Category: Social

Why You Need Your Social Media Company to Do Directory Listings, Too

Post author By Rallio
Post date June 8, 2020

Take out a pen and paper, please — or just your laptop. It’s time to do a quick inventory on all the things your social media company does for you. Or, if you’re doing it yourself, write down how you’re managing your social media presence.

But first, an analogy. (It’s food-based, of course, because we care deeply about our snacks at Rallio.) Here goes.

When you pour yourself a bowl of cereal, you put milk on top, right? It might be regular milk, oat milk, almond milk or whatever type of milk you prefer — but you probably don’t serve your milk on the side.

That is, eating your cereal and milk together makes perfect sense. If you were to take a bite of cereal and then take a sip of milk, well, that would just be weird. Someone would have to make a Netflix miniseries about you.

It’s like peanut butter and jelly. Spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. French fries and ketchup (or your dipping sauce of choice).

Is anyone else hungry?

Now Think About Your Social Media Company

How does this analogy apply to your social media company? The thing is, you want your social media company to do more than just social media posting. For purposes of this article, we’re discussing why you need your social media company to handle your directory listings, too.

Why is this important? Let’s break it down!

Directory listings in the palm of your hand. — Rallio’s directory listings service makes it easy to update your business information across the web in seconds, with one simple login.

Why You Need a Directory Listings Service

Now more than ever, people are searching for your business or businesses like yours. Somewhere on your list of social media to-dos, you need to make sure that your business listing is correct so they’re able to find you.

With a directory listings service, you can make sure all your information is correct across the web wherever it appears.

This is especially important right now during the COVID-19 crisis as people search for the most up-to-date information about your business. If you have temporarily modified your hours, for instance, you can update your hours using the directory listings service.

Without this type of service, you would need to manually update your information across the web wherever it appears. And that’s assuming you’re even aware of all the places it appears. Nobody’s got time for that!

Why You Need a Social Media Company

Now let’s consider why you need a social media company. Managing your social media presence requires hours of time, effort and resources.

As we point out in our article How to Manage Your Social Media Expectations Vs. Reality, social media management cannot be accomplished in one or two hours a week. Your pages require constant daily attention, and it’s not generally something most business owners have time to manage.

That’s because for a page to be successful — and by successful, we’re referring to certain social media metrics you should be tracking for ROI — your list of social media to-dos should include the following:

Posting and boosting hyper-local content that’s non-promotional and specific to your business
Creating and boosting events
Running page promotions, offers, like campaigns and other promotions
Building relationships with your followers by engaging with them, asking them questions and getting to know them like you would in real life
Responding to comments, questions and direct messages on your page
Responding to reviews

Does that sound like anything you have time to do? Or would that time be better spent focusing on running your business?

By outsourcing your social media, you can lean on experts who eat, sleep and breathe social media on a daily basis. They’re always up-to-date on the latest technology, the trends in social media and any upcoming changes you might need to know about.

Basically, they’re going to stay on top of all aspects of your social media — one of the most important elements of your overall marketing strategy.

A social media company that does directory listings, too. — Does your social media company do directory listings? Visit rallio.com to learn how you can have one login, with one vendor, for all your social media and directory listings needs.

Learn more: Should I Outsource My Social Media? 6 Questions to Ask Yourself

Why You Need One Vendor for Both Directory Listings and Social Media

Last but not least, we ponder the question, why do you need one vendor for both directory listings and social media? Here’s where we get back to that bowl of cereal.

If your directory listings and social media services are separate, it creates a disconnect. Although your listings service might update your information online, it’s not going to convey that information for you via social media.

Let’s say you change your hours. You update that information through your listings service. However, your social media posts don’t communicate to your audience that you’ve made the change, why you’ve made the change and how long this change will last.

When your listings service and social media company are in the same “cereal bowl,” so to speak, they work together on your behalf to make sure your audience has the most current information.

If you adjusted your hours due to COVID-19, for example, maybe now you’re getting back to regular business hours. You would want to not only update your hours across the web, but also tell your followers. With a combined directory listings and social media provider, that’s all handled for you.

With Rallio’s services, you actually can be everywhere at once. You can manage your directory listings and social media from one simple dashboard:

Your hours, physical address, phone number and other details about your business can be easily updated on over 40 directory listings sites, in just a few clicks.
Using that same dashboard, you can create a post for all your social platforms about your changed hours — maybe a photo of you as the business owner holding an “Open” sign, with a caption that reads, “We’re back! We have resumed our regular business hours and made a few adjustments in-house to account for social distancing and proper cleaning and disinfection.”
Another benefit is the ease of maintaining information across platforms. Instead of franchisees having to log in to six or seven different platforms to update their information, they have one simple login and one dashboard to handle it all — streamlining the process and preventing errors.

Boom. You just updated everyone and, at the same time, gave them the confidence they needed to feel safe returning to your establishment.

With your directory listings and social media management under one roof, you have all elements of your online presence working together on your behalf. And just like that, your cereal and milk are working together!

Ask yourself, how many logins does it take to run my franchise? The answer should be one. Schedule a demo with us, and we’ll give you a glimpse of what we can do for your business.

Tags directory listings, social media company

Social

How to Lose Your Followers in 10 Days (aka Top 10 Social Media Mistakes)

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 30, 2020

If you’ve successfully gathered a respectable amount of followers on your page, you probably want to do whatever you can to keep them. In an ideal world, you would avoid any social media mistakes, hang on to all those followers and keep getting more of them.

What sometimes happens, though, is that business owners lose sight of the purpose of social media. They forget about socializing and focus too much on selling.

As we’ve discussed before, social media is supposed to be social. It’s not a place to come in with the hard sell and be overly promotional.

Rather, your social media pages are a place to build relationships with followers who become loyal brand advocates. Somewhere along the way, you may get leads and sales — but your social media is not going to be the sole source of them.

In fact, it’s just one piece of the marketing pie. Treating it as the whole enchilada is going to leave you and your followers frustrated.

Now before we get too deep into food metaphors, read on for a humorous look at how to lose your followers in 10 days (aka the top social media mistakes you’ll want to avoid).

Day 1: Sell Like Your Life Depends on It

When you get a new follower, what should you do if you want to lose them? Do you:

a) Affirm their decision to follow you by posting authentic, non-promotional local content (like in the post below); or

b) Post a sales promotion, a stock photo or some other salesy thing?

If you want to lose them, the correct answer is b!

If you want to keep them, by all means, post a photo or a video of your cute pet, your customer with a huge smile after visiting your shop, your driver leaving for a no-contact delivery, or your employee explaining how to use a certain product.

Those are the kinds of engaging things that really keep people coming back for more. And that’s not what you want, right? Post that sales-focused graphic with giant red “SALE!” letters, and kiss your followers goodbye!

https://www.facebook.com/541879122868760/photos/a.597667927289879/1376619786061352/?type=3

Day 2: Be Clueless

To lose your followers, should you:

a) Address what’s happening in the world — currently, that’s a pandemic — by letting customers know about safety precautions, special discounts or financial incentives, hours of operation and key information in real time; or

b) Keep posting the same things you normally would, staying largely tone-deaf to the current events around you?

The correct answer is b!

Tuning in to what customers need right now lets them know you’re listening and care about creating content they want to see. It reassures them they can count on you during a crisis and you put people before profits. It also keeps your page fresh.

When you keep things “business as usual,” you appear as though you either don’t care or you’re just living under a rock. Perfect place to be — no chance of seeing any followers there!

