Tag : linkedin

18Mar

Business

In light of the recent Coronavirus pandemic, the team and I have been increasingly approached by many of our friends, clients, and business associates as to how to best communicate how they are dealing with the situation. So, in other words, crisis public relations or crisis PR.

What you may be surprised to hear is that there are still countless numbers of companies who are still taking their time to put together their official statement!

In situations like this, swift, informative action is an absolute must – no matter how light or severe the situation actually is. But why don’t people act fast?

The reason is, quite frankly, because they are in the middle of a crisis, and in times of crisis it is challenging to pull together your team, thoughts, and create a solid plan of action when the environment you are working within could be compromised, high stress, or in a state of panic.

If this has happened to you (or if it has not), I have some solid tips for how to deal with crisis communications in order to inform your customers, clients, as well as the community that surrounds them. These tips will help you manage your reputation, avoid costly PR crises, and enable you to respond quickly when a potential crisis occurs.

Tip 1: Circle Your Wagons Immediately

When a negative situation arises that needs immediate attention, call a crisis meeting immediately. If you are able to have this meeting pre-crisis that is ideal. The goal of this meeting is to go over the full story of what is going on and what the phases of the communications should be.

The key players who will be in charge of delivering this message must be in attendance (you can pull people in through video conferencing if you need to). In this meeting you will discuss:

The full situation and the factual state of affairs
What key elements need to be addressed first
Who will be delivering the messages
How will they be distributed
What is the internal messaging strategy
What is the external messaging strategy

Having these pieces of information immediately will help you divide and conquer the messaging strategy and keeping everything as consistent as possible when the crisis hits.

Tip 2: It’s Not About You, It’s About Me

When you are deciding what key elements need to be addressed publicly first, take a step back and consider the standpoint of the people you will be distributing the messages to. Even though the situation may be dangerous or dire, you want to ensure your clients, shareholders, and community that your organization is on top of everything and will ensure that the situation will be handled swiftly and with great care and attention.

Businesses sometimes will go into defense mode in their crisis communication strategies, but this is the wrong approach. Take accountability and reveal actionable steps to rectify the situation to ensure business continuity.

Tip 3: Get Your Story Straight

Whether you have 20 locations or just one virtual location, having everyone on the same page is an absolute must. In order to do this, you will have to make sure that you draft a message that covers all of the questions and concerns that your clients, shareholders, and the community will have.

In crisis situations, it is imperative that you communicate with your internal team FIRST. Empower them to have all of the details that they may be called on to share in the event of being questioned by anyone, including the media. Empower them also to have all of the pertinent details, and have a person they can refer questions out of their realm of expertise to.

If you have a large company, an internal email with a followup by each fo the department heads with their teams is a must. If you have a small company, direct communication is important. Never simply send a canned statement without having any followup. By having solid communication lines open you will create a united front that will benefit your public image and put peoples’ minds to rest.

Tip 4: Start Spreading the News

You should always know all of your main communication channels that you can shoot a message out electronically in order to do a blanketing of the messaging to your audience. Even better? Know how to access them!

Some of the main deterrents for sending out messages I have heard in the past from clients is: I can’t find the login details, I don’t know if we use that account, do we have an account on Facebook, etc. Yes, these are real responses.

So maybe create a crisis response list, including login details, so that if you need to move fast anyone can step up to the plate and get the message out there. Here are some of the most important channels that you should consider:

Email: send out a blast addressing the matter to your email lists
Press Release: distribute an electronic press release utilizing your preferred service
Website: post your statement on your website somewhere prominent (as a pop-up or as a spot on your homepage)
Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram): create statements that are specifically designed for each social channel and make sure that you have the full coverage needed

Internally you can also create posters or flyers to keep clients and staff updated on the process.

Tip 5: Keep the Communication Coming

Just because you sent out your initial crisis communication, doesn’t mean that you are done. Any serious situation that may cause concern or scrutiny of your practices needs to have additional communications as new developments occur. If the situation gets more serious – draft a message that reflects that. If the situation gets better – communicate that through another communication.

