With only a few weeks left for you to tweak your Timeline, before the 30th March when Timeline goes live, check your Page  and the new rules that Facebook have introduced.

You can preview your design and fix any potential problems. During this time only you as the administrator can see how your page will look when it is automatically rolled out at the end of March.  Facebook have  introduced Timeline cover rules which you need to read and adhere to so your Page doesn’t get removed for violation of the rules.  Updates have changed together with new features on the admin panel.  Until the end of March you can work on your design while running the Pages in the old style and if/when you are satisfied you can then publish.

By previewing your present page design in Timeline you can check how status updates and other activity will look in the new layout.

It’s obvious from all of these restrictions that Facebook are keeping the marketing off the Timeline cover.

So what can you do?
For some businesses it will be an ideal extension to their portfolio. Photographers, designers and other ‘visual’ businesses will find it easy but for others it may be a little more difficult to represent your brand.  Check out some of the brands that already have their Timelines and see what they have used and if yours doesn’t look good, change it!
Mari Smith
Owen Phillips
Jesse Stay
Nigel Botterill
Herbal Essences
Flickchart
Lifehacker

For help with social media contact us by email, or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

It’s good to have a healthy twitter feed and if you use some of the following tips you could have re-tweets galore too.

When composing your tweet always allow enough space for your name @ sign and RT. By leaving 20 characters available people can RT your post without spending time removing characters and shortening your post. If people just have to press the RT button it saves them time and you are more likely to get RT’d. Time spent by you making your tweets shorter is time well spent.

Be consistent with your tweets. Your followers will know what to expect from your content both in content and delivery. Provide content that provides value to a wide audience, questions, breakthroughs in your industry, general breaking news, compelling thoughts and quotes, humourous items and links to interesting content. Do not persistently ask for RTs and similarly choose your RT so it has value for your followers. RT in moderation not indiscriminately.

Check out the list of the most re-tweeted people on Twitter  What information are they supplying and how? Develop a strong brand and earn the RT by providing value to your followers. With lists in mind, get yourself listed. The list option in Twitter keeps people you want to hear from in the forefront and can increase your rates of RT. Lists can be as important in the RT as your number of followers. They are a good measure of the value of the content you will find.

Tweet grader pop in your Twitter name and check your ratings. It’s a handy way of checking that you have everything you need on your profile as it provides an instant grade and report. Just enter your twitter username (password not needed) How they grade your feed.
You can also check out the list of top users on twitter.

If you need more help with Twitter email us, or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Guest post by Tamsin Fox-Davies, Enthuse marketing.

When creating new products and services in my business, I don’t want to go just on anecdotal evidence. I want to put together some real stats from genuine entrepreneurs to know that there is a need and a market for what I would like to offer..So that’s why I use online surveys to gather feedback and avoid costly mistakes.

I’ll show you how you can put surveys of your own together below.You can use surveys for all sorts of things:
·    Post project/order feedback
·    ‘Taking the temperature’ of your market
·    Defining your pricing
·    Staff satisfaction
·    Getting information on your market for articles and press releases
·    Finding out what your customers are specifically looking for in terms of features or services
·    …And lots more.

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