Updated January 2021

A chat hour is a pre-determined time on Twitter, where a group of people join in using a hashtag to have a conversation.

A fair few news ones have sprung up recently as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – so we have updated our blog to reflect this.

In our local area (Sussex) we now have

• #BrightonHour – Mondays 8.30-9.30pm
• #MidSussexHour – Wednesday 11:00-12:00pm
• #1066Hour for Hastings & Rother – Wednesday 11:00-12:00pm
• #SussexHour – Thursdays 10am – 11am
• #EBHour for Eastbourne & surrounding towns – Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm – hosted by us!
• #UCCHour for Uckfield – Fridays 11:00-12:00pm
• #FirstFridayVirtual – every First Friday of the month at 1:00pm

How to get involved in a chat hour

• Log in to Twitter and then go to your search bar top right of the screen and type in the name of the chat hour with the hashtag e.g. #EBHour
• You will then be taken to a view which has two options – View Top tweets, and latest. You need to select ‘Latest’ so you can see the conversation as it happens.
• If you intend to join in regularly you can save that search (top right of the screen)
• It’s a good idea to open a second browser screen and have that screen logged in for Twitter and select your notifications tab. This allows you to check if someone tweets you directly, so you can reply quickly without going away from the search screen.

It’s just businesses selling – right?

Wrong! Yes, businesses are the predominant group in some chat hours, but they are there to develop relationships – just as with any networking event offline. Charities and other organisations also join in as do individuals!

Chat hours give people a chance to get to know each other as people, share stories, a laugh, and other experiences as well as a little bit of promotion what they may be doing.

If you are new to Twitter, chat hours are a great way of getting to know people and build a network.

Top tip! Don’t forget to use the hashtag for the chat hour in your tweet!  And don’t forget if you begin a tweet with a Twitter account (the @…) this can reduce the visibility of your tweet.

The post Updated: Guide to local Chat Hours on Twitter appeared first on Ditzy Media.

A Chat Hour is a pre-determined time on Twitter, where a group of people join in using a hashtag to have a conversation.

Some chat hours are organised geographically, for example, in East Sussex we have:

• #BrightonHour Mondays 8.30-9.30pm
• #EBHour for Eastbourne on Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm
• #SussexHour Thursdays 8.30-9.30pm

Or there are sector or themed chat hours such as

• #smallbizhour
• #Charityhour
• #MotorHour

and so on.

Always worth checking the hashtags, to check the Chat Hour is still active and to make sure the Chat Hour is based in the UK as this may affect whether you join in or not.

How to get involved in a chat hour

• Log in to Twitter and then go to your search bar top right of the screen and type in the name of the chat hour with the hashtag e.g. #EBHour
• You will then be taken to a view which has two options – View Top tweets, and view all.
• You need to select View All or latest so you can see the conversation as it happens.
• If you intend to join in regularly you can save that search (top right of the screen – three dots)
• It’s a good idea to open a second browser screen and have that screen logged in for Twitter and select your notifications tab. This allows you to check if someone tweets you directly so you can reply quickly without going away from the search screen.
• Don’t feel you have to attend every week or stay the full hour – even a quick hello and brief chat can be beneficial.

It’s just businesses selling – right?

Wrong! Yes businesses are the predominant group in some chat hours, but they are there to develop relationships – just as with any networking event offline. Charities and other organisations also join in as do individuals!

Chat hours give people a chance to get to know each other as people, share stories, a laugh, and other experiences as well as a little bit of promotion what they may be doing.

If you are new to Twitter chat hours are a great way of getting to know people and build a network.

Top tip! Don’t forget the Chat Hour Hashtag in your tweets!

Twitter Accounts:

@EastbourneHour 

@SussexHourUk

@Brighton_Hour

The post Local Chat Hours – your guide on how to join in appeared first on Ditzy Media.

As a Social Media Marketing Consultancy, we have supported a number of events over our four years in business.  We have deliberately sought out opportunities to be involved in different types of events, so we could gain unique insights into what support Event Organisers needed with Social Media.

Wyntercon

Wyntercon was our first big event that we began doing Social Media for.  This family-centric Sci-Fi, Cosplay, and Alternative event has been going locally in Eastbourne since 2014.  This will be the fifth time we are running their social media from June through to the event on 22^nd& 23 September 2018.

