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Category: Social Media (Page 5 of 6)

Why Your Small Business Should Participate in an Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project

January 8, 2015 /

instagram weekend hashtag projectInstagram is hands-down, the hottest social media site of the moment.

Now, unlike other social media sites, Instagram does something pretty cool. They actively promote their users, for free.

One way they do so is with their Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project that could expose your small business to their 280 million followers.

What is the Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project?

Every Friday, Instagram announces their Weekend Hashtag Project where they ask users to submit photos based on a designated theme with a designated hashtag so they can find your photos.

Instagram Marketing Tips

Why This Is a Good Opportunity for Your Small Business

Instagram chooses their favorite photos from the competition and every Monday features them on their blog, meaning big exposure for those chosen. How so? In addition to being featured on their blog:

  • They also share the Instagram names of their top choices on their Instagram profile, to their 280 million followers.
  • Instagram will tweet out their favorite entries, to their 37 million followers.
  • They post their favorite entries on their Facebook page, to their 60 million fans.

This is a lot of free exposure. But stick to the theme if you are going to participate; don’t use your photo to blatantly promote your business or you will unlikely be selected.

I kept tabs on a photographer’s Instagram profile that was recently featured on their blog and social media sites and he gained over 3,000 followers in just two hours. And that is just followers, who knows how much traffic it drove to his profile.

Some of Instagram’s Recent Weekend Hashtags Projects
  • #WHPresolutions2018, which asked participants to take creative photos and videos that symbolize their resolutions for the year ahead
  • #WHPfeelslikehome, which asked participants to take creative photos and videos that capture the feeling of being at home
  •  #WHPfairytale, which asked participants to capture creative photos that feel like scenes from a fairytale

If you are interested in participating in the Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project, simply follow @instagram on Twitter and look for a post announcing the weekend’s project every Friday.

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Forbes, Success Magazine, Yahoo Finance, American Express, GO Banking Rates, Big Commerce, Business2Community, SheKnows to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

I sell online on Shopify, Etsy, Gumroad and on Amazon back in its early years. This, combined with my decades of marketing & business experience means I can advise, mentor as well as come up with creative new ideas for your business. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective.

I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride – just to name a few. Be sure to try my Publicity Pitch and other Marketing Services.

© 2012-2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. 

Maximize Your Social Media Strategy for Fall

September 8, 2014 /

social media strategy for fallSo what’s your social media strategy for fall?

Besides fall-related content, it can be something as simple as updating your social media banners (and online store banners) to reflect the current fall season.

It can be a valuable sales tool for your small business.

Your cover images/banners are like ads for you. You can use them to announce a seasonal sale, a new fall offering, as well as to make your shop look current and still active, particularly to first time visitors.

If you sell clothing for example, do you want customers to come to your Facebook page and see that your cover image is still showing your summer fashion offerings? It might make them think you are no longer in business, or only specialize in summer clothing.

See how these top brands below have maximized their social media cover images for fall.

Update Your Social Media Banner Images for Fall

I like how Banana Republic has used their Facebook cover image to show various clothing pieces from their new fall collection.

fall instagram

Update Your Social Media Banner Images for a Seasonal Event

September is big for back to school, and for some stores, that is a top selling time. Below, The Children’s Place, used their Facebook cover image to promote buying back to school clothes to their followers.

social media strategy for fall

Update Your Social Media Banner Images to Announce a Fall Sale

Crate and Barrel only holds their upholstery sale once a year in the fall, so they use their Facebook cover image to promote it.

social media strategy for fall

Update Your Social Media Banner Images to Show New Fall Offerings

I love how the nail polish company Zoya, used their Facebook image to show their autumn inspired line of polishes.

Update your social media for new products

Update Your Social Media Profile Descriptions

Don’t ignore your social media profile descriptions either. A lot of companies will update their Twitter and Instagram profiles, for example, to include #hash tags of seasonal trending terms, such as #NYFW2022 (New York Fashion Week), #NFL or #Halloween. Again, you can also use your profile descriptions to announce a fall sale i.e. Fall #Sale On Until 9/31/22 or fall event, i.e. See Our New Fall Look Book. 

It is so important that your business always looks current on social media. It can be easy to neglect, but since more and more sales are being driven through social media, it is a mistake to not update it for every season.

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective. I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

© 2014 Gail Oliver. All right reserved. Social Media Strategy for Fall. 

My Killer Twitter Tip for Finding New Customers for Your Business

August 21, 2014 /

by Gail Oliver, Small Business Marketing Consultant

People are very descriptive with their Twitter profiles. Do you ever read them? Here are some examples (I have removed the Twitter names):

YouTuber | Journalist | Workaholic | Documentary Filmmaker

Small Town Gal – Sports Enthusiast – Foodie – Wannabe Fashionista

Proud Bostonian | Former NYer | Cookbook Author | Future Chef 

See where I am going here? You can find potential customers on Twitter by searching their profiles for the words that describe your target customer.

