Measuring R.O.I. (return on investment) is one of the most common questions I get asked by clients and can often be the most challenging part of social media marketing – a bit like figuring out whether your shiny new gym membership is earning its keep or if it might be better to say “See ya!” and use that money for a Netflix binge-fest instead.

Yet, equipped with the right guidance and appropriate tools, gauging your social media R.O.I doesn’t have to be a Herculean task. Below, you will find several insightful tips that simplify the process of measuring the return on investment from your social media marketing endeavours:

Bust Out the S.M.A.R.T Goals

Nope, I’m not talking about your lofty ambition to rewatch every episode of SuperStore. Although, let’s be honest, that’s an amazing goal (Glenn forever!). I’m talking about setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. This acronym stands for:

Specific: Your goal should be clear, precise, and straightforward. No vague or generalised statements here! For example, instead of saying, “I want to grow my business”, you might say, “I want to increase my customer base by 20%”.

Measurable: Your goal should have a defined metric to track progress and determine when the goal is achieved. If we continue with the above example, the “20%” allows you to measure whether or not you’ve reached your goal.

Achievable: Your goal should be realistic, based on your resources and current circumstances. Setting a goal to triple your followers in a week may not be achievable, but that 20% increase over six months could be.

Relevant: Your social media goal should align with your broader business objectives.

Time-bound: Every goal needs a time frame or deadline. This adds a sense of urgency and provides a timeline for tracking progress. “Increasing reach by 20% in six months” would be an example of a time-bound goal.

Get Down With Metrics

Next on the list, it’s time to track your progress with metrics that matter. Here’s a handy guide:

Brand Awareness: Reach, impressions, engagement, all the stuff that makes you do a happy dance when your audience sees and interacts with your content.

Lead Generation: Your click-through rates, website traffic, and newsletter signups are all prime suspects here.

Sales: Count that money! Look at the revenue coming in or the cost of customer acquisition.

Advocacy: Keep an eye on referrals and reviews. These are golden!

Gear Up with the Right Tools

Let’s arm ourselves with some fantastic tools to track these metrics. Here are some of my favourites:

Bitly: Bitly isn’t merely a link management service. It is a powerful tool that allows us to shorten, customise, and share links across different platforms. It also offers detailed analytics about who’s clicking on your links, where they’re coming from, and when they’re doing it. This can help you understand what content resonates with your audience, and you can use this information to tailor your future content and marketing strategies.

Google Analytics & UTMs: Regarding web analytics, Google Analytics partnered with UTM parameters is your comprehensive solution. Google Analytics offers detailed insights about website visitors, their behaviour, and web traffic sources. It tracks metrics such as bounce rate, session duration, and pages per session. It also provides demographic details about your audience, like their location, device, and interests.

On the other hand, UTM parameters are tags you add to a URL. When someone clicks on a URL with UTM parameters, those tags are tracked back to Google Analytics. With the data from UTM parameters, you can precisely understand where your traffic comes from and how your various marketing efforts perform.

Agorapulse: This is my go-to social media management tool; Agorapulse is a powerhouse that helps you manage all your social media channels in one place. It’s efficient for scheduling posts, engaging with followers, and monitoring your social media performance.

Agorapulse’s unique social inbox feature ensures no user interaction is left unnoticed. Its detailed analytics and reporting can help you understand what content works best on each platform. In addition, Agorapulse includes features to monitor your brand’s online reputation, compare your performance with competitors, and collaborate with team members.

By leveraging these tools, you can measure, monitor, and manage the success of your social media marketing efforts more effectively.

Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Always be on your toes. Watch your social media metrics and R.O.I. like a hawk. Spot trends, identify patterns, and find those little areas that need a boost.

Use what you learn to review and refine your strategy. It’s all about testing, testing, testing!

Find Your Platform Happy Place

Remember, not all social media platforms will be a good fit for your business. So, find out where your people hang out and focus your content there.

LinkedIn fan? Create content for that. Facebook more your speed? Do your thing there.

Mindset Matters

Look, this isn’t some mad dash to the finish line. Nah, we’re talking long-haul marathon style here. And here’s the thing – sometimes there are these magical, mysterious parts of your social media impact that you can’t measure with cold, hard numbers. I mean, who can put a value on the screenshots taken of your posts, those real-world chit-chats sparked by your content, or the warm, fuzzy sentiment from your fans? Not everything that counts can be counted, right?

So, there you have it! Social media R.O.I. might feel like a dragon to be slayed, but with a dash of determination and a sprinkle of strategy, you’ll start seeing the payoff.

If you need help with your social media strategy or management, please give me a shout!

