faq’s

Here are the top twenty questions I receive the most. If you don’t see what’s on your mind, reach out anytime on chat, or email.

  1. Do I need to be on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Periscope, etc.? (insert the social media platform of your choice)

Answer:​ No. You only have to participate where it makes sense. You don’t need to do everything. I will assess where your customers are participating and what makes sense for your audience and your industry. But you don’t always need to be on every platform. Even if your customers are on Twitter and you hate using Twitter, you don’t have to use it. You need to enjoy what you are doing. Or you can hire me to do it for you. We keep an open dialog so that you know what is happening and what is working for you.

  1. What results can I expect from social media?

Answer:​ It depends on your participation in each platform and it depends on your goals. Or it depends on the level of service you hire me for. A minimal posting schedule will result in minimal growth and minimal interaction. But when you are engaging and more active you can have a great impact on the buzz you are generating, your sales, and the traffic to your website. It’s not instantaneous and takes time and effort and may need to include some social advertising costs. You also need to have a clear funnel and call to action so your social media

efforts feed your email list if this is your goal. Once on your email list then you can do more traditional marketing.

  1. How do I get more followers on Twitter?

Answer:​ The biggest mistake people make on Twitter is using it only to broadcast and not talking to other people. Retweeting isn’t even always the most engaging (commenting with a retweet is better – this is called a Quote Retweet). Following new people, using lists, using searches, participating in Tweetchats are all good ways to connect to new followers. Follow people and 30-­50% will follow you back – so do the math. If you want 240 new Followers every month you’ll need to Follow over 800 every month. Some things to keep in mind; design your account profile to be attractive to your preferred audience, make sure you have your branded hashtag(s) in your bio, and your website link goes to a landing page to give them something in exchange for their email. Actively Following and engaging in chats will grow the followers quickly

  1. How do I get more Likes on Facebook?

Answer:​ You can either spend your time or your money to get more Likes. With your Time you will engage other Pages, post often, cross-­promote on other platforms, and do more Live video. With your Money, you can run Facebook ads, or run Facebook contests. Or you can do both. It’s quite simple. Anything you can do or create that has the Facebook Like button on it that finds its way in front of people who haven’t Liked the Page yet, is a good idea. These ways include Like Page ads, Boosted Posts that target fan’s friends, and any post that is Shared by anyone back to their timeline. The more you post highly ­shareable content – the more you get organic Page Likes. The more you create ads – the more Paid Likes you get. Do both.

  1. How do I get more connections on LinkedIn?

Answer: ​ Strategically connect to at least 20 new people a week. Use the Add Connections section to find people you may know. It’s amazing that LinkedIn knows you know those people. Use LinkedIn Groups to connect to like­minded people and potential customers. Remember to keep your profile SEO fresh – using the most important keywords for your industry. Use your Headline to announce conferences you’ll be attending, new product launches, and other “press release” worthy items. This will be attractive to people looking at your profile. Post on your personal account and create Articles, don’t just use the status update system.

  1. How do I update Twitter from Facebook?

Answer: ​ There are a lot of ways to do this. If you want to automatically tweet every Facebook post out (the better option because you have more tweets than Facebook posts) you can just go to ​www.facebook.com/twitter​ and link those accounts. But there are mixed feelings on whether or not you should do that. I definitely don’t recommend putting a lot of Twitter lingo in your Facebook posts if you are going to use a 3rd party tool to post to Facebook and Twitter at the same time.

  1. How do I get seen in the Facebook News Feed?

Answer:​ The million-dollar question these days. Pages are not showing up as much in the newsfeed and it’s frustrating. You can see exactly how many people see your posts and sometimes it can be as low as 2% of your total fan base. Frustrating! You need to get more engagement on your Page to be seen more. You also will have to educate your clients on paying to promote your posts occasionally with boosting and ads. Remember, there are only 4 ways to expand Reach and get seen in the news feed more often; post content your audience LOVES to Share, use excellent keywords and hashtags, partnerships for sharing, and advertising. Remember to check the Page Insights to see which post your audience is sharing and commenting on – and do more of those!

  1. How do I run a Facebook contest?

Answer: ​You can either run a Timeline Contest or use a Facebook App to run a contest. You definitely cannot randomly enter people who Like your Page, they have to enter themselves in a 3​rd​ party App or follow the rules for a Timeline sweepstakes/contest. Timeline contests are the easiest to run – but you need to follow the rules. You need to know Why you are running a contest. Is it to support your fans? Or is it to find a new audience by advertising the contest to a wider audience? Do you want to run a contest to add to your email list? Figure these things out first and then use the appropriate system.

  1. Why should I pay for Facebook Ads when I’m using you to post to my page?

    Answer: Facebook is a pay-­to-­play space now. Almost everyone needs to spend a little money on Facebook to be more effective there.