Better yet, you can just post nothing at all. We saw a lot of brands just completely stop posting when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Are they in business? Are they not paying attention to their customers? Will anyone remember them if they bounce back from the crisis? Your guess is as good as ours!

Learn more: 5 Social Media Mistakes (Plus the Number One Mistake to Avoid)

Day 3: Don’t Boost Anything

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Regularly boost your content with a targeted audience, helping to expand your reach and build your following; or

b) Boost nothing. Ever. Not a single cent spent to advertise your business on a platform that is very clearly pay-to-play.

The answer is b. Duh.

Boosting gets you in front of all kinds of new people who never would have heard of you if you didn’t spend a few dollars to advertise to them.

New things are scary! Instead, you can simply boost nothing and then nobody will ever see your content!

Stay out of the limelight, and you’ll never have to deal with all those new followers — who eventually fall in love with your business and start posting about you on their own personal pages, helping improve your reach even more. Sounds exhausting!

Day 4: Don’t Respond to Reviews, Comments and DMs

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Stay vigilant about responding to every comment, direct message and review that appears on your page, in your inbox and on review platforms like Google My Business, Facebook and Yelp; or

b) Ignore them! You’ve got better things to do.

People use social media as both a place to socialize and a customer service platform. When they comment with a question or leave a review and you respond to them quickly, it again lets customers know you’re listening.

If you ignore them, it’s much less work! You can just let people do their thing and not pay any attention whatsoever. Not only will you lose those followers, but you can be sure you’ll lose them as customers (if they ever were customers in the first place)!

https://www.facebook.com/danielle.arriaga.5/posts/10217020355800917

Day 5: Post Only Corporate Content

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Post content that’s specific to your community, helping to increase foot traffic to your location; or

b) Just post the content provided by your franchisor, or in the case of independent businesses, post any kind of general content.

It’s b, of course!

Posting hyper-local content makes the content relevant to people who might actually shop in your business. It prevents the common social media mistake of posting meaningless fluff. Seems like a lot of work to manage all those customers coming into your store and buying stuff!

If you just post corporate-type or generic content, it keeps those customers from finding you and really having a reason to go to your store. Phew, again no extra work required to deal with all those new customers!

Day 6: Don’t Update Your Business Listing

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Make sure your business information is correct across the web so people always know your hours of operation, location and phone number; or

b) Wing it! People will figure it out, right?

Can you guess the answer? That’s right, b!

Using a business listing service like Rallio’s ensures your business information is always up to date, anywhere it’s listed online. So when people search for your business or your type of business, they’ll find the correct details and easily locate your business. Ugh, more customers!

On the other hand, you’ll have a lot less to do if you just leave incorrect information up on the web! Did your hours change due to the pandemic? Did you move or temporarily close, or change your phone number? Not to worry — when you don’t update it, no one will know!

Day 7: Rest Easy

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Stay on top of your social media 24/7; or

b) Set it and forget it!

And on the seventh day, you rested. The answer is b, of course.

Social media marketing is a full-time job, requiring constant attention to every comment, message and review, plus rich content that’s engaging to your audience. We’re tired just thinking about it!

If you post infrequently, ignore your followers and make sure your customer service is non-existent, you’ll have waaaay more time to rest, because your followers will leave! Hurray! Extra sleep is so good for you!

Day 8: Target the Wrong Audience

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Choose a targeted audience based on the right demographics, age range and interests; or

b) Don’t target at all. In fact, don’t boost. Leave it to fate!

We’ll take our chances. B it is!

Social media platforms offer a variety of tools to help select the right audience for your boosted content. You can get highly specific to make sure you’re reaching the right people who will engage with your brand.

Failing to boost or targeting the wrong audience ensures your content means absolutely nothing to the people who see it (if anyone sees it at all). We’re inherently risk takers as entrepreneurs, right? So let’s just haphazardly boost or, heck, save our money!

Day 9: Don’t Use Videos

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Sprinkle in videos with your other content because videos are engaging and help you communicate your message in a different way; or

b) Just post images all the time.

Easy peasy. B!

From live videos to recordings that you post on social media, videos are one of the best ways to connect with your audience and show them your authentic self. Especially right now during the pandemic, live videos are an especially useful tool in your social media marketing toolbox as people crave real-life connection.

Doing the work to post videos — wow, sounds like another big project. Pass! All images, all day!

Learn more: 5 Types of Video to Add to Your Social Media Marketing

https://www.facebook.com/tutordoctoroftheemeraldcoast/posts/2953912648033431

Day 10: Do It All Yourself

To lose your followers, you should:

a) Hire people who can manage your social media marketing for you so you can focus on running your business; or

b) Keep doing it all yourself.

We’ve got this. It’s b!

Working with an agency like Rallio ensures not only that nothing gets missed on your social media, but also that you are impactful. It leaves the work to experts who live and breathe social media and have the right tools to help you keep growing your business. It activates your employees and influencers as brand advocates.

Doing it yourself saves you so much time and ensures your social media and online presence are non-existent!

By now, you’ve probably figured out that the real answer to your social media needs is definitely not any “b” answer above. Rallio is ready to help when you’re ready to read between the lines above, avoid common social media mistakes, ramp up your social media, and finally discover the true value of having a team rallying behind your brand.

To learn more, fill out our contact form.

Tags social media marketing

Social

How to Manage Your Social Media Expectations Vs. Reality

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 22, 2020

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you might already know you need to have a social media presence. Some owners choose to DIY it, and others opt for outsourcing their social media.

In either case, there is often a learning curve of social media expectations versus reality. However, it’s especially true when you choose to outsource your social media. After all, if you’re trusting someone else with your social media — and paying them, too — you want to make sure you’re getting the proper return on investment.

As we discuss in The 6 Most Important Social Media Metrics to Track for ROI, that return is going to look different than you might expect. Therefore, it’s important to find a middle ground between those social media expectations and the reality of how things actually work on social media. Not only will you be more successful, but you’ll feel better about any decisions you make to outsource your social media to a third party.

Musings on Social Media Expectations Vs. the Reality of What Really Happens

On Customer Acquisition

Expectation: My social media company is going to get me all the leads, sales, customers, employees and new members I want. Somewhere in my closet, there’s a “Show me the money!” T-shirt.

Reality: Social media is just one part of your overall marketing strategy. Your social media company is not an all-powerful genie that can alter the way customers behave and come to buying decisions.

People using social media still have to move through a marketing funnel before they decide to buy from you. They’re not hopping on their Facebook and Instagram pages hoping you’ll sell them something. They’re actually there to socialize — you know, as the term social media implies.

That funnel might look a little different on social media than it does in the “real world,” but it’s a funnel nonetheless. Embrace the funnel to make the most of your social media pages.

On Posting Content

Expectation: All of my followers will see my content when it gets posted.

Reality: Even if you have 1,200 followers, that doesn’t mean all of them will see your content. In fact, very few of them (if any) will see it unless you boost it.

The type of content you post, the way it’s posted and whether or not it’s been boosted will all impact the success of your content on social media. Time and time again, we see that businesses posting hyper-local content and boosting it with a highly targeted audience are the most successful on social media.

Hyper-local content includes the real people and processes behind your business (like the post you see below). It has a local flavor and encourages engagement because it’s authentic — it’s a true representation of your business. It does not — we repeat, does not — include stock photos.

https://www.facebook.com/105294971087397/photos/a.107312650885629/142304320719795/?type=3

On Reputation Management

Expectation: My product/service speaks for itself. I don’t need to worry about my online reputation because I’m an honest business owner with a great product/service and employees.

