Tag: social media strategy

4 Stellar Social Media Resources

Clairemont InternBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

The numbers don’t lie. Social media is everywhere — used daily for news, entertainment, socialization and, you guessed it, marketing. 

Nearly 50 percent of the world’s population utilizes a social media platform. That’s approximately 3 billion people. What’s more, most people spend more than two hours a day scrolling through their social feeds. 

Brands and businesses have successfully capitalized on this massive marketing opportunity. Thirty-seven percent of consumers find purchase inspiration through something they’ve seen on social media, and 71 percent who have had a positive online brand interaction are likely to recommend the product to others. 

Top 4 Clairemont Social Media Resources

With this enticing information in mind, utilize some of our social media secrets + a sprinkle of your own creativity for a strong marketing recipe.

3 New Hacks for Social Storytelling

In need of top-notch tips to invigorate your Instagram? These small changes can make big improvements to your social media strategy. 

Beef Up Your Video Power

Video content combined with savvy strategy and terrific tools: it’s a game-changer. 

The Social Race: Paid vs. Organic Exposure

Discovering the best way to lock in exposure can get complicated. Utilize these strategies to leverage the benefits of both paid and organic exposure. 

Making the Most of Your Hashtags

If you’re ready to up your hashtag game, employ this tool for #BigResults. 

Want more? Check out our take on TikTok!

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Use LinkedIn Company Pages for Growth

Cherith AndesBlog, Professional Development, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

During our current work-from-home culture, online connections have become a vital lifeline for business growth — especially on platforms like LinkedIn. LinkedIn provides a hub for conversation, idea sharing and community in a time when in-person events are not always possible.

More than ever, now is the time for businesses to leverage their LinkedIn Company Pages to cultivate connections and foster business growth.

Why LinkedIn for Business Development?

The stats are quite compelling.

  • LinkedIn has 675 million users and gains two new members each second.
  • 63 million users are in decision-making positions, and 90 million are senior-level influencers.
  • LinkedIn is the top channel B2B marketers use to distribute content.
  • LinkedIn has 17 million opinion leaders and 10 million C-level executives.
  • Users are seeking professional and industry connections. Professional content gets 15 times more impressions than job postings.
  • More than 50 percent of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs comes from LinkedIn.

In short, LinkedIn is a hotbed for industry connections and partners, especially those in decision-making roles.

Naturally, your LinkedIn Company Page serves as a springboard to showcase what you do, who you do it for and the results you get. It makes sense that you should maximize this channel to grow and connect with your target audience.

Grow Your Audience

Beyond organic growth, you can leverage LinkedIn’s features to cultivate and build your audience. First, invite your own connections to follow your LinkedIn company page through the Invite Connections feature. You can invite up to 50 people each day, an easy and effective way to remind your contacts where you work and what you do.

Invite your employee base to follow the page through company emails, direct messages and personal asks. Alert your employees to your most important posts through the Notify Employees of Updates functionality at least once a week. This increases engagement, triggers LinkedIn’s content algorithm and in turn surfaces your post to the top of the newsfeed for further engagement.

Host Virtual Events

One of LinkedIn’s newer features allows you to host virtual events, such as networking and sales/marketing seminars as well as webinars and e-trainings. Event organizers and attendees can send invitations to connections, and much like Facebook, you can monitor the details and converse on the event’s newsfeed. Host trainings, free seminars and virtual coffee chats in lieu of those you might have done in person.

Create Connect-Worthy Content

Maximizing your page’s newsfeed to foster connection requires a blend of traditional marketing knowledge and real-time flexibility.

1. Know Your Audience. Nothing has changed with this ground rule. To explore your page’s follower demographics, leverage LinkedIn’s Follower analytics tool that provides a breakdown by location, job function, seniority, industry and company size. Competitor audits can also provide helpful insights into content that has performed well for companies in a similar industry space.

2. Identity Your Audience’s Top Needs. In 2020’s shifting landscape, change seems to be the only constant. Use this time to provide support for your audience and offer generous, authentic solutions in any way you possibly can. Offer resources that are highly educational but low-pressure for the consumer, like free e-books, instructional videos and webinars. More than usual, prove your value and position yourself as a go-to resource, which can pay off later.

3. Pinpoint Content That Builds Your List. For higher engagement, aim to showcase visual media, such as photos and videos. According to LinkedIn itself, videos get five times more engagement, and native LinkedIn video entails an added bonus as they autoplay in members’ newsfeeds.

