Happy Sunday afternoon! I'm not sharing this before lunch on a Sunday, if you're like me you probably spent the morning scrolling TikTok :)
This month (May) has started at a leisurely pace and I am doing some planning for the coming next 2 months to manage my families time as well as my own. The last couple of months I have been venturing out more either conferencing or doing in-person group training, which I must say has been nice. I did a post a couple of days ago in a group I'm in asking about events I should attend and had some good suggestions, let's see if I can manage to materialise any of them.
I have to admit my first face to face event where I was moderating a panel was a bit nerve wracking (as its been a while) but I warmed up a lot faster than I thought I would. Anyway, let's get started shall we?
In a bid to win the war on promotion from the other platforms Meta have released some done-for-you templates that you can easily edit to help your posts stand ut from the crowd. They're not bad actually and worth a look but to be honest, unless you're paying for a post, your engagement won't improve by simply using these. Have a look and see if you feel freshly inspired!
Facebook recorded its slowest revenue growth in a decade. For me I feel its pushing Metaverse and chatting about NFT's and Web 3 far too much BUT I also understand they want to be seen at the forefront of advancements. Maybe I'm just old or maybe they're biting off more than they can chew? Have a read of this article and plenty more like it about this.
As more and more companies look to each to other to see what's working - Instagram have decided to add a similar feature (for at least a testing phase for some) from TikTok. It was first picked up by Alessandro Paluzzi. How can this help YOUR business do you think and should it be rolled out sooner? Reader more about it in this article.
I just missed this from March so putting it in this month! Now you can use new tools in messenger that helps you reach people in group chats much easier. It's using Messenger much like a Facebook group in how you tag or "ping" people using shortcuts. You can /pay, be /silent and quite a bit more! It will be rolling out to all phones in the coming months.
This is quite an involved blog post so I would encourage you to give this a good read over.
Creating newsletters seems to be all the rage at the moment. I think all the social media platforms had a chat with themselves in the last year and realised they are potentially losing out to email marketing. Maybe they are? To this end, Twitter teamed up with Revue a little while back and now LinkedIn are jumping on the bandwagon.
Do you use newsletter for your audience? Do think you'd have a higher subscription rate through email marketing or direct like this? Learn more about this update in this blog.
As we seem to be back with creating things in written form in this months round up, let's celebrate the trusty ebook. It's been a tried and tested tool for lead magnets, awareness and of course for sales too.
You must know by now that I have for a long time now strongly advocated for Canva and this tool is simply the easiest one out there to get your head around. So check out this blog and see if its something you can add to your armoury of marketing.
Unless you've been living under a rock this past 2-3 weeks you probably know that Musk has completed the takeover of Twitter. Now me personally, I like the man for what he has done for his Space projects and he's pretty much re-enlivened the Space race somewhat. Outside of that however, I know very little about him unless its been in the papers and I don't follow them well enough to see how accurate they are.
Some people feel that his relationships with others will colour how he runs Twitter and it may become "scandalous" with overtones of "freedom of speech". As much as papers want to sell themselves and be seen as the go-to platforms, I'd rather see Elon prove himself. I have no plans to leave Twitter at this time and will watch and see for now. The only way he can make this incredibly large pay out an investment is to not cock it up and some how get everyone to leave, so I don't think it will be all that bad!
This extremely useful and nearly as old as Twitter tool has been used by sole trader and corporates alike for its compatibility, accessibility and ease. Now it looks like it might be folded into the upcoming paid-for Twitter Blue.
I've had to use it for many clients over the years, this will be quite a blow. Who will you use now? Learn more about this projected update in this blog.
Obviously some of these details may change in the future after the buy out but it won't change for a while. Have you considered doing Twitter Ads? I did them many, many moons ago and to be honest I didn't find them very effective BUT the experience has changed considerably since then by the looks of it and also I probably know more about what I'm doing these days.
