Brand communication on social media guides from Edan Gelt today: These are examples that have an obvious mechanism toward the building of trust. Consumers have long memories and acts like this will serve these companies well for years to come. But, there are more subtle examples. In the Philippines, the CEO of the McDonald’s operation in that country created a video. This video details the safety measures McDonald’s is taking to protect both consumers and their staff. This might seem like an obvious approach. However, at the same time other companies are portraying their staff as ‘heroes.’ This approach is being criticized for ignoring the fact that the employees are in as much need of protection as the consumers are. Discover additional details on Eden Gelt.
Enhanced Budget: Word-of-mouth marketing will increase your marketing budget, after all, your customers are doing your marketing for you! Have you ever seen a free Starbucks day online? It is picked up by the media, talked about amongst your target market and goes viral across social platforms. The buzz surrounding free can get millions of impressions for less than a paid ad. The goodwill created by delivering this experience will be tenfold.
Free is one of the most powerful tools available for customer acquisition if done correctly. By offering a free sample, businesses get customers to try a product without putting up a price barrier, while the customer gets a ‘free’ item while not having to gamble a portion of their budget on a product they may not even like. Knowing this, brands should happily eat the costs associated with free. For more social media and brand communication tips – follow Communication Strategist Edan Gelt and her recent blog series – edangelt.com/blog.
When posting, make sure to take advantage of the hashtags (Instagram allows for a maximum of 30 and I recommend you use each one to create a wider reach on your post) but each hashtag must be relevant to your brand and niche so it lands with the correct audience. Each social media post should always have a call to action, regardless of what platform you are using. This means you should ask your audience to share, comment or vote. The more engagement a post has the more likely the platform’s algorithm will kick in and allow you to gain a wider reach to new audiences with similar interests. See additional information on Eden Gelt.
Real Estate agent? Take your clients on a virtual ride with you through the streets of a neighborhood and talk about why you’re the area expert. You can touch on school district borders, housing market stats, or even the current night-life. Virtual open-houses have become highly popular during the pandemic so show your clients a listing. You can even have your clients play a game of car-pool karaoke on your next showing and let your playful personality shine through. Testimonials live from clients would also be a great feature.
There is no doubt about it, 2020 is perhaps the most difficult year any of us has had to face. This year is also challenging for many of the world’s top brands. Top brands are now being forced to rethink their communication strategies. These leading brand strategies are now focused on communicating in trust, taking responsibility, having direct interaction and effectively communicating to consumers all while remaining empathic and positive.
Engage: It is no longer enough to just have a social media page and presence; you need to jump into your customers’ conversations and understand what they value and give it to them. Create a concise social media strategy and curate your content, including company updates and trends, to maximize engagement on your platforms to establish yourself as an industry leader. Use specific hashtags and maybe even develop your own hashtag to group your content and make it easier for people to find.
There are several ways to effectively ask your clients to give you reviews. You can politely ask by weaving it into your closing. Adding links in your email signature to sites you wish to have reviews on is effective and professional. You can ask in all correspondence and on social media by sharing a link set up in GMB. When you receive reviews, interact and respond within a timely manner. By responding quickly and skillfully, it shows your customers and those potential customers who are researching you online before making that initial interaction that your business values client feedback. Positive reviews and responses are going to have a positive effect on potential customers when researching your business. Reviews and responses also increase your business’s visibility in search results. Read more details on Eden Gelt.
Entertainment venue? Share the experience. Make your client’s hearts race or minds open. Give them a first-hand glimpse of riding a water slide or snippets of an attraction, show or new game. Let them feel the excitement of your brand. During the pandemic guests may be cautious to return – show them what you’re doing to keep them safe. Consultant? Give out free tips and tricks, a how to guide or case studies – have you seen my Edan Gelt vlog yet? I not only recommend vlogging, I also practice it.
Emails with video have a much higher click-through rate than those that don’t. If you share your video in email, ensure the word “video” is in the subject line; this boosts open rates by 19% and reduces unsubscribes by 26% (Hubspot). YouTube is one of the largest social media platforms but to use this platform correctly, you need to engage visitors and build a community by being consistent in your uploads. This means posting at least two videos a month at minimum. But, sometimes that isn’t enough. In order to be ranked, your video title and description also need to contain your keywords (no different than a blog). Your description must also contain the URL where a visitor can learn more information, and your phone number. Finally, adding tags relating to the subject will attract new viewers.