Taking your relationship with your social media to the next level

Now that social media has become expected and for the most part is commonplace it is can be hard to know how to make yourself more visible. Lucky for you many platforms are constantly making updates to help you be more expressive on their platform, stories being one of them.

Even if you have a good relationship with your social media it stories may excite you or it may intimidate you but like in any relationship you need to evolve and grow. So, why not grow into the realm of stories before it evolves so much you are playing extreme catchup.

Michelle Cyca posted an article on Hootsuite called What You Can Learn from 7 of the Best Brands on Instagram Stories and there are some great ideas in there about how to get yourself started on stories. Honestly, it is not all that different from small talk with people in person.

Exhibit A – “If you have a Story that really resonates with your customers, save it to your Story Highlights!” (Cyca, 2018)

When meeting new people in social situations people tend to have their trusted go-to stories for when there is a lul in conversation. You save them in you back pocket because they probably went over well the last time you told it. Think of your social media the same way. If you have something that works really well make sure to highlight it by saving it for people to see. That way people can easily get a sense of who you are.

Exhibit B – Be engaging “Glossier is exceptional at listening to their followers on social media and offering them a ton of ways to share their thoughts, whether that’s through Polls, the new Questions tool, or replying to Stories.” (Cyca, 2018)

Make sure to be engaging, stories are a great opportunity for you to interact with your audience. You can engage in a number of different ways from posting a poll to simply replying to engagements it is important to acknowledge your audience. You may have some stories in your back pocket to pull out for easy conversation but it is important to make sure to make the conversation a 2 way street and not always about you. If you give the common courtesy of asking about someone else in person you need to do the same in your stories.

Exhibit C – Be active and exciting! “Keeping your Stories active with original, exciting content is an awesome way to engage your audiences and keep them coming back for more.” (Cyca, 2018)

Get up and get active. Take your audience on a journey with you. Give your audience a behind the scenes look, sneak peaks and exclusive insights. If you mix it up and keep your stories active people will return for more

So now that you have some tips to get yourself started get to work on brining your socials to the next level! Try out your stories feature and let us know how you it goes! Let us know where your at so we can follow also for some epic story times 🙂

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Optimizing your social media relationship

#SearchEngineOptimization #GoogleIt

Lee Odden wrote an article for Mashable called Social Media and SEO: 5 Essential Steps to Success that outlines how to be successful when it comes to search engine optimization. When you look at the suggestions you can see how if you treat your social media like you are in a relationship you are bound for success!

Exhibit A – Find the audience

When trying to optimize your social media presence it is important to find your audience so you can learn about them. Like in-person relationships the more you know about the people you are dealing with the smoother the relationship. So dig deep and find out all you can because the more you know the better. Once your audience is determined you can then target them better which in-turn helps with your SEO.

Exhibit B – Define your objectives

Only you can define your objectives. There are lots of different reports you can pull that can give you all kinds of numbers to measure yourself by but unless you have a defined goal in mind the numbers mean nothing in letting you know if what you have done has achieved what you were hoping for. “Define the relationship” applies to both your personal and your social media relationship. You SEO will improve when your objective is defined.

Exhibit C – Establish a game plan

Like most things in life having a plan is highly recommended. Yes spontaneity is great, take time to smell the roses and take live in the moment but you should at least bring a map with you. Having a plan allows you to make sure you are continuing to work towards your goal. Like in a relationship you don’t need to have everything mapped out but having a plan of common goals and making sure you are on the same path to make sure you are not moving in opposing directions. If you are moving in to many directions that will show in your SEO.

Exhibit D – Create a tactical mix

Keeping things fresh is important. When you are in a relationships you don’t go to the same date spot all the time…it gets boring and predictable. You go to your favourite restaurant, then maybe a movie, then a picnic or maybe a nice nature hike. It is important to do the same with your platforms. Making sure to cross post on different platforms is not only engaging but it will help with your SEO.

Exhibit E – Measure your goals

Don’t forget to check in and measure your goals. Like in a relationship it is important to evaluate how things are going and you can make changes where need be. Measuring your goals allows you to see if your plans and ideas are working and if not you can go back to the drawing board taking what you have learnt and try some new things!

So how do you thinking your SEO relationship is going? Is it a love for the ages or a hot fling you will soon need to dump?

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Start treating your personal brand like you would treat yourself when in a relationship

You have a personal brand good for you but I hate to break it to you the work isn’t done. It needs your ongoing attention in order to be relevant and reflect/connect to who you really are.

Think of it like you are in a relationship. You can’t loose yourself in a relationship and not evolve from the time you met. You need to take time for yourself and reflect on who you are to make sure you stay your authentic self and have an identity that grows and changes.

3 Tips for Building Your Personal Brand by Carine Clark brings this home

Exhibit A – Do forensics on your brand

“Reach out to friends or colleagues who will be honest with you and ask for their feedback.” (Clark, 2017)

When you are in a relationship you need to still make time for your friends and talk with them. They are a great guide to make sure you are being true to you. The same goes if you have a personal brand. It is a good idea to check-in with others to see if what you are doing is giving off the message you want and is staying authentic to your brands roots.

Exhibit B – Be the brand you want others to see

“Your brand directly reflects what you’ve done, who you are, and what you care about.” (Clark, 2017)

What you do outside of a relationship says a lot about you and can signal to your partner what you are all about. Make sure what you are doing aligns with what you want your partner to see in you.

