Social Media Marketing Evaluation: Yoga Studios

6Aug

For the rest of the summer, the Go! Agency blog will focus on the social media habits of some of our favorite industries. Every week, our first blog will explain common mistakes made by an industry; followed by a second blog that will explain how to fix them. Think of this series as What Not to Wear for social media marketing!

This week we’re taking a break from perfecting our asanas to meditate on yoga studios. Although social media (Instagram in particular) seems ideal for this industry, several yogis and studios are guilty of social media blunders. We’ll present the major faux pas today, and fix them in our next blog!

Inferior Images

You need to have quality images, no matter the subject. Social media is a visual space: in 2017, Facebook posts accompanied by images received over twice the engagement as image-free posts. According to Buffer, tweets with images receive more favorites and more retweets. Many yoga poses are visually striking, so there is no excuse for poor photography. That carries over to pictures of your studio space. For whatever reason, a lot of accounts seem to post pictures of studio corners–literally, the corners of the room. It’s an odd trope that should be avoided. (P.s., a good Instagram filter will not salvage a bad photograph!)

Not Posting Frequently Enough

On social media, yoga communities are very active and engaged. A studio should understand that posting once a week will not attract followers. Facebook and Twitter profiles should be updated a few times every week; Instagram, however, should be updated once a day at minimum. Successful yoga Instagram accounts have massive amounts of content that they share with their followers.

All Inspiration, All the Time

Quotes are lovely. Quotes are inspiring. Quotes are great filler for when you need content in a pinch. Unfortunately, a few quotes go a long way. Yoga studios post inspirational quotes like some people post memes: far too often. Seriously, when your content is

[pose] [quote] [pose]

[studio] [quote] [quote]

[flyer] [quote] [pose]

you have a problem. Too many of these inspirational images make a page look monotonous. Once a week is plenty, believe us.

Neglecting the Human Element

While the yoga community is still somewhat divided about taking pictures in a class, this is no excuse to eschew posting about willing subjects. Posts about your studio’s yoga instructors are especially good for social media purposes. So many studios neglect to show off their staff. Followers (and potential clients) want to know more about the person teaching the classes. As long as you have their full informed consent, you should incorporate staff into your social media.

Not Connecting to the Yoga Community

Yoga is huge on Instagram. There are hundreds of micro-and macro-influencers on that platform alone, some of whom have over one million followers. Yoga hashtags are consistently popular, like #yogaeverydamnday (14,255,917 posts) and #yogaeverywhere (5,094,717 posts). There are yoga challenges on a daily basis–providing ample opportunities for exposure and shares! You are hurting your brand by avoiding the opportunity to connect with the yoga community in a different way.

Too Little Information

Some studios that choose to post photographs of poses do not include instructions with pose posts. These studios are missing out on the chance to educate their followers. Posting photos of specific poses is an opportunity to guide people on proper form and body alignment, as well as some of the deeper aspects of yoga. Posts of poses that don’t include instructions are lovely, but otherwise lack purpose.

In our next blog, we’ll profile a hypothetical studio making these real mistakes. We’ll show you how easy it is to get your studio’s social media strategy back on track!

Does your yoga studio’s social media marketing strategy align with your goals? We want to help! Contact The Go! Agency today for a free consultation!

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Social Media Marketing Solutions: Breweries

By Christopher Tompkins

1Aug

Social Media

For the rest of the summer, The Go! Agency blog will focus on the social media habits of different industries. For each week in August, our first blog will explain common mistakes made by an industry; our second blog will explain how to fix those mistakes.

To show you how quickly and easily these mistakes can be corrected, we’ll examine the mistakes of Atlantis Beer Company. (Note: This example is a hypothetical case study that combines features from several different situations. Names, locations, and other details have been changed to protect the privacy and anonymity of source examples.)

Brothers Arthur and Orm took over Atlantis Beer Company after their mother retired. ABC has a larger brewery with an attached tasting room, restaurant, and events hall. Arthur is the brewmaster, Orm is the sales director, and Mera–Arthur’s wife–is the tasting room manager and events coordinator. We’re mostly referring to the brewery’s Instagram page, but they also crosspost to Twitter and Facebook.

