Tag: digital marketing

Elevating Your Social Media Graphics: Using Canva Like a Pro

Posted on by CMPR

Eye-catching graphics are essential for standing out and engaging with your social media audience. It may seem scary, but there are so many tools out there that can help you create visually appealing content with ease, whether you are a graphic designer or not! Anyone can use Canva to create simple and stunning designs that not only look good but also encourage user engagement. Here are some tips and tricks on elevating your social media graphics using Canva:

  1. Start with a template. If you don’t know where to start, don’t be afraid to take inspiration from one of the templates that Canva provides. These are a great starting point for creating graphics for any social media platform and are completely customizable to fit your brand. Select a template that fits your needs and change the colors, photos, and text to align with your content and messaging.
  2. Utilize brand kits. In branding, consistency is key. The brand kit feature allows you to upload your logo, brand colors, and fonts, to easily and quickly input these details into every graphic you make. Incorporating similar elements into all of your graphics will create a cohesive look across social media posts and offer brand recognition to your audience.
  3. Incorporate elements. Canva offers an extensive library of elements you can use to add extra creativity to your graphics. Check out all the different shapes, arrows, lines, symbols, and icons, and play around with how they can add to your design. Symbols like the heart and share button can add a call to action to your graphic. Arrows can point out important information you don’t want the audience to miss.
  4. Try the new AI features. Canva’s newest feature, Magic Studio, will create graphics and videos for you, translate text to different languages, and even write passages. Our tip is to use these things for your inspiration and then turn them into your own! The Magic Studio also has plenty of helpful editing tools like an image background remover, image expander, and text grabber. These elements can make the editing process so much faster.
  5. Keep it simple. Avoid going crazy on your graphics with too much text or too many elements. Simplicity can often lead to a greater impact through a more centered focus. Typically, we use our graphics as a simplified version of a writing or blog post and direct our audience there.

Enhance your social media presence with these tips to create stunning and engaging content for all of your feeds. Explore Canva’s many features and experiment with all the design elements they offer. Happy designing!

Check out these other blog posts to get started on social media!

How To Talk About Your Book for the First Time on Social Media – Claire McKinney Public Relations, LLC (clairemckinneypr.com)

Getting Attention on Social Media – Claire McKinney Public Relations, LLC (clairemckinneypr.com)

The Power of Social Media Analytics

Posted on by CMPR

Social media is a valuable tool for authors to promote their books and build an online audience. While creating engaging content is important, understanding how the content performs is just as important. Social media analytics can help you determine this.

Why Social Media Analytics Matter

You need a brand strategy to optimize your presence on social media, but how do you know what is working? Monitoring social media analytics such as engagement rates, audience demographics, and post reach, is imperative to the understanding of how your content is performing. Using analytics can help you to reach your social media goals and beyond.

Tools such as Instagram Insights, X Analytics, and Meta Business Suite, are built-in analytic features within social media. Third-party tools like Hootsuite and Google Analytics can also provide more comprehensive insights across multiple platforms. 

Key Metrics to Track

Engagement Rates: Track the likes, comments, shares, and clicks that your content receives from your audience. High engagement suggests that your audience is connecting with your material. Engagement rates may seem lower than you think they should be. In 2023, the median engagement rate for Instagram across all industries was just 0.43%.

Follower Demographics: Understand who your audience is based on elements like age, gender, location, and what their interests may be. This allows you to make content more suited to their preferences. 

Content Performance: Determine which types of posts perform best with your audience. On Instagram this would include feed posts, Reels, and Stories. On X, this would be posts with pure text, or posts with images or videos. Modify your content strategy according to what appeals the most.

Here are some more analytics that you can keep an eye on, depending on what works for your brand and content.

Using Analytics Effectively

Set Goals: Define specific objectives you want to meet, like increasing engagement, driving website traffic, or boosting book sales. Tailor your content based on how you are meeting your goals.

Monitor: Check analytics regularly to track progress and identify trends over time.

Experiment: The good thing about social media is that you can’t break it. Use insights to experiment with different content formats and strategies. Continuously refine your approach based on what works best according to your analytics.

 

In the competitive digital landscape, using social media analytics is essential for authors wanting to improve their online presence and engage with their readers. Acting upon the data and tailoring your content strategy can ultimately help you achieve greater success in improving your social media accounts.

For tips on getting started on social media, check out these blog posts:

How To Talk About Your Book for the First Time on Social Media – Claire McKinney Public Relations, LLC (clairemckinneypr.com)

Creating Your Social Media Plan AI – (clairemckinneypr.com)

Getting Attention on Social Media – Claire McKinney Public Relations, LLC (clairemckinneypr.com)

Using Stories to Promote Your Book on Instagram

Posted on by CMPR

Instagram is a popular social media platform for influencers, including authors and readers. Using every feature the platform has available, including Stories to promote your book, can be very helpful to your campaign. Start by following celebrity and influencer accounts, as well as fellow authors, to get a rounded grasp of how useful Instagram Stories can be for public figures.

Instagram tends to skew young in terms of who is using the platforms, from teenagers to millennials in their mid-30s. As an author, it can be useful to tap into these age groups to cultivate a new audience for your books and/or brand.

How Instagram Stories work is that the photo you post will disappear after 24 hours of your posting of it, unlike regular posts. Instagram feed posts and Reels are there permanently unless deleted by the user. They are good to use for more temporary ideas you have that will not stay on your feed forever.

Using Stories to Your Advantage as an Author:

Use them for exclusive content. Are you in the middle of writing a new book? Insta-story a line from a chapter you just wrote. Are you writing a short story for a new anthology? Snap a photo of yourself with one of the other authors or editor with something along the lines of, “Meeting with so-and-so today. Can’t wait to show you our latest project coming soon!” Creating some mystery and suspense will excite your followers.