The level of how many of these that you would want to be sending out is really determined by the seriousness of the crisis event and the intensity of your audience in terms of how they are scrutinizing your every move. Just know that one communication never cuts it with an engaged audience.

There are still more elements and tips that can be added to this list:

Creating FAQs about the situation for staff to reference
Video communications or a live statement
Press conference
Reaching out to local media

In times of crisis, the biggest takeaway here is that swift action is the best action. The longer you leave items unaddressed, the more serious the repercussions will be. Bouncing back from backlash for some businesses can be impossible, so focusing on a proactive approach is the way forward.

The Ultimate Social Media Questionnaire

13Jan

Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can help your business level up!

Are you ready to market your brand on social media? Before you set up your first profile, you need to ask yourself some questions. Social media marketing is more than just spreading the word: it’s about connecting with your customers. You must carefully consider your approach We’ve gathered the top twenty questions you need to answer before your brand’s social media debut.

Part I. Your Brand
1. What is the tone of your brand?
2. What products or services are you trying to promote?
3. What products or services form the core of your brand?

Part II. Your Customers
4. Who are your ideal customers?
5. What problems do your ideal customers face?
6. How does your company help solve those problems?
7. Where are your customers geographically?

Part III. Your Social Media Presence
8. What are your ultimate goals for social media?
9. Which social media platforms work best for your company?
10. How can you incorporate compelling content into your brand’s message?
11. What are the most important keywords for your industry?
12. How does your online presence compare to that of your competitors?
13. How much time can you invest into social media?
14. How often should you post during the week? During the day?
15. Which scheduling software is right for you?

Part IV. Your Content
16. When is the best time to post your content?
17. What content do your customers find most appealing?
18. Who are your industry’s top social media and online influencers?
19. What types of original content can you create?
20. What visuals should you incorporate into your content?

Do you have all of the answers? If not, it’s time to get to work!

The Go! Agency team can help you answer these questions and get started with one of the most effective avenues of marketing available today! We are dedicated to spreading your message and have worked with clients from a wide variety of industries, customizing and optimizing hundreds of social media campaigns.

A Week in the Life of a Social Media Manager

15Jul

Nobody said being a social media manager was easy! You’ve got a lot of responsibility, and it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks if you’re not careful!

That’s why I’m here. I’ve got a simple, usable checklist that you can use every week to make sure everything gets done. Across social media, these are the steps you’ll need to take for a thriving campaign!

Facebook

Check Notifications: Make sure there’s nothing happening on your page that you need to handle!
Check Reviews: Thank positive reviewers and give thoughtful comments/questions to negative reviewers.
Check Check-Ins: Are people visiting your brick and mortar store? Be aware of who’s telling people about you and what they have to say!
Respond to Comments: Good or bad, every comment needs to get a response.
Check That Posts Are Correct: Always double check that your posts were published without errors!
Invite Engaged Users: If someone likes a post, invite them to like the page!
Respond to Messages: The faster, the better!

Twitter

Respond to Replies: They’re a great source of audience engagement. Continue the engagement!
Respond to Mentions: Have a hand in any conversations about your brand!
Check & Respond to Messages: The last thing you want is to ignore a potential customer.
Like Relevant Posts: This will show your audience that your business is engaged with the goings-on in your field.
Retweet Useful Posts: Not every post can be about your brand. Share content that creates value for your audience!
Pin Featured Tweets: Is there something important you want potential followers to see? Pin it!

Instagram

Like Relevant Posts: Get involved with your community by liking their posts and news in your industry!
Respond to Comments: If your followers have thoughts on something you posted, strike up a conversation! You’ll improve their sense of brand loyalty!
Check That Posts Are Correct: Did your caption format correctly? Is the image sized the way you wanted it? Double check!
Check Follower Growth: How much has your following grown? Consider your latest content and how that may have played a role. You’ll improve your overall strategy this way!
Spy on Competitors: See what your competition is posting and how their followers are responding. If the followers love a style of content, recreate it! If they hate another type of post, avoid it!
Respond to Messages: Don’t use generic responses like “Thanks!” or a thumbs up. Respond with something meaningful to the people who took the time to reach out!

