Talk Digital

You asked us to record an episode about some of the obstacles and wins that we've had while working from home, so that's this week's episode. We chat about what's worked well and what we've done to overcome some of the issues during moving our day-to-day work to our homes. We look at tips to improve audio, video, internet and WiFi quality and speeds and also discuss some of the challenges we've faced that are caused by us, not just our technology.

When you create content for your business, you're generally looking to achieve a particular goal. Whether that's selling a product, providing your community with information, or talking about a business update. And yet, there are numerous times when we all fall into the trap of posting content that isn't applicable to our business - simply because we feel like we have to talk to our audience on a regular basis. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the ways in which we can all post purposefully, and how this will benefit our overall presence online.

Traditionally, Influencers are people who have built a public presence through a reputation in a particular industry. More recently, though, the term 'Influencer' has become more fluid. And more generally relates to anyone who has developed a presence on social media strong enough to (literally) influence their online community. In this episode, Amy and I chat about Influencers, what they are (get ready for two definitions!), and how they've changed the landscape of social media and marketing an individual or brand online.

This week we're joined once more by our very special guest, James Ibbitson from Visual Punch. Who answers the "age old" question: "how long should your video be?" Whether it's on social media, your website, or in an email marketing campaign. Understanding your audience, their attention span, & their receptiveness to content can be vital in helping you create effective video marketing campaigns for your business. In this episode, James, Amy and I chat about the ways in which we can all improve our audience's experience of our videos, by thinking about how long they should be.

Trying to get your digital community to do something as simple as leave a review can be surprisingly difficult sometimes. Which is why it's so important to understand that you have the power to encourage, command, or suggest certain call to actions that your online community can take to help you and your brand grow. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the ways in which a business can utilise their online community by simply asking them for help.

When it comes to posting on social media, it's always important to remember that your content doesn't reach (isn't seen by) all of your followers. Due to algorithms (sets of rules) on each platform, your post might only find its way to as few as 3% of your overall community. Which is no good if you're trying to promote your business, product, or service! Luckily for us, there are ways in which we can make sure our content gets more exposure, and so reaches more of our customers. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the ways in which a business can increase their post reach on social media, and whether or not the metric should be used to determine the success of a piece of content or not.

This week we're joined by a very special guest. James Ibbitson is the head of video at Visual Punch a full-service personalised video marketing agency and is certainly our go-to video specialist. We start off talking about landscape vs portrait for your video and we get into some of the other areas of & tips for video that James wants to share with you all.

It's important to remember that not all Facebook reactions are treated equally, different emotions are weighted both psychologically and when we measure how popular a piece of content is (and therefore who else to show it to). In a time when all businesses are trying to get as high of a reach as possible (getting content in front of more people), we look to engagement as a measurement of quality (amongst other things) to see how people are responding to your content. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the different emotions, what they are and how they can (should?) be used.

A trend seems to be sweeping Facebook right now - or at least, it is through my notifications. Its basic premise is to encourage you to trade Page invites and while it has an apparent immediate boost, it ultimately carries some long-term problems and maybe even some penalties. In this week's episode, Amy and I talk about what this means for your Facebook Page, how you should be dealing with it and what issues you should be aware of.

Listener Michael James asks for us to chat about dealing with negative reviews after he gets one from someone he's never done business with, or has even heard of. We talk through a variety of options and techniques of what you can do to deal with this type, and all types, of negative review.

What are trolls? Why do they do what they do? How do you deal with them? All questions we get regularly so we sit and talk about them in this episode.

Amy - welcome to the studio, welcome to the show and welcome to the community.

That’s right, after a healthy hiatus and a number Tweets, emails and Facebook Messages from many of you, Talk Digital is returning to your digital airwaves. With a slight change to the format, I’m relaunching the series with new content, new topics and new guests. If you haven’t heard of the podcast before, Talk Digital is a weekly programme where I discuss a range of digital tools, techniques and platforms that will help you grow your business online. It launched in July of 2018 and ran for around 6 months as a learning exercise to see what is required to plan, design, record and publish a podcast. So going forward, on a number of episodes, I’m going to be joined by my very special guests as we talk about all things online and marketing. And I’d love to be joined by some of you, so if you’d like to come onto the show, drop me an email at studio@talkdigital.chat and let’s Talk Digital.