Reality: While you may have an amazing product or service, loyal customers and hardworking employees, not everyone is going to agree with you. There will be people who are unhappy or are just looking for some kind of compensation. They may take to review platforms and social media to air their concerns.

Responding to reviews, comments and direct messages helps ensure you’re putting out any “little fires” before they become gigantic, uncontrollable blazes. When you take the time to handle any negative reviews professionally and calmly, you let your customers know you’re listening and are willing to resolve problems.

On Customer Loyalty

Expectation: My customers are happy, so I’m sure they’ll be back to buy again.

Reality: Nurturing your existing customer base is critical to your continued success. It takes far more time, money and effort to try and find new customers than to take care of the ones you’ve got.

One way to practice customer relationship management is by asking for new reviews after a sale. These reviews will give you an opportunity to thank your customers for their business as well as handle any issues that may arise.

You can also continue caring for existing customers by sending out special offers and content just for your top fans. It’s like dating: Make them feel special, and you’ll get a second date — and third, and fourth — and in time, maybe you’ll “tie the knot” someday and those customers will become brand advocates.

What do we mean by brand advocates? Those are the people (and, in some cases, influencers) who are championing your brand on their own social media pages. They’re providing the ultimate social proof because they’re spreading the word without you having to be the one saying how great you are.

On Social Media Outsourcing in General

Expectation: It feels scary to hand over control to a third party. This is going to be terrifying and it’s probably better if I just do it myself.

Reality: This is your business, your baby. Like dropping off the kids at daycare for the first time, of course it’s going to feel scary. But when you’re working with the right company, it can help you put time back in your day, grow your business, attract new talent, build a loyal customer base and give you the kind of online credibility you deserve.

If you’ve read this post and arrived at a place where outsourcing feels like a smart move, here’s a quick rundown of what Rallio can do for you. We have a range of different service levels, depending on how involved you want to be and what kind of budget you have.

Post hyper-local social media content and boost it
Create specific social media offers and events and boost them
Use artificial intelligence combined with science to help you decide what to boost and when as well as how much to spend
Respond to all your online reviews, comments and direct messages within 24 hours
Help you get additional new, positive reviews
Update your business listings across the web — this is critical during the pandemic when hours and business details can change on a dime
Help you create an employee advocacy program to get your team involved in creating and posting content
Inspire healthy competition among franchisees and team members with a leaderboard right on your dashboard
Give you both the technology and the people to be successful on social media

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As Search Engine Journal points out, “To say social media management can be done by setting aside 1-2 hours a week is really quite hilarious. The time you invest in managing your brand’s social pages and image can’t be categorized into a lump one or few hour time period. It is something that requires constant attention and generally in small intervals.”

Remember, social media is just one aspect of your marketing — and it has the potential to help you be wildly successful. Keep your social media expectations in check, and let us figure out the real details so you can focus on doing what you do best: running a business.

Tags franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

Reopening Your Business? 7 Social Media Strategies to Keep — Plus 1 to Ditch Forever

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 19, 2020

We’re all seeing signs of life in the economy as businesses start to reopen — an encouraging indicator of impending normalcy. If your business is preparing to reopen, you may be wondering which COVID-19 social media strategies to keep and which ones to ditch.

That’s just one question among many in this new business climate. As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce states in its reopening guide: “The businesses that will survive and thrive are the ones that can be flexible and adaptable to consumers’ new and evolving needs. You’ll need to plan carefully and understand not only what may need to change about your business, but what new growth opportunities may exist for you in a post-pandemic world.”

We recommend combing through the U.S. Chamber’s guide for more detailed suggestions on reopening. In the meantime, as far as the changes go in the realm of social media, we’ve recommended some “keepers” below. These changes have been implemented by many of the businesses we coach, and you may want to make these changes permanent.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=140029840947243&id=105294971087397&substory_index=0

Curbside Pickup or Home Delivery

The COVID-19 crisis forced businesses to pivot how they do business. Curbside pickup and touch-free home deliveries are strategies that have helped many businesses to keep their doors open.

With touch-free options, you may have had to implement:

Ecommerce systems
Fulfillment processing, free shipping and home delivery
More advanced text messaging and email alerts to communicate order status
Third-party delivery systems

Keep offering these options to your customers for the foreseeable future — even if your business is able to open its doors for a broader range of services. Many customers are still not going to want to step foot in public places for any length of time.

How to incorporate touch-free options in your social media strategy:

Tout your touch-free options with photos and videos explaining how customers can safely access your products and services.
Snap photos of delivery drivers getting ready to make local deliveries, or employees bringing orders out to customers’ vehicles.
Create a Facebook offer with free shipping and boost it.

By the way, these types of white-glove services go a long way toward building customer loyalty — which brings us to …

Customer Service That Goes Above and Beyond

Going the extra mile for customers has become even more important today. Taking the time to listen to their needs and respond to them sets you apart from the rest.

Online reviews, direct messages and social media comments are often the first place customers go to air their concerns or their praise. Even after the pandemic has died down, you’ll still need to make sure you’re offering customer service that goes above and beyond.

How to incorporate great customer service in your social media strategy:

Respond to every comment, question and review. Rallio gives you a dashboard to make it easy to see everything in one place. Don’t want to manage it yourself? Outsource the work to our Rallio Local team of experts.
Set up auto-responders on Facebook for frequently asked questions.
Feature your customer testimonials in social media posts. Ideally, have a picture or a video of your customer with their positive reviews.

Learn more: How to Reopen Your Small Business Safely

Reputation Management

Along the same lines of customer service, reputation management ensures you’re not only responding to feedback, but also being proactive with getting reviews. Customers are relying on these reviews to decide where to shop and which businesses are worth their money.

A lot of the work of getting a customer to buy from you is already done before you even make contact with them. If they visit your pages or review platforms and see negative comments, they’ll likely move along to the next business. So if you’ve done the work to manage your reputation properly, the good will outweigh the bad and you’ll earn their business.

How to incorporate reputation management in your social media strategy:

Ask for feedback after a sale. Our Revv app makes it easy to generate reviews and resolve any negative customer experiences.
Be personable, friendly and helpful in your social media posts. Don’t argue with customers or get into a word battle online.
Use feedback to improve your business. When you make those improvements, share the news with your followers.

https://www.facebook.com/arcpointlabsofmontereybay/posts/2621841081475463

Sanitizing Protocols

It goes without saying that customers want to see stepped-up sanitization at your business. You’re likely already implementing enhanced protocols that follow CDC and any local guidelines.

Before welcoming the public back into your location, naturally you’ll need to have a system in place for cleaning and disinfection of your facility. If you’re requiring masks for employees and customers, make sure everyone understands what’s expected. And of course, keep your facility spotless to keep everyone safe.

Additionally, you may have had to implement stringent return policies, i.e., temporarily not accepting returns and/or extending return policies for retail goods.

The key, as far as social media goes, is communication of your policies and procedures. Keep driving home the message that you’re making it as safe as possible to visit your location.

How to incorporate sanitizing protocols in your social media strategy:

Create a video explaining how you’re cleaning the facility.
Communicate your mask policy and whether you’re providing masks for those who don’t have them.
Communicate what your current return policy is so no one is surprised when returning merchandise.

https://www.facebook.com/MassageHeightsLenexaCityCenter/photos/a.352284941636001/1355771694620649/?type=3

Virtual Formats

Many businesses switched to virtual formats to continue offering services amid the pandemic. We’ve seen fitness businesses offering livestreaming via Facebook Live and Zoom. Tutors are providing online education in place of in-person tutoring. Everywhere you turn, businesses are figuring out how to reach their audience in a virtual way.

