How Social Media Can Rock Your Company’s Events

20Jul

Who says social media is confined to the digital world? While we do not have a physical leather-bound book called Facebook, or tiny blue birds sending out messages out to our favorite people, the digital world often visits reality through several avenues.

One of the biggest ways businesses can use social media is to cover a live event. We see this during big unveilings like Apple’s press releases. Soon enough, we will see the social media platforms exploding when iPhone 7 is announced. However, it doesn’t have to be as monumental as Apple’s releases. It can simply be a get-together or your team attending a local charity event. Here are the best ways to cover an event through your social media channels.

Live Video- With the advent of Facebook Live, Periscope, and Snapchat, people all around the world can attend your event with just the tap of a button. By providing a live broadcast of your event, customers from all over will be able to join in the fun, or could benefit from the knowledge your event is providing.
Tweeting- Twitter is perfect for live events. Reporters use Twitter to unveil news stories as they happen, minute by minute. It offers an alternative method of covering live events as opposed to live video, since you can read the tweets at your own pace.
Checking In- Facebook’s popular feature that allows people to check into a location is great to advertise your event. Be sure to remind all attendees to check in on their individual Facebook accounts so the word can spread quickly.
Event Pages- You can also use Facebook and Google+ as a way to invite your friends, family, and colleagues to your event. They can let you know if they plan on attending and, through notifications, will be reminded that a fun time is on the horizon.
Ongoing Promotion- A post saying what a good time you had will be a great closer to the event. Posting pictures, tagging your fellow attendees, and an invitation to the next event are all great ways to keep people invested, even months after the actual event.

As you can see, social media is made to promote your real life party, meeting, or conference. It seems that the internet and the “brick and mortar” world aren’t so separate after all!

How do you use social media to promote your event? Comment below!

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Your Social Media Toolbox: Software Your Social Media Needs

By Christopher Tompkins

19Jul

Social Media

Social media marketers need technology to succeed. No surprise, right? While a majority of the work day is spent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the other platforms, we cannot be truly effective without a little help from third-party tools.

There are new products popping up on the internet and App Store all the time. Some are terrible, some make our lives much easier. The world of social media is face-paced and demanding, so having some tools to help is much appreciated. Here are some of the newest helpers social media professionals are integrating into their workflow:

Crowdfire- Twitter can be effective, but very competitive. Marketers need to keep a sharp eye on their followers. Crowdfire will do just that. This website will help you find new followers based on other leaders of the industry. You will also be able to weed through your followers and get rid of inactive accounts.

One Tab- Researching content is a major part of social media. Whether you are finding new content to share or you are checking your facts, you will find your browser window bursting with tabs. One Tab will combine them for easy access, allowing some space to breathe.

PicPlayPost- Looking for a new way to bring life to your Instagram page? Check out PicPlayPost. It’s an app that allows you to add pictures and video to unique collage template.

RiteTag- Hashtags make the world go round in social media. You got to use them! But how can you find the best tags that pertain to a specific subject? RiteTag is the answer. With a helpful browser extension, you will be able to find trending hashtags in a snap!

There are many new social media sidekicks out there and many more on the way. The above four have proven to be very helpful for businesses. Content curation, sharing, and organization can get a whole lot of easier. You just need the right tools!

What do you think of these programs? Comment below!

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The 5 Types Of Posts Your Social Media Needs!

By Christopher Tompkins

18Jul

Copywriting, Social Media

There’s nothing more terrifying to a writer than a blank document. That flashing cursor staring back at you… it gives you shivers! The same goes for social media marketers as well. At times, inspiration just won’t come, and you have to get those posts out there! The business is counting on you, after all. There are plenty of ways to brainstorm, but sometimes it can do wonders to go back to basics. We do not mean you have to start a brand new Facebook or Twitter account, but rather examining the fundamentals of social media marketing. One of the most important questions someone in this industry has to ask is “What kind of posts should I write?”

While there are millions upon millions of posts out there, most of them can fall into 5 overarching categories. As you progress through the world of social media, you may find yourself doing the very important task of laying out an outline of posts that you want to write. It is crucial to add variety to your social media content and as such, you will want to learn the following “areas” social media can cover:

Articles- If you spend more than five minutes on any of the social sites, you will run into one of these popular posts. “Articles” is a broad term, of course. Whether the content covers a news piece, a recipe, tips to accomplish a certain task, or a piece of history, articles are without a doubt the most common types of content out there on the internet.

Promotional- As a marketer for a company, you may find yourself being tempted to use promotional posts more often than others. While sales-oriented content can be effective, you do not want to oversaturate your followers with promotions. It is common to see a company crash and burn online because all they want to do is sell as opposed to connecting to the community. That being said, sales posts do have a place in your overall content mix. If shared in moderation and written with subtleness, sales posts could work.