The post How To Measure Your Social Media Return On Investment (R.O.I.) appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

There are some serious perks to using a branded hashtag. Here are just a few:

Increased Brand Awareness

Branded hashtags can help your content reach a wider audience beyond your immediate followers. You can make your brand more discoverable and recognisable by consistently using your branded hashtag across all your social media channels.

For example, Nike’s iconic #JustDoIt hashtag has been used in countless campaigns. Most recently, the brand used the hashtag in a campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, generating praise and controversy. Despite the controversy, the campaign succeeded, with Nike’s online sales increasing by 31% in the days following the launch.

Improved Social Media Engagement

A branded hashtag can be a great way to encourage your followers to engage with your content and join the conversation around your brand. It’s like giving them a secret handshake into your brand’s inner circle.

For example, Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign encouraged people to share photos of their personalised Coca-Cola bottles on social media using the hashtag. The campaign was a huge success, with over 500,000 images shared on social media and a 2% increase in sales in the US.

Enhanced Brand Loyalty

When your customers or followers use your branded hashtag in their own posts, it creates a sense of community and loyalty around your brand. It’s like being part of a cool kids club without secret treehouse meetings.

For example, In response to the US travel ban in 2017, Airbnb launched the #WeAccept campaign to promote diversity and inclusion. The campaign encouraged people to share photos and stories of their own experiences of diversity using the hashtag. The campaign received widespread media coverage and helped position Airbnb as a socially conscious brand.

Tracking and Analysis

By monitoring your branded hashtag, you can get insights into how people engage with your brand and adjust your social media strategy accordingly.

Using a branded hashtag for your events, in particular, can help increase your event’s visibility and inspire user-generated content. By encouraging attendees to use a consistent hashtag, you can create a cohesive brand identity for your event, encourage participants to share their experiences and gain insights into how people engage with your event.

To summarise, branded hashtags offer a variety of benefits, from boosting brand awareness to spicing up your social media engagement. Just look at Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke, Airbnb’s #WeAccept, and Nike’s #JustDoIt campaigns – those hashtags united and inspired social media followers everywhere.

For more marketing tips and insights, sign up for my Tiny Tips Tuesday newsletter HERE.

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It’s the same with social media. Well, not quite the same. There aren’t any calories (thank god), and there is no equivalent to licking the spoon.

But however much someone exclaims that you need to “get on social media!” not knowing what to post, when to post it or on what platform can be daunting. So what’s the answer? What if you need guidance or simply don’t have time? That’s where a social media consultant comes in. A good social media consultant can help you create a strategy, design content, build an engaged community, fuel lead generation and more — but how do you ensure you hire the right one? Let’s consider four key factors when hiring a social media consultant.

Experience & Credentials

The most crucial factor when looking for a social media consultant is experience. Before hiring anyone, check out their portfolio and testimonials. Do they have experience working with companies in your industry? What other projects have they worked on? The more experienced and knowledgeable the consultant is, the better equipped they will be to help you succeed.

Strategic Thinking

Don’t get me wrong, if you’re actively posting; you’ve already got a big thumbs up from me. But if you have a social media consultant working for you, you should expect them to think of the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’ and ‘when’. Your consultant should always start with a strategy, as this is key to tracking the ROI of your social media communications – after all, without a goal, how do you know you’re winning? Also, this strategy should align with your other marketing outputs.  A good social media consultant will talk to you about your wider business goals, granular social goals and the budgets for achieving them.

Cost & Value

Of course, the price comes into your decision in hiring a consultant, but you should be looking for value over the price tag itself. Price should never be your only factor when deciding something as important as your business’s online presence. It also shouldn’t be your first factor either! Think of it this way: If someone charges you half as much as another person, are they really giving you twice the value? (Hint: No). Consider how much value their services offers your business — not just how cheap or expensive they are.

Personality & Communication Style

When finding the right fit for your business, personality matters! And I’m talking about your business’s personality, not theirs. Although rapport is obviously a sweetener. Ensure the consultant understands what makes your company unique and can communicate similarly to your target audience. It would help if you had someone reliable and communicative; after all, communication is key for any successful relationship between an employer and employee (or consultant). During an initial call or meeting, watch for body language cues and ask questions about what strategies they typically recommend — this will give you a good sense of their style and approach. 

Ultimately, finding the right social media consultant can make all the difference in managing your online presence. In the words of Jessie J, “it’s not about the price tag”, so try not to look straight at the bottom line. Instead, focus on experience, credentials, strategic vision and communication style. If you are still on the fence about WHY to hire a social media consultant, check out these five benefits.

By considering all these elements carefully during your search process, you’ll be able to find someone who matches up perfectly with both your budget and expectations – ensuring that everyone involved benefits in some way from this arrangement! Good luck!