Many customers have discovered the convenience and safety of staying home while still getting the services they need and want. As a business, you may have discovered a whole new line of business by offering virtual services.

How to incorporate virtual formats in your social media strategy:

Use Facebook Live to offer classes, educational services, how-to tutorials and more. You can also use Zoom in cases where you want to be able to see your customers and vice versa.
Continue to get creative with your virtual offerings. How about virtual tours, wine tastings, happy hours, shopping events and guest speakers?
Create Facebook events for your virtual events. Promote them beforehand with your target audience. Your guests will get reminders on the day of the event to join.

Employee Advocacy

Maybe you’ve been highlighting the great work your employees are doing throughout the pandemic. Or perhaps you had to temporarily lay off employees, and now you’re preparing to welcome them back. Whatever the case may be, it’s important to keep showing gratitude for the people helping to keep your business running — from employees to suppliers.

How to incorporate employee advocacy in your social media strategy:

Spotlight your employees in social media posts. Tell your followers why they’re so great!
Empower your employees to share about your business on their personal social media pages. The Rallio platform makes it easy to share brand-approved content through these extended networks.
Invite employees to submit assets like in-store photos and videos. Again, the Rallio platform simplifies this process.

Hyper-Local Social Media

Your audience responds to real-life, hyper-local photos and videos more so than they ever will with any type of “stock” content. If you’ve been following our best practices that we recommend to all brands, then you may already have seen an uptick in engagement, reach and followers.

How to incorporate hyper-local content in your social media strategy:

Keep posting real photos and videos of the managers, employees and customers who make your business possible.
Focus on building relationships with your followers, not selling them your products and services.
Boost your content to expand your reach.

1 Social Media Strategy to Ditch Forever: Boring Content

You’ll notice in all of the strategies above, none of them includes boring content. By boring, we mean stock photos, sales pitches, promotional posts, posts without images, captions that don’t inspire engagement and, generally, any type of snooze-worthy dribble.

The pandemic has made it abundantly clear that accounts posting engaging content consistently outperform those that focus on self-promotion. Ditch the boring content and implement our best practices to see greater success with your social media strategy.

Tags coronavirus, social media strategies

Social

The 6 Most Important Social Media Metrics to Track for ROI

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 14, 2020

As a business owner, you deserve to know the return on investment from your marketing efforts — including money spent on social media marketing. You also deserve to understand the complexities of social media metrics and ROI.

We’ve coached thousands of business owners on social media and ROI.

More often than not, they come to us with a mindset of “I don’t care about anything else — all I want is new leads, sales, members, customers or employees from social media.”

Consider how you get customers in the real world, however.

Standard human behavior dictates that most customers have to move through a traditional marketing funnel. Guess what? It’s no different online.

As powerful as social media is, it’s not powerful enough to alter standard human behavior. Potential customers still need to go through each step of your sales process before they decide to buy.

“Social media does NOT replace everything,” explains Mastered Marketing. “I’ve seen people who invest in social media, but then they get lazy. They stop making as many calls. They stop networking. They stop putting in effort, thinking that social media alone will carry them. This isn’t true! And your results will slip, making you think it was social media that didn’t work, but it was actually other factors.”

Traditional ROI Versus Social ROI

To measure your own social ROI, start by considering the different steps in the buying process of a traditional marketing funnel:

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Intent
Evaluation
Purchase

We’ve tweaked that traditional funnel a bit for purposes of illustrating the social media buying process:

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Purchase
Loyalty
Advocacy

At each step, different metrics help determine the return on marketing investment. We’ve outlined the steps with their associated metrics below — along with a few action steps that can help you improve your social ROI at each stage of the buying process.

One caveat to keep in mind at all times: A social media user may find you at any step in their own buying journey. They may become aware of your existence through their friend commenting on your team-member Tuesday post. Or checking out your social content and finding out how well you treat your staff may be the tipping point to get them to buy. We recommend checking out our post, Social ROI and the Marketing Ecosystem, for more details on the non-linear nature of social media purchasing behavior.

Step 1: Awareness

Do your prospective customers even know you exist? Or know you offer a specific product or service?

Social ROI = new followers, impressions, reach and video views — all of which contribute to awareness of your brand.

Let’s unpack those two terms: impressions and reach.

Impressions are simply the number of times a post appears in someone’s timeline. It could be the same Facebook user viewing your content multiple times.
Reach is the number of unique viewers your post has — i.e., not only your own followers, but also those people’s friends and others who aren’t yet following you.

What you can do to generate awareness:

Run a page promotion campaign to get more followers.
Give them something to see when they get to your page. Highly engaging content (more on that in the next step) that showcases your products and services helps to improve awareness of what you have to offer.
Boost your content to ensure it gets seen by a wider audience. More of your followers and their extended network will see your content if you boost it.

Step 2: Interest

Now that they know about you, do your prospective customers care about you? Are you interesting to them?

Social ROI = engagement on content and the number of direct messages you receive.

Engagement, a Fancy Word for Audience Interaction

The frequency and manner in which your audience interacts with your account create your engagement metrics. Boiled down even further, good engagement looks like this:

A high number of likes, comments, shares, clicks and other actions users take after seeing your post. The higher your number of engagements, the better your audience “health.” That is to say, a healthy audience is responsive and consists of real followers who engage with your brand. To have this type of audience, your content needs to be hyper-local, interesting, useful, funny or some combination of those qualities. It also needs to be boosted to improve the reach of that content.
A high post engagement rate. The number of engagements, divided by the impressions or reach (the number of times someone sees your content), equals your post engagement rate. Quality content, as described above, is more likely to generate a high post engagement rate because it inspires an engagement.

What you can do to generate interest:

Post highly engaging content. You need to post content that not only builds awareness of your business, but also gives people a reason to care.

The best example to illustrate what “highly engaging content” looks like is the difference between a stock photo and a real photo from a business. Which one are you likely to interact with? Most people would much rather see a real photo of a business owner, employee or customer engaged in the day-to-day of your business than a stock photo of a random person doing boring things.

Read our post, Facebook Ads and Hyper-Local Content, for more ideas of posts that will help create interest for your brand.

Step 3: Consideration

Something you posted got them intrigued and they want to learn more about your product or service.

Social ROI = Clicks from social content to your website or landing page as well as new leads.

What you can do to generate consideration:

When you post your highly engaging content, include a link to your website or landing page.
Include a call-to-action button on your page, like Shop Now or Book Now. Facebook offers several different options along with call-to-action ads that can help with lead generation.
Run a lead-generation campaign through Facebook.

Step 4: Purchase

The golden goose! Someone knows about you, reads all your reviews, likes the way you run your business, and likes your offering and price. Cha-ching!

But wait … how are you tracking purchases that come through social media? Do you have a specific offer or code only given on Facebook and Instagram? Do you ask and track, in an organized way, where your customers found you, and if so do you track the amount of those transactions?

Social ROI = Cold hard cash tracked through a code.

What you can do to generate and track purchases:

Run a Facebook offer with a PLU code tied to your POS system or your payment processor.
Boost these offers.

