Category: Social Media

Should Your Company Outsource Your Social Media Efforts?

You’ve been sharing, liking, and commenting for years now on Facebook. You’ve seen your favorite brands advertise on social media, and you may even be trying out Twitter and Instagram. You’re social media savvy, and you’re thinking about expanding your company’s presence on social media as well. Even the most competent influencers may run up against struggles when it comes to effectively managing their company’s social media presence. Calling in experts will bring you the results you need, and will save your company resources in the long run.

Knowledge and expertise.

Calling in a social media expert will guarantee that your company will build its social media presence under the guidance of a team that has spent years analyzing the different channels and platforms available, the various approaches that are effective on each channel, and knows how to analyze your company and your target audience to determine what type of content and which channels are right for your organization.

Streamlined Processes.

A firm that has long-term expertise in social media knows precisely how to run a social media presence. So that every post, tweet, and share generates interest among you target audience. They know the times of day when customers are most responsive. They understand the algorithms that are used to create effective advertising and sponsored posts. And they have a strategy for creating content, distributing that content, and staying on schedule.

Consistency and reliability.

Think about your team’s daily activities. Your project managers, client service staff, and executives are busy meeting the needs of your existing customer base. Pulling them off their jobs to perform social media duties detracts from their performance. It is sure to result in a spotty social media strategy. An outside firm will stick to a pre-determined plan. Consistently creating content and posting to your target audience, in lockstep with your internal staff as they achieve their daily, weekly, and monthly goals.

Your company’s social media presence should be a priority, and just as you would hire an expert to handle a new company priority in any case, hiring a social media expert is key when developing your social media strategy. Discuss your plans with your web design firm, as they may have a team who can address your growing needs.

Posted on by AJ

Myths and Facts: Does Your Social Media Presence Really Affect Your SEO?

You, and your competitors, are all making an effort to boost your SEO. There is quite a bit of conflicting advice out there as exactly how to energize SEO by using social media. How do you know whether your efforts are making a difference? Simply put, social media efforts can boost SEO, but the link between social and SEO is not always direct. Read on as we discuss three myths on social media and its impact on SEO.

Myth:

Social media posts are treated like individual web pages by Google.

Fact:

While each individual tweet and Facebook post your company publishes are, in fact, treated like individual web pages by Google. These pages do not normally work to increase the ranking of your website on Google. However, they do come up in searches. If you want increased your businesses visibility, you can achieve that by tweeting and posting content that mentions your company’s name along with SEO keywords that will lead potential customers to your business.

Myth:

When your social media posts are shared, this can lead to improved SEO.

Fact:

The key here lies in links. When multiple people share your social media content, that improves its likelihood of being linked to by bloggers and journalists. Those links are going to have a real impact on your SEO.

Myth:

Social media facilitates global connections, but my business serves only the local community.

Fact:

Yes, social media is a powerful tool that unites people and organizations around the world. But increasingly, people are using social media to find out what’s going on in their local communities. Use social media to reach customers by posting about events your business is involved in and interacting with other local businesses online. These posts and interactions build your social media authority on a local level, which matters to search engine rankings.

The relationship between social media and SEO isn’t black and white. Your company’s social media efforts should be tailored to your specific audience and needs. Contact an expert in inbound marketing, social media, and SEO in order to impact your reach with as many tools as possible.

Posted on by AJ

Using Social Media to Generate Meaningful Conversations with Customers

A decade ago, in order to reach customers, you had to wait for the phone to ring. Today, you can proactively speak with customers, and potential customers, online, using your social media platforms. Smart use of social media can generate business in ways you never imagined.

Search for Your Customers

Each day, hundreds of millions of people take to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms to ask questions, make recommendations, complain, rave, and comment. A social media user may not post directly to your Facebook page or tweet at you, but there may be references to your product in various Tweets and posts on a regular basis. Search for your brands regularly in an effort to answer questions, thank people for their comments, or address concerns. Savvy users will also search on terms related to their brands in an effort to speak directly to customers who might now know of their company, but may benefit from their products or services.

Images are Everything

It may sound obvious to seasoned social media users, but many new or infrequent users of social media don’t realize just how impactful pictures can be in social media posts. If you’re tweeting about a promotion or posting on Facebook about new products or services, include a vibrant image in order to attract more viewers.

Make an Offer

Give customers a reason to follow you on social media by posting or Tweeting about special offers, deals, and promotions. You might even want to post about these special deals on a regular basis, say, every Wednesday, so that your customers know to flock to your social media profile that day. Best of all, you may find that your customers begin to recommend that their friends follow you.

