Social Media Recipe for Success: The Sequel - Part I - Understand Social Media

Back in 2013 we blogged about our popular 'social media recipe for success' series and now, another year on, we thought we'd take the previous parts of strategy, content, organisation and evaluation and add to the recipe with this post 'Understand Social Media'...

By no means do you have to be an expert to have a successful social media presence but you do need to understand the basics of social media (from a brand's point-of-view rather than a personal one) and ultimately have the passion for social media to take it forward.

Step One - Use Social Media

Yes, posting on social media is very different from a brand or individual's perspective but actively using social media yourself can help you to understand what your consumers want to see and how to post effectively. From now on, when you are on social media, take notes of other brands you like the activity of, record how you use social networks as a consumer and jot down any areas of each platform you don't understand.

Step Two - Learn

In order to effectively understand how to use social media for your brand we'd recommend you get learning in your own time! There are so many great blogs (favourites are Mashable, Social Media Examiner and ours of course!) that give you to-the-point, simple information so you can answer the questions you had from step one.

What's great about social media is you can test out your new knowledge on your own social platforms before experimenting on the brand page but remember; you can't really 'go wrong' on social media as long as your content is appropriate, it's all about trying things, if they don't work discover why and move on.

Step Three - Nail Your Plan

So now you know how to use social media and have a basic knowledge - it's time to get started with your strategy. For a simple strategy you need to answer...

• Why do I want to be active on social media?
• What are my objectives?
• Which platforms is my target audience on?
• What are my three key messages?

Of course this is a very basic strategy starting point but it gives you a few things to think about before simply jumping onto social media with no plan at all. We created a Facebook Strategy eCourse with SkillShare which gives video lessons and practical exercises finishing with a full Facebook strategy at the end here - take a look at the chapters even if you don't fancy completing the course for an outline.

Step Four - Constantly Explore

Once you nail your strategy and become active on social media you may find yourself sticking to one platform that you personally enjoy or you are having more success on but you need to be open to exploring other platforms.

You may want to achieve an objective of 'increase web referrals from social media by 25%' and you may be doing a good job of that on Twitter with external links and interesting tweets but did you know that Pinterest drives the most traffic on the web after Facebook? Maybe your users are more visual and enjoy pinning and repinning images... increase your research and you may find you're able to reach even more people online.

Each month, set a goal of exploring the pros and cons for your brand of some of the emerging platforms like Google+, Vine and Snapchat. This will also help you expand your social media knowledge and spark ideas for you to utilise on the core social media networks.

We'll blog about part II of our new 'social media recipe for success' soon but in the meantime take a look at the links below for other social media blog posts you may enjoy!

Jane x

How To Become a YouTube Superstar!

Twitter Lingo or 'Twermingology'!

Simple Social Media Advertising Tips

Facebook & Twitter? I’m not Pinterested!

Pinterest - The Only Social Network Needed for Luxury Brands?

Twitter Lists and How to Use Them

New Facebook Competition Guidelines - What You Need to Know

Social Media Competition Guidelines Made Simple!

The Hashtag & How to Use it by #katieandjane

Countdown Keeper: Our Favourite Moments So Far!

There’s nothing more exciting than seeing Countdown Keeper users posting their events across social media and joining us in collecting moments, so we thought we’d highlight a few of our favourites so far! You can download the app for free today here.

Countdown Keeper is all about getting excited about future events and remembering moments so we wanted it to be simple to record these special times. Users can count down to events and once the day arrives, Countdown Keeper will start to count since the day – keeping the memories to look back on afterwards.

Holidays are probably the number one thing many of us are looking forward to at the moment and we like to use Countdown Keeper to count down to the very last second until the rest, relaxation and fun begins! We loved this count down to Jamaica from one of our users looking forward to their holiday!

With a summer of sport about to commence (not sure how excited Jane is!) what better way to get excited than to load the app with up-to-date and by-the-second count downs to all major sports events!? Footy fans can start counting down to all those World Cup fixtures! Or, as with the London Marathon image, use count since events to keep you motivated!

With a busy business to look after we have to plan well in advance when we see our friends for a big catch up – especially when everyone lives in different parts of the world. It's great to use Countdown Keeper to count down and get even more excited and then share it with friends on social media too!