The post <strong>How to Hire the Right Social Media Consultant for Your Business</strong> appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

So what do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Pour yourself a big glass of sauvvy b, of course. 

Right – you’re here for slightly more constructive advice. OK, how about this: I have a few timeless guidelines that will keep you calm and collected. Here is my top 7:

Post With Purpose

This one gets overlooked the most in favour of ‘getting something out there’, which I understand. But creating social media content that aligns with your business goals is crucial for success. Otherwise, ask yourself – is it a good use of your time? When crafting your content, remember that you’re guiding your audience through a customer journey. With that in mind, make sure you have a clear call to action. Each post should have a specific purpose, such as driving sales, boosting website traffic, or raising brand awareness. This call to action can be as simple as asking for their opinion or more complex as directing them to a free resource. By including a clear call to action, you make it easy for your audience to take the next step in their journey. 

Top Tip: A customer journey is not always linear, so always have a mixture of calls to action to speak to your audience at every stage of the buying funnel.

Consistency Is Key

Have you heard people talking about your brand voice? It’s simply how you communicate with your audience. It’s one vital way of asserting the personality of your business. Brand consistency ensures that your business values and identity are consistently presented across all your social media channels. What do I mean by this? Essentially, it’s making sure that everything you put out across all platforms sounds and looks like you (or your business, I should say). 

Frequency? That’s up to you. But it’s crucial to decide on a posting schedule and stick to it. Consistent posting will help increase your credibility and build trust in your brand. Whether posting content three times a week or daily, keeping a regular schedule is essential. This way, your audience will know when to expect new and valuable information from you. It’s also pretty handy for you when you’re planning out your week. 

Don’t Post & Ghost

Oh no, you’re not ghosting, are you? Creating engaging content, scheduling and posting it is only the first step in successful social media marketing. One of the most common mistakes businesses make on social media is neglecting to interact with their followers after posting. It might sound obvious, but social media is meant to be – well – social! Make sure to e-n-g-a-g-e in conversations with your followers by responding to comments and messages on your platforms. Remember, social media’s actual value lies in your discussions and interactions with your audience.

Different Platforms, Different Content Requirements

Boy, oh boy, running your business is hectic, hey? When you’re time-poor, it’s natural to want to use the same content across all social media channels. However picky little things they are, each platform is looking for something slightly different. It’s essential to restructure, resize, and adjust it to fit each platform’s requirements. Keep in mind that different platforms have different audiences and preferences for content. For example, a behind-the-scenes video may perform well on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok but may not have the same impact on LinkedIn if the caption is not tailored to the platform’s audience and tone. Does it sound like a lot? I’ve got you. I can help. 

Map It Out

Ever tried to get to a new place without directions? Navigating social without a roadmap can feel like you’re on an endless drive around Spaghetti Junction. A content roadmap will guide you from where you are to where you want to be. Simple, hey? To create an effective social media content roadmap, it’s essential to first understand a) your audience, b) analyse current content, and c) identify your business objectives. 

A great place to start is by looking back at the route you’ve just taken. By assessing the performance of your recent content, you can use this information to build a weekly content plan. A monthly editorial calendar is crucial when managing multiple social media channels; it keeps you organised and on track with creating, planning, and posting content.

Top Tip: Look at ways to improve and enhance existing content; it’s not always about the new.

Plan, Batch, Schedule (repeat)

It’s one of Daft Punk’s lesser-known hits: Plan, Batch, Schedule (repeat). Social media batching is a time-saving strategy involving creating, planning and scheduling your social media content. Like meal prep for marketing. This could be for a month, two weeks or a week. It includes planning, writing captions, choosing/taking images, creating videos, and scheduling in one sitting. This technique ensures consistency in your brand voice, cohesive content and a continuous connection with your audience. Scheduling tools like Planoly, Later, Agorapulse, or even directly scheduling on some platforms like Instagram can help you automate the process and free up time for other essential business tasks.

Top Tip: After years of praying to the Social Media Gods, Instagram (finally) announced that users could schedule reels on the platform directly! Hall-e-lu-jah.

Balance It Out

The ancient Greek philosophers, and also De La Soul, believed that 3 was a magic number; a number of harmony. That’s certainly evident in the success of the golden rule of thirds in creating engaging content. This formula creates balance and harmony in your social media presence, especially for service-based businesses.

What is it? Well, the theory suggests dedicating one-third of your content to sharing expertise and adding value to your audience, one-third to giving an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into your work process and culture, and one-third to promoting your services or products. By offering a mixture of informative content, humanised behind-the-scenes content, and promoting your unique offerings, you can build connections and trust with your audience, ultimately leading to the growth of your business. And trust me, the ancient Greeks were so hot on Instagram. 

