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How to turn customer reviews into amazing social media posts

April 5, 2023/0 Comments/in Social media /by Grace

Online review sites are the biggest way for consumers to share feedback on products and services. And when prospective customers are considering a purchase, they’re one of the first things they check.

Collecting ratings and reviews is great, but are you making the most of this valuable data? You can use testimonials to create social media posts that engage your audience and build trust in your products for services.

How to generate reviews for your business

Google My Business is the platform that is linked to Google’s search engine. When customers search for a business, Google displays a listing alongside the search results as displayed below:

It include details such as opening hours, photos, location and reviews (plus you can post content).

Gathering reviews on Google helps with your search ranking, and the more you have, the more credible you’ll appear to people who are looking up your business. Plus from my experience, there is a much better response in asking people to leave a review on Google than to email a testimonial. Perhaps because it’s not direct – who knows – but for me it works much better!

When asking your customers to write a review, send them a link which takes them directly to the review section of your Google My Business page to make it as easy as possible for them. You can use bitly.com to shorten the hyperlink.

If your business is listed on TripAdvisor or Trustpilot, you may wish to direct people to these platforms instead. But I would always suggest they leave you a review on a platform instead of via email, for the reason above but also because it’s then getting the advantage of being displayed in one of these places.

Facebook also has its own ratings and revies system, which may be relevant to you if you frequently use your Facebook page.

How to promote reviews on social media

1. Keep the message short

If the testimonial is lengthy, pick out the essential parts. You could then link to the full review wherever it is written such as on Google, or if it’s displayed on your website.

2. Use visuals

Words alone are unlikely to capture the attention of social media users. That’s why you need to get creative and use visuals to promote customer reviews. Canva is a brilliant tool for creating social media graphics, and they have an endless amount of testimonial design templates which you can customise with your colours and branding.

Another great way to share received reviews is to take a screenshot of them and share it to your social media channel.

3. Use reviews to ask for more feedback

When you share a testimonial, whether it be in the form of a graphic or screenshot, take the opportunity to encourage others to leave you a review too, stating which channels they can/should leave a review on.

Hopefully this quick guide has given you a few tips and tricks that you’ll be able to implement yourself when it comes to sharing reviews online. Good luck!

A guide to influencer marketing

March 13, 2023/0 Comments/in Social media /by Grace

Influencer marketing in its current form is a fairly new concept. If you’re a small-medium sized business considering influencer marketing but not sure where to get started, this guide is for you.

There are many benefits and it doesn’t need to be costly. There isn’t really a right or wrong way to do it, only how it works for your business. But in this guide are some pointers to get you started.

We’ll cover:

What influencer marketing is
The basics of reaching out to influencers
The do’s and don’ts of influencer marketing campaigns
Pricing and knowing how much to pay

First off, what exactly is influencer marketing?

It’s a type of social media marketing where businesses and companies pay people/influencers online to be part of their campaign, promote their products, promote their services or represent their brand. A contract is always required as with any partnership or collaboration. Sometimes the influencer is paid a monetary sum, or are given free products, free membership or free services. The nature of the collaboration is between the influencer and the business.

There are different types of influencers, the type you work with will depend on your budget and business aims.

MEGA: they have a large following of at least 1 million people. Because of their large influence they can be more expensive.

MACRO: they usually have closer and more trusting relationships with their followers and somewhere between 100K – 1 million followers.

MICRO: These types of influencers usually have 10K-100K followers. They are good brand ambassadors, but it’s important to manage your expectations of what they’re able to achieve when working with them.

NANO: Up to 10K followers. While they’re following may be small, they can still have a big impact. But again it’s important to manage expectations, as they can’t be compared to a Mega or Macro influencer.

The basics of reaching out to influencers

Your options usually include DMing or sending an email. Your communication should always be professional because ultimately they are their own business. Therefore even if you reach out via DM to introduce yourself and your business, it’s important to move things over to email as soon as possible. It’s a more direct and professional way to communicate and establish how/if you’d like to work together.

Some influencers will have a virtual assistant, PA or manager. This is more likely especially with more well-known influencers. So keep in mind you might not be communicating just with them initially, but with their employees and team.

The dos and don’ts of influencer marketing campaigns

Some of the key points of working with influencers…

THE DOS:

Ask for stats around their audience reach and demographic information
Ask for information about the types of businesses and brands they’ve worked with in the past
Find out about their pricing structure or expectations around payment
Be upfront about your KPIs
Be clear when reaching out about your aims to ensure they are in-line with theirs
Put a contract in place when working together
Write a brief and script if necessary

THE DON’TS:

Work with an influencer who makes promises about the number of people they will reach/engagement stats (social media is unpredictable and specific stat results can’t be promised)
Work with an influencer who encourages you to buy followers
Be vague when reaching out – ultimately it’s a collaboration between 2 businesses and should benefit each party

Pricing and knowing how much to pay

Every influencer is different and will have different expectations. It’s important to remember that offering free items, gifts, memberships, tickets and services is usually in addition to some type of monetary payment or monetary payment structure. Ultimately influencing and being people of influence on social media is how they make a living.

