To help you stay up to speed on social and remain at the front of the class, we created a Back-to-School Kit for Social Media Managers. Get ready to quickly master important new features and tactics for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
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1. GUIDE
Back to School Kit
for Social Media
Managers
Master new tactics for LinkedIn,
Twitter, and Facebook
2. Back to School Kit for
Social Media Managers
Master new tactics for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook
It’s fall again. If you’re like us, you spent the better part of
the summer at the beach and enjoyed some time away
from the office. But while the summer drifted by, social
media trends kept on racing ahead. To help you quickly
catch up and remain at the front of the social class, we
created a Back-to-School Kit.
Get ready to quickly master important new features and
tactics for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
About your teachers
This isn’t the typical advice you’ll find online. We asked
our social media experts at Hootsuite to share their best
tactics and also received guidance from our partners
at LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. From new lead
generation trends to mobile ad formats to experiment
with, you’ll learn cool new ways to reach customers and
make sales.
Inside your Back-to-School Kit
Your kit includes:
‹‹Cheat sheets to help you stay ahead with LinkedIn,
Twitter, and Facebook
‹‹Free resources and practical tactics for each network
‹‹Plan ahead with Twitter’s Tweet Calendar
‹‹$50 advertising lunch money from Twitter
‹‹Save 20% on Hootsuite University – offer valid until
October 15th
BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 2
3. LinkedIn
Get more B2B leads with these new features
LinkedIn is exploding with growth and creating amazing
new ways for B2B marketers to generate leads. Even my
father (who recently wrote me an email asking HOW
TO TURN HIS CAPITALS OFF) created an account and
endorsed me for several skills.
BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 3
To help you take advantage of LinkedIn’s massive
reach, we reached out to Deanna Lazzaroni, the Global
Content & Social Media Marketing Manager at LinkedIn.
Here’s what marketers and social media managers
should master this fall.
Localize for more leads
Companies are seeing big wins with LinkedIn’s Direct
Sponsored Content. You can amplify a white paper
or blog post and have your content appear right in
your prospect’s newsfeed. For even more precise
segmentation, target prospects by region (such as CTOs
in Mountain View) and experiment with different content
formats such as articles, videos, and SlideShare decks.
Pretty content gets more attention
Deanna Lazzaroni asked her data team at LinkedIn to
dig up some stats about which type of posts get more
comments. The data suggests that “images generally
result in a 98% higher comment rate.” Make sure you
use images and add SlideShare presentations to your
LinkedIn updates.
Earn extra marks for long-form content
Get more reach and extra traffic from your ideas by
publishing long-form content right inside LinkedIn’s
platform. Deanna Lazzaroni says that early success
stories include members earning “speaking gigs and job
opportunities from content published on LinkedIn.”
Members come to LinkedIn for inspiration.
When publishing content, think about how you
can help the person you are trying to reach
succeed. That’s the real key to engagement.
Deanna Lazzaroni.
Your textbooks
and tools
‹‹The Ultimate LinkedIn Small Business
Marketing Resource
‹‹LinkedIn Publishing Playbook
‹‹Tool to build amazing images for your
LinkedIn posts
4. Twitter
More sales and extra lunch money
We asked Twitter’s team to tell us what new features and
tactics are trending this school year. Not only did they
give us a stack of helpful tips but they also threw in some
lunch money for you ($50 credit towards your first Twitter
Ads campaign for the keeners who keep reading).
Sound smart in class
Here’s a fresh statistic to help you impress your network
and clients. According to a study by Buddy Media,
Tweeting four or fewer times per day is the “Tweet Spot”
for keeping engagement high. Tweeting more than four
times sees a 17% drop in engagement.
Get more Retweets and sales with
Flock to Unlock
Twitter has a new way to drive sales and amplify
seasonal promotions. It’s called Flock to Unlock.
Basically, you offer followers a reward (such as 25%
off online orders) and then set a Retweet goal for
your followers. If your audience spreads the word and
reaches the Retweet goal, they unlock your special deal.
It’s a fun way to watch your Retweets and sales take off.
Create visual Tweets with Twitter Cards
Twitter Cards help you show-off products, inspire app
downloads, or drive video views. Just select a template
based on your goal (selling products, engagement,
driving app downloads) and Tweet your Card. Brands
are seeing great engagement and report strong early
results with this feature.
Collect email sign-ups directly from
Tweets
You’ve likely heard of Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards by
now. This fall make sure that you take advantage of the
fact that Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards integrate with
most CRM’s and email databases including MailChimp.
This makes it easy to build email lists, collect customer
RSVPs for events, and measure interest in new product
releases.
Spend your lunch money
Earn a few extra sales with some free Twitter advertising.
Here’s $50 in Twitter Ads. Why not try a Flock to Unlock
promotion?
Your textbooks
and tools
‹‹How small businesses can succeed on Twitter
‹‹Get more leads and sales with this new Twitter
feature
‹‹Steal a few winning tactics from these successful
Twitter campaigns
BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 4
5. Facebook
Stay ahead with nuanced targeting
According to comScore, Facebook is on three of every four
smartphones. Our in-house Facebook experts identified
these new features and trends that are driving business
results this year.
New direct response features
Sell more with Shutterstock
Businesses are seeing strong ROI with Facebook’s
You don’t need a designer to source a beautiful image
Custom Audiences. A new feature in Ads Manager and
for your Facebook ads. Facebook has integrated
Power Editor allows you to take segmentation even
Shutterstock’s library right into the ad creation tool.
further targeting by specific website behaviors. For
Shutterstock’s images are commercially licensed and
example, you can launch ads to customers who visited
available for use in all Facebook ad formats, making it
a specific product page, or target visitors who recently
easy to create a beautiful ad in a few minutes.
browsed specific products such as belts and shoes.
