Hashtags tend to be all over the place on Instagram. It’s hashtag city over there. Twitter, on the other hand, seems to be a little bit more reserved. A bit more chill.
But does that mean that hashtags don’t matter on Twitter?
Facebook announced 7 days ago what we’ve all been expecting for a long time: that Pages will be shown less to their users in the News Feed and instead their friends and family will be prioritized.
Adam Mosseri, who is Head of News Feed at Facebook, said:
With this update, we will prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people.
We will also prioritize posts from friends and family over public content, consistent with our News Feed values.
If you’re one of the many Freelancers or independent businesses that benefit from referral traffic or even sales through your Facebook Page, then you need to pay attention.
The answer to this is: probably.
Facebook has claimed it’ll only negatively effect pages that don’t consistently post content that their followers want to engage with. They’ve said:
Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.
If you’re one of the pages that consistently drives good reach – which means getting lots of tags or comments from your users, then the update won’t cause you so much of a problem.
If however you are like most independent business and your engagement is hit and miss, you may want to start working on your content to get the best engagement out of it. Check back soon for a post on this.
Pages will be prioritised based on how many posts ‘generate a conversation’.
This could be anything from friends debating in your comments to people tagging each other in them.
Facebook wants to be seen as a place that “brings people closer together and build relationships” and they’ve put that at the heart of their News Feed update.
The algorithm will change to prioritise the types of posts people typically interact with. So if you have a core set of die-hard, loyal fans who comment on everything you do, chances are high they’ll continue to do so.
Also, people who’ve selected ‘See First’ for your page will continue to see your Page’s posts at the top of their News Feed.
If you don’t know what this is, it’s a handy feature Facebook added so people can keep track of their favourite Pages by having their posts always stuck to the top of their News Feed.
Facebook has categorically said it will demote any content that’s deemed as:
“engagement-bait” to goad people into commenting on posts
This is because Facebook doesn’t think these types of posts constitute a “meaningful interaction.”
The best way, it seems, to make sure your Page stats don’t suffer too badly is by making sure your Page is ticking those crucial Facebook boxes.
These are:
Facebook has a good tip in their press release as well: Live videos often get six times as many interactions as regular videos.
Facebook suggests that Pages that post more Live videos will tend to be the Pages getting more engagement, and therefore the Pages more likely to keep their spots in their customer’s News Feeds.
Check back for our next post on how to give your Facebook Page an engagement check-up and stop the negative effects of the update.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Social media is a black hole for time.
You can spend hours pouring over the same 10 videos and you barely even notice the clock ticking.
When it comes to running your own social media, however, time is a huge factor. Because the more time you spend on social media, the less time you’re spending actually doing what you do (unless you’re a social media maven. You do you.)
Given that most creatives are time poor, so we’ve pulled together a list of 10 social media tools that will save you time and effort. Meaning you don’t have to spend your life flicking between apps. Yippee!
The best bit is… they’re all free!
Buffer is an awesome scheduling tool that allows you to post Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts at a later date.
With the free version you can link up to 3 accounts and schedule up to 10 pieces of content.
There’s also a handy content inbox where you can follow your favourite blogs (*cough*) and schedule to share their content online with a simple click. You can also link your own blog and re-share old content as well as broadcasting new content.
Audiense figures out when the best time for you to Tweet is. What’s even cooler is that it then links up to Buffer, and gives you a handy schedule.
This means you know all of your planned tweets are getting sent at exactly the best time for people to like, comments and share them.
Not only this, but it lets you search for people to follow (to grow your community) and also tells you who isn’t following you back (meanies.)
Hootsuite is great if you’ve got loads of different accounts and you want to keep them all in one handy place.
It offers the same service as Buffer but also includes a handy reply function – meaning you can keep track of all your conversations, all in one place!
Hootsuite also allows you to target subsets for channels like your Facebook page.
Ever wondered what people say about you online? Googling is so 2014 – you need Social Mention. It’s a eal-time platform that searches across the whole of the social interweb and organising it into a handy list for you. Influence is measured by Strength, Sentiment, Passion and Reach.
