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Social media stories

08/19/202202/01/2021 by scmarketing

As daily active users on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp reach over 500 million, Smart Cow, as a Social Media marketing agency, look at the story function within social media and how this can help your brand extend its reach to your target audience and build brand awareness.

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Social media stories offer the user the ability to share videos and images in addition to their normal social media posts. On Facebook and Instagram these images last for 24 hours and then disappear.

Instagram allows you to save your highlights so that the images remain on your page in neat little collections. This means people can still view what you have posted well after the 24 hours are up.

These highlights offer a great way to section off different products and services. Or the ability to save information for a product launch as part of creating a social media strategy.

Benefits of using Instagram stories for business

Around 62% of people say they have become interested in a brand having seen it in the story function.

Design features allow the ability to add gifs, tag people and places and type a caption – with lots of lovely colour choices, perfect for keeping on brand.

These are generally known as stickers which can include options such as:

Donation sticker
Countdown sticker
Question sticker
Poll
Location

All of these offer a great way to enhance your small business social media marketing strategy, helping to really engage with your audience.

As the stories appear at the top of a social page it’s sometimes more visible on a feed. It’s also a great way to see who is actually seeing your stories which can help with ongoing engagement.

You can encourage clicks with call to actions such as shop now, swipe up or discover more.

If you are creating a video for stories then do this vertically rather than horizontally as this will enable you to share it correctly on Instagram.

But in its simplest form you can invite people to review your ‘new post’ with a brightly coloured sticker having shared the post from your grid by using the little triangle icon below the image.

Be consistent

As a social media marketing agency, we always recommend that you ensure that your social media channels are consistent so that you reinforce your brand. So, make sure you choose the same font, colour and gifs to bolster the look and feel of your business.

Like any other digital marketing tactic, social media marketing needs to be considered within your wider marketing strategy, such as your blog post or Facebook ads to understand what channels you should be on and the type of content you should share.

Avoid thinking of social media as the only way you can reach a target audience. It’s best to think of it in a holistic way. Review other digital marketing options such as Search Engine Optimisation/SEO services, Pay Per Click (PPC) or email marketing.

Social media marketing should always use links that lead back to your website. Link building is another helpful way to help guide Google that a website is reputable and this includes links from a social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. But importantly, ensure that your website is relevant and that you keep it updated with fresh blog content. This will form part of your wider marketing plan.

To be efficient, the best use of your time is to repurpose content from blogs that you have written. While social media is fantastic for live events, launches through to promotions, you need to maintain frequency of social posts which is where a content plan will help you schedule timely and relevant posts for your target audience.

We’re a digital marketing agency based in Croydon supporting local businesses with their inbound marketing. As social media consultants, we support you with social media marketing plans and real time reviews of your social media analytics. As one of Croydon’s social media marketing companies, we offer our clients cost effective social media services. Get in touch today for further enquiries.

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‘Eat out to help out’ marketing tips for Croydon establishments

11/03/202007/23/2020 by scmarketing

From 3 August, the government’s Eat Out To help Out scheme will get underway. Restaurants, bars, pubs cafes – an establishment that provides an eat on site offer for diners – will be able to sign up to take part in the scheme. It means that on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday up until 31 August, diners can benefit from up to 50% off when eating or drinking soft drinks in participating places.

So, Croydon restaurants have you signed up to the scheme? If not, here’s the link to the details of what to do: Register your establishment for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

But, once you are signed up, it’s important to spread the word. The government has promotional items you can utilise here.

At the moment, it may be less about passing trade as many people will be making plans first before going out. Therefore, while traditional marketing like signage in your restaurant window is important, we’ve got a few more online marketing tips you can implement swiftly to help spread your reach.

Social media

If you’ve not been doing much social media up until now, then now is the time to ramp up your presence with your social network.

Make sure you’re taking some fantastic shots of your amazing dishes and share on your social channels. Instagram and Facebook are great for foodie places. With Instagram it’s all about the look and there’s nothing more appealing than a plate of tasty food.

Make sure you tell people in your posts that you are part of the scheme. Give them an insight into your menu, anything new, your most popular dishes and your specials. Be descriptive with your post though. While a good image does say a thousand words, there’s no point posting a picture of a burger on your ‘specials’ menu that day which gives no indication of what’s in it. While you want engagement with people, try and make it a little easier for them to understand what’s in the picture in the first instance. This will help prevent you answering unnecessary questions – which can be time consuming and if not replied to in a timely manner could affect how people perceive you.

Re-confirm your opening times and update your profile with any new details.

