December is the Perfect Time to Increase Social Media Engagement!

We all know that December is the perfect time for warm clothes (for the Northern Hemisphere, at least), a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Latte, and holiday cheer. Did you know its also the perfect time to step up your social media to increase sales and get the word out about your business?

Whether you sell products that people might buy as gifts for the holidays, or even if you are in the food service industry, December is the ideal time to put some focus on your social media outlets. Why? If done correctly, not only will you likely see an increase in sales, but also in the number of “fans” or “followers” which could, in turn, positively affect sales throughout the year.

So, how can you use social media to your businesses advantage of the spending…oops we mean holiday…season?

1.     Pictures and Videos! December is the PERFECT time to post pictures and videos relating to your business and the holiday season (or even the cold weather).

a.     If you are a restaurant you could post pictures of your delicious soups or “comfort food” with a “would you LIKE” question

b.     A video is a great way to get the word out about your products and who they would make great gifts for this holiday season, particularly if you can throw in a creative twist to the video

2.     Cross-Promote Your Product! The holidays are a great time to partner with other businesses and organizations to promote each others products or services.

a.     A homebuilder could partner with furniture stores and show prospective buyers how easy it would be to move in and furnish your home before the holidays

b.     A restaurant could partner with an ice skating rink and invite ice skaters to come enjoy fantastic food before or after skating

c.      Create a video showcasing your recommendations for holiday products featuring both your products and other businesses products

3.     Feature Exclusive Social Media Specials! Post specials exclusive to social media on Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest.

a.     Make sure to encourage users to like/follow you when they redeem the special or coupon

                                               i.     One way is to promise great specials or coupons in the future to fans/followers

b.     Keep these specials or coupons exclusive to social media fans, this will encourage them to spread the word to others via social media.

As always, these are just a few tips to get you started. Remember that to develop a good social media strategy you need to be consistent so, while December is the ideal time to step up your social media, this doesn’t mean that after December you don’t have to continue to put work into your social media to see positive results.

Still have questions or would like to hear some more tips? Let us know in the comments section or contact us directly!

Also, feel free to let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

4 Tips for Effective Cover Photos!

Watch our video blog to learn four easy and effective tips for uploading and maintaining cover photos for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Pinterest and the NHL Social Media Fail

Pinterest is one of our favorite new(er) social media outlets that we love to recommend and set up for our clients, particularly those who rely heavily on images to sell their products. Yet, with the recent NHL “social media fail” (if you haven’t heard if it we will explain briefly momentarily) we want to remind users of the risks – and benefits – of using an open social media network like Pinterest.

If you are unfamiliar with Pinterest and how to use it, please see our post on Pinterest and Facebook here.

Pinterest, since its inception, has been a social media platform that encourages openness. You cannot edit or delete specific comments, the only option is to delete the entire pin and, if desired, re-pin it. Additionally, you cannot hide or choose who can see certain pins and pin boards. While we still love Pinterest, and actually like these features as it encourages people and businesses to be open and honest, it can backfire on a business (or person) if they aren’t careful. This was the case for the NHL last week.

The NHL who, as some may know, is currently in the middle of negotiations with players over a labor agreement that has resulted in a lockout, decided last week to create a Pinterest page. They advertised their new Pinterest page by posting this meme on Instagram:

This image elicited a torrent of negative responses both on Instagram and Pinterest such as “Keep calm and get the lockout over with!” and some so strongly opinionated that we can’t post their response on here.  This post on Instagram and their creation of a Pinterest account is now being labeled as the latest “social media fail.” Interestingly, as of the time of this post, the NHL still has, and is updating, their Pinterest page which is continuing to elicit some negative comments on their pins.

While the danger of creating a Pinterest account is that you do open yourself up to negative comments, we still believe the benefits of a having Pinterest account for your business far outweigh the potentially negative consequences.

Here are some quick tips to help avoid a “social media fail” for your businesses Pinterest account:

·      Timing is everything

o   Don’t create a Pinterest account (or any new social media account) when you are in the middle of publicized sensitive situation

·      Monitor your Pinterest account

o   We recommend you update and monitor your Pinterest account regularly for positive reasons (increases engagement, functions as an informal focus group); however, it is also good to keep up on what people are saying so you can respond/handle any negative responses.

