As a franchisor, you devote considerable time and resources to getting your branding just right. From developing a logo and messaging to creating brand guidelines and marketing materials, there’s a lot that goes into that initial blueprint for all of your marketing efforts.
At the corporate level, your brand looks solid. But what happens at the local level when franchisees start posting on social media? Here are some possible scenarios:
They change your messaging, interpreting it in a way that doesn’t match your goals
They use your logo incorrectly or alter it
They post information that conflicts with your corporate page
They post randomly and inconsistently
They post imagery that isn’t in line with your brand guidelines
The list goes on.
If you’re like many of the clients with whom we work at Rallio, giving the social-media car keys to franchisees is risky business at the local level. The branding and messaging you worked so hard to develop can easily become diluted, out of brand and unrecognizable from its original form.
So why does this brand disaster happen? Let’s look at three of the top reasons.
Reason #1: They lack corporate-approved resources.
If your franchisees are posting whatever they want on social media, it could be simply because they don’t know what else to post. Unless you supply them with corporate-approved imagery and messaging, you’re leaving it up to them what to post on their pages.
What to do about it: Devote resources to creating polished, professional images that will complement local posts created by your franchisees. Encourage them to add a personal touch so their pages include more than just corporate images. For example, they can post behind-the-scenes snapshots and location-specific promotions.
Our client Fantastic Sams does a great job of disseminating corporate-approved images (using the Rallio platform to manage the process), while also encouraging franchisees to post their own local content. Here’s an example of a corporate-created post that was used by a franchisee:
And here’s an example of that same franchisee adding a local touch:
Reason #2: You have no social-media guidelines.
Do your franchisees have a “Wild West” mentality that causes them to think they can do whatever they want on social media? If so, then perhaps you haven’t clearly stated what they can and cannot do. It all begins with social media guidelines that define how franchisees should approach social media, as well as what the approval process is for their content.
What to do about it: You might already have guidelines in place for print and web marketing and advertising. Build on those guidelines by telling franchisees the parameters for social media. Do you want to be able to review their content before it gets posted? Or are you OK with supplying corporate content and letting them post at the local level without your approval? Spell it out so there’s no confusion.
The clearer you are with your social-media guidelines, the less likely it is that franchisees will go rogue. (And rogue franchisees can not only destroy your brand, but your reputation as well. See my recent article on this topic for more information.)
[bctt tweet=”Clear #socialmedia guidelines lessen your chances of having rogue #franchisees.” username=”rallioHQ”]
Reason #3: You haven’t prioritized social media yourself.
If you don’t see social media as important to your brand, then your franchisees won’t, either. At best, they’ll ignore the social platforms and potentially miss out on opportunities. At worst, they’ll ruin your brand and reputation, as mentioned above.
What to do about it: Whether you like or dislike social media, there’s no denying its existence. And once you make it a priority at the top level, you take back control of how your brand appears in the public eye. You help your brand overall while also helping franchisees to post in the smartest, most efficient way possible. Remember, the goal is to have one brand and multiple locations … not multiple brands and multiple locations!
[bctt tweet=”You want one brand and multiple locations…not multiple brands and multiple locations! #franchising” username=”rallioHQ”]
Our platform lets multi-unit businesses create a unified social media presence while still enabling individual owners to customize content to reach local customers. Post across thousands of locations, manage imagery, control messaging, monitor keywords, view analytics and generate new business — all from one convenient dashboard. Interested in a demo? Drop us a line at hello@www.rallio.com.
Social media analytics remind me of the Wikipedia rabbit hole. You try to look at one simple thing, and next thing you know, you’re several pages away on a completely different topic. Fascinating information, but is it really useful?
The amount of data available to review 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.
Before You Start!
I know, you’re excited to dive into your social analytics. But not so fast. If you don’t know what you need for your business goals, then all the social data in the world will be worthless.
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.
Here are a few examples of things you can look at before looking at your goals:
What are your goals for your business or your franchise location?
What effort can you put into your social media marketing?
What are your key performance indicators (KPIs) already being used in your company?
How are you currently tracking success? How are you measuring the results of your online initiatives?
[bctt tweet=”What are your goals for your business or your franchise location?” username=”rallioHQ”]
Note: All these questions might seem overwhelming, but over time they become easier. Start with one thing at a time and tie in other analytics gradually. For instance, you can start with understanding your follower growth numbers one month and then look at your engagement figures the next. And don’t forget these questions should guide you to better inform your online and social media presence, but you may find certain analytics work better for your industry and goals. Test, analyze and refine for best results.
Follower Growth
It’s a no-brainer that having a local following can build trust and keep you top of mind. But it’s not enough to simply look at your total likes and followers in a vacuum. To get the most out of your social media pages, you need to 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.
Is your following growing over time?
Which social media sites are growing the most? What are you doing to keep that growth strong?
Which social media sites are growing the least? What can you do to improve the rate of growth?
What countries and cities are your followers from? Are they in your service area?
How do you compare to your local competition? Are you growing at a similar rate over time?
Engagement
“Engagement” acts as a kind of catch-all word for people’s interactions with your business online. 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.
For instance, a person doesn’t have to go to your page to engage with you. They can take a picture at your location, mention you in the post, and then share that on all their social networks promoting your business. Unless you’re watching, you might miss some of your best interactions with your fans.
[bctt tweet=”A person doesn’t have to go to your page to engage with you” username=”rallioHQ”]
In a sense all press is good press: If people are engaging with you a lot online, it will increase your social proof and visibility to their friends and similar audiences.
However, the type of engagement you’re getting can make or break that strategy. If the bulk of your comments are complaints or protesting customers, the quality of your branding will plunge.
What’s the engagement rate of your posts?
What’s the ratio of positive comments to negative comments?
Are people mostly commenting on your posts, reacting, sharing, or simply watching/looking at them? Is this what you’re expecting?
How often are people checking in to your location on social media sites?
How often do people tag you in their pictures and posts?
Reputation
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.
How many reviews does your location have across top review platforms?
What is the average rating on each site?
What is the average rating across the top review sites?
How many new reviews do you get a month?
How long ago did someone leave the last review?
Advanced:
Website Analytics
If you don’t have some type of analytics setup, now’s the time to start. Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Clicky, Piwik and WebTrends are all options to manage and track your website traffic and data. From reviewing where people are finding you online, you’ll be better able to tweak and change your marketing strategies to encourage visits both online and in person.
Which social media sites are sending you the most new traffic?
Which social media sites are sending the most returning traffic?
Which social media sites keep people on your site the longest?
Directory Listings
As a business with a physical location, you know how vital it is that people can find you when they’re searching. A wrong address leading customers on a wild goose chase or incorrect open times can frustrate the people who are ready to buy. For local businesses, it’s imperative that you know how you appear on local search sites and directories.
