Meet my Social Media Strategist, Anette During. Thanks to Facebook, after several years of being out of touch, I was able to connect with Anette. It didn’t take us long to realize we had a lot of similar interests. She’s one of those people who’s very knowledgeable on a lot of things, so I asked her to read my book, When Freedom Came, and provide feedback.
My next step was to start a blog and get up and running on social media to start promoting my book. I absolutely had no clue where to start and how to go about things. I asked friends, tried Google and You Tube and all seemed rather daunting. So, naturally, I turned to Anette just in the hopes that she may be able to point me in the right direction. In one detailed email, Anette demystified social media for me. She took the social media reins from my hands and set up everything I needed. She did not stop there, she did about a 4 hour one-on-one teleconference with me, showing me how all the media interconnected and how to bring them all together. Well without further ado, Meet Anette During.
Arama: I know while a lot of people are heavy into social media, some are still a little shy to step on the social media train. I also know that getting into it can be daunting, so how and what led you to becoming a social media strategist?
Anette: I became a marketing strategist due to my daughter being in the entertainment industry and I have grown to love it.
Arama: What would you say to someone who has a service or produt to sell. Can they do so by other means?
Anette: Nowadays, social media is the way to go to market and to network any business. In particular, through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and blogs. It allows you to get your name and business out there and it piques one’s interest to find out more about you and the business. I market Arama Products through the various social media platforms.
Arama: That seems easy enough.
Anette: Social media marketing requires a lot of time and can be overwhelming with so much information coming at you in every direction with posts, keeping up with updates and filtering through every post. It also has its peak times of the days for posting updates.
Arama: Yes. It was daunting at first, but once you set everything in motion for me, it all made sense. I really do enjoy doing my blogs, etc., but do admit it requires discipline and dedication. So what advise do you have for someone who’s looking to get up and running or someone who’s struggling with promoting their business or service?
Anette: Well, here are some tips that you can follow:
1 – Have a theme when you set up your social media account. For example, an author would post photos and updates about their soon to be released book(s), their thought process or if you are a chef, you would post photos and write-ups on how you make an amazing dish. Photos work the best with very brief descriptions. For more in-depth descriptions, you could, for example, provide a link to your website or blog site within your post.
2- The timing of your posts – sticking to a schedule or knowing when is the best time to post helps. Usually first thing in the mornings, when people have a brief moment before starting their day; during lunchtime – people will get onto their social media; and, in the evenings, when most people have the time to actually spend on social media.
3 – Keep your postings interesting. This is the key. It requires a lot of thought. Photos, photos, photos and more photos even if it means you setting up props and photographing them!
4 – Hashtags are a big part in helping you gain followers. Using interesting hashtags and/or hashtags that relate to your post or theme. It is tempting to go overboard with the hashtags but try to limit the number of hashtags. Again, keeping all descriptions, including hashtags, to a minimum.
5 – The key to each post is to think about how you want to engage your audience. It could be with a simple thought provoking image or language or directing questions to your audience.
6 – Great, clear, sharp, edited images work the best. The composition of the image helps. Nowadays, our cell phones take excellent photos. There are tons of free editing apps out there, so use them to help improve the quality, style and composition of your images!
7 – Selfies – people love to see selfies. Make them interesting.
8 – Tagging – tag as many sources relating to your image and description. For example, tag the clothing and shoe company that the person is wearing in the image e.g. Target, Armani etc. Tagging has a snowball effect.
9 – Repost or share postings.
10 – Like your own posts too. There is nothing wrong with liking your own posts! It helps with others seeing your posts. They will see that you have liked a posting in their newsfeed.
Arama: WOW! That’s a lot of tips and I know there are a few that I need to implement too. Do you have a website and how does someone get in touch with you?
Anette: Point 3: I do not have a website about social media. I have only recently started marketing businesses for close friends. There is a wealth of information that one can quickly access on the web. However, if someone wants to get in touch with me or has a question, they can do so by sending an email to info@photosbyanette.com
Anette is also a photographer and you can view her work at: Photos By Anette.
Stay Blessed,
~Arama Christiana
Email: aramaproducts@gmail.com
