Social Media: Generate More Than Just Likes [Webinar Recap]

Thank you all who attended our “Social Media: Generate More Than Just Likes” webinar! We enjoyed presenting the latest social media strategies and how social fits in today’s complex purchase funnel. Here are the key highlights:

• Social media impacts the customer journey, even if it is not the last click it does impact the purchase
• Content strategy needs to highlight the interests of your consumers, do not just talk about you!
• Content strategy needs to include an advertising budget, without this very few fans are seeing your message to engage
• Spend time and effort on the channels your fans are engaging on- rather than spreading yourself thin posting on every single social channel
• Channels are constantly evolving to become more friendly to users and advertisers

We also received questions after the webinar, please see below for the additional questions and answers:

Q1: We are a full service hotel with a restaurant and bar, every so often we have promos for meals and drinks. Would paying for a Facebook ad get more exposure over a print ad that runs 1x a week over several weeks?  How frequent would we have to run the ad to get enough exposure for the promo? What would be a good sum to spend on a buy? Is FB ad a good thing to use for a last minute promo when we do not have time to run over several days or weeks?

We definitely recommend testing Facebook ads for your promos, various amounts from $5-$50 and from a week to several days depending on when your promotion starts and how large of an event (if doing one). If you create posts about these promos and put spend behind it, you will likely see an impact relatively quickly. With Facebook, you can actually see every engagement that happens so you can measure its effectiveness, which is harder to do with print media. Also with Facebook boosted posts, they show up in the newsfeed so it feels like an authentic experience and does not come across so much as an ad so you may be able to garner more attention and engagement. Lastly, you can target the ad broadly or specifically- depending on your goal – so you can reach people who may not see the ad in the print publication.

Q2: What do you think of Snapchat as part of the social media mix?

Snapchat can absolutely be part of the social media mix. Brands will likely benefit more from Snapchat than independent hotels. If you decide to move forward, you should have a good strategy of what you’ll feature and talk about, and of course highlight your Snapchat account on other social media channels to build followers. It’s also a good idea to have a person who represents your brand who can talk through things and add a personality to your efforts, and it never hurts to increase followers by rewarding followers with insider tips, promotions, etc. You should also consider putting some spend behind your snaps to build your audience.

Q3: Should we be doing anything with Facebook Feed?

Facebook Canvas provides a new and compelling way to promote your business. It does require more creative work and design. This option may be more beneficial to larger brands due to the creative work required to make it effective. If your budget allows, you should test it out. However, as long you’re incorporating paid social into your strategy, you will be more successful with your efforts.

Q4: What are backlinks?

This was actually the first question answered on the webinar, but think this additional blog post with video will be extremely helpful for anyone with remaining questions on this SEO staple.

If you have additional questions be sure to contact us, [email protected] or 408-492-9055.