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Social

3 Tech Trends Impacting Local Franchise Locations This Year

As a franchise location, your top priority is getting customers through the doors. The way you handle your local social and online presence dictates whether people will find and frequent your business — and technology can help your efforts to create a local impact. The following three tech trends are among those having the greatest impact on franchisees’ ability to reach their target audience, build community and create authentic connections with their customers.

#1: “Near Me” Search

Mobile search gave rise to “near me” searches, whereby people search for a business, product or service located nearby. If someone is looking for a pet store, for instance, they might type in the phrase “pet stores near me” or simply “pet stores” — and Google will suggest nearby locations. Even without the “near me” phrase included in the search, Google now knows people are looking for local places. In fact, it’s more likely that people will drop “near me” from their search, knowing that Google will serve up relevant search results based on a person’s geo-location.

Click the video below to see this process in action. Not only does Google pull up local search results, but it also shows online reviews associated with a location. Once you click over to the location you want, you can even tap to get directions and drive there on the spot (or, hey, grab a ride with Uber or Lyft!).

Make sure your business has a contact page on your website, plus a Google My Business listing.

According to Google, roughly one-third of all mobile searches are now location-based, as more and more people attempt to locate whatever they need in that moment — all while on the go. In fact, location-based searches have been growing 50 percent faster than any other type of mobile search.

The implications of this growing trend for franchises are huge in terms of driving local customers into their businesses. To ensure your franchise location shows up in “near me” searches, there are two important steps to take for local search optimization. First, make sure your website has a contact page with your address and phone number. Google likes to see a contact page in particular and will read the information in searches. Simple as that!

Next, set up a Google My Business profile, which will also ensure you show up on Google Maps(formerly known as Google Places). Your GMB profile is where all information related to your business will live in the Googlesphere — such as your name, address, phone number, website, location on the map, Google reviews and more.

Setting up your Google business page is a simple process you can get done in minutes. Add as much information as possible, including photos and videos, to make your business uber-searchable and to give customers a good glimpse into your location. In addition, ensure that your website is mobile-friendly so customers have a positive experience when viewing your site from their phones.

#2: Voice Search

A close cousin to “near me” search is voice search. With virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Home available today, not to mention microphone technology built into smartphones, many customers are now speaking their search terms instead of typing them into their browser.

The trend has been growing in popularity steadily over the past few years, with Google GEO Sundar CEO previously announcing that one-fifth of Google search queries are voice searches. Furthermore, 22 percent of people use voice search to find local information, according to an Internet Trends Report.

Because it’s faster to speak than type, queries may be longer and more conversational than typical search terms. Instead of saying “pizza places,” for example, someone might ask a question: “Which pizza places are open near me?” See below:

Voice search makes it easy to enter longer searches in the form of a question.

If you own a local business, that means you have a tremendous opportunity to be found via voice search. Just as you optimize your site for “near me” searches, do the same for voice search. Again, your contact page and Google My Business listing are critical to getting found, as are relevant keywords in your title tags, meta description, internal links and anchor text. These keywords can include phrases about your neighborhood, the names of nearby landmarks and institutions, and other hyper-local words.

Read more: How to diffuse customer complaints on social media

#3: Facebook Messenger

On Facebook, your customers can message your page directly with questions or comments via Facebook Messenger. With over 1.3 billion active monthly users, Messenger offers huge potential for connecting directly with your audience, creating community and turning prospects into loyal customers.

Consider the many ways to use Messenger, and you’ll quickly see it’s an invaluable tool in your overall marketing strategy:

  • Customer communication — Customers who message you via Messenger may be asking questions pertaining to your location, such as whether you have a certain item in stock. Respond to them quickly — just as quickly as if they had picked up the phone and called you — and you’ll generate brand trust and confidence that can equate to new customers and sales.
  • Reputation management — Similarly, customers may take to Messenger to voice their praise or concerns. Respond to these messages quickly, too, even though they are not public-facing. Unanswered complaints have the potential to turn into online reviews that everyone can see, not to mention the poor reputation you’ll be creating, so be prompt in handling any customer issues.
  • Employee recruiting — Find applicants, set up qualifying questions and allow candidates to apply directly online using Messenger. Using various bots, you can let Messenger prescreen candidates and send you only those who fit your employment criteria.
  • Sales — Configure Messenger to let customers purchase products directly through the app using chatbots and Buy Now features, and your live-chat experiences via Messenger can become sales opportunities. This breakdown from Neil Patel will help you configure Messenger to boost your ecommerce sales.

