The Internet revolution has changed everything about the way people observe and consume the information around them. With “Google It” as the automatic response for everything from solving a dinner party debate to self-diagnosing an illness, people are more empowered than ever to get the information they want, exactly when they want it.

Consumers are incredibly informed, armed with peer testimonials, articles, and public reviews. Outbound marketing just isn’t cutting it anymore. Inbound marketing has taken its place, and for good reason. Here are just a few examples of why inbound strategies are better for business, providing substantial, measurable ROI for marketers.

Inbound Marketing Versus Outbound Marketing

First, let’s define the key differences between outbound and inbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing

This holistic marketing strategy is designed to earn (not buy) the customer’s attention. Rather than broadcasting your message aloud to the public, inbound marketing is all about slowly and steadily bringing people to you through quality content. Some of the most effective inbound tactics include:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videos
• White papers
• Social media
• Webinars
• Landing pages
• Search engine optimization (SEO)

By providing value-added content that remains accessible for a long period, brands can earn people’s attention and, ultimately, their loyalty. Better yet, because this opt-in environment often takes place on digital platforms where user interactions can be tracked and measured, the ROI of inbound marketing is much easier to calculate than outbound.

Outbound Marketing

On the other hand, outbound centers on buying advertising space on TV, radio, direct mail, newspapers, billboards, banner ads, and event sponsorships to reach large groups of people who may find the content appealing. This approach typically catches the customer off guard because the ads intrusively present themselves when the consumer is doing something else.

Due to the inability to accurately track how many people saw the content, the ROI of this approach is difficult to measure. Without straightforward data, marketers are typically forced to make assumptions about the impact the advertising has on consumer purchasing decisions.

How to Calculate the ROI of Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing can be a game-changer for your business, but how do you know if it’s worth the investment?

First things first, let’s define ROI. ROI stands for return on investment and is a metric used to calculate the profitability of an investment relative to its cost. In the case of inbound marketing, ROI measures the effectiveness of your efforts in generating leads, converting customers, and ultimately driving revenue.

To calculate the ROI of inbound marketing, you’ll need to crunch some numbers. Here’s a simple step-by-step process to get you started:

1. Set clear goals. Before diving into calculations, identify your objectives. Whether it’s increasing website traffic, boosting lead generation, or improving sales, having specific goals will guide your analysis.
2. Track costs. Determine all the costs associated with your inbound marketing campaign. This includes expenses for content creation, social media management, email marketing tools, and any other resources you use.
3. Monitor metrics. Keep a close eye on relevant metrics such as website visits, conversion rates, email open rates, and social media engagement. These metrics provide insights into the effectiveness of your inbound strategies.
4. Calculate revenue generated. This includes all the revenue that can be attributed to your inbound marketing efforts. Think sales from leads generated through your blog posts, social media campaigns, or email newsletters. It can also help to assign a monetary value to each conversion, depending on the specific inbound tactic used.
5. Compute ROI. Once you have the numbers, it’s time to calculate. Subtract the total costs from the total revenue generated, then divide that number by the total costs and multiply by 100 to get your ROI percentage.

Here’s the formula: ROI = ((Revenue – Cost) / Cost) x 100.

If your ROI is positive, that’s a good sign! Your inbound marketing efforts are profitable. If it’s negative, take the opportunity to analyze what’s not working and make adjustments accordingly.

Remember, calculating the ROI of inbound marketing isn’t a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and adaptation. Approach inbound marketing as a marathon, not a sprint. Be patient and stay focused on providing value to your audience.

Why Inbound Marketing Wins

As consumer experiences become increasingly personalized and curated, the argument for inbound marketing grows stronger by the day. Here are three reasons why it’s such an effective approach in modern marketing.

1. It Strengthens Brand Messaging

In the digital era, quickly telling people what they want or need is no longer effective. A much stronger approach is to carefully craft a message that speaks directly to the consumer, sparking intrigue so that they pay attention by choice and not coincidence or chance.

Instead of having only 30 seconds to share your message, inbound marketing tactics focus on creating quality, long-form content that people can consume at their convenience. This allows you to dive deeper into your brand’s story, showcasing its values, mission, and unique selling points.

Whether it’s through engaging blog posts, informative videos, or fun podcasts, inbound marketing offers a richer experience to potential customers. It’s like having a never-ending conversation with your audience, where every interaction reinforces your brand’s message and builds lasting relationships.

2. It’s Measurable

Another great advantage of inbound marketing is that every action can be tracked, measured, and analyzed. This real-time data enables marketers to assess the current environment, keep a watchful eye on competitors, and determine whether or not target audiences are responding to their efforts.

Today’s marketers have an arsenal of tools to measure every click, scroll, and conversion. Website analytics platforms like Google Analytics let you observe the behavior of visitors on your website, from how long they stay to the actions they take. Email analytics services such as Mailchimp provide insights into open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber behavior.

Of course, we can’t forget about social analytics. Platforms like Rival IQ offer valuable insights into your social media performance. With our comprehensive dashboard of data, you can analyze which posts sparked the most engagement, see how your performance stacks up against competitors, and fine-tune your social strategy for maximum impact.

With these tools at your disposal, every piece of content you create becomes a valuable data point. Whether it’s a social media post, blog, podcast, or another digital outlet, you can dissect and drill down into exactly what works and what doesn’t.

Start analyzing your social media with a free Rival IQ trial.

Get my free trial

3. It’s Actionable

Finally, one of the most valuable aspects of inbound marketing is its actionable data, which reveals customer behaviors that you can carefully monitor to better understand the customer psyche.

When someone lands on your website, what do they do first? Do they click on the CTA button you want them to notice, or do they bypass it altogether? Do you see a surge of clicks to your “About Me” section? If so, that may indicate there isn’t enough descriptive information on your homepage. Continuously tracking actions prompted by your inbound efforts provides you with a wealth of information and insights.

This actionable approach sets inbound marketing apart from its outbound counterpart. Unlike outbound tactics, where marketers essentially put content into the world and hope for the best, inbound marketing allows teams to make real-time changes based on audience feedback and changing trends. Digital platforms enable quick thinking and adaptability — if something isn’t working, you can quickly tweak your approach.

Wrapping It Up

In today’s world, the ability to listen and swiftly respond to consumer signals sets smart inbound marketers apart from the pack. Do these examples align with your experience? Have you found inbound marketing to be measurable and actionable, delivering high ROI for your brand? We’d love to know — please tell us about your experiences in the comments.

This post was originally published in 2016 and has since been updated.

The post What is the ROI of Inbound Marketing? appeared first on Rival IQ.

Instead of just referring to a textbook definition, start by thinking about why you personally become brand loyal. For me, it usually boils down to good experiences, product and service reliability, quality, and monetary perks.

As you can imagine, a love affair with any brand doesn’t happen overnight. Earning brand loyalty requires consistency and repetition over time. With so many great opportunities to interact with the public, social media is a natural platform to cultivate and foster these deep relationships.

With billions of users scrolling through feeds daily, engaging with your audience on social is a great way to establish a consistent and positive presence in their lives. This, in turn, establishes a foundation for loyalty and even advocacy. In fact, 71% of consumers are inclined to recommend brands to their friends and family after having a positive experience with those brands on social media platforms.

Here are a few suggestions to optimize your communication strategies to build strong brand loyalty among existing and prospective customers.

Offer Stellar Customer Service via Social

According to recent research, 83% of American consumers consider “good customer service” the most important factor in brand loyalty. Even more, 63% of consumers believe that their loyalty to a brand is significantly impacted by the quality of customer support they receive on social media.

With the internet at their fingertips, people want to solve problems and find answers to their questions on their own terms. In turn, social media, which has become a familiar and accessible space for most, is now seen as a quick and efficient way to get brands’ attention. Capitalize on this demand for convenience by ensuring your brand is easily accessible for online customer service.

• Be responsive. Make it a policy to respond to messages and comments within a specific period of time. A good rule of thumb is to respond within the hour during business hours, and first thing in the morning for messages sent after hours.
• Set expectations. In your page descriptions and bios, mention your virtual hours of operation so users know when to expect a response. There’s nothing more frustrating than asking for help and having to wait nine hours to receive it. However, if the expectation is set that responses will be sent by a certain time, most users will understand and have a lower tendency to get worked up. (I said most… there are always exceptions!)
• Automate. If you’d like to provide round-the-clock assistance and guidance but still have a life, enable the chatbot feature on your Facebook Page and website. As chatbots become widely used by large retailers, customers are growing accustomed to this immediate access.
• Enable your team. Make sure you have a decision-maker on the communications team who has the power to actually make change. If this person doesn’t sit on your team, at least make sure they are available to weigh in on problems and requests in a timely manner. The last thing you want is to offer support to your customers, only to not be able to provide adequate solutions and perks to guarantee a positive outcome.
• Take inquiries seriously. On a similar note, treat social media inquiries with the same level of urgency and respect as you would with any other customer service forum. I once worked with an electricity provider that used the same escalation process to handle social media complaints as they did for calls from media. In other words, they understood that the viral power of a problem shared online is as, if not more, powerful than an exposé on the evening news.

Provide Helpful, Value-Add Information for some Brand Loyalty Oomph

Since content is king, we talk a lot about content marketing. In addition to brainstorming fun, creative ideas for your editorial calendar, it’s arguably more important to deliver information and resources that benefit your target audience.

Strive to be one step ahead of the customer by predicting their wants and needs and answering questions before they can be asked. The best brands use annual traditions, current events, and pop culture moments to anticipate what will soon be on shoppers’ minds. From there, they share suggestions, links, information, and more that address whom to listen to, what people want, when to engage, where to find something, how to do it, and why it’s important.

Club Med, one of the top hotel brands on social media, does an excellent job of doing this. With TikToks on “Bali travel tips” and “Marrakech must try experiences,” the brand creates content that provides value for its audience, encouraging users to save the videos and return to their page for more helpful information.

Reward the Regulars

Nothing fuels loyalty quite like being rewarded for it. A whopping 70% of American consumers are loyal to brands that offer loyalty programs or rewards and, globally, 75% of consumers claimed they’d make the switch to a different brand if it promised better rewards.

In the long list of reasons why I love Nordstrom, the Nordstrom Note rewards program is number one. Brand cardholders earn one point for every dollar spent in stores or online at Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack. Periodically, customers can rack up the points when bonus points days are offered throughout the year. For every 2,000 points earned, a $20 Nordstrom Note is offered to spend on anything at Nordstrom.

Sign. Me. Up. When a store sells merchandise that speaks my love language (fashion, beauty, home, and more) and they want to give me free money for shopping with them, it’s an absolute no-brainer. By tapping into human psychology with this rewards program, Nordstrom always gives me a reason to shop often online and in their stores.

Rewarding loyal customers can also extend beyond traditional loyalty programs into the world of social media. Consider using your socials as an avenue for exclusive promotions and giveaways. You could host a special giveaway exclusively for your followers, encouraging them to participate by sharing their experiences, tagging friends, or using a dedicated hashtag. This not only generates buzz but also rewards loyal customers with a chance to win exciting prizes.

For instance, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream used social to engage the loyal customers who showed up to their in-person celebration, offering them a chance to win a $100 gift card simply by posting a photo of them enjoying their ice cream.

