POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 18 Apr 2012 - 14 Comments
How many blog posts do you read each week? Quite a few?
How many do you leave a comment on? I bet it’s only a small fraction of the posts you read.
Did you realise that commenting on blogs will actually improve the number of readers for your own blog? In fact, I think you’re a fool if you want to grow your blog and you don’t have a blog commenting strategy.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 11 Apr 2012 - 7 Comments
DISQUS (pronounced discuss) is a global blog commenting system. It consolidates the comments you make on other blogs and the comments you get on your own blog into one easy to manage dashboard. It becomes very easy for commenters to chat with each other and you, and that’s a win for your blog.
This post, rather than being a review of DISQUS, will focus on making the most of your DISQUS profile once it’s setup.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 04 Apr 2012 - No Comments
This month has seen a massive shift in Facebook with the rollout of Timelines for business pages.
I love Facebook. I love the friendliness and the people I’ve met but I have to admit that I saw more changes to Facebook as an approaching headache I couldn’t avoid. Every business page has been switched over now but if you’re still getting to grips with the new features, here are some great posts to help.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 08 Feb 2012 - No Comments
Danny Iny recently published his book ‘Engagement From Scratch!’, a collection of essays from some of the world’s most prominent online experts that answered the question: If you had to start from scratch, how would you build an engaged online audience?
As I read each essay I had at least one light bulb moment that had me scrabbling for my ideas notebook. These ideas will definitely be shaping my business marketing over the year to come and I’ve jotted a few of them down for you.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 07 Dec 2011 - 6 Comments
So you’ve decided to join the social media revolution eh? You’ve heard of plenty of other businesses making a killing from social media and you want a piece of that action. Well before you create anything, here is a list of home truths you need to know.
1. Social media marketing isn’t free. It costs you time (possibly your most valuable resource).
2. You need to make time to engage with people. It’s called social media for a reason.
3. You need to actively find relevant and value content to share with your followers.
4. You need to respond to comments directed at you.
5. You don’t need to watch your social media marketing every single second. Invest in tools that will help you stay relevant (and still sleep).
6. The rules of common courtesy still apply. Oh yes. A general lack of manners will get you shunned, just like in real life.
7. You will get out of social media marketing exactly what you put in.
8. Each social media platform has its own rules, guidelines, terms and conditions. And they change. All the time.
9. You won’t nail it overnight. It takes time and effort to make it a success [surprise surprise].
10. Social media marketing can be extremely rewarding if you put in the effort to make it work.
11. Each social media platform has its own culture. Its own vibe.
12. You shouldn’t spray exactly the same content across all social media platforms.
13. Automating some your updates is ok, but make sure you’re around for any comments. Engagement is the most important part.
14. You shouldn’t post one message across different platforms. Take the extra 3 seconds to customise it to the local culture.
15. Social media marketing won’t work as well on its own. Don’t forget your other marketing.
16. Facebook and Twitter aren’t indexed by Google but you can still use them to build a community and drive traffic to your website.
17. Google + content is indexed by Google so you should definitely get on to it.
18. You can build your word of mouth network beyond your imagination.
19. You can make some amazing friends while you expand your business network. Its true.
20. You will come across creepy spammers. Learn to block and report!
21. You’ll probably get your account hacked at some point. Don’t stress out. Just explain to your followers and move on.
22. You shouldn’t air your dirty laundry on social media. It makes you look bad.
23. Never get involved in public fights. They make you look bad.
24. Learn to take the good with the bad. If you’re not jerk, it should be mostly good.
25. You should be sharing your blog posts and any other content you create.
26. Don’t forget your international audiences. Post updates for different time zones.
27. Don’t just send out promotional messages about your business. The aim is to connect with people, not sell them to death.
28. When you get involved in other people’s discussions, you’re more likely to get more responses yourself.
29. You can use social media for market research.
30. Ask questions to get the wheels of discussions going.
31. When you ask questions, phrase them so that people don’t have to think too hard to respond.
32. When thinking about how often you’ll update your profiles, try and be consistent with your timing.
33. You should share other people’s content whenever it’s relevant to your followers.
34. You can actually ask your followers to share your content.
35. Don’t be afraid to show some personality but be professional.
36. It’s ok to just “listen and watch” but you’ll get more out the experience if you join in.
37. Don’t expect to nail it overnight. It takes practise and patience.
38. You shouldn’t outsource every part of your social media marketing. Part of being authentic is actually being there.
39. You need to be authentic because people can tell.
40. You should have a company blog and you should share it on social media.
41. Your business isn’t “too professional” to use social media marketing.
42. Think of ways to reward your followers with content or specials that are unique to each platform.
43. You should know if your location is relevant to your audience.
44. You shouldn’t be afraid to have some fun with it but remember it’s your business talking, right?
45. Following other people and businesses is a good place to start.
46. You should be reviewing your statistics regularly.
47. You should have a corporate policy or guidelines if you have a business social media presence.
48. You don’t need to invent new content for each platform.
49. You can turn one idea into many different pieces of content – it’s called content marketing.
50. Automated responses are lame and people might stop following you because of them.
51. You need to fill out your bio. People read them and use them to decide whether to follow you.
52. You don’t have to be on every social media platform.
53. Social media marketing isn’t for everyone. Don’t stress out if it isn’t right for you or your customers.
As you can see, there is a lot of reality behind the “magic” of social media marketing. If you take away nothing else from this little list, remember:
You can find plenty of online guides to using social media effectively so go and get learning!
Can you add to this list? I bet you can.
The Copy Detective
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 30 Nov 2011 - No Comments
A press release (news release, media release or press statement) has traditionally been used to get your mug in the news. Actually getting on the box, in the paper or on the radio can be much harder than just distributing a great press release. It can depend on what other news is being announced, which news networks you distribute your press releases to and sometimes, the mood of the journalist on the day.
If you don’t get into the news, or you’ve had your moment in the limelight, here are some surprising ways to repurpose your press release for maximum gain.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 15 Oct 2011 - 4 Comments
The Problogger Training Day is happening again and over 300 bloggers and business owners will converge upon Melbourne to learn from the experts. There are pre-event drinks the night before and the event starts early, finishing with more drinks and networking at the end of the day. It’s going to be BIG!
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 27 Jul 2011 - 5 Comments
Twitter has been around since 2006 and the language of tweeting and hashtags have pervaded the social norms. I will put my hand up and admit that I just didn’t get Twitter when I first dipped my toe in. I got the hang of it though and I’ve never looked back! This list of Do’s and Don’ts should help all your Twitter newbies to get swimming quicker!
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 29 Jun 2011 - 3 Comments
For the past month or so I have been toying with the idea of upgrading my smartphone. I am well and truly part of the iCult but with so many new phones coming out I couldn’t ignore the pull of something shinier.
I came across a fantastic example of social media marketing in action and I was not just impressed. I actually stopped work, got in my car and went to a store!
This *pause for effect* is my story.
POSTED BY Belinda (The Copy Detective) - 09 Mar 2011 - 4 Comments
This week’s blog features an interview with Gaynor Parke, owner of Social Media Mamma. Gaynor has been posting some fantastic tips on using the new Facebook features to best effect and now that we’re one month into the rollout, I wanted Gaynor to tell us the gems. read more
