Crystal Media

Marketing Clarity.

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I Don’t Have Time

Raise your hand if you’ve used the excuse “I don’t have time” as the reason why something important hasn’t been done.

We’ve all done it, #guilty. 🙋‍♀️

I know you’re busy. You’re running a store, buying inventory, hiring, training, firing, cleaning, merchandising, marketing, trying to see if your broom can stand on its own, the list goes on. But the fact remains, learning new things takes time, improving takes time, mastering takes time AND with the right training, it can also SAVE endless amounts of time.

My response to “I don’t have time to ________”? You’re not alone, try these three steps to move something from the bottom of your to-do list to the top of your done list. 

  • You need a plan: 📝 Figure out where to start so you stop wasting time thinking about the task. 
  • You need help: 🙋🏻 Get relevant training and start delegating so you stop wasting time Googling the same thing over and over again. 
  • You need to take action: 💥 Invest time now to save time going forward. 

If you’re struggling with not having time to create the best social media strategy for your business, we’ve got the plan, we can help, but you’ve got to take action.

Click here to access Lesson 1 of Social to Sale: Building a Strong Foundation for FREE through March 18th. 

Imagine all the time you’ll save by following a step-by-step proven plan? You’ll want to do a happy dance!

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(Video) One No-Brainer Tip to Drive Sales

Last week Bryce, our Sales and Marketing Coordinator, and I walked around Carlsbad Village to meet some local retailers in our area. It was a sunny, warm California day and you could smell the saltwater in the air (did I mention our office is across the street from the beach?). All in all, it was a great day! We met with some awesome people and left a helpful free resource, but one encounter stood out to me the most – and not in the best way. Which is why I have to ask…Are you missing out on sales by not doing this one, no-brainer thing?

By the way, I want to preface this for anyone new to the Crystal Media blog, I (Pauline) do NOT make videos, I prefer to write. But I am so passionate about this topic I thought it was best to film it.

Want the free Social Sharing Guide we were handing out? Click here to download it now.

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3 Social Media Tips and Tricks

With an increase in technological advancement comes an abundance of people spending mass amounts of time online, specifically on social media. There are more than 1.6 BILLION active users on Facebook and more than 500 MILLION users on Instagram each day. For these reasons alone, it is so crucial to have your business page represented on social media.

Ensuring your business page comes to life on Facebook and Instagram can provide a way to increase both your reach and engagement with new and existing fans. If you don’t, you may be losing out on potential customers. For some people, finding you on social media may be their only interaction with your business before deciding whether or not to purchase your product or service. That being said, take a look below at these 3 easy tips to ensure you are getting the most out of social media.

3 Tips and Tricks for Retailers to Utilize This Year

  1. Humanized Content: Small businesses have a higher engagement rate when posting pictures of people, such as employees. When you post content of your employees, it allows your fans to familiarize themselves with you and your business. When they walk in your store, they’ll recognize you/them from social media. This tactic helps the customer build both trust and a positive relationship with your business before ever walking through the door. Simple as that. Pictures of you/your employees modeling your products is a way to take positive community engagement online, into the store.
  2. Regularly update Facebook & Instagram: Finding your business on these platforms may be a customer’s only interaction with you before deciding to come in. It’s important that your information is updated regularly. Posting new products and deals can drive fan excitement and, even better, them into the store. I recommend posting 3-5x a week on each of these platforms to increase your engagement and following. Believe it or not, by updating your social platforms regularly, you could actually rank higher in search results.
  3. Brand consistency across all platforms: It’s important to have brand consistency across all your digital platforms so your customers can clearly identify you. I suggest incorporating things like the same profile picture, fonts, color identity, etc. on all sites. Make sure your brand has an aligned message across all social platforms (including your website) so that customers aren’t confused!

Now that you have a sense of direction about utilizing social media for your business, it’s time to start implementing it! Be creative and have fun with it! Let’s make 2020 the best year that your business has ever seen!

Share a comment about which tip helped most or an area where you struggle. I’d love to hear from you!

Bryce

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Why You Should Caption Your Videos

I don’t think anyone is debating the success of using video as a BIG part of your social media marketing strategy, but if you are, check out these stats from Facebook and multiple publishers…

✅ Over 4 billion video views happen on Facebook every day 📹

✅ 65% of Facebook video views are viewed on mobile 📲

✅ 85% of Facebook videos are viewed with the sound OFF 🔇

That last one is the one I want to talk to you about today.

We all know organic reach continues to drop on Facebook and one way to combat that is to post a video (or go Live on Facebook) then advertise that video. But, you might still be missing a simple step to get more reach and engagement on that video.

Here’s the scenario. You’ve decided to leverage what you can. You get camera ready, plan what to say, check your nerves (for some), wipe your camera clean, get the lighting right, and film a video, ok, maybe you re-film it a few times (we’ve all been there 😉). Now you post it and advertise it. You’re probably feeling pretty good, right? You did it!

Unfortunately,  only 15% of people are actually hearing👂🏻what you said if you don’t caption the video!

It’s one simple step that can easily keep people engaged longer and to get your point across. Don’t skip this step, it’s so easy now. The auto-published captions in Facebook alone have improved leaps and bounds over the past few years. They do most of the work, you just need to check for errors.

Now it’s your turn, make a video, caption it, and share the link in the comments.

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21 New Customers

You know your customers are on Facebook and Instagram every day, so you know it’s where you need to advertise. But how do you know your ads are working? The answer is simple… ask your customers!

My ad client Deb, the owner of Half Moon Handwerks, recently told me that in December she had seen a significant increase in customers who told her they “saw her shop posts on Facebook.” Then she started 2020 with her annual Clearance Sale and told me “we had 21 new customers, most mentioning they saw the notice on Facebook. Yea!!!” 21 NEW Customers, think about that for a minute. 🤔 What could that do for your business?  Deb has been consistently growing her fans and engagement with Facebook ads the past few months, couple that with an awesome sale and Cha-Ching! 💰To obtain awesome data and feedback, all she had to do was ask!

So yes, ADS WORK!! Various ad campaigns have increased Deb’s social media following and her Most Recent ad campaign promotes her new posts daily. She is staying IN FRONT of her customers, and getting in front of new customers leading to an increase in recognition and thus an increase in sales!  MONEY in the bank. The best and easiest way to track these successes is by simply asking your customers where they heard about your store. Share in the comments your ads success stories!

If you’re inspired by the results, you’re in luck because we’re opening 5 spots for our Facebook and Instagram Ads Management tomorrow, if you want to snag one schedule a call, here.