By organizing giveaways that encourage users to like, share, and tag friends, brands not only increase their online visibility but also strengthen their connection with existing customers.

If you think you can’t offer attractive benefits like these major brands, think again. On Tuesdays, my local pizza place offers $3 off each pizza when customers use the brand’s app to place the order. Whether offering a free appetizer in exchange for a social media check-in, or a percentage off products and services after filling out a punch card, be creative about what you can offer your customers.

Use Social Listening to Measure Brand Loyalty

When it comes to using social media, go beyond just content creation and also actively listen to your audience. Social listening, which involves monitoring online conversations to understand how consumers perceive and engage with the brand, can be a valuable tool for gauging and enhancing brand loyalty.

For example, by analyzing the sentiment expressed in user comments, mentions, and reviews, you get an insightful look into how your audience perceives and feels about you. Positive sentiment not only suggests quality content and satisfied customers but also serves as a good indicator of strong brand loyalty.

Consider the brand we featured earlier, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. Through Rival IQ’s social listening dashboard, we can see that 641 posts mentioned the brand in the last 30 days. What’s even more significant is that sentiment analysis revealed that all of these mentions were positive. This not only highlights the brand’s popularity but also serves as a great example of how social listening can be instrumental in validating and measuring reputation and loyalty.

Another helpful metric is “share of voice,” which quantifies a brand’s presence in online conversations relative to its competitors. A higher share of voice indicates that you’re dominating discussions within your industry, potentially signaling a more engaged and loyal audience.

Ultimately, social media is a powerful tool not just for broadcasting messages but for actively listening. Use it right and you can forge lasting connections with your audience, resulting in increased brand loyalty and a stronger overall customer base.

Start listening with Rival IQ.

Get my free trial

Do you have insights about why your customers are loyal to your brand? How has your social media presence increased momentum? We’d love to hear about your success, so please be in touch on Facebook or Twitter!

This post was originally published in 2018 and has since been updated.

The post How to Earn Brand Loyalty Via Social Media appeared first on Rival IQ.

Thanks to Facebook’s powerful targeting capabilities, marketers can instantly reach current and prospective customers. From basic demographics to specific interests, there are endless possibilities to connect with the audiences that matter most to your brand.

The question becomes, who are you targeting, and what’s the rationale behind it? Here are a few tips to keep in mind when developing an effective Facebook advertising strategy.

Set Goals For Your Facebook Ads Campaigns

Before you dive into the deep end, it’s important to define your Facebook advertising goals and ensure they align with your overarching business goals.

Even if you create the best ad in the world, it won’t do you any good if you don’t serve it to the right people. The campaign purpose you select will dictate your targeting approach.

For instance, if you want to increase likes and brand awareness, you may want to cast a wide net using targeting criteria, such as location, age range, and gender. On the other hand, a more precise purpose, like increasing membership registration, often requires targeting a tighter, niche audience to generate more valuable leads. Narrowing criteria may include tactics like zip code targeting, interests, and users who follow particular groups.

Luckily, Facebook Ads Manager makes this easy for you. The platform caters to six different objectives for your campaign, which you can easily choose right at the start of your ad creation process.

Define Your Core Audience

Before you can begin targeting, though, you need to first define your ideal customer.

Start by asking yourself: who are the people I’m trying to attract to my brand? Using basic demographics, like age range, gender, race, geographic location, income level, education level, economic status, interests, and more, begin shaping the profile(s) of your target audience.

Create Persona Profiles

Then, use basic demographics to construct a more specific persona profile. For the purposes of this guide, let’s create two hypothetical profiles: one for a fictional company and one for their ideal target customer, or persona.

Company Profile

Brand: “The Future is Fitness”
Fictional Company: “The Future is Fitness,” a women’s only gym in Portland, Oregon that primarily teaches body resistance training and yoga.
Profile: The gym prides itself on being environmentally conscious and hires trainers with exclusive credentials, resulting in a steep monthly price tag.
Goal: Double membership in the first quarter
Advertising Strategy: Locate adult females in the greater Portland metro area looking to lose weight and tone their bodies. Encourage them to sign up for a trial membership.

Persona Profile

Target Customer: “Jane”
Basics: Jane, aged 45, is a single mother of two (one in middle school, one in high school).
Profile: When she has free time outside of her desk job as a software engineer, she loves to contribute to her community garden, go on local hikes, volunteer at the schools, cook new recipes, and gather with girlfriends for wine night or book club.

Why Jane? Jane’s profession suggests she may have the right income to justify a monthly gym membership expense. Her hobbies indicate she is social and enjoys a balanced lifestyle, open to physical activity as well as enjoying food and drink. These are qualities that may make a women’s only gym appealing to Jane. Advertising content encouraging a free trial in her area that aligns with her interests may inspire her to click and sign up.

Jane’s persona may seem oddly specific, but profile development is a best practice many successful brands use. While not every target customer will exactly match “Jane,” this exercise helps marketers think about a living, breathing person on the other end of the ad, rather than just a list of qualities. Persona profiles help steer companies like “TFF” in the right direction to target people who align with the brand’s values and indicate high revenue potential for the brand. Don’t forget that you can create more than one persona profile if appropriate for your target demographic.

Take A Detailed Targeting Approach

Facebook has the most sophisticated targeting tools on the market. It’s a great place to discover and reach new audiences with your message. Keep your “Jane” persona in mind as you experiment with interest-based targeting.

Start by putting yourself in Jane’s shoes. Think about all of the specifics we created in her profile, and consider what she might talk about or “like” while using Facebook. Self-reported data, such as Jane identifying as a woman in her profile, and the content of her status updates and comments all contribute to Facebook’s interest data about Jane.

Just because she may want to get physically fit doesn’t mean Jane will actively talk about it online with family and friends. This missing data point means that she wouldn’t likely be shown TFF’s ads if they only targeted women in Portland who are interested in weight loss. However, if you creatively think about the other topics she may be writing about or subscribing to on Facebook, like raising children or gardening, TFF may be able to serve her the ad if they target women in Portland with similar interests to hers.

Use Personas to Set Up Your Facebook Campaigns

With your target persona(s) in mind, it’s time to create your audience in Meta Ads Manager. Start with the basic demographic information, such as location, age, and gender of your persona. Facebook recommends starting with those broad details to ensure your audience size is large enough — between two and 10 million people — for optimal results.

From there, you can get more detailed about the traits you want your audience to have. This could be anything from their interests and occupation to their education level and relationship status. Use your persona to guide you but also be sure to keep an eye on Facebook’s audience meter. This will let you know whether your audience is too narrow, too broad, or just right.

Don’t hesitate to create multiple audiences and campaigns. This strategy may seem like a long stretch at first, but by keeping tabs on which audience segments are responding to your ads, you can adjust ad spend and shut off underperforming audience segments. After you list out the demographic information for your target audience (location, gender, age, language), try creating different Facebook audience segments based on interests.

As an example, for Jane’s persona, try creating an ad set that targets each of the persona’s interests:

1. Gardening
2. Volunteering and/or Community Issues
3. Wine

By creating an ad set for each of these interests, you can learn if gardeners are more expensive to target, more or less engaged, or more likely to convert than wine enthusiasts and volunteers. It allows you to adjust how you’re targeting gardeners to get a better response or turn off that segment of the campaign altogether.

When you use one target audience that includes all three interest groups, over time Facebook’s algorithm will figure out which segments are most likely to achieve your objective (you set the objective when you create an ad) and only show your ad to that group. Facebook will ‘optimize out’ some of your interest groups and assigned demographics. Optimization is ideal for conversion, but it doesn’t allow you to learn if a segment, or interest group, say, gardeners, is a segment of the market you should focus your advertising on. Since this optimization is working behind the curtain, it prevents you from making critical testing decisions, like testing new ads to increase the engagement of gardeners or cutting them out altogether.

Create Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences

In addition to being able to refine your audience by demographics, location, and interest, Facebook also offers two additional targeting features that take your current leads or customers into account: Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences.

With Custom Audiences, you can reconnect and engage with those who have previously shown interest in your business. This is done by connecting or uploading a specific data source to find that existing audience on Facebook, allowing you to target and show ads to:

• Website visitors
• App users
• Users on your customer list
• Users who have engaged with your profiles and content

This feature is incredibly powerful for nurturing leads and building loyalty. By engaging with your existing customers or visitors on their preferred social media platforms, you not only strengthen your brand’s presence but also uncover opportunities to increase order frequency, improve customer lifetime value, and inspire greater loyalty.

Once you’ve got a solid Custom Audience strategy down, try creating a Lookalike Audience. This is a feature in which Facebook analyzes your Custom Audience to create a new audience that resembles those Facebook users who have already shown an interest in your business. This process takes six to 24 hours, with the Lookalike Audience refreshing every three to seven days to keep up with any changes to your custom audience.

Craft Content for Your Target Customer

Deeply developed persona profiles help you create content that resonates with your target demographic. There are plenty of advertising mistakes that beginners make and missing the mark on content is a big one.

As you write copy and develop visuals for your target audience, create content that speaks directly to Jane (and others just like her). For example, if TFF targeted Jane by sending the ad to women who love hiking, smart ad content may mention getting fit in the gym to prepare for a challenging local hike. Critical thinking about creating a message for ‘Jane’ will make the content more relevant and increase the chance that she’ll engage with TFF.

For instance, while the two brands below both sell workout equipment, their ad copy and visuals are different. Clearly, their target audiences differ, as well, with Aviron focusing on people who struggle with staying engaged with their workouts and NordicTrack targeting those who value unique and personalized experiences.

As always, testing ad variations and optimizing the top-performing one for each character profile is the most effective method to get the biggest bang for your buck. Don’t be afraid to try different creative, images, and targeting to see which combinations perform best. A comprehensive approach and A/B testing help you determine which combinations people respond to best and produce results.

Improve Results With Ad Relevance Diagnostics

If you want to improve underperforming ads, reviewing Facebook’s ad relevance diagnostics can be a big help. The idea here is that the more relevant an ad’s content is to its audience, the better it will perform. By reviewing your ad relevance diagnostics, you can determine whether a poorly performing ad can be improved by adjusting the quality of the creative, the post-click experience, or your audience targeting.

With this diagnostic, Facebook reports your performance in three areas:

• Quality ranking
• Engagement rate ranking
• Conversion rate ranking

So, for instance, your ad might receive an average or above average score in quality and conversion rate ranking, but below average in engagement rate. According to Facebook’s nifty chart for interpreting these results, this would mean that the ad isn’t generating interest. Their recommendation for better results? To improve the ad’s relevance to your audience or by targeting an audience that would be more receptive to your ad.

All in all, don’t get discouraged if you’re not meeting your advertising objectives. Using Facebook ad targeting and diagnostics features is a great way to create targeted ads that appeal to your audience personas and optimize your campaigns to get the results you want.

Have you created a target audience persona profile for your ideal customer(s) and had great success with Facebook ads? Or, has a company ever effectively targeted you as a customer? We’d love it if you shared your experiences in the comments.

This post was originally published in 2017 and has since been updated.

The post Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ads Targeting appeared first on Rival IQ.

With the explosion of apps like TikTok and a shift to creating video-first content, companies have realized that social media is no longer a one-man show; it is a team effort backed by an integrated social strategy.

