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Content Marketing Uncategorized

12 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Email List

So you have a special offer, promotion, announcement or video you want to email to your customers. But what do you do if your email list could fit on, uh, a sticky note? Or, more to the point, how do you grow your email list so you actually have people to email?

It’s a common problem among businesses that are just starting out or that haven’t put focused effort into acquiring subscribers. Start implementing the following 12 tips, however, and you’ll be well on your way to bulking up your email list and converting more of those people into paying customers.

Ready to grow your email list? Let’s go!

#1: Create a giveaway.

One of the simplest ways to grow your email list is by launching a giveaway where people need to provide their email address to enter. It’s best if you give other options for entering via social media — by liking a post and tagging a friend, for example — so that your giveaway is accessible to everyone (not just people who give you their email).

For the email entry, create a landing page for the giveaway that’s independent of Facebook and your website. A simple email entry form will let you capture email addresses, and you can provide further details about the giveaway rules and the giveaway itself. You’ll also make use of this landing page in additional steps below.

#2: Add a call-to-action button to your Facebook page.

You can use a Sign Up button on your Facebook profile that links users to your giveaway landing page. This button can also be linked with other content when you’re not hosting a giveaway, such as a gated featured resource that requires email access. 

Related: 3 Simple Ways to Increase Your Exposure Online

Increase your online exposure

#3: Create an email automation.

Once you have a subscriber, you can send them through different email automations. An email automation is simply a series of emails that you send to a subscriber based on different triggers. These emails not only provide information to subscribers, but also help with retention so people don’t immediately unsubscribe after your giveaway is done.

For example, once someone enters your giveaway, you can send them through an automation that tells them more details about the giveaway. Then send them another email on days 2, 3, 4 or however long you want the automation to be — a seven-day sequence is a good goal. When they reach the end of the automation, have the automation subscribe them to a general email list that you can then use for your email marketing.

In the subsequent emails, add value by sending out blog posts, freebies or other information. You can also pair your emails with social media posts that echo your email content.

#4: Create a challenge.

You could also create a landing page featuring a unique seasonal challenge with a downloadable resource — an ebook, for instance — such as “7-Day Healthy Eating Challenge” that people would opt into. You could then take info from your ebook and create an email sequence to distribute the healthy tips and create other assets to go with it on social media, such as social media posts and even a private Facebook group (more on that in tip #11). 

#5: Host an online event.

Have a topic you know something about? Or some type of special event you can host virtually? Create an educational webinar, a “virtual tasting” event with food or drinks, or even a how-to session explaining one of your products. 

Create a landing page or use a service like Eventbrite.com where people input their email address to join your event or class. Be sure to promote the event on social media, in your newsletter and on your website. 

Related: 5 Easy Steps to Run a Successful Social Media Contest

social media contest

#6: Add an “Instant Win” to your website.

Ever seen a “spin the wheel” animation on a website? People can enter their email address in exchange for instant savings, such as a percentage off at checkout.

See Viral Sweep for instant win ideas. Note that after a user enters their email address, they can be presented with social media sharing options.

#7: Use your cover photos.

Turn your Facebook and Twitter cover photos into calls to action to sign up for your email list, for a contest, for a special challenge or anything else that gets people to subscribe. 

Canva.com is an easy graphic design tool, or you can use a service like Fivrr or Upwork to locate a freelancer who can create the artwork for you.

#8: Post snippets to social media.

Draw out useful tidbits from your monthly newsletter content or blog that you can repurpose on social media. Ask your followers to become email subscribers — send them over to that landing page you created. 

Related: Upgrade Your Social Media in 4 Simple Steps

Upgrade your social media

#9: Pin a link to your landing page to the top of your profile. 

As with your cover photos, you can pin your landing page to the top of your Facebook and Twitter profiles. You can also put this link in your Instagram bio and/or link to it from Stories. If you have more than 10K followers, you can add this link as a swipe-up feature.

Note: If you have multiple links you want to share with your followers, gather them together in a single link using a link-bundling tool like Linktree.

#10: Add an “Email” link on your Instagram profile. 

This technique to grow your email list might not get you an influx of subscribers, but it falls under the category of “why not?” You’ll simply go into your Instagram settings to add this button and provide another means for people to message you.

Then, if and when you get an email, you can invite them to join your subscriber list. Try adding a call to action to “subscribe to emails” within your email signature, so that anytime you reply back to someone, you have another opportunity to obtain new subscribers.

#11: Create a Facebook group.

Facebook groups can be a great place to connect with a smaller group of followers who are interested in your topic. If you have a massage business, you could start a Facebook group featuring tips on stress relief and healthy living, for example. 

Within your Facebook group, you can try various tactics to gain email subscribers. The massage business could create “7 Days of Stress Relief” where people opt in to receive emails. Each day, they would get a different email with new stress-relief tips.

Be sure to promote your Facebook group via your main Facebook page, too, with social media posts inviting your followers to join the group.

#12: Partner with a business.

There are plenty of complementary businesses out there that would be willing to add your email newsletter link to their own website, newsletter and social media channels in exchange for you doing the same. Reach out to them and let them know you’ll feature the partner in your own newsletter. 

This technique can also work well for co-hosting contests and giveaways. Plus, if another business provides the giveaway item, it won’t cost you anything.

Grow Your Email List One Tip at a Time

As you can see, many of these techniques make use of existing resources such as your social media pages. You can get them done in seconds and, in many cases, without spending any extra money. 

Start with the tip that’s easiest for you, and then continue through the list until you’ve checked off all 12. Before long, you’ll be able to grow your email list to a sizable number of subscribers who are interested in your brand.

 

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Content Marketing

Brainstorming 101: 6 Quick Tips to Spur Content Creation

If content creation is challenging for you, you have a few different choices. You can turn to one of the many articles we’ve written with content creation ideas for your social media. You can succumb to writer’s block, stare at your screen blankly, and hope that an idea fairy sprinkles some content creation dust on your keyboard.

Or you can step away from the keyboard, pull out your white board and brainstorm some ideas on your own.

It’s not as daunting as it may sound. With our brainstorming tricks below, you’ll be back typing at your keyboard in no time.

