Cariad Digital

27/01/2022

It's been a while since I've said 'Hello!' 🙌🏼

I'm Siriol, the face behind Cariad Digital! 💗

I specialise in Paid Advertising for Facebook & Instagram, Promoted Pins (Pinterest version of ads), Google Ads, Tik Tok Ads as well as Klaviyo Email Marketing services. I also provide social media services as well as training too.

A little about me...I'm a wife to Chris (we finally had our special day in June last year, after Covid put several stops to it!) and a mum to 3 beautiful children aged 6, 4 and 2.

It has been a crazy, but amazing 12 months here at Cariad Digital. I have been very privileged to have worked and in most cases still working with lots of great brands and agencies including :

Glamorgan Brewing Co.
Mwnci
Style Up Social Academy
Focus Carmarthen Hub
Dysgu Cymraeg / Learn Welsh
Melanie Jenkins Home Massage Therapist
Dr Nerina Ramlakhan
Silver Cuddles Fingerprint Jewellery & Personalised Gifts
The Social Giraffe
Insignia Technology Systems ....to name but a few!

If you'd like to know more about the services I offer, or how I can help you and your business...pop me a message! It is fair to say the last 2 years have been very challenging, and many businesses have had to pivot and often having to turn their business online...and the good news is, there's plenty of support out there 🌟

Looking forward to hearing from you! Siriol 😊

25/01/2022

Happy St Dwynwen's Day everyone! 💗

Today we celebrate our Welsh patron saint of lovers, St Dwynwen - our own version of St Valentine's Day - or as my husband says, the cheaper one to celebrate, when flowers are half the price, compared to the 14th February! 🤦‍♀️🤣 I'm not complaining!!

My Welsh friends - do you celebrate St Dwynwen's Day or Valentine's Day? ❤️

PS A happy Burns Night to all my Scottish friends too! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

13/09/2021

Well what an amazing event Social Day turned out to be last week!

It was a jam packed three days full of amazing talks on all things social, mixed with a lot of networking, meeting up with virtual friends IRL (😱!!) and some after party drinks too (it would've been rude not to!). Lucy Hall Flutterbee Me Events - you and your team did a fantastic job!

With experts from TikTok , Snapchat Twitter , Office , ITV , One Minute Briefs , Influencer to mention just a few, giving insightful and inspirational talks .....it's safe to say that these sessions have filled my notebook to the brim and created an exciting buzz in my brain!!

Lots of exciting future plans for Cariad Digital

And great to finally meet Eve from Zippy Social , Kerry from Gwe Cambrian Web Cyf , Felicity from Amazing Futures Ltd. and Lucy Hall IRL at last!!

Pictured here with my The Two Lauras accountability partner - Eve from Zippy Social

13/08/2021

Do you want to get ahead of the Christmas rush?? 🎄

Wait...did i really mention the 'C' word? 😱

Believe it or not, people on Pinterest are gearing up for a better and bigger Christmas this year....which isn't surprising after the last 18 months!! And there's no better place to start planning than Pinterest. In fact, people have already started planning this year!

What does this mean to you and your business? Well, the earlier they plan, the more they will spend! What are you waiting for?!

Pinterest is fantastic for so many reasons, including :

📌 people are more likely to covert into sales or leads than any other platform
📌 it helps drive more traffic to your website than any other platform
📌 pins have links, which mean people are directed to the relevant landing page, meaning they're searches are reliable
📌 pins hang around for longer than content posted on any other platform. The average lifespan is 4 months compared to Facebook which is has an average lifespan of 6 hours!

If you'd like to snap up the last Pinterest Management spot starting in September, then pop me a message and we can arrange a quick chat.

11/08/2021

PINTEREST recently released an exciting new feature where it will now allow product tagging and the ability to link affiliate partnerships within idea pins! Yay!

This is geat news for businesses as it now makes Idea Pins shoppable, allows commissions to be earnt through affiliate links and allows brands to partner on sponsored content.

Pinterest just gets better and better!

If you'd like to find out more about how Pinterest can help your business, just pop me a message!

