Facebook is an extremely powerful tool that can help your business grow by expanding your customer base, boosting your reputation and developing brand awareness. Setting up a Facebook business page is too easy a task to pass up, so let’s get started!
Step 1: Create a Business Page
If you do not already have your business page created, head over here and click “Create a Page.” A business page is different than a personal page, though your two pages will be connected. That being said, you will also need to have a personal page in order to continue creating your business page. This business page will be attached to your personal profile on the backend, so it will ask you to log in to your personal account before continuing.
Next, choose your business’s category. If you own a sandwich shop, you would select “Local Business or Place,” but if you were to create a page for a marketing agency, you would select “Company, Organization or Institution.”
Step 2: Add Imagery
Add your profile picture and cover photo. These pictures should be of good quality, so be sure they are clear and representative of your business. While you may find beautiful, artistic imagery, if it does not represent your business, it is not a good idea to make it a profile picture. Profile pictures can include company logos, company products, the company name and more.
[bctt tweet=”Adding a #calltoaction button on your FB page is an easy way to boost business. #smm” username=”rallioHQ”]
Step 3: Add a Call to Action Button
Adding this call to action button on your Facebook page is an easy way to direct customers to your business, increase revenue and grow your customer base. Link this button to coupons, appointment bookings, games or your website. For example, businesses such as salons, cosmetic dentistry or pottery painting may add a button to book appointments, whereas a coffee shop or a store may add a button for a coupon.
Step 4: Edit Your Page Information
It is important to have correct information about your business on the page, including store hours, services, menu items and your location. You may also create a username to make it easier for happy customers to tag your business page in one of their posts! The more time you take to fill out the page information, the better your business page will be at attracting and retaining customers.
Step 5: Promote Your Business
By clicking “Promote,” you can choose how you wish to attract new customers. You can set up an ongoing promotion or promote your business locally. If you choose to promote your business locally, you can choose a specific area to target for your promotion. If you are enjoying the publicity you are gaining from your business page, you may want to promote your page!
Setting up your business page is just the first step in making a splash on Facebook. The real work begins once you start creating offers, engaging with followers and creating a trustworthy brand. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your analytics, continually test different strategies to see what works best for you, and always work to build and maintain a positive reputation.
To learn more about growing your following, see our post here about reaching more people on Facebook, as well as this post about improving your offers for better results.
Have you grown your following after setting up a Facebook page for your business or brand? Let us know in the comments how you did it, and we may feature you in an upcoming post.
When you’re building a brand, one of your first orders of business is getting your message in front of the right audience. From social media to word of mouth, you have so many tools at your disposal to accomplish this task, so where do you begin?
To answer this question, I wanted to share some insights from life coach, speaker and author Gabrielle Bernstein, who has built her business around sharing authentic messages. In following Bernstein’s work, I’ve learned that she focuses on serving her audience from a place of sharing, not pushing, a philosophy that every business would do well to adopt while creating a publicity plan. Here are five lessons you can learn from her.
Lesson #1: You Don’t Need to Be a PR Expert
Before creating her coaching business, Bernstein owned a public relations firm. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, of course she’s great at getting publicity then,” consider this: She was completely self-taught. Bernstein didn’t get a degree in public relations; she trained herself. She then leveraged the PR skills she learned to build the business she has today.
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of publicizing your business, take a deep breath. Start writing down the reasons you got started and the mission you have in sharing your products or services. Come from a place of helping others rather than serving yourself. What problem does your product or service solve? Start there.
This process will help you to clarify the message you want to share with your audience. Once you connect with the big-picture intention behind your brand, it’ll become easier to be your own publicist. Your message will be authentic, clear and well-received because it’ll come from your heart. You are the best one to share this message because you deeply care about it!
[bctt tweet=”#smm tip: Come from a place of helping others rather than serving yourself. #socialmediatips” username=”rallioHQ”]
Lesson #2: You Have a Message, So Share It
Bernstein frequently talks about being “unapologetic” about your message and putting your work out into the world. Remember, you are coming from a placing of sharing something exciting, not a place of selling or manipulating. The people who need to hear your message will be excited to hear it, so don’t keep it to yourself!
As she imagined her business, Bernstein thought about (actually, she meditated about) what her typical audience member looked like. She determined this person is a young woman living in the city with a salaried job who likely struggles with relationships and self-image. (It gets even more granular than that, but we’ll stop there to keep things simple.)
Once she had that person in mind, Bernstein was able to identify how her work could help this person and start sharing her message freely and unapologetically. Instead of trying to push her message or manipulate her audience into feeling a certain way, she could simply share the intention behind the work she was doing. She believed so powerfully in her message that she was able to share it without feeling salesy.
Lesson #3: Look for Your Audience in Unexpected Places
Having that clear picture of your audience like Bernstein did helps you discover where those people are spending their time. And she didn’t limit herself to thinking her audience only would be looking to health- and wellness-related resources.
In truth, Bernstein conceded, they were probably reading glossy fashion magazines and blogs about cutting their hair. Through the course of her group coaching sessions and social situations, she shared her desire to reach that audience. And within a month of beginning that conversation, she received an email from a client who, to her surprise, worked at Elle magazine. The client had pitched Bernstein to her team, and the magazine wanted to do a six-page feature on her.
