Goodness me! I've woken up to some serious social media stuff this morning!
So Facebook have had a pages app available in New Zealand for a little while now, and I've been SO jealous!
In my job, I run a lot of facebook pages, and recently I've been struggling to keep up with things, because you don't get the full functionality by using the Facebook app.
So imagine my delight when I open up my Facebook app this morning, and I've got the option to download the Pages App. YES PLEASE!
I've already had a look, and so far so good! Facebook are known for their app being a bit rubbish, so it will be interesting to see how it behaves over the next few days!
Happy playing everyone, feel free to let us know how you get on with it too!
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Monday 21 May 2012
I ❤ twitter!
Oh twitter! You're so brilliant! Nevermind that you randomly unfollow my best friends now and again!
Why am I loving twitter? Well, they want to help us! Twitter have released a guide for small businesses. This is very exciting, especially as the US have had one for a while!
I haven't read it yet, but I wanted to share it with you immediately, so here it is:
https://business.twitter.com/en/smallbiz_guide/?ref=tw-btc-bp
(you will have to copy and paste, I'm blogging from my phone which won't let me attach a link. Weird)
I'll be back to discuss it with you soon! Happy reading! X
Why am I loving twitter? Well, they want to help us! Twitter have released a guide for small businesses. This is very exciting, especially as the US have had one for a while!
I haven't read it yet, but I wanted to share it with you immediately, so here it is:
https://business.twitter.com/en/smallbiz_guide/?ref=tw-btc-bp
(you will have to copy and paste, I'm blogging from my phone which won't let me attach a link. Weird)
I'll be back to discuss it with you soon! Happy reading! X
Friday 18 May 2012
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Social Media Apps
Everyone who knows me knows I'm a complete and total Apple Addict. Whilst I use my macbook for setting up client stuff and the likes, I run most of my social media through my iPhone or iPad.
My friend Maz Hawes of Light and Day Photography is the app queen, and always introduces me to new apps, especially when they concern social media. Seriously, this woman is an app machine, she refused to tell me how much she spends on apps a month, but needless to say, she's also addicted, but on another level to me!
It got me thinking.....there's loads and loads of apps for social media, but which ones are the best? Obviously this is totally subjective, and you may disagree, but these are the ones I love, wish were better, and I really really dislike!
The Good:
1. Tweetbot. (£1.99)
This is the one that got me thinking about the apps. It's beautiful. I've yet to learn enough about it, but its intuitiveness, its simplicity and its interface are just fantastic. It seems totally in tune with Apple products and I love it. I know it's £1.99, but just buy it, you'll soon see why, it's so lovely and beautiful, you will see why it's my number 1!
2. Flipboard (free)
I have mixed feelings about Flipboard. I really love the interface, I love the way it looks, but I just can't quite get to grips with it. It's not my go to app, it's more something I use to show other people the functionality of the iPad. Those that do get it rave about it, so I'm obviously missing something, which is why it's one of the good ones!
3. Lazy Unfollow (69p) and Unfollow (free)
They aren't very pretty, and it's a bit slow, but it's one of the most useful tools I use when it comes to sorting out my twitter follows. There is a warning involved though! Please please don't use the shoutout tool! Either you will swamp your stream with thanks to people, (I made this mistake, my followers weren't happy!) or by saying who unfollowed you, you basically are telling the whole of twitter you've been dumped, and they will wonder why they're following you too!
4. Foursquare. (free)
People ask me what 4square is all the time. Basically, it's a game, that harnesses my competitive nature and let's my twitter or Facebook followers/friends know where I am (which can be a bit weird but more of that later). The app itself is lovely, its beautifully made, and easy to navigate. I only wish it would know your twitter friends so tagging was easier.
5. Instagram
Apart from selling out to Facebook, do I really need to explain this one?!?!
The Bad:
1. Hootsuite (free for basic use)
I love love love hoot suite on my laptop. I love it, I wouldn't be without it. It helps me manage at least 20 accounts in various locations (twitter, Facebook, linkedin) it does all sorts of amazing things, and I couldn't be a bigger fan. I have been certified hootsuite professional for some time now, so I can share it's beauty with other people.
BUT!!!
The iPhone and iPad app is, in my opinion, rubbish. I much prefer the pre installed apps, and they manage all my accounts perfectly well. I really wish hoot suite would sort this out, as I miss it when I'm not near the laptop!
Having said that, Michelle Dalley of Creating Media loves it, but then, she says she won't try anything else because she doesn't like change! Maybe I'll shame her into it now!
2. LinkedIn (free)
Oh LinkedIn....I don't really like you at the best of times...I mean, you've got your place, and I know you're necessary, but the app just doesn't cut it IMO. I can do a few bits and pieces, and it looks reasonably smart, but it's slow and irritating. There's no intuitive feel to it, and as a creative person this makes me lose interest immediately. Cardmunch on the other hand, is fantastic! It saves me a lot of time and is the only reason I persevere with LinkedIn!