Things to share? Company news, staff spotlights, behind-the-scenes peeks, how-to videos or product launches. You can also link to your e-books online and prompt followers to provide an email address prior to downloading, adding subscribers to your newsletter list. Check out additional tips to maximize LinkedIn’s content algorithm.

4. Make It Manageable. Create a sustainable content calendar and utilize scheduling tools, such as Hootsuite, Sprout or Sprinklr. This will minimize the last-minute content crunch and posting fatigue. It also allows you to ensure a strong mix of high-performing content and media types.

5. Follow Up. If you see the same followers engaging with your posts, drop them a line to begin a personal conversation. Forge warmer connections by asking to learn more about what they do and what their most pressing needs are in the industry. This jumpstarts the conversation for future collaborations. In addition, you can create a rotating panel of brand ambassadors to discuss industry trends and foster relationships for future partnerships.

With its continuing evolution, LinkedIn is still leading the pack as one of our strongest virtual networking tools. Don’t miss out on these gains!

Learn how to strengthen
your personal LinkedIn presence!

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6 Tips for Strong Facebook Video Ads

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Video ads combine two of Facebook’s strongest elements: attention-grabbing content backed by the punch of advertising dollars. And ever since Facebook has placed a premium ranking on videos, they’re surfacing as the leading medium for social media. Now more than ever is the time to leverage these top tactics to boost your video ads, generate leads and increase sales.

1. Create sales funnel-specific content.

The marketing sales funnel targets buyers based on their stages of awareness, interest and readiness to purchase. The concept is designed to capture an audience’s attention and nurture them until they’re ready to purchase (or sign up or whatever).

While the sales funnel can be sliced and diced into several helpful subsections, for this blog, we’ll keep it simple. Fortunately, Facebook helps by organizing campaign objectives according to stages in the funnel. (They also provide a more in-depth guide to help you narrow your objective.)

Start your ad by segmenting your target audience into one of three purchasing stages:

1. Awareness: Individuals may have an interest in your general industry but need to be made aware of your specific business and services.
2. Consideration: Buyers know they need your type of product, but they’re considering many vendors and options.
3. Conversion: Individuals are ready to purchase a product — hopefully, your product — and they need a nudge to make the leap!

Tailor your message to appeal to the needs of each specific stage. Ask yourself, “What is their biggest pain point, and how will this ad answer it?” For example, those in the consideration phase may best respond to a short, engaging video that provides an overview of your product or service rather than a deep dive into a single feature. For those at the conversion stage, specific incentives (free shipping!) or targeted bonus features may help finalize the deal.

Bonus Tip: To reach an expanded segment similar to current buyers, create lookalike audiences, one of our favorite tools.

2. Run the one-sentence test.

Once you’ve determined your sub-audience, hone your message. You should be able to summarize the point of the video in one simple sentence. If it takes more than one concise statement for you (the creator) to explain, it will certainly take more time for the viewer to process (AKA: understand and act). As a bonus, simple messages with a strong personal pull boost shareability and, ultimately, your message’s visibility.

3. Embrace the silence.

Recent research shows that 85 percent of viewers play videos without sound. (Makes sense, right? Especially if you’re Facebook ghosting in a meeting, which we know you never do.) While some users my opt to include audio, run on the assumption that many will not. Add dialogue captions to your video either via your editing software or directly through Facebook’s automatic captions function.

4. Leverage the first three seconds.

Those are your money-makers. According to AdWeek, forty-three percent of people who watch the first three seconds will watch the first 10 seconds, and most who watch 10 seconds will then view the entire video. In addition, these golden seconds are all the more important because Facebook counts it as a “view” after three seconds.

So how might you grab attention? You have a cornucopia of tools at your fingertips. An eye-catching thumbnail (which you can customize) or dynamic visual movement in the first seconds have been proven to stir interest. Create curiosity by posing a short question in the caption, or, as one study suggests, the use of the word “you” or “your” in the first three seconds increased viewership by 100 percent.

5. Tweak and Test.

Just like any solid marketing endeavor, test variations of your ad by adjusting copy, video content, video length and call to action. Small tweaks, even a few verbs or the tag music, can affect your audience’s response and increase CTRs. While designing ads, keep an eye on the relevancy score, Facebook’s algorithm that determines how strongly your ad will appeal to your target. All of the elements affect relevancy. Not only does a higher relevancy score increase efficacy, it also decreases the cost of your ad spend!

