Create Trust

Looking for a new home to buy or rent can be incredibly stressful and people are very likely to turn to social sites for recommendations of Realtor.  How many times have you seen your friends on Facebook ask if anyone needs a roommate or if anyone knows a good Realtor.  Studies show that people trust recommendations from peers way more than marketing messaging, so why not place yourself with the people you are hoping to serve? By striving to create trust, you are not only opening yourself up to be recommended, you are also setting yourself up to be the choice of the person who received no social recommendations and has to go on their gut instinct. How can you create trust as a Realtor  Show people who you are! Highlight your staff, your policies, your previous clients or anything else that a potential client might ask. Do your best to answer questions before people ask, THIS creates trust. Of course, you don’t want to bombard people with information about you or your company, however tactfully helping people to get to know you will help them to trust you.

 Provide USEFUL Information

While you definitely do want to make it easy for people to get familiar with you on social sites, that alone won’t cut it. You have to show them you know the ins and outs of your business. Be sure to incorporate industry information that would be useful to someone looking for a new place to buy or rent. This can be mortgage rates, where the highest/lowest rent can be found, highly rated developments and even home decorating ideas. By diversifying your content with useful information, you will not only be trusted but will also be top of mind when it comes time for the potential client to choose a Realtor.

 Use the Right Tools

One major social media mistake I see in the real estate industry is either not using each platform properly or simply setting accounts and waiting. If you are in real estate and you do NOT have a Facebook business page, stop what you are doing and go create one. Business pages allow you to leverage Facebook Advertising options and insights. These are vital to your social success. To truly see the return on your time spent on social sites, you have to be using the tools available to you appropriately.

Get Creative

Realistically, after you have successfully placed a person into a new home there won’t be much communication between you. THIS is where you have to get creative. Provide your social communities with creative content to keep them engaged. Show them unique decorating ideas, ugly homes, expensive homes, life hacks and anything else that you think is interesting. If you can keep them hooked, you are likely to get their recommendation.

 Don’t be Afraid to Sell Every Now and Then

With all of this talk about creating trust, being useful and getting creative, we should also remember that the social accounts are meant to generate interest in real estate listings. Don’t be afraid to highlight your listings periodically. Be sure to point out why the listing might be perfect for someone looking for a new place to buy or rent.  If you are strategic about when you publish content about your listings, you are likely to see a great response from the community. From experience, people will actually message you asking for more information.

Are you in the real estate business? Are any of these tips actionable for you?

The post Social Media Tips for the Real Estate Industry appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) 15% of consumers use social networking site to search for local businesses.

This might seem like a small number, but I think that general perception is that there wasn’t much search (in traditional terms) being done on social media sites. This data point tells us that the opportunity is there and that the trend exists.

2) 71% of social media users say that they are more likely to purchase from a brand they are connected with.

One of the biggest perks of a brand being social is that they get to connect directly with consumers and create brand affinity and advocacy. It makes complete sense that people who connect socially with brands online are more likely to buy from that brand. However, it is important to keep in mind that just because they connect with you, it doesn’t me they will ABSOLUTELY buy from you. Many times we fall into this fallacy that 10,000 Facebook likes automatically equals cash. This is not true.

3) 23% of brand marketers are developing social strategies but are still having a hard time executing them.

No matter how great a strategy looks on paper, executing it is completely different. This stat might actually be a bit low, as many brands start with a strategy in mind, but just end up “doing things” on Facebook and Twitter. To ease difficultly with executing a social strategy, allow yourself ample time to put your plan into place, analyze it and calibrate it as needed. Create a strategy that allows for some flexibility if needed. The world of social media is ever changing, so your game plan should be able to change quickly too!

4) Social media sites and blogs now account for approximately 25% of the total time Americans spend online.

Social media has gone from a past-time, to a habit and is now becoming engrained in our online culture. I expect this number to grow as future innovations in social media come about.

5) 63% of local searchers on social media sites are more likely to patronize a business with info on a social site.

Think about your own habits when researching a new brand. You might Google them, read some reviews or even poke around on their site. One thing I guarantee you will do is see if they have a Facebook page. Consumers trust peer recommendations more than they trust marketing speech from a website. Brands are doing a disservice to their consumers and themselves by not having an active social presence. An active community suggests that a brand is credible. People want to see the engagement and content. If they are like me, they are also looking for negative comments and how they are handled.  Make sure you are findable and approachable on social sites and you will be rewarded by your consumers.

6) 91% of local searchers say they use Facebook to find local businesses online.

