social media marketing Archives

Going live: 7 tips for any social media platform

Going live on any social media platform can feel intimidating, but if you let fear keep you away from live videos, you’re missing out on an ample opportunity.

Live videos capture attention between 10 and 20 times longer than prerecorded, on-demand content, while more than 20 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. watch live-stream videos several times a day.

And keep in mind that you have the potential to reach about 1.7 billion users through Facebook Live alone.

Social media live video happens in real-time, with no editing, so the footage is completely authentic. This makes live video content appealing to social media audiences.

Regardless of what social media platform you’re going live on, the following are seven tips to help you be more purposeful, engaging and successful.

Announce your live video ahead of time

It’s always a best practice to make sure that your audience is aware that you’re going live soon. This can be as simple as sharing posts announcing the live video in advance and sharing what viewers can expect to see.

But you don’t have to keep your promotion restricted to that particular social media platform. You can cross-promote on different platforms. You also can promote on other mediums, such as blog posts and/or email newsletters and so on.

Some platforms, like Facebook, allow you to create an event where you can include all relevant information about the upcoming live video. When users RSVP to the event, they’ll get notifications and reminders beforehand, which can help increase your overall live-viewing audience size.

Plan ahead with an outline

There is no reason to jump onto a live video cold with no plan. Spontaneity is inevitable, of course. You’re live, after all. But the more you can plan and prepare in advance, the better you’ll be.

An outline can help prevent many silly mistakes and ensure that you cover exactly what you’re aiming for in your live video. Include any calls to action as well, such as visiting your website, subscribing to your email newsletter or something else.

Because it’s ideal for your live video to run for at least 20 minutes, the better your plan, the easier this video length will be to achieve naturally.

Invest in decent gear

Before you panic about how much “decent gear” might cost you for going live, remember that your gear only has two goals in which your audience should be able to:

See you well.
Hear you well.

That’s it. So, keep it simple. A basic tripod can prevent your live video from being shaky. A ring light can make it easy to see you, no matter what time of day it is. And wireless earbuds can stand in as your microphone so that not only can you be heard, but most will help cancel out any background noise as well.

While you’re at it, double-check your WiFi connection and internet speed. There’s nothing worse than your live video crashing midway due to a weak signal.

Practice before going live

Live video on social media is definitely more casual than traditional, recorded videos, but you still want to represent your band well.

It’s always a good idea to practice before going live. This can involve practicing what you want to say, testing your lighting and evaluating whether there are any potential distractions (such as background noises) that you can eliminate before going live for real.

Focus on connecting with your audience

Going live on social media should be about connecting with your viewers more than anything else. (It should be the priority over selling and promoting.)

Live videos enable you to show your audience a behind-the-scenes peek into your brand. This helps them to connect with you and/or others behind your brand, creating that human connection.

Invite guests to your social media live videos

The engagement factor for live videos exponentially increases when you can bring guests on to liven up and enrich the conversation. The more dynamic the conversation, the more viewers you’ll get and the more comments that can be generated.

When planning out your live video topics, consider who might have expertise that can elevate the conversation. Some guests might be nervous about appearing on live video, so make sure to reassure them. It helps to talk them through your plan for the live video so that they know what to expect as much as possible.

Consider your timing (but don’t be ruled by it)

Ideally, you’re going live at a time of day when your audience can be most engaged. But it’s also possible that your audience is across multiple time zones, so while you generally want to target the best time for your audience, remember that most live videos are recorded and can be played back by users afterward.

This is particularly true if your brand is global. Target your timing for where the bulk of your target audience is, and then share and promote the recording afterward for everyone else.

In conclusion

Truly, the most important thing to remember when going live on social media is to simply be yourself and have fun. Live videos are an authentic way to connect with your audience, and they will be able to tell immediately if you’re not being yourself.

Success comes down to finding that sweet spot between being yourself and representing your brand.

Check out the eight most common social media mistakes and how to avoid them. Newer to social media marketing, explore these 17 free online courses to help you level up your social media skills.

While you’re planning out your next live videos for social media, think about how you can improve your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 tips to successfully advertise on Reddit

Reddit doesn’t look like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, so advertising on the social media platform might feel intimidating.

The website refers to itself as a “network of communities based on people’s interests.” These communities, known as subreddits, enable members to share images, videos and links as well as comment on existing threads. In addition, users can give feedback in the form of upvotes or downvotes that signal a thread’s popularity.

Reddit has about 52 million daily active users and about 430 million users who use it once a month.

That means that with Reddit advertising, you have the ability to reach users you might not otherwise reach.

The following are seven tips to successfully advertise on Reddit.

Actually use Reddit

It sounds simple, but if you want to do well with Reddit advertising, it’s important to be a regular user of the platform to better understand its nuances.

While Reddit has many characteristics that should be familiar to any social media user, the platform is still unique.

In particular, there is an entire Reddit culture that you should be aware of. Dive deeper with our four tips to natively market your brand on Reddit.

Select the right subreddits

Reddit itself is organized by subreddits, which are communities that form around topics and subjects. Each subreddit is managed by different moderators who set their own rules.

Because of that, different subreddits can have different atmospheres, even if they’re related in some way.

With Reddit advertising, you can opt for subreddit-based ad targeting instead of allowing Reddit to target based on its determination of user interests. This puts a lot of power in your hands but only if you’re selecting the right subreddits for the target audience you’re looking for.

To get it right, you must do your research. Don’t assume from the name of a subreddit that it’s the right one for your Reddit advertising goals.

Be prepared for less robust ad tools and analytics

Many social media platforms offer robust advertising tools and analytics capabilities. But not Reddit, so be prepared for a comparatively basic experience than what you’re used to.

While less robust tools make it harder to execute and pivot as necessary, it does push you to invest time to understand Reddit and its users in order to be successful and achieve your goals on the platform.

Keep it real

Any content that’s overly polished or appears to be trying to hard can get called out by Reddit users quickly.

But to walk the line between not being too polished and then looking like you’re trying too hard to sound “cool” is an art form within itself.

In general, you’re best off with ad copy that’s clear and straightforward. Of course, you can mention discounts or other promotions to generate interest, but you still want to be very direct and concise when doing so.

Definitely keep an eye out for other Reddit ads for inspiration to see how others tailor their voice to the platform and still aim to compel users to take an action.

Select the correct Reddit ad type

The most commonly-used ad format on Reddit is Promoted Posts, and it offers two ad type options: link ads and text ads.

Link ads direct users to a URL outside of Reddit when clicked. But text ads link to a Reddit post, which can contain more text (and that text can include external links).

While both types can be effective, it’s key to think through the goal of your Reddit advertising overall, as well as the ad in question. Link ads are obviously appealing, but there’s a lot of utility to using text ads to share a longer-form message on Reddit. And that longer-form message could generate its own engagement and conversation.

Prepare for ad feedback

Reddit is a platform that bases itself on giving users the ability to voice their opinions. So, it’s entirely possible that these users will provide feedback on your ads, which can be in the form of upvotes or downvotes. It also could be in the form of comments if you’re using a text ad.

This enters the risk of negative feedback that you have to be ready and prepared for. Check out our seven tips for handling negative social media comments.

Always experiment and optimize accordingly

Just like with any other social media advertising platform, experimentation is key to success. Reddit advertising is no different.

It can take time and effort to get things right. But the reward is reaching a potentially untapped segment of your target audience.

In conclusion

While some businesses might be intimidated by wading into Reddit advertising, there is an opportunity there. If it seems like it’s an opportunity that’s worth exploring and you have the resources to do so, then spend time on the platform to better understand it. Collect examples of ads you like, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

As you explore Reddit advertising, consider optimizing your digital marketing process, which includes automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

8 benefits of using an Instagram business account (and how to set it up)

Instagram is a must-have social media platform for many businesses, but do you need an Instagram business account?

The visuals-first app generates about 1 billion active monthly users and is particularly popular among consumers 34 and younger. Features have diversified since its founding in 2010, with Instagram Stories, Reels and more available to engage with your target audience.

You can opt for a personal or business account on Instagram. The platform has more than 200 million business accounts that users visit daily. In fact, about 90 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business.

The following are eight benefits of using an Instagram business account.

Scheduling posts

The ability to schedule posts due to having an Instagram business account is huge. Scheduling helps you save time and be more efficient as a content creator and publisher.

Various third-party applications, such as Hootsuite, can make it easy to connect and schedule away. Finding the right tool for you can make all the difference in your social media presence.

Check out these 11 free (or almost free) social media management tools that can help you do it all on social media with a limited budget.

Access to Instagram analytics

Data matters in digital marketing, particularly in social media, such as Instagram. It’s all about understanding your followers and what content resonates with them.

An Instagram business account gives you acces to dive deep into your audience’s profile views, your total reach, your post impressions and even the demographics of your followers.

With this information, you can pivot your content strategy accordingly.

Get a better understanding of Instagram Insights with our guide.

Instagram Shop features available

If your business sells products specifically, you’ll want to be able to leverage Instagram Shop features within your strategy.

With Shops, you can upload a product catalog, tag your products and (depending) you can even process sales directly within the Instagram app. In addition, you can set up:

Collections of products (such as “new arrivals” or anything else that makes sense for your business)
Shoppable Reels
Brand affiliations that can then share and sell your products for a commission (with controllable permission for who can tag your products)

Plus, you’ll have additional insights data related to Instagram Shop specifically.

Ability to add a contact button

Instagram business accounts can add a contact button on your profile so that when a user clicks it, they can either email you, call you or view a map of your location.

You also can sync your public contact information with your Facebook business page, which means that when information needs to be updated, you only have to do so in one place.

In addition, Instagram business accounts can use action buttons, including “Order Food,” “Book Now” and “Reserve,” if appropriate for your business.

Showing your industry on your profile

With an Instagram business account, the industry you selected that best represents your business when creating your linked Facebook page will show on your Instagram profile.

Of course, this is editable within Instagram.

Adding links to your Instagram Stories

If you’re using a personal profile, the only clickable link you can share is on your profile. An Instagram business account changes this.

You get the option of adding link stickers to your Instagram Stories, which allow you to multiple images and/or videos in a vertical format, where you can layer on various doodles, text and/or interactive stickers. They last 24 hours before disappearing, but they can be pinned to your Instagram profile in Highlight groupings and last longer.

Since about 75 percent of Instagram users take action after looking at a post (such as visiting a website), this feature can help users easily do what you’re compelling them to do with your content.

Age verification

If your business is in a restricted industry (such as alcohol), your Instagram business account can set a minimum age.

This is important because you can then ensure that you aren’t showing your content to potential underage Instagram users.

Instagram advertising

If you have a marketing budget to spend on your Instagram presence in any way, an Instagram business account will enable you to run advertising campaigns and boost posts on the platform.

Facebook and Instagram and intricately linked in this way. You can build campaigns in the Facebook (now Meta) Business Manager that can serve on both platforms.

In addition, Instagram Shoppable posts allow users to tap on product tags to view a full product description with a “Buy Now” button. This makes it easier than ever to purchase from your business through the app.

How to set up your Instagram Business Profile

In the Instagram app, navigate to “Settings,” then click “Account” and “Switch to Professional Account.”

You’ll want to select the category that best describes your business, and then select “Business.”

And that’s it! You’re ready to roll.

In conclusion

While there are big benefits to switching over to an Instagram business account, keep in mind that there are two features you will lose when you convert, which is the ability to:

Make your posts private
Link multiple Facebook profiles since you’ll only connect to your business’s Facebook page

Dive deeper to better understand the differences between personal, creator and business Instagram accounts.

Then, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

6 things you should know about BeReal

BeReal is one of the latest social media apps to create a buzz.

It generated more than 56 million downloads in 2022, catching the attention of TikTok, which launched a feature (TikTok Now) that is reminiscent of what’s making BeReal popular.

But what is BeReal? Essentially, the app prioritizes more authentic, in-the-moment content. Originally launched in 2020, BeReal offers a “new and unique way to discover who your friends really are in their daily life.” Gen Z users (specifically 18- to 24-year-olds) are the majority of BeReal’s base.

The following are six things you should know about BeReal.

The daily BeReal notification is global and random

BeReal sends you a daily alert asking you to post a picture within two minutes that shows whatever you’re doing at the moment. This alert is sent at a random time each day and at the same time to all users globally.

While users can post after the two minutes is over, the text below that shared photo will say that the deadline was not met. For instance, the text could say: “3 hours late.”

You’re actually taking a ‘double photo’

To take the prompted photo when alerted, you open BeReal and snap a selfie with your phone’s front camera, while the back camera captures the view in the other direction.

Images are only visible to your contacts on the app for 24 hours.

You have ‘friends’ not ‘followers’

On BeReal, you don’t have followers. You have “friends,” which means that only the people you personally add can see your posts. In addition, you can’t see your friends’ photos until you upload your own.

Keep in mind that there are no friend/follower counts, removing the temptation to build “influence.”

The app also has built-in emojis, and users can react to and comment on each other’s images. There’s also a “RealMoji” feature, which is a photo taken with the front camera of the user’s face reacting in some way. It allows users to see their friends’ real-time reactions to what they’re doing at that specific moment.

No filters or photo editing

Part of what is making BeReal so popular is its lack of filters and editing. You also can’t import edited photos, so you can only capture an image from within the app in real-time.

You can retake the photo up to 10 times, but the app will tell your friends how many times you’ve retaken the photo before you uploaded it.

BeReal has a Discovery section

While users specifically connect with the people they know, BeReal does have a discovery section. It enables you to see other posts from around the world from other users who have their privacy settings unlocked.

It emphasizes the mundanity of the world, where other apps (like Instagram or Twitter) tend to promote over-the-top lifestyles and images.

No advertising

BeReal does not host advertising on its interface. Depending on your perspective, this can be a good or bad thing. For users, it can feel like a relief to not navigate any ads in an app. For brands, it immediately removes an obvious way to connect with users on BeReal.

Only time will tell how long the ad-free experience will last on BeReal and how funding for the app will evolve.

In conclusion

Just like with any other newly popular social media app, the best thing to do is to try it out yourself. Only then can you better understand the nuances and value of BeReal and how it may or may not fit into your brand’s digital marketing strategy in the future.

Check out the eight most common social media mistakes that you should avoid.

While you’re exploring BeReal, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory and our 21-day free trial. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

5 ways to handle social media negativity

Social media negativity is a fact of life for both individuals and brands.

As a brand, however, you want to make sure that you handle any negative comments appropriately. Any misstep can become a problem for your business.

About 94 percent of consumers admit that they will avoid a business that has a negative review. And negative reviews don’t just happen on platforms like Yelp. They occur across social media as well, whether it’s a formal Facebook recommendation, an informal Instagram post tagging the business and sharing the customer experience or simply a negative comment on one of your brand posts on any social media channel.

The following are five ways to handle social media negativity related to your brand, regardless of whether it’s a negative review, negative comment or something else.

Always respond to negative comments or posts

First things first, you should always respond to any social media negativity directed toward your brand. If you avoid them, they can snowball into the perception that your brand doesn’t care.

Address the negativity quickly, be apologetic, polite and offer to move into a private communication channel in order to address the issue in more detail. (That way, your audience knows you’re handling the issue, but the related details remain private between you and the customer.)

Of course, your team shouldn’t have to guess when and how to respond to social media negativity. You can start by crafting templated responses that address common frequently asked questions so that everyone is on the same page. Identify which questions come up from your customers the most (as well as any positive and negative feedback you expect to get or have seen in the past). You can then plan out a few responses to any given negative situation so that you have different templated options available.

Just make sure that you update these templated responses from time to time. And, in addition, always personalize a templated response for the user you’re responding to. It can be as simple as using his or her first name and summarizing his or her complaint to show that you are listening before you apologize and offer a way to help.

Use facts (not emotions) when responding

As a brand, you must remove all emotion out of your response to social media negativity, which can easily be upsetting or angering. Stick with your templated responses (personalized as needed), and leverage facts to address any potentially misleading information.

Remember, while you’re responding to a particular user, you’re also addressing your entire audience who can see your response. Keep the facts simple and straightforward to clear up any confusion that could have been caused by the user’s social media negativity.

Never delete negative comments

If you delete negative comments, you risk angering people even more and looking like you have something to hide.

Neither is good for your brand.

Respond instead of delete. Of course, if there’s a specific internet troll who is harassing your brand (and there’s no private or public remedy to be had), there are tools across platforms where you can report the post or comment, report abusive users and even ban them from engaging with your account.

Always report harassment

Speaking of wayward, abusive trolls, there is a fine line between criticism and harassment.

While Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have community guidelines regarding user behavior that you should be familiar with, you should also post your own “rules of conduct” related to your social media presence and your online community. Keep your guidelines direct and clear.

If there is a user that is being abusive and making the rest of your audience uncomfortable, you should consider the next steps of reporting and banning, as available on the social media channel it’s happening on.

Depending on the harassment, you may need to involve your legal team on a case-by-case basis.

Learn from your mistakes

No one is perfect, including your brand. If social media negativity has brought an issue to light, consider it an opportunity to fix it. In that sense, negative comments and posts can be a true source of information regarding a problem with your product, your customer service or something else that could be happening on a larger scale.

If this is the case, then you’ll want to include in your response that a mistake was made that you want to fix and whatever steps you’re taking to resolve the issue.

Over time, this sort of responsiveness and follow-through will benefit your business moving forward.

In conclusion

Social media negativity can feel daunting, but as a brand, it’s inevitable that you’ll have to address it. View it as an opportunity to engage with upset users or customers and turn them into brand supporters due to your proper handling of their issue.

Check out our 11 tips to best respond to negative reviews specifically.

As you make a plan to better address social media negativity, consider optimizing your digital marketing process, which includes automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

4 tips to help get you verified on Facebook

Considering Facebook is the biggest social media network, it makes sense if you want Facebook verification on your page.

Facebook has 2.91 billion monthly active users as of 2022. This is actually a 6.2 percent increase from its 2.74 billion users in 2021, which was already a year-over-year growth of 12 percent from 2019.

With the potential to reach so many users, Facebook verification can help your page build credibility and a trusting relationship with your target audience. Facebook verification is the process of getting a profile or page verified to show other users that it represents your authentic presence on the platform. A blue checkmark appears next to the name of a verified account.

In addition to building trust, Facebook verification helps public figures, brands and companies who are susceptible to being impersonated with fake pages establish that they actually are who they say they are. A common example is the real Facebook page for a celebrity versus pages run by fans or imposters.

Facebook also prioritizes verified profiles and Pages in its search results, which can improve your brand’s reach.

While anyone can technically get verified on Facebook, there are strict verification requirements you must meet in order to get approved. However, these are only the bare minimum and are no guarantee that you’ll get verified.