Look at the Big Picture

Some of your best content creation will come from examining your existing content. From there, you can identify any gaps in your current content collection. 

Take an inventory of your product and service offerings, along with the content you have to support these lines of business. You might discover you heavily cover one area and lack content in other areas.

At the same time, identify the problem that each of your products or services solves. From these problems, content creation becomes easier. You can come up with ideas that address solutions to the problems. 

Keep all this information organized in one place — say, an Excel spreadsheet. So, to put it simply, your sheet might include:

  • Product or service name
  • Existing content related to these lines of business
  • Problems that are solved by these products or services
  • Content ideas addressing pain points

As you go through this process, you might find opportunities to identify additional pain points addressed by your products or services. These pain points can fuel your content creation efforts through blog posts, social media content, email campaigns and more.

For example, let’s say you provide mobile tire changes. Your service solves the problem of getting new tires without having to leave home or wait at the auto shop for your car to be done. You could create a series of social media posts with pictures of happy customers at home, with your mobile service truck parked out front.

Content creation tips

Identify Content Creation Themes 

There are many different ways to tie together your content ideas into one central theme. Start by scrolling through your feed to see what’s trending. You can also search for keywords related to your product or service. 

Here are few examples of theme-related content creation ideas:

  • Employee spotlights 
  • Scheduled Instagram takeovers
  • Branded hashtags
  • National days and holidays
  • Days of the week with hashtags (#thirstythursday, #teammembertuesday, etc.)

The more frequently you use social media yourself, the easier it is to come up with these theme-related ideas. Your content will also become more relevant to your user base because they’ll already be familiar with the types of themes you’re using. 

Create an Editorial Calendar

Once you have themes selected, you can start plugging in your ideas to an editorial calendar. There are many different content calendar tools available, from a simple Gmail calendar to more elaborate software apps. 

For example, Rallio has built-in calendar and scheduling capabilities. You can easily store all your content you’ve created, upload images and videos, schedule out content for different days and times, and keep track of everything in one place.

The benefit of having your ideas in a calendar is that you can refer back to it for repeat content ideas. You can use the same “employee spotlight” theme often, highlighting different employees, for instance. As long as the actual content varies, with different images and videos, you can continue repeating your themes throughout the year.

Learn more: Your Guide to 2021 Marketing Based on Current Consumer Trends

2021 marketing guide

Look at What Your Competitors Are Doing

Another way to spur content creation is by looking at the types of content your competitors are posting. Which types of content tend to get good engagement — likes, shares, comments? Which types don’t?

By looking at their content and asking yourself these questions, you can identify ways to do whatever they’re doing, but better.

In some cases, you’ll also learn what to avoid. Their content might be boring, overly promotional or irrelevant. With some types of content you see posted, you can basically do the opposite of what they did. You can be the remedy for any poorly crafted content you see from your competitors.

  • The remedy for boring content that makes you want to keep scrolling? A silly video of you and your employees taking a spontaneous dance break on your retail sales floor.
  • The remedy for an overly promotional post? An authentic photo of you, the entrepreneur, sharing the story of why you do what you do.
  • The remedy for irrelevant content that doesn’t resonate with your local target audience? Hyper-local photos and videos that showcase your business and identify you as part of your local community.

Just Get Snapping

One surefire to spur your content creation is simply by picking up your phone and filming what you see. Did you just finish putting up a holiday display? Take a photo and let your followers know what’s in it. Did you bring your dog to work? Snap some photos and tell us more about him.

This uncomplicated approach to content creation is the simplest place to start when you’re new to posting on social media. Just upload your best images, write up a quick caption, post it and be done with it.

If even this step sounds like too much work, recruit your employees to do some of the snapping for you. Even if you’re not social-media-savvy, you can count on at least one or two people on your team being a regular social media user.

To go even a step further than employee activation, you can brainstorm content creation ideas together. Carve out 10 to 20 minutes in your next team meeting to think of different ideas. Break out that white board, buy a box of donuts (or your vice of choice), and make brainstorming a regular part of your routine.

local content creation

Take Your Content Creation a Step Further

There is, of course, a lot more you can do with content creation from a strategic perspective. As you get into a rhythm with posting content, you can start looking at your platform analytics to see how your content is performing.

Make whatever tweaks are needed to ensure your content is working hard for you. And be sure to boost your content to broaden its reach to new audiences.

In time, your content will start to tell a story about who you are as a brand. With regular posting and a commitment to keeping your page fresh, your social media pages can become a source of new leads, customers and loyal fans.

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Content Marketing Social

Your Best Cheat Sheet on Instagram Reels for Business

If you’re using Instagram for business, then you’re probably familiar with Instagram Reels by now. As a newer feature that’s essentially Instagram’s answer to TikTok, Instagram Reels for business can be a powerful way to showcase your brand via short-form video content. 

Of course, having the feature and making use of it are two different things. Toward that end, we’re giving you this quick cheat sheet on Instagram Reels for business.

With these content ideas, you’ll gain a basic understanding of the type of content to post. But first, a little background.

Read more: 6 Powerful Benefits of a Business Instagram Account

Use Instragram Reels for business Instagram accounts

About Instagram Reels for Business

This article is not so much a “how to” for getting up and running on Instagram Reels for business. Many other reputable sources have already covered that topic, such as this article from Social Media Examiner.

To give you a basic understanding, though, Reels can be uploaded as Stories or the feed, and you have the option to create a Reels gallery on your profile. Reels can also appear on the Explore page. Here are a few key highlights to know:

  • Reels are short-form video content, from 3 to 15 seconds long, in 9:16 portrait mode.
  • You can film Reels from the Reels camera or upload video content from your mobile device’s camera roll.
  • Film your Reels in one take, or piece together different scenes — have fun with it!
  • You can only upload Reels from mobile devices currently.
  • Your Instagram business profile has access to three features along the left side of the Reels screen: Speed, for a faster or slower recording pace; Effects, for various filters; and Timer, to set a timer for hands-free recording. 

Note, too, that your business Instagram account probably doesn’t have the option to incorporate music. This is because business accounts are restricted in their ability to use copyrighted material for promotional purposes.

