m tearing my hair out wondering how I’m going to convince fans to spend time on our Page in spite of this gag order.
Timeline coming to business Pages isn’t any real surprise. In fact, there are actually quite a few features like pinned posts that I really like. But being forced into rethinking the cornerstone of small business social strategy with such short notice just plain sucks.
Have you already changed your Page to Timeline? What do you love and hate about it?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY BIANCA BOARD
- Secrets to the Ultimate Online Customer Experience – Turning ‘Search’ into ‘Sold’
- The Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your First Website Date
- How to Create 101 Content Ideas in 60 minutes or less
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Bianca Board – Web123Bianca Board is a self-confessed perfectionist, but that’s a good thing, because as Web123′s chief designer and web strategist, she’s expert at helping small business achieve something that makes money and looks incredible without the designer price tag. With a creative streak that extends to sales, organic gardening, painting, decorating and generally making the world a more beautiful place, Bianca’s the person who will make sure that, along with functioning just as it should, your company’s website will look nothing short of amazing.
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A Copywriter’s Secret To Finding Your Brand Voice
March 5, 2012
By Belinda Weaver, Copywrite Matters
One of the things I ask clients to describe during our copywriting brief is the personality of their brand and the tone needed for the copywriting piece. Your brand personality gives people something to relate to. It also helps to govern what you say, how you say it and where you say it.
Why Should You Bother Defining a Brand Personality?
Your brand is a living entity and you need to think of it as such. When you take the time to assign personality traits to your brand, you create a profile that lets you cross check your communications to make sure they are unified, consistent and “on brand”.
Turn Your Business Into Someone Real
The tone of your marketing and business communication is your brand personality in action. Your brand personality might be just like you, but it might not. To find the voice of your business, you need to start by asking yourself: if your business were a person, what would it be like?
A very simple exercise is to assign three human values that represent how you want your business to be seen.
Copywrite Matters is knowledgeable, creative, and edgy. I use these values to guide how I write about my business and how I communicate with my customers and peers.
It’s also worth digging a bit deeper and thinking about:
- What’s really important to your brand?
- Who does your brand aspire to be and what impresses it?
- Which blogs does your brand like to read and why?
- What kind of car, food and hobbies would your brand like?
The more you can flesh out about your brand personality profile, the easier it will be to speak in a consistent tone of voice.
Find The Voice of Your Business
The next step is to translate those personality traits into a real voice, the voice of your business. You need to consider vocabulary, grammar and style. Another useful exercise is to decide where your brand personality might sit between these extremes.
Formal___________Chatty
Detached_________Warm
Professional_______Wacky
Serious___________Humorous
Relaxed___________Lively
Just like you, your brand might have different voices for different audiences, but they should always be guided by those high level brand values. Consider how the tone might change in different circumstances, such as the first time you communicate with a customer versus how you talk to the most active members of your social media communities.
Differentiate Your Voice
You might find that when you first do these exercises, you’re selecting broad-brush values that don’t really differentiate your business. Professional. Reliable. Cost-effective. This is especially the case for B2B brands.
You can differentiate your business through the integrity of your brand’s voice, so it’s important that you are committed to the values you assign.
Do you think of your business as having a personality? Have you taken the extra step of profiling it? Let me know what you think!
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY BELINDA WEAVER
- 7 Proven Tips to Help You Win the Email Marketing War
- 7 Ways To Optimise Your Online Copywriting in 7 Minutes
- Masterclass: More Effective Website Copywriting
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Belinda Weaver – Copywrite MattersBelinda is a professional marketing copywriter who confidently walks the line between writing effective copy and creating an engaging brand personality. You don’t have to choose between them! The words you use really do make a difference and offline or online, you will get more clicks, calls and sales with the right words. It’s that simple. Belinda also empowers business owners to write great copy and the Copywrite Matters Facebook & Twitter pages have FREE weekly tips on copywriting and marketing. She loves to chat about SEO, websites, good business and all things marketing. Say hi and join the conversation!