Unfortunately, some brands still struggle to build the right social media team for the job. Here are the main social media roles companies need to reach followers successfully and develop a dedicated fan base.

Social Media Team Roles

Social Media Manager as Editor/Strategist

Like a newspaper editor, the social media manager, or social media team lead, thinks about the audience first and the brand second. This person is intimately familiar with their existing fan base, as well as the type of people the brand aspires to reach. They stay on top of newsworthy trending topics and the industry at large to determine how to best tailor content to their target audience. The social media manager knows that the more value the audience receives, the more engagement the brand will create, which in turn increases overall brand awareness and reach.

The social media manager:

• Defines the overall social media strategy for the brand
• Establishes direction for storytelling
• Understands the social platforms and the algorithms that impact them
• Is a news aggregator
• Develops and prioritizes the editorial calendar
• Ensures consistency and continuation of thematic content
• Has a solid sense of timing and controls the flow of outbound content
• Has a pulse on the community and can determine what content will be of value to the brand

Community Manager/Engagement Specialist

Another role that can be covered by the social media manager, or shouldered by another team member, is the community manager. This person monitors conversations about the brand on social channels and responds according to moderation guidelines set by the social media team. The community manager or engagement specialist is typically well-versed in the sentiment of the community and can often gauge the reception of content posted to the accounts. Efforts of the community engagement specialist complement those of the social data analyst (see below).

Content Strategist

The content strategist is the resident messaging expert, ensuring key pieces of information are reinforced in every outgoing communication. By prioritizing big-picture strategy and developing unique angles, content specialists are especially skilled at creating thematic approaches to content creation. This person serves as a fresh set of eyes, especially for the community manager, who is often distracted by his or her additional daily responsibilities.

Content Creator

Content creators are the people who make your website and social media come alive. They’re responsible for creating content across your digital channels. Content creators can create various materials, ranging from blogs, news reports, and videos to podcasts, social media posts, and TikToks. And with the average person now spending almost 7 hours per day online—and more than half of that time on social media—the importance of getting content right has never been greater. With the explosion of social channels, larger companies might even choose to have a dedicated creator for each social channel, especially for creator-heavy platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

Copywriter

Some social media teams may choose to delegate copywriting duties to one person who is more creative, a stronger writer, or just has a knack for accurately reflecting the tone and personality of the brand. Copywriters often partner with art directors and graphic designers to develop creative assets for print and the web, and can easily pivot those skills to social. This position can be given to a salaried employee or outsourced to a trusted freelancer or contractor.

Paid Social Media Specialist

With organic reach dwindling on most social platforms, the role of a paid social media specialist complements the content creation efforts of the digital team. The paid media specialist has a clear understanding of how each ad network functions, what types of campaigns excel on those platforms, the budget necessary to accomplish your goals, and the metrics to measure advertising ROI. The paid media specialist works with the copywriter and graphic designers to build advertising campaigns that contribute to the overall business goal.

Social Data Analyst

The social media team analyst is charged with extracting insights from data and analytics pertaining to owned channels and the competitive landscape across the board. This person provides the team with valuable information about what is working well while also citing areas for improvement. The analyst owns the measurement program for the social media initiative, establishing benchmarks and tracking success over time. This specialist produces regular reports for social and executive leadership team review and awareness.

Interactive Art Director

When creative asset needs arise, such as graphics and videos, the social media team turns to the interactive art director. Art directors can operate independently or lead a team of graphic designers to create compelling imagery to visually communicate key messages. This person often has web development skills, used to navigate the increasingly technical aspects that often come with social media development or integration with other web properties.

Public Relations Partner

While not necessarily always engaged in daily social media operations, the public relations partner steps in to assist when a crisis occurs to threaten the reputation of the brand. That means if a controversy begins spreading online, the public relations expert partners with the social media team to develop and implement a consistent, on-message narrative across all company communication channels until the crisis dies down.

Subject Matter Experts

Sometimes something small like a customer service question, or something big like a campaign targeted to a specific demographic, requires specialized subject matter expertise. These subject matter experts serve as an on-call resource for the social media team when the needs arise. These experts provide information from key divisions of the company, such as customer relations, product or service groups, corporate communications, and the legal team. By bringing their knowledge to the table, the social team ensures message development is accurate, factual, and sound before issuing a public response. Especially within bigger business units, subject matter experts are also responsible for initiating the escalation process further up the chain of command, if needed.

Start analyzing your brand’s social with a free Rival IQ trial.

Get my free trial

In Summary

When budgets are tight, the idea of creating more positions to support social may seem impossible. If that sounds familiar, keep this in mind: you can reduce the total number of roles by giving individual contributors multiple responsibilities. A word of caution: if you choose this route, ensure each person has the right skill sets required to meet and exceed all objectives without burning out. If you determine more staffers are needed, but the budget just isn’t there, an alternative option is to outsource specific work to trusted freelancers and contractors.

No matter how you decide to structure your social media team, make sure these essential areas of expertise are reflected in your roster. By establishing official roles and responsibilities up front, your brand will be set up for social media success in the long run.

This post was originally published in 2019 and has since been updated.

The post Essential Roles for Every Successful Social Media Team appeared first on Rival IQ.

In theory, communicating via Twitter is a simple concept. Write one short message or series of messages, hit publish, monitor, and respond to audience feedback and discussions. Right? Well, if your account represents the thoughts and opinions of one individual, then the answer is probably yes. However, if you are a university that distributes strategic brand messages to multiple audiences, then tweeting just got a lot more complicated.

Twitter is a great way to share updates, breaking news, and industry trends; interact with students, administrators, and thought leaders; and is an excellent recruitment tool. Higher education gets it, coming in hot as the second-most engaging industry on Twitter in our latest Social Media Industry Benchmark Report. Despite the high marks, maintaining a consistent and effective Twitter presence is difficult to do when one-size communication doesn’t fit all.

Prospective and current students, alumni, higher ed professionals, parents, staff members, donors, sports enthusiasts, journalists, and tenured academics are all examples of the diverse, multi-faceted audience for universities. While a certain tone of voice, style, and content will resonate with students on-campus (if Gen Z even uses it), the same approach probably won’t work as well with large donors and academic researchers.

In spite of the enormous challenge, we’re impressed by the top Twitter performers in Higher Education. In the spirit of our Higher Education Social Media Engagement Report, here are a few of our key takeaways and observations from notable universities striking the right balance of tone, content, and mission, and effectively engaging their Twitter followers one tweet at a time.

Utah State University: Demonstrating Support for All on Campus

Named “The #2 Public University in the Nation” by Washington Monthly in 2020, Utah State University (USU) has earned a positive reputation for sharing meaningful global perspectives.

Boasting over 22.4K followers, @USUAggies is the university’s main Twitter account. @USUAggies represents all USU messaging and amplifies content from the multiple niches, university-run accounts, ranging from @CHaSSUSU (1.3K followers) to @USUFootball (53.6K followers). While much of their content is light-hearted and celebratory in nature, the university doesn’t shy away from diving deep and taking a public stand for causes that matter to their students, alumni, and parents (as evidenced by their top-performing Pride-themed tweet last year). Continuing the trend of sharing inclusive messages, USU recently retweeted the USU Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research panel focused on pride and inclusion.

Black History Month and Black Students events on campus, Women in Science, Mental Health Awareness, LGBTQIA+, and carbon neutrality initiatives are just a few other examples of the meaningful topics that USU creates space for on Twitter.

Most recently, the university shared specific content to address the worldwide impact of the Russian-Ukraine war. People everywhere are devastated and humbled by the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, and USU recognizes the news can take a mental health toll on students as well. The university compiled resources and took to Twitter to remind students about available help on-campus.

Additionally, USU tweeted a thought-piece written by an Eastern European USU political science professor sharing her perspective on the conflict. By highlighting her unique point of view as it relates to a timely global event, USU also demonstrates how classroom learning becomes applicable in the real world.

Without question, USU’s intentional efforts to acknowledge current events and provide inclusive perspectives on diverse topics do not go unnoticed. By strategically using its Twitter platform to support meaningful topics, USU demonstrates that its welcoming environment and thoughtful approach extends far beyond the campus perimeters.

Indiana State University: Celebrating Academic Achievements

With 19.1K followers, Indiana State University (ISU) primarily uses Twitter to bring audiences together to celebrate good news. In particular, ISU regularly shares breaking news about new scholarship awards, recognizing hard-working recipients from various high schools across the state. The majority of these announcements feature images of incoming freshmen, which generates excitement across the board for the incoming students, their parents, local high schools, and university alumni alike.

This consistent content contributes to ISU’s tweet frequency, which influences their elevated Twitter engagement rate of 0.81%. With this rate, ISU outperforms the 0.071% industry average. Quality and quantity matter, and spotlighting scholarship recipients is an excellent way to celebrate on a local level, while also maximizing state exposure for the university itself and the vast scholarship opportunities available to prospective students. Better yet, generating excitement about these scholarships might even catch the attention of other donors looking to contribute to more programs.

Abilene Christian University: Staying Rooted in Values and Tradition

Sitting right at 10K followers, Abilene Christian University’s Twitter community is tight-knit and niche. Much of ACU’s content consistently aligns with the university’s main mission: to foster a Christ-centered community and stimulate spiritual and intellectual growth.

One common misconception is that social media messaging should appeal to everyone. Many brands want to play it safe and avoid unintentionally turning audiences away with hyper-specific content. In reality, it’s not possible to please everyone, nor is it the best practice to do so.

At ACU, many of their most popular tweets (earning the most likes and retweets) are biblical quotes paired with pretty campus pictures. Using the hashtag #SundayInspiration, this weekly series is excellent fodder for ACU’s editorial calendar and a great way to use the university’s stockpile of marketing and promotional photographs.

ACU also uses Twitter to promote on-campus events and activities, including the First Praise Day Chapel at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Notably, these types of tweets (and this one in particular) earned a high engagement rate of 2.55% and ranks as the school’s 7th most popular tweet during the last academic year.

Setting the Bar High

From sharing global perspectives to celebrating academic achievements, to staying true to messages that differentiate one university from another; we applaud Utah State University, Indiana State University, and Abilene Christian University for setting the Twitter bar high for Higher Education institutions everywhere.

The post Collegial Connections: 3 Higher Education Institutions Acing the Twitter Game appeared first on Rival IQ.

Major brownie points if you add a competitive context to your social media insights to see where you stand against your rivals in the industry.

Social Media Insights

Social networks are savvier than ever before; providing marketers with platform data to support brand content and customer outreach strategies. Social media managers can analyze information about their content and followers, and combine it with engagement anecdotes to paint a complete picture of customer interactions with the brand. To put it simply, social media insights enable the marketer to intimately understand the people they’re communicating with at any given time.

With Rival IQ you can get social media insights for your brand’s activity on all the major channels—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Analyze how your brand is performing over time and compare it with the competition.

Below, we’ve outlined key areas where social insights can best help marketers reach the right people, say the right thing, and build brand advocates along the way.

Social Posting Optimization

Social media marketers are putting tons of effort into crafting the ultimate tweet or designing the perfect infographic to share on Facebook, but those efforts won’t pay off if no one sees your post or tweet. Figuring out the best times to post on social media (and how often you should post on social media!) is a key component of your social media insights data. This critical piece of posting information will help you increase your reach and engage more of your followers.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but with a little experimentation and a lot of measurement, you’ll be able to optimize social posting for your brand or organization. It’s also important to remember that posting frequency and timing best practices vary widely from channel to channel, so don’t expect to find that what works for your brand on Twitter is the golden rule on Instagram too.