3. Facebook for Iphone (free)
Ugh! They just won't stop messing about with the app! I hate updating it, because you don't know what's going to go wrong on it when you do! You can't share statuses, photos or anything else, which is really irritating when you're out and about. It's slow, doesn't load my stream half the time, it's push notifications are rubbish, and when you're worth billions of dollars, there's no excuse! Sort it out! I don't bother with the messenger app, so if you do, I would love to hear your thoughts!
The Ugly
1. Google +
Google + I love you SO much, you will one day make LinkedIn obsolete, I wonder if Facebook are floating now because they recognise you've numbered their days. I know people are being slow to get to grips with you, and whilst we early adopters luxuriate in your oversubscribed but under used pool, one day you will dominate all. Your use of subscribers information to influence SEO will soon make people realise how important it is to be active on there.
HOWEVER!!!
Your app is rubbish!! Fair enough, the recent update made it a much more pleasant place to be, but oh my goodness, how many times do we have to ask for you to include business pages and the administration of???! Please please sort it out. Once you do that, we will all be a lot more active whilst we try to boost our business position on google rankings. Using the app on an iPad is completely pointless, so I'm not going to bother even talking about it, just please sort it out!
You're the only one on my list because I really need you to take notice, please please please google. sort it asap! Maybe it's because you're flawed that I love you so much. Maybe it's because it's where my friends hang out most. I don't know, but I know I need you to get the app sorted.
My friend Maz Hawes of Light and Day Photography is the app queen, and always introduces me to new apps, especially when they concern social media. Seriously, this woman is an app machine, she refused to tell me how much she spends on apps a month, but needless to say, she's also addicted, but on another level to me!
It got me thinking.....there's loads and loads of apps for social media, but which ones are the best? Obviously this is totally subjective, and you may disagree, but these are the ones I love, wish were better, and I really really dislike!
The Good:
1. Tweetbot. (£1.99)
This is the one that got me thinking about the apps. It's beautiful. I've yet to learn enough about it, but its intuitiveness, its simplicity and its interface are just fantastic. It seems totally in tune with Apple products and I love it. I know it's £1.99, but just buy it, you'll soon see why, it's so lovely and beautiful, you will see why it's my number 1!
2. Flipboard (free)
I have mixed feelings about Flipboard. I really love the interface, I love the way it looks, but I just can't quite get to grips with it. It's not my go to app, it's more something I use to show other people the functionality of the iPad. Those that do get it rave about it, so I'm obviously missing something, which is why it's one of the good ones!
3. Lazy Unfollow (69p) and Unfollow (free)
They aren't very pretty, and it's a bit slow, but it's one of the most useful tools I use when it comes to sorting out my twitter follows. There is a warning involved though! Please please don't use the shoutout tool! Either you will swamp your stream with thanks to people, (I made this mistake, my followers weren't happy!) or by saying who unfollowed you, you basically are telling the whole of twitter you've been dumped, and they will wonder why they're following you too!
4. Foursquare. (free)
People ask me what 4square is all the time. Basically, it's a game, that harnesses my competitive nature and let's my twitter or Facebook followers/friends know where I am (which can be a bit weird but more of that later). The app itself is lovely, its beautifully made, and easy to navigate. I only wish it would know your twitter friends so tagging was easier.
5. Instagram
Apart from selling out to Facebook, do I really need to explain this one?!?!
The Bad:
1. Hootsuite (free for basic use)
I love love love hoot suite on my laptop. I love it, I wouldn't be without it. It helps me manage at least 20 accounts in various locations (twitter, Facebook, linkedin) it does all sorts of amazing things, and I couldn't be a bigger fan. I have been certified hootsuite professional for some time now, so I can share it's beauty with other people.
BUT!!!
The iPhone and iPad app is, in my opinion, rubbish. I much prefer the pre installed apps, and they manage all my accounts perfectly well. I really wish hoot suite would sort this out, as I miss it when I'm not near the laptop!
Having said that, Michelle Dalley of Creating Media loves it, but then, she says she won't try anything else because she doesn't like change! Maybe I'll shame her into it now!
2. LinkedIn (free)
Oh LinkedIn....I don't really like you at the best of times...I mean, you've got your place, and I know you're necessary, but the app just doesn't cut it IMO. I can do a few bits and pieces, and it looks reasonably smart, but it's slow and irritating. There's no intuitive feel to it, and as a creative person this makes me lose interest immediately. Cardmunch on the other hand, is fantastic! It saves me a lot of time and is the only reason I persevere with LinkedIn!
3. Facebook for Iphone (free)
Ugh! They just won't stop messing about with the app! I hate updating it, because you don't know what's going to go wrong on it when you do! You can't share statuses, photos or anything else, which is really irritating when you're out and about. It's slow, doesn't load my stream half the time, it's push notifications are rubbish, and when you're worth billions of dollars, there's no excuse! Sort it out! I don't bother with the messenger app, so if you do, I would love to hear your thoughts!