Because she was willing to think “without a box,” as she puts it, Bernstein was able to take her message to those places where her audience was actually consuming media, even if glossy fashion magazines weren’t her initial target. As a result, Bernstein achieved some her greatest media placements early on, including regular spots on the Today show and sitting alongside Oprah.
[bctt tweet=”If you have a powerful message, you must become unapologetic about sharing it with the world. – @GabbyBernstein” username=”rallioHQ”]
Lesson #4: You Don’t Have to Master Every Form of Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat … so many social media platforms, so little time, right?
I would say it’s important to have some kind of presence on the major platforms, because you don’t want people to see a ghost town when they happen upon your social pages. However, you’ll want to spend the most time on the couple of platforms that a) you love and b) your audience consumes regularly.
Bernstein, for one, loves providing videos, and her audience loves to watch them. Essentially, she created the space where her audience loves to congregate. For years, Bernstein would put out a video blog every Monday morning. The vlogs were free for her audience, easy to create and something she loved to do. Over time, Bernstein grew her newsletter audience because people watching her videos opted in. (Side note: Don’t be afraid to put out free content. It will help your overall marketing efforts as you build trust and confidence with your audience members.)
Instead of trying to be everywhere all of the time, focus your efforts in those areas that energize you and allow you to feel as though you’re genuinely serving your audience. From there, you’ll find that you’re thrilled to put out your work because it feels authentic, empowering and helpful (again, not salesy).
As Seth Godin puts it, “Ideas that spread win.” What are your ideas? And in what manner would you love to spread them?
[bctt tweet=”As @ThisIsSethsBlog puts it, ideas that spread win. What are your ideas? #smm” username=”rallioHQ”]
Lesson #5: Be Your Own Voice on Social Media
Bernstein has said that every post she creates comes from her, not from a third party posting in her name. You can decide how strict you want to be with this lesson, but the intention behind it is clear: to allow you to speak authentically and put a personality behind your brand. That way, people will trust you, and even your promotional posts won’t feel like sales pitches.
Consider this carefully crafted post from Bernstein where she subtly promotes her course via the hashtag #SpiritJunkieMasterclass while providing a thoughtful image quote to inspire her audience:
Key takeaway: The message you’re sharing is always going to be the most well-received when it’s genuine, not canned. The second your audience senses you’re not being real with them, they’ll unfollow and move along to someone who is.
And that’s no way to promote yourself and build your brand, now is it?
For all the social media strategy and advice that exists out there, make sure you’re getting back to the basics and speaking from the heart. The more you share content that’s meaningful to your audience, the more your message will resonate and the larger your following will become.
Instagram has become a popular way for brands to connect with their target audiences and build a fan base using visually engaging content. If you’re looking for ways to boost your Instagram following organically, running a contest can be a quick, fun means to building brand awareness.
Unlike many other platforms, Instagram’s promotion guidelines are fairly loose, meaning you have the freedom to create a variety of different contests without a lot of red tape. Today, we’ll walk through the steps to create a contest that boosts your fan base.
Step #1: Choose a Prize.
What do you want to promote? Do you want to offer a freebie, a vacation, a consultation? Think about what’s appropriate for your brand and the best ways to spread the word.
Ideally, the prize allows people to remember you and associate the prize with your brand. For example, giving away a Nintendo Switch is great if you’re a video game company, but not so great if you’re a beauty brand. That is, you want to build an audience of users who are interested in your core brand offerings and not just the prize you’re giving away.
[bctt tweet=”#Instagram contest tip: Give away a prize that’s related to your brand. #giveaways” username=”rallioHQ”]
Step #2: Build Your Contest
There are many different types of Instagram contests, and you can combine elements of each to boost your potential engagement even more. Here’s a quick breakdown of a few of them to help you decide on a contest type.
Like contests. These are quick and simple: Just ask users to like your photo to be entered for a chance to win. You can also ask for a “follow” on your account for an extra chance to win. As more and more people like your photo, you’ll increase your reach, possibly even show up on the Explore page where new followers will find you.
Comment contests. Ask users to comment on your photo. Comment contests are great when you’re seeking customer input and feedback. You can pair this type of contest with a like contest and, again, offer users an extra entry when they not only like and follow, but also comment. Furthermore, you can invite users to tag friends in comments for extra entries.
Loop giveaways. This type of contest incorporates several brands all at once, anywhere from five to 30-plus brands that collaborate to host the contest. The organizer creates a graphic that instructs users how to like and follow their way through a “loop” of brands for a chance to win a prize. Organizing a loop is more time-intensive than the contest types above, but you can also simply participate as a brand for the sake of gaining new followers. Here’s a good walk-through of the process if you’re unfamiliar with loops.
Photo challenges. Ask users to post a photo on their own pages using a specific hashtag you provide. Make sure the hashtag is unique and brand-specific so as not to overlap with any other users’ pages and so you can easily find and record the entries. (For more on choosing hashtags, see this post.) You can alternatively ask users to repost a photo from your page using a repost app and tagged with your brand-specific hashtag. Other hashtags to include could be: #Instagramgiveaway, #contest, #giveaway, and #(your brand name).
Here’s how yoga brand CorePower Yoga handled an Instagram challenge asking its audience to post photos of themselves in tree pose tagged with #yogisplantingtrees. For every post, CorePower Yoga agreed to donate $1 to the Canopy Project, which in turn would plant one tree for every dollar. The result? A thousand extra trees in the world, thanks to this effort.