As data geeks, we can’t say enough about how important it is to set up some experiments and then use native analytics or any one of our favorite social media analytics tools to measure, measure, measure until you find the right balance between optimizing engagement and not overwhelming your audience.

Social Advertising

Targeted ads are effective unless you’re “that brand” (don’t be). Without targeting, marketers are simply throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. Why would you guess, when you can know for sure?

By promoting tailored messages to specific user groups, brands increase the likelihood that existing and new audiences will see and engage with content on social media and web properties. Specifically, Facebook and Twitter encourage businesses to micro-target audiences, only advertising to users that fit the user profile defined by the brand. Social media insights will help you best define your target audience. What content has received the highest levels of engagement? How does your audience demographics break down? You may be targeting men over the age of 50 when your core audience members are women between the ages of 21-34. By leveraging social media insights, you can be sure of who you should be reaching and target accordingly.

Note: While micro-targeting is helpful in advertising, too much specificity in the user profile can limit the reach of potential relevant audiences. Brands should carefully select user criteria while casting the widest net possible, testing user response and message effectiveness along the way.

Targeted Calls-to-Action (CTA)

When messages serve the right audiences, engagement increases, including a higher likelihood that the audience will respond to the CTA. When content is relevant to your audience, they’re more likely to respond to the ad’s call-to-action (like, click, sign up, etc.).

Hubspot preaches, “It’s critical to guide your visitors through the buying journey using strategic CTAs.” The best way to effectively guide users is to use insights to determine what messages they like most, inventing messages that are more likely to grab their attention. There are many studies on the psychology of social sharing, and many of these principles apply to creating targeted CTAs, motivating your target customers to respond.

Additionally, here’s a brief checklist that marketers should follow when developing CTAs and the custom-targeting plan:

• Outline the CTA and desired outcome: what are you asking people to do, and what will happen when they do it?
• Define the ideal user profile: who is interested in this topic, and who will be motivated to act and respond?
• Identify motivations: what drives this target user? What is it going to take to get them to pay attention, and act?

For all of these to-dos, marketers should take a look at previous social media posts about the topic and see who responded and why. Use these insights to repurpose or refine previously used strategies, and apply them to the advertising campaign. For example, if you’ve asked customers to sign up for your beauty insider newsletter on a regular Facebook or blog post, evaluate the original, organic response you received. Analyze the content and dissect what people liked most based on public feedback and user actions. Find what worked and repeat those steps for your ad campaign.

Email Marketing

Gone are the days of sending mass emails with the same message to your entire email list. When people opt-in for brand emails, they expect content that will be relevant to them. Today, you can closely track consumers’ behaviors and actions online to determine who they are, what they want, and craft a message tailored just for them.

For example, marketers can track products that different groups of customers have viewed, and send a particular email to that customer type. This practice is known as “retargeting” or “remarketing,” and helps brands stay top of mind for consumers who have visited a website but bounced off before making a purchase. Using cookies and Javascript code, brands can anonymously ‘follow’ audiences to other sites they visit (also known as, running ads featuring that great pair of shoes the consumer put in their cart and almost bought). According to ReTargeter, for most websites, only 2% of web traffic converts on the first visit. Retargeting is a tool designed to help companies reach the 98% of users who don’t convert right away.

A word of caution: many users are uncomfortable with the practice, believing it to be a little too “big brother” for their taste. It’s important that marketers keep privacy concerns in mind and err on the side of personalization rather than unwanted surveillance. To stay on the safe side, always keep context in mind. Use the insights gleaned from social to have a firm grasp of who your audience is and what they want to know from you. By doing so, you will create emails worth reading, leading to higher open rates and an increase in brand loyalty. With any campaign, remember to review and implement email best practices.

Competitive Social Media Insights

Marketers are all too familiar with downloading social media insights from the platform that they use. The biggest downside (aside from downloading excel sheets with a gazillion tabs) to solely studying one’s native data is that you have no benchmarks to compare your performance to. Harried that you’ve been missing a big piece of the insights puzzle? Fear not— our Social Media Industry Benchmark Report will help you truly answer the question, “How am I really doing on social?”

Free social media competitive analysis template

Download now

Armed with automated insights and competitive benchmarking, marketers are better equipped to fine-tune content strategies and targeting for several components of their brand campaigns.

How has social media added value to your brand marketing strategies? We’d love to hear your stories, so please feel free to drop us a line on Twitter.

This blog was originally posted on November 08, 2016, and has since been updated.

The post Social Media Insights are Key to Reaching the Right People appeared first on Rival IQ.

He’s laughing again. I glance up to see my husband lounging on the couch, phone in hand, chuckling to himself as he scrolls, scrolls, and scrolls some more. This has become somewhat of a nightly ritual at the end of each day, catching up on his favorite Twitter accounts and sorting through pages of humorous threads and replies. While he almost certainly runs across informative, educational, or thought-provoking tweets, I rarely hear about them. However, he’s always eager to share the funny ones with me.

He’s far from alone. As society’s content expectations continue to evolve, people are turning to social media for comedic relief, and the demand for quirky, off-the-wall humor is on the rise. Many brands in the fast food industry are embracing good old-fashioned roasting to stay relevant, and top of mind among consumers, particularly the typically hard to impress Gen Z. Originally reserved for improvisational comedians, fast food restaurants are now roasting competitors and consumers in the form of quick-witted comebacks and sassy responses, and no one does it better than the self-proclaimed “First Lady of Fast Food,” Wendy herself.

Check out Wendy’s recent sizzling tweets on Twitter’s Best of National Roast Day 2022 list and see how the brand interacts fearlessly on social.

Wendy Is The First Lady of Fast Food

Don’t let the sweet pigtails and innocent smile fool you. Wendy’s is the queen of comebacks and absolutely savage when it comes to roasting competitors and consumers alike on Twitter. With more than 6,500 restaurants globally, The Wendy’s Company is the world’s third-largest quick-service hamburger company, with a market cap of $4.5B and over 3.8 million Twitter followers. Over the last few years, the brand has perfected the act of serving fun-loving snarky tweets, but this hasn’t always been the case.

Circa 2017, Wendy’s realized its play-it-safe corporate social media strategy was for the birds. The strenuous approval process wasn’t conducive to cultivating an organic, engaged base of loyal followers, so they eliminated bureaucratic reviews for their Twitter account. After empowering their social team, Wendy’s has surged ahead as one of the most effective brands online. Their commitment to tone and individuality makes the brand an authentic trailblazer, transforming the Twitter account from a one-way communication machine into a battleground of the wits. This is a point of pride, as illustrated in their Twitter bio: “We like our tweets the same way we like to make our hamburgers: better than anyone expects from a fast food joint.”

She’s Consistent, Creative and Refreshingly Funny

While humorous, sassy engagement may not be for every company, it’s hard to deny that roasting has become an effective focal point of Wendy’s social media reputation.

For one, the fact that Wendy’s created an entire messaging ecosystem around “beef,” or creating and responding to conflict head on, is masterful. One theory is that the term “beefing” originated in the old west among sheep farmers who were competing for grazing land with cattle farmers. The sheep farmers used the term with each other to refer to a conflict, which was what they had with the cattle farmers, or “beef” farmers. For a hamburger company, the term applies not only to their product but the way they’ve chosen to communicate. It’s funny, it makes sense… it just works.

Secondly, the sheer creativity required to leverage so much mileage out of this message is quite impressive. In 2018, following their banner breakout year of roasting everyone from McDonald’s to Burger King and beyond, Wendy’s went the extra mile and released an EP entitled “We Beefin’.” The 10-minute compilation, featuring tracks like “Twitter Fingers” and “Rest in Grease,” was immediately available on popular streaming platforms like Spotify.

This kind of exemplary true-to-brand communication and content creation is admirable. Every company should strive for this kind of commitment and consistency in order to grow and keep a loyal following online. Two years later, Wendy’s remains true to her roots, issuing sick responses left and right that keep people on their toes (and keep spectators laughing).

She Doesn’t Let Other Brands Push Her Around

Wendy’s is particularly skilled at monitoring mentions and the competitive landscape, joining the conversation when she sees fit (which is often). Sometimes that’s unprompted, and other times it’s when another brand intentionally starts something as part of their campaign to launch their new Spicy Ghost Pepper Donut, Dunkin’ fired social media shots at multiple fast food restaurants. While other brands simply ignored the mild attack, Wendy’s couldn’t help but burn back.

Ouch.

What followed was a sad attempt by Dunkin’ to “outtweet” the First Lady, which obviously failed. Wendy’s is just superior when it comes to issuing sassy comebacks, and things almost always backfire when another brand attempts to prove otherwise.

Another food fight recently broke out when McDonald’s released their version of spicy chicken nuggets, a well-known staple on Wendy’s menu. When a Twitter user inquired about her thoughts on the news, Wendy’s social media team took the opportunity to roast not one but two industry competitors at the same time.

By maintaining their quick-witted reputation, Wendy’s continues to remain on top: on top of the brand’s Twitter game and top of mind among consumers. This is especially important for a restaurant when just one brand mention is enough to put a mouth-watering craving in motion for a hungry follower.

She Gives Customers Want They Want, Even If It’s a Sizzling Personal Roast

Wendy’s social media team operates Twitter like a true two-way communication platform, prioritizing customer interaction above all else. That’s especially important given this is what people have come to expect in our fast-moving, instant gratification world. As one might expect, people regularly take to social media to air grievances about a poor customer service interaction or product experience. Unhappy customers are looking for immediate resolution, and social media is a quick way to get the brand’s attention in a public forum.

While Wendy’s is known for her sassy tone, she knows when to be serious too. By swiftly addressing customer service complaints and questions with action-oriented responses, including commitments to get in touch with specific franchises to make things right, Wendy’s nips problems in the bud. This way, the brand can move on, focusing on entertaining and connecting with audiences instead of dwelling in the daily drama.

That said, followers also purposefully reach out just to get a famed tongue-in-cheek response from the brand. Wendy’s has developed a reputation for issuing short, snappy comebacks that customers crave almost as much as their menu. There’s a certain thrill that comes along with writing back and forth with an influencer, celebrity, or brand account. It seems unlikely that they will respond unless they have to, so when they do, it is exhilarating and delightful. In these cases, Wendy’s social media team is not afraid to dish it out.

To be sure, the fast food industry is a unique sandbox to play in. The brands have consistent products and reliable service, so they can afford to take some risks in how they use social media. While some industries like convenience stores have adopted a similar tone and approach, Wendy’s snarky social media strategy isn’t one size fits all (so copycat with caution: we’re looking at you, Dunkin’). No matter if your brand can pull it off or not, it’s a fun case study to see how acting outside the box can pay dividends if executed just right.

This post was originally published in 2021 and has since been updated.

The post What You Can Learn from Wendy’s Social Media Strategy  appeared first on Rival IQ.

Initially, I mindlessly scrolled the app to combat lockdown boredom. As the lonely days and weeks crept by, I increasingly used TikTok as a coping mechanism to feel connected to the outside world. Before I knew it, the videos served on my For You Page (FYP) were eerily customized. The algorithm synced with my interests and there was no turning back. I was officially hooked, especially by the digital marketing potential on TikTok.

Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the only one. As of June 2021, TikTok is now available in over 150 countries, has over 1 billion users, and has been downloaded over 200 million times in the United States alone. Not only that, the data indicates that the average time spent on the app is 52 minutes a day. With 26% of users between the ages 25-44 and 80% between the ages 16-34, that’s a lot of time to reach a large swath of prospective target customers via TikTok marketing.

It’s clear TikTok has prime real estate for brand marketers to reach niche audiences of all ages and geographic locations. So without further ado, here are the ultimate TikTok best practices and examples to implement into your brand’s digital marketing strategy. What can I say? It’s the lead generation for me.

The FYP

First things first, when it comes to TikTok, it’s all about the For You Page (FYP). The FYP is a curated feed of videos from creators a user may not follow, but TikTok’s algorithm thinks they’ll like based on previous interactions on the app. For example, if you regularly double-tap videos about parenting, you’ll come across other videos about parenting the next time you scroll your FYP. It’s also the first page a user sees when opening the app, so it’s the best place for your content to be seen by new-to-you viewers.

So how do you land on your target customers’ FYP?

TikTok Best Practice #1: Focus on the metrics that matter

For access to TikTok analytics, make sure to designate your account as a business account (as opposed to a creator account). As with most social platforms, TikTok’s goal is to keep people active on the app. Therefore, accounts with content that keep people engaged are rewarded by being shown to more people. When tracking your performance, avoid getting caught up with vanity metrics such as likes and followers. Instead, stick to engagement metrics like engagement rates and totals, view counts, and comments, saves, and shares. Be sure to make use of TikTok’s native analytics or consider a third-party analytics tool (like Rival IQ!) to help you keep track of your metrics and those of your competitors.

Ultimately, the best way to get ahead on any social channel is to focus on building community by creating stellar content, interacting with your audiences, and reaching the right people.

TikTok Best Practice #2: Entertain, inspire or educate

This is true of every social media platform, and it’s true on TikTok too. TikTok is a saturated space, with creators churning out content at a rapid rate. With this kind of volume, it’s typical for viewers to scroll past videos unless their attention is immediately piqued.

In order to stop the scroll, creators must hook audiences right away by delivering content that entertains, inspires, or educates (and sometimes all three at the same time).

Before spending time and resources making something new, keep the Hero, Hub, Hygiene model in mind. This holistic video strategy emphasizes the need for content creation consistency. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• The hope for hero content is that it will “go viral.” This type of content is rare and can’t be guaranteed.
• Hub content is consistent, daily programming that your brand regularly shares. In order to captivate audiences and keep them coming back for more, this content is generally episodic in nature.
• Highly SEO-based, hygiene content is hyper-specific to users’ needs, wants, and desires. Basically, it’s created in order to address what users are searching for. Think: seasonal content, like Halloween costumes or holiday dessert recipes. Hygiene content might look like “how-to” videos and addressing audience FAQs.

TikTok Best Practice #3: Labels, keywords, and hashtags–oh my!

TikTok is not an easy platform to search. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten to like or save a video I love, only to lose it in the TikTokverse forever. When creators like Karissa Eats label their videos, it makes it much easier to quickly glance over their video thumbnails and find exactly which one I’m looking for, or the content that piques my interest the most.

Keywords and hashtags will also help TikTok serve your content to users who are bound to interact with it. Many creators rely on the #fyp and #ForYouPage hashtags to help their videos hit the main video stream. Additionally, trending and niche hashtags can also go a long way to getting the right eyeballs on your videos.

TikTok Best Practice #4: Try Trending Sounds

It’s important to understand the DNA of how people interact with the platform. Using trending sounds, popular story formats, and well-done transitions is essential for brands to “fit in” alongside other creators.

Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman and television personality, is a savvy TikTok user. She regularly uses her TikTok to give fans a behind-the-scenes view of her investor role on the popular show, Shark Tank. While it’s not unusual for Barbara’s videos to get hundreds of thousands of views (or more), one of her recent videos far exceeded those metrics. By using the trend #icanbebrownicanbeblue (94.8M views) one of Barbara’s videos turned into “hero content,” earning 9.3M views.

The #icanbebrownicanbeblue trend lets creators tell a story that typically starts off describing a bad, sad or scary situation and often ends with a happy ending you might not expect. In Barbara Corcoran’s case, she did a storytime about her career success. Her story is one of overcoming adversity, and it’s definitely worth a watch.

It’s worth noting that although Barbara’s account is business and brand-minded, it’s appealing because it features her as a human being. By letting audiences get to know the person or people behind a brand, instead of focusing on a product or service, it makes her content much more interesting.

TikTok Best Practice #5: Use TikTok technology for big rewards

Instagram and TikTok are known for promoting content that uses its trending technology. Using TikTok’s features like filters, captions, text-to-speech, duet/stitches, and going live in your digital marketing efforts will all give you a boost onto the FYP.

TikTok’s algorithm is notoriously secret and complex, but features like captions and text-to-speech (where a robotic voice reads aloud text from your videos) are easy-to-understand pieces of the algorithm puzzle. When you give TikTok scannable, indexable clues into the content of your videos, the platform can more easily serve your content to users who would find it relevant. The other bonus of using these features? Accessibility. Users who are blind, Deaf, or hard-of-hearing can more easily consume your videos if you put in the effort to include captions or text-to-speech.

TikTok Best Practice #6: Make memorable, unique content

In the spirit of Barbara Corcoran, don’t overtly sell your product, service, or business. Sell a personality, instead: someone people can enjoy watching and keep coming back for more. Businesses with a “face” have a higher chance of developing a loyal following and converting views into transactions. In particular, entrepreneurs can make a household name for themselves this way.

Theresa Van Dam, a talented hair stylist based in the Chicago area, is an excellent example of a consistent hub content creator. Reflecting on her years in the industry, Van Dam creates skits roleplaying customer/stylist interactions she’s experienced. Playing both roles in these skits, Van Dam’s delivery is smooth, easy to watch and the conversational format is the same every time. She’s created a formula for storytelling that makes the story relatable for any viewer, whether they’re hairstylists who experience the same thing, customers who might recognize themselves as a difficult customer (cringe), or onlookers who are horrified by the nerve some people seem to have.

Van Dam primarily keeps her TikTok focused on storytelling, but occasionally takes followers along as she films herself doing hair on an actual client. By showing up on the platform daily, telling stories, and showing off her skills, Van Dam has earned viewers’ trust. In turn, she’s also converted some of her 3.5 million online followers into real-life clients. Her “TikTok famous” reputation has people booking at her salon for a chance to have their hair transformed by the TikTok famous Theresa Van Dam.

TikTok Best Practice #7: Post often and at the right time

While some social media platforms have an unwritten rule to sparingly post, that is not the case on TikTok. A widely accepted practice is to post up to three times per day. The key is to strike the right balance of posting frequently enough while letting enough time lapse before publishing the next video.

According to social media consultant Robert Benjamin, one of the keys to effectively flooding the FYP is to wait 30-45 minutes between posting. He also recommends most accounts post between noon-2pm, 3-5pm, and 8pm (all in eastern time). First, Benjamin cautions that every creator must know their core demographic. Secondly, he recommends considering lifestyles and behaviors that may influence when target audiences are likely online and scrolling the FYP. Remember that every video published counts towards meeting your daily quota. That also includes video responses by the creator in the comment section.

Don’t discount the value of sharing previously published videos. With the rigor of having to have multiple pieces of content on the app on a daily basis, reusing previously published content makes a lot of sense. TikTok experts say videos can pick up days, weeks, or months after it’s originally posted, so if a video is a few weeks old, or didn’t perform well in the first place, it’s grounds for reposting.

TikTok Best Practice #8: Engage authentically

Brands run the risk of coming across as too “corporate” when joining a social network. TikTokers want entertainment and authentic connection. So any brand content that reads as too “commercial” won’t pass some users’ gut check.

When watching a program on TV, I typically mute or fast forward through commercial breaks. However, I linger when a commercial matches the tone or cinematic vibe of the actual program and features some of its cast members. Experiencing this brief disorientation (“Has my show started again or are we still on commercial break?”) gives me just enough pause to keep watching.

The same principle can be applied on TikTok. Most users are going to immediately scroll past sponsored content as soon as they realize it is an ad. However, if a brand can initially hook the viewer and keep them watching for longer, it’s more likely that the message will penetrate.

Take Fabletics for example. In this TikTok ad, the “athleisure” brand captures the essence of a social media influencer sharing her latest haul of cute fitness apparel. This specific ad uses trendy music and the popular text-to-voice feature. It all felt so convincing I even watched for a few seconds before realizing it was an ad. My takeaway as a viewer? I felt inspired to level up my wardrobe and learned about Fabletics’ 70% off sale. If that’s not a beautiful marketing pairing I don’t know what is.

TikTok Best Practice #9: Partner with influencers to push sponsored content

Maybe I was born yesterday, or perhaps I’ve been living under a rock, but until recently I’d never heard of another athleisure brand Halara. Scrolling through my FYP, I came across a few of Halara’s sponsored videos in the feed. Truthfully, I initially dismissed the ad and moved on to more interesting, “real” content. However, when one of my favorite creators, comedian and cancer fighter Shawna the Mom, partnered with the brand for a sponsored post, I paid closer attention.

Not only did Shawna feature a Halara product on her feed, she did so creatively to grab her fan’s attention. Shawna has 211.9K Followers and 8.6M Likes on the platform. She typically makes comedy skits depicting conversations between her and her husband (Shawna plays both “roles”). Since her husband is regularly referred to but never featured, she teased a “husband reveal” while advertising a pair of Halara leggings. Her husband comes on screen at the end, much to her fans’ delight. Shawna seized a golden opportunity to entertain and advertise at the same time.

I’ll admit I was a skeptic when just watching Halara’s ads. I immediately softened once a creator I know and trust put her stamp of approval on the brand. Brand recognition clicked once I saw one advertisement from an influencer I trust.

TikTok Best Practice #10: UGC on your FYP

If your brand is active on social media, it’s helpful to not take things too seriously. Chipotle, a fan favorite in the fast food and TikTok world, does a great job of poking fun at itself. For example, most people know Chipotle charges extra for guacamole on its burritos, bowls, and salads, and the employees do a great job of reminding customers at checkout. As a result, it’s become somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek joke among Chipotle stans to remind the restaurant that they know guac is extra.

Running with this insider humor, Chipotle will share other creators’ content from time to time that highlights their brand. Since the fast food joint is highly customizable, it’s a go-to destination for many people to grab a quick lunch. This includes the nutrition and fitness-minded folks among us. In this point of view (POV) video, creator justinlt23 depicts a “gym bro ordering Chipotle after the gym.” He hits all the points, including the bro trying to pack as much protein as possible into his bowl and attempting to get the most food while paying the least–and then also agreeing to spend extra on the guac. Chipotle shares Justin’s video on their feed, crediting Justin by tagging him and endorsing the message by writing in the caption: “The eye contact, the head nod, all of it.”

While this creator has an impressive 839.8K followers, it’s thrilling nonetheless for Chipotle to acknowledge they’ve seen his work, and make it clear that they love it by sharing it to their 1.6 million followers.