Given this limitation, you’ll need to get creative when using Instagram Reels for business. You might not be dancing around to pop music in your Reels like you might with a personal or creator Instagram (or TikTok) account — but there are plenty of other ways to make the most of this platform.

Create How-To Videos

No matter what kind of business you have, there’s probably something you can show your followers how to do. Here are just a few ideas for how-to videos:

  • Step-by-step instructions for using your products
  • Behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business or the services you offer
  • Before-and-after clips showing the results of using your products or services 
  • Any kind of tips that relate to your business, such as cleaning tips for a cleaning business

Part of the fun of Instagram Reels for business is the stop-motion effect, where different “scenes” are pieced together. With stop motion, you can show the progression from start to finish of building a product, completing a task or putting together an outfit, for example. 

Read more: Top 9 Social Media Questions, Answered

Top 9 social media questions

Share Resources and Information 

Be an expert at what you do, and your audience will want to follow you and keep up with your latest posts. Along with your how-to videos, you can use Instagram Reels for business to share educational content, such as:

  • Answers to frequently asked questions you tend to get
  • Easy fixes for common problems related to your business
  • A “teaser” of information that relates to your products or services
  • Q&A with an executive on your team

If you’re incorporating text overlays or audio, keep it brief and use these for any key points or calls to action. Visit your competitors’ pages to see what kind of content they’re creating for their Reels, Stories, feed and IG Live. You should be able to get several ideas for the type of content to produce on your page (only yours will be better, of course!).

Show Off Your Personality

Remember, you only have up to 15 seconds per clip, so keep your Reels fun and brief. Capture your audience’s attention so they’ll come back for more.

How about introducing your team and customers — the people who make your company come to life? Give your followers a look at the day-to-day behind your business. Some ideas include:

  • A quick tour of your location
  • A team member preparing to open or close up shop for the day
  • Spontaneous dance parties caught on film
  • A series of clips featuring loyal customers and testimonials

Visit the Explore tab for ideas from like-minded brands, too. Take note of the Reels that catch your eye, and recreate them for your own business. 

Showcase Your Products or Services

How can you show off your products or services on Instagram Reels for business? Use your Reels to entice your followers to shop online or visit your store. Ideas include:

  • Short Reels featuring your new products — a new shipment of clothing at a boutique or a new menu item at a cafe, for instance
  • Special services you’re offering during the pandemic, such as curbside delivery and online ordering
  • Tips for pairing certain products — ideal for fashion accounts, food and beverage brands, and other businesses that naturally pair up certain items

Get Started on Instagram Reels for Business

There are many different features you can use on Instagram, and Instagram Reels for business is yet another tool in your social media toolbox. Because the feature is built right into Instagram, you can start posting Reels right away as long as you have an Instagram account.

And while many people simply repurpose their TikTok videos on Instagram, it’s wise not to rely on this strategy. With TikTok’s future being uncertain in the United States, it makes sense to create unique content for Reels. 

In time, you can become an expert in filming, editing and uploading videos for Instagram Reels. Who knows? You might even have some fun in the process.

Learn more: With TikTok’s future uncertain, users are jumping to these other apps

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Content Marketing Social

21 Days of Engaging Content Ideas for Your Local Franchise

We’ve all been there — staring at your social media page and wondering what to post, posting something only sporadically, or simply avoiding the situation altogether. Don’t feel badly about it. When you’re busy running your franchise, sometimes creating social media content is the farthest thing from your mind.

There’s no need to spend hours trying to come up with ideas. We’ve done the heavy lifting below to give you plenty of ammo for the next month!

You can easily switch up or repeat these ideas, depending on how frequently you post, so you should never run out of ideas. Once you get into the swing of things, you’ll be able to watch your following and engagement grow week after week and month after month.

#1 Spotlight an Employee

Employee spotlights are a great way to tell your customers about your employees while also boosting employee morale. These spotlights don’t have to be formal, “employee of the month” types of posts. Sometimes, simply featuring an employee with a nice photo and caption is enough to attract great engagement.

You can talk about their work, their hobbies, fun facts, anything that makes them unique and shows how they positively contribute to your location. Maybe it’s the employee who goes about her job, day in and day out, with a smile on her face. Or the one who consistently delivers outstanding service while also juggling a hectic life outside work. Your customers will love to see this “other” side of employees they might interact with regularly but know little about.

#2 Feature a Customer Testimonial

Did you get a great customer review? Feature it as a post! Even better than that is if you post a photo of the customer (with permission!) using your product or service. Note: The Rallio mobile app has a built-in model release form so you can easily obtain permission from your photo subjects.

#3 Hashtag It

Hashtags make you more discoverable to your target audience and help put your brand in the mix around relevant conversations. They work particularly well on Instagram, where you can include them not only in captions, but also in your bio and stories.

You can (and should) build an entire strategy around hashtags. Depending on your goals, you can use your hashtags to attract new followers, increase industry exposure, riff off a day of the week (e.g., #WednesdayWisdom or #caturday), run contests, and even build brand awareness with a branded hashtag (more on that next).

Do your research to see what kinds of topics are trending around any particular hashtag before you use it — here’s a quick roundup of tools you can use in your research. Proofread ad nauseum, and look for any possible embarrassing misspellings that could ensue. And change the hashtag if there’s even a remote possibility of it getting morphed into something different and unintended.

Branded hashtags give your brand a personality, but be sure to incorporate other hashtags specific to your individual location.

Our client Pet Supplies Plus uses the branded hashtag #minusthehassle to make it clear how easy and hassle-free it is to shop at their stores. As we discuss in this post, branded hashtags can be used to promote your brand’s personality, special offers and other information specific to your brand. Read this post for more on choosing a branded hashtag.  

However, be aware that if your franchise brand overall is using a particular hashtag, you’ll need to incorporate other hashtags in your posts that call attention to your individual location. For example, some of our Pet Supplies Plus locations also use something unique to their city, such as #PSP(city name).

#4 Share Someone Else’s Content

Not all your content has to be created from scratch. Share content from a brand that complements yours, and you can build relationships while positioning yourself as a helpful resource for your audience.