Are my top location pages claimed across the web?
Is my location data accurately completed?
Is my data consistent across all the platforms?
Conversion Rate
Whether you’re running social campaigns organically or with an advertising budget, you can track clicks, leads and purchases from social media platforms to your website or in-store activity.
Tracking code and pixels (Facebook, Twitter, Google and others) monitor when a person goes to a specific landing page or completes an action. When visited, the page triggers the code, which reports back to the social media or advertising source. They can be used to track online sales as well as email sign-ups, coupon downloads, pdf or resource downloads, and form submissions.
Note: Even if you’re not experienced with HTML code and tracking pixel placement, these sites give you the specific code and instructions for exactly where to put it. If your website is managed by corporate or by a separate company, ask them to put the tracking code on there for you.
Most top brands today would agree that having a presence on social media is a must. If your business has multiple locations run by individual owners or managers, however, it’s not enough to tell your franchisees to set up accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They’ll need some guidance to execute their social media properly and effectively.
Without any direction, you leave them free to do whatever they’d like, and that’s a risk you don’t want to take. Left to their own devices, your franchisees may start posting content that should never see the light of day. Here are the six major things you don’t want to see your franchisees posting on social media, along with a pro tip for each that you can share with your franchise owners and managers.
They Make Offensive or Incendiary Comments
Particularly now in this politically charged climate, it’s tempting to step on a soap box and spout off about a candidate or an issue. It’s one thing for them to stand up tactfully for things they believe in; it’s another matter entirely to make racist, sexist, homophobic or other inflammatory remarks. In an instant, these kinds of comments can destroy your brand’s reputation, and it could be all because of one insensitive comment.
Consider the tweet from IHOP last year showing a stack of pancakes and the text “flat but has a GREAT personality.” The tweet was viewed as offensive and quickly removed, but not before drawing fire from proponents of gender equality and body-positive messages for women.
Pro Tip: Let your franchisees know that anything they post on their pages reflects your brand as a whole. Their posts should represent your brand’s philosophy accurately and not potentially alienate an entire customer group.
They Share Trade Secrets or Other Confidential Information
Do you want your secret-sauce recipe posted on Facebook? Or confidential reports and documents leaked to the public through a LinkedIn update? No? Then you’d better make it clear to franchisees that even seemingly innocent posts have the potential to expose information you would prefer to keep quiet.
Pro Tip: Advise franchisees not to share confidential information about your brand, both on their location pages and on their personal pages. Put it in writing as part of their franchise agreement so it’s clear what they can and cannot post.
[bctt tweet=”Pro Tip: Advise franchisees not to share confidential information about your brand.” username=”rallioHQ”]
They Complain About You, the Franchisor
Franchisees who post negative comments about the franchise parent company make your brand seem disjointed, disorganized and untrustworthy. If they don’t have confidence in the brand, why should anyone else, including customers and potential franchisees?
Pro Tip: Create an avenue for franchisees to provide feedback and make formal complaints if needed. If they have a means to voice their concerns, they’ll be less likely to vent on social media. This system prevents public commentary about private matters that should stay between franchisor and franchisee. It also gives you a chance to consider valid concerns and use the feedback to improve your overall brand.
They Argue With Customers
When customers are upset with their experience at an establishment, you can bet they’ll be posting about it on social media. They might take to their own personal pages to vent, or they might post directly to the location’s page. If a customer posts a negative review on a franchisee’s page, the last thing you want is a virtual fist fight between customer and franchisee. Not only does it make the customer even angrier, but it also makes the franchisee and your entire brand appear unprofessional and tarnishes its reputation.
Pro Tip: The way your franchisees handle customer complaints speaks volumes about your brand. If a customer complains, it’s best to acknowledge the complaint, apologize publicly for any inconvenience and offer to resolve the matter immediately (taking it offline if needed). One great example is FedEx’s response when a delivery driver was caught carelessly tossing a package over a customer’s fence:
They Over-Share Their Personal Lives
A personal touch is great on social media, but there’s a fine line. While customers might love to see photos of a franchise owner having fun with family, friends and pets, no one needs to see the 37 different photos he snapped at the bar with his buddies.
Pro Tip: Encourage franchisees to approach social media with the same professionalism and sense of responsibility they would at a job. Remind them that if it’s online, it lives on forever, and they may never recover from a drunken photo or tweet.
They Do Nothing
On the opposite end of the spectrum are franchisees who, rather than overshare, post nothing at all. The location page is visible, but there’s no activity on the page, or worse, customers are posting on the page and the franchisee is unresponsive. To the world, the franchise appears to be either closed or indifferent about its customers. (See our post about local social pages for an example of the problems this kind of situation caused for jeweler Zales.)
Pro Tip: Tell your franchisees that regularly posting on social media improves customer engagement and satisfaction. Take it a step further by supplying them with corporate-approved content that’s polished, professional and on point. They can mix in this content with more personalized, behind-the-scenes content directly from their locations.
The Rallio platform is designed to help solve the problem of supplying corporate-approved content to franchisees. Are you a franchisor with multiple locations? Head over to www.rallio.com to request a demo, and tell us below what else you don’t want to see your franchisees posting on social media.
Photos add the most value to your social media content marketing strategy. They consistently get the most shares on Facebook over text, links and video (though video engagement has risen with the auto-play settings on Facebook and Twitter).
To make sure you’re sharing images with the greatest potential, abide by these do’s and don’ts in your publishing process:
Do post images that aren’t studio quality.
You don’t need to wait until you have a professional camera to take and post photos. The camera on your smartphone will work well enough to take quality pictures. Shoot some impromptu shots and upload them to your social media profiles.
Don’t use images that don’t belong to you.
It may be tempting to download or screenshot an image from the internet, but doing so can get you into hot water with copyright violations. Make sure you have permission or rights to the photos you want to use.
[bctt tweet=”Posting tip: use images that aren’t studio quality” username=”rallioHQ”]
Do use brand images.
If you’re part of a larger company, corporate has images created and available to use on social media networks. They’re already paying in-house or have an outside agency to make these high-quality and on-brand pieces. Get access to them and use them to post on your own location pages.
Don’t use stock photos.
It’s easy to use a stock photo, but they look unprofessional for your brand. You may also find that you’re using the same photo as a competitor or a business in another industry. Better to have personalized photos than ones anyone can download.
Do get creative
Have a clever idea for a post, maybe about the pets that visit your office? Go for it! Be inventive and share images that are unique to you.
Don’t go against brand guidelines.
However, when you’re being creative, make sure your photos are aligned with your company’s branding guides. For instance, it may be against company policy to share photos with swear words in the image.
