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12 social media tips to start the year

12 social media tips to get the year off to a flying start!

You are here: Home / Blog / 12 social media tips to start the year

January 6, 2021 By Renée Leave a Comment

We’re a week into the new year, so by now you should have taken down any remaining tinsel and chucked out any uneaten mince pies.  With horrible 2020 firmly behind us, and new year’s resolutions probably already abandoned, it’s the perfect time to set proper goals for moving forward. 

Rather than overwhelm yourself with unachievable business targets, why not begin with a simple social media strategy?  It can be created to fit in with your time and budget, and is something you can do from home until the world rights itself again.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen the twelve tips I posted for the twelve days of Christmas. They’re simple hints and tweaks to get you started. In case you’re not on Insta (and why not??) here they are below…

1              LinkedIn Birthdays

If you don’t remember who three quarters of your contacts are, chances are they don’t remember you either.  A quick, simple happy birthday message will remind them that you exist and encourage them to check out your profile as a reminder.  This can lead to fresh conversations and potential business.  And even if it doesn’t, it’s nice to be nice.

2              Twitter Cover Image

As with all social media platforms, a cover image that has the wow-factor can only be a good thing! (It’s also known as a header image.) Use a design package such as Canva to create fabulous cover images that are just the right size for each platform. Your cover image could be a branded picture, a photo of your products or it could reflect a current campaign you’re running.

3              Facebook Business Page

Make sure you’re using a business page and not a personal profile to showcase your business and engage with customers. Don’t worry if you’ve mistakenly set it up as a personal page, it’s easy to change. Invite people to like your page, but don’t get too hung up on the numbers. Quality beats quantity here, and the important thing is for people to be liking, commenting and sharing your posts.

4              Instagram Brand Identity

Develop an identity that mirrors your brand. It’s a brilliant opportunity to showcase your products, so make sure it’s done in a complementary way that utilizes your brand colour palette. If you offer services rather than products, use your colours (logo etc) to present a cohesive image. I didn’t always do this, and my page looks fresher and more professional since I changed the feel.  I love it now!! (I hope you agree?!)

5              LinkedIn Recommendations

Don’t be shy! Ask people you’ve done business with to write you a recommendation.  LinkedIn testimonials are fantastic, as everyone can see that they’re genuine. And as a bonus, the more recommendations you have that use your keywords, the better you’ll rank when anyone does a LinkedIn search for someone with your expertise. Now there’s something to celebrate!

6              Twitter Lists

Use Twitter lists to focus on conversations that matter to you and your business. You can create a list of industry influencers, colleagues, relevant hashtags – even your competitors. That way you can keep a handle on what’s going on without having to sift through reams of tweets to find what you need.

7              Facebook About Info

Fill in all details in your “About” section. Tell your story – people love stories! This is a superb opportunity to explain what your brand is about. In the new version of Facebook, your introductory sentence is visible on the left-hand side of your page, right beneath your profile picture, so make this clear and interesting. Don’t forget to use your keywords so that you’ll be found if people search for your products or services.

8              Instagram Hashtags

You can use up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post, so make the most of these,  Use hashtags that people are likely to be following to enhance your chances of your posts being shown to a wider audience.  Also use your keywords as hashtags, locations, if relevant, and enduring terms – such as #quoteoftheday, #photographersofinstagram or #TBT (throwback Thursday). You can also use trending phrases – #newyear2021 is a good one for today.  Many people follow hashtags and might see your posts even if they’re not yet following you.

9              LinkedIn Profile Pics

Never underestimate the power of a good photo. Your profile pic should be professional looking  and engaging, but it doesn’t necessarily need to have been taken by a professional photographer. A nice, clear, smiling snap is fine. Headshots are better than full body images, and avoid pitfalls such as cropping out other people so that random hands are left in shot, blurry images, drunken party nights or – the worst – a logo instead of a face.

10           Twitter Language

You can’t edit a tweet once it’s been tweeted, so check your spelling before it goes. As a strong advocate of writing in plain English, I can’t stress highly enough the importance of  using accessible language without jargon or abbreviations.  You have 280 characters to get your message across – if that’s not enough the chances are you’re being too wordy. Review the message and make sure your point is clear and concise, ideally with enough room left for the odd relevant hashtag or two.  