A personal glimpse into your life. We all want to know what our favorite celebrities are doing – and posting photos of themselves cooking food, out to dinner, enjoying a concert, or reading a book achieve that aspect of making followers feel like they are included in their lives. You can do the same thing as an author by taking a video of a book you are reading or your new writing desk setup.

Hold a contest. Gain followers on Instagram by holding a contest–they have to follow you to enter and the winner will receive an advanced reader’s copy of your upcoming book, a box set, or a signed copy of your newest release. 

Engage your followers. Try posting a question or hosting a poll. “What are you reading today?” or “What’s coming up on your TBR?” will engage your followers by having them respond in a message. Respond back so that they can feel that you are engaged with them as well and begin to form personal relationships with your readers.

Using Stories to promote your book on Instagram is yet another aspect to using the platform to your full advantage. Start out by posting a few personal things from your week, and see how your readers respond. You may find yourself discovering a new outlet to engage with your followers and potential new readers.

Using Reels to Promote Your Book on Instagram

Posted on by CMPR

Over the past few years, it has become clear that Instagram is no longer just a photo sharing platform. Reels are one of the best ways to grow on Instagram, but they can be very overwhelming for those who are not familiar with creating video content. Here are some ideas you can use to promote your book using Reels. 

Following Trends

Did you know that you can follow hashtags? If not, I suggest you do that now, starting with #BookTok and #Bookstagram. Bookstagrammers and authors use these hashtags to showcase content around books and writing. 

Often there are fun and easy Reels trends on these hashtags that require minimal filming and editing. Monitoring the type of content users are enjoying in these bookish spaces and tailoring the content specifically to your book will give you a bit of an edge.

You do not have to dance or point to make a Reel that performs well, but you do need to show up consistently with valuable content.

Check out this one from a fantasy author promoting his book with the use of quotes here.

General Tips and Tricks

Think of Instagram Reels like a business card. The point is to spread the content far and wide, not overloading your viewer with too much information. 

Do not introduce yourself. In the Reels format, you just do not have the time. This also might not hook your viewer. Instead, lead with educational or entertainment value and have an optimized profile to explain who you are to convert viewers to followers. 

Try using stock footage. We get it, you don’t always have the time or energy to film with your face on camera. Did you know you can find faceless stock footage online to use in your Reels? For example, grab a stock video of someone flipping through book pages (make sure you read the fine print and that it’s free use), and put quotes from your book over the footage. Simple!

Include a call to action. A call to action is an essential part of any content you make that has a purpose. People will not always engage with your content in the way you want them to unless you tell them how to do so. If you want people to comment or follow, tell them! For Reels, an excellent call to action in the caption is to comment a specific word, alerting you to DM them a link or a freebie.

Grab our free e-guide to social media marketing for information on all social platforms.

Interview with an SEO Expert

Posted on by CMPR

This week, we talked to an expert on SEO about all the questions you may have on maintaining a successful website with the best practices for SEO in 2024.

What makes a website SEO friendly?

SEO friendliness takes a lot of things into account. Keyword density and placement, properly using “ALT” tags (which is also important for ADA compliance), and context that is relevant. Meta tags (title/description) for search are also important.

What kind of factors do search engines consider when ranking?

Search engines don’t want to be scammed. They can tell when people are using gimmicks or tricks to skew their SEO scores. Every time the algorithm changes, and people freak out, it’s often because they like shortcuts instead of doing the work.

How can I find relevant keywords?

Chances are you didn’t invent the industry you work in. Use Google trends / search / keywords to find out what is relevant to the specific page you’re working on. If you’re targeting a local market, research that specifically and compare it with larger scale results.

Why is my organic traffic dropping?

Is your content stale? Is it relevant? Keep your content fresh. If you have a blog, utilize it.

How long will it take to rank on search engines?

Could be 2 weeks or 2 decades depending on your content (first) and SEO (second). SEO happens naturally to some extent if your copy is presented well.

 How long should my content be?

Long enough. Sometimes people write novels, sometimes nothing. Present your content in a way that makes sense to humans.

How often should I be adding new content?

Is it good quality content, or filler because you feel like you need to be adding things? Go for quality over quantity but if you can manage both, great!

What are some common SEO mistakes I should avoid?

Don’t put 600 keywords on one page and then list every city on the planet. Keyword density targets are usually small. Overdo it and you’ll lose points fast. Don’t go changing your URLs to ridiculous long-winded keywords. For example, your about page is your about page and should simply be /about; it should not be /about-the-best-car-dealership-in-new-york.

Above all else, remember that your target audience is usually human. Your goal is to engage humans by engaging search engines to get humans to your website. If your website isn’t geared towards humans (simple & concise language), and focused on specific content, then you’re wasting your time.

For example, if I click a keyword in your paid ad for “ice cream” and your page is entirely about salad, I’m going to bounce. Follow the funnel logic (before funnels were a keyword) and SEO drives people to your website, and your website is supposed to convert them by encouraging them to participate (by communication, interaction, sales etc.).

Don’t fall for large company gimmicks that include services like monitored/recorded phone calls as part of their SEO package. Some companies charge many thousands of dollars and do almost nothing for you. If you want to monitor and record your incoming calls, get yourself a good phone service (most good business plans offer this anyway).

Finally, keep your websites fully maintained. Making sure your website is up to date will usually also keep things running safer and smoother. Outdated plugins or scripts can put your website at risk. Any visible risk can often be seen by crawlers, especially if there is a malware or other security issue. These things also affect the speed and reliability of your website, which can greatly impact your search performance.

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