Almost 30% of Facebook users are between 25 – 24 years of age, and during these years 91% of them have a Facebook account. With two out of three users checking it daily, it’s a great place to gain repeat exposure to your brand; 32% of users engage with brands regularly.

Twitter users

Twitter actually has a younger audience than Facebook. 45% of tweeters are aged between 18 and 29, and, if you’re wondering if it really works for your business, 80% of them will have mentioned a brand in a tweet within the past month.

LinkedIn users

The home of business networking; 79% of the users are over 35 and 45% of account holders are currently operating in higher level management positions. Many people on LinkedIn will actually pay for a premium account, with the network reporting that a third enjoy the paid for benefits of an upgrade.

Instagram users

90% of users on Instagram are under the age of 35. Half of them follow brands that they like, and 68% of them will engage with those brands on a regular basis. Adverts also work; users are 2.5 times more likely to click on an ad than when on any other social network.
If you need some help with social media, get in touch on 01566 232323 or hello@mihidigital.co.uk

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As the third most popular social network, LinkedIn is filled with thousands of potential customers and business connections. It was launched in 2003 and has been picking up speed ever since. There are now over 433 million users across the world (at all levels of business), and that number is only expected to increase.

So, what should you do to make the most of this online networking site?

1. Customise your URL

As standard, LinkedIn assigns your profile page a URL. This is usually a bunch of random numbers and letters – not the most appealing or memorable thing (particularly if you’re wanting to share it).

You do, however, have the option to edit and customise your URL. I’m not talking funny nicknames or ‘DevonGirl1’; use your name.

To do this simply go on your profile and hover over the URL beneath your profile picture. A small cog icon will appear; we’re going to want to click on this icon.

On the next screen, to the right of the page, you will see an area where you can enter a new URL. Once you’ve done this press ‘save’.

First job done!

2. Show off your work

LinkedIn is not the place to be quiet about what you do (so if you’re bashful you’re going to need to come out of your shell a little!). Share your work through images, updates, articles, documents, videos and presentations. There is so much you can do!

Whether your restaurant has received an exciting award, or your electrical company has gained a glowing review let people know. This can easily be done through a status update in exactly the same way you would on Facebook, or you can do something a little fuller by ‘publishing a post’, which each of your connections getting a notification when it’s been added.

3. Have a good profile image

Most of the time LinkedIn users will not take you seriously if you don’t have a profile picture. This is also the same if you’ve chosen a photo of you on a night out, or a selfie in your bathroom (not a good look in any context!).

A professional photo is the best option. Hiring a photographer for half a day to take some great shots of your team will not only provide you all with top LinkedIn images, but also pictures that you can use in the future.

4. Company page

If your business doesn’t have a company page, why not? A LinkedIn page for your business will show your company as professional and relevant. You will also then be able to link your profile to your company page. All your connections will then have your business right in front of them. If that’s not enough benefit, it’s also a useful link for your website and well aid your rankings on Google.

5. Engage!

LinkedIn provides us with so many ways to engage with other users. Notifications of new jobs, promotions, and posts makes it easy for you to stay in touch with your connections through a simple ‘like’ or message. You can also endorse people’s skills, and in return they will usually endorse you too!

Building strong connections, and maintaining them on LinkedIn can really help your Devon or Cornwall business. Networking is vital to South West businesses, and when we’re based in fairly large counties it can be hard to stay in touch with everyone. A great LinkedIn profile won’t just do this though, it will also support the professionalism and reputation of you and your business.

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So why is it that I’m not clamouring to encourage you to let me manage yours?  It’s certainly something we get asked to do by businesses of all sizes; you feel you don’t have the time to do it or that someone else could do it better for you.

These are incredibly common feelings to have.  We all know there’s only so many hours in the day and making money from social media can seem something of a mystery to many when in reality it needn’t be.

Despite the obvious financial temptation to take on your social media accounts and run them myself, the opinion on the return you get means that I’ve always had the steadfast opinion this simply doesn’t work.

Let me explain why you shouldn’t use someone else to manage your social media accounts….

Your own tone of voice

Social media is about you; it’s about giving your business a voice and that tone of voice needs to be your own.  One thing I’ve learnt since being my own boss is that people buy into passion, and certainly people that are passionate about what they do.

