Author: Amanda Dixon

Selling on Social Media

If you’re not selling on social media, you’re missing a trick! Social media platforms are a great way to connect with more customers and sell your products.

In this update we will point out the benefits of selling on social media and how to get started. There may be a few handing tips for you if you have an existing social media sales strategy and are looking at ways to improve it.

The traditional way of selling your products online is called e-commerce. This simply means selling your products on your website or in any other way over the internet.

Social e-commerce is now trending. It has become a really popular form of selling. In addition to being able to sell on your own website you can now sell your products on social media like Facebook and Instagram.

Social spending is on the rise, with more and more people buying products through social media.

The benefits of using other methods for selling include:

Increased exposure for your products or services
Increased brand awareness
It offers you more opportunities to connect and engage with customers
It provides an easier and faster way to sell your products or services

Why sell online?

Did you know that Social e-commerce grows three times the rate of traditional e-commerce.

With millions of users on social media you have the potential to reach a large audience with your products.

Social media provides an opportunity to connect with customers and build relationships. This can help increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.

When you sell on social media your products are exposed to a larger audience, which can lead to increased visibility and sales.

Most social media platforms are easy to set up and use, so you can start selling right away.

Selling on social media is generally less expensive than other marketing methods, such as print advertising or TV commercials.

Did you know that 64% of social media users made purchases last year through social shopping?

Get Started

Now that you know the benefits of selling on social media, here’s how to start

The first step is to choose the right platform. Facebook or Instagram, are both great options, but each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. You may want to cover all angles and set your shop up on both.

Most importantly you should think about your target audience. Which platform are they using most often? Which are they more likely to make a purchase through?

Integration

If you are already selling on your website it may be really quite simple for you to set up your social shop on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta partners with the many online shops including:

WooCommerce
Shopify
BigCommerce
Magento
OpenCart

And others too. By setting your shop up through your Commerce Manager you will be able to integrate it with your website and online shop. As you update your webshop it will sync with your Facebook and Instagram shops.

This article talks you through this integration.

Any questions about setting up your online shop please do get in touch.

Social Media Marketing

The majority of businesses now understand the need for social media marketing.

Why Social Media Marketing Is So Important

Some people are still sceptical of social media’s importance. But this is mainly because they are looking at it from a personal perspective rather than as a business owner.

Similarly some people believe that social media is a waste of time. They don’t see the value in sharing their thoughts and pictures with the world.

You may have found that in the past social media hasn’t been effective for you. But have you been using it correctly?

Your Potential audience

Take Instagram for example. Instagram has over 1.386 billion active users. Furthermore it’s not going away anytime soon. If you’re not using social media to grow your business, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Facebook have 2.853 billion active users!

It can be hard to get started and even harder to figure out how to use social media marketing tools like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin effectively.

That’s why it’s important to make sure you and your employees are properly trained when it comes to social media.

Social Media Training For Your Business

Social media users are everywhere. Moreover they’re on every device and in every country. It is the most powerful marketing tool available today for entrepreneurs looking to connect with potential customers or companies trying to engage with their past and current clients.

It might not seem like it, but those cute pictures that you post on Instagram or Facebook will give you a chance to engage with your customers and followers.

Take a look a our Facebook & Instagram accounts. Meet Xena & Thor our furry employees! The more personal you are on these accounts the more engaging your audience are with your posts. And why post some personal content? Because you are introducing people to the person behind the business.

People Buy From People they Know, Like and Trust
Twain

Social Media Training Near Me

North East Social Media can help your business get the most out of popular platforms. We’ll create a custom strategy that fits with your goals and budget so you can see real results in no time. Businesses of all kinds and sizes can grow faster and generate more leads with the right social media strategy.

I have attended 3 online training sessions with Amanda on website CEO, social media and marketing plans. All 3 were excellent! Amanda has a wealth of knowledge and experience and I would highly recommend her.
Angela Rayne – Sunderland Enterprise Park Management

We provide a range of services that will help you get more out of your social media channels. From managing your accounts, content creation and training, we’ll take care of everything for you so you can concentrate on what’s important – your business!

North East Training

We’ve got you covered at North East Social Media. Book a session just for your business. Our 121 sessions are deilvered on Zoom. We log in to your accounts and fix them while teaching you! Nothing set up? Not a problem we can set your accounts up for your while we train you too.

For a 3 hour session we charge £295 + VAT and can create a training plan specifically for you. Everyone learns at a different speed. In different ways and we adapt so it can work for you.

Our 121 sessions can be for your whole team! Or you might want to keep all that knowledge to yourself! The choice is yours.

Book Now

News

Social Media Team Valley

North East Social Media are back on the Team Valley. Yes indeed we are. Back to where it all began a long time ago. In the days when The Coffee Quarter was known as my office!