[bctt tweet=”Use brand photos and follow brand guidelines #socialmedia” username=”rallioHQ”]
Do use good sizes for social media posts.
Square photos are best, but at the minimum make sure photos are at least 600 pixels wide. These image sizes enable customers to see them clearly on desktop, mobile and tablet devices. Stay away from small or blurry images.
Don’t make the photo an advertisement
Images made for print collateral are prone to be filled with text and offer information. But these kind of images can hurt your engagement on social media sites. Keep your text to a minimum if needed.
What kind of images do you use? What’s the most popular image you’ve posted so far? Share it with us in the comments so we can see what types are most engaging for different businesses.
As a franchisee, you likely have at least a vague idea of the importance of social media to your business. That is to say, you keep hearing that you need to be on social media. But can you succinctly explain why, how, where and when?
It’s a complicated area of marketing that requires your attention if you want to stay competitive and relevant. With every passing moment on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and the like, someone is having a conversation about something important that has relevancy to your business. You can either jump in and get engaged with that audience, or be left behind as your competitors take advantage of the opportunity.
It gets tricky for franchises because as a franchise owner, you may have more restrictions imposed upon you regarding how and where you market your business. If your business is in a regulated industry such as finance or insurance, you have to be especially cautious about what you post on social media. Consider the melee that would ensue, for example, if a misinformed employee posted medical advice or comprised patient privacy.
The Rallio platform is designed to remove such barriers to entry by putting the control in a franchisor’s hands so they can better manage and monitor franchisees’ social media activity. It’s much easier to post on social media when your parent company has already approved your posts!
Regardless of whether your franchise uses Rallio, however, you’ll find that social media can be a highly effective way to reach new customers, increase sales, improve your reputation and brand consistency, and foster client retention and satisfaction. Let’s dive in deeper.
Why Social Media Matters
“Social media platforms are quickly becoming an important part of franchise companies’ marketing strategies, especially in a time of lower marketing budgets,” notes Alisa Harrison, vice president of communications and marketing at the International Franchise Association, in an AllBusiness.com article. Consider the benefits:
Social media gives you direct access to the people who are interested in your product or service. Instead of spending time, effort and money on locating your target audience, you can jump right into the mix where your target audience is congregating.
You can (and should) be more personal than you would be in other forms of marketing, such as email. You have an opportunity to let your personality shine, inspire confidence in customers, entertain and educate your audience, and build customer loyalty.
You can better serve customers. Nowadays, when people have a complaint about a company, they take to social media to vent. Don’t expect them to contact you directly with concerns. The more engaged you are in the conversations happening about your brand, the more responsive you can be to their needs. It’s a win-win for you and your customers.
Remember, the conversations are happening with or without you. It’s not a question of if, but when you will jump on board.
[bctt tweet=”Just because you’re part of a larger chain doesn’t mean you can’t stand out on social media.”]
Time to Strategize
As a franchise owner, you’re party of a larger entity, and customers need to know what makes you different from both competitors and from other franchise location within your organization. There are a few strategies that will be important to your overall success on social media:
Get local and advertise. Designate an ad budget you are willing to spend every month on social media. Facebook is a good starting point, as you can make use of robust targeting tools to find and reach ideal local prospects.
Build a community. Strive for daily posts that connect with your target audience and encourage them to engage with posts and come back for more. Facebook’s algorithm will be kinder to you if your audience is eager to see your posts; otherwise, you risk having your posts disappear from users’ newsfeeds.
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 my post, 31 Days of Social Media Ideas.
Listen closely. You can’t simply post and then drop the mic. Once you post your engaging content, monitor it for user comments. Whether your audience has something positive or negative to say, you need to let them know that you’re listening, you care and you’re ready to meet their needs.
Just because you’re part of a larger chain doesn’t mean you can’t stand out on social media. By building a community of followers right in your local area, you’ll have a means to foster relationships with the people who matter most to your business.
Are you a franchisee who uses social media? Share your advice and successes in the comments.
ROI. Everyone’s looking for it. It’s a short leap from being able to track engagement online to asking how it will help your business.
Through the power of the internet, the ability to monitor and analyze data from marketing efforts has never been greater. We can see with every dollar spent what kind of profit it generates. And this level of granularity can be empowering.
However, not every amount spent can be easily measured and shown to be profitable. Some efforts don’t generate a direct return the way an ad campaign might. Over time, you may be able to correlate these efforts to revenue growth or success, but they aren’t clear-cut.
These are what I like to call immeasurable values. Let me give you a few examples.
On a baseball team, you can calculate a player’s batting average. You can determine the velocity of a pitch and the angle to hit it out of the park. The time needed to run from home plate to first base without getting out can be averaged.
But what’s the measurable value of an inspiring speech? How about an athlete who’s cheerful and encourages her teammates? What’s the ROI of a coach who never gives up on you?
Or to put it differently, what’s the value of your mom? Or your dad, your brother, your sister, your grandparent? The person you care about most?
[bctt tweet=”What’s the value of your mom? “]
Can you put a number to the worth of these people? You certainly can’t put a value on the impact they made on your life.
Likewise, for your business, there are both measurable and immeasurable values. Here are our top five practices that will benefit you in difficult-to-track ways:
Maintaining an Engaging Presence
I was in dire need of sustenance that night when I remembered the taco shop I’d been passing on my drive home. I changed my route, going out of my way to get some delicious tacos, until I arrived. It was early on a week night, but the lights were off, the door was shut, and inside you could see construction in progress.
They had shut down.
Or at least that’s what I thought. In fact, they were having renovations done in the main dining area, so they were using the patio next door for impromptu seating. I ended up getting those tacos, but only by sheer luck.
Online, many businesses look like they’re out of business. Their website has dated information, they have unclaimed social media profiles, and on the ones they have claimed, they’re not posting anything. In real life, these signs would indicate that a business isn’t operating.
Why is this immeasurable? Because you don’t know who’s looking. No one could track that I drove out of my way to that taco shop, and Facebook won’t let you know who looked at your empty page.
[bctt tweet=”What’s the value of a ‘We’re Open’ sign?”]
To remedy this, have a fresh and alive presence, not a stale one. Post regular new content. Don’t let your most recent post be from 2011.
Staying Top-of-Mind
Not everyone will be ready to buy the first time they meet you. If they’re driving down the road and see a sign for a burger joint, it doesn’t mean they will pull over immediately and chow down. Most of the time, people learn about your brand several times before their pain becomes so acute that they need to make a purchase.
Think about the number of ads you see on a daily basis. While some may push a specific sale or special, others simply remind you that they exist. They try to catch your attention with something original so you keep them at the top of your mind.
