FGCS Social Media

Social Media Roundup – 10th May

Hazel — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:10:52 +0000

Hope everyone has had a good post Spring Bank Holiday week. The work on our new website is continuing and happy to say that this week we’re almost ready to sign off the new look design which means it must be time to be busy with words and copy.

Here is our pick of this week’s social media articles:

13 Ways To Boost Your Facebook Edgerank Status – simplyzesty.com

Great article by Simply Zesty. Edgerank is a mystery so its worth reading to find some extra ideas on how you can increase News Feed visibility for your posts .

Refreshed LinkedIn Today Offers A New Way To Discover Content with Channels – blog.linkedin.com

This week LinkedIn celebrated its tenth anniversary and continues to grow membership. LinkedIn now has hundreds of millions of professionals around the world using the network to connect with each other, access information and manage their professional profiles . This week LinkedIn Today has introduced channels as a way of making it easier to find the information you need, sort it and customise your own LinkedIn Today page.

6 Examples Of B2B Companies That shine On Twitter - econsultancy.com

If you are a B2B business and have always thought Twitter is difficult to get right then take a look at the examples here. They are all well known companies who have managed to have interesting Twitter feeds combined with doing a good job of responding and answering questions.

Happy reading

Cartoon is courtesy of Tom Fishburne

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Social Media Roundup – 26th April

Hazel — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:08:45 +0000

Choosing which social media articles to include here is always tricky as there are so many great articles written every week. So we decided to pick the three articles we found to be the most useful or wanted to bookmark for reading later.

Here are our top three social media articles this week:

Facebook Marketing Tools that Lead to Results – jonloomer.com

This guest post by Ian Cleary is full of actionable suggestions to help you improve your Facebook page not just on how to promote your page better but also ideas on tracking and measuring what you do

Save Your Business Blog From Google’s RSS Hammer – unbounce.com

Google is retiring Google Reader on 1st July, so if you’ve not considered your strategy for your business blog then have a look at this article. Plenty of information on alternative RSS and ideas to grow and retain your audience.

Improvements to the New Look – blog.pinterest.com

Pinterest have been listening to their users and are bringing brought back some of the features people told them they missed. Also news on some of the future updates they are thinking about. Well done Pinterest!

Have a good weekend.

Image : freedigitalphotos.net/stuartmiles

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Social Media Roundup – 19th April

Hazel — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:05:18 +0000

It looks like Spring is finally here – hopefully everyone has seen some sunshine this week. We’ve started planning and working on our new look website. There is a lot to do but we’ll be working with some amazing people and look forward to sharing the learning. We still found time for some reading and this is our pick of social media articles this week:

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid with Your Social Media Marketing – jeffbullas.com

Some great advice about what to avoid and how social media is not a quick fix but if you have the right focus and strategy it can be a powerful additional to your marketing toolkit.

Simplifying Content Marketing Confusion – econsultancy.com

Content marketing is something we hear mentioned a lot but often without explaining what you can do to help you create engaging content. The article has useful suggestions to help you create your own content strategy.

How to Contact Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Other Social Networks – kikolani.com

This is definitely an article that I’ve bookmarked and will refer to again and again. Kristi Hines has gone to a lot of effort to pull together all the contact information for the main social media networks- so you never have to go through all the self help prompts again.

Happy reading

Fabulous bluebell image is courtesy of Rob Wiltshire/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Social Media Roundup – 12th April

Hazel — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:37:59 +0000

Here’s our pick of social media articles for this week :

10 Charities And How They Use Pinterest – econsultancy.com

A useful review with helpful tips and mistakes to avoid when using Pinterest that apply whether you are a charity or not. Its good to see charities using social media to raise awareness and tell their stories through images, although sometimes it needs a bit of imagination to promote the work they do without breaking a policy.

Why Your Keyword Strategy Is Incomplete Without User Intent - blog.hubspot.com

There is no getting away from the fact that keyword research is important in making sure your business is found on-line. Worth bearing in mind that knowing what your customers are searching for can help you plan your social media content

How To Use Twitter For Business And Marketing -socialmediaexaminer.com

This is a great article for someone starting to use Twitter and also for anyone who has maybe lost their way a little with social media and is looking to inject a bit more energy into using Twitter for business. Very comprehensive and full of useful tips and screenshots!

Have a good weekend

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Social Media Roundup – 5th April

Hazel — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:29:29 +0000

It may have been a short week, due to Bank Holiday Easter Monday, but it has been a busy and exciting week for us working on some business developments which we’re looking forward to sharing soon.

Here is our pick of this week’s social media articles:

10 Things B2B Can Talk About On Facebook & Twitter Besides Themselves - socialstrand.com

Well worth a read if you are a business using social media and finding it hard to find something new and different to say. All too often the easy option is to talk about a promotion or a competition you are running. Here are some great ideas and suggestions of things you can talk about and build into your social media content calendar.

29 Useful Twitter Tips for Beginners - econsultancy.com

A useful list whether you are someone new to Twitter or have been using it for a while and want to grow your followers and engagement.