Events- Whether it is Christmas Day or your company’s annual picnic, posting about an event or utilizing your preferred platform’s invitation tools can attract a lot of attention to your page.

Entertainment- While we primarily use social media for business purposes, many people head over to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others for entertainment. Join in the fun! Just because you have a business page doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t post fun and interesting posts every now and again. Providing some interesting and enjoyable content is a part of the job!

Native- Above all else, native–or original content– is pure gold. Whether they are photos, videos, graphics, text, or events, they are valuable. Of course, visuals are more eye-catching than text-only posts so be sure to create your own graphics, logos, flyers, and more whenever possible.

Depending on the week you are writing for, content should be ordered in a unique and inventive way. No two articles, promos, or events should be right next to each other on your content timeline. These posts are the bread and butter of your campaign so you will need to spend time on them.

Which of these posts do you find the most effective? Share below!

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Is Your Social Media Marketing Social?

By Christopher Tompkins

16Jul

Social Media

For decades, marketing was a fairly straightforward job. Regardless of the medium, the goal was to present the client’s product or service in the most positive light possible so customers would buy, buy, buy. There was no mistaking that all the content produced was advertising, commercials, and sales. Now, however, social media has changed everything. Perhaps it’s that the general populace has become keen on what marketers are trying to accomplish or perhaps it’s the technology that we currently use. Regardless, social media marketing requires a different type of approach, one of humanity and warmth.

The whole premise of social media marketing is to have have instant access to a company’s representative. That’s right, a live, human representative. The same should go for your content. It needs to have that human spark to it. How exactly does one go about reclaiming the humanity in an industry that was once very shallow? Here are some of the best ways to keep your social media content down to Earth:

Respond quickly. When a customer contacts you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or one of the other websites we all know and love, you need to respond the same way you would if it was one of your friends asking you a question, which is quickly! The days of being put on hold are coming to an end and the best social media marketers keep their response times low.
In addition to responding quickly, your tone should be organic. You should have a natural, friendly feel to everything you write and depending on your industry, you should add some personality to each post.
Raise engagement. How do you strike up a conversation in real life? With questions, statements, and general icebreakers. Social media is no different. Present content that will get the dialogue going. Ask a question in the form of a poll, quiz, or just a simple inquiry into your customers’ thoughts. Then, when you respond, try to act in a professional, yet comfortable nature.
Share! On your personal page, what do you do if you see something that your friends will enjoy? Well if you are a good friend, you share it. Your business page should be the same. If you see content out in the wild landscape of the internet that pertains to your customer base, try to share it often. This will bring a lot of attention to your pages as well.

Making sure that there is a conversation and human tone to your social media content will satisfy customers and have more followers show up. It is helpful to always examine how you are writing and to make sure it doesn’t seem too robotic.

Share your thoughts on humanity’s role in social media below!

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What Social Media Marketers Can Learn From Pokemon Go

By Christopher Tompkins

What-Social-Media-Managers-Can-Learn-From-Pokemon-Go-200x300

12Jul

Advertising, Facebook, Local Marketing, Marketing, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

Do you remember the hit game Pokemon from the 1990s? While there have been several versions since Nintendo’s original incarnation, it’s popularity returned in a big way recently by tapping into the smartphone world where Pokemon Go, a completely new game, is available for free.

Not even Nintendo itself expected its new video game to take over the world as quickly as it did. Less than 24 hours after its release, Pokemon Go’s servers began to crash due to overpopulation on their digital frontier. Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store both proudly house the massively popular game and at the time of writing this article, there are well over a million players trying to “catch ‘em all”.

Yes, it’s obvious that video games are popular. Yet by tapping into the mobile app market for the very first time, Nintendo has proven itself to understand the current trends in their field. However, there’s much more at work here than an app. From a marketing standpoint, they just accomplished a beautiful act.

Without getting into too many details, Pokemon’s popularity hit American shores in 1995 when their first two games debuted on Game Boy, the premier mobile gaming platform at the time. Children ate it up like it was the end of the world. Merchandising exploded. A TV show, a card game, action figures, stuffed toys, candy, clothing, themed stores, and much more took the world by storm. It was a marketer’s dream. Now, those children are in their mid-twenties and early thirties and have put the Game Boy down in place of an iPhone or Android device. Nintendo adapted perfectly to their original audience. Best of all, they made a majority of game play for free.

So, as social media marketers, what can we learn from this rising phenomenon? For one thing, watch internet trends closely. No surprise #PokemonGo was one of the top hashtags for quite some time. Brands that were able to somehow pull Pokemon Go into their social media posts received a nice spike of engagement. All over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, there were tons of Pokemon-related posts. Keep in mind that all of this publicity is free. Nintendo hardly advertised this app at all!