Similar to the previous point, people want to investigate businesses online before spending their hard earned money with them. With the development of Graph Search, this will become more and more prevalent. The key here is to put your best brand face forward and always strive to maintain a growing and active community. This sounds cliché, but the same way you would optimize a webpage for search engines, you have to optimize your brand and community for PEOPLE. Ready or not, people are searching for you or a brand like yours on Facebook and other social sites. It’s time to get with the program!

The post 6 Stats That Will Restore Your Faith in Social Media appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) Focus on Quality!

One major thing that has been a turnoff to me when it comes to mobile advertising is how intrusive the banner ads are. To be effective in the world of mobile social media, we have to move our advertising messages from banners to the news feed. Whether this is on Facebook or Twitter, marketing messages have to become less intrusive and more viral in nature. Being welcomed into users’ news feeds will become increasingly important in the future. Considering this is where users spend a majority of their time, marketers should take a look at their content and advertising strategy to ensure that what they are publishing is high quality.

 2) Consider Mobile Constraints & User Experience.

Compared to desktops, mobile devices have very small screens. We have to keep this in mind when creating content. Always consider the constraints that a mobile device presents and the experience of the user. Be sure that your images are the appropriate size and that your text is short and sweet. Nobody wants to spend time trying to zoom in and out to take in your content. The attention span of the social media user is notoriously short, and I would argue that it is even shorter when it comes to social media viewed on mobile devices.

 3) Get Familiar with Paid Mobile Advertising Options

I am definitely not a proponent of letting money do the marketing for us, however getting comfortable with paid mobile advertising options. For Facebook, sponsored stories and promoted posts will become vital to community growth. History has proven that Facebook likes it when you give it money and I expect this trend to continue.

Marketers have to realize that vertical is the new horizontal and mobile is the way of the future. We must all adapt our social strategies and storytelling to mesh with what the mobile social user demands. In the end, a quality social media strategy is your best mobile advertising strategy.

The post 3 Ways to Ensure Your Social Strategy is Mobile Friendly appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) Go to the place page that you wish to claim and click on the settings drop down beside the message button. Select the appropriate option. In this case, we will select “Is this your business”.

2) Once “Is this your business?” is clicked a pop-up will show asking if you are the official representative of the company/page. Check the box.

3) A screen will be shown asking you to confirm your relationship to the business. Fill in all relevant information including the publicly listed phone number.

4) Next, you will be asked to select the phone number in which Facebook will call to verify the information. Select the phone number and click submit.

5) A new box will show displaying the number that Facebook will call. You may also select a preferred language. An automated system will call your phone and give you a 4 digit pin.

Once you have the code, input it where directed in the next box. The method I showed here outlines the phone number verification method. There are 2 other ways to verify including using an email address that includes your business’s name or official documentation that has the business’s name, address and phone number on it. The times I have tried to verify via phone, Facebook actually was busy so it might take a few attempts.

Do you have duplicate pages about your business out there?

The post How to Claim a Facebook Page (That Isn’t Yours) appeared first on THAT Agency.

1. Social Sites Have High Domain Authority

Search engines are always trying to serve up credible and relevant content, so what is more credible and relevant than social hubs where people are having REAL and ORGANIC conversations? Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have some of the highest Domain Authority on the Internet, so you definitely want as much of you content on these sites as possible. Links from these sites will also suggest that your website is active and valuable.

 2. Studies Show That Social Signals Influence Ranking Factors

SearchMetrics did a study last year that found that the number of people that Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all have aspects that are important for SEO.  For Facebook, the amount of people who like your brand and shares of a webpage showed evidence of ranking influence. On Twitter, the amount of Followers that a brand has and tweet mentioning a brand’s name are very important. Google+ is more straight forward as the amount of people that have a brand in circles and +1’s are major signals there.  For a peek at SearchMetric’s study, click here

 3. Tweets with Links get Indexed by Google Faster and More often!

Not too much to elaborate on here. Tweets that include a link help that page get indexed faster and more often. SEOMoz did a study about this some time ago, so this point might actually be a bit dated. However I think it makes sense to suggest that a user tweeting a link shows that the page is credible.

4. Social Media Increases Brand Visibility

If a brand can easily be found, you can easily be linked to. Social media can help increase the amount of inbound links and citations because of possible super-sized brand visibility. Make your brand easy to find and easy to brand-stalk!