Essentially, their account looks like:

Mistake #1: Content Issues
Unfortunately, none of the three leaders really has the time to manage ABC’s social media accounts, so they rotate every month. Mera and Orm have a more serious tone, compared to Arthur’s laid-back aesthetic. Mera keeps everything concise and clear, and her image posts are often minimalist photos of beer against plain backdrops. Arthur favors a more casual approach to social media, so his months feature pictures of the crew, behind the scenes shots, and photos of his Hungarian puli, Topo. Orm’s posts are almost all promotional in nature, sometimes including jargon that is almost incomprehensible to anyone who is not a sales professional. Their approaches are so dissimilar that it almost seems like their social media accounts switch to a different business every month.
Solution: Get organized.
The leaders of ABC need to get together and develop a strategy for their social media presence. They are all over the place content-wise, and at the same time monotonous! While it’s good to have a mixture of staged and candid photos, they are all over the place tonally. They need to decide what overall style they want for their brewery. After they’ve settled on a consistent tone, they need to devise a content schedule so that they can more evenly distribute types of content for their social media pages.

Mistake #2: Wall-to-Wall Promotion
Orm, as the head of sales, feels like he must take every opportunity to push their product. He showcases every new beer release, every new menu feature, et cetera. Orm believes that every encounter with a customer is an opportunity to sell, and he is an opportunistic guy.
Solution: Vary your content.
Orm might be great at sales, but he doesn’t know a lot about marketing. Social media marketing is all about connection and communication, not pushing a product. Don’t bombard your followers with sales pitches. Allow your brand to speak for itself: show, don’t tell. Instead of telling followers to buy your new beer, show the release party. Instead of telling followers how popular your brewery is, show the tasting room on a crowded weeknight. On a similar note, share news about beer festivals and other events featuring your brand. If you’re sponsoring a charity event or cause, post about that too!

Mistake #3: Too Many Memes
Garth and Jackson, bartenders, both love a good meme and share them with Arthur, who in turn posts them when he’s in charge of social media.
Solution: Use memes sparingly.
Memes can be hilarious, but these internet jokes get old quickly and tend to age poorly. Post memes rarely, if at all.

Mistake #4: Inconsistent Posting Schedule
Mera tries to post at least three times every week, but the days and times vary. Orm will post a few times a day in the weeks leading up to a new release, but then gets too busy to follow up and sometimes even forgets to update the page for several days. Arthur at least tries to stay consistent, but he hates having to stop what he’s doing and post according to schedule.
Solution: Schedule your posts ahead of time.
There are many programs and tools that allow you to pre-schedule your social media posts. You won’t have to worry about remembering to log in every day or however often to post content. A good scheduling program will also enable you to crosspost to different platforms.

Mistake #5: Sub-Par Visuals
Arthur’s casual approach to social media is great for showcasing ABC’s company culture, but his cavalier attitude toward picture quality is terrible for ABC’s overall image. Judging by his photos, Arthur apparently thinks that blurry images seem more candid.
Solution: Commit to using better images.
Social media posts with images are just more successful. On Facebook, posts accompanied by images receive over twice the engagement as posts with no images! Tweets with images were favorited 89% more often than those without images, and were retweeted 150% more often than non-image tweets. Knowing these facts, would it still be acceptable to post bad pictures? Of course not! You don’t need to hire a professional, but your photos do need to look polished. Luckily for ABC, Tula–their brewer and quality control expert–happens to have minored in photography and is willing to help out with visuals.

As you can see, the biggest part of fixing these issues is simply committing to doing so. You need to take social media seriously, no matter your industry. Small breweries are a bright spot during this uncertain economic time (The Atlantic explains more about their impact on the U.S. economy), so they should capitalize on their unique position.

Do you need help with your social media marketing strategy? We can take your SMM to the next level! Contact The Go! Agency today for a free consultation!

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Not a Popularity Contest: Social Media Metrics that Matter

By Christopher Tompkins

25Jul

Social Media

Too many novice social media marketers focus on the wrong metrics when measuring the success of their social media campaigns. They regress to 10th grade students at a new school: desperate to be liked, seeking out the quickest way to popularity. Like those high school sophomores, they don’t consider what they really need or want and instead pursue goals that won’t actually benefit them in the long term. Don’t mistake popularity for validation when it comes to your brand’s goals–in fact, don’t mistake likes for popularity. 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 on their own will not give you a good indication of audience engagement. You should focus on active participation. For example, comments and replies are 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 content received 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

You don’t want to waste time, effort, and resources on a campaign designed to increase likes when reach is more relevant to your goals. Impressions are number of times that someone sees content (tweet, update, post, ad, etc.). Reach is the number of unique individuals who see the content. 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, don’t 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!