Social media marketers should also take note on just how ingenious Nintendo was to tap into their original market. Surely, today’s children could probably borrow their parents’ phones and play, but the numbers are coming in and it’s not a surprise to anyone that the most downloads are from those same people who played the original version. Nostalgia, it is one heck of a marketing tool.

Pokemon Go would not have been as much of a success without social media and you can take advantage of the firepower of these platforms just as easily.

What are your thoughts on Pokemon Go’s quickly rising popularity? Comment below!

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How to Run Circles Around Social Media Algorithms

By Christopher Tompkins

Run-Circles-Around-Social-Media-Algorithms-200x300

9Jul

Advertising, Email Marketing, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

Social media marketers need to be as adaptive as chameleons in today’s cyber landscape. Our favorite websites throw us curve balls by constantly changing their algorithms and layouts. As such, we need to continuously tweak our strategies. Yet how can you compete with the inner-workings of a huge website such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?

One of the more significant algorithm changes of late has been Instagram’s switch up. They had always ordered posts in a time-linear fashion, placing the most recent items first and older posts would be further down the line. Now, Instagram seems to be taking advice from its parent company, Facebook. Their new algorithm has the website trying to predict users’ potential interest in each post. There are several variables ranging from the person who posted it, subject manner, and the amount of engagement the post already has. No matter how you look at it, it is a new challenge for marketers, like all social media algorithms.

The first step of adapting to algorithms is to understand what they are intended to do. Like Instagram, Facebook’s current algorithm is meant to deliver quality posts to the user in an intuitive way, even if they aren’t frequent users. It delivers more posts from whom you engage with the most. You will notice this when you like or comment on an update from someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Soon, you will see their posts more often in your timeline and once you continue to like them, Facebook will think these kinds of posts are exactly what you want. Seems user friendly, right? This, however, doesn’t make it easy for social media marketers when they are trying to get the word out to new audiences. Now, users do have the option to switch off these algorithms. For instance, Twitter has a handy pre-checked box that says “Show me the best tweets first”. If one unchecks that, they are back to the old-fashioned type of news feed. However, you in no way can expect users to uncheck that box. You have to be proactive!

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have an answer to the outreach problem they have presented. Using hashtags and keywords will save you from being lost in the updated news feeds. Yes, it seems like hashtags may be a common saving grace, but it is one of the most effective tactics to reach audiences aside from utilizing advertising services. This way, your content will come up when a user searches for the hashtag’s subject manner. Hopefully, they will follow your trail of breadcrumbs back to your profile and you will be set.

For Instagram, one of the biggest ways to stay on your followers’ screens is to request they “turn on notifications.” If people choose to receive notifications from your account, Instagram’s algorithm will work in your favor and you will begin to take notice. For Facebook, engagement is key. If you want your audience to continue to see your posts, (and of course, you do) promote commenting, liking, and sharing. You will start to notice the tides turning in your favor, but you need your followers’ cooperation.

As you can see, algorithms can be tricky. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as everyday we have to study the workings of social media to see how we can have an advantage. In the future, we are going to see more restrictive algorithms and it is important to have an expert on your team for when the time comes.

What do you think of algorithms? How do you adapt to them? Comment below!

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Facebook Goes Global: How Their New Translator Will Change Everything

By Christopher Tompkins

6Jul

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

Facebook has been on a roll lately and one can only assume it’s all building up to world domination. Their new tool in the works might make you wonder just how true that is. They have begun developing a content translator that will be able to work with 44 languages.

While Mark Zuckerberg may or may not have plans to take over the world, his team has provided an innovative way to communicate for the 1.5 billion users that do not speak English. As you could imagine, there are quite a few.

Of course, Facebook isn’t alone in trying to solve an age-old problem. Google has offered translation services for years and Microsoft has also been developing new technology to allow communication amongst the world’s residents via Skype. However, Facebook’s translator will be native to their website and we will be able to see posts rewritten into our native tongue. Before we get into the business side of it, just imagine the opportunities this presents to families and friends. We have always had trouble connecting to those who spoke a different language. However, that may change.

We have seen translators fail in the past. Yet with each step forward, automatic translation software is becoming increasingly accurate. You could imagine the opportunity this raises for companies who already utilize social media. Before this groundbreaking update, Facebook updates were restricted to those who could read the language it was originally written in, unless users endured the hassle of looking up a third party translator. Now, however, the tools will be right on Facebook and the language barrier will begin to fade.

What do you think about Facebook’s attempt to unite the world? Comment below!