Whether you are a gym bro, or you’ve met one, the video resonates and just might spark a craving for that coveted guac.

Some parting advice

If you are brand new on TikTok, or considering starting a new account, please keep the following in mind: General brand awareness is great for global brands who want to remain top of mind among consumers (think Starbucks vs. Dunkin), but might not be as well suited for your brand. For example, small businesses may place a higher value on acquiring a manageable number of sales transactions per week.

Remember to base your TikTok marketing strategy and results on the metrics that matter most to achieve your brand goals. Avoid biting off more than you can chew in order to not get in over your head. This is especially important when joining a new platform for digital marketing purposes. Happy scrolling and connecting!

The post 10 TikTok Marketing Best Practices appeared first on Rival IQ.

In order to stay current and top of mind among target audiences, travel brands must deliver itinerary-worthy digital content to inspire and book visitors from around the globe. Photos and videos of breathtaking scenic views, guests clinking glasses over happy hour, and detailed descriptions of iconic attractions all have the power to instantly transport viewers to the destination of their dreams. Sharing bits and pieces of what travelers can expect on location helps brands maintain relevance for prospective visitors. This way, the next time someone is contemplating making a trip, specific hotels, cities, and activities are competitive contenders in the vetting and planning process. Here’s a look at how creative travel brands use the power of social media year-round to demonstrate what their distinct destinations have to offer, both virtually and in-person.

Methodology

For this assessment, we took a look at some of the most successful destination travel accounts online. We selected a number of travel and tourism destinations active on Instagram between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020 that outperformed the Instagram engagement rate benchmark of 1.01% for Hotels & Resorts from our 2021 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report. We also teamed up with VERB Interactive, an award-winning interactive creative agency with a strong travel and tourism portfolio, to feature a few of their most notable online case studies today.

In our analysis, four brands immediately rose to the top of the list: Cody Yellowstone and Hilton Head, both managed by VERB, as well as Visit Laramie and Tourism Ireland. After assessing their best-performing content during this yearlong period, here are some of the notable trends and best practices that emerged.

Crowdsource High Quality Photos

I’m sitting in my office in San Antonio, Texas, but suddenly I can detect a cool breeze blowing from my phone screen. As I scroll the ‘gram, my real surroundings fade into the background and I’m immediately transported onto a dusty, remote road in the middle of Cody, Wyoming. I’m not hallucinating, I’m simply exploring one facet of the social media home of Cody Yellowstone: an all-encompassing destination designed to explore the rugged adventure, warmth, and charm of The Wild West.

Offering fresh air and wide-open spaces, Cody Yellowstone is a refuge for travelers to find peace while communing with nature. For many, this is a much-needed reprieve from the daily grind of never-ending responsibilities and stress. Using imagery to evoke a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out) for online visitors, Cody Yellowstone uses Instagram to keep tourism alive and well.

The social media team behind Cody Yellowstone zeroed in on an effective tactic to dramatically enhance the aesthetic of their feed while simultaneously increasing engagement. Their secret? Sharing pictures taken by both professional and skilled amateur photographers.

Subject or photographer? Originally posted as part of the ongoing #WildlifeWednesday campaign and reshared at the end of the year during the #12DaysofCodyYellowstone campaign, this bison steals the show with a sky-high engagement rate by follower of a whopping 25.6%.

With Yellowstone National Park as Cody Yellowstone’s backyard, there is no shortage of incredibly talented photographers with a good eye and professional equipment capturing stunning imagery in the wilderness.

With the knowledge that many people who visit the region visually document their experiences, VERB created a campaign with the hashtag #WildlifeWednesday to invite photo submissions and encourage friendly competition and sharing among creatives. If chosen, the creator has a chance to be featured on Cody Yellowstone’s Instagram account, broadcasting their name and good work to a predisposed willing audience.

Once selected, Cody Yellowstone confirms they have permission to share and appropriately credits the creator on each post with the corresponding campaign hashtag. As far as compensating these talented photographers, the arrangement is based on mutual exposure as opposed to a financial transaction. “These creators generously let us share their photos as long as we provide credit and amp them up a bit while also amping up Cody Yellowstone,” said VERB.

According to the social media management team, they feel lucky that there are so many people who are willing to share their photos. “Plus, it’s just dumb luck that the town happens to be one of the most beautiful places in the world,” said VERB.

This mutually beneficial transaction is a win-win for both parties. Cody Yellowstone gets to use stunning photography without having to allocate time and budget to create it on their own, and each photographer gets brand exposure to Cody Yellowstone’s large Instagram audience of 48.4K followers.

In the example above, it’s not often that one sees a bison taking a photograph in the wild. While this picture is an effective engagement driver because it is a great image, it also scores major points for humor and creativity. It’s no wonder it received a mind-blowing 25.6% engagement rate per follower.

Notably, Cody Yellowstone launches a countdown campaign called the #12DaysofCodyYellowstone at the end of every calendar year. A play on the 12 Days of Christmas, the series is posted over 12 days in December to highlight best-of moments and images recapping the previous year. Interestingly enough, over half of Cody Yellowstone’s top ten performing social media posts from 2019 were associated with the #12DaysofCodyYellowstone campaign, and all of the posts featured photos taken by third party photographers.

While the high engagement rate speaks for itself, Cody Yellowstone also has several anecdotal examples from its audience that highlight why this series is so successful. Not only do creators like vying for the opportunity to be featured, the audience loves the content as well. This became especially apparent in 2020, as the audience made it clear that Cody Yellowstone is a bright spot for them in an otherwise impossibly difficult pandemic year. “We regularly see comments from people saying ‘this is a real source of joy for me during COVID,’” said VERB.

Push Calls-to-Action to Encourage Audience Engagement and Participation

If you’ve ever visited Hilton Head Island, you’ve likely returned more than once. In fact, this South Carolina oasis is known as a premier destination for annual beach family gatherings and frequent weekend getaways (if you’re lucky enough to live close by). For many folks, Hilton Head isn’t just a location, it is the steady backdrop of a lifetime of happy memories. “Hilton Head Island is a destination people return to year after year for family traditions and to make memories. We’ve seen people share stories of how they’ve been going 50 years and they now bring their grandkids,” said VERB.

These long-standing, generational traditions make it unsurprising that Hilton Head Island has a robust social media presence with over 55.7k Instagram followers, 21.6k Twitter followers, and over 230k likes on Facebook.

Consequently, visitors have a strong personal connection to the island, considering the “Lowcountry” to be a way of life, instead of merely a regional descriptor of the area along the South Carolina coast.

To guests and locals alike, Hilton Head Island is a sacred place and synonymous with relaxation. That is one of the reasons why VERB has tremendous success showcasing soothing sunset views over the ocean. Many of their top-performing posts have impressive engagement rates by follower that exceed the industry benchmark, like this Facebook post with a 9.6% engagement rate.

Hilton Head Island’s accounts are full of imagery like this depicting the destination’s natural beauty, and VERB prioritizes posting real photos over official branded content to maintain authenticity. That said, the strategy doesn’t stop there. To take things up a notch, VERB designed a strong call-to-action engagement strategy so people will join the conversation. Hilton Head enthusiasts are typically strongly motivated to share their experiences with equally enthusiastic peers, and also prove that they’re part of the fabric of the island.

By simply putting a call-to-action in the photo caption asking followers to like, share, tag, and respond, Hilton Head Island sparks audience engagement and stories about the island begin pouring in. This approach helps boost analytics that are important to Hilton Head Island, such as tracking audience growth year over year and month over month, as well as changes to engagement rates and social referrals driving traffic to the website. In this case, the ask to “double-tap” generated an engagement rate by follower of 8.59%.

Promote Community-Specific Social and Cultural Moments

With just a few clicks of the trackpad, we head back out West. This time, stopping to explore the vast social media realm of Laramie, Wyoming.

Like its northwest neighbors in Cody, Visit Laramie posts its fair share of imagery that celebrates the region’s beauty. However, by expanding their content strategy to include cultural moments that celebrate the community at large, Visit Laramie depicts a holistic picture of what it’s really like to be in “Laradise.”

Visit Laramie’s mission is to highlight the vibrancy of this western college town with a lot to offer in terms of its rich history, culture, and abundance of activities. College football reigns supreme every fall, especially when hosting the Wyoming State Football Championship playoffs at the Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium, the football stadium on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

This sponsorship announcement drew the attention of players, parents, coaches, and fans while earning Visit Laramie a staggering engagement rate by follower of 29.7%.

Appeal to Fandom Subculture in a Timely Manner

From the silver screen to binge-worthy shows on streaming platforms, television and movies are known for captivating audiences. A combination of storytelling, realistic acting, and camera work has a way of drawing the viewer in, creating super fans in the process. At the turn of the century, a cultural phenomenon known as “movie-induced tourism” was born. This trend, in which the choice of the tourist destination is directly motivated and inspired by the movies, helps moviegoers and TV buffs recreate the cinematic experience in person to relive movie-driven emotions at the film’s location. What was true back then is also true today. When a particular town or region serves as the backdrop for a popular show, a burst of tourism is sure to follow.

A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tourism Ireland seized the opportunity to promote the wildly popular novel and Hulu/BBC drama series Normal People on their YouTube account, Discover Ireland. As worldwide lockdowns and travel restrictions brought the travel and tourism industry to a screeching halt, over 273,000 people tuned in from home for a virtual behind-the-scenes look into Normal People.

This form of video content earned Tourism Ireland an all-time high engagement rate by follower of 8.13%. The video resonated with audiences for a number of reasons, but primarily because there was a built-in audience ready to consume content aligned with their interests, and the timing was spot on. While large swaths of people binge-watched TV series, desperately yearning to see something other than the four walls of their living room, Tourism Ireland delivered behind-the-scenes footage that a large group of fans could instantly devour while hopefully waiting for a better day to come.

Wrapping It Up

With so many incredible places in the world to visit, destination travel and tourism brands have their fair share of work cut out for them on social media in order to earn their share of visitors. However, tried-and-true methods like evoking emotion, encouraging audience engagement, celebrate unique destination traits, and piggybacking on meaningful cultural moments are surefire ways to stand out in the travel social media crowd.

The post Your Next Destination Awaits Via Travel Social Media appeared first on Rival IQ.

And yet, that’s exactly what some of the country’s top c-store locations have become, with their positive reputations only growing through the powerful vehicle of social media.

Standout convenience store marketing transcends geographic limitations by smartly captivating audiences on social networks. We turned to the data to discover how best-in-class performers remain top of mind among target audiences, and reveal the social media trends and strategies that catapult them to the convenience store marketing hall of fame. Here are our findings.

The Convenience Store Top 20 Market Landscape

For our analysis, we evaluated 20 convenience stores profiled in the 2020 C-Store Digital Ranking and rated their social media performance relative to audience, activity, engagement, and top content over a six-month period. We focused our assessment on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

We surveyed top-performing convenience stores on social media between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Using this data and a weighted formula, we generated an overall engagement ranking for each c-store. The top-ranked convenience stores on social media have high engagement rates with average or better audience size and posting volumes.

We define engagement as measurable interaction on social media posts, including likes, comments, favorites, retweets, shares, and reactions. Engagement rate is defined as the total engagement divided by the number of followers.

