CA Social Media Consultancy

Well, that is it, the final awareness calendar of 2022. 😳

Anyone else counting down the days to Christmas? 🎄

September Awareness Days

I don't know about you, but the summer seemed to fly by, and I can't believe we are in September.

September is a busy month for small businesses, with the kids returning to school and Christmas approaching faster than we would like to admit. (100 days on the 16th of September🎄

September has some great awareness days; although I'm still not sure why we have Hot Cross Bun Day in September, I have tried to research with no joy, so if you know the answer, I would love to hear it.

Don't forget to save this post so you can use in your content this month or share it with a friend that you think will find this useful.

Have a great month 😀

☘️Happy St Patrick's Day ☘️

This is one of my favourite awareness days; I certainly had fun celebrating this day growing up in Ireland.

According to Irish folklore, Leprechauns are actually one reason you’re supposed to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day—or risk getting pinched! The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see.

March has some great awareness days, both inspiring and fun; check out my awareness day calendar if you need any inspiration. ☘️

Ooh, spring is in the air 🌱

The beginning of March is bursting with Awareness Days; I have a few favourites this month! Being Irish, I, of course, like 'sday, but for Brain Tumour Awareness is something close to my heart.

What about you? Do you have a favourite awareness day?

With today marking day, which is a day to use social for good.

I would like to share 5 tips you can do to support your favourite small businesses online.

✨Follow their social accounts
✨Comment on their posts
✨Like their posts
✨Save their content
✨Reshare their content

I am a big believer in supporting independent business owners; they are the reason I created this account 🙂

Do you have any small businesses you would like to share with us? If so, pop them in the comments below. 👇

Before you launch an Instagram business account, ask yourself why you’re doing it. Can you identify the audience you want to attract? Do you know the type of content your audience wants? Have you defined your goals? How will you measure success? If you don’t know the answers, maybe hold off until you do, do your research, and get your strategy in place before you start publishing.

Share your passions, ideas, and goals. Successful brands find clever ways to keep the focus on their audience’s passions without showing their products.

Create a plan and stick to it. Tell stories. Focus on what inspires you and your audience.

Hashtags are more than a way to categorize content. They’re a powerful tool to get your brand noticed in organic search and Instagram feeds to expand your audience.

How often you post is less important than consistency. There are algorithms that’ll track when your audience is consuming your content.

When you use a hashtag, you’re a member of that community. If someone leaves a comment, respond to them. A simple thank you goes a long way even just liking the comment or responding with an emoji acknowledges your follower.

You have defined business goals for each social media account, so focus on measuring the KPIs that help you reach those goals.

What has helped you achieve success on Social channels for your business?

Last year, Instagram launched Remix on Reels, a feature similar to TikTok Duets in that users could record a Reels video next to a video from another creator.

The platform has now expanded the feature beyond Reels to let users respond to any new public video on the app.

So in short you can remix any new public video that you see on Instagram.

Did you know this already?

Until now, everyone's Instagram grid has had to be ordered chronologically with the newest pictures at the top and older ones towards the bottom. App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi recently tweeted screen shots that appear to show Instagram testing a new feature that would allow us to rearrange our grid however we see fit, and as often as we like. I personally would love to see this change! Would you?

“How many hashtags should I use on Instagram?” It’s a question that’s created much debate on social media and one that I continuously ask myself.

Should I use the allotted 30? Are they even worth it anymore? Shall I use the same ones every time?

There has been endless research on this over the years and when it comes to average engagement rate, using 30 Instagram hashtags per feed post results in the most likes and comments.

Similar to the reach rate, the average engagement rate grows significantly as the number of hashtags increases beyond 5.

So when it comes to your hashtag strategy while using a few hashtags is good, using 20-30 relevant (and targeted) hashtags is even better for your overall reach and engagement rates.

How many hashtags do you tend to use on a post?

Are you struggling to put content together for your business? Not sure what, when, or how to get started?

If the answer is yes then you could benefit from a Power Hour with me.

A Power Hour includes a pre-session questionnaire to help me understand all the areas you would like to focus on

You will have a 1-hour coaching session either in person if local, or via zoom.

You will receive an e-mail summary to make ensure you get the most out of your session.

Popular power hours are hashtag strategy, content planning, or strategic advice

Get in touch for more details!

If you're a small business owner, managing your business's social media accounts is just one of the things you have to do. Make your life easier by using social media marketing tools to help create your posts. Here are 4 great tools that I like to use to make my life that little bit easier -

Canva is one of the best designing tools out there and it is free. No skills or experience are required and there are multiple templates and fonts to use in order to create your posts. There is also an app too.

Unsplash is a website where photographers can share their high-resolution photos for you to use for your post creations. It is super easy to use and you can find some fabulous photos on there.

Inshot is an all-in-one visual content editing app. It allows you to create videos, edit photos, and create image collages. It is free to use and has some paid options.

Creator Studio is fantastic for managing your page's content: Compose, schedule, and upload content in a convenient dashboard. You can get important updates, insights, streamline engagement, download free music and sounds as well as many other features.