6. Make the Call! (the call to action, that is)

You have multiple options to display your call to action. (Note: one thing that is NOT an option is to omit the call to a action — at least not if you want strong results.) Naturally, you can include an action button (“Sign Up,” “Learn More,” “Shop Now”) within the ad structure. But underscore these CTAs in the post text or feature it within the video itself. Remember, if an actor or voiceover states the call to action, be sure to include it in the captions. (See #2!)

Bonus Tip: Check out these CTAs you can’t refuse.

Looking for more ideas to add vavoom to your video ads? Drop us a line!

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Reviving Pinterest

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

“What should I cook for dinner?”
“Girl, where did you get those shoes?”
“I totally want that couch.”

As visual creatures, our daily lives brim with images and scenes that spark curiosity. Yet somehow when we whip out the Smartphone to Google “that thing,” words can fail us. Rather than curating images of lavendar damask sofas, we find ourselves overrun by snapshots of odd zoo animals.

Pinterest Lens

A long-time advocate of discovery, Pinterest rolled out a new feature in February to solve our search conundrum. Pinterest Lens allows users to snap a photo of an item using a Smartphone. Pinterest then analyzes the photo, generates related search terms and curates similar images from pins across the platform. Point your camera phone at dining room table, and Pinterest will display not only similar furniture but also images of fully decorated rooms featuring dining room tables.

And the discovery doesn’t stop with fashion and decor. Snap a picture of ingredients in your fridge, and Pinterest can suggest recipes for dinner. (We’re waiting for someone to harness Pinterest Lens to aid lost pet searches!) Already see a pin you love? Just tap the circle in the lower right-hand corner of each pin, and Pinterest Instant Ideas will populate similar pins — as if you snapped the picture in Lens yourself.

A Revived Business Platform?

For a platform that seemed to be fading, this rollout could be the the 180-degree turn Pinterest needs. To date, few — if any — other platforms can generate searches based on visuals — even Google, considered the world’s most popular search engine.

For businesses, Pinterest Lens provides ample reason to beef up and diversify your pinning strategy. Shoe designers covet this easy access to could-be fashionistas, or home builders can tout everything from floor plans to kitchen designs to potential homebuyers. And note that your descriptions and keyword strategy will be vital here, since Pinterest may use your pins’ verbiage and tags to locate your pictures. (However, as a side note, don’t bother with hashtags.) In addition, populate your boards not only with pictures of your product but also your product in multiple larger contexts.

While Pinterest may not have the chops yet to rival Amazon’s e-commerce, it’s new features suggest that they’re back in the game. Check out a few other new storytelling hacks on social media!

 

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3 New Hacks for Social Storytelling

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , ,

Major social media updates, such as Facebook Livestream, top headlines and spur chatter in the industry. But smaller tweaks that might go unnoticed can also play a big role in your social strategy. Here are three surfacing tools that can boost your brand’s online presence.

1. Location, Location, Location!

Location Stories on Instagram
We’re all used to searching for posts by location, but searching for Instagram stories by location? It’s social media’s continuing nod to the sharing culture, another way to co-create experiences, memories and — in a way — the identity of a location. Instagram pulls stories from users who have included location stickers in their stories. Right now, it appears that these features are limited to larger locales, such as a city (rather than a shopping complex or specific store). While we’re waiting for this feature to be (hopefully) available for individual locations, utilize the opportunity to have your story featured by the location; include shots of your business or product to integrate your culture with the larger narrative of the area.

2. Go Live! (Or at least fake it).

Live Photos on Instagram
Launched with the iPhone 6s, the Live Photo feature captures the context of a still image, unveiling a little more background to the story. There’s now a work-around to be able to share these glimpses on Instagram. With the surging popularity of video, this provides yet another tactic to share your business’ story with your audience.

3. Let Me Take a (Filtered) Selfie.

Alright, this one hasn’t quite launched yet, but here’s a sneak peek — via Mashable’s infinite wisdom. Give your selfie a face lift…with someone else’s face! Slated to be unveiled later this summer at the SIGGRAPH conference, this new photo stylization technique imposes the style of a painting, artist or statue onto your selfie. No need for self-tanner; just choose a face from a bronze statue.

Looking for other tips to beef up your Instagram? Oh, yeah. We got ‘em.

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