Get Social

15/12/2023

That's us officially done for the year!

We'll see you all in January 🥰

01/11/2023

It's our birthday!

Both Get Social's and Pascal's 🥳

Two of the best decisions I've ever made - starting my own business, and adopting the Ridiculous Reptile/my Scaly Overlord 🥰

Here's to the next four years 🍾 🥂

19/09/2023

🙈 🤭

07/09/2023

🤣 🤣 True story!

I'm still trying to like TikTok, but in all honesty, a lot of it passes me by.

I can see the appeal of it, and I have definitely lost significant time after falling down a video rabbit hole, but I do prefer Reels. Possibly because they're slightly less trendy, and I don't feel ancient because I have to keep referencing Urban Dictionary to understand what the hell is going on 😨

Do you have any preference between TikTok and Reels? 🤔

06/09/2023

🤔 How much does grammar actually matter on social media?

✋ I'll hold my hand up and admit to being a bit of a grammar snob. To me, typos = personal mortification. 😱

But, realistically, one typo isn't going to undo however many years you've spent building up your personal branding. If you're a copywriter or editor or even a solicitor, then yeah - you need to be hot on grammar. That's your bread and butter.

💭 However, for the rest of us, does it really make that big of a difference? In my opinion, it's more about the content and engagement than the occasional slip-up. People are looking for authenticity and relatability on social media, not perfection.

📲 Of course, I'm not saying we should throw grammar out the window entirely. It's still important to show that you care about your communication skills and can express yourself clearly. But let's not let the fear of a misplaced comma or a misspelt word hold us back from sharing our thoughts and ideas with our followers.

✅ So, I suggest that we strive for good grammar but don't let it become an obsession that hinders our ability to connect with others online. Embrace your unique voice and allow your personality to shine through.

And yes, I will use pretty much any excuse to share a Big Bang Theory meme. I have no shame.

04/09/2023

Ah, when Google Photos makes a compilation of your silly face poses, it would just be rude not to share it, right? 😅

I promise I don't spend all of my time pulling faces for selfies!

In fairness though, showing your face (whatever expression you happen to be sporting) on your social media platforms is *essential*. As social scrollers, we love it when there's a face that we can talk to or associate to our favourite accounts. We're on social media because we're looking to connect with other people, and that's much easier to do with a face than with a blank wall or corporate graphic 😉

There's a teeny bit of wisdom with a large side of silliness for you this morning 😝

Have a great week, everyone!

24/08/2023

Yeah, striking a passive aggressive tone is really not the way to win business from strangers 🙈

Let me translate the below message from corporate speak into how this actually reads:

➡️ "My colleague Phoebe reached out last week - I appreciate you're busy and receive a lot of messages."

🤔 Actual Meaning: A person I made up didn't make it through your spam filter, but honestly - we're different to the other pitch slappers that harass you!

➡️ "As you're letting potential clients pass you by every day, I wanted to see if you've given website identification any thought."

🤔 Actual Meaning: I see you're busy fu***ng up everything and losing out on pennies from fictional customers, but let me bring you yet another thing to think about - how to stalk every single person/bot that's visited your website (that you probably haven't finished building).

➡️ "Is it a better time to give you visibility to the companies visiting your site?"

🤔 Actual Meaning: We won't increase your visibility online. We'll just tell you who you should be pitch slapping, in the manner of I KNOW YOU LOOKED AT MY WEBSITE ONCE. NOW GIVE ME YOUR MONEY. Also, we'll attempt to trigger your sense of FOMO so you're more likely to give us *your* money.

➡️ "If you're even a little bit curious, I'd love to book in some time so we can chat in more detail".

🤔 Actual Meaning: I know you're British and will be uncomfortable ignoring me, so I'm going to lay on the guilt. Also, I have a call quota to reach and I need to give x number of demos per month. Help me out, man!

➡️ "Lead Forensics"

🤔 Actual Meaning: It sounds better and more scientific than lead generation.

Le sigh. Not even a "best wishes" or "kind regards".

Pitch slapping does NOT work. You might get one lead per hundred messages, if you're lucky. Social media is not a sales platform - it's a customer service platform, and your shop window. It's your opportunity to invite people in and answer their questions about your services and processes.

It's your chance to build up the know, like and trust factor that we need to have before we agree to hand over our hard-earned money. Tah-dah!

Here endeth this particular lesson 😅

22/08/2023

For the love of networking and business holiness - put your contact info on your LinkedIn profile!!!

LinkedIn is *not* like a dating app profile - you want people to be able to get in touch without jumping through a tonne of hoops. Now, you may want people to run through a couple of qualifiers before giving out your mobile number. Maybe you only give out your contact details in the form of a physical business card. But we all know what happens to business cards - they end up in a pocket, or the bottom of a handbag, never to be seen again (much like pairs of socks in the washing machine).

