HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
When your business utilizes social media to reach your target audience, you’ve taken an important first step. But, how effective is your social media? Is one platform working better than another? Do you have more engagement with certain posts? Why or why not? Fallston Group is here to help with four tips that can help you monitor and track your social media efforts so you can spend your time more effectively! Engagement. How engaged is your audience? Do they like, share or comment on your posts? Is your message meaningful? Are you providing your target audience value? Measuring the engagement of your interactions is critical to your social success. Reach. Analytics can help you evaluate how many people potentially saw your posts. This could include your fans or followers as well as the number of impressions or times your post appeared in a newsfeed. One of the most important analytics you should be monitoring is the amount of traffic that is being funneled to your website and/or landing pages from social media. There are a variety of tools available to help you gather analytics. In addition, firms like Fallston Group can help you analyze the data and adjust your social marketing plans accordingly. Leads and Conversions. If you’re spending money on any type of marketing, you want to understand the Return on Investment (ROI). So, your CRM should be able to help you understand how and where your best leads and sales are coming from. Customer Satisfaction. When you’ve done a great job, social media provides an easy way for customers to praise or review you. This not only builds credibility but can enhance your SEO efforts as well. Although social media can provide an easy way for disgruntled customers to complain as well, consider this an opportunity for you to show them, and other customers, how quickly and effectively you resolve customer complaints. Does your company need help navigating the world of social media? Fallston Group has created “A Guide to Social” with quick tips for preparing, posting and promoting your content on social media! Download your free guide today or contact Fallston Group directly.
IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPORTANT FOR MY BUSINESS?
The statistics change day by day, but roughly 9 out of 10 companies are now using social media for marketing purposes. Understanding social media marketing, including which audiences use which platforms and the best ways to engage them, is a critical part of an effective digital marketing strategy. In this article, the experts at Fallston Group provide insight as to why it’s more important than ever to create an effective social media strategy for your company. What Do the Numbers Say? In today’s social world, buyers are heavily influenced by social media. More than 80% of Gen Z (the children of baby boomers, loosely defined as those born between 1995-2014) are influenced by social media, as are 74% of millennials. So, you may say, my target audience is older than that. Well, Generation X (those born in the 60s & 70s) are not too far behind at 58%. The numbers show the influence–but what does it mean for your business? Reviews & Ratings. When a consumer buys a product or service online, there is so much information available to help them make informed decisions. They can view the feedback of other customers on the product or company. They can peruse the track record and service history. So, social media plays a vital role in interacting with those customers and creating good experiences. Websites. Back in the day, when someone walked in your store, every effort was made to close the sale before they walked out. The same is true of your website today. Social media is a tremendous way to increase traffic to your website. Once you get them there, it’s just as important to create strategies to convert that engagement. Branding. Social media creates a huge opportunity to create brand awareness and increase brand loyalty. By providing companies the ability to talk directly to your customers, you create a relationship and establish trust – something old formats like direct mail or telemarketing never accomplished. Maximize the power of social media for your company! Want to get started but need help? Fallston Group has created “A Guide to Social” with quick tips for preparing, posting and promoting your content on social media! Download your free guide today or contact Fallston Group directly.
5 THINGS EVERY BUSINESS MUST KNOW ABOUT FACEBOOK.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site with 1.9 billion monthly users and 75% of users spending 20 minutes or more on Facebook daily. The platform allows users to post photos, share recommendations, send messages and stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues. Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook’s primary purpose is to serve the user in a social vs. professional setting. But many companies have recognized, particularly in the Business-To-Consumer space, that Facebook can provide valuable marketing tools to reach consumers and their friends. So, before your company sets out to launch a Facebook presence, Fallston Group wants you to “know what you don’t know”! Create a Company Page. Your company page should include your logo as the profile picture and an engaging cover photo. Be sure these images are properly sized and engaging to your target audience. Since dimensions and guidelines tend to change, refer to Fallston Group’s “A Guide to Social Media” for the latest information. Carefully Assign Page Roles. You’ll want to protect your brand by ensuring the people posting as your brand have the proper assignments and training to carry out the task. You can assign Facebook Business Page roles to the employees who have responsibility for communicating with your audience. Add an Appropriate Call-to-Action (CTA) Button. This tool allows you to drive traffic from Facebook to another destination such as your website, a targeted landing page, etc. You’ll want to carefully strategize about the best ways to utilize this feature. Perhaps you simply want to drive traffic to your website – a “Learn More” button will be adequate. But, if you’re trying to promote an event, you may consider changing the background image and creating a CTA like “Sign Up” or “Reserve My Seat” – customized with a landing page for registration. Incorporate Video. When you consider that 85% of the US audience watches videos online and that 1/3 of online activity is spent watching videos, you realize just how important videos are to your company, your brand, engagement with your target audience and ultimately sales! Be sure you have and post video content – and be certain that it’s conveying valuable information! Plan Your Postings. Unless you have someone dedicated to the task, many companies struggle with what to post and how often. Too little can create doubt in the brand, company or products. Too much can cause people to unfollow you. So, strategically plan your postings and content with the help of a social media calendar. Don’t have someone on staff? Contact Fallston Group today! Want to kick off your Facebook presence the right way? Fallston Group has created “A Guide to Social” with quick tips for preparing, posting and promoting your content on social media! Download your free guide today or contact Fallston Group directly.