To officially apply for Facebook verification, you would:

Open the Facebook verification request form.
Choose your verification type, whether you’re looking to verify your personal profile (if you’re a public figure) or your Facebook page.
Confirm your authenticity with credible documentation, such as a driver’s license, passport, etc.
Confirm your notability by selecting a category for your business page or profile so that Facebook can ensure that your profile or page is something people are interested in or searching for.
Add the country where you or your business is most well-known.
Add your audience and “also known as,” which is an optional step, but keep in mind that the more information you give, the easier it is for Facebook to confirm your verification. For your audience, you can enter basic information about your audience demographics. If you have no other “aka” names for your business, though, you can leave that blank.
Add up to five articles that show your Facebook page or profile is in the public interest. This is optional as well, but by including popular social media accounts, articles that talk about your business, Wikipedia profiles or anything else, you’re proving that people are interested in, following or talking about your brand.
And submit!

But again, Facebook verification is not guaranteed. (Fortunately, you can reapply after 30 days if you get denied.) The following are four tips to help you get verified the first time on Facebook (and stay verified).

Be professional

When it comes to being professional on Facebook as a brand, there are a few things to consider, including:

The overall impression of your Facebook page or profile matches the image your brand presents elsewhere.
You’re only sharing on-brand, related content to your page or profile. No off-brand logos, personal posts (depending on the context), low-quality images, incorrect grammar and spelling, anything that doesn’t reflect your brand voice, etc.

Put yourself in a customer’s shoes when looking at your page or profile. What do you see? Better yet, ask a colleague for an unbiased opinion with a fresh set of eyes.

Maintain up-to-date business information

Before even applying for Facebook verification, you want to make sure that your entire Facebook business profile is complete. This includes working links to your website (and working links from your website back to your Facebook page).

But on top of that, you want to keep that information as up-to-date as possible. Perhaps you created a new website, moved store locations, changed business hours, added new products or services or something else. Regardless of what might change with your business and offerings, you’ll want to reflect that on your Facebook presence.

Post engaging content regularly

Content (and engaging content in particular) is everything on social media. Without it, your Facebook page is a shell business listing that likely will not receive Facebook verification.

Of course, when it comes to content creation and publication, you want to keep your audience in mind, as well as their needs, challenges and interests.

Check out our 10 tips for creating engaging content.

When it comes to frequency, consistency is critical. You don’t want to publish several posts in one day and then not post again for weeks.

A content calendar can help keep you organized, but also check out how often you should be posting on social media, especially Facebook.

But beyond providing engaging content, you’ll want to engage with your followers as well. Reply to comments and direct messages, comment on relevant posts from other users, offer Facebook Lives that are specifically an opportunity for you to answer questions from customers and potential customers, etc. An engaged audience shows Facebook that you’re a notable brand that people follow. This contributes in your favor for Facebook verification.

Follow Facebook’s community standards

Do you know what Facebook’s community standards are? In short, they’re a robust list of guidelines that you should get familiar with (if you’re not already) that outline the acceptable use of the Facebook platform.

If you’re violating these standards, you obviously risk not getting verified. If you do get verified and then violate the community standards, Facebook can revoke your verification.

Reviewing the guidelines, turning on two-factor authentication and staying true to your Facebook marketing strategy will help you get (and stay) verified.

In conclusion

If you don’t get verified the first time that you apply, you can apply again in 30 days. However, we do recommend that you use those 30 days to review what you can improve about your Facebook presence before applying again. In fact, you may receive from Facebook at least part of the reason that you weren’t verified. If this is the case, you’ll want to address those issues as soon as possible.

Check out our seven tips to get verified on Instagram.

As you begin to optimize your Facebook presence for possible verification, consider leveling up your digital marketing process. This can include automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

Social media posting: How often should a brand really share?

For about as long as social media became a natural component of digital marketing, brands have wondered: “How often should I post?”

Obviously, no one wants to post too much or too little. As of 2022, there are about 4 billion social media users across all platforms, and the average amount of time an adult user spends on social media is higher than ever at 95 minutes per day.

Your target audience is part of these statistics, and you don’t want to miss the opportunity to connect with them by not posting at the right frequency.

If you’re not posting enough, you risk being forgotten by your audience. If you post too much, you risk being a nuisance to your audience and probably even the platform’s algorithm that you’re posting on.

Simply put, the perfect frequency on any social media platform is to post as often as you can consistently that’s quality content (not just posting for the sake of posting). But let’s break down the official recommendations by platform (on both frequency and timing) so that you can see how your brand stacks up and whether there are any opportunities to optimize your posting frequency in your social media marketing strategy.

Social media posting on Facebook

The general best-practice recommendation on Facebook is to post once per day, with a maximum of two posts per day.

Pages with fewer than 10,000 fans experience about a 50 percent decrease in engagement per post if posting more than once per day.

On the flip side, you’ll want to post on your Facebook page at least three times per week at minimum.

As far as timing, general recommendations suggest the afternoon, but it’s important to test this out with your own audience. Keep in mind that your specific audience might have different usage habits, and simply following a general recommendation that everyone else might be striving for could just leave you lost in the crowd. Experiment and pay attention to your Facebook Insights to understand what times work best for your brand.

Check out our six Facebook marketing tips that you should know.

Social media posting on Instagram

The general best-practice recommendation on Instagram is to post at least once per day but no more than three times per day.

The bare minimum is at least once per week, with a better, suggested minimum of at least three times per week.

Definitely avoid publishing several posts in quick succession or disappearing for weeks at a time. It’s all about consistency.

As far as timing, general recommendations suggest early morning or midday, but just like on Facebook, you’ll want to experiment to determine what timing is most successful for your audience. Keep an eye on Instagram Insights as you test out different times.

Check out our 16 Instagram marketing tips that you should know.

Social media posting on Twitter

Studies on Twitter posting frequency do vary wildly, with a suggested range of once per day to 51 times per day. But general, best-practice recommendations advise three to 30 times per day, which can still be a big range to consider. This is because tweets have such a short “shelf life,” so regardless of what frequency you go with, you’ll want to make sure to spread your tweet out throughout the day.

Truly, the bare minimum frequency is once per day, but you will do better with three to 6 tweets per day. The optimal sweet spot for many brands is about 15 to 23 tweets per day. Definitely avoid disappearing from Twitter for weeks or months at a time because you’ll lose followers.

As far as timing, weekday mornings typically perform well, but you’ll want to experiment for your audience. With timing and especially because the frequency recommendation is such a big range, testing is key. Monitor your Twitter Analytics to find the best mix for your brand.

Check out our eight Twitter marketing tips that you should know.

Social media posting on LinkedIn

The general best-practice recommendation on LinkedIn is to post at least twice a week but no more than once per business day.

Ideally, you’ll want to post once per business day.

Just like with other social media platforms, you don’t want to disappear for weeks at a time. Consistency is always key.

As far as timing, mornings are best. As always, monitor the performance of your LinkedIn posts. You never know if a general recommendation is best for your audience until you test it.

Check out our six LinkedIn marketing tips that you should know.

Social media posting on YouTube

The general best-practice recommendation on YouTube is to strive for uploading a new video weekly. Of course, the challenge is that video content especially can require time and resources to produce quality content. While the recommendation is once per week, don’t overcommit to what you can realistically do.

You also should set appropriate expectations with your audience by sharing your posting frequency on your YouTube channel. Resist the temptation to disappear for weeks, though. Setting a plan and sticking to it can help maintain consistency.

As far as timing, midday on Thursdays and Fridays is recommended, while Mondays and Tuesdays are considered the worst days to upload on YouTube. Test it out, though. Your audience may always vary from nationwide trends.

Check out our 20 tips to grow your YouTube subscribers.

Social media posting on Pinterest

The general best-practice recommendation on Pinterest is at least three posts per day, with a maximum of 25 posts per day.

Because this is such a wide range (similar to Twitter), consider your bare minimum one pin daily, with a better frequency being three to five pins daily and the optimal frequency being 10 to 25 pins per day. Of course, this entirely depends on your brand’s bandwidth to create and publish new pins for Pinterest.

Make sure that you’re focusing on new pins since Pinterest has been prioritizing them since 2019 and not overly relying on re-pins. You don’t want to repeat pins frequently or post them to more than 10 Pinterest boards.

As far as timing, late night is a recommended time for publishing on Pinterest. Make sure to test this with your audience to see what the best time might be for your brand.

Check out our six Pinterest marketing tips that you should know.

Social media posting on TikTok

Even though TikTok is a newer social media platform for brands to consider, it appears that the general best-practice recommendation is to post at least one quality video per day. But three videos per day is best.

At bare minimum, you at least need to post several times per week.

As far as maximum videos, opinions vary. Many suggest no more than four or five per day, while some suggest that there is no such thing as posting too much on TikTok.

As far as timing, general recommendations suggest early morning or late night, but experiment with your content and audience to find what works best for your brand.

Check out our 15 TikTok marketing tips that you should know.

In conclusion

Again, the idea of optimal social media posting frequency for your brand truly comes down to:

Your resources and bandwidth to create quality, engaging content.
Your target audience’s behaviors and social media usage habits.

If you are considering increasing your posting frequency to meet generally optimal levels, a content calendar can help you stay organized.

While you’re evaluating your social media posting frequency and timing, consider leveling up your digital marketing strategy. DailyStory specializes in automation, email marketing, audience segmentation and more. Level up your process, and schedule a free demo with us today.

7 tips for finding the right influencers for your digital marketing

Influencer marketing is easier said than done, especially when it comes to finding the right influencers for your brand and digital marketing campaigns.

Simply put, influencer marketing involves increasing brand awareness, targeting new and niche audiences and increasing impressions and reach through a partnership with an online influencer. An influencer is an online personality with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media. Of course, social media is a broad term. Truly, an influencer can exist on any online platform, including his or her blog. Ideally, this individual has at least 10,000 followers (but this amount can vary).

Influencer marketing has expanded to a $16.4 billion industry, and about 93 percent of marketers have used influencer marketing in their campaigns. Instagram alone has an estimated 500,000 active influencers. The success behind this style of marketing is that it isn’t perceived the same way as traditional marketing.

When done correctly, influencer marketing is a natural extension of an influencer’s personal brand. This is the case even when links, keywords and other standard marketing tactics are used. With the right partnership, you can tap into the trust that a community has with a particular influencer to boost the reach of your own brand.

But there’s a real risk to feeling like you’re not getting your money’s worth from influencer marketing campaigns. And truly, your brand can look bad if or when working with an ill-fitting influencer.

Of course, marketing in general is never guaranteed, but successful influencer marketing all starts with partnering with the right influencers. The following are seven tips for finding the best influencers organically for your brand and digital marketing goals.

Start with a Google search

It might sound simple, but Google really is a great place to start when seeking the right influencers to potentially work with.

You can search for such terms as:

“[Your industry] experts”
“[Your industry] speakers”
“[Your industry] bloggers”
“[Your industry] influencers”

Of course, if you’re looking for more locally based influencers, you can include your state or city in the search as well.

The results you get could be vast, and you’ll then have to narrow down your potential list through researching the influencers you find. But you also could have to expand your search if you’re not getting enough results to work with.

Conduct a hashtag search on Instagram

Instagram is still the preferred social media channel for brands that engage in influencer marketing. So, searching hashtags on Instagram that are related to your industry, product, service or competitor will not only potentially discover viable influencers whom you could work with. You’ll also see related content from different points of view that can inspire your own influencer marketing campaign approach.

An Instagram hashtag search is important because it could lead to social media profiles that your might not have found doing a Google seach alone.

Check out our six tips to master Instagram hashtags.

Explore influencers’ followings

Influencers tend to follow each other on social media platforms. Viewing the Twitter lists of known influencers (perhaps those who might be too big for your brand to afford now) can help you discover other influencers who might be a better fit overall (not just financially).

Of course, this same logic can be applied to exploring the “following” tab of any influencer’s Instagram account as well. It’s just about seeing what connections can lead to the discovery of influencers you might not otherwise know about.

Learn more about social media platforms as they relate to influencer marketing.

Examine your competition’s followers and engagers

By paying close attention to your competitors and their followers, you ensure that you’re not missing any opportunities to reach every possible audience you can.

Who’s engaging with your competitors by liking, sharing and commenting on their content? Who’s following them? The right influencer for your brand could be found in these groups on various social media channels.

Of course, this examination could be part of a larger competitive analysis, which can inform your digital marketing strategy beyond just influencer marketing.

Don’t forget about your own followers and engagers

While those who follow and engage with your competition could include quality influencers you’d like to work with, don’t forget about your own followers who are already engaging with your brand.

Review your follower lists across your social media channels for anyone with a relatively large following of his or her own. Even if they’re not labeling themselves as an influencer, there’s still the potential that they can be compelled to share your content or work with you in a bigger way on a consistent basis.

Browse speaker lists for industry-related events and conferences

Whether in-person or virtual, events and conferences that feature speakers in your industry can be a treasure trove for discovering influencers.

In many ways, the event or conference in question has already done the initial research that these potential collaborators are relevant to your industry (and potentially your target audience) in some way. So, all you have to do is research and decide who is specifically best for your brand.

Keep in mind that there’s no guarantee that a speaker will partner with you. However, they could still connect you to someone else who might be a good fit and is willing to collaborate.

Leverage influencer-finding tools

Of course, discovering the right influencer for your brand doesn’t all have to be a manual endeavor. There are a number of tools available that can help you monitor and discover influencers, including:

There are more tools out there, of course. But evaluate each tool and decide which one best suits your goals and your budget.

In conclusion

Finding relevant influencers is an important step but still just the first step to a successful influencer marketing campaign. Remember that you should still do your homework on any influencer you’re about to collaborate with. You also should have a clear plan and agreement in place that supports your brand’s campaign goals.

Check out our seven tips to know before starting your first influencer marketing campaign.

While you’re seeking the right influencer for your brand, consider leveling up your digital marketing process. DailyStory features automation, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

5 signs to spot fake Instagram accounts

Fake accounts are a fact of life on social media. But how do you spot a fake Instagram account so that you don’t waste your time and (more importantly) don’t get scammed?

More than 2 billion people use Instagram once a month, making it the fourth most popular social app worldwide. About 8 percent of Instagram accounts are reportedly fake.

Of course, there are many possible reasons behind fake accounts, including:

Selling fake products or services
Impersonating others, as known as catfishing
Inflating follower numbers
Using bots for automated activity

Having too many fake Instagram accounts following you can drag down your engagement rate. It also can get your Instagram account potentially shut down since Instagram can assume that you’re buying followers, which goes against its terms of use.

In addition, by spotting fake Instagram accounts, you’ll better avoid typical scams, such as:

Phishing, in which a fake account will message you a link and a reason to click on it, but by doing so, a virus attached to the link and steal your login information and other data.
False brand collaborations that aim to steal your bank account information.
Fake competition prizes, loan offers and more that also aim to steal your bank account information.
Emotional scams, where the scammer attempts to get close to you and earn your trust as a friend or romantic interest in hopes of being sent money later on.

Fortunately, fake Instagram accounts aren’t terribly difficult to identify. However, the appearance of fake accounts can vary depending on the purpose and the people behind them. The following are five signs for you to spot a fake Instagram account.

Examine the Instagram account

A good place to start is by looking at the suspected account’s Instagram bio. Because fake accounts often are created en masse, there likely will be no bio description or a very generic one.

Often, photos are stolen from real people. Running a reverse image search on such tools as Google Images or Social Catfish can help you identify stolen photos (and the real account that’s the source of the photos). Depending on those search results, you can better understand whether an Instagram account is fake or not.

Of course, the lack of any profile photo is a sign of a fake account as well.

Also, take a look at the account name. If a few characters or letters have been changed (or if the account name seems odd in general), it’s likely a fake Instagram account.

No original posts found

Most fake Instagram accounts either rarely or never post. Remember, bot accounts are created at a high volume to boost follower counts. So, posting content isn’t a concern for many fake accounts.

Granted, not everyone posts a ton on Instagram. But when leveraged with other red flags: If a suspected account has little to no posts, it’s likely fake. If the profile is private, you can still see the post count as a visible number at the top of the account’s profile.

If there are some posts, they may consist entirely of promotional content and suspicious giveaways. They also might be of different people in the sense that photos of attractive women who look similar but are not the same person. Either way, be wary of these types of posts. They’re likely indicative of a fake account.

High number of followers but low engagement

Fake accounts can easily buy lots of followers and likes to help look like they are popular, real accounts. But dig through the liked posts. Are there any comments? If so, what do those comments say? Irrelevant or spammy comments don’t count.

Low-quality engagement is a clear sign of purchased followers, and while real accounts can buy followers, too, it’s a red flag for fake accounts, for sure.

On the flip side, having zero followers is a sign of a fake account as well.

Following a high number of accounts

Bots often are set to follow thousands of Instagram accounts, so a high following count can also be a red flag that the account you’re looking at is fake. Keep an eye out for an out-of-whack following-to-follower ratio.

On the flip side, the account could be following zero other accounts, which could signal a fake account as well.

Relatively new account

Unlike Facebook, which can show a “joined” date on profiles, you’ll have to dig a little bit to understand whether a potentially fake Instagram account is fairly new.

Start looking through available posts (if there are any). If they’re all pretty new and/or batches of photos have been uploaded at about the same time, it’s likely the account is fake.

In conclusion

If you find that an Instagram account is obviously fake, you can easily report it by navigating to the account’s profile, clicking on the three dots on the right side of the screen and selecting “Report.” Follow the instructions given.

Reporting can help reduce the number of fake Instagram accounts following you if you’re noticing a high occurrence of those.

Beyond reporting fake accounts, you’ll also be able to save yourself and/or your brand the time and hassle of potentially being scammed.

Check out the 14 biggest mistakes companies make on Instagram so that you can avoid them. You can also grow your Instagram followers the right way with these seven tools.

While you’re examining potential fake Instagram accounts, consider leveling up your digital marketing process. DailyStory features automation, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

5 tips to get verified on Twitter

Twitter, like most social media platforms, aims to help cut through bots, trolls and misinformation by various means, such as Twitter verification.

And if your business is active on Twitter, you might be wondering how to get verified and earn the blue checkmark badge next to your account handle.

Twitter verification involves a manual review by Twitter of your account to assert that your profile is credible, authentic and of interest to the public. This means that Twitter can confirm that your account is not impersonating, manipulating or spamming anyone in addition to not violating any copyright or trademark laws. Of course, Twitter verification doesn’t mean an endorsement of your business. It’s all very similar to getting verified on Instagram.