LinkedIn

Join Groups: LinkedIn groups are one of the best places to make professional connections.
Send Connection Requests: The more connections you have, the more credible you’ll look. If there’s someone you want to engage with, you’re more likely to get a response with mutual connections! Search for people by location or job title and connect with them!
Check Posts Are Correct: Professional sites like LinkedIn are especially unforgiving of bad formatting and grammatical errors.
Respond to Comments: If your content is getting attention, capitalize on that by responding to commenters.
Respond to Messages: LinkedIn messages could lead to a business opportunity, so always respond as quickly as possible!

Wash, Rinse, Repeat
It’s true that the job of a social media manager is difficult, but that’s no excuse to let things fall by the wayside. Save and print our checklist by clicking on the image below to make sure you’re making the most of your social media following and continuing to grow toward your goals!

Do you want some individualized help with your social media marketing? Just set up a free consultation with The Go! Agency!

How to Grow a Local Network on LinkedIn

24Apr

LinkedIn, Social Media

Believe it or not, LinkedIn isn’t just for national B2B brands. If you use the platform correctly, you can grow a thriving network for your local business. Of course, that information isn’t worth much if you don’t know what to do.

That’s why I’ll be walking you through all of the best must-haves if you want your local business to grow on LinkedIn!

Fill Out Your Profile
Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to connect with an incomplete profile. Whether it’s your company page or your professional profile, everything needs to be completed.

It doesn’t matter if you “don’t know what to say” for your about section. Whatever isn’t filled in is holding you back from growing your local network, so make sure it’s all finished!

Work Smarter
It’s fairly obvious that you should be posting some sort of content on LinkedIn, but take it a step beyond that. When a piece of content performs well, don’t just throw it away! Work it back into your content mix so that you can generate more value from it.

If my team were handling the LinkedIn for a local dentist’s office and saw that a blog earned a lot of engagement, then they would wait a month or so, freshen up the blog to keep it current, then post it again. Why? 1. Not all of your followers saw it, so you’re probably reaching people who have never seen this blog and 2. It just makes more sense than having them write an entirely new blog that might not perform well on LinkedIn.

In short, I say go with the advice: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Put Yourself Out There
LinkedIn isn’t a platform where you just build yourself up and wait for people to come and worship your brand. You need to seek out engagement instead of waiting for it to come to you!

How do you do that? Look up people by their industry and their location. It’s great if you’re appealing to nursing professionals, but a nurse in Texas can’t do much for your hospital in Connecticut.

If you want to get really specific with the location, be sure to use the connection search filters to narrow down your search! That way you can get results as close to your brick and mortar location as you want. Don’t stop at connecting with them—remind these new connections that you’re there by liking and commenting on their posts to jump start the engagement.

Use Your Resources
So often, people focus too much on finding their audience on LinkedIn. Don’t get me wrong, that’s important, but what about the people that you’re already interacting with in real life?

If you’re at an event and get a business card, put that email into LinkedIn and connect with that person! Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, and this is one way to organically grow your local LinkedIn network.

One note: Think critically about this. Do you need to connect with the florist who catered the event? Probably not. This strategy doesn’t mean literally connecting with every schmuck who hands you a business card. Instead, parse through those offers and see who could be a valuable connection for your brand!

Start Building ASAP
All of this is going to take time. The longer you wait to start and the slower you roll out these practices, the more time it’s going to take. If you want to have a thriving community centered around your business’ LinkedIn page, this is how you get started!

Do you need some clarification on how to build your LinkedIn network? Just schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

3 Things You Should Be Doing on LinkedIn But Aren’t

15Apr

LinkedIn, Social Media

The reason that so many otherwise great local businesses fail on LinkedIn is that they’re not really sure what to do. They look at Google publishing white papers and Wal-Mart rolling out national promotional campaigns, and they’re not really sure what their role is on the platform. Lucky for you, I’ve got the answer.

