There is no denying that social media outlets are valuable tools to use in your marketing activities. However, the key to success for business owners is to sensibly plan the time they spend on social media.

You will need to consider the kinds of social media you will be using, what could be announced and how often to post. Pacing out social media activities avoids over-saturation of the market.

Keeping the content fresh can also be a challenge. Ask yourself: Is there a way to run a fundraising campaign for a worthy cause? Is your office willing to collect items for the food bank? Perhaps you have decided to set up recycling bins for items like batteries and light bulbs and returnable beverage containers that your clients can also use. Or perhaps your office can set up a contest. Maybe your work place has had some improvements or a new mural was painted on the building. Perhaps you can get a project happening with your contacts. Maybe you can put out an announcement for sales or discounts coming up.

Social media offers a great opportunity for your business to celebrate causes, fundraisers and community events that you are a part of. It is a great way to support those you network with, as you can celebrate their successes and contributions to the world as well. And of course you can use it to invite networking opportunities to keep conversations going with your contacts. Besides this, being supportive of community and charitable events tells your staff, suppliers and clients that you care about making a difference.

Quite often an idea for a social media campaign or a topic you’d like to cover will come to mind, but you don’t have time to follow-up on it just yet. Jot that idea down so that you can come back to it later. This way no opportunity is missed.

Before rushing out with random posts it is important to decide just how you plan to create excitement about each event and what you are expecting as a result.

Here’s another tip: Have a couple of documents on your desktop with social media blurbs you and your staff have created during brainstorm sessions. It will make your social media effort well-organized and it will be easy to post items during peak times of day.

So what are the best times of day to post? That really depends on who you are targeting – their age, their interests, etc. For business the best days to post on Facebook are Thursdays and Fridays between 11 AM and 1 PM (Pacific). 11 AM will bring in more shares, while closer to 1 PM will get more likes and link clicks. For Twitter, posting between 11 AM and 1 PM – during the lunch hours – is the best time. However, weekends shows 30% more activity on Twitter. Due to typical business activities during the week, the best days to post on LinkedIn are Tuesdays and Thursdays. The best time frames for scheduling LinkedIn posts are between 5-6:30 AM and 3-5 PM (Pacific). If you are using Google+, posts scheduled on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, between 7-9 AM are the most effective.

Regardless of what time frame you have decided to work with, and no matter how many social media outlets you wish to give a try, being on social media is rewarding. If you are on many different outlets and find the idea of managing them within a time frame overwhelming there are a couple of options for you. Assign a staff member (or pay your child) to perform this duty for you. Alternatively, schedule alarms on your cell phone to remind you to post on specific days. When you get very busy, there are numerous online services that allow you to schedule posts for automatic publication well in advance.

The way you use social media will vary depending on the medium (Instagram, etc.) and the kind of product, service or campaign you are currently working on, and the type of person you are trying to reach. Consider what time your target audience is online, how old they are, what they are doing when they are online, how long they are online and when they have the most interest or curiosity happening. Perhaps a customer survey can help you determine this.

By doing these suggested activities you’ll notice less time is spent on social media, and your activities are much more effective. For more business advice check out the Brummets’ book: Purple Snowflake Marketing, which provides valuable business advice for any service, product or book you write.

Do you want to improve your church’s media program, but don’t really know where to start? Are you looking at subscribing to a church media website, but aren’t really sure which one is best for your church? Well recently I made a post mentioning some very brief differences between CreationSwap, ShareFaith, and Graceway Media. I decided that I would do some research and bring you an in-depth analysis between all three. While this post is titled ShareFaith vs. Graceway Media, I wanted to feature CreationSwap’s benefits as well. It is not something that you would necessarily join, while the other two require a membership fee, which is why we’re focusing on them. This will be a completely unbiased approach considering I have only recently been exposed to all three. I have developed no loyalties to any particular one of them, however I have used material from each one. We will take a look at elements such as: cost, design quality, customization, and features. My goal is to save you the time of having to do the research, yet still being able to make an intelligent decision about what is right for your church.

We will begin with CreationSwap. I will analyze each one separately, and then will compare them in the end. This is their stated purpose: “Search royalty-free stock photos, church bulletins, sermon art, logos and more shared freely or sold by Christian artists worldwide. Also, visit our Network to connect with artists, view portfolios or post jobs free.”

Cost

The biggest question on everyone’s mind is: How much is this going to cost me? CreationSwap is the only one of these three media companies that offers free downloads. They also include many designs that you must purchase if you desire to use them. All of the print material including postcards, bulletins, banners, and invitations require payment of some form. Cost differs based upon the item you are purchasing. They offer a free “membership,” though everything is available whether you sign-up or not.

