Author: Keely Flanagan

3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Social Media Efforts

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

Improve the effectiveness of your social media efforts

Well-established companies with bigger budgets are investing a significant amount of money in digital branding and social media.  With so many options, understanding your audience and using the best tools is very important to make you competitive at any level of business.  So, whether you are representing just yourself, a micro-business, or any size company, here are 3 simple ways to improve your social media efforts.

Tip #1: Where is Your Audience?

So much of the world is on social media. In 2019 they predicted that the U.S. population will spend more time on social media/mobile devices than on TV by the end of the year.  My analytics definitely show an uptick in mobile use, with a 50/50 ratio of people who read my content on mobile vs. other devices. Social media host a wealth of loyal niche communities. With clear messaging and focused branding, these communities can quickly become your repeat-consumers.

Find your audience

Tip #2: Should You Pay for Online Ads?

Like any promotional content on a popular medium, ads on social media can be pricey. Luckily, there is more to this strategy than paid advertisements. Channels like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat are one-stop shops. You can create your own original content in-house, free of charge. The average user is bombarded daily with big-budget marketing. In fact, 86% of people on social crave authentic content rather than expertly-crafted material from ad agencies. Stand out in the crowded market and create something to which your audience can authentically relate, without breaking the bank!

Tip #3: Do You Know Your Audience?

We’ve talked about the ways social media branding is useful, but how will you know it’s working? There is a way, and unlike mail surveys or television polls, you won’t have to wait weeks and months to see results. Simply start a poll on your desired outlet. The media mentioned above offer functions where you can pose a question with two or more answer options, and users can select their response. These polls can run for any length of time, from one day to one week. Once the poll closes, you instantly have your results – you can even see votes as they are happening.

Download our eGuide to social media so you can find ways to improve your social media effectiveness.

Ultimate Social Media Icons

 

Dragon on the Far Side of the Moon by Douglas J. Wood

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

science fiction china and the moon“Commander, you needn’t worry. We’ll be fine. While the Diébào can learn more and get smarter with every byte it processes, it cannot think like you and me. It can collect, analyze, and interact with data and make decisions in nanoseconds that would take us months to make. But it will never replace us.”

 The Space Race never ended, it simply changed hands. Today, amidst budget cuts for NASA and gridlock in Congress, the United States is far behind China in progress towards forging the final frontier. When a manned rocket is launched to a secretive Chinese base on the far side of the moon, the side we cannot see from Earth, President Phillip Lawson is faced with the difficult mission of figuring out whether China is truly pursuing peaceful purposes in their exploration – or if their operations on the Moon have more malicious intentions.

While the US works on its own intelligence mission to uncover the Moon base shrouded in mystery, things take an even darker turn. Both the US and China are soon to find out neither nation could have predicted what was the true malice at work. Decades of resentment and secrecy must be set aside in DRAGON ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON, or the whole of humanity be put at the mercy of nightmarish reality.

Douglas J. Wood’s new thriller DRAGON ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON (Plum Bay Publishing; ISBN; August, 2020;) delves into what may happen when space exploration becomes a one-sided venture. Readers will be brought into a world where the power of technology has fallen into the hands of a singular government and where secrecy and deceit are a staple.

With Wood’s attention to historical detail, DRAGON ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON serves as a witty and intense look at not only the future of space travel, but of our current state of affairs. It touches on the relevant political climate of the US and China and posits one possible trajectory for how a power struggle between two global superpowers may end. Using a flair of sci-fi, Wood cautions our growing dependency on AI and supercomputers might one day introduce a third super power to the field- a player that answers to no human-made government.

About the Author

Douglas J. Wood is the author of the award-winning political thriller, DARK DATA: Control, Alt, Delete and the Samantha Harrison political trilogy. Wood has won the Independent Press Award two years in a row for Asshole Attorney: Memories, Musings,

and Missteps in a 40-Year Career (2018 Best Humor) and for Dark Data: Control, Alt, Delete (2019 Best Political Thriller). A partner at Reed Smith LLP, he has over four decades of experience in the practice of entertainment and media law, allowing him to frequently impart knowledge gained from his career into his books. He and his wife live in North Carolina.

Dragon on the Far Side of the Moon
By Douglas J. Wood
Plum Bay Publishing
Publication Date: December 29, 2020

 

DARK DATA: Control, Alt Delete by Douglas J. Wood – Independent Press Award Winner in Political Thriller

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Douglas J. Wood receives national recognition through the  INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD®!

(NEW YORK, NEW YORK) — The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD recognized DARK DATA: Control, Alt, Delete by Douglas J. Wood in the category of Political Thriller as a winner.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected award winners and distinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.

DARK DATA: Control, Alt, Delete by Douglas J. Wood
Political Thriller Winner

 Paula Jankovic is a willing tool of Constantine Petrenko, a Russian oligarch with a penchant for world domination and insatiable greed. Using a superstorm of dark data and fake news, Jankovic has become skilled at harnessing the power of the mysterious Selfish Ledger and personal social media accounts to get innocent people to do her bidding, however horrible it may be. Abu al-Badri is a terrorist leader who wants to further his cause. By aligning himself with the same wealthy benefactor, he has all he needs to access top targets around the world to wreak unimaginable violence and destruction.

Together Jankovic and al-Badri unleash a coordinated attack that is designed to leave societies and financial markets in ruins and no one richer or more powerful than the Russian standing at the top.