I’m going to cover what your local business should be posting on LinkedIn and how you should be posting it. Let’s catch you up on the LinkedIn strategies you’ve been missing!

Say Something Meaningful
As a local business, you don’t have the reach or the bottomless resources of a Fortune 500 company. But what you do have (hopefully) is a point of view. You’re working in your industry every day—use that knowledge to offer insight that only you can provide!

One tactic that The Go! Agency uses for our clients is to curate content then share it with something meaningful attached. So if you were a fashion boutique, you might share a post about a runway in Paris with your thoughts about the styles.

“But Christopher!” You say, “I don’t want people to care about that fashion show in Paris, I want them to care about my local business!”

Think bigger picture. Sure, the article isn’t about how great your business is, but it shows that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to fashion. It establishes you as an authority, so that when people in your area are looking at your LinkedIn page, they’re impressed and interested in your brand.

There’s more to succeeding on LinkedIn than just having a point of view, though. You need to say it before people get bored.

Make It Quick
On every social media platform, users are scrolling through their feeds, paying (at most) half attention to what they’re looking at. That means you have to spit it out!

No matter how good your insight is, I promise you that nobody wants to read an essay before they even get to the article you’re sharing. Keep your LinkedIn posts to two short sentences AT THE MOST. If you can manage it, fewer than 100 characters is ideal.

While this does limit the nuance you can give in your posts, it also makes it easier for people to see what you’re talking about. That means more engagements, more connections, and more business opportunities going forward. Save the long-form content for the blogs and make sure that your LinkedIn updates will actually get read!

Join Relevant Groups
If you’re not joining LinkedIn groups, you’re missing a great opportunity to connect with people who would engage with your business. If you’re a salon, join some beauty groups! If you’re a restaurant, join a group for foodies! Whatever industry you’re in, there is going to be a LinkedIn group for your business.

Once you get in these groups, don’t be silent. Strike up some conversations! The key word here is “conversations,” though. You can’t just post constantly in the same group and hope that people will engage with you. Not only is that ineffective, but it’s a great way to get banned by a moderator for spamming the group.

Instead, like and comment on other people’s posts in the group. If you’re engaging with their content, they’re likely to reciprocate and send some attention your way. Just be sure to do the same when someone likes or comments on one of your posts!

Use This Advice ASAP
I’ve seen countless small businesses fail to use these best practices on LinkedIn—don’t be one of them! Starting today means you’re late, so hop on this train before you miss your chance for your small business to succeed on LinkedIn.

Could you use some more advice on how to succeed on LinkedIn? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

Find the Right Social Platforms for Your Local Business

25Mar

Just about everyone is on social media. But that doesn’t mean they’re all on the same platforms! There are always exceptions, but different platforms tend to cater to different ages, genders, incomes, etc.

I’m here to help you find the social media platforms that your business should be marketing on. If you don’t want to waste months marketing on the wrong platform, then keep reading!

Facebook
Full disclosure: It is very, very rare that I advise a business to NOT market on Facebook.

What makes Facebook such a universal must-have for online marketing? Well, it’s got 1.74 billion active users, so you can be confident that whoever your target demographic is, they’re going to be on Facebook (unless you’re marketing to the Amish, in which case I really can’t help you).

Beyond that, Facebook has a sophisticated advertising system that too many local businesses miss out on. With this, you can target your ideal section of those 1.74 billion users and not worry about getting lost in the flood. It’s worth noting that organic reach is particularly hard to come by on Facebook, so think of an advertising budget as a necessity if you decide to go with this site.

LinkedIn
As the default professional social media platform, LinkedIn is a hotspot for online marketers, especially for those working with B2B organizations. Instead of traditional followers or friends, LinkedIn uses connections for users to track the people they’re interacting with. This name is entirely intentional: Think of LinkedIn as where you go to rub some virtual elbows, not to hang out with friends.

