Tag: social media marketing

Social

5 Common Pitfalls in Social Media Marketing for Small Business

Post author By Rallio
Post date July 9, 2020

Learning how to market your business on social media is a skill that not every small-business owner has time to tackle. Understandably, many small businesses start out doing the bulk of their social media marketing themselves. In time, however, you might find you need the help of a team.

Even then, hiring full-time or even part-time employees isn’t always the answer. When you consider the costs of payroll, insurance, benefits, human resources and other employer responsibilities, sometimes outsourcing your social media marketing ends up being the better choice.

Business owners who aren’t willing to delegate responsibilities — thinking they know their business best and therefore should do everything themselves — are in for a rude awakening. If you’re not outsourcing your social media marketing, there’s a good chance you’re either missing some key opportunities or expending too many internal resources on this part of your business.

Let’s take a look at the potential pitfalls you might encounter when you’re aren’t outsourcing your social media marketing to an agency like Rallio.

Pitfall #1: Time

If you handle your social media marketing yourself, ask yourself if you have time to do all of the following:

Create daily content for Facebook and Instagram, with carefully crafted captions (say that fast 10 times), hashtags and local photos of your people, location and products
Boost that content using precise targeting of your desired customers by geography, interests, demographics and other factors
Address every single comment, reaction, direct message and online review with thoughtful, friendly and sometimes clever responses

And these are just a few of the daily responsibilities of social media marketing. It takes time not only to accomplish these tasks, but also to build a relationship with your local community.

And if you’ve got that kind of time on your hands, it’s highly likely that other areas of your business aren’t getting the kind of attention they deserve.

“But I can do this at night, after hours!” you exclaim. Two thoughts here:

Social media doesn’t just happen at night or in your off hours. In fact, especially now during the pandemic, people are spending more time online at all hours of the day, more than ever before. If your social media is working as it should be, then you will have customers engaging with you and expecting quick responses all throughout the day. So if you’re a dentist in the middle of a procedure, we’re guessing you aren’t going to want to set down that drill to answer your DMs. (Your patient won’t like that much, either.)
Is that how you want to spend your time off? Or would you rather take that time to rest, recharge and prepare yourself for the new day ahead?

https://www.facebook.com/psphuntingtonbeach/photos/a.609267432746891/1224036704603291/

Pitfall #2: Money

Inevitably, succumbing to pitfall #1 means you will fall victim to pitfall #2: money. As we all know, time is money!

So how much is your time worth? As Entrepreneur states, “Time is the one resource all of us have, but it’s also painfully finite in nature. You can’t bank it — all you can do is invest it wisely.”

The article goes on to say that your time appreciates in value as your business does. “So, as your business grows and develops, sooner or later the monetary value of your time is going to surpass the importance of money. It’ll be more important for you to invest your time in moving the business forward because your time is going to be worth more.”

That’s why it’s so important to set up the proper processes and systems right from the start in your business. As for social media marketing, outsourcing might make the most sense because all of the systems will be in place already. Agencies like Rallio are experts at plugging any kind of business into those systems and setting the business up for success.

Read between the lines: The agency doesn’t need to be an expert in your particular business, product or service. They need to be experts in duplicating the success they’ve seen working for their other clients.

At Rallio, we work with businesses in a variety of industry sectors. Would it surprise you to learn we have clients in everything from pet supplies to automotive tires?

That’s because we have the systems and processes figured out already. We simply get you set up and then pair you with a strategist who gets to know your business on a more personal level.

Pitfall #3: Writer’s Block

Constantly coming up with new ideas of what to post on your social media pages can lead to frustration, exhaustion and good ol’ writer’s block. As a result, you might start resorting to low-quality — dare we say boring — content.

It’s easy enough to download a stock photo and post it on social media, or maybe simply post promotional offers over and over again. Your audience isn’t going to respond to this type of content, because you’re not adding any value to their feeds.

People go to social media to socialize and keep up with what’s going on in their community. They’re not there hoping for a sales pitch or to become your “lead.”

They’re more likely to respond to an autobody shop that posts helpful maintenance tips, for example, versus one that only posts promotional offers.

When you outsource your social media marketing, the writer’s block problem is solved for you. You can let someone else ponder over just the right caption for your cool photo of your backyard barbecue or the latest socially distanced team event!

https://www.facebook.com/MassageHeightsNewportBeachBluffs/photos/a.224224787591629/3676754182338655

Pitfall #4: Inconsistency

Pitfall #4 may come into play for a variety of reasons. Lack of time or writer’s block can lead a business owner to post nothing at all.

