Social Media Training - Communications Hub

5 Steps to Improve Reach on Social Media

Hello? Hello? Is there anyone out there….

Are you increasingly feeling like you’re talking to your self online? Well, don’t take it too personally – you’re certainly not alone! Let’s look at how we can improve reach on social media…

While social media still remains a vital and effective marketing and communications tool for so many businesses, there’s no denying that it has become an increasingly congested route to the customer.

So how can your business ensure a more seamless journey when trying to connect with your customers through social media?

Here are our top 5 tips for improving your online reach in 2022:

1. GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Research other social media pages – ideally, find a competitor who is doing it well and watch and learn! Keep an eye on your analytics – what type of content are your followers most engaged with? What time of the day are they most active? Know which platforms your customer likes to hang out on – this is often based on age, gender and interests.

2. TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE ALGORITHMS

Most social media platforms now favor short-form video (any video under 2.5 minutes – think TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts). This is directly driven by the fact that most social media users now prefer video content and the algorithms like to deliver! It’s vital that businesses incorporate some form of video content into their social media marketing for 2022 and beyond. Keep an eye on trending songs and hashtags also, especially on TikTok!

3. OPTIMISE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

Consistent branding is key. Try to use the same name, logo and bio across all social media platforms to ensure brand recognition. While you may seed your content to suit different platforms and audiences, the overall narrative and tone should be the same – have a strong authentic brand voice. Don’t forget to also be mindful of your hashtags and keywords and use these consistently online.

4. ADD VALUE

People follow your business on social media because they are interested in what you do – don’t forget that! Educate them on your product/service, what problem it solves and what makes it different. Tell them your story – who you are, how you got here, and what you love about your business. If appropriate show them your process, behind the scenes, or maybe some short tutorials showcasing your skills. And, most importantly, keep your social media platforms active!

5. RUN PAID ADS

It’s sad, but true – gone are the days of basking in a glorious ray of reach and engagement for free on social media. No need for tears though, it’s not all bad news. Paid ads on Meta are extremely cost effective and can be targeted to reach niche audiences to ensure maximum return. I like to run a mixture of boosted posts (to push individual posts), page promotion (to increase following) and linked posts (promoting website). Running even sporadic paid ads can really help to push a page and grow reach and engagement.

So there you have it, 5 easy steps to help your business to improve your reach on social media. And if I was to add a 6th step, it would be to remember to have some fun with it – it’s social media after all, not serious media!

Karen Twomey MA BSc works as a freelance digital marketing consultant, trainer and mentor. For more information on how Communications Hub can help your business get in touch.

IRD Lunch & Learn Sessions

Communications Hub are delighted to have teamed up with IRD Duhallow CLG to deliver a series of Lunch and Learn sessions on all things Digital Marketing!

The sessions start on 10th November with ‘Creating a Marketing Plan for your Business’. This practical course will cover conducting market research, knowing your audience, identifying marketing goals and how to measure the return on investment. It will offer a great foundation stone for any business to built a good online presence for the months ahead!

The second session runs on 17th November and will look at ‘Content Creation for Social Media’. We’ll look at best practice for online content, including SEO, hashtags and engaging audiences. We’ll also cover various apps which can be used to help in your content creation including images, infographics and videos. As the saying goes ‘Content is King’ and this workshop will certainly help your business to connect and engage in the busy online market.

Session three will delve into ‘Promotion and Selling on Facebook’ and takes place on 24th November. This workshop will look at Targeting posts and adverts, Linking products and services and Creating facebook shops/services tabs. Everything you need to help your business make an impact on Facebook!

The series of Lunch & Learn workshops will finish off on December 1st with ‘Promotion and Selling on Instagram’. This practical course will look at best practice for Targeting posts, stories and reels, Creating targeted adverts, creating Instagram shops and linking produces or services. A great opportunity to up your #Insta game!

All of the Digital Marketing Workshops take place online from 1pm to 2pm and cost just €10 per person. What a great opportunity to upskill while you lunch and just in time for the new year!

For more information on any of the courses contact Monica on monica.gilmore@irdduhallow.com or 029 60633.

Karen Twomey of Communications Hub works as a freelance Digital Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Mentor. For more information on any of our services see our website.

Create a Digital Marketing Plan in Five Steps!

1. Conduct a Situation Analysis

Before you can start to even thing about creating a great Digital Marketing Plan you need to know what what marketing your fighting for attention in. Define your business, your product/service, your customer and, finally, your USP (Unique Selling Point). What makes you different? What need does your product/service satisfy for your customer?