Accounts that can be considered for verification include those used by businesses, politicians, celebrities, musicians, influencers, journalists and so on. Having a big following alone, though, is not a guarantee for getting verified.

Twitter is the world’s seventh favorite social media platform, so to be validated on Twitter helps build trust with your target audience and could lead indirectly to an increase in followers since verification is a sign of authenticity and public interest.

Keep in mind that Twitter announced a new verification program in 2021 after pausing the program in 2017 when a white supremacist’s account obtained a Twitter verification badge, causing a scandal for Twitter.

While anyone can apply for Twitter verification, not everyone will be approved. Minimum follower counts are required, but they do differ between regions to make the verification process more equitable.

Dive deeper into Twitter’s current verification policy.

The application process is relatively simple. Navigate to “Account Settings” on Twitter and select “Request Verification.” Then, you can follow the prompts to submit your application for review.

But again, Twitter verification is not guaranteed. The following are five tips to help you get verified on Twitter the first time you apply.

Optimize your Twitter profile

Of course, you should already want your Twitter account to reflect your brand. What more can you do to optimize your profile?

You can start by writing a brief-but-descriptive bio that includes your company’s location and a link to your website. In addition, make sure that you’re using high-quality images for your profile photo and cover photo.

You also can pin your top tweet. This then becomes the first tweet users see when visiting your profile, so the tweet you choose matters.

Maintain an active account

If you’re tweeting sporadically, you’re not setting yourself up well for verification. Beyond tweeting more (but still thinking about quality over quantity), you should consider:

Responding quickly to direct messages, mentions and comments.
Liking, retweeting and commenting on other users’ content.
Following and engaging with verified Twitter accounts.
Using hashtags to participate in trending conversations.

When applying for Twitter verification, Twitter does look at how your account engages with other accounts. So, ask questions, post polls and mention other verified accounts to encourage them to join the conversation.

To boost the quality of your own brand content, leverage photos and videos. This is especially important considering that you only have 280 characters to work with. Visuals can help communicate more beyond those 280 characters, and you’ll likely see higher engagement as well.

And with more tweets comes a higher risk of spelling and grammar mistakes. Double-check all copy in your tweets before posting since Twitter doesn’t allow you to edit a tweet after publication (and you wouldn’t want to have to do that as a brand anyway).

Plan and execute a Twitter marketing strategy

To help you stay focused and efficient with your content and engagement on Twitter, creating and executing a separate marketing strategy for Twitter is helpful.

You can start by:

Outlining your goals
Understanding what your competitors are doing
Using a content calendar
Tracking your engagement and growth

Check out our eight expert tips to market your business better on Twitter.

Avoid shortcuts

You might be eager to get your Twitter account verified, but resist the temptation to take any shortcuts. This includes buying followers and relying on bots, you name it.

You want to keep it real, authentic, credible and reliable as a Twitter account, so avoid any seemingly spammy tweets as well.

Be patient and trust that embracing Twitter’s best practices will not only result in Twitter verification but will help you stay verified as well.

Ensure that everything you tweet is public

While Twitter gives the option for users to change their privacy settings, you want to make sure that as a brand, all your tweets are open to public viewing.

Private tweets limit interaction and engagement, but private tweeting also signals to Twitter that your account is not of public interest.

In conclusion

While there’s no guarantee, getting verified on Twitter is one thing. Staying verified on Twitter is a whole other thing. It is possible to lose your Twitter verification badge if you don’t continue to follow Twitter’s rules and community guidelines.

View Twitter’s “rules of the road” to get a better understanding of the expectations.

In addition, check out the 14 biggest mistakes businesses make on Twitter.

As you begin to optimize your Twitter presence for possible verification, consider leveling up your digital marketing process, which can include automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

TikTok: 6 tips to get verified as a business

If you’re looking to include TikTok, which is only growing in popularity, in your digital marketing strategy, you also should consider how to get your account verified.

TikTok is a video-based social media platform that encourages engagement around short, vertical video clips. The app has increasingly penetrated popular culture with its various hashtag challenges and viral stars.

As of January 2022, TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users globally. It also boasts the highest social media engagement rates per post.

If your target audience is younger, TikTok might be a “must” rather than a “maybe” in your marketing plan.

But once you create an account, how do you go about getting it verified? Verification is the process that many social media platforms have to confirm that you are you, in the simplest sense. In a world of fake accounts, verification is more important than ever. The benefit of verification is the immediate authenticity and trustworthiness that occurs with that checkmark next to your account handle, which can help grow followers. Your audience knows that the account is truly you and/or your brand.

But verification on TikTok is not a one-size-fits-all process. Unlike Instagram and Twitter, TikTok does not accept requests from users who want to get verified, which can lead to some confusion. In the case of TikTok, it’s a game of “Don’t call us … we’ll call you.” And that call only happens when TikTok perceives you to be a quality account based on consistent activity and viral engagement. In other words, to get verified on TikTok comes down to having a strong strategy on that platform.

The following are six tips to get verified as a business on TikTok.

Think through your TikTok strategy

Success on TikTok does not just happen. It involves a robust content marketing strategy that’s based on data about your target audience and more.

Do not improvise. Plan out your content and invest the appropriate time and energy into content that will connect with users. You can follow competitors’ accounts for inspiration (what you might want to do and what you might want to avoid).

You also can get organized by creating and using a content calendar.

Follower growth matters

While TikTok won’t say whether there’s a specific number of followers an account must have, it has been seen that the rate of follower growth matters.

Ensuring that your content has value is a great start to growing your followers. But beyond that, consider cross-promoting your TikTok presence on other platforms. Many times, you have to make it extra obvious where your customers and fans can find you.

Focus on post-engagement rates

Consistent posting is key to building up your engagement rates on TikTok. At the same time, quality content matters.

Regularly brainstorming video ideas can help keep your content fresh.

You also may want to loosely storyboard your idea for an upcoming video so that you can not only be more efficient during the creation process but also more effective.

Keep your audience in mind. Consider their interests, hobbies, challenges and problems. Never stop experimenting with:

Popular trends currently happening on TikTok
Making high-quality videos
Using popular music and other sounds
Keeping your videos as short as possible

The hope is that you won’t just grow your engagement rates over time, but you’ll also hopefully go viral from time to time. While going viral can improve your likelihood of getting verified, don’t obsess over it. Keep it simple. Stay focused on posting the best content you possibly can for your audience, and don’t forget to have fun with it.

Go with your niche

You can’t be everything to everyone. In fact, you shouldn’t be if you want to reach the best potential customers for your business.

This is true on TikTok. Your business likely already specializes in a niche within your industry. How do you express that on other social media platforms? How do you want that to be expressed on TikTok specifically?

Niche content can contribute to attracting and keeping a following, which will help get you verified on TikTok that much faster.

Collaborate with an influencer

TikTok influencers can offer a wealth of creativity and reach, depending on who you decide to work with. Plus, if you’re struggling with your content strategy and creation, an influencer could be exactly what you need.

If you’re new to the world of influencers, check out our seven tips to know before starting your first influencer marketing campaign, whether it’s on TikTok or another social media platform.

Consider your other social media accounts

It might sound counterintuitive, but having a strong presence (and even verifications) on other social media platforms can actually help you get verified on TikTok.

So, while you may want to level up your presence and strategy on TikTok, do not shortchange your other accounts. They all matter.

Check out these eight most common social media mistakes to avoid so that you don’t get tripped up.

In conclusion

Because the path to TikTok verification is not straightforward, it’s important not to give up. This process can take time.

TikTok is looking for authenticity, engagement and consistency in the accounts it will verify. (Verification can’t even be bought, only earned.) Stay with it and continue experimenting. The verification payoff will be worth it.

While you’re diving deeper into TikTok for your business, consider your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 tips to get verified on Instagram

For many of Instagram’s nearly 1.5 billion users, Instagram verification is a critical validation.

Instagram verification, otherwise known as that blue check on a user’s profile, is a signal to other users that your profile is the only one representing your brand.

More officially, Instagram says that getting verified means that the visual-first social media platform has confirmed that your account is “the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity or brand it represents.” It does not equal an endorsement from Instagram.

This verification proves that your profile is not a fake, unofficial or fan account. In addition, it helps your brand stand out.

But you must qualify for Instagram verification. While the exact requirements for getting an Instagram verification badge are unclear, there are some guidelines provided by the platform itself that it takes into consideration when reviewing your application.

While rumors have swirled regarding how many followers your account needs to have to get verified on Instagram, there is no reason to delay applying for Instagram verification if you meet the guidelines, regardless of the size of your following. (Keep in mind that even if your Instagram account is linked to a verified Facebook page, you’ll still need to apply separately for Instagram verification.)

The application itself is relatively easy:

Log into your Instagram account.
Go to Settings.
Click on “Account’ and then “Request Verification.”
Fill out the required fields.
If denied, you’ll have to wait 30 days before requesting verification again.

But before you start applying for Instagram verification, the following are XX tips that you can use today to help you get verified on Instagram.

Complete your Instagram profile

Your Instagram profile plays an important role in your verification process. Make sure that it is 100 percent complete. Include a:

Well-written bio
Profile photo that represents your brand, business or yourself
Relevant link

If it’s already complete, ask a colleague to review it. A fresh perspective can identify any opportunities for optimization of your profile that you might not be thinking of.

Avoid cross-platform links in your bio

While we recommend including a relevant link on your Instagram bio, Instagram does not want verified accounts to encourage users to add or follow other social media profiles (such as Facebook or YouTube) in their bios.

That being said, you can still add links to your website, landing page or other web pages. Just avoid linking to your other social media profiles.

On the flip side, it can help to add links to your Instagram profile on your brand’s website, within marketing emails and/or on your other social media profiles. The links to your Instagram account from your other social media profiles especially help validate your profile ownership.

Keep your Instagram account active and uniquely you

Of course, the hope is that if you’re interested in getting verified on Instagram, you’re likely active on the platform. But if you’re not very active, then it’s time to increase your activity in a consistent way.

Regular activity is imperative for Instagram verification. Make sure that you’re posting visually appealing and relevant content for your audience (whether in your feed or in Stories), engage with your followers in comment threads (even on their posts) and monitor your Instagram performance.

Of course, being active on Instagram only gives you the opportunity to consistently reflect your brand personality and everything that makes you unique. When looking over your Instagram content strategy, what helps you stand out, not just from your competitors but also from any impersonator accounts?

Think about your:

Brand voice
Visual style
Overall feed aesthetic
Content theme
Hashtag strategy

One easy way to stand out as uniquely you is by sharing behind-the-scenes content that gives your followers an insider’s look at your brand. You also can encourage followers to tag you in their posts, which also helps validate your account as being yours.

Leverage your earned media and SEO

Earned media

Because part of what Instagram is looking for is your notoriety (that you’re a widely recognized brand), earned media can help with that. Earned media is any material written about you or your business that you haven’t paid for or created yourself. The most obvious example is a news article.

Start by Googling yourself and/or your brand and see what comes up. Anything that is relevant should be shared on your account in some way. But if nothing comes up in your searches, you’ll want to create and execute a PR strategy to help change that.

This will take time, but it’s worth the effort (and not just for the Instagram verification).

Check out our eight tips for writing a press release that gets noticed.

SEO

Your notoriety is also helped by your searchability. In other words, the better your search engine optimization (SEO), the better chance you’ll get verified on Instagram.

It’s not a bot that manages your verification request, it’s an actual person. And Instagram does its research. Beyond earned media, what else would someone find when searching for you? Does it positively reflect on your brand and how widely known you are?

If not, it’s time to turn that tide so that any verification research goes in your favor.

Check out our 12 SEO marketing tips for beginners.

Grow your other social media profiles

While you might be focused solely on Instagram, your presence on other social media platforms can be a factor in your Instagram verification. The stronger the presence on other platforms, the better.

Of course, there’s no magic bullet for growing your following on any social media platform, but a few best practices include:

Leveraging any earned media coverage (such as a news article) to your advantage.
Showcasing your brand personality through a consistent voice and theme.
Posting consistently and frequently.
Creating and sharing engaging content.

Check out seven of the best tools to help grow your Instagram followers.

Identify impersonator profiles

One of the factors that Instagram considers for verification is the potential (or actuality) of your account being impersonated.

Instagram itself says that accounts representing well-known figures and brands are verified because they have a high likelihood of being impersonated.

So, it’s in your best interest to keep an eye out for any impersonating, fake profiles falsely identifying themselves as you or your brand. Report them to Instagram, but you’ll also want to document them for the sake of your verification as well.

Do not buy an Instagram verification badge

Do not get tempted. The only way to get verified on Instagram is to apply through the app (or through Meta’s media partners). If you try to shortcut the process or buy your way in, you’ll be wasting your money and risk getting penalized for violating Instagram’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use.

In particular, giving false or misleading information during the verification process can actually get your account removed from Instagram entirely.

In conclusion

If you do get verified on Instagram, know that you absolutely can lose it as soon as you’re found to not be following Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines (or if Instagram finds that you gave misleading or false information on your verification application).

So, you do have to play by the rules, stay active and publish unique and engaging content to maintain your verified status.

If you do not get verified on Instagram after applying, don’t worry. You can re-apply for Instagram verification after 30 days. Use those 30 days to continue working at our tips so that your account can hopefully be approved next time.

Remember, while Instagam verification can be a great asset in your overall marketing strategy on the platform, it’s just one piece of it. Keep all your tactics and plans in place so that you can continue working toward your goals, regardless of whether you’re verified or not.

As you begin to optimize your Instagram presence for possible verification, consider leveling up your digital marketing process, which can include automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

26 social media metrics you should track across platforms

Are you paying attention to the right social media metrics?

Social media marketing can help you achieve your business goals, but it’s important to track your social media metrics to understand what’s working and what’s not.

About 43 percent of consumers increased their social media use to discover new products.

Of course, the best metrics to track on social media relate to your specific goals. But in general, the following are the 26 top metrics to track, based on social media platforms.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social media network, with nearly 3 billion monthly active users as of July 2022. Of course, the sheer size of the audience makes it a favorite platform for marketers. But even though it’s popular, it’s also easy to feel overwhelmed when tracking your Facebook performance metrics. Here are five social media metrics you should track on Facebook:

Reach and impressions, which are the number of unique users who saw your content and the number of total times your content was seen (regardless of whether one user saw it multiple times), respectively. Tracking these numbers gives you a sense of how large of an audience you’re reaching and can help give context to other Facebook metrics.
Likes and reactions, which are a form of engagement that give users the opportunity to express their support for a page or a post. “Likes” used to refer to interactions with both Facebook pages and posts but Facebook has since expanded the options to engage with posts. These “reactions” span from “angry” to “love.” They act as social proof that your audience is connecting with your content, and Facebook uses them as a ranking signal to potentially show that content to more users in their news feeds. You also can get a sense of user sentiment about your content by monitoring your post reactions.
Video views, which reflect when a video is played for at least three seconds. To count as a video view, the video needs to be 100 percent on screen in desktop browser mode and at least 50 percent on screen on mobile devices. Within the video-view metric, Facebook offers 3-second video views (when a user paused for your video but did not complete it), 1-minute video views (when a user watches for a significant period of time) and total minutes viewed. This is an important metric to monitor to understand how your video content is performing.
Link clicks, which happen any time a user clicks an external link in your post to access more content. This could be to your website or another web page or site. This differs slightly with Facebook ads, where a traditional link click is called an outbound click and “link clicks” refer to clicks a user has made but still stays within the Facebook platform (such as filling out a form from a lead-generation ad but is still on Facebook). If your goal is to drive traffic to your website or someplace else, this metric reflects your success in those efforts.
Comments and shares, which refer to the number of replies users have published on your content and the number of times users have sent your post to others on Facebook Messenger or shared on their own feeds. This acts as social proof that users are connecting with your content. It’s a bigger interaction than a like/reaction. You also can gauge user sentiment from comments on your posts.

Dive deeper into understanding your metrics on Facebook.

Instagram

A visual-first platform owned by Facebook, Instagram now is the fourth most-used social media platform, with 1.22 billion monthly active users. It’s also particularly popular for consumers 34 years old and younger. Here are four metrics you should track on Instagram:

Impressions, which are the number of times your content is seen by users who are logged into Instagram, even if a user saw it multiple times. This metric shows how effective your content is at getting the attention of your audience and beyond. It also helps give context to other metrics on Instagram.
Reach, which is the estimated number of unique users (who are logged into Instagram) that saw your content. This metric is about users, not views, but will show you how large your audience actually is and can help give context to other metrics.
Video plays, which are the number of times your video or reel was played by an Instagram user. Keep in mind that because many videos are short and play in a loop automatically, this metric can be higher than expected based on that content’s reach. It’s important to gauge whether all your video efforts are paying off.
Post interactions, which are the number of likes, saves, comments and shares on any particular post. This metric does not include deleted interactions. To include deleted interactions, look at “content interactions” instead. This is all about understanding how well your content is connecting with your audience and can actually help boost your impressions and reach within the Instagram algorithm.

Dive deeper into understanding your metrics on Instagram.

Twitter

A micro-blogging social network, Twitter has about 396.5 million users globally. About 92 percent of the content on Twitter is posted by 10 percent of its users. So, while Twitter might not be the most popular social media network, it has a very engaged section of its users. Here are four metrics you should track on Twitter:

Impressions, which are the number of times your tweet appeared on screen, whether that’s through a user’s timeline or via a hashtag. You can view this metric for your account as a whole and for individual tweets. This metric can give you a sense of how many users viewed your content.
Engagement, which is the number of times users have retweeted, quoted, replied to, liked or clicked within your tweet. This metric shows how effective your content is.
Link clicks, which are any click on a URL or card within your tweet. If your goal is to drive traffic to your website or somewhere else, this metric can show how successful your efforts are.
Profile visits, which reflect the number of users who visited your profile either through a tweet, search or other ways. This metric indicates the number of users who want to learn more about you, whether they ultimately follow you or not.

Dive deeper into understanding your metrics on Twitter.

YouTube

A video-only social networking and broadcasting platform owned by Google, YouTube has more than 2.5 billion active monthly users. If you’re already creating video content, you definitely want to create a YouTube presence and share it there as well. Here are three metrics you should track on YouTube:

Total watch time, which equals the total amount of time that all users have spent watching your video. This metric can help indicate how well your content is connecting with users. You also can see how total watch time compares between your subscribers and non-subscribers for more understanding.
Video views, which is defined by Google to be “the number of legitimate views for your channel or videos.” This can refer to views that users initiate, such as by searching or clicking on a thumbnail. This metric can reveal how compelling your video is to potential viewers.
Engagement, which is any interaction with your content beyond accessing it, such as likes, dislikes, views and comments. This metric shows how well your content connects with your audience.