Are you lost when it comes to social media? We can show you the path to digital marketing success! Contact us today for your free consultation!

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Instagram’s New Algorithm and How It Affects Marketers

By Christopher Tompkins

11Jun

Instagram, Social Media

Instagram recently announced that it will be changing its feed algorithm. Many people involved in social media marketing, digital marketing, and content marketing have expressed concern regarding this shift. Today we will discuss what is changing and how it matters to your brand–and the future of digital marketing.

What exactly is Instagram changing?

The powers that be at Instagram are updating their feed algorithm. Much like Facebook’s newsfeed or Tumblr’s dashboard, the feed for Instagram simply dictates which posts appear when you open the application. Originally, the feed was mostly chronological. The algorithm was eventually modified to take engagement into account when determining which posts should receive priority. The new algorithm will focus on three elements: relationship, timeliness, and interest.

Relationship refers to the relationship a user has with the post’s creator. This is itself gleaned from their previous interactions, not from actual relationship. Here is an example: Deandra follows her brother’s new coffee shop, The Java Company. She wants to be supportive (even though she hates coffee), so she likes all of The Java Company’s posts, occasionally comments on pictures, and even tags them if she sees their brand elsewhere. Instagram’s new algorithm would consider these interactions and logically conclude that The Java Company should be prioritized in her feed.

Timeliness refers to the when the post was created. While a strictly chronological feed is unlikely to ever be an option again, the algorithm will take the time and order of publication into consideration as it determines the feed. Marketers must now pay closer attention to their posting schedules to be certain that they reach their audiences.

Interest is somewhat vague, but it is the most intriguing change. As with relationship, the algorithm factors in a user’s past engagement with similar content. Instagram will then analyze the content of the post visually using its image recognition tools. The AI will actually recognize and generalize images. Consider the following scenario: Charlie loves the anime Orokana Denisu! (Stupid Dennis!), which has an active presence and lively fanbase on Instagram. He often posts, likes, and comments on fan art of his favorite character: Yosoyososhīdesu Nakai (“Aloof Waitress”), the mech-piloting career girl. Given his engagement with posts that feature emotionally-distant baristas fighting monsters, the new algorithm would conclude that Charlie is interested in other content featuring anime tropes, like kaiju and mechs. It will then look for posts that feature artwork, screenshots, and other images similar to Orokana Denisu!, and prioritize those posts.

Note that these three factors work in tandem. The new algorithm will consider each equally.

How will this affect your brand?

If you’ve used Instagram since March 2018, you’ve encountered the new algorithm. Both executives and users seem to be happy with it thus far, so it’s probably going to stick around for a while. Instagram has seen user engagement rise, possibly because of the new algorithm: an average Instagram user now spends as much as 32 minutes each day on the app.

So how will this affect your marketing strategy? Since the algorithm is based on the behavior of individual users, many rumors have been debunked. For instance, the algorithm does not give preference to one format over another: videos get the same weight as static images. Likewise, the algorithm does not rate personal accounts higher than business accounts or vice versa. Finally, as we mentioned above, there is no discussion of returning to a chronological timeline.

The Takeaway
No matter how the algorithm changes, one thing remains the same: content is king. Brands should still concentrate on creating amazing content. Customers will still seek out engaging content, regardless of any algorithm. Focus on crafting quality content, and your audience will follow!

Do you need help conquering the world of Instagram? Does your social media marketing strategy leave something to be desired? The Go Agency can help! Contact us today for a free consultation!

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Tools of the Trade: Let’s Get Creative!

By Christopher Tompkins

6Jun

Business, Content Creation, Facebook, Graphic Design, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media

There are plenty of professional tools like Adobe Creative Cloud that can help you create amazing custom graphics and visuals for your social media profiles. However, if you don’t have a graphic designer on your team, those programs might seem a little bit intimidating. People who are new to social media marketing and veteran digital marketers who aren’t quite tech-savvy still have options! There are several tools that are quick to master and easy to use. Here are some of our personal favorites.

