The latest Instagram stats show there’s currently more than 800 million monthly active users and according to Sprout Social, many experts believe it could reach one billion in 2018. So what’s going on with Instagram Stories?

Well, according to Media Kix, as of 2017 Instagram Stories alone has more than 300 million users every day. That means a lot of eyes are on this platform, and there’s great potential for marketers to get noticed using Stories.

Instagram Stories Lets You Get Up Close and Personal

The key to success with Instagram, as with any other social media platform, is that you have to first build an audience. Even more importantly, and more-so with Instagram than some other networks, you have to share reliable, personal content each and every day. People use Instagram as a brilliant bridge between business and personal lifestyles.

Instagram Stories are basically photos, text or video that can be shared instantly – and that will “self-destruct” after 24 hours, rather than being saved to your main photo grid.

This might seem like a small or unexciting feature but actually, it represents a bold step into the future for Instagram and a massive opportunity for marketers. The feature strongly resembles that of the Snapchat platform, and some viewers have even shared that they skip the main grids to only view Stories of their favorite brands!

Why Instagram Stories Matter

Instagram Stories essentially gives you a new way to communicate with your audience that’s a lot more direct and immediate, which helps to increase opportunities for engagement with your audience. Using Stories has the potential for making your audience feel as though you are talking to them directly to a much greater degree.

The temporary nature of the content will make it more exciting because the content is time-limited. By sharing a photo or media you have only recently uploaded, viewers feel almost as though they’re being “brought along for the ride” – as though they are right there with you.

Instagram Stories also appear right at the top of your viewer’s feed – thereby ensuring that they will be much more likely to see the content.

How to Make Your Instagram Stories Successful

Perhaps the biggest challenge for many creators will be in knowing when to use Instagram Stories, and when to upload photos.

One way to think about this is to consider the difference between content that perfectly embodies your brand, versus content you want to share directly with your current fans.

For instance, you might want to share a joke or a photo of your day with your fans. Letting your followers feel as though they’re getting to know you in that small way is a great way to increase trust and brand loyalty.

But the challenge with a joke or photo of the day on its own, is that it doesn’t really say much about who you are or what your business is all about. Therefore, you might not really want it to appear as a permanent inclusion to your “grid” for first-time passersby.

Ask yourself this question: Would you be happy with this photo being the first impression that a visitor has of your brand? If the answer is no, perhaps it’s better suited for your Instagram Stories.

There are also other options offered by Instagram Stories, such as the option to create live videos or to make “boomerangs,” which are essentially short repeating videos much like GIFs. This variety provides you new ways to more directly and personally reach out to your followers with fun and creativity.

Your Daily Plan

If you want to have a highly successful brand that showcases who you are in life and business on Instagram Stories, then you need to put in the thought and effort it takes to post consistently – with high-quality content. Use themes that are engaging, visually appealing, and well-branded with your colors and fonts as accents.

Use your content to begin showcasing your behind-the-scenes efforts, and to highlight how you are building relationships with regular posts.

The Simple Daily Blueprint to Grow on Instagram Stories

1. A Story a Day

Post at least one Instagram story a day. Save them in a folder filled with lots of photos, so that you have something to publish on days when you don’t do anything exciting.

2. Save Your Stories

Within settings, set your stories to save automatically, so that you can share these pictures in Facebook or elsewhere online.

3. Experiment

Integrate emojis, hashtags, filters and even polls to make your images stand out, and to highlight things you want viewers to see.

4. Try Video

Keep in mind that live video can run up to 1 hour – invite a friend or colleague to go live with you!

5. Give to Receive

Spend at least 15 minutes each day liking other posts on Instagram, joining in on conversations, and sharing great images.

Become a Dedicated Brand Builder with Instagram Stories

If you can dedicate time to sharing Instagram Stories, you should find that you can very quickly grow a relevant and well-connected audience. Understand that it takes these three components: time, authenticity, and commitment. Add Instagram Stories to your social media toolkit using the 5 tips above, and start to boost your brand online today!

The Power of #Instagram Stories to Build an Audience by @TweetTanyaSmith #RocksDigital #SocialMedia
Click To Tweet

Are you sold on Instagram Stories as a brand-building tool now? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post The Power of Instagram Stories to Build a Massive Audience appeared first on Rocks Digital.

