Our blog

What is a social media audit?

Don’t let the word “audit” intimidate you. A social media audit is simply an analysis of your social media profiles undertaken to determine what parts of your social media marketing strategy are and are not working. You look at all of your social media accounts and profiles to figure out what strategies you should keep, what you should stop, and what you can improve. It’s not so much an audit as it is a check-in, really.

Why do I need one?

Here’s a better question: Does your company want to waste time, energy, and money on an ineffective marketing strategy? The answer is probably no. You need to periodically check your brand’s social media profiles to make sure each is still doing what you want it to do. This will also be a good time to find and delete any profiles you no longer use. Here are just a few of the many reasons you should audit your social media presence:

1. It’s an opportunity to clean up your online presence.

Think of your audit like cleaning out your garage: when you’re trying to reorganize and optimize the space you have, you find a lot of things you’d forgotten existed. Are you using all of your social media accounts? You might be surprised to discover that you have profiles on social media platforms you have not visited in years. Are you still paying for advertising on any platforms? You can delete profiles that are no longer beneficial to your social media marketing strategy.

2. You can check out your profiles.

A social media audit will allow you to look at the whole of your social media presence. You can see which profiles are up to date and which ones need more current information. Use the audit to check out all of your social media profiles at once, so that you can edit and augment each as needed. Compare this to the piecemeal approach, where you vow to update your profiles when you remember, only to postpone the updates for when you actually have the time. With a scheduled social media audit, you can make the time.

3. You can retool your strategy. 

This is where the more technical aspects of auditing come into play. After you’ve weeded out the unnecessary profiles, you can make adjustments to the necessary profiles. Use each platform’s built-in analytics tool to determine what content gets the most traction. You can also see data like busy times for your sites, customer demographics, and more. You can get as broad or as specific as you like.

4. This is a chance to gauge your competition.

You should take a look at your competitors’ social media pages as you audit your own. What are they doing that you’re not? Does one competitor have more customer engagement than your brand? What type of posts are most popular for them? Are they following any industry-wide trends that you’ve ignored? Comparing your strategy to your competition’s is yet another good way to learn what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

5. It’s a way for you to learn more about your customers.

As you gain insights into your competition (and thus your industry overall), you can also peek into the minds of your audience. Do they respond to one form of content more consistently than another? You could be wasting your time posting videos when your customers flock to blogs, or vice versa. This is yet another benefit of looking at the big picture: you can see your marketing from a holistic point of view.

If you have even one social media profile, then you stand to benefit from a social media audit. When was the last time you conducted a social media audit? We’d like to hear from you in the comments!

No one should settle for “meh” when it comes to social media marketing companies. We aren’t afraid to say that some of those companies just can’t hack it. The problem is they make the rest of us look bad in the process. So in order to save you a lot of time and money, as well as preserve our industry’s reputation, here are some hallmarks of a good social media marketing firm.

1. The staff members fill specific roles.

The smaller the firm, the more hats each employee wears. However, great social media marketing companies will have team members with specific jobs (account managers, content writers, graphic designers, etc.). That’s because those companies want these tasks to be completed by people who know what they’re doing. Sure, sometimes an account manager might throw together some graphics as a placeholder, or the team will split the duties of a coworker who’s on leave, but generally all roles are clearly defined. 

2. The firm is focused on your long-term success.

You want a firm that looks at the big picture. These firms won’t waste resources on campaigns or tactics that will not have lasting effects. The managers strategize with you on a monthly basis, but with an eye on their annual strategy for your brand. This technique can be slow to take-off, but then will yield steady results. Such social media management companies are proving that they are invested in their clients.

3. Your account reps are accessible and responsive.

(Please note the tacit “within reason.” Few reps will be on-call 24/7/365, unless otherwise stated and even then only in case of an actual emergency.) If you have a question, you can easily reach them for an answer. If you have a problem, they will address it immediately. You should be able to easily get in contact with the correct person when necessary. On a slightly related note, good firms have low turnover. This is great because it means you will probably keep the same account manager or creative team throughout your relationship with the firm. This also indicates that the firm has good management and reliable employees.

4. They listen to and address your concerns.

A good social media marketing agency will work with you. True, you might disagree with their advice, but they won’t force you to follow it. They will be knowledgeable about your situation and will have researched the challenges facing your industry. They have a vested interest in your success, so they will try to persuade you on the best marketing strategies. If a social media marketer follows the “customer is always right” mindset, then they probably aren’t doing a great job.

5. Good social media marketing firms have successful track records.

These agencies proudly display portfolios of previous campaigns and testimonials from satisfied clients. They have nothing to hide. Reputation matters: your agent should be able to provide references upon request.

What do you look for when hiring a social media marketing agency? Tell us in the comments!

