Hello all,
Blimey - it's good to be back!
How things have changed on here! I used to love the Discussion forums and slowly weaned myself off Training Zone when "Any Answers" appeared. Much prefer the banter and posts in this format.
Anyhow, while I've been away, I've been growing my training business. Part of this has been utilising Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to market what I do. I find Facebook REALLY hard work and I can't directly link any tangible work that's come my way to the site.
I've stuck with it because, with colleagues, we deliver Social Media training to folk setting up in business, so, I like to keep my "hand in" on what's happening. However, if I closed my business profile down tomorrow, I don't think the bottom would crash out of my world.
I'm intrigued to know, do you other Trainers and L&D professionals use Facebook to market what you do? If so, what "success" have you had and can you inspire me with any innovative ideas for content?
Cheers,
Ade.
9 Responses
Hi Ade, just FYI, I’m an
Hi Ade, just FYI, I’m an internal L & D person so not marketing a business but I can offer an opinion why Facebook doesn’t fly and that’s because it doesn’t appear to be searchable. I tried typing in develop-meant and all sorts of references came up; linked-in, twitter etc up but no facebook ones. I then typed in training consultants in Market Drayton and all sorts of references came up as above but no facebook ones. I think this is the problem with facebook.
Hi Clive,
Hi Clive,
Thanks for the response. I see where you’re coming from, I’ve never thought about it like that. Funnily enough, I was thinking of changing my Facebook Page name. As a bit of fun, I got my company mascot, Darwin the Monkey, to “run” the Page, so, it’s named after him. This COULD be the reason the site isn’t searchable. I’ll take a look into it.
Us training bods don’t really have anything “visual” to put on show, apart from the odd few pics of us stood at the front of a room doing our thing! I’ve always assumed business Facebook Pages are more for creative people who can demonstrate their wares?
We’re thinking about putting on some video testimonials from “happy campers” who’ve attended various training courses. Any other ideas?
Ade.
Glad to have you back Adrian
Glad to have you back Adrian – and I’m pleased you like the new look Discuss area!
For marketing & self promotion, I’d agree with Clive that Facebook is an uphill struggle; the search function is very limited and any posts from groups & company pages get very low views unless you pay to promote them, which still doesn’t guarantee much.
I’d recommend Twitter & LinkedIn – the former is great for finding relevant content and audience; just make sure you’re using hashtags (#learning #skills #development etc) to make anything you post as easy to find as you can – also include pictures as these always grab people’s attention!
LinkedIn is great not only for networking, but the ability to join and post in groups as well as writing blogs means you can also get yourself in front of the right people much more easily than on Facebook.
I’ve shared your question on the TrainingZone Twitter page to see what our community have to suggest. Good luck!
Thanks Shonette,
Thanks Shonette,
Great to be back! Thanks for the tips. Twitter and Linkedin have worked really well for us. The “drip-drip-little-and-often” approach has reaped rewards. You’re right about the hashtags and, recently, I’ve been trying to put on some eye-catching images, relevant to what I’m posting, so I don’t get lost in the crowd.
Thanks for the “Share”. I look forward to other comments and ideas.
Ade.
Hi Ade, testimonials are good
Hi Ade, testimonials are good – you could develop a youtube channel and produce videos and link to your facebook page. I like what the guys from the Art of being Brilliant and Paul the SUMO guy. They produce short videos on different themes that they cover within their ‘live’ offeri ng but are small golden nuggets of advice that are 30 seconds -2minutes long. They are really charasmatic too and it really helps to sell their business. You could start posting small videos with some of the key learning points you cover as a hook to get people interested. Video, like garlic bread, is the future.
Excellent idea, Clive!
Excellent idea, Clive!
I’m currently re-reading SUMO and I’ve spotted some of Paul’s videos on YouTube. I’ll put that idea forward to my colleagues when I see them next.
Ade.
Quite simpley at the present,
Quite simpley at the present, many corporate IT firms block FB from employees. so to access clients (if b2b) you need to be in a place that they can use at work
Thanks Mike.
Good point,
Ade.
Thanks Mike.
Good point,
Ade.
Hi Adrian,
Hi Adrian,
Thanks for sharing this topic. My opinion about marketing & self promotion in facebook is that it is very limited. Whereas linked in and twitter are more relevant than facebook. Number of views and network connections are more in twitter or linkedIn than facebook.