Facebook Live can be a powerful way to grow your community and get more reach. But it can be somewhat intimidating to broadcast your very own livestream. You will probably worry that you don’t know what to say, or feel frustrated and unsure of just what topics to cover.

Feel the Fear, and Facebook Live Anyway!

When trying something for the first time, a little apprehension is quite understandable, and that surely goes for “going live.” But you really don’t need to fear, because in this post you’ll find a few accessible ideas to get you started!

7 “Dive Right In” Approaches to Using Facebook Live

Idea #1 – Tell a Story or Share an Experience

Personal stories are a fantastic way to start your livestream. Try sharing a story about a customer service experience you had, talk about your favorite mentor who inspired you to start your own business, or explain how you came to be in your current field of expertise.

Idea #2 – Review a Book, Chapter-by-Chapter

Pick a book and deliver one livestream per chapter. During your live broadcast, share a few thoughts on each chapter and how it’s impacting you. If you’re not sure what to say, look in the back of the book for a discussion guide or check the publisher’s website for an easy-to-use guide. Just be careful you’re not sharing their content as your own… remember to give credit where it’s due!

Idea #3 – Announce New Products or Services

Use Facebook Live to talk about or introduce your new product or service. Not only will your existing customers appreciate hearing the news, but you may also attract viewers who turn into customers after learning about your latest offering. Remember, it’s not about being salesy. Always deliver value in whatever content you share.

Idea #4 – Show Appreciation and Thank Someone

Take a moment to publicly thank someone. This could be someone you’re close to, like your brother or sister or your mom or dad. It could also be a friend or mentor who guided you through a difficult time, or a customer who shared a lightbulb moment because of their work with you.

Idea #5 – Deliver a Quick Tips Post

Outline three quick tips you could share with your audience that relate to a niche you serve. For example, if you’re in health & wellness, you could share 3 quick tips for eating clean. Or as a dating coach, tips on how to gently let down a person you don’t feel a romantic connection with.

Idea #6 – Interview Someone

You can use a tool like BeLive or BlueJeans to interview guests on your livestream. Pick interviewees who are comfortable on camera and that have valuable content to share with your viewers relating to a theme or key topic.

Idea #7 – Share a Tutorial

Think about a topic you get asked about frequently and use your Facebook Live to create a tutorial. For example, if you’re in the beauty niche and you get questions about how to create flawless eyebrows, turn that into a livestream. You could do a demonstration or explain your process step-by-step, and why you take each step.

Regardless of what you share on your Facebook Live video, be sure to pay attention to the comments. Keep in mind that viewer engagement will significantly boost your rankings on Facebook, leading to even more views and shares for your business page!

Leverage the Livestream with Facebook Live

Almost everyone understands the power of video, and your customers and customers-to-be increasingly rely on the information they glean from it. The livestream format is another key piece of your brand’s social media outreach, so dump those doubts about going live, and use these 7 ideas to help show just what your brand is all about!

Want to Go Live? Get Started with 7 Great Ideas for #Facebook Live by @TweetTanyaSmith #RocksDigital
Click To Tweet

Which “dive right in” idea seems best for your brand? Share your enthusiasm – or reservations – in the comments!

The post Want to Go Live? Get Started with 7 Great Ideas for Facebook Live appeared first on Rocks Digital.

If you’ve ever looked at another entrepreneur’s social media feed and wondered how they manage to get it all done, the answer might surprise you. If you’ve ever wondered how to systemize social media, I’ll tell you now – it’s all about good systems.

How to Systemize Social Media for Maximum Payoff

The most productive people all have one thing in common: they don’t reinvent the wheel every day. Instead, they’ve figured out the best, most efficient way to do every task, and they create a system to do just that.

This doesn’t apply only to social media – it’s really about everything you do.

No matter what business you’re in and what projects you find yourself tackling, a systemized approach to your social media content will help you:

• Work faster and produce more awesome content
• Produce higher quality results with fewer mistakes
• Easily outsource tasks so you can focus on other things
• Stay visible with your audience of choice

The Magic of Social Media Templates

How many times do you share quotes? What about blog posts or article links? Do you post a question of the day?

