the Haley's comet

Weird Things I've Googled Lately (Take 3)

4:26 PM

Social Media for Dummies: How to Develop a Social Media Strategy in 5 Steps

12:34 PM

In today’s world, every millennial claims to be a social media expert. Yes, they may know how to USE the platforms personally, but in the professional world, it takes more that just a bare-bones Facebook page to increase brand awareness, find new customers or increase revenue.

Here are just a few tips to get you started in developing a social media strategy for your company:

Step 1: Content is King

One phrase that rings true in social media is “Content is king.” You can have a strategy comparable to the marketing geniuses at Apple or Google, but if you don’t have sharable or compelling content, no one will care.

Before you do anything else, take a look at what your capacity for creating content is -- and I’m talking GOOD, compelling, high quality content. It doesn’t need to be went-viral-overnight-huge-success type stuff, just don’t create crummy 8 YouTube videos if you can instead build a really solid Instagram presence for the same price.

Step 2: What Makes Your Business Unique?

Don’t rely on the fact that your company has been around for 150 years or that you have the most customers in a geographic area to get through to people, especially millennials. Do you offer a unique service? Are you the VERY best (or possibly only) option in a niche industry? Do you have an interesting or inspiring story behind what you do?

I’d recommend making a list of ALL the things that make your company or service unique, no matter how small, and develop a social media strategy based around your unique selling points.

Step 3: Who Should Care?

One of the greatest mistakes new social media marketers will make is having the mindset that everyone is on Facebook. Not even CLOSE to true!

Do some homework - more millennials than ever are NOT on Facebook, they’re on Instagram or Snapchat. Tumblr is HUGE among Hispanics. There is an abundance of research from Pew and Forbes outlining who’s on what platform, so before you assume Facebook or Instagram is the right platform for you, check those stats first. Don’t go there just because it’s easy. You may be totally off the mark or wasting your time (and wasting $$$).

Once you’ve found the right platform(s), define the voice of your social media pages. Maybe you can’t be witty or clever Grey Poupon, but maybe you don’t need to be. A page like that wouldn’t work for older generations, similar to the way a TV ad meant for affluent stay-at-home moms wouldn’t work for blue-collar working single dads. Again, look at who your audience is, and find the voice they will respond best to. (This is where you may need to go to your research team or do some hunting online as to what strategies work best for your target audience).

Step 4: Provide Utility!

As someone who doesn’t work in finance and who recently needed to find a good company, it feels like there are only about a million different companies out there. So, I went straight to the internet and, more specifically, Facebook pages & Twitter accounts for the three companies I was considering. I found myself drawn to the general help articles posted by one company, and ultimately made my decision based on the usefulness of those articles.

So let’s say a potential customer finds your social media page through a paid ad. What incentive do they have to follow you or come back to your pages? Do you offer deals, coupons or contests? Do you post really useful articles about your industry? Do you post really sharable, funny or viral content? (think Taco Bell or Oreo. P.S. this is REALLY hard to do for a new brand, so don’t make this your first plan of attack). Better yet, look at your competitors’ pages and see what they offer and, more importantly, what they LACK, then develop your social media strategy from there.

Step 5: ENGAGE

Some of the best case studies of good social media strategies are those brands or companies that ENGAGE with their audiences. Think of social media as a group conversation, not just a paid advertisement. Sure, you can buy ads on Facebook or YouTube, but your brand or company page should be interactive. If you’ve done your homework (a.k.a. Steps 1-4) and found compelling reasons for people to want your product or service, and your social media presence is providing utility for new or existing customers, people WILL follow your page -- so give them a reason to interact!

Ask for feedback. Ask for user stories (good or bad!). Celebrate quirky holidays relevant to your brand or service (millennials LOVE free stuff and quirky holidays). Highlight fans or employees. Give people a reason to care about EVERY post, if you can.

Of course, this is by no means EVERYTHING you should do to develop a social media strategy, but it’s a solid place to start. And if you do follow these five steps, you should be well ahead of many other companies trying to get out of the stone age and into the digital world.

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To learn more about developing your own social media strategy or working with our team of fabulous social media experts, visit nerdygirlwriters.com/learn-more.

politics

I like Kirsten Dunst

11:24 AM

And not just because she's the voice of Young Anastasia.

If you pay attention to pop culture news at all, she's been getting a lot of heat for some comments she made in a Harper's Bazaar interview a couple days ago.

If you're lazy, here it is.

Now, I don't get political very often. And I have no problem when the opinion of others differ from my own, and I can respect a desire for change or progressive ideas. But I do take issue when my opinion and the opinion of millions of other women is bashed. Or when our right to have that opinion is downplayed or we are disrespected or looked down on for having that opinion.

At the risk of being crucified, I get what Kirsten Dunst was saying in the Harper's interview and I agree... simply add the words "For me." Again, this is AN OPINION: I need a man to be a man and a woman to be a women for MY relationships to work. I know and respect that that may not be true for everyone, but that is how my life and my heart works.

