Social Media Icons:: Are You Using the Correct One?

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Yesterday I received a marketing email from an eyeglass company that proclaimed, “Join the Conversation.”  This was followed by three social media icons for Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  All three icons were antiquated.  Completely outdated.

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My response to their invitation to join the conversation was in the form of a question.  “About what?  The plastic owl frame glasses I wore in the ‘80’s?”  As a marketer, I appreciated the use of email marketing as a follow-up to an order I had placed and received.  I appreciated that they were using this follow-up email as a way to keep me connected to them by joining them on their social media networks.

As a marketer, I hated their use of old and outdated social media icons.  I understand that the social media platforms are constantly making changes and refreshing their look, but these particular icons are probably circa 2012.  It is now 2014.

Using outdated social media icons gives the message that you might not quite grasp how to use the social media networks that you are on.  After all, if you were using them regularly, you would notice that’s not what the current icon looks like.  It dates you and makes you look like the parent that wants his kids to think he’s cool and “with the times.”  It’s also a pet peeve of mine to see, especially when larger brands like this eyeglass company commit this crime.

So, to keep you from committing this travesty, here are some resources to find free or low cost icons that you can use in your marketing materials.

Icon Resources:

…and in case you do not have a clue of what the latest iteration of each social media icon looks like, here are some links to brand asset guidelines for the most popular ones.

Social Media Brand Asset Guidelines:

 

 

 

 

 

Do This, Not That When Automating Blog Posts, Social Media and Email Marketing

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One of the great digital marketing debates is on whether or not you should use automation.  It has been debated ad nauseam and I am going to add my voice and opinion to the mix.  As long as digital marketing strategies exist, this debate will continue to exist.  I believe that to be true because a part of the advances in technology, have been to make life easier in some way.  Automating tasks related to digital marketing strategies makes life easier.

I believe automation to be a great asset when used properly.  The problem is that a lot of people do not use it properly and take a set it and forget it approach.

Automating Blog Postings

Why it’s Great:  You can write at times when it is more convenient for you and schedule the blogs to post at times when it is more convenient for your audience.  If you are the sole author of your blog or the content editor, scheduling blogs to posts allows you to go on vacation without missing a beat with your blog.

When it’s Bad:  If the content you have previously scheduled to post becomes irrelevant prior to its post date, that would be bad.  If you write tips on Google’s algorithm, set it to post 2 months in the future and Google releases an update a month prior; you will be disseminating bad information and risk looking like a non-authority on the topic.

Automating Social Media Postings

Why it’s Great:  It’s a lot of work to find, read and share great content with your audience.  Add to that the time it takes to monitor campaigns, respond to commenters and participate in discussions.  It’s a lot of work and we have limited time.  It’s the one thing we cannot create more of; we can only free some of it up by maximizing our productivity.  Scheduling allows you to use time that might not be ideal to post, to find and craft your messages.  You can then schedule them to go out when it is convenient for your audience.

When it’s Bad:  Just like with blog postings, it is bad if you schedule more than you can remember, content wise.  It is also bad if you only schedule and you are not monitoring and engaging with your audience.  Periodically check to see what you have scheduled and review it.  Not only will it help you remember what you have scheduled to go out, but it will also ensure that future postings are still relevant.

Automating Email Marketing

Why it’s Great:  Many of the email marketing providers have ways that you can aggregate RSS feeds into your email campaigns.  Do you post daily deals to your site?  Use an RSS feed to trigger an email to go out with the information to your list.  Using RSS feeds and scheduling emails to go out similar to what you do with blog postings can save you a ton of time.

When it’s Bad:  Again, it’s just like blog postings and social media postings in that you do not want to set it and forget it.  You need to review your reports to make sure that what you’re sending is something that your list wants to receive, open and read.  If you are getting a lot of unsubscribes for a particular campaign, you need to review it.  It does not make sense to keep auto-generating something that no one wants.

Did you notice a theme with when it’s bad?  Setting it and forgetting about it.  Use automation to plan ahead, increase your productivity and ease the strain of doing everything in real time.  However, stay present and on top of what is going out.  If you cannot keep up with and remember what you scheduled to go out 2 months ago, then you should not schedule that far out.  You want to be able to engage with people through your digital channels.  You can end up spending more time trying to remember or re-read something that is being commented on by your audience if you schedule too far out.

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Social Media Bios:: Your Time to [Brag] Shine

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Over the next few weeks I plan to do a little clean up and revamping of my social media profiles. I try to do this every 6 months or so, but I usually fail and only do it once a year. While I look over my profiles and feeds’ and periodically modify my strategy, I do not take a close look at my bios. As a result, they are currently not quite cohesive as a collective unit. I have been willy-nilly, tweaking them on some networks and I have neglected them completely on others. My Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, G+, Pinterest and Gravatar profiles all say something similar, but not quite.

Because I primarily use social media and online channels to network, my bios are my elevator pitch to the (online) world. If you have ever been to a networking event or have been a member of a networking group, you are familiar with the 1-minute commercial format to introduce you and your business. I like to think of my profile bios as the same thing. For those that may not be familiar, usually there is a portion of the meeting that is dedicated to each member giving a 1-minute introduction of themselves and their business. When someone lands on one of my profiles and reads my bio; I feel I am giving that same short introduction and a pitch to them – connect with me.