Step #3: Spell Out the Rules
As you’ll see in Instagram’s promotion guidelines, the rules are fairly simple. Be sure to acknowledge that the contest is not affiliated with Instagram in any way, and do not inaccurately tag content or encourage users to do so (for example, don’t tell people to tag themselves in photos if they aren’t in the photo).
Provided your rules are not overly complicated, you can include the rules and disclaimers in the caption of your post. Here’s how one Instagram account handled a dress giveaway, combining elements of a like, follow and comment contest:
The disclaimer is included in the body of the caption.
If your rules get too long and complicated for a caption, you can instead create a landing page on your website with the rules and, if necessary, an entry form. Just tell users to click the link in your bio to enter to win, and update your bio with the correct URL.
Should you decide to host your contest as a campaign with a landing page, you’ll have the added benefit of collecting user data such as email addresses. That way, you can connect with entrants and continue to build customer relationships long after the contest ends.
Step #4: Follow Up
Once your contest is over, use any data you’ve collected to follow up with your new followers. And then keep the momentum going by trying out different contest types. Above all, keep engaging with your audience so they continue to follow you. New followers aren’t worth much if you ignore them and they end up unfollowing you later.
Have you run successful Instagram contests? What other tips can you share?
There’s a lot to learn when you’re first getting started with social media marketing, and even when you’ve been doing it a while, there’s still more to discover. Rather than get overwhelmed with the things you don’t know, try choosing one or two new ideas to explore each week. Over time, you’ll strengthen your skills, build engagement with your customers, and hopefully boost sales and profits, too!
The following roundup includes some of our best tips on social media, online reviews, and local and online marketing. Start at the top, and work your way down the list until you’ve tried everything! And then lather, rinse, repeat, and try some ideas of your own.
Be a Great Storyteller
When it comes to your content marketing strategy, nothing beats a great story that intrigues readers and connects emotionally with them. When content lacks intrigue and fails to spark an emotion, it becomes lifeless, dull and easily forgotten.
You’ll lose followers and certainly won’t gain new ones if your social media conversations are boring, stale, sales-focused and “me”-centric … exactly the type of person you would avoid at a cocktail party. On the flip side, great stories leave readers feeling like they’ve connected with you. At that proverbial cocktail party, they’ll be on the edge of their seats as you draw them in with conversation. They’ll walk away with a positive impression of your brand and will come back again and again.
How can you become a great storyteller? In short, be yourself. Let your personality, your life experiences and your opinions shine through in your content. See this post for a complete breakdown on telling stories through your content and solidifying your brand with customers.
[bctt tweet=”How can you become a great storyteller? In short, be yourself. #contentmarketing” username=”rallioHQ”]
Create Online Offers (and Make Sure They’re Working)
Online offers get your business in front of more customers and, if done right, get them shopping in your establishment. The key here is making sure your coupons are functioning properly so people don’t get frustrated trying to redeem them. Also, you need to be able to track the redemptions and learn whether your offer is producing growth for your business.
If you’ve tried coupons and haven’t experienced good returns, you might need to take a close look at your coupon process. There can be many reasons a coupon isn’t doing its job, including:
You’re overdoing them
You’re using the same, repeatable coupon code
You’re making them difficult to save
You’re making them frustrating to redeem
You’re making it hard to find a location near your customers to use the coupon
You’re not calculating the return on ad spend (ROAS)
See this post to learn more about each of the scenarios above, and then tweak your process as necessary to improve your offer results. If you’re interested in seeing how our coupons work at a brand and local level, send us an email at sales@www.rallio.com.
An example of a coupon with one too many restrictions
Create Shareable Content
It’s the question every franchisee and brand marketer has been asking for the last few years, ever since Facebook diminished the reach of page posts to 1 to 4 percent of all page followers: How do I get more people to see my content?
Bottom line, you need to create more content that people want to share. Firstly, because Facebook now focuses page posts’ organic reach on the number of shares it receives. And secondly, because when a person shares a post, they can write their own comment about the post before they share it. In a way that gives the page post new life from the perspective of the person, personalizing it to their friends.
We outline six ways to get more shares on your Facebook posts in this post. For instance, you can create how-to videos like the one below.
Get to Know Your Analytics
The amount of data available to review related to your social pages can appear overwhelming. And unless it’s your full-time profession to review and analyze trends and changes over time, you only have time for the numbers that will actually make a difference to your business.
For some, all you’re thinking about is your bottom line: Did I make another sale from this social media post? But think a bit larger than that. Not everything will result in a direct sale, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.
The most important analytics to know include:
Follower growth. Look at the data over time, assess where your audience grows the most and the least, and see how you look next to similar local businesses.
Engagement. Likes, retweets, comments and shares make up some of the most common uses of the word engagement. However, people can connect with your business in less obvious ways, too, such as with geo-tagged photos at your location. Pay attention to the positive and the negative comments and feedback so you can successfully address both and keep your reputation intact.
Reputation. Go deeper than simply customer comments; you need to learn how your business is faring on the top review platforms, such as Yelp. What customers report about you can build your business or greatly hinder its growth. With 67 percent of consumers affected by online reviews, the ratings you have and how you respond to them will impact your brand, trustworthiness and sales.