Too many novice social media marketers focus on the wrong metrics when measuring the success of their social media campaigns. While it’s nice to get a lot of likes on your posts, they aren’t worth much on their own. Don’t mistake popularity for validation when it comes to your brand’s goals. In fact, don’t mistake likes for popularity in the first place. Instead, determine your goals and then apply strategies that will help you get to those goals. We’ll explain a few of the key metrics today.

1. Engagement

Likes are nice, but they alone aren’t enough to give you a good indication of audience engagement. What’s more important than likes is active participation, like comments and replies. That kind of engagement serves as proof that your audience is invested in your content. The number of shares will help you determine what content is perceived as valuable or interesting by your audience. Review your content to see what receives the most comments and shares. Do they have anything in common, like subject matter or posting time? What are the commonalities among your less-popular, less-shared posts?

2. Awareness

Again, this ties back to defining specific goals for your campaign. You don’t want to waste time, effort, and resources on a campaign designed to increase likes if reach is more relevant to your goals. To clarify, impressions are the number of times that someone sees content, while reach is the number of unique individuals who see it. If Ward sees an ad for Daughters of the Dragon Sriracha Marinade three times, that ad has three impressions and a reach of one. For some brands and under some circumstances, impressions might be paramount; for other brands and circumstances, reach matters more. Brands that want to broaden their audiences and find new consumers should focus on reach, while brands that want to strengthen their message to their existing audiences should focus on impressions.

3. Conversions

How many users were so impacted by your content or message that they took action? That is conversion in a nutshell. To determine this, you’ll need to have already determined your goals. Note that this should be more than “complete a purchase.” Do you want users to share your content? Do you want users to go to your website? Enter a contest? Fill out a survey? Measuring conversions can be as simple as tracking click rates. Take Joy’s law firm as an example. She ultimately wants prospective clients to come in for a free consultation at Meachum & Gao, but she understands that achieving this will take many steps. Therefore, her immediate conversion goal is for people to click through links from the firm’s social media profiles to the firm’s webpage. By tracking the click rate, she can see what content is most compelling to prospective clients. Armed with this information, she will be able to create enticing content that will motivate prospective clients to contact her office.

Remember that your goals will probably change over time, so it’s important to periodically reevaluate your strategies. Above all, never get too comfortable! Savvy social media marketers know that you must continually adapt and evolve to keep up with current trends as well as the needs of your consumers. 

What metrics have you found to be most valuable for your marketing strategy? Share with us in the comments!

On your mark… Get set… WAIT! 

I have seen so many marketing campaigns that feel like a pee-wee track meet: hastily organized, poorly attended, and all hell breaks loose at the sound of the starting pistol.

Too much money, time, and effort are wasted marketing the wrong message to the wrong audience. It’s hard to admit, but you’ve probably done it yourself.

“That’s impossible!” You say. “We hired the best copywriters to create persuasive content! Our design team made stunning visuals! And the videos were so expensive, they had to be good! But we didn’t see any return on our investment!”

You are frustrated and exhausted. “This was the absolutely perfect campaign!” You ask, “Where did we go wrong?” 

Well, I hate to tell you, but your campaign was doomed from the very beginning. When you planned that campaign, how much time did you spend researching and crafting the perfect target audience?

While most campaigns have target audiences, most marketers don’t give them the attention they deserve. When planning a campaign, there are so many different moving pieces that some aspects often get lost in the process. What I’m here to tell you is that defining your target audience isn’t just another thing to take care of in your planning — it’s the most important part.

If you spend a lot of time reading marketing articles, you’ll see a lot of them sharing the latest ways to “work” (note the scare quotes) the Instagram algorithm to your advantage or quickly boost your TikTok views, usually with just a few steps (kind of like those “one weird trick to losing weight” ads). Awesome, right? Wrong. 

First of all, while many of these articles share good practices to use when posting, there is no trick to understanding the algorithm. No one, not even the engineers behind these platforms, fully understands the algorithm. All of the tips, tricks, and tactics in the world are useless unless you fully understand who your target audience or customers are. 

Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, that might be true for some business people, but I know who my customer is.” 

Again, I hate to tell you this, but… that might not be true. 

I’m not trying to insult your knowledge of your own business, but when you are marketing on social media you need much more than the standard demographic outline. With any digital or online marketing, you need to dive deeper and understand more elements of your target audience. 

Not to worry though, I have you covered. Here are some of the simple steps that we take our clients through when they are having trouble identifying their target audience. Let’s go!