Additionally, you may find you’re inconsistent in engaging with your community and giving them the attention they want.

When your efforts are inconsistent, you’ll fail to grow on social media. You’ll also miss out on opportunities to build relationships with your audience and practice great customer service.

Outsourcing your social media marketing eliminates the inconsistency problem. There will always be someone who has your back — whether for posting fresh, quality content or following up on customer engagements.

Pitfall #5: Not Keeping Up With the Times

Social media platforms, and the audiences that use them, change frequently. Consider the recent global events we’ve experienced: Many businesses had to change the way they operate and truly rely on social media to either keep their businesses afloat, or to take a strong stance on social justice.

Without social media, it would have been nearly impossible for businesses to continue connecting with their customers.

As experts in social media marketing, we were able to help our clients pivot. Businesses that lacked that kind of partnership may have found it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing times.

There are other types of changes that occur in social media, too. Technology evolves, and so do the recommendations for small-business owners looking to market themselves.

At Rallio, we’ve made it our business to not only keep up with technology and current trends, but to make sure we’ve got our clients’ backs at all times. That’s a relief to any business owner, to know there’s someone else handling such an important part of their business.

Bottom line is, you don’t have to fall victim to the common pitfalls above. Set yourself up for success and growth by outsourcing to Rallio, and you can continue focusing on running your business.

Tags social media marketing

Social

Pandemic Greatest Hits: Top 7 Secrets to Social Media Success

Post author By Rallio
Post date July 7, 2020

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, virtually every type of business has had to pivot in order to continue reaching customers — who are spending more time online than ever before. Throughout this time, we at Rallio have been helping businesses find ways to change things up and strategize for social media success.

Many of our blog posts have focused on reimagining “business as usual,” because business as we know it has changed. So today, we’ve got a quick roundup of some of the tips and tricks we’ve provided during the pandemic — a “Pandemic Greatest Hits,” if you will. Cue it up, put it on repeat and get to work adjusting your social media strategy if you haven’t already.

Track #1: Boost the Right Content

Boosting content gives you the ability to reach more of your followers and their friends than organic reach alone. While you might be familiar with the concept of boosting — or maybe you’ve not yet added it to your social media strategy — you might not know what to boost.

Here’s the track for you: Social Media Success in a Pandemic: A Conversation With 2 Brand Managers

The quick takeaway:

We’ve all seen the constant stream of ads on social media for the newest fashion, kitchen gadgets and skin-care, but local businesses also have the ability to show off their services and products online to their local area. Boosting during COVID was imperative to social media success, but the question became “What do we boost?”

At a time where businesses are struggling and have taken massive hits to their cash flow, boosting for engagement was not what was going to have the biggest impact. We took the time and care to consider what could actually produce an ROI for these hard-working business owners. Services were emphasized as well as updates for reopening or any pivot they had made during this pandemic.

Business owners were able to generate actual leads at a time where their businesses were forced to close, and even those that stayed open were taking big hits. In some cases, we actually saw an uptick in sales for products, and followers started using the new methods of getting their products (curbside pickup, delivery).

Some followers, of course, would automatically assume that they could not go to their favorite local business during this pandemic, but thanks to boosting updates, our clients did not miss out on valuable customers that would have otherwise opted for something else.

Track #2: Update Your Directory Listings

If your business hours have changed during the pandemic, it’s important to communicate that information to your customers. Updating your online directory listings ensures your hours, location and other basic information about your business stays up-to-date so people can find you.

Here’s the track for you: Why You Need Your Social Media Company to Do Directory Listings, Too

The quick takeaway:

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

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

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

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

Track #3: Go Virtual

Having an online component of your business is essential, particularly if you aren’t able to open your doors to crowds at this time. Fitness, education and food are just some of the industries that had to pivot to go online. Whether through virtual classes or online ordering options, having online capabilities is what allowed many businesses to stay afloat.

The track for you: Reopening Your Business? 7 Social Media Strategies to Keep — Plus 1 to Ditch Forever

The quick takeaway:

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

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

How to incorporate virtual formats in your social media strategy:

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

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBjqWyFgeH7/

Track #4: Incorporate Employee Advocacy

Employees have become brand advocates and influencers, as they snap photos and videos and mention your company on their personal pages. These personal posts have greater reach than brand-created posts. Employee advocacy, therefore, is now an integral part of social media success.