Design Quality

The second biggest question you probably want to know besides cost is: How good are their materials? Because of the nature of the website, quality is hit or miss. Designers are able to create their own stuff and upload it for your use. You may find some really great designs, and then again you may not see much you like at all. I would check this site at least once a week to browse what new designs have come along and see if anything can be useful to you.

Customization

After you’ve picked a design, you probably want to know how easy it is to customize it for you church? If you are Photoshop savvy, some of the downloads come with PSD files that allow editing. Others only supply JPG image files making them impossible to edit text and customize for your church unless you have some advanced photo editing skills.

Features

• Free downloads

• Printing Network

• Community Discussion and Blog Posts

• Critiques on Design Concepts

• Ability to Sell Your Artwork

One of the most valuable tools for a designer, besides the downloads themselves, is the critiques offered to designs. Even if you don’t post your own designs to receive feedback, you can take a look at what some designers have created and what others are saying about it. this offers valuable insight to improve your designs for maximum effectiveness.

ShareFaith’s “About” statement is a little too long to post here, but the essence of it is found toward the beginning: “In order to provide the best solutions in church digital media, our goal is to partner with churches and ministries, providing technology solutions and communication tools that will enable them to communicate the gospel more effectively.” For more about them, visit their About page.

Cost

Their regular price is stated at $149/yr, per their join page, however, right now they have a special going on offering 15% if you join within a certain time. Meaning that as of the time of this writing, the price to join is $126.65/yr. They offer no free material on a normal basis, but they do offer a 10-day free trial. The limitations of that free trial are listed on their website. You can download an unlimited numbers of files during your trial, but only one sermon media loop, and websites are restricted to members only.

Design Quality

As a designer, my personal opinion of ShareFaith is that their design work is average or a little above average. Some of it looks good, while others seem too busy. A missionary friend of mine designed a poster based off of one of ShareFaith’s backgrounds and then asked me to spice it up a little bit. I ended up throwing the whole thing out and starting from scratch by buying a stock image and creating it all in Photoshop.

Customization

This is a big plus for ShareFaith. Open any one of their Powerpoint files and you will see how many different variations of blank slide backgrounds they have available for you to use, as well as some different in service announcement files. You can download the Powerpoint itself, or a ZIP file to get the raw JPGs and edit them yourself.

Features

• Sermon Powerpoints

• Videos and Media Clips

• Website Templates

• Bulletins

• Tips & Ideas

• Blogs

• And more…

ShareFaith is the one place where you will find everything that you could possibly need for your church. They even offer a comparison chart their website that includes Graceway Media. However, the one thing this chart does not talk about is Design Quality, which is Graceway Media’s biggest plus.

Graceway’s stated history is “Graceway Media began in 2006 as PowerPoint Sermons, providing sermon titles and designs. The goal was to assist pastors with the presentation of their sermon, giving them quality designs and a selection to choose from. Since then, our passion for helping churches preach, teach and present the Gospel has led us to move beyond sermons and include designs for worship, specific ministries, special events, holidays and more to help the church with all aspects of design needs.”

Cost

The cost for a Graceway Media membership is $249/yr for Stills or Motion graphics separately and a shocking $399/yr for their Total Media package. They do offer a free trial membership that gives you access to 24 of their design styles. Besides that, Graceway Media is by far the most expensive of the group.

Design Quality

Here is where Graceway Media shines. One glimpse at their designs will have you drooling for more. Each design includes a large sermon title, a Powerpoint slide with sermon title in the corner, and a blank Powerpoint slide. The motion graphics are HD quality that don’t possess that cheap look some of the free media loop places have. My initial thought of the price was steep, but after seeing their graphics I could almost rationalize purchasing a membership for such great quality.

Customization

Graceway also offers the best customization system. They offer you the blank slide (as was already mentioned), PSD files for those who can change the graphics themselves, and a Retitling service for those who cannot change the slides themselves. But, as would be expected when looking at the price tag, they charge a small amount for this service. They do not state their credit price out in the open, but offer 10 free credits upon joining that they boast is a $50 value, meaning that you would be paying $5/slide.

Features

• HD Stills

• HD Motion Graphics

• Personalization

• Banners

• Blog

Graceway is a little low of the features, limiting their work to Sermon graphics and worship video loops.

So Who Wins?

As whole, to me, Graceway Media feels like a more personal ministry. They have a picture of there whole team posted on their website that puts faces to the ministry. Since signing up for their free trial, I have been contacted twice asking how I was liking it and if I was interested in signing up for membership. But I honestly can’t speak for ShareFaith since I do not personally have an account, though my church does. Well let’s start tallying up the points and see who wins.