Don't rely on people to put your contact details in their phone the second they receive your business card - odds are, when they need to call you, they'll go to your website or your social media profiles. Why? Because the device we use to make these calls can also search the internet and it's so much more convenient than digging through coat pockets, briefcases and/or handbags to find what we're looking for.

So, make it EASY for your contact info to be found.

Put your phone number AND your email address on your LinkedIn profile.

Keep in mind that we're fundamentally lazy creatures, and if we have to launch an expedition to find your contact details, well... we just won't do it. Ain't nobody got time for that ish.

14/08/2023

WIIIILLLLMMAAAA!

Or words to that effect... 😅

I'm back after two weeks' holiday, and do you know what? I bet you didn't even notice I'd gone anywhere (and that's a *good* thing!).

We can get really worried about losing hard-earned attention on social media, but we all derserve to take a break now and again. Any time I know I'm going to be away for a few days, I like to remind myself that there's no such thing as an urgent email, and no one is going to die if I forgot to schedule that tweet (or X, or whatever we're calling them now).

When you set your out of office email, set one up for your social platforms too - that way, your followers know that you're not ignoring them, and you'll get in touch when you're back.

Social media is a powerful tool, but it's 100% okay to put your phone down for a couple of weeks.

Now, to wade through the inbox - wish me luck!

💋

10/07/2023

Threads is here, but DON'T PANIC!!!

Yes, there's a trendy new social media platform in town, but honestly - you don't need to jump on it ASAP.

Before you commit to yet another social media platform, ask yourself:

📸 Is your content text-based, or image/video-led?
🎯 Is your target demographic likely to be on Threads?
🐥 Did you have a large and active following on Twitter?

If your content is predominantly image/video-led, save Threads for another day. It's a text-heavy platform. You *can* share images & videos on there, but it's not Instagram 2.0 (apparently 😅).

If your target audience is active on Instagram, then Threads might be for you. If your market breaks out in hives at the thought of Insta or TikTok, then you could safely give Threads a body swerve, at least for now.

If you have a highly engaged following on Twitter, then Threads will be a great platform for you - you already know that your followers like the style and format of text-based social media. Nowt to lose there (apart from maybe a couple of hours of your life when you fall down a Threads rabbit hole...)

In conclusion, Your Honour:
Threads is five days old.
There are no official prizes for rushing to sign up.
If you've already got your hands full, don't panic - you can stick this on the back burner for now.
I'm sad that I haven't found a suitable place for a pun on unravelling... 🤔

Carry on!

18/05/2023

This is how Pascal tells me I should be at my desk 😅

It's been quite a busy week here with networking, training and coaching, and meeting new people!
Luckily for the Reptilian Overlord, tomorrow's training is virtual, so I'll be in the office where he can keep an eye on me (and steal my warms).

To the kettle!

04/05/2023

Weird things to learn while creating social media content - part 1.

Searching for an image of Darth Vader to do a Star Wars Day post, and find several images of this flower.

It's proper name is Aristolochia Salvadorensis, AKA - the Darth Vader Plant, due to the shape of its flowers.
In keeping with its deathly decor, it also gives off a “rotting body” aroma which also helps to attract pollinators, and is quite toxic.

Dark side indeed 😳

Here endeth today's botany lesson 😆

28/03/2023

Well, that hurts! 🙈

Love it or hate it, Facebook is *still* the most used social network in the UK, according to Statista.
Yes, I know the graph technically places WhatsApp higher than Facebook, but the jury's still out on whether a messaging service "counts" as social media 😅

24/03/2023

📣 It's one of those sporadic Find Pascal Friday posts! 😅

I think there'll be more of these when the weather gets a bit warmer. At the moment, Pascal is spending a lot of his day either in his viv, or doing his best headset impression whilst stealthily absorbing my warms 🙈

Like it when you spot him!

21/03/2023

I'll be honest, I haven't been awaiting a Twitter replacement with bated breath, but this could be interesting 🤔

https://bit.ly/3TtwK56

What do you think of Twitter?
⬇️ Yay or Nay in the comments!

Is this the Twitter replacement we've been waiting for?

20/03/2023

Anyone who knows me knows that I wouldn't normally post this kind of thing here...

🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯

Please, please, PLEASE don't start your posts like this!

When you do, you're essentially telling people to STOP listening to you, because you're about to share something that has squat all to do with what they follow you for.
Also, "anyone who knows me" alienates your followers who *don't* know you outside of cyberspace 🥺

Some alternatives you could use instead:

➡️ "I'd like to/thought I'd try something a little different today..."
➡️ "There's something new that I'd love to share with you..."
➡️ "This may be a little left field..."
➡️ "You'll be excited/intrigued to know..."
➡️ "Bit of an unusual post here..."

You don't need to sound a personal post klaxon every time you want to share something that's different from your normal content. If people are interested, they'll respond. If they're not, then they'll scroll on by. No harm, no foul. 🙌

Happy Monday!