In lockdown I gave up the offices in The North Tyneside business centre and we worked from my kitchen table.

Thor and Xena became a large part of our working day.

Joining in with Zoom meetings.

Ensuring all attendees of workshops and 121 client’s knew whenever someone came to the door.

Finally it got to the point where there were just too many distractions and so the hunt for an office began. I think basically I got sick of the same 4 walls and it really was time to move on.

Valley House Team Valley

We looked all over the place. Some over priced. Some too scruffy! One office was lovely, just not quite on our doorstep. And then we came to Co*Shabang!

Perfect

I’ve taken two offices – one is available at the end of the month and will be the Zoom Room.

The other office, the main office, is Paul’s domain. Well Paul and Xena’s.

Yes, due to the fact that Xena is a lockdown puppy she has had to come to work with us!

Hopefully she’ll settle down and get used to the building noises soon.

We’re hoping to have some human additions to the team soon too! Fingers crossed.

We’ll be updating our socials as we add things to our offices (ie when we finish unpacking). You’ll see the updates on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’d like to get in touch please do, either through any of the socials or here on my website.

Looking forward to a time when you are passing by and can pop in for a cuppa! I’m sure it wont be long now.

Facebook

Facebook Chat on Website

Have you noticed you can now install Facebook Chat on Website? A potential client could now start a conversation with you and the message goes directly in to your inbox.

Facebook Chat on Website – good idea?

So long as you are pretty good at responding to messages (I mean within a 24 hour period) then potentially yes. It could be great! We certainly couldn’t hurt.

However, if it normally takes you more than 24 hours to respond this isn’t the chat facility for you. The message will only appear in your Facebook inbox for 24 hours.

For you, it may be a case, if you wanted to use chat on your website to look to other chat apps.

How to install

It really couldn’t be easier. I am going to show you how easy it is within Facebook for WordPress. And this link will take you to Facebook’s Business Support where you’ll find step by step instructions for other platforms.

To start with head on over to your Facebook Business Inbox and here you will see the chat plugin icon

Check you have the correct domain name and click on the set up button

Choose your language, add an additional domains. Just click save and continue as you go.

Now you can either take the code from here and input in to your website. Or better still, do it the easy way!

Facebook Chat on WordPress Website

It really couldn’t be easier. Go to your dashboard, to plugins and add new. Search for Facebook Chat Plugin

Click Install now and then activate. Once you have activated you will see the Facebook chat header in your left hand menu.

Now click on Facebook Chat to edit the settings. Pick the page you want to connect to your Facebook chat facility.

Now follow the step by step instructions from the set up guide

You can even edit the colour of the chat box so that it is on brand. You can set up automated messages and FAQ’s too if you like. The chances are if you already have automated responses on your Facebook page, these will appear here for you.

Chat Box Live

And that’s it! Your Facebook Chat facility will be live on your website.

Go on, have a play and let me know how you get on! You could always get in touch through the chat box on my website!

Tags facebook engagement, facebook training, north east social media, north east social media training

Twitter

Twitter Image Size

Twitter Image Size 2021

In May 2021 the Twitter Image Size was updated. Twitter has been trying out a few changes over the previous months. Now it is being rolled out to all users, both on iOS and Android

Is it important to use the correct image size?

The simple answer to this is yes! It will make your Twitter account look more professional. Similarly, more engaging.

It avoids your image being stretched to “fit the box” on Twitter. You will find that having the correct images size means people will see exactly what you want them to see.

Creating Twitter Images

It’s not just the Twitter Image Size to think about. There are other things to consider when creating your images for Twitter. And for other social media images too.

Firstly, the best thing you can do is use your own images. They are always going to work best. If you do need to use stock photo’s make sure you have the right to use them.

In other words, don’t just go to Google and think because the image is online you can use it! Pick the wrong image and you may be sued!

Have you had a look at pixabay.com ? There are some great free images there.

Twitter Image Sizes

Use a platform like canva.com to resize your images. You’ll find the following sizes:

Header 1500 x 500 px
Post 1600 x 900 px
Ad 1600 x 900 px
Profile Picture – minimum 400 x 400 px
In stream photo’s 1600 x 1900 px

Twitter Image Size, post 1600 x 900 px

Cover Photo Size 1500 x 500

In-stream image size 1600 x 1900 px

Finally it would be great to connect with you on Twitter. Please do feel free to follow me 🙂 I’m pretty good at following back!

If you would like training on Twitter please get in touch or keep an eye on my Twitter workshop page.

Tags north east social media training, twitter image size

Are you selling on social media?

Selling on Social Media – e-commerce

Benefits of selling on social media