Some influencers ask for a set amount per post, others set a total payment for a whole campaign, or you may choose to set up an affiliate programme. Affiliate programmes work by providing the influencer with a code or link. As they promote your products or services and provide their audience with the code, they will get a percentage of the sales they gain for your business.

So how much can you expect to pay?

Mega influencers can charge anywhere from around £5000 – £10,000 per post, if not more. But don’t forget their influence and reach is huge. You can also agree on a different structure than pay-per-post. It could be a total for a whole campaign, a bundle deal for multiple posts, or an affiliate programme.

Nano influencers tend to charge anywhere from £10 – £100 per post. But again, you can operate through a different structure if you choose. They are much cheaper, but keep in mind what your expectations would be for this collaboration as their reach will also be slightly less.

Ultimately whatever your aims or budget, there’s an influencer out there who will suit your needs and still get you results!

Should my business be on TikTok?

January 26, 2023/0 Comments/in Social media /by Grace

The answer to this question is – it depends. But I have compiled a list of useful questions to ask yourself to find out if it’s the right place for your business to be marketed.

Many businesses get slightly intimidated by TikTok. It’s much more tailored to a younger audience overall than the other platforms (although this audience in changing to be an older demographic) and it’s fully video based. Therefore all your content needs to be video.

But hopefully after reading my article, you’ll see that the platform isn’t as complicated and intimidating as some business owners find it. And you’ll be in a better position to understand if it’s the right platform for you to utilise or not. Before we get into it, here are some statistics worth knowing…

TikTok has been downloaded 3.5 billion times worldwide, making it the 5th app to accomplish this and the first non-Meta owned app.
An impressive honour for the video-sharing app, TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021. It beat out long-time social media favourites Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
According to TikTok statistics, “entertainment” is the most popular content category on the platform worldwide. This particular hashtag has amassed 535 billion hashtag views. The next most popular categories include dance, pranks, fitness/sports, and home renovations/DIY.

Is your audience on TikTok?

It’s important to do some research, delve into your social media stats, and consider the age range and demographic of your target audience. But here are TikTok’s user-demographics:

Ages 10-19 are 25% of users
Ages 20-29 are 22.4% of users
Ages 30-39 is 21.7% of users
Ages 40-49 is 20.3% of users
Ages 50+ are 11% of users

Is this surprising? Most people think TikTok is generally “used by the youngsters”. However the age demographic is changing. The majority of people who actually create posts are younger, whereas there are more people in the older age brackets using TikTok, but they use it more to scroll than to share content.

In terms of gender, females account for 57% of the platform’s active users and males account for 43%.

Can you do things on Tik Tok that you can’t do on existing channels?

The platform can be a highly effective method to reach new audiences, if you’re able to create high-quality, snackable and on-trend content. And if you have the time and resources to invest. But this won’t be suitable for every business.

Perhaps you all work remotely and recording high-quality content with the right hooks is too tricky. Maybe you work in an industry where you work with highly sensitive information. Or you work in a sector where your business needs to show a more sensitive and private image rather than humourous and entertaining. These are all things to think about.

But if you feel you have the time and resources, and your team is eager to collaborate on content creation, it might just be the best next step for your business. And it could become a team building activity for your employees!

Can your business benefit from influencer marketing?

One of the most positive and impactful things social media marketing can offer your business is exposure through collaborations, with other businesses and/or influencers.

Social media has changed the way many businesses market themselves. Many industries now base their entire marketing strategy on influencer marketing and collaborations (such as fashion and beauty brands). With this they can also explore referral codes and affiliate programmes. The opportunities are endless.

Could your business benefit from an influencer/social media collaboration strategy?

Can you create snackable content?

A ‘hook’ is the way you grab the attention of the viewer when they come across your TikTok video. If you don’t have a good hook, they’ll scroll past. If you do, they’re more likely to stay, engage, and then visit your profile to watch more videos.

It’s a little more difficult to market service-based businesses on TikTok rather than product-based. Simply because with a product the viewer has something to see in front of them. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Many people use TikTok to see “life hacks”, meaning if you can provide insightful content, you could also be onto a winner. So it’s important to think about your strategy and the type of content you’ll be putting out.

In conclusion

TikTok has the potential to give your business exposure in a new and exciting way. Even potentially in ways that the other social media platforms currently can’t. But it’s important your business isn’t on TikTok just for the sake of being on it. Use the questions and points above to understand if it’s the right social media strategy for your business – or have a chat with me!

8 social media marketing trends for 2023

January 9, 2023/0 Comments/in Social media /by Grace

Would you like to discover emerging social media marketing trends that you can put to work right now? Wondering what will matter in 2023?