Andy Kybett, Mr Wyntercon said “It is a pleasure to work with a social media hub, that keeps its finger on the pulse of current social media trends and knows how to get the best out of social media for our brand.  Their support empowers us to concentrate on other factors of our Charity and the fundraising event itself.”

Eastbourne Carnival

Since 2016 we have supported Eastbourne Carnival  – our local community carnival which takes place in May every year.

Carnival Patron Stephen Lloyd MP said: “Ditzy Media play a really important role in our Sunshine Carnival by helping get the message out via social media. An area their deserved reputation as being ‘highly accomplished’ fits the bill. Lovely people as well!”

Carnival Expo

Since 2017, we have been proud sponsors of Carnival Expo which is held at The Oval in London. Alongside Wyntercon, this is one of our bigger events, involving 50+ exhibitors, and entertainers, food stalls, and the Costume Mas Bands of our UK Carnivals, including Notting Hill.

Andrew, Organiser for Carnival Expo said “What can I say, amazing!! Needed help and expertise running my social media campaign for a niche sector, Carnival. Did her research and added value to my business. Looking forward to our continued work relationship.”

Net XP

New for 2018, we are sponsoring Net XP Chichester Expo.  This B2B event again involves us supporting the event organiser across a number of Platforms to help drive awareness and engagement for the event.

Each event is different and depending on the audience will require different approaches to ensure the event is advertised to the correct audiences.  Most Consumer facing events use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote their event, whilst a B2B show may also use LinkedIn.

Good Event Organisers will always use a Hashtag for their event, and publicise it, to ensure they can maximise engagement in the build up to the event, during and after.

If you are an Event Organiser and need help with maximising your Social Media for your events, contact us for an informal chat about your requirements.

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The post Events Organisers: We can help you! appeared first on Ditzy Media.

As a business owner, it can be tough to find the time to monitor your social media successes and failures on a regular basis.

You might be finding that your inbox is filling up with tips from Facebook, LinkedIn, or whatever other platforms you might use.

Don’t scream! It can be a little overwhelming to know where to start when it comes to taking in all of the advice available online.

The remedy is our Social Media Audit!  It is designed to take a detailed snapshot of your current use of social media and give you practical tips to improve your results.

So, what exactly is a social media audit and how will it benefit my business?

Social media audits are empowering. They allow you as the business owner to identify where you can make valuable improvements and inform a strong social media marketing strategy going forward.

Our audits are presented in a report which is detailed and thorough, and in plain English.

We are also on hand to discuss it in detail with you and your team after its completed if you have any questions.

Our audits cover:

• Expert insights –Creating valuable, thought provoking content is the fuel to the engine of your online marketing campaign.Receive expert feedback on your content can inform your marketing plan. Knowing your hashtags, for example, can help drive up engagement from your audience, which can ultimately convert into leads for your business.
• Competitor comparison –We look at how other businesses within your sector are using social media and we benchmark your business.
• Help you train your Social media savvy team –Our social media audit also provides you with valuable ‘best practice’ information that can be used to train your team.
• Know your growth – The information gathered from our social media audit can help to inform your monthly targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) going forward. We help you understand the best way of using insights and analytics to measure your work.

If you’re looking to improve your use of social media marketing – book your business in for a social media audit with us today!

The post Is your business harnessing the power of Social Media? appeared first on Ditzy Media.

Are you struggling to promote your business on social media? Read our top tips for promoting your brand online.

How to make your social media marketing more engaging.

Communication

Social media is an incredibly powerful communication tool with Facebook amassing 1.40 Billion daily active users.

Increasingly, customers are using social media to contact businesses either via Facebook Pages, Twitter or interacting on Instagram.

Communication is a two-way street, posting is all well and good, especially if it’s reaching a lot of people, but not monitoring engagement will make your potential customers feel ignored and undervalued.

Be human! Don’t be afraid to spark up a conversation with your customers – it will contribute greatly towards your reach and engagement.

Building relationships

Social Media provides us with a unique opportunity to grow our networks.