#5 Highlight a Product or Service

Do you have a certain product or service you offer that customers don’t know much about? Use a social post to highlight it! Videos are an especially great way to explain how your product or service works, why it’s beneficial and how customers can use it.

#6 Play Off a Holiday

Create posts not only for calendar holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, but also those that celebrate a certain “day” like Teacher Appreciation Day, International Women’s Day, Pi Day or National Puppy Day. You can take just about any “holiday” and relate it to your business, especially those that specifically speak to your customers.

Have some fun with it and get your customers involved, too. Ask them to post their favorite photos of XYZ — whether it’s their pet, their favorite pizza or their best Halloween costume. As your customers comment, like and share, it boosts engagement and reach.

#7 Run a Contest or Giveaway

Contests and giveaways are a great way to build your following quickly. One strategy is to partner with one or more complementary brands and offer a giveaway product or service. As part of the giveaway rules, ask people to make sure they’re following both brands and to tag X number of friends in the comments.

Be sure to add the post to your Story on Instagram to create even more traction. You can also go Live on Instagram and Facebook to promote the giveaway. You’ll be surprised at how many new followers you get. Then again, maybe it’s not that surprising — everyone loves free stuff!

#8 Post a Viral Photo or Video

Don’t overdo this one, because you don’t want to seem like you’re desperate for attention. But posting a viral photo or video is one of the quickest and easiest ways to gain engagement on your page. Maybe it’s a cute photo of a puppy or a baby, or any kind of media that has the “awww” factor built right into it. You can further your engagement even more by asking your audience to post their photos and tag you, too.

#9 Ask a Question

People love giving their opinions, so ask for them! You can either include a thought-provoking question in the caption of your post, or create an Instagram story with a poll sticker attached. Ask people to vote on two different options — for an outfit, for example. Then you can create a post featuring the results and take your engagement even farther.

Create a poll to invite engagement from your audience.

#10 Invite Them to Ask Questions

Instagram Stories give you another sticker option where your audience can ask you questions, too. Once you have a large enough following, people will love the opportunity to ask you more about your background, your preferences and your favorite things. You can then feature your answers as part of your Story.

Question stickers are a great way to interact with and build your local community.

#11 Make It Local

What are your local sports teams, hot spots, special events and things only people in your town would understand? What famous people grew up in your town? Who’s the resident historian or barista? This type of hyper-local subject matter is perfect fodder for your social pages. These posts are not only share-worthy, but they’re also great conversation starters that will boost your engagement.

#12 Create and Promote an Event

Did you know your Facebook business page has an Events tab? Go there and create an event for your location, and then boost the post to increase exposure. It could be a grand opening, a popup boutique, a food or drink tasting — anything that will draw a crowd. Boosting the post will get it in front of more eyes and encourage new customers to visit your store. When people RSVP, they’ll receive push notifications that the event is approaching.

#13 Post an Offer

Likewise, you can click on the Offers tab to create a discount or deal right from your page. Just click on the Create Offer button to be taken to a popup window, where you select the cover photo, discount type, the expiration date, the promo code if you have one, and the action you want customers to take — i.e., Shop Now, Call Now, Save, etc. People will get a notification when the discount is about to expire. You can also boost these offers for more exposure.

#14 Post a Job

Are you seeing the pattern? Your Facebook page has a Jobs tab, too. Go there and post your job openings. Boost them. Get more applicants directly through Facebook! You can even include your salary range and add your own application questions to prequalify applicants. Many of our Rallio clients use this strategy with great success, getting more applicants and generating buzz about their company.

Go to the Jobs tab to post job opportunities at your location.

#15 Post a Relevant News Item

Read your local newspaper and find something fun, lighthearted or thought-provoking. Create your own post about it and invite comments from your audience. A word of caution, however: Avoid anything overly political or religious unless there’s a strong business reason to do so.

Also, be sensitive to world events or anything happening locally. The last thing you want to do is offend someone by, say, making a joke about fires on the same day firefighters are battling a blaze in town.

#16 Talk About the Weather

Talking about the weather is generally reserved for meteorologists, first dates and elevator conversations, right? Well, there’s a place for it on social media if the weather is newsworthy and if you do it right. For example, let’s say it’s so hot outside that you’re offering a buy one, get one free offer on your ice cream or lemonade. Think of a way to relate the weather to your business, and you can get patrons in the door via social media.

#17 Gossip … Just a Little

Everyone loves feeling like they’re getting inside scoop. Maybe you post a photo with your significant other, or talk about your life before starting your business. Imagine sitting down with a friend and sharing a little-known part of yourself. There’s no need to go overboard, but even just a hint into the “other” you will go a long way!

#18 Play Off a Popular Social Trend

Remember the 10-Year Transformation? Or “the dress” (blue and black versus white and gold)? Create your own post to chime in on the fun. If you’re not already familiar with the current trending topics, you can check the Explore section of Instagram or Trends for You on Twitter.

#19 Caption This

Snap a photo of something weird, funny, unexpected or silly. Post it with a simple “Caption this!” and watch the funny comments roll in!

#20 Be in the Moment

If you look at pictures of kids, oftentimes the best photos are candids — not the staged photos of them in pristine clothes sitting perfectly on top of a tree branch, gazing off into the distance. The same principle applies to your social media photos. Candid, authentic, real photos will always be better than anything staged — and definitely better than any stock photo out there.

Try playing photographer for a day (or let an employee do it), and just wander around snapping photos that capture a feeling — maybe it’s your workers enjoying being in their element. Add a playful caption, and voila! There’s your post for the day.

#21 Recommend a Product or Service

Sometimes, shining the spotlight on someone else is a great way to make yourself look great, too. Think about some of the products or services you use that are complementary to your business, and create a review-style post to highlight why you love it.

You can tag the brand in your post — maybe even reach out to them to inquire if they’d be willing to do the same. For example, if you have a cleaning business and use a certain brand of cleaner, you can show before-and-after photos demonstrating how great it works. The brand could then share those photos on their own pages, increasing your exposure even more.