Do you have any marketing tools that you cannot live without?

January Awareness days!

A few days late but we start with this week off with and . Did you know such a week existed?

On top of these we of course have and .

Is anyone doing Dry Jan or trying this year? I would love to know.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break. Now, 2022 is upon us it has got me thinking about what we might see from Instagram this year!

Instagram will be rolling out their native creator affiliate program -

This will provide a significant monetary incentive for influencers of all sizes to sell products on behalf of brands. Instagram is set to make more Creator Shops available to more users on the platform.

Video Formats will merge -

Instagram already merged IGTV into Feed Videos and I know they are currently testing other methods. So I think we will see a single feed that brings together videos, Reels, and Stories. Watch this space!

There will be a huge rise in brand personalities -

There will be a huge rise in brand personalities -Instagram is putting the “social” back in social media which means it’s time to let your personality shine through.

New and improved Engagement Features -

There is talk of engagement-driving stickers (such as the Question sticker) that will enter the Reels chat.

Additionally, that comment replies will become more engaging and interactive – with the ability to reply via a video or a voice note. The more engaging your content is, the better!

The way we shop will be creator-led -

In 2022, Instagram will be rolling out their native creator affiliate program more widely, which will provide a significant monetary incentive for influencers of all sizes to sell products on behalf of brands.

The Introduction of Chronological and Suggested Content Feeds -

There is talk of a new Home feed that has the option to move between a “Suggested For You” and a chronological “Following” feed. Tik Tok is already using this very successful format.

You will see Video Memes everywhere -

Video memes are just like static memes – something abstract, funny, or cute paired with a relatable sentiment – but in a more dynamic and engaging format.

“Video memes keep your audience on the post for longer, waiting for the next piece of relatability"

What new Instagram feature are you most excited about?

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

As last Christmas didn’t quite go to plan, I am so looking forward to spending some time with my family over the festive season.

Therefore I will be taking some time away from my social platforms from Saturday 18th December to 4th January.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, and let’s hope Instagram slow down with the new features in 2022!

The key ingredient for doing social media marketing well is having a strategy. Without one, you may be posting on social media platforms for the sake of posting. If you are not sure what your business goals are, who your target audience is, and what they want, it’ll be hard to achieve results on social media. It’s a good idea to keep it concise and make your goals achievable.

If you want to grow your brand through social media a social media strategy is essential, and it lets you know whether you are succeeding or not.

If you would like help with your business strategy for 2022 get in touch.

Join myself and Reels expert Socially Tracy live tomorrow where we will be sharing some Reels tips and tricks and will be answering any questions you might have! 😀

Are you directing customers to your website over the festive season? If the answer is yes, then it's a good idea to have the Facebook pixel installed.

The Facebook Pixel is an amazing piece of code that should be applied to your website if you considering running Facebook or Instagram Ads. Here are a few reasons why!

It helps you understand who has visited your website, which will allow you to retarget them with any future offers.

It helps you create an audience based on customers who have already visited your website.

It will help optimise your Ad campaign by constantly learning and understanding your ideal customers.

Even if you are not currently thinking about ads, it's a great idea to get it installed as it will start collecting data right away, saving you from starting from scratch when you are ready to create your first ad, and in turn, reduce your ad spend.

If you want to know more about the pixel then please get in touch!

When you are self-employed, or social media is part of your job, it can be very difficult to take a break when you need to.

Here are a few suggestions to help you over the Christmas period to get some downtime.

1/ It is a good idea to plan and have lots of posts ready to go so that you can schedule them to post throughout your time off. You can then load them all onto your content planning tool for them to post automatically for you.

2/ Arrange someone to look after your pages if you are away, whether it be someone else in your team or if you work alone there are lots of virtual tools, apps, or assistants that can help you. You could ask someone else within social media who you trust to manage your socials, and you could do the same for when they are out of the office?

3/ Make sure you give people/clients enough notice so they know when you are going to be away, and you can arrange anything you need to before you go, and it will not be rushed.

4/ Turn all your work social app, business app notifications off so you will not be tempted to look at them whilst away.

5/ If you want to post about your time off/holiday, save all of your photos and videos until you return; otherwise, you might be tempted to log back on before your time out is up.

Whilst it is difficult to switch off, it is very important for your mental health and will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to go again for 2022.

If you want to know more or need help planning, please do get in touch!

Can you believe this is the last awareness day calendar for 2021!! 😳

Since I have started my account, awareness days are definitely one of my most asked for resources.

Although this month is a little quieter for awareness days, they are mighty. I am a big supporter of Small Business Saturday on the 4th of December!

I would love to hear what your favourite awareness day is this month? 🎄

For a while I have had DM’s with people asking how they can work with me; therefore, I am excited to share my website with you all.

This was my first experience creating a website for my business and I could not have done it without the support from the amazing Fred and Penny at Flat White Websites.

Anyway here she is www.casocialmediaconsultancy.co.uk (link in my bio).