  2. How do I add a custom tab (or custom app) to my Facebook Page?

Answer: ​Custom tabs are becoming less important to Facebook Pages – they can be nice for adding a little pizazz or having a place for email capture but many aren’t visible on mobile devices. If you are running a contest and want to collect emails you do need to use a Facebook App that shows up as a Tab. It’s better to use the Call­-To-­Action button to gain email addresses as that shows up well on mobile.

  1. How do I find my customers on Facebook?

Answer: ​I work with you to strategically target other Pages, encourage sharing and interaction on your page, and possibly run targeted ad campaigns and contests. You need to have a clear business funnel where I can direct people to go. Generally, it is good to adopt an inbound marketing system on social as direct to sales is not the easiest thing to do. I can help you build authority in your field by the types of posts and help you add to your email list by giving away things your audience needs. All of these things will help us find your customers on Facebook.

  1. How often should I post to social media?

Answer: ​On Facebook 1 or 2 times per day is typically ideal but it can also depend on your audience. Twitter can handle more posts per day (10-­24) and depends on your growth goals. Posting a status update once a day on LinkedIn is good, plus using the Article system once or twice a month (or more if this is your main social site) works well. Posting on a regular basis (no matter how often) on YouTube is vital. If you are using a live video social platform – you might need to post at least once a week.

  1. Do I need to blog?

Answer: Yes. ​☺​ With Google changes coming through to favor fresher content many websites would improve their search results by blogging even once a month. You will

continually add more keywords to your site and attract new customers by blogging. You need to blog to have a place to send social traffic to and have a place to convert readers into leads. Blogging is a quick and easy way to show your social authority in your niche.

  1. What should I be measuring on social media? Or how do I measure ROI?

Answer: ​You should be measuring what your goals are. Most likely that’s ultimately going to be actual sales, but along the way you will need to track growth of followers, engagement, clicks to your website and a few other items. You need to put some technical code in place to track actual sales. And that is done on your website and thank you pages. Also, custom coupon codes are an easy way to track from social to sales. Growth in Fans, Followers, and connections is a decent measure of social media health but doesn’t tell the whole story. I put reports together that give you a picture of the health of your sites and we can work together to track sales.

  1. How do I sell more with social media?

Answer: ​Make good connections by giving away helpful content. Use social media to get to know your prospects in the same way you would at a Networking meeting. Post sales messages only 10-­20% of the time and deliver great information, tips, and content the rest of the time. You will create raving fans who will do the selling for you. Most importantly drive social media users to your email list and use your email marketing to do your selling for you. An easy formula to remember is ­ Gain Trust -­ Build Relationships -­ Offer Solutions.

  1. Do I need a social media manager/consultant?

Answer: ​If you don’t want to do it yourself or won’t maintain it well, then yes. But don’t give the job to your neighbor’s son because he’s a young person who happens to use Facebook. You want someone experienced who knows how to use the tools well and knows what works for businesses. Social media consultants are also up on the latest trends, the latest terms and conditions, and can help you save a lot of time trying to figure it out yourself.

  1. What should I be doing for mobile marketing?

Answer: ​Social media is great for mobile marketing. Most people are accessing Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter from their phones. Having a mobile website is becoming more important as well. Pretty much, it’s all about how you show up on mobile. As far as doing something different or extra to be marketing on mobile, you really don’t need to as all your social marketing shows up on mobile automatically. The only thing you need to check is how images, covers, profile images look on mobile as there are some technical differences in the image sizes and placements.

  1. Do all of these accounts need to be my personal name, ­ or can it be my company name?

Answer: ((​This question is usually asked when they don’t want their real name on any social accounts. If this is the case you can explain how they will need a personal account in their name for Facebook and LinkedIn, but all the other have options as noted next ­­))

​Your LinkedIn personal account is your name, but your Groups and Company Pages can be your business name. Your Facebook personal account is your name, but your Groups and Pages can be either your name or your business name (depending on what you want to brand). Your personal name does not have to be visible on any of your Business Pages on Facebook. Your Twitter account can contain your name and your business name by using one for your username and one for your Full Name (or they can both be one or the other). Your Pinterest account can be your name or your business name or a combination of the two. Your Instagram account can be either or a combination.

 

  1. Is there anything I can do to make this go viral?

Answer: ​Viral isn’t always the best thing. You want the campaign to reach your target audience and not necessarily get a million views. Cat videos go viral because they are funny. Using humor can be a better way to get more shares. If your post stops people from scanning the newsfeed ­­ the posts will have a better chance of being shared. So think about the ways you can get someone to stop and read your post. Is it highly informative (Gee I didn’t know that!)? Is it highly emotional (oh no ­ tissue time)? Is it highly entertaining (SO funny ­ must share)?

  1. How do I connect all my sites together?

Answer: If you are asking ­ how do I post to all my social accounts at the same time ­­ ​You don’t always want to post everything on every single site. Tools like PromoRepublic can help with posting to multiple sites and I work with you to automate where it makes sense.