When you have a good definition of your own business, have a snoop at your competitors. How are they marketing themselves? What style of content and platforms are they using? What similarities do you have with the competition – and how do you differ? This may help you see some marketing opportunities.

Finally, a SWOT is an essential first step for any Digital Marketing Plan. What are your Strengths and Weaknesses? These are generally internal factors and may be things you have a degree of control over – range of products, method of sale, staff, budget. Opportunities and Threats are external factors and usually outside our control, however, we can often use our strengths to help us navigate through them. An obvious threat right now is Covid19, but before that it was Brexit – anyone remember Brexit???

2. Define Your Target Audience

Who is your customer? Sounds easy, right?

You’d be surprised how many businesses have never taken the time to sit down and really define their customer – what age are they, where do they live, what platforms do they use, what devices, what are their socio-economic preference?

If you don’t know who your customer is, how can you possibly know how to reach and engage them?

3. Set Your Marketing Goals

Digital Marketing isn’t about slapping up a post and hoping for the best. It’s SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound.

Marketing goals may include:

Sales of specific Products/Services/Events
Raising Brand Awareness
Increasing Newsletter Sign-ups
Reaching new audiences
Improve SEO

Once you have defined your marketing goals, you can set about achieving them through creative content, call to actions and setting your goals for measuring ROI.

4. Create & Publish

This is the fun part!

Once we have defined our audience and set our marketing goals, we can start to create relevant content. Content can be created, curated or commissioned and, much like baking a cake, success is in a good mix!

The style of content should depend on your audience and the social media platform you are using. Video is content gold right now and gets up to 60% more interaction than images. Luckily, it’s never been easier to make your own, with an abundance of apps available.

Image quality is also really important online and there is no excuse for poor quality and thought out pictures in this day and age. Most smartphones have great inbuilt tools for editing, as do social media apps. If you’re looking for something a bit more high-tech though, there are hundreds of fun and easy to use apps you can download for free.

Infographics are another big hit right now and work well for businesses who need to get a lot of information across in a post. With the current online attention span at less than 8 seconds, we are more likely to engage with a graphic rather than a large paragraph of text. Again, there are plenty of free online tools to help you create an infographic masterpiece!

Next up is to publish. It’s a great idea to schedule posts online and use a content calendar to keep you on track. Creator Studio will allow you to schedule to Facebook and Instagram, and Twitter has recently allowed scheduling in-app also – although for now this is only available on desktop. You’ll need an external scheduling app, like Hootsuite, for LinkedIn.

5. Set Your Budget

The key elements of any Digital Marketing Plan are people, time and money….and the first two are very often reliant on the last element.

Your online marketing just won’t work unless you fully commit to it and set aside a budget for content creation and adverts. The day for free dinners online is well and truly over, but the good news is, online dinners won’t break the bank.

Online adverts allow excellent targeting and provide very valuable analytics for businesses. They’re also generally affordable and provide a good ROI and help build brand awareness. Set a 6 month budget and analyse the results – I bet you’ll be impressed!

Karen Twomey has an M.A. in Public Relation with New Media and provides one-to-one and group training sessions in all things online. For more information, see www.communicationshub.ie

The Rising Star of Instagram!

See that bright glistening star shooting across the social media sphere? It’s Instagram…

The rise of Instagram has continued at a rapid pace in 2019 and with no signs of slowing down, it’s becoming the latest ‘go to’ social media platform for business and personal use alike.

In fact, without a doubt, Instagram is now the most popular topic in the social media training classes I run.

Businesses are flocking to get established on the platform and the weird and wonderful world of Insta stories, hashtags and moving emojis is becoming more and more mainstream for many SMEs.

Even Influencer Marketing is starting to make an appearance in the Insta marketing of many small businesses, as they begin to appreciate the ready-made markets these ‘bloggers’ can bring to their brands.

According to the latest IpsosMRBI statistics, 41% of the Irish population now have Instagram accounts – an increase of 4% since December 2018. Of those accounts, 65% of users log on daily, bringing it neck in neck with Facebook in terms of daily usage – no mean feat!

So, what is it about Instagram that is so attractive to users?

Its visually driven appeal offers an escape from so much of the clutter and noise of other social media platforms.
It,s not (yet) as advert driven as Facebook, allowing for a more seamless user experience.
It feeds into the popularity of video advertising and storytelling marketing.
It’s fun!

