<![CDATA[KATE'S SOCIAL+MEDIA - Blog]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:17:28 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[January 11th, 2017]]>Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:29:29 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/january-11th-2017
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EVENT: 1st February 2017
LOCATION: TEDDINGTON, LONDON
TIME: 9.30 - 1PM

  • Undertand how soclal media can work for your business. 

    Identify your audience and the right platforms to use. 

    Create a social media strategy and decide on key objectives. 

    Learn how to create engaging and effective content. 

Discover useful tools to ulilise social media for your business effectively. 

Email me on kate@katessocialmedia.com or via the contact page to sign up. 

INTERESTED? Email me at kate@katessocialmedia.com 
]]><![CDATA[GET YOUR TIMING RIGHT!  MY 5 top TIPs On THE BEST TIMES TO POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA]]>Mon, 09 May 2016 10:43:09 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/get-your-timing-right-my-5-top-tips-on-the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media
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It’s the eternal question that businesses will ask themselves and big marketing companies will keep on researching. When IS the best time to post on social media, and get the best levels of engagement from people? Is there a magical moment in every day where suddenly the whole world will retweet your tweetings, or a sure fire time to up your share rates on facebook? 

Here are 5 TIPS that should help you decide when to upload your most valuable social media postings. 

1 - EVERYONE’S ONLY AFTER ONE THING.

No, not THAT (mind out the gutter please). In the world of social media, the Holy Grail is Engagement. But what does that actually mean? For most of us, it’s a vague, generic term that’s used to describe positive activity on social media. It means actual responses from real live people. But Facebook has a different definition.

According to Facebook:  Engagement = (Comments+Shares+Likes) ÷ the number of people who’ve Liked your page

That means that a rapid influx of Likes, while definitely a good thing, will drive your engagement down. Why’s that important? FB rewards pages with high engagement by featuring their updates more prominently on a greater percentage of their fans’ news feeds. Still with me? Good….

2 - BUSY LIVES = LESS ENGAGEMENT

Fridays are best for engagement, narrowly edging out Tuesday and Thursdays (both of which were also strong). But in order to fully make the most of your social media, you've got to try and understand why. Tuesdays and Thursdays are excellent for lightweight interactions such as getting Likes, retweets, or pins on Pinterest. Most people are busiest mid week, so anything that requires more than a click or two is less likely to happen.

3 - THANK FACEBOOK ITS FRIDAY!

 Ah Friday, a favourite day of the week for most people. Last day of the week at college or work, long lunches beckon, work rates drop off. In fact it seems a whole nation start slacking off whatever work they're meant to be doing, and start staring at their phones instead….Which explains why Facebook comments and TWITTER engagement really surge in both the mornings and afternoons before people go to happy hour at the pub. Got a funny clip of a dog? Post it on a Friday. Easy. 

4 - WEEKENDS CAN WORK

Weekends are not a lost cause. Even though general engagement is less for most social networks at the weekend, there is one exception - Pinterest. Weekends are when users go back and check out what they missed during the week  before they start their Saturday ritual of a bit of retail therapy. Posting on the weekends will actually encourage people to review all of your content when they land on your page, boosting engagement across all your posts. 

5 - IGNORE ALL OF THE ABOVE

Let’s be honest, there’s no easy or simple solution to actually knowing when to post, pin or tweet. There is SO much information out there giving sweeping analytical information on each social network and its users. And many of them are contradictory, so who or what are you to believe?  

The reality is, the best time to get engagement on social media is when your specific audience is active. I’ve worked with a gardening retail business, and their best time for engagement on Twitter and Facebook was at 7am on a Sunday morning. SUNDAY MORNING?! This totally flies in the face of every bit of research into social media engagement. But of course gardeners are up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning. They’re browsing on their ipad, having a quiet coffee, before they head out into the garden or allotment for a day of digging and pruning. Totally makes sense FOR THAT BUSINESS.

Because at the end of the day, the best time to post is as customised and unique as you and your business.