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How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 2
February 28, 2012
By Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard
In How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 1, we looked at daily social media content tasks.
This time, let’s turn to weekly, monthly and annual social media posting tasks.
Weekly
Google loves freshly updated content on your website, so from that perspective, the more often you blog, the better.
Of course, you need to balance potential Google juice against your available time, as well as how often your network wants to hear from you.
Ideally, you’ll publish a new blog post at least weekly.
If you’re stuck for blog post ideas, here are few places you can mine:
- Google your area of expertise and look for inspiration in other websites. Of course, make the content yours by applying your own ideas, interpretations and style.
- Keep a notebook where you can jot down blog content inspiration whenever it strikes. Once you start opening yourself to ideas, they will come. Probably more than you can use.
- Brainstorm blog post ideas, perhaps with a colleague or friend. Write down as many ideas as you can and you’ll have a good supply to work off for your weekly posts. You only need about 50 ideas for a whole year’s editorial calendar.
My goal in 2012 is to publish new posts on my blogs, 52WeightLossMissions.com (this one’s new) and GetOrganizedWizard.com, each week. But I must confess that when I’m working on a new product, my posting frequency always goes down, down, down. 
I have a potential solution – see ‘Annually’ for my tip!
Monthly
It’s a good idea to do a monthly review of your social media efforts.
There’s no point endlessly repeating something that doesn’t work. And by weeding out ineffective tasks, you make room to experiment with new ones that might bring great results.
For your blog, review the stats on your Google Analytics.
Consider how you can improve your blogging, for example:
- Which posts were most popular?
- Which ones failed to resonate with your readers?
- What can you try this month to capitalise on what your analytics show?
For your Facebook page, click on Insights to see how your fans responded to your posts over the past month. Again, consider what you can do differently over the coming month.
If you use bitly for your Twitter links, then you can track and analyse how people have clicked and shared your stuff. Then you can then decide whether, and how, you want to vary your tweets next month.
Annually
Lastly, here’s a strategy for people who like to plan.
Create an editorial calendar for the whole year – yep, all 52 weeks of it!
Use a planner diary and map out your blog posts to fit in with seasons, holidays, industry events, or anything important to your readers.
You can simply outline your posts, or draft them, or write them in full. How much you plan and write depends on your motivation, clarity and energy.
This strategy is not for everyone, but it can work well for people who write fast and well once they get ‘on a roll’. But it’s not as flexible as writing on a monthly basis.
So there you have it: your very own social media schedule. Now go post something!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY MICHELE CONNOLLY:
- How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 1
- Making A Good Impression: 7 Keys To A More Professional Image
- How To Boost Productivity at Work
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Michele Connolly – Get Organized WizardMichele Connolly helps people move from procrastination to action. She believes you can be happier if you take action on your priorities. Michele’s programs cover business, goals, home, personal organisation, writing and weight-loss, and are used by tens of thousands of people worldwide. Michele is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She has been interviewed on Sydney radio, spoken at conferences, and won awards for her psychology studies, including original research and a thesis on happiness. Michele is interested in writing, books, simplicity, love, TV, productivity, and staying thin in a world of chocolate.
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How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 1
January 31, 2012
By Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard
Everyone talks about the benefits of social media. You can get Google juice. You can build your reputation. You can position yourself as an expert in your field.
But the prospect of producing all that social media content can be daunting to many of us – especially if we already have busy business lives.
How do we get around to doing all that posting, tweeting and status-updating?
One smart solution is to create a social media schedule. This allows you to turn your social media activities into a habit. You slot the tasks into regular blocks in your business life.
Here’s how you can do it.
How To Create a Social Media Schedule
First, plan your social media output around frequency. There are certain tasks you’ll do daily, others weekly, some monthly, and maybe a few each year.
Daily
It’s very important to respond to people in your online social networks. Before you think about putting stuff out there, be sure to acknowledge anyone who’s taken the time to communicate with you.
