Creative Content for

Social Media

Emma Taylor

Outreach Coordinator,

Business & IP Centre

Welcome to the Business & IP Centre

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Let’s get started…

1) How to write a social media plan for your business - TASK

2) How to write a campaign - TASK (research & write)

3) How to create great content – TASK (adding images to match your campaign)

4) Top tips for success:-

• How to use hashtags

• Who to follow & how to find your business/customer (B2B/B2C)

• Managing your social media accounts

• Using analytics - don’t guess, know your ROI

How to write a campaign • What is a campaign? How do I write one for my business? Put simply, a campaign is a message and is your call to action your ‘ask’ as to what you want your customers to do. You can use engagement as your ‘how’ to promote your business but it needs to be for a specific reason e.g. ‘attract engagement’ will deliver followers but to what end? If your desired outcome is to attract 10 attendees to your business event, that is your campaign objective. Knowing the online presence you have will help you see the potential reach of your business. Using 1 platform well is good but do aim for better! The more online presence you have, the more messages you send out, the better your customer take up will be. Great content helps you to build your confidence to do this - having something to share on each platform, an image to attract them with, an offer for a free class for every 10 group sessions bought, will help you get this. Inviting people to a free session lures them in. You’re great at what you do! They will buy from you if you have your offer sewn up.

• So, what’s the next step? Pick 5 things you want to achieve for your business – your goals need to inform your business campaigns so you don’t waste your efforts on social media that isn’t going to fulfil your business needs.

How to write a Campaign – social media plan for your business

• Make a list of 5 things your social media plan should include (think about what next; growth? Improved engagement? Create new or multiple accounts?)

1. Identify what you want to achieve and how social media can do this for your business: 100 followers on Instagram /encourage more click throughs on Twitter to website/increase sales by using Shopify or Etsy / 10 people to come to my event / increase engagement with my customers

2. Think about how you intend to get there – which platforms to use? Which is the best platform to reach my goal?

How to write a campaign – social media plan for your business

3. List at least 3 direct benefits to customers using your product/service

Campaign e.g. (pose a question to lead engagement) Problem with thinning hair? 97.5% of British Hairways Shampoo users noticed thicker hair in 1 week! (if using research & solid facts, tell people about the benefits by using customer feedback)

4. Case Studies (testimonials) are a must: BH users say “my plenty of fish dates have tripled” “I no longer need to wear a hat” “I can style my hair in a plait” “I got a promotion!” “I got engaged!” “I started my own business!” says Mrs Miggins, 47 from Sheffield (always state name/age/place to add credibility)

5. An important content filler for your online presence is to engage with the everyday and popular - link in with awareness days – look at the ‘trending’ lightening symbol on twitter – for daily updates on popular engagement #NationalMentalHealthDay (11th October) - news updates on research or issues of the day can also be linked to your business - sharing/commenting/supporting popular posts helps you raise your profile, increase engagement and commenting on your specialism helps you become a thought leader for your field of expertise.

How to perfect creative content

• Here’s one I made earlier… (see BIPC mailchimp newsletter sent separately) – why is creative content important?

Freemium tools to create blogs, advertising, newsletters & more…

Freemium tools really worth a look at: • https://www.canva.com/ (poster/infographic/advert maker easy to use) • www.mailchimp.com (great for editorial, newsletter submission & design using

own pics) • https://www.blogger.com/ (owned by google, great for beginners) • https://buffer.com/ (great for managing/scheduling/planning your tweets and shows you best time for how many tweets you want to send per day) • https://hootsuite.com/dashboard (works on same principle as buffer, but allows

you to link up to 30 accounts for your business) • https://www.instagram.com/bipcsheff/ check out our own to see the

engagement level you should expect from your content messages/images/follows)

Freemium tools for great analytics

• https://tweetreach.com (tweetreach is fantastic for research and measuring your success on twitter use. Type in a competitor or your own twitter handle – it will tell you how you and others are doing – who your top tweeter is, who the top tweeter is for the big accounts that match your business and much more. It is stunning how much data this tool will give you. Have questions on this? Just ask – 1:1s available email emma.taylor@sheffield.gov.uk for an appointment)

• https://bitly.com/ (bitly is a url shortener very handy for sharing your

weblinks on twitter and will measure your campaigns success)

A reminder of how to use social media to achieve your business objectives

Identifying the right platform for your audience is important, what do you want to do? What are your business objectives? • Want to inspire? Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr • Want to influence customer behaviour? Twitter, Facebook, TripAdvisor • Want to influence like-sectors? LinkedIn • Want to blog? Wordpress, Blogger, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr • Need a specialist interest platform? Villoid (fashion), Goodreads • Need video/Gif sharing YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Twitter, Instagram,

Facebook • Want creative tools on the go? (apps) Font Candy, Hipstomatic,

Boomerang, Ripl, vanillapen • For great photo sharing try Flickr, Instagram, Facebook

How to make the most out of Linked In for your business

• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-boost-engagement-on-your-linkedin-company-page/ this is the one we looked at and has some great points with visuals to show you where you can boost your profile.

• http://www.colourmesocial.co.uk/2340/ is more up to date, not written brilliantly…but the basics are covered well - especially the tips around personalising your business url rather than sticking to the default one LinkedIn gives you. This will help clients see you in a more professional light, helping to create trust and credibility.

Hashtags – why use them?

• Hashtags everyone needs to know:

• #mondaymotivation #motivationalmondays

• #charitytuesdays

• #wednesdaywisdom

• #throwbackthursday

• #followfriday #fridayfeeling

• #supersaturdays #saturdayselfie

• #sundayfunday

• For more tips google it! http://www.lifelearn.com/2015/10/05/twitter-hashtags-week/

Content marketing & what does the future hold?

• This cannot be stressed enough… Content marketing – writing quality, well put together engaging content with clear great images - is the best way to encourage engagement and buy in to your business.

• SEO – search engine optimisation is still worth doing (e.g. using key words, tagging & using #hashtags) but be aware that google do things differently now. they steer customers – selecting elements matching search criteria – based on content and meaningful engagement – but what does this mean?

• Well, put simply if a client finds what they’re looking for, clicks on your site/blog/newsletter resulting in a ‘sale’ the route is deemed clean – the client has found what they asked google for – google looks good, the customer’s happy – this makes google happy and will remember this for the next like selected search item.

• So, with technology constantly changing, you need to keep ahead of the game and google tell us they reward great content not necessarily paid for ads if their online content isn’t up to scratch – tech created algorithms guide what people see and don’t get to see online – so keep google happy with good content and your customers will find you.

Keep in touch!

Want to know more? Call in to see us at:

Business & IP Centre Sheffield, Reception, Reference and Information Library, Central Library, Surrey Street, Sheffield S1 1XZ

Tel: 0114 273 4736

E-mail: information.library@sheffield.gov.uk

Get in touch also for support on intellectual property, business information database searches, legal support as well as 1:1s on Marketing if you need it.