The Top 4 Ways to Be Original On Social Media

19Jun

When you begin to plan content for your social media updates, a little bit of finesse is needed. Sure, you can always share, retweet, and comment on others’ material, but this cannot be your only activity on your account! To have an effective social media marketing strategy, you need original material. It is easier said than done, as you could imagine. However, you do not need to be a master marketer to figure out how to formulate your marketing. Here are some of the tools of the trade:

- Promotional Posts- Of course, where would social media marketing be without…marketing? Strategically placed sales posts will be helpful as long as you do not drown your feed with them. Use strong language, be confident, and remind your followers why they chose you as opposed to your competition.
- Events- Depending on your business’ industry, you might host some events of your own and want to spread the word. Whether it is a company picnic, a guest speaker, or a blowout sale, social media is the perfect place to promote. You can also show your support for certain movements such as Alzheimer’s Awareness Month or contribute to fun events like National Candy Month.
- Imagery- Original visuals are integral to your posts. It is an important tactic to raise engagement levels. The best part is that you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to make exciting pictures. Apps and websites like Canva and Layout make pictures look like they were done by a pro.
- Fun Posts- Yes, social media is great for marketing, but it is also a form of entertainment for many users. Create updates that are fun, engaging, and receive some feedback in the process. You can create quizzes, polls, caption contests, and more. These are the types of posts internet surfers look out for when browsing social media. Give it to them!

While it can be important to share others’ content and social media posts, it is just as important to have an arsenal of original and enticing updates to send out to your followers.

Do you have other ways of creating original content? Comment below!

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Why Social Media Has a Soul

By Christopher Tompkins

18Jun

Social Media

When Americans woke up on June 12th 2016, they were horrified by the news of a massacre in Orlando. Many of us banded together to support the victims’ families and friends as we tried to heal from the terror that hate brought.

During that day however, we saw something else amongst the countless social media posts mentioning the attack. We saw what may have been the most important post ever for those closely involved in the situation. People who lived in or near Orlando were able to “check in” to notify their Facebook friends that they were safe. Facebook’s Safety Check system was previously implemented during situations such as the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, and other dangerous incidents throughout the world. This was the first time Facebook had to activate Safety Checks in the US and because they did, people were informed of many loved ones’ statuses.

Safety Checks are one of the ways social media’s reachability has such a positive impact on our world. We see events as they happen through Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. News about serious events reach the right people quicker than ever. Yes, social media is amazing for marketing yet as we can see, there is much more to discover.

Facebook is also adding another feature that is literally life-changing. They have teamed up with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is now offering users an opportunity to help those who may be in crisis. If users see a potentially suicidal post on their news feed, they can inform administration by using the Report Suicidal Content link as well as the traditional “report button.” As we’ve seen many times on the news, social media can be an outlet for those expressing troubling and potentially self-destructive thoughts. These new tools could be very helpful in preventing disaster, as there will be an immediate resource available.

These progressive updates show that social media can be utilized for a plethora of uses. While some promote your business, others can help save a life. These new platforms have the power to connect in ways we were never able to before. It seems that the globe may be shrinking, and that’s not such a bad thing after all.

What do you think of these new tools? Do you think more will follow? Comment below!

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Can I Quote You On That?

By Christopher Tompkins

16Jun

Advertising, Marketing, Tailwind, Twitter, Uncategorized

Twitter is a great way to gather up new insights and news articles. There is a ton of inspiration to find on this website! This helpful social media platform offers many advantageous features for users to spread their word, and someone else’s.

Why exactly would you want to post something someone else already has? How does that help your social media marketing strategy? It helps by increasing engagement and offering valuable content to your followers. If someone retweets a tweet, they will get notified and be able to reciprocate as needed. This will also add variety and additional content to your page.

Twitter offers two different ways to post another tweet onto your feed, Retweeting and Quote Retweeting. The biggest difference between these two is your own input. If you Retweet, a clone of the original poster’s tweet will go onto your feed. There will be no place for you to add anything related to your brand on it, however, it will be a nice snapshot of another person’s feed. Quote Retweeting allows you to add some additional commentary to the quote (If the 140 character limit allows it) but most importantly, it will be posted by your account.

Twitter definitely offers you the opportunity to share to infinity and beyond with their multiple features. By retweeting or quote retweeting another person’s content, however, you’ll be able to piggyback on its publicity, and boost your own marketing efforts.

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4 Ways to Get Your Updates Visible (And Fast!)