More advanced analytics cover website analytics, directory listings and conversion rates. We delve into all of the above and more analytics best practices in this post.
[bctt tweet=”The most important #analytics to know include follower growth, engagement and reputation.” username=”rallioHQ”]
Become a Hashtag Expert
A hashtag is a word, a phrase or an acronym after the pound symbol (#). No spaces or other characters (!, ?, -, %, @, ., $, etc.) are allowed in a hashtag (with a few exceptions).
Hashtags are used to connect people to a topic, primarily on Twitter and Instagram. They are public and searchable, and when people look for a specific hashtag, they see the conversation related to that topic. People, brands, businesses, sports teams and nonprofit groups use hashtags to build an easily findable and joinable conversation around a subject matter. And in some cases, hashtags make for great comedy:
It’s critical that you know how to use hashtags correctly so you’re not tagging random words and, more importantly, you’re not jumping into a conversation you didn’t intend to. If you use a popular hashtag out of context, for example, it can become irrelevant or even offensive. Our post about becoming a hashtag expert gives you all the do’s and don’ts for creating appropriate hashtags around your brand.
Improve Your Writing
Because much of my life takes place in the world of social media, I am always on the lookout for well-written social media posts. You know the ones: the posts that cause you to smile, laugh, like and share. These posts not only pass the grammar test, but they also work hard to convey messages that connect with the intended audience. Those are the kinds of posts you want for your brand.
If you want to take your posts from “meh” to great, there are several simple ways to start flexing and strengthening your writing muscle. The most important strategy is to find a friendly, conversational voice that connects with your audience. Save your corporate-ese for white papers, because it has no place on social media. I’ve got a few other simple content strategies in this post, such as using action verbs, being concise and proofreading ad nauseam. You’ll improve your writing in no time!
[bctt tweet=”#socialmediatip: Find a friendly, conversational voice that connects with your audience. ” username=”rallioHQ”]
Brainstorm Ideas
You might already know that it’s important to publish new content regularly on social media. What might not be quite so clear? Knowing what to publish. If you’re running low on ideas for your content calendar, this two-part blog series should help you get the creative juices flowing again. From sharing a “day in the life” to posting your Pinterest boards, it includes 31 days of social media ideas you can use and tweak over and over again, and never run out of ideas!
On some level, if you’re paying attention to your social media pages (which you should be), you already know what types of content work best for you. Let us know in the comments what you’ve seen work and not work for your business.
Social media has a language of its own, and being able to speak it fluently is critical to any business’s success today. From basic terms such as “comment” and “like” to the more complex “handle,” there is an endless number of terms to know.
Today, I’ll go over some of the top terms you should know as a business owner or a social media marketer. I can’t cover all of them, because by the time I’m done writing this, no doubt there will be new terms to know, while others inch toward being obsolete. Your best bet is to be a regular consumer of all things social, so you’ll always know what’s trending and what’s on its way out.
I’ve included the major platforms, all of which can be connected and managed within the Rallio app (our Instagram functionality is in its final development stages as of this writing). Watch for my next post where I’ll cover some of the other platforms, such as Pinterest, Snapchat and Tumblr.
Common General Terms Across Platforms
Comment: A response to your post from a reader. In most cases, comments appear below a post. On Twitter, however, comments appear in the form of a “reply” or a “retweet” and don’t all appear together as they would on Facebook or Instagram.
Follow/Followers: Click the “follow” button, and you’ll receive regular updates on that user or business in your feed. Once you subscribe to someone, that makes you that person’s follower! The more followers you have, of course, the better.
Handle: Your username, preceded by “@” and used on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. You can also type it on Facebook to tag a friend or a page in a post. Keep it consistent across platforms so people can find you easily.
Hashtag: A word or a phrase preceded by “#” with no spaces or unique characters. As I note in this post, you can use hashtags as conversation starters or search terms around topics of relevance to your brand. They’re primarily used on Twitter and Instagram.
Like: This feature appears differently depending on the platform. It’s simply a way for users to indicate they like your post. On Facebook, in addition to the “like” button, there’s a range of options on how users may choose to react to your post, including buttons for “love,” “haha” and “angry.” On Twitter and Instagram, there’s just a heart.
Mention/Tag: On Twitter, you can “mention” another user by placing an “@” before the username. Same thing on Instagram, though it’s commonly referred to as a “tag” rather than a mention. On Facebook, you would simply type the person’s name to tag that person. Whatever you call it, it’s a great way to thank your followers, call their attention to content of interest and attract new followers, too.
Newsfeed: The homepage of a platform where you’ll see a stream of updates from anyone you follow.
Post: Content that’s created by an account, including status updates, photos, videos and links. At the end of this section, you’ll see an example of a @rallioHQ Twitter post where we repurposed content from a previous blog post.
Profile: A user’s “homepage,” including descriptive information such as name, username, bio, occupation and any blogs or other websites, plus a photo of the user. It’s also a “command central” of sorts where users control privacy settings, account information and other details visible only to the user.
Business Page: Separate from your personal Facebook profile, a business page is where you post photos, videos, links and events related to your brand. You will need a personal Facebook profile to have and operate a business page. It’s important to claim and create your business page so people have a place to engage with you and, if you have a physical location, to “check in” at your place of business (see “Check in” below). Go here for help creating your Facebook page, or drop us a line with any questions at hello@www.rallio.com.