Give me a shout if you need help with your social media planning. It’s what I’m here for! 

The post 7 Guiding Principles To Elevate Your Social Media Planning appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

Nowadays, you don’t even have to slip out of your onesie or leave your front door. Amen to that. But what does “discoverable” mean in the context of your social media presence? ‘Discoverable’ means making it easy to be found by your ideal client, so your target audience can understand who you are and what you are. It’s top-of-the-funnel stuff: the first step in supporting your customer journey.

You don’t have to hope to catch a wave, though; there is an obsession with “going viral” on social media, and I think this obsession is counter-productive to business growth. We only hear the success stories. Not the failures. The stories of people working consistently hard over a long period before achieving success on social media. I saw a quote the other day that said, “the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary”, and I think that applies here too. Put in the work for your discoverability, and I’m positive you’ll see an impact.

Start by reframing your thinking; think about being discoverable. Here are seven tips for achieving this:

Use Keywords

When you hear the term “keywords”, you’re probably thinking, “isn’t that a website thing?” Well, yes, it is. It’s linked to SEO – search engine optimisation.

It also applies to social media. You can boost your SEO on social media by placing keywords in the following:

• your captions
• your title or bio
• hashtags 
• Alt-text (this is the text that should accompany an image)

Keywords should be related to your niche, industry, services, audience and location (if your audience is local).

Keywords are super important as social media has become a research tool, not just a social platform. It’s reported that 75% of internet users use social media to research products, and I, for one, am not surprised. For example, YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. Pinterest is like a search engine for images; LinkedIn and Instagram have searchable headlines.

By using keywords in your social media content, you are achieving two things:

1. Telling the algorithm who to serve your content to
2. Showing up in search results for your ideal client 

Cross-Promote

My second tip is to cross-promote your social media platforms across all other online and offline marketing platforms. Social media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s there to complement and align with all of your other marketing activities. 

You can promote yourself on your:

• Website
• Blog posts
• Business cards, flyers and banners
• On your other social platforms
• Email signature
• Newsletter
• At networking events

Create Social Proof

People buy in different ways, and a large proportion of people need social proof to get them over the line. What is it? Well, put simply, social proof is the idea that consumers will adapt their behaviour (i.e. potentially buy/take the next step) according to what others say or do. Let me give you an example: 

Imagine you walk past a restaurant….

We’ve all been to a restaurant where we were worried about stepping inside because the place seemed empty. Still, within 10 minutes of you being in there, another couple of people have sat down. Before their orders have been taken, there’s another bunch of people coming in, and the place is full before long. It only takes one or two people to start a whole influx.

It’s the same with fuelling brand advocacy. Basically, get people talking about YOUR brand FOR you! 

As a small biz owner, there are several ways you can do this:

• Encourage online reviews and testimonials
• Fuel peer-to-peer recommendations (BNI is an excellent example of this offline, and Facebook groups are a great example online)
• Showcase your credentials and awards
• Build an engaged online community
• Invest in an influencer marketing campaign

Engage with Others

Social media is meant to be social! Do not post and ghost. The more you engage with others, the more they become aware of your brand in an organic way. 

When you are at a networking event, who do you remember at the end of the day? The people you spoke to, or the people you just walked past? It’s always the people you’ve talked to. This applies online, too. Engagement makes you memorable.

With social media, you can utilise the following tools to make your engagement more manageable and strategic: 

• Add potential clients to your “Favourites” List on Instagram
• Build Twitter lists
• Utilise the LinkedIn bell notification or LinkedIn Sales Navigator

It’s simple but so effective! Engaging with others instantly boosts your discoverability.

Post Consistently

You’ve probably heard that being said repeatedly, mostly from moi, but it is one drum that I will continue to bang the bejesus out of. Yes, there is much more to social media success than consistently posting, but there is value in prioritising consistency over perfection. 

Posting imperfectly will always be better than not posting at all.

There is a social psychology theory behind this. 

It’s called the “Mere Exposure Effect”, a term coined by social psychologist Robert Zajonc in 1968. It states that repeatedly exposing people to something will develop a preference for it over time. Repeated exposure increases familiarity, which leads to sales! 

So posting consistently matters! It contributes to the power of persuasion. 

Understand Priority Content

Each platform favours particular types of content and not only that, but it changes like the flippin’ wind. My newsletters help you keep up with these constant changes if you still need to sign up. 

Once you know which platforms prioritise what, it should inform your content strategy. Video rules across most platforms.

Give them what they want, and it will make you more discoverable as the algorithm thanks you in the form of exposure. 