By Christopher Tompkins

16Jun

Advertising, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

Social media marketing is all about promoting yourself in a new, intuitive way and reaching out to your customer base in places they check every day. The only thing is, there are millions of people posting alongside you. At this point, news feeds tend to look like Wall Street with everyone screaming at the top of their lungs for the sake of their company. It can be overwhelming for the consumers, let alone the marketers. Because of this, advertising has a whole new level of challenges. A plethora of content is out there that floods everyone’s news feeds. How can you make your content stand above the rest?

Social media provides us with helpful options so that your important posts can be noticed amongst the swarming masses. Here are some of the most effective tools businesses can take advantage of:

Boosting Posts- Our beloved Facebook has some complex algorithms inside its machinery. At times, it can really impede social media marketers’ attempts at spreading the word. However, they do provide a way out and with no surprise, it is not free. By boosting a post, you are rapidly increasing your content’s visibility and also allowing for more engagement. It bypasses certain unspoken laws Facebook has into play inside its coding that would otherwise impede a perfect post’s promotional power.

Pinned Posts- Let’s say you have a big event coming up, or you really want to push a certain product, or something is time sensitive. The big social media platforms allow you to pin a post so that it is at the top of your page for all to see. This will be the first thing a follower sees. Instead of continuously posting about a subject, pinning a post will make it the star of your profile. This social media tactic will also allow you to give some extra publicity to posts that have done particularly well. It can be really great for content that is already catching a lot of attention. Pinning posts is free, so you will be able to pin away without consulting your budget!

Advertising- Each one of these platforms have offer the opportunity for self-promotion. Facebook’s advertising allows you to push your branding through advertisements via users’ experience. Twitter offers a “promoted posts” feature so your tweets will pop up on users’ feeds even if they don’t follow you (yet!). Even Pinterest has “Rich Pins” in which you will be able to reap the benefits of being on many new boards.

Verification- For Facebook, a fantastic way to bring attention to yourself is to verify your page. It is a process, that is for sure, but by having that blue check mark near your name, you will be able to have access to special features such as branded content. This will allow profiles to have a post with both a company and a personal profile attached.

All of these are very effective routes you can take to reach social media stardom. Yes, many have price tags, but this is exactly what these websites want. They want business professionals to invest in their advertising, and they will be sure to reward those who do with a whole new pathway of publicity.
Which of these methods have worked great for you? Comment below!

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New and Old Audiences of Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

14Jun

Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Back in the day, social media was intended for teenagers and young adults to roam and cause ruckus. Mark Zuckerberg’s technological wonder, Facebook, was originally designed just for college students. In fact, in its early days you needed a “.edu” email address to sign up. However, things have begun to change– the grown-ups are now checking out social media.

This has been a curious event that has transpired over the past few years. A large majority of adults over 50 are flocking to social media, more specifically to Facebook. Why is this, exactly? Technology has changed the world and Generation X and the Baby Boomers — and sometimes even older– have noticed. The prime suspect is Facebook, seeing as how it is a primary source of communication for many people. Here, they can see their old friends from years ago or check on their kids.

But beyond the social side of this movement, it is no coincidence that once businesses started getting heavily involved in social media, so did these older users. It went beyond posting updates and pictures and took the marketing side of things more seriously. Many of these users utilize Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for business purposes. They take advantage of these services to spread their brand in the wild internet frontier. It may be different from traditional marketing, but a majority of them see its impact and have stuck with it.

After Facebook, older adults have flocked to Twitter and LinkedIn next. Both of these are heavily involved in the business world. We’ve even seen Twittter affect the Presidential Election this year. It is great for instant news that keeps on updating. LinkedIn is where it gets considerably more serious. Here, professionals of any industry can connect without the frills of other platforms. They’re able to use LinkedIn for business ventures and networking in ways that only conferences could provide prior to the internet.

So, move over Millennials. There are new users in town. Don’t worry though, you still have Instagram and Snapchat primarily to yourself.

Why do you think there is an influx of older users on Facebook and other platforms? Comment below!

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Location, Location, Location! How Your Region Affects Your Social Media Experience

By Christopher Tompkins

13Jun

Advertising, Facebook, Local Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Even though the internet is a global institution, you’d be surprised just how significant your geographical location affects results. This is also true for social media. It might seem almost like an oxymoron. How could your current location matter when you’re sending something across the globe? It turns out things can change a lot. Here are the most significant elements that affect your social media experience:

–Research- Ever go on Twitter to see the top trending hashtags and are surprised to see a few of them apply to your current town? Yeah, that’s no coincidence. Many search engines, social media included, will adjust your results to accommodate your current location. This way, you’ll be able to really hone in on what’s going on in your area. The bad part of this, however, is that your attempts at finding nationally trending topics can be skewed. You can adjust these kinds of results in the settings of each site.