I’ve researched and rounded up some predictions on key social media marketing trends for 2023 that business owners and marketers should be aware of.

1. Short form video content leads the way

Without question, the strongest type of content across most of the major platforms in 2023 will be short-form video. Consumers have simply fallen victim to their own attention spans! Short-form video, spurred on by the success of TikTok, is now the content type of choice.

To navigate the change, I recommend a few things:

Do what’s right for you and your business. Not every person or brand has the ability to be goofy on TikTok. But everyone can be informal and educational. Instead of shooting for a style that isn’t you, find what you can provide through video that’s useful to the audience you’re trying to reach.

Create videos when you have something to say. Forget what people say about the frequency required to break through algorithms. If you produce one good video a month, this is better than forcing out rubbish more often for the sake of it.

2. Prioritise social customer care

Many marketers have made social media more about content and less about connecting. This puts social media in trouble; the whole premise of connecting and building relationships gave way to the broadcasting of infomration without a real aim at building trust and loyalty.

Instead of focusing on content, focus on customer experience and conversations. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes – they’re increasingly using social media to:

Discover new brands and products
Research product features and reviews
Make buying decisions
Ask support questions

Simply put, they want to talk with your brand digitally with as much ease as they would in a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Research shows that since the pandemic, brands have gotten worse at responding to mentions on social media.

Brands spend enormous amount of time on money on content marketing, but what people really want is connection. Embrace this thinking by:

Examining your social media channels to see where most of your customer care conversations are happening
Creating content that gets people talking
Responding to questions and complaints and quickly as possible on your channels
Find where your brand or products are being mentioned but you aren’t being tagged

3. Authenticity rules over curated perfection

TikTok has become so appealing due to its authenticity of the every day person. Your coffee doesn’t need to be aesthetic, you don’t have to “look perfect” – you can show up as you are and create. Other channels, particularly Iinstagram, will start to value authenticity over “perfect content” to attract its Gen Z audience. Not just in content, but also creators. People who show up as themselves and businesses that stand for a cause.

When it comes to new features, I believe we’ll see a lot of new features rolled out on Instagram related to helping creators monetise. Maybe we’ll even get audio-specific content, like podcasting.

4. LinkedIn influencing grows

LinkedIn added almost 100 new features in 2022. Their Creator Mode encourages people with personal profiles to build a following, which will become more prevalent in the new year. 2023 may be the year that LinkedIn joined YouTube and Facebook in paying creators and allowing them to monetise their presence and content.

There also appears to be a growing focus on SEO. LinkedIn already has a new tool to optimise your new and existing articles; time will tell if using these tools will help people find your older articles.

5. LinkedIn content trends

Interestingly, video seems to be performing less well on LinkedIn than it ever has. My advice is to test it on your audience, keeping length short to 30-90 seconds. Still images will help a post get higher engagement. Posts with images are performing better than those without. There’s been a huge increase in the number of document posts with a combination of text and images. Use document posts for instructional purposes, testimonials, and if you have them, displaying products.

Personal content will also continue to succeed – create personal content as part of your marketing strategy but don’t let it dominate. Try to relate any personal content back to the work environment.

Current thinking is that more personal content will lead to a reduction in the amount of ‘salesy’ content. People are increasingly aware of the need to build relationships to do business and convert leads.

6. LinkedIn content boosting

LinkedIn announced that they are rolling out the ability to boost personal profile content. Up to this point, we’ve only been able to promote company page posts. We know that company posts don’t get the same interaction as perosnal posts, so this could be a boon to those companies whose executives are actively sharing great content on the platform.

7. TikTok Live Shopping

TikTok Live Shopping is currently rolling out. The experience lets customers click and buy without having to leave the TikTok app. This is a huge opportunity for product-based businesses. My advie is to get familiar with the new features, so you’re ahead of the curve when you get access to them.

Also, TikTok is rolling out a feature update that will allow anyone to send you a DM on TikTok, very similar to Instagram. This opens up the opportunity to have private, one-to-one conversations with people who don’t yet follow you.

Over 40% of people on TikTok right now are over 30. They aren’t posting content, they’re consuming it. As TikTok matures, its features are maturing for both creators and viewers. In late 2022, the character count for descriptions rose from 300 to 2,200.

8. YouTube leans further into short videos

Competing with TikTok and Instagram Reels, YouTube has made some major changes, introducing YouTube Shorts. They’re showing up in search results on both YouTube and Google, plus they’re linking back to YouTube channels more than ever, giving creators a bigger reason to be experimenting with this type of content on the platform.

This year, YouTube will also be releasing its podcasting platform. It will be a huge opportunity for anyone doing podcasts and also for people creating multiple types of content. This new podcasting section really aligns with YouTube’s overall direction, moving to become the one major content hub for all types of content.

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