So if your business is burying its head in an Insta-sandpit, it’s definitely time to shake it free and get yourself set up! Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform in Ireland (and around the world), with no sign of slowing down.

And, as we all know – where customers gather, businesses quickly follow!

#GetYourInstaOn

Karen Twomey of COMMUNICATIONS HUB specialises in Digital Marketing Training, Social Media Training and Online Management for Business. For more information contact her on karen@communicationshub.ie

Social Media Training Sessions Cork

Time to improve your online skills?

I’m currently putting together a number of training sessions that can be delivered on a one-to-one or small group basis designed to help those in business to make the most of their online presence and marketing.

The courses focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, which are the top four most used social media platforms in Ireland right now (By the way – Instagram is now the fastest growing social media platform in terms of accounts and usage in Ireland!).

Social Media Training Sessions Cork

While most businesses have an online presence of some description, the demand now tends to be for help with how best to manage that presence. This can be anything from training on content creation, SEO and implementing targeted social media campaigns.

As every business is different and will have different goals and targets online, these more personalised online training sessions tend to be the most effective for business owners in terms of practical tips and take home points – they also have the added advantage of being more time effective than longer courses too!

Communications Hub have delivered digital marketing courses and social media training to all different types of clients over the years including those in existing businesses, start-up businesses, community organisations and those in the public eye, such as politicians.

The type of online presence and content needed by clients may vary depending on the type of organisation involved but the skills needed don’t and no matter what your online capabilities are, we can put together a training session to suit your needs.

So what are you waiting for? Make today the day you help move your business ahead online and future-proof your marketing!

For more information on Communications Hub’s digital marketing and social media training sessions please contact us or keep an eye on our website and social media accounts for regular updates!

Here are our top 5 tips for improving your online reach in 2022:

1. GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

2. TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE ALGORITHMS

3. OPTIMISE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

4. ADD VALUE

5. RUN PAID ADS

So there you have it, 5 easy steps to help your business to improve your reach on social media. And if I was to add a 6th step, it would be to remember to have some fun with it – it’s social media after all, not serious media!

Looking to improve you digital marketing and social media skills for 2022? Look no further!

For more information on any of the above courses or to discuss your individual training requirements (Communications Hub provide tailor-made training packages in all things digital marketing) be sure an get in touch

Communications Hub are delighted to have teamed up with IRD Duhallow CLG to deliver a series of Lunch and Learn sessions on all things Digital Marketing!

Karen Twomey of Communications Hub works as a freelance Digital Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Mentor. For more information on any of our services see our website.

Is it time to up your social media game? look no further – communications hub offer one-to-one and small group social media training sessions!

For more information on any of our courses or to discuss the creation of a course to suit your business needs, please get in touch

1. Conduct a Situation Analysis

2. Define Your Target Audience

3. Set Your Marketing Goals

4. Create & Publish

5. Set Your Budget

Karen Twomey has an M.A. in Public Relation with New Media and provides one-to-one and group training sessions in all things online. For more information, see www.communicationshub.ie

It’s a strange time for many businesses right now – my own included! Luckily for me, it’s been a busy few weeks delivering social media workshops online.

On Tuesday 21st April we’ll run a 2 hour Social Media for Business Course from 12-2pm aimed at new or existing businesses keen to develop their online presence.

On Thursday 23rd April we have a 2 hour workshop in Canva running form 12-2pm. This workshop will help businesses to develop good quality online content and graphics.

The courses will be delivered by Karen Twomey from Communications Hub who has a Masters in PR and New Media and specialises in delivering one-to-one and group Digital Marketing training.

See that bright glistening star shooting across the social media sphere? It’s Instagram…

So, what is it about Instagram that is so attractive to users?

Karen Twomey of COMMUNICATIONS HUB specialises in Digital Marketing Training, Social Media Training and Online Management for Business. For more information contact her on karen@communicationshub.ie

Now that the summer is upon us, we’re winding down after a busy few months of Digital Marketing courses in Cork.

Communications Hub offer one-to-one tailor made social media training workshops ranging from 2 hours upwards and covering a variety of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and website blogging.

#DigitalMarketing #SocialMediaTraining #OnlineTraining

Time to improve your online skills?

Social Media Training Sessions Cork

For more information on Communications Hub’s digital marketing and social media training sessions please contact us or keep an eye on our website and social media accounts for regular updates!