The Ugly
1. Google +
Google + I love you SO much, you will one day make LinkedIn obsolete, I wonder if Facebook are floating now because they recognise you've numbered their days. I know people are being slow to get to grips with you, and whilst we early adopters luxuriate in your oversubscribed but under used pool, one day you will dominate all. Your use of subscribers information to influence SEO will soon make people realise how important it is to be active on there.
HOWEVER!!!
Your app is rubbish!! Fair enough, the recent update made it a much more pleasant place to be, but oh my goodness, how many times do we have to ask for you to include business pages and the administration of???! Please please sort it out. Once you do that, we will all be a lot more active whilst we try to boost our business position on google rankings. Using the app on an iPad is completely pointless, so I'm not going to bother even talking about it, just please sort it out!
You're the only one on my list because I really need you to take notice, please please please google. sort it asap! Maybe it's because you're flawed that I love you so much. Maybe it's because it's where my friends hang out most. I don't know, but I know I need you to get the app sorted.
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Who will win?! Social media competitions.
It used to be that you would say 'like my page to win X' and the power of social media would take hold and the page would win likes.
I did this with my own business, Go Fudge Yourself, a fudge company I run with someone else. I managed to get 700 or so likes within a week, just by saying I would give away a box of fudge for every 100 likers I got.
Sadly, Facebook changed the rules, or I was made aware of them by the wonderful Veronica Pullen, another Social Media Consultant, she then posted a blog about the change here: Facebook Promotions
So, the question becomes how do you get the likes? In my opinion, Facebook have done this so we have to rely on adverts to promote our pages. Not everyone wants to do adverts, and I don't blame you. Having been playing around with them myself recently, I've found that I'm spending money on something that's not really getting anywhere, unless I set a big daily budget, which is unaffordable.
Facebook likes can be generated a number of ways.
First of all, ask all your friends to like your page, their friends may then see that (if they've not changed their privacy settings) and be interested in your page.
Then, get on twitter, ask people to like your page, but not in a needy way, tell them there's more information on your Facebook page, or how to enter the competition on your Facebook page.
For my clients, I set them up a tab using mail chimp and ask their likers to enter their details in order to be entered in the competition.
The next thing to consider is Twitter competitions. I don't really like them. I think twitter is the wrong place for competitions unless you're a big brand, who people are following simply because they're interested in Tresemme hair products. It's a bit cooler on twitter, you don't ask someone to follow you, because it's like going up to the cool kid in the playground and asking them to be your friend. It's a bit weird!
When it comes to twitter, you will get followers by engaging with people and listening.
Going back to Facebook, I find the rules a little bit ambiguous. I'm not stupid, I've got a law degree, and I should be able to decipher whether or not I've broken the rules, but I don't know! I've just shared on one of my pages the option of 'sharing the status' to be entered into the competition. Who knows if I'll get told off by Facebook, I once got told off when I was running the cupcake company because I posted a picture of a cupcake with a willy on top! I guess only time will tell, and hopefully I won't have done!
I did this with my own business, Go Fudge Yourself, a fudge company I run with someone else. I managed to get 700 or so likes within a week, just by saying I would give away a box of fudge for every 100 likers I got.
Sadly, Facebook changed the rules, or I was made aware of them by the wonderful Veronica Pullen, another Social Media Consultant, she then posted a blog about the change here: Facebook Promotions
So, the question becomes how do you get the likes? In my opinion, Facebook have done this so we have to rely on adverts to promote our pages. Not everyone wants to do adverts, and I don't blame you. Having been playing around with them myself recently, I've found that I'm spending money on something that's not really getting anywhere, unless I set a big daily budget, which is unaffordable.
Facebook likes can be generated a number of ways.
First of all, ask all your friends to like your page, their friends may then see that (if they've not changed their privacy settings) and be interested in your page.
Then, get on twitter, ask people to like your page, but not in a needy way, tell them there's more information on your Facebook page, or how to enter the competition on your Facebook page.
For my clients, I set them up a tab using mail chimp and ask their likers to enter their details in order to be entered in the competition.
The next thing to consider is Twitter competitions. I don't really like them. I think twitter is the wrong place for competitions unless you're a big brand, who people are following simply because they're interested in Tresemme hair products. It's a bit cooler on twitter, you don't ask someone to follow you, because it's like going up to the cool kid in the playground and asking them to be your friend. It's a bit weird!
When it comes to twitter, you will get followers by engaging with people and listening.
Going back to Facebook, I find the rules a little bit ambiguous. I'm not stupid, I've got a law degree, and I should be able to decipher whether or not I've broken the rules, but I don't know! I've just shared on one of my pages the option of 'sharing the status' to be entered into the competition. Who knows if I'll get told off by Facebook, I once got told off when I was running the cupcake company because I posted a picture of a cupcake with a willy on top! I guess only time will tell, and hopefully I won't have done!
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