You ever get one of those radio advertising jingles in your head? In LA County, singing, “Well you won’t get a lemon” will get the locals around you to reply “you wouldn’t have got a lemon!” Or the kid singing the telephone number you’ll need to “donate your kar today.”
These brands don’t know when you’ll be ready to buy a car or donate your used car, truck, boat or RV. But when you are, they want to be the first thing that comes to mind.
Being visible is a powerful, immeasurable value. Now, with some visibility methods, you can measure success (we sell more when we advertise), but on the whole it’s difficult to measure what people’s awareness of your brand and products means for your business.
Winning the Competitor Competition
It’s no surprise that you’re not alone. And both your current and potential customers will see marketing from your competitors. Your competitor’s next customer is your current one.
So when a potential customer looks for where to take their business, how does your franchise look next to others in your industry? Do they have claimed, informative pages while yours are empty? Are they responding to online comments while you’re ignoring them? Did they provide any offer next to your full-price service? How are their customer reviews and online ratings compared to yours?
You need to stand out.
In a side-by-side review, your brand has to win the competition comparison game to get business. Again, you don’t always know when people are comparing you, and it’s often not when you think. So you have to prepare your online presence for when they’ll be looking.
[bctt tweet=”Next to your competitors, you need to stand out”]
Warby Parker does this by allowing customers to try on glasses at home for five days before deciding which pair they want to buy. While other eyeglass providers require trying on eyeglasses in a store or not allowing an at-home try-on, Warby Parker makes the testing process less risky for their current and potential customers.
Create resources for your customers that are unique to your business and that no one else is making. Or if they are, make them better. Provide value to your customers before and after they become your customers.
Gaining and Keeping Trust
Not everyone’s going to buy because you provide better value than competitors. There will always be people who look at price first and go for the best bargain.
But if they don’t think you’re going to get their order correct, or if working with you causes them a headache, they’ll take their business elsewhere.
[bctt tweet=”Trust can be gained or lost incrementally”]
Trust can be lost in small and large ways. Lawsuits can be bad for business because they indicate the business can’t be trusted.
But trust could weaken if you have half a star less than a competitor on Yelp or if you respond rudely to a customer comment online.
On the other hand, trust can be gained in big and small ways, too. When a brand has a terrible snafu, how they respond can keep the trust people have for them from tanking. And when you’re ordering a burger, a friendly smile and politeness can go a long way.
Building a Recognizable Brand
All the things you do make up your brand. From the color of your logo to how you provide your customer service, the everyday actions make up the identity people see.
Want to be known for design? Give out design awards and make cutting-edge products. Want to be known as a dog-friendly ice cream franchise? Give out free doggie sundaes.
A photo posted by Bruster’s® Real Ice Cream (@brustersfresh) on
Standing for your own company values and giving people a consistently positive experience with each interaction they have with you will provide incremental advantages in the marketplace.
So what? How do you work on building up immeasurable values such as branding, engaging and trust? What areas of immeasurable value can you improve?
With so many social networks taking up popular bandwidth, it can be difficult to keep up, or frankly, even know where to start. It can be overwhelming to have a grasp on so many platforms at once, especially when they’re always changing. Through this overview of the top social media platforms, we hope you’ll come away a bit more knowledgeable and empowered.
The Power of the Crowd — Growing Your Influence on Facebook
What Is It?
Facebook has held the title for the most-used social media network for the past several years. A site that started out as a network for college students has become the most popular platform for multiple generations.
In January 2013, Facebook announced a new functionality called Graph Search. Using Graph Search, people can search Facebook data for businesses and brands that their friends like. This new functionality makes Facebook a new type of review site and increases the need for brands to build a following and engagement on their Facebook brand pages.
How Does It Work?
Facebook has personal profiles, groups and business pages. For a location, business pages will be the most effective. Business pages let you connect with current and potential customers, increase your following, nurture your audience, and show up as a rated location in Facebook search results.
[bctt tweet=”Facbook business pages let you connect with current and potential customers”]
How Can I Use It?
Of all the social media networks, Facebook is the most all-purpose tool of the set. You can use it to do a variety of things, such as share content, promote events, advertise your page, create apps and advertise special offers.
Along with their normal post and offer types, Facebook has an event post type. For grand openings, campaigns, community events or other specific dates, events can encourage people to take their engagement offline and in the store.
One of Facebook’s most powerful features is its ad management tool. With the robust ad manager, you can grow your following, sponsor a post, or even send people to your website and track whether they filled out a form. They make it easy for businesses to advertise whether they are beginners or advanced advertisers.
Key benefit: Foundational platform for local social media
Best Things to Do On It:
Post updates, links, images and videos
Share content from other social networks such as Instagram, Vine and YouTube
Set up and promote events
Increase your audience through like campaigns
Reach specific demographics based on age, gender, location, interest, schooling and other parameters
Twitter
140 Characters — Effectively Communicating on Twitter
What Is It?
Twitter is a short-form communication platform. Each tweet, or post, can only be 140 characters long.
How Does It Work?
On Twitter, you can share images, videos and links, or just a sentence or two. Some have said Twitter’s strength is the flexibility to connect with anyone, even calling it the “cocktail party of the internet”. That means it can be a useful tool for generating new customers and leads.
How Can I Use It?
For a local business, Twitter could be the most difficult platform to weigh success. However, Twitter can help build brand awareness and the conversation about your business. Many customers go to Twitter first when voicing their complaints or sharing a negative brand experience.
[bctt tweet=”Twitter can help build awareness about your business”]
Because tweets are continually being posted and the lifespan of a tweet is only about 18 minutes, you need to be on top of what’s being shared. You also should be tweeting on a consistent basis to stay top-of-mind on other people’s news feeds.
You can also connect with and follow influencers in your industry. Consistently sharing their content, known as “retweeting,” is a great way to build authority in a specific area and to encourage influencers to do the same for your tweets.
Key benefit: Tight-Knit community and lead-generation platform
Best Things to Do On It:
Tweet interesting links about your main subject
Follow industry leaders
Retweet what they’re sharing
Post images with a quick comment
Favorite other people’s tweets
Engage in conversations with other people online
LinkedIn
Not Only Business — Connecting with Professionals on LinkedIn
What Is It?
LinkedIn is the platform for business professionals to connect to and follow other people in their network. It is also a place to stay up to date on companies, business trends, groups/organizations and corporate thought leaders.
How Does It Work?
LinkedIn, like Facebook, has personal profiles, groups and pages. Personal pages are for individuals, while pages are for businesses or universities.
How Can I Use It?
A LinkedIn company page can serve as the professional social space for your company. Your LinkedIn business page will be most visited by potential partners, franchisees and employees to review your business. Providing industry-focused information, updates and announcements will build up your company expertise and increase opportunities for well-qualified leads.