Cost

CreationSwap is free, for the most part, and so you should be visiting this website on a normal basis looking for what you can use. If you find something you like that costs some money, feel free to pay for it if you like, but you’ll be paying individually for each item. Between the two membership sites, ShareFaith wins the Cost award.

Design Quality

Graceway Media takes home this award. I’ve looked at a lot of church media resource websites and GraceWay Media beats them all. Nothing is sharper or better designed that the material at Graceway.

Customization

This is a tie between ShareFaith and Graceway. ShareFaith offers plenty of materials for customizing your own materials, but that’s it. Graceway offers a more sophisticated Retitling service, but it’s going to cost you each time you want it done. For this reason, they each receive one point.

Features

ShareFaith easily takes the gold for features. Their own chart, listed above, makes that evident. ShareFaith is the total church media package that has everything you will ever need.

Conclusions

ShareFaith wins over Graceway Media 3 to 2, unless you include the friendliness of Graceway into the mix, then it’s a tie 3 to 3. The cold hard truth is that ShareFaith is cheaper and many churches need cheaper. They also offer more features, so for the church that’s on a budget, ShareFaith is the only choice that’s even feasible. However, if your church can afford to spend a little extra, you will get far better design quality from Graceway Media. Oh, and don’t forget that regardless of who you are, you should be visiting CreationSwap for the latest freebies.

Traver Freeman

Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing Trends Today!

The social media world has exploded with activity, and social media trends of 2021 have shifted since the COVID pandemic onslaught. Sure, it’s exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. You need to know how these shifts affect your business-and how to capitalize on them to improve your marketing strategy.

So, we’re making a foray into the digital world to help you understand the social media trends and opportunities for 2021. Let’s get at it!

1. Make a Connection with Live Streaming

Humans need to stay connected for personal and business reasons. When they can’t do that face-to-face, technology is more than happy to step in and bridge the gap. Luckily, social media new trends have come to the rescue during this pandemic. Live streaming, a popular medium that only grew stronger in 2020, will continue to play a significant role in 2021.

People have become used to learning and exploring in live streams as they reach out to satisfy their need for social contact and engagement. So, one of our top tips based on social media trends for business in 2021…

Go live on social media at least once a week! And be sure to include a call to action that sells your audience something valuable at the end.

2. Give Away Something for Free

One of the most valuable outcomes of maintaining a social media presence besides nurturing relationships is list building. When you post on social media, you can use your call to action to build your list. Free offers help facilitate this process. Selling something valuable doesn’t always mean a money exchange. Your list is gold-your treasure chest of potential new customers and sales.

People will exchange their contact information to obtain something they value. For instance, some folks don’t have the time to read every word of your blog posts. A good blog article summary, or access to a hidden page on your site that provides summaries for your most significant blog posts, could appeal to some of your prospects.

Other free offers could include the following:

• Access to slides from a conference
• In-depth guides and tutorials
• Behind-the-scenes glimpses
• Free reports
• And more

3. Showcase Your Brand Personality with Video

Good news! There’s still plenty of room to build your online presence, attract an audience, and build loyalty with videos. And before you say, “Really? Isn’t the YouTube market saturated?”, think again.

Yes, it’s true. YouTube has grown exponentially and remains the top channel for video. But the doors are open for branding through personality-driven content. Your unique personality-how you communicate with your audience-differentiates you and helps you stand out. So, be authentic, be you, and have fun! Use videos to find and grow your tribe!

And don’t stop with YouTube. Carve out your niche on other video channels. Here’s a list to get you started!

• IGTV
• Instagram Reels
• Twitter Fleets – NEW in 2021!
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• TikTok
• Snapchat

4. Stand Out on LinkedIn and Instagram with Carousels

Let’s continue to roll on into 2021 social media trends in marketing with engaging, movement-focused content ideas! Why settle for static LinkedIn posts when you can jazz things up with carousels? That’s right! You can create and publish entertaining slide shows! These allow you to stand out in the sea of text-based LinkedIn posts and build awareness for your company page.

Not to be confused with LinkedIn carousel ads, you publish carousel posts for free. These posts draw attention and generate interest in eye-catching, dynamic visual displays that take up more real estate in a feed. So be sure to include a clear call to action at the end!

Plus, Instagram users get a huge benefit by using carousels in their feed. If a user doesn’t like the lead image and scrolls past it, the second image displays on their feed. That gives you a second chance to gain engagement.

Ideas for Content to Share in LinkedIn Carousel Posts

• Statistics, infographics, and numbers
• Frameworks and step-by-step, how-to instructions
• Actionable business tips and lessons
• Conference slides and event content
• Snippets from your blog / listicle post

5. Emails & E-news Are Still Tried and True Methods

Let your audience know when you post something new: “This blog is going viral right now!” Yes, emails and e-news are still some of the best ways to grab attention for your articles and blog posts. So, keep growing that list! Then use social media to highlight the content your audience craves.