As well as raising our profile with potential customers, we can strike up a rapport with other local business owners, local charities and our wider community at large.

There will be Networking groups on Facebook & LinkedIn, and Twitter chat hours relevant to your industry or community.   See our Blog on Twitter Chat Hours

Online networking helps establish relationships with your local business community and your potential customers.

Social listening

What better way to understand what your customer wants then by actually listening to and learning from what they are interested in.

Spending time researching what your customers and others in your industry are talking about by looking at trends, hashtag conversations and industry content – along with people’s reactions – can be agreat way of inspiring new content for your business.

Putting the social in social media

The key word here is ‘social’, don’t forget that social media is largely about actually being sociable.

When you’re in a room full of people, a networking event, for example, the person with the booming voice giving the hard sell to anyone that makes eye contact quickly becomes irritating and overbearing.

Sometimes it’s just nice to have a conversation, and it’s the same on social media. It’s okay to share funny stories, staff outings, interest in upcoming events.

• Again, Chat hours on Twitter e.g. #SussexHour can be a great way of engaging with your wider community and building relationships through Social Media.

Use images

Images will help bring your content to life, and help you stand out.  They are vital to any social media post.

• Use landscape images! Portrait images do not work well on social
• If you need to source images – make sure they are copyright free or use a resource like iStock.
• Don’t push content from Instagram or Facebook to Twitter as your images will not be seen on Twitter – a lost opportunity.

Video is King

In light of the recent change to the Facebook algorithm, Video is more important than ever before.

• Be aware of what the requirements are for each platform e.g. no more than 60 seconds for Instagram
• Facebook Live is great for engagement – how can you use it in your business?

Have a strategy

As many of us know, if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

A social media strategy is crucial for scheduling relevant and engaging content.

Using Google alerts or doing hashtag research can help you keep on track of the topics that are relevant to your industry.

There are also events calendars and Twitter hashtag calendars that can be found via search engines to help keep on top of your industry trends.

Be consistent

Brand consistency is crucial, it provides our audience and potential customers with a good impression of your business.

Ensuring that your brand message is consistent, your posting is regular, and your content is well constructed.

Share the love

Share content from your key business partners, your community, suppliers, and partners that is in keeping with your brand values.

This is a great way of supporting the things you are passionate about as a business – and also, is a great way of curating content and making sure you are not just talking about you or your business.

Facebook Advertising

Facebook Advertising offers a wealth of targeting and retargeting options.

Using the Ads Manager to construct your Ads Campaigns will give you the opportunity to be very planned in your approach.  Focus on

• Your campaign objective
• Who your audience is
• What you total spend will be
• How the advert is presented
  • Clear headline
  • Succinct text
  • Call to action
  • Web link to take your customer to the next step in their journey
  • Visuals or video.

Test different audiences and objectives, and measure before splashing out lots of money on a campaign.

Don’t be afraid of using social media to market your business, use our top ten tips and get your business out there.

Remember, be social, demonstrate the value of your brand, and create content which will engage your audience.

Need help with your Social Media?  Get in touch with us!

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The post Social Media Top Tips 2018 appeared first on Ditzy Media.

A chat hour is a pre-determined time on Twitter, where a group of people join in using a hashtag to have a conversation.

Some chat hours are organised geographically, for example, in East Sussex we have:

• #BrightonHour Mondays 8.30-9.30pm
• #LewesHour Tuesdays 8.30-9.30pm
• #EBHour for Eastbourne on Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm
• #SussexHour Thursdays 8.30-9.30pm
• #1066Hour Fridays 12-1pm

Or there are sector or themed chat hours such as

• #smallbizhour
• #Charityhour
• #MotorHour

and so on.

Always worth checking the hashtags, to check the Chat Hour is active and to make sure the  Chat Hour is based in the UK as this may affect whether you join in or not.

How to get involved in a chat hour

• Log in to Twitter and then go to your search bar top right of the screen and type in the name of the chat hour with the hashtag e.g. #SussexHour
• You will then be taken to a view which has two options – View Top tweets, and view all. You need to select View All or latest so you can see the conversation as it happens.
• If you intend to join in regularly you can save that search (top right of the screen – three dots)
• It’s a good idea to open a second browser screen and have that screen logged in for Twitter and select your notifications tab. This allows you to check if someone tweets you directly so you can reply quickly without going away from the search screen.
• Don’t schedule content and then not be present – this is considered rude.
• Don’t fee you have to attend every week or stay the full hour – even a quick hello and brief chat can be beneficial.