The track for you: Same track as #3 above

The key takeaway:

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

How to incorporate employee advocacy in your social media strategy:

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

Track #5: Measure Social Media ROI Correctly

ROI is something every marketer wants, but measuring it is not always easy. The social media buying process looks different than the traditional one, but the point is that there is a buying process. Customers do not always buy from you based on one campaign or social media post alone.

The “track” below is worth reading in its entirety, especially if you are in a position where you have to prove that social media marketing is a worthwhile investment. (Hint: It is.)

The track for you: The 6 Most Important Social Media Metrics to Track for ROI

The key takeaway:

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

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Intent
Evaluation
Purchase

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

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Purchase
Loyalty
Advocacy

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

Track #6: Post. Local. Content. On. Repeat.

We can’t say it enough. We’re actually sick of the sound of our own voices saying it. So just trust us on this one. Your real, authentic, fun, non-salesy, friendly, personable, relationship-building, community-supporting content will outperform the pants off of boring, salesy, promotional or stock photos. Every. Single. Day.

And when you boost it, as we discuss in track #1, you improve its reach. It’s that simple!

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

The key takeaway:

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

Track #7: Be a Storyteller, Not a Salesperson

Your social media should paint a picture of your business as a place where people would not only want to spend money, but also get to know the business. The businesses that demonstrate their commitment to their community are the ones that will thrive.

The track for you: 4 Ways to Tweak Your Social Media Marketing for COVID-19

The key takeaway:

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

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

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

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

We know how overwhelming it can be when there are so many different sources of information out there on social media marketing. Hopefully this article gives you some simple, solid starting points. We’re always happy to make the process easier if you want to tap into our expertise.

Tags coronavirus, social media marketing

Social

The Truth About Social Media for Small-Business Owners

Post author By Rallio
Post date July 1, 2020

Becoming a small-business owner is a bit like skydiving. When you jump out of a perfectly good airplane and free-fall with the hope that your parachute deploys, you’re taking a huge risk, obviously.

The same is true when you make the conscious choice to step outside your comfort zone for the chance at being your own boss. Whether you’re choosing to leave a job or simply pursue your passions, taking the big leap into entrepreneurship might be the biggest risk of your life.

Perhaps it’s this huge risk factor that causes many entrepreneurs to cling to ownership — not just of their company, but also of every aspect of running a business. Putting it all on the line has a way of making anyone want to manage it all and avoid delegating responsibility to anyone else.

The truth that many successful owners come to realize, however, is that there are numerous benefits to surrounding themselves with people who are experts in their fields. Rather than be a “Jack of all trades, master of none,” they make the decision to hire people who are the best at what they do — whether it’s accounting, sales, human resources, marketing or any other number of job functions.

So when a new client comes on board at Rallio, we’re always super excited to start working with them. They’ve recognized they can’t — and shouldn’t — do everything themselves. They’ve chosen to hire experts who will handle every aspect of their social media, online reputation, directory listings and even recruiting to an extent.

Known as Rallio Local, this in-house team consists of social media strategists who work one-on-one with business owners. Why is this important?

Having a dedicated strategist puts time back in your day as a business owner. You can focus on growing your business, building a customer base and doing all the things you love about entrepreneurship — the things that made you jump out of the proverbial plane.
You don’t have to lose sleep wondering if you’re doing the right thing on social media. You have trusted advisors who have your back.
You’ll be able to grow your business faster when your social media marketing aligns with your overall marketing strategy. Your strategist will take the time to understand your goals and deliver on them.

“Sounds good,” you’re thinking. “But how does this all work?” We’re glad you asked!

Below, we’ve provided a quick rundown of the different types of services you can utilize with us.

Local Social Media Content for Small-Business Owners

The most important factor to the success of your social media pages is the winning combination of local content and targeted boosting.

Local content = Photos and videos of real people at your business doing real things. It may include employees, customers, owners and any other real humans related to your business. It doesn’t include a bunch of stock photos, overly promotional posts and sales pitches.

Targeted boosting = Paying to get your content seen by your followers and your followers’ friends. It’s the only way to ensure your content is visible.

If all of this sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, you don’t need to worry about it. Your Social Media Strategist will ask you for specific images every week. You upload them to Rallio, your Strategist adds a fun caption and boosts the post. That’s it!

Offers, Job Postings and Events

But what about my special offers, recruitment posts and events? Can’t I tell my followers about them?

You absolutely can, and your Strategist will work with you to get all the details and schedule them strategically. In general, about 80 percent of your social media content will be non-promotional. The other 20 percent may include your special offers and news about upcoming events or job openings.