Canva
Primary Function: Design tool with a myriad of uses.
Pros: One of the most user-friendly tools available today. Enables users to collaborate with team members. Users can also create videos.
Cons: Users don’t have much creative freedom, as they are limited to Canva’s fonts and graphics. There are skills and programs that can help you circumvent this (e.g., creating a .png file with Adobe Illustrator and uploading it to Canva), but people who can do so would likely not need Canva in the first place.

Skitch
Primary Function: An application from Evernote that allows users to capture, share, and annotate screenshots.
Pros: Free. Intuitive. Easy to use. Quick.
Cons: Work cannot be saved to a local drive.

Pexels
Primary Function: Online source of free stock photos.
Pros: Massive amount of photos. Every photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license–meaning that each picture is totally free and available for any legal purpose, whether personal or commercial.
Cons: Paid applications have even more photos.

Easel.ly
Primary Function: Create professional infographics from thousands of templates.
Pros: Easy to use. Intuitive. Lots of existing templates. Premium accounts are quite reasonably priced. Account options include one for companies who deal with sensitive data.
Cons: Free version has far fewer themes, images, and fonts.

Info.Gram
Primary Function: Data visualization tool that enables users to create interactive charts, infographics, maps, and more.
Pros: Designs can be interactive. Great for dealing with complex data.
Cons: Free designs require inclusion of its logo. The basic package does not allow rich text editing (no fiddling with fonts).

Prezi
Primary Function: Presentation software.
Pros: Cloud-based. Teachers and college students are eligible for free non-Public accounts. Mobile version is available.
Cons: Better suited to creative presentations (not great for, say, presenting the third quarter budget projections). The Public option is free, but public–anyone can view your work.

Piktochart
Primary Function: A tool that lets people with no design experience create professional-looking presentations, reports, posters, and infographics.
Pros: Cloud-based. Very intuitive. Suited for all experience levels. Over 200 templates are available. Lots of different options for accounts, including free basic plan.
Cons: The paid plans are a little pricey. Similar versions of some of the premium templates are available for free on other platforms.

Slideshare
Primary Function: A community for storing and sharing presentations, but also hosts documents, videos, and webinars. Owned by LinkedIn.
Pros: Claims to be the largest online community for sharing presentations. Cloud-based.
Cons: Freemium, meaning that you must purchase premium content and features.

There are hundreds of programs, applications, and tools available–these are just a few of our favorites. Each proves that you do not need an MFA in Graphic Design to create basic visuals for your social media branding materials.

We have a team of marketing and design experts who can take your branding materials to the next level!
Contact us today for a free consultation!

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The 5 Best Types of Tools for Managing Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

4Jun

Social Media

As we mentioned in a recent blog, social media marketing requires analysis just like any other marketing campaign. The solution for many businesses and brands is using a social media management tool. But what should you look for when choosing such a program? Here are a few crucial elements to consider.

1. Scheduling

Problem: Dana lives in Albuquerque, but her brand of portable speakers is most popular among affluent twenty-somethings in Japan. She’s noticed that her flash sales events have gotten a lot of traction with her domestic customers, but her overseas customers are not informed of the sale until it is almost expired. She can’t really afford to extend the sales, so just posting everything earlier wouldn’t help. Dana needs a way to schedule her posts so that they reach all of her potential customers in time.

Solution: A good social media management platform will enable you to schedule your posts for specific times. With such a tool, Dana can easily arrange for certain time zones to get the message before others. HootSuite and SproutSocial are two of the most popular scheduling apps available.

2. Measurement

Problem: Josie is a Baby Boomer who runs an online record store specializing in vintage blues albums and opera recordings. Thanks to some tech-savvy friends, she understands the basics of social media marketing. However, she still needs to know how her marketing campaign is affecting her sales. Josie needs a clear way to track and measure engagement, conversions, and other data.

Solution: Josie should look for an analytical tool that gathers all of the relevant data in one dashboard. These tracking tools are great for both social media marketing experts and novices! Google Analytics is a free app that covers multiple metrics.

