Wednesday 20 March 2013

Why You Should Use Social Media - For Businesses, Groups and Agencies


Welcome to the latest instruction manual from My Town Homepage which, this time, covers “Why You Should Use Social Media”. It is relevant for Businesses, Community Organisations, Voluntary Organisations and Public Agencies.

This is the latest free Training Manual produced by My Town Homepage. Others produced so far are;


If this Manual whets your appetite for more Social Media tips and advice here are some more items available from My Town Homepage.

  • Assessment - Where are you on the Social Media Evolution? - Free Analysis
  • Training - Introduction, Basics, Advanced - Free Manuals and Bespoke Training for individuals and groups
  • Establish - all you need to get started on your social media journey.  
  • Promote - If you’re from Inverclyde you can be promoted to over 10,000 local followers
  • Strategy - You can have a quick 10 point social media health check or you can have a detailed and comprehensive strategy which will plot your future social media direction.
  • Growth - Guaranteed methods to grow your Likes or followers
  • Management - If you don’t have the time or the skills My Town Homepage can manage your social media account for you.

Details of how to get in touch are given at the end of the document.

This document is a step-by-step guide through the items which were discussed during a presentation made to the Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils Annual Conference held at Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld on Saturday 23rd March 2013.
The document covers the following items;
Section 5 - Creating Content

1. My Town Homepage Experience

My Town Homepage can offer an almost unique perspective to this subject given the background of Managing Director Willie Wilson.

Willie started My Town Homepage in May 2010 but prior to this had been involved in working with voluntary organisations in local government areas at all levels for just short of 25 years. This work included;


  • Secretary to Motherwell District Sports Council from 1990 to 1996
  • In charge of Sports Development Units in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire and Inverclyde Councils from 1990 to 2005
  • The Events Co-ordinator for all Inverclyde Council Events from 1996 to 2010
  • The Community Learning and Development Lead Officer for Inverclyde from 1997 to 2005
  • The Community Council Liaison Officer for Inverclyde from 2005 to 2010
  • The Voluntary Sector Liaison Officer for Inverclyde from 2005 to 2010
  • Responsible for the Community Engagement Team in Inverclyde from 1997 to 2010
  • Responsible for the Grants to Voluntary Organisations Fund for Inverclyde from 2003 to 2010
Willie established My Town Homepage in 2010 which now has two parts.

The first is a website which delivers a community portal for Scotland’s 32 Local Authority areas. The website aims to be a community resource by providing a wide range of information, news, notices and offers. The Inverclyde Portal will be developed first to make it an example of good practice which will then be rolled out to the other 31 Local Authority areas.

The other arm to My Town Homepage is the Social Media Consultancy service. This was developed due to the company’s practical experience of promoting and growing My Town Homepage’s followers of over 10,000 on social media. The company therefore has had tangible examples of social media knowledge and success and doesn’t just rely on theory.


The Social Media Consultancy service has now delivered a wide range of products to Businesses including training sessions for Greenock Chambers of Commerce,  Inverclyde Council and many individual people and businesses however, given the company’s Voluntary Sector background, they are now spreading their net to reach voluntary and community groups.

2 Traditional Communication vs New Communication

Part of the reason why Groups, Clubs, Businesses and Organisations should use Social Media lies in an examination of the current ways that are used to  traditionally promote activities.
Most of the current methods rely on what people are currently comfortable with. The communication tends to be;

One Way Communication - Along the lines of traditional advertising campaigns, the communication is “AT” the target audience rather than a conversation “WITH” them.

No Engagement - Because it’s one way there isn’t an opportunity to discuss or debate your message. There’s also very little feeling of ownership by the person receiving the message.

Non-Targeted Communication - Many of the methods tend to put a message into the general public domain and if they happen to reach the desired audience then this is usually by chance rather than design.  

We call it a “blunderbuss” or “loudspeaker” approach. Basically you have a message which you want to shout as loud as you can in order that as many people as possible will hear. If you don’t reach your target audience you’ll try shouting a little louder and so on. You think that this will allow more people to hear. In reality all you do is make more noise and this usually has an opposite effect to that which is desired.

The new way of marketing uses a different approach. It’s not one-way: It’s multi-way. It’s targeted. It’s engaging. The new way has 4 main parts;

Part 1 - PURPOSE

Be sure of what your organisation does, why it exists, what its main purpose is. If you’re sure of this it’ll be a lot easier later on to produce pieces of content that are relevant to your organisation and will have the desired effects using Social Media.

Part 2 - ATTRACT

If you’re sure of what your purpose is and you share that through your content on Social Media, you’ll attract people who believe what you believe.

Part 3 - BUILD TRUST

Once you attract people who believe what you believe by sharing content about what your purpose is, those people will trust you. They’ll trust you enough to ENGAGE with you and they may even trust you enough to RECOMMEND you.

Part 4 - GROW

When people engage with you and recommend you then you’ll grow your following

If someone recommends you to their friends, studies have shown that 78% of their friends will listen to their recommendations.

Studies have also shown that only 14% trust adverts, or put another way, only 14% trust messages that are shouted AT them (traditional way).