To gain permission-based subscriber list opt-ins, use creative calls to action (CTAs) that encourage your prospect to trade their contact information for the tips, how-to instructions, and entertainment they value.

With so many new social media trends, it can be tricky figuring out how to maximize their impact. Knowing that these social media trends for business exist and knowing how to use them to augment your strategy are two distinct concepts!

Let’s go over some of the ways you can use social media marketing for your business!

6. Using Links vs. Audio-Visual Content

Whenever possible, use video, images, and audio to snag attention within social media platforms rather than redirecting them to your published content. Social channels want to keep people there where they can influence them with advertisers’ campaigns.

Of course, you want them to get to your content, sign up for your free giveaways, and more. Here’s a simple social media trends 2021 strategy: Try using the first comment under your post to post your link!

7. Engage with Your Tribe through Social Media Comments

Respond to comments on your social media content in a timely fashion. If people take the time to engage with you on social media, doesn’t it make sense to-well-keep them engaged? That is the point, after all!

Don’t allow comments on your posts to sit unattended. When you leave your prospects languishing, you risk losing their attention altogether. If you engage with them, this encourages future engagements which lead to relationships, trust, and sales!

8. It’s All About the Timing

Traffic for your social media post depends on the first 10 minutes of the hour you post the content. Tag people and get the word out to increase traffic flow, especially if it’s a live-streaming event. If you conduct a live stream every week, do it on the same day at the same time every week. That way, your audience can schedule it into their activities.

Are you presenting a one-off live stream? Get the word out multiple times in advance through various channels. Post your event details ahead of time via emails, e-newsletters, and posts. If you have connections with people who support your efforts, maximize those relationships and ask them to spread the word.

9. The Power of Social Media Comments & Bookmarks

One of your responsibilities to your audience is to curate helpful content. Whatever your industry, your audience looks to you for guidance, expertise, and resources. You can’t create it all, so you need to find reputable sources for content to share. Social bookmarking sites provide the means to do just that!

And as social media platforms toy with the idea of doing away with likes (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), people need to find other ways to indicate their approval of the posts they enjoyed or found helpful.

Arguably, Instagram is one of the most popular visual-centric social media trends for business and has become increasingly influential in marketing. To build brand awareness, encourage people to save your Instagram posts (instead of merely “liking” them). Use a call to action in your image and text. A simple “Bookmark this!” could be the ticket.

How else can your business benefit from these saves?

7 Benefits of Social Media Bookmarks

• Save and organize resources you want to focus on at a later time.
• Share resources with your team or audience.
• Tag (label) content for easier referencing and searchability.
• Build backlinks from social media bookmarks to your website.
• Drive traffic to your website. (People find and click on content others have saved to their bookmarking sites.)
• Promote mentions you receive from others (bookmark articles that mention you and your content).
• Take advantage of SEO. (Search engines often bring up bookmarks in their search results.)

10. Ask Questions to Encourage Engagement on Social Media Posts

Want to encourage discussions and engagement on social media? To open the door for communication, remember the power of the question. Make it interesting. It would help if you posed a provocative question that leads people to want to share their thoughts. A vague “yes/no” question like “Agree?” doesn’t spark discussion.

Examples of Discussion-Encouraging Questions

• I’m curious. Do you have a story to share about your experiences with _____? (Fill in the blank.)
• How have you benefited from ________? (Fill in the blank.)
• When was the last time you _________? (Fill in the blank.)
• What’s your favorite memory of ________? (Fill in the blank.)
• Do you think there’s a chance that _______? What leads you to that conclusion? (Fill in the blank.)

11. Ego Bait

I know… that’s a pretty loaded term. But think about it. Influencers and industry leaders enjoy the spotlight. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be influencers. Tag one or more influencers in your post and ask them to share.

12. Social Media Commerce

Social media has become increasingly more influential in consumer shopping choices. And some platforms have capitalized on this new social media trend by introducing shopping carts. Your customers can investigate and buy your products and services without ever leaving the social media platform.

Again, social media platforms want users to stay on them for as long as possible. Feel free to take advantage of the tools they offer. It’s a win-win for you and the platform.

13. Humanized Brands-The Power of Authenticity

And, finally, you may have noticed this growing trend. People value transparency and authenticity in their relationships-and that ideal is spreading to how they feel about the brands they support.

The social media marketing trends of 2021 predictions from the pros indicate that your audience wants to know who you are and what you stand for. And businesses that align themselves with socially-conscious themes are viewed more favorably by their customers.

Lean into yourself and let your light shine. Tell your stories. You are who you are, and there’s a tribe out there waiting to meet and support you and your business!