So each day:
- Reply to comments on your blog – I have two blogs (52WeightLossMissions.com and GetOrganizedWizard.com), so I allow a little more time here
- Reply to comments on your Facebook page (here I’m talking about your professional page rather than your personal profile)
- Reply to tweets to your Twitter profile
- Thank people who have retweeted you
- Reply to comments on LinkedIn or other social media sites.
Once you’ve listened and responded to other people, you can think about what you want to say.
How prolific you are on social media sites depends on your network.
I tweet anytime I have something interesting to share because Twitter is about real-time communication. I share links, post observations, reply to other people, retweet interesting stuff, link to my own blogs – anything that might interest or amuse my followers can go into my stream.
I post less often on Facebook because it’s less real-time and easier to overwhelm people. I vary the frequency, but typically post three times a week. Aim for a combination of links to your own blog posts, links to other sites that may interest your network, and general comments, ideas or observations.
I’ve linked my LinkedIn account to Twitter, so my tweets automatically show up there. I’ve done this because Linked In has been a lower priority network for me so far. If you’re involved in HR, LinkedIn may be a higher priority for you.
I allow about an hour each day to do these tasks. Some days I get away with less, other days it’s much more.
Next time: How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 2
MORE GREAT POSTS BY MICHELE CONNOLLY:
- Making A Good Impression: 7 Keys To A More Professional Image
- How To Boost Productivity at Work
- Get Organised for Better Productivity: Design a Productivity Ritual
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Michele Connolly – Get Organized WizardMichele Connolly helps people move from procrastination to action. She believes you can be happier if you take action on your priorities. Michele’s programs cover business, goals, home, personal organisation, writing and weight-loss, and are used by tens of thousands of people worldwide. Michele is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She has been interviewed on Sydney radio, spoken at conferences, and won awards for her psychology studies, including original research and a thesis on happiness. Michele is interested in writing, books, simplicity, love, TV, productivity, and staying thin in a world of chocolate.
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Is this Social Media Myth Hindering Your Business Results?
January 13, 2012
By Suzi Dafnis, Australian Businesswomen’s Network
I often speak with small business owners about the value in using social media and some of them respond with social media myths, stories that are just not true. These myths are an unnecessary obstruction that prevents them from implementing the power of social media in their business.
The common myths I hear are that social media is too time-consuming, that it’s just a distraction from doing business.
The myth that I hear most often, and which I want to address today – is that it’s hard to justify the ROI.
How to get a good ROI from your social media activity
Social media use in business should always be tied to specific targets and objectives.
Doing good business means getting a good return on your investment of time and energy.
If you’re spending time on social media sites without a clear goal, then you may very well be wasting time and creating a distraction.
Some people seem to have a hard time justifying the use of social media, just as some people found it difficult to justify having a business website ten years ago.
But you CAN set goals and measure results to justify the ROI.
Let’s start here:
What is your goal? Do you want to increase your number of follows? Increase sales for a particular item? Increase the number of comments left on your blog?
You can measure and quantify how your social media activity impacts those goals.
Put in place some measures, take some action using social media and see what happens. If nothing happens, it’s probably not ‘social media’ at fault. Perhaps there’s more for you to learn about how to use it effectively.
Two more social media myths
Here are two more myths I often hear.
MYTH: Social media is time consuming.
Social media doesn’t have to be time-consuming. It’s wonderful to offer free, valuable content to your audience, but you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel. You can save time by repurposing your existing content and disseminating it through different channels.
For example, we repost our top newsletter articles on our blog and link to them from social media sites. Our newsletter is like the backbone of our social media activity for the week. Once the newsletter is complete, our blog posts and tweets for the rest of the week are already scheduled.
Because we’re organised and efficient in repurposing content, we don’t have to spend a lot of time creating fresh content for social media.
MYTH: Social media is a distraction from doing real business.
If your social media activity is tied to specific business goals, it makes sense to spend the time required to get the results. You don’t have use every social media tool. You may be able to use just one tool and create all the results you want.