One disclaimer: LinkedIn works well for the brand as a whole or a small business. But LinkedIn doesn’t have any pages for multiple locations under a single brand. Due to this, most brands don’t create location- and address-specific LinkedIn pages.
[bctt tweet=”LinkedIn works well for the brand as a whole or a small business”]
Feel free to participate with your personal page in relevant groups, but don’t overemphasize “selling” products and services. Promote yourself too much, and they’ll kick you out of the group. Answering questions and participating in the discussions will earn you credibility and encourage people to talk with you about the questions you’re answering.
Key benefit: Professionally focused platform
Best Things to Do On It:
Connect with people on your personal page as the owner of the franchise location
Post company- and industry-related content to your specific company page
Engage in relevant groups without being “salesy”
Pinterest
Ideas and Inspiration — Creating Boards on Pinterest
What Is It?
Pinterest is an idea and information-sharing platform based around imagery.
How Does It Work?
Let’s say you want to create a board about coffee. After creating an account, you’d pick an article with an image or an image that you want to share and “pin” it to a board. If you name your board “The Java Jive,” you can pin enticing pictures of coffee and coffee-making tips on this board.
Understand that you have to share an image. If you have an article or a quote to share but there is no image attached, Pinterest won’t work.
How Can I Use It?
Pinterest is a great way to build awareness of your business and reach a new audience through viral content. You can use it to showcase the ins and outs of your business visually, such as event boards with pictures from it, product imagery and pictures of the storefront. Use appropriate phrases and hashtags to increase your pins’ reach.
Like all social media platforms, though, don’t be “salesy.” People will want to see the products and services you’re offering, but they’ll also want to see the culture of your business and learn about your core values.
The fun and unique part about Pinterest is that users can create community boards. That means your business and similar ones can all post to one community board, increasing the chance of people seeing your pins and connecting with you. Finally, don’t forget to verify your Pinterest account with your website. Doing so will count your page as a business page and let you see the analytics about your pins.
Key benefit: Image-based platform for sharing new ideas and cool concepts
Best Things to Do On It:
Create themed boards about your products, your events and your store, as well as topics that connect to your messaging, audience and atmosphere
Post frequently
Use hashtags
Don’t be “salesy”
Collaborate on boards with other locations or businesses in your community
Verify your Pinterest account by connecting it to your website
Instagram
Pictures and Filters and Hashtags, Oh My! — Being Awesome on Instagram
What Is It?
Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform. People follow each other and can search hashtags for trending and similar topics.
How Does It Work?
On Instagram as on Pinterest, imagery is the medium. Accounts can only post images on Instagram from a mobile device, and that has helped to build a strong community on this social network. The included filters can make anyone look like a top photographer, another reason for its success. Take or upload a photo, apply a filter, and then post it with a witty comment and a few relevant hashtags. Done!
A photo posted by Sprouts Farmers Market (@sprouts) on
How Can I Use It?
Many times, businesses say that their store isn’t that interesting and there’s nothing to share.
Nonsense! Every store has its own story, whether it’s the process, the employees, the customers or the location. Find a new and unique angle, and share the happenings at your store.
Make sure to share your photos to other platforms, too, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. If you see a picture that someone else took at your store, post it to your account and tag the person in the description and photo.
[bctt tweet=”Every store has its own story to share on Instagram”]
Key benefit: Everyday image-based branding
Best Things to Do On It:
Share pictures of your products and stores
Post frequently
Use popular and related hashtags so people can find you
Favorite other people’s photos
Feature customer photos of their experience at your store and tag them in it
Vine
The Art of Limitations — Telling Your Story on Vine
What Is It?
Vine is a video-sharing service that lets users upload videos from three to six seconds in length. People use Vine to share responses to hashtags, create stop-motion pictures, hold contests and provide a glimpse into their lives.
How Does It Work?
After you’ve downloaded the app and created a user account, simply hold down on the screen to start recording. Lifting your finger pauses the recording, so you can take several shots in a few seconds’ time.
How Can I Use It?
Have a quick announcement to make or want to show a behind-the-scenes clip? Use Vine to capture your message and share your short story. You can also effectively use Vine to record short answers to interview questions, but the sky’s the limit in creativity. Feel free to think outside the box and do something weird and wacky. These videos loop if you don’t pause them, so share something simple that people can rewatch and share with others.
[bctt tweet=”Use Vine to capture your message and share your short story”]
Key benefit: Short videos to inspire creativity and share messages
Best Things to Do On It:
Make announcements
Feature customers and their answers to interesting questions
Show behind-the-scenes videos
Take a tour of your store
Answer questions
Be creative
YouTube
Influence and Virality — Connecting with an Audience on Google’s YouTube
What Is It?
YouTube is a video-sharing platform that lets channels upload any type of video. The social networking site allows people to connect to influencers and ordinary people. Many of the top video types are music videos, vlogs (video blogs), video game let’s plays and how-to videos.
How Does It Work?
With your Google account, create a YouTube channel for your business. Then upload a video or create one through their recording software (they even have an app!). Google uses the information on the video and people’s responses to it–how long they watched, what action did they take after watching it, and more–to recommend it to others.
How Can I Use It?
While many are aware of YouTube as a website, they don’t see it as a social media networking site. In fact, many marketers and businesses seem to leave YouTube out of the social marketing discussion (I almost left them out of this article.) But to leave out YouTube would be to neglect a channel of engaged users and a source of potential leads.
[bctt tweet=”People forget YouTube is a social media platform and miss out”]
If you want more people to find your business, create videos around popular search topics for your industry. Make sure you focus on the topic or answer the question in an informative and engaging way; the worse thing you can do is get someone to watch your video and leave a few seconds in because its not what they were expecting. Then create a compelling title and description, add some key tags, and include a video thumbnail that encourages people to click.
Unlike Vine and Instagram, YouTube lets you upload long-form content. While you still should be creating quality content, you have more flexibility to take a deeper dive into a subject matter. In a couple minutes, you could splice together several shots to show a-day-in-the-life of one of your employees. Or if your business is service-oriented, you could answer a frequently asked question with best practices and examples.
Key benefit: Video content with high search ranking and share potential
Best Things to Do On It:
Create a channel for your business
Look for popular search terms in your industry for your video
Record a video that gives a solid answer to a topic
Optimize your title, description, and video thumbnail
Take a tour of your store
Record a-day-in-the-life video
Answer frequently asked questions
Be creative
Reddit
The Front Page of the Internet — Participating in the Reddit Conversation
What Is It?
Reddit is a message board where users can submit links and images or start conversations on topical channels (aka subreddits).