Check out our 20 tips to grow your YouTube subscribers.

TikTok

Seemingly the “new kid on the block” in terms of rising popularity, short-form-video platform TikTok has a particularly large audience among Gen Z and Millennials. Depending on whether this younger demographic is part of your target audience, you may want to consider a presence on TikTok. Here are four metrics you should track on TikTok:

Total time watched, which is the cumulative amount of time users spent watching your video. You’ll only see this for individual videos. However, by regularly monitoring this metric, you’ll see how successful new video content is.
Engagement, which is how users interact with your content. This gives you a sense of how effectively your content is connecting with users. The higher the engagement, the higher your reach will probably be.
Video views, which are the number of times users played your video. As soon as a video begins to play, that counts as a video view (unlike some other social media platforms). This metric also counts repeat plays, including video loops. Video views essentially act like impressions on TikTok, so you can see how large of an audience you’re reaching.
Hashtag performance, which reflects how many viewers found your video through a particular hashtag. This is important because the hashtags you use on your videos can impact your view count and engagement. Using the right hashtag matters. Tracking this metric will help you make more strategic decisions along the way and potentially attract more viewers.

Check out our 15 tips to market your brand on TikTok.

With more than 830 million users in more than 200 countries and territories, LinkedIn is the largest social network for professionals. The platform is definitely a must for B2B (business-to-business) marketers. Here are three metrics you should track on LinkedIn:

Impressions and unique impressions, which are the number of times at least 50 percent of your post was visible on screen for a logged-in LinkedIn user for at least 300 milliseconds and the number of times your post was visible to the same standard for unique users, respectively. These metrics show the size of your audience and how visible your content is to them.
Engagements, which reflects video views, clicks, reactions, comments, shares and more in a section on LinkedIn called Update Engagements. You’ll get a sense of how well your content is connecting with your audience through this metric.
Engagement rate, which is based on the following formula: number of interactions plus number of clicks plus number of followers acquired divided by number of impressions. This metric shows the percentage of impressions that result in engagement actions. Of course, the higher that percentage, the more effective your post is.

See our six tips to be more effective with your marketing on LinkedIn. Plus, check out the six biggest mistakes businesses make on LinkedIn so that you can avoid them.

Founded in 2009, Pinterest currently has about 478 million monthly active users. Think of Pinterest as a visual search engine, housing tons of photos, graphics, links and inspiration for nearly anything you might want to find. Yes, it’s popular for recipes and DIY projects, but there really is more to it than that. Here are XX metrics you should track on Pinterest:

Impressions, which show the number of times your pins have appeared on screen, regardless of whether a user clicked to open it or not. This metric is available on an account level or by individual pin, and it helps illustrate how effectively your content is reaching an audience. It also can help provide context for other metrics.
Engagement, which is defined by Pinterest as the number of “saves, pin clicks, outbound clicks, carousel card swipes, secondary creative (collections) clicks and Idea Pin foward/backward swipes.” In the simplest sense, Pinterest is saying that engagement is any time a user interacts with your pin in any way instead of scrolling past it. Monitoring this metric helps you understand how well your content is connecting with your audience.
Outbound clicks, which are the number of times a user clicked on an outbound link (to your website, for example) from your pin. This metric matters is one of your goals is to drive traffic to your website or another web page outside of Pinterest.

Check out our six expert tips for marketing on Pinterest.

In conclusion

Monitoring your social media performance is imperative if you want to achieve your marketing goals. The challenge can be navigating so much data across platforms. Keep your goals in mind, as well as these top social media metrics. That way, you can focus on the most important information for your campaigns.

As you begin to drill into your top social media metrics, consider optimizing your digital marketing process. This includes such features as automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

17 LinkedIn content ideas that you can post

If reaching professionals is a goal of your digital marketing efforts, offering diverse content on LinkedIn is a crucial tactic to explore.

LinkedIn now has more than 830 million users in more than 200 countries and territories, calling itself “the world’s largest professional network.”

But the type of content that a LinkedIn audience of professionals would best engage with is not necessarily the same as what’s popular on other social media platforms. The most popular content types on LinkedIn are:

Long-form content (such as native articles and blog posts)
Third-party content
Native video
Text only
Photos and illustrations

But these are just content types. If you’re hitting a wall while brainstorming content ideas for LinkedIn, you’re in the right place. The following are 17 LinkedIn content ideas (categorized by content type) to help you mix up your content and connect with your target audience.

Long-form content ideas for LinkedIn

One of the best ways you can hit your goals with your content on LinkedIn is to offer value. Creating native articles on LinkedIn itself and/or sharing blog posts is a great opportunity to dive deeper into topics that relate to your industry, showcase your expertise and matter to your audience. Here are four ideas that you can run with:

Detailed whitepapers
How-to guides
Research reports
Case studies

The goal isn’t the length of the content. Make sure that every word engages your audience.

Third-party content ideas for LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an excellent platform to share relevant content from other sources. In other words, you don’t have to create everything yourself. With curated content, the sky is the limit. Just make sure you’re pulling from trustworthy sources. Here are three ideas for you to seek out and share:

Adjacent-industry content, where the topic isn’t directly related to your industry but is still relevant. For example, you could be in the retail industry, but news articles about supply chains and shipping logistics still make sense and matter to your audience in the realm of retail.
Expert opinions, where you’re sharing the thoughts and opinions of experts in your industry.
Tips, tricks and life hacks, where you’re helping your audience with everyday problems that they encounter.

Check out our four tips for finding what to share on social media, as well as 12 tools that can help.

Native video content ideas for LinkedIn

Video content must be part of your digital marketing strategy, not just on LinkedIn but in general. About 54 percent of marketers say that video is the most valuable content type for achieving social media marketing goals, and about 85 percent of social media users want more videos from brands. Fortunately, LinkedIn now has the ability for you to upload videos natively into the platform. Here are four video content ideas that you can play with:

Short clips from webinars to show your expertise first-hand.
Spotlight your team. The more you can share their professional journeys and expertise, the more your audience can relate to your brand and the people behind your brand.
Spotlight your customers in testimonials where they share their experience with your product and/or company.
Behind-the-scenes videos that showcase your company culture.

Just make sure to include subtitles on your videos whenever relevant since a majority of users watch videos on mute.

Text-only content ideas for LinkedIn

Just because long-form content gives you the opportunity to dive deeper into topics that can provide value to your followers doesn’t mean that you should ignore the opportunity of short text-only posts. Here are three ideas to help you be as engaging as possible without the “icing” of other types of content:

Tips and how-to’s are great for this content type if you can keep them short and sweet.
Quick company updates
Product and other announcements

The key is to be as short and impactful as possible. Every word counts.

Photo and illustration content ideas for LinkedIn

Getting visual on LinkedIn is just as important as visuals on any other social media platform. A photo (or graphic illustration) is worth a thousand words. And possibly even more than that because it can help catch the eye of your target audience as they’re scrolling. Here are three ideas that you can try:

Data illustrations because everyone loves data, but everyone loves a visual representation of data (so that they can understand it) even more.
Celebrate achievements, such as industry awards, company growth, anniversaries and more. A simple graphic illustration of these milestones can be very eye-catching.
User-generated content, where you can leverage the photos shared by customers and employees (with proper credit, of course).

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create compelling illustrations. Check out these 11 free graphic design tools for the non-designer.

In conclusion

Don’t overthink your LinkedIn content. Keep your target audience in mind and keep experimenting. Engage wherever it makes sense on the platform. And remember, you can always repurpose your evergreen content so that it’s new again in the eyes of your followers.

Check out our six tips to be more effective on LinkedIn, as well as six mistakes businesses make on LinkedIn that you want to avoid.

As you’re exploring how to mix up your LinkedIn content, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 tips for handling negative social media comments

Negative social media comments are a reality for many businesses. But how you handle those comments can not only squash any social media fires but also improve your overall brand perception.

About 35 percent of customers in the U.S. post negative comments about companies on social media. However, answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by up to 25 percent.

Examples of negative social media comments include (but are not limited to):

Customer complaints, which are the most common
Trolling, where users are publishing outrageous comments that are oftentimes untrue and intend to get other people riled up
Spam, which promotes something else
Malicious comments, containing profanity and offensive language
Harassing or threatening comments, which harass or threaten your social media team, leadership, staff or even other users unrelated to your brand

While you’re considering your social media presence, check out these eight most common social media mistakes to avoid.

The following are seven tips for best handling any negative social media comments your brand might experience.

Don’t delete every negative social media comment

No one enjoys negative comments on social media, but resist the urge to automatically delete every one that you come across.

Deleting legitimate complaints especially makes your brand looks deceitful, like you’re hiding something. And no matter how quickly you might have deleted a comment, you never truly know who has seen it and then notices that it’s deleted (other than the commenter himself or herself).

Of course, if a comment contains offensive language to a degree that violates your community standards for your social media presence, then you always have the option to hide or delete the comment and then block and report the user.

Always apologize

Regardless of whether the negative comment is justified or not, it’s critical to always take the high road and start your response off by apologizing. Think of the “customer is always right” approach.

Not apologizing can lead to a public battle that will only drag your brand down. And remember, if the complaint is silly or the comment is totally unwarranted, others will see that. You’re never wrong for apologizing for someone feeling the way they do, no matter what.

Respond as quickly as possible

The more time you allow negative social media comments to go unanswered, the more time others can see not just the complaint but also that you haven’t responded.

It’s not a good look for brands.

Replying as soon as you can prevents the comment from bubbling up into something more damaging. It also shows the commenter that you’re listening and that you care. And that will be evident to other users as well.

Treat negative social media comments as feedback

No one enjoys reading negative comments related to their brand. Detach the personal feelings you might have and consider all comments as feedback, the good and the bad.

In that light, the tone of your response can and should have gratitude included. This is another way of taking the high road while also being human and relateable.

Of course, if the comment is truly feedback that can be actionable on your end, make sure to take the next step and communicate that to your team.

Ask how you can help

It sounds simple, but when replying to a negative social media comment, apologizing for how the commenter feels and then asking how you can help is a tactful way to respond.

For example, the comment could be fairly offensive in nature, and the commenter will either be willing to tell you something that is actionable or so surprised that you responded that it ends there.

Either way, you gave it a tasteful attempt that everyone else can see.

Move the conversation into a private space

While you absolutely want to react publicly and quickly to all negative social media comments, it’s recommended to always suggest the opportunity to take the conversation private when appropriate.

This is helpful if someone is being particularly difficult or has an in-depth issue that needs to be discussed in greater detail. You’ll also be able to offer any discounts or other incentives to help make the situation right, which is something that’s better to do in private than in public.

Include in your response a statement that you’ll be following up privately with a direct message. That way, they can know to expect, but others will understand why the thread has ended.

Of course, within the private message, you can keep the conversation there or offer to speak over the phone or via email for a more personal experience.

Pick your battles

While we all want to make social media a more positive place that is beneficial for ourselves and our brands, some users are just attention-seekers looking to stir up controversy.

Keep an eye out for any patterns you might notice and what’s being said by repeated commenters. Pick your battles in general.

In conclusion

Staying on top of any negative comments on your social media accounts will help preserve your brand’s online reputation. When in doubt while writing any response, just be kind. The high road is the best road.

Digging into negative online reviews? Check out our 11 tips.

As you take a new look at how to approach negative social media comments, consider optimizing your digital marketing process, which includes automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

5 reasons why email marketing can be better than social media

Both email marketing and social media marketing can be powerful for any brand online.

But if you had to choose one, which is better?

In the simplest sense, even in a world of social media prevalence, more consumers use email than any social media platform, and more than half of consumers check their email before they check their social media in the morning.

But let’s dive a little deeper. The following are five reasons why email marketing can be better than social media marketing.

You own your contact list

Unlike any social media platform, you actually own the contact list of your email subscribers.

In other words, this means that if a platform shuts down (like Vine did), you lose all those followers that you worked so hard to get. They’re gone.

This is because social media platforms are third-party providers of connections. They are the ones who have control over your followers and even your account (whether you get banned or not for violating terms of service, for example).

With email, your subscribers are yours. You have access to them as long as they want to be on your list.

Email is more personal

In an overwhelmingly digital world, consumers are increasingly craving deeper connections with the brands they buy from.

Enter email.

Your message delivers directly into your recipient’s inbox. Personalization can heighten that engagement and connection as well by including his or her first name, for example. Audience segmentation allows you to break up your contacts into groups and adjust your message accordingly, whether it’s customers you haven’t seen in a while or contacts who have yet to make a purchase. The sky’s the limit when it comes to segmentation, especially when using DailyStory.

But with social media, you have to speak at large to your target audience with hope that your followers (and/or their friends) see your content in their news feeds and engage with it. This is in competition with everything else social media users see in their feeds.

Algorithms are not a factor

Many marketers have to spend a great deal of time considering (and strategizing against) social media algorithms.

An algorithm is essentially a series of calculations that determine what content a user sees in his or her feed on that social media platform. Its intent is to show what the user will most engage with and have a desire to stay on that platform longer.

One of the most talked-about is the Facebook Algorithm since the social network is the largest in the world, and it has shifted in recent years to prioritizing other user content over that of business pages.

Of course, while email doesn’t have to contend with algorithms, you still want to use best practices in order to prevent ending up as spam.

Full control over your content

Instagram requires a properly sized image or video to post. Twitter limits your tweet to 280 characters.

Those are just two examples of how a marketer is naturally limited in what and how to post content on social media platforms.

On the flip side, email is entirely within your control. You can use whatever best conveys your message to your recipients.

Check out our breakdown of a successful marketing email.

You’ll get a higher ROI with email

Your return on investment should always be a major factor in your digital marketing strategy decisions.

In fact, about one in five marketing emails get opened on average, with an average clickthrough rate of 3.57 percent. Compare that to Facebook, which has an average clickthrough rate of 1.11 percent.

We have dozens of additional statistics that show the value of email marketing on top of that.

In conclusion

Of course, even though email marketing can be better than social media marketing, the best overall strategy is to use both for your branding, promotions and consumer relationship-building.

Consider optimizing your digital marketing process, which includes automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

8 most common social media mistakes to avoid

Social media is integral to any robust digital marketing strategy, but what social media mistakes could you be making and not even realize?

More than half of the world (about 58 percent) now uses social media, and the average daily time spent using social media is 2 hours and 27 minutes.

The opportunities for reaching and engaging with your target audience are obvious on social media, but with every misstep, you risk missing your goals and even alienating your audience (depending on the severity of the mistake since social media users can be quite unforgiving).

Check out what every startup company should know about social media.

The following are the eight most common social media mistakes to avoid.

No defined target audience

Understanding who you’re trying to reach and engage with is critical. Even if you could afford to target everyone, it’s not a good idea.

Why? Because the success of your social media is based on determining your target audience and creating a strategy focused on reaching that group of consumers. (And no small business can afford to target everyone.)

In other words, you want to spend your resources on the people who would be genuinely interested in your products or services.

Check out our seven tips to help you determine your target audience.

No social media plan

Not having a plan for your social media marketing is not only a mistake in itself, but it can lead to other unintentional mistakes along the way.

Invest the same amount of thought and attention into your social media as you would any other method of digital marketing, such as paid advertising or email campaigns.

Start by listing the specific goals you want to achieve, determine your budget and then a step-by-step action plan that includes a clear outline of what you’re wanting to achieve and how your measure your results (to determine whether you’re hitting your goals).

Keep in mind that you also don’t have to be on every single social media platform if they’re not all serving your brand’s needs. You can do more with less.

When it comes to organizing your content, consider our eight tips to create a content calendar.

Lack of engagement in social media conversations

Engagement starts with posting engaging content. But once those reactions, comments and shares happen, it’s your obligation to be part of the conversation. Lack of participation is a big social media mistake.

Even if comments are negative, don’t avoid them. Consider some of our overall tips for responding to negative reviews (which can be applied to negative comments as well).

Of course, if you’re not seeing any engagement on your social media posts, then it’s time to evaluate your content. The goal is to spark a conversation with every post. What’s working and what’s not?

In addition to public threads, you also need to stay on top of direct messages. About 42 percent of people who have reached out to a brand on social media for customer support expect a response within 60 minutes.

Too much reliance on automation

Social media automation is huge for staying on top of conversations across multiple platforms. However, if you become too dependent on automation, you risk losing your brand’s human touch.

You also risk any automation blunders when a bot doesn’t understand particular context.

Strive for a balance, where you’re leaning on your social media automation tool for the heavy lifting, but you’re still involved in the social media conversations as much as makes sense.

Check out our seven opportunities for social media automation you might not have thought of, as well as 11 free (or almost free) social media management tools.

Posting too much

There’s no magic number of posts that your should strive for each day, but if you’re finding that you’re valueing quantity over quality and not seeing any improvement with your engagmeent rate, then it’s time to take a second look at how often you actually need to post on each platform.

Especially if you notice that you’re posting “good” but not “great” content simply to fill a whole, reconsider. Posting better content, even if less frequently, could lead to better engagement.

Overly promoting yourself

Clearly, social media is a conversation, not a one-way broadcasting medium. In that sense, you want to avoid promoting yourself too much.

A common social media mistake involves businesses almost entirely publishing promotional or “salesy” content. Doing so can turn off your target audience. The key is about finding a balanced content mix that isn’t all about you. Be socialable.

At the same time, remember that you don’t have to only post your own content. Curated content and user-generated content can benefit your audience as well.

Treating all your social media platforms the same

All social media platforms are not created equal or should be treated the same. A common mistake is using a social media management tool to schedule your content but then scheduling the same content across platforms.

Even if you can tweak the sizing accordingly per platform (the optimized image size for Twitter is not the same for Instagram, for example), that’s a start. It’s all too easy to get stuck posting horizontal images and videos across platforms, even if that’s not best for one or two of your accounts.

Of course, ideally, you understand the demographics of your following on each platform and create unique content accordingly per platform. You absolutely can run a Twitter-specific campaign, for example, that doesn’t appear anywhere else.

No performance monitoring

Social media marketing is ever evolving. Even if you have a plan, that doesn’t mean that nothing can or should change a long the way. Monitoring your social media analytics is imperative. Simply knowing what’s working can help you do more of it. On the flip side, knowing what isn’t working can help you pivot and adjust as well.

Check out our guides for understanding your metrics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

In conclusion

Every brand has made its fair share of social media mistakes over time. The key is to learn and grow from any mistakes you might happen to make.

While you’re evaluating your approach to social media, think about your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

9 of the best social listening tools for brand marketing

Social listening offers marketers a huge opportunity to learn from and engage with customers and potential customers online.

