Resources - Crystal Media

June 29, 2020 By Pauline Blasetti Leave a Comment

Maximizing Your Virtual Conference Experience 💻

In a few weeks, Crystal will be speaking at the Retail Success Summit, and like most events these days, it will be virtual. While virtual events have their pluses (hello, no airport security!), if you don’t prepare you might have a hard time adjusting. Luckily, like most things, the right mindset and some prep is all you need.

Here are some simple tips to help you maximize your time at a virtual event.

Test logging into the event- make sure you know where and how to log in.
Keep the event coordinators information handy: If you’re stuck or need help with something, make sure you know who to reach out to.
Print or download any pre-work or notebooks provided.
Create a comfortable space in your house or office to “attend” the conference.
Treat this as an in-person event when choosing what to wear and what snacks to have on hand.
Set an out-of-office on your email to eliminate distractions, and turn off unnecessary notifications on your phone.
Allow yourself to be present. Don’t gyp yourself by trying to multi-task just because you’re at home.
Set clear goals on what you’d like to learn or accomplish while attending the conference.
Have a dedicated page(s) for action items so you can easily reference it after the event and start taking action.
Budget in time after the event to debrief with your team.

Bonus Tip: Tell your friends, family, and/or roommates you’re invisible. 😝

If you’re interested in attending the Retail Success Summit you can learn more here. I hope to ‘see’ you there!

I’d love to hear. your tips for attending virtual events, please share in the comments below.

June 15, 2020 By Pauline Blasetti Leave a Comment

How to Respond to Negative Comments 👍🏻

Recently on one of Crystal’s weekly Facebook Lives, Crystal shared how to deal with bullies. If you missed the video we rounded up the points Crystal talked about to help you navigate a situation where you are faced with a mean comment or bad review.

1. It’s not about you. 🙅‍♀️ Always try to keep this in mind when you read a negative comment. If a person is being cruel online, try to remember there is usually a deeper-rooted personal reason they are trying to deal with. Unfortunately, they are taking their anger out on you, but it’s not about you.

2. Have empathy. 💓 It goes without saying that emotions are running high when there is a mean comment said about your business. Try to take a moment to think of a thoughtful answer that won’t provoke more anger. Letting a customer know you have received their message and then approaching with empathy can de-escalate the situation.

3. Is there a lesson to be learned? 🤔 Admit when you are wrong. Own up, and move forward. This can be a chance for you to take something away and do better next time.

4. Respond to facts. ❗️Try to leave out emotion and defense while responding to a comment. Respond to their statement with facts.

5. Respond from the heart. ❤️If a person has gotten to the point where they want to publicly humiliate or bad mouth your company, they have likely been hurt, even if it was from a misunderstanding. You can take this opportunity to mend the situation with love. Responding genuinely and from your heart feels more authentic.

6. Monitor the comments. 📲Be sure to monitor comments on your post so you can quickly respond or remove a comment. Also, if you engaged in a conversation, it is kinder to respond to further comments rather than to just leave them unread.

7. Have a pre-made document with answers. 📝This can be helpful when you get asked a common question or have a lot of similar feedback. Creating a document with pre-written responses can help you quickly answer a comment. Also, you are likely writing out the responses in a time when your emotions aren’t running so high, so you have time to formulate a professional message.

8. Defer to trusted resources. 📋This can be extra true currently during the COVID-19 pandemic. If a customer is leaving a nasty comment about certain precautions you are taking, be sure to defer them to regulations you have to abide by as a business to stay open.

9. Don’t be afraid to hide or delete a comment. 🚫Usually, we would encourage you to leave a comment up and try to respond to it the best you can, but if a comment is particularly unfair, rude, untrue, or includes profanities, don’t be afraid to remove that negativity from your page.

