Category Archives: Tips and Advice

Three helpful tips for Facebook Page admins

Posted On 5 Apr 2016
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Facebook Business Pages, Social Media, Social Media News, Tips and Advice

“Change is the only constant in life” – Heraclitus

Words to live by, and no one understands this observation more than a social media manager. Like all 21 “relevant” social media channels, Facebook never stops tweaking, updating, and altering its features and functionality. If you manage a Facebook Page or Pages, this means how you interact and use your Page today could very likely be different tomorrow.

Here are three recent changes Facebook recently made to their Business Pages to be aware of:

Liking another Page as your Facebook Business Page

You’ve probably noticed that Facebook revamped its settings in regards to how you access the newsfeed of your Business Page. You no longer login as your Page to view the newsfeed of your Business Page like you do your personal newsfeed. Now you select “View Pages Feed” to view, like, and interact with Pages your business has liked or is following. This link can be found under the profile picture.

To like or follow new Pages as your Business Page, go to the Page, and select the three dots located at the bottom right of the cover photo. From that drop down menu, select “Like As Your Page”

If you manage multiple Pages, you will see another drop menu. Select the correct Page and save.

This recent update may have been made to reduce multiple logins, but it is a significant modification for businesses that regularly network and interact as their Business Page, and has not been well-received by the Facebook user community.

Instant Replies

If your Business Page receives numerous private messages, it’s always a good practice to acknowledge to the sender that their message has been received. Instant Replies does just as the name implies – sends an automatic reply to any initial messages. Given that’s it auto reply, be sure to add a personal tone to your message.

To turn on Instant Replies for your Page:

Click Settings at the top of your Page
Click Messaging in the left column
Below Instant Replies, click to check the box next to Enable Instant Replies to quickly respond to initial messages
Below Your Reply, enter your Instant Reply message
Click Save

Note that Instant Replies should never fully replace authentic interaction with your audience. They should be considered an initial acknowledgement of the message.

Boost your Call To Action

Looking to book an upcoming event or simply let prospects know how best to contact you? If you have already set up your Facebook Call to Action (CTA) button to reflect this prompt, you can now promote your CTA button. Select the arrow located at the end of your CTA, and then select Promote. From there, you will see all the familiar ad options and fields, including budget, audience, and duration of promotion.

What’s great about this feature is that in some scenarios a timeline post can’t effectively communicate what your CTA has already communicated – yet the only people seeing it are the ones who proactively visit your Page. By promoting it, the CTA appears in your targeted audience’s newsfeed.

What else is new?

What recent Facebook Business Page changes have you noticed, embraced, or both?

With so much social media, can I ditch my website?

Posted On 10 Feb 2016
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Facebook Business Pages, Social Media, Tips and Advice, Website Best Practices

If you are a small business owner managing multiple social media channels – a Facebook page, or Instagram and Twitter presence, for example, in addition to your company website, you may wonder, does my company still really need a website? Facebook in particular continues to improve the functionality and overall look and feel of their business pages, all in the hopes to keep you posting in their space.

Two criteria must be considered when making these kind of decisions for your small business. Money and time. Is it within the budget? Is it worth my time?

Although it is tempting to turn off the website and take it off your to do list, especially within the context of these two questions, there is still value to be found in maintaining a company website.

CONGESTED NEWSFEEDS

If it seems crowded on the social media scene, it is not your imagination. Facebook recently reported nearly 1.5 billion million active users. Twitter, often aptly compared to an endless cocktail party of mixing and mingling, has similar high numbers, 307 million users.

Given this extraordinary potential reach, having a consistent presence that is an extension of your brand is an essential piece of any comprehensive content marketing strategy. And if you are to B2C organization, an active social media page sends a strong signal to your customers that you are accessible and responsive to their needs.

However, the possibility to reach millions of potential customers comes with staggering competition. Facebook alone has 50 million business pages. This partially explains why Facebook is constantly tweaking its newsfeed algorithm, and that Twitter may soon follow suit. It is an ongoing effort to not overwhelm and ultimately turn off its users with content deemed worthless. For businesses hoping to gain exposure through their Facebook business page, the continual shake up of the newsfeeds means that even your followers will most likely not see all of your posts.

HAVING YOUR OWN ADDRESS

Most small businesses owners I have the pleasure to work with have a strong sense of purpose when it comes to managing their work and envisioning their product. Most often, this drive and commitment is what brought them to take the risk to go out on their own. It is also why it can be difficult to alter that vision in order to fit into the prescribed parameters of a social media platform. Cover photos are impactful and will surely raise brand awareness, but maybe not all the images you want to showcase are ideal for a 851×315 layout.