In the simplest sense, social listening is essentially audience research. You monitor your brand’s social media channels for any customer feedback, mentions of your brand and discussions surrounding specific keywords, topics, competitors or industries that are relevant to your brand.

Learn more about social listening, as well as nine tips to leverage it to gain customer insights.

The right tool can make the social listening process more efficient. Keep in mind that many broader social media management tools include social listening capabilities. The following are nine of the best social listening tools that can help you be successful in your efforts.

Sprout Social

This comprehensive social media management platform offers powerful solutions for social listening and more. Sprout Social features include:

An integrated social listening tool that uncovers trends in social media conversations, teaches you about your audience and gives actionable insights.
The ability to monitor and engage across social media networks.
A single Smart Inbox for all direct messages across networks.
Easy-to-understand social analytics.

Sprout Social offers a free 30-day trial. Paid plans start at $89 per month.

Hootsuite

Another comprehensive social media management tool, Hootsuite provides a single, customizable dashboard so that you can view and respond to all your social media messages, comments and mentions across multiple networks. Other features include:

The ability to share and schedule engaging content for your social media profiles within the application.
A single inbox where you can address incoming messages and deliver timely replies.
Multiple social network integrations that can be viewed within the interface.
Easily monitor mentions and directly respond to them.
The option to customize paid social media campaigns with the Boost tool.
Customizable analytics reporting.

Hootsuite offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at $49 per month (but a 30-day free trial is available as well).

Falcon.io

Falcon.io is an all-in-one social media management tool and customer experience platform for medium-or-larger-sized businesses. This means that you can schedule, engage, listen, advertise and more. Other features include:

A single dashboard for social listening, publishing, engagement, reporting and audience data management.
The Engage inbox, which manages all private messaging channels, including WhatsApp.
Custom response templates for FAQs.
The ability to direct specific external messages to internal team members to collaborate on solutions.

Falcon.io offers a free 14-day trial. Paid plans start at $108 per seat per month.

Buffer

Buffer considers itself an omnichannel experience for your social media marketing. It helps you find the conversations that matter most and join in. Buffer’s other features include:

Smart alerts using machine learning let you know at a glance if a post has questions, negative sentiments or comments about a purchase.
Scheduling and publishing tools to help you plan effective social media campaigns.
Reports and analytics tools that help you measure engagement and audience behavior.
A Story-monitoring tool that records and analyzes your Stories on Facebook and Instagram.

Buffer offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at $5 per social channel per month (but a free 14-day trial is available as well).

BuzzSumo

A tool that prioritizes deeper insights is BuzzSumo. You can more easily identify which types of social media posts generate the best results among your audience. In fact, you’ll get recommendations on when you should post and the ideal length of a post. Other BuzzSumo features include:

Organization of shared content in order of significance with the Curation tool.
The ability to discover relevant influencers for your brand.
A significant data analytics suite.
A Content Ideas Generator to help you brainstorm new content for your audience.

BuzzSumo offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at $79 per month (but a free 30-day trial is available as well). You also can save by paying annually.

Mention

Mention can track content sources across 42 languages to monitor for brand mentions throughout the globe. Of course, you can filter for what matters most to you. Mention’s other features include:

A competitive analysis tool that helps you compare your brand against two or more competitors.
A crisis management tool that allows you to effectively manage any uproar or crisis situation on social media.
The ability of team members to alert each other within the interface.
Comprehensive analytics.

Mention offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at €29 per month (or about $31 per month). Free trials also are available for the paid plans.

Awario

With a heightened focus on social listening, Awario tracks keywords in a number of languages. You get everything you need to monitor and respond to comments while building relationships with your target audience on social media. Other Awario features include:

A Social Selling feature where you can identify posts that request a product recommendation similar to yours and/or any posts about issues that users are having with products sold by your competition.
Tracking the growth in the number of your mentions and their collective reach and sorting mentions by positive, negative, and neutral with sentiment analysis,
Identifying top influencers by social media network.

Awario offers a free trial. Paid plans begin at $24 per month when billed annually.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a complete social media management software intended to help you leverage social listening and get deeper audience insights. You get a single, unified inbox, as well as the ability to publish on multiple social media platforms. Other Agorapulse features include:

Unlimited saved searches where you can discover new feedback and customers.
Labeling any important posts, competitor activity and customer feedback for easy retrieval and response.
Managing Facebook and Instagram ad comments in chronological order.

Agorapulse offers a free 15-day trial. Paid plans start at $79 per month when billed annually.

Brandwatch

Beyond a social listening tool, Brandwatch is a consumer intelligence platform. It offers an AI analyst, which can automatically bring insights to the surface and save you time. Other Brandwatch features include:

Auto-segmentation.
The ability to analyze images.
Data that helps you fully understand how people aren’t just talking about your brand but how they’re displaying it in images, too.

Brandwatch offers a free demo. Paid plans begin at $800 per month, so it might not be the right fit for small businesses (depending on your budget).

In conclusion

Ultimately, deciding on the best social listening tool comes down to your goals and budget. Make sure you take advantage of any available free trials as needed, or dip your toe in with a limited free version of what seems like the best fit for you. You always can upgrade your plan later.

While you’re at it, make sure you understand the difference between social listening and crowdsourcing.

As you’re exploring these social listening tools, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

9 tips to improve social listening and gain customer insights

Social media is a two-way street. Rather than just posting relevant, engaging content, you also have to listen. Enter social listening.

Social listening is a two-part process. You have the monitoring on the front end, but then you dive deeper with analysis and actionable responses. There’s an engagement there, but also the goal to implement long-term strategy changes based on what you’re learning.

In other words, your brand is aiming to meet the needs of your customers by listening to and engaging with them (but also tracking and analyzing all that information).

While answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by about 25 percent, only about 51 percent of brands use social monitoring or listening in any capacity. In fact, about 71 percent of social media marketers say that they are able to provide consumer insights from social media channels to other departments.

Plus, about 46 percent of consumers think that brands engaging with their audiences on social media makes them stand out above all other brands.

By implementing effective social listening into your overall digital marketing strategy, you will:

Engage with your customers and target audience more effectively.
Discover more and better leads.
Learn more about your customers’ needs and problems (that you can help solve).
Identify potential brand partners and influencers.
Better track your competition.

The following are nine tips to improve your brand’s social listening and gain beneficial customer insights.

Decide what you’re listening to

This sounds a bit simplistic but truly is important to figure out before you dive into social listening. Social media is vast and noisy. You have to focus.

From these ideas, determine what specifically you’ll be looking for:

Direct mentions of your brand. Are there any variations that could be used?
Your brand’s social media handle. Include any sub-accounts as well.
Any specific product (or even service) names.
Specific hashtags.
Relevant-to-your-brand keywords.
Names of key people in your company (such as your CEO or anyone public-facing).
Topics that relate to your brand.
Your competition (which should include the same breakdown as your doing for your own brand).

This will help you get started in a more efficient manner so that you can gain more consistent and relevant insights over time.

Look beyond your immediate social media presence

While we wish all conversations about our brands could happen on our posts, through direct mentions or in our incoming messages, that’s simply not the case. Think beyond all of that.

You want to keep in mind that social media users won’t always tag you, that they could misspell your brand name or even use an abbreviation or shortened version of your brand name (Coke, for example, rather than Coca-Cola).

Be strategic about keywords and topics

Definitely put time and research into the keywords and topics you ultimately track and follow. They will evolve over time, of course. But investing in picking the most relevant ones now will only give you better data and insights along the way.

Check out these 11 free keyword research tools that can help you in this process.

Use social listening to identify pain points

If you’re mostly using social listening to understand what your customers are saying about you, you’re missing a larger opportunity. That is to identify the problems and challenges that your target audience is experiencing.

This likely won’t come up because of a brand mention, but rather relevant keywords. Either way, it’s important to understand the bigger picture as far as the potential gaps in your industry or product.

Once you understand the gap, then you can work on the bridge that will make you the best brand for them.

Join in on conversations about the latest trends and news

Obviously, you want to monitor and track all the relevant conversations going on in your industry but go beyond that.

This is a great engagement opportunity that shows the relevancy of your brand. By offering a slice of your expertise where relevant, you easily can reach new users, grow brand trust and loyalty and even discover a new brand partner along the way.

Use empathy when engaging in a new conversation

Keep in mind that while engagement is key in any successful social listening strategy, users might not expect you to join in on their conversation, particularly if they didn’t tag you.

But regardless of whether you’re tagged or not (expected or not), you must empathize. Is the sentiment of the conversation positive or negative?

If it’s positive, thank them and make sure you understand the specifics surrounding their positive impression. If it’s negative, still thank them, but you’ll especially want to dig deeper into what led to the negative impression. Was it a specific feature of your product (or service)? See our 11 tips for best responding to any type of negative review.

Remember that the key to social listening is actually listening. Leave your personal feelings aside. You’re arriving at the conversation to better understand and help if possible.

Prompt responsiveness is everything

Staying on top of your social listening means that you can be proactive and get ahead of any negative sentiments before they escalate. (You’re not waiting for someone to finally reach out to you if they do at all.)

If at all possible, aim to respond within 30 minutes or at least within 24 hours. Make sure you’re responding to everyone equally (not just the positive comments, for example).

Keep an eye on your competitors

Social listening can help you better understand what’s working (and not working) for your competitors.

When you see something that’s working, what can your brand do to outperform them? Don’t just copy them. Think about how you can do something that’s better and more valuable to your target audience.

And when you see something that’s not working, determine how you can fill that gap for potential customers.

Use the right tools

The power of your social listening often comes down to using the right tools. Most major social media platforms (such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) do have built-in features that include search functionality, audience insights data and trending data.

However, a third-party tool might be ideal if you’re using multiple social media platforms so that everything can be found in one place, may offer more detailed insights and can even provide some automation capabilities. Some examples include:

In conclusion

Social listening can be powerful for your brand when done right. Start simple by identifying the mentions, keywords and so on that are most important to you. Track your insights, and make sure they are communicated to the appropriate departments in your company.

In this new-ish digital-focused world, you’re often only as strong as your understanding of your customers.

Learn about the difference between social listening and crowdsourcing.

As you’re diving into social listening, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 best Instagram tools to grow your followers

Instagram only continues to grow in popularity for sharing images and videos, which means it’s a great platform for your brand to reach a larger audience.

About 1.22 billion people use Instagram each month, and Instagram is the ninth most-Googled search term, which is a signal that the platform’s content is being viewed in browsers outside of the app as well.

So, what does your brand’s Instagram audience look like? Are they engaged? Do you have a strong reach?

Using the right Instagram tools can help you be more efficient and effective on the platform and boost your followers. The following are some of the best Instagram tools we recommend you check out to see what works best for your social media marketing strategy.

Repost

Instagram doesn’t have what some would consider more traditional sharing features, so Repost is tool that not only satisfies that need but helps you automatically credit the original poster.

It’s a free app with available in-app purchases (if desired) that does not have a desktop interface.

The value of interacting with user-generated posts by sharing and providing credit at the same time shows that you as a brand value them and their input. Other features include the ability to bookmark content and search for images by hashtag or a specific user’s name.

Crowdfire

Crowdfire is part social media management tool and part content-discovery engine. While the free version only allows you to manage one platform through the app, its premium subscriptions can manage up to 50 social media profiles across multiple social media platforms.

Crowdfire also features a Chrome browser extension that helps you quickly share articles and curate content for posting. A great feature for Instagram is Crowdfire’s image curation feature, which gives recommendations of images to share on your Instagram account. The recommended images are already approved by creators, so you don’t have to worry about copyright.

In addition, you get hashtag recommendations, analytics and the ability to custom tailor posts by platform.

Combin

Complete focused on Instagram account management, Combin offers both follower-growth and scheduling features. You can test the main features with its free version, but the paid subscriptions offer more for engaging Instagram users.

Combin allows you to search through Instagram by hashtags, location and followers. This allows you to keep an eye on your competitors’ comments as well. (See more about how to conduct your first competitive analysis plus 16 recommended tools.)

Therefore, Combin helps you target specific users and get insight into what your target audience engages with most as well as how your competition is engaging with their followers. You can see various comments across multiple accounts in one place. Plus, Combin offers analytics.

Woobox

Woobox is a great tool for creating engagement opportunities for your Instagram audience. However, keep in mind that the free version only allows limited Facebook interactions. You’ll have to choose a paid subscription to access the Instagram features.

Woobox enables you to promote polls, giveaways, coupons and more. In other words, it helps you become even more social on social media. For example, you can even age-gate your contests and feedback if your brand is not geared toward a particular age group.

Truly, this tool is about bringing gamification to your Instagram presence.

Hootsuite

A powerful social media management and social listening tool, Hootsuite has a hair more options in its free version than most tools, but the most powerful features are available in its paid subscriptions.

Hootsuite gives you the opportunity to manage multiple profiles, monitor interactions and hashtags (among other conversations) and more by setting up tabs to organize your social media management.

Additional apps can be integrated (such as Asana) into your Hootsuite account to streamline your workflow.

For Instagram, Hootsuite empowers you to now only create and schedule posts but monitor popular hashtags and search terms on the platform, all in one place, where you can comment and reply as well.

Foursixty

Looking to make more sales from your Instagram audience? Consider Foursixty, which is a tool that can turn your feed into a gallery where users can view and shop through your images. You can try it with a 21-day free trial, but otherwise it is a paid tool.

A strength of Foursixty is its ability to monitor anytime anyone tags or mentions your brand or product and curate all of that and sort by performance, which can be a time-saving method for gathering user-generated content.

Check out our 10 tips to generate more user-generated content.

Other features include Digital Rights Management so that you don’t have to worry about copyright and its ability to track influencer marketing, which helps you discover new influencers through Instagram while getting a better understanding of their engagement. Partnering with high-quality influencers can definitely help you grow your Instagram following.

See our seven tips you should know before starting your first influencer marketing campaign.

Later

Later is a social media management tool with a visual focus, perfect for Instagram. Its free version allows you to explore, but some key features are tied to its paid subscriptions.

You can use it to schedule photo and video posts while tagging locations and users. Later also includes hashtag suggestions and Instagram Story management.

Part of its analytics capabilities has hashtag monitoring. This means you can see the statistical information about tags and identify the ones that work best for your brand and/or campaign. In addition, Later shows the best times to post according to the activity of your target audience.

If you’re in the retail industry, consider Later’s Linkedin Bio landing page. This feature resembles your Instagram feed and enables users to shop easier. This integrates with Google Analytics so that your can better understand the relationship between your Instagram posts and sales.

Check out the 14 biggest mistakes businesses make on Instagram (and how you can avoid them).

While you’re digging into the best tools to grow your Instagram following, consider leveling up your digital marketing process. DailyStory features automation, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

Facebook or Instagram: Which is better for marketing your business?

It might not be an age-old question, but many small businesses often ask which is better for marketing: Facebook or Instagram?

Unfortunately, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer.

Sharing about 4 billion users across the two social networks, the opportunities on both are immense. Of course, they’re also both owned by the same company, Meta, so they do share some linkage and features (especially when running paid advertising campaigns).

Facebook remains the most popular social media platform, while visuals-first Instagram has the fastest-growing audience.

The following are four elements you should consider when deciding whether Facebook or Instagram is the best marketing platform for your business.

Usage statistics

Facebook

Facebook currently has about 2.9 billion monthly active users, while about 1.59 billion are mobile daily active users. Around seven out of 10 U.S. adults use Facebook.

About 56 percent of Facebook users are male.

While some think that Facebook is skewing increasingly older, the largest demographic on the social network is between 25 and 35 years old. On the flip side, Facebook’s smallest demographic are seniors 65 years old or older.

About 82 percent of college graduates are on Facebook, and about 75 percent of online users with an annual income of $75,000 or more also are on the platform.

Instagram

Instagram currently has more than 1 billion monthly active users, while more than 500 million Instagram users use the Stories feature daily.

More than 200 million businesses are on Instagram. And more than 50 percent of Instagram users are female.

Instagram does skew toward a younger audience. About 71 percent of U.S. adults ages 18 to 29 use Instagram. In fact, 72 percent of teenagers in the U.S. use Instagram as well.

Functionality of the platforms

Facebook

The social network is all about information, from the about section on a profile or page (which are more robust than what’s available through an Instagram profile bio) to the types of posts you can share:

Text only
Images or GIFs
Videos
Links

In essence, because of the variety of options, it can be a distracting and noisy environment where you’re also fighting against the Facebook algorithm.

Instagram

The app is all about images and videos. Text-only posts are not an option.

But that’s because Instagram is less about the communication of information and more about capturing and sharing moments and then engaging around those moments.

Because of some of the simplicity of Instagram’s functionality, it allows brands to laser focus on how their shared moments represent them. That’s when you see such massive brand popularity blossom. (This is in comparison to the almost too many options for sharing as a business on Facebook.)

Of course, Instagram also has an algorithm that drives user experience on the app, but it doesn’t get complained about nearly as much as Facebook’s.

Content marketing

Facebook

Facebook is a great place to share curated content, where you’re sharing someone else’s content to benefit your own audience. (Check out our four tips for finding great curated content to share, as well as 12 tools to help you.) This is because you can easily share links.

This is also the best place to share any company announcements and/or updates. In fact, you can create actual events on Facebook and promote them.

Instagram

The best content for Instagram is original and authentic (not curated). Yes, you’ll see some regrams, memes and even text images. But go original if you want to be successful.

Going behind the scenes is engaging on Instagram. Real-time images also drive engagement, especially through Instagram Stories.

Instagram also is great for image-based contests that center around a hashtag. (Be sure to check out our guide on how to ensure your giveaways and contests are legal.)

Advertising campaigns

As mentioned earlier, Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta (formally known as Facebook). This means that you have the ability to run a single paid advertising campaign in one place that can run across both platforms.

Facebook Business Manager can make it all happen, so you don’t necessarily have to choose.

In conclusion

Ultimately, brands should have a presence on both Facebook and Instagram, but depending on your target audience, marketing goals and brand identity, you’ll likely drive a larger presence on one or the other.

As you’re evaluating your presence on Facebook and Instagram, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory and our 21-day free trial. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

14 biggest mistakes businesses make on Twitter

Many businesses find Twitter to be an effective social media marketing channel.

It offers the opportunity to build your brand’s credibility, engage directly with customers and reach a larger audience.

Twitter, originally created as a micro-blogging platform, is an online news and social networking site, where users can communicate publicly through short posts called tweets.

The social platform boasts about 186 million daily active users and 38 million users from within the U.S.

But with the opportunities come the risk of mistakes that can poorly reflect on your brand (and cause a subsequent loss of revenue).