It’s just businesses selling – right?

Wrong! Yes businesses are the predominant group in some chat hours, but they are there to develop relationships – just as with any networking event offline. Charities and other organisations also join in as do individuals!

Chat hours give people a chance to get to know each other as people, share stories, a laugh, and other experiences as well as a little bit of promotion what they may be doing.

If you are new to Twitter chat hours are a great way of getting to know people and build a network.

Top tip! Don’t forget your Hashtag, and don’t forget if you begin a tweet with a Twitter account (the @…) this can reduce the visibility of your tweet.

Follow @hashtag_hour and @ChatSalad to get tweets about when Chat Hours start.

Twitter Accounts:

@SussexHourUk

@1066Hour

@EastbourneHour

@LewesHour

@Brighton_Hour

The post Guide to local Chat Hours on Twitter: Updated appeared first on Ditzy Media.

Staycations are back high on the list of buzz phrases for 2016 post Brexit.  The weakened pound has meant a lot of Britons are choosing the UK over going abroad.  The media are full of the best UK hotspots, places to stay, eat and enjoy the best that the UK has to offer.

Being situated on the Sussex Coast, our economy benefits greatly from our reputation as the Sunshine Coast.  April to September sees an influx of visitors from colder parts of the country own to enjoy our beautiful coast line and the great array of events for visitors and locals to enjoy.

How Social Media can help your business stand out online

If you are using social media to market your business, here are some top tips to ensure you make the most of the Staycation market.

1. Check out what other businesses are doing on social

You can use social media to see what other establishments are doing on social to attract and engage customers.  Keyword searches on Facebook and Twitter can help you such as ‘Hotels’ ‘Eastbourne’ can help you see what others are talking about.

2. Target your customers

On Facebook this invariably means paid for advertising.  If you know who your customer is i.e. age, gender, location and interests – a little bit of money on boosting posts can go a long way!

For Twitter & Instagram use hashtags in your posts to make sure your posts are seen e.g. #Eastbourne #Sussex – so people looking for conversations on twitter or posts on Instagram will see your content.

3. Use visuals and / or video

We live in a spectacularly gorgeous place.  A quick jump to the seafront on a sunny day to snap a photo for Social will go a long way, reinforcing why people should visit your town, and ultimately your hotel, restaurant etc.

4. Don’t forget to be social with locals

Your customers may come from afar, but your biggest brand ambassadors are on your doorstep.  Connecting with your local community on and offline will help you greatly in growing your online social profile and can lead to valuable relationships, which should lead to business in quieter times.

For more advice on making the most of social media for your business, get in touch!

The post The rise of the Staycation and how to make the most of this for your destination business in Sussex appeared first on Ditzy Media.

Mas Player crossing the stage at Trinidad Carnival 2014  Photo courtesy of Marcus O’Brien

Carnival is a worldwide year long business moving from country to country throughout the year.  In the UK our Carnival season is about to get underway, with fantastic events throughout the summer months in various UK cities – with the massive London Notting Hill Carnival taking place on bank holiday weekend in August.

Carnival in the UK is changing and evolving in terms of organisation and the road experience.  Each year there are more fetes, boat trips, Carnival Expo’s and other related events as well as the main events which provide a thrilling build up for all involved.

Bands are offering packages similar to how bands are organised in Trinidad and other carnivals overseas.  Key players in carnival are on a year long rotation of countries and events.

Social media is key in bringing this world together and for this reason there are many benefits to businesses promoting their events, bands, costumes, fetes as well as for the DJs and artists.  So which platforms will get you noticed?

Facebook

With the largest and most diverse online audience, Facebook is still a key player in online promotion.  Starting a Facebook Page and making sure you have set it up correctly with the right audience selected is important.

In terms of getting page likes, most people start with their friends first, and then join groups to promote their page organically.  The last and most beneficial option is paid for advertising.  In my experience, boosting page posts and creating audiences you want to reach is your best value and most effective option.  You can target your customers and the spend is reasonable.