5. Increase in Positive Customer Reviews

Being active on social media sites allows for more customer touch points to resolve potential issues. Every successful resolution shows people that a brand really values their business. The more happy customers you create, the more likely a positive review will pop up on a major review site. Customer service and social media is a match made in heaven.

The post 5 Reasons Social Media and SEO are BFFs appeared first on THAT Agency.

First, let’s take a peek at the breakdown of the portion of the study which analyzed where online brands are spending time.

As you can see, a majority of the brands surveyed have presences on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. It seems like many have yet to fully embrace Pinterest, LinkedIn, Blogs, Instagram and Google+. I thought this study was very interesting in that it was also found that there was a huge disconnect between where brands are spending time and the places that influence consumers buying decisions the most. Outside of retail and brand sites, blogs were the highest ranking resources on the internet according to the study. 31% of respondents in this study said that blogs influence their purchasing decisions. Blogs slightly edged out Facebook. Who would have thought that blogs would remain a decently influential tool in today’s online marketing landscape. Sure, they have always had SEO value, but this result just further drives the point home that people are always looking for rich and relevant content. If you deliver it to them, you influence their decisions. It’s simple. For laughs, let’s set the two graphs side by side to see the disconnect between where brands are and where they SHOULD be.In summary, it appears as if brands are relying on  the big 3 of social media more than ever, but consumers are turning to peers and blog articles for guidance when it comes to making purchases. I was particularly surprised that blogs had more influence over buying decisions than Facebook, what about you?

The post Want to Influence Online Consumers? Don’t Forget to Blog! appeared first on THAT Agency.

Can you tell us a little about your background?

My background is in B2B ad sales and business development for major business magazines and traditional media companies.

What made you want to create it Social Media Today?

I had always wanted to start a magazine of my own, but never was able to find the funds and time to get started. When social media came to be, the price of online technologies went down so I saw this as an opportunity to break away and try something new. I wanted to create something that could improve upon what was already out there and be more transparent. In 2007, Social Media Today was launched and just kept going.

Can you tell us a little bit about the development of SocialMediaToday.com from a newly launched website to the knowledge resource that it is today?

We approached content creation from the editorial standpoint and really focused on customer service. We see our bloggers as customers, so we wanted to make sure that we provide them with the best experience possible. Our whole team is tasked with participating in the discussion, so everyone is expected to be interactive, responsive and always remember where it all started. The development of Social Media Today has been due to hard work, attention to detail and a great staff.

What are some areas of opportunity that you see in today’s social media landscape?

I think that there are two big areas of opportunity. First off, there is major opportunity in terms of content creation. The need for good, quality content is huge for both B2B and B2C organizations. Next, we have to find ways to leverage the enormous amount of social data that is available to us. We have to give it all a purpose. I’m not just talking about at a campaign level; it has to go beyond that. How does your community serve a purpose? Does social media extend past the brand and the sale? These are all questions that we need to be able to answer using social data.

Do you have a favorite social media channel? If so, which one and why?

Well, I certainly spend a lot of time on LinkedIn as I am actively involved in the Social Media Today group. I love participating in the conversation there. If I had to choose an overall favorite, I would have to say Twitter. I feel that it is truly open social media and it is the promise that was made years ago. Twitter is simple, has stayed simple and has become integral to communication today. If you think about it, Twitter has enormous social implications all over the world. For the longest time, it was like Twitter was everyone’s mobile strategy and now its so much bigger. I just love Twitter, it is amazing. I also love hashtags and I think we will see some interesting new tools for hashtags from an analysis standpoint.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to social media community management?

First off, if you are a social media community manager, you have a great job. It is definitely a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun. Be sure to always be respectful and human with your community. Let that humanity shine through.  Always stay on top of technology as more and more tools are coming out and they will help you do your job more efficiently. As your community grows, identify key influencers that can help you and reward those who are the most active in your community. People like to be recognized and rewarded!

Where do you think social media marketing is headed?

The easy work has been done in terms of understanding online and social behaviors.  There are a couple big trends to take note of though. First, companies will begin to take a deep look at how to form a good customer service organization.  They will begin to find ways to empower the person who is closest to the customer. Social strategies will begin to allow more trust and authority for community managers as well as customer service personnel. Good examples of this are the Obama campaign and the Oreo social team. The Obama campaign gave clear parameters to their social staff but allowed them the freedom to engage in significant ways in real time. The Oreo social team was able to hit a home run during the Super Bowl because they were allowed to respond to the blackout situation in real time. There was trust and empowerment within their social team.  The next major trend I think is coming for social media is the rise of a new kind of brand that is the authority in media. Studies have proven that recommendations trump messages from traditional brands. Soon, your friends will default to some kind of institution of authority for quality information. There will be a go to source to validate information and this will be the start of media brands becoming popular again.