The above methods are just a few of the ways Messenger can help you stay engaged with your customers and build authentic connections in your community. Don’t overlook it as a way to further your franchise location’s local impact.

A Word About Online Reviews

Another critical element of your Google My Business page is your online reviews. As people use “near me” and voice searches or look you up on Facebook, they’ll be reading reviews to decide whether to visit your location. They’ll also be looking at how you stack up against the competition that’s showing up in those search results. The more five-star reviews you have, and the greater your response rate, the better you appear to potential customers.

That’s why you need to make sure every review has a response from your business. Whether a review is positive or negative, it’s important to take a few minutes every day to acknowledge your customers and make sure any concerns get resolved.

With positive reviews, a simple “Thanks for your great review, Jim! We look forward to seeing you again soon!” goes a long way toward building customer loyalty and goodwill. With negative reviews, best practice is to be polite, avoid getting defensive and offer to remedy the situation — sometimes, taking it offline is best rather than hashing things out online.

Even positive reviews deserve a response from the business, like this reply from our client Massage Heights Midtown Houston.

Keep in mind that your online reviews are available for anyone to see. That means the customer searching for “pet stores,” or your particular product or service, could land on your Google page, come across your reviews and make a buying decision without ever coming into your store or having a conversation with you.

In addition to Google reviews, be sure to monitor those appearing on Facebook and Yelp. Claim your pages on those platforms so you have control over responding to comments and reviews. Keep in mind that Yelp may penalize your business for requesting reviews from customers in exchange for credit, gifts or other incentives.

Instead of offering free gifts, consider incorporating a reputation management tool into your overall marketing strategy — such as our Revv app, which invites customer feedback and makes it easier to 1) encourage positive reviews on Yelp, Google and Facebook, and 2) take negative feedback offline.

Read more: Not responding to your online reviews and engagements? You need to read this

Conclusion

Technology can be your BFF if you know how to use it to your advantage for your local business. If you could use some help navigating your online reviews, Google My Business and other tech trends impacting your franchise, turn to the experts at Rallio and we’ll help you create an impactful local presence that sets you apart — not only in search results, but also in the competitive playing field.






Categories
Social

GaryVee’s Top Tips on Franchise Social Media Marketing

When Gary Vaynerchuk speaks about social media marketing, it’s best to sit up and listen, especially if you feel like your brand could use some help maximizing its online reach. The CEO of VaynerMedia was among the featured guests on a recent episode of MODRN Business Podcast, hosted by Rallio’s own Ryan Hicks, Vice President of Business Development.

In the episode, which was recorded before his keynote at the 2019 International Franchise Association Annual Convention in Las Vegas, GaryVee offers several tips to help franchisors and their franchisees get started in social media marketing. Read on for a look at a few of his top tips that any franchise system can undertake to make an immediate impact on social media.

Give More Than You Take

“People are often self-serving on social media,” says Gary, and that approach doesn’t do anything to win over your target audience. “Your content needs to bring value to the audience at no cost so they can go and do something with it.”

The most successful social media accounts serve up content that either informs and educates or entertains rather than going for the sale, says Gary. He adds, “There are no accounts doing well on social media that don’t do one of those two things.

Pro tip: Don’t over-promote. Promotional posts have their place, such as when you’re paying to boost a post or you have an exciting offer to share with users. You can’t post them every day, however. Keep the focus on them, not you, with the majority of your posts, and they’ll be more receptive when you share a special sale or promotion. If you need more ideas for daily content, see our post, 31 Days of Social Media Ideas.

Read more: Why Your Franchise Location Needs Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/532340386932497/photos/a.655440264622508/1130776187088911/?type=3&theater
Rather than pushing a sale, this post from Pet Supplies Plus in Naperville, Illinois, puts the focus on community engagement through highlighting Hugo the dog.

Make Local Content

Franchisees need to be producing local, engaging content like the post you see above. Why? “Because they want their business to grow,” quips Gary. “If you’re not making contextual content, you’ve lost.”

By contextual, he means that simply pushing out the same corporate content across all locations isn’t effective in terms of broadening your local reach. If you want to do business with people who actually live in your area and are likely to frequent your establishment, then you need to speak to them directly.