5 Content Marketing Tips From Social Media Experts – digitalsherpa.com

Helpful content marketing tips and ideas to consider when you are using social media for business. Especially like the tip about making your website social

Wishing everyone has a good weekend and happy reading.

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Social Media Roundup – 29th March

Hazel — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:38:16 +0000

British Summer Time starts this weekend which means longer days and hopefully the opportunity to get out and enjoy some early Spring weather over the Easter weekend. It would be lovely to think we may even see some sunshine after all the snow and freezing temperatures. Although on the plus side the unseasonally cold weather did give us a chance to catch up on our reading and this week’s selection of social media articles:

Your Facebook Posts May Be Harmful to Your Child’s Future - socialmediatoday.com

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to go to a talk by Anthony Mayfield on being aware of our personal presence on the web and creating our Web Shadow. Thought provoking article on how parents are creating an online presence for their children whether they want it or not.

The Essential Cheat Sheet for Social Media Photo Dimensions - blog.hubspot.com

Social media loves great photos and images , however when they appear warped or cropped then it is not the image we want for our brand. So here is a handy ‘cheat sheet’ from HubSpot on photo dimensions for the main social media platforms.

A Profile of Grafetee – econsultancy.com

Have to admit I hadn’t heard of Grafetee before reading this article but if your business is involved in getting location based information then this mobile app could be something to keep an eye on.

Hope you have a lovely Easter and happy reading.

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Twitter Helps Snowbound Islanders

Hazel — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:25:17 +0000

The recent snow and icy temperatures have meant that areas of the UK have been without electricity and phone lines – especially in the news at the moment is the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. The arctic weather conditions have left islanders without electricity and in some cases without water,creating an anxious time for anyone waiting for news.

Probably like most people I’ve been watching the news and feeling grateful to be warm and indoors. If you are someone with friends and family caught in the blizzards it must have been a worrying time. So it’s been good to see social media, especially Twitter, making it easy to quickly share information and reassure family.

As well as helping keep other people’s friends and family updated on any news via Twitter

The dedication of the Mountain Rescue teams over the weekend has been amazing as they time and time again help and assist those in trouble. Anyone venturing onto the mountains or moorlands should always read their advice before setting off.

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Social Media Roundup – 22nd March

Hazel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:15:32 +0000

Hope everyone has had a good week - its been a busy week here talking to companies about some exciting projects. Here’s our take from the social media articles we’ve read this week:

The Ultimate List of Google + Tips – bloggingwithamy.com

Still thinking about Google+? Well Amy Andrews has written a great article including why you should be spending time on Google+ and there are plenty of helpful tips as well.

29 Tools to Enhance Your Business Blog – socialmediaexaminer.com

Another fantastic Social Media Examiner article with information on widgets and plugins to use on your blog. There are a couple of these that we’ll be looking at – if you’ve already used any on your business blog , then let us know how you got on.

How to Increase Twitter Engagement with Nestivity – kikolani.com

Nestivity is a new social media tool which is aiming to make it easier for people to engage in Twitter conversations and seems to have some real benefits for bloggers. Nestivity is still in beta at the moment but if you’d like to register for an account – click the link http://www.nestivity.com/register

Happy reading.

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Social Media Roundup – 15th March

Hazel — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:44:33 +0000

It seems that this week everyone is still talking about the new look Facebook News Feed – however there is still plenty of other news and articles to bring you, and here is our social media roundup selection:

Google Reader Alternatives - kikolani.com

If like us you use Google Reader to manage the blogs you follow then the news that Google are shutting down Google Reader on 1^st July will be disappointing. Kristi Hines ‘s article looks at some of the alternatives and what to do if RSS subscribers are important to your website.

Five lessons learned from social media mistakes - miamiherald.com

There are an increasing number of big companies making the news for their social media blunders. This timely article is a useful reminder of some good social media practice

Introducing Pinterest Web Analytics – blog.pinterest.com

This week Pinterest introduced Pinterest Web Analytics to help you understand which pieces of your content people find most interesting. To see the analytical data you will need to have a verified website but Pinterest has a step by step guide to show you how. The announcement is great news in helping businesses understand what’s working and to create better pins.

Happy reading

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Social Media Roundup – 8th March

Hazel — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:12:01 +0000

If you’re a fan of Facebook then you’ll have heard about the new look Facebook News Feed which will start rolling out soon. We’ve made sure to include a great article from Social Media Today on all the new Facebook changes, and what they will mean for businesses in this weeks Social Media Roundup.

So here’s our selection for this week’s Social Media Roundup:

Your social media reputation can attract employees- businesstime.com

A different twist on a business’s social media reputation and how it can help attract and keep the best employees

How Starbucks uses Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ -econsultancy.com

Interesting to see how Starbucks uses social media to create engagement and brand awareness and surprisingly it seems to be the mix of type of posts that is important.

How Facebook’s News Feed Changes Affect Businesses and Marketers - socialmediatoday.com

Very helpful article from Cara Tarbaj for Social Media Today which outlines all the changes coming soon to Facebook News Feed – the main differences focus on the way stories and images will appear and the greater control people will have over the look of their News Feed.

If you want to join the waiting list for the new Facebook News Feed then sign up here https://www.facebook.com/about/newsfeed

Happy reading

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