With over 21 “important” social media channels constantly evolving and surely more on the way, there are vast opportunities to broaden your reach. But your website, that domain you bought, is just that – your domain. Reward your users from the moment they enter it with robust, informative content. Take advantage of not having to conform to the constraints of another platform to really communicate to users your value and distinctiveness.

SEARCH

Although search within social media platforms are becoming smarter, your potential client is still most likely trying to find you through a search engine. And when you comb through all the tips and infographics on how best to boost search engine results (SER), when does a consistently updated company website not make the list?

BEST SCENARIO

1) A regularly maintained Facebook or [insert your customers most you used social media channel(s)] that reflects your content marketing strategy and brand + 2) a consistent landing page + 3) an easy to register for mailing list will create some content continuity for search engines and people both on and off of social media.

What do you think? Is it worth it to maintain both a website and social media presence?

5 Free WordPress Plugins I’ll Use Again

Posted On 19 Jan 2016
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Tips and Advice, WordPress Tips

Why do user reviews play an important role in determining which WordPress plugin is the right one for your website? To save one of life’s most precious commodities: time. In most instances, you need a plugin to perform a specific task for your website, you need it up and running quickly, and you’re working with a limited budget. After researching for the optimal plugin most suitable for your site, a significant amount of time has passed, and you still haven’t decided which plugin you should use. Many WordPress admins are all too familiar with this type of scenario. And with good reason. There are a lot of plugins to investigate. According to the WP Plugin Directory, there are 41,000+ available plugins, which can make finding the right one to suit your website needs overwhelming.

If you are managing a WordPress site on a tight budget, here is a short list of free WordPress plugins I have had success with in the recent past. Look for this list to be added and modified on a regular basis. None of these plugins slowed the performance of the website or required code. The versions I used are free, if you have had experience with other versions of the same plugin, please share in the comments.

Tables by Supsystic

When you need to display content within tables without code, consider Tables by Supsystic. It’s easy to enter content and offers many types of display options, including row captions, highlighted rows, hyperlinks, text wrapping, and bordering for the entire table or row. It is also responsive, providing optimal viewing on all types of devices.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/data-tables-generator-by-supsystic/

Add to AnyShare

Making it simple and easy to share your website content is a priority. Not only will users expect it, social sharing is also great for SEO. The Add to AnyShare plugin allows you to do that, and setup takes only a few minutes. Customization options include choosing the size of social media icons, selecting from up to 100 social media outlets, and displaying icons at the top or bottom of your page or post. There is also a horizontal or vertical floating option – having the share buttons stay in a fixed position as the user scrolls.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-to-any/

Ultimate Auction Pro

I have only used this plugin once, and found the set up to be quick and painless. It is also worth noting that the developer, Nitesh Singh, is extremely responsive. Given that auctions are by nature time sensitive events, it is a huge bonus that the developer understands this and responds to inquiries in a promptly manner. Some of the great features of Ultimate Auction Pro include multiple photos or video for each auction item, PayPal synchronization, and automatic email notifications to bidders if they have been outbid. Users will have to register to your website in order to participate, but the plus side of this is that it detracts spammers. When you’re on a tight budget and don’t want to share profits with a hosted auction site, consider Ultimate Auction Pro.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-auction/

WordPress Login Redirect

Having subscribers login into to your site and go directly behind the scenes is not ideal – it’s actually a little disorienting. WP Login Redirect automatically redirects subscriber level users back to the homepage of your website after they’ve logged in. Why should a users first impression of your site be the admin panel? This plugin does not offer a lot of buzzes and whistles, it simply performs one function very effectively.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-login-redirect/

Display Widgets

This is such an efficient, handy plugin, allowing you to customize your sidebar page by page. For example, you may have a text widget announcing a new event or product that you want to display on your homepage, but not the actual event/product page, because the text will look redundant appearing in both the main body and the sidebar. Display widgets can help with this by giving admins the ability to select which pages a widget should display on, creating clean, unique pages throughout your website.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/display-widgets/

What WordPress plugins have worked for you? Please share.