Better mobile measurement and ROI
tracking
You can now track how people move between devices
Your textbooks
(such as seeing a mobile ad and then purchasing
and tools
later from their desktop) before they convert. Mobile
advertising is also getting much more sophisticated,
letting you target by mobile network type. This prevents
you wasting budget by serving video to users with slow
devices and networks.
‹‹Master Facebook Custom Audiences
‹‹New tools to promote Facebook Events
‹‹Research study: what makes people buy from
Facebook ads?
BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 5
6. BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 6
Twitter’s Tweet Calendar
Fall is a busy time. To help keep your social schedule
straight, Twitter’s team created a useful Tweet Calendar.
Don’t miss important events—like Small Business
Saturday on November 29th—and keep the Tweets
flowing with helpful content ideas.
September Tweets
September 1st
Labor Day - Ask followers how they are spending their
last days of the summer.
September 8th
Finals of the US Open (Tennis) – Follow the
conversations on Twitter and ask followers who they
want to win.
September 9th
New TV show premiering tonight? Tweet along to
engage with your followers around popular topics.
September 12th
Reply to a few mentions from followers or thank
customers for supporting your business.
September 15th
Have new inventory? Take a photo or video and share it
with followers along with a special offer.
September 17th
Show your expertise by providing a helpful tip.
September 19th
Schedule your Tweets for the weekend – log into
ads.twitter.com to get started.
September 23rd
First day of autumn – Tweet about your new inventory
or business plans for the season.
September 25th
Share a fun fact such as the type of music you play in
your store or while you’re working.
September 27th
Promoting a new piece of artwork or music? Create a
launch event and invite your followers to come.
September 29th
Use a Lead Generation Card to capture sign ups for
your newsletter.
October Tweets
October 2nd
#TBT – Tweet a photo of something or someone who
inspired you to start your business.
October 7th
Share a recipe from your restaurant or a tip on how to
use a featured product or service in a new way.
October 10th
Columbus Day is only a few days away. Tweet hints
about a special offer that entices followers to check back
in with your business.
October 13th
Columbus Day – Announce your special offer to get
followers excited about visiting your store or website.
Thanksgiving (Canada) – Tweet what your business is
thankful for and encourage followers to share their
thoughts.
October 15th
Share a motivational quote that aligns with your
business values.
October 16th
National Boss’s Day – Ask followers to share why they
have the best boss in the office.
October 24th
Give a shout out to a thought leader in your industry.
October 26th
Look back at the content developed by your business
this month and tweet out your favorite insight or tip.
October 30th
#TBT - Share a photo of your team or family dressed up
for last year’s Halloween.
October 31st
Tweet a photo of your team all dressed up for
Halloween then ask followers to vote for their favorite
costume.
7. BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 7
November Tweets
November 1st
Remind followers to adjust their clocks before they go to
sleep tonight.
November 4th
Election Day – Encourage your followers to vote while
offering a special promotion to reward them.
November 6th
Tweet a video of your employees decorating the office
for the holidays.
November 11th
Veterans Day – Take a moment to thank those who
served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Remembrance Day (Canada and Commonwealth
Nations) – Tweet to remember those who died in wars.
Note, Canada and Commonwealth Nations specifically
honor those who died in action on November 11th
(similar to Memorial Day in the U.S.)
November 12th
Curate a list of seasonal tips and Tweet them out
throughout the day.
November 17th
Ask followers which holiday products they want to see
more of this season.
November 20th
Countdown to your Black Friday promotions with a
sneak peek.
November 24th
Highlight your employee of the month and share why
your employees are the best.
November 27th
Thanksgiving - Tweet about what your business is
thankful for and share a festive photo.
November 28th
Black Friday – Stand out by sharing hourly offers to
entice followers to purchase.
November 29th
Small Business Saturday –Share how your business and
community are rallying customers to support #smallbiz.
December Tweets
December 1st
Cyber Monday – Get customers to purchase now by
hosting a Flock to Unlock offer that expires at midnight.
December 3rd
Tweet out a holiday card to your followers.
December 6th
Entice shoppers to take a break from the mall with a
discount on your professional service e.g. spa treatment,
consultation, etc.
December 9th
Post a photo of your office holiday party or gift
exchange.
December 11th
Share a quote and photo from your favorite holiday
movie and ask followers to share theirs.
December 15th
Retweet a positive customer review or testimonial.
December 16th
First night of Hanukkah - Tweet out gift ideas for each
night.
December 21st
Start of winter - Provide followers with tips for dealing
with the cold weather.
December 24th
Christmas Eve – Ask followers which family and friends
they are most excited to see this holiday season.
December 25th
Christmas – Share your favorite holiday carol and send
well wishes to your followers.
December 31st
New Year’s Eve – Give followers a preview of what your
business is hoping to achieve in the new year.
8. BACK TO SCHOOL KIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS 8
Get Hootsuite Certified Today
Now that you’re armed with these trends and tactics,
it’s time to earn recognized credentials to showcase
your expertise and help you get ahead. Since 2011, over
60,000 people have come to Hootsuite University for
training, education, and certification.
Hootsuite University allows you to advance your digital
skills and strategy, while demonstrating your expertise
as a social media professional. By getting Hootsuite
Certified, you’ll earn a professional certificate and a
public listing in the Hootsuite Certified Professionals
Directory.
‹‹Earn Hootsuite’s industry-recognized credential
‹‹Become a social media professional through video-based
courseware
‹‹Gain best practices and tactics from industry-leading
brands, platforms, and educators
Enroll in Hootsuite University Today