See our snapshot of the challenges and opportunities of Twitter for businesses.

The following are 14 of the biggest mistakes business make on Twitter.

Not optimizing your Twitter profile

Sure, there is only so much you can do to optimize your Twitter profile, but if you’re not regularly reviewing how your Twitter account looks and what first impressions it might be giving other users, you’re missing out.

Make sure you:

Upload your logo or another brand-representative image as your profile photo
Choose a relevant and eye-catching cover image
Fill out your bio with key information about what your business does and how it helps people. You can check out Twitter accounts you aspire to or compete with for inspiration
Pick a URL that is easy to remember and best for potential leads to click on to find out more

No Twitter content plan

Just like any other channel, you’ll be more effective with a plan. Think through your goals. Identify your target audience. Then, consider the mix of content that can help you achieve your goals and reach your target audience.

Check out our seven tips to help you level up your content marketing (whether it’s on Twitter or elsewhere).

Inconsistent brand voice

Your brand story, personality and voice are all critically important to how Twitter users view and understand your brand.

If you lack consistency in your brand voice, it’s going to be very confusing for anyone you reach with your tweets. In addition, you want to ensure that you’re leaving out any industry jargon in your messagin (unless you are specifically targeting those who understand that jargon, of course).

Keep in mind, that your brand voice should make you human in your messaging and engagement with Twitter users.

See our eight tips for finding your brand voice. Once you know your brand voice, lock it in for your social media efforts and beyond with our five tips to create a brand style guide.

Tweeting too much (or not enough)

Tweet too much, and you look like spam. Tweet too infrequently, and users don’t find you to be an active or credible Twitter account to engage with or follow. It’s easy to make this Twitter mistake, for sure.

Try to keep your tweeting to fewer than four tweets per hour.

Tweeting only at set times

Twitter is a fast-moving social network. If you only tweet at the same time every time, then you’re missing an opportunity to reach more Twitter users.

You can avoid this Twitter mistake by scheduling your tweets at different times. You can then use Twitter Analytics to gauge what works best for your audience.

Lacking any multimedia tweets

Go beyond just text-only tweets if you want to engage more with your target audience. Aim to mix up your content types:

Photos
Videos
Infographics
GIFs

Tweets with images are about 34 percent more likely to get retweeted than tweets with no images.

Talking about your business too much

Just like on any social media platform, if you talk about yourself too much, you run the risk of either losing engagement, being seen as spam or both.

Remember the reason why most users are using Twitter. Likely, they want to be informed and/or entertained.

Some companies strive for the 80-20 rule, where they only self-promote 20 percent of the time. Others aim for a rule of thirds, where one-third is self-promotion, another third is entertainment and the last third is education.

There’s no blatant right or wrong content mix. Take time to review your resources and what makes the most sense for your business, with the goal being to keep the self-promotion to a minimum.

As you begin to plan your Twitter content, consider using a content calendar.

Ignoring trending topics on Twitter

Twitter makes it easy to understand what topics are trending at any given time. You should keep an eye out for the topics that are relevant to your brand and that you can contribute something to the conversation.

Not all trending topics will be relevant. So, if it feels like a reach, it probably is, and you should leave it be.

Using too many hashtags

Unlike Instagram (where users technically can use up to 30 hashtags), Twitter is more restrained by total character count and best practices in hashtag usage.

Tweets with hashtags can increase engagement up to 50 percent for brands.

But you want to stick to one, maybe two, at most. Once you go above that, you risk looking spammy to other Twitter users. So, be sure to do your research on the best one or two hashtags you should be using to avoid this common Twitter mistake.

Missing your opportunity to ask for retweets

While you might feel it’s a little over-the-top or salesy to ask for retweets, you’ll actually receive a boost in engagement overall. Tweets have a 12 times higher chance of being retweeted if you simply ask for it.

You’ll want to use the phrase “retweet” rather than “RT,” though.

The key is that you’re asking on content that is engaging enough for users to see the value of retweeting. That simple act of asking alone won’t get you the retweets you want if your content isn’t worthy.

Leaving your followers hanging

It’s easy to forget the social conversation side of Twitter since the platform moves so fast. And many businesses do.

But regardless of the noise that Twitter can generate at times, you must make it a priority to respond to any comments or direct messages that come your way. In addition, you want to comment and retweet others’ posts if you find them interesting and in line with your brand.

You want to build relationships with your followers and the broader Twitter community, and that won’t happen if you only broadcast content and never engage.

Ignoring negative comments

Related to not engaging with your followers, you cannot ignore any negative comments that come your way.

No business enjoys negative comments or reviews, but they are part of maintaining an online presence, which you absolutely want to do. Treat them as opportunities to turn this negative commenter into a fan, based on your excellent customer service and social media voice.

Check out our 11 tips to best respond to negative commenters.

Retweeting mentions of your business

Resist the temptation to retweet every mention of your brand. It can come across a little shallow, salesy and insincere to other Twitter users.

Instead, you can reply to the tweet and move on. Or, if it really should be shared, retweet it but with a comment on it to give it context to avoid this easy-to-make Twitter mistake.

Expecting instant success

Most social media marketing success is about the long-term strategy culminating in success over time.

This is no different for Twitter. Tweet once or even three times, and you likely will not see an immediate achievement of your goals.

Monitor your overall account performance for clues on what you can do more of and what you should do less of. Remember that Twitter Analytics can help you with this. It’s free to use and is native to the platform.

Check out our eight expert tips to help you market your business better on Twitter.

As you’re creating your author bio, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory and our 21-day free trial. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

9 tips to create engaging Instagram Stories

No longer the “new kid on the block,” Instagram Stories represent an opportunity for every brand to connect in additional ways with its target audience.

Launched in 2016, Instagram Stories allow you to multiple images and/or videos in a vertical format, where you can layer on various doodles, text and/or interactive stickers. They last 24 hours before disappearing, but they can be pinned to your Instagram profile in Highlight groupings and last longer.

(If this sounds very similar to Snapchat Stories, which were launched in 2013, then you’re right.)

About 500 million users per day use Instagram Stories, and about one-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories come from businesses.

Incorporating Stories into your Instagram publishing strategy helps you reach your audience in two different places in the app, both in the Stories section and the traditional feed section.

Check out our 16 overall Instagram marketing tips that you can try right away. Plus, see the 14 biggest mistakes companies make on Instagram (and how to avoid them).

The following are nine tips to help you create engaging Instagram Stories that best reflect your company’s brand.

Create an Instagram Story-specific style guide

Style guides are a great tool for branding consistency. (See our nine expert tips for starting a new brand from scratch.)

They can include your font choices, preferred filters, branded colors, GIF types and so on.

While your style guide can be in any format, the key is that it can be easily shared among your team members. Your brand can then appear the same regardless of who is creating your Story content.

Use storyboards

With so many content options to explore within Instagram Stories, a great way to get started involves trying storyboards.

This helps you fully plan out your Story before diving into the design.

And planning is everything.

Storyboards can be as simple as sketching out your ideas slide by slide.

What multimedia do you want to use?
How will you string your slides together to create a visual narrative?
What call-to-action do you want to promote? How?
Any key brand colors to include?

What you decide in advance will make your creation process more efficient and more effective.

Stay within the lines

Instagram Stories are displayed with usernames and ways to interact with the Story along the top and bottom of the screen. So, you definitely don’t want to design your Story in such a way that your content gets covered up by buttons and other features.

Fortunately, Instagram offers grid lines as a guideline to stay within. Think lines of a coloring book. You’ll want to stay within them.

While you’ll see these grid lines appear as necessary when designing within the Instagram app, keep the following spacing in mind if you’re designing outside of the app:

Instagram Story dimensions are 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels.
But, ideally, you’ll want to center your design elements within 1080 pixels by 1420 pixels.
In other words, leave 250 pixels of space at the top and bottom of your Instagram Story design.

Mix up your multimedia

You have almost endless options when it comes to the types of multimedia you can use in your Stories. Don’t get stuck in a rut.

In fact, even a string of slides together can mix things up throughout your visual narration to help keep the viewer engaged.

Types include:

Photography, whether or original or stock images
Boomerangs, which are looped video clips
Videos
GIFs
Audio

Always be open to experimentation for the benefit of better connecting with your target audience. (Not sure who your target audience is? See our seven tips.)

Take advantage of stickers

Whether you’re looking to add humor or simply a touch of fun engagement, Instagram’s stickers are a great place to start on your Stories.

They range in functions, including frivolous angles, but some of the most useful include:

Polls
Quizzes
Hashtags
Account tags
Location tags

You also can create your own stickers and GIFs for users to add to their own Stories. You can do so by becoming a verified brand on Giphy.

Earn access to the ‘Swipe Up’ feature

It takes about 10,000 followers to earn the coveted “Swipe Up” feature, where viewers can access a link from within your Story simply by swiping up.

Until you get this feature, you must direct viewers to navigate to your bio to click a link. But once you can direct website traffic through Instagram Stories, you can level up your call-to-action by designing entirely around the idea of swiping up to take a particular action.

It’s a powerful feature once you can access it.

Create branded highlight covers

While Instagram Stories typically last for only 24 hours, you can add them to the highlights section at the top of your Instagram profile to save them beyond the 24 hours.

There is no limit to the number of highlights you can create, but users will only see the most recently updated five on your profile without having to scroll.

Once you begin using highlights, you can create and use cover images. You can design these to reflect your brand presence on Instagram.

Explore tools to create your best Instagram Stories

You don’t have to be a graphic designer or an Instagram native app designing expert to create engaging visuals for your Stories.

There are a number of templates that you can start with, but more importantly, we recommend checking out any of these 11 free graphic design tools for the non-designer.

Monitor your performance

Just like with any digital marketing tactic (especially on social media), you’ll want to keep an eye on the analytics behind your Instagram Stories.

That’s easy enough to do within Instagram Insights. The key is to know when to pivot your strategy.

See our guide to better understanding your metrics on Instagram.

You also can dive deeper into the opportunities and challenges of Instagram for small businesses. and our six tips to master Instagram hashtags.

Then, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

11 best practices to help you grow your social media followers

Social media is a key part of any business’s digital marketing strategy, but are you seeing enough followers and engagement on your accounts?

About 3.6 billion people worldwide were using social media in 2020, and that’s expected to grow to about 4.4 billion by 2025.

So, your target audience is definitely out there. (And if you need help determining your ideal target audience, see our seven tips.)

Of course, don’t miss what we recommend every startup company should know about social media.

The following are 11 best practices that can help you grow your social media followers over time regardless of the platform.

Build a strong brand identity

Branding is everything for successful businesses online. Of course, this means more than just including your logo on all of your multimedia assets and so on.

It ties into your predominant color scheme, graphic designs, voice, even filters. If you haven’t yet solidified your brand’s identity, it’s never too late.

See our eight tips for finding your brand’s voice. And in the fitness industry, we walk you through building an online brand from scratch (that can be applied to other industries as well).

Even personal brands count. Check out our 10 tips for building your personal brand and growing your business.

The most important thing is consistency and cohesion. Once you have your brand identity, own it.

Follow relevant accounts

Following other accounts that are relevant to your interests, industry and business is a great way to:

Stay in the know about topics that matter to you and your brand
Be inspired by what others are doing on social media
Have an opportunity to engage with accounts that are relevant to you
Get an idea of what your competition is doing on social media

Of course, there’s also the opportunity to potentially be followed back by others, but that shouldn’t be your primary reason to do it.

Actively engage with your followers

Time is always a challenge, but resist the temptation to “set it and forget it.” Once a post publishes (whether it’s scheduled or live), that’s only the beginning.

Prioritize time to engage with your followers who are commenting on your posts and/or messaging you.

Granted, you can’t go down the wormhole on it, and the more engagement you receive, the harder it will be to respond to every user. But there are tools out there that can help.

Check out these 11 free (or almost free) social media management tools to help you stay on top of the activity happening with your brand accounts. Plus, see additional reasons why a social media management tool can benefit your business.

And consider these seven opportunities for social media automation that you might not be aware of.

Just remember that social media is a conversation, not just a megaphone. You’ll lose your social media followers if you never engage with them. Invite those connections and conversations.

Publish content that’s worth sharing

Ask yourself honestly:

Are you posting content that excites, entertains, educates?
Is your content engaging?
Are you thinking about your followers first?

If the answer is no, then it’s time to reevaluate your content strategy. Think about how you can add in more:

Opinions (just be cautious when it comes to sensitive issues)
Trending content (which helps you stay current on social media)
News developments from your industry
Data and statistics
Humorous or cute content (just make sure that it’s relevant to your brand identity)
Visually compelling or eye-catching (including videos)

If a majority of your content is sales-heavy, you’re definitely missing an opportunity for engagement with your social media followers (and giving others a reason to follow you).

Use a content calendar

Content calendars are great for both long-term planning and overall content organization.

It’s about striking a balance between posting enough to stay relevant and not posting too much, which looks more like spam. That balance helps you connect with social media followers.

See our eight tips to create an effective content calendar.

Promote your social media elsewhere

Don’t assume that everyone knows you have a Facebook page or an Instagram account or a viral video on TikTok.

Depending on what else you’re doing online, think through the opportunities you have to promote your social media accounts elsewhere.

This could be on your website, blog, podcast, guest blogs (or appearances), email newsletters and so on.

Be smart with your hashtags

Hashtags are all about discoverability. But it’s better to be strategic and targeted than to treat your hashtags like buckshot.

In short, the most popular hashtags (such as #love) aren’t necessarily the ones you need to use because they are, in fact, so overused. You’ll just get lost in the noise.

You can opt for more specific hashtags and/or create branded hashtags to promote user-generated content (among other reasons).

Check out our six tips to help you master hashtags on Instagram specifically.

Explore influencer marketing

Influencer marketing continues to increase in popularity, and for good reasons. It simply makes sense to partner with another brand that (or personality who) is relevant to your target audience.

Make sure you understand who you’re going to work with (whether they’re appropriate for your brand) and what the expectations are.

The result of a successful influencer marketing campaign is increased engagement and more social media followers.

Check out our seven tips you should know before starting your first influencer marketing campaign.

Keep your customer service team in the loop

Because so many more consumers are contacting brands via social media, it’s important that everyone tasked with responding to those messages are in the loop regarding your overall social media strategy and any significant campaigns.

Maintaining that communication across your team will preserve a consistency in your customer service that should back up the brand voice you’re projecting publicly on social media.

(Of course, this also extends to how you address negative commentary and reviews online. See our 11 tips.)

Consider contests and giveaways

Contests and giveaways should never be the end all be all of your entire social media strategy. But they are a great way to engage with your social media followers and grow your following as well.

First, think about what would spur interest and excitement. Make sure it’s reflective of your brand identity.

See our 10 tips to encourage more user-generated content.

But most importantly of all, make sure you’re on the up and up and keeping every giveaway and contest legal. Check out our guide on Terms and Conditions.

Pivot your strategy based on your social media performance

Similar to what we recommend for just about any digital marketing strategy is not just to monitor your social media analytics, but to refine your strategy as needed based on that performance.

If something is working, how can you build on that?

If something isn’t working, what can you do differently?

Clearly, there are so many factors to consider:

Timing
Content itself
Voice
Visuals

And so much more. But that’s what makes social media exciting. It’s always changing, and in general, it’s a grand experiment for every brand to find ways to represent itself, be heard and reach its target audience.

Consider any of these 17 online courses to level up your social media skills.

While you’re exploring how to increase your social media followers organically, think about how you can improve your digital marketing process as well. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

5 tips to optimize your Facebook Pixel

The key to any digital marketing strategy involves testing, tracking and refining based on the data.

When it comes to Facebook and Instagram ads, you must incorporate the free-to-use Facebook Pixel to obtain the best data tied to your campaign performance.

The Facebook Pixel is essentially a piece of code that you input onto your website. Once installed, it collects data that enables you to track conversions from your Facebook or Instagram ads, optimize those ads, create target audiences and retarget those who’ve already performed an action of some kind on your website.

To accomplish this, the Facebook Pixel places and triggers cookies to track website visitors as they interact with your website.

For example, a user could add a product of yours to the shopping cart but then leave your website before purchasing. Your Facebook Pixel can then make it possible for you to serve related ads about that product to that user while they’re browsing Instagram Stories. This reflects its retargeting capabilities.

It’s a must-use tool.

In fact, about 5.3 million websites use the Facebook Pixel. And they use it not just because of its tracking features, but also because using it helps the overall return on investment (ROI) of their Facebook ad campaigns. It’s all about increased efficiency.

And you can easily install it yourself if you have access to your website’s code. If not, you can contact your website developer. If your website is powered by an eCommerce platform (such as Shopify), Facebook has partnerships that make the installation process easy, as well as the creation of a product catalog and the ability to run related ads.

You can find your Facebook Pixel (and functionality) in the Data Sources interface of your Facebook Events Manager.

The following are five tips to help you best use the Facebook Pixel for your digital marketing efforts.

Understand what the Facebook Pixel can track

The Facebook Pixel offers tracking for 17 standard “events” (aka actions that occur on your website):

Lead, when a visitor submits their information in any way on your website
Complete Registration, when a visitor completes a registration form on your website
Start Trial, when a visitor signs up for a free trial on your website
Customize Product, when a user selects a specific version of a product (by choosing a color, for example)
Add To Cart, when a visitor adds a product to his or her shopping cart on your website
Add Payment Information, when a visitor enters his or her payment information during the purchase process on your website
Initiate Checkout, when a visitor begins the checkout process to buy something on your website
Purchase, when a visitor makes a purchase of any kind on your website
Schedule, when a visitor books an appointment for your business on your website
Submit Application, when a visitor applies for your product, service or program (a credit card application, for example)
Subscribe, when a visitor subscribes to a paid product or service on your website
Donate, when a visitor makes a donation on your website
Add To Wishlist, when a visitor adds a product to a wishlist on your website
Search, when a visitor uses the search function on your website
Find Location, when a visitor searches for your business’s physical location on your website
View Content, when a visitor lands on a specific page of your website
Contact, when a visitor contact your business through the website

Use parameters to add details to your tracking

You can go beyond the standard events that the Facebook Pixel can track by adding details. This can be done through extra pieces of code called parameters.

You can narrow in on such factors as:

Content type
Currency
How much a conversion event is worth
Predicted long-term value

This means that you can use the Facebook Pixel to track a specific area or category of your website. For example, a salon website can separate those interested in hair services from those interested in nail services based on which sections of the website were viewed.98\

Be aware of newer iOS tracking limits

While there’s nothing you can do about it, it is worthwhile to understand that due to third-party tracking changes beginning in iOS 14.5, some Facebook Pixel functionality is disabled in updated Apple devices.