Tools to make your Instagram Photos Shine

Posted On 27 Jun 2015
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Social Media, Tips and Advice

Instagrams continued growth is due partly in its ability to get personal. Given the visual nature of Instagram, users can let their personalities shine on this social media platform. And this opportunity to showcase some uniqueness is not limited to personal accounts. Increasingly, businesses are finding Instagram to be a great platform to let their customers really know their business and recognize their brand, and as a result, create higher customer engagement. In fact some brands have reported 50 times more engagement on Instagram over Twitter. See full article here>>

If you use Instagram for your small business and are looking to maximize your photos, here are 3 great tools you’ll want to check out:

Snapseed, available for Androids and iPhones, is a proven winner for still-life scenes. It has several photo effect features, including the option to a brighten specific area of an image. In its review of Snapseed PC Magazine declared it “does the best job of combining powerful editing and enhancing capabilities with a clear, usable interface.”
Photoscape is a great free imaging editing software for your laptop or pc. Although it initially seems limited, there is a lot more to this software than meets the eye. It’s loaded with editing capability, and Photoshop-like tools such as blurring a specific part of the photo. It has a flexible cropping functionality, including circular cropping, lots of filtering and film effects, and a rich text tool for adding text to your photos. Photoscape is not an app, however if you have high quality photos on your pc that you want to use on your social media channels, it’s worth having.
Wordswag allows you create unique custom text layouts for your Instagram and other social media pages. With Wordswag, your jokes, inspirational quotes, or thoughts of the day become powerful and lasting graphic design displays. Wordswag has a wide variety of fonts to choose from as well as images. It also some great quotes if you’re feeling stuck on content ideas. You can select images from you own camera roll to make truly personalized content. Another convenient feature is the share option, allowing you to post directly to Instagram and other social media channels, or email or text your creations.

What tools do you use to make your Instagram images shine? Please share.

Prepping Before You Share

Posted On 14 Apr 2015
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Facebook Business Pages, Social Media, Tips and Advice

Five ways to prep your social media posts for success

When you have great content for your social media space, it can be difficult to suppress the urge to share it instantly with your audience. But even the most stellar images and written descriptions benefit from a little pre-game prep. Making sure the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed is a critical step in social marketing.

SHORTEN THAT URL

Prior to posting, go to Bitly or TinyURL and quickly shorten any links contained in your post. Bookmark one or both of these sites for future reference. Your mobile audience will appreciate you taking those extra three minutes to complete this step. Note: Shares with links on LinkedIn are often automatically analyzed and shortened.

POSITION THAT PHOTO

Each social media platform displays images slightly different. Some, like Instagram, favor square images, while Twitter images should be longer in width and shorter height. For a brief rundown on image sizing for newsfeeds, please go here. There are many great photo editing apps such as Snapseed or Camera+ (both are best for iPhones) to help you display your photo correctly.

READ THAT TEXT OUTLOUD

Does your post have an intended tone? This can be challenging to convey through text. Read it aloud with as little tone as possible to see if the feeling you are seeking comes through naturally. Or if you have time, get a second pair of eyes. Someone who hasn’t seen or read your post can provide that an important fresh perspective.

CONSIDER THAT #HASHTAG

Does your hashtag flow? Or will the user have to sound it out a couple of times before it resonates? #neversettleonpasta, for example, is quicker to grasp than #neversettleonpastabecauseourpastaisthebomb. Every social marketer is striving to be unique and memorable with their hashtags. Comprehensible, however, trumps unique, and is easier for the audience to consume and retain.

LOOK AT THE CLOCK

Whether built into the social media platform itself, or through external tools such as Hootsuite, there is a tremendous amount of data available to you regarding your social media content. One great piece of insight is knowing when your audience is most responsive. Give your content a fighting chance by sharing it when your audience is most engaged. By taking advantage of the data available, you give your post maximum visibility.

TIP– For Facebook business page posts, select “Schedule Post”. Then select, “See Post”. This is a great way to preview how your post will look when published, on both desktop and mobile. If it’s all systems go, select Actions>Publish. Or if your audience is more receptive at a later time, schedule it.

Why I left your Website

Posted On 14 Feb 2015
By Sheila Heffernan
In Digital Content, Tips and Advice, Website Best Practices
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If you are about to embark on creating a new website or redesign of your existing site, congratulations! As you are already aware, this is such a huge component of your overall business operations. It’s your online storefront, presenting an amazing opportunity to create not only a first impression, but more importantly, a powerful and positive lasting impression.

When you sit down to work with your web designer, it’s helpful to keep in mind the pitfalls that can create a poor impression on your website, ultimately frustrating your visitors. None of these fixes require a huge budget, fancy graphics, or intricate code. The only requirement is user mindfulness. Think like a user, and the content and navigational pieces will fall into place.