[bctt tweet=”Engage with the industry subreddit for your business”]
How Does It Work?
Which posts make it to the first page of Reddit and which are never seen is based on a voting algorithm. If enough people “upvote” a post, it gets moved up in the rankings. If more people “downvote” the post, it moves down the rankings or won’t be shown at the top of the list.
Subreddits or channels for different topics divide the social network into thousands of different communities for Reddit users. These are wide-ranging, with some more popular than others and moderated by members of the community.
How Can I Use It?
You can participate in relevant subreddits for your industry, to a limit. Redditors have a very low tolerance for self-promotional content, and spamming a subreddit with this kind of posting could quickly get you banned.
Create a Reddit account for your location and clearly state that you work at that company. Then share helpful and interesting links on these subreddits. If people have questions about your industry, answer them as the owner of your store. Your expertise will bring you lots of respect; but don’t be salesy and promotional unless asked about yourself.
A popular way to reach people is to host what’s called an AMA (Ask Me Anything) or AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything). Professionals such as business owners, actors and people who’ve had life-changing experiences make a post and let other people ask them questions.Look into hosting an AMAA as expert on your industry subreddit–like the President and CEO of Allen Edmonds did on the /r/malefashionadvice subreddit–to see if people want to ask you any topical questions.
Key benefit: Crowdsourced discussions around topics by an engaging community
Best Things to Do On It:
Post relevant links to subreddits
Upvote helpful posts
Answer questions related to your business
Engage with your industry’s community
Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything)
Foursquare
Personalized Recommendations — Find What’s Best on Foursquare
What Is It?
Foursquare is a location-based app where users can find recommended restaurants, events and stores.
How Does It Work?
Previously, Foursquare’s functionality centered around check-ins, or when a person posted on the app that they were currently at a place. However, in May 2014, Foursquare broke out the gamification and check-in functionality into its own app called Swarm. Swarm uses the location pages on Foursquare for confirming where you’re checking in, but you can’t look at the location pages from the Swarm app.
Essentially, Foursquare acts as a recommendation service for businesses. As Foursquare starts to get to know a customer’s interests and tastes, it will give them tailored restaurant and professional service suggestions.
[bctt tweet=”Foursquare acts as a recommendation service for businesses”]
How Can I Use It?
The first step is to make sure the location has been secured for your business and optimized for people perusing the app. That can be including your address, a menu (if applicable), hours open and other relevant information. Once you have control of the Foursquare location, set up deals and discounts for people who check in to your location.
Key benefit: Location-based recommendations and real-time activity
Best Things to Do On It:
Manage your location page
Optimize your location page
Set up deals and discounts for check-ins
SnapChat
Self-Destruct in 10 Seconds — How Disappearing Videos Changed the Game
What Is It?
SnapChat is a messaging service with a focus on photos and videos. The one difference is that once an image or a video is viewed, it is permanently deleted. While this seems counterintuitive to how we perceive files, pictures and other notifications, SnapChat users perceive content as consumable and with no shelf life.
How Does It Work?
After taking a picture, you can write or draw on it and then send it to multiple phone numbers or usernames. When these people open it, they can only view it for the length of the snapchat, or they can click to view it again.
Instead of sending it to individual people, you can add it to your Snapchat Story. If you add something to your story, it can be viewed an unlimited amount of times for up to 24 hours.
How Can I Use It?
While many people scoff at SnapChat as an app for teens, Gary Vaynerchuk, the co-founder and CEO of a social media brand consultancy agency, called it his “most valuable marketing tool right now.”
Only a few years old, SnapChat is becoming increasingly popular with people of all ages, not just teens. Think about things that current and potential customers would find valuable. One way to use SnapChat with your customers is adding them onto a secret exclusive list after they’ve been a customer for a certain amount of time or have bought over a certain amount from you. Now you’re creating an exclusive club that will gain attention and traction through word-of-mouth marketing.
[bctt tweet=”Share unique snaps to your customers on Snapchat”]
Snapchat offers video advertising options and sponsored filters as well. While a number of facial recognition filters and image filters are already available in the app, you can create your own geo-filters for your location and brand.
Key benefit: Disappearing messages that make recipients feel close and connected
Best Things to Do On It:
Connect with customers’ usernames
Send discount codes to frequent customers
Share private, exclusive content with frequent and valuable customers
Reviews and Ratings — the Power of the Community on Yelp
What Is It?
Similar to Foursquare, Yelp is a directory of local stores, restaurants and professional services that people can review.
How Does It Work?
Many people use Yelp to vett whether they want to use a business or a brand for their services. Their strength is the community of reviewers on Yelp who’ve built up the number of reviews. That total impacts people who look to Yelp for recommendations and insights.
[bctt tweet=”Customers look to Yelp for reviews before making a purchasing decision”]
Yelp has had a number of controversies regarding their use of filtering reviews. Regardless of the accuracy of all the reviews left on the site, Yelp is a powerhouse for location-based reviews and should be treated as such.
How Can I Use It?
People can leave reviews on your location whether you’ve claimed it or not, so it’s important to claim your location page on Yelp. Then optimize your page information with your address, a menu (if applicable), hours open and other relevant details. You can also set up a check-in deal or advertise on Yelp with an additional spend.
Key benefit: Community-based recommendations for local businesses
Best Things to Do On It:
Manage your location page
Optimize your location page
Set up deals and discounts for check-ins
Reply to people’s reviews
Google My Business
Search and Location Marketing — Google Maps and the Location Pages
What Is It?
Like Yelp and Foursquare, Google My Business is a directory of local stores, restaurants and professional services. However, the strength of Google My Business rests on the usage of Google.com and the Google Maps app for location-based search results.
How Does It Work?
With the influence of Google Maps, Google has location pages listed in their search directory. People who are looking for a certain kind of business or the name of a business will see those results through Google Maps.
While looking up directions and store information, people can also read reviews or leave their own for the location.
How Can I Use It?
Similar to the other location-based pages, it’s key to claim and optimize your Google My Business pages with the right information. Having these pages will also let you reply as your business to positive and negative reviews.
[bctt tweet=”Claim and optimize your location pages on Google”]
Key benefit: Google’s search directory with location-specific information and reviews
Best Things to Do On It:
Manage your location page
Optimize your location page
Set up deals and discounts for check-ins
Reply to people’s reviews
Which platforms do you use for your business? And which ones are you thinking about working with? Let me know in the comments!
It starts off innocently enough. Let’s say you have a brand-new coffee shop, and you are super proud of it, as you should be. You know you need a Facebook page to promote it, so away you go, setting up your business page and inviting your friends to like it.
