Social Media Marketing: Trends and Best Practices for Small Businesses
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Are you seeing the results you want from your social media marketing? Learn how to use social media marketing to grow your list, promote your services and generate income. This presentation gives you a closer look at the popular social media networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and newer channels like SnapChat and Periscope. – and discuss: •What to post •How often to post •The business benefit of using each social network. •Dos and don’ts of each channel. We'll also discuss how to create an editorial calendar for social media and use the content you already have to build brand loyalty. You'll walk away with specific tactics that your organization can use right away. (Intermediate Level)
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Social Media Marketing: Trends and Best Practices for Small Businesses
- 1. © Constant Contact 2014 Increase Profits with Social Media Trends & Best Practices
- 2. Stay Connected 2 Audra Wallace CEO awallace@yfusionmg.com facebook.com/YFusionMG @YFusionMG @AudraWallace
- 3. 3
- 8. Low volume/high value Minimum: 4 X per week Maximum: 10 X per week Quality vs. quantity 8 Facebook Facebook content
- 9. Facebook Content best practices Get likes, shares, comments Entertain, invite conversation, ask questions, images & video 50% Be useful & informative Industry info, hints + tips, curate content 30% About your business Calls to action, not “buy now” 20%
- 11. 11 Click Settings From General, click Page Verification Click Verify this Page, then click Get Started Enter Business Phone Number Click Call Me Now for code. Enter the 4-digit verification code and click Continue Steps to Get Verified
- 12. 12 Book Now Contact Us Use App Play Game Shop Now Sign Up Watch Video Facebook “New” Call to Action Button
- 13. 13 Call to Action Button
- 16. High volume/low value Minimum: 5 X per day Maximum: none Quantity is key 16 Twitter Twitter content
- 17. Create vs. curate Retweets = sharing the love Hashtags Twitter Content best practices Create = our blog post Curate = blog post from AllTwitter 17
- 18. 18 What is a hashtag? Used across social networks What’s the point? How to create a hashtag Hashtag abuse Twitter Let’s talk about hashtags
- 19. 19 Local businesses: #your city (#Atlanta, #Morrow, #Georgia) Products and services: #your niche (#Makeup, #Shoes, #MedSpa) Experts and websites: #your industry (#Marketing, #Travel, #Fitness) Instagram It’s All About the Hashtag
- 20. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google | Next steps
- 21. Connect to other Channels Share a Variety of Content Use Relevant Hashtags Engage Community 21 Instagram 4 Instagram Tips
- 23. 23 Instagram
- 26. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google | Next steps
- 31. Copyright 2013 by Digital Marketing NOW. All rights reserved. Video is King Copyright 2015 by YFusion. All rights reserved.
- 33. Customer Review YouTube Power of Video 33 “For 72 hours, we were selling one per second.” -Wal-Mart Rep. Over $1Million in Sales in 72 hours 1.9+ Million Views
- 34. 34 The Power of Video
- 35. 35 Facebook Live Let people know about your next live broadcast. Check your internet connection. Write a catchy description for your broadcast.
- 36. 36 Facebook Live Ask viewers to tap on the Follow button to subscribe to live notifications. Ask viewers to share. Welcome people by name as they join the broadcast.
- 37. 37 Facebook Live Recommended Broadcast 10 minutes – 90 minutes Used across social networks Broadcast Frequently! Publish on other networks. Have FUN!!!
- 38. Hot Topics Interviews/ Reviews Breaking News Facebook Live What to talk about? 38 Q & A Live Events Behind the Scenes
- 39. Mobile as the New Hub Copyright 2015 by YFusion. All rights reserved.
- 40. 40 Social media apps... tweet, scope, snap, film & publish
- 42. 42
- 43. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google | Next steps
- 44. TIP: Subscribe to different magazines to get new updates. 44 There’s an app for that Flipboard Curated Content
- 45. 45 TIP: Create tabs for each of your networks There’s an app for that Hootsuite Social Media Management
- 46. 46 Plan weekly Take time on Friday to think about the next week Be flexible Leave 1 or 2 posts open for something that comes up Strategy Create an editorial calendar
- 47. Sample Playbook M T W Th F Sat Sun 1 Here’s our Cyber Monday deals! 2 3 4 5 6 Monthly Newsletter: Gift ideas 7 8 Email promotion: free stocking stuffer w/purchase 9 10 Facebook: Link to Pinterest board of gift ideas 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Facebook question: Who in your family is hardest to shop for? 19 20 Email: last chance for free shipping 21 22 Link to Pinterest board of stocking stuffers 23 Email promotion: stocking stuffer offer ends today 24 Christmas Eve 25 Christmas 26 27 28 29 30 31 New Year’s Eve regular communication social media promotional communication holiday/event affecting business deadline-driven communication
- 48. One week of Facebook posts Friday Time: noon Fun fact! Monday Time: morning Monday motivation quote Tuesday Time: noon Did you know? OR Check out these tips Wednesday Time: morning Fill in the blank Thursday Time: afternoon Having a sale this weekend! Glass of wine (celebrate!)