You run your own business, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say you probably like what you do.  People need to feel that through your tweets, your Facebook posts and all of the interactions they have with you (in real life and on that computer screen).

If someone else is doing that for a lot of different clients through vast amounts of social media accounts is your tone of voice really going to be any different to theirs?

I doubt that it will.

How do they know what’s happening?

So a logistical issue; something is happening in your business and you want people to know.  What do you need to do? Tell the person that runs your social media accounts that it’s happening and what it’s all about!

Now the most common reason people tell us they want someone else to run their social media presence is time.  You’re replacing the time you spend posting to social media with time spent telling someone else about what they could be posting.

Does that really make logical sense to anyone?

How do you split your time?

Let’s look at the person running your social media accounts.

They’re going to be running many, so how do they split their time?

No matter man or woman, neither of the sexes can multitask to the point they can run two social media client accounts instantaneously. So if they have ten, or even twenty, when does yours get the loving care and attention it needs?

Social media thrives during different times of the day and days of the week.  You should have prominence through those periods and it shouldn’t just be through a whole load of scheduling (that just wouldn’t be very social would it!).

So being one of many for me just doesn’t sound too attractive at the moment!

What is it you’re getting?

What I commonly see with social media account management is a series of packages, perhaps bronze, silver or even gold!

Now before we get too excited about the gold package, what is it you’re actually getting?

A certain amount of tweets?

A set number of new followers or page likes?

Social media shouldn’t be about arbitrary numbers that make up a return on a monthly fee you pay.  One month you may well need a lot more, others you need a lot less; depends on what you’re doing and even more so on what other people are.  It doesn’t depend on justifying your spend to the account manager.

Understanding your business

You get your business; does someone else to the point they can really add value?

Success on social media is understanding who your clients are, who your targets are, the people you are trying to interact with are…. and the list goes on.

If someone doesn’t know this you’ll not be getting the return you could yourself.  So is your money really better spent elsewhere? I’m not so sure, as you might have guessed by now.

Conclusion

I honestly don’t think outsourcing it works! Now many will come to you and rebuff that by saying they’ve got examples where it definitely has.  Fair enough, good luck to them, but what I will say is that for all of the reasons above you could achieve more yourself if you allowed yourself a little time, and the skills to do it.

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The sponsorship is the first of its kind for the business as they seek to support the tourism industry in Devon.

Mark Worden (pictured), Director at MiHi Digital explained; “We’re delighted to be involved in this year’s awards and to help celebrate some of the best tourism businesses in the county.  Many people across the region are involved in the industry and it’s great to reward those who continue to deliver excellence to millions of visitors each and every year.”

Mark continued; “The Tourist Information category has been open to Tourist Information Centres and other businesses providing information to visitors.   They play a vital role in ensuring we promote everything we have to offer as a county and we’re delighted to acknowledge their achievements.”

MiHi Digital are already working with a number of tourism-based businesses, helping them to increase online conversion and boost booking numbers.

For more information on MiHi Digital and their services aimed at helping accommodation providers please visit www.mihidigital.co.uk/our-services/

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Mark Worden, previously responsible for online marketing at two well established Westcountry brands, law firm Stephens Scown LLP and insurance company Cornish Mutual, created MiHi Digital 20 months ago to support the burgeoning online potential of the region’s businesses.

The company, which offers assistance on all aspects of online marketing, has now worked with more than 100 organisations from across England and three other continents, turning over a combined £400m between them.

Mark said; “More and more businesses have embraced marketing their products and services online. Our mantra has been to help and support firms in making the most of the time and budget they spend by adopting a strategic and integrated approach, whilst also cutting out the technical jargon!”

MiHi Digital has provided a particular focus on reporting and delivering results, with one client seeing a 250% increase in turnover having worked with MiHi over the course of the last year.

Mark explained; “If you’re brining in a specialist to support your business it’s vital you fully understand the return you’re gaining; for that reason we’ve been keen to report on every area of online performance for our clients.  Knowing exactly what they’re getting for their money has proven to be incredibly popular with our clients.”

As the business continues to grow, MiHi Digital has now turned to the National Apprenticeship Scheme to give local students an opportunity to begin a career in online marketing.

