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A little bit of to-do lists…

Posted by: melissa in digital marketing, Facebook, Instagram, social media, twitter Comments Off on A little bit of to-do lists…

Whether it’s a grocery list, a cleaning list or a list of books to read, nothing feels better than crossing an item off a list. Lists help create order and leave you with a feeling of satisfaction. Because we spend our days planning and running and never getting everything done, a little order is necessary.

To-do lists can even be used in the world of social media. Newspapers use editorial calendars. Fitness buffs use workout routines. Even fast food joints have a certain way of closing and opening their restaurants. Why should social media be any different? I don’t think it should, so I came up with a basic checklist that would work for Twitter.

Two times per day:

Tweet a blog post relevant to your field. Whether it’s your own blog or someone else’s, this is a must. Your followers follow you because they want to stay on top of trends and ideas. They want to read about topics related to your industry and they want you to provide this to them.
Tweet a news article related to your field. You’re most likely staying up to date with news affecting your industry. Share this kind of stuff. Not sure what to share? Search news sites for keywords and share any recent news items with your followers.

One time per day:

Tweet a tip based on your experience in your field. To your followers, you are the expert. Share what you’ve learned with them. Share what works and what doesn’t. Share photos and videos. People eat this stuff up.
Tweet something personal. People love being in the know, especially when it comes to people they admire. Your followers want to know more about you and it’s a good conversation starter.

Five times per week:

Talk to an industry expert via @reply. Use twitter to learn more or to meet people in your field. The more you talk to people, the more they will feel comfortable talking to you. Twitter should feel like an ongoing conversation.
Retweet items related to your industry. Like we said before, your followers want information. They want you to provide it. Retweeting items from other industry experts shows that you want to help your followers and it may help you get retweets in return.

This is just an example of a to do list. Every industry is different, as is everyone’s schedule. Make a list that works for you and apply it to any social media you like. Have questions? Let me know. It’s kinda what I do.

29Mar

A little bit of Instagram…

Posted by: melissa in apps, business, digital marketing, Facebook, Instagram, social media, technology, twitter Comments Off on A little bit of Instagram…

You might notice something different and maybe a little annoying in your Instagram feed. In a recent blog post, the social network announced it would begin using an algorithm to sort what you see. Up until now, the photo sharing network arranged everything in simple reverse chronological order. Now, the accounts that you spend the most time liking and commenting on will appear prominently. The feeds that you follow as a courtesy, and typically scroll past, will appear less frequently.

This may sound familiar. Facebook did something similar earlier this year. And while these small changes usually cause an uproar at the time (remember when the company announced that Timeline was happening? made it clear that a user’s face was fair game for ads? or OH MY GOODNESS, hashtags became a thing? ), we tend to adjust and fall back into our normal social media routines. Also, Twitter did this too, with a lot less backlash.

200H What’s this mean for you as a consumer? Nothing really. Want to continue to see things you like? Be sure to interact with posts via likes and comments and apparently even lingering will do the trick. So, what’s with the arrow? Instagram, which by the way, is a unit of Facebook, is allowing users to turn on post notifications. If you don’t want to miss out on a single post from an account. You turn on notifications and BOOM. The arrow pictures are accounts pleading for users to do this. People are annoyed. I get it. But that didn’t stop me from doing it for my Bows and Branches account. Because why not? If one person turns them on, that’s good for me. In other words, calm down people, it will die down. (I have since taken it down. After reading more and more about it, I felt weird having it on there.)

Right now, the media is kinda all over the place with this, so who knows what will happen. But if it does, what should brands be focusing on rather than making arrow pictures? Like anything else we do online, we need to analyze and now is the time. Photographer Jasmine Star did an amazing blog post explaining how a small business can better understand what their audience enjoys.

So, what do you think? Honestly, we have no say so we might as well just deal. Me? I will be running numbers all day.

25Jan

A little bit of social media…

Posted by: melissa in pittsburgh, social media, twitter Comments Off on A little bit of social media…

I will be the first to admit that I am addicted to social media. I love the different ways it is used, from news to sports, from celebrities to cooking, from crafting to a bevy of perverted jokes. You can find me on pretty much all of it. I even signed up for ello and Peach for a brief moment in time.

I use Instagram personally and to share my crafts. I keep up with friends and family on Facebook. I also use Facebook to promote my crafts, but honestly I haven’t had a lot of luck there because the site’s organic reach basically sucks. I have high hopes for 2016 as the company promises greater visibility for businesses. (Clearly not a good subject.) I am also on Snapchat and Pinterest and Linkedin and the list goes on and on.

Twitter is definitely my go to when it comes to social media. I love the funny side of it, and I love the business side of it. I know a lot of people don’t “get” it, so I wanted to share some of my favorite accounts in hope that maybe some of you will jump on the bandwagon. (Keep in mind that most of these are Pittsburgh-related accounts because duh.)

If you love Pittsburgh as much as I do, you will enjoy following Dave DiCello. His gorgeous photos of Pittsburgh are on my timeline every morning. The different angles from which he captures the city are amazing. It reminds me how beautiful it is here.

You’ve probably seen this next guy on your television or maybe out and about in town. Scott Harbaugh, weekday morning meteorologist for Severe Weather Team 11 and PCNC, is an awesome example of how to use Twitter. He tweets weather, right? Seems easy enough. But it’s how he interacts with everyone that always amazes me. From the teenagers harping on him about school delays and closings to the trolls harassing him about forecasts.

If you are from Pittsburgh, I’m assuming you’ve heard of PittGirl (aka Virginia Montanez). If you don’t, she was an anonymous blogger for The BurghBlog.com before someone revealed her identity. She was then fired from her job because maybe everyone didn’t agree with what she was blogging, which lead to her starting a new site ThatsChurch.com. I got to hear her speak at Social Media Day Pittsburgh in 2014 and her story is amazing. Plus she supports my favorite city, Pittsburgh.

Now let me digress. There are obviously a ton of different news sources you can follow, both locally and nationally. And they’re all great, but let’s be honest, these days news is a little bit depressing. BuzzFeed is a social news and entertainment company and I am probably correct when I say that we have all clicked on one of their links. It’s like you can’t help it, they suck you in. And their tweets are the same way. I mean, who wouldn’t want to look at “19 photos of dogs being adorable during the blizzard”?

And last but not least, there’s the “other side” of Twitter. I will not tell you where to find me there because somethings are better left unsaid. But if you like silly comedy, this is where you need to be. David Hughes is my go to account when I need a laugh. His collection of Winnie the Bear tweets kills me. Another account that always makes me laugh is Keet plus how cute is that avi?! Jason Lastname never fails to make me giggle, and I don’t know if that is him in that picture, but check out that beard. And last but not least, Pigeon Cop. He has a way of making me not hate birds so much. I don’t know any of these people personally, but I get to enjoy their humor for free every day. And, if they’d like to be friends, well…

So, there you have it. A very small collection of what I like to read on Twitter. If you’re already on there and want to find me, you can do so here. If you are nice, I might even let you see my other account.