–Distinct Features- There are some added bonuses when using location services. Snapchat, the rising mobile-exclusive platform, offers Geofilters, which are illustrations to place over a photo or video that are only accessible in certain locations. You can also “Check-In” to places like businesses to promote their products. As a business owner, you can always encourage customers to check-in on their smartphones, which will spread your brand onto their newsfeeds. Periscope allows you to view broadcasters in your immediate area so you can see video streams from your favorite local spots.

While it may be creepy that your social media platforms know where you’re at, it can really help your social marketing efforts. You can take advantage of this by tapping into local markets in unique ways.

What do you think about social media location services? Comment below!

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5 Reasons Analytics Can Help Your Social Media Marketing

By Christopher Tompkins

12Jun

Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

As innovative and revolutionary social media is, it is still marketing and as such, it needs to be analyzed. There are many tools out there that can deliver you the data you need. Whether it is Hootsuite, Onlypult, or the internet insights many platforms offer, doing your research will really benefit your social media attempts. No doubt, this is one of the less glamorous sides of social media, but here at The Go! Agency, we love these tools so we can help our clients get the most out of every update, note, and blog we send out to cyberspace. Still need more convincing? Here is what you can expect to get if you decide to delve into the data.

Where? Are you big in Japan? Well, what about Dallas? The geographical demographic side of things is always interesting to study. Every now and again, you’ll find interesting trends, such as a spike of readers in Finland for some odd reason. Hopefully, you’ll be able to cater to the right region. If not, you can improve this by looking into trending topics in the target area and reinforcing them with local hashtags, news sources, etc.

When? Scheduling a post will always make you wonder when exactly is the right time to send out your material. Is your target demographic surfing social media in the afternoon? Maybe they’re night owls and are sharing and liking at 3 in the morning? With analytics from Hootsuite, Facebook, Google, and others, you’ll be able to play Father Time and hit them at the right moment.

How? Just because Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the others have their own apps, it doesn’t mean people are using them. Instead, people may be using third party software like Hootsuite, Feedient, and Snowball that will allow users to really multitask. Just how they’re seeing your information can be helpful.

Which? Which posts are succeeding and which are failing? Does your audience like news stories over promotional posts? Perhaps they like videos more than pictures, or polls over quizzes? These questions are easily answered when researching your social media accounts.
Who? Are your posts reaching the people you want them to? By using one of the many avenues of analytics, you’ll be able to see who exactly is reading your stuff. This is where you’ll find interesting demographics. Do males or females read, like, share, and comment on your posts? What is their age range? As business professionals know, these are important questions to ask so their product is being presented to the right crowd.

While the most creative part of utilizing social media marketing is writing and designing, the dirty work of analysis can be a real life saver whenever you see a dip in followers, or want to see what material is really working.

Why do you use analytics? Comment below!

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4 Steps to Keep ALL Your Social Media Accounts Consistent

By Christopher Tompkins

11Jun

Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Periscope, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

To really make it in the social media universe, you need to establish yourself on the most popular platforms. Becoming a user of many accounts is a great idea, but easier said than done. To truly take care of social media, your business will need one of the following:

– Facebook

– Twitter

– LinkedIn

– Instagram

– Twitter

– YouTube

Google+, Snapchat, Periscope, and more are helpful additions, but when you’re starting out, I’d try to tackle social media’s “Big 6” first. Take our word for it- it’ll be more work than you think. At first glance, you’ll want each of these accounts to be as unique as a snowflake. Well, first of all, you’ll turn social media into a round-the-clock gig if you do that. Second of all, your branding will become an absolute mess. While you want each post to be consistent, you don’t want each account to be unrecognizable from each other. Here are some of the best ways to keep your many profiles consistent with branding.

Pictures– Even if you have a large portfolio of headshots, and many versions of your logo, you need to stick with one for your profiles. You don’t want people guessing if it really is you. They want something familiar when trying to follow you!

Adapted Updates- When you’re writing your posts, you’ll typically want to make two versions. One will be for your Facebook, Google+, etc. The second one will be to conform to Twitter’s 140 character limit. For the Twitter version, you’ll also be able to mention other Twitter accounts with their twitter handle. For example, you can say “Congrats @JasonTodd for closing on your new house!”

Long Forms- When you’ve written an article based around your profession, you can share it on Facebook’s Notes feature, LinkedIn, and of course post it to your own blog. Social media is an exception to the “duplicate content” rule for websites. People who use social media tend to understand that these posts are yours and you should spread it through all avenues.

Keeping Info Straight- Have multiple website domains? What about phone numbers? Social media isn’t the place for inconsistencies. You want to keep things clear and concise for your followers. Don’t make it so they have to guess what phone number to call.