Check in: When posting, users can “check in” to a physical location using this button. It’s great for your business when users check in, because it alerts their friends about your business. Hello, free advertising!
Facebook Ads: Facebook allows business users to create ads promoting their pages, events, products and so forth. These ads are a cost-effective way to get your brand in front of more people and potentially increase sales. Here’s some help from Facebook in that department, and again, ask us at Rallio if you have any questions. We regularly help our clients set up and manage ad campaigns for their business pages.
Facebook Event: From your business page, you can create in-person and virtual “events” for your brand. They’re essentially like digital invitations. Say, for instance, you’re a yoga studio hosting a special prenatal yoga class. You can create an event from your page with the date, time and place, and then invite your followers and friends to the event/class.
[bctt tweet=”#Facebook Events are essentially like digital invitations.” username=”rallioHQ”]
Facebook Live: If you’re hosting an event or just have an important update or message for your followers, you can broadcast live and connect with your followers in real time.
Facebook Stories: Accessible within the Facebook app, this new feature from Facebook allows users to share real-time updates within the span of 24 hours, featuring short video clips and photos. Unlike a typical Facebook post, stories disappear after 24 hours.
Share: This button appears beneath a post and allows users to share the content on their own pages for their followers to see. For example, clicking the “Share” button below provides users with the option to share the post in various places, such as on their own timeline or on a page they manage.
Caption: A short description or comment about a photo or a video you’re posting. It includes hashtags and, in some cases, you may choose to tag other users’ handles.
Direct Message/DM: A private message between users that only those users can see. It goes into an inbox, accessible from your homepage in the app.
Filter: When creating posts, you can access various filters that allow you to change the appearance of photos, such as the lighting or coloring.
Live: Similar to Facebook Live, the Live feature on Instagram lets you broadcast real-time updates to your followers. Instagram will send out a notification to your followers that you’ve started a live video so they can log in and view it before it ends, making it a great way to capture your audience’s attention.
[bctt tweet=”Go Live on #Instagram to capture your audience’s attention in real time. #socialmedia” username=”rallioHQ”]
Public/Private Account: Users may choose to make their profiles private or public. With a public account, anyone can follow the profile and view its photos and videos. If an account is private, users must request permission to follow the account before they can view any content.
Repost: A repost of someone else’s post on your Instagram page. You can use an app like Repost, or request permission to repost a user’s photo and then tag the user. See the example at the end of this section.
Boomerang: A video app to turn regular videos into gif-like looping videos, capturing a moment in time and then playing it over and over again. The feature is built in as an option within Instagram’s Stories feature, described below. It works great for action shots. Here’s more on Boomerang, but give it a try yourself. You have to see it to understand how fun it is!
Sponsored Content: Content with paid advertising dollars behind it. Again, a great way to extend your reach.
Stories: As with Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories let you build a “story” over 24 hours with photos and videos.
LinkedIn Terms
Company Page: Here’s where you create an overview of your business and share articles, photos and updates. Your updates show up in followers’ news feeds.
Showcase Page: An extension of your Company Page where you can spotlight your brand, a business unit or an initiative. You can then share the Showcase Page content with a targeted audience and build engagement with like-minded LinkedIn members.
Connections: The people with whom you are connected on LinkedIn. Connections are like your “friends” on Facebook, and you have to request to be connected with a user (known as an “invitation,” below).
Groups: Groups are created either by a person or by a company around a specific topic or industry. Once you’ve created a company page, you can join various groups and interact with other users to build more connections.
Invitation: An invitation is simply a request to connect with someone on LinkedIn.
My Network: Click this tab at the top of your LinkedIn homepage to view your connections, invitations and people you may know. You can also have your email address book imported to see additional suggested users with whom to connect.
Twitter Terms
Tweet: The 140-characters-or-less post you create on Twitter. It’s also used as a verb, as in, “I like to tweet out a new promotion every couple of weeks.”
Character Count: Twitter is known for limiting its posts to 140 characters. That means whatever you have to say needs to be short and sweet.
Direct Message/DM: Messages communicated between users directly within the app. Users can set up their privacy controls either to receive direct messages from anyone, or only from those they follow.
Moments: Curated stories that showcase the best, most relevant posts around a trending topic. Click the Moments tab to discover what’s happening on Twitter or to create a Moment of your own.
Retweet/RT: Clicking this button allows users to share another user’s post with their own followers. The more people retweet your content, the greater your reach and potential for new followers. In addition to retweeting other users’ content, you can ask for retweets on your content, too. Pair it with a contest or a giveaway as an added incentive. See the example at the end of this section.
Trends: From the homepage on Twitter, look in the lefthand column, and you’ll see a list of trending hashtags and topics. Click on any of them to say what people are saying, and then jump in and like, retweet, or create tweets of your own where you include the trend. Be sure you understand the context of the trend so you can be on point with your tweets.
The first pitch of 2017!
Give this a RT and we'll pick someone at random to win a voucher for two Phillies tickets! pic.twitter.com/cQ8J2cNjUP
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 3, 2017
Phew, that was a lot of terminology to get through, and I have only just scratched the surface here. What are some of your other favorite social media terms that are important to know? Comment below!