Caption Tips

Writing a great caption is a blog-worthy topic of its own (perhaps to be covered in a future post). For now, here are a few quick tips to help you write a caption:

  • Know your audience so your references and context won’t go over their heads, offend them or drive them away
  • Keep your brand voice and tone consistent
  • Infuse personality into every word (never be boring); emojis work well for this
  • Either keep it brief or have a reason for long-form content (check out @natgeo for examples of longer captions that work well for National Geographic)
  • Use hashtags related to your caption and brand; you can post them as a separate comment if you want to avoid cluttering up your caption
  • Be sure to tag any relevant people or brands in the caption to increase engagement
  • Use calls to action to invite people to comment, tag friends or answer a question

So there you have it — everything you need to begin posting great content today. If you work with a team, you can also divvy up tasks — for instance, maybe one person is great at capturing candid photos, and another is skilled at writing captions.

You can also outsource your social media to the Rallio Local team and we’ll handle all the posting for you if you provide the pictures. We can empower your team with limited mobile logins so your employees can become advocates for your brand.


Categories
Content Marketing Social

Franchising Social Media Best Practices: a Roundup of Our 12 Best Tips

It’s no secret that social media is here to stay, and franchise brands that embrace the medium are seeing significant results. If you’re a marketing manager or otherwise responsible for your brand’s social media marketing, today’s roundup of our 12 best tips will help you jump-start your social outreach efforts.

Continue reading “Franchising Social Media Best Practices: a Roundup of Our 12 Best Tips”
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Content Marketing Social Uncategorized

Social media best practices: What is local content?

With Rallio’s recent launch of the Rallio Local division, we’ve created an in-house agency that helps our clients create and execute a local content strategy on Facebook and other social media platforms. One question that comes up frequently is what exactly local content is and why it matters. If you’re asking that question for your own business, today’s post will help you learn what types of content will get you the best results on social media.

The algorithm

Social media is increasingly shifting its focus in favor of local businesses, with Facebook leading the way in terms of how its algorithm serves up content to various audiences. The right type of content, combined with targeted ads, allows businesses to reach customers in their local area, especially those who are using their mobile devices to find businesses in their communities. In addition, the rise of platforms such as Yelp and Google reviews has made it essential that businesses have a local content strategy to reach the people who are likely to do business with them or buy their products or services.

So what is the right type of content? Encourage your visitors and followers to stick around and become a part of your online community by including the following in your social media posts.

Real-life photos from your office and staff

Include not only special events such as birthdays and holiday celebrations, but also simple “day in the life” photos showing what happens in your office. Here’s a post from one of our Rallio Local clients, Pet Supplies Plus Greenfield, with a cute picture of a dog and a great caption:

Spotlights about a star employee or customer

Give props to an employee of the month. Include a photo along with a caption explaining why they rock! You can also highlight customer testimonials and thank customers for their business, feature before and after photos if that makes sense for your business, or simply feature a repeat customer who brightens your day. Here’s a post one of local clients, Pure Barre Anaheim Hills, created to feature a customer testimonial and which we boosted with ad dollars. To date, the post has reached 645 people and has earned 28 likes and loves.

Pointed questions that elicit comments, likes and shares

A question like “Would you rather sleep in on a Saturday or get up and go for a hike?” will get more responses than “Do you like hiking?” You know how they say you have to ask for the sale? The same is true for comments. Quite literally, you can say “Comment below with your response” and it will be more likely to earn engagement.

Videos

Explain a how-to topic, offer helpful information, or feature an interesting aspect of your business or the people behind it. People love to watch short videos and often will watch those as opposed to reading a lengthy post on a topic.

Meat and potatoes

Infographics, blog posts and guides on topics your audience wants to know about are the backbone of your business, the “meat and potatoes” if you will. Prove you’re the guru in your field by creating assets that show off your expertise.

Promotions

Include only occasional posts about current promotions and contests. Stick to the 80/20 formula where just 20 percent of your content promotes your brand and the other 80 percent is dedicated to topics that interest your audience and engage them in conversations. Here’s an example from the same Pure Barre client where they do a nice job of including promotional details within the caption of an inspirational post describing the studio’s “20 in 31 class challenge.”

In general, posts that include more personalized information about your location tend to perform better than general posts. They are more aligned with Facebook’s current algorithm, thus improving your overall reach. If you need a hand creating your local content strategy, click over to Rallio Local.

To learn more about the recent Facebook algorithm change, see this article.

 

Categories
Branding Content Marketing Uncategorized

What Facebook’s Algorithm Changes Mean for Brands

If you read about the most recent changes to Facebook’s algorithm, then you might be wondering how the changes affect brands. As a social media and reputation management firm, Rallio always strives to help brands optimize their online presence and their advertising budgets. So if you’re in full-on panic mode, we’re here to tell you that these changes are not cause for alarm …

IF YOU ARE PUTTING AD DOLLARS BEHIND YOUR FACEBOOK CONTENT.

Pardon me. I don’t mean to yell. But it’s so important to understand that Facebook is a pay-to-play platform where if you want to have any kind of significant impact among your target audience, you need to pay to get in front of them.

If you find it difficult to wrap your head around this concept, think about it in terms of print advertising. Leaf through a magazine, and you see that the nicest, largest, glossiest ads at the front and back of the book. These are the big-money ads. The tiny little classifieds are small and hard to find because the advertisers didn’t pay as much for them.

And those that didn’t pay … well, do you even see them anywhere? Of course not, because nobody expects something for nothing. Or do they?

There are still brands out there that believe they can put up a Facebook page, post content and get it seen without ever paying a dime for advertising. Of course, there’s still something to be said for organic reach in terms of how your audience interacts with your content, particularly with Facebook’s new (or renewed?) emphasis on putting content in newsfeeds that’s community-oriented and focused on engagement among friends and family.

However, there’s an opportunity here for a powerful combination of paid posts and local engagement, one that we at Rallio are already using to help brands.

But Facebook stock dropped. What does it mean? 

It’s true that Facebook stock dropped 5 percent with the news of its algorithm change, because people are worried that some ad revenue will decrease. And, it probably will. However, it’s not going away, and shareholders will demand it doesn’t decrease too drastically.

