Heard the term ‘pins’ and wondered what these things are? Not to worry. We’ve got you covered.
Hashtag best practice
A hashtag is a device used in social media to group relevant conversations. Tagging a word with a hash (or pound) symbol makes it easy for our posts to be filtered according to topic, and any developments in these topics to be tracked.
It’s a simple yet powerful tool for building conversations and spreading messages – and unfortunately rumours too – as we’ll discover in a minute.
Social Media for Business: Instagram
Instagram is a free photo-sharing app with over 130 million active users! Users have shared over 16 billion photos and the app has cemented itself as the number one photo-based social media service. Instagram bills itself as a fun, quirky way to share photos. Allowing users to snap photos on their phone, apply vintage filters and immediately upload to all their followers. You can also share these photos with others across social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Make your blog the centre of your Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing can seem counter intuitive to business owners. Essentially, it’s a method of communicating with your existing and potential clients without pitching your products and services to them. If it’s not sounding much like a traditional marketing strategy at this point, then you’re spot on.
Social Media for Business: LinkedIn (Part 2)
In Part 1 of our Social Media for Business: LinkedIn article, we discussed what a LinkedIn company page is, how to create one, how to add your products/services and how to make it look ace. Now that we’re all set up, it’s time we started posting updates, joining groups and gaining insights into our followers’ interests and behaviours.
New Facebook cover photo rules
Note: Since this post was written, the requirement of less than 20% text for cover photos has also been removed. More about that specific rule here.
If you’ve been managing a company page on Facebook, you’ll probably be used to tiptoeing around Facebook’s guidelines on what is permitted on your cover photo.
Social Media for Business: LinkedIn (Part 1)
LinkedIn is one of the largest social media sites in use today – and it has one key difference from the Facebooks and Twitters of the world – its user base consists entirely of professionals. You won’t find any Instagrammed shots of today’s lunch or mopey status updates here, it’s all business on this side of the ‘net.
Social Media for Business: Twitter
Getting started on Twitter can be tricky business. There are a lot of new terms to learn, it’s very fast paced and if you’re new to social media it can take a bit of getting used to. To accelerate you along that learning curve we’ve put together a handy guide on getting a Twitter account started for your business.
Social media survival
Social media is word-of-mouth on a giant scale and is recognised as one of the most influential of all marketing channels today. Despite this, many businesses don’t engage in social media.
When surveyed, the main reasons given were;
- Lack of understanding of how it all works
- Difficulty in establishing return on investment; and,
- Fear of something going wrong.
Social media is not going away. Avoiding it is not a strategy. Brands can be negatively impacted by social media whether or not they choose to participate in it. If your company does choose to have a presence on social media though, it increases the ways you can monitor and influence the impression of your brand; plus you’re in a better position to curb any impending disaster before it takes hold.
Space Invaders competition winner announced
Space Invaders competition winner Alan Ling (left) receives a $500 cheque from Orion Creative’s Managing Director, Mark Rowe.
With a mind boggling score of 111420, Alan Ling more than doubled the score of the second highest placegetter – his daughter, Meaghan.
Third place goes to Peter Simmonds, with a number of others following closely behind on the leaderboard.
Mr Ling’s score was so incredibly high in fact that we needed to see it for ourself. We invited Alan into the office to demonstrate his prowess. He kindly accepted the challenge and joined us this morning to show us his winning style.
E-marketing, spam and my business
When we think spam, it’s often a junky email offering ph@rmaceut!cals, Casino Royale or fake Rolex watches which spring to mind. True, we may also think Monty Python.
But spam is not always as obvious as those dubious messages sent en-masse. As business owners or employees are we ever –GASP!- unwitting perpetrators ourselves?
SPRAY Awards showcased
Shaun has just wrapped up putting together the videos for the Syngenta SPRAY awards, and they’ve been getting a bit of attention. You may have seen them in The Land or other Rural Press publications.
Love your business blog
Love your business blog…and it will love you back.
Posting a business blog entry can be a little like date night. Ok, it doesn’t tick all those boxes.
But it does involve setting aside time to foster your relationships with your customers. It can provide a break from the routine of a day in the office or on the floor, and a chance to let your creativity off its leash.