1. Money, Money, Money, Money: Yep, everyone loves the green stuff. It is crucial for you to be able to identify a few key monetary aspects. Who, demographic-wise, is spending the most money? What product or service sells the most? What product or service delivers the highest margin? Once you know that, determine who is buying it. If you are a beauty brand that sells 1,000 hairbrushes for a profit of $10 and sells 500 hair dryers for a profit of $400, then I would look into the demographic makeup of that hair dryer crowd. The brand should focus on the products that bring in more money with fewer sales. Use your sales successes and current client roster as your starting point.
2. Sex Matters: If you have a product or service that is specifically made for a woman, it does not mean that men could not be loyal consumers of your company. Don’t ignore any markets or demographics without the proper data to back up your decision! Major opportunities are lost this way.
3. Location (x3): Where are your consumers? National, regional, statewide, citywide, or even more local? Why do I ask? Well, did you know that you can place advertising to specific audiences based on specific zip codes? Yes – you can be that specific. 

So now you will have a very strong initial idea of some of the basic concrete aspects of your target audience. But you want to take this further. You’ll need to create two more items: 

1. Baseline Audience Demographic Profile: This is where you take the information gathered from the initial three steps listed above and put it into an outline that can be used as a jumping-off point for further analysis and inspection. The profile would need the following information: age range, gender, location, average value of each new client/customer, net worth, household income, and any other pertinent data.
2. Buyer Profiles: This is where you can dive deeper and get more acquainted with your target audience. Buyer profiles allow you to create specific customer profiles that will reflect your audience in multiple ways. These take your existing data and delve deeper into various aspects such as interests, hobbies, media habits, and more. Buyer profiles will help you not only engage with your audience in a more human way, but also identify your audience faster.

While this might seem like a lot of work, the reward is well worth the effort. For one thing, digital marketing gives you more opportunities to target! For instance, did you know that on Facebook alone you can target based on restaurants that your audience visit, movies that they see, and political parties that they follow? And that is just scratching the surface.  

So as you can see, it is more than having a product and/or service and simply choosing your audience. Proper audience identification is a process that may take a little time, but pays dividends when completed properly. Take your time and ensure that you have this piece completed before moving forward with any costly or time-consuming marketing activities or initiatives. Otherwise, you’ll be left in the dust.

In today’s world, simply advertising to your audience is no longer enough to make an effective marketing strategy. Consumers are looking for a deeper connection with brands and want to know the stories behind the products and services they engage with. That’s where storytelling comes in.

Storytelling is an essential component of branding that can help draw in more sales. It allows brands to connect with their audience on a more emotional level, which can lead to increased engagement and customer loyalty.

Here’s how you can leverage storytelling to draw in more sales.

Know Your Audience – Understanding your audience is key to crafting a compelling brand story. Identify their needs, desires, and pain points, and tailor your story accordingly.

Be Authentic – Authenticity is key to building trust with your audience. Don’t be afraid to show the real people and faces behind your brand, and share stories that are true to your values.

Keep It Simple – Your brand story should be easy to understand and concise. Focus on the core message you want to convey and avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

Use Different Channels – Storytelling can be delivered through a variety of channels, including social media, email, video, and more. Use different channels to reach your audience and keep your brand story fresh and engaging.

Overall, leveraging storytelling to draw in more sales is a powerful marketing strategy that can help brands stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Branding is more than just a logo or a catchy slogan. It’s about creating a unique identity for your business that resonates with your audience and sets you apart from the competition. 

Let’s look at four components of strong branding. 

Brand identity – This includes your company name, logo, tagline, and other visual elements that help to identify your brand.

Brand personality – This refers to the human characteristics that your brand embodies. Is your brand fun and playful or serious and sophisticated? These personality traits should be reflected in all aspects of your branding, from your website to your social media presence.

Brand messaging – This encompasses the values, mission, and tone of your brand. What do you stand for? What is your brand’s purpose? Your messaging should be consistent across all channels and touchpoints.

Brand experience – This is the sum of all the interactions that customers have with your brand. From the moment they discover your business to the point of purchase and beyond, every touchpoint should reflect your brand identity, personality, and messaging.

By focusing on these core components, you can create a strong and cohesive brand that resonates with your target audience and helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Social commerce is a term used to describe the intersection of social media and e-commerce, where customers can browse, purchase, and share products directly from social media platforms. 

With the rise of social media, businesses are recognizing the potential for using social commerce to reach new customers and increase sales. 

In this blog, we will discuss why social commerce is only going to grow in the near future and a few of the biggest benefits of using it.

Increased Exposure and Reach

Social media platforms have billions of users, providing businesses with a massive audience to target. With social commerce, businesses can showcase their products to potential customers through social media, and also tap into the audience of social media influencers. This increases exposure and reach, which can lead to more sales.

Improved Customer Experience

Social commerce can provide customers with a seamless and convenient shopping experience. With social commerce, customers can browse and purchase products directly from their favorite social media platforms, without having to leave the app or website. This improves the customer experience, making it more convenient and accessible.

Increased Social Proof

Social media platforms are inherently social, providing customers with the ability to share their experiences with others. This is particularly powerful when it comes to social commerce, as customers can share their purchases and experiences with their social network. This creates social proof, which is a powerful driver of sales.