As you can see below, Kwik Trip is the front-runner, edging out the competition by outperforming in overall rank and score, as well as claiming the top spot for Facebook and Instagram respectively. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores and Kum & Go weren’t far behind in overall rankings, clutching second and third place in our landscape. Our content deep dive revealed the reasons why these brands dominate the convenience store marketing landscape.

While Kwik Trip may be in the lead, other c-store brands deploy notable marketing strategies to firmly put their names on the map. Here are a couple of trend takeaways we observed.

Top Trend #1: Fan-favorite partnerships for a cause

To surprise and delight fans, top-performing convenience stores join forces with powerful brands to create unbeatable partnerships. For example, Kum & Go and Budweiser recently launched their first-ever merchandise collaboration: a limited-edition T-shirt and tank top.

The clever campaign is branded as “World’s Best Buds,” which is eye-catching and humorous enough that target audiences for both brands would reasonably want to acquire these pieces for their wardrobe. That said, it’s also a powerful corporate social responsibility story for both companies. As part of Budweiser’s partnership with Folds of Honor, all proceeds from the sales will go towards educational scholarships to families of fallen and disabled soldiers. Using social media to promote these products and the program at large earned significant engagement, to the tune of 4.6K likes on Twitter.

Similarly, Ohio-based convenience store United Dairy Farmers partners with USL Championship soccer club FC Cincinnati to raise awareness for the team’s philanthropic arm, the FC Cincinnati Foundation.

By posting mouth-watering product shots on social media, United Dairy Farmers encourages customers to stop in for a scoop of Caramel Pretzel Kick ice cream. A percentage of each sale goes to the FC Cincinnati Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of children in the Greater Cincinnati area through the game of soccer.

This online promotion worked well for UDF with a 4.34% engagement rate by follower, boosting awareness and sales for both United Dairy Farmers and the Foundation. These types of posts are popular among fans because customers can score a sweet treat while also supporting their local team and community.

Top Trend #2: Going the extra mile during COVID-19

By the time COVID-19 swept through the United States in March, increased e-commerce consumption by end consumers required more mid-mile transportation. As truck drivers delivered vital goods to families across the country, Oklahoma-based Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores wanted to express their gratitude.

Teaming up with vendors, Love’s took to social to offer truck drivers a $5 coupon as a token of appreciation to be used at any Love’s for in-store purchases. In addition to simply providing goodwill during an unprecedented pandemic, Love’s also used social to incentivize professional drivers to stop at their locations over competitors. Especially as the coronavirus pandemic created a sense of shared difficult circumstances and communities supported one another, this message was particularly timely and well-received at the time of posting.

While the pandemic increased demand for certain industries, others were not as fortunate. Practically overnight, many people quickly saw reduced hours and lost jobs across the world. 7-Eleven USA immediately took to social media to promote current job openings, suggesting that people facing reduced hours at work could find secondary or new employment with 7-Eleven. The brand’s Facebook post (which was likely boosted with social media advertising) earned over 73,000 positive reactions and many comments thanking the company for providing opportunities during the pandemic.

Compare your performance to top convenience stores with live benchmarks.

Explore live C-store benchmarks

Kwik Trip is the Landscape Leader in Total Social Engagement

In theory, one wouldn’t think a convenience store would inspire brand loyalty. They’re all pretty interchangeable, no? Gas, check. Food and drink, check. Clean restrooms, check (well, if you’re lucky). Ask any Kwik Trip enthusiast, and you’ll soon learn not all convenience stores are created equal.

With more than 700 locations across Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, family-owned Kwik Trip is a favorite among Midwesterners and has the social media track record to prove it. After all, their 964K total engagements across all channels are head and shoulders above the landscape average of 126K.

Kwik Trip really knows their audience

Affectionately known as KT by loyal patrons, Kwik Trip knows what its fandom wants and serves on-brand content to both delight followers and fan the subculture flames. Best known for its friendly customer service, clean restrooms, high-quality food, and signature catchphrase, “See you next time!”, KT is more than a convenience store, but a place customers identify as part of their lifestyle.

KT could teach a master class in social engagement with one fundamental takeaway: Prioritize getting to know and listening to your customer base.

The brand is intimately familiar with its audience. They know fans will go out of their way to bypass competitors, even if that means sacrificing the convenience of other store options along the way. They know customers crave products they can’t get anywhere else, whether it be Kwikery cookies, pothole pizzas, glazers, or roller dogs. They know fans have a strong allegiance to the brand and a competitive spirit, believing KT to the superior choice on the road. Most of all, they know they talk about their KT passion among friends in person and on social media.

All of this means KT can confidently post jokes and shared sentiments they know will resonate with their fans. Just look at this top performing tweet with a 3.4K total engagements and a 6.63% engagement rate by follower.

Nice try, Chicago.

The approach, which may seem simple and even random to an outsider, works well for the audience that truly “gets” KT.

Inspiring the audience to share

As evidenced in the example above, KT consistently uses a witty, deadpan tone of voice. This personifies the brand, turning the convenience store into a familiar voice that customers often agree with, respect, and seek out. By sharing relatable points of view, the audience is invited to join the conversation, resulting in fans flooding the comments section with opinions and stories of their own.

For example, this humorous post triggered nearly 700 comments and 700 shares, as well as a slew of meaningful user-generated content.

The clever quip quickly turned nostalgic as readers shared funny and endearing stories of personal date nights past and present. By creating a space for followers to feel comfortable sharing, the brand strengthens its bond with consumers.

Humorous Kum & Go Crushes It on Twitter

Overwhelmingly, we found the convenience stores with the most effective online presence use an authentic and humorous approach to social content and engagement. After all, liking or following a company, especially a convenience store, is inherently kind of odd, right? Therefore infusing content with witty humor is the best way to make a corporate presence something worth talking about. It also goes without saying that the goal of any social media effort is to capture the target audience’s attention. If a brand posts great content and no one responds, something is wrong.

Iowa-based Kum & Go, another family-owned operation with 400 stores in 11 states, does not have this problem. The brand has some of the highest engagement rate by follower on Twitter in the landscape, with the average number of interactions per follower clocking in at 2.3%. Kum & Go’s average engagement rate by follower is exceptionally high when compared to other brands on our list who are falling behind with a median of just 0.13%.

With a name like Kum & Go, you definitely can’t take yourself too seriously. Luckily, Kum & Go has established an engaging and exciting presence by using creative and sometimes crude humor to successfully get the Twitterverse’s attention. Exhibit A:

It’s silly, it’s fun, it makes people want to RT. For reference, this tweet has a 12.2% engagement rate by follower, which is approximately five times greater than their average tweet.

High engagement rates now create higher engagement rates later

Much like when a stand-up comedian interacts with audience members during the show, Kum & Go applies the same philosophy to Twitter. People can either follow Kum & Go as a passive spectator, or engage to truly be part of the community. Many choose to engage.

Recently, Kum & Go ran a campaign asking followers to share their astrological sign and favorite food in exchange for a customized convenience store name. Kum & Go actually replied to nearly every single person for ten hours straight. The significant time investment pays dividends: the more frequently they earn engagement on the “fun” tweets, the more likely they are to get a similar level of engagement on more traditional business messages related to corporate social responsibility, product marketing, and news announcements.

Convenient conclusions

The moral of the convenience store marketing story is: superior brand development, memorable products and service, and diehard customer loyalty directly contribute to putting top convenience stores on the map (both literally and figuratively). Those with the strongest points of differentiation, both offline and online, often attract loyal, lifetime customers; and reaching them through social media could not be more convenient.

If you’re hungry for even more stats or are ready to start comparing your performance against these top c-stores, start a free 14-day trial with Rival IQ.

Did we miss your favorite convenience store, or do you just want to tell us what your convenience store name is? Let us know on Twitter!

The post Top Convenience Stores on Social Media appeared first on Rival IQ.

If I could go through the college recruitment process all over again, I would do so in a heartbeat. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my own undergraduate experience, but today’s students have the advantage of using social media to make better-informed decisions for their futures.

Higher education institutes’ robust digital marketing can make or break engagement with their most important audiences: past, present and prospective students. While college websites and online reviews are the primary resources used when deciding where to apply, studies show two in five students turn to social media when it’s time to accept or reject the offer.

Real-time pictures, stories, and newsworthy updates provide a true sense of campus life, making an institution’s social presence an influential decision-driver rather than a discovery engine. The unprecedented insider view from social media allows students to discover and explore what colleges have to offer, all without ever stepping foot on campus. If I had had this opportunity, I would have likely cast a wider net during the application process to line up even more compelling options to choose from.

Here’s a look at some of the universities putting their best foot forward, and the best practices that continue to keep them top of mind among each year’s graduating class.

Portray campus through a student lens

With acceptance letters in hand, prospective students turn to social media to conduct research about each campus. Savvy universities, like College of the Holy Cross, share user-generated content from current students to showcase life and campus through their eyes.

Holy Cross paints a beautiful campus picture on Instagram. With 15.8K followers, the university enjoys an impressive 6.88% engagement rate per post compared to the average 3.96% engagement rate per post.

By asking students to contribute photos of their walks to and from the dorms, dining hall, library, classrooms and student activities, Holy Cross amassed a collection of iconic views on campus. Crediting each photographer, Holy Cross primarily posts scenic views of campus across all four seasons. Buildings are shown covered in snow in some pictures, whereas flowers are bursting into bloom in others.

Unlike stock photography that can be stiff and impersonal, the student photos bring a warm point of view so prospective students can explore the campus year-round from a current student’s point of view. Talk about walking in someone else’s shoes!

These photos serve as little reminders that the Holy Cross community regards their campus as one of the best places on earth. After viewing these tiny squares, students contemplating admission are likely filled with hope, looking forward to pursuing an undergraduate degree and making memories for a lifetime.

Profile alumni career success

While showcasing the most positive aspects of everyday life on campus is very effective, it’s equally important to clearly communicate how students are putting those hard-earned degrees to good use after graduation.

The University of Iowa masterfully leverages their Facebook page of 180,699 followers to regularly profile Hawkeyes alumni making headlines in their respective careers.

Highlighting a multitude of career paths, from Hollywood blockbusters to high profile engineering projects, gives prospective students the confidence that a degree from Iowa will lay a solid foundation for pursuing a killer career down the road. Celebrating a wide array of interests also provides a plethora of suggestions for those who may be struggling to declare a major, all while clearly communicating Iowa’s competitive edge across a variety of industries.

This type of information is very versatile, extending well beyond Facebook. Iowa repurposes deep-dive social posts like these as content for other university external publications as well, including the official website, magazine, brochures and other marketing materials prospective students will likely come across in the admissions process.

There is a strong correlation between Iowa’s high rate of digital cross-channel engagement and their approach to content development and promotion. The Hawkeyes soar above their competition with an engagement rate per post of 1.28%, compared to the competition’s average of just 0.31% engagement per post.

At the end of the day, the social media algorithm really boils down to a numbers game: the more people that follow and engage, expressing enthusiasm for the school by liking, commenting and sharing its posts, the more the brand can reach target audiences. To optimize reach, Iowa boosts posts that trend well organically for even more views to skyrocket and sustain these high engagement levels. It’s really no wonder that Iowa clinched the #1 spot in this year’s higher ed social media rankings.