02/08/2021

We all need help from time to time on ideas of what to post on social media. It can be a constant struggle finding fresh content to post regularly, especially when a lot of us are not only juggling a business this month, but school holidays too! Here are a few ideas for your August social media content plan...

1st - National Girlfriend Day 💗
3rd - World White Wine Day 🥂
4th - National Sisters Day 👩‍👧‍👧
5th - National Cycle to Work Day 🚴‍♀️
6th - World Beer Day 🍻
9th - World Book Lovers Day 📚
13th - World Left Handers Day 🖊
16th - National Tell a Joke Day 🤣
19th - World Photography Day 📸
22nd - National Burger Day 🍔
26th - National Dog Day 🐶
30th - Summer Bank Holiday 🏖

Happy posting!

12/04/2021

Pinterest has experienced a huge growth over the last few years, especially over the last 12 months and it now has nearly 460 million monthly active users. It has more users than Twitter and Snapchat combined!

The gender gap is narrowing on the platform with 60% of users being women (not that long ago it was at 80%).

Pinterest is now also attracting the younger audience, and the Gen Z users have grown by 40%.

Why am I telling you these stats? The chances are, your ideal customer will be on Pinterest. It really is a powerful marketing tool. And with 95% of searches being unbranded, it is the perfect place for smaller businesses to be found!

If you need support with either setting up your Pinterest account, or just need help to get going, pop me a message and we can arrange a quick chat!

08/03/2021

Honoured to be featured in Focus Carmarthen Hub International Womens Day post today with all these incredible women 🙌

Thank you for your support as always 😊

"When women support each other, incredible things happen"

It's  today and although we can't showcase all of the amazing women we work with, here's just a small snapshot of our Hub users, team members and incredible speakers!

Thank you so much for your constant support; we couldn't do it without you. ❤

08/02/2021

Learn a new skill during lockdown they said, it'll be fun they said.....

And how true has this been for me 🙋‍♀️

These last 12 months have been an exciting, yet very busy times!

Last February I took the leap and expanded on my social media knowledge by adding Facebook and Instagram Ads to my growing list of services.

In September I completed a course that added organic Pinterest and Promoted Pins to my list.

This week welcomes the start of a brand new course. This week I embark on a journey to get to know all about Google Search Ads, and I'm very much looking forward to being able to learn all about them and how they can benefit my clients.

If you are interested in running Google Search Ads for your business, get in touch and we can arrange a chat! I will be opening up my books for these very soon....

04/02/2021

It was an honour to be asked to speak at this fantastic event last night. With over 60 attendees present from all over Wales, it was great opportunity to discuss Social Media for businesses.

Diolch Focus Carmarthen Hub, Focus Newtown Hub, Yr Hwb Menter - The Enterprise Hub at M-SParc!

03/02/2021

'Tomorrow will be a good day.'

RIP Captain Sir Tom Moore ❤

Such an inspirational man and a great hero.

01/02/2021

And where exactly did January go??!

I can't believe after what should be the longest month of year, that we are now saying hello to the shortest month of year!

After saying goodbye to dry January, i think we are all ready for this fresh new month! And to help you along the way, here are some content ideas for you to plan the month ahead :

4th - World Cancer Day 💪
5th - World Nutella Day 🍫
7th - Send a card to a friend day 💌
9th - Pizza Day 🍕
12th - Chinese New Year 🉐
14th - Valentines Day ❤️
16th - Shrove Tuesday 🥞
17th - Ash Wednesday ⛪
18th - Drink Wine Day 🍷
22nd - World Thinking Day 💭
25th - World Toast Day 🍞

It's also :
🥘 Vegan Cuisine Month
🍒 Cherry Month
🦅 Bird-feeding Month

Happy posting!

29/01/2021

Why should you use Pinterest for your business?

Well, since lockdown hit last year, the platform has experienced a HUGE growth and has seen its users increase by 37%!! Proving it's now one of the most important social networks for marketers.

If that stat alone doesn't encourage you to give it a try, here are some other great reasons to get you thinking....