The “Hugo” post above from Pet Supplies Plus in Naperville, Illinois, does double duty by pushing out a locally focused post featuring a “neighbor’s” canine companion. By also asking its audience to post pet photos of their own, the post invites engagement and, because Facebook’s algorithm favors this type of content over generic posts, is more likely to be seen in newsfeeds.

Pro tip: Find your unique voice. Specifically, find a voice that exudes casual friendliness. Social media is not the place for business speak, stodgy words and sales pitches. The very term “social media” gives you a clue as to what kind of voice you need to have. You’re just a bunch of friends chatting it up.

Read more: 5 Tips for Improving Your Writing on Social Media

“That whole concept of vanilla from corporate doesn’t work,” Gary continues. That’s a tough lesson to learn for many new franchisees, who often join a franchise system because of the perceived structure. They may think that corporate will handle everything for them, including their local marketing, when in reality that’s a task they must undertake just as an independent entrepreneur would.

Adds Gary, “The reason so many people lose in the franchise world is that people think they’re in the turnkey business and they’re not.”

When corporate content doesn’t generate any engagement, leads or sales for them, they may think social media simply doesn’t work for them as a marketing medium. However, the solution is not to abandon social media, but rather embrace local, location-specific content. That is, original content that’s contextual to your five-mile radius is always going to disproportionately outperform generic content that isn’t meaningful to your local audience. “Like, you know the pothole on your street — that’s the joke you should be making,” says Gary. “The hot new yoga studio [in town], the principal in town who just celebrated her 50th anniversary — that needs to be your post.”

Pro tip: Don’t be a social media hater. The conversations are happening with or without you. Additionally, on social media, you have an opportunity to let your personality shine, inspire confidence in customers, entertain and educate your audience, and build customer loyalty. Lastly, you can better serve customers. Nowadays, when people have a complaint about a company, they take to social media to vent. The more engaged you are in the conversations happening about your brand, the more responsive you can be to their needs.

Read more: Why Your Franchise Location Needs Social Media

The key takeaway? Customers want to see that there are real humans behind the local social profile. Again, ask yourself if a post either informs or entertains. If it fails that litmus test, then it’s not providing value — and it’s probably not going to get any online engagement.

Furthermore, pay attention to what happens after you post. If people are asking questions, commenting, liking, sharing and leaving online reviews, you need to be involved in that conversation. When they engage with you, they expect to hear back — and quickly — especially if they’re voicing a complaint. Be polite, be engaging and be present so your customers know you’re listening.

By responding promptly to this positive Facebook recommendation, Honest-1 Auto Care South Elgin showed they are listening and care about customer feedback.

Pro tip: Respond to both positive and negative online reviews. In either case, it’s important that a customer feels heard. With positive reviews, thank them for taking the time to leave a review and mention something specific about the customer if you can, such as, “It was great seeing you as always, Jessica, and we look forward to your next visit.” With negative reviews, be sure to acknowledge the concern, address it without getting defensive, and take it offline if necessary. An owner’s response to a review has the ability to either generate trust in a brand or demonstrate lack of concern.

Read more: Not Responding to Your Online Reviews? You Need to Read This

Pick Your Platform

With so many different platforms, from Instagram to LinkedIn, how do you know which one will give you the best return on your marketing investment? While you don’t need to limit yourself to one platform, you can take a look at your demographics to see where they are spending their time the most, but don’t ignore other opportunities to branch out into other platforms. “LinkedIn has helped me quite a bit because it’s broadened my reach,” says Gary.

Pro Tip: It’s called “social” media, so be social. Your audience doesn’t want to see stock photos. They’ll scroll right past them! Instead, include snapshots (with permission) of your employees, customers, office environment and other real-life photos. Include not only special events such as birthdays and holiday celebrations, but also simple “day in the life” photos showing what happens in your office.

Read more: Franchise Social Media Best Practices: a Roundup of Our Best Tips

Bonus Tip: Get Your Employees Involved

A common barrier for franchisees is they lack the time and/or desire to post to social media, engage with their audience and respond to their online reviews. One solution is to let someone else do the work.

That might mean employing an agency such as the Rallio Local division to handle posting custom, local content and responding to comments and reviews. Not only does our team bring life to local pages, but they also help boost locations’ online reputation by ensuring timely responses to their online engagements.