This can feel disheartening in your targeting efforts, but know that only about 15 percent of mobile Facebook users access the platform using iOS devices.

Nonetheless, one consequence of this change is that advertisers can only set up a maximum of eight standard events and custom conversions for tracking.

Think about the full picture

Ultimately, your strategy and how you want to use the Facebook Pixel are up to you. That being said, it’s recommended to place the Pixel base code on every page of your website.

Doing so ensures that you:

Won’t miss any conversion events.
Have complete control over how and what you decide to track.

Consider the logic of what you want to track to best identify the events you choose. Think about your customer’s journey on your website and what matters most to your business.

What are your company’s goals? What are the goals of your advertising campaign? If you’re not sure, check out our seven expert tips to set achievable marketing goals.

A few suggested strategies:

Retarget visitors with true interest by targeting anyone who stayed on your website for at least 45 seconds.
Use Advanced Matching features that help match your website visitors with their Facebook profiles when turned on. This improves conversion attribution and helps you reach more people.
Segment your audience by browsing behavior based on the products or website sections they engaged with. (You then could target them with specific ads containing related coupon codes, for example.)
Create Lookalike Audiences with your data to target users (who haven’t yet visited your website) with similar demographics and behavior as those who have visited your website.
Determine your audience’s intent through their URL activity as long as you have smart, clear URL structures.

Just know that you don’t have to wait to install your Facebook Pixel. Do so right away so that you can begin gathering insights as soon as possible.

Monitor the performance of your Facebook Pixel

Obviously, the Facebook Pixel offers you a wealth of information.

You can track your Facebook ad conversions across platforms and devices to better understand your customers’ journey and behavior, for example, and then use this information to refine your strategy as needed.

Just make sure to compare you’re comparing your ad clicks to actual traffic data. Not all clicks convert into a true landing page view. One reason for this is any loading speed issues your website might have.

Keeping an eye on your ad campaign performance and the insights it yields over time will help you pivot your overall strategy as needed.

See our seven tips to better target your Facebook ads.

Looking to level up your digital marketing process beyond the Facebook Pixel? Schedule your free demo of DailyStory today.

Instagram or Facebook Reels: 7 best practices for small businesses

With the increasing popularity of Reels (particularly on Instagram), small businesses should take note as part of your social media marketing strategy.

Reels is a feature where users can create and share fun, short videos using a catalog of music and other media. More specifically, they are 15-second, multi-clip videos that can have sound, music and other effects added to them.

If you’re familiar with TikTok videos, then you’re familiar with the capabilities of Reels.

About 61 percent of Generation Z TikTok users are leaning toward using Instagram Reels.

Find out more about Reels and three reasons why you should consider using them.

Of course, any success with Reels doesn’t just happen. The following are seven best practices for small businesses using Reels on either Instagram or Facebook.

Best practice #1: Highlight brand individuality

Reels is all about unique content with a thoughtful storyline. In other words, it’s a blank slate for out-of-the-box creativity.

However, if you’re struggling to brainstorm ideas that you can take to the next level (creatively speaking), consider:

Sharing company culture
Announcing new product launches or offers
Creating how-to tutorials
Displaying your product or service in an attention-grabbing way
Revealing insider tips and tricks
Repurposing past content that has performed well
Showing what happens behind the scenes
Highlighting before-and-after moments

Experiment with hashtags, text and captions. Research what is trending and what your competition is doing. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box, whether that with the use of camera angels, audio, etc.

Just be wary of hard-selling too much. Viewers won’t have an appetite for it, and over time, you’ll struggle to build your reach and engagement on Reels.

Best practice #2: Think vertical and consider file size

Like Stories, Reels content is vertical. This might not be a big stretch for content creation if you’re already creating content for Stories, TikTok and/or Snapchat.

But it can be an adjustment if you haven’t stepped into those other features and/or platforms yet.

As far as file size for Reels, it’s not a huge concern if you’re creating your content within the platform (either Instagram or Facebook). However, if you plan on importing any cllips for your Reels video, keep these characteristics in mind:

The recommended Reels size is 1080 by 1920 pixels.
The recomended aspect ratio for Reels is 9:16.

If the size is not accurate, you could end up with an awkwardly cropped Reels clip.

Best practice #3: Balance authenticity with quality

Reels allows for fun, authentic content, but on the flip side, you still want to balance that with well-produced clips.

Take the time to plan, execute and edit your Reels video clips so that you can walk that line and hit that balance every time to best engage with your target audience. Choosing the right audio is a big piece, so don’t rush the creation process.

We recommend using a visual storyboard process to plan your Reels clip frame by frame. But truly, practice makes perfect. Keep experimenting and creating.

Best practice #4: Avoid watermarks

It’s probably not a surprise that since Facebook is aiming to compete with TikTok by implementing Reels, your content will not be as successful if it has another platform’s watermark on it.

For example, if you create a TikTok video on that platform and then save it to upload it to Instagram Reels, there will be a TikTok watermark in the corner of that uploaded clip.

To avoid this, you’ll want to create original content within Instagram or Facebook Reels so that it can play nice with those platforms’ algorithms.

Best practice #5: Add a custom Reels thumbnail

By creating a custom Reels cover, you are taking the power of your content into your own hands. The cover is the first image users see when they come across your Reels video clip.

Make sure that you design an image that is not only eye-catching but also true to the content users will see by watching your clip.

You can add the cover by clicking on “Cover” after creating your Reels clip. You can then add the image from your gallery.

Best practice #6: Optimize the sharing of your Reels

Once created, Instagram specifically allows you to share the video clip to the Reels tab, where your followers can then access it easily on your profile.

Be sure to share your Reels clip to your feed as well so that it’ll show on your main profile view alongside your other feed posts. You can also save it and share it at a more optimized time for your audience. While various “best time to post” articles exist online, the key is to think about your target audience’s time zone and when they’ll likely be engaging with your content.

When they wake up?
During lunch?
Toward the end of the traditional workday?
After dinner?
Before bed?

From there, experiment with timing to get the best sense for your brand account since every brand is unique with a different audience.

With a public Instagram business account (rather than a private personal account), your Reels clip could be picked up and suggested to users at large in Instagram’s main discovery Reels tab.

Learn more about the difference between personal, creator and business accounts on Instagram.

Best practice #7: Monitor your Reels performance

Just like with any other feature or even platform, tracking your metrics is critical to understanding what works best for your target audience and what isn’t working at all.

You’ll be able to view reach, likes, saves, shares, comments and plays. Keep in mind that the number of plays can be higher than your reach since users can watch a Reels clip more than once.

Your Reels analytics are located within Instagram Insights on the Instagram app, which is only available for business accounts.

Reels analytics for Facebook pages appear to be in the works as of 2021.

Still embracing TikTok? See our 15 tips to better market your brand on the video platform.

As you’re looking into expanding into Reels, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory and our 21-day free trial. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

Reels: What it is and 3 reasons why you should use it for your business

Reels is among the new features you’ve likely noticed on either Facebook, Instagram or both.

It’s definitely how Facebook (which owns Instagram) is attempting to combat the popularity of TikTok, a newer social video app that is exploding among younger audiences.

As of 2021, Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly active users, while TikTok has reached 1 billion monthly active users.

Similar to how Facebook copied the Stories feature from Snapchat, it’s going with the same playbook for Reels from TikTok. The strategy effectively rocketed the use of Instagram Stories over Snapchat Stories. However, time will tell if this will happen against TikTok with Reels.

But what is Reels? And why should your business use them?

What is Reels?

If you’re familiar with TikTok videos, then you’re familiar with the capabilities of Reels.

The purpose of Reels is to entertain and inspire creativity.

Why you should try Reels

There are three reasons why you should consider incorporating Reels into your social media marketing strategy.

Improved visibility and discoverability

Because Reels is a prioritized feature on Instagram and Facebook, the platforms are giving prioritized status to all Reels-related content you post.

This expands to users’ news feeds, the “Explore” section of Instagram and a dedicated Reels section on Instagram (located in the center of the navigation bar).

In other words, prime-time visibility for your target audience.

The reason for the prioritization is because Facebook and Instagram want to encourage users to start using the feature, so now is the time to jump in and experiment.

Opportunity to make your brand more personable

Because of the nature of Reels, the feature offers your brand the opportunity to share fun and personable content that will entertain your audience and show a potentially relatable side of your brand.

Just make sure that whatever you experiment with and create on Reels is true to your brand. Being fun and using music and effects in your video clips can quickly go off track if you’re not paying attention.

Lower competition

When a social media feature is new, it can take many brands a while to adapt to it and start using it.

The sooner you can begin experimenting with Reels, the further ahead you can get on your own competition. Think of it this way: Even just experimenting now will make you the experienced brand when your competition is just starting to experiment.

In conclusion

Keep in mind that the use of Reels on Facebook or Instagram is not a substitute for your brand’s presence on TikTok. If you’re trying to reach a younger target audience, TikTok should be part of your strategy as long as it’s a relevant space for the users you’re trying to reach.

In other words, it doesn’t matter how the battle for users between Facebook and TikTok ends up. TikTok is a relevant social media app for now and still deserves consideration.

See our 15 tips to market your brand on TikTok.

For some inspiration, check out Walmart and Sephora since they are major brands that are already using Reels.

While you’re considering how to set achievable marketing goals, think about your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

14 biggest mistakes businesses make on Instagram (and how to avoid them)

With more than 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram clearly holds an appeal for brands looking to reach key target audiences.

But on the fourth-largest mobile app, it can be all too easy for brands to make very public mistakes.

The following are the 14 biggest mistakes businesses make on Instagram, as well as how you can avoid them for your own brand.

Instagram mistake #1: Purchasing likes or followers

Often, the currency of social media (and Instagram in particular) centers around authenticity.

Buying your likes and/or Instagram followers may give you quantity, but definitely not quality. And by doing so, you risk breaking the trust of your real followers and commenters.

We also don’t recommend paying for automated outgoing comments because it definitely makes your brand look more like a robot than a personality that people want to engage with. Plus, you’re missing the opportunity to authentically engage with your target audience.

Instead, focus on a strategy where you prioritize engaging content and meaningful interactions with other users.

Instagram mistake #2: Not optimizing your Instagram bio

Too many companies don’t adequately optimize their Instagram bios. Remember that beyond your post that could reach a user who’s unfamiliar with your brand, your bio is often the first impression you can make.

Keep your bio clear, concise and relevant. You can use links, emojis and even line breaks to make your bio unique and easy to understand.

Instagram mistake #3: The use of poor-quality photos or videos

Instagram is a visual-first social media platform. While you don’t have to have the most expensive photographer shoot all your photos and videos, you do have to be thoughtful in the images that you are publishing.

Beautiful is great, but even interesting or well-composed images also work.

Think about your lighting, finding a neutral background and the composition of your images.

Fortunately, there are many easy-to-use photo editing apps and graphic design tools to edit your images as needed.

Instagram mistake #4: Your posting frequency is off

There’s a fine line to walk on Instagram before you end up posting “too much” or “too little.” It’s such an easy mistake to make.

With too many posts, your brand can look desperate to users. With too few, your brand’s Instagram account can appear inactive and forgettable.

The “right” number is not only ever evolving but can also depend on your industry and audience.

For example, a news outlet could post multiple times per day, and that makes sense. A retail brand, on the other hand, would be more likely to post a few times per week.

Keep an eye on your analytics, so that you can find the sweet spot for your own brand’s posting frequency.

Instagram mistake #5: Ignoring your performance analytics

A huge (but common) mistake brands can make on Instagram involves ignoring your data, or at least not using your metrics enough to inform your strategy.

But go beyond the vanity metrics. It’s not only about likes. Keep your reach, audience demographics and more in mind as you publish your content.

Seeing what works and what doesn’t will only make your Instagram strategy that much stronger.

Dive deeper with our guide on Instagram Insights.

Instagram mistake #6: Using too many hashtags

A powerful tool on Instagram, hashtags (when used correctly) can help your content organically reach more users.

However, you can use too many and shoot your brand in the foot.

While you can use up to 30 hashtags, you’ll more likely see only a handful in use on any given post. Up to 11 hashtags is generally accepted these days.

See our six tips to master hashtags on Instagram.

Instagram mistake #7: Inattention to sharing quality content

All content is not created equal.

If you allow the quality of your overall content to slide, then you risk publishing posts that are boring, spammy and/or out of touch. Big mistake.

Don’t post just to post. Always ask yourself if what you’re posting is intriguing, informative and/or fun. If it is, your target audience will more likely engage with it. What does your audience care about?

See our seven tips for leveling up your brand’s content marketing.

Instagram mistake #8: Being impersonal

Just because you’re speaking for and representing your brand, doesn’t mean that you’re not human. Many brands make the mistake of being too professional.

Take a moment to think about your brand voice and how you should be engaging with and speaking to your target audience on Instagram.

Instagram mistake #9: Lacking an Instagram strategy

An Instagram strategy goes beyond just what you’re going to do, it drills into what your Instagram goals are and what actions should happen to help achieve those goals.

No matter what your goals are, it’s very difficult to achieve them without a plan to do so. That lack of a plan or strategy is a big Instagram mistake.

Dive deeper into what you should do with our 16 Instagram marketing tips.

Instagram mistake #10: Inconsistency with your visuals

This ties into your branding. What colors, aesthetics and tone define your brand? Inconsistencies with your overall visual presentation is a mistake.

Now, apply that to the compilation of all your Instagram images. When you look at your Instagram profile (and all your images in one place), is there a consistent look and feel?

Variations can exist, of course. But the idea is that overall, an Instagram follower should generally recognize your content when it appears in your feed.

Your consistent visual presentation can be included in your overall Instagram strategy. It could be as simple as a style guide.

Instagram mistake #11: Errors in your captions

Just like with any other piece of your digital marketing, typos put the perception of your professionalism and credibility at risk.

But even marketing writers can make mistakes. We’re all human.

So, include a proofing process into your social media publishing (not just Instagram).

Instagram mistake #12: Not embracing Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are not as new as they used to be, and about 500 million users use this feature. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring this important feature.

Instagram Stories feature fun, authentic content in a vertical orientation that disappears after a day. Stories can be used to share behind-the-scenes moments, first-person narratives and more. The sky’s the limit as far as creativity.

Instagram mistake #13: Lack of engagement with followers

Social media is not a broadcasting platform, Instagram included. It’s about conversations.

Every time a user comments on your Instagram posts, that’s an opportunity to engage with him and her that can help build a trusting relationship.

Go beyond planning and publishing your content. Consider one of the many social media management tools that can help you not only schedule your posts but monitor all engagement actions on that content. Social media management in general can help you stay on top of all social media activity.

Instagram mistake #14: Including links in your post captions

Instagram does not allow for clickable URLs in post captions. By including “links” in your captions, not only will it look messy and not work, but you’ll look like you don’t know what you’re doing on the platform.

The best practice is to include your relevant link in your bio and refer users to click that. It’s a common practice. If you need to share more than one link at the same time, websites like Linktree and Campsite can create a “landing page” of links that can be found through a single link that you can include in your bio link.

If you have at least 10,000 followers, you can include links in your Instagram Stories as well.

In conclusion

Whether you’ve made any of these Instagram mistakes or not, it’s never too late to improve and move forward.

Check out our list of challenges and opportunities that small businesses face on Instagram.

Plus, you can think about the bigger picture with our Digital Marketing 101 Guide for Beginners.

As you’re looking to avoid the biggest Instagram mistakes, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory and our 21-day free trial. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 ranking factors to know about the Facebook Algorithm

Facebook is still the largest social media network today.

As of the second quarter of 2021, Facebook had about 2.89 billion monly active users.

At the core of the platform is the news feed, which is controlled by the Facebook Algorithm. The Facebook Algorithm controls what each user sees in his or her news feed, based on perceived interests, past engagement and other user data. The posts are not chronologically ordered. The goal is to provide the best user experience, but the downside impacts organic reach for brands through Facebook pages.

The Facebook Algorithm is essentially a series of calculations, but the specifics are not publicly shared in order to prevent anyone from “gaming the system.” Of course, Facebook has shared the overall logic of the algorithm.

In a nutshell, Facebook prioritized interactions with other users over brand pages years ago, which shook up Facebook marketing entirely. But understanding best practices as they relate to the Facebook Algorithm will help your content reach more people organically.

With small businesses alone comprising about 90 million Facebook pages on the platform, you’re already in a hyper-competitive environment that still will prioritize the wedding photos, for example, of a user’s friend over your content.

The following are seven key things to know about the Facebook Algorithm news feed ranking factors as of 2021. All of these factors directly impact the organic reach of any of your organic posts.

Inventory

Inventory is another word for available content on Facebook. From a user standpoint, it includes posts from users you’re connected with, posts from groups you’re part of and posts from any pages you like or follow.

The more content there is, the more competition your post has on Facebook.

Engagement

The Facebook Algorithm prioritizes meaningful interactions. This includes:

Comments and comment replies
Likes (or reactions)
Interaction with page content that’s shared by friends
Shares on Messenger

Relationships

Essentially, this ranking factor involves the user and interactions between users.

Think of it as including:

Who the poster of the content is and how complete his or her profile is
Who users interact with
Interactions between people (which weighs more than interactions between people and pages)

Content type

Mixing up the type of content you post is a popular approach to Facebook marketing in general.

As far as the Facebook Algorithm is concerned, though, it’s looking at:

The type of post it is (whether it’s an image, link or video)
How informative that content is
The amount of time spent on that post

Dive deeper with our six Facebook marketing tips.

Timeliness

Timing is everything, right? For the Facebook Algorithm, it’s looking to show newer posts first on your news feed, but still not in a chronological order (since there are other factors in play).

It considers the time of posting and the current time as it weighs the recency of posts.

Predictions

In the simplest terms, the Facebook Algorithm uses your actions (such as searches, for example) to predict what you might engage with in your news feed.

It’s a calculation that aims to understand your likes and dislikes so that your news feed is something you’ll want to stay on (and return to).

Relevancy score

Ultimately, with all ranking factors in play, the Facebook Algorithm assigns every piece of content a relevancy score that indicates how relevant it is for any given user. This score differs, based on the user in question.

A higher score means that your content will more likely be shown in the user’s news feed, while a lower score is far less likely.

In conclusion

While it’s important to be aware of how the Facebook Algorithm views your content, no one knows exactly how each calculation works.

Instead, focus on your overall content marketing strategy, optimize your Facebook page while you’re thinking about it and avoid these 13 biggest mistakes that many businesses make on the world’s largest social media network.

As you better understand the Facebook Algorithm, consider optimizing your digital marketing process, such as automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.

