How I did my spring clean in Winter

So, I mentioned a few weeks back before going on holidays that I set myself the challenge of spring cleaning my computers and processes so I was more organised. I knew I had a few big months and the computer (in particular the desktop) was a big mess!

So, here are the steps I took to clean it all up so I could be and feel a little more organised.

I started saving everything in my Onedrive account. That way I can access the information anywhere at any time. I would work from my desktop half the week and the other half I am on the laptop. I can’t tell you how many times I have started a project on one device, then moved to another and the information is saved on the other. So annoying, right!

Then, created then following folders:

WORK

In this folder, I created a subset of folders that consisted of;

1. Current Clients (each client then has the following folders)

  • Set-up information
  • WIP (work in progress)
  • Invoices
  • Archived

2. Accounts; this folder has subfolders created for all of my subscriptions, bills and monthly & yearly reports.

3. Ideas; Like the name suggests, all the ideas I have for social media, trends, and handy information that I find when researching. It’s important to have these to come back to when I have the time.

4. Training; This folder again speaks for itself. Whilst I am across most things social media, it’s always important to continue learning. This year alone, I have deep-dived into the land of SEO with the incredible Kate Toon. All my training is saved here for me to review and refer back to when needed.

5. Archive; This folder contains folders for all my previous clients with information that is relevant for me to keep. ( I want to make note that I do NOT keep login information once I have handed a client back.) The information I keep is around invoicing and important email communication.

PERSONAL

So without going into too much detail, I created the same formula for my personal information. The folders I created so far that you might find handy are:

  1. Invoices & Receipts
  2. Bills
  3. Confirmations
  4. Girls
  5. Business #2
  6. Business #3

TO DO LIST 

Now, I’m a list person. I love writing lists. Marking items/tasks off, that’s me. This folder has one document in it. An excel document, with an ongoing list of all the things I need, or want to do.

Being on the one drive, I only have to update one list and can access it from anywhere.

I am still reviewing my processes and refining them but the number one issues was, how I was saving my information. I got so busy that I had overloaded my desktop with files and my downloads were out of control.

Now I have the structure and I am being more careful to save it all in the right place AT the time of action.

For the most part, it’s working and It is so refreshing to start the day with a clean desktop and access to the information that I need, no matter the device.

So there you have it. A few quick changes that I made to be a little more organised. I hope there is something you can take away to help you and your business.

*** My biggest advice is to keep it simple.

It’s time to lose the F word!

When you are on Facebook, how many times do you see the letter F under a post and in a thread?

It drives me CRAZY!!!!!

Now, many people do this because they want to monitor what is happening on a post because you might find the information useful or want to follow for inspiration…but there is a super simple way to watch what’s happening.

Here are the steps to follow a post:

  1. Go to the post you want to follow
  2. Select the three dots at the top right of the post
  3. Then select Turn Notifications On
Social media short cut for following posts

Why social media is an important part of your digital strategy

Marketing and advertising is continually changing. There are many different ways to advertise your business and different ways work for different businesses. What may be successful for one business may not work for yours. Over the years, digital marketing and advertising has become largely popular with most types of businesses and a big part of digital marketing is taking advantage of social media. There are many benefits to using social media for your business. A lot of which can be achieved with no or little cost to you. 

Brand Awareness

Pretty much anyone you speak to these days will be on at least one platform of social media in a personal capacity. Which means that each of these people have the capacity to see your business page on the platform that they are on. Having your business across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter means that you are able to increase the number of people who have access to your business and the ability to contact you. You are able to increase the awareness and presence of your brand simply by being available across the different platforms.

Communications

A lot of people these days do not have time to be sitting on the phone waiting for an answer to a question about your product or service or they may simply just not like speaking on the phone. Being on social media gives your customers another avenue in which they can use to contact you. We are a busy society who like convenience and being able to shoot through a quick message to the business asking a question is a very ideal situation for many.

Engagement and Authenticity

Having a social media account for your business and using it to its full potential means that you are able to engage with your followers, build a relationship with them and show that you are not just a computer trying to make sales. Post content on your social media pages that not only showcases your products, but also gives the followers an insight into you and your business. This will help them remember you when the time comes for needing your products or services. Being active on social media means that you are not only gaining the customers that are looking for you at the moment, but you are also imprinting your business andf branding on those who may need it in the future.

Recommendations

Being on social media gives another way for your customers to recommend and review your business. Facebook has the option to leave a review of businesses and also a recommendations option, so that when people are asking their friends about a certain trade or industry, business pages can be linked and recommended. The feature of tagging and hashtagging also means that a person can tag your business in a post if they would like to recommend you.

Website Traffic

Posting content to your social media that can link back to your website means that you can increase the traffic that visits your site. Having a blog on your website and then posting the links on social media platforms is a great way to start. There are times when you may not be able to reach a certain target market organically yet once you share it on your social accounts, you are opening up that target market and able to reach them. 

Diversity

Being across different social platforms means that you are able to reach far more people and have an impact on them. There will be people that may only be on one platform which means that you may miss the chance to reach them if you are not on that platform. Opening up your business to as many streams as possible means that you are able to reach far more people.

Social media is definitely where the future is when it comes to advertising and marketing. If you are not already on social media for your business, investing in your content and brand message, then now is the time to start. It’s not as daunting as you may think, but you can also call on us to help get you started.

Have fun with your social accounts, keep them professional and stick to the ethos of your business whilst still engaging and exciting your followers. 

It does not need to be a stressful or confusing time, it is your account and make it a representation of you and your business. 

If you need help getting started or just to get your accounts reviewed and back on track then contact us today! email Kristy at kristy@justsocialmedia.com.au

Boosting V Facebook Ads

With a business Facebook page there is a lot of different information out there about what you should be doing, how you should be doing it and what will help with the increasing of interaction on your page. It doesn’t matter if your page is a new page or one that has been around for a while, you will continue to hear new and ‘improved’ ways to increase the presence of your page. 