You can also empower your employees to be brand advocates. Did you know that most employees are already posting comments, images and videos about their employers? Rallio technology allows you to give employees limited access to your mobile social profiles so they can do some of the legwork to snap great local photos and upload them to our platform.

Does your franchise use social media marketing to make a local impact? Why or why not? Drop your comments below.

Marketing experts and executives interested in being featured on the MODRN Business Podcast may reach out to Hicks at ryanh@www.rallio.com. To be featured or for guest blogging opportunities on the Rallio blog, contact karen@www.rallio.com. Additionally, for product or service inquiries, contact ryanh@www.rallio.com or support@www.rallio.com.

About Rallio: Rallio is a powerful combination of social technology and local agency. The Rallio team empowers local operators to ignite their social presence, with easy-to-use mobile technology that turns employees into brand advocates. Rollup analytics provide brands with complete control over their local social media and reputation presence and clarity into which locations and operators are performing the best.

Categories
Content Marketing Social

Franchising Social Media Best Practices: a Roundup of Our 12 Best Tips

It’s no secret that social media is here to stay, and franchise brands that embrace the medium are seeing significant results. If you’re a marketing manager or otherwise responsible for your brand’s social media marketing, today’s roundup of our 12 best tips will help you jump-start your social outreach efforts.

Continue reading “Franchising Social Media Best Practices: a Roundup of Our 12 Best Tips”
Categories
Social Uncategorized

Step Up Your Instagram Game: Pro Tips, Tricks & Ideas

If you’re new to posting on Instagram, you might be a little overwhelmed at the prospect of growing your following, creating great content, converting followers to customers and making the best use of your sponsored-ad dollars. This article roundup is your starting point to making a real impact on this popular social platform. So without further adieu, let’s dive in to the top tips and tricks!

The Instagram Rules: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Boring

This one’s about Instagram-worthy pictures, frequency of posting, filters, hashtags, likes, selfies and more. Is it beautiful, awesome, hilarious, amazing, inspiring? That’s your first question. Now stick to the rest of these rules, and you’ll instantly step up your Instagram game.

hayley bloomingdale's instagram rules / photo: @hayleybloom

hayley bloomingdale’s instagram rules / @hayleybloom

The Instagram Rules: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Boring

Why Instagram Captions Are the New Blogging

Take a cue from The Rock, and get a little long-winded in your Instagram captions. It might seem counter-intuitive to tell all on a platform that’s seemingly minimalist and mobile-focused on the surface. But ‘grammers are increasingly turning to Instagram as a place not only for their filtered selfies, but also their deepest musings. Note: Some of the original photos highlighted in this article have been removed from Instagram (and, therefore, this article), but the premise is still intact.


Why Instagram Captions Are the New Blogging

18 Times Blake Lively’s Instagram Captions Were Borderline Genius

When you find a celebrity crushing it on Instagram, sit up and take notice. Take Blake Lively, for instance. Her captions are consistently funny, likable and authentic … in other words, everything you want in a social media post. Inspire your inner genius by reading through some of her very best work.

18 Times Blake Lively’s Instagram Captions Were Borderline Genius

25 Funny Captions to Use For Your Selfies That Will Make Your Followers LOL

“Selfie” is now officially a word in the dictionary, and it’s no wonder: Scroll through your Instagram feed, and you’ll find dozens of them. The key to standing out among a sea of brunchin’, flexin’, yoga-posin’ peeps? Add a funny caption, of course. Get some inspiration from the quotes in this article, but remember to add your own unique flair so it doesn’t sound canned.

25 Funny Captions to Use For Your Selfies That Will Make Your Followers LOL

How to Write Good Instagram Captions: 8 Bookmarkable Tips for Perfecting Your Copy

As you know, the hard work doesn’t end once you’ve taken that beautiful photo and added your favorite filter. Your caption gives a voice to your content, and it’s also a place where you can include a call to action, memorable quips, and just the right verbiage that delights your followers and inspires them to double-tap. These go-to tips will keep you on the right track as you craft an awesome caption for that perfectly staged and edited photo.


