Talk Digital

You asked us to record an episode about some of the obstacles and wins that we've had while working from home, so that's this week's episode. We chat about what's worked well and what we've done to overcome some of the issues during moving our day-to-day work to our homes. We look at tips to improve audio, video, internet and WiFi quality and speeds and also discuss some of the challenges we've faced that are caused by us, not just our technology.

When you create content for your business, you're generally looking to achieve a particular goal. Whether that's selling a product, providing your community with information, or talking about a business update. And yet, there are numerous times when we all fall into the trap of posting content that isn't applicable to our business - simply because we feel like we have to talk to our audience on a regular basis. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the ways in which we can all post...

Traditionally, Influencers are people who have built a public presence through a reputation in a particular industry. More recently, though, the term 'Influencer' has become more fluid. And more generally relates to anyone who has developed a presence on social media strong enough to (literally) influence their online community. In this episode, Amy and I chat about Influencers, what they are (get ready for two definitions!), and how they've changed the landscape of social media and...

This week we're joined once more by our very special guest, James Ibbitson from Visual Punch. Who answers the "age old" question: "how long should your video be?" Whether it's on social media, your website, or in an email marketing campaign. Understanding your audience, their attention span, & their receptiveness to content can be vital in helping you create effective video marketing campaigns for your business. In this episode, James, Amy and I chat about the ways in which we can all...

Trying to get your digital community to do something as simple as leave a review can be surprisingly difficult sometimes. Which is why it's so important to understand that you have the power to encourage, command, or suggest certain call to actions that your online community can take to help you and your brand grow. In this episode, Amy and I chat about the ways in which a business can utilise their online community by simply asking them for help.

When it comes to posting on social media, it's always important to remember that your content doesn't reach (isn't seen by) all of your followers. Due to algorithms (sets of rules) on each platform, your post might only find its way to as few as 3% of your overall community. Which is no good if you're trying to promote your business, product, or service! Luckily for us, there are ways in which we can make sure our content gets more exposure, and so reaches more of our customers. In this...

This week we're joined by a very special guest. James Ibbitson is the head of video at Visual Punch a full-service personalised video marketing agency and is certainly our go-to video specialist. We start off talking about landscape vs portrait for your video and we get into some of the other areas of & tips for video that James wants to share with you all.

It's important to remember that not all Facebook reactions are treated equally, different emotions are weighted both psychologically and when we measure how popular a piece of content is (and therefore who else to show it to). In a time when all businesses are trying to get as high of a reach as possible (getting content in front of more people), we look to engagement as a measurement of quality (amongst other things) to see how people are responding to your content. In this episode, Amy and...

A trend seems to be sweeping Facebook right now - or at least, it is through my notifications. Its basic premise is to encourage you to trade Page invites and while it has an apparent immediate boost, it ultimately carries some long-term problems and maybe even some penalties. In this week's episode, Amy and I talk about what this means for your Facebook Page, how you should be dealing with it and what issues you should be aware of.

Listener Michael James asks for us to chat about dealing with negative reviews after he gets one from someone he's never done business with, or has even heard of. We talk through a variety of options and techniques of what you can do to deal with this type, and all types, of negative review.

What are trolls? Why do they do what they do? How do you deal with them? All questions we get regularly so we sit and talk about them in this episode.

Amy - welcome to the studio, welcome to the show and welcome to the community.

That’s right, after a healthy hiatus and a number Tweets, emails and Facebook Messages from many of you, Talk Digital is returning to your digital airwaves. With a slight change to the format, I’m relaunching the series with new content, new topics and new guests. If you haven’t heard of the podcast before, Talk Digital is a weekly programme where I discuss a range of digital tools, techniques and platforms that will help you grow your business online. It launched in July of 2018 and ran for...

Have you ever taken the time to communicate with a brand and they've just ignored you? This is what I'm calling the deaf ear on social - brands that don't acknowledge your question, comment or concern. This isn't always a negative comment that you've made, I feel the same way if someone ignores me when I take a moment to recognise something positive - but it (ignoring people) has a lasting effect, and often and avoidably negative one. I have a chat with Nicola about her thoughts and we both...

Nicola wanted to talk about what motivates you - drives you and makes you do what you do. This is an essential part of your brand and therefore your marketing. It can sometimes be hard to drill down and articulate what that is, so Nic and I talk about what we love about our businesses - and, what we don't. What is it that makes you feel really excited about what you do? Is there anything that you don't?

What kind of mistakes do brands make? How do you deal with these types of errors - are there different levels of mistake? I'm chatting to Nic about what happens when brands mess up. We all make mistakes - so we're chatting about dealing with the little slip-ups and sharing some horror stories about brands that have got it really wrong!

Have you ever heard someone blame a tool for the behaviour of the user? I hear it all the time and I wanted to have a chat with Nicola about this - so this week we're talking about the "Hate the player not the game" mentality - we're chatting about where the blame actually lies for mistakes being made. For example, is Facebook at fault that you spend so much time on it? Is Instagram to blame for the #TroutPout? Are we in control of our own actions? Accountable for them? Nic and I get into it...

This week Nic and I are chatting about evergreen content - what it is, how you use, why you should care about it. It is (or at least, should be) an integral part of your online marketing strategy - it can save you time and ensures that your message is getting to more people and in an effective way. As always, you're welcome to join the conversation at talkdigital.chat where each episode has it's own conversation/comments section where we'd love you to get involved!

This week Nicola and I are chatting about the fear of the unknown. What stops people from clicking around, experimenting, exploring and seeing what's out there. Is it a fear of breaking 'it' - would we worry about this concern if we weren't talking about a digital topic? This came from the nature of questions we get as trainers that there's a lot about platforms that folks don't know about, so we started chatting about whether learning about that stuff is our job as trainers, or whether...

This week I'm talking to Nic about the etiquette of social media. What are you expected to do, what can you choose to do and what must you never ever do. Realistically, do you have to follow everyone who follows you on Twitter or Instagram? How are you going about starting genuine conversations without spamming. Do people really respond to to the hard sell? All this and more in this week's episode...