Yes our Countdown Keeper community are already counting down to Christmas... only 30 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 56 minutes and 30 seconds to go! If you’re inclined to count how many sleeps there are until Santa arrives – try the app. We’ve included a handy notes feature in there too so you can keep track of all your present ideas too!

We hope this has inspired you to keep on counting down to future events and since amazing moments! If you’d like to download Countdown Keeper you can do here or search 'Countdown Keeper' in the App Store.  A big thank you to our creative Countdown Keeper community so far – keep on collecting moments!

Find Countdown Keeper & join the community on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

Katie x

Scrapbooking Secrets

In an era in which we're taking more and more photos yet printed photo albums are becoming extinct, I've found a way of displaying and remembering moments in a non-digital way which, for me, is very important... scrapbooks.

I've been creating scrapbooks since 2004 as a way of collecting all the lovely photos I'd taken with the additions of ticket stubs, printed programmes, gift tags and a whole host of other things. I store all of my photos digitally but there's something therapeutic and natural about collecting, cutting and sticking memories into a big book, which I now have four of.

My very first entry... 

For each major event in my life there is a scrapbook page, or a few! Birthdays, holidays, concerts but also special outings, business creations and puppy love! I love to sit every now and again and look back on all the amazing things I've done and it's just not the same doing that in front of a computer. I enjoy opening little cards that I've stuck in, pulling out festival wristbands and touching dried petals. I hope they become part of my family’s history one day!

My latest entry...

Tips on creating your own...

• Decide whether you want to go big or small (I go for A3) and buy your scrapbook. Over the years I've used black and coloured paper, both of which look great but I'd definitely say bigger is better
• Starting with your first entry go through your digital photos and print out those which mean something to you, capture the moment or make you smile. I try not to pick the typical 'posed' photos but more the ones that remind you of that moment in time perfectly
• Don't forget to start collecting additional souvenirs at events like business cards from restaurants you’ve loved, postcards and wrapping paper to add to your book too
• Once collected, get everything together; scissors, glue-stick and colourful pens to write titles and you're ready...
• I start by laying everything out in front of me with the items I'm not going to cut in one pile and those ready for the chop in another
• Take the 'non-cutting' photos and collections and position them in each corner of your page, leaving room for the title should you wish to have one
• I always position the important items in first then have a few 'back-ups' ready to fit in and fill the space if needs be
• Next I take the items ready for cutting and find spaces to fit them in, only cutting them once I see how they're going to fit on the page - I'm not a fan of gaps!
• Once you're happy with your layout (this may take a few attempts until you become a pro) carefully move the collection to one side, keeping the layout intact and start to stick them down. Pay attention to the bits you want to sit under others sticking those first
• Now that everything is looking lovely and is stuck down you can add a title - I like to add the event, date and sometimes who was there. Also, as I'm a tiny bit OCD if there are any gaps I do little drawings to fill them

Scrapbooking has been an important part of my life for over ten years now and I aim to continue it for a long, long time. Although it can be a little time consuming at first, stick with it as the rewards are great!

My favourite entries...

Jane x

App Review: CamMe - But First, Let Me Take a Selfie

The word of the year for 2013 was 'selfie' and the global obsession with selfies doesn't seem to be slowing but I'm not particularly mad on selfies and I certainly don't feel the need for every other Instagram photo of mine to be one but I do enjoy an innovative app when I see one... enter CamMe!

Take a look at their fun video...

CamMe is essentially a photo app which allows you to take photos without touching your phone but instead holding your palm towards the positioned camera then making a fist once you're ready to take the picture. It's a really simple concept but one that really solves many 'selfie problems'; awkward positions, arms in the photo or fitting everyone in it.

Since discovering this award-winning app on Mashable in February I've been telling people about it, although I'm not sure my friends here quite understood the concept of taking your hand away first!

The app was rightfully awarded the 'Most Innovative Mobile App' at the Global Mobile Awards this year and aims to change the way we take pictures forever. It's well on its way to achieving that with over 1 million downloads to date and regular updates with new features such as Photobooth and Funshots.

I tend to just use the app to take pictures with friends (or occasionally checking an outfit on myself!) rather than using the additional features, but I'm sure many users love them. Photobooth adds a frame to pictures so you can create a collage of more than one photo and with Funshot you can turn yourself into a lion (!?) with scene cutouts.