Tip: You need to post relatively frequently and make your content engaging to ensure your audience continue to see your posts.

Twitter

My favourite network and very active across the Caribbean, UK and Carnival community generally.  Twitter works on Hashtags so you need to make sure your tweet has a good visual, web links to where you want to take your customer, tagging any relevant accounts and finally hashtag your key words to make sure your tweets get seen.

Tip: Follow key accounts associated with Carnival and Soca so you can build relationships with others, find key information which you can then share with your network and grow a valuable network for your business. 

Instagram

Instagram has always been popular with the carnival scene across the world.  Just like Twitter, you need to know your hashtags to get your posts seen.  You can use up to 30 hashtags and it is worth taking the time to find the hashtags that will be most effective for you.

Tip: You can download an app ‘Grama’ to help you with hashtag research but the best way is to type your hashtag into the search e.g. #Soca and see the associated tags and traffic against them. 

Promoting Carnival events? Create your own hashtag!

Promote your hashtag and encourage your customers, acts and all concerned to use it.  Research your hashtag before you use it to see if others are using it.

Your hashtag can bring a community of people together around your event on Instagram and Twitter.

Carnival is a visual feast so make the most of all photo and video opportunities to tell your businesses story.

Final bit of advice… don’t link facebook to twitter, and Instagram to facebook and twitter!  Why?  Your content will not display properly across the platforms, so if your message is important, your customers may miss it!

For information on the build up to carnival see: http://www.uksocascene.com

The post Are you in the business of Carnival? How Social Media can help you raise your profile appeared first on Ditzy Media.

Of all the social networks, Twitter is probably the one that most people are nervous about starting. For me, it is my favourite of the social networks.

Whether you are on Twitter or not, you hear about it everyday whether watching a TV program “Share your views with us on Twitter” or because something someone has tweeted has been picked up by the media and caused a bit of a stir, notably by Celebs, Politicians and other high vis people.

So it’s not surprising that people are initially wary of Twitter.

My big bit of advice in getting started is: it’s ok to jump on twitter and not say anything initially. A high number of users in the UK read only. Let’s take a look at why.

You choose who to follow based on your subject interests.

Just like we would buy a newspaper or magazine that most matches our views beliefs and interests, Twitter enables you to follow the things that matter to you.

Whether you are passionate about politics, sport, a TV program or celeb or just want to find out what’s going on in your community – Twitter gives you the power to follow what you want ensuring a high quality user experience which you control.

When you first start Twitter, you will be offered a selection of popular twitter accounts to follow. These are good in giving you an initial idea of how twitter works.  When you chose to follow an account, their tweets will start to populate your ‘Home” tab.

#Toptip: use the search bar at the top of the screen to insert keywords and filter through content to find tweets relating to that content e.g. #Fashion or #Eastbourne

From here you are likely to find accounts that you want to follow. If you are keen on gardening you may want to follow @The_RHS or @GardenNewsMag

If you are following a program like BBC Question Time and just want to see what others are saying – insert the hashtag #bbcqt while the program is live and all tweets relating to that program will stream live as they are posted.

Hashtags enable you to search for tweets relating to a subject if the hash tagged word is in the tweet.

If you were writing a tweet wishing to reach people that are interested in gardening in Eastbourne you would hashtag #gardening & #Eastbourne so your tweet comes up in a search.

Organise your interests into Twitter lists

If you have a number of different interests you may want to start lists early on to manage the content that comes in to you.

You can add or remove twitter accounts from lists by using the cog icon in the twitter profile. You then create the list and give it a name e.g. Gardening or Food.

From there you can organise the people or organisations you want to add to those subject lists ensuring you can have a quick fix of your interest when you want, without trawling through the main “Home” feed which will include everyone you follow.

Going to start using Twitter for business?

Then my advice is get used to Twitter as a user first. Create a ‘personal’ account, which is just for you to get used to how twitter works.

A business profile can then be created to enable you to represent your brand and grow your tribe on twitter.

I offer practical workshops on Twitter for businesses, please see: http://ditzymedia.com/social-media-training-courses/

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