What we stress with our clients is that we need to be continually considering ways to convert “business” posts into “personal” posts. That is, once a brand gets engagement on a post, that interaction can be seen by others and the content is now falling under the consumer newsfeed algorithm and isn’t simply viewed by Facebook as a business post. The same is true with check-ins: When a consumer checks in to a business via Facebook, it can create great organic reach.

[bctt tweet=”Brands have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on Facebook’s algorithm changes. Let the others leave, and you step in to reach more and more of your target audience and boost your visibility on the platform! #FacebookAlgorithm” username=”rallioHQ”]

So in actuality, brands have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on Facebook’s algorithm changes. Let the others leave, and you step in to reach more and more of your target audience and boost your visibility on the platform!

The key is creating the kind of quality content that earns your customers’ comments, likes and shares as opposed to blatantly asking for them. Consider the words of Yuyu Chen in this Digiday article: “For starters, brands have treated Facebook like a pay-to-play platform for a long time, and Facebook said the new algorithm won’t affect paid posts on the platform, although CPM rates for Facebook ads may eventually increase, according to agency executives. However, they think the new Facebook algorithm will filter out clickbait-style promotions (‘Like our product if you think this dog is cute’), which will pressure brands to create more meaningful content over the long term.”
At Rallio, we’ve always stressed the importance of creating quality, relevant content that isn’t overly promotional or “me”-centric. Shift your focus to what your audience cares about, and you’ve got a whole world of opportunity as an advertiser. Do you want to be visible, engaging and relevant? Of course you do. Head over to ralliolocal.com, and we’ll help you get started making a major splash with your local customers.

 

 

Categories
Content Marketing Uncategorized

Lessons in Self-Promotion From Gabrielle Bernstein

When you’re building a brand, one of your first orders of business is getting your message in front of the right audience. From social media to word of mouth, you have so many tools at your disposal to accomplish this task, so where do you begin?

To answer this question, I wanted to share some insights from life coach, speaker and author Gabrielle Bernstein, who has built her business around sharing authentic messages. In following Bernstein’s work, I’ve learned that she focuses on serving her audience from a place of sharing, not pushing, a philosophy that every business would do well to adopt while creating a publicity plan. Here are five lessons you can learn from her.

Lesson #1: You Don’t Need to Be a PR Expert

Before creating her coaching business, Bernstein owned a public relations firm. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, of course she’s great at getting publicity then,” consider this: She was completely self-taught. Bernstein didn’t get a degree in public relations; she trained herself. She then leveraged the PR skills she learned to build the business she has today.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of publicizing your business, take a deep breath. Start writing down the reasons you got started and the mission you have in sharing your products or services. Come from a place of helping others rather than serving yourself. What problem does your product or service solve? Start there.

This process will help you to clarify the message you want to share with your audience. Once you connect with the big-picture intention behind your brand, it’ll become easier to be your own publicist. Your message will be authentic, clear and well-received because it’ll come from your heart. You are the best one to share this message because you deeply care about it!

[bctt tweet=”#smm tip: Come from a place of helping others rather than serving yourself. #socialmediatips” username=”rallioHQ”]

Lesson #2: You Have a Message, So Share It

Bernstein frequently talks about being “unapologetic” about your message and putting your work out into the world. Remember, you are coming from a placing of sharing something exciting, not a place of selling or manipulating. The people who need to hear your message will be excited to hear it, so don’t keep it to yourself!

As she imagined her business, Bernstein thought about (actually, she meditated about) what her typical audience member looked like. She determined this person is a young woman living in the city with a salaried job who likely struggles with relationships and self-image. (It gets even more granular than that, but we’ll stop there to keep things simple.)

Once she had that person in mind, Bernstein was able to identify how her work could help this person and start sharing her message freely and unapologetically. Instead of trying to push her message or manipulate her audience into feeling a certain way, she could simply share the intention behind the work she was doing. She believed so powerfully in her message that she was able to share it without feeling salesy.

Lesson #3: Look for Your Audience in Unexpected Places

Having that clear picture of your audience like Bernstein did helps you discover where those people are spending their time. And she didn’t limit herself to thinking her audience only would be looking to health- and wellness-related resources.

In truth, Bernstein conceded, they were probably reading glossy fashion magazines and blogs about cutting their hair. Through the course of her group coaching sessions and social situations, she shared her desire to reach that audience. And within a month of beginning that conversation, she received an email from a client who, to her surprise, worked at Elle magazine. The client had pitched Bernstein to her team, and the magazine wanted to do a six-page feature on her.

Because she was willing to think “without a box,” as she puts it, Bernstein was able to take her message to those places where her audience was actually consuming media, even if glossy fashion magazines weren’t her initial target. As a result, Bernstein achieved some her greatest media placements early on, including regular spots on the Today show and sitting alongside Oprah.

[bctt tweet=”If you have a powerful message, you must become unapologetic about sharing it with the world. – @GabbyBernstein” username=”rallioHQ”]

Lesson #4: You Don’t Have to Master Every Form of Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat … so many social media platforms, so little time, right?

I would say it’s important to have some kind of presence on the major platforms, because you don’t want people to see a ghost town when they happen upon your social pages. However, you’ll want to spend the most time on the couple of platforms that a) you love and b) your audience consumes regularly.

Bernstein, for one, loves providing videos, and her audience loves to watch them. Essentially, she created the space where her audience loves to congregate. For years, Bernstein would put out a video blog every Monday morning. The vlogs were free for her audience, easy to create and something she loved to do. Over time, Bernstein grew her newsletter audience because people watching her videos opted in. (Side note: Don’t be afraid to put out free content. It will help your overall marketing efforts as you build trust and confidence with your audience members.)

Instead of trying to be everywhere all of the time, focus your efforts in those areas that energize you and allow you to feel as though you’re genuinely serving your audience. From there, you’ll find that you’re thrilled to put out your work because it feels authentic, empowering and helpful (again, not salesy).

As Seth Godin puts it, “Ideas that spread win.” What are your ideas? And in what manner would you love to spread them?