🌟 Visitors from Pinterest are more likely to convert into leads or sales faster than from other social media sources

🌟 Pinterest helps drive traffic to your website more than any other social media platform

🌟Every pin includes a link, so it makes it very easy for the user to go to the source of the image, which means they can be driven directly to the relevant landing page

🌟 Your content is more likely to be shared amongst small groups of people on Pinterest, which means your pins are more likely to be seen, clicked on and could even go viral!

🌟 Your Pinterest account can be integrated with your website, Facebook and your Twitter account, which can make it easier if you wanted to cross-post.

🌟 A pin hangs around a lot longer than content on any other platform. In fact, on average, the lifespan of a pin is 4 months!

If you'd like to know more on how Pinterest can help your business, pop me a message!

28/01/2021

Have you tried Pinterest's newest feature yet?

Pinterest have recently launched an AR 'try on' feature which allows you to try different shades of lipstick from a variety of beauty brands. And it surprisingly works really well! They have also brought a 'try on' feature for eye shadow too, but I'm still waiting for this on my account!

Want to have fun? Here's how to find it :
⚡ Open your pinterest app
⚡ Click on 🔍
⚡ Select 📷 top right
⚡ Select 'Try on' 👄
⚡ Swipe through the colours! 👉

Which is your favourite colour?

27/01/2021

iOS 14 update....the dreaded three words at the moment for anyone in the paid ads industry!

What is happening? Well in a nutshell, these changes brought in by apple will have an impact on how we market, track and understand data on our customers. Apple has added a feature in our phone privacy settings which allows you to decided whether you want apps to track your activity.

It's still early days and there will be a lot to learn from this, but I'm in no doubt that Mr Zucherberg won't take this lying down!

If you are currently using Facebook or Instagram ads, there are some things that you can do to prepare for these changes :

✅ Implement CAPI - this will help you track data on your site (other than through the pixel)
✅ Verify your domain - This will help make sure that you are set up and official
✅ Turn on two factor authentication - this adds another security layer to your account and reduces the chances of it getting hacked.
✅ Decide which eight events you will track for conversions - Reporting may well be very different!

If you need any support with your paid ads, just pop me a message and we can chat!

26/01/2021

It's been a while since I said 'Hello'! 🙌

I'm Siriol, the face behind Cariad Digital!

I specialise in Paid Advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. And soon to be Google Ads too! I also provide a variety of social media services as well as training too.
..and that's by day! And for the rest of the time I am a partner to Chris (and soon to be husband as soon as this pandemic allows us 🙈!!), a mum to 3 beautiful children and I am also a Tropic Skincare Ambassador in my spare time (what I have left of it!!). You can find me over on Tropic with Siriol VIP Customers if you'd like to know more about this side of my business!

If you'd like to know more about paid advertising across Social Media or if you're thinking about running some...pop me a message! It's fair to say after the last 12 months, so many people have had to pivot and in many cases had to turn their businesses online...and the good news is, there's plenty of support out there 🌟

Looking forward to learning more about you and your businesses!

25/01/2021

Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen hapus pawb! 💗

Happy Santes Dwynwen day! 💖

Today is considered to be the Welsh equivalent to Valentines Day. Dwynwen is the patron saint of lovers and the day is celebrated every year on the 25th January...sharing with our Scottish friends Burns Night!

My Welsh friends....do you celebrate Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen? Or do you celebrate Valentines Day instead? Or maybe both?! 😜

01/10/2020

Pinch punch, it's the first of the month!!

How is it October already? 🎃

It definitely feels like Autumn has arrived 🍃

In true beginning of the month style, here are some content ideas for you to plan ahead for the month :

1st - International Coffee Day ☕
2nd - World Smile Day 😃
3rd - Boyfriend Day 👫 👬
7th - Canadian Beer Day 🍺
9th - Beer and Pizza Day🍕🍺
10th - World Mental Health Day 💚
13th - Own Business Day 💻
14th - Dessert Day 🍰
16th - World Food Day 🍱
19th - International Gin and Tonic Day 🍸
21st - Apple Day 🍏
26th - Pumpkin Day 🎃
25th - Hour goes back ⏰
29th - Internet Day 🌍
31st - Halloween 👺

Happy Posting!