7 tips to create a social media policy for your small business [plus examples]

In this ever-evolving age of technology, a social media policy is critical for any small business.

However, many small businesses don’t have one.

While 74 percent of adults use social media, about 73 percent of companies don’t have an official social media policy.

This opens up your small business to inconsistent brand voice and various risks (both legal and PR-wise).

In the simplest terms, your social media policy features an official document that outlines how an organization and its employees should conduct themselves online. Even if your small business doesn’t use social media (although we highly recommend that it does in some way), your employees likely do, and their conduct online can reflect back on your business, for better or worse.

Because a social media policy applies to everyone within your company, it needs to be clear and easy to understand. Often, you would include your policy with other onboarding materials for new employees. However, you should plan to orient all existing employees as well if you’re now creating and implementing one.

It’s important to know that while a social media policy can be all-encompassing, it typically can have two goals:

Protect and maintain the company’s brand voice
Guard against social media risks

In other words, the do’s and don’ts, if you will.

While this process can feel daunting at first, the following are seven expert tips to help you create a social media policy that works for your small business. Plus, we include some examples of social media policies from large organizations to help inspire you.

Identify your goals for a social media policy

What are you hoping to achieve with a social media policy? What are your business’s biggest challenges when it comes to social media?

Take a moment to write down the biggest needs, whether that’s actual social media use during work hours, expectations of online conduct outside of the workplace, the establishment of a crisis management plan to refer to whenever it might be needed or anything else.

Of course, you’ll want to pull in any relevant stakeholders to get ideas, questions and concerns as well. The more inclusive you can make any new policy, the more reflective it will be of those it will impact and the easier it will be to implement.

There is no limit to the goals you want to achieve. Just keep in mind that each goal likely will require its own section in your social media policy for the best clarity possible.

Clearly establishing what you hope to accomplish with your policy will help set the overall tone for social media use within your small business.

Also, check in on your company’s core values. Any new policy of any kind should work in tandem with them.

Depending on your overall goals, you truly can pick and choose which of the following topics or sections you should include (or not).

Consider roles and responsibilities within your company

This is all about who can speak for your brand on social media and who can’t.

You can get a nitty gritty as you like by outlining:

Who owns which social media accounts
Who is responsible for what on a daily, weekly, monthly or as-needed basis
Contact information for those in key roles
Any social media training
Overall social media strategy
How posting and engagement are handled
Social media advertising
Customer service expectations
How social media listening is conducted
Any required approval process

But, at the same time, you also can just focus on the aspects that fit your goals and brand needs best.

Explain security protocols

While its scope expands far beyond just social media (and might ultimately require its own separate policy document), online security is only becoming increasingly important for every small business to at least think through.

But it’s even better to communicate your security protocols to your employees and how they can identify and deal with any risks as well.

You might want to address:

How often account passwords should be changed
What devices can be used on the company network
Whether employees can use personal social media accounts on company devices
The procedure for moving access to branded social accounts when an employee leaves the company

But again, if you feel like the overall topic of online security deserves its own policy document, feel free to separate it out to provide for better focus and clarity of your social media policy.

Walk through a crisis management plan

Similar to online security, a social media crisis management plan can easily earn its own separate policy document rather than being forced into your general social media policy.

But that preference is up to you.

If you are touching on any sort of crisis management plan, be sure to consider:

Guidelines to help identify the scope of the crisis
An internal communication plan, with an up-to-date emergency contact list that includes specific roles
The approval process for response(s)

Even just keeping it simple and identifying the process that should happen if a crisis of any size happens, that will help your company be that much more responsive.

Identify various potential legal questions and issues

Depending on your industry and even your state or country of operations, the types of legal questions and issues can vary widely.

More than anything, you should consult with legal counsel to ensure that you’re covering all your bases.

But, in general, you’ll want to think about:

Copyright law on social media (particularly with the use of any third-party content)
The handling of customer information and other private data
How internal company information is handled
Restrictions and/or disclaimers surrounding testimonials or marketing claims

Share expectations for employees’ personal social media accounts

There is a delicate line to walk here since we are talking about personal (and not professional) social media accounts. In addition, you’ll want to keep in mind that some personal accounts can be linked back to your company, while others would not be by the casual social media user.

All that being said, some aspects that you might want to address include:

Whether it’s permitted to mention the company in profile bios (and if so, what disclaimers about content representing personal rather than corporate opinions are required)
Guidelines about any post content that shows the workplace or work uniform (if applicable)
Whether it’s required to identify as an employee when discussing the company or its competitors on social media

The trickiness here is that employees are perceived as representatives of your brand in general (and that perception spreads so much further online), so balance that with the obvious right employees have to share their personal opinions on their personal social media accounts. It’s a gray zone, for sure. But the conversation is worth having up front so that you can better address sticky situations as they might arise.

Some key aspects you might want to at least consider:

Inappropriate jokes
Inflammatory comments or obscenity
Offensive images
Discriminatory remarks

Specify what employee advocacy can look like

While your social media team and any spokespeople understand your brand’s voice and how to answer tough questions posed by customers and others, it’s likely that your other employees do not.

See this as an opportunity to guide your employees who are excited about their work to be some of your best brand advocates online.

Some questions you can address include:

Can regular employees engage with people mentioning the brand on social media platforms? Or, should that be directed to the social media team to handle? What’s the process for that?
How should regular employees handle negative comments about the brand on social media, or should the social media team be notified instead? What does that process look like?
Is there an approved content library that regular employees can access and use? If so, how?
How and when should an employee share company news or information about a new product?

The key is to keep this guidance as clear and straightforward as possible. Remember, you’re speaking to the employees who do not live and breathe your social media, but for those who do want to advocate for you, it’s important to give them a path to do so that works for the brand, not against it.

Social media policy examples

For inspiration, here are a handful of publicly available social media policies and other company conduct guidelines from large organizations:

In conclusion

Once you’ve launched (or relaunched) your social media policy, you’ll want to make sure that it’s readily accessible for all employees to refer to anytime they need. Also, commit to regular updates (whether that’s quarterly or annually) since social media is rapidly evolving.

And, of course, you must make the commitment to enforce your policy. Otherwise, it’s just a pretty document that doesn’t really mean anything. For overall clarity and accountability, it might be helpful to include how you will enforce the social media policy.

Remember that while this is an official policy that you’re creating (or revamping) for your small business, the more input and buy-in you can get along the way, the better. It’s easy to miss some of the key questions when we’re only looking through our own perspective. Granted, you don’t have to ask every single employee what they think at each step of creating your policy, but gathering a group of key stakeholders for their input will help you create a social media policy that is truly reflective not only of your goals but of your team as well.

As you’re working through your social media policy, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

Plus, check out our Digital Marketing 101 Guide for Beginners.

6 biggest mistakes businesses make on LinkedIn

LinkedIn remains a popular social media network for professionals and B2B marketing in particular.

The platform offers the ability to create a free personal profile, as well as a Company Page to represent your larger brand,

LinkedIn currently has 722 million users, which doesn’t make it the largest platform when compared to Facebook and Instagram. However, on the flip side, LinkedIn is the most trusted social network in the U.S.

In addition, three people are hired through LinkedIn every minute.

So, whether your goals for your brand’s LinkedIn presence revolve around establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry, generating more sales leads or hiring more qualified candidates (or all three), it’s important to avoid the following six biggest mistakes that businesses make with their Company Pages on the professional social media platform.

LinkedIn Mistake #1: Not publishing content

Often viewed as an online resume by many, some brands don’t take full advantage of content publishing like they would for Facebook or another social media platform.

Relevant content is critical to building your online presence, sharing your expertise and building a relationship with your audience. The best content helps your brand become the thought leader in your industry.

Company Pages that post weekly experience twice as much engagement with their content. Ideally, you’re sharing a mix of custom and curated content.

See our seven tips to help level up your content marketing.

LinkedIn Mistake #2: Not engaging with others on LinkedIn

Just because LinkedIn is geared toward professionals, it’s still a social media platform. Social media is a two-way street.

Do more than broadcast at your following. Go beyond that by engaging with others on LinkedIn.

Comment on other posts, respond to comments on your posts and maintain responsiveness on LinkedIn. Commit to investing the time to building and nurturing your relationships because doing so not only helps your platform reach but improves the overall perception of your Company Page.

LinkedIn Mistake #3: Not optimizing your LinkedIn Company Page

Optimizing your Company Page on LinkedIn requires more than making sure that all fields are filled out, although that is a piece of it.

It’s really about taking a fresh look at your page as if you’re a potential customer or job candidate and determining whether you’re seizing every opportunity to tell your brand’s story to them.

Dive deeper into how to optimize your page and other LinkedIn marketing tips.

LinkedIn Mistake #4: Not having a company-wide LinkedIn policy

To be fair, every company should have some form of a social media policy that sets the expectations of at least public-facing employees and how they conduct themselves on social media that makes sense for both your company and your employees.

But when it comes to LinkedIn, it’s especially important to communicate expectations with your company’s employees because a majority of professionals will look each other up on LinkedIn before deciding to do business with each other.

An inadequate presence and/or any detrimental messages is like the equivalent of passing out homemade business cards. It impacts how prospects perceive you and your company.

LinkedIn Mistake #5: Prioritizing the sale above all else

Just like with any social media platform, users largely ignore any brand that focuses entirely on sales (and sales only).

Take a look at your content mix and how you’re engaging with your followers. Is it all about the sale? Can you take a step back and evaluate what content would best serve the needs and interests of your target audience?

Be sure that you’re offering value, not just promotions about a free trial or discount on a service or product. While there is a place for selling in general, you must dilute that among a content strategy that aims to educate, entertain and inform.

LinkedIn Mistake #6: Disregarding the value of LinkedIn groups

More and more, social media is about building online communities around common interests. LinkedIn groups can help you connect with prospective customers and others.

If you’re creating a group, think about focusing it on a topic that your target audience is interested in. Think similarly when looking for LinkedIn groups to join. That way, you’re able to leverage your expertise in a place where you’re hitting people at the right time and place.

Go further than LinkedIn by learning about these 11 digital marketing mistakes that could be costing you money.

As you’re evaluating how you can avoid making common mistakes on LinkedIn, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

Personal, Creator or Business: Which Instagram account is right for your brand?

Instagram is a vital marketing platform for many brands. Are you using the right account type?

The visual-first social media app boasts more than 1 billion users worldwide. More women use Instagram than men, and the majority of users are between 25 and 34 years old.

If your brand is targeting a younger, female audience, Instagram likely is already part of your digital marketing strategy.

Dive deeper with our breakdown of Instagram’s challenges and opportunities for small businesses.

When using the platform, you have the option to use a personal, Creator or Business account. Two of these are considered professional, while one is considered personal for obvious reasons.

Depending on your brand and needs on Instagram, it’s important to understand what’s involved with each type of Instagram account and whether you’re using the right one.

Personal Instagram accounts

About 80 percent of all Instagram accounts are personal, so it’s the most commonly used type.

On a personal account, there are no analytics or API access, which means that you can’t schedule posts, use Facebook Creator Studio to manage your Instagram presence or get third-party access to performance analytics.

In addition, personal accounts do not have contact buttons on the profile, gift card delivery stickers or the “swipe-up” function in Stories (that can send viewers to a website).

While all of those down sides likely are a no-go for your business, keep in mind that personal Instagram accounts have access to all music options in Instagram Reels and Stories and are the only account type that can be private.

Business vs. Creator Instagram accounts

Considering the likelihood (and best practice) that your brand is not going to use a personal Instagram account, then the question remains: Should your brand use Business or Creator instead?

Similarities

Business and Creator Instagram accounts do have a lot of similar features, including:

Access to Instagram Insights
Two-tab inbox (Primary and General) to best manage a potentially high number of direct messages
Saved replies
Shoppable posts
Contact buttons on your profile
Gift card delivery stickers
Access to branded content features that enable collaboration with other accounts

Differences

Of course, on the flip side, there are a couple of key differences between the two types of Instagram accounts.

Instagram Business accounts are intended for brands that are making money or selling something. They do have API access, which means that posts can be scheduled, access to Facebook Creator Studio (which allows you to manage your Instagram from a desktop computer if you wish) and the option to use third-party analytics tools.

Instagram Creator accounts are intended for influencers, who are individuals who have a sizeable, engaged following. (Find out more about influencer marketing.)

Instagram Creator accounts do not have API access, but they do have access to the full music library on the platform.

Business accounts only have the royalty-free music library, which is limited (and not tied into relevant pop culture).

Business and Creator accounts also have different profile categories. For example, a public figure using a Creator account could choose from “chef,” “writer” and so on, but a brand using a Business account could choose from categories, such as “bakery” or “advertising agency.”

While both account types offer the ability to show contact information on your profile, only the Instagram Business account can include a physical location address.

In addition, the call-to-actions available for the profile button differ between Business and Creator accounts. Creator accounts only have “book now” and “reserve” options, while Business accounts have more.

Therefore, the decision between using a Business or Creator account is typically a straightforward one. Most businesses opt for the Business account.

How to change your Instagram account type

Need to change your Instagram account type or not sure what type you currently have?

Open your Instagram app, go to your profile and tap on the three-line “hamburger” menu button in the top right. Go to Settings, and select the Account option.

At the bottom of the Account selection, you’ll see the option to switch your account type. The options available will be what you aren’t using currently. For example, if you have a Creator account, you’ll only see the options to change to a Business or personal account type.

Be wary of making frequent switches between account types. Doing so delays your access to certain features. Instagram does this to help prevent the abuse of bouncing between account types to get the best features of both. Frequent switches can ultimately lead to your account being flagged as spam by Instagram as well.

Looking to get a jump on your Instagram marketing? See our 16 tips.

While you’re considering your Instagram account type, think about your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.

10 tips to encourage more user-generated content

User-generated content should be part of your overall digital marketing strategy.

Why? About 85 percent of consumers think that visual user-generated content (UGC) is more persuasive than branded photos or videos.

UGC is unpaid or unsponsored social media posts that consumers share about a product or service.

Of course, the amount of user-generated content out there is almost limitless. Smartphone owners take an average of 150 new photos per month (or about five photos per day).

Because social media thrives on authenticity, UGC is a great way to connect with your audience and build brand loyalty.

The following are 10 tips to help you encourage more user-generated content related to your own brand.

See what’s already out there

Whether you have an official UGC strategy or not, it’s entirely possible that user content about your brand (or showing your product) is already being posted on various social networks.

You can search by location, hashtag and/or keyword depending on the social media platform.

Doing so can help shed light on what’s already out there and what you can start with as you shape your UGC strategy and related campaigns.

Understand current consumer trends

This is somewhat related to seeing what UGC already exists for your brand but on a larger scale. The key is to focus on the habits and behaviors of your target audience.

See our seven tips for determining your target audience.

Ask yourself:

What types of photos and videos are my target audience posting?
Is there a particular style or product dominating the conversation?
When is your target audience typically posting?
Are they geotagging their photos and videos?

Once you have a better understanding of how your target audience shares content on social media, you can use that to help develop your own UGC-related campaigns.

Adopt a selfless, community-driven hashtag

Even if you already have a branded hashtag that you use on your branded content (and some customers might or might not also use), it’s a good idea to create and adopt a customer-focused hashtag that’s about them, not so much about you.

One example is Urban Outfitters promoting #UOonyou that’s related to apparel and beauty posts from their customers and #UOaroundyou that’s related to their music and apartment departments. These are actionable hashtags that put the focus on your fans and customers.

Remember, user-generated content might be related to you, but it’s not about you. The more you can put the spotlight on your online community, the better.

Include call-to-actions across your online presence

Just because you create a community-driven hashtag doesn’t mean that it will go viral (or even be used) immediately.

Beyond regular promotional posts talking about your community hashtag and how to share content, be sure to include wherever you can across platforms, whether that’s in your bio, cover image, website or elsewhere.

The more it appears across channels in different ways, the more fans you’ll reach. Just be specific about what the hashtag means and what type of content you’re looking for.

Display signage in your physical locations

While an analog method, displaying signage in your physical location(s) can be very effective.

Think about where you interact with your customers. Displaying signage about how they can share on social media and be part of your online community of fans can be very effective at checkout, for example.

Be clear about the type of content that’s relevant to your community hashtag and even which social media platform you prefer (if applicable).

Host an event

By hosting an event, you can create your own buzz for your fans and customers to post about.

Of course, the type of event you host depends on your brand. But in general, your event enables you to control the environment, the lighting, the availability of your products (perhaps in a goodie bag, for example) and more that can make a splash online.

No matter the event, promote your hashtag to attendees so that they can all see each other’s posts.

Embrace influencers

Working with influencers can help spread awareness about your brand across social media and the internet at large (depending on the influencer, course).

In a nutshell, an influencer is viewed as a leader among his or her networks, with large and engaged followings.

Obviously, working with an influencer can lead to a great kickstart to any user-generated content campaign.

But influencer marketing can take many different forms, depending on your goal and who you choose to work with.

See our seven tips before diving into influencer marketing. We also break down how to determine which social media platform is best for your brand’s influencer marketing.

Plan a giveaway tied to user-generated content

UGC is organic and authentic, but one way to spur more of it is through a giveaway where entries are tied to posting user-generated content.

Granted, no brand should just launch a giveaway without a confirmed plan of execution and legal considerations. But in general, by asking your following to submit images to be entered into your giveaway, you’re offering an incentive to share more great content.

Just be sure the theme of your giveaway aligns with what your fans already enjoy doing and that your prize encourages enough engagement to be worthwhile.

Consider alternative incentives for user-generated content

Beyond hosting an official giveaway, some brands have experimented with giving other types of incentives for UGC, such as discounts, free samples and so on.

Of course, you’ll want to plan accordingly, but anything you can incentivize for your following to share will naturally help them do so.

Feature user content elsewhere online

A popular choice here is your website. The idea that a fan’s photo could appear on your brand’s website or re-shared on other branded social accounts could be enough to keep sharing.

While this acts as a free type of incentive, it’s also just a great way to celebrate your fans and share your growing online community with others.

Many brands have a hashtag feed that populates on their website to show the latest related UGC being published.

In conclusion

Ultimately, your goals around user-generated content will naturally direct your path with this digital marketing tactic. Take the time to determine what it is that you want to accomplish, whether that’s increasing engagement, saving time on creating your own branded content or something else entirely.

Also, keep in mind that it’s always important to not only engage with the users sharing content about your brand but to ask permission if you plan on using his or her content in any way beyond an in-platform share.

Check out our seven tips to help improve your overall content marketing.

While you’re evaluating how to increase UGC around your brand, consider leveling up your digital marketing process. Is it everything you want it to be? DailyStory features automation, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.