All of these tasks and more become effortless when you create fill-in-the-blank social media templates that can be repurposed for specific types of content.

Templates can be as simple as a blurb of text and maybe an image placeholder. You might even create a social media template document in Dropbox or Google Drive to house all your post templates for easier access.

Examples:

• Free [type of] webinar tomorrow – click here to register now…
• What mistakes did you make when you first started out [trying to
  achieve something]? Share in the comments.
• Wanna know the #1 way to [get a good benefit]? Click here [link]…

While simple templates will undoubtedly save you time, the real beauty is that once they’re created, you can easily outsource your social media content. Simply instruct your assistant on the proper use of your templates, and you’ll free up time to do other, more important things.

Checklists to Prevent Mistakes

It might seem counterintuitive, but when you perform the same tasks over and over again, it’s easy to miss a critical step. You might think you set up all your posts to promote your latest info or product – you might even remember doing it – only to look back and see it was never completed.

But when you implement checklists, it’s suddenly much more difficult to miss an important task.

You can easily create checklists for all your common social media content development tasks and campaigns, using nothing more than a text document or a simple spreadsheet.

If you’re managing a team, checklists in any of your project management systems allow you to see exactly what tasks are complete, and which are still outstanding.

Templates and checklists turn smart business owners into productivity superstars, and it’s easy to get set up.

The next time you respond to a question you’ve answered before on Facebook Messenger, for instance, save your response. The next time you set up a new product campaign for your Twitter feed or create a new video post for YouTube to be repurposed on other platforms, take the time to record the steps. I like saving these documents into a notebook on Evernote, where I organize all my templates for easy access from any device.

Save Time in the Future by Learning How to Systemize Social Media Today

Adopting quick and easy systems will make future social media projects easier and faster to complete, and best of all, you can hand them off to your assistant. Leverage your time using these tips and you’ll find you can maintain your visibility on social media without the overwhelm!

Systemize #socialmedia w/ templates and checklists says @TanyaSmithOnline #RocksDigital
Click To Tweet

Have you used social media templates before? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments!

The post Wonder How to Systemize Social Media? Put Templates and Checklists to Work appeared first on Rocks Digital.

Social media sites offer a great way to brand your business for free. You may be thinking about the do’s, but also understand the don’ts to minimize social media mistakes. An overwhelming majority of business owners use sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and many check them daily. But there are some deadly errors that can really cost you – and even kill your social media campaigns if you’re not careful!

Dump these 10 Big Social Media Mistakes

Join me in pledging to stop the madness – and these social media mistakes! Let’s review so you will know exactly what NOT to do:

1. Shameless Self-Promotion

By far, the worst thing you can do is to use your social media platform as a sales page. People on these sites don’t want to be marketed to. They want to get to know you, network, and share common interests.

2. Buying Your Friends

On certain freelance sites not to be named (to protect the innocent), you’ll find people selling friends for social media sites. It may be tempting to pad your profile with fans, but this is a horrible mistake. In most cases, the ”friends” aren’t even real people. It will be obvious to the real people who show up on your site and frankly, it doesn’t do anything to grow your business.

3. One-Way Exchange

When people comment or ask questions on your page, you must respond. I mean, you MUST. Reply to them, acknowledge their comment, and make them feel welcome. This shows that you’re an approachable, responsive brand that cares what people think.

4. No Call to Engage… Ever

What makes a social media platform popular is engagement. If yours just presents information about your brand and doesn’t give them something to do, people won’t stick around. Use simple questions and scenarios to encourage responsiveness.

5. Inconsistent Posts

Maintaining a social media site is work and it requires a bit of devotion. You should schedule a little time to manage it every day – that is, if you want to grow your following. The brands that are most active on social media get the best results. It doesn’t have to mean hours every day; just carve out a little time and stick it in your calendar so you remember to respond, share great content, and like other posts.

6. Fighting Words

No matter what anyone says about you or your brand, never be negative or nasty to them. That only diminishes your credibility. Always be considerate, polite and friendly. Keep things positive – even when you’d love to go off. The ’90s comedy show, In Living Color, used to have a segment called “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong,” showing that things just never turn out well when you choose the low road.