Exhibit C – Allow your brand to evolve with you

“As you learn and grow, so will your brand. Let it.” (Clark, 2017)

Just because you were hand certain opinions, goals and beliefs when you started a relationship doesn’t mean you have to stay that way. Take time to sit back and look at your personal brand. Be truthful to yourself and don’t be affraid to grow over time. If you don’t those around you could see it as unauthentic or a lack of motivation to keep your brand relevant and many decide to brake off the relationship

This is all to say don’t let your relationship with your personal brand get stale. Keep it fresh and keep it healthy by taking moments to check in with it like you would a relationship.

So tell me how is your relationship with your personal brand going?

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Would people swipe right on your businesses social media?

If you haven’t met me person you should know that I’m very comfortable providing my opinion on a wide range of topics but there is one exception to this rule and that is dating. Honestly it’s not for any bad reason, I promise. My partner and I met in high school, he was my first and only boyfriend, so I feel like when it comes to giving dating advice to friends, who are now in their mid-late 20’s, I’m a little out-dated in my research.

Don’t believe me? Well if you asked me the best way, in my experience, to meet someone who would be interested in a  long-term committed relationship I would have to be honest and tell you I met my husband because his locker was beside my high school besties….doesn’t apply to people in there mid-late 20’s, right?

That being said the more I read about writing for social media platforms the more I realize the advice has the potential to be transferrable!

Reading How to Create the Ultimate Social Media Style Guide by MINDSCAPE really drove this home for me.

Exhibit A – Writing Style/Tone of Voice

“Know your brand’s voice. Is it conversational or is it factual? What “language” do your personas best respond to? It’s OK to let your hair down on social media.” (Mindscape, 2020)

Dating Advice: know who you are and own it!

Think of it like this, what is more attractive to you in a partner; someone who knows who they are and owns it or someone who is scattered, unsure and indecisive? Well the same goes for your businesses social media presence. Knowing who you are is important but knowing that the setting, social media or on a date, is also meant to be fun so don’t forget to have some.

Exhibit B – Images, Videos and Formatting

“Social media messages with images get 75% more clicks than those that don’t have a photo.” (Mindscape, 2020)

Dating Advice: don’t just talk, do something to show who you are

If you want to get another date plain and simple be memorable by doing more than just talking. Do something to make it memorable and show who you are.

Images, videos and formatting are how businesses can quickly show a consumer who you are. It also encourages the consumer to interact and build a relationship. It’s engaging and interactive which is similar to a good date. Show who you are and stand out by suggesting something different, show how fun you are with your unique suggestion.

Exhibit C – Content Calendar (aka schedule and follow through)

“Make a posting schedule and stick to it! Consistency is key.” (Mindscape, 2020)

Dating Advice: make sure to schedule something, follow through on your plans and don’t give up

When dating someone has to make the first move, so why not be you. When you make a plan make sure to follow through on it. It may be scary to put yourself out there but you need to try. If you consistently put yourself out there the more you will get comfortable with doing it.

Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels

All of this to say that if you are dating or in business you need to own who you are, be creative in your delivery and allocate time to it if you want to be successful in having someone swipe right.

Citations

Mindscape. (2020, February 16). How to Create the Ultimate Social Media Style Guide. Retrieved from https://wearemindscape.com/how-to-create-the-ultimate-social-media-style-guide/

Promotional Posts

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COM0011 – My name is Katrina and I am a dog person.

Puppies! Do I have your attention?

“On Wednesdays we wear pink” – (Mean Girls, 2004)

My name is Katrina and really, the only thing you need to know about me is that I am obsessed with my dogs. Dodger is a foxhound who came into our lives in June 2016 thanks to the good work of  @OttawaHumane. My husband and I loved him so much we decided to give him a fur-ever friend and in July 2017 we welcomed our second dog, Kiara. Kiara is part lab and part border collie, who came to us via a co-worker who needed to re-home her. Having 2 dogs who had a life before us comes with lots of hurdles but I would not change it for anything.

The Ottawa Humane Society Blog is one of the blogs I read because I have a connection to the organization. The articles are well written in a friendly tone by the President & CEO of the organization. The tone is conveyed through words but also by the choice of photos that accompany each post. Though the topics of the blog do vary the main idea is that they are informative on different aspects of pet ownership or adoption.

Being puppy obsessed can take up lots of my time; between the scratches, the photos, and the constant cuddles it sometimes feels that I have no other interests. That being said upon further reflection one of the things that spark my interest in social media, it’s more than just a platform for me to post way to many #puppypics.  I am at a weird age where I remember typing class, floppy disks, and dial-up internet but at the same time, Facebook consumed much of on my high school days. This has fueled an interest in social media and how it influences our interactions with others in everyday life. To me, social media in any online platform where information can be provided or conversation can be started.  

I guess if you want to know something about me besides my dogs I majored in Communications and since graduating, I have been looking for ways to expand my knowledge on the topic to make me more proficient at my job. Currently, I do some side contract work running a real estate agent’s social media page and by taking this course expect that it will help me have a broader understanding of social media tools and trends. What interests me about this course is that I can learn more about something I enjoy in a more practical and hands-on setting.

So tell me how dog-obsessed are you?

Mean Girls. 2004. [DVD].