A handful of friends take the bait, and pretty soon you’ve got 50 fans. You are diligent about posting daily status updates, and people like them. Your “Come on down to the shop today and mention our Facebook page to get a free cup of coffee!” earned 33 likes and 14 shares. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself.
And then, it happens. Suddenly, without warning it seems, your little Facebook page has exactly zero engagement, even on days when you remember to post an update. If you listen closely, you will hear crickets. Where did everyone go?
It isn’t just the frantic pace of entrepreneurship that causes business Facebook pages to sink into oblivion. If you’re making one or more of these social media mistakes as a business owner, the sooner you fix them, the better:
#1: You’re not posting enough.
When you first create a business Facebook page, you will post things frequently, but when you have bookkeeping to tend to, vendors to call and meetings to make, the Facebook page will be one of the first things to fall by the wayside. The result is often a thin-looking page that makes users question whether you’re even in business.
People are already checking out your business online in social platforms when deciding whether to do business with you. If they see a robust social presence with lots of engagement, they will have more confidence in the business. It could be the push they need to pick up the phone, stop by your store, make a purchase or make an appointment. On the other hand, if they see a quiet social presence, they will go looking for a business that seems more trustworthy, up to date and capable of delivering a positive customer experience.
#2: You’re posting too much or at the wrong times.
Just as you don’t enjoy reading a play by play of what your personal friends do all day long — from the moment their eyes open to the moment they turn off the lights at night (and sometimes even in the middle of the night, when they’ve developed a case of insomnia) — your audience doesn’t need to hear from you throughout the day. As the saying goes, “Speak only if it improves upon the silence.”
Another issue could be the time of day or day of week that you’re posting. You’ll have to test different days and times to see when you tend to get the best response, but this infographic offers a nice breakdown of the best posting days and times according to the platform. On Facebook, for example, engagement tends to peak on Thursday and Friday.
[bctt tweet=”The less people want to be at work, the more they are on Facebook. — Buddy Media via @RallioHQ” via=”no”]
#3: You’re ignoring feedback.
Remember that people go to your social pages to connect directly with your brand. If they leave a comment, either positive or negative, it’s important to respond to it.
Let’s say someone leaves a negative comment on your page. Rather than deleting it or ignoring it, use it as opportunity to demonstrate understanding and empathy. The way you handle these situations speaks volumes about your character. It’s a chance not only to smooth things over with your customers, but also to show the rest of your audience that you can respond in a timely manner with grace and respect.
Responding to positive feedback isn’t as time-sensitive in that you’re not trying to put out a fire, but it’s still important. A simple “Thanks for being such an awesome customer, Shelly!” lets her know you’re listening and appreciate her taking the time to leave a good word.
#4: You’re too self-promoting.
The occasional self-promotion on Facebook is acceptable. When your self-promoting posts become too frequent, however, you will begin to lose your audience. If the only thing they ever see when they visit your page (if they visit at all) or see you in their newsfeeds (if you even appear there) is a bunch of posts about you, your offers and your general awesomeness, they will lose interest at best and shun you at worst.
Put yourself in their shoes, and imagine your favorite restaurant, for example. Would you rather see a post that shows the recipe for one of your favorite dishes that they make — or a post about how amazing the food is, how superior they are to everyone else and how no one does it better than they do? More than likely, the recipe will cause you to read, click and share. The self-promotion will cause you to ignore, click away, perhaps even roll your eyes and stop following the page.
For as little as a couple of bucks per day, you can pay for individual posts and promotions to be seen in more of your fans’ newsfeeds. The Rallio platform makes it easy to view analytics on posts and, with just a few clicks, boost one or thousands of posts all at once. To get new customers at their new salons, our client Fantastic Sams boosted offers to people a few miles around each location. One-third of the people who got the coupon walked into the salon to claim it, producing a 330 percent ROI for the campaign.
Promoting your posts this way increases the likelihood that you’ll reach a larger number of people outside your current fan base. As more of your fans like and share your promoted posts and/or buy any special offers you create, their friends will see the posts and begin to build trust in your company as well. Over time, the viral effect of promoted posts will boost your likes and encourage more and more people to buy from you.
Making time for social media, and doing it right, is no longer a “nice to have” for small businesses. The better engaged you are in social platforms, the more you will build credibility, trust and profits.
What other mistakes do you think are important to avoid on social media as a business owner? Drop your comments below.
Whether you’ve been watching the news, looking at a billboard or gone to a tech-friendly wedding, you’ve probably seen a hashtag being promoted. Calling for you to use them, people, organizations and businesses have rallied around hashtags as a way to draw attention, discuss a topic or enter the marketplace.
But what is a hashtag? What can hashtags do? And how can they being used effectively?
Let’s start at the top:
What is a hashtag?
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).
The hashtag was originally used in IRC forums and resurfaced on Twitter in 2007 with the goal of using it to connect people around certain topics of discussion.
how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
Hashtags are used to connect people to a topic. 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.
In 2013, Nimrod Kramer saw the rise of the hand signal for a hashtag or the finger hashtag, which went viral. Hashtags rose to the top of popular culture with their integration by brands in marketing campaigns and by news organizations during TV broadcasts. They’ve had their share of people poking fun at them as well, such as in the famous Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake hashtag skit.
And for upcoming elections, candidates often use hashtags to build awareness, while networks hosting debates use them to center the discussion on candidate replies.
But most often, hashtags are used by ordinary people to discuss an issue in the news. Several of the top hashtags used in 2015 related to current events, such as #PrayforParis after the terrorist attacks in Paris, #LoveWins when the Supreme Court made it legal for same-sex couples to marry, and #IStandwithAhmed when Ahmed was arrested for bringing a clock to school.
Many social media platforms accept hashtags used for linking. The most prominent is Twitter, which has set most of the standards for hashtags used in social media posts.
In 2014, Facebook launched the ability to use hashtags in posts and search for people using them in the top bar. One to two hashtags in a Facebook post is just enough if you’re going to use them.
This pup Lala looks like she’s ready for an adventure!Happy #NationalPuppyDay to all the furry friends who love going on Toyota road trips with their owners!?????????@the_adventures_of_lala
Instagram only lets you search by hashtags to find information about a topic (as opposed to by keyword or phrase), so they are essential to connecting to popular topics and growing your following on the platform.
On Pinterest, hashtags are only clickable in a pin description, so adding them into your about or board titles won’t bring them higher in search results.
Also, searching for them brings in not only the hashtags, but also pins that have that phrase or word in the URL, the photo name or the product page connected to the pin.
Google+ uses hashtags differently. Instead of search curating around a specific hashtag, they connect you to hashtags around a specific topic. When you post on Google+, they also assign you hashtags to make your content more findable.
