Crystal Media

Marketing Clarity.

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3 (easy-to-fix) Mistakes You’re Probably Making on Social Media

I’ve been working closely with about a dozen retailers on our new Success Package offering and it’s been awesome. Truly. What an honor to work with amazing people and collaborative clients. I can’t wait to do more.

One of the first steps in the Success Package process is a deep dive audit of the client’s social media. While I’ve been doing these, I’ve found the same three mistakes on every business I’ve come across. The good news? They are easy to fix! The better news? They’ll make you look like a pro compared to your competition.

  • Using hashtags on Facebook
    • Just don’t do it. People don’t search hashtags on Facebook and it makes your posts look sloppy. Also, posts with less text generally perform better so don’t waste your text character count on useless hashtags. One caveat to this: It’s OK to use a branded hashtag for a contest or promotion, but that’s it (IMO). If you’re sharing a post from Instagram, go to that post in FB and remove the hashtags. It takes 3 seconds.
  • Not adding price or description to photos
    • Another easy one. When you upload a picture (or even several), you should include the price and info about the same product in other colors, sizes, etc. This helps the shopper shop right then and there. How many times have you posted an item photo, created some catchy verbiage to go with it then had to respond to comments about price, sizes, color options, etc.? Make it as easy as possible for your customers to shop from you. Think about how you thoughtfully display merchandise in your store. You likely have price tags on all items and group similar or complementary items together. Offer that same experience to the digital shopper.
  • Linking to other businesses, vendors, or brands
    • If you link or @ tag a business/vendor/brand on Facebook or Instagram, and that business/vendor/brand sells online, you are literally helping your fan/follower/customer shop from your competition. Don’t do it. If you want to use the brand as a keyword include it, but don’t link it. Sure the customer can go search and find it on their own. But don’t make it so easy for them. Instead, follow the best practices I listed above and make it easy for them to shop from you.

There you have it. Three easy practices to fix or stop doing today on your social media that will help you stand out. If you’re brave enough to admit it, leave a 🙋🏻‍♀️ in the comments below if you’ve made one of these common mistakes. I know you’re not alone!

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How to Overcome Negative Comments Online: The Modern Marketing Show, Episode 64

It’s tough putting yourself out there across your social channels as an online marketer. There’s nothing worse than when your comments get flooded with negativity from people that have never met you before. Or, maybe you’re one of those people who shies away from sharing about themselves on social for fear of receiving negative feedback (which is a really big missed opportunity!). That’s why we want to share with you one Do and one Don’t to handling negative comments online. 

Watch the full episode:

DO Respond

Whether positive or negative, always respond to comments made on your social. It’s a great way to show off your customer service skills. If a comment has got you heated, a good rule of thumb is to wait at least an hour before responding. This can allow for more clarity and professionalism rather than anger, denial or defensiveness overtaking the tone of your message.

DON’T Take Them Personally

I know, I know. This is really hard to do. Your business is your proverbial baby and every remark feels like a slight on how you’ve grown and nurtured it. But there could be many reasons why someone leaves a negative comment or review. Take it as your chance to respond constructively. If a negative attack on you, your appearance or a staff member comes your way, kindly respond that you don’t tolerate any form of bullying or negative speech on your pages.

You have the power to change the tone of your customer interaction. And, don’t let fear get in the way of sharing the story of your business on social.

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.

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Social Edge Live, Episode 25: Spooky, Fun Halloween Video Ideas

It’s the end of October, but your mind is already weeks deep into November and December. With holiday planning on the brain, there’s one holiday that’s easy to forget about – Halloween. Yes, it’s not a favorite of many, but you can’t deny there’s a special magic in the air around this time of year. Halloween night is supposed to be one of fun, mischief, and imagination, so why not bring this same energy into your store?

Here’s how you can bring the Spirit of Halloween into your store and share it with your customers with one (or all) of these Halloween inspired video ideas:

If you got it, Haunt it.

This is a spin on the classic saying “If you got it, Flaunt it” which is perfect for showcasing the products you have in your store just with a fun, fall twist. If you’re a boutique, this can be good for sharing fall favorites, new product reveals, or even coming up with cute costume ideas from items you have in-store the week and weekend leading up to Halloween. If you’re a pet store, try doing a costume fashion show, or showcase festive Halloween treats people can give away when trick-or-treaters show up at your door, or even how t0’s for keeping your pet safe and calm on Halloween night. Hardware stores can share any DIY decoration ideas for those last minute folks who want to set up something fun for the kids. Lastly, if you’re a florist you can showcase and fall floral designs or Day of the Dead inspired arrangements if people celebrate in your area.

Your Scary Good Deals of the Week (or of the Day)

Let your customers know if you have any special deals happening the week or weekend of Halloween. This could be anything from a deal of the day leading up to the 31st or even doing a special sale on orange and black items hidden throughout the store. If you need to make room for more inventory this could be a great way to clear out your stockroom.

Halloween Fright Night

Throughout the day on Halloween, go live from your store or post to your Instagram story people sharing their favorite silly or spooky memory. Make sure you’re asking people watching with you live to comment and share as well. Up the anty and say you’ll pick a winner from the best submission for a prize to your store.We all have a memory or a story from Halloween night to share, so this is a great way to increase engagement and build a relationship with your customer base. Other ideas are to share videos of staff or customers in their costumes and have people enter a costume contest for a gift certificate to your store.

Let these video ideas inspire you to have a “spooktacular” time this Halloween!

Watch the full episode below:

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

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Social Edge Live, Episode 23: Poll Your Audience, Increase Engagement!

A poll can serve a great purpose for independent retailers. Polls record the opinion or vote of a group of people, so it’s no wonder, as smart retailers, you’ll want to take full advantage of the new Instagram Polling feature now available on the app. Also, even though Facebook doesn’t have a polling feature built in, this can be done in other ways on the platform as well if you’re not using Instagram for your business.

This new feature is a smart and fun way to increase engagement on social media. It’s important to have high engagement with your audience because the more people engage with your content the more likely they’ll see what you’re posting in the future. When your audience sees what you post it helps build a relationship, allowing for more reach.

The polling feature on Instagram allows you to ask simple yes or no questions type questions, giving you an easy way to crowdsource your followers for information quickly. This can be put to good use when it comes to your holiday marketing initiatives. You can even use this as a sales tool. Showcase items you wish to get sell through if you have a lot of inventory, and then create a display or mark them on sale depending on your audiences response to the item.

Here are some ideas of fun polls you can run during this upcoming holiday season that also provide you with valuable information about your customers:

  • Will we see you on Small Business Saturday?!
  • Are you done with Christmas Shopping?
  • Which do you want for Christmas?
  • What price point are you shopping for? Under 50 – Over 50
  • Are you hosting Thanksgiving/Christmas?
  • What are you serving for Thanksgiving? (Turkey or Ham)
  • Love this item?
  • Would you buy it?
  • Red or Blue? – give options
  • Been to our store before?
  • Pick 4 graphic
  • Cute – “Is he a good male model?”

Watch the full episode below:

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