Beyond Professional pages (which can be advantageous if you use them to promote your business), there are Business pages where your organization can directly interact with its followers. These are good for building your brand identity and encouraging people in your industry to take you seriously, where personal profiles are better suited for showcasing your brand’s human side.

If your target audience is maybe a little older (think 50+), has a high income, and/or works in an office setting, then LinkedIn is probably where you want to be. LinkedIn can be valuable for your local business because you can search for new connections based on location, so you should seriously consider this platform if I just described your target audience.

Instagram
No, it’s not just for teenagers and adults trying to be teenagers. With over 25 million business accounts and 200 million user visits to those pages every day, there’s a good chance that your local business can benefit from Instagram.

One of the big draws for local businesses? Instagram is one of the easiest sites for reaching people in your area. You can tag posts by location, and your hashtags should include a fair few pertaining to your store’s location (for example, if I owned a brewery in Columbus, Ohio, I might hashtag my posts with #Columbus, #ColumbusOH, #CbusOH, etc.).

This platform does tend to steer younger (mostly 18-34), but see who’s posting in your area before you rule out Instagram marketing!

Twitter
Like Facebook, Twitter appeals to a lot of different demographics, so it’s a safe platform for most local businesses. It does tend to be pretty fast-paced, so your posts will have a shorter shelf life than on other social networks. For that reason, I generally advise posting on Twitter more than once a day if at all possible. Users could blink and miss your post!

That fast-paced nature also makes it better oriented for sharing news and talking about current events. So if you’re running a beachfront restaurant, sharing news about local water quality, activities to do on the beach, etc. would be a safe bet for Twitter.

Another reason I usually recommend Twitter is that your users will use it to voice their complaints. Twitter is a popular platform for clients to engage with brands, and you don’t want to miss out on that! The age range of Twitter users is pretty evenly spread out, so most businesses should be on here if not for drawing in new sales, then at the very least for engaging with their audience!

Get Social
It’s always better to work smarter than harder, so don’t waste your time trying to reach an audience that doesn’t exist on your chosen platform. Use my advice above and I’m sure you’ll get your social media campaign off to a great start for your local business!

Are you still unsure of where your business should have social media profiles? I’ll give you some answers during your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

The Essential Guide to Engaging With Your Audience

21Nov

You’ve got great ideas for new content and ads, but how do you know who to target? It’s safe to say that your new boat engine isn’t going to be a hit among lower-income twenty-somethings, which is why you’ll need to speak to the right audience.

But first, you’ll have to find them!

Identifying Your Audience
A tried and true method of finding the right audience is to craft a buyer persona. A buyer persona is an imaginary representation of who you’re selling to, and it makes sure your content is appealing to the right person. Here are some questions to help you create yours:

Where do they shop?
What social media platforms do they use?
What do they wear?
Where do they work?
Are they married?
Do they have kids? How many?
What’s their family situation?
Where do they live? (Think city, but also house, apartment, etc.)
What’s their financial situation?
What do they spend money on?
What’s their name? (This can help you remember that your audience has real people!)

Get as specific as you can! Once you’ve identified exactly who’s buying, you can figure out how to engage with them!

It’s important to remember that engagement best practices will vary from platform to platform, so it’s best to optimize your strategy for each social network.

Facebook
Fair warning: Facebook is one of the most difficult sites for engaging your audience. You want to have genuine, organic conversations, but Facebook’s algorithms tend to prioritize paid content. However, there are some workarounds!

Creating a Facebook group for your business is a great way to foster natural engagement. It will provide a space for your audience to interact directly with your brand, and it isn’t subject to the same algorithms that are at play in the news feed.

When people like your posts, invite them to like your page! They’ve shown that they’re interested in what you have to say, so encourage them to take that final step!

To draw in your audience, you’ll need to create Facebook ads. When writing, keep a clear idea of your buyer persona and what they expect from your brand!

