2. Contents:
1. Building a content platform
2. Creating social media content
3. Managing techniques
4. Interacting via social media
5. Benefits and risks of a strong web presence
3. Building a content platform:
Let’s get one thing clear quickly; a content platform is the website of the content,
not the social media platforms nor the interactive elements. For this guide, I will
show you how to create a site using Wix.com.
Before you do anything, you’ll need an account. Once you’re done, go to the
right-hand corner and click on the “Create a New Site” button.
You then select a template. These aren’t permanent, more of a basis. You can
edit the format later.
4. Once you select the template you want, you get two options to edit the site. You
either choose ADI or the Editor. ADI will let you select different aspects of a
website and will automatically place it on the site. The Editor all allow you to do
everything manually. I prefer to use the Editor.
If you select the Editor, you will be taken to a template design page. For this
example, I chose the Photography template. You pick the design and your
website is ready to go.
5. Creating social media content:
Focus on positivity. Brag or highlight an interesting aspect of your content.
Your audience will likely click on a link that has a positive appeal and be
part of an audience base.
Create timely and topical content. No one is going to be interested in
something that was relevant 5 years ago. Keep your finger on the pulse
and say something that links to a topic of interest today.
Fill content with emotional appeal. Bland language or content won’t even
get a second glance. Use adjectives that pull on the heartstrings of the
audience. Not necessarily upsetting but also joyful, pleasing, funny, etc.
Stay on top of posting. Your audience expects consistency and
commitment from you. Forgetting to post sends the opposite message. It
doesn’t have to be every second of everyday, just enough to keep your
audience informed.
Tell a great story in few words. No one wants to read a long-winded post
or a boring, robotic bundle of words. People want something impressive
and imaginative. They also want it to be straight to the point. Don’t focus
on details; focus on passion.
Spend time on making the content look appealing. Like I said, people like
impressive. It takes 10 seconds to write words on a page; it takes time to
give it some personality. Despite the adage, most people do judge a lot of
things by their cover. So, take time making things look good.
Use audience validation to attract a larger audience. There’s no better to
attract attention than through other people’s reviews. Use any
compliments or validation to boost your content. Likes or views, as well as
appraising comments.
6. Managing Techniques:
Keep firewalls and antivirus softwareup to date. There are
many dodgy links and webpages thatcan attack your
system.Whilst it may be expensive to run,antivirus and
firewall software improveyour devices performance and
can instantly fight any threats detected.
Only use trusted and securenetworks,such as ones from
home,schools and your workplace. Never use public
hotspots.Despite appearinguseful,people can access
your private information.
Create strong passwords.These containa combination of
upper & lower case letters and either numbers,symbolsor
both. This makes the passwordfar more difficult to figure
out.
Be wary of suspiciousfiles, links and/or websites.As
previously mentioned, it is easy for a bug to attack your
device,so be carefuland make sure the sites you access
are secure. Also, be wary of add-ons and pop-ups.
Don’t do or say anything online that you wouldn’tdo or say
in public.One thing employersdo nowadays is checkthe
applicant’s Facebookpage.Anything you say on said page
can damage your reputationsignificantly if there’s
something wrong.
Be carefulwho you friend online. Make surethat they’re
someoneyou personally know. Thereare many bad people
online,from paedophilesto scammers.
Do a search on yourself.Make sure the information you
see is the information you wantto see.
Use schedulingtools to manage yourcontent.
Utilise socialmedia analytics.
7. Interacting on SocialMedia:
1. Use Facebook to highlight key employees and fans. Fans
comment and interact on your posts. They give you feedback on
each individual post and thus you can assess what a successful post
consists of. Plus, some fans are consistently responsive and
consequently their response should be given greater consideration.
2. Be personal on Twitter. Twitter is quite restricted when it comes to
content with a limited number of characters. So, when posting, you
need to be inclusive of people. It can be anyone from who you work
with to a dedicated fan.
3. Get creative with your hashtags on Instagram. If you have a strong
enough following, you can create a buzz through them. So, when
you create a hashtag, put some imagination into it that will
encourage your fans to get involved.
Benefits Risks
Cheaper to run than a
premises
Increase brand
awareness
Easy to find and contact
you
Can be hacked
Vulnerable to
trolling/hate online
Need skills to initiate and
maintain