What this means is that you’re much more likely to be heard and listened to and followed in future by using the new method of communication that the traditional way.



3 The Social Media Growth Cycle

The Social Media Growth Cycle is your way to make social media work for your  Organisation.

The Social Media Growth Cycle will help you define;

  • What your purpose is
  • How to create content that will enable people to believe what you believe
  • How to market that content using social media
  • How to engage with people so that they’ll build trust
  • How to grow and keep track of your new followers

Each time you go round the Social Media Growth Cycle you have the potential to add a layer of followers and every layer you add allows your followers and reach to grow.


But unlike the rings of a tree that take a year to add a layer, you can add a layer after every Social Media Growth Cycle which could be 2 or 3 times a week or even 2 or 3 times a day if you have good enough content.

4 Step 1 - Define Your Purpose

Spend a bit of time deciding and being clear what your purpose is and then make all of your actions reflect that purpose. Many organisations get this the wrong way round. They get used to carrying out a set of actions that they’ve always done without really stopping to consider if the actions are appropriate.

So take a bit of time to remind yourself not only of what you do but WHY you do it. Make a list of some of those reasons and keep them in mind when we come to the next stage in the Growth Cycle

When we did this exercise in preparation for the presentation to the Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils Annual Conference we came up with some suggestions for Sports Councils. The purpose of a Sports Council could be;

  • To improve health
  • To increase physical activity levels
  • To increase sports participation
  • To promote role models
  • To engage with young people
  • To promote examples of excellence
  • To promote examples of teamwork

We would encourage you to take some time to reconnect with your purpose because it will help you with Step 2.

5 Step 2 - Create Content to Share Your Purpose

Content is King in social media. If you have nothing interesting or engaging to share then you won’t attract people to follow you no matter how active you are.  Equally if you have the most interesting subject in the world and you don’t take the time to create content around it then, again, you won’t attract new followers.

Again, we did some work for Sports Councils and came up with the following list of possible content for them ;

  • Competitions that have taken place
  • Awards gained
  • Matches won
  • Forthcoming Events
  • Grants available
  • Advice available
  • Links to...
    • Local Members' stories
    • Links to National stories
  • Volunteering examples
  • Coach Education
  • etc, etc, etc

Take time to think of your own Organisation’s content. Come up with a list of content that you could use to share coming out of what you identified your purpose to be.

6 Step 3 - Market Your Content Using Social Media
Social Media offers many different ways that you could use to market your content. Rmember the diagram that we showed above to demonstrate traditional forms of marketing.
The traditional way is one-way and not very targeted.

Social Media can expand significantly on this, for example

The new way can add a lots of options to market your content. Ways that are very flexible like video and podcasts. It's like your organisation having your own TV and Radio Station where you're the one that controls the content. All it takes is a little bit of time and effort. In the past it took technology but these days all it needs is a modern smartphone.

Also notice that the arrows are now not one-way. In fact they're multiple way. Because every person that you reach can contact you but they can also contact all of their own connections.

7 Step 4 - Engage with Your Market

"Engaging" sounds a bit technical or possibly even difficult but in the social media world it's not an onerous thing to do.

It's like a snowball effect. If you move around, people who believe what you believe will be attracted to you and stick to you. But you have to make some noise, you have to get involved, you have to be noticed. That means you have to spend some time being "active". Things like.....
These are some of the verbs that you need to become very familiar with if you're going to be a success on Social Media. And the thing is that there's no one way that works. In the way of the famous sports company "Just do it". There's no real formula to this other than time and effort.

Obviously you have to be politically aware to protect your brand so you can't share or comment on anything and you can't say anything. You have to be responsible but, other than common sense, use the techniques that work for you.

8 Step 5 - Grow and Keep Track of Your Followers

The final piece in the cycle is to grow followers and this will happen proactively and reactively.

By completing the above Social Media Growth Cycle, people will take it upon themselves to follow your organisation. On the other hand, some others may need some prompting to follow you. So you need to spend some time reaching out to others.

Who do you reach out to? People who believe what you believe. People who "engage" with you. Ask them to "Like" your Facebook Page.

Twitter is great for growing a following. Go to people who believe what you believe and follow their followers. Chances are they'll follow you back. Do that with with people who follow you and your following will quickly grow.

And once you've got your following you tend to keep them. Few people who take the time to follow you will take the time to un-follow you. Why should they? They believe what you believe and you'll be giving them great content.

The final great thing about social media is that it's also really easy to categorise your followers. You can put them into lists so that when you share a piece of content in future you can be more specific about who that content goes to. You can send it to

  • your racquet sports list
  • your ball sports list
  • your female list
  • your 15 to 24 list
  • list from a specific town
  • etc. There's no limit.

9 Next Steps - Going from WHY to HOW

This Manual discussed the reasons WHY you should use Social Media for your Business, Community Organisation, Voluntary Organisation and Public Agency.

Our next FREE Manual which will be published soon will discuss the practical ways around HOW you can do that using some of the most popular platforms of  Social Media.