Twitter
When looking for new people to engage with, search by hashtags that your buyer persona would use. It’s all about meeting your audience where they are, not trying to change them!

Another great tactic is to look at who’s following your competitors. If they like what a similar business is selling, they’ll probably like you, too!

Once you’ve found your target audience, what do you do? Like their posts, reply to them, just show them that you’re sincerely interested in what they have to say! Retweeting and quote tweeting are also some great platform-specific tools you should use!

Instagram
The strategies for finding people on Instagram are almost identical to Twitter’s plan: search hashtags and find who’s following your competitors. However, Instagram has one key advantage: location. If you have a brick and mortar store, go after people in your area!

You’ll want to like and comment on posts as always, but don’t stop there. Ask for permission to share a potential customer’s post! Decide whether it would fit best as a post or a story, then show that user you value them by sharing their visual!

LinkedIn
Join groups to find people! These are especially great because you’ll have a common interest to start a conversation. Additionally, you can search for people based on their job title and location. If someone has a job title that usually sends you referrals, then you should connect with them ASAP!

For B2B brands, consider what businesses you want to work with and search for their employees. If you were able to connect with someone, why not go ahead and send invitations to the people they work with?

Of course, there are two very different paths on LinkedIn. A company account can be a great boost for SEO, but it’s irrelevant when you’re trying to engage your audience. If you’re looking to form connections, decide who in your company will be the human face that’s attracting attention on LinkedIn.

Some Guiding Rules
There are certain principles that will serve you well on any platform. These include:

Don’t make a sale on someone else’s post.
Make comments meaningful! Don’t just reply with a thumbs up.
Respond to positive and negative interactions, whether that be via comments or messages!

And there you have it! You have everything you need to find and engage with your audience in a way that’s effective and works toward your marketing goals!

Could your visual content use some help? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

The Essential Guide to Social Media Metrics

14Nov

If you’re new to tracking the success of a social media campaign, all of the jargon can get confusing. Still, it’s important to look at these metrics to determine how you can adjust and optimize your strategy.

I’m going to walk you through the metrics that will be worth watching for you and your campaign. Of course, all of that begins with establishing a goal!

Choosing a Goal
It’s impossible to say, “Always track these metrics,” because the key performance indicators (the metrics that are relevant to your campaign, also known as KPI) will change depending on your goal. The first step in identifying your goal is to look at what you need.

Let’s say you want to see some additional revenue from your social media marketing strategy. You’re looking to increase sales, so you should focus on the metrics:

Conversions: When customers take a specific action as determined by your campaign. This can be downloading an ebook, signing up for your newsletter, making a purchase, etc. For a sales goal, tracking the number of people who click on your ad and make a purchase is absolutely vital!
Clicks: Exactly what they sound like! The number of clicks you get on ads and posts can increase your web traffic, which means more people are browsing your site and considering making purchases.

Measuring these KPIs lets you see how to improve the number of sales that your strategy generates. If you find that your posts/ads aren’t being clicked on, then you know it’s time to change things up and restructure your posts to be more inviting to your audience.

Or maybe you’re a new business. You’ve got a good product and a great team, but not many people know about you yet. For your campaign, I’d suggest tracking:

Reach: The number of people who see your post or ad. Focusing on reach will get the word out about your business and help build your follower count.
Brand Awareness: How aware the public is of your business. Can they recognize your name and logo? Brand awareness is key to developing a following for your growing business!

It can take a long time, but nobody can buy from you if they don’t know who you are! A bigger audience will also make you more credible. If a potential customer is weighing between your product and a competitor’s, the side that has a larger following will seem more trustworthy.

What about once you’ve got a large audience? Well, then it’s time to focus on quality. What good are 10,000 page likes if nobody is interacting with your posts? As you work on getting more interaction, you’ll be following this KPI:

Engagement: The number of likes/comments/shares/interactions your posts generate. A horde of followers is great to have, but a smaller audience of people who are interacting with your content and your brand is usually going to be more important.

