Watch This Episode of MwahTV About Effective Social Media Strategy with Amanda Webb
This time I sit down with Amanda after her Turbo Photography Session was over to talk about effective Social Media Strategy.
In Case You Missed It
Here is a link to last week’s shoot results episode so you can see how the shoot unfolded with Amanda.
If you've ever seen one of these types of episodes here on Mwah TV then you already know that this is one of my favourite parts of being a Brand Photographer.
Chats like this let me see into the soul of my clients. I like to learn about what makes each of my clients tick, and as a cool byproduct of that, I learn quite a lot of things about different businesses.
Shoot Logistics & Planning
L: So Amanda's come to Newcastle from Ireland and you've been doing is it a workshop, or something, or talks?
A: Yeah, it was a conference. Speaking at a conference, was a workshop and a general, normal presentation as part of it.
How Social Media Strategy Has Changed
L: So one thing I wanted to talk to you today on the show about, Amanda, is this, we've seen a surge, I think, in our little micro-bubble of the world that we work in, where a lot of people now who used to do social media posting and the day-to-day broadcasting duties are now comin' out and saying that they're social media strategists.
But what I love about you is that you've been a strategist since day one. So can you just explain to the people who are out there who have no idea what a social media strategist is, can you just explain what that means?
Exactly What Amanda Does
A: I suppose it's not just social media, that's the thing. Firstly, I don't do any posting. I don't create any content. But we start by looking at your website, and what's working on your website.
We look at the process when someone visits your website, how easy is it for them to buy? What's the follow-up? To make sure that's all in place. Unless that's in place you can be creating social media and doing social media and never get any sales.
L: Yes, or traffic.
Why This Works
A: Yeah, exactly. So unless you have this effective social media strategy in place, it's not worth doing anything else. And then we work through things like the audiences that you need to reach and then we build campaigns.
So what is it that you're gonna do to try and attract that audience through the whole cycle?
- It could be content,
- it could be a video series,
- or it could be that you need to blog.
We look at that, we look at the different social networks that are gonna complement your audience. 'Cause, it's so much fun doing Instagram.
L: Yeah, but if it's not relevant, you're wastin' your time.
Building Your Social Media Department
A: Exactly, yeah. And I work with your person. So instead of you hiring someone else to do it, you have someone in-house who's learning all the way through the process. Instead of sending someone off to college to learn this stuff, they can work with me to benefit your effective social media strategy.
Without This (really common) Mistake
L: Yeah, that's interesting. So what you need to know about Amanda is she's done this clever pivot. But it's been in motion slowly and very strategically, obviously, for the last couple of years. And it's interesting, I know a lot of people who've had a really big success from the beginning of their sort of small business and then they thought,
"Right, we need someone to help us with social media."
"Let's get either an apprentice straight out of school"
or
"Let's just get a young person, like a graduate, and they can just do the social media thing 'cause that's what they do, like Tinder and Instagram. So they can just do that for us."
What you're saying now is you're, instead of goin' in and takin' over that person's job, you are now training them up?
And Instead, THIS Investment
A: Exactly. In the way that they need to be trained. And you know young people, and I say young people because I'm older, but young people were born into this. So they know how this stuff works which is great.
L: Yes, that's true, yeah.
A: But they don't have the marketing skills. So bring the two together and you have really great success. And also, then they've got something in the future when they move on to a bigger employer, they ran the strategy, they know what they're doing. It's a transferable skill.
The Social Media Life Cycle
L: We're in that time now, I think, where we've had the initial firework of social media and it's made a big difference. But now it's making it work in like a, there's the longevity part of it now. And we're starting to get to that point where much larger businesses are thinking about maybe incorporating it. But they want to do it in a strategic way.
So you've done that shift, haven't you, where you were working for a lot of different types of small businesses. And now you're angling more towards the medium to large organisations.
A: Yes, exactly, yeah.
Amanda's Fave Client
L: So what kind of an organisation is perfect for you, then?
A: I love working in tourism because I've worked for Failte Ireland, which is Ireland's tourism marketing area for about six or seven years now. And so I know the area, so I like working in tourism. I understand the challenges. I also understand the promises, you know?
L: Yes.
On Real Estate Effective Social Media Strategy
A: That they need to make. So I love that. And completely differently, I'm working with a lot of real estate agents, as well.
You know, we think real estate agents are boring but they're actually amazing. They're actually amazing. They're so full of life and energy and willing to put these strategies in place, to put it out for them.
L: Nice, and what about the difference between the way that a real estate or an estate agent works in the U.K. compared to like the Australian or the American model? It's a very different type of business. I, personally, prefer the American model.
Like if I'm gonna hire one person and they're gonna help me sell my house and find my dream house, that makes more sense to me as a buyer and a seller. But in the U.K. we've got it very different, yeah?
Where you kinda go to a brick-and-mortar place and then you might deal with all of the members of staff in there, but there's no real dedication. So tell me about how you do social media strategy for someone who's either a realtor or an estate agent.
US & UK Differences
A: Even though the systems are different, it's the same, really. It's all about personality. So if you've got five people in your office, firstly I would recommend that you assign people to clients.
Because the client is gonna feel more comfortable selling with you. If you wanna get property in, as well as selling property, they're gonna feel more comfortable selling with you if they're talking to someone and they feel like they're behind them.