- 49. How much is your Business worth to you? 49
- 50. 50 Want help with your social media? Expert partners near you… Call us at 678-779-3686 Dedicated digital managers helping grow your online presence. Still don’t have time…
- 51. 51 Power of Video https://periscope.tv/audrawallace 1. Download App 2. Follow @Audra Wallace 3. Tune in every Thursday
- 52. © Constant Contact 2014 52 Facebook.com/YFusionMG Twitter.com/YFusionMG Linkedin.com/company/YFusion Plus.google.com/+YFusionMG Youtube.com/c/YFusionmg Pinterest.com/YFusion Follow Us
Editor's Notes
- Today’s workshop is going to go more in-depth into each of these social networks. And that’s why we’re here today. You want to make sure that you’re using the right social media network to promote your business or nonprofit. Each of these channels is a little bit different. Some may be a good fit for you, and some may not. And that’s OK. You don’t need to use every social network. We’re going to help you find out what’s right for your business so you can focus your time on the social networks that matter for you, your business and your audience. Within each network, we’ll look at the following: We’re going to help you answer the question “Is this right for my business?” We’ll show you how to create content specifically for each social network. You’ll see an example of how other organizations are using these channels After a look at the networks, we’ll give you some next steps to move forward, including specific recommendations and The also dos and don’ts of social media marketing. You’ll learn the etiquette so you can make a good impression online. We’ll also discuss how to know if the channels you’re using and the content you’re creating is working.
- Let’s start with Facebook – the most popular of the social media networks. It has 1.3 billion users, and many small businesses and nonprofits are already using it in their marketing. If you have prospects and customers, chances are they’re already on Facebook.
- Facebook is a [click to build] low volume, high value network, which means that your frequency should be low – fans get frustrated if they see that a business or brand is dominating their news feed. But every piece of content you post should be valuable to your audience. In other words – you do need to plan ahead. Don’t post just to post. You need to be strategic about your content – and we’ll show you how to do that later. [click to build] We suggest that you post at least 4 times a week to keep your relationship with your fans going and be visible to them. [click to build] But DON’T go overboard. 10 times a week/2 times a day is plenty to keep top of mind with your fans. [click to build] When you are sharing content on Facebook, don’t post just to post. Focus on quality content. And what is that quality content? Let’s talk about some best practices to keep in mind for when you’re creating Facebook content.
- Fortunately, we have a rule of thumb at YFusion that will help you come up with the right things to talk about on social media. If you’ve taken our Getting Started with Social Media webinar, you’ve seen this before so this is a refresher for you: [click to build] 50% of the content you post should be aimed at getting likes, shares, and comments. This means that it needs to be entertaining and invite conversation. Asking questions, asking for opinions, using images and video, as well as being timely (is there an event or holiday coming up?) [click to build] 30% of your content should be useful/informative. Provide information about your industry that your customers will find interesting. Become known as a source of important information and tips---whether that content is from your own blog or from other blogs you trust. [click to build] If you do that stuff correctly, then you’ve earned the right for 20% of your content to be direct CTAs for your business. This doesn’t necessarily have to be BUY NOW! Let’s look at some different types of content, and keep these best practices in mind when you see the examples. And – even though these examples are all about Facebook – you can apply them to any social media network you use.
- Here’s some realities about Facebook marketing – there are some practical things to consider. You need to be visible and active to reach your fans, and you have keep up with the conversations happening on Facebook. [click to build] You need resources for Facebook marketing. You do need to make some time for it during your week. The amount of time is up to you. With Facebook marketing – or really all social media marketing – you get out of it what you put into it. Who is going to run your page? Is it you or someone on your staff? You need a person who is dedicated and focused on your page. [click to build] Do you have things to say about your business? Can you share news, photos, events, tips? If you deal with sensitive, private or competitive information, can you share things about your corporate culture, industry or local area instead? [click to build] Facebook is playing a big role in search right now. Not only are people searching through search engines like Google, they are using mobile search and the Facebook mobile app to find businesses and check in to them. The more people talk about you and check in, the more you’ll come up in a search.