It’s not always easy, but it’s always necessary!

Deliver Compelling Content

My final tip is a dinky little one, but so essential to remember: create compelling content for your audience!

Add value to their scroll, their day – nay, even their life (without trying to sound too dramatic)! It’s about them, not you.

Need more tips and insights? Sign up for my weekly Tiny Tip Tuesday newsletter series for snackable social media tips directly to your inbox. Yum.

The post 7 Things To Do Right Now To Improve Your Discoverability On Social Media appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

I know that’s probably not what you want to hear, as one of the most common questions I get asked from clients and colleagues about social media marketing is “how often should I post on social media as a small business owner?” I’d love to give you a formula: n-(n² x ) where ‘n’ is Instagram posts per day and ‘’ is cat memes. But alas, there’s no “one-size fits all” answer to this question. Here’s a few factors that will inform your decision, however: 

– your goals; the loftier your ambitions, the potential that you might need to increase your activity. However, to counter that I’d always favour quality over quantity.
– which platforms you are going to be using; and of course,
– your resources; don’t overcommit yourself – consistency is key, so only plan what you can keep up.

Let’s break those points down:

First off, your goals…

You’ve heard me say it before, but you need a clear goal to be able to judge whether you’re smashing it or not! Your posting frequency on social media depends on your overall marketing strategy and its goals, which can change every month or quarter. For example, if you are launching a new product or service, I recommend posting every day for a good four to six weeks in the lead-up to the launch. If your goals, on the other hand, are to simply maintain visibility and social proof,  then you can post less… as long as you’re consistent. And if you want to drastically increase your followers and reach, then it goes without saying that you need to post as often as possible; more posts = more reach = more potential followers!

Next up are the platforms…

Another factor to consider is the platforms you are using. Fickle little things that they are, every platform is different, and the life span (and potential reach) of a post varies on each one. For example, Twitter requires you to post multiple times per day to maintain visibility. However, on LinkedIn, you can get away with posting 2-3 times per week. As I’ve said before, quality over quantity is essential here; this all links back to your goals! (see above!).

Lastly, Your Resources…

When I talk about resources, you might think I mean tools, perhaps money – sure, they’re a key ingredient, but the most fundamental resource is your own time. Know your worth, my loves! When thinking about how often to post on social media, you need to work out what is sustainable for you as a business, not just this week or this month, but beyond. Can I get a “consistency is essential”, from the congregation please?! If you’re a solo entrepreneur wearing all the hats, believe me, you’re absolutely rocking them, but posting daily may not be doable. However, if you’re a growing business with the funds to outsource or hire someone in-house, go ahead and commit to posting daily. 

Don’t nail your strategy or frequency to the mast though. The beautiful thing about social media marketing is that you can test and analyse what works for you, then adapt your tactics when you need to. Start off small and manageable, and then see where a bit more attention would pay dividends. 

Need more tips and insights? Sign up for my weekly Tiny Tip Tuesday newsletter series for snackable social media tips directly to your inbox. Yum.

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Being busy is no bad thing: it suggests the business is going well, but it also means you have very little time to focus on your marketing, especially your social media marketing. I’m amazed by every single one of you business owners, and I want to give you the help you deserve by sharing some of my surefire content creation ideas. These tried and tested methods will have you saving time and maintaining productivity.

Create Content Themes

Content themes are topics or categories related to your business: your brand identity, values and business story, which ensure you stay on message in your social media (and all other) comms. Typically you have between 4-6 overall themes, and you can develop sub-topics beneath each one. Let me give you an example: imagine you’re a business coach; you may have the following themes for your business – 

• Entrepreneurship
• Productivity
• Career development
• Business growth

…but that’s just the start. Create sub-topics from each, and you’ll soon have a map of content themes that help with that dreaded blank page, i.e. 

• Entrepreneurship
  • Portfolio careers
• Productivity
  • Time management
• Career development
  • Networking
• Business growth
  • Growth mindset

Get the drift? A good old brainstorming session is the best place to start. Start by creating post-it notes, cue cards or even a text doc of those top-level themes, then break them down further.

Create a Content Bank

A content bank is a safe place where you keep all the random content ideas that pop into your head throughout the day. Content gold can strike anywhere – in the shower, on the commute, or inspired by talking to others. What’s important is being able to capture it quickly with an easy way of referring back when the time comes to plan social media content. For me, this means keeping a Google doc up-to-date, but you can use whatever system works for you – the notes section on your phone, Evernote, Trello or simply a well-thumbed notepad.

Create Templates

Use templates wherever possible. This means you don’t have to create content from scratch. You can get these from online graphic designing tools, such as Canva (where you can create a brand kit to make things quicker), a graphic designer or a subscription company such as yourtemplateclub.com.