Your Strategist will boost these promotional and recruitment posts, too, to get more visibility.

With both your local content and other types of posts, we use artificial intelligence combined with science to help you decide what to boost and when as well as how much to spend. You won’t have to worry about blowing your budget or boosting the wrong content to the wrong audience.

Responses to Online Reviews, Comments and Messages

When you have followers, they’re going to engage with you. They might leave an online review, comment on a post or send you a direct message. Someone needs to be responding to those engagements if you want to keep your followers — and customers.

Rallio Local Strategists take care of all these responses for our small-business owners. If a new review pops up on Google My Business or Facebook, if a comment appears on your page, or if a direct message hits your inbox, your Strategist crafts a response.

Anything that requires owner involvement is sent to you for approval first — say, if a customer leaves a negative review and needs a more detailed answer.

All of these engagements are handled within 24 hours. Can you honestly say you would be able to get back to your followers as quickly — and also try to run your business?

Additionally, we can help you get new, positive reviews with our technology. You can choose to have your customers get a text survey after their purchase that asks for feedback. If it’s a positive review, they’re encouraged to leave a review on the review platform of your choosing. Negative reviews are handled offline instead of published on a public platform.

Updates to Your Directory Listings

When you have changes to your hours, address, phone number or other business information, your Strategist will make sure it gets updated across the web. Our Business Listings service is built right into the Rallio technology. Done and done!

During the pandemic, many of our clients have found this to be an invaluable service. They were able to easily announce any temporary closures or other business changes, and then change the information back once they reopened.

Employee Advocacy

One of the best parts about our technology is the ability for small-business owners to implement employee advocacy. You can get your team involved in creating and posting content, helping to build morale and extend the reach of your content even further.

As employees post content about your company to their own social media pages, it becomes more visible to their own audiences. They’re able to reach new followers who otherwise wouldn’t know about your company.

Technology + Team

The key takeaway here is that Rallio Local gives small-business owners both the technology and the team to be successful on social media. We understand the complexities of social media marketing and are able to navigate them on your behalf.

Whether you want a lot of help or just a little extra push, we can provide the right solution for your small business or franchise brand. Drop us a line at sales@rallio.com and we can set you up with a quick demo to show you how we can help your business.

Tags small business, social media marketing

Social

Social Media Success in a Pandemic: A Conversation With 2 Brand Managers

Post author By Rallio
Post date June 17, 2020

As a social media company, Rallio has worked with businesses in all different industries to help them pivot during the pandemic and find social media success. Whether they were offering virtual classes, curbside pickup or restaurant takeout, we’ve been able to help spread the word about any changes to the usual course of business.

It’s not just our clients pivoting, of course. Around the world, businesses have had to adjust to current times as they navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Those that acted quickly and implemented changes have survived and thrived in many cases.

Yet all of these changes don’t mean much if your customers don’t know about them. Social media has become more important than ever as a means of communicating, staying in touch and building relationships with customers.

To get some insight on the factors that contribute to our clients’ success despite the COVID-19 crisis, we chatted with two of our brand managers here at Rallio, Anton Emmerton and Summer Garschina. The Rallio Local team continues to assist clients in pivoting, keeping their social media pages fresh and managing their online presence.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/posts/1618832671603232

How were your clients initially impacted by the pandemic?

Anton: Since we work with such a wide variety of brands, each of them was impacted differently. Some businesses were forced to close while others remained open as essential businesses. Even those that were deemed essential businesses were still impacted due to the traditional in-store shopping experience changing so drastically overnight. Foot traffic slowed down, so options like curbside pickup and delivery were emphasized to help sales.

Summer: One fitness brand we work with was unfortunately closed during the pandemic, but they saw the power of social media and continued to post and grow engagement. Our printer clients are considered an essential business and saw a need for home office printers and delivery drivers to drop-ship cartridges. Our laboratory testing client was impacted in the best possible way because they were able to come out with a new test in high demand for COVID-19 antibodies.

What were some of the ways Rallio Local helped them to pivot and find social media success?

Anton: Rallio Local has the responsibility of not only managing online profiles, but also providing business with insight and expertise on how to navigate this space in a time of crisis. We offered content ideas to all our clients as well as contingency plans so they knew exactly what to do if anything were to happen to their business. With some businesses not able to operate how they normally would, we were able to help them pivot their business model so they could maintain their clients and even grow their customer base by offering new services or new methods of delivering those services or products to their dedicated customers.