In 2020, the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD had entries worldwide. Participating authors and publishers reside in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, India, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and others. Books submitted included writers located in cities such as Austin to Memphis to Santa Cruz; from Copenhagen to Mumbai; from Albuquerque to Staten Island; from Boise to Honolulu, and others.

“We are thrilled to announce the winners and distinguished favorites in our annual 2020 INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD. This year included a myriad of excellent independently published books. It is clear that independents are prospering in every corner of the earth. We are so proud to be highlighting key titles representing global independent publishing.” said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak.​

For more information please visit independentpressaward.com; and to see this year’s list of IPA Winners and Distinguished Favorites, please visit the website pages:

2020 WINNERS:

https://www.independentpressaward.com/2020winners

​2020 DISTINGUISHED FAVORITES:

https://www.independentpressaward.com/2020distinguishedfavorites

 

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Social Media 101: How to Use Hashtags to Grow Your Audience

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

We’ve all heard of them. Many of us have even used them. But the real question is, how can we use hashtags to grow our audience?

First, let’s start with the basic definition.

Hashtag: a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific topic.

But that’s not all. The implementation of hashtags is constantly evolving with social media platforms, and with technology in general. They extend themselves to a community of people who are searching for new, inspiring content on a daily basis, which is exactly why you should be utilizing them.

Like everything else, hashtags require research. But where do you begin?

Step 1: Identify your target audience. I may sound like broken record here, but audience identification and research go hand-in-hand, in more ways than one. You need to know exactly who you’re looking to attract before you can create effective content to do just that.

Step 2: Search hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. After establishing your target audience and the content they figuratively subscribe to, pinpoint the hashtags they’re using and searching for. Get in the mind of your audience. Think about what tags they might search for on Twitter or Instagram (Facebook doesn’t use hashtags as much). If you’re an author, #bookstoread and #bookstagram are popular, community-based hashtags that many bookworms use when looking for new reading material. Complete a search of your own to see which posts get the most traction.

Step 3: Analyze and implement. What hashtags seem to be working for other people in your niche? What patterns do you see? Do the tags pertain to your content? If so, adopt them!

It’s also important to incorporate as many relevant hashtags as you can find, according to Jumper Media. Instagram allows a maximum of 30 hashtags per post, so don’t be afraid to use as many as you see fit. It will only widen your post’s reach and give you and your content more exposure.

The beauty of hashtags is the fact that they’re community-based; therefore, it’s up to you to figure out what community (or communities) you want to tap into. Although the specific tags may seem rather trite and adolescent, use them anyway. It’s simply the nature of the hashtag.

For more on content strategizing, check out our latest post.

Happy hashtagging!

Social Media 101: Content Strategizing the 2019 Way

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

If you read our recent blog post Social Media 101: Branding the 2019 Way, you’ll know just how critical it is to do social media marketing rather than banking only on traditional media to spread the word about your product/service/brand. You also might’ve been left wondering how to go about branding on social media. Well, we have you covered there, too—and the answer is content strategizing.

The most important aspect of social media branding is implementing a strategy behind the content you are going to put out in the world. Perhaps you are already plugged in to the major platforms but haven’t seen results in your engagement levels or follower count. Perhaps you’re starting from square one. Either way, it’s crucial to formulate a strategy before you post. Ask yourself:

  • Who is my target audience?
  • What is that audience’s age demographic?
  • What social channels are they on?
  • Why should they care about me and my brand?
  • How can I showcase my brand in a way that will attract them?
  • What content do I already have available?
  • What content do I need to create for effective brand display?
  • What do I bring to the table that my competitors don’t, and how can I present that through my social channels?

It’s important to know your target audience inside and out. Having inside knowledge about key groups will tell you exactly what channels they populate. Here’s a breakdown, according to a 2019 study done by Sprout Social:

Users on Facebook: 74% female, 62% male

  • 51% of 13-17 year olds
  • 81% of 18-29 year olds
  • 78% of 30-49 year olds
  • 65% of 50-64 year olds
  • 41% of 65+ year olds

Users on Instagram: 39% female, 30% male

  • 72% of 13-17 year olds
  • 64% of 18-29 year olds
  • 40% of 30-49 year olds
  • 21% of 50-64 year olds
  • 10% of 65+ year olds

Users on Twitter: 24% female, 23% male

  • 32% of 13-17 year olds
  • 40% of 18-29 year olds
  • 27% of 30-49 year olds
  • 19% of 50-64 year olds
  • 8% of 65+ year olds

Users on LinkedIn: 25% female, 25% male

  • 29% of 18-29 year olds
  • 33% of 30-49 year olds
  • 24% of 50-64 year olds
  • 9% of 65+ year olds

Users on Snapchat: 31% female, 23% male

  • 69% of 13-17 year olds
  • 68% of 18-29 year olds
  • 26% of 30-49 year olds
  • 10% of 50-64 year olds
  • 3% of 65+ year olds

TikTok is also becoming a popular outlet for the younger demographic. Nonetheless, identifying and creating on-brand content that caters to a specific audience is the key to success in any niche. You want to highlight what makes your brand unique while keeping your audience’s expectations in mind.

From there, develop a content calendar to keep yourself organized and pay attention to your social media analytics. It may be beneficial to look into different scheduling services like Hootsuite and Loomly (we have used both) that can also track engagement levels, relevant hashtags, and other important metrics. Knowledge is power.

Bottom line: You want your content to be true to who you are as a brand while capturing the essence of what you do and why you’re important.

To learn more about the importance of social media in business, check out our recent blog.