You want your social media to be unique, but you don’t want it to be a “mishmash” of content. Keep things correct, clear, and constant so your customers and followers will know what they’re dealing with!

What are your thoughts on keeping things straight? Comment below!

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The Power of “Local”

By Christopher Tompkins

9Jun

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Local Marketing, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Uncategorized

Sure, social media is about connecting to people far and wide, and you can spread your word to the other side of the planet with the right tools. However, for some businesses, your success is right in your backyard! No, we’re not talking about those squirrels running around in your garden bed, but rather your local community.

For some, this may be easier said than done. Bigger cities obviously have a larger network and reachability, where small towns may be tougher to push online marketing through. Yet there are multiple ways to use your location to your advantage, no matter what size your business is.

People usually love their hometown. Do some research to see how they announce their pride! It can be hashtags like #PAPride or #IloveNY that are relevant to your location. You can find these by using tools like Hootsuite, Tagboard, or just research Twitter and Facebook. These will be a helpful way for you to show up on the radar, and it’ll put you in a positive light.

What events are happening around you? Whether it is a festival or a sporting event, you can write some posts about it. Supporting your community by talking about local events is a big deal. Send an employee out there to take some pictures. Speaking of sporting events, if you have a local team, support them! Whether through a hashtag, mentioning the team’s profiles, or just saying “Good luck!” it’s a good idea to cheer them on. However, be careful you don’t anger some customers who root for an opposing team.

If certain things are happening that aren’t fun, cover them too. #HurricaneSeason is popular in Florida every summer. #HurricaneSandy was buzzing when that terrible event happened. If a local celebrity passes away, you can give your respects as well. Just be sure you stay involved in the community and be an active citizen.

Tapping into a local market can be a challenge but it can be very rewarding. Be sure to see what’s going on in your neighborhood today!

Do you have other ways to be a good neighbor? Let us know!

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Netiquette and Niceties: How to Behave on the Internet

By Christopher Tompkins

Niceties-How-to-Behave-on-the-Internet-200x300

8Jun

Advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

Remember when your parents used to teach you how to act? There were all these rules about how to introduce yourself, how to eat at a table, how to act around your elders, the list went on and on. Well, the internet has its own etiquette (or netiquette, if you’re into corny puns) on how to act and like any rules, there are lots of people who break them. It is important, especially for those who use the internet for business, to learn online manners!

Whether you’re a casual visitor or heavily involved on the internet, you won’t have to look very hard to find some people being obnoxious and flat out rude. You’ll find this ugliness in comment sections and personal social media updates as people proclaim their opinion or deride others’. What happens if one of these “trolls” find their way onto your business page? If it’s truly offensive, you can report it and the internet authorities, such as Facebook or Twitter admins, can take care of it. However, if it’s a negative review, you’ll want to acknowledge it and see if there’s anything you can do to resolve the issue. Make it public so people can see how you handled the situation.

Yet internet manners go beyond dealing with hate and difficult people. Here are some do’s and do not’s that will make you very proper, indeed:

• Don’t beg for likes- Likes should come naturally. You don’t want to come off desperate. Your content should speak for itself and earn those likes. However, if you’re conducting a poll, you can have people “like” as an option. Still, there are more sophisticated ways of conducting polls now such as widgets to embed in a post.

• Respond…and fast! You want to be sure to respond to messages, comments, RTs, etc. in a timely manner. Try to make communication time less than 24 hours, even shorter if you can help it. This will show you’re being attentive and you pay attention to what your fans have to say. You don’t need to thank everyone who likes your posts, though. If you’re getting a bunch of likes, you’ll be stuck there all day!

• Post in moderation- It’s important to post everyday. However, you don’t want to post so much that your followers get annoyed. Quality over quantity is the name of the game in social media…except followers, the more followers the better.

• Hashtags- We can’t stress the importance of hashtags enough. However, keep it at a maximum of 3 per post. You don’t want to fill the screen with a ton of these tags. It’s another way to look desperate and annoy readers.

• We not me!- If you’re representing a business, always refer to yourself in the plural tense, such as “we” and “us”. You’re a stand in for a larger body of people, so “I” and “me” are inappropriate.

• Avoid “too hot” topics- Relevant and contemporary issues are good, but don’t get involved with sticky controversies or touchy subjects. If you’re representing a business, don’t plug your political agenda, religious ideals, or anything hair-raising.

Many of these can be applied to a real professional conversation. But as you can see, the internet requires some different kinds of formalities. Yet if you follow these, you’ll look like a real pro!

What are your thoughts on these rules? Comment below!

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