Step 5: Loyalty

Just as important as getting new customers is keeping your current customers happy and coming back for more! As Retention Science reports, “According to the Gartner Group, 80 percent of your future profits will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers. That means the revenue sources you’ve been trying to find are most likely sitting right under your nose, waiting to be nurtured and cultivated.”

Social ROI = new online reviews and Facebook Top Fans.

What you can do to generate loyalty:

Track your online reviews and respond to them. Whether positive or negative, every review should get a response.
Make offers and content just for your Top Fans. Hello, loyal customers!

Step 6: Advocacy

There’s a difference between being a customer and being a raving fan. You want customers that can’t help but shout your name from the rooftops. Those Top Fans you’ve been nurturing can become your greatest advocates.

Social ROI = advocacy posts, mentions and trending hashtags related to your business.

What you can do to generate advocacy:

While Rallio offers specific advocacy tools for loyal employees and customers, you can achieve advocacy in other ways, too. This step is closely tied to loyalty, as you identify and then reward your most loyal fans.

For even greater impact, you can formalize your brand’s advocacy program and tie it in with influencers. Here’s where social ROI gets really interesting as you have people out there helping with every step of the marketing funnel!

Key Takeaway

The ROI of social media combines all steps of the marketing funnel, oftentimes in ways that can’t be measured with exact numbers. You need to master each layer of the funnel to make sure everything is working together to produce your desired outcomes.

If you’re looking for a black and white answer to your social media ROI woes, then you’re looking to fundamentally change the way humans behave and buy. But if you happen to figure that out, please let us know. We’ll pay you a lot of money for your answers.

Tags social media marketing, social ROI

Social

Facebook Ads and Hyper-Local Content: Your Recipe for Social Media Success

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 11, 2020

If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to advertise your business, Facebook is a great place to start. With CPM/CPC tending to be lower than paid search, Facebook ads let you target your customers and get your content in front of your desired audience.

It’s an especially good time to dive into Facebook ads right now, with usage at an all-time high. In addition, Facebook’s cost-per-click rate has dropped in recent weeks, with COVID-19 driving down demand for ad inventory, notes Mobile Marketer. These two factors make it an ideal time for franchise organizations to advertise on the social network.

“More people on Facebook are home with their devices so consumption of the platform is going up,” adds Social Media Examiner. “But fewer advertising dollars being spent on the platform overall means less inventory to serve to that increased demand. Consumers will see the same quantity of ads but it will be cheaper for advertisers to serve more impressions.

Key Takeaways

While many marketers might be pulling back on advertising due to cost concerns, that’s the last thing we’d recommend doing. Between the increase in usage and the reduced CPM/CPC, there’s never been a better time to dedicate dollars toward social media ads.
Franchisors have a unique opportunity to help their franchisees increase exposure at the local level. Franchisees who post and boost hyper-local content ensure they’re connecting at the local level with their customers.
Customers want to help their community get back on its feet. When you engage with them and increase your reach with Facebook ads, you increase the likelihood of driving local business.

Now About That Hyper-Local Content

The bottom line you need to know: Your hyper-local content, when boosted, creates a personal relationship with your customers. Content that isn’t boosted won’t get seen by your followers or their extended network.

If you’re scratching your head about what constitutes “hyper-local content,” don’t worry — because we’re giving you a bunch of freebies below that we’ve provided to many of our brands. You can take any of these ideas, create content and boost it to instantly improve the engagement on your page.

20 Ideas to Keep You Busy Posting This Month

Create a post about a local school in your area and highlight the 2020 graduating seniors. Maybe you know a few of them in your community. Do they have any photos they can provide, standing next to a congratulatory yard sign?
What are some of the top products or services you’re providing right now? Take a video of an employee explaining what’s so great about what you have to offer. If your location is reopening soon, you could also post about your reopening plans.https://www.facebook.com/178906268830527/posts/2881252238595903/?substory_index=0
Which of your employees have been working at your location the longest? Take a quick picture of them and share why they love the industry so much and some fun facts.
Are there any first responders coming into your locations? Snap a few pictures with them and post a “thank-you” for their service.
What’s one of the most common questions you get at your location? Take a video explaining the answer. You could turn this idea into a series of FAQ videos and post them on a certain day of the week, like #FunFactFriday.
Put the spotlight on the pets! Do you have any pets that are sharing office space with you or your employees? Share pictures of these furry co-workers on your page!
Have you received any positive notes during the last 30 days? Don’t be shy about patting yourself on the back! Share that feedback with your followers and thank them for supporting your business at this time.
Have you been able to enjoy any outside time during lockdown? Snap a photo of the pretty sights you see on your next walk, and share it with your followers!https://www.facebook.com/2034052683289343/posts/3396082223753042/
Take a video explaining why you chose to be in business for yourself and what you love about your community.
Have your employees made any handcrafted face masks? Snap a picture of the most creative one! Or, if you have a favorite local supplier making masks, give them a shout-out and tag the business.
Take a picture and highlight a product of the week with any deals or specials available!
How is your team keeping their brains engaged while staying at home? Share a photo of them watching their favorite show, reading their favorite book or doing any activity to keep themselves busy!
Post an inspirational quote from a favorite author, speaker or leader. You can make it look professional and attractive using Canva.com or another design app.https://www.facebook.com/ARCpointLabsofRichmond/posts/4193686620645379:0
Have you seen a positive local news story from your community? Reshare that content with your followers to keep the positivity flowing!
Do you have any special services your followers might not be aware of? Share a post or a video highlighting some of the unique aspects of what you do.https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5qmKkHIoP/
Have you been receiving questions about your COVID-19 reopening plans? Take a video explaining any information you have at this time about getting back to business. Be sure to thank your customers for their continued support!
Team member highlight! We’re sure you’ve been working nonstop during this time, so take a photo of one of your stand-out team members explaining why they are outstanding and some fun facts about them!
What are some of the fun ways you’ve spent time with your loved ones at home? Whether you’re gardening, cooking, creating chalk art or heading outdoors, you can share your shelter-at-home lifestyle with your community.
Memorial Day is coming up May 25. Post a “thank you” to all the service members of your community and the nation.
Share a few throwback photos of your business when you were first getting started, along with a little bit of history about your location.https://www.facebook.com/148544921858641/posts/3007453889301049/

Get the Attention You Deserve

If you put these ideas on repeat and boost your posts, you’ll start to see greater engagement on your pages almost immediately. You may even start coming up with tons of new ideas on your own once you get in the swing of things.

The Rallio Local team’s full-time job is to come up with ideas like these, create and boost the content, and make sure that our franchisees’ pages are getting the attention they need. If you’re not currently part of the Rallio Local program and would like someone else to handle your social media management for you, reach out to sales@rallio.com and we can walk you through your options — with affordable initial costs.

Tags CPC, franchise social media

Social

Franchise Social Media Best Practices You Need to Know

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 4, 2020

Being in business “for yourself, but not by yourself” is the classic allure of franchise ownership. Buying a franchise means buying into proven systems and processes, with a team that’s there for you every step of the way. From your marketing to your operations, you have a plan for starting and growing your business right from the get-go.

What’s not always immediately evident within those systems and processes are the franchise social media best practices. When we start working with clients, one of the first things we’ll take a look at is whether they have any kind of guidelines in place. Then we either add to them or help develop guidelines that work within the framework of our Rallio technology and services.

What we find time and time again is that those organizations that have a system in place from the start are successful at growing their online presence. Those that don’t … aren’t.

With guidelines, it’s clear what franchisees can and cannot do on social media. If you need to develop guidelines of your own for your franchise, we recommend implementing the following franchise social media best practices.