Extend reach of your post by adding hashtags. Here’s some general Croydon foodie hashtags you might want to consider as well as some standard ones you should always think about:

#Croydon #EastCroydonCool #Croydonbar #Croydonpub #Croydonrestaurants #Croydonfoodies #Croydonfood #Croydonrestaurantquarter #Instafood #lovefood #foodstagram #foodpic #foodie

Note: don’t forget to hashtag what your food is! So, if it’s burgers or pasta – well, I think you get the picture!

What’s the story?

Don’t forget to utilise the Story function on Instagram and Facebook. This is another way to be seen by your followers as it stands out at the top of the feed.

Encourage diners to share their visit on social media and take pictures of food. If you’re on social media have your social handle visible in your restaurant and tell diners about it.

When someone shares a post and tags you in, you can use the little arrow function just below the image. This allows you to share this to your stories and you can thank the customer for their visit.

To create a story from scratch just click on ‘your story’ upload an image, then use the text function ‘Aa’ and write a brief message. For this campaign you could say ‘Eat Out to Help Out. Book Now.’ Or perhaps describe what mouthwatering food is in your image.

Or a simple way to create a story is once you have added a post to your Instagram feed, just click that arrow below your post and you can share to you story.

You can also search for the Eat Out to Help Out gif to liven up your story post. When you’re in story mode just click the square face and explore.

Website updates

If you have a website, make sure that all your contact details and menus are up to date.

On the homepage make an update to say that you are part of the scheme and encourage people to make a booking with a bold call to action button.

If you have a blog, make sure you add content to that and do so regularly. This really helps with search engine optimisation and your business being found in search engines. Fresh content is great for ongoing organic rankings.

Google My Business

Do you have a Google My Business page? If not, get one set up – it’s free! If you do have a page already then make sure all details are up to date. The last thing you want is an incorrect telephone number.

You can also add offers and updates to this page. So, tell people you are part of the discount scheme.

Remember to add imagery to your business page, this is a great resource for restaurants to showcase their dishes.

Remind diners to leave a review. Testimonials are a great way to encourage potential and returning customers.

Our blog, ‘have you told search engines you exist’ has tips about setting up your Google My Business page.

Email marketing

If you have an email distribution list, then now is a great time to start an email marketing campaign and distribute to potential customers on your database. Remember to be clear in your message, include a call to action to book now and ensure you have contact details visible.

Look at our blog on what to check before you send your next email marketing campaign – this has a checklist of what to run through before you send your email including you have a visible unsubscribe link. You must make sure you are GDPR compliant.

Digital marketing Croydon

We’re a digital marketing agency in Croydon. We know the stomping ground and we’re here to support you. We’ve got some additional marketing resources you might want to take a look at which cover the different types of digital platforms and online advertising to help you form a digital marketing plan.

Taking an Instagram story for a business

Instagram Stories for Businesses

10/28/201907/03/2018 by scmarketing

On average 300 million people use Instagram Stories around the globe, the photo and video sequences lasting 24 hours have gone viral, becoming an obvious step for new businesses aiming to enhance their social media reach. With this new age of digital marketing coming quickly upon us, it makes sense to become part of the conversation!

Instagram is a social media platform allowing people of all ages, whether using android or smartphone, to share pictures of their hobbies, lifestyle, family or even their favourite dog with friends and followers. This new platform has become incredibly popular, allowing you to tag other followers in pictures, with many brands growing untold amounts due to one tag from a celebrity as follower’s rush to buy what they’re promoting.

Instagram Stories have grown to become an integral part of a business’s social media presence, as well as helping increase awareness and ultimately the growth of your customer base. On average one in five Instagram Stories gets a direct message, that’s a lead, according to the Hootsuite article! The Stories have become an ideal way to keep your followers up to date with any news about your brand, allowing them to feel an increased interaction with you.

The diversity of Instagram Stories helps businesses create new ways of appealing to their customer bases, take the example of The New York Times showing followers behind the scenes pictures of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show giving fans a richer experience of its events. Ben & Jerry’s have used the Stories to break the news of fresh products to their range, giving followers a first glimpse at their ‘Non-dairy crew’. Whilst Maybelline New York had Instagram Influencer, Jordyn Jones, take over their feed for an inside look at New York Fashion Week, both her and the brand were able to harness relevant attention from the others audience, increasing their followers and therefore brand awareness.

Review the full article on Hootsuite’s blog which offers loads of tips on how to implement posting your story on Instagram. If you’re looking to create a digital marketing campaign and want a little help, then give Smart Cow a call on 020 3137 1826 or email today. A digital marketing agency in Croydon, we’re happy to help with any additional enquiries.

What are social media stories?