Maybe we need to/should rethink this in the coming weeks and months and see if this is something we can add to our marketing strategy? Have a read about the new Ad formats coming up and a Twitter How to page:
https://business.twitter.com/en/help/troubleshooting/how-twitter-ads-work.html
https://searchengineland.com/twitter-tests-3-new-ad-formats-383341
Yet another gimmick, sorry update! I guess its nice to be treated differently and given more opportunity and rewarded for appropriate use of the platform. It's not quite rolled out to everyone thus far but when it does and we've got a few months under our belt I'll let you know if it worthwhile... Read this blog and see if its something that might interest you?
It's been in the works a while now but we didn't know when it was happening. In the first week of April I received a notification from Google that the app was going to be replaced and that I should start using Google Maps to update and connect with my customers. They sent me a short GIF / video of what it looks like to work and I was given links directly to both Google Play and the App Store to download it on to my phone.
They gave no definitive date for the change over, but the fact they encouraged it and gave links to download makes me feel we won't have long, so if you want to maintain your phone relationship with your Google Business Profile, I suggest you update your Google Maps and download it soon!
I've never been a particular fan of Google Analytics, not really up until about 2016 when for some reason I either "got it" or they just made it easier to "get". However, Google in their infinite wisdom has obviously realised we've got too complacent and now want to change it ALL OVER AGAIN!
Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure data protection, "smartness" and more have all had a place in the MASSIVE update but now it's going to reduce plebs like me to idiots again as we have to relearn everything all over.
I am fortunate enough to have one of the most patient and understanding Web Developers in Aaron Ofield of IPA Group who some how agreed to do a blog for me to share here. I'll be completely honest - I still don't wholly understood what he wrote but over the coming weeks I'll be learning from him so I can pass on wat I can to my clients.
For those of you who are less of a technophobe - read his blog here and watch this space. I think I may have talked him into offering a Transfer, Training thinghy for clients to save you all the hassle or doing it yourself (fingers crossed!)
Another business that has suffered in the last quarter has been Google and they've put it down to the war. I have to be honest, between Twitter and TikTok I really haven't looked at Google for anything about the war. Maybe this is some of the issue?
Google have been the leaders - most especially during the pandemic as shopping online was so important and every business was forced to get an online presence. Now the new normal has descended on us and unremitting complacency has returned they have seen a small down shift. Have a read of this post from the Irish Times.
It seems that TikTok have shifted the marketplace in the first quarter of 2022. Does this mean people prefer the visual format, the short dose of dopamine or perhaps what kind of content is primarily being touted on this tool?
What I found interesting was this sentence:
The app surpassed 3.5 billion all-time downloads in the first quarter of 2021, becoming just the fifth app (and the only one not owned by Meta) to achieve this milestone.
Now this is hardly going to upset Mark Zuckerberg too much right now but it might be time to watch Samson get familiar with David don't you think? Have a read of the blog from Techcrunch and let's get some popcorn shall we?
Did you want to get some of the essential tips to understand how to create your OWN Marketing Strategy. No need to feel baffled and left behind when it comes to social media. I have created courses and workbooks that you will find give you the foundation AND framework to build upon. These tools will keep you accountable as well.
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With the first quarter of 2022 now behind us, are you on track for your goals and targets so far? If not, then maybe you should contact me. I have set aside some regular time slots to offer this training and it can run either in 1 month, 6 weeks or even 12 weeks if you prefer! I can give you the dates to fit around both our schedules from day one so you know this in advance. If you would like to learn more about what this covers, then visit this page.
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14 Facebook Post Ideas for Business by Social Media Examiner
Why Your Business Needs an Onboarding Form by Melanie Boylan
Podcast 118 - Kickstart Your Business with Louise Brogan, Carmel Seery and Melanie Boylan
Podcast 119 - The Triangle of Alignment
Podcast 120 - Self Promotion vs Marketing
Podcast 121 - Influencer Marketing with Sinead Carroll
Every month I am blown away with the amount of changes that happen in social media and if anything these changes are happening more frequently. I would like to stress how import it is that you update your apps on your phone and always update the backend of your website. These updates help prevent attacks and hacks that could cost you and your business and privacy dearly!
If you have any questions on any of this or would like to bring your own questions to me, then contact me today!.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
