Day 19 Assignment, Bootcamp #4 - Twitter & Facebook

[iCraft Admin]

I don't have exact stats in front of me, but as far as I know, those 2 social media sites, Facebook & Twitter,  are probably the 2 that matter the most.

Social media titan Facebook will have more than one billion users by year's end. Microblog Twitter will have more than half a billion accounts by that time.

Combined they probably cover the majority of people that are currently using social media sites, and can offer you some steady stream of relevant traffic. So if I had to choose where to spend my time in terms of social media engagement, I'd choose FB & Tw.

Things you need to know about Twitter & Facebook (for today)

• Companies use Tw & FB because nobody can afford to ignore that many people.
• Small companies and large brands join social media sites to increase their Brand Awareness and to spread their message (whatever it is) to their very social & super connected followers.
• The more followers you have, the more people you'll be able to reach with your message - and a link to your store!
  Kat, we need to fix that 0 Tw followers situation. Sending tweets to 0 people, will bring you 0 visitors!  
• To get more followers, you need to follow people too and follow them back.
• It's suggested to follow people that have similar interests to you.
• Regular and somewhat frequent Tw & FB updates correlate with higher number of followers.
• To keep things fresh and to save time, automate & schedule updates to your social media accounts, whenever possible.

So the Assignment for today is to learn about Twitter & Facebook as much as possible.
 

• Register accounts, if you haven't done so.
• Follow each other on Tw & FB, using links provided in the Assignment #18.
  Marta & Lisa, please provide yours today.
  Here is iCraft's Tw account - https://twitter.com/icraft and FB page - https://www.facebook.com/icraftca.
• Follow as many artists, crafters and anyone else, who says on their Twitter profile that they are interested in Handmade, Crafts, Jewelry or Soap Making (for Marta). Good place to start - our list of iCrafters on Tw https://twitter.com/iCraft/icraft-members.
• Connect your iCraft Profile to your Twitter account for automatic product updates.
• (re)Tweet and share on your FB profile as many articles that you guys have worked on in the past few days. Make sure to add article URL in your tweet too.
• Learn how to increase your Twitter & Facebook followers - read suggested articles, do your own research and share your findings below.
• Tell us how you've been using Tw & FB for promoting your business so far.
  Sorry, if this is a repetition from previous assignment, so maybe copy your previous answers here, so it's all in one post.
• Research best ways of using Tw & FB for Business promotions and share what you've learned below.
  Mashable has a few good articles on this topic, same as SEOmoz. Or search for "Social Media Marketing" on Google.
  List all good articles or quotes you've come across too.
• Ask questions and share your experiences. Remember - we can all learn from each other!  

[Jewelry by Kat]

I now am following people on twitter, but everything else is overwhelming, I don't know what to do............Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat, I need you to be more specific.

I see that you've setup your account for automatic product updates already. So that's done.

You are following now 12 people. That's not enough. I think you have following limit of 1000 initially, so you have a long way to go.
The list I mentioned in the assignment has 230 members https://twitter.com/iCraft/icraft-members/members, so you can keep going and follow more people.

You can post messages to your Twitter and Facebook account.
I was asking to post links to the blog posts that you all have written, so we'll add links from social media to the mix of Backlinks to your stores.

Use blog title, blog URL and your brief comment, if space allows, (add hashtag #handmade" to some of your posts so they become more visible on Tw) to create your messages, like this.

"The Joy of Giving a Personal Handmade Greeting Card" - my blog post featuring Fairy Cardmaker https://icraftgifts.com/blog/the-joy-of-giving-a-personal-handmade-greeting-card-410.php #handmade"

Or you can retweet others, who already mentioned these posts in their Twitter accounts. Just click on "retweet" link on posts you like in Twitter or Share link on Facebook.

And just spend time today reading about Twitter and Facebook Marketing, using resources I've provided and then ask us questions. That will be good too. Hope this helps!

[Delightful Suds]

Ok here are my links:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Delightful-Suds/204119239695425?fref=ts
https://twitter.com/delightful-suds

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks Delightful Suds! 

[Delightful Suds]

I try to tweet 2-3 times a week, and sometimes I retweet. I'm not only automatically connected from iCraft to Twitter, but also from Twitter to Facebook. So everything I tweet goes to facebook as well. (3 birds with one stone  )
I once received a $50 credit for FB advertising, and so I used that. That was what got me most of my "likes" on there.

[JaJeJems]

Well I have Facebook and Twitter connected and I see how that works.  I have bumped my followers up to 84 and 7 people are following me on twitter now which is an improvement over 2!  I already had my updates from icraft automatically going to twitter.  I added a tweet about the blog that Delightfull did on seaglass.  It is slowly starting to sink in.  I am going to aim to tweet everyday if I can.  Now I am going to do some research and reading!  I found some of the group on twitter and on facebook.  Can't find Fairy Cardmaker anywhere!

[Silver Workshop]

I'm having some issues with facebook, whenever I log in, any "like" buttons for me to click on located on other people's pages disapear. Is it because of the type of page I have? I've noticed this in the last few months. I'm able to "add to my interest lists" and "add to my favourites page" but that's all.

[Jewelry by Kat]

I am following alot more on twitter and will add more tonight. I added my blog on facebook. I am following my fellow bootcampers.  I don't know what I am doing, but it is working!................Kat

[Red Rock Designs]

I'm following fellow bootcampers on both Facebook and Twitter.  It's easier to search for other crafters & handmade jewelry on Twitter than on FB....I think by FB you have to search exact names instead of by categories...so I'm following more on Tw than on FB.

Silver Workshop I have the same issue with FB, but I think it's because we have business Pages, and not personal profiles or groups...but I could be wrong...I can never keep up with their changes.

I think Fairy C said she's not on FB or Twitter because these users are more likely to send e-cards than paper cards....

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Your memory is good, Bibi!  Yes, that's why I'm quite happy to sit out on FB and Twitter.  I don't want to chase billions of users.  I want to chase a smaller number of buyers and do so as well as possible.

I would consider Twitter, but I don't have the time to keep up with others and I feel it would be unfair (and unsuccessful) to Tweet one-way all the time.

[JaJeJems]

I have to confess that I have done a bit of research this afternoon on Social media marketing for beginners.  I found a couple of good blogs by Cindy Ratzlaff.  She has several but I liked this one http://cindyratzlaff.com/blog/personal-branding/facebook/beginners-guide-to-social-media-marketing/.  It gave me a bit of insight into the process to use to get things organized.  Not sure I could commit to everything she suggests at first but it gives me something to work towards.  I also read her checklist for social media marketing.  Thought I would share!

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Fairy Cardmaker,

I would consider Twitter, but I don't have the time to keep up with others and I feel it would be unfair (and unsuccessful) to Tweet one-way all the time.

One-way automated tweets are not as successful, as manual tweets, where you also respond to people. However, many businesses do this, including us (with about 30 additional accounts with automatic tweets) and we see benefits of having those. About 10-15% of our traffic comes from those accounts. That's additional traffic that we wouldn't get otherwise, and there is very little work on our part to get it.

You can check on those accounts once in a while and maybe post and follow people, if you feel like it or not. Just give it a try!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

As mentioned in the other thread:
I shall, at the least, do some reading.  (But I am over committed at the moment.  I may not be back until Sunday.)

[iCraft Admin]

Hi JaJeJems,
That's a good post for beginner marketers. Thanks for sharing!