But FIRST you need to know what the tool does so that you know if it will get you the result you need.
If you come to see social media as the way you interface with customers and prospects, you’ll never see it as a distraction – you’ll see it as the never-before-available-and-wonderfully-effective opportunity that it is.
Of course, all of these myths could be true – but not if you’re using social media wisely.
Social media is the way people communicate. If your business is not using social media, then you’re missing out on the conversation, and you’re missing out on multiple opportunities to engage customers.
Are there other myths that you hear about that you think should be debunked? Let us know by adding a comment.
If you’re looking to improve your social media prowess, you may find our Social Media for Small Business podcast series helpful. Each 30-minute episode gives you tips and tricks for using social media. Available on our website and also on iTunes so that you can enjoy it anytime, anywhere.
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY SUZI DAFNIS
- Does your website make you look out dated? 5 tell-tale signs.
- The business books that rocked my year, in a good way
- The three words that will shape my 2012 goals
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Suzi Dafnis – Australian Businesswomen’s NetworkSuzi Dafnis is the Australian Businesswomen’s Network’s Community Director and Chairperson of the Advisory Board. Suzi has been involved with the network since 1995. In 1998, she took over the network from its founder and has since managed and grown the network. She remains its media spokesperson and a champion of women in business. She is also the editor of the ABN’s newsletters, author of the herBusiness blog and presents the In Her Shoes video series and herBusiness podcast.
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Do you make these 5 Online Customer Service Mistakes?
December 23, 2011
By Vivienne Kane, Minuteman Press Prahran
Recently, I ordered a book from a well known online book retailer and experienced a significant delay in delivery.
Navigating their online customer service facility to find out what was happening was extremely frustrating and made me more irritated by being sent an automated customer satisfaction survey before the problem had been resolved.
It’s easy to think customer service is all about when clients walk into your premises or pick up the phone. But in many businesses these days, most, if not all, interaction happens online.
If you want your customers to be happy in cyberspace, don’t fall into these traps:
- Not responding to emails in a timely fashion. For some time-sensitive businesses, this might be within a couple of hours, for others next day. Try to put yourself in the mind of the customer – don’t leave them wondering if their message has even been received. And if you don’t have the solution to their problem immediately, at least let them know you are working on it.
- Keeping your contact details really well hidden on your website. If you’re happy for customers to call, make the phone number easy to see. Similarly with enquiry email – have a direct link on your home page. You might also consider a Live Chat facility – this could be a real asset for service based businesses in particular.
- No website FAQ/information section. If you’re getting the same queries over and over again from prospects and customers, give them the information before they have to ask. Develop a straightforward FAQ section, or a free eBook, to solve the common frustrations before they arise.
- Product and service details on your website are difficult to find. Navigation around your site should be easy and clear –finding the appropriate product with all details shouldn’t require trawling all over your site.
- Your shopping cart is poorly designed and difficult to use. There is a huge range of online purchase software now available. Make sure you choose one that’s suitable for your product or service, clear and easy to use, and which gives email acknowledgement of purchase. And have a method for the customer to contact you quickly if they have a problem.
Top of my priority list for 2012 is to fix the shopping cart on our CalendarPrint website – it’s frustrating some of our customers and why would we want to do that?
What’s on your list?
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY VIVIENNE KANE
- Why You Should Guarantee Your Service – and Brag About It
- Are you making champagne promises – and delivering beer?
- Are You Creating Cranky Customers?
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Vivienne Kane - Minuteman Press PrahranAs the owner and operations manager of Minuteman Press Prahran, a franchise print supplier, Vivienne works with small business customers every day. She runs the business, and their online specialty division CalendarPrint, with her husband Nicholas and their talented staff. With a customer base which often has little experience in buying print, Minuteman Prahran’s point of difference is making the process as painless as possible. Vivienne is a strong advocate of clear and reliable communication as a key tool in winning and keeping customers. She started her professional life as a Speech Pathologist, and enjoyed a variety of roles in administration and community groups before establishing Minuteman Press in 2000. She has three Gen-Y adult children, is an almost an empty nester, loves travel and is a member of two book clubs.