How to Write Good Instagram Captions: 8 Bookmarkable Tips for Perfecting Your Copy

How to Use Instagram Stories Like an Expert

Introduced in August 2016, Instagram Stories allow you to tell your story in multiple frames using a combination of photos, videos, captions, gifs, music and more. These stories stay on your profile for 24 hours at a time and appear at the top of users’ Instagram feeds, making them ideal for highlighting a snapshot of your day that you don’t necessarily want to live on your profile page. Like telling a story in real life, these Stories are fresh, hyper-relevant to your current goals, and fun to watch. Here’s your definitive guide to getting it done like a true storytelling pro.

How to Use Instagram Stories Like an Expert

What other tips would you add to this list? Include a link to some of your best captions, and we’ll feature the top submissions in a future blog post.

Rallio now has a mobile app that lets you post from your dashboard to your Instagram profile! Get more details via support@www.rallio.com.

Categories
Content Marketing Social Uncategorized

Social media best practices: What is local content?

With Rallio’s recent launch of the Rallio Local division, we’ve created an in-house agency that helps our clients create and execute a local content strategy on Facebook and other social media platforms. One question that comes up frequently is what exactly local content is and why it matters. If you’re asking that question for your own business, today’s post will help you learn what types of content will get you the best results on social media.

The algorithm

Social media is increasingly shifting its focus in favor of local businesses, with Facebook leading the way in terms of how its algorithm serves up content to various audiences. The right type of content, combined with targeted ads, allows businesses to reach customers in their local area, especially those who are using their mobile devices to find businesses in their communities. In addition, the rise of platforms such as Yelp and Google reviews has made it essential that businesses have a local content strategy to reach the people who are likely to do business with them or buy their products or services.

So what is the right type of content? Encourage your visitors and followers to stick around and become a part of your online community by including the following in your social media posts.

Real-life photos from your office and staff

Include not only special events such as birthdays and holiday celebrations, but also simple “day in the life” photos showing what happens in your office. Here’s a post from one of our Rallio Local clients, Pet Supplies Plus Greenfield, with a cute picture of a dog and a great caption:

Spotlights about a star employee or customer

Give props to an employee of the month. Include a photo along with a caption explaining why they rock! You can also highlight customer testimonials and thank customers for their business, feature before and after photos if that makes sense for your business, or simply feature a repeat customer who brightens your day. Here’s a post one of local clients, Pure Barre Anaheim Hills, created to feature a customer testimonial and which we boosted with ad dollars. To date, the post has reached 645 people and has earned 28 likes and loves.

Pointed questions that elicit comments, likes and shares

A question like “Would you rather sleep in on a Saturday or get up and go for a hike?” will get more responses than “Do you like hiking?” You know how they say you have to ask for the sale? The same is true for comments. Quite literally, you can say “Comment below with your response” and it will be more likely to earn engagement.

Videos

Explain a how-to topic, offer helpful information, or feature an interesting aspect of your business or the people behind it. People love to watch short videos and often will watch those as opposed to reading a lengthy post on a topic.

Meat and potatoes

Infographics, blog posts and guides on topics your audience wants to know about are the backbone of your business, the “meat and potatoes” if you will. Prove you’re the guru in your field by creating assets that show off your expertise.

Promotions

Include only occasional posts about current promotions and contests. Stick to the 80/20 formula where just 20 percent of your content promotes your brand and the other 80 percent is dedicated to topics that interest your audience and engage them in conversations. Here’s an example from the same Pure Barre client where they do a nice job of including promotional details within the caption of an inspirational post describing the studio’s “20 in 31 class challenge.”

In general, posts that include more personalized information about your location tend to perform better than general posts. They are more aligned with Facebook’s current algorithm, thus improving your overall reach. If you need a hand creating your local content strategy, click over to Rallio Local.

To learn more about the recent Facebook algorithm change, see this article.

 

Categories
Social

Friday 5 Weekly Social Media Tips: Social ROI and the Marketing Ecosystem

Welcome to the first edition of the Friday 5, a weekly look at important things to know in the world of social media marketing. Today, our Director of Business Development, Avery McCaslin, offers deeper insight into how different marketing channels work in conjunction to improve your overall return on marketing investment. Happy Friday, all!

Social ROI and the Marketing Ecosystem

What are your favorite marketing mediums, and how do you use them together for the greatest return?

Categories
Social

Complete Guide to Starting a Facebook Business Page

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.