Hi everyone, 👋

It's been a little while since I said hello; I have been super busy behind the scenes with my lovely clients; I have also been busy continuing to grow my social media knowledge. So here is what I have been up to lately and why I have been a little quiet here.🙂

In June, I started the amazing Facebook & Instagram ads course as I wanted to have the skill set to offer my clients not only organic social media services but paid ads in the form of training or taking the pressure away and running campaigns for them.
This was an incredible eye opening 12-week journey that really showed me the impact paid ads can have even without a huge budget.

Is TikTok right for your business? If I'm honest, this was a platform I always steered away from assuming it was solely for Teenagers; however, after a 6-week course with the fabulous , I had my eyes opened to how incredibly beneficial this platform can be for product and service based businesses with the right strategy in place.

Updates: Instagram and Facebook have been busy over the last few months with new features and updates: Facebook have changed their holding name to Meta, they have introduced Auto Rooms, I suspect, to keep up with Clubhouse and much more.

Instagram announced that the platform was no longer just a photo app, and video is the next big thing; they have added some great new story stickers like the collab and link sticker.

I think it is an exciting time for social media, and I'm looking forward to sharing all these new features and updates with you all.

Stay tuned for more updates. 🙂

October Awareness Days!

Autumn has arrived, and here are some awareness days to add to your content calendar.

Lots of awareness days for the bakers amongst us. 🍰🍫

Have a great month, and don't forget to save and share with a friend who might find these useful! 🙂

Facebook & Instagram Ads!

I am so thrilled to add this badge to my collection.

I have been a little quiet over the last few months, not only because of the summer holidays with 3 little people to entertain, but I have been busy studying the minefield that is Facebook Ads.

Facebook & Instagram Ads are a powerful tool for businesses of any size, but if not created right, they risk wasting money.

I have so enjoyed this intensive 3 month course with and her incredibly supportive team.

It's been a fabulous journey, and I can't wait to put my new knowledge into action.

September Awareness Days!

Wow, I can't believe we are almost in September. September is a busy month for small businesses, with the kids going back to school and Christmas approaching faster than we would like to admit.

September has some great awareness days; although I'm not sure why we have Hot Cross Bun Day in September, I have tried to research with no joy, so if you know the answer, I would love to hear it.

Don't forget to save so you can use it in your content this month or share it with a friend you think will find this useful.

Have a great month 😀

I can't believe we are almost in August. So here are some awareness days to help inspire content creation.

I hope you are having a great summer?

Should your small business be on TikTok?

Trying to keep up with social media trends is a full time job!

To ensure I am keeping updated, I have been studying AGAIN with the amazing , learning all things TikTok and its benefits for small businesses.

I'm sure by now most of us have all heard of TikTok, and I completely raise my hand in saying that I thought it was all GenZ having a dance or a singalong.

However, the platform is now seeing a whole range of businesses successfully use the platform to create brand awareness and, in time, increase sales.

Here are a few stats you may find interesting:
42% of users are aged 30 - 49.
47% are Female- 53% male.
There are 3.7 million UK users; that's 1 in 4!!
In April TikTok had 2.6 billon downloads.

Here are a few things to consider if you think TikTok could work for your small business.
Is your target customer on there?
Are you already creating video content?
Are you trying to increase brand awareness?
Do you have time? It is recommended to create at least one video a day!

If you are unsure if TikTok is right for your business, send me a message, and we can arrange a free 15 min call to discuss.

Did you opt-in or out?

If you are an I phone user, you will be served a message a little like this before your next update. You may have seen it already?

It's a message giving you the option to be tracked or not!!

Are you confused about what it all means? If so, read on.

Naturally, I thought, NO, I don't want to be tracked! However, when I researched it a little more, I got a deeper understanding of what commercial tracking really means. This is my take on it.

It doesn't mean Apple is tracking your movements; it's asking permission for Apps and Websites to track your shopping and browsing activity to serve you advertisements.

I will keep this short and give you the highlights:

At the end of last year, Apple announced plans to increase their privacy rules and give customers a choice to be tracked by businesses.

Opting in will let Apps and Websites track your browsing and purchasing activity. They want to track this to try and show you ads they think you will be interested in.

However, don't be fooled into thinking if you Opt-out, you will not be served ads!
You will most certainly be served ads; however, they may not be relevant to you.

You can also see who is requesting permission. In the “Privacy” section of the Settings app, here you will also see a list of applications and make changes as you see fit.

A snippet of other updates: you can now open your phone with a facemask on and lots of new emojis.

Are you opting in or out?

It's all about visuals!

80% of what you communicate on social media is visual, especially true with regards to Facebook.

A great image will help stop people in their scroll. It is believed you only have 3 seconds to stop someone on their scroll; some even think the time frame is less.

If your audience doesn't stop scrolling, they will not see the post you have taken time to write and design.

Personally, I love this photo; it reminds me of my time working as a Holiday Rep in Spain (that's another story).

I can't wait to travel overseas again. What about you are you dreaming of holidays?