Summer: Rallio Local continued to post locally for brands to keep them on social media, where most people spent their days scrolling during the quarantine. We hosted webinars to show the significance of social media during these times, the current digital marketing trends, how to respond to a new climate, and how to pivot their local social media marketing strategies.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/posts/1594061280747038

How did social media help clients maintain or grow their business?

Anton: The value of social media became so clear to clients when their traditional forms of outreach and communication with their community was no longer effective. Through the constant updates and advertising opportunities on social media, our clients were able to make their followers and community aware of services that they may have not known of before. We ran ads to push these services specifically to their local areas so that the business could continue to grow and keep the loyal customers that they had pre-pandemic.

Summer: Social media helped our clients more than ever during the pandemic because they were able to get information out to their customers and clients here. During a time where everything was basically closed down, people began to use social media as their go-to for everything, whether it was closure notices, positive stories, new products, how-tos, and recent reopening information.

What did Rallio Local do to help manage clients’ online reputation and customer service — i.e., via online reviews, direct messages, and social media comments and questions?

Anton: At a time where screentime is at an all-time high, there’s no better reassurance to a client than having someone specifically dedicated to monitoring their pages and managing their reputation. Direct messages came flooding in with questions regarding whether our clients were open, what their new hours were, and what precautions they were taking to ensure the safety of their customers. We were able to align quickly with all the franchisees and corporate teams to make sure that these questions were answered in a timely manner with brand approved messaging.

When it came to reviews, we were able to respond to all reviews within 24 business hours and address any concerns their clients had with the necessary and accurate information. In a time of crisis, it is crucial that all voices are heard and acknowledged and as a customer, there’s no better place to express your concerns than through listings platforms and social media pages.

Summer: Rallio Local helped manage our clients’ customer service tremendously by staying on top of daily direct messages, comments and reviews. There was an overwhelming number of customers going to these platforms with questions regarding what they should do next, how to get in contact, hourly changes and much more. Our Rallio Local team makes these questions and comments one of their daily priorities and won’t end their workday until they’re accounted for and answered.

What about their change of hours and temporary closures — how did we help with that?

Anton: With new regulations and orders coming into play each day, we were able to stay on top of updating store hours and temporary closures to a plethora of online listings platforms like Yelp, Google My Business and Facebook through our directory listings management.

Every day, we wake up to a different world, and business owners already have so much on their plate when it comes to in-store operations and their day-to-day. We know how important it is to keep your customers in the loop on changes, and we are proud to say that we could update store hours easily and efficiently to make sure their presence stayed consistent online.

Summer: At the very beginning of the pandemic, this was our main focus. We had client locations with closures and hours changing by the second. We made sure to post for each location on what exactly was happening for their specific store. A rollercoaster of changes, but Rallio Local held strong and made sure to get the job done for each of our clients.

What impact did boosting have on clients’ social media success overall?

Anton: We’ve all seen the constant stream of ads on social media for the newest fashion, kitchen gadgets and skin-care, but local businesses also have the ability to show off their services and products online to their local area. Boosting during COVID was imperative to social media success, but the question became “What do we boost?”

Summer: Boosting for our Rallio Local clients helped with getting their content out to more than just their followers. We were able to set up specific mile radiuses on posts in order to get the word out to people who may not even follow their page. This was a huge benefit for all of our clients, because it not only expanded the brand, but it also helped maintain high reach and engagement on content.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/posts/1586573711495795

For those businesses that pivoted, what are some of the permanent changes they’ll be keeping?

Anton: Tutors can now teach online via Zoom video chats; auto and tire shops can now drive out to customers’ homes to perform routine maintenance; stores can offer curbside pickup or delivery services so that their customers still get what they need from the store they love. The possibilities really are endless.

Not only did these changes help them maintain their business, but it also opened up a completely different avenue for generating revenue for a lot of business owners. It also emphasized the dedication these businesses have for their local communities.

Summer: Our laboratory testing client has a new COVID antibodies and viral test that will permanently be in their labs in order to test anyone for the virus. Our printer client now offers to print menus for restaurants due to the new regulations on disposable menus. Our fitness brand started a livestream for home workouts that will continue to be a feature on their social media.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/photos/a.213849565434890/1554240751395758?type=3&av=207889606030886&eav=AfbBGM-NrxCHWW2QqOCAhwjIH78e36y3EQZA9q8IfecjW55-WIO9HdGwqUqsUdYD91k

What’s one key takeaway you could mention regarding social media as it relates to the pandemic?