Not only this, it gives you a score for positive vs negative sentiment and your overall influence.
Pretty great if you’re trying to manage your brand or someone else’s.
You know that 31 people liked the picture of your breakfast. But do you know how many more likes you when you use Mayfair, instead of Nashville?
Iconosquare delves deeper than your ex into your instagram and analyses your posts, measuring the type of post vs the level of engagement.
If you’re monetising Instagram or even just using it to help build brand/personal awareness, this is one for you.
Now you’re fully armed – fly, my social media mavens, fly! (And let us know if you think we’ve missed anything.)
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Social media. We know the deal here, right? Some tweets. Some likes. A few dozen comments and a gif for good measure.
It’s not a top secret recipe.
And yet – nearly everyone is guilty of the following social media fails. How many do you clock up?
We all have something we want to sell. Whether it’s tickets to our next show or even just that jumper you bought off Ebay months ago and have never worn, we’re used to seeing sales messages on social media.
If you’re using social to build awareness of yourself and your brand however, you need to try and avoid the hard sell.
Why?
Because people don’t like following accounts where they think they will get sold to all the time. It’s not fun for them (I mean, how passionate can someone be about a 20% discount on lawnmowers? Hmm?
So here’s the secret. You sell. But you do it in a more roundabout way with some personality, fun and intrigue thrown in for good measure. Have a look at these two tweets:
Guys! Please buy tickets and come and support me on stage, www.ticketlink.com, it would be great to see you all.
Vs.
First dress rehearsal today! How’s my makeup looking for [insert production name]? http://www.ticketlink.com *With relevant image attached*
Which of those two tweets would you be more likely to click on?
The second one, right?!
Show us why we should come and see your show rather than ordering us to buy tickets!
This is a fancy way of saying ‘talking at people all the time on social media and never actually having a conversation with them.’
This happens when you view social media as a checkbox exercise. You log on, post your tweet, log back off and continue with your day/week/year. Wrong! You’ve just put something out into the world. If Sally from Rochester has decided to reply to you with a salsa dance emoji, then you need to engage with Sally (not salsa-ing, well maybe if that’s what you enjoy) and at least say thanks for the interaction.
Remember, you’re here to be social with people, not just yell at them from the safe confines of your laptop.
So back to Sally from Rochester, you need to engage in other conversations as well, not just the ones about you.
Get involved in topics you’re interested in (and that are on brand), but also show interest in other people and events in your industry. Being an active member of the wider social community will mean you get exposed (not like that) to new people, who in turn will get to find out about you. Win!
This is a mistake people make especially with Twitter.
‘Posting natively’ means logging onto twitter, clicking ‘write tweet’ and then typing it out there and then and clicking ‘tweet’.
“But how else would I post?” I hear you ask! There are a bunch of social media schedulers (watch out for the post on this) and tools that make it a lot faster for you to post online with the added bonus of being able to track all the good clicks and comments you get. Plus you can post on more than one site at the same time and view it all in the same window.
Magical huh?
So those are our top 5 social fails. How many did you get?
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Happy summer penguins, I hope you are getting some sun block on those white bits! I recently met some lovely film and tv freelancers at the BECTU Freelancers Fair and a question that seemed to come up a lot was how to get paid work from twitter. So, here we go….
Direct job ads
Follow the right people on twitter (ie. people in your industry) and every so often you should see jobs pop up on your timeline. ie. “I am looking for a DOP for a shoot on Monday, London based. DM me” these are pretty clear-cut so you can directly reply with a link to your website or ask for an email to send over a CV.
You can also help this process along by using the twitter search function and putting in some nice keywords. eg. writer, DOP, camera person, film, tv, producer and try phrases like “need producer” or “producer london” to find the right jobs for you.
It’s all about who you know..
However, the method that will get you the most job results is NETWORKING. (Read some tips about face to face networking here.) We know that the creative industries are all about who you know and we all want to work with people we like/can get on with. So, you need to get into the pool of people your industry contacts know and like before that great job comes up – this means that when that perfect job does come up the contact comes straight to you, as they already know what you and have seen/heard about your previous work (via twitter). Alternatively if they don’t come to you but you apply for the job, you will be one step ahead of all the other people applying as the contact will have already heard of you and spoken to you via twitter.