So what does this mean for you? I’m afraid it means you need to do a little bit of leg work and test out the times that work best for you and the times that don’t. Post at different times. Different days. Test the water over a few weeks by posting at various points in the week and just SEE WHAT WORKS. 

So much of social media success is trial and error.  Everyone knows that, but not everyone will admit it. Make use of the free analysis tools on Facebook and Hootsuite to learn which of your trial posts is the most successful, and then mould your posting strategy around that. Then, and only then, can you truly understand where your users are and get them to fully engage with you and your business. 
- See more at: http://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog#sthash.8krAlYRk.dpuf
]]><![CDATA[A Beginners guide to easy peasy social media]]>Fri, 23 Oct 2015 13:15:56 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-easy-peasy-social-media
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​Are you a social media newbie? Then never fear, help is here…


If you’re just starting up your own new business and want help on how to manage your social media platforms, or have been given the task of managing someone else’s, then here is my easy peasy checklist on managing your social accounts. 
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TWITTER
Tweet every day. You’ve got to try and hold peoples attention, so try to deliver content and have something to say to them daily, or else they’ll lose interest and bugger off. Or worse, unfollow you. The online equivalent of being dumped. 
Don’t be afraid to use hashtags.  But please #don’t #start #making #your #content #totally #unreadable. Don't overdo it. 
Repost your content. Don’t be afraid of reposting content. Social media is a busy old place, and things can get easily overseen or missed on people's timelines. People can look at Facebook or twitter dozens of times a day, and they might only look at things posted in the last hour or so, so regularly reposting can make sense if you don't want to fall through the gaps. 
Include pictures and videos. We’re visual creatures, and an image will always draw extra attention than a few words on a page. 
Schedule your posts: Look into using a scheduling site like Hootsuite, tweetdeck or sprout social so you can make sure posts go out even when you’re not working. Hootsuite has a free starter version, perfect if you're only managing one or two accounts. 
Share content from other people. Keep it relevant to your audience though. 
Don’t ignore people!  Try to take the time to reply to people if they’ve bothered to talk to you. Otherwise its just bad manners. 
Don’t ignore the bad stuff. Always respond, but keep it professional. Remember, the world and its dog is watching….
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​FACEBOOK
Keep it short & sweet. If you want to write lots of stuff, put it as a link to your business’s blog. Which of course you have, don’t you? 
Post photos and videos to your timeline. Images and videos are generally always shared way more than other content. 
Find where your customer is.  Try posting things at different times of day to find out when they are most likely to be looking. ie, a gardening business may fare better with early bird postings at 7am, whereas parent focused posts may do well in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed.. 
Don’t do a hard sell. Generally, people aren’t on Facebook to part with their cash, they just want to be informed and entertained.

​
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​INSTAGRAM
Use detailed descriptions. Instagram may be all about pictures, but an unusual description can really put a picture or video into context. 
Post original video content as well as images. People will love you for it and with video technology being so easy these days, there really is no excuse! 
Come up with your own hashtags and then use these to help to create a community of people around them. 
Other peoples Hashtags. Don’t be afraid to jump on to the back of existing hashtags to promote your own posts.
]]><![CDATA[HOW TO FIND YOUR business's SOCIAL MEDIA VOICE]]>Fri, 16 Oct 2015 13:17:31 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/how-to-find-your-brands-social-media-voicePicture


Have you ever thought about what your social media voice should be? No? Well now’s the time to take a good long look at yourself. 


Creating a strong, consistent voice is the key to building a real relationship with your audience or customer. Whether you’re a recruitment company or a food business, ultimately people buy from people. More specifically, people we LIKE and relate to.


Social media gives brands a chance to develop personality and characteristics of their own. All the lovely stuff that attracts you to certain people more than others, can also endear you to a brand or company too.


A social media voice can be playful, educational, fun, irreverent, inspirational, sophisticated or whatever you want it to be. So how do you find out what YOUR brand voice should be? 


Business Core Culture
Every business has something that makes it different & unique. What does YOUR organisation stand for? What makes you different? If your brand was a person, what would they care about or do? Dress down Fridays? Service with a smile? Ethically aware? 