7. It’s All About Me

If your social media content does nothing but talk about you, your products and your services, people won’t be interested very long. Take time to understand your fans, find out the topics that they would like, and share content based on that.

8. Being a Wallflower

Don’t wait for people to visit your profile, get out there proactively and socialize! Make friends, spend time on other profiles, and get to know people. You’ll be surprised at what a difference this makes when you make an effort to connect.

9. Explicit or Over-Personal Comments

Whenever you’re logged in online, be extremely self-aware. Everything you say or do reflects your brand even if you think it’s on your “personal” profile. This isn’t about being inauthentic; but remember, your social posts are not your private diary. You want to build credibility as a professional, then act like one online.

10. Jack (or Jill) of All Trades

Sure, you are an expert in many things. But remember, stick to things that are of interest to your brand audience. It’s okay to digress and get off-topic once in awhile to display your personal passions, but in general, it’s important to plant your flag and share content that matches your offers. Stick to things your fans care about.

Honestly Assess, then Act on Social Media Mistakes

If you have been engaging in any of these social media mistakes, it’s time to make a change. Say it with me – I hereby pledge to never again make these 10 social media mistakes!

Are these #socialmedia mistakes lurking in your toolkit? asks @TweetTanyaSmith #RocksDigital
Click To Tweet

Recognize any social media mistakes you need to correct ASAP? Or perhaps you’ve noticed others make them, and seen the results! Do share your thoughts in the comments!  

The post Are these Social Media Mistakes Lurking in Your Toolkit? Here’s 10 Don’ts to Do Better! appeared first on Rocks Digital.

Are you struggling with social media productivity? Daily online marketing tasks overwhelming you so much you can’t tell what to do next, or where to turn your attention to?

Before you bang your head on the wall out of frustration, be assured: there is a solution! Yes, you can generate income by marketing your business on social media, and still have enough time to do what you want.

When Social Media Productivity Delivers Positive Results

No stress … no burnout, and regain your time. Who doesn’t want that!? Just get started by reading and applying these 5 productivity techniques. Read on…

Technique 1 – Put the Assets to Work

Focus on the 3 most important assets: relationship building, list building, and traffic generation. When you break your daily social media marketing tasks into these 3 buckets, your work will be A LOT more manageable, time is saved, and stress is kept down to a minimum.

You will find a lot of marketers doing really well on one of these, but not many on all 3. Only a handful focus well on #1, relationship building. But it’s important to know that creating connection and relationships helps you to dramatically increase your authority, get your offers in front of interested eyeballs, and make more money in the long run.

People are on social media to be… well, social. So remember to keep this in mind and respond to comments, engage in discussions, and welcome new followers.

Technique 2 – Recharge Your Batteries and Inspiration

Step away from work. Work continuously in your social media profiles for no more than 30­–45 minutes. After that, give yourself a break. Otherwise, your creativity and productivity will crash.

Research reveals that taking a quick break, about 15 to 20 minutes, helps you get more done in the long run. Don’t forget to recharge your batteries!

Technique 3 ­– Document, Document, Document!

Take the time to define and document the social media tasks you need to finish and the process needed to get the job done. Create checklists!

By doing so, you avoid having to reinvent the wheel. Oh, and don’t forget to mark your calendars. When we don’t schedule essential tasks (i.e. start launch campaign, vet new LinkedIn followers) we do other things that are not as important for our business (i.e. read our cousin’s latest spat, get sucked into the latest debate on Facebook).

Technique 4 – Do What You Love; Outsource the Rest

Stick with what you are great at. If there are certain parts of social media you’re not enjoying or don’t have time for, outsource it. Find a partner. Get someone to do it for you. You reach your potential ONLY when you are using your time to work on tasks and issues where your talent shines the most.

Ex.: Good at writing? Then focus on creating social media content for your readers. Hire a graphic designer to put together ads because you hate it and have a “bad eye” for visuals!

Yes, this technique requires money. BUT every penny spent on it will be money well spent! You’re freeing up time to do the things you’re best at… and to serve more customers.

Technique 5 – Limit Interruptions

Limit the notifications. Only allow the really important messages to get to your inbox. For instance, make use of the spam filter in Facebook Messenger, or install a chatbot. These will automatically cut down on fake ads and notifications that don’t really bring any value to your business.

