social media – Simona David Consulting

At the end of a focus group with professionals active in various industries, we came away with the following tips / recommendations for small businesses:

Create a mission statement that will inform your message and strategy
Know your audience
Learn where your audience is most active (what platform)
Conduct research – know your niche market and competitors
If your product / service serves multiple niches, use a mix of platforms (channels) and messaging
Be relevant to your audience
Be persistent and consistent
Start an email list first then drive your subscribers to your social media
Start with basics and continue to build
Start with one platform you’re most equipped for
Engage with your audience and respond promptly to questions and comments
Put passion in your messaging
Add value don’t just sell
Post quality content that interests your audience
Create content that drives people to your website
Block off time in your calendar for content creation
Use a mix of product / service promotions and industry articles
Use a scheduling program like Buffer or Hootsuite
Plan your posts in advance – build an editorial calendar
Always use @ and #
Be local first
Use high quality pictures
Use videos, including live video
Determine one clear action you want your audience to take
Be open minded, always experiment

A quick overview of what’s new and trending in the publishing and content marketing industries.

First and foremost, news from Amazon: Amazon authors may have received news about changes in the European Union (EU) tax laws regarding the taxation of digital products (including e-books). The Value Added Tax (VAT) used to be applied based on the seller’s country, but beginning January 1st this year the VAT is being applied based on the buyer’s country. Kindle authors were asked to re-visit their pricing strategies, and make adjustments moving forward.

Also, Amazon had gradually expanded its Kindle Unlimited services to include countries like Spain and Italy (since November 2014), France and Brazil (since December), and Canada and Mexico (since February). Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service that allows customers to read as many book as they like and keep them as long as they want for a monthly subscription fee. This is different from being an Amazon Prime member: anyone can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited services for a $9.99 monthly fee.

Authors who have enrolled their e-books in KDP Select, and have made their titles available to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library ought to know that all titles enrolled in KDP Select are automatically enrolled in Kindle Unlimited as well. Authors do get paid royalties once a customer has downloaded and read at least 10 percent of their books. But there are concerns that authors actually earn less, as a result of fierce competition from other titles (Kindle Unlimited currently has a library of over 750,000 titles). You can read more opinions about Kindle Unlimited here. To learn more about authors’ royalties, visit https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A3BQJE2QV37M1B.

Mark Coker from Smashwords listed his predictions for 2015, which, as expected, include the increase in digital reading and independent publishing, but also some unexpected considerations. I find particularly interesting Coker’s prediction that independent authors will in fact face increased competition from traditional publishers in 2015, and also the fact that Coker expects many more indie authors to just give up. Coker also thinks that major publishers will begin experimenting with free products in 2015, a strategy that has been far too common among indies. At the same time, Coker warns that freebies aren’t what they used to be, because there are so many free books already on the market. We’ll see what 2015 bears for both traditional and independent publishers.

Social media will continue to evolve and bring ever more changes to the way we’re doing business. The landscape is becoming so complex, that analysts recommend an increased specialization in this field. While integration across multiple platforms has been unavoidable for some time, 2015 is seen as the year brands can no longer avoid paying for ads on social media. Video sharing is rapidly spreading, and gaining more popularity. SlideShare is also becoming trendier, as it plans to introduce video sharing capabilities this year. As a novelty, Twitter and Facebook may introduce a “Buy” button so users can make purchases without leaving these platforms. According to trend analysts, in 2015 interactive brand personas will become ever more common. To read more about social media trends, visit http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-predictions-for-2015/.

Specifically, when looking at content marketing trends, having a well-documented content strategy, using catchy headlines, and making content easy to share are at the top of the list. More suggestions and recommendations can be found here. For more marketing trends, go to http://www.fastcocreate.com/3040028/how-marketing-will-change-in-2015-the-creative-forecast.

Have a great and productive year!