As you may already know, hashtags are conversation starters. You can use them on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest (less so on Facebook) to connect with your target audience around topics of relevance to your brand.
You can also create brand-specific hashtags for various purposes. For example, as Becca Edwards notes in this post, Rita’s Italian Ice offers free Italian ice on the first day of spring and uses the hashtag #ritasfirstdayofspring to promote the offer.
In that post, you learned all about how to be a hashtag expert, and you’ll want to read that post first before reading mine. Today, I’ll share with you some specifics on creating a hashtag just for your brand.
When to create a brand-specific hashtag? Wait until you’ve used other hashtags to connect with members of your target audience. That way, you’ll have a following that’ll connect with the brand-specific hashtag and it won’t drift off into the great online abyss, never to be seen again.
Brand-specific hashtags work well when you want to promote a specific offer, event or trending topic. Now for some basics on creating one.
Keep It Short, Unique and Memorable
Although there are always exceptions, shorter hashtags are easier to remember and retype. It can be a single word or a phrase, just as long as it isn’t currently in use.
That is, always conduct a search to see that any hashtag you wish to use isn’t already in circulation with a different meaning. Not only would that make it not unique, but it also could spell disaster if you take the current hashtag out of context and try to apply it to your brand. (We discussed this matter in How to Be a Hashtag Expert; see the DiGiorno Pizza #WhyIStayed section as an example.)
Having a memorable hashtag helps keep the conversation about you and your brand. That way, as people use the hashtag, all roads will lead back to you, and you’ll leave people with a positive impression of your brand.
Tug at Their Heart Strings
When Make a Wish Foundation used the hashtag #SFBatKid, they were promoting a documentary about a boy whose wish was to dress up as Batman and save the day. The hashtag was well-received, with even President Obama getting in on the trend. His message to #SFBatKid via Vine? “Way to go, Miles. Way to save Gotham!”
When you jam a bunch of words together, you have to be sure the words don’t also spell something else. One misused capital letter, and your hashtag could become a different animal altogether.
Consider the trending hashtag of a few years ago #NowThatchersDead in response to Margaret Thatcher’s passing. Guess what it turned into? #NowThatChersDead, followed quickly by a hailstorm of rumors that the singer had died when, in fact, she was very much alive.
Proofread, and proofread some more. Look for any possible misspellings that could ensue. And change the hashtag if there’s even a remote possibility of it getting morphed into something different and unintended.
Hashtags offer an opportunity to show your brand’s personality. Make sure your hashtags stay consistent with the kind of personality and social-media tone your brand already has.
Consider Red Bull’s #PutACanOnIt hashtag, inspired by a photo posted on Twitter in which the photographer positioned a can above a Mini Cooper in such a way that it looked like a branded Red Bull car.
People around the world began creating their own #PutACanOnIt images with Red Bull cans positioned uniquely. Moreover, the hashtag earned the company a “Best Use of A Hashtag” Shorty Award. And best of all, the hashtag aligned perfectly with Red Bull’s playful, high-energy personality on social media.
Create Hashtags for Promotions (or Let Your Audience Do It!)
Don’t forget to use branded hashtags for your events and promotions! The rules above apply of course. You can create a hashtag inviting users to tweet about their experiences, post photos and more.
One of the most successful campaigns of all time is Audi’s #WantAnR8 campaign. The tweet originated with a user who tweeted out the hashtag to express a desire to own an Audi R8. Audi then created a contest inviting users to tweet using the hashtag for a chance to win an R8 for a day:
As you can see, there are many ways to create a branded hashtag once you have a solid follower base. Your followers will become instant brand champions who not only cast your company in a good light, but also provide the social proof needed to attract new fans.
What are some other great examples of branded hashtags you’ve seen? How about the fails?
[bctt tweet=”Hashtags offer an opportunity to show your brand’s personality. #howtohashtag” username=”rallioHQ”]
We often talk about leveraging social media to boost a brand’s reputation, customer base and connection with its audience. But let’s not forget about the importance of building a personal brand as well. People are more likely to buy from people they trust, and social media offers multiple ways to build that trust with your target audience. Let’s look at a few.
1. Identify Influencers
Locate influencers who already have an audience that’s similar to yours. The goal is to establish relationships with them so they’ll be willing to collaborate with you and keep your name top-of-mind among their followers.
Don’t go too over-zealous here; you can’t start following them and then immediately ask for favors. Begin by inserting yourself into conversations, retweeting their posts and mentioning them in your own content. Over time, you’ll build a mutually beneficial relationship while also building your own following.
2. Give Back
As you gain new followers, always remember where you came from and offer to be of help to those who have helped you. This could mean connecting with customers to ask if there’s anything you can help them with. It could mean reaching out to influencers and offering to return the favor if they’ve helped you in some way.
Don’t wait for them to come to you, either. Make it a habit to reach out regularly to your circle. You’re not selling anything, but rather offering your time, your talents and your resources in a way that alleviates a burden or answers a question or a need.
[bctt tweet=”Offer your time, your talents and your resources in a way that alleviates a burden.” username=”rallioHQ”]
3. Join Groups
Both Facebook and LinkedIn have many different types of groups, and chances are there are several that relate to your business. These are places where you can showcase your area of expertise by answering questions, posting your own content and simply being a friendly face among other members.