I would suggest having a variety of templates ready for carousel posts, static posts, quotes, video covers and stories. That way, you can simply add your content and images quickly, with no time-consuming design necessary.

Reuse Your Existing Content

I have a friend whose mum, in a very frugal 1980s way, used to serve her family YMCA for dinner – Yesterday’s Muck Cooked Again. It was her way of stretching out a bit of meat or a casserole into 2 or 3 more dinners. Why am I telling you this? Well, as much as it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come in culinary terms (thank god for Masterchef), it’s a good lesson for us content creators. 

Far from me saying your existing content is muck (it’s not, it’s manna from heaven), the same repurposing can be done with that long piece of content you spent ages agonising over. Turn that long-form piece into little social portions, and you’ll really be maximising its potential. Here are some examples: 

• Turn that webinar into a blog post.
• Make that blog post into a reel.
• Transform your IGTV video into a TikTok short.
• Repurpose your TikTok into a newsfeed post.
• Repost that top-performing newsfeed post from last year into a new one.

See what I’m doing here? Don’t scrabble to find new content all the time – pick content at the top of your content pyramid (long-form content) and slice and dice. Content à la mode, cooked two ways.

Content Batching

You may be forgiven for thinking I’m sticking to the culinary theme here, but I’m not. When I talk about ‘batching’, I’m not talking about family meal planning here; I’m talking about content creation. Content batching is a productivity technique where you create all of your captions or visual content during a set period of time. For example, instead of spending an hour planning, creating, and publishing one Instagram post, you’ll spend that hour writing or “batching” an entire week of posts in one go.

I time-block every Monday afternoon for content creation, which helps me get ahead of the game.

Are you looking for more content creation tips? Sign up for my Tiny Tips Tuesday newsletter to get snackable tips in your inbox weekly.

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1. Ethical Marketing

Less of a trend and more about exercising your values through your comms output, ethical marketing is hallmarked on its honesty and usually its commitment to a cause. Take shoe brand TOMS, for example; their growth plan was built around marketing the fact that for pair of their shoes that were bought, they would donate a pair to those in need. They didn’t focus their marketing on the style of the product, nor on their demographic. Neither did they develop their product line until late in their life cycle; they simply saturated the market with their message about donating shoes.
As a society, we’re starting to expect more from our brands, as we shop more ethically too. We expect transparency from retailers when they try to promote their own values. Take Primark for example they have recently tried to clean up their fast-fashion image by taking steps like signing the Cotton Pledge, which boycotts Uzbekistan cotton, yet they have been slow to respond or take action against the claims of them not providing a living wage to their employees.

So how can you apply this to your marketing plan in 2022? Well, it starts by asserting your own values but then importantly, acting on them. For instance, if you post something about loving your community, why not follow it up by donating supplies to your local foodbank, or helping with a homeless kitchen. Ask yourself, if you’re not willing to walk the walk, should you talk the talk?!

2. Get Immersive with Experiential Marketing

Let me start by saying that even if your business is purely online, you should still read on! Why? Well, the principles of experiential marketing are a really good exercise to take your business through for some marketing inspiration. Put simply, experiential marketing is about giving your audience, or potential customers an immersive, full sensory experience. It can work both offline and online. One example off-line that I’ve seen work recently is John Lewis, who has been heavily pushing their in-store stylist service. John Lewis is aware that the edge they have over their online competitors are their stores and staff. So while they may market the message online, their efforts are pushed towards getting you in-store, in front of a human (shocker!) and upselling you, of course. It sounds mad that nowadays it’s not the norm to go and try on clothes, have a feel of the fabric and chat to the assistants about whether it actually suits you, but with the ease of buying online, it’s something we do less and have less chance of building brand loyalty.

This concept can work online too. You don’t have to throw a major event or have a shopfront to make use of experiential marketing; with social media, you can utilise live streaming, virtual reality, gaming, and paid-for creator subscription models. A great example is Lili Nas’s concert on Roblox during lockdown which was attended 33 million times. It’s all about the experiences you can create for your audience!

3. Welcome to The Metaverse

Even if your only experience of virtual reality so far is your 10-year old punching the air with a VR headset on, virtual reality is something that we’re going to have to get used to. Why? Because one of the biggest companies in the world, Facebook (or Meta as we’re supposed to call them now) have told us to. It’s not just them, of course, but when the biggest marketing powerhouse, who own Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp tell us they’re going virtual, it’s a good idea for us to get clued up. Let’s talk about this simply: if people are starting to spend more time in an alternate universe, as a brand, you’re going to want to be the big name on their virtual high street. It’s no surprise then that companies have started to buy ‘real estate’ in these virtual worlds, and big fashion brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton have even designed virtual designer threads to kit out your avatar.