Your Customer & Community
Who is your customer and the community you cater for? Listen to the way they voice their feelings. How do they talk to eachother? Notice the tone and language they use. Make sure you know what they want from you and try to reflect that in how YOU speak to THEM.  


Start a Conversation
Ask yourself what you’re bringing to social media by putting your brand out there (your answer might be something like customer support, industry education, general fun or product promotions) and then communicate it with the personality you are and an authentic voice. No strong-arming or hard selling, just talking in a way that’s comfortable, conversational and relatable.


Be a human, not a robot
They key is that social media is meant to be SOCIAL. A party or get together that’s online 24/7. If you were to walk into a room full of strangers, how would you approach them? Who would you be? 

Be Consistent
Remember who you are and try to be consistent with what you say and how you say it. This is easier if it's just you who posts all your Facebook posts, but harder if you share the workload with other colleagues. Make sure you all understand WHO you are, the sort of language you use ( and more importantly, don't) and the kind of things you're interested in.  No body wants to use a business when they sound like they have multiple personalities with each post. Which one do you trust? 


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Finally, a little secret. The hard sell doesn’t work. Nobody likes to chat to someone who comes across as a pushy salesman. Try to charm, engage and inform (like the perfect party guest...) and you’ll soon find people will want to be your online friend. And don't be afraid to give away information for free (although that's a whole different blog post....)

Because that’s ultimately what this social media thing is all about. Making friends, and influencing people. And maybe, just maybe, they will like you enough to become a customer. 





Here are some social media brand voices that really work. 
Have a look at their social media platforms and notice how the personality of the brand is clear, engaging, consistent and authentic. 

Innocent Drinks
http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk


Virgin Media
http://www.virginmedia.com


Amazon UK
https://twitter.com/amazon


  • ​
]]><![CDATA[WANT A REACTION? HERE ARE my TOP 5 TIPS TO help you pOST YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE RIGHT TIME]]>Wed, 20 May 2015 11:56:45 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/want-a-reaction-here-are-your-top-5-tips-to-making-sure-youre-posting-your-social-media-at-the-right-time
When is the BEST time to post social media? Here are 5 free tips to getting it right. 

It’s the eternal question that businesses will ask themselves and big marketing companies will keep on researching. When IS the best time to post on social media, and get the best levels of engagement from people? Is there a magical moment in every day where suddenly the whole world will retweet your tweetings, or a sure fire time to up your share rates on facebook? 

Here are 5 TIPS that should help you decide when to upload your most valuable social media postings. 

1 - EVERYONE’S ONLY AFTER ONE THING.

No, not THAT (mind out the gutter please). In the world of social media, the Holy Grail is Engagement. But what does that actually mean? For most of us, it’s a vague, generic term that’s used to describe positive activity on social media. It means actual responses from real live people. But Facebook has a different definition.

According to Facebook:  Engagement = (Comments+Shares+Likes) ÷ the number of people who’ve Liked your page

That means that a rapid influx of Likes, while definitely a good thing, will drive your engagement down. Why’s that important? FB rewards pages with high engagement by featuring their updates more prominently on a greater percentage of their fans’ news feeds. Still with me? Good….

2 - BUSY LIVES = LESS ENGAGEMENT

Fridays are best for engagement, narrowly edging out Tuesday and Thursdays (both of which were also strong). But in order to fully make the most of your social media, you've got to try and understand why. Tuesdays and Thursdays are excellent for lightweight interactions such as getting Likes, retweets, or pins on Pinterest. Most people are busiest mid week, so anything that requires more than a click or two is less likely to happen.

3 - THANK FACEBOOK ITS FRIDAY!

 Ah Friday, a favourite day of the week for most people. Last day of the week at college or work, long lunches beckon, work rates drop off. In fact it seems a whole nation start slacking off whatever work they're meant to be doing, and start staring at their phones instead….Which explains why Facebook comments and TWITTER engagement really surge in both the mornings and afternoons before people go to happy hour at the pub. Got a funny clip of a dog? Post it on a Friday. Easy. 

