Tag: content

Social Media Rundown: Lots of Facebook Headlines; Instagram Algorithm, Explained; Building Social Proof

Another week of news regarding Facebook privacy concerns and other negative headlines for the battered social media giant. It’s OK though, I’m sure we’ll all keep using the social networking site like nothing’s wrong.

Mark Zuckerberg takes a sip of water before Congressional questioning.

Also, be sure to check out the learn section to see how the new Instagram algorithm works, ways to build social proof, and how to make sure your social media marketing is in line with Facebook’s priority of making sure time spent on Facebook is time well spent.

Social Media News:

  • Facebook Says It Accidentally Let Anybody Read Private Posts From 14 Million Users (Business Insider). Facebook discovered a “software bug” that caused millions of status updates that were intended to be posted privately among friends to be public. The bug affected 14 million users, between May 18-27. Affected users will be notified and asked to review their posts from that period.
  • Facebook Will Remove the Trending Topics Section Next Week (The Verge). After a couple years of controversy due to Facebook editors curating the headlines, the company has decided to ditch the trending section. Other ways to deliver news, including breaking news labels and a section that collects local stories, are currently being tested.
  • A New Privacy Problem Could Deepen Facebook’s Legal Trouble (Wired). A New York Times article revealed that Facebook had deals with phone manufacturers that gave them access to personal data about users and their friends in order to re-create a mobile version of Facebook on their devices. Information included relationship status, religion, political leaning, events they planned to attend, and whether the user was online. Facebook disagrees with The New York Times.

Learn:

  • The New Instagram Algorithm Has Arrived – Here’s How it Works (Later). This could also go in the news section; Instagram recently invited a group of reporters to explain how the feed algorithm works (TechCrunch among that group). The short version is that the algorithm focuses on three core areas: interest, timeliness, and relationship. Secondary factors include frequency, following, and usage. If you’re an IG user, you probably won’t see any posts from several weeks in the past anymore.
  • Why You Should Be Using Your Content to Build Social Proof (Convince & Convert). In this blog post, the author outlines three ways to build social proof: release content consistently, create incentives for people to share, and measure success.
  • How Facebook Marketing is Changing (And How to Be Prepared) (Buffer App Blog). Rather than prioritizing content that might grab a user’s attention, but drive little interaction, Facebook favors the content that sparks conversations and brings people closer together. This helpful chart sums up what Facebook is prioritizing:
Signals that affect Facebook News Feed rankings.
Facebook wants more ‘meaningful interactions,’ as this chart outlines. Image: Buffer.
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Example of a Daily #SocialMedia Content Calendar

In social media, content is king,

Generating fresh, engaging content several times a day can be difficult. A daily content calendar can help prevent you from getting social media ‘writers block’ and keep your followers engaged. After all, content is king!

In my previous post, I discussed the importance of putting together a daily content calendar to help with generating ideas for engaging posts. While long-term strategy is always important, it is equally important to have short-term strategy in place. With short-term strategy, we are generally talking about smaller marketing campaigns within the larger campaign such as online contests, event/sales promotions, etc. However, with any social media campaign, there is bound to be times when there is simply not any pertinent messages to post.

As I mentioned in my previous article however, it is important to continually have fresh, engaging content posted on your main social media sites (typically Facebook and Twitter). This can especially be a challenge for the small business owner who may not always have company news or upcoming events to promote. Also, it is important to maintain a lighthearted stream across all social media platforms and to constantly have fresh content that people will want to share and comment on. It’s all about keeping the conversation going!

For anyone looking for ideas on keeping up fresh content across various social networking sites, read my blog post “30 Ideas for Providing Fresh Content in #SocialMedia.” The image below contains my daily content calendar at KVSC-FM. I do not follow it religously, for I usually have several different promotions going on with the station each week, but I do pretty much stick with some of the regular postings our listeners look forward to. Those include Music Monday, From the KVSC Archives (Tuesdays) and Trivia Thursday. The rest on the calendar is just filler and can easily be substituted for other content. Also included in the document are more content ideas and tips for running a successful Facebook page I retrieved from an article on PR Daily by Kamila Hankiewicz titled “14 Tips for a Successful Facebook Page.”

Daily Content Calendar for Social Media used at KVSC-FM
Daily Content Calendar for Social Media used at KVSC-FM

Click image to view the full PDF or click here: Social Media Daily Content Calendar

As you can see, the calendar is not too detailed–just enough to help you generate fresh content and hopefully not bore your followers. I included the additional tips and resources as a reminder to myself and also to ensure an easy transition for my successor. Thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions for my daily content calendar or have an example of your own, please share in the comment section below or send me an email at ericdylanwheeler@gmail.com.

30 Ideas for Providing Fresh Content in #SocialMedia

Providing content for social media can be a challenge.
Providing content for social media can be a challenge.

A while back, I discussed how I thought providing fresh content is the biggest challenge in social media. The post was geared more towards special practices such as a dentist or optometrist and how easy it can be to have ‘writer’s block’ in keeping up a Facebook page or Twitter account. After hearing responses from my readers both in person and on Twitter, I thought it might be of interest to revisit that post and provide a list of ideas for providing fresh content.