I know that I don’t have their attention for long or in most cases, a lot of characters to type/use, so I have to make it quick; to the point; and of interest to them. I think a lot of profile bios tend to be a bit bragadocious, mine included, but I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. You have to sell yourself and you do not have a lot of time, space and words to do so. I do not see it as any different from an in real life pitch or interview. You just may have a bit more time to not sound so narcissistic. However, the goal is still the same. You are passionately (hopefully) pitching your brand to an online audience. They cannot see or feel the passion, awesomeness, need, value, etc. that comes with non-verbal ques. You have to make that happen with just words. It’s kind of like what you do with a resume…except you have a much smaller space and word cap to work with.

It’s a fine tightrope walk to keep from coming off as an arrogant douche bag, but your social media bio is really your chance to shine and make your pitch. Make it count!

 

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The Most Recent Twitter Update:  Your Thoughts?

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Today’s post is really more of a question, or a series of questions.  Have you updated your Twitter profile to go along with the latest updates?  How do you like the update?  I updated my profile a couple of weeks ago, but I am not quite happy with the update that I made.  I love the way it looks on my desktop, but I hate the way it looks in the ipad app.  On my phone however, I love it again.  No matter how I tweak it; I find I can’t seem to love it on all three devices.  So, I chose to go with the majority and keep what I have now.

 

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A while back, when I was changing the graphics on my YouTube channels (don’t look; they’re kind of neglected), I liked that YouTube showed me how it would look on mobile and TV in addition to the desktop.  This made it so much easier to create graphics that would work visually for all devices.  I wish Twitter would allow for a similar preview option or at least update their apps to work better with the desktop version.

Since I made my changes earlier in the roll out, there weren’t any templates or guides out yet to follow, created by users.  So since I love lists and I don’t want you to be as frustrated as I was, here are a few templates you can download to help with your design:

Photoshop Template by Timothy Brand

Photoshop Template by Pauline Cabrera (includes her artwork as a guide)

Photoshop & PNG Template Files by Inline Vision (requires email list sign-up)

 

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Social Media Tips for the Non-Tech Savvy: Twitter

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What it is:

Text messaging online.  Well, sort of.  Twitter is a social media network that only allows you to use 140 characters in your messages/posts.  Messages can contain text and images (linked) and are seen primarily by those following you in their feeds, called Timelines.  Unregistered users and those not following you can gain access to read your tweets, unless your profile is set to private.

Why you might want to use it for your business:

Twitter is a great place to quickly connect and engage with other business professionals.  It can be used as an online networking tool, quick communication tool for customer service, a quasi news source and a way to see what is trending in your industry and in general.  Depending on the type of audience you are trying to build and your niche, it may also be a great platform to get the word out about your product/service, brand, special offers and promotions.

What are these?

Mentions – in simple terms, they are mentions of usernames or people.  The “@” symbol is used as a designator to call out a user, followed by their usernames.  @ mentions can be retweets of your content, replies to something you tweeted, replies to someone else’s tweet by you or to talk directly (publicly) to someone on Twitter.

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Retweet/RT/MT – A retweet is when you repost something someone else tweeted, or when someone reposts something that you tweeted.  The “RT” designation usually precedes to let viewers know that it is reposted content.  Sometimes, people will place their own commentary before or after the retweeted content.  When space does not allow for the full retweet or retweet plus a comment, people will modify the content a bit.  The designation “MT” will precede to let viewers know it is a modified tweet.

Hastag/# – You’ve seen the “#” sign before if you have visited any social media network.  This is called a hashtag and is used in a variety of ways.  Some use it as a phrase for emphasis, to call out their brand or to tie it to a subject.  Hashtags are searchable and you can view what people are saying about a hashtag by doing a quick search.  Hashtags are also used to follow along and participate in Tchats (twitter chats).  Tchats are like panel/group discussions, normally scheduled for specific dates and times.

Timeline – This is your “news” feed that is a dynamic stream of tweets from all of the people you are following.

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Followers/Following – People follow you to receive your tweets in their timeline.  You follow people to receive their tweets in your timeline feed.

Profile Image – This is pretty self-explanatory.  It is the photo that accompanies your tweets and lets us see who you are visually.  If you do not change the default avatar, we will think that you are an egg that has not hatched yet.

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Header Image – This is something new that Twitter introduced maybe a year or so ago…well maybe it’s not that new.  The header image is the image that appears behind your profile image and what your description text sits on top of.  The default is a black hole of nothingness.  I can admit to be a bit lazy and a narcissist by using another image of myself for my header image.

Description – Tell people a little bit about yourself and feel free to not do what I have done and go hashtag crazy…I should probably change that.

Etiquette:

DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS.  In internet land, this is considered shouting.  You would not shout every word you say during the course of a normal conversation with a friend.  Do not do it online…anywhere, email included.

It’s considered a thoughtful gesture to thank someone for sharing your content or retweeting your tweet.  If you respond to them, make sure to use their username (@xxxx) within the tweet if it does not automatically appear when you click reply.

Try not to post a multitude of tweets all at one time.  While your followers like you enough to follow you to receive your content in their feeds, the do not love you enough to only want to see your content.  You will flood their timeline feed so that they have to keep scrolling just to see something else.  It’s an ineffective tactic for you because they are just trying to “run away” to find something else and may unfollow you as well.

If you modify a RT (retweet) to add your own commentary and fit within the character limitation, use the MT designation.

Bonus Tip:

Use a social media sharing tool like Buffer, Sprout Social or Hoot Suite to help you stay organized and schedule tweets to go out.  Scheduled tweets interspersed with real-time tweets help cut down on some of the stress.