One of the great perks of Visit Chislehurst is the networking opportunities given to local businesses and support through events. Last week the team ran a Social Media Power Hour, which was led by no less than five local social media and marketing experts, all of whom are Visit Chislehurst members themselves, at the fantastic Old Chapel.
Social media can prove a bit of a minefield if its new to the business and many avoid it for a variety of reasons, uncertainty on what to post, how often to post, which platforms are available and how to reach the right audience. The Power Hour was an opportunity to prove that social media is quick, easy and highly beneficial to businesses.
Two local marketing businesses attended and talked through how to take the leap into posting and also how to improve current skills.
Sam, from Marketing Pace, led the way, encouraging business owners to be visible on social media (quite literally showing their faces on Facebook and Instagram and not hiding behind their products). She spent time taking the group through Follower Strategy and Engagement (connecting with an audience/target market) and finishing with examples of just how important comments and threads are to increasing the reach of posts.
Jade, from Mother of Pearl Marketing, then took over, concentrating on content use and design. Having established the importance of a business’s Tone of Voice, she gave useful examples of content creation and highlighted the fact that the recycling of your material is not only practical but that it can save us a lot of time in the long -run (especially ‘Evergreen Content’ – content that doesn’t date).
Clare, from Clare Herriot Communications, explained that whilst planning and scheduling posts is a good discipline, being spontaneous is just as important. She gave useful tips on Images and Videos, with examples of what works best for each platform (and the pitfalls of not using different sized images for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube).
Mick from Mary & Mick Design finished the presentation with more tips for Instagram (did you know that the first picture on a carousel dictates the size of all the pictures that follow?), including useful hashtag information.
The Visit Chislehurst team then focussed on the benefits of the network and how reach was essential through building relationships and quality of content. The team supports the business group with content creation, copy editing, blogs, posts and so much more. All of which is included in the Visit Chislehurst membership fee.
The evening was rounded off with a glass of wine (and cake – well, why not?), in the knowledge that, whilst social media networks are important, social networks in person can’t be beaten!
If you would like to know more about joining the Visit Chislehurst business group, please do contact april@visitchislehurst.org.uk
Many thanks to the Chislehurst Society for allowing us to use the Old Chapel, our home-from-home and to Matt from Chislehurst Fitness for organising the evening.