[bctt tweet=”As @ThisIsSethsBlog puts it, ideas that spread win. What are your ideas? #smm” username=”rallioHQ”]

Lesson #5: Be Your Own Voice on Social Media

Bernstein has said that every post she creates comes from her, not from a third party posting in her name. You can decide how strict you want to be with this lesson, but the intention behind it is clear: to allow you to speak authentically and put a personality behind your brand. That way, people will trust you, and even your promotional posts won’t feel like sales pitches.

Consider this carefully crafted post from Bernstein where she subtly promotes her course via the hashtag #SpiritJunkieMasterclass while providing a thoughtful image quote to inspire her audience:

Key takeaway: The message you’re sharing is always going to be the most well-received when it’s genuine, not canned. The second your audience senses you’re not being real with them, they’ll unfollow and move along to someone who is.

And that’s no way to promote yourself and build your brand, now is it?

For all the social media strategy and advice that exists out there, make sure you’re getting back to the basics and speaking from the heart. The more you share content that’s meaningful to your audience, the more your message will resonate and the larger your following will become.

 

 

Categories
Content Marketing Reputation Social

Social Media Cheat Sheet: A Roundup of Our Best Tips

There’s a lot to learn when you’re first getting started with social media marketing, and even when you’ve been doing it a while, there’s still more to discover. Rather than get overwhelmed with the things you don’t know, try choosing one or two new ideas to explore each week. Over time, you’ll strengthen your skills, build engagement with your customers, and hopefully boost sales and profits, too!

The following roundup includes some of our best tips on social media, online reviews, and local and online marketing. Start at the top, and work your way down the list until you’ve tried everything! And then lather, rinse, repeat, and try some ideas of your own.

Be a Great Storyteller

When it comes to your content marketing strategy, nothing beats a great story that intrigues readers and connects emotionally with them. When content lacks intrigue and fails to spark an emotion, it becomes lifeless, dull and easily forgotten.

You’ll lose followers and certainly won’t gain new ones if your social media conversations are boring, stale, sales-focused and “me”-centric … exactly the type of person you would avoid at a cocktail party. On the flip side, great stories leave readers feeling like they’ve connected with you. At that proverbial cocktail party, they’ll be on the edge of their seats as you draw them in with conversation. They’ll walk away with a positive impression of your brand and will come back again and again.

How can you become a great storyteller? In short, be yourself. Let your personality, your life experiences and your opinions shine through in your content. See this post for a complete breakdown on telling stories through your content and solidifying your brand with customers.

[bctt tweet=”How can you become a great storyteller? In short, be yourself. #contentmarketing” username=”rallioHQ”]

Create Online Offers (and Make Sure They’re Working)

Online offers get your business in front of more customers and, if done right, get them shopping in your establishment. The key here is making sure your coupons are functioning properly so people don’t get frustrated trying to redeem them. Also, you need to be able to track the redemptions and learn whether your offer is producing growth for your business.

If you’ve tried coupons and haven’t experienced good returns, you might need to take a close look at your coupon process. There can be many reasons a coupon isn’t doing its job, including:

  • You’re overdoing them
  • You’re using the same, repeatable coupon code
  • You’re making them difficult to save
  • You’re making them frustrating to redeem
  • You’re making it hard to find a location near your customers to use the coupon
  • You’re not calculating the return on ad spend (ROAS)

See this post to learn more about each of the scenarios above, and then tweak your process as necessary to improve your offer results. If you’re interested in seeing how our coupons work at a brand and local level, send us an email at sales@www.rallio.com.

An example of a coupon with one too many restrictions

Create Shareable Content

It’s the question every franchisee and brand marketer has been asking for the last few years, ever since Facebook diminished the reach of page posts to 1 to 4 percent of all page followers: How do I get more people to see my content?

Bottom line, you need to create more content that people want to share. Firstly, because Facebook now focuses page posts’ organic reach on the number of shares it receives. And secondly, because when a person shares a post, they can write their own comment about the post before they share it. In a way that gives the page post new life from the perspective of the person, personalizing it to their friends.

We outline six ways to get more shares on your Facebook posts in this post. For instance, you can create how-to videos like the one below.

Get to Know Your Analytics

The amount of data available to review related to your social pages can appear overwhelming. And unless it’s your full-time profession to review and analyze trends and changes over time, you only have time for the numbers that will actually make a difference to your business.

For some, all you’re thinking about is your bottom line: Did I make another sale from this social media post? But think a bit larger than that. Not everything will result in a direct sale, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.

The most important analytics to know include:

  • Follower growth. Look at the data over time, assess where your audience grows the most and the least, and see how you look next to similar local businesses.
  • Engagement. Likes, retweets, comments and shares make up some of the most common uses of the word engagement. However, people can connect with your business in less obvious ways, too, such as with geo-tagged photos at your location. Pay attention to the positive and the negative comments and feedback so you can successfully address both and keep your reputation intact.
  • Reputation. Go deeper than simply customer comments; you need to learn how your business is faring on the top review platforms, such as Yelp. What customers report about you can build your business or greatly hinder its growth. With 67 percent of consumers affected by online reviews, the ratings you have and how you respond to them will impact your brand, trustworthiness and sales.

More advanced analytics cover website analytics, directory listings and conversion rates. We delve into all of the above and more analytics best practices in this post.

[bctt tweet=”The most important #analytics to know include follower growth, engagement and reputation.” username=”rallioHQ”]

Become a Hashtag Expert

A hashtag is a word, a phrase or an acronym after the pound symbol (#). No spaces or other characters (!, ?, -, %, @, ., $, etc.) are allowed in a hashtag (with a few exceptions).

Hashtags are used to connect people to a topic, primarily on Twitter and Instagram. They are public and searchable, and when people look for a specific hashtag, they see the conversation related to that topic. People, brands, businesses, sports teams and nonprofit groups use hashtags to build an easily findable and joinable conversation around a subject matter. And in some cases, hashtags make for great comedy:

It’s critical that you know how to use hashtags correctly so you’re not tagging random words and, more importantly, you’re not jumping into a conversation you didn’t intend to. If you use a popular hashtag out of context, for example, it can become irrelevant or even offensive. Our post about becoming a hashtag expert gives you all the do’s and don’ts for creating appropriate hashtags around your brand.