In the meantime, if you like what we say and...
YOU BELIEVE WHAT WE BELIEVE
follow us at any of the links below.

Regards

Willie Wilson
Managing Director
My Town Homepage
admin@mytownhomepage.co.uk
07932 644455


If this Manual whets your appetite for more Social Media tips and advice here are some more items available from My Town Homepage.

  • Assessment - Where are you on the Social Media Evolution? - Free Analysis
  • Training - Introduction, Basics, Advanced - Free Manuals and Bespoke Training for individuals and groups
  • Establish - all you need to get started on your social media journey.  
  • Promote - If you’re from Inverclyde you can be promoted to over 10,000 local followers
  • Strategy - You can have a quick 10 point social media health check or you can have a detailed and comprehensive strategy which will plot your future social media direction.
  • Growth - Guaranteed methods to grow your Likes or followers
Management - If you don’t have the time or the skills My Town Homepage can manage your social media account for you.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Can you Afford £10 per Week to Significantly Help Your Business?

Can you afford £10 a week to significantly help your business reach its market? That's what we're offering you with this Social Media Management entry level package.

We all know that social media is important to help you reach your market online. However, we also know that many people either aren't that comfortable using social media platforms and don't have the time and resources to make themselves as efficient as they need to be.

That's where we come in. For only £10 per week we can work with you to get your content, news, stories, competitions, offers etc to your market. PLUS, if you're an Inverclyde Business you can also benefit from our 10,000+ local followers because we'll also promote you to them for free, included in your weekly fee (see below for more info)

We start with your piece of content and then use the most appropriate social media platform to reach your market. So, if you have a photo we can promote that through your Facebook, Twitter or Google+ Account. If you have a video, we'll promote that on You Tube and link to it via your other social media channels. If it's an article, we'll put it into a Blog and promote it via your other Channels.

Now, here's the great part about our offer. Even if you don't have a Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or Linkedin Page or Blog, we'll set one up for you. For £10 per week your business can have professional social media platforms on all the major platforms and have your content marketed by proven experts in the field to reach your target market.

You can afford £10 a week for that can't you? Here's how it works...

Here's our view of how to grow your business using social media. You produce a good piece of content; We then market that content through your social social media channels; We then engage with people who take an interest in your content and through that you grow your following. Every piece of content should add another layer of followers to your business just like the rings in a tree trunk. Except that with social media you don't have to wait a year to add another layer; you can add 2 or 3 a week or even 2 or 3 a day if you take the time!

With our Social Media Management Entry Package you still have absolute control over your Business because you're still in charge of producing the content.

What we then do for you is to take that content and take it to your market via your most appropriate Social Media Platform. And if you don't have that platform, we'll create it for you. PLUS If you're an Inverclyde Business you also get free promotion by us to our 10,000 local followers.

Once we market your content, we'll also check your platforms daily to see if there has been interaction and engagement. We'll then answer on your behalf if appropriate and if it isn't we'll let you know so that you can respond.

In summary, here's the sort of services we can provide for you for your £10 per week;
  • If you don't yet have a Facebook Page or Twitter Account or Google+ Page or Linkedin Company Page or Blog etc we'll create one for you. We've done this dozens of times for clients. It'll look great and will reflect really well on your company
  • We'll take the content that you create and market that on the most appropriate platform 
  • We'll promote your content in local forums and basically attract relevant followers to your brand
  • We'll engage with people who comment on your post and refer to you where appropriate
  • We'll categorise your followers so that future content can be targeted to the most appropriate market
  • We'll give you a monthly report telling you what progress you've made. 
What you get for your £10 per week is an hour of our time per week. Don't confuse our hour on Social Media with your Hour on Social Media. We can do a LOT for your company in an hour. In an hour we could be marketing 2 pieces of content a week on your behalf or creating you a new Social Media Platform. £10 per week will significantly progress your company's brand and profile.

Just think of the cumulative effect. In a year you can have thousands of new followers; professionally managed social media platforms and LOTS of new business - all for only £10 per week.

If you're interested or would like the chance for some further discussion, just contact us at the details below.

Regards

Willie Wilson
My Town Homepage

Willie Wilson
Managing Director
My Town Homepage
Email admin@mytownhomepage.co.uk
Tel - 07932 644455
Website - http://www.mytownhomepage.co.uk
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mthsocialmedia
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mytownhomepageinverclyde
Linkedin - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/williewilson1



If you think this might not be for you, check out our other services. 


  • Assessment - Where are you on the Social Media Evolution? - Free Analysis
  • Training - Introduction, Basics, Advanced - Free Manuals and Bespoke Training from only £15 per Hour
  • Establish - We Can Get you Started on Your Social Media Journey - From £30
  • Promote - Publicise You through our own Network of Followers - £40 per month
  • Strategy - Your 10 Point Social Media Health Check - Your Strategy From £49
  • Growth - We guarantee to grow your Likes OR followers - From only £10 per month
  • Management - Let us Manage Your Social Media - £49 per month or £499 per year
  • Entry Level Support - Find out what we can do for you for £10 per week