Targeted Advertising

Social media platforms have advanced targeting capabilities, allowing businesses to reach specific audiences based on interests, demographics, and behaviors. This means businesses can use social commerce to reach the right audience, at the right time, with the right message, leading to increased conversions and sales.

Analytics and Insights

Social media platforms provide businesses with detailed analytics and insights into their social commerce campaigns. This allows businesses to measure the success of their campaigns, understand customer behavior, and make data-driven decisions to improve their social commerce efforts.

Social commerce is only going to grow in the near future, and businesses should start leveraging social commerce to reach new customers and increase sales.

Virtual reality (VR) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool for engaging audiences in immersive experiences, and many brands are beginning to recognize the potential for using VR to build communities of loyal customers. 

By creating virtual reality worlds, brands can provide unique and interactive experiences that are unlike anything else in the marketplace. 

Here are just a few ways you can leverage VR. 

Create a branded virtual space

For example, a retail brand could create a virtual storefront where customers can browse products, make purchases, and even attend virtual events like product launches or fashion shows.

Provide a unique and immersive experience

Virtual reality worlds provide a level of immersion that is unmatched by any other medium. For example, a travel brand could create a virtual reality world that transports customers to exotic locations, allowing them to explore and interact with the environment in a way that feels real.

Foster community engagement

By creating a virtual space where customers can interact with each other, brands can foster a sense of community and encourage engagement.

Host virtual events

Whether it’s a product launch, a concert, or a conference, virtual events can provide a highly immersive and engaging experience that can be accessed by anyone with a VR headset.

Provide educational and training experiences

For example, a technology brand could create a virtual reality world where customers can learn how to use their products in a simulated environment.

As virtual reality is on the come up, now is the best time to hop on the trend and set yourself apart from your competition.

Creating a winning ad campaign is a combination of strategy, creativity, and careful planning. With the right approach, you can reach your target audience, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. Here are five steps to help you create a winning ad campaign each time.

Step 1: Define your target audience

The first step in creating a winning ad campaign is to define your target audience. Who do you want to reach with your ads? What are their interests, habits, and needs? The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to craft an effective message and reach them where they are.

Step 2: Choose your channels

Once you know who you want to reach, you need to decide how to reach them. There are a variety of channels to choose from, including social media, search engine advertising, email, and influencer marketing. Choose the channels that will be most effective for your target audience and budget.

Step 3: Craft your message

Now that you know your target audience and channels, it’s time to craft your message. Your message should be clear, concise, and attention-grabbing. Consider using emotional appeals, such as humor, fear, or excitement, to connect with your target audience on a deeper level. Also, make sure your message aligns with your brand values and goals.

Step 4: Use eye-catching visuals

Visuals are an important part of any ad campaign. They help to capture the attention of your target audience and make your message more memorable. Make sure to use eye-catching images and videos that are relevant to your message and audience.

Step 5: Track your results

Finally, it’s important to track your results and make adjustments as needed. Use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, or other analytics tools to measure the performance of your ads. Look for areas of improvement, such as increasing click-through rates or lowering cost per conversion, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

By following these five steps, you can create a winning ad campaign every time. Remember, a successful ad campaign is all about understanding your target audience, choosing the right channels, crafting a clear message, using eye-catching visuals, and tracking your results. With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a winning ad campaign that delivers results.

A positive customer experience is key to building a loyal customer base and improving brand reputation. In today’s competitive market, businesses must go above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Here are five powerful ways to do just that:

Personalize the experience

Personalization is one of the biggest trends in customer experience and has been shown to increase engagement and loyalty. Implement personalization strategies, such as personalized greetings, targeted marketing, and customized recommendations. This can help customers feel valued and appreciated, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Provide exceptional customer service

Customer service is a critical component of the customer experience. Make sure your customer service team is well-trained, responsive, and able to resolve customer issues in a timely and professional manner. Offer multiple channels for customers to get in touch, such as email, phone, and live chat.

Use technology to streamline the customer journey

Technology can greatly enhance the customer experience by streamlining processes and reducing friction. Consider using chatbots, automated email responses, and other technologies to make the customer journey as smooth and efficient as possible.

Foster a sense of community

Building a sense of community among customers can improve their experience by creating a sense of belonging and encouraging them to engage with your brand. Consider offering forums, online communities, and customer-only events to foster a sense of community among your customers.

Continuously gather feedback and make improvements

Continuously gathering feedback from customers and making improvements based on their feedback is critical to delivering a positive customer experience. Implement a feedback loop that allows customers to share their thoughts and suggestions, and use that feedback to continuously improve your offerings and customer experience.

By implementing these five powerful tactics, you can improve your customers’ experience and build a loyal customer base. Remember, the customer experience is the sum of all interactions a customer has with your brand, so be sure to focus on delivering an exceptional experience at every touchpoint.