07/09/2020

Here is September....and my doesn't it feel like it!🍂

Now that the school's are back open, is this month set to be a busy one for you?

Here at Cariad Digital, it is set to be the busiest month to date. I have new clients coming on board, some exciting ad campaigns to launch, a new course to start (more news to come about this exciting service I will be providing soon!) and the children are back at school/nursery!!

As usual, at the beginning of every month, I share some content ideas with you to help you plan ahead. Hope you find them useful!

7th - Beer Lover's Day 🍻
13th - Grandparents Day 🧓👴
14th - Boss/Employee Exchange Day 🏢
16th - Working Parents Day 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
18th - Tradesman Day 🔨
18th - Read An Ebook Day 📚
21st - World Gratitude Day🙏
22nd - Business Womens Day 👩‍💻
22nd - World Car Free Day 🚗
23rd - Education Technology Day 💻
25th - Fitness Day 🏋️‍♀️
28th - Drink Beer Day 🍺
30th - International Translation Day 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

👭 Friendship Month
📚 Read a New Book Month

01/09/2020

It's been such a pleasure of working with Paul Alfie's Coffee Company on his Facebook and Instagram Ads.

I ran a variety of campaigns for the business, including a nationwide campaign focusing on the online shop and a location based campaign focusing on services available in a specific area.

We got some amazing results and I'm so pleased that Paul has been able to grow his business substantially from these campaigns, especially in such difficult times.

If you are ever in need of some good coffee and the most amazing brownies 😍 check out Alfie's Coffee Company FB page or grab one from Alfie’s Coffee Bus!

Thank you for your kind words Paul and looking forward to working with you again in the future.

From start to finish Siriol at Cariad Digital has been attentive and pro active. Emails and calls were always actioned and nothing was too much trouble. She is extremely professional and knowledgeable and was able to encapsulate my brand throughout the ads that ran through Facebook brilliantly. Her copyrighting skills are fantastic and she was able to create memorable, engaging and exciting copy that I was very impressed with. My business has grown substantially over the last month and this is due to Siriol’s excellent work and tenacity. Siriol will definitely be my first choice when I need any digital marketing in the future and I cannot recommend her enough!

26/08/2020

DID YOU KNOW....

That the highest amount of traffic on social media happens at around midday on Wednesday and Thursday.

It hugely matters at what day and time you post on your platform, as it can have a huge imact on the engagement of each post.

According to Sprout Social, the best time to post on your social media channels are between 11am and 2pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays in order to reach the most people.

HOWEVER, this does depend on your industry and your audience.

Do you use Facebook Insights or any other reporting to identify when your audience are online?

25/08/2020

DILEMMA 😱

You can only have one app on your phone.....What would it be??

Let me know in the comments 👇

24/08/2020

DID YOU KNOW....

That the 65 years and older are the fastest growing age group on facebook!!

Who would have thought?!

So when you're building out your audiences for your Facebook and Instagram Ads, it is so important to put plenty of consideration into the age bracket that your targeting.

Not sure if the 65 years old plus falls within your ideal client avatar? Then test it out!

On my two most recent clients, this age bracket was the best performing by far!!

As always, TEST, TEST, TEST with Facebook Ads! You never know....there may be a couple of stats that take you by surprise!

19/08/2020

In the Social Media world it is very important to keep on top of all of the new updates, new tools and new apps that we are faced (practically!) on a daily basis!!

It is an ever changing industry!

On Instagram alone over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been inundated with new features such as Reels, and fonts and captions in stories.

Canva has introduced a content planner and scheduler....which is a game changer for us Social Media Managers!

It is crazy!!

For me, being part of supportive and knowledgeable groups is a huge help to keep on top of everything. I often join webinars and masterclasses - the geekiness in me just loves to keep learning!

Recently I have added to my CIPD. Being part of Digital Women with Lucy Hall has given me the opportunity to study some Facebook Blueprint qualifications and helped me keep on top of my skills.

Also, big shout out goes to Emma Van Heusen and the Digital Tribe where I am surrounded with a great bunch of experienced and talented Facebook Ad Strategists to help keep on top of Ad related news, the lovely ladies at Digital Mums and the expertise of The Collective helps me keep on top of social media features! And not forgetting Matt Navarra who is at the forefront of all these updates and shares his fountain of knowledge in his Fb group.