You don’t just have to join groups specifically related to your business, either. For example, if you are a mom running your own business, you can join various mom-related groups on Facebook. When a need or a question arises, be a voice solving a problem.
4. Be Patient
It takes time to build relationships. You need to be engaged regularly with your target audience, not simply post something once or twice and think people will remember you or care who you are. The key is being a problem solver, not a salesperson butting into conversations. By being of service, you’ll build trust and people will learn that you’re the go-to person for XYZ.
I’ve seen this concept in action in a mom group to which I belong on Facebook. A real estate agent I know makes it a point to answer housing- and mortgage-related questions. Does she shove listings in front of people? No. She just solves a problem.
And people remember her! Anytime someone asks such a question, it seems like at least one or two people tag my friend. Here’s a perfect example in a screenshot taken from that Facebook moms group. I’ve darkened out the names and images to protect their privacy, but my friend is the one who was tagged by another member and replied “Thank you!”:
5. Step Outside Your “Industry” Box
In the case of my real estate agent friend, she doesn’t only engage in conversations that relate directly to her industry. Sometimes she simply responds to kid-related questions or other topics that illustrate who she is as a human being. She’ll also show her capacity for compassion by posting links or comments about human interest stories or fundraising efforts.
What are some interests you have? Hiking, fashion, traveling? Get engaged with posts around these topics. Show people that you’re about much more than just selling products or services.
6. Spark Conversations
You don’t have to wait for other people to strike up a conversation. Try asking a question or posting a poll about something that’s sure to get responses. In our moms group example, you could ask for recommendations of a pediatrician, a school or an extracurricular activity. People love to add their two cents, and you’re sure to get a lot of responses!
Avoid topics that could potentially steer your personal brand down a path you don’t want to be on, such as politics or religion. The last thing you want is to ignite a war among your followers, or worse, with you personally.
[bctt tweet=”Avoid topics that could steer your personal brand down a path you don’t want to be on.” username=”rallioHQ”]
7. Stay Consistent
Above all, present a consistent image of yourself across all social media platforms and media types (text, video, etc.). You can’t be all things to all people, so just define your voice, your image and your target audience, and then stick with it. People will be checking you out across all different platforms, so you want to come across as the same person regardless of where they find you.
What strategies do you use to build your personal brand? Let’s hear your thoughts.
It’s every brand’s dream to have a huge following on social media. When your customers are talking about you in positive ways, they’re doing much of the work to spread awareness of your brand, for free.
Still, there are brands that struggle to establish themselves on social media, and they can’t figure out why. Today, we’ll explore the best ways to make a name for yourself so you can spend less time chasing down customers and more time nurturing relationships with your fans. Make these strategies your top priority, and you’ll see your business grow exponentially.
Respond to Your Customers
This point is perhaps the most important of all because it can make or break your reputation. Most customers nowadays will not pick up the phone and call customer service when an issue arises. Instead, they’ll take to social platforms such as Twitter or Facebook to air their complaints. J.D. Power estimates that 67 percent of consumers have used a social channel for customer service, and for that reason, it’s imperative that you have a system for “listening” and responding to these concerns.
Consider the following exchange between Jet Blue and one of its customers when, during a flight, the passenger’s TV wouldn’t work:
My View during all the flight (4hours). No movies, no TV. First complain to one of my favorite airline. @JetBlue 🙁 pic.twitter.com/Cipl9Pjiy6
The customer, pleased with this response, tweeted back: “One of the fastest and better Customer Service: @JetBlue! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving”
Not only did Jet Blue help its customer, but it also helped its own reputation. Can you imagine the backlash if Jet Blue had ignored the tweet or tried to defend itself?
Don’t Just Respond. Go Above and Beyond
You should also use social media to respond to positive comments from customers and to exceed expectations. Author and business consultant Peter Shankman writes about his experience of jokingly requesting that @Morton’s deliver a porterhouse steak to Newark Airport upon his arrival.
Not missing a beat, Morton’s picked up on the tweet and, you guessed it, did exactly that. Shankman was understandably blown away.
While Shankman makes it clear that his tweet was in jest and he had no expectation of a Morton’s steak actually being delivered, he nonetheless marvels at this feat of customer service. The lesson here is not necessarily to meet customers’ every whim, but to seize opportunities to go above and beyond whenever possible.
Shankman writes: “Stay on top of what people are saying about you. Respond accordingly. Perhaps most importantly, have a chain of command in place that actually lets you do these things in real time. Had Morton’s had to get permission to make this happen, at 5:10pm on a Wednesday night, there’s no way it ever would have.”
Make Social Media Your PR Platform
Although there’s still value in taking your message to media outlets, the beauty of social media today is that you can also deliver your message directly to customers. Let’s be clear: It’s not about sounding like a PR pitch when you interact with customers online. Rather, think of it as an opportunity to build trust and confidence in your brand.
One of the best ways to help your message resonate with customers is by creating local, personal content. Images of customers (taken with their permission, of course) are a powerful way to let your clientele speak for you without you having to “sell” anything to your audience.
For example, a hair salon can show photos of a client before and after getting a cut and a style. This provides an opportunity to discuss their services, products and hairstylists in a way that resonates with their audience. An automotive repair shop can show photos of a dented car alongside “after” photos showing the results of their repairs. You get the idea.