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Masterclass: More Effective Website Copywriting
December 22, 2011
By Belinda Weaver, Copywrite Matters
The ABN Masterclasses are small-group sessions that focus on specific member issues and offer practical advice in a hands-on way. I was honoured to present the very first Masterclass in December 2011, focusing on how to use copywriting to improve the performance of business websites.
If you couldn’t log into the live Masterclass or you haven’t watched the recording, here are the best tips on making your website copywriting more effective and engaging.
Copywriting Health Check Stage 1: Your credibility
When someone lands at your website, they get an instant impression about how reputable your business is. The look and feel of your website plays a big part in that critical first impression, but the types of pages you have also communicate a lot about your credibility.
To create the right impression, your website should have:
- Pages about your products or services
- An About page introducing yourself and/or your business
- Pages that show you’ve worked with other clients (like testimonials or case studies pages)
- A reasonably detailed contact page
All of these pages work together to tell me that you are a real and credible business.
Copywriting Health Check Stage 2: Every page essentials
Every page needs: to back up your value proportion
I call this your simple truth and it is the real benefit you offer your customers (when you get past the marketing speak and industry jargon). To work out your simple truth, imagine describing your business to someone you’ve never met. In response to your fantastically detailed explanation they say, “so what?” You dig a bit deeper. They say, “so what?” When you continue this imaginary conversation, you will eventually get to the simple truth behind what you offer the world.
Every page needs: to answer “what’s in it for me?”
This is the question your website visitors are asking from the moment they arrive on your website. Rather than simply describing what your business does, remember to link your services back to the reasons your website visitor is looking for a solution. How are you making their life better?
Every page needs: a headline
Your headline is the attention grabber for your page. As prime real estate, it’s useful to focus on the key benefit you offer and your main keywords. Imagine if your visitor read nothing else on the page, what is the most important thing they need to know? Another great tip is to make your page headline specific. If your headline would make sense in any other industry, there is an opportunity to make it more specific to your business.
Every page needs: a call to action
A call to action simply instructs your website visitor to perform an action. While you might think it’s obvious that you want people to email you for more information, register for your event or download your free report – a specific call to action will improve your response rate. Make your call to action clearly visible and actionable.
Copywriting Health Check Stage 3: Language and Readability
Once you know your key marketing messages and the benefits your target audience will care about, you can look at the way you communicate those messages. How well your audience understands your message is the key to action and fancy, formal language can sometimes do you more harm than good.
Here are some tips on making your copywriting easy to read and understand:
- Imagine speaking directly to a single person and write like you speak
- Keep your paragraphs relatively short and focused on one idea
- Vary the lengths of your sentences to create a changing rhythm
- Use whitespace to some breathing room around your copy
- Break up long sections of copy with subheadings and lists
Remember, always keep your simple truth in mind and make sure your website copywriting answers the question: what’s in it for me? Oh, and don’t forget those headlines and call to actions!
You can download the live Masterclass now and see my Copywriting Health Check applied to three member sites (along with more tips for effective website copywriting).
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Belinda Weaver – Copywrite MattersBelinda is a professional marketing copywriter who confidently walks the line between writing effective copy and creating an engaging brand personality. You don’t have to choose between them! The words you use really do make a difference and offline or online, you will get more clicks, calls and sales with the right words. It’s that simple. Belinda also empowers business owners to write great copy and the Copywrite Matters Facebook & Twitter pages have FREE weekly tips on copywriting and marketing. She loves to chat about SEO, websites, good business and all things marketing. Say hi and join the conversation!
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Blog Comments and Why You Should Do Them
November 18, 2011
By Cheryl Hayman, Hayman Strategy
Unless you are a total stranger to blogging, you may already know the importance of comments. If you want to get more engaged and responsive visitors to your blog, blog comment marketing is something you should consider doing.