Mark added  “It’s incredibly exciting to be able to give an opportunity to someone looking to take their first step in digital marketing. We’ve got some great clients; from BAFTA and EMMY nominated individuals to your more traditional professional services; they’ll see and learn how to help a business grow online, no matter what the sector.”

For more information about our services please click here.

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The sponsorship is the first of its kind for the business as they seek to support the tourism industry in Cornwall.

Mark Worden (pictured), Director at MiHi Digital explained; “We’re delighted to be involved in this year’s awards and to help celebrate some of the best tourism businesses in the Duchy.  Many people across the county are involved in the industry and it’s great to reward those who continue to deliver excellence to millions of visitors each and every year.”

Mark continued; “The Tourist Information category has been open to Tourist Information Centres and other businesses providing information to visitors.   They play a vital role in ensuring we promote everything we have to offer as a county and we’re delighted to acknowledge their achievements.”

MiHi Digital are already working with a number of tourism-based businesses, helping them to increase online conversion and boost booking numbers.

For more information on MiHi Digital and their services aimed at helping accommodation providers please visit www.mihidigital.co.uk/our-services/

The post MiHi Digital to sponsor Cornwall Tourism Awards appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Mark Worden, previously responsible for online marketing at two of well established Westcountry brands, law firm Stephens Scown LLP and insurance company Cornish Mutual, created MiHi Digital a year ago to support the burgeoning online potential of the region’s businesses.

The company, which offers assistance on all aspects of online marketing including website design, social media, search engine optimisation and strategy, has already worked with organisations of all sizes from across England and three other continents.

Mark said; “More and more businesses have embraced marketing their products and services online. There are still great opportunities to be taken and our mantra has been to help and support firms in making the most of the time and budget they spend online by adopting a strategic and integrated approach, whilst also cutting out the technical jargon!”

MiHi Digital has provided a particular focus on reporting and delivering results, with one client already seeing a 250% increase in turnover having worked with MiHi for just six months.

Mark explained; “As with all marketing you want to know what it is you’re getting and for that reason I’ve been keen to report on every area of online performance for our clients. It’s vital that any business fully understands the return they’re gaining when bringing in a specialist to support their activity and this is something that has proven to be particularly popular with our clients; we haven’t had one leave yet!”

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The weather is better and the nights are longer.

The majority of people will take holiday and with school also out for summer this is a period during which your customers or clients will be spending more time away from their computers and free from their phones than at any other point of the year.

So what can you do as a business now they’re back?

How do you return to their consciousness?

Social Media – Time to Get Back to Work!

You should be using social media not to endlessly promote yourself but to create contact points with people that may want to use your service or buy your products.

Now, they won’t necessarily have a need to buy at this specific time but they may well do in the future.

What does this mean?

You need a steady flow of contact points between now, when they don’t need you, and then, when they do.

If you can achieve this you’ll be one of a few suppliers in their mind when they come to make their decision to buy what you offer.

So what do you need to do?

Social media rises and falls with the weather.

If it’s sunny people will be out enjoying it.

If it’s raining they’ll be inside tweeting about it.

More and more of your customers are coming back to their Twitter and Facebook accounts after their summer siesta.

Make sure you’re there to greet them, to create contact, to engage and to promote.

If you’ve been neglecting your accounts then now’s the time to get back to your social media best!

PPC Advertising – people are searching and they’re doing it now!

Google searches for the majority of phrases spike in September.

It’s easier for any business to increase market share and enquiries during a period of higher volume than it is during low search; which is exactly what you get during the summer.

If you’re advertising on Google then reducing spend during the summer months can free up budget in September and early October.

Either way you should be looking at the search volume and crunching the numbers to see if the return is there for you and how much more you could potentially gain.

Now is very much the time to reap the rewards of PPC advertising.

Not sure how to do that? We’re here to help.

Starting a web project – Start now: Launch at the best time of the year!

Now is actually a very good time to begin a website project. Not because we build websites and have an incentive here, but because the majority or projects started now will be completed in November and December (if they’re larger sites).

This is a very good time to launch a site, unless you’re trading in online retail, when we suggest that you look at a project in January, so it’s launched before the Easter boom.

Why is December a good time to launch a site?