I hope you enjoyed this discussion with Robin Fray Carey. If I can add my own two cents, I truly think that SocialMediaToday.com is one of the last social media news outlets that is truly social. If you think about it, they have created a fully self-sustainable social ecosystem in magazine form. The community members create content, the content goes through moderation by Social Media Today staff and then the content is served to the community for discussion. I said this to Robin in our conversation and I will say it again, Social Media Today and its staff truly practice what they preach when it comes to social media.

What is on your mind? If you could ask Robin one question, what would it be?

The post Staying True to Social Media with Robin Fray Carey appeared first on THAT Agency.

 Q: For those who might not know, tell us a little bit about the ACM Awards.

A: The Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards showcase the biggest names and upcoming talent in the country music industry, and it’s more of a concert than an Awards show – we often have cross-genre guests like Steven Tyler performing with Carrie Underwood, Rihanna performing with Sugarland, etc.  It’s basically a live party from Las Vegas! Our 48^th Annual ACM Awards show on April 7th is hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan.  Our show is produced by dick clark productions (American Music Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Golden Globes) and airs on CBS.

Q: What are some of the exciting things happening this year at the ACM Awards?

A: I am always excited to see what performances and collaborations the producers put on the show. They take pride in providing the best entertainment possible and showing off the talent in country music and I have to sometimes pinch myself about the entire show itself. My favorite moments in years past have always been those rare performances that you don’t get to see every day – those one-of-a-kind moments. This year promises to be the same so we will have to watch and see!

In addition to the telecast, the Academy does a lot of events around Las Vegas leading up to the show. We call it The Week Vegas Goes Country® and everyone within the industry floods Sin City, it’s kind of like Spring Break for the industry.  We host a music festival, a golf tournament, a fan Expo, free concerts on Fremont Street and much more – we have a lot of fans who plan their vacations around the Awards and all the events we offer, which is so amazing.

 Q: Can you tell us about the social strategy for promoting the ACM Awards this year?

A: The social strategy for the show is multi-leveled and we are supported by our partners at CBS and dick clark productions. I was lucky to be the person chosen for the Academy’s social media staff position created last year, and I came into it focused on building a strong foundation as much for the ACM brand as for the Awards. We wanted to create a consistent voice for the Academy, we had some conversations about what that voice should sound like—what words do we consider offensive?  What topics do we avoid?—but it’s not terribly calculated.  I am a country fan first, and I have a sense of humor so that is the basis for every conversation.  The fans have responded because it’s authentic.  Actually, the initiatives we focused on last year for the 2012 ACM Awards just earned us a finalist spot for PR News’ Social Media Icon Awards in the “Twitter: PR Campaign” category. We intend to build and expand on that foundation.

In terms of strategy, our focus will always be fan-based. How can we provide an added level of experience for both the fans on-site in Vegas and the fans who will be participating from home? For the past two years, we’ve started our campaigns off with a social media bang: We announce our final nominees through a digital press conference via our social media channels. It gives our fans a chance to watch the nominees being announced at the same time media can. This year, Sheryl Crow, The Band Perry, 2 Broke Girls’ star Beth Behrs, Little Big Town, Scotty McCreery, Ryan Seacrest, The Talk’s Julie Chen, Sarah Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, and Sheryl Underwood, plus Entertainment Tonight co-anchors Nancy O’Dell and Rob Marciano all helped us with video posts to announce the nominees.  We could have never engaged that many celebrities in a traditional press conference.

The digital press conference allows us to establish our official hashtag for the show early in the campaign. The goal is to make it short and easy for fans to remember, which is why we chose #ACMs. Not only is that the nickname that fans and industry call our show, but it gives people extra characters for their tweets. With the awareness of our hashtag, we can all connect and chat about the show in a community setting online and build that buzz prior to the show we are looking for!

We also look to leverage key influencers on social media, find new and inventive ways to be a part of the online conversation, make sure the show trends online, get artists and talent excited and eager to participate online, etc. There are strategies to effectively maximize social media comments, posts and conversation. I am a huge fan of GetGlue, so of course we want to encourage users to check-in to the show – and then hopefully spread their conversation to their other social media channels. We integrate fan tweets into the telecast. We create the ACM Social Splash page, which is what I describe as our “one-stop shop” for all the ways fans can participate online or interact with us and the show. Look at me… I could ramble and talk about all of the different social media elements forever – it’s my passion.