At the end of the day, comments are the thing that validates a blog’s existence. Comments allow us to see what other people think about our posts, inspire new ideas and validate that a connection is being achieved.
What is blog comment marketing?
It’s basically just that – leaving comments on other people’s blogs. You may already do this, but if not, it is certainly worth doing as part of marketing yourself, your business or your brand differently.
Comments represent the level of activity in a blog and it is a major factor differentiating static websites and blogs.
If you already leave comments, then have you given any thought to the comments that you leave on blogs? Have you considered the impact is has and how it reflects on you, as the writer?
Here are some reasons to consider commenting more often, as part of your marketing strategy:
- Comments are the first step in forming a relationship with another blogger. Good comments improve the quality of a blog, so you notice the people who are enabling your blog to be better. If you leave comments, over time you’ll start to be recognised.
Consider this real world example
Have you ever gone to a shopping centre and noticed that some stores have many customers, while others are empty? When a new customer enters the centre, will they be attracted to the store with customers or those with none?
The same goes for restaurants. How often have you avoided a restaurant that is empty and gone nearby where there are more customers eating? It is a reflection of the quality and offerings of those stores. Real or perceived, it doesn’t matter.
This is applicable in blogging too. Readers have a tendency to stick with the blogs with comments, while they always avoid the blogs where no discussion is going on. If you actively participate in discussions at other blogs, you too will receive lots of comments in your blog. This is simple blogging etiquette; it will become a reciprocal arrangement.
A busy blog is an attractive blog.
- You’ll get “pre-qualified” visitors. Be smart about where you comment, leave thoughtful comments and you’ll attract the attention of the blogger as well as the other readers. If you clearly know what you’re talking about and they’re interested in the topic, many of them will click through to your blog as you become deemed an authority figure with something pertinent and interesting to say too.
- You’ll learn something in the process. If you read other blogs on your industry, topic, market and competing brands, or blogs that are directed to your ideal audience, then you may even pick up some useful knowledge.
The main reason that blog commenting is so useful is because it can potentially lead to more traffic for your website or blog. It can build awareness, loyalty, sales and advocacy for your own brand. At the end of the day, the key ingredient to successful outcomes for your brand will result from applying your blog commentary to those blogs that target the same audience that you are trying to reach.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CHERYL HAYMAN
- Why isn’t my blog getting any comments?
- Approaching Your Boss – a Mentoring Perspective
- Uncover, communicate and nurture your personal brand
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Cheryl Hayman – Hayman StrategyCheryl Hayman owns and manages a strategic marketing and business consultancy, Hayman Strategy, providing a broad range of business and marketing solutions to corporations. Prior to establishing her own business, Cheryl had over 20 years experience as a senior marketing executive in multi-national organisations spanning Australia, NZ and the UK. Cheryl undertakes a number of non-executive Board roles and sits on several Advisory Boards including the Australian Businesswomen’s Network. Cheryl is a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute, holding a CPM.
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Make Your Media Release Social
October 19, 2011
By Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications
You may have heard the term Social Media Release (or Social Media Press Release) and wondered what the difference is between this and the standard media release. Well, social media releases are all about the reader, making the content easier to access and much more useful.
A lot has been covered about writing media releases and why, including by me, but the media release has evolved. Not only has the audience for releases grown from journalists to now include bloggers, podcasters and the consumers themselves, but the way information is presented in release form is different too.
Social media releases include links to websites and supporting material, yes, but they are also optimised for searching with tagged key words, make sharing easier with links to bookmarking networks and social media platforms, plus add the multi-media element through images, video and audio.
Some social media release authors even deconstruct the release into sections, making it easier for journalists, bloggers and podcasters to focus on the point(s) of interest to them. Instead of introducing the topic, giving some background, offering quotes from a spokesperson and then showing where they can find out more, the author might use a slightly different format.