Be Grammatically Correct

What not to do: Fill your content with typos. Use “there” when you mean “their.” Throw in extra apostrophes where they don’t belong. Make your followers die a slow death while trying to read sentences that make no sense. Throw caution to the wind by ignoring every basic rule of grammar you’ve ever heard.

What to do instead: Triple, heck, quadruple check your content before you send it out. Get a second pair of eyes on it to make sure it’s error-free, makes sense and isn’t potentially offensive. If you happen to post something with an error in it, edit it or republish it if you have to. That’s the beauty of digital publishing — you can fix mistakes.

Through Rallio, brands have added controls in place. The franchisor can review and approve their franchisees’ content before it’s able to be published. We see many brands do this for new franchisees for the first 90 days or so.

Take Videos in Good Lighting

What not to do: Film yourself with no lights on. Stand in the sun and squint. Step into the shadows like Darth Vader. Might as well put on the mask and breathe heavily while you’re at it.

What to do instead: Get yourself some good lighting, y’all. Natural light is great — and free. Position yourself and your camera near a window, with you mostly facing the light source. Play around with the angle and time of day to find your ideal filming conditions. If the sun is too harsh, it may create unflattering shadows.

If you’re looking to step up your video game even more, you can opt for special lighting like a ring light or a softbox. Adorama has a good roundup of various lighting options here.

Honestly, though, if you had time for all that fancy schmancy equipment, you’d probably be an influencer or you’d be writing this playbook, right? So just get yo’self some natural light, brush your hair, throw on a smile and press “Record.” Upload it, write a cute caption and call it a day.

Make Sure We Can Hear You

What not to do: Post videos that make you sound like you have a pillow over your face.

What to do instead: Even the greatest lighting isn’t going to fix muffled, hard-to-hear videos. And the last thing you want is to get to the end of your recording, only to realize no one can hear you. Test out your sound quality before you record your full video. Make sure all systems are a-go-go, and then get to filming. You can also add subtitles to be safe, as we did in the video below.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/videos/528509271386367/

Don’t Use Music You Don’t Own

What not to do: Throw on any ol’ tunes you like in your videos. Have a great Spotify playlist? Well, shouldn’t everyone hear it?

What to do instead: Use royalty-free music. If you use audio or music you don’t own, it may be taken down by the social media platform where you posted it. With royalty-free music, you can have some nice background audio without worrying your content will be removed.

A few options for finding royalty-free music include:

Be aware, though, that rules vary from site to site (and are subject to change) as far as using music for commercial use, as well as whether attribution is required. Check with each site to be sure you’re following the rules before posting.

Keep It Friendly

What not to do: Get in your customers’ faces when they write a bad review or say something negative to you. Point out all their shortcomings. Tell them they probably ate paste in kindergarten. Be the cyber-bully you’ve always wanted to be.

What to do instead: Be friendly even in the face of criticism. Offer to rectify situations where you were at fault (it happens). You can’t make everyone happy, nor should you try. When customers complain or write a negative review, use it as an opportunity to a) educate the customer, or b) improve your business.

There’s no need to argue — doing so will only make you look defensive. Attempt to take challenging conversations offline so you can handle matters privately.

Respond to positive feedback, too! Your customers appreciate when you take the time to acknowledge their kind words.

https://www.facebook.com/heidi.meyer.144/posts/10222052446008335

Think Quality, Not Quantity

What not to do: Post 43 times a day about literally nothing. Snap low-quality photos and post them without captions. Better yet, use strictly stock photos. Promote yourself shamelessly.

What to do instead: Post highly engaging, hyper-local content. Engaging content features real people and places, like the owner/operator, employees, customers and the work you’ve done. Listen and converse more than you sell. Showcase the great work you’re doing and awesome people at your company, and let that content speak for itself.

Boost Your Content

What not to do: With all that low-quality content above, just keep pushing it out there and hope someone sees it. Your followers are bound to come across it sometime. Don’t spend any money on social media — it’s free, right?

What to do instead: Boost your content. No one will see it — not your followers, not their friends and not any prospects — if you don’t pay to play. Start with a reasonable budget and ramp it up as you go. Target the audiences you want to reach, smartly and strategically; then it will be money well-spent. Popular posts like the one below are exactly the kind of content you want your audience to see.

https://www.facebook.com/1690430347907071/posts/2625624484387648/?substory_index=0

Get Brand-Specific With Franchise Social Media Best Practices

These best practices are just a taste of recommendations we make for our franchise clients. The “best practices” can vary slightly based on your goals and the type of involvement you want to have in your social media — whether totally hands-free or fully involved with the process.

If you’re looking for an even more in-depth look at best practices specific to your brand, schedule a no-obligation demo. We’ll take information about your business and customize a complete playbook tailored to your organization’s needs.

Tags franchise social media, social media

Social

The 7 Deadly Franchise Social Media Sins

Post author By Rallio
Post date April 24, 2020

The basics of franchise social media are more relevant today than ever before — particularly given the current challenges so many businesses are facing. If it’s been a while since you dusted off your social media marketing strategy, now would be an excellent time to do so.

When you do, you might come to some tough conclusions about the way that strategy is working — or not. It’s easy to let your franchise social media lag if you’re caught up in other parts of your business that you think are more important. However, your social media is honestly one of the most important areas of your business you can focus on right now.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: We’re not here to judge. We are, however, here to shine a light on the 7 Deadly Franchise Social Media Sins that many franchise owners make.

If you’re guilty of any of these sins, we forgive you. And we’ve got a cure for each of them we think will set you on the path to righteousness with your social media pages.

Deadly Sin #1: Lust

In the context of social media: Lust, of course, is a strong passion or longing for something. It might be that you’re “lusting” after vanity metrics like a high follower count, for instance.

When we say “vanity metrics,” it refers to numbers that might look good on paper, but do not actually tell you how your page is performing. As the Content Marketing Institute explains it, “the sheen on these numbers fades when you use them to explain important business outcomes like ROI or customer lifetime value (CLTV); they become hollow digits that contribute little substance to proving your marketing is making money.”

You can lust after those followers all you want, but even if you get them, will you really be happy … er, impactful on social media? All the shiny new followers in the world don’t matter if nobody sees your content, or if they see it and don’t care.

Why would nobody see your content? You aren’t boosting it. You figured they followed you, so they must be lusting after you, too. Sorry, buddy. Unless you pay to put your content in their newsfeeds, they won’t know it exists.

Why would nobody care about your content? It could be overly promotional, trite, confusing, repetitive or — bear with us here — a tad bit boring.

The cure: The combination of great content and boosting gets your content seen. And great content is hyper-local, personable, authentic, entertaining or informational. Now put your eyeballs back in their sockets, quit chasing followers and move on to the next deadly sin.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1047045519010372&id=405530529828544&substory_index=0

Deadly Sin #2: Gluttony

In the context of social media: Gluttony could mean consuming more than you’re contributing. It might come in the form of failing to respond to online reviews, comments and questions on your page.

If you’ve done a good job with avoiding sin #1 and you’re posting highly engaging content that you’re also boosting, you should start to see audience interaction. They’ll like your posts, share them, leave comments, post reviews and send you DMs.

Sure, it’s easy to sit back and let the engagements roll in — maybe not even noticing what’s happening on your social media pages. But sooner or later, it’s like watching Netflix for too long, when you get the question, “Are you still watching?” Or, in this case, are you still listening?