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Social Media: The Front Lines Of Customer Communication

By Christopher Tompkins

5Jul

Advertising, Email Marketing, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Our Work, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Customers are the lifeforce of a business. For multiple reasons, a business simply cannot thrive without a substantial customer base. Social media marketing isn’t any different. Without followers, a business is just talking to itself. Our customers are the reason we have the marketing industry in the first place, and we take that concept a step further with social media. Each post written should be catered to a business’ audience and adhere to their wants. However, this new avenue of communication does much more than that. We are able to converse with our audience in new and exciting ways that could benefit any company. Here are the best ways that a customer can receive “above and beyond” customer service.

Since communication is one of the key parts of social media, a business page should perfect their responses and reply time. Like every action a company’s representative takes, activity online needs to be professional, friendly, and proofread. However, you will also want to be quick about it. A fast response, typically less than 24 hours, will be required to keep up a good online rapport. This will also show your company’s reactivity to negative comments or reviews. Keep smiling, stay positive, and do not confront them, even if they are acting hostile.

Are you unsure about how a product is doing? Good news! Your audience is right there, waiting to be asked. Since polls are easy to complete, they are a great way to engage your audience and to receive insightful knowledge. You will be surprised how many followers will participate in a poll that is embedded in a post. You can use this to tweak current services and products or to discover what your customers want next! Wouldn’t it be great if all companies offered this?

Consumers want to buy from a company that keeps giving and social media is the way to do that. We are able to provide customers and followers with new means of communications, but you can also deliver interesting content that may not land you an instant sale, but will attract new eyes to your brand.

How do you use social media for customer service? Share your thoughts with us!

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What Your Social Media Marketing Doesn’t Have (But Really NEEDS!)

By Christopher Tompkins

2Jul

Advertising, Email Marketing, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

At this time, millions of businesses are on social media. Yet this doesn’t mean they are all successful. Perhaps, they have created accounts out of sheer obligation to a boss, or it was a one-shot attempt to stay trendy. As social media gurus, we see these kinds of accounts often. “Bare bone accounts” do the minimum by showing up on their platform of choice’s search results. However, this actually backfires on the owners by disappointing fans due to their lack of content. What should a social media account bring to customers?

To utilize the potential of your business profiles, you will want to optimize your page. In detail, go through each area that Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms offer, and your profile will have increasingly positive results. Sure, your name, address, phone number, and website address are all important, but an effective page requires in-depth copy for short descriptions, a company overview, a mission statement, and several other areas of the page.

Customers do not enjoy having to search for your resources and they shouldn’t have to. Facebook offers you two menus to provide helpful links. The “Apps” section allows your business page to showcase the essential pages of your company’s web presence. This section can also turn into a handy portal to your other social media platforms. The top of the page’s horizontal menu can be customized to transport customers to your most important assets and the web pages you want them to visit.

Twitter offers less optimization options, so you will want to take advantage of every single line offered. Descriptions, web addresses, locations, and a powerful cover image will make your profile look just right. Like everything else about Twitter, their customization options are effective and sleek.

Unlike Twitter, LinkedIn has tons of room for customization. Fill out as many fields as possible. Both personal and business pages have their own unique set of options, so take your time and don’t leave any room for customers’ unanswered questions. Your pages should speak for themselves!

Every platform offers different ways to present your information. Optimizing your page is one of the most important early steps in social media success. Here is another tidbit- this isn’t a once and done step. As your company grows, so should the information on social media. Keep everything updated and accurate. You may find this process repetitive, but by enriching all your pages with as many details as possible, a whole new level of professionalism will be yours!

What optimization tricks do you know of? Share below!

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Steps To Stay Ahead In Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

30Jun

Social Media

It seems that news stories have shorter and shorter life spans with every major event. Events that happened last week are already old news thanks to the internet. We are hungry for fast, fresh, and high-quality content and it is up to social media marketers to deliver. How exactly do you keep up with it all? Here are some helpful steps to take:

Schedule. While planning your posts for a particular period of time won’t help you with breaking news, scheduling ahead will be one of your most beloved tools. If you devote a few hours each week to social media, you will not feel obligated to spend every moment on the computer. Then, use either the native scheduler of your social media platform of choice or a third party such as Hootsuite so your updates will go live when you want them to.

Stay Informed. Be sure to have a sharp eye on what is happening in the world and in your industry. To do this, you will want to follow the leaders of your field and reputable news sources. Once you see news start to break, it will erupt over the internet landscape very quickly, so jump in early.

Watch the calendar. Of course, knowing the date is important, but what we are referencing here is keeping on top of seasonal trends. Holidays, awareness months, and anniversaries all bring success to social media marketing. You don’t want to be that one Facebook page that doesn’t wish a Happy Mother’s Day!

Social media marketing isn’t easy. It is hard to keep up with all the moving cogs and gears that make up the internet. Yet with these tips, you will be good to go!

Do you have any other tips about staying ahead? Comment below!

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