Remember Demographics

You can’t reach your target customers if you’re not posting on the platforms they visit most frequently. Are you products geared toward a younger audience? Make sure your presence on Instagram and Snapchat is robust. Are your services offered to other businesses? Twitter is a great place for you to begin. Do you have family friendly offerings? Facebook is a great place to reach parents of young children.

Offer Related Content

Your customers are interested in your product, but they’re also interested in a range of topics, and you can tap into those interests. Are you a company that offers tutoring services after school? Then post about family friendly activities in your area, link to articles of interest to parents and kids, and produce family-oriented blog content. You’ll become a resource for your target audience.

When speaking with web design firms in order to redesign your website and bulk up your social media efforts, be sure to ask questions and make sure the firm you choose has expertise with a variety of social media platforms and strategies. With the help of an expert, you’ll expand your presence in no time!

Posted on by AJ

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Social Media

The beauty of social media is that you are able to interact with your followers (read: potential customers) remotely. Having a strong online presence is important as many people prefer to utilize their digital sources to communicate. As with all strategies, there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to execute.

DO: Create ways to get people talking.

Online users prefer company pages where there is frequent activity coming from both the page holder and followers. For smaller companies or businesses who are just starting out, there are ways to grow your online base.

Ways to Build More Engagement:

Posting company/industry relevant articles and asking open-ended questions.

For example, say you work for a travel company and there was a new concept that claims to make travel easier. You could find an unbiased article and add a short question like “What are your thoughts on this new travel medium?”

Creating contests/giveaways.

Who doesn’t love free things? Posts getting people to “Like & Share to be entered to win XYZ” are great because they generate more buzz on your company’s page and by sharing onto their page, their friends are ultimately seeing it. Word-of-mouth travels far!

Show your company off in a new light.

Visually appealing/lighthearted posts tend to generate the most likes/shares. Share a captivating photo of one of your products or find a funny, industry related meme. You can even post a picture of employees/customers *WITH THEIR PERMISSION* using your product/service!

DO: Make it worth your followers time.

This may seem like common sense but it is one of the more frequent problems occurring within companies social media pages. You have to create value to followers because if they feel as though they are not getting anything out of your page…. Unfollow. Several of the same techniques mentioned above (creating engagement) can also be applied here. Also, posting about specials or deals happening through your company works well as many would not have known prior to seeing your post. Even creating special promotions or deals exclusively for your followers is a great technique as it benefits both parties. Your company is gaining likes/follows (more reach) and your followers score a good deal or win a prize or what have you.

DO: Post regularly.. But don’t go overboard.

Depending on the platform(s) your company is using determines how often you should post. Twitter and Facebook are great because multiple posts daily are appropriate. However, if your company is utilizing Instagram, it is best not to spam people’s feeds with frequent posts. 1-2 posts a day would be sufficient for an average week.

DON’T: Only post to promote.

Social media is a wonderful place for marketing purposes. However, your followers eventually tire out of the plain jane advertisements they see on their timeline. As said before, there are many ways to draw people into your page and many of them do not include promotional efforts. Post a funny meme. Share news going on within your company. Post a fun #throwbackthursday picture.

DON’T: Ignore negative reviews on your page.  

Not everyone is going to be your biggest fan. It may seem like a tragedy when someone leaves a one-star review on your page or even worse, a novel going into extensive detail their experience with the company. However, companies can easily turn these into opportunities to show off their PR and customer service skills. Apologize, listen to the problem, and offer solutions. You should never be rude or condescending to a past, current, or potential customer but that is ESPECIALLY applicable when the whole world has the ability to see. Maintain a calm demeanor and offer empathy. Followers will notice that you take the time to reply.

Other ‘Housekeeping’ Tips:

  • Use hashtags appropriately. On Facebook, hashtags are not necessary and many times take away from the post. Hashtags should be used sparingly on Facebook. On Twitter, users are only given 140 characters for each post, so hashtags are not heavily used there as well. Given that many people search by ‘topic’ on Instagram, hashtags are acceptable and should be used. Hashtags should be short and easy to dissect, and relatable to the post. 11 is considered the ‘golden number’ of hashtags on Instagram.
  • Do not buy followers, ask for followers/likes, or like your own page. These are very unprofessional tactics and can make the company come off as desperate.
  • “I”, “my”, “me”, “myself”, etc. should not be used! The page is dedicated to a company-not a specific person. Third person can be used but I would advise that using first person plural (“we” or “our”) is the safest route. Also, remain consistent in these posts- pick either first or third person and stick with it!

*Good Example: “Mango Bay launches a new website.”

*Good Example: “Everyone who likes our page will be entered to win ABC.”

*Bad Example: “Like my page to be entered to win!”

These basic guidelines will help get you started in creating productive social channels. To learn more about how to enhance your company’s social media pages, speak with a Mango Bay consultant at 1-888-35MANGO.

Posted on by admin