Categories
Content Marketing Reputation Social

Social Media Cheat Sheet: A Roundup of Our Best Tips

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.

 

 

 

 

Categories
Social

Social Media Terms Your Company Should Know, Part 2

If you read my last post on Social Media Terms Your Company Should Know, you learned about the most common terms on the major platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. (I also included a roundup of terms that are common across platforms.)

In case you didn’t quite get your fill, today I’ll break down Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit. I’ve included a quick explanation with each as well in case you’re not already familiar with these platforms. Here we go!

Snapchat Terms

What it is: A mobile app that lets you send videos and pictures to friends. While these “snaps,” as they’re called, have a limited life span, users also can add snaps to a “story,” which lasts a full day and is viewable either publicly or just by your followers. Snapchat has gained popularity among business users as a way to connect with younger audiences.

  • Chat: A conversation between two Snapchat users within the app.
  • Filters: The fun overlays that let you customize snaps with face swaps, lenses, text, emoji stickers and more.
  • Friends: Your connections within the app with whom you can send chats, snaps (described below) and even cash.
  • Geofilters: Overlays that communicate the “where and when” of a Snap. Use On-Demand Geofilters to promote your brand in a particular geolocation.
  • Snap: A photo or video that disappears after three to 10 seconds. Users can choose to add filters, captions and drawings to their snaps before sending them to their friends.
  • Stories: As with the other platforms, Stories let you post a snap that’s viewable for 24 hours before disappearing.
  • World Lenses: Adds augmented reality into the mix, letting users place 3D objects within any scene they can walk around with their smartphone camera in hand. Confused? See this TechCrunch article for a complete breakdown of this new feature.

[bctt tweet=”Use On-Demand Geofilters to promote your brand in a particular geolocation. #Snapchat #socialmediatips” username=”rallioHQ”]

Pinterest Terms

What it is: A visually driven social platform that allows users to create collections, aka “boards,” of images and videos around topics, as well as browse what other users have added to their own boards. Because users can be just a click or two away from for-sale items or information, more and more businesses are using Pinterest to drive traffic, leads and sales.

  • Boards: Just like your cork board or bulletin board at home, Pinterest Boards are user-created, virtual spaces around any kind of topic. I’ve got Boards set up for “Food & Drink,” “My Style,” “Money Matters” and more. These boards can be public or private. As you browse the web, add photos and links to your boards either by copying and pasting the link or by using Pinterest’s browser plug-in. And then the real fun begins when people follow each other’s boards for ideas and inspiration.
  • Business Account: When you create a business account on Pinterest, you gain access to Pinterest Analytics, Promoted Pins and Videos, and Rich Pins. You’ll also be able to add your business logo to any pin that comes from your website.
  • Buyable Pins: Pins that allow people to find and buy your products on Pinterest. Per Pinterest, “Right now, they’re only available to a select group of retail partners and U.S. merchants with Pinterest business accounts.” See the example pin below with the “Add to bag” button; after adding an item to your bag, the bag is viewable via the shopping bag icon at the top right of the screen.
  • Like: When you see a pin you like (see “Pin” below), hover over it and click on the heart button to save it as a favorite. The original pinner gets notified of the like, thus increasing your reach.

  • Notifications and Inbox: Click on the bubble with three dots (top right) to view notifications about other pinners you follow, as well as your inbox where you can send and receive direct messages.
  • Pin: Images and links saved to boards are known as pins. Also used as a verb, as in, “I pinned a photo of a rose bouquet to my Flowers Board.”
  • Promoted Pins: Businesses can advertise their content via Promoted Pins and get their pins in front of customers who are ready to buy.
  • Rich Pins: Pins that include more context about the post itself. There are currently four types of rich pins: app pins (install an app without leaving Pinterest), recipe pins (includes ingredients, cooking times and serving sizes), article pins (includes headline, author and a brief description), and product pins (with real-time pricing, availability and where to buy).
  • Save: To save a pin to one or more of your boards, hover over it and click on the “Save” button. Again, the pinner gets notified of the save.
  • Trending: Click on the “Discover” icon at the top right of your screen (located to the left of your profile icon) to see the top trending pins across all categories.

