February 25, 2019 By Crystal Leave a Comment

Get More Likes, Comments and Action from Instagram Followers: The Modern Marketing Show, Episode 83

Businesses are finding that Instagram is a great place to connect with your customers online as it continues to become more popular. Many retailers are noticing their engagement has been dropping. Many accounts have even started sharing a viral post asking their followers to like or comment on it to ensure their posts are being seen because Instagram is limiting to the number of followers who see them. Well, this isn’t anything new. The Instagram algorithm shows posts based on who the follower interacts with most.

Watch the full episode here:

Here are two tips on how to get more engagement from your followers:

Have a call to action on a majority of your posts. When you tell your followers what to do (like, comment, or shop now) you have a better chance at them actually doing it. Your event posts, promotional posts, and new product arrival posts should also include a call to action.
Take a look at your messaging. If you’re using language that revolves around community, support, urgency or fear tactics then it has a better chance at getting more engagement. You’re rallying your followers to get behind you.

Remember, people interact on social media differently today than they did 5 years ago. Just because you’re not getting tons of likes or comments doesn’t mean people aren’t interested in seeing your content. The algorithm is able to track how long people stay on your content which is why always looking at your insights can be helpful. And if you’re still unable to build engagement with these tips, it might be time to consider a new content strategy.

Do you need more help figuring out Instagram? We got you covered! In the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing a new Instagram for Retailers training course. Join our email list below to get notified when it’s available!

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

September 17, 2018 By Crystal Leave a Comment

Social to Sale Announcement: The Modern Marketing Show, Episode 62

This is one our of favorite days of the year because doors to Social to Sale are officially open! We only open enrollment twice a year, so now’s the time to enroll in our signature training course while you can. Social to Sale is simple social media training that helps retailers save time and increase sales using social. The course hand-holds you through a super simple process to grow your business and sales through a profitable social media strategy. Increasing sales in less time is a dream come true!

Watch our announcement video below:

Not sure if Social to Sale is right for your business? Read about Lara’s journey going through the process – it can work for you too!

We’re giving away Lesson 1 of the six lesson system for free! Try it before you buy, click here to access (you’ll just need to share with us your First Name and email address).

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

September 1, 2016 By Crystal Leave a Comment

5 Tips to Increase Engagement on Social Media

Time is money. And many business owners feel like they are wasting both when they invest in social media with no results.

Crystal has worked with thousands of retailers to identify the business tactics that lead to positive results on social media. The result? A little tactic called “The Social Selling Mindset.”

The idea of The Social Selling Mindset is putting relationship building first, so that profits can follow. We have an upcoming post on the pillars of the Social Selling Mindset, but in this post, we wanted to cover a few of the goals you’ll set along your path to success.

Focus on Building Relationships

They have to know you in order to love you! Loyal customers will typically be some of your biggest spenders, but you need to put in some hard work in order to build that level of trust. This means offering great customer service, consistently answering questions over the phone, via email, and on social media, and posting engaging content that will keep customers coming back.

Today, it’s easy for customers to make purchases online or at their local big box stores. It’s the unique products and great relationships that they build with small business owners that keep them coming back for more!

Have a Consistent Brand

While copy and keywords are important to a business, branding is all about being recognizable – without saying a word. By using the same colors, fonts, and graphics, you can “train” customers to know your brand, which makes them more likely to remember it.

Your branding should be consistent both offline and on, which means that your in-store signage should look similar to your email templates, social media graphics, and even posts. Posts with text on them or posts that include your logo should also fit your brand.

Know Your Story

Of course, having the right words matters. Similar to having a consistent brand, you need to have a consistent story. Sit down with your staff and come up with a list of words that describe your store. Write them down and refer to the list when you are writing your social media descriptions, posts, and advertising materials. Ask yourself, “Does this fit our description of the brand? What do we need to change in order for our tone to be consistent in all of our marketing materials?

It’s also smart to think of a tagline or “elevator pitch” to use for your store. An elevator pitch may be as simple as, “We are a home and gift store focusing on products made in the USA.”

Show, Don’t Just Tell

We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: Photos and videos perform great on social media. They consistently get more views and interactions than text-only posts, and there are hundreds of resources out there to help you snap, edit, record, and add effects to your visuals.

The next time you go to post, ask yourself, “How can I SHOW this instead of just saying it?” Stick with text for giving details and links, but try to incorporate photos and videos as much as you can

Be Easy to Find

It should be simple for a customer to find your contact information, including email, phone number, and address. And it’s up to you to make yourself easy to find!

All of this information should be included:

On your website
On your social media accounts
On all of your online listings

If you don’t know what online listings are, they are sites that collect business information for customers to search for. Google listings are one example. When you search for a business online, the results that show up in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, that include things like a map of the location and business hours, are that business’s listing. Yelp, Bing, and Foursquare also provide online listings, but there are more than 60 listing sites available.

Having consistent listing information is important because it boosts the chance that you will show up in search but also makes sure that once a customer finds you, they know how to get to you. Crystal Media offers a listing management service called Get Listed, and you can scan your business to see your current listing results FREE.

Running a store isn’t just a business. It’s a mindset. Get in the Social Selling Mindset and stop wasting time online now! Comment below with the biggest goal YOU are currently working toward.