Listed below are 30 ideas I have brainstormed from my own thoughts and from other blog posts I have since come across. My goal in compiling this list was to take a marketing angle and focus on content that will improve interaction, build community and increase sales or foot traffic for a small business. When reading these tips, keep in mind that you should have a sense of humor and always respond to comments from your customers. Also, it is best to provide links and images whenever possible.

  1. Post trends or news in your industry
  2. Have guest posts from other professionals in your area or from other staff members or customers
  3. Video response to frequently asked questions
  4. Announcement of open appointments (use sparingly…)
  5. Trivia questions (I ask a #TriviaThursday question each week on KVSC 88.1FM’s Facebook and Twitter accounts)
  6. Name the movie quote (movie, actor, character) or song lyric (name and artist); when a user gets 25 right, they get a gift certificate for $25 (courtesy Iris Vision Care)
  7.  Special offers/discounts to customers or patients who follow you on Facebook or Twitter
  8. Hold a social media contest (this will help you increase the number of followers and keep people coming back)
  9. Video response to customer feedback (positive or negative)
  10. Post customer stories or testimonials
  11. Post video testimonials (YouTube integration)
  12. Stories from your staff (work/life experience–keep them positive and don’t get too personal)
  13. Highlight any community involvement or announce upcoming community events
  14. Highlight news from non-profits your business supports
  15. Add pictures from around the office, supplements to testimonials, products, staff, community events, anything that’s photo-worthy–people love pictures!
  16. Create polls: Why have you changed services in the past? Think of open-ended or simple yes/no questions. Use the new Facebook Questions feature (via Emily Bratkovich)
  17. Post upcoming specials
  18. Comment on positive news in the community
  19. Post new online listings of your business (Yelp, YellowPages, Yahoo! Listings, CitySearch, etc.) and ask users to comment or rate your business
  20. Post your other social media listings (don’t forget Foursquare!)
  21. Ask for shout outs and how you can find them on other social media channels
  22. Mention the businesses of some of your patients (don’t mention names)
  23. For optometrists: Ask patients to post photos of them in their very first pair of glasses (courtesy Iris Vision Care)
  24. Facebook 50: Iris Vision Care also posts a picture of a random frame each week–the first person to come in gets the frame at 50% off
  25. Quotes related to your industry (quotes with “vision” or “eye(s)” for an optometrist; quotes with “smile” in them for a dentist
  26. Post a how-to video or blog (Facebook note)
  27. Feature a customer or client of the week–tell your fans how great they are and maybe give them offer a discount
  28. Mention any TV shows, news articles or blogs in your industry
  29. Post a list of Do’s and Don’ts related to your business/product
  30. Ask questions about anything you can think of–easiest way to get a response
It is best to post something on Facebook at least once or twice per day–Fifty percent of Facebook “likes” occur within one hour and 20 minutes of being posted. Posting in the early morning or right before lunch is usually best. If you have any fun ideas for providing content that keeps the conversation going, builds your following or drives traffic to your business, let me know! Please comment below or send me an @mention on Twitter: @eric_wheeler. And remember, sharing is social!

Sources and additional resources:

Image from http://www.someforbusiness.com/

Providing Fresh Content: The Biggest Challenge in #SocialMedia?

Social media content: Conversations matter.
Social media content: Conversations matter.

When I came across Social Media Examiner‘s call to write about the biggest challenge in social media, I immediately thought of the struggles of providing fresh content for a company that doesn’t necessarily provide a product or otherwise turn a profit through sales. More specifically, the challenge of a small business providing fresh content to get patrons to continually visit its Facebook page or interact via Twitter.

I recently read an article by Ken Serota on the topic of social media content for dentists. The opening of the article was geared toward answering the question “As a dentist, what should I post?” Though not a specialty practitioner such as a dentist, optometrist or something of the sorts, I can see how it might be easy to have “writers block” on providing fresh content across the various social media platforms. I think it’s safe to assume most dentists primarily use Facebook as their main social media platform due to its versatility in providing announcements, images, video, audio and more.

The article pointed out some simple ideas to provide daily content such as video responses to common questions and patient testimonials, open appointments and commenting on trends in the profession. While these are all very good ideas at keeping fresh content on a Facebook page for a dentist, I might argue that most of these ideas do not necessarily facilitate actual user engagement. It’s been said over and over again that social media is all about interaction and engagement. Thus, the biggest challenge I come across in social media is not only creating content, but actually creating a conversation.

Large brands such as Pepsi or Nike might not need to work quite as hard to initiate conversation and might even find that monitoring and contributing to the conservation is actually of greater concern. For the small business, however, creating content that opens the door to the online conversation is difficult. It is simply not enough to have a high rate of Facebook impressions. It is far more valuable to see a high percentage of interactions when looking at the insights of a Facebook page. However, the question remains: How can a small business create engaging content that opens up actual online conversations?

If you have a great idea on maintaining online conversations for a small business please comment below. I would love to hear your ideas!

UPDATE: Read my follow up “30 Ideas for Providing Fresh Content in #SocialMedia“