To check out Crystal’s video about Responding To Bullies, follow this link! 📹

June 8, 2020 By Steph Bechard 2 Comments

Using Instagram’s Story Filters as a Business or Service

You may ask us “Why in the world would you post a public video of you using a silly Instagram effect for everyone to see?” 🙋‍♀️ Well, that’s a great question, and I’m here to answer it! Instagram filters are a great way to humanize your brand. The reason you would want to do this is to help your viewers recognize your company as an entity, and not a store or corporation whose only mission is to sell you something. Humanizing your brand shows your customers that there are real people working hard to provide great customer service, and it shows them you’re doing everything in your means to make your customers happy. After all, this is what differentiates you as a small business from a Big Box Store.

Here are 3️⃣ ways you can use IG Story Filters as a small business or local service:

1. Connect with your customers. 👭 Showing up on your stories is a great way to introduce yourself and your personality to your customers. People are spending hours per day browsing Instagram for consumable and relatable content. Showing up on your stories is a great way to put yourself in front of these viewers, and using filters is a great way to make that content more interesting. Try asking your followers to use a filter quiz and tag you in the results. Try finding filters that relate to your brand and asking people their opinion. Just try to put yourself out there and get comfortable with connecting with your customers.

2. Strengthen your brand identity. 💪 Use filters to show the look and feel of your brand. This helps personify the brand image that you work so hard to embody. Choosing a select few filters that you use consistently can help viewers recognize your content faster, and choosing filters that relate to your brand help convey your brand identity. For instance, you may choose a funny face filter or a quiz if your brand’s personality is fun and relatable. Whereas if you are more focused on being helpful and informative, you might want to share a filter with a questionnaire, or a face filter that you can use to feel comfortable showing up on camera and giving tips to your customers.

3. They’re an easy way to create free content. 🆓 Instagram story filters can provide you with a more compelling way of posting content to your page. Viewers like consistency and when companies are posting good content and posting it often, viewers take notice. This can make your Instagram a more desirable account to follow. Instagram Filters are easy to use and totally free, and not to mention it may only take a few minutes to create and share a story to your page.

We encourage you to try out some different filters relating to your brand, and see if you find it makes a difference on your social media channels! I created a tutorial on how to use IG Story filters and how to search, save, share, and use these effects to benefit your company. Check it out here. 👈

Enjoy!

May 11, 2020 By Madeline Goode 2 Comments

Effective Organic Social Media Strategies 👍🏻

There’s a lot of clutter on social media. We often talk about how you’ve got to push through the clutter by advertising to get your posts in front of your customers. While the rule “pay to play” is often true and a great strategy, it’s most effective when your organic content is strong too. 📊 And, there are times (like during COVID-19) when you want additional options. I’m going to share with you some free or low-cost strategies that’ll help increase your organic social media presence 🤳.

Shine a light on others. 🔦

Put a spotlight on clients, feature your employees, or give credit to other businesses/organizations. People appreciate being recognized and thanked. And, remember people buy from people. The more often you shine a light on your employees the better your customers will get to know them.

Do good in your community. 👍🏻

Donate money to an organization. Ask a school or hospital to nominate a deserving student, teacher, or nurse/doctor and give the winner a prize from your store. Your fans love to see what you’re doing to help others in your local area! You’ve probably been doing this for years, donating to the local little league or boys and girls club now is the time to talk about it!

Leverage a local complimentary business. 🏪

Partner with a business complementary to yours and co-host an event or social media campaign. Not only will you be able to share any expenses, but you’ll also get extra organic exposure from your partner business posting about it on their socials too!

Host virtual events. 💻

Not only is this a great tool during COVID-19, but this can also help limit the cost of in-person events in the future too. Hosting the event virtually will cut back on the costs of refreshments or entertainment you might have at an in-person event. Use what’s already popular in your town. Host a virtual fashion show or a game of bingo! Be sure to post about the event leading up to it so more people can tune in.

The key to effective organic strategies is posting content that people want to see, so make sure it’s relevant and have fun with it! 🥳

Comment below which organic strategies have worked for you!