ZC Social Media

22/09/2026

Is your business actually ready for AI? 👀

Episode 2 of ZC DragonCast is LIVE! 🎙️🐉

This week Roland Dragon Coworking and I are joined by Julie from Mcleish Consultancy and we’re talking about the side of AI that businesses perhaps aren't thinking about enough.

AI is becoming part of everyday business, but with that comes things like data, compliance, policies, cyber security and having the right systems in place.

Julie shares some brilliant examples of what she’s seeing inside businesses right now, including just how many people are putting confidential information into AI without realising the risks.

We also talk about the new AI ISO standard, how businesses can use AI safely and where that all-important human element still comes in.

And there was something else happening in this episode… 🍫👀

Julie and McLeish Consultancy are sponsoring our ZC LIVE Digilicious campaign this year, so she got the VERY FIRST look at the new chocolate bars!

The Golden Tickets are back too! 🎫✨

🎙️ Episode 2: Are Businesses Ready for AI?

Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLcuifcdUHM

Does your business have an AI policy yet?

16/09/2026

🍫 The ZC LIVE Digilicious bars are coming back NEXT WEEK!

Starting Monday, we’ll be heading out across Kent delivering our ZC LIVE Digilicious chocolate bars to businesses… and hidden amongst them will be a GOLDEN TICKET! 🎫

We had so much fun with this last year, so of course we had to bring it back for ZC LIVE 2026.

And this year, our Digilicious campaign is sponsored by Julie McLeish and McLeish Consultancy.

Julie and her team work with SMEs across areas including operational optimisation, health & safety, people strategy, organisational development and compliance, and they’ll also be exhibiting at ZC LIVE on 22nd October.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be popping into businesses across Kent with chocolate bars, and you’ll also spot them at some of the networking events we’re attending.

So… do you want a Digilicious delivery? 👀🍫

If you’re a Kent business and fancy a visit from us, comment below or send me a message and tell me where you are!

You never know… yours could be the GOLDEN TICKET bar. 👀✨

Let the Digilicious deliveries begin!

11/09/2026

Make your ZC LIVE experience even more valuable with a VIP Ticket. ✨

If you're looking to get even more from the day, our VIP Ticket has been designed with you in mind.

As a VIP, you'll receive:

✔️ Entry to ZC LIVE 2026
✔️ Lunch with the speakers and Zoe
✔️ A copy of the LinkedIn Visibility Planner
✔️ Three months' access to the ZC Social Media Academy
✔️ Access to the presentation slides after the event
✔️ Tea and coffee throughout the day

It's more than just a ticket. It's an opportunity to spend extra time networking, ask questions in a more relaxed setting and continue learning long after the event has finished.

VIP places are limited, so if you'd like to make the most of your ZC LIVE experience, we'd love to welcome you.

📅 Thursday 22nd October 2026
📍 Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel

🎟️ Find out more and book your VIP Ticket: http://www.zc.live.co.uk

10/09/2026

A huge thank you to iTrust for supporting ZC LIVE 2026! 💜

We're pleased to have iTrust on board as one of our event sponsors.

iTrust helps organisations create more engaged workplaces by giving employees a voice, providing valuable insights and helping businesses take action where it matters most.

Their platform makes it easier for organisations to listen to their people, encourage feedback and build a stronger workplace culture.

We're proud to have innovative businesses like iTrust supporting ZC LIVE and helping us bring together 400+ business owners, marketing professionals and entrepreneurs for a day of learning, networking and new ideas.

📅 Thursday 22nd October 2026
📍 Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel

If you haven't booked your place yet, we'd love to see you there.

🎟️ Book your ticket today: http://www.zc.live.co.uk

10/09/2026

Last night I was on BBC South East talking about deepfakes after a woman discovered her identity had been manipulated using AI.

It was scary to see just how easily someone’s identity could be used in this way, and it really got me thinking about what this could mean for businesses too.

We’re getting to a point where seeing someone on a video or hearing their voice doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually them.

Imagine seeing a video of a CEO saying something they never said, a fake endorsement using your face, a cloned voice pretending to be someone senior in your business, or even your face appearing in an advert you knew absolutely nothing about.

It sounds extreme, but this is the kind of thing businesses now need to be thinking about.

There are three things I’d be looking at:

1. Build a recognisable online presence

Keep showing up on the channels people know are yours. The more familiar people are with how you communicate, what you talk about and where you normally post, the more they have to compare something suspicious against.

2. Know what you’d do if someone was impersonated

If a fake video, account or advert appeared tomorrow involving you or someone in your business, would you know what to do? Who would report it and how would you communicate with your customers or community?