3. Trends

Problem: Carlos runs a website that aggregates the latest in science news. He focuses mostly on climatology and environmental issues, but the eruption of Kilauea has sparked an interest in geology among his subscribers. His husband’s recent cancer scare prompted him to post more articles regarding epidemiology and cancer research. Carlos is worried that he just won’t be able keep up with the news he wants to cover.

Solution: A news or trends aggregator application would help Carlos immensely. Not only would he be able keep track of multiple subjects, he would also be able to see trending topics. That would help him better tailor his material for each day. Carlos should look into Google Alerts (free) or Feedly (not free).

4. Management

Problem: Tamika’s bookstore is flourishing, but her social media profiles have been somewhat neglected. She has accounts on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter–and she’s lucky if she can get around to even one of them every week! She needs a way to post to multiple social media networks simultaneously.

Solution: Tamika is in luck: most social media management tools feature the ability to post to multiple networks at one time! While she would have to keep track of differences between platforms (e.g., not using Twitter handles on Facebook), this feature would allow her to optimize her limited time working on her digital marketing strategy. Buffer is a good possibility, as is HootSuite. (Note: HootSuite works with most platforms, but will not post to personal LinkedIn or Google+ pages.)

5. Engagement

Problem: Cecil’s podcast and blog on local politics exploded in popularity after he uncovered a major scandal involving the now-former mayor. He wants to engage with his audience, but he doesn’t know how he can now that it has grown so large. Cecil still works full-time, so he can’t just continuously monitor the site. And while he hasn’t had much trouble with trolls, he still deals with some negative feedback.

Solution: Until artificial intelligence becomes a bit more refined, Cecil’s best option is hiring a social media manager, or a social media firm. A social media professional will be able to monitor his accounts and respond to his audience. A good social media manager is skilled in public relations, too: he or she will be able to handle any online audience. If, however, all you need is an away message, you can set those up on most sites.

As long as you keep these elements in mind, you should have everything covered! From rookies to veterans, marketing professionals swear by these applications. Remember: when in doubt, ask an expert.

Do you want to take your social media marketing to the next level? We can help! Contact us today for a free consultation!

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How to Perform a Social Media Audit

By Christopher Tompkins

23May

Social Media

Our previous blog explained the importance of performing regular social media audits. Today we’re sharing the auditing process.

It’s just five simple steps. They won’t require any advanced software or programs (though certain types of tools can be helpful). You just need Google and a spreadsheet.

Take it step by step and discover for yourself how valuable the information you gain from a social media audit can be.

Phase 1: Create a Spreadsheet

You can do this with any spreadsheet program so let’s start by creating one using the program of your choice (Google Docs, Excel, Numbers, etc.).

Use one column for each social media platform, the next column for the URL to that account, and a column for the owner of each account.

Here, “owner” refers to the person in your organization who runs your social media, or at least that specific account. He or she is also the person who has access to the login information. If you have a department for social media, use either the head of that division or the individual employee who is responsible for each social media account. Likewise, if you use an outside social media marketing company, the “owner” would be your contact person or account manager.

Phase 2: Research

Search for your social presence on Google, using the name of your brand/company. If your company has any nicknames or shorthand versions (e.g., Chevrolet and Chevy, The Walt Disney Company and Disney), search for those as well.

Check each social media profile in the results. The objective of this phase is to gather data and discover any accounts you may have forgotten about or any accounts that someone else created (rogue accounts). Contact site administrators if you believe that someone set up a fake account in the name of your business.

Track the results with your spreadsheet, but only focus on the platform and URL for now. After you have listed every account, you will be ready to move on to the evaluation.

Phase 3: Evaluate the Platforms

Add a column labeled “Goals.” Knowing your goals for each platform will help you ascertain if your presence on that social media platform is beneficial to your brand.

Goals can include more reach, more engagement, etc. These goals can be as specific or as general as you prefer. Once you’ve established the goal for that platform, you can determine if a profile is working.

For example: The goal for your Instagram account is to increase brand awareness among retirees age 85 and over. Instagram, which skews towards a younger audience, is simply not the best platform for your brand.

After this phase, you should know which – if any – of your social media profiles you will delete.