Facebook Post Boosting

One that you are more than likely to have heard about is boosting your page and posts. Facebook themselves are forever sending notifications to you about your business page saying that ‘people are boosting posts similar to yours’ and ‘here is a credit to boost your post’ Boosting of posts is being pushed and you have probably been in a situation where you have boosted a post or two on your page. How did it work for you? Chances are you did not receive the resulted that you wanted. Boosting posts can become costly and with very little return.

There is very limited access and ability when it comes to boosting a Facebook post. It is unlike the Facebook ad manager where you can go in and select the perimeters for your posts and who see’s them.  Unfortunately the boosting of a post does not always work how it is meant to which means you are not getting your monies worth.

Facebook optimizes your post based on the objectives that you choose. If you create an add campaign you are able to select whether you would like to attract website clicks or conversions. If you simply boost a post, Facebook will focus on only post likes. You may see that you have a lot of ‘likes’ on your post but the number of likes does not end up reflecting any new followers on your page, clicks through to your website or conversions in sales.

Choosing who sees your post

Boosting a Facebook post also limits you to the type of people that can see your post. You can select either those who already like your page, people who like your page and their friends, or those that you choose through limited targeting. This sounds good right?

Choosing people that already like your page means that your paying money to show your posts to people who are already likely to see them. If your posts are not engaging enough for your followers to like them when they aren’t boosted chances are that boosting will not make much difference. 

The same principle applies for when you choose for your followers and their friends to like your page. When boosting a post to followers and their friends, yes your post has the ability to be seen by a lot of people but because you have not been able to target a certain group or market then chances are that those who are seeing your post may not be interested in it at all and will not take any action on it.

When you choose the option of limiting the target market it is still very limited, you can choose people based on their interests but that is about it. You can not narrow it down to different behaviours or add in multiple interest types. 

Where your boosted posts are seen

You also can not choose where your boosted posts are advertised. You can select the countries in which you want it to be seen but at the end of the day Facebook decide when and where the posts are seen. They could choose the cheaper areas to show the post, effectively making it look like your post has been successful. They can do this with each of the perimeters that you choose. 

What to do?

So the next question is, if you are not suppose to boost a post – what should you do?

Firstly stop boosting posts!

You can create a much more effective advertisement through the Facebook Ads Manager and use the options to select a much more detailed audience to see your ad, choose what you want them to see and where you want them to click through to. It may take a little bit more time to put together – but the results will be a lot better and you will be able to see where your money is going to.

Having an advertising budget for your business is a great thing, use it wisely and effectively moving forward.

If you need help with your Facebook Ads strategy and actions, contact us now kristy@justsocialmedia.com.au

The benefits of Instagram & Facebook stories

The power that comes from social media marketing and advertising is continuing to grow. There have been so many new and exciting features that have been introduced over the last few years that have made the world of digital marketing just that bit more amazing. The advances that have come have opened us up to many different ways to showcase our businesses, celebrate our achievements and provide our followers and customers with new and improved ways to reach us.

One of the most recent additions to the social media world is ‘stories’. Stories are a way to share a photo or a video with your followers that only lasts for 24 hours. The feature is available on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Both personal and business pages have access to the features across the different platforms now. Stories have been around for a little while now and many people are taking advantage of them on their personal pages although few businesses have begun to use them. If you have a business social media page but are not yet using stories – now is the time to start. But why you ask?

Creatives Exclusivity 

Because the stories are only available for 24 hours after being posted, it means that your followers have to check back on your page to see if there has been any new updates. If they do not check in on your page then they miss the story. The reason this works well for a business is because you can use this feature to create exclusivity – by creating a sale code that is only accessible via the latest story or by sharing ‘secret’ information via the stories. It creates a fun and exciting time that your followers will not want to miss. 

Personal Approach

Those that are checking in on your stories are those that want to know about you and your business. They want to be kept up to date and are loyal to you and your brand. You can use the stories for sharing fun moments such as employees working or making funny faces, sharing a personal photo or showing a comedic side of yourself. All customers like to know that there is a real person behind the business and not just a computer trying to make sales.

Brand Awareness

When a story is shared to either Facebook or Instagram the page that it is shared from, remains sitting at the top of the page for 24 hours. This is a great way to increase your brand awareness because you are literally sitting there at the top of their pages so they can see you. Even if they do not click on your story, they will remember you and your business.

Using Stories for your business can be a great, successful move – as long as you do it properly. It is still a marketing technique so ensure that you are sticking to your marketing plan when posting.

Keep it relevant

Stories are just that – a way to tell a story. Make sure once you start a story that you keep it relevant and on track. You do not want to annoy or loose the interest of those that are watching them.

Call to action

The most important thing is to remember to add a call to action at the end of each story. Posting relevant and engaging content is great but if the people watching are unaware of how to contact you afterwards than all those efforts have gone out the window. The aim of all marketing is to create a call to action that is successful and inviting. Remember this when creating your next story.

Professional and On Point

Ensuring that you continue your professional aspects throughout your stories is important.  Your followers like to be able to see a personal side of you but you also need to still keep it professional. Sharing content that is not in line with your business or ethos is not going to sit well with your followers and can have a negative effect on your business. Think about what you would like to see and not like to see from a business like yours before posting.

If you are not already using stories on Facebook and Instagram then it is time to look into it. Create an inviting and exciting story that will keep your followers popping back each day for updates. And remember when doing so – have fun with it!

Need help with your social media? Maybe you need branded instagram stories and templates for your business? Contact our team to find out more information about how we can help with these options! kristy@justsocialmedia.com.au

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