Outsourcing Your Social Media – What It Involves

 

“We do not have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is – HOW WELL WE DO IT”. – Erik Qualman.

It is swiftly becoming the situation that using social media is no longer a choice for businesses.  Just because you may not use facebook or pinterest does not mean that your potential customers are not using them. It is now a case of HOW WELL you use social media.

How well social media works for your business depends on how well you use it though.  Don’t expect it to be an overnight success  – social media is about building relationships, growing trust, building the blocks of brand awareness.  It is important that you measure your social media activities and results so you can evaluate, make changes, concentrate on what is working well, explore new methods. Social media is constantly changing too – this makes it interesting and exciting, however, for many business people who are already busy running their business, these changes can put them off, can make it seem too difficult and too time consuming.

I decided to write this post to offer a snapshot of what we at Write on Track can do for you, to get your business on track effectively with social media.

Outsourcing your Social Media:

You are busy doing what you do best – running your business. If social media is not something you are interested in or feel you have the time to dedicate to it, then outsourcing your social media can be the answer.

Content Creation

Outsourcing your Blogging – Let us write your blog posts

We love blogging! We both write a number of blogs (for ourselves and for clients) and I’m also the co-founder of Blog Awards Ireland. We can write your blog posts for you and the following list is what we tend to provide for clients (although they can be tailored specifically for your business):

• Average of 400 words per post
• Optimised by using highly searched keywords
• Photographs that are re-sized and named for SEO purposes (also for Pinterest)
• Call to action within the post
• Strong headlines

We can write blog posts for your business in a tone that suits your style, so you can concentrate on other aspects of your business.  All we need to do is set up an initial meeting with you and then we’ll communicate with you on an occasional basis by email.  We will monitor and evaluate periodically and discuss findings and any suggested changes with you.

Blogging Training

It can be difficult to start writing a blog – often due to a lack of confidence, bloggers block, not quite sure how to structure it or how to include a call to action. These are common stumbling blocks that we can help you to overcome.

We can arrange for any of the following:

• Blogging training in a small group
• One-to-one training
• Help you set up your blog
• Monitor your blogging by providing feedback on drafts

Additional Social Media

We can also take care of your other social media for you or offer training in the following:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

We can do as little or as much as you would like us too. We can assure you of confidentiality, our trustworthiness, our flexibility and our ability to work independently, compile data, undertake research, organise information and above all, write well in an appropriate style for your business.

You can see the various packages we offer too. Do contact us if you would like to enquire about any of our training or if you would like to outsource your social media to us.

Public Speaking

We love talking about social media just as much as we enjoy writing blog posts and being active on all the social media platforms.  We’ve both presented at various conferences and for networking groups. Do contact us if you would like to engage either of us as a speaker for an upcoming conference or a networking group.

You can read more about us here and check out some testimonials too.

Photo: Cearbhuil Studios

 

Find It Friday: Content Creation Ideas For Your Business

It is ‘Find It Friday’ time again and this week as I was asked for some blog post topic suggestions for an electrical shop, I thought I’d share the thought processes with you as it may help to prevent ‘bloggers block‘ or it may persuade you to grasp the nettle and seize the day by starting your blog with some good content creation ideas.

Image of Henry Hoover from here

As I mentioned in a previous post, you must decide on your aims/goals/objectives for your blog. For example, the aims for an electrical shop might include:

• to increase footfall and sales to the shop (bricks and mortar)
• to increase online sales
• to increase enquiries so the sales team can then convert them into sales
• to demonstrate our expertise
• to showcase new products
• to demonstrate our high levels of customer service
• to improve profile and increase brand awareness.

It is then a good idea to sit down with a couple of people and brainstorm for topic ideas. It is best if these people are a mixture of  people in the company and those who might be your typical customer.

Topic Ideas for an Electrical Shop

• Review new products e.g. the latest dyson type product
• Review products that would be good gifts, particularly in the run up to Christmas
• Focus on your different target markets and write accordingly. For example, write a post aimed at a parent buying a first camera for a child and provide information on cameras in three different price brackets. You could also write a more technical post for the target market looking for a good SLR camera.
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of particular products, e.g. a bagless vacuum cleaner. Be honest regarding this as customers may leave their own opinion in the comments and they will trust you if you point out any disadvantages too.
• Pay attention to the questions that customers ask and turn them into blog posts. For example, many people may be asking about the Saorview  so you could explain the alternatives in a number of blog posts.
• You could ask a complementary business, such as a beautician, to advise on health and beauty products that are for sale in your electrical shop.
• Use celebrities  and celebrity magazines.  If a celebrity is photographed using or endorsing a particular product, include that photograph in your blog post.

That is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of ideas. A couple of hours in a  brainstorming session should provide you with enough topics for your blog for months to come. The next step is to include efficient calls to action that ensure your post deliver on sales and I’ll be writing about that next week.

If you are nervous of starting a blog or are wondering where your next blog post ideas will come from, contact us to avail of an appointment where we can help you to create a strategy for your blog going forward.