When you don’t respond to engagements, both positive and negative, it makes you look like you’re just out there enjoying your Thanksgiving dinner while your audience waits for a reply.

The cure: Set down your fork, dab your face with a napkin and jump into the conversation. You’ve got to get in the trenches with your followers and make sure they know you’re there. Get excited about serving up delicious morsels of customer service. If they get “fat” on your cheerful replies and helpful tips, they’ll be loyal consumers for life.

Deadly Sin #3: Greed

In the context of social media: Being greedy may mean you’re being overly promotional. You’re pushing sales more than you’re being social.

When you excessively post about a promotion or offer, it drives people away and may cause them to unfollow you. The key word in “social media” is, of course, social. Being yourself, posting authentic images and talking to your audience like friends is much more effective than self-promotion.

It’s like going to a party where you don’t know a lot of people. You make a few jokes, ask people what they do for a living, maybe throw in casually that you clean houses for a living and see what they say. You don’t immediately pull out your vacuum and start asking people to lift their feet as you sweep up (though you might come in handy after the party!).

The cure: Put your followers first. Be friendly, personable and charitable. Listen and engage more than you sell. Don’t be that desperate salesperson who follows people around the virtual “store,” if you will.

Deadly Sin #4: Sloth

In the context of social media: For lack of a better word, you’re lazy with your social media. Your pages are collecting dust. You haven’t posted anything in months, if ever.

It’s not hard to guess what happens when you ignore your social media pages. Nobody will see them.

By failing to put effort into your pages, you’re missing out on opportunities to connect with your target customers. And right now especially, with so many people online during the COVID-19 crisis, you’re letting leads and customers slip away.

The cure: Be diligent with your social media. Treat it like the necessary part of your business that it is. Create a buzz about your business so people become eager to hear from you. Like that alarm going off at 5 a.m. reminding you to go for a morning run, get into the habit of posting regularly to your page and interacting with your audience. Promise you can have pancakes afterward.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/posts/1593062590846907

Deadly Sin #5: Wrath

In the context of social media: Maybe you get upset with detractors or people posting negative reviews or comments.

It’s easy to feel angry when you feel attacked, right? If someone says something about your business that’s not true, or worded meanly, you might feel like hurling back a few strong words. And it can easily turn into a public or private argument with a customer.

Although it’s tempting to get into a word battle with people online, there’s no way to win in this situation. You might as well start yelling, “I know you are, but what am I!” Arguing with a customer only gets them more upset and makes you look defensive.

The cure: Go scream in a pillow if you must, and then collect yourself. Be cool, all you cool cats and kittens. Respond professionally. Invite customers to take a conversation offline. Look for ways to solve the problem rather than focus on the words that made you angry.

When you’re patient and choose your words carefully, you always win. You’re either going to make the customer happy, you’ll be the one taking the high road, or you’ll maybe say goodbye to a customer you’re happy to see leave. You might even find ways to improve your business if you look for them.

Deadly Sin #6: Envy

In the context of social media: Perhaps you’re jealous of competitors. You envy their success, so you’re trying to be like them.

When you focus on trying to imitate others, you fail to differentiate yourself. Why be a sheep when you can be a shepherd? You have something unique to offer that your competitors don’t. You have some kind of competitive advantage — what is it?

The cure: Don’t be jelly. You can and should keep an eye on what your competitors are doing so you don’t fall behind. But you should use those observations to make your business better, to offer something different and to set yourself apart. Put on that shepherd’s cloak and be a leader.

Deadly Sin #7: Pride

Pride can take on many forms in the context of social media:

Not asking for help, thinking you can do it all yourself because no one can do it better than you. While that may be true, you’re going to burn yourself out if you do business this way.
Boasting excessively, to the point where you fail to see any potential flaws. Because everybody loves a business that can’t get enough of itself, right?
Not taking criticism well, even when it might help your business. So maybe you’re having flashbacks to junior high when your teacher took a red pen to your heartfelt essay about water conservation. Well, she was only trying to give you some constructive feedback, and so are the people who leave reviews (even if sometimes it’s not so constructive).
Letting ego run rampant. Your selfie stick is always in your back pocket.

We know you’re amazing at what you do. You wouldn’t be in business otherwise. Consider, however, that there may be times when pride is getting in the way of your success.

The cure: Be open to the idea that other people have value to add to your social media. Set the ego aside, and focus on a mindset of collaboration — with your team, with your followers, with your community. Turn the spotlight on others, and eventually, it will shine right back on you, you beautiful human.

Franchise Social Media Made Simple

Having a digital agency that always has your back can help you avoid the deadly sins of franchise social media and stay on track. Rallio works with franchises in all different industries to improve their social media, online reputation and brand management — from corporate down to the location level.

To get started and chat with our social media experts, fill out our online form or reach out to sales@rallio.com.

Tags franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

Health and Medical

What is your location doing to keep everyone healthy and safe? Take photos of your staff at safety stations in your office, complete with hand sanitizer, gloves and masks.
What are some of the FAQ you get about COVID-19? Post a video with an employee answering a handful of the most common questions your lab tends to get.
The CDC now recommends wearing face masks out in public. Post a video showing your followers how to make their own face masks using cloth, bandanas, scarves and other household materials. Remind them to wash their hands before and after wearing a mask!
Share an inspirational quote or personal story related to COVID-19! Everyone could use a pick-me-up during this challenging time.

https://www.facebook.com/ARCpointLabsofSantaFeSprings/photos/a.874354019284335/2856450044408046/?type=3

Online Education

Do you have a teacher or tutor who has gone above and beyond recently, maybe helping a student boost their grade? Post a photo of them with a shoutout to thank them for their hard work!
What colleges are your senior students planning to attend? Share photos with them wearing their college sweatshirt, holding up a logo or mascot, or somehow showing their school spirit!
As students engage in distance learning, some schools are distributing yard signs for their grads. If you have any graduating seniors, ask them to send in photos with them posing by a “Class of 2020” yard sign or a homemade sign.
Kids need your help right now, but so do parents! Share an inspirational message or quote to let them know you care and you’re there for them in these uncertain times.
Do you have a Facebook group for your local customers? Let them know how to access it! (Let us know if you need help setting up a local Facebook group to offer extra at-home learning support and resources for children and parents.)

We are grateful to our incredible Orange High School PTA for surprising each student in the Class of 2020 with a yard sign! Thanks to OHS PTA Senior Parent Representative Miki Beachler for coordinating and safely distributing (from a distance!) these yard signs. #TeamOrange pic.twitter.com/KAXaQqaPcY

— Orange_Schools_OH (@Orange_Schools) April 17, 2020

Retail Shops

Remind your customers of the contact-free options you have available at your store, such as curbside pickup.
In these uncertain times, it’s important to express gratitude for your team. Post a photo of them with a “thank you” message to let them know how much you appreciate their hard work and why you’re grateful for them.
With many people working from home, they’ll love doorstep delivery and other local options to access the products they need as they shelter at home — from pet products to work-from-home items such as printer supplies. Take a photo of a delivery driver preparing to make a local delivery.
Ask followers to snap photos of their home office setup, with tips on staying productive, ergonomically correct and healthy at home.
If you’re open, make sure you communicate that message to customers with your hours of operation and any restrictions you have in place for social distancing.

https://www.facebook.com/cwoftc/photos/a.442057212831058/1035986576771449/?type=3

Automotive Services

Are you making any deliveries or picking up vehicles for service? Take a picture of your delivery driver wearing their protective gear before they head out!
Host a Q&A on your page! Take a photo of one of your experienced team members, and prompt your followers to ask them some tire-care or service-related questions.
Record a quick video to demonstrate how to check tire tread depth! Explain how the “penny test” is a simple way to see when tires need to be replaced.
You can post other safety videos or tips, too — like how to check tire pressure, what to do if a tire blows out while driving, or even how to change a tire if you’re feeling ambitious!
Thank a customer for a great review! Your current online reviews are so important right now for inspiring confidence in your business. It’s also a best practice to respond to all your reviews, both positive and negative, and reposting a review on your social media pages only adds to the reach.

