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Authenticity on Social Media
Authenticity on Social Media
Having just read a fiction book on social media influencers, we were interested to read this article on Authenticity on Instagram on the social media scheduling platform, Later. In short, her takeaway tips are:
- Engaging with your audience
- Share your story
- Value the written word
- Understand what content resonates with you
- Stick to your ethics and set boundaries
Let’s explore these in more detail.
Engaging with your audience
In the Later article, Sarah Nicole Landry says you need to get to know your followers – the more you connect, the better you understand your community. She would spend half her work day (so 4 hours!) responding to DMs, commenting other people’s posts and actively engaging on other pages.
Red Desk Virtual says – not many small businesses are able to spend half their working day on social media but setting aside time to check if there are messages, replying to them in a timely manner and liking and commenting on posts will pay off. It’s always great to get positive comments on Facebook so it is always a pleasure to reply.
Share your story
Showing authenticity on Instagram means, yes, do talk about your business but also as Sarah Nicole Landry suggests, you need to share the more personal side of your life too, to give your account another dimension other than just work. Creating shareable content is the best way of growing your community.
Red Desk Virtual says – shareable content can take many forms, we often share social media or marketing guides we put together for our clients, or topics we have researched or discovered. These things are handy for small businesses looking for advice or tips but don’t have the budget to hire a social media marketing person.
Value the written word
According to research by Fohr, average caption lengths have doubled since 2016. They were around 142 characters and in 2020 have reached 405 characters (about 65 – 70 words).
Red Desk Virtual says – we certainly understand and appreciate that the visuals of your social media are very important but the written word is equally as important so do take time to choose your words and use keywords and hashtags to your advantage.
Understand what content resonates with you
Being authentic on social media means understanding what type of content resonates with you. Sarah suggests when scrolling through social media, see what type of content catches your eye, this might help you develop your own style.
Red Desk Virtual says – The best social media clients of ours, are the ones that have allowed us to post in our own business language (which matches their tone). We have found those that have been restrictive have had a massive impact on the way we’ve written the posts and in turn has affected engagement.
Stick to your ethics and set boundaries
The lines between work and private life can become blurred, so it is good to set boundaries. These boundaries can be how long you spend on social media (and when) and the ability to plan your content ahead of time.
Red Desk Virtual says – When we start working with a new client, we have to believe in their product, that it is ethical. We think about the type of content we put out there and what would be appropriate replies or not. We find that as a team of two working on social media, we use the other as a sounding board, to make sure that we are on brand and within boundaries.
Interested in finding out more? Email mel@reddesk.co.uk.
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Launching a Website – Things to Consider
Launching a Website – Things to Consider
Launching a website can be exhilarating and utterly satisfying. We recently launched a website on behalf of a construction company. We’ve now got time to analyse what went well and what we need to look out for on our next website build. Here’s what we’ve learned:
Communication
Unless you are physically building the website yourself, you will need to hire a web designer. Make sure that they understand your brief and that you are happy with any decisions they are making. Red Desk project manage website builds and act as a liaison between the client and web designer thus ensuring that things like the theme picked by the web designer is something that the client is happy with.
Website Layout
Once you are happy with the theme, this will determine the pages that you will need to create. List what you will need, a starting suggestion would be:
- Home Page
- About Us
- Blog/News
- Contact Us
Then depending on your sector, you may need to add in Services pages or Portfolio. A tip would be to take a look at competitors’ sites to see what they have included and think if they are necessary or not.
Website Content
Is this an entirely new website or are you upgrading your existing website?
For a new website, refer to the website layout that you have planned. For an upgrade, identify which pages are essential, where content might need to be spilt and where it might need to be rewritten.
SEO
When writing the content for the website you need to consider your audience – are they a local audience or is your reach global? This will help you determine which keywords you wish to rank for. Do take a look at our article on considering SEO for local marketing as it will give you some tips.
Checklist for a launched website
Once a website is launched, it is easy to think that the job is done and move onto the next project. However, do spend some time doing the following:
- Proofread the website – check the grammar and spelling are perfect
- Check the links and pages – make sure that the menu pages are linked correctly and there are no broken links
- If you are using WordPress then use the Yoast plugin to add meta data and improve ranking for keywords
- Make sure you’ve added GDPR, privacy notices and cookies consent notices and pages
- Submit your site map to Google so that it can be crawled and indexed
- Check that the social media links and contact page work
- Set up and link Google Analytics and submit your site map to Google Console
- Check the website is secure – do you need an SSL certificate for example?
- Is your site mobile friendly – Test the site on a mobile device and work with your web designer to fix any problems
Documentation
You might be able to remember who you used to build your site or to host it now but in a few years you may have forgotten. It is therefore important to document this information as it makes it easier for a handover or when you come to upgrade your site at a later date. Make sure you record:
- Web designer’s details
- IT company, Graphic Designer and anyone else that helped
- Hosting information (including logins and expiry dates)
- Login details for the website, Google Analytics, email accounts, hosting etc
Website Maintenance
Now that the site is launched, you will need to keep it maintained.
- Write blogs with relevant keywords
- Use social media to send readers to your website
- Update plugins
- Review the speed of the website
- Review your website for broken links
- Audit your website’s content – are all the blogs still relevant, have you changed your focus/services you provide?
Red Desk support a number of businesses with their online presence from the creation of website (project management, content writing etc) right through to website maintenance (website reviews, updating plugins or writing new blogs). Talk to us today about we can help your company 020 8815 0874.
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