I agree with CamMe when they say they've created 'the best app for taking great selfies'!

Score: 8/10

I love...

• The simplicity and innovation of the app
• That I can get everyone into a selfie now easily

I'd like...

• A nicer interface - the menu and user experience is a little boring for me

Jane x

Facebook: The Forgotten Features

For many brands Facebook is the social media platform which they have been active on the longest and most are comfortable with their Facebook strategy, tone of voice and content. However, there are still some Facebook features that are being overlooked which are so simple to use, but pack a mighty punch for your social media efforts if used correctly – so we thought we’d share a few of them with you...

#1 Pin to Top

This feature is found top right of your post and allows you to pin that post to the top of your page so important information doesn’t get lost down the page. It's great for competitions or timely news updates as the post will stay pinned to the top for 7 days, but if you’d like to unpin it earlier – just hit unpin.

#2 Highlight

This is a lovely feature and can also be found top right of your post. This especially works well if you have a great eye-catching image you want to show off. By clicking ‘Highlight’ it expands your post across the width of your page, increasing the post in size, and increasing reach. Posts with images achieve 120% more engagement than those without so a good rule to have is to include an image with every post and get highlighting!

#3 The Timeline

Could this be the most forgotten Facebook feature? The Timeline is an underused feature that allows you to input dates in your company’s history – we like to use ours for important milestones and fun facts. Brands can also utilise this feature by creating competitions around it, for example, asking fans to answer a question about an interesting piece of company history by scrolling through the Timeline to answer and enter the competition.

#4 Edit

Halleluiah! You can now edit your post even after it appears on your page. This is great for editing after you've seen how the post looks on the page. For companies with a number of admins, you’ll also be able to see which admin member has posted each post & who has edited it too.

#5 Insights

Use them! This is the best way to get an idea of who your current audience is and work out how alike or unlike they are to your target audience. The insights can be found in the admin panel and allow you to look at your posts and page content to evaluate how well each are received and compare what works and what doesn’t. We advise you to simply have a play within the Insights panel and see what you can discover about your fans. Remember always evaluate your efforts!

We will be covering insights and evaluating social media presences in more detail in a blog post coming soon, so stay tuned!

Katie x

Can Apps Help Us All to be Happier? Reblogged from She Owns It

“It’s the little moments that make life big”

This week Stylist magazine claimed there were 10 scientifically proved things that actually make us unhappy, the first one? Facebook. A study by University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross last year found a direct correlation between time spent on the social media site and feelings of dissatisfaction, loneliness and isolation. The average time spent on Facebook per user every day is around 30 minutes, with some spending up to eight hours a day at the call of the addictive Facebook newsfeed… that’s a lot of unhappiness right there.

The idea of consciously striving to make social media a positive, meaningful and mobile experience is something we find very exciting. We have excitedly watched the Happier Inc. app grow in 2013 to hundreds of thousands of users sharing happy moments every day with each other. The app encourages users to record happy moments or things they are grateful for each day with an emphasis on being happier in the moment.

  

Even the most tiny things can bring happiness, from the sun shining through your bedroom window, to having five minutes to yourself after a busy week and these can be recorded in the Happier app and added to collections for you to look back on. The science behind the app is solid and straightforward; expressing gratitude has been shown to do more than improve your mood. People who write down a few positive things about their day are healthier, more energetic, less stressed, less anxious and sleep better. We have actively used Happier for more than a year now and we can honestly say it really does makes us happier! We are absolutely rooting for the future of the platform and the team behind it, especially co-founder Nataly Cogan who we interviewed on our blog recently.

We aim to add to the happiness movement with the launch of our new lifestyle app; Countdown Keeper – Collect Moments, Not Things. Studies have shown that anticipating future events is an important source of happiness and so we wanted to create an app that highlights those happy moments every day in a meaningful and useful way. 

Having something to look forward to, enjoying the moment, sharing the pleasure with others to heighten the experience and then reflecting on moments make even the smallest of experiences even better. Countdown Keeper allows you to get excited about upcoming events in one place, record memories through images and notes and then share the experience again with friends.