Anton: This is a really hard one, because there’s so much to take away. My biggest takeaway is that social media is not just a place to advertise your products/services or share photos and videos with your friends; it is becoming increasingly clear that this is now how we communicate.

Do not stop talking on social media. As soon as you stop communicating with your local community on your social profiles, they forget you exist and they forget that you care. I encourage more businesses that don’t see the value in social media to take a look at how it has affected our culture in the last three months. We have only scratched the surface of what is capable with these platforms, and you need the help of others to navigate this space.

Summer: A key takeaway of mine is, no matter your brand, create memorable and engaging moments for your clients. Everyone is looking for something to relate to online, especially during these times. So us as a Rallio Local team are the ones to help build these relationships and help grow the brands we partner with.

We’re continuing to help many brands pivot and make the most of their social media presence during the pandemic and beyond. Be sure to check out all our service lines over at rallio.com and schedule a demo with us by reaching out to sales@rallio.com.

https://www.facebook.com/rallio/posts/1584530058366827

Tags coronavirus, social media marketing

Social

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

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 30, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 1: Sell Like Your Life Depends on It

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 2: Be Clueless

To lose your followers, should you:

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

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

The correct answer is b!

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

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

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

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

Day 3: Don’t Boost Anything

To lose your followers, you should:

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

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

The answer is b. Duh.

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

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

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

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

To lose your followers, you should:

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

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

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

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

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

Day 5: Post Only Corporate Content

To lose your followers, you should:

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

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

It’s b, of course!

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

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

Day 6: Don’t Update Your Business Listing

To lose your followers, you should:

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

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

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

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

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

Day 7: Rest Easy

To lose your followers, you should:

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

b) Set it and forget it!

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

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

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

Day 8: Target the Wrong Audience

To lose your followers, you should:

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

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

We’ll take our chances. B it is!

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

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

Day 9: Don’t Use Videos

To lose your followers, you should:

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

b) Just post images all the time.

Easy peasy. B!

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

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

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

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

Day 10: Do It All Yourself

To lose your followers, you should:

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

b) Keep doing it all yourself.

We’ve got this. It’s b!

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

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

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

To learn more, fill out our contact form.

Tags social media marketing

Social

How to Manage Your Social Media Expectations Vs. Reality

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 22, 2020

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

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

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

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

On Customer Acquisition

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

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

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

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

On Posting Content

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

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

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

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

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

On Reputation Management

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

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

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

On Customer Loyalty

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

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

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

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

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

On Social Media Outsourcing in General

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

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

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

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

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

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

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

Tags franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

The 6 Most Important Social Media Metrics to Track for ROI

Post author By Rallio
Post date May 14, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Traditional ROI Versus Social ROI

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

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Intent
Evaluation
Purchase

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

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Purchase
Loyalty
Advocacy

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

Step 1: Awareness

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

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

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

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

What you can do to generate awareness:

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

Step 2: Interest

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

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

Engagement, a Fancy Word for Audience Interaction

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

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

What you can do to generate interest:

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

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

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

Step 3: Consideration

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

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

What you can do to generate consideration:

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

Step 4: Purchase

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

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

Social ROI = Cold hard cash tracked through a code.

What you can do to generate and track purchases:

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

Step 5: Loyalty

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

Social ROI = new online reviews and Facebook Top Fans.

What you can do to generate loyalty:

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

Step 6: Advocacy

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

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

What you can do to generate advocacy:

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

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

Key Takeaway

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

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

Tags social media marketing, social ROI

Social

The 7 Deadly Franchise Social Media Sins

Post author By Rallio
Post date April 24, 2020

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #1: Lust

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #2: Gluttony

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

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #3: Greed

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #4: Sloth

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

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #5: Wrath

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

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

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #6: Envy

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

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

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

Deadly Sin #7: Pride

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

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

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

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

Franchise Social Media Made Simple

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

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

Tags franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

Health and Medical

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

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

Online Education

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

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

— Orange_Schools_OH (@Orange_Schools) April 17, 2020

Retail Shops

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

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

Automotive Services

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

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

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

Cleaning and Restoration

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

Need More Social Media Content Ideas? Let Us Know

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

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

Tags coronavirus, franchise social media, social media marketing

Social

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

Post author By Rallio
Post date April 15, 2020

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

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

Tip #1: Think Gandhi, Not Rocky

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tip #4: Get Strategic With Ads and Search

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

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

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

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

Tags coronavirus, franchise social media, social media marketing