[bctt tweet=”It’s not about sounding like a PR pitch when you interact with customers online.” username=”rallioHQ”]
Create a Community
This tip closely follows the one above. Once you establish yourself as a trustworthy brand where people don’t feel pressured to buy, then you can begin to create a community of followers who want to follow whatever you’re up to.
One great way to accomplish this feat is by posting real-life photos of yourself, your staff and your lives outside of work. Become more of a friend to them than someone trying to sell them something, and they’ll be eager to receive your updates.
You can take things a step further by creating offline events and publicizing them on social media. For example, a yoga studio could plan out special workshops and classes to be held in-studio, create the events from its Facebook page and invite followers. Bringing the offline world into online conversations encourages people to connect with one another and with your brand.
Be a Thought Leader
As a business owner, you have expertise in certain subject matters. What knowledge do you have to share with the world? Social media provides the perfect platform to educate communities and demonstrate that you are the “go to” person in your industry.
Try creating a webinar on a topic and promoting it on your Facebook page. If you have a white paper or another thought piece, you can breathe life into it through a webinar and take questions from your audience. You’ll build not only your community, but also your brand awareness and bottom line.
Network With Complementary Businesses
Businesses used to have to rely solely on in-person networking events such as chamber of commerce meetings to meet other business owners. Now you also have the ability to network with people around the globe online.
There are likely dozens of businesses that complement yours beautifully with which you can build relationships and a strong referral network. When fellow business owners hear a need from a client that they can’t meet but that you can, you want to be the first person they think of. You can develop mutually beneficial networks, tagging one another on social media whenever possible.
Seek out those networks where you have something in common and build from there. Let’s say you’re a mom in business; you can locate other business-owner moms through various Facebook groups and by using hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. As you focus on building relationships with these people and not selling, you’ll find that people you have never even met will refer business your way simply because you share the commonality of being a mom.
As a franchisor, you devote considerable time and resources to getting your branding just right. From developing a logo and messaging to creating brand guidelines and marketing materials, there’s a lot that goes into that initial blueprint for all of your marketing efforts.
At the corporate level, your brand looks solid. But what happens at the local level when franchisees start posting on social media? Here are some possible scenarios:
They change your messaging, interpreting it in a way that doesn’t match your goals
They use your logo incorrectly or alter it
They post information that conflicts with your corporate page
They post randomly and inconsistently
They post imagery that isn’t in line with your brand guidelines
The list goes on.
If you’re like many of the clients with whom we work at Rallio, giving the social-media car keys to franchisees is risky business at the local level. The branding and messaging you worked so hard to develop can easily become diluted, out of brand and unrecognizable from its original form.
So why does this brand disaster happen? Let’s look at three of the top reasons.
Reason #1: They lack corporate-approved resources.
If your franchisees are posting whatever they want on social media, it could be simply because they don’t know what else to post. Unless you supply them with corporate-approved imagery and messaging, you’re leaving it up to them what to post on their pages.
What to do about it: Devote resources to creating polished, professional images that will complement local posts created by your franchisees. Encourage them to add a personal touch so their pages include more than just corporate images. For example, they can post behind-the-scenes snapshots and location-specific promotions.
Our client Fantastic Sams does a great job of disseminating corporate-approved images (using the Rallio platform to manage the process), while also encouraging franchisees to post their own local content. Here’s an example of a corporate-created post that was used by a franchisee:
And here’s an example of that same franchisee adding a local touch:
Reason #2: You have no social-media guidelines.
Do your franchisees have a “Wild West” mentality that causes them to think they can do whatever they want on social media? If so, then perhaps you haven’t clearly stated what they can and cannot do. It all begins with social media guidelines that define how franchisees should approach social media, as well as what the approval process is for their content.
What to do about it: You might already have guidelines in place for print and web marketing and advertising. Build on those guidelines by telling franchisees the parameters for social media. Do you want to be able to review their content before it gets posted? Or are you OK with supplying corporate content and letting them post at the local level without your approval? Spell it out so there’s no confusion.
The clearer you are with your social-media guidelines, the less likely it is that franchisees will go rogue. (And rogue franchisees can not only destroy your brand, but your reputation as well. See my recent article on this topic for more information.)
[bctt tweet=”Clear #socialmedia guidelines lessen your chances of having rogue #franchisees.” username=”rallioHQ”]
Reason #3: You haven’t prioritized social media yourself.
If you don’t see social media as important to your brand, then your franchisees won’t, either. At best, they’ll ignore the social platforms and potentially miss out on opportunities. At worst, they’ll ruin your brand and reputation, as mentioned above.
What to do about it: Whether you like or dislike social media, there’s no denying its existence. And once you make it a priority at the top level, you take back control of how your brand appears in the public eye. You help your brand overall while also helping franchisees to post in the smartest, most efficient way possible. Remember, the goal is to have one brand and multiple locations … not multiple brands and multiple locations!
[bctt tweet=”You want one brand and multiple locations…not multiple brands and multiple locations! #franchising” username=”rallioHQ”]
Our platform lets multi-unit businesses create a unified social media presence while still enabling individual owners to customize content to reach local customers. Post across thousands of locations, manage imagery, control messaging, monitor keywords, view analytics and generate new business — all from one convenient dashboard. Interested in a demo? Drop us a line at hello@www.rallio.com.