So social media's perfect for that. Get yourself on video, or live video, and show the properties the way you would show them. 'Cause, when somebody sees that and they go,
"Oh, they're doing an amazing job selling that property. "They're gonna do a great job for me, too."
With The Benefits Social Media Brings
L: Yes, but similarly, if you were looking to move abroad, or you wanted to invest somewhere else, you can go to viewing in that property without actually having to travel there.
A: Absolutely, yeah. And then, actually, you'll go to the viewing that they do live, and then you might go and decide to see it live, rather than just kind of--
L: Oh, that's cool. So are you doing this same kind of system, then, Amanda, where you're training the people on how they implement it?
A: Absolutely, yeah. It's all the same process, whatever the business. Just businesses have different challenges.
Amanda's FREE Strategy Guide
A: Yes, I have a free online marketing strategy guide that you can download on my website. You'll find it on the homepage at spiderworking.com.
It's a 97-page booklet. It includes essays that will help you with things like finding your right audience and then after that, there's the template for you to fill in. So it'll be an essay, then the template for you to fill in for each section along the way. And then there's a calendar at the end, which is a 2019 calendar, but it will be changing up for a 2020 calendar very, very soon.
Amanda's Effective Social Media Strategy Turbo Shoot
L: Today we shot Turbo Style and the final shots will be coming up.
You've probably seen them in last week's episode, as well. I wanna get a little bit geeky now and talk about using my neewer prism. So it's really sunny out there in Newcastle and we've been refracting the light with this so I hope that it'll be a good result from that in the show.
But what's kind of stood out to you in terms of the service?
A: I loved that we did a lot of different locations. So I love that you found out about me before. That's great because we knew each other already. But it was good that you did your research about what I want and kind of know where I want to put the photos, as well, that's important.
TOP TIP For Shoot Planning
L: We've had a secret Pinterest board going for a few months now, haven't we? I love doing that with clients, especially when you can't always get on the phone and talk about it in detail. A Pinterest board is a great way to share a bunch of ideas whenever you're free. So we've had that goin' and I've known, now, exactly what I wanted to shoot for you today.
A: And I think it's, I knew I wanted my photos taken by you because I've seen your photos before, right? I know that you do great photos. I know you make people look good, right? And still, look like themselves.
'Cause others, sometimes you see photos from photographers and the person that you end up meeting doesn't look anything like it.
Which is a big problem.
So I feel like we're gonna get my personality and my brand out there with what we shot.
L: Yeah, we've got lots of fun, colour and it like, just, Amanda's a very calm person but she, at the same time, she's fun. And there's that element of thought and authority with you. So those are kind of like the three things that I wanted to bring together with my prism.
So let's take a look.
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Amanda's Reaction To The Final Shots
A: Woo-hoo! It's always funny looking at a picture of yourself on the screen. So, firstly, you'll notice I had a really good hair and make-up job done. Laura works with someone who's absolutely incredible.
Extra Thanks To
Marie from Studio Number 9.
I think, hopefully, it still looks like me, just the nicer version of me. Also, Laura is really good at giving you tips on how to pose so that you look better in your photos. So that really helped, too, thanks, Laura.
And this is gonna be my new homepage banner. And I'll talk about it a little bit more, but the problem I have with my current homepage banner is on mobile it goes really tiny. So I wanted to make it a bit chunkier, a bit bigger. I may crop it down a little bit, and give myself a little less headroom but this is going to be it.
And there's loads of room here for me to put the text that I have there at the moment.
Image Selection
So I have a free download, you'll still be able to get that. But, yeah, I think that's gonna be really cool. And for this one, I'm looking at the camera, 'cause I think you have to on your homepage.
I look like I'm working, which I am most of the time. So that is me, working. And I think I'll use this on one of, I'm thinking possibly my strategy page. Gonna have a look around. Maybe the About Us page, I don't know, maybe one of the headshot options I'm going to put there. I like it because I look busy.
Also, very rarely do I look nice in my profile and I do here. I've always said my best side is my front side but I actually look okay here, so that's good. This one, actually, this one could be a headshot. I hadn't put this down as an option for a headshot but it's a nice shot. Similar to the last shot, I'm working, except I'm looking at the camera this time. I am taking down notes of what you are saying right now. And I think I might put this on the About page, so this would be on the side.
And Rationale
And you see, a lot of these vertical shots I'm gonna use on landing pages. And the reason for that is, like I said, the horizontal banners at the top go really small so it's hard for people to read it. I don't think they look that great. And also, when you land on a page like that on mobile, you need to see immediately what it is that you want. So I'm thinking maybe I'll put the text first and then scroll down to the image. Or even if it's a big image at the top, they'll see who they're dealing with straight away and they can scroll by.
I'm gonna mess around with some designs for that. On the desktop, which is still where most people visit my website from because a lot of the people I work with work in offices, it'll be on the right-hand side and the text on the left-hand side. And I think that gives people the opportunity to read the text but they can also see who is the person that they are going to be working with.
So thanks a million, Laura, you've done a fantastic job. Please let me know which one I should use for a headshot on LinkedIn and elsewhere and that's a wrap! All right, bye.
Timestamps for this Episode of #MwahTV
Amanda's Return for MORE Brand Photography
Amanda and I shot together again using a totally different technique.
Come and see how this shoot informed this secondary shoot together. See if you can spot the evolution and connection between them.
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