Highlight points of differentiation

Certainly no one wants to alienate or offend a large group of people, but for a message to really have an impact and attract the right followers, it should not appeal to everyone. Instead, a brand is better off speaking directly to their target audiences’ interests and goals. If someone is turned off by the messaging, they are likely not a great candidate to become a paying customer.

This brings me to Brigham Young University (BYU), a private research university located in Provo, Utah, and owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only 1 percent of students do not identify as Mormon, which means the school’s religious affiliation is a major component of the overall campus culture and academic life. BYU excels at remaining true to its mission and beliefs by consistently communicating about their faith, not only in person but also online.

In addition to promoting new research, the happenings around campus, and other university relevant updates, BYU tweets daily devotionals with the hashtag #byudevo to provide encouragement to followers (primarily students) on their faith journey. While these messages do not resonate with everyone in the general public, that’s not BYU’s goal. Their aim is to speak directly to their target audiences: prospective and current students and alumni who share the same religious philosophy. By living out their mission in a public forum, they are more likely to attract promising leads among like-minded applicants.

Demonstrate commitment to excellence

It’s no secret that sports fans get a bit “like-happy” before, during, and after a big game. Fans flock to social channels when their team performs well on the field or court, eager to join other fans in jubilation, tease the opposing team, or directly congratulate the teams and players. Alternatively, they may want to commiserate when the game doesn’t go their way, but let’s not dwell on the possibility of a devastating loss, shall we?

College sports are a huge component of the undergraduate experience, not only as a fun activity or way to celebrate victories, but also as a source of deep pride for all who are affiliated with the school.

Football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and other hallmark categories demonstrate both athleticism and the university’s commitment to excellence through tangible competition. Athletics serve as a symbolic reminder that grit, hard work, and a positive attitude pays dividends.

From a recruitment standpoint, this is a huge draw for many prospective students because people are united by school spirit. It also goes without saying that it’s human nature to want to be a member of “the best of the best.” When higher education wins in the classroom and on the field or court, it’s a winning reputation combination.

The University of Virginia (UVA) does an excellent job representing athletics among academic and campus-focused content. After being offered a spot in the 2019 Orange Bowl, UVA took to social media to share the exciting news with photos and videos. Among other channels, UVA broadcasted the news to nearly 96K Instagram followers.

UVA’s president, Jim Ryan, serves as a natural complement to the official university channels. Ryan enthusiastically shares about the university’s banner athletics year on his own Facebook page and Instagram feed, presenting a united front of emotional support. Ryan’s posts are incredibly genuine and heartfelt, which gives viewers all the feels, and fosters a great desire for prospective students to be part of it all.

When higher education institutions present a well-rounded brand view via social media, they maintain a unique edge in a highly saturated market. The competition is fierce among college admissions, and putting your best foot forward online makes a huge difference.

If you are looking to beef up your own university social media content strategy, take a page from the University of Iowa, College of the Holy Cross, Brigham Young University, and the University of Virginia, just to name a few. After all, highly ranked universities should have the digital presence to match. Don’t you agree?

The post Swipe Right: How Colleges are Recruiting Top Students Via Social Media  appeared first on Rival IQ.

For many, it relates to the bigger picture, admiring brands that leverage their power to address, influence and change issues with a strong societal impact.

Earning customer trust is a priority for any company, especially because 8 in 10 US consumers say they will continue to buy a brand they trust. Unfortunately, it is hardly guaranteed. Here are a few core principles to establish, and most importantly, retain rapport with your target customers.

Use platforms for societal good 

In 2019, Edelman released a study about brand trustworthiness. Turns out, 81 percent of survey respondents indicated they “must be able to trust the brand to do what is right.” More than ever before, customers want to see action when it comes to brand social and environmental responsibility.

This trend kicked off back in 2011 when Patagonia launched an innovative campaign that no one saw coming. On Black Friday of all possible days, the brand ran an ad in The New York Times urging shoppers NOT to buy one of their top-selling jackets.

This unprecedented stance to “buy less” was a move for Patagonia to take on a leadership role as an eco-friendly company, and ask shoppers to examine their own behaviors while considering the impact of new purchases on the environment. Although Patagonia is in the business of producing and selling clothing, they felt it would be hypocritical to work for environmental change without encouraging people to think before they buy.

This type of campaign had tremendous shock value a decade ago. However, the message now rings true for many companies who are choosing to do something about it, like ThredUp.

If someone is concerned about their carbon footprint, they’ll likely wonder if their transportation habits need adjusting. However, they probably never considered that their shopping habits might be much larger a contributing factor.

ThredUp wants people to know their closet may be the culprit in need of the biggest audit and overhaul, not their mode of transportation. The fashion industry has more of a direct impact on the planet than the airline industry, as the manufacturing of textiles—the majority of which goes into clothing—accounts for 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping trips combined.

Instead of having to guess whether or not fashion choices are a problem worth solving, ThredUp launched an eye-opening online Fashion Footprint Calculator for customers to see the impact for themselves.

As more savvy companies start to practice the 4Rs (reduce, repair, reuse and recycle) as a way to decrease their environmental footprint, brands are spreading the word that there are countless ways humans can consciously be kinder to the planet. Using platforms for positive, widespread impact is important to most, but especially to Gen Z, the newest generation on the scene. Accounting for nearly 74 million people currently aged 4-24 in the United States, those classified as Gen Z were born between 1995 and 2015.

Gen Z has profound respect for people who have earned their time in the sun. Forget celebrities with millions of followers–this generation prefers to watch and take tips from micro-influencers and superfans. In particular, they greatly respect those who take direct action, like the US high school shooting survivor Emma Gonzáles, and those who bring real credibility to brand endorsements. For the foreseeable future, brands must demonstrate said direct action in order to stay relevant and trustworthy among Gen Z audiences.

Be a valuable resource

A good friend of mine (let’s call her Sarah) suffers from a fairly uncommon postpartum complication. For the past two years, she’s sought help from a handful of different physicians, but has received the same disappointing response over and over again from the medical community: Sometimes this complication happens, and we can’t do anything more for you. In fact, the only real directive was to lose weight. Unfortunately, even after doing so, Sarah’s symptoms persisted.

Refusing to believe she was out of options, she turned to the internet for answers. I recommended following and reaching out to the female entrepreneurs behind the Expecting and Empowered (E&E) Instagram account. E&E is founded and run by two sisters: Amy, a nurse, and Krystle, a physical therapist. In addition to having expertise in their respective fields and providing education to the masses, they are mothers themselves. This dynamic duo develops pregnancy and postpartum workout guides and other educational materials for women across the country.

The brand is active and engaged on Instagram, primarily using Stories to share daily content chock full of information and tips regarding women’s health. From pelvic floor repair to advice for navigating marriage/partnerships with small children, E&E provides relatable, informative content to help women navigate the physical and emotional toll that comes with bringing human life into the world.

I recommended E&E to Sarah for the following reasons:

1. E&E shares a real and relatable point of view.

On the E&E website, Krystle says, “In the US, the lack of information and education provided to women as they transverse through one of the most pivotal times of their lives is mind-blowing.”

After giving birth to my daughter in 2018, I couldn’t agree with this statement more. There is a lot of room for improvement in prenatal and postpartum care in our country. However, instead of staying silent or just complaining among friends, Amy and Krystle created a business to actually do something about it.

Sharing this relatable mission, and tailoring their content to support it, was the first step to earning my (and many other mothers’) trust.

      2. Their advice works.

Alongside working with a physical therapist in my city, I followed Krystle’s pelvic floor healing tips and saw wonderful results. Throughout this process, I observed that her advice aligned with my provider. 

Getting validation from my personal medical care team that following E&E’s tips yielded positive results only reinforced that this brand knows what they’re talking about.

      3. Helping others is their first priority.

E&E is passionate about helping others first and making money second. By providing free, helpful advice on their Instagram Stories and feed, E&E had already garnered attention by myself and Sarah. However, it was their sincere, reciprocated engagement that blew our minds.

Sarah was apprehensive about sending a direct message, concerned that it would go ignored or be perceived as odd to reach out to a stranger. Thankfully, she did so anyway. Sarah was floored to receive a number of thoughtful responses by text and voice DMs. By sharing so much free counsel without blinking an eye, Sarah sensed positive intent from the brand and therefore felt more confident about their knowledge and abilities. After this powerful exchange, Sarah purchased their postpartum guides because E&E earned her trust.

     4. They provide hope.

Motherhood, especially in the early days, is a stressful, overwhelming experience. Throw in postpartum health complications on top of feeding, sheer exhaustion, and adjusting to a new normal only makes matters worse. It’s easy to see why many parents become anxious and fearful, wondering if they can maintain sanity much longer in a difficult season. E&E serves as a beacon of hope to these audiences, empathizing, drawing on their own experiences, and sharing small improvement suggestions that make a big difference on the postpartum journey.

While all of these elements make E&E a sophisticated business operation, it really stems from who they are as human beings. Amy and Krystle’s online voice feels intimate, as though they would speak the same way to a dear friend as they do to their Instagram audience of nearly 50,000 followers. It’s a great reminder to be authentic in your content and engagement, and that that authenticity is imperative while building customer trust.

Avoid losing trust at all costs

Above all, fight like hell to keep your current clients and customers happy and satisfied. Once their trust is lost, it’s incredibly difficult to restore it. Do your best to avoid the following scenarios that are guaranteed to break even the most loyal person’s trust.

Unapologetically providing bad experiences: Rude employees, long lines, inappropriate remarks from executive leadership, refusing refunds…you get the picture. Negative run-ins with a brand, whether just once or over a longer period of time, are enough to make customers throw in the towel and move on to a competitor. The digital era only amplifies this, as a single moment can quickly go viral when shared online. Word of mouth is powerful, especially when the advice is to stay far away; so, when your brand inadvertently provides a bad experience, work hard to make it right.

Ignoring direct feedback. Anything shared online is instantly subject to criticism, especially from a brand. While dwelling on every single negative comment isn’t productive, it’s certainly important to take constructive comments into consideration, even if it stings a little. The brands that remain close-minded to repetitive feedback run the risk of driving customers away.

This is especially true if you invite the feedback in the first place, or are a smaller brand with intimate audience relationships. If you readily respond to direct messages during good times, you need to be equally responsive during bad times. If your customers take the time to provide input, it needs to be met with a respectful response at a minimum. In my own personal experience, I have felt personally insulted when a blogger or influencer I engage with on a regular basis is rude or dismissive when I take the time to respond with thoughtful feedback. When it happens one too many times, I’m quick to unfollow.

Trying too hard. This one might seem a bit unfair, but hear me out. Although Edelman’s survey showed 6 in 10 (58%) said they purchased a new product in the last 6 months because of an influencer, oversaturating the influencer market is one way to lose brand trust before you’ve even had a chance to earn it.

From weight loss shakes to skincare lines, multi-level marketing and more, it quickly gets old when it seems like everywhere you turn celebrities and influencers are using a canned script to hawk the same product. I get that the approach is designed to build brand trust and encourage followers to try what “everyone else is using,” but I personally find that it comes across as disingenuous. The bottom line: In my opinion, if a product or service is really that good, it sells itself.

What are you doing to build up and retain your customers’ trust in your brand? Let us know what’s worked well for you on Twitter!

The post How to Earn and Keep Brand Trust appeared first on Rival IQ.