·      Respond to any negative comments

o   Remember: social media is a new customer service platform, you need to respond to positive and negative comments as you would to a phone call.

While the NHL had a “social media fail” with their Pinterest account, by keeping the above in mind when creating and maintaining an account means you don’t have to have a negative experience! Pinterest is a great way to engage customers and has proven to increase sales for many businesses. Again, we encourage you to read our article on Pinterest and Facebook, found here.

Still have questions or would like to hear some more tips? Let us know in the comments section or contact us directly!

Also, feel free to let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

Building Your Core Facebook Fan Base

So you’ve just started a Facebook page for your business, or maybe you’ve been on Facebook for awhile, and you have a decent number of fans but very little engagement. What do you do? Well, firstly, know you aren’t alone. A new study by Napkin Labs (a Facebook app developer that works with brands and agencies) shows that on average only 6% of fans engage with brands. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up! Instead, read on to find out a few key tips for raising your brand’s Facebook engagement…

It’s important to mention, before delving into some tips, that the study by Napkin Labs (as well as several other studies conducted over the years) found that the more Facebook fans a page has, the lower the percentage of engaged fans. Therefore, instead of focusing on getting as many fans as possible, you want to attract and engage a core group of devoted fans (Napkin Labs aptly calls them “superfans”). If these core group of fans are effectively engaged – read on for our tips/tricks for this – your social reach will expand as their interaction with you is shared with their friends. Over time, this will build a Facebook fan base that is interested in your brand, but that wants to be actively engaged.

Our favorite analogy is that Facebook is not one of the places where being the “cool” kid with all of the friends/acquaintances necessarily gets your brand the valuable interaction - like generating sales or attracting new clients - that it needs.

Alright, on to the tips…

1.     Post brand relevant material, but not always just about your brand

a.     This doesn’t always have to be directly related to your product, remember, Facebook is not largely about push marketing. For example, a home builder could post recipes for cooking in your new kitchen.

b.     Be careful to keep posts relevant – if you are a cupcake store, don’t post about your favorite shoes (unless you can relate it back)!

2.     Use lots of pictures

a.     Pictures not only do well on Facebook’s algorithm, they also are more attractive to the eye than just text.

b.     Make sure that you have a short text blurb to go along with the picture

3.     If you want people to like or share your content, tell them

a.     The best way to get engagement is to ask for it; for example, “Would you LIKE to come home to this car in your driveway?” “Help us spread the word, share this post with all your friends!”

4.     Express your appreciation frequently

a.     Tell them how much you love them engaging and being your fans! Anything from “Happy Friday! We just wanted to take a moment to say how much we APPRECIATE you!” to featuring certain fans on your page (with their permission).

b.     Run a contest or promotion (following Facebook rules and US/State laws, of course) to increase engagement, garner some new likes, but mainly to reward your core group of fans.

5.     Encourage both employees and customers to follow you on Facebook

a.     These are people who are either already dedicated to your brand (employees and loyal customers) or are interested in getting to know your brand better (new customers). They are likely to be part of your core fan base.

b.     They can be encouraged either by directly telling them they should like your page on Facebook, or by placing a Facebook widget prominently on your website and/or putting up a sign in your store.

Still have questions or would like to here some more tips? Let us know in the comments section!

Also, let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Write an Effective Call to Action for Your Business!

In social media people often talk about generating more “likes” or “followers” or, now, “pinners.” However, having 200 or 2,000 people following your brand on social media doesn’t make much of a difference if those people are not engaging with you on social media and/or purchasing your product. 

An effective social media strategy will incorporate effective “Calls to Action” to engage both existing and new customers. What is a “Call to Action” (CTA) and how do I formulate an effective CTA for my business on social media? Read on to find out…

What is a “Call to Action”?

Simply put, a CTA not only informs users of what you would like them to do – ex: “watch our video on YouTube” or “vote for us in this contest” but it also makes them want to follow through on the recommended action.

CTA’s come in many forms, including, but not limited to:

·      Claiming a promotion/discount

·      Promoting the business on another social media platform (ex: a “Follow us on Pinterest” post on your Facebook account)

·      Sharing content with friends

·      Entering a contest

·      Liking or commenting on content

How to Effectively Use CTA’s

Depending on what action you are encouraging your users to take, the form of the CTA will change slightly; however, here are several key things to keep in mind when formulating a CTA:

1.     Make your purpose clear. For example, if you want them to share something, tell them “Share with all of your friends”.

a.     Being creative in how you state your purpose is always good as long as what you want them to do, your CTA, is still clear.

b.     If this is a discount/promotion offer make sure to convey a sense of urgency.