4 TIPS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR COMPANY’S PRESENCE ON LINKEDIN
Linkedin Presence LinkedIn is the preferred social media platform for businesses, their employees and professionals across a variety of industries who want to connect and network. As a matter of fact, it is the largest professional networking platform. It is also a primary tool for businesses to recruit talent and for job seekers to find openings. Much like a website, it is a place where potential clients and existing customers will follow you. So, it makes perfect sense that any company would want to establish their presence on this vast network. But, before you begin, Fallston Group wants you to know the 4 things you need to know to get started on LinkedIn. Company Page. Make it interesting. Include your company logo, a cover image and content that is SEO-friendly along with images that will help engage visitors. Include keywords in your company description that describe your business, industry, niche offerings and areas of expertise. The more complete your company page and profile, the more likely you are to be found and followed. Banner Image. The banner image is another great way to promote your brand and create engagement. Best practices are to choose an image that has the same branding and elements as your website. Include your URL and main phone number in the banner image; even though they are shown in other places, it will keep them prominent and visible to visitors. Adding a call to action or hashtag can also improve your engagement factor. Publish Platform. The publishing platform on Linkedin is often underutilized. Yet, it provides a great opportunity to position your company as a knowledgeable resource in your industry. It can also be a great lead generator! Content should revolve around company news, thought leadership or innovative ideas for your industry. Start by creating an editorial calendar. Articles can be assigned amongst your team, or an agency like Fallston Group can assist you with content development. Encourage individual employees to share your post through your personal account to gain traffic toward your page. Showcase Pages. Think of these pages as a way to spotlight a business unit, an upcoming event or another initiative. These are stand-alone pages specifically geared towards a targeted audience, so make them stand out with targeted information and visuals! For the company who is just getting their feet wet on LinkedIn, Fallston Group has created “A Guide to Social” with quick tips for preparing, posting and promoting your content on social media! Download your free guide today or contact Fallston Group directly.
Can You Spot Fake News?
By Kathy Walsh, Director of Marketing Recently I attended the Public Relations Society of America’s International Conference in Boston and one of the sessions I attended focused on the topic of fake news. This post highlights some key takeaways shared by co-presenters Lisa Arledge Powell of Ohio-based MediaSource and Robert Mackle, Director of Media Relations for OSU’s Wexner Medical Center—but first, let’s take a look at what “fake news” truly means and why the term has become so popular. Fake news extends far beyond traditional media outlets such as newspapers and television. Today, more people than ever are getting their “news” from social media or social sharing sites where the sources are far harder to identify, verify and control. Fake news can be categorized as the following: Satire that is being misinterpreted as real news. Bait and click headlines that don’t reflect the facts. Legitimate mistakes. Intentionally deceptive content. Understanding each of these categories allow you to be 1) a more informed consumer of news, 2) a better resource to your followers by only sharing legitimate content and 3) more savvy in how you react and respond to any fake news surrounding your company or brand. One example the PRSA session presenters highlighted was a recent fake news story alleging that Budweiser was pulling its NFL sponsorship in light of the National Anthem controversy. Rather than denying the reports, Budweiser recognized an opportunity to engage with its audience and ask them directly whether the company should continue to support the NFL. The company set up a hotline for fans to voice concerns, and ultimately, based on fan feedback, decided to retain its sponsorship deal. Fear of fake news extends beyond the average news consumer – even today’s journalists are concerned. According to public relations and media software company Cision’s 2017 Global Social Journalism Survey, some 51 percent of respondents feel that fake news is a serious problem in their industry. According to Cision, not only are political reporters concerned, nearly half of those in the journalism profession worry about fake news, particularly those covering business and other industries. So, what can YOU do to be prepared to recognize and respond to fake news? Here are quick tips to help spot what’s real and what’s not: Read more than just the headline, which is designed now more than ever to hook you. Increasingly, some journalists are financially incentivized for the number of readers who click through to read the full article. Assess the legitimacy of the source. One simple tool I learned is “domain authority,” which is used to weight websites in search rankings and is tied to the number of inbound links to the site from other websites. You can find domain authority rankings from 1-100 (with 100 indicating the highest authority) on sites like Moz’s Open Site Explorer. By way of perspective, cnbc.com has a rating of 95 while Bloomberg.ma (set up to confuse people into thinking it’s the real Bloomberg site) has a rating of 1 and the excite247.com site shown above has a rating of 14. Keep an eye out for Facebook’s new context button announced earlier in October and being piloted right now. Users will see an ‘i’ button on articles in their News Feed that, when clicked, will reveal a publisher information panel with information on sources and an option to “follow the publisher’s page, view trending or related articles, and see how that article is being shared on the platform itself.” Use sites like Snopes.com to verify the accuracy of certain statistics, news and other facts. Snopes is one of the oldest and most reputable sites for statistical verification and is always a good place to start. Whether your company or brand is the target of fake news or if you don’t become one, feel free to reach out to me to discuss your concerns. I’ll make sure you have a plan in place to protect your reputational equity you’ve worked so hard to build. Your credibility and public trust depends on it! You can reach me at kathy.walsh@fallstongroup.com or by calling Fallston Group at 410.420.2001.
Kathy Walsh Joins Fallston Group as Director of Marketing
Founder of JigSaw Marketing Solutions will now lead Fallston Group’s strategic communications vertical.
And Ultimately, Your Career
Curt Schilling’s most recent social media tirade cost him his job, and the respect of many. Crisis costs time, money, customers, and careers.
Elizabeth Lauten Resigns following Digital Meltdown
Republican Party staffer Elizabeth Lauten is the latest high profile individual to lose her digital composure via social media in a post directed towards Sasha and Malia Obama.
Social Media: The New Norm for Crisis Management?
Is social media the new norm for crisis management? Take a look at these 11 tips for utilizing social media during critical times.
Reputation: Top Strategic Risk Concern for Companies
A recent study conducted by Forbes Insights on behalf of Deloitte shows company reputation and the fallout from reputational damage as the number one strategic risk for large companies, surpassing business model and economic trend concerns. The driving factor behind this shift in concern is social media.