ANY size, ANYWHERE! We can get it done for you and get you back on the road. It’s just that simple!…

Posted by Rubber On Wheels on Thursday, March 26, 2020

Cleaning and Restoration

Do you have any old photos from team events? Post a throwback photo along with a caption expressing gratitude for your hard-working team, and invite your followers to comment on anything they’re grateful for right now.
Make sure you express gratitude for your customers as they continue to do business with you. Post a simple “thank you” with a photo of your team to let them know how much you appreciate their loyalty.
What are some of the awesome local jobs you’ve done lately? Highlight one or two of them so customers can see the great work you’re doing in the community.
Post a “thank you” to your hard-working team members, perhaps with a throwback photo of past team events or conferences.
Whether you’re open or closed right now, you can brighten up newsfeeds with an inspirational message or quote.

Need More Social Media Content Ideas? Let Us Know

Hopefully, this will help spark some ideas of ways you can bring life to your social media pages. Feel free to contact us if you’d love getting a weekly email with content ideas delivered to your inbox. We’ll do the thinking so you don’t have to spend time figuring out what to post, and you can focus on running your business! #winwin

As you’re taking care of social distancing, Rallio is here to take care of your social media engagement — with no initial fees. We have many different solutions for all types of businesses to help them navigate the COVID-19 crisis with greater ease. To get started, fill out our online form or reach out to sales@rallio.com.

Tags coronavirus, franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

4 Ways to Tweak Your Social Media Marketing for COVID-19

Post author By Rallio
Post date April 15, 2020

No matter what the industry, COVID-19 has affected businesses everywhere, along with the consumers who buy from them. Given the global impact this virus has had, it’s important to adjust your messaging and social media marketing to reflect the current times — whether your business is booming or struggling because of COVID-19.

Instead of a hard sales pitch, it’s about softening your message and looking for ways to be of service. The term “We’re all in this together” has become a rallying cry of people everywhere — from all industries and walks of life.

And actually, this is the perfect time to recognize that the hard sales pitch was never a very effective way to capture your audience’s attention.

Rather than use social media as a blatant promotional tool, think of it as a platform for being authentic, honest and real. Recruit the power of social media to help you tell your story, support your customers and serve your community, and you’ll be met with enthusiasm from your audience.

Follow the tips below to be more impactful with your social media marketing regardless of your industry — not only now during COVID-19 times, but going forward as well.

Tip #1: Think Gandhi, Not Rocky

You’re not stepping into a boxing ring with Apollo Creed. Knocking your customers in the face with the hard sell is only going to turn them away.

That was true before COVID-19, and it’s even more true now.

People will resonate with messaging that addresses the current reality. For many, that reality includes dealing with financial and emotional challenges like they’ve never seen before.

For others, it may mean dealing with loss and grief if they’ve lost loved ones. It could mean isolating from family or putting themselves at risk as essential workers.

Since you don’t know what each of your customers might be experiencing right now, you simply need to speak to all of them with compassion and gritty realness.

Imagine yourself as a storyteller, someone who engages your audience with compelling plots, twists and turns, surprise endings and fascinating characters. Be the type of account someone wants to follow and engage with. The deeper they get into your “story,” the more they’ll remember you and want to buy from you.

You can be playful, motivational and sometimes humorous, too. Give them something to do with all that time at home — dance party, anyone? Zoom cocktail hour? Wacky science experiment for kids? Whatever you do, do it from the heart. Be a friend, not a salesperson.

CBS Sports nailed it with their inspirational ad speaking to our collective longing for sports, greeting us simply, “Hello Friends.” Grab your tissues, y’all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCt6shOqfSo

Tip #2: Do Stuff You Wouldn’t Normally Do

Think free shipping and deeper discounts. Go the extra mile with customer service. Make every customer feel important and significant. On a more thought-provoking note, trust that what you give away will come back to you tenfold or more.

Customers are paying close attention to how you are taking care of them right now. You should be treating every customer, follower and lead like royalty.

It’s the way service should be — we’re just hyper-aware of it today. You better believe your customer will remember you including a handwritten note and a free dessert with their takeout order. Thank them by name for supporting your business, and sign it with your own name, too.

Yes, it’s April and you’re not thinking about creating the type of offers you would normally only dish out on Black Friday. But we’ll say it louder for the people in the back: These are not normal times.

When you tailor your offers for a COVID-19 audience, you are letting people know you care. You’re putting people before profits. And those people will remember your kindness.

Every time you offer free delivery, free trials, free gifts with purchase and other freebies, you gain your audience’s trust. You’re instilling confidence in your business — the type of confidence that will translate into repeat sales and positive reviews.

Tip #3: Take a Fine-Toothed Comb to Social Media Marketing

If you already have posts and ads scheduled to go out, be sure to give them an extra once-over. For the reasons stated in tip #2, you don’t want anything going out that doesn’t speak to the current COVID-19 reality.

You can either tweak your scheduled content or come up with new posts and ads altogether. For instance, if you had content set to go out that talks about enjoying spring travel, you can adjust it to speak to people who are staying home instead.

Take Airbnb, a company that obviously relies on travel. With stay-at-home orders in place, they’ve had to shift their focus to virtual experiences. In the April 9 post below, Airbnb introduces “Airbnb Experiences,” explaining that you can “take a flamenco class with Lidón in Madrid, participate in a tarot card reading with Mak in Austin, or visit a colony of penguins in Cape Town—all from home.”

(By the way, this is another example of a company pivoting to address COVID-19, as we’ve covered in several previous posts about the pet, online education, food and fitness industries.)

https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/posts/10158336490662458

Look at your recent content that’s already gone out, too. If something seems insensitive or no longer applies, you can delete it. Or if an email slipped out with inappropriate messaging, send an apologetic follow-up to practice damage control.

Be hyper-aware of every piece of content and communication that’s going out. Run it by a second and third set of eyes if you can. Being extra cautious will help you avoid offending anyone.

Tip #4: Get Strategic With Ads and Search

This is also a good time to look at your ad strategy for any opportunities to showcase high-performing content. Those “storytelling” posts you’re creating? Boost them to put them in more of your audience’s newsfeeds. Take advantage of the increase in traffic as more people go online to connect with friends, pass the time and discover new content.

Consider search, too. If you’re running PPC campaigns, add in COVID-19-related search terms to account for new search behavior. Everyday searches like “international travel” and “tax tips” will now include the additional terms “coronavirus” or “COVID,” for instance, as people look for the most up-to-date information on the global pandemic.

A caveat: The trends around COVID-19 search are rapidly evolving. This is not a “set it and forget situation” by any means. Keep yourself up-to-date on the most current search information to be sure your PPC campaigns stay relevant.

Google’s Coronavirus Search Trends page is one useful resource. Check back daily to stay in the know about how COVID-19 is being searched around the globe in different sectors.

Tags coronavirus, franchise social media, social media marketing