2.     Ask a question.  “We are on Pinterest. Have you started following us yet?” or “We love our new ice cream flavors. Which one is your favorite?”

a.     Studies have shown that engagement often increases when the question is posed at the end of the post; however, this is not an absolute rule.

3.     Include pictures and/or links. This is particularly true for Facebook, since pictures and links trump only text in the algorithm, but applies to Twitter as well.

a.     Unless your simply trying to get users to like or comment on a post, links are important in CTA’s. For example, if you are trying to tell someone to check out your YouTube video, you need to provide the link to that video.

b.     We live in a visual world, pictures are constantly proven to increase engagement when included in posts (as long as they are relevant and appropriate!).

4.     Be positive! You want to inspire and engage your users.

a.     Exclamation points are great, but use them in moderation (we have a maximum of 2 per post).

5.     Don’t get too wordy. You need to give some information alongside your specific CTA, but don’t write a novel.

a.     Twitter has a word limit, try and stay well under this so users can easily share your Tweet so that others can respond to your CTA.

b.     Facebook posts should provide some information alongside your CTA (ex: Watch our YouTube video about baby seals in the wild) but you don’t need to tell them everything.

Ready to write your own CTA? Here are some examples to get you started!

We have affordable vacation packages for every budget! Wouldn’t you LIKE to be relaxing on this beautiful beach? (picture of beach)

Calling all DIYers…we are now on Pinterest! Have you started following us yet? (link to Pinterest page)

Time is running out on our 20% off store-wide coupon! Click the link below to get yours today! (link to coupon)

Don’t miss your chance for FREE shipping on any purchase tonight until midnight! Order now and share with all of your friends! (link to website and/or picture of products)

Still have questions? Let us know in the comments section!

Also, let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

Which social media site should I use for my business?

At Constant Raving, we know how much work it takes to maintain social media sites for a business. We often get the question “I only have time in my day to think about maintaining one social media site, which is the most important for my business?” While we always recommend coming to us to help you formulate and execute a social media strategy, we recognize that for a variety of reasons that is not always possible. Therefore, we wanted to write a post providing some insight for those who aren’t sure which social media site is best for their business. For this post we have chosen the three major social media sites to focus on: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

First, we want to start by saying how, if you are unable to hire a social media management company (like us!) and cannot regularly post on several sites, it is better to have just one or two that you can maintain. Why? One site that is regularly updated is better for potential customers and looks more professional than having several that are sporadically or never updated. 

Now, how to choose…

Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are each fantastic for different reasons.  Below we have highlighted several aspects that makes each site stand out. Take a look and, when aligned with your businesses brand strategy and what you hope to achieve on social media (e.x. selling houses, building brand awareness, or tempting people with pictures of your delicious doughnuts), you should be able to find the social media site that’s right for you!

Twitter:

1.     Twitter is what’s happening right now

a.     Twitter is great for business that want to post up to the moment information, or post more frequently throughout the day

2.     Twitter forces you to deliver short, concise messages

a.     Although sometimes Twitter’s 140 character limit can seem frustrating, this is a great way to deliver concise messages that pack a punch

b.     Twitter allows you to go over this limit, but since all text over the 140 characters is not visible to followers we strongly recommend to stay within the character limit

3.     Twitter only employs an algorithm for trending topics

a.     What does this mean for your business? That, unlike Facebook, your followers will see updates in the order in which they were posted and not according to an algorithm that assigns importance by type of post

Facebook:

1.     Facebook is what’s happening today

a.     This is great for people who aren’t posting extremely time sensitive material or are unable to update frequently throughout the day

2.     Videos and Pictures Win in the Facebook algorithm

a.     The Facebook algorithm is set up so that Video takes precedence over Pictures, followed by Links, then Text

                                               i.     This means that followers are more likely to see the Pictures and Videos you post than the Links and Text

b.     This is great for businesses that want to post a variety of content, but largely post Pictures and Videos

3.     Facebook has a virtually unlimited character limit (63,206 characters) on posts

a.     While we don’t recommend getting too wordy (people have a shorter attention span these days), Facebook is great for those who don’t want to/can’t/don’t have time to make sure their posts are within Twitter’s character limit