How do I network on twitter?
Use twitter primarily to interact! Follow the people you admire and want to work with and start conversations with them. Remember every time you reply or retweet them your twitter name and icon comes up on their profile so make sure it features your face/logo and your full name or business name!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website: www.penguinintheroom.com
So you are a writer and you are interested in social media, you might even have a Facebook profile but what social media channels should you be using?
You should be present on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a have a blog.
1. Twitter – over 500 million members and the one every one is obsessed with. Great for people on the go – you can tweet anywhere if you have a smart phone. Perfect for inspiration, promoting your writing and finding opportunities.
2. Facebook – over a billion members! The Facebook membership is getting older so you will find more and more industry folk on there. Lots of theatre companies and film companies have pages so a great place to make connections. Great for finding opportunities and promoting your writing.
3. LinkedIn – widely known as the biggest lead generating social media network, which means that people get the most work out of this one. Great for keeping tabs on your connections and promoting your cv online. Take a look at What is LinkedIn? A Straightforward Guide for more info.
4. Blog – lots of blog providers out there but WordPress is my favourite. A great way to keep yourself writing regularly and to have an online portfolio of your work to show others. Write about whatever subject you want and you can even get a following going. Blogs can lead to paid work for magazines, papers etc. and even getting a published books so pick your topic wisely!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
In my marketing consultations with creatives I often hear…
I have a LinkedIn profile but I don’t really know what to do with it?
or
What is LinkedIn for?
Sound familiar? Well lots of people have lots of complicated opinions about LinkedIn and how to use it for marketing (and I’m sure they are all very useful if you like the complicated stuff) but here are my basic tips for understanding and using LinkedIn, as straightforward as I could get them.
What can I use LinkedIn for?
Online Address Book – think of it as a space to keep all of your business contacts, like an address book you can never lose because its online! Add people the day after you meet/work with them and then you have everyone in one handy place.
Working – LinkedIn is widely known as the biggest lead generating network which means more potential to get you work and make you money. It’s all about networking to building your industry address book, nurturing your contacts and reminding them that you exist!
Profile – if you are working on your google listing, LinkedIn is another online profile which will appear in an online search so you can bolster your listings.
Recommendations – LinkedIn gives you the option to ask your connections for recommendations, so use it! Getting testimonials from people and companies you have worked with previously will not only show that you have been working but will give others another reason to hire you. If a contact I know/respect recommends you, I might be more likely to hire you!
Skill Endorsements – your skill list is a great tool to sell yourself as a creative. LinkedIn has introduced a new feature which allows your connections to endorse your skills at the click of a button. Like mini recommendations for your skills!
Highlights – LinkedIn now allows you to rearrange your profile so that you can highlight your key accolades. Eg. If you have won any awards you can move that section to the top! There is also room for a summary paragraph which should list all your highlights too.
Reminders – LinkedIn has its own posts feed, similar to Facebook and twitter. Publish relevant posts on your feed to remind your business contacts you exist and tell them all the amazing things you are up to (only industry related of course).
Introductions – if you want to meet someone in particular eg. for actors it might be that key casting director or for artists a gallery owner, LinkedIn can help. Via LinkedIn you can search the name of the person you would love to meet and see how you are linked to them through your current connections. You can then ask your connection to introduce you! (Free LinkedIn only gives you a few of these introductions so use them wisely as your contact could refuse to introduce you!)
Groups – LinkedIn has many different groups (similar to Facebook groups) that you can join and use for networking, problem solving and looking up opportunities. Once you have set up your profile its worth searching for groups that might be relevant to you or starting one of your own!
So I hope you feel that you know a little bit more about LinkedIn – don’t forget to add the icon to the social media bar on your website so people can find you! Do let me know how you get on.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.comorFacebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
A hashtag is this lovely symbol # which you have probably seen banded about across twitter, the internet and even on tv and printed advertising now-a-days. But what is it for?! Well it has a number of fun functions (alliteration makes me happy).
So there you are! Go forth and hashtag!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com orFacebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
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