- Our next social network is Twitter. What makes Twitter stand out from the other social networks? It’s the fastest moving. When you check out twitter you’ll see tweets posted in real time, and there’s a lot being posted at a rapid pace. It’s become a place to catch breaking news. Twitter has 500 million users, and 400 million tweets are posted daily through Twitter.
- Twitter is a [click to build] high volume low value network – different from Facebook. This means – because of the high volume of conversations happening on Twitter – you need to tweet several times a day. The tweets don’t have to have that high value, like Facebook posts. Your tweets need to be interesting to your audience, but they don’t have to be as carefully crafted as a Facebook post. [click to build] We suggest that you post at least 5 times a day to be visible in that high volume stream of content that’s happening on Twitter [click to build] There’s no maximum recommendation for tweets, but make sure you are spacing them out over time. Don’t send all of your tweets at once. Your content will dominate the feed, and people will get frustrated. [click to build] When you are sharing content on Twitter, quantity really is important. Remember, the pace of information being shared on Twitter is fast. There’s a lot happening at once. Be visible, watch your timing, and your tweets will get noticed as part of the Twitter conversation. Let’s talk about some best practices to keep in mind for when you’re creating and sharing content on Twitter.
- When you’re sharing content on Twitter, [click to build] it’s either going to be content you’ve created or content you’ve found on others’ websites or blogs, which is known as curated content. It’s important to strike a good balance of content. Definitely share your blog posts, news, information about your business, sales, etc. But it’s also OK to share something that someone else wrote. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t create it, all that matters is that it’s interesting to your followers. [click to build] Here’s a blog post that Constant Contact shared on Twitter – it was written by someone on our staff. [click to build] And here’s one we shared from a blog called AllTwitter. The key is both these tweets contain links to something our audience would find interesting. One thing to note about sharing someone else’s content – make sure you tag them in the tweet. They will get a notification that someone tweeted about them, and they will be thankful that you’re sharing their work. [click to build] It’s a good idea to also retweet other people – which basically just means to re-share their tweets. It means that you thought their tweet was important or interesting enough to share to your followers. They’ll get notified when you retweet them too. [click to build] It’s also important to think about using hashtags in your tweets. A hashtag is putting the pound symbol in front of a word or phrase. It’s like bolding those words and calling attention to certain topics in a tweet. There’s some tips to keep in mind when using hashtags so let’s explore that a bit.
- So you know what a hashtag looks like, but what exactly is it? [click to build] To get more specific – a hashtag consists of words or phrases (with no spaces), preceded by a # sign that is used to tie various social media posts together and relate them to a topic. [click to build] Originally, hashtags were created on Twitter, but today they can be used on Pinterest, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other networks. [click to build] What’s the point of using a hashtag? It’s to help group tweets that are part of a conversation – around a live event or a certain topic. By clicking on a hashtag in a social post, that social network will automatically curate and display a feed of other messages also incorporating the same hashtag. Hashtags let you add context to a post and show that it’s a part of a larger discussion. [click to build] To create a hashtag, simply include a # in front of a word or phrase, without spaces. Before you create one that’s just for your business, do a search for it first just to make sure no one else is using it and your conversation doesn’t get lost in something that’s already been established. You never know what people may be using hashtags to discuss. You wouldn’t want to accidentally connect your business to a negative, controversial or embarrassing topic. [click to build] Don’t abuse the hashtag, save it for when you need it. Too many hashtags looks spammy, and research has shown that engagement drops when a tweet has two or more hashtags. #DontCreateAHashtagThatsTooLong: Keep your hashtag short and sweet, easy to spell, and easy to remember. If you want to incorporate your hashtag across multiple channels, you need to consider the character restrictions of those social networks. QUESTION: While we’re on the subject of hashtags, I’d like to know what are the hashtags you use the most on Twitter. Let us know by typing them into the chat window. Fake answers: Several people have used things like #infographic #photo or #video to show people there’s a link to multimedia content in the tweet. Or they’re using #Facebook when they’re promoting something happening on their Facebook page.
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- LinkedIn is our next social network. It has more than 238 million members. If you haven’t spent too much time on LinkedIn or haven’t started using it, LinkedIn is strictly a professional network focused on sharing industry news, tips and stats, as well as jobs, resumes and businesses.