How do you keep on top of your industry updates?

18/08/2020

In July 2020, over 98% of Facebook users accessed the social platform via any kind of mobile phone 😱

So what does this mean for you?

When creating posts for your business page or for your ads, you need to keep mobile users at the forefront of your mind.

Things to consider are :

📱 Is your cover image optimised for mobile? Widths will vary from desktop to mobile, so make sure there aren't any missing information on your mobile version
📱 Are your posts easy to read? If it's a long copy, make sure you add paragraph breaks, emojis (if appropriate) and use short sentences.
📱 Make your content work for sound on and sound off. Most users have their phones on silent, so it might be worth considering the use of captions on video content.
📱 Is your website mobile optimised? Your customer's will want their journey to be an efficient and fluid one when visiting.

Is mobile your preferred way to access social media platforms?

14/08/2020

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with the talented Rubies Photography! 📸

I'm not the best when it comes to taking photo's and as soon as I arrived at our beautiful destination, I was made to feel relaxed and at ease....and she even managed to capture some smiles too!

We had lots of fun walking on the beach at Llansteffan and then followed by capturing the views while taking shots at Llansteffan Castle too.

Now to finish my website to be able to put these fabulous photos to good use!

10/08/2020

There are over ONE BILLION active Instagram accounts each month worldwide.

I'll just let that sink in.....

Yes, one billion ACTIVE users!

Now there is a pretty good chance your ideal customer is there over on Instagram!!

Does your business have an IG account? If not, now might be the time to get one set up.

Need help with getting going? Pop me a message and we can have a chat!

07/08/2020

WOOP WOOP IT'S HERE!

Reels has now arrived in Instagram! 🎥

What is it?
It is a brand new way to create fun and engaging video content from Instagram Stories. (and basically rivalling Tik Tok!! 🤪)

How does it work?
🎥 To view Reels, go to the explore tab (search function). They're currently at the top of the feed.
🎥 You can also view other people's Reels by going to their profile and clicking on the 🎬 icon (between the grid and the igtv tab).
🎥 To create your own Reel, go to Instagram stories as if you were going to create one, and you'll see Reels as an option at the bottom
🎥 Reels are a maximum of 15 seconds video clips
🎥 And different to stories, they are a permanent feature 🙌

There are so many ways to get the best from these short 15 second clips (and no, it's not all about getting on the latest dance craze🤣). It's a great way for your customers to learn more about your business and see what you do!

If you'd like to know more.....let me know in the comments ⬇️ or pop me a message 📲

03/08/2020

So here we are in August! 🌞

Is it set to be a busy month for you? 💻 Or are you taking some time out to enjoy the Summer? 🏖️

If you need ideas for content for your social media pages, awareness days are a great place to start! These can generate some fun engagement with your followers!

Here are some ideas for you.....

5th - Blogger Day ✍🏻
7th - International Beer Day 🍻
8th - International Cat Day 🐱
10th - Vlogging Day 🎥
12th - World Elephant Day 🎥
15th - Relaxation Day 🧘
19th - Photography Day 📷
26th - Dog Day 🐶
27th - Burger Day 🍔
28th - Daffodil Day 💐🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

10th - 16th August - Afternoon Tea Day ☕🧁

Good luck with planning your content! Don't forget, if you need any help, just pop me a message!

31/07/2020

It’s been a busy few days keeping on top of my digital skills this week!

I love learning and keeping on top of my knowledge. And in the ever changing social media world, it is so important to keep the knowledge about what is going on, super fresh!

In between my client work, I managed to squeeze in.....

📅 Tuesday - Digital Tools Session with Focus Enterprise Hub, Carmarthen

📅 Wednesday - A Sounding Board session with Laura Davis and Laura Moore as part of The Inner Hub membership within The Social Media Manager Hub

📅 Thursday - Instagram Story session with Lucy Hall and Digital Women

📅 Friday - Preparing for Xmas on Pinterest session with Mrs Social

Phew.......😁

How do you keep up with your industry updates?