Our app is a customisable and shareable iPhone app which has been thoughtfully designed to include a number of features. Users can add images to further personalise count downs from the built-in image library, Camera, Camera Roll or Facebook. Once events have been created users can share count downs through a number of services such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and add them to the iPhone calendar too. After the count down event arrives, the app automatically switches to counting the time since that event allowing users to collect, and look back on, memories.

Download the free app for iOS today from the App Store here http://bit.ly/1iCxa4c or search ‘Countdown Keeper’

Since its release there have been thousands of downloads and a raft of five star reviews, from users who particularly love the simple interface and design. UK singer Lily Allen enjoyed Countdown Keeper’s count down to her new album release ‘Sheezus’ retweeting it to her 4.6 million Twitter followers!

You can visit the App Store to download Countdown Keeper for free today, and if you like the app, we’d be so grateful if you could leave a review to help others find it too, and join us onTwitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest by using the hashtag #collectmoments

Instead of heading towards the Facebook app when you have some downtime today, why not try one of these popular apps and see if your mood improves… have a happy day!

See this original blog post on She Owns It where we are featured contributors - A popular blog in the US to celebrate, support and connect women entrepreneurs!

Katie x

The Best Things in Life in May

May has already been very, very busy for both of us at Katie & Jane... our iPhone app Countdown Keeper has been released, our vegetarian food truck Not Dogs is in crucial planning stages and we're training a new client on social media strategy throughout May and June! But, of course, we couldn't miss talking about our 'best things in life'!

Katie

The Best Things in Life...

Finally #JackIsBack in 24: Live Another Day – the wait is over! We enjoyed creating a count down to the simultaneous viewing in the UK and US in the early hours of this morning with Countdown Keeper!

My nearest high street is gradually getting a lovely makeover and one of the newest additions is The Juice House, a lovely little shop offering a delicious menu of Juices from ‘Clear Skin’ created with spinach and pineapple, to ‘Blood ‘e’ Gorgeous’ made with orange, beetroot and ginger!

I recently paid a visit to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham – which is quite a guilty pleasure of mine. The new Penguin Ice Adventure part was amazing, but my highlight was the giant turtle swimming right over my head as I walked through the Ocean Tunnel!

The One Thing I Can't Throw Away Is...

Cards! Birthday cards, Christmas cards and especially Congratulation cards – I just love them! I have to be quite selective though as I couldn’t keep them all, but I keep the special ones I hope I can look back on in years to come with fond memories.

The Key Element of a Successful Social Media Strategy Is...

Dedication – this underpins the social media strategy. The company and staff need to make a commitment and not lose confidence in the strategy simply because one Facebook post didn’t achieve enough ‘likes’. The team must always keep in mind the over-arching strategy and purpose for why the brand or company is using social media as a marketing tool and keep evaluating and moving forward – Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Jane

The Best Things in Life...

A stack of magazines to plough through! There's nothing better for me than to see my un-read magazines, piled in date order (!) ready for a free afternoon of reading. I then have to make time to organise all the cuttings I've kept from each of them... I simply love it!

Quorn veggie food. I'm currently attempting to tone up in preparation for my holiday to the gorgeous island of Crete and, along with the Tracy Anderson Method (of course!), I'm eating clean and lean foods only. I find, as a vegetarian, Quorn provides the best protein for me and it's delicious too!

Primark! After a long day at the Bullring in Birmingham hunting for an outfit for one of the hundreds of weddings I'm going to this summer I felt very deflated when I couldn't find anything but... I walked into Selfridges and had a browse through Primark and although I didn't find anything wedding related I got a pair of £6 jelly sandals for my holiday. It's the most excited I've been about a purchase in a long time!

The One Thing I Can't Throw Away Is...

My mum's duck-egg cashmere jumper. It's a lovely jumper, not my style but she's had it since she was a young girl and kept it in pristine condition. When I was younger if I was off school sick, I'd put it on and snuggle up in it!

The Key Element of a Successful Social Media Strategy Is...

Following the strategy! Yes, of course, there will be adhoc content to push through social channels but a well thought-out, structured strategy means you're more likely to succeed on social media and fans and followers will see the content you want them to see. It may not see results straightaway but by sticking to the strategy, you'll get there in the end!