Also consider whether or not you want your social media notices to come to your email inbox. Choose one main route by which you will peruse them.

You will be surprised at how much junk and potential distractions you can get rid of by following this simple technique.

Stay in the Game with a Focus on Social Media Productivity

If you’re finding yourself teetering on the edge of burnout because of your activity in social media, use these tips to regain your balance – and your precious time.

#SocialMedia Tricks Every #Business MUST Have in Their Bag by @TweetTanyaSmith #RocksDigital
Click To Tweet

I love all these social media tips, but which one speaks to you the most? Share your thoughts below!

The post 5 Social Media Productivity Tricks that You MUST Have in Your Bag appeared first on Rocks Digital.

The term micro content may not be familiar to you, but the concept of sharing short form text, visuals, and audio posts is becoming more and more prominent these days. With social media becoming one of the top ways marketers gain visibility and share their brand, micro content is essential to business success.

Increase Brand Visibility with Micro Content

Recently, several studies suggested people generally lose concentration more quickly now than ever before, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digital lifestyle on the brain. A post on Statistic Brain shared that the average human attention span in 2015 decreased from 12 (in 2013) to 8.25 seconds. That’s less than that of a goldfish, at 9 seconds.

People want to fill up that 8 seconds with quick-hitting, targeted messages about topics they care about. They generally won’t waste time learning about your business in a 50-page white paper or 2-hour seminar without first knowing you are worthy of more attention, and this is where micro content wins big.

Micro content helps captivate attention, direct traffic to your chosen links, and showcase your brand as a valuable information asset on social media – but it can be challenging to master delivery of quality content in snack size bites.

These 5 steps will point you in the right direction to a winning micro content strategy.

1. Define Your Ideal Buyer

It’s one thing to attract a large following on social media, but it’s quite another to draw a highly targeted audience whose makeup includes people that are most likely to engage with your content and be led to buy from you or use your services. But before you can create effective micro content that will catch the eye of your ideal client, it’s important to understand who you will share your content with.

Understanding audience identity will also help you narrow down the social networking platforms that will serve you best – instead of stretching your limited time and dollars trying to be everywhere at once.

2. Identify Core Content Themes

As you begin to formulate your micro content strategy, consider the topics you are best at delivering, then break these down into sub-topics. Mind mapping, with tools like XMind or FreeMind, is an excellent way to accomplish this.

For example, if your main topic of expertise is healthy living, a few sub-topics might include exercise, diet, meditation and related subjects. These will become content themes, or “pillars” for the content you create.

3. Repurpose or “Snack Size” Your Best Long Form Content

This step is often overlooked, but it is highly valuable when you are deciding what type of micro content to develop. Look at current content you have already developed such as books, speeches, courses, or even live workshops. Consider ways you can chunk down the material into snack size audio posts, 5-minute videos, or thought-provoking images with text excerpts or quotes.

You don’t always have to start from scratch. Repurpose what you have and you will save hours and hours of time!

4. Schedule Your Micro Content

Create an editorial calendar for your micro content using online services such as CoSchedule, or a simple Excel spreadsheet. This ensures you will consistently have micro content available for readers to consume.

The more constant your presence on social media, the more reliable you appear. Constancy improves trust in your brand, and ultimately in your credibility as a professional.

5. Distribute and Repeat

Once you have determined what to post and when to post your micro content, distribute it on your social networking profiles. Keep in mind you don’t have to post your micro content once and be done. You can utilize tools like Meet Edgar or Tweet Jukebox to refresh your social feeds with evergreen (always current) micro content you shared months ago.

There is no rule that says you can only post great content one time. Keep in mind, you may capture the attention of someone who has never seen your amazing tips before.

Attention is a currency. You now know the top 5 ways to earn more of that currency using a great micro content strategy. Now is the time to leverage the power of snack sizing your content with social media for optimum visibility online!

5 Steps to #Brand Visibility with Micro Content #Marketing from @TweetTanyaSmith #RocksDigital
Click To Tweet

Have you tried micro content marketing yet?

The post How to Master Micro Content Marketing in 5 Easy Steps appeared first on Rocks Digital.