Phase 4: Polish the Profiles

Make sure that each profile looks amazing. Check that all logos, icons, and other branding materials are current, and that the color scheme is also in-line with the brand. Update every bio and description. Ensure that all web addresses and contact information are correct.

After the cosmetic overhaul, you should take the audit further and look at each profile and answer the following questions:

Is the content aligned with the brand’s current marketing strategy?
Is the content consistent and on-message?
When was the last update?

This is also a good time to gather the login information for all of your social media profiles in one place so that you and your team can access any profile as needed.

Phase 5: Analyze Performance

Now, for the final step: analyzing the performance of each social media profile.

You need to determine how well each platform is working for you. What is the rate of engagement? How many clicks or comments did a given post receive?

You’ll also need to delve into your content: what type drives the most engagement? What is the quality of your engagement? We’ll discuss this step (and some of the tools you might use to simplify this process) in our next blog.

Getting the Most Value from Your Social Media Audit

You don’t have to rely on guess work or “gut feelings” when you make decisions about your social media marketing campaigns. If you follow these simple steps to do an effective audit of your social media activities, you can gain some important insights and make informed decisions about how you build your brand online.

Of course, there’s always more to learn, and at The Go! Agency we can provide a social media audit that gathers all the relevant data so we can provide actionable recommendations for optimizing your campaign.

Do you want to get more from your social media presence? Contact us today to get started.

Level Up Your Marketing Strategy With a Social Media Audit

By Christopher Tompkins

21May

Social Media

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 a 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 to 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 revise 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 are 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? Ignoring trends you’ve followed? Comparing your strategy to your competitions’ 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 (of course you do–you have no excuse not to be on social media), then you stand to benefit from a social media audit. Now that you understand why audits are so important, you should be eager to get started. We’ll discuss how to perform a social media audit for your company or brand in our next blog post.

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Develop a Social Media Strategy in 7 Simple Steps

By Christopher Tompkins

16May

Social Media

You’ve finally convinced your company (or yourself) to establish a social media presence, so now what do you do? Here are a few steps you should take to develop a successful social media marketing strategy.

1. Research your audience.

When you first devised your marketing strategy, you probably created your ideal customer. By creating this image of your average consumer, you were then able to generalize the concept into your target audience. You’ll be doing the same here. Social media is all about connection. With whom are you trying to connect? Who is your target audience: working parents, college students, active retirees? Once you determine who you’re trying to reach, you will be be able to choose your platforms.

2. Research potential platforms.

Determine which platform(s) best suit your needs. Some social media platforms are geared for socializing (Facebook, LinkedIn), some for information (Twitter, Pinterest), and still others are designed for sharing your personal interests with the world (Tumblr, Instagram). Whatever your industry, there is a social media platform that will work for you. There are several questions you must answer to ensure that you choose the best platform. Which social media platform is your audience most likely to use? Why do most people use that specific social media site? What is the platform’s overall tone?

3. Research your competition.

Investigate your competitors’ social media accounts. What are they doing that seems to work? Are certain posts garnering more engagement than others? Look at what their customers are sharing. Your goal in this endeavor is to learn, not duplicate. Let’s say that your business rival has an irreverent Twitter profile with thousands of followers. You should not attempt to cash in on their success by using a quirky voice for your own Twitter: it would look cliche at best, plagiaristic at worst. Consider instead appealing to the consumers who might be alienated by the humorous tweets by focusing on other aspects of your brand.

4. Establish your goal for each platform.

Each platform is different, so it stands to reason that your goals for each platform should be different as well. Some companies use Twitter as a way to attract new customers, and reserve their Facebook accounts for connecting with their existing clientele. Professional networking platform LinkedIn is great for companies with business to business sales, but maybe not as advantageous for a company that markets to retirees.

5. Determine your metrics.

You won’t know if you’ve succeeded unless you have a way to measure your progress. For social media, most marketing professionals use customer engagement as a starting point. How many likes are your posts getting? Are your customers sharing your stories or quotes? Whatever metrics you decide to use, you should choose them before you begin to produce content.

6. Develop your content.

As mentioned above, you should focus on content development and production after you have established your metrics for success. This will prevent you and your staff from wasting time and energy working on the wrong types of content. What is your brand’s voice or tone: casual and fun, or earnest and professional? Deciding how you will say something will help you decide what you’ll be saying.