4 - WEEKENDS CAN WORK

Weekends are not a lost cause. Even though general engagement is less for most social networks at the weekend, there is one exception - Pinterest. Weekends are when users go back and check out what they missed during the week  before they start their Saturday ritual of a bit of retail therapy. Posting on the weekends will actually encourage people to review all of your content when they land on your page, boosting engagement across all your posts. 

5 - IGNORE ALL OF THE ABOVE

Let’s be honest, there’s no easy or simple solution to actually knowing when to post, pin or tweet. There is SO much information out there giving sweeping analytical information on each social network and its users. And many of them are contradictory, so who or what are you to believe?  

The reality is, the best time to get engagement on social media is when your specific audience is active. I’ve worked with a gardening retail business, and their best time for engagement on Twitter and Facebook was at 7am on a Sunday morning. SUNDAY MORNING?! This totally flies in the face of every bit of research into social media engagement. But of course gardeners are up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning. They’re browsing on their ipad, having a quiet coffee, before they head out into the garden or allotment for a day of digging and pruning. Totally makes sense FOR THAT BUSINESS.

Because at the end of the day, the best time to post is as customised and unique as you and your business.

So what does this mean for you? I’m afraid it means you need to do a little bit of leg work and test out the times that work best for you and the times that don’t. Post at different times. Different days. Test the water over a few weeks by posting at various points in the week and just SEE WHAT WORKS. 

So much of social media success is trial and error.  Everyone knows that, but not everyone will admit it. Make use of the free analysis tools on Facebook and Hootsuite to learn which of your trial posts is the most successful, and then mould your posting strategy around that. Then, and only then, can you truly understand where your users are and get them to fully engage with you and your business. 
]]><![CDATA[sharing icons, the easy way....]]>Thu, 07 May 2015 14:09:08 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/sharing-icons-the-easy-wayhttps://www.addthis.com 
I've been using weebly.com this week to create a new site. Fab. All nice and easy to use, with lots of drag and drop menus. Great for web creating techno newbies. But then i came across a glitch. How on earth do i put lovely, punchy looking social media icons on a page easily, without having to spend ages trying to 'embed' or add new codes? Hell, i want PRETTY Facebook and twitter BUTTONS on my site! And all weebly offer on their own menu are dull, grey, teeny tiny icons. No wow factor. Boring. 

After lots of googling and youtubeing, i found a quick and easy way of adding all sorts of sharing icons, with tonnes of good looking designs that add a bit of yumminess to a website. 
A site calledAddthis.com is great for creating simple widgets (or an easy web shortcut to you and me) to add to your own personal website. Its dead simple, you chose the set of  icons you like the look of, do a pretty simple cut and paste job, and then hey presto, there are you nice shiny new icons, flashing away on your website. MUCH easier than ordering 'An Idiots Guide to Embedding Code' on Amazon. 


Here's the youtube guide i used to walk me through it. Dead easy. 
]]><![CDATA[the easy way to understand social networks. And donuts.]]>Thu, 30 Apr 2015 11:05:04 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/the-easy-way-to-understand-social-networks-and-donutsPicture
Nothing quite explains the nuances of each social media network like a  donut analogy...
]]><![CDATA[Knowem... a quick way to get yourself on multi social networks]]>Thu, 30 Apr 2015 10:57:32 GMThttp://www.katessocialmedia.com/blog/knowem-a-quick-way-to-get-yourself-on-multi-social-networksKnowem.com, is a handy little tool for social media bods who wants to either register their business domains in other platforms, or want to sign up their business name to a variety of social networks worldwide. 

But what exactly does that mean? 

KnowEm allows you to check for the use of your brand, product, personal name or username instantly on over 500 popular and emerging social media websites. Grab your name and secure your brand before someone else does. Search over 500 popular social networks, over 150 domain names, to instantly secure your brand on the internet. And the great news is, its free. Whoopedeedoo!

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