Tumblr has the most open policy to hashtags. Unlike most other sites where words and phrases must be connected, Tumblr allows for spaces in hashtags.
Find a hashtag or create one that would connect with your customers. For instance, you could use a trending hashtag and add to it with your company’s perspective. Or if you’re a pizza chain now offering gluten-free pizza crusts, you could connect with people using the #GF hashtag to let them know about the new offering.
Speaking of pizza, a few years ago Digiorno played up their #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT hashtag on Twitter, talking smack to NFL teams and trolling delivery pizza chains during football season. They were able to include their brand name in the funny, playful hashtag and create relevant tweets around the football topic. Their branded hashtag added to the smack talk of the tweet instead of sounding like a corporate marketing push.
Even years after the original campaign, people are still using the hashtag, and often tweet how much they miss it.
Pay attention to the topic at hand (don’t use a trending hashtag incorrectly)
If you see an interesting trending hashtag, you might jump at the opportunity to post something clever. Not so fast. Businesses can fall prey to using hashtags incorrectly, and that viral idea may turn into a brand nightmare.
For instance, during the Casey Anthony trial, Entenmanns tweeted using the hashtag #notguilty without realizing it related to her being acquitted for the murder of her daughter. Not the right time or place to use that hashtag.
Or in the case of Digiorno, who tweeted “#WhyIStayed You had pizza”. They didn’t realize that people were using the #WhyIStayed hashtag to share their heart-wrenching stories of living in abusive relationships.
Using a hashtag without context is like overhearing a conversation and jumping in with an unrelated and coarse joke, not realizing that they were discussing a serious subject. You may have made a dumb snafu at best, but at worst you could have greatly offended someone and ruined your reputation. Don’t do this with your brand.
Don’t try to push your own (unless it’s really, really good)
Many people saw the Doritos puppy monkey baby push as obnoxious, or trying to push a specific trend. Hashtags come across best when they’re created organically by people and not at the brand level.
Rita’s Italian Ice connects their events to hashtags in creative but practical ways. Each year they offer free italian ice on the first day of spring. With people lined up in front of their stores to receive their free Italian ice; what better way to market it than by using the #ritasfirstdayofspring hashtag?
This type of hashtag worked because people were already engaged and excited about getting their free ice. The desire to share was already in motion, so Rita’s could easily include their own hashtag to keep the conversation going.
—
How have you used hashtags in your marketing? And how are you planning on using them in your upcoming local marketing campaigns?
Did you catch last week’s post featuring 15 days’ worth of social media content ideas? If not, give it a quick read, and then round out your month with today’s post. Let’s jump right in!
Day 16: Post a poll. It doesn’t have to be anything formal. It can be as simple as “Which dish are you more likely to try?” along with a photo comparing “A” and “B.” You’d be surprised how eager people are to share their opinions!
Day 17: Use Facebook Live to post a video.
By some estimates, people spend three times longer watching live videos than those that are no longer live. Moreover, live videos are more likely to get pushed up higher in news feeds, giving you even greater exposure. Check out Facebook’s best-practices tips to learn more about this increasingly important feature.
Day 18: Link to a previous blog post.
Grab a link to a post from a month ago, and recycle your content. People may have missed it the first time you posted it. And even if they read it before, they’ve probably forgotten it by now. (I can’t even remember what I read five minutes ago sometimes.)
Day 19: Brand an image.
Create a share-worthy image, and brand it with your logo and website URL. Every time someone shares the image, your brand will get in front of new eyes. See these tips from Social Media Examiner to learn five ways to create images that drive traffic.
Day 20: Post a prediction. Is the World Cup happening? Predict the winner. A popular sports star is retiring (ahem … Kobe Bryant)? Predict what he will do next. Keep things fairly neutral; political and religious topics are somewhat dangerous territory unless, say, your business happens to center on something political or religious.
Day 21: Link to an infographic.
Head over to Daily Infographic to track down a link to something relevant and useful. Your audience will appreciate your helpfulness! (Hint: Link to it; don’t grab the image and post it on your page unless you have permission from the publisher, or you risk copyright infringement. That goes for any images you post on social media.)
Day 22: Post a review.
Have you read a book or purchased a product recently that your audience might enjoy? Post a few paragraphs about it. (If you want to monetize your content, consider joining an affiliate program such as Amazon’s Associates Program. This blogger swears by it.)
Day 23: Create an “A Day in the Life” post.
What’s it like to be a chef, a mountain biker, a CEO or whatever it is you do? Post a photo with a quick recap.
Day 24: Post a tip.
Add interest by including a random tip number, such as, “Tip #178: In place of butter, substitute 1/4 cup buttermilk with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce.”
Day 25: Recommend a business.
Did you have a great experience somewhere? Share the love by give the business a shout-out. Someday, the business might return the favor.
Day 26: Take to Reddit.
The Trending Subreddits page offers a treasure trove of popular topics. Find something funny or interesting, and post a link with your thoughts about it. (Case in point: I just started going down the rabbit hole of “TalesFromRetail” that takes me back to my shoe-selling days. I could have been there for hours, but I’m still wrapping up this post, so, onward.)
Day 27: Share one of your Pinterest boards.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, get one, and then create boards related to your industry. As a chef, you could pin links to recipes you love and then share a link to that board.
Day 28: Recommend a colleague from LinkedIn.
Who is someone you like and admire with whom you are connected on LinkedIn? Recommend that person! On the LinkedIn platform, you can “endorse” colleagues for specific skills and also write recommendations that live on their profile pages. (Don’t forget to ask for their recommendations, too!)
Day 29: Hold a contest.
If you have a jewelry company, for example, ask readers to post photos of themselves wearing one of your pieces. Tell them you will randomly select a winner to receive a free piece of jewelry. (Just be cautious about how you word things. See this helpful article about ways to keep raffles and contests legal.)
Day 30: Link to a controversial post.
Along the lines of the poll idea above, nothing gets people engaged more than eliciting their opinions about something. Track down a controversial topic that is sure to get your audience talking, and post a link to it with your own (carefully worded, respectful) opinion.
[bctt tweet=”Nothing gets people engaged more than eliciting their opinions about something. via @RallioHQ” via=”no”]
Day 31: Give props.
Turn the spotlight to the unsung heroes in your business: the receptionist who keeps your life from falling apart, the UPS driver who always has a smile for you, the nice coffee-shop neighbor who gives you free coffee every morning, the son or daughter of yours who inspires you every day. Giving credit where credit is due goes a long way toward winning over your audience’s hearts. Of course, include a photo!
There you have it: 31 days of ideas to fill your content calendar to the brim. As always, please add your own great ideas in the comments, because there are infinite possibilities when it comes to churning out monthly content!