Pinterest:

1.     Pinterest is all about the image

a.     Pinterest is great for brands that rely heavily on images to sell their products

                                               i.     Because you can link your Pins to whatever you choose, we always link back to the page that will sell the product

1.     E.x. A picture of a new home will link back to the webpage with the price and who to contact if interested

2.     Pins are seen in the order that they are Pinned

a.     Like Twitter, there is no algorithm applied to the order in which Pins appear on a users page, therefore the most recent Pins are front and center

                                               i.     This is great, but like Twitter means that you need to be updating (re-Pinning, liking, commenting) on a regular basis to be seen

3.     Pinterest is mostly used by women

a.     Even though we know several male Pinterest users, women still make up the majority of users

b.     This is great for businesses that largely sell to the female demographic

Can’t pick just one? Facebook and Twitter can be published simultaneously on platforms like HootSuite, and Pictures work well on Facebook and (of course) on Pinterest! As you can see from above, each social media site brings slightly different things to the table, and therefore one or two may be a better fit for your business.

We hope this post has been helpful! Please let us know what you think of this post, or what you would like to see addressed in future posts in the comments. If you have any further questions, or would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

Are You Effectively Using the "Admin Roles" on Your Business's Facebook Page?

Today, we wanted to address why and how you should use Administrator access on Facebook. This is an important topic for those of you who are new to social media for business, and a great reminder for those of you out there who are already fairly social media savvy!

What is an Administrator?

Administrators, found within the Admin Panel, are essentially those who you have chosen to grant access to your Facebook Page for your business. They only have access to your Facebook business page, they do not have access to your personal Facebook account. The administrators you choose can, depending on the access you grant them, add/delete posts, respond to/delete comments, send message, create ads, view insights, and edit the page. Administrators and the Admin Panel are functions only available to users who have set up a Facebook business pages.

Why is it Important to use the Admin Capability on Facebook?

1.     Administrators you add can help with the day to day maintenance of your page

a.     Note: Those you add as administrators must be people you trust and that work for your business since you are essentially giving them access to promote your brand and provide customer service.

2.     The admin panel now gives you options to decide the level of access each administrator has to your page (we’ll elaborate on this in a minute).

How do you Add Administrators?

As the creator of a Facebook Page you automatically have admin access. However, if you have others that you know and trust to contribute to your Facebook Page you can add them as administrators so they can contribute without having to log into your personal Facebook account.

Just follow these easy steps to add administrators:

1.     Go to your Facebook business page and click “Edit Page” in the top right corner

2.     Choose “Admin Roles” from the drop-down

3.     At the bottom of this page find the box that looks like this:

4.     Type in the persons name – use this if they are already on Facebook, their name should appear in a drop-down, select them. If they are not already on Facebook, type in their email.

5.     Choose what kind of permissions/access you’d like them to have by clicking manager and choosing the appropriate role – we will elaborate on the roles momentarily.

6.     If prompted to enter a password, enter your personal Facebook password.

What are the Differences Between the Admin Roles?

Facebook now offers 5 different roles to choose from – unlike before timeline, you can actually choose how much access you want each administrator to have. It’s important to remember that everyone is put in the Manager role by default.

The 5 roles you have to choose from are as follows:

1.     Manager

2.     Content Creator

3.     Moderator

4.     Advertiser

5.     Insights Analyst

Facebook has published this handy graph to display the different permissions each role is given:

 

When adding administrators to your page we recommend choosing the role you think the person would most fit into. If, as time goes by, you find they need more access, you can change their role by going to “Edit Page” à “Admin Roles” and choosing the new role in the drop-down under their name. You will be prompted to enter a password and, like when adding administrators, enter your own personal Facebook password.

In Conclusion…

At Constant Raving, we see people frequently under-utilizing the Admin Panel, or going to the opposite extreme and granting access to everyone in their business as a Manager. While this is a great function Facebook offers, and we encourage you to take advantage of it, we can not reiterate enough how extraordinarily important it is to only give access to those you know and trust within your business, and to make sure they only have the access they need to do their jobs!

We hope this post has been helpful! Please let us know what you think of this post, or what you would like to see addressed in future posts in the comments. And, as always, please contact us at Constant Raving with any questions.