When you launch a site there is an element of search engine disruption to your current presence.

What do I mean by this?

Put very simply, it take Google a while to understand your new website, and how it corresponds to what used to be there.

December is the lowest traffic volume month for any site that isn’t directly selling products online. It’s therefore sensible to hide these search engine fluctuations within a period that will have the least amount of impact on your online performance.

Want to know more about when you should be timing a website project?

We’re experts in doing that.

Time to rise up the search engines

If you have someone telling you they can get you on Page 1 of Google with immediate effect, we want you to do just a few things.

Take your wallet from your pocket.

Place it safely and securely in the palm of your hand, gripping it as tightly as you can.

Proceed to run for the hills!

SEO takes time, purely because the changes you make do not result in snap ranking decisions by Google.

They don’t see a small change to your site and say that you need to skyrocket for that key phrase. They take a measured stance; they decide over time the impact that that change makes, otherwise we’d have a very erratic ranking system on our hands.

It does take time.

How much time?

For the full force of SEO actions to have come to full impact fruition you’re looking at one to three months.

So lets go back to our summer timing again; three months from now is December.

What follows December?

January – one of the busiest online months across all sectors online.

Time to get going!

[feather_share]

The post Four things your business should be doing online at this time of year appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Your social media activity, like all other activity, should have a purpose.  That purpose should be fully understood and for clarity it should be written down somewhere.

If you’re on social media because you think you should be or because it’s just something that you know you have to spend time on then the time you spend is likely to be unfocussed.  That lack of focus will cost you minutes or hours every day.

Things are done quicker when you know what it is you’re working toward and everything becomes that much more focussed.

Keep a close eye on what you are achieving

So you know what you’re working towards, how do you measure how you are doing against that goal?  We all have goals in life and we set targets in order to ascertain how it is we’re doing against those goals and to check we’re moving in the right direction.

If you’re trying to lose weight you’ll weigh yourself, if you’re building a business you’ll look at financial figures.

Social media is no different; if you’re trying to get new business then how much have you got?  If you are getting plenty of work then how are you doing it? Once you know then do more of it! Alternatively if something isn’t working for you then move on and find things that do work.

Your goals and targets should be making the time you spend more and more focussed and the benefits you derive from it greater and greater.

Consistently take a look at your goals and objectives – are they being met?

Make sure you’re goals are realistic but not too easy for you to achieve.  If you’re smashing your targets each month then that’s great but have you set them too low?

If you’re not meeting them the ultimate temptation is to revise them downwards or to put off reporting.  What you should do is take the positives; establish what it is that isn’t working and improve upon it in order to meet those goals.

Don’t separate your online ‘life’ from your offline ‘life’!

Social media is by definition social.  It can put your business in front of people that otherwise would never have heard of you.  That’s a really powerful thing but don’t forget that people still buy from people.  Get out there and make meetings with people you talk to on social media; it’ll increase your chances of working with them.

Don’t let it become a time drain – allocate your time and keep to it!

Biggest question we get asked about social media?

“I don’t have time for it – how am I supposed to fit it all in?”

We’re all busy people and social media shouldn’t be a time drain for you.  One way you can combat this is by allocating an acceptable level of time commitment during the week.

Stick to it; don’t go over the time and do make sure you spend the tine you’ve allocated.

Just like we said about your goals above, the longer you go on the more you’ll be able to accurately evaluate whether or not your time commitment is sufficient, not enough or too much!

For more information about how we can help you to gain more from your social media activity please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

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MiHi Digital is already working with businesses on all elements of digital marketing across more than ten industry sectors including avionics, commercial real estate, languages, lifestyle, professional services, sports, sales, and tourism.

Mark said; “More and more businesses in the region have embraced marketing their products and services online. There is now an increased awareness of the importance digital marketing has on a businesses’ development and this has been seen in the range of people we are already working with.”

In addition to offering strategic consultancy and support to businesses MiHi Digital has also placed an emphasis on training for small business owners.

Mark explained “Some businesses don’t have the budget to commit to an internal specialist or to employ the services of an agency on a retainer so we’ve made a conscious effort to devote a proportion of our time to training local businesses and empowering them with the skills and knowledge to grow their business online. We see this a very important aspect of our work going forward.”

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