4. Influencer Marketing Hasn’t Reached Its Peak Yet

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (hey, no blame here – it sounds cosy), you’ll have come across the growth of influencer marketing; that is, leveraging the following of others accounts to promote your brand. Although 2021 was a peak year for influencer marketing, buoyed by increased screen time owing to the pandemic and increased popularity in platforms like Tik Tok, the strategy doesn’t seem to be abating for 2022, especially regarding the rise of B2B influencers. One reason to consider including it in your marketing mix, even if you haven’t previously, are the increasing number of tools that help you as a business get matched with the right influencers, and be able to report on the campaign’s efficacy alongside your other marketing efforts. You may even be able to become the influencer yourself. Platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram Reels have made it very easy to reach large possibly niche audiences who are looking for your service or product. LinkedIn, on the other hand, has introduced more and more tools for creators to leverage their influencer status.

5. Memes

The other day my 11-year-old created his first meme. He had only had his new phone for a week. This made me realise something – memes are a staple of Gen Z culture and are set to rise in popularity even more. What is a meme, I hear you say? Memes are “an idea, behaviour, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme” (Thanks, Wikipedia). Remember the Bernie Sanders memes that went viral last year? Memes are a great way to inject humour into your social media communications and join trending conversations. Knowing meme, knowing you!

What trends do you predict for 2022?

The post Social Media Marketing Trends for 2022 appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

1. It is Still the Only Business-First Platform

   Imagine being at LinkedIn when you heard about the launch of Google+. The behemoth that is Google was moving into the social space, and not only could that be competition enough, they also had their eyes laser pointed at the business market. Now, we know how that story played out; as much as I loved the idea of connecting with Dolly Parton, my old school friend and my client, I didn’t want to do it in the same space. (Although Dolly, if you’re reading, I’d love it if you joined LinkedIn.) LinkedIn weathered that storm and has stuck to its core functionality for years now, which is why it can boast an audience of 61 million business decision makers in its numbers. If those are the kind of people you want to put yourself, or your brand in front of, make LinkedIn part of your strategy.

2. Introducing your Personal Value Proposition

   Now more than ever, the connection / job market is even more competitive. Previously bound by opportunities in our general locale, changes since the pandemic have meant companies are willing to seek the right candidate or partner remotely. That’s great, right? Of course, but it also means that when potential contacts land on your profile, you want them to be able to munch on a you-sized digest of everything that sets you apart from the rest. LinkedIn, unlike any of the other platforms explicitly asks you for information that others can gauge you by; your experience, education, passions, portfolio, values – and even opens it up for feedback from others about you too. This personal value proposition will help potential contacts make a critical decision before reaching out, enhancing the fit of those who do go on to get in touch with you.

3. . People Still Buy from People

   You would have thought that given the dizzying choice for any product or service, and the myriad ways in which it can be advertised and presented online, the role of the salesperson was no longer as relevant. Wrong. It’s just that the salesperson can take on many different guises. Think, for a second, about a new product or service you recently invested in. Unless it’s something you have brand recognition or loyalty to, like Coca-Cola, for example, chances are your buying decision involved human endorsement. Cast your mind back to reviews you read, endorsements from friends, interactions between their other customers on social; we still pack animals that like to buy from people, not from products. LinkedIn gives every company the opportunity, if they’re willing to embrace it, to connect with potential customers through a figurehead of their company. It could be – and often lands best – if it’s the CEO / Director themselves, but it can also work really well for employees looking to spread the company message. They should be knowledgeable, for sure, but you can imagine the impact a senior salesperson from the team could have in reaching out directly to an SVP in charge of their own budgets, and happy to have a direct conversation. No marketing – this is cold, hard sales, people!

4. Long Live Long-form

   Of course, it is possible to establish thought leadership through video, image and even the humble 140-character Tweet, but LinkedIn has championed its use of the long-form article format and stands apart from its social platform buddies in that regard. In the face of being constantly told about people’s diminishing attention spans, we know that there are still those of us that like to deep dive into a topic, and if you’re the one delivering it, it’s an opportunity to really uncover your expertise in that subject. LinkedIn delivers its own cornerstone content in that format and encourages other business leaders to do so. N.B. Let me sound the klaxon here though: this shouldn’t replace the addition of content on your website, as your SEO consultant will tell you that all content should either originate or exist in duplicate on your website. While having strong social profiles can build your overall ‘authority’ (read more about the relationship between social and SEO here), you still want to make sure Google can fully digest your content and associate it with your domain.