Have you ever taken the time to communicate with a brand and they've just ignored you? This is what I'm calling the deaf ear on social - brands that don't acknowledge your question, comment or concern. This isn't always a negative comment that you've made, I feel the same way if someone ignores me when I take a moment to recognise something positive - but it (ignoring people) has a lasting effect, and often and avoidably negative one. I have a chat with Nicola about her thoughts and we both share some experiences of how we've been through this and what we do to avoid it. Have you experienced this (good or bad), come and let us know at talkdigital.chat

Nicola wanted to talk about what motivates you - drives you and makes you do what you do. This is an essential part of your brand and therefore your marketing. It can sometimes be hard to drill down and articulate what that is, so Nic and I talk about what we love about our businesses - and, what we don't. What is it that makes you feel really excited about what you do? Is there anything that you don't?

What kind of mistakes do brands make? How do you deal with these types of errors - are there different levels of mistake? I'm chatting to Nic about what happens when brands mess up. We all make mistakes - so we're chatting about dealing with the little slip-ups and sharing some horror stories about brands that have got it really wrong!

Have you ever heard someone blame a tool for the behaviour of the user? I hear it all the time and I wanted to have a chat with Nicola about this - so this week we're talking about the "Hate the player not the game" mentality - we're chatting about where the blame actually lies for mistakes being made. For example, is Facebook at fault that you spend so much time on it? Is Instagram to blame for the #TroutPout? Are we in control of our own actions? Accountable for them? Nic and I get into it on this week's #TalkDigitalPodcast - come and share your thoughts at talkdigital.chat

This week Nic and I are chatting about evergreen content - what it is, how you use, why you should care about it. It is (or at least, should be) an integral part of your online marketing strategy - it can save you time and ensures that your message is getting to more people and in an effective way. As always, you're welcome to join the conversation at talkdigital.chat where each episode has it's own conversation/comments section where we'd love you to get involved!

This week Nicola and I are chatting about the fear of the unknown. What stops people from clicking around, experimenting, exploring and seeing what's out there. Is it a fear of breaking 'it' - would we worry about this concern if we weren't talking about a digital topic? This came from the nature of questions we get as trainers that there's a lot about platforms that folks don't know about, so we started chatting about whether learning about that stuff is our job as trainers, or whether should be more curious. Join in the chat at talkdigital.chat

This week I'm talking to Nic about the etiquette of social media. What are you expected to do, what can you choose to do and what must you never ever do. Realistically, do you have to follow everyone who follows you on Twitter or Instagram? How are you going about starting genuine conversations without spamming. Do people really respond to to the hard sell? All this and more in this week's episode...

This week we're I'm chatting to Nicola about how far you can push your brand - where are the boundaries, the lines not to cross - why are they important and indeed, are they as important as we think? We're chatting about how important is what you wear, how you portray yourself and in part, whether you can swear. Have a listen and come chat to us as https://www.talkdigital.chat

You can now join a Facebook Group as your Facebook Business Page! This week we're talking about this potentially massive change that Facebook have rolled/are rolling out. Nicola and I discuss whether we think it's a good idea, how it *could* be used and the implications of joining a Facebook Group as a Facebook Page.

This week we're talking about your motivation - your 'why'. Understanding what this is - what drives you - forms an integral part of your branding, your marketing and your overall story-telling. This 'why' should echo through your narrative in your digital promotion - and so Nicola and I chat about what it is that drives us to do what we do.

This week we're talking about the importance of having a plan - being focussed in your aims and your strategy. We're chatting about some of the things we do to plan, so of the stuff that works and of course some of the stuff that doesn't!

This week we're talking Twitter! "Twitter has died"..."Twitter is different"..."Twitter isn't useful anymore". We're chatting about whether Twitter is still relevant - whether it has a place in the digital marketing world and whether you should be paying more attention to it.

This week we're talking about LinkedIn - the giant professional social network. We discuss people's perceptions of the platform, what it's used - what's supposed to be used for - and how it fits into your brand narrative (the story you tell about your business).

This week we're talking about email marketing, newsletters and mailing lists. We chat about why it's so important to have that data in a system that you have control over (so it can't disappear on you should anything happen to your account/that platform). We also discuss the different styles that Nicola (created) and I (curated) use for the newsletters/emails that we send out.

This week we're talking about the importance of using a branded email account - the effect it has on your marketing and branding and a few tips you may want to consider when choosing and using your own email address. It's not as simple as you might think!

This week we're talking about Facebook's organic (free) reach - what affects it, what doesn't. We explore what you can do at no cost on this mammoth platform!

This week we're talking about some top tips for what you can do to increase the engagement on your content. Which engagagement can help you more, and how you can get your audience more involved.

Episode 3: Getting the basics right by James Lane

Episode 2: Getting rid of platforms you don't use by James Lane

Where should you be online? by James Lane

Launch of Talk Digital by James Lane