Here is a sample template for a social media release:
- Headline
- Key word rich introduction
- Supporting facts
- Quote(s) from one or more sources
- Embedded video
- Embedded audio
- Embedded images
- Links to supporting articles and references
- RSS for company news and product information
- Option to post/share in social network of choice, such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and bookmarking networks
- Comments
Once the social media release has been created…
It can be published in a number of different ways. This includes online media outlets, bloggers, traditional web services like PR Web, your own social media, blog and bookmarking sites and article submission directories like Ezine Articles.
Think about how much more “social” this format is than traditional media releases that tell the story, but then encourage the journalist to contact the author for more information. This way, the author is putting everything on the menu, allowing readers to pick how they consume it and encouraging them to share the story. It’s social publishing in action.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY JOHANNA BAKER-DOWDELL
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Johanna Baker-Dowdell - Strawberry CommunicationsJohanna owns and runs writing and public relations service Strawberry Communications. The agency builds relationships with the media and key stakeholders on behalf of its SME clients. This service is provided through careful research and strategic communication, then maintained by telling the business’s story through amazing publicity and expertly crafted words. Strawberry Communications is based in Launceston and was launched in 2007. Johanna has more than 16 years experience in the media industry and is also a freelance journalist and blogger.
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Is it time to ditch the pitch? ‘Elevator speeches’ in a world of social media.
October 13, 2011
By Susan Wareham McGrath
The dreaded ‘elevator pitch’.
A concept that involves explaining your job, or business, in the 30 second or so time span of an elevator ride.
Although I’m told I do them well, I find elevator speeches to be a form of corporate torture, high on the list of workplace tasks guaranteed to induce cringing, irritation and long-lasting embarrassment. Why? They’re impossible to get right and I can’t fit everything I do in 30 seconds. Plus, I hate talking about myself. And whenever I recite an elevator pitch, I feel as if I’m reading from a script. Very artificial and spin doctored.
So when I first came across the Chicago Tribune’s story about elevator pitches, I had a moment of hope that the awful things had been ousted and buried for ever in the brave new corporate world of social media. It contained promising nuggets like:
- “When I’ve referenced the elevator pitch in passing, most people made derisive comments about the whole concept”.
- “ Many had learned about it in business school, but few took it seriously”
- “For those of us behind the scenes in communications, HR and finance, the whole experience felt awkward, and our terrible pitches proved that”.
Sadly, I was wrong.
Of the 13 experts surveyed by the Tribune, four were in favour of elevator speeches, five against and four inconclusive.
Overall, the trend seems to be toward improving elevator speeches following general social media principles, rather than binning them.
Here are some tips from the experts interviewed by the Tribune:
- Keep them short and sharp
- Focus on how you make a difference
- Adapt one speech to various situations
- Present with increased efficiency and clarity, and
- Use your elevator speech to “pack a punch”.
So it’s back to the drawing board for me!
I do feel a little better though after reading the comment attributed to Alan Weiss, organisation development consultant and executive coach – “These have always been silly. Would you listen to one? I’d stop the elevator and throw the person off”.
It’s good to know I’m not entirely alone!
Read the full story here: ‘Improve your ‘elevator pitch’.
What’s your attitude toward elevator speeches? Are they still relevant? Do you find them an artificial means of presenting yourself?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY SUSAN MCGRATH:
- Serving on non-profit boards – good for you, good for the community!
- How to write a winning application letter
- Kate Ellis’s commitment to EOWA. Why the $11.2 million investment is not enough.
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Susan Wareham McGrathSusan Wareham McGrath is a skilled and experienced Australian visa and immigration consultant; jobsearch strategist and career management consultant; professional writer, blogger and social commentator. She holds a degree in psychology, an advanced diploma in human resource management, a post graduate qualification in public policy development, a national training accreditation and registration as an Australian migration agent with the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Susan is a strong advocate for the personal and professional advancement of women, and after serving as an Advisory Board Member of the Australian Businesswomen’s Network since 2007 is now the ABN’s National Special Projects Manager.
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