 Q: The ACM Awards Twitter account has almost reached 100,000 followers, can you tell us a little about what it takes to build that kind of following on Twitter?

A: I’m proud of how far our Twitter account has come since January 2012. My focus? Talking with the fans, building relationships, having conversations, being on Twitter as much as possible. I know that almost sounds basic, but just like in anything, fundamentals are KEY.   A lot of companies new to social media approach it as a 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday only task, which is a huge mistake.  Fans are online and engaged 24/7, even during holidays. Every time I check my personal Twitter account, I automatically check the ACM account.

One weekend, I asked a question because I was curious, something like “If you could have dinner with only 3 country stars dead or alive, who would it be?” and the response was amazing. I tried to reply to everyone who responded… and then Twitter cut me off because I was tweeting too much and reached the maximum amount of tweets for a time period! Haha!

We make it a point to reply to everyone who tweets us. I may miss a few tweets on show day, during the telecast or when there is a huge influx of mentions, but I try my absolute best to go back and respond. Even if I don’t know the answer – I am honest with them and let them know that. They appreciate us taking the time to respond. I think our followers can attest to this.

We hope we get to the six-digit figure before the show, but ultimately it’s the quality of our followers that makes me proud of our Twitter account. They are all amazing and have a great sense of humor. That allows us to have some fun with them. I feel I know a lot of them and I get to be sassy with them! It’s a good time for everyone.

Q: The ACM Awards Facebook page seems to be getting a lot of engagement. Why do you think your page is so engaged?

I’m excited about the way our Facebook is growing! We are constantly analyzing and reviewing data from our Facebook Page and Facebook Insights trying to figure out what’s best for our brand. Insights at the page level, insights at the post level, negative feedback, percentages of negative feedback compared to the reach of the posts, the types of posts, the ever-changing algorithm of Facebook’s EdgeRank – you name it, I have cross-examined it with every variable imaginable. I do this quite often because as our audience grows and as the way consumer behaviors evolve, so do these Facebook variables and results. It’s something we stay on top of.

It’s interesting that with our fans, the amount of times we post a day does not matter to them.  This obviously varies between any brand and their audience but I think it’s telling that our audience doesn’t get fatigued by more communication than less.  It’s liberating because we don’t have to be afraid that our fans will disown us on Facebook for over-posting! I tailor our content to them which is crucial – we aren’t out there spamming them with messages that sound like a sales pitch.

I love seeing our engagement on Facebook because we don’t beg our fans to ‘Like’ a post, they just do it. We don’t ask for comments, they just WANT to share their opinions with us and the country music community. It’s real engagement. It’s quality. It’s real social media. And that is what I am most proud of.

Q: What are some challenges that you face when trying to build buzz about the awards this year?

A: We want people to watch our show live, so I think our challenges are similar to any other major televised event.  We are competing not only with other offerings on TV, but with life itself – some parts of the country have Spring Break during the week we air, so we’ll automatically miss anyone taking vacation at that time. We are also a genre-specific award show which presents challenges since not everyone identifies themselves as a country music fan.  We’re well positioned because country music is so mainstream right now – five of the top 10 albums of 2012 were by country music artists.

At the end of the day, we focus on what we can control. Come April 7th, when people sit down in their living rooms, we want them planning to watch. Their reminder alarm for the ACM Awards better be buzzing! Ha!  So much is happening on social media all the time. We are inundated with information in 140-character spurts. We just have to make our 140-characters and the buzz about our show THAT much more compelling.

Q: Do you use any tools to track conversation leading up to and during the show?

A: We do have quite a few different tools we use prior to the show including Crowdbooster, Hootsuite, Cision, Topsy, etc. During the show, we will add the likes of Trendrr and Bluefin to the list – particularly for reporting. Though nothing beats being immersed within your social networks and actually monitoring from the trenches. It’s the best way to see what is going on.

Q: Who is your personal favorite country artist to follow and why?

Haha. Oh man…that’s hard! And it definitely depends, it’s almost like asking my favorite movie. If you did that, you have to break it down: best story, drama, romantic comedy, comedy, etc. But let’s see…

Our co-host, Blake Shelton (@BlakeShelton) has always been a social media pioneer – look at his Twitter account. I mean, he gets it. He runs it. He is 100% himself, no filter, a great guy and he is hilarious! He connects with his fans and it’s great to watch that interaction.