You should also formulate your company’s social media usage guidelines during this phase. These rules should function both as a style guide and code of conduct. Most companies simply abide by their in-house writing guidelines on their social media accounts. The other aspect addresses your company’s behavior on social media. Some good basic rules include steering clear of divisive issues and following basic netiquette.

7. Engage with your audience.

The purpose of social media is to connect. When a customer reaches out to you, respond in a timely manner! Social media gives companies ample opportunities for stellar customer service. Don’t limit this engagement to problem solving, though: encourage audience engagement with contests, polls, and other fun methods.

As you can see, establishing your social media presence does not have to be a complicated process. The great thing about marketing is that you can shift your strategy as needed. The only irreparable mistake in social media marketing is avoiding social media altogether.

Do you still need help creating or refining your social media marketing strategy, why not seek out the experts? The Go! Agency team will devise or revise the perfect social media strategy for your brand! Click here to learn more today!

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5 Reasons Companies Still Don’t Use Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

14May

Social Media

To be perfectly blunt, there is no excuse for a company to have zero social media presence in 2018. According to the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of adults in the United States use at least one form of social media; 88 percent of adults age eighteen to twenty-four are active on one or more social media platforms. Most people have multiple accounts on different platforms.

Here are five common excuses for not using social media to promote your brand.

1. “Our target audience doesn’t use social media.”

Yes, they probably do. At least some of them do, anyway: the majority of American adults participate in one or more social media platforms. Social media has almost become our de facto national pastime. As with most new technology, the younger generations have been the most fervent adopters: almost 90 percent of young adults are active on at least one platform. These kids, teens, and (young) adults grew up with social media. However, their parents and grandparents are quickly adapting to the digital landscape and participating in social media. Pew states that 64 percent of people age 50 to 64 and 37 percent of people age 65 and older use at least one social media platform.

2. “A social media profile will only attract negative attention.”

No, it will not. While it is true that some negativity is inevitable with any form of marketing, establishing a presence on social media offers more rewards than risks. The consumers of today actually want to connect with their favorite brands. Customers routinely seek out companies that make the products or services they love. You can minimize your risk of attracting negative attention in a few simple ways. First, devise a set of social media guidelines for your company. Second, enforce those guidelines with an iron fist (the modern equivalent would probably be a sternly worded email from HR). Additionally, consult with an expert. A good social media manager will be adept at public relations in addition to being a wunderkind with marketing and data analysis.

3. “It doesn’t get results.”

Yes, it does. Granted, those results can be difficult to quantify, but they can still impact the brand. A presence on social media is at the very least an additional chance for your brand to be seen. Social media accounts offer your customers another avenue to contact your company with questions, concerns, or comments. This will go a long way toward engendering good will and repeat clients. Social media also keeps your customers better informed about your latest products or services–remember, customers need to know what you have to offer. Your social media presence can enhance your brand. A cosmetics company, for example, could post makeup tutorials on its Facebook page, while a sportswear manufacturer might include photos from its staff’s annual camping trip to its Instagram account. Social media strengthens your brand’s image in the minds of your customers.

4. “It’s too much work.”

That depends. As with any marketing strategy, you get what you give when it comes to social media. You’ve worked for years to bring your company this far, why refuse to take this step? If you genuinely do not have the time to run your company’s social media activities on your own, have an employee to do it for you. We don’t mean that you should reassign an HR director to focus solely on your Facebook account: as with any other extra responsibility, you should find a person who possesses both the will and the skill to do the job.

5. “I don’t understand how to use social media for marketing.”

This is perhaps the most common–and seldom revealed–reason that companies choose to avoid social media. Thankfully, it is also the easiest to address. If you are unsure how to navigate social media marketing, simply hire a consultant. There are many firms that focus exclusively on social media marketing. These experts want to help you develop your strategy and analyze your results. For many small businesses, seeking out the services of a social media pro is best and most cost-effective choice.

Do any of those excuses sound familiar? If so, stop waiting and start planning! Now is the perfect time to begin. That’s the great thing about marketing: every day is another chance to turn it all around. Don’t let your preconceived notions and unfounded fears about social media hold you back any longer!

If you need help developing or revamping your social media marketing strategy, just ask!

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