When evaluating the quality of your audience, engagement should be a major factor. Not only does the increased interaction on your posts make your brand look better, but it shows that users are getting value from your content marketing strategy. That’s a great sign, and when you’re noticing low engagement, it may be time to reexamine how you’re appealing to your audience!

Choose Wisely
Everyone wants to have a better social media marketing strategy, but not everyone wants to put the work into finding ways to improve. You need to find the right KPIs that align with your goals and keep a close eye on them. Once you’ve identified the trends across your chosen metric, you’ll be ready to make an actionable plan to craft an even better campaign!

Do you want to talk strategy with experienced marketing experts? Set up your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

Tips For Social Media Marketing Rookies (Part 2 of 2)

Local Marketing, Social Media

Tips For Social Media Marketing Rookies (Part 1 of 2) (1)

27Jun

In our previous blog, we discussed the best practices for social media marketing. We gave tips for marketing your brand via Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. Now we’ll cover the the other three major social media platforms for digital marketers.

Keep in mind that some rules apply to every platform (e.g., sign up for a business account, engage with your followers, take every opportunity to use SEO). One crucial concept that will help you with any and every social media network: social media marketing is a form of content marketing! Even though you might not be posting full blogs or webpages, you still have ample opportunities to create quality content. (For other general tips, check out Part 1 of this blog series!)

LinkedIn

Become a joiner. Join LinkedIn groups that are important to and appropriate for your target audience. Don’t be a lurker, however: maintain your presence by staying active in these groups. On a similar note, consider creating your own LinkedIn group!
Invite your employees. While this might be considered odd for other social media platforms, LinkedIn is based on professional connections. Your employees will probably at least mention your company on their own profiles, after all!
Focus on making connections. Reach out to your audience. Aim to grow your email list. Once you connect, you can build relationships!
Share quality content. Along with creating original content, you should share content that you know your target demographic wants to see. This will engage your audience and help establish your page (and thus your brand) as a resource.
Don’t forget about images! Include images in your posts whenever possible. Create graphic templates for inspirational quotes that you post. Make and share infographics, as well.

Instagram

Get personal. Profile employees in a few posts. Share candid images of your staff and behind-the-scenes pictures of your business.
Understand link limitations. You can only share links in your profile or “Bio.” Links will not work in captions or comments, so remember to direct readers to your profile for the link.
Take advantage of Instagram’s special features. Instagram Stories are very popular. Recently the network introduced a feature that allows you to take a live video and leave it up for twenty-four hours.
Focus on quality. While this is true for every platform, Instagram photos need to be perfect. Don’t slack on presentation.
More is more when it comes to hashtags. A 2014 study found a correlation between the number of hashtags and the number of Likes. With this platform, you can include up to 30 hashtags per post. You should still only use hashtags that are relevant to your brand, though.

Twitter

Follow the (industry) leaders. Follow the leading companies in your industry. Retweet from experts and influencers in your field.
Be direct. Include a Call to Action in the appropriate tweets. Ask for opinions from your followers on topics in your industry.
Read the room. Do your due diligence on trending topics before you hashtag! A topic or hashtag might seem innocuous or even funny, but it could actually have a deep meaning to legions of Twitter users. Learn from this company’s mistake.
Graphics are powerful. Don’t be shy about using images and graphic in your posts. Create your own templates for different types of posts, like quotes or blog previews.
Be respectful. Never attempt to capitalize on somber occasions like Memorial Day or September 11th. Either post a sincere message of thanks/condolences or avoid the subject entirely. When in doubt, don’t post.

These are not the only sites available. Tumblr and Google+ are two social media networks that, although often overlooked by marketers, still have legions of devoted users. International brands have additional options (like VKontakte and Qzone), although foreign governments often have different rules and restrictions for social media.

Setting up a business profile might seem daunting, but it is completely worth the time and effort! Do you need help mastering the social media landscape? Whether you just need a little bit of expert guidance or would prefer that a professional team manage your social media presence, look no further! Contact The Go! Agency today for your free consultation!