Improve Your Writing

Because much of my life takes place in the world of social media, I am always on the lookout for well-written social media posts. You know the ones: the posts that cause you to smile, laugh, like and share. These posts not only pass the grammar test, but they also work hard to convey messages that connect with the intended audience. Those are the kinds of posts you want for your brand.

If you want to take your posts from “meh” to great, there are several simple ways to start flexing and strengthening your writing muscle. The most important strategy is to find a friendly, conversational voice that connects with your audience. Save your corporate-ese for white papers, because it has no place on social media. I’ve got a few other simple content strategies in this post, such as using action verbs, being concise and proofreading ad nauseam. You’ll improve your writing in no time!

[bctt tweet=”#socialmediatip: Find a friendly, conversational voice that connects with your audience. ” username=”rallioHQ”]

Brainstorm Ideas

You might already know that it’s important to publish new content regularly on social media. What might not be quite so clear? Knowing what to publish. If you’re running low on ideas for your content calendar, this two-part blog series should help you get the creative juices flowing again. From sharing a “day in the life” to posting your Pinterest boards, it includes 31 days of social media ideas you can use and tweak over and over again, and never run out of ideas!

On some level, if you’re paying attention to your social media pages (which you should be), you already know what types of content work best for you. Let us know in the comments what you’ve seen work and not work for your business.

 

 

 

 

Categories
Content Marketing Social Uncategorized

7 Ways to Boost Your Twitter Following Organically

When you’re looking to boost your Twitter following, it’s tempting to want to make it happen overnight. Nobody wants to have 43 followers when you could buy thousands all at once, right?

However, buying followers or resorting to other black-hat tactics simply won’t get you the kind of long-term engagement you need to maintain a consistently strong Twitter profile. In fact, as this article notes, black-hat social media can do serious damage to your brand.

That’s why when I recently set out to boost our own following on Rallio, I started by focusing on quality over quantity. (There’s a place, of sorts, for quantity as well, but more on that in tip #3.)

Today, I’ll share with you a few things I’ve learned about boosting your Twitter following organically. I welcome additional insight from those of you who have gone through this process, too.

#1: Like and Retweet

The simplest way to begin attracting new followers is by liking and retweeting posts. The more engaged you are with other profiles, the more you’ll be seen, and the more you’ll gain new followers yourself. As a general rule of thumb, aim to retweet at least one or two new people daily.

When retweeting, make an effort to add insight of your own or call out what you like about the post or article you’re retweeting. You can, of course, simply retweet without commentary, but also add your own 2 cents from time to time. This makes it clear you put thought into the retweet and didn’t simply click a button.

[bctt tweet=”The simplest way to begin attracting new followers is by liking and retweeting posts. #findfollowers” username=”rallioHQ”]

#2: Fit It In When You Can

You don’t have to overwhelm yourself spending time on Twitter. Some people like to carve out a chunk of time every day or so, and others will hop on there throughout the day. Or maybe you alternate between these approaches like I do.

Sometimes I’ll devote focused time, and other times I might just need a break from what I’m doing, or might be waiting at the doctor’s office, or … you get the idea. I like this strategy because it allows me to get on Twitter at different points in the day rather than one specific time when I won’t necessarily find anything or anyone worth tweeting about. Also, it prevents me from exhausting myself thinking I have to get on Twitter at 11 a.m. each day.

Try out both strategies and see what works for you. The point is to make it work!

#3: About That Quantity …

Although it’s imperative to have quality followers with whom you engage regularly, sometimes you have to cast a wide net to find those quality people. Some Twitter users will follow several people initially and then later weed out and unfollow accounts that don’t prove to be worth their time.

Note that once you follow an account, or when someone follows you, you’ll want to make an effort to engage with the account and gauge its value.

[bctt tweet=”Sometimes you have to cast a wide net to find quality #followers.” username=”rallioHQ”]

#4 Thank People … Sparingly

Do not do not thank every single person who likes and retweets your tweets or follows you. That practice will get old fast, and you risk flooding other people’s timelines with your thank-yous.

Instead, thank people for specific reasons. For example, if you found a post to be insightful, mention it along with the user and say why you found it valuable. You’ll show you’re actually reading people’s tweets and you’re willing to recommend those you think are worth a follow. Eventually, others will do the same for you.

Here’s a good list of other ways to thank your followers, say, by visiting their website or commenting on a blog post. I like the following approach as well from @twitrartexhibit thanking an artist for her submission to #TwitterArtExhibit. It’s specific and creatively worded:

#5 Locate Influencers

Who are the thought leaders, the movers and shakers in your industry? Find five or 10 of them, and start engaging with them across multiple platforms. That is, don’t stop at Twitter, but rather engage with them wherever they roam (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. … check out this article for more tips on engaging with influencers).

Once you have a fairly established relationship with influencers, reach out directly. You can start simply by asking if they’d be willing to answer a burning question related to your product or service, and then featuring their responses on your blog.

You can then tweet out your new post and mention your influencers, too, so they’ll (hopefully) share your content with their readers. In time, you’ll gain valuable partnerships through which you share each other’s content, create special offers and always have a rich source of content.

#6 Share More Than Once

By some estimates, the life of a tweet is something like 18 minutes. However, you can extend its lifespan simply by sharing the tweet multiple times.

Here at Rallio, we use Coschedule to manage our blog post creation coupled with social media posts that we schedule out over several days’ time. For example, this blog post will get a lot of mileage once I create social media posts about it for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

You can word your social posts differently each time for the same piece of content, whether it’s a blog post, a press release, a video or an image. It’ll read like a brand-new post, you save yourself some time, and you get the most out of every piece of content.

[bctt tweet=”Extend the life of a tweet by sharing the tweet multiple times. #socialmediatips #twittertips” username=”rallioHQ”]

#7 Use Hashtags

My colleague Becca Edwards wrote an extensive piece, How to Be a Hashtag Expert, that will help you master the hashtag game. She breaks down what a hashtag is, what it can do and how to use hashtags effectively. I recommend giving it a read, as it’s an important part of growing your following.

In addition to using hashtags in your own content, you can search hashtags related to your product or service. When you do, you’ll be able to find and join conversations around pertinent topics.

What other ideas do you have for gaining Twitter followers organically? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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