11           Facebook Mailing List Sign-ups and Pinterest

You can catch potential customers to nurture elsewhere through Facebook – here are two ways to do that…  If you send a regular newsletter, you can include a sign-up form on your Facebook page. Mine is integrated with Mailchimp, and it’s a really simple, no-fuss way for anyone to subscribe. You can also have buttons leading to other social media platforms. I have one that goes to my old Pinterest account. I don’t use that much since jumping onto Instagram, but I’ll be reviving it this year, as it’s another great place for promoting your business.

12           Instagram Stories

Use stories to reach a wider audience.  Other people’s stories are shown at the top of your profile so you can access them quickly if you’re interested – so, likewise, you want people to see your stories on their front page. Using animated gifs will make your story more fun and eye-catching.  You can save stories as highlights that stay nicely available for anyone to see.

So there you have it! Twelve suggestions to set you off in a marketing frame of mind. If you need help to get set up, email me, send a message on LinkedIn or wave hello on Insta!

Wishing you a wonderful, happy, healthy, safe and successful 2021!

Category iconBlog Tag iconfacebook training,  instagram training,  LinkedIn coaching,  linkedin training,  social media,  social media marketing,  social media training

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Renée is an amazing writer who is the author of some fantastic blogs… very informal and conversational, she talks TO the reader rather than at them. She uses a lot of humour, she doesn't take herself too seriously and isn't scared to laugh at herself; a bit of naughtiness included too for added spice(!)… I asked Renee to help me understand SEO and how to improve my site. We had a one to one session in which she explained in detail everything I needed to know. Her explanation was clear and fully understandable, which was great for me as I had no previous knowledge of SEO or social marketing. I left our meeting confident of what I needed to do in order to boost my site, which is exactly what I wanted to gain from the session... Renée is the most friendly and professional person I have ever worked with. She is an asset to any company and brings a new insight into training. I would strongly recommend Renée to any company wishing to grow and to improve staff performance… Renee is the ultimate networker and is happy to share her contacts for the benefit of others. She is very knowledgeable and has a great network of contacts... Renée creates fantastic web content and writes our twice-weekly blog. Being results-driven, she has succeeded in increasing traffic referrals to our website and raising us swiftly through Google rankings. She also runs our social media marketing campaigns effectively and handles all related staff training in a relaxed and lively manner. She’s great to work with and bakes nice cakes!... I have received great compliments about Renée from those attending the Mildmay Job Clubs... Renée has made valued contributions to our key School Policies (such as The Equality and Diversity policy and The Learning and Teaching policy). She is extremely professional, she has a great eye for detail and can empathise with the target audience. She ensures what is written is a true reflection of what is going to happen or what needs to be said whilst encompassing all stakeholders in the process... Renée’s writing is clear and concise and we have used this in our accountancy practice to produce professional letters to our clients that they can understand. All our team are unanimous when we say Renee is a pleasure to work with and we are looking forward to continuing our strong relationship... A professional and well organised outfit that exceeded expectations. Excellent feedback from the client group who asked for more of the same... Renée has a very good reputation among learners and staff. Her learners benefitted from her expertise. She has a very good outcome from her learners. We are very happy to have Renée as part of our team at Redbridge Institute of Adult Education... Renée has a very relaxed style and is able to get on with colleagues at all levels. She is able to engage very diverse audiences when training, which she delivers in a very user-friendly way. I am more than happy to talk to any potential clients…Personable, expert, high integrity... Delegates came away from the training sessions with vital new skills and a better understanding of how they could communicate more clearly… Renée was able to run these sessions in such a way as to make them both informative and enjoyable. I was remarkably impressed with Renee’s professionalism and expertise and can honestly say that she helped us achieve 100% of the targets we had set ourselves. I would have no hesitation in recommending her… Renée demonstrates outstanding oral presentation skills and has an enthusiastic approach to the subject which promotes motivation and participation between learners... Highly effective identification of individuals' learning needs, excellent support provided as appropriate: one-to-one or as a group...
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