06/03/2023

"Rita Hayworth gave good face..."

There's a reason that selfies have such a good grip on social media culture - we like to see people's faces!

If you're selling a product, we like to see how it's used/how it looks on a human body. It helps us to imagine how we would look using or wearing that product. Aside from the fact that body diversity is important from a societal point of view, it also boosts sales, because you're including more potential buyers in your marketing.

If you're selling services, then building up a sense of trust is essential - and how can you trust someone that you can't see?

Think about the amount that we bemoan "faceless corporations", and how we like to support small or local businesses. It's not just out of the goodness of our hearts: it's because we can *see* the people it benefits, and we can build up a connection with them.

So the occasional selfie is a great way to raise your profile on social media.

Extra points if you can remember which song the starting line of this post is from 😆 😉

01/03/2023

One platform to rule them all...

Facebook remains the Social Media OG.

Of course, where you choose to post is determined by your target market, but Facebook is still the place with the widest demographic from an age perspective. It also depends on the nature of your business - are you B2B, or B2C?

View the entire infographic here: https://bit.ly/41u0ORD

10/02/2023

It's Friday!

Which means it's time to kick off February's Business Dynamics course with The Tess Group 🥳

Love running these courses - it's always interesting to hear other people's thoughts, opinions and motivations for using social media 😍

08/02/2023

Straight from the computer-generated horse's mouth...

There have been many rumblings about AI caption and long-form content generators over the past few weeks. To be perfectly honest, I'm not particularly fussed.

I think they could be great to use as a starting point or idea generator, but as the response below says - AI lacks the emotional intelligence required to write stirring copy 🤷

Add to this the fact that we get used to people's idioms and inflections, and we start to actually read copy in their tone of voice (as with one of my favourite ever David Tennant Doctor Who memes 🙈).

So, even though Grammarly has tried to edit this caption multiple times, I'm going to keep the human element going. And I will use any excuse to post a Doctor Who meme.

06/02/2023

Pascal didn't feel like working today (he's such a slacker 🙈) so the role of scaly supervisor for today is being fulfilled by Loki.

10/10 - would recommend as an overlord. Very boopable snoot.

27/01/2023

Phew, that’s a wrap on this week!

At least one of us stayed awake to run today’s training, Pascal 🙈

Have a great weekend everyone!

11/01/2023

Whatever you feel about Harry, this is an excellent piece of sh*t stirring marketing 🤣

https://bbc.in/3CEpwnA

06/01/2023

When your Creative Director has spent most of the week working from home (ie, staying in his viv because I've been flat-out this week) and gets a bit clingy on his first day back in the office... 🤔 😅

04/01/2023

Welcome back to the office!

How're your to do lists looking? Mine is lengthy AF 😩
I tried to be sensible by taking yesterday as an unofficial admin day (with my out of office still set up) and I still only made it through half of my to do list!

BUT - at the top of that list was shooting a video about setting realistic resolutions and expectations for social media. We can start out with wonderful intentions of posting multiple times a day, but then real life creeps in, we get busy, and suddenly our lofty resolutions slide right to the bottom of the pile.

So, I suggest being a bit more gentle and aiming for steady continuity, rather than social media domination.

What do you reckon?

25/12/2022

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

19/12/2022

That's us officially done for 2022!

Pascal and I will be back in the office on the 4th January. In the meantime, stay frosty and have a wonderful Christmas, New Year, and festive season 💗

See you in 2023!

Chameleon & Moth

x

16/12/2022

It's nearly Christmas, and we're feeling generous, so here's another "easy" Find Pascal Friday for you 😂

Honestly, it's like he's not even trying anymore...

Like it when you spot him!

15/12/2022

This is...
..painfully accurate, really 🤦

BUT - if you're aware of the potential pitfalls in promoting your businesses on social media, you can mitigate any potential fallout.

Do you have a social media crisis plan?

It's a handy thing to keep in your back pocket so you can be responsive to any skewed situations, rather than reactive 😊

07/12/2022

“Gen Z’s relationship with Instagram is much like millennials’ relationship with Facebook: Begrudgingly necessary.”

Ouch 😳

It's clearly time for another series of " is dead", posts and articles.
In fairness, I don't actually focus my marketing efforts on Instagram, predominantly because my target market just isn't there, and with time being a valuable resource etc, it makes more sense for me to spend time and effort where my clients actually are. 🤷

Age demographics for social media platforms shift on a regular basis, but as a general rule of thumb:

Boomers: Facebook
Millennials: Facebook, Instagram
Gen Z: TikTok
Businesses: LinkedIn

⬆️ That's a massive simplification and there is more to it, but that's the general pattern 😅
https://bit.ly/3Be2uDq

The app’s original purpose has been lost in the era of “performance” media.