5. Keep your Eye on the Competition

   Let’s think about your competitors’ social presence on all other platforms; the content generally comes from the curated voice of the brand themselves. It can be highly designed and polished, and the interactions that you will generally be able to see are those that come in the form of engagements from commenters. What you don’t tend to see is the more personal musings of the business owner or their employees. It can be quite eye-opening to see/hear from your competitors’ own team and see the connections they have in their own circles. On what other platform could you get insight into the activity of, say, Airbnb’s Director of Marketing for the EMEA Region (without some serious stalking?!) Now, I always practice professional etiquette; as far as I’m concerned, we all push the industry forward together and there is plenty of business to share, but just as I’d like my competitors to learn a little something from me, I’ll proudly say I can learn a lot from them.

If you missed my recent LinkedIn Workshop, fear not – I have dates come up regularly and in the meantime, you could subscribe to my newsletter if you haven’t already, where you’ll receive a social Tiny Tip every Tuesday. Happy connecting, friends!

The post 5 Reasons Why LinkedIn is One of the Most Important Social Media Platforms appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

STORY LINK STICKERS AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE

Can I get a “halle” immediately followed by a “lujah!” please??! This is just the best news, thanks Instagram, and according to Instagram CEO, Adam Mosseri (@mosseri), one that many of us have been asking for: Instagram is now offering story link stickers to everyone, giving way for the need to amass 10k followers before your stories were allowed to link anywhere. This is a big deal – like, side order of chips and a chocolate milkshake sized deal. This now allows content creators of all sizes to take viewers of stories one step further on their funnel by linking to any URL right from the story, as we’ve traditionally only seen with 10k+ creators using the ‘Swipe Up’ function. This puts less reliance on the link in bio tools (which I still love) but are subject to any number of distractions away from the story’s intention. You’ll find those story link stickers under the Stickers tab, where you would usually adorn your stories with gifs, or tag locations or the weather etc. I’m happy about that. Can you tell?! Click here to watch Mosseri’s full announcement.

INSTAGRAM VIDEO UPDATES

The main headline for the recent changes is that Insta is waving goodbye to IGTV, Instagram’s long-form video function. Its launch wasn’t even that long ago and signalled that it had YouTube in its sights, but the folks at YouTube’s little parent company – Google, I think they’re called – didn’t seem to break a sweat. However, it’s not like Instagram has come away from video – far from it. IGTV has been replaced by Instagram Video (catchy, eh?), which still allows you to create a series’ of content; the content length has been extended to 16 minutes and finally, Instagram Video will become the catch-all tab to host even your feed’s video.

As well as that, next time you click that little + button, you’ll get some simple trimming/editing options as well as the new ability to tag people and locations in your video, just as you can with images. So that means that Reels still has its own tab, but all other long-form and short-form videos cohabit in its new marital home. I think the real benefit is yet to manifest, but from a housekeeping point of view, sticking them all into one drawer makes sense.

INSTAGRAM DESKTOP FUNCTIONALITY

Now Instagram understands that the majority of us haven’t quite earned our Scorcese stripes just yet, and even though there is an overwhelming amount of apps that you can download to help you create content, Instagram has announced increased functionality for Instagram Desktop. This means that we can more easily create and share content from a device that is still more native to a lot of us. Even the simple act of having easy access to all our files is something that doesn’t work seamlessly on our phones (why does my Airdrop only sometimes show up to the party?), so I, for one, give it a big thumbs up. Being able to post on desktop has been one of the loudest cries for a long time, so it’s great to hear them listening, especially as their big brother, Facebook, already offers a lot of these tools on desktop.

SCHEDULE INSTAGRAM LIVE

Live video has also had a bit of a glow-up; Instagram welcomes scheduling and rehearsal to the format. This is a welcome addition for those who regularly engage their audience with Lives. You can now effectively create an event that can act as a reminder, including its own Sticker (yay! Stickers!) and the option to share that from a grid post too, complete with its own function allowing viewers to select to be reminded before it goes live.

The rehearsal or Practice mode is an essential new service that will hopefully put pay to all those dodgy first few minutes of Lives, where hosts iron out the technical details and lighting. It’s not the most dynamic start to a presentation when you’re getting to see more of a host’s nostrils than is palatable, or the host’s guest spends the first 30 seconds on mute. There’s something rough and ready – raw and dynamic if we’re being kind – about those Lives, but that’s not always the impression we want to give.

Well, I hope that’s caught you up with the latest Instagram changes, for this month, at least!

If you want to learn how to harness Instagram to grow your business then join my Instagram For Business Workshop on the 16th November – https://bit.ly/JemInstagramWorkshop

The post Instagram Changes for 2021: Story Link Stickers and Instagram Video appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.