- Let’s talk about content on LinkedIn - what to post and when. [click to build] LinkedIn is a low volume/high value network. This is similar to Facebook. Make sure you’re not taking over the news feed on LinkedIn with a lot of posts on a daily basis. Plan them out, and make sure each one is a valuable post to your audience. [click to build] You should be posting at least twice a week on LinkedIn to help maintain a presence. [click to build] And not more than five times per week. [click to build] The content you post should be more formal and technical – it should be about your industry and your business. But not everything has to be completely serious. You can talk about your company’s culture or your industry’s culture too so you can show your personality.
- One thing I want to note about LinkedIn – there are 2 kinds of accounts you can have. One is a business page, and the other is a personal profile. [CLICK TO BUILD] This is a business page. [CLICK TO BUILD] This is a personal profile. You can use both for business purposes, but for the sake of today’s talk we’re concentrating on what you can do with a business page. It’s important for nearly all businesses to have a business page, but for B2Bs, it’s really quite critical. One of the reasons for using the business page is that someone’s personal profile sticks with them. So if you have someone at your organization that’s been really vocal, and engaging people on LinkedIn on behalf of your business, those relationships will follow that employee if they move on. With business pages, your content and interactions belong to your business.
- Some of the content on LinkedIn is going to be about your business. You can be a little more vocal on LinkedIn about your business because of the culture here. [click to build] Share news or announcements about your business. This Constant Contact post is an update of new features to our event marketing tools. [click to build] Give people a look at your personality and your business’ personality with information on what’s going on beyond your products. Share some behind the scenes information or photos and videos of your employees. [click to build] Finally, you can share recruiting posts on LinkedIn. Here’s a video we created that talks about what happens behind the scenes at Constant Contact and highlights some of our employees and what they think about working here.
- There’s a lot of educational/informative posts on LinkedIn, including [click to build] blog posts [click to build] electronic publications such as guides or ebooks [click to build] Or industry news, tips or information. We often share blog posts, guides, facts or tips on LinkedIn as well. These kinds of posts show off your expertise to your followers. QUESTION: For those of you who have been using LinkedIn, what kind of content has worked best for you and why? Let us know by telling us in the chat window. Fake answers: We have a few people saying that the recruiting content has worked the best. One of our audience members said that their audience primarily uses LinkedIn to look for jobs. Industry news and education are working for some in our audience. They said they do get some thank you’s and likes when they share tips.
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- As far as content goes … [click to build] Google+ is a higher volume, high value network, just like Facebook. So you should be posting more frequently there, and you should be offering higher value content. [click to build] Post at least 3 times a week [click to build] At most – 10 times a week [click to build] Remember this is about increasing your findability in a Google search, so the topics and keywords in your content are important. Use the keywords you’ve already been using on your business’ website and in your blog to get you found.
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- All social networks have mobile apps, which allow you to type, snap, film and publish right from your phone or tablet! Social media enables spontaneous communication in the day to day life of your business and planned messages during campaigns or events. You are using mobile to create content, so share it on social. And don’t forget to share on other networks! [click to build] Here’s an Instagram photo from the Baltimore Humane Society [click to build] and that same photo shared on Facebook. The Baltimore Humane Society regularly posts their photos on multiple places to help put their adoptable animals in front of as many people as possible. [click to build] These photos are from More than Words, a nonprofit bookstore and café managed by at-risk youth, taken at a farmer’s market where they hosted a pop-up shop. While there, they took photos of their merchandise and shared the details of the event on Twitter and Facebook, letting people know what was happening in real time.
- We’ve covered a lot today! You now know more about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google. You know if your peers are using these networks, and what you can do with each of them to promote your business or nonprofit. What are your next steps for social media marketing with these channels?
- Something that can help a lot is an editorial calendar. And this can be as simple as a blank calendar you print out and keep at your desk or scheduling Facebook posts in your Outlook calendar. Having a calendar helps you figure out what to post, that your important messages are getting out there, and that you’re consistent and interacting with your fans. [click to build] You don’t need to plan far in advance. Plan for the upcoming week – you know what’s coming up as far as events or sales, products or anything happening at your business that has been planned. [click to build] At the end of the week, start scheduling some content ideas for the next week. [click to build] But also be flexible. Save some spaces for something that comes up at the last minute, or to share something interesting you found.
- If you’re a little more advanced and want to plan several campaigns to help drive action to your promotion, maybe an email, an event invitation and a happy new year “it’s not too late” announcement along with social posts throughout the last weeks of the year – you can do something like this.
- You can make yourself a simple calendar of posts that you plan to share on social media that help promote your offer. That’s nice and simple.
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- While you’re being social, make sure you begin by following YFusion on all the platforms you use! You can actually find a lot of information to curate for your social networks from our channels…just don’t forget to give us credit!