3. Don’t forget about personal brands

This isn’t only about protecting the company page. Founders, CEOs and employees can all become part of a business’s reputation online, so if someone’s identity is manipulated, it can affect how people see the business too.

I’ve spent years talking to businesses about building trust through social media, but I think we’re now entering another stage of that conversation.

How do we prove what’s real?

As AI-generated video, images and voices become more convincing, the reputation you’ve already built and the relationship you have with your audience could become more important than ever.

Here’s a little clip from my BBC South East interview last night where we talked about deepfakes and what can happen when someone’s identity is manipulated online.

10/09/2026

We did a thing… we started a podcast! 🎙️🐉

For years, Roland Stanley and I have talked about doing something together, and with ZC LIVE just over a month away, we finally thought… why not?

So welcome to ZC DragonCast!

A special four-part podcast series with me and Roland, founder of Dragon Coworking , our headline sponsor and a business that has supported ZC LIVE year after year.

In Episode 1, we talk about the road to ZC LIVE, building communities, running a small business, where AI is heading, ChatGPT vs Claude and why, despite everything AI can now do, the human element of business is still so important.

We have a few laughs along the way too! 😂

And we reveal who will be joining us on the next few episodes…

4 episodes. 2 hosts. 1 big event.

🎧 Episode 1: The Road to ZC LIVE Starts Here

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGS1QG-mU5s

And let us know in the comments… what's the one AI tool you're using most in your business right now?

http://www.zclive.co.uk🎙️ Welcome to the very first episode of ZC...

09/09/2026

If your monthly LinkedIn report starts and ends with likes and follower numbers, you could be missing the bigger picture.

For construction businesses, LinkedIn should be doing much more than generating engagement.

It should be helping you build your reputation, stay visible with decision-makers, support recruitment and generate future enquiries.

That's why we encourage clients to look beyond vanity metrics and focus on the data that actually supports their business goals.

In this carousel, we've shared the three LinkedIn metrics we think every construction business should be paying closer attention to.

If you'd like to dive deeper, you can read the full blog here: https://zcsocialmedia.com/construction-linkedin-metrics/

We would love to know... which LinkedIn metric does your business review most often?

08/09/2026

We're pleased to welcome HR Consulting Kent as one of our exhibitors at ZC LIVE 2026! 🎉

Your people are at the heart of your business, and having the right HR support can make all the difference.

If you're looking for advice on managing your team, navigating employment matters or strengthening your people strategy, be sure to visit the HR Consulting Kent stand on the day.

With 400+ attendees, 25 exhibitors and 10+ expert speakers, ZC LIVE is a fantastic opportunity to connect with businesses that can help you and your organisation grow.

📅 Thursday 22nd October 2026
📍 Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel

🎟️ Book your place today: http://www.zc.live.co.uk

We're looking forward to welcoming the HR Consulting Kent team to ZC LIVE!

02/09/2026

NEW METRICOOL FEATURE: Flows brings social media automation into Metricool.

Metricool en español has launched Flows, allowing businesses and personal brands to automate what happens when someone comments, sends a DM or interacts with their content.

ManyChat has been doing this for years, so the automation itself isn’t new.

What I find interesting is having publishing, analytics AND automation together in one place.

Here are three ways I can see it being used:

→ Turn your best content into leads

Share a guide, report, event, webinar or resource and people can comment to receive it directly through a DM.

It connects the engagement on your content much more closely to the action you want someone to take.

→ Use it within your campaigns

If you’re launching something, promoting an event or running a campaign, the automation can be planned into the campaign from the beginning.

→ See which content is actually driving action

We already measure reach, impressions and engagement. Flows adds another layer by showing which content is getting people to actually do something.

For me, that’s what makes Flows interesting.

It’s not that Metricool has invented social media automation. It’s being able to manage more of the journey from content → engagement → conversation → lead within the same platform.

I’ll be testing it over the next few weeks!

P.S. I’m also running a workshop inside my Growth Academy showing members how to set Flows up and different ways to use it. DM me GROWTH if you’d like the details.

08/08/2026

Can I ask you a really quick favour?

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Saturday!

I’m planning some new social media training and I want to make sure I’m creating things people actually need help with rather than me guessing!

I’ve put together a really quick survey, it should only take about 2 minutes.

Would you mind filling it in for me? I’d really appreciate it 💜

https://forms.gle/cdCcUS4sLWj2Kgjk9

I need 50 people to complete so please do share if you know any small businesses 🙏🏻

Thank you as always.
Zoe 💜

I’m working on some new content and training to help small business owners become more consistent on social media, build their visibility and turn their content into leads and opportunities. And I’d really love your input! Thank you for taking my quick two-minute anonymous survey. Your answers w...