Author Archives: admin

Tips on Tuesday

Although it seems a bit of a cliche, don’t be afraid to harness the season!

Have a think of some creative ways you can bring some festive fun into your social media marketing. Why not have a festive photo competition; ask your followers to show pictures of your products in the most festive way possible – have a prize for the best one.

Some great festive content is a really simple way of making use of what is going on around you – and some trending topics – to engage with current and new followers. Whilst the way we celebrate Christmas may look a little different this year, and the way you engage with your customers in person might need to be within certain parameters, you can be as creative as you want on your social media.

We’d love to hear your ideas about how you make your timelines more fun at this time of year!

Tips on Tuesday

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It’s never easy to be a small business with bigger businesses as competitors and this year has made it harder than ever.

So what can you do to help small businesses out this year and moving into 2021?!

Follow their social media channels
Like a post
Share a post
Engage with their account by leaving comments
Give them a shout out on your social media channels
Tell your family and friends about them – what better than a word of mouth recommendation
Had good service? Leave a positive review.

Happy helping!

Tips on Tuesday

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We love a plan. We especially love a social media marketing plan – you really need a firm outline of your social media aims and needs to make your channels as useful as possible.

However, we’re also a fan of flexibility and the ability to change direction.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that the best laid plans often come to nought and that it is ok to deviate from your plan. We think of our social media plans as a guideline; the type of document you stick to when everything is normal rather than a piece of work that is set in stone.

As we’re faced daily with announcements and changes, don’t worry if you have to deviate from your plan. Don’t worry if you haven’t the headspace to post for a few days and miss some posts you had planned. There is always time to catch up. Christmas is also a great time of year for some ad hoc posting – something away from the planned posts and the potential to have a little spontaneous fun.

The most successful plans we have seen, whilst giving an overview of aims and content strands also allow the user to be flexible when necessary and acknowledges that this is very likely!

Tips on Tuesday

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Ok, bear with us – we know it is only the 17th November, however that leaves only 5 Tips on Tuesday sessions before our Christmas break, so time to start talking the run up to the big day, and what happens afterwards!

Our first tip is one we discuss every year, and whilst the way we celebrate Christmas might look a big different, this year it feels so important to acknowledge this tip. And that is PLAN A BREAK. The mental load we’ve all had this year has been like no other, and it is so important for mental and physical health that we take time away from work to rest, relax and regroup.

Whether you plan your break as a full shut down, or simply factor in your away time by scheduling your social posts in advance, the important thing is that you have some time for you.

We’re hoping for a full digital detox over part of the Christmas break which means time away from phones and other digital devices – how about you?!

Tips on Tuesday

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We’ve recently been discussing Inclusive Design and how you can make small changes to ensure your social media presence is fully accesible.

A really simple way of ensuring screen-readers can accurately represent your posts, is by ensuring that you add an image description. This means that anyone using a screen-reader can quite simply have the details of the image you use to support your content read out to them.

Whilst social media platforms make it easy to add alternative text (alt text) to your images, it’s best to include your descriptions in the body of each post. You can simply add it in brackets or at the bottom of your post.

Remember descriptions don’t need to be lengthy, but simply represent the image e.g. “cat sitting on a rug”.

Tips on Tuesday

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In the past few weeks we’ve been discussing Inclusive Design and how you can make small changes to your social media presence to ensure they’re accessible to as many people as possible.

We’ve long been an advocate of video content on your social profiles, but did you know to be fully accessible all your videos should be subtitled?

Not only do subtitles create a user-friendly experience for people with hearing impairments, but they also enhance the viewing for people not watching in their native language or for people who are in sound-off environments. Imagine such a small change making your video accessible to so many more people!!

Tips on Tuesday

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We’ve been discussing the importance of Inclusive Design and how some small changes to your social media posts can make them more accessible to a variety of people.

Emojis are great fun to use, and when used appropriately add a welcome bit of fun to your posts. However, text-to-speech software reads out a description for every emoji you use, so be careful with the number you include.

Hearing “one gold star” isn’t terrible, but hearing “one gold star” repeated 10 times throughout a message is not only tiresome, but alters the meaning of the entire post.

Remember, in this case less is certainly more!

Tips on Tuesday

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We spoke last week about the important of Inclusive Design and over the next few weeks we’re going to be giving bitesize tips on how to make your social media acessible.

You’re on social media, you’re using a hashtag right? Did you know that for best practice when you’re using hashtags, always use CamelCase and capitalise the first letter of every word?

Not only does this mean that screen readers can read out the hashtags correctly, it also makes them easier to read for everybody else.

This is something we’re certainly going to focus us going forward in our social media posts!

Tips on Tuesday

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The one size fits all approach never works!

Does your social media plan consider accessibility?

With no such thing as an “average user”, it is vital you ensure your social media strategy covers inclusive design methods.

What is inclusive design? Quite simply inclusive design accounts for diversity—including ability, language, gender, age, and other factors—and enables people to enage in a variety of ways.

Accessibility mattters for social media, because without inclusive design you’re potentially missing out on a large audience. Did you know 71% of excluded web visitors will simply leave rather than complain? A survey by Facebook found that more than 30% of people report difficulty with at least one of the following; seeing, hearing, speaking, organizing thoughts, walking, or grasping with their hands.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to help you make your social media inclusive and diverse. After all what is better than creating great, accessible experiences for everyone in your audience?!

Tips on Tuesday

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“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world” ~ Margaret Mead

Have you thought about joining local Facebook groups? If you’re running the type of business that serves the local area, community groups can be a great way of sharing news, offering your services and just connecting with new people.

Remember the golden rules – give as much as you take; if you can’t help a potential customer but know someone who can why not give them a recommendation? And always, ALWAYS abide by the admin rules on advertising; there’s nothing worse than a business being kicked out of a group because they’re spamming the members!

When times are difficult, being involved in the local community can really make a difference!

Aire Media

For all your Social Media Training, Education and Support needs

Author Archives: admin