Carrie Underwood (@CarrieUnderwood) has really blasted into the social scene too – and she is such a funny, sweet gem of a human being as well. I love seeing her humor come out in tweets and now she’s rockin’ Instagram like nobody’s business.

And let’s not forget the ever-mysterious “Cake Bowen,” aka @NotJakeOwen.  This person or people who run that account, no one knows who they are.  There are no words to describe it. Anyone with a sense a humor who loves country music needs to follow this parody account.

As you can see, the Academy of Country music gets it right when it comes to social! We would like to thank Jenny Driessen and all of the great folks at the Awards for taking the time to give us some insight as to what it takes to successfully make a major country music event more social. As soon as you are done reading this, please thank them for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Tumblr.

We are very excited to tune in on April 7^th to watch it all of the excitement. Don’t miss it!

The post Social Media Goes Country with the 48th Annual ACM Awards appeared first on THAT Agency.

Rhetorical Cone Theory states that one message or conversation has at least three different attainable perspectives. This theory is called “Cone Theory” because If you were to look at a cone from the top, you would see a different shape than you would when you look at it from the bottom or side. One shape can be seen from three different perspectives, thus providing the viewer with at least three different interpretations of the shape. If you apply this logic to social media, this means that whatever you post or tweet can be interpreted in at least three different ways, perhaps more.

Let’s apply Rhetorical Cone Theory to modern social media. If I send a tweet, that message can be interpreted in at least 3 different ways. The first way would be how I see the message or how I intended it to be interpreted. The second perspective is how my intended audience interpreted it. The third perspective is how people who have seen the interaction interpret it. Sometimes these three perspectives sync up into a clear social message. Other times, one of these interpretations cannot be the same as the way it was intended, thus resulting in a HUGE miscommunication.

Ok, enough with the confusing mumbo, jumbo. To summarize Rhetorical Cone Theory as it pertains to social media, we must always be aware that any social media communication can be interpreted in different ways. Understanding this is critical to presenting a consistent brand voice and effectively communicating with social communities.

What do you think of Rhetorical Cone Theory? Do you think it has relevance to social media?

The post Rhetorical Cone Theory & Social Media appeared first on THAT Agency.

You don’t always get what you want, don’t throw a fit!

Social media is unlike any other marketing channel in that marketers actually have very little control. Once something is pushed out into the social universe, the users are in control. When this happens, you never quite know how a campaign might turn out or how a post might be interpreted.  When you don’t get what you want from social media, don’t throw a fit! Take a deep breath and try to analyze why you didn’t get the reaction you hoped for. Why didn’t the content get shared? Why didn’t they like this promotion? How can I give my community a better experience next time? Sometimes not getting what you want can be the best learning experience. Take it all in stride and calibrate your approach accordingly.

 Never stop learning.

Whether you are 2 or 42, it is extremely important to continuously learn. In the world of social media, this is especially important considering how quickly and frequently things can change. Read everything you can get your hands on, attend as many webinars as time allows and discuss strategy even when you don’t want to. I firmly believe that success in social media is founded by the commitment to be willing to learn at all times. The more you know, the more equipped you will be to handle the ebb and flow of the ever changing social environment.

 Celebrate small victories.

My niece gets excited when she puts the square peg in the right hole, you should too. Social media marketing can be as frustrating as it is fun, so there is definitely the need to celebrate small victories. Set small goals each month to keep yourself reaching upward. When you achieve those goals, reward yourself. While it might seem silly to get excited over a small bump in fan growth or a slightly higher click through rate, but these small victories progressively set the performance bar higher. Before you know it, these little wins will add up to a major positive impact to your social efforts.

Embrace your imagination.

Imagination is one of the most awesome things about childhood. My niece can sit with her toys for hours and have full conversations with them and happily play. We forget about our imaginations as we grow older. Embrace yours when it comes to social media. There tends to be a “follow the leader” type trend when it comes to content on social sites. We have all seen the memes, word games and fill in the blank posts. Use your imagination to come up with ways to either put a spin on an old idea or come up with a new one. Our industry grows because of the dreamers, be one of them. Embrace every wacky idea that you have ever had and legitimately give it a chance to develop into a campaign or post. Imagination and creativity are the cornerstones to childhood. I would also argue that embracing them is a cornerstone to social success.

What do you think about these lessons from Ada? Are there any places you learn about social media that might be unconventional?

The post Lessons from Ada – Social Learnings from a 2 Year Old appeared first on THAT Agency.