I am an expressly feminine woman. I like to wear dresses and skirts so much more than pants and jeans. I will have long hair until I die. I like flowery and soft and pink and sparkly things. I love newborn babies and tiny cute animals. Diamonds probably are my best friend. I enjoy chick flicks way more than action movies... and I have every right to want that as much as other women want whatever it is that works for them, that's the point to women being treated equally.

My mom was a stay at home mom by choice, and someday I hope to do lead a similar life. I look forward to being a soccer mom and cooking and creating a beautiful home and taking care of the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of my future family.

I know not everyone feels that way, but FOR ME it's what I WANT and no one has any right to say that what I do with my future isn't valuable or right. It's my life, why should you care what I do? Is it hurting you or taking away your rights if I choose to stay at home? Is it hurting my future children if I make the choice to be a more daily part of their rearing? We are so profoundly blessed as women in this time and culture to have so many options and we should celebrate that, not jump on women who prefer the "old fashioned" stay at home track. That has tremendous value, too!

In the mid 70s when John Lennon chose to be a stay-at-home dad in the midst of such an amazing musical career, he was praised and lauded for walking away from it all and putting the welfare of his child before anything else. So why would we attack women, who we CLEARLY understand can be incredibly successful in their careers and have the same workplace capacities and abilities as men, who choose to give that up and be an integral part of the most tender responsibility of raising their children?

I think when we start attacking one another and wanting some of us to give up our desires because you fear it may "hurt your cause," it hurts all of us. We must find a way to value women for who and what they are, not simply what contributions they make based on some arbitrary scale that changes over time.

Kirsten Dunst may not have expressed herself in a way that some of you liked, but don't take it so personally, she's not leading a charge to send women back to the kitchen. In my opinion, she was really just stating what works for her (and me!) and I can respect that.

Gender equality should not mean I have to pretend to be just like a man. I'm not, I don't want to be, and I won't be. You can't make me!

Ramblings

Weird Things I've Googled Lately (Take 2)

2:20 PM

EINTKILF

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Matchbox 20

1:19 PM

Fall

More Thoughts About Lunchables

1:50 PM

Part 1 found here.

I never intended that post to make such a splash, but I’ve had lots of friends talk to me about it since April, and it’s a theme that keeps coming back up in my life.

These ideas also started to blossom thanks to this post.

So here are a few more of my thoughts.

I’m also purposefully making this as cryptic as possible -- a) so you can apply it to your own life without my story clogging your brain, and b) to protect my story’s safety.

Sometimes, you are handed a free Lunchable. Everyone expects you to be thrilled about it, because duh! Lunchables are the greatest! And yes, it’s incredibly exciting on the surface, but maybe --

You’ve never had a Lunchable. You think it will be delicious, but fear of weird rubbery cheese, sauce that tastes like candy and cardboard-ish pizza crust is holding you back.
You aren’t totally sure you wanted a Lunchable in the first place.
It’s breakfast time, so you were expecting a Toaster Strudel. Lunchable for breakfast sounds like a weird thing.
You’re just not a Lunchable person. (And that’s okay, too.)
You’re only excited because it’s free, not because it’s a Lunchable, and that in itself isn’t a good enough reason to take it.
It’s poison. And you will die if you eat this.
You think there might be a Papa Murphy’s Gourmet Chicken Garlic pizza next week if you pass up this Lunchable now.

The last point makes me crazy. Don’t pass up a Lunchable if you love Lunchables. Because it also could be a pickle and mustard sandwich (kill me now) instead of that pizza, and then you’ll be super upset you tossed out that Lunchable.

Because FOMO is the WORST. And being happy is the best.

“Maybe we should just realize that these past few weeks have been perfect. And maybe it won't get any better than this. Maybe we're trying to figure this thing out… Maybe this is far more exciting than it might actually be.”

23 points to whoever correctly guesses that movie.

Some happy experiences in life aren’t meant to last forever (honestly, they probably wouldn’t be as happy if they did), but that doesn’t mean you should pass them up now just because they will end eventually.

Opportunities to be great, or to have a great life, are the best, too. So why would you keep tackling yourself to the ground if you have a fantastic opportunity right in front of you? There are enough linebackers in life that will totally knock you unconscious – why are you helping them to hurt you?

That being said, if your life is made of clay (and most lives are to some degree) and if you want to be a different person, you can do that, too. If you’ve been handed a Lunchable, and want to be a Lunchable connoisseur, go for it! On the other hand, don’t eat a Lunchable just because everyone else is, or because that’s what people expect of you. Do things that will make you happy.

Cookie cutters are for cookies – not for people. Don’t try to fit someone else’s mold.

“Very square peg, very round hole.”

Another 23 points if you can name that movie – hint, it’s the same as before.

So let's talk about this more, and let's do more things that make us happy.