Tumblr Terms

What it is: Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking platform well-suited for visual content and campaigns. In addition to visuals, the site supports short-form content, audio, video, quotes, links and chats, and it’s got a largely millennial user base.
  • Asks: This tab features user questions that you can choose to answer on your own blog. To enable it, go to your blog’s Customize area and click on the Community tab.
  • Dashboard: Your command central where you can view your feed of the Tumblr pages you follow, recommended blogs, your inbox and more, as well as initiate new posts of your own.
  • Follow: Follow the Tumblr pages you like, and you become a follower! As you follow new blogs, you’ll increase your reach and attract new followers of your own.
  • Message: Within a post, click on the Message tab to send a direct message to the Tumblr page’s owner.
  • Notes: The activity associated with a post, including likes and reblogs. You’ll find them underneath every post.
  • Reblog: See something you want to share with your followers? The double arrows down at the bottom of the screen will let you reblog (repost) it with a caption of your own, much like a Retweet on Twitter. Reblogging is a great way to hat-tip the people you follow and build engagement.

[bctt tweet=”#Reblogging on @tumblr is a great way to h/t the people you follow and build engagement.” #socialmediatips username=”rallioHQ”]

  • Recommended for you: This tab suggests content tailored just for you, such as trending blogs, staff picks, GIFs, quotes, chats, asks and more. Use it to discover new blogs to follow, like, share and reblog.
  • Sponsored Ads: You guessed it. Throw some ad dollars behind a post to target toward your desired audience.
  • Theme: The design of your Tumblr page. Choose from various free themes available, such as these, or design your own. The ability to customize your theme is what sets Tumblr apart from other platforms. For example, on Facebook and Twitter, you’re limited to changing the cover and profile photos, but Tumblr lets you fully customize your page. Take a look at the clean lines and eye-catching photos on Adidas’ page for inspiration.

Reddit Terms

What it is: The self-proclaimed Front Page of the Internet relies on user votes and includes a mixture of news, links, social commentary, content ratings and discussion. Reddit’s registered community members can submit text posts, photos, videos, direct links and other content, as well as ask for help or suggestions.

To get the most out of the site, be aware of the “Rediquette” you’ll need to follow, so you’ll get targeted traffic, your content will get “upvoted” to the top of the list, and you’ll avoid getting “downvoted” into oblivion. Also, there are lots of acronyms and terms to know, some of which I’ve included below. You can view a more comprehensive glossary here.

  • AMA: Ask me anything. Great for showcasing your expertise in a particular subject matter.
  • Cakeday: Your Reddit birthday, or the day you registered your account. A small cake icon next to your username lets other Redditors know it’s your cakeday so they can gift you with upvotes and well wishes.
  • CCW: Comments and criticism welcome. Be prepared for both the constructive and unconstructive!
  • DAE: Does anyone else. Use the acronym to locate other Redditors who share your opinion or viewpoint on a matter.
  • Downvote: Downvote things you dislike or disagree with, and work to avoid having your content downvoted by other Redditors. Successful downvotes are displayed in blue.
  • ELI5: Explain it like I’m 5. Ask questions for which you want the simplest, most straightforward responses!

[bctt tweet=”To get the most out of Reddit, be aware of the #Rediquette you’ll need to follow. #socialmediatips” username=”rallioHQ”]

  • OC: Original content, posted by an OP (see below).
  • OP: Original poster, the person who started a thread or comment.
  • Redditor: A frequent Reddit user.
  • Repost: Links that have been previously shared, a highly frowned-upon practice, as most people visit Reddit looking for original content (OC).
  • Subreddit: The small communities that comprise Reddit. They can be public or private, and they cover a variety of topics, from niche communities such as r/CatAdvice to broader topics such as r/Music. If you don’t find a niche appropriate to your product or service, you can start a subreddit of your own and invite others to join.
  • Upvote: Having your content upvoted means it shows up higher on the page. Successful upvotes are displayed in orange.
  • Username: The name associated with your Reddit account. Choose it wisely, as you cannot change it once you’ve registered it.

Do you use the platforms above? What are some other terms you think are important to know for these platforms in particular?

Categories
Social Uncategorized

How (and Why) to Choose a Hashtag for Your Brand

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!”

https://twitter.com/416webs/status/813421908934922240

Look for Those Double Meanings

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.

Stay Brand-Consistent

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.

https://twitter.com/staceywolfe_fl/status/694568119516422144

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:

https://twitter.com/anandthepatsfan/status/834042347952410624

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”]

 

 

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