My Killer Twitter Tip

What words would describe your target customer? Write out a list of one or two-word phrases of how you think that your customer would describe themselves.

Then go to the Twitter search box and type in the words and scroll down to the bottom of the search box where it says “Search all people for”….

Twitter Tips

Now, when the list of people whose profile descriptions have these words in them appears, you may not see potential customers near the top as these tend to be Twitter user names that include these words. You need to scroll down the list to read the profile descriptions to really identify who could be a potential customer for you.

You then want to follow them on Twitter.  They get a notification that you are following them, which may peak their interest to check out your profile and see what you do.

Examples of Twitter People Search Words

  • If you sell wedding products, you want to search for profiles that contain phrases such as “getting married” or “engaged”.
  • If you sell jewelry, try searching for people whose profiles say “jewelry lover” or “jewelry junkie”.
  • If you sell clothing, search on “fashionista”
  • If you sell kids or baby products, try searching “new mom” or “mom to”
  • If you sell pet products, try “dog owner” or more specifically “pug lover”
  • If you are targeting someone who holds a specific job, enter that phrase such as “IT specialist”, “fashion blogger”, “interior designer”, “web developer”

Popular Descriptives in People’s Twitter Profiles

  • Vegetarian
  • Athlete
  • Fitness freak
  • Wine drinker
  • Geek
  • College student
  • Sports fanatic
  • Avid reader
  • Traveler

This is an effective technique if you follow Twitter profiles that are still active. The popular e-commerce clothing shop, Nasty Gal, began their huge success simply by following the MySpace pages of their target customer.

Don’t miss out on more exclusive marketing tips. Be sure to follow my blog to get new posts by email (just see the right column of my blog for “Follow” button).

GB OliverWant social media ideas exclusively for your small business? I offer a Social Media Marketing Plan for just $99 US, customized specifically for you. Contact me to discuss at attentiongetting@gmail.com or order here. 

© 2014 Gail Oliver. All right reserved.

 

3 Hot Pinterest Marketing Tips

June 18, 2014 /

Today I have 3 hot Pinterest Marketing Tips.pinterest marketing tips

If you’re not using Pinterest for marketing your small business, what are you waiting for? I get more traffic from Pinterest than any other social media site, and my type of business is not one you would think would be Pinterest-friendly.

I am going to give you three reasons why Pinterest excels as a social media platform for business.

Pinterest Will Expose You to People BEYOND Your Followers

Pinterest has public category boards, such as the Travel one above, which means that on occasion your pin may go to one of these public boards and expose you to new people other than your followers and your followers’ followers.

Pinterest Marketing Tips

Pinterest Can Bring You Residual Traffic for Months on End

One popular pin can bring your site endless traffic for months, even years. For another business I have, I had the good fortune of one of my pins making a public category board.  In the 15 months since that pin first appeared (and has been repinned hundreds of times) it has brought me, to-date, 137,000 visitors and continues to still be my highest traffic source. Now, I am not saying that all of this traffic is potential customers, but I’ll take it.

Pinterest Boards Get Picked Up By Google Search

Having a hard time getting on the first page of Google? Try naming a Pinterest board with a popular Google search phrase and you may have more luck. I typed in “Cute Summer Outfits” and the first three searches that came up were Pinterest boards, ranking higher than some popular mainstream magazines and retail stores.

Pinterest marketing tips business

My Pinterest Tip!

The best time to pin is when the majority of your followers are active on Pinterest, so they have a better chance of seeing your pins so they will repin (in other words, your pins aren’t buried down lower under more recent pins from other people they follow).

Want to know when that is? Go to the far upper right hand corner of the Pinterest screen where it shows your name. Then simply click on the Notifications icon (which is the red, double pin icon) and you will see the activity of your followers regarding your boards. If your notifications indicates that the majority of your followers were active 12 hours ago, then that is when you should be pinning.

pinterest marketing tips

Pinterest Marketing Tips

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective. I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Pinterest Marketing Tips

The Real Way to Get People to Follow Your Small Business on Social Media

June 10, 2014 /

how to get people to follow you on social mediaWant to know how to get people to follow you on social media?

Every time I visit any type of website, I often see the typical call to action, “Follow Us on Social Media“, but I often wonder, why would I?

It is not enough to ask people to follow you on social media, you have to give them an incentive to do so.

Discount for the Initial Follow

For example, a lot of companies will offer a special discount for “liking” their page on Facebook.

“Like us on Facebook and get 10% off your first order”. 

Consider broadening this and say, “Like us on all of our social media and get 30% off your first order!”.

Tell Them What They Can Expect

Besides offers, how about giving visitors insight into the type of content you will be posting on social media to peak their interest. So, if you are a realtor, maybe you want to say:

“Follow us on social media to get new listings as soon as they are available as well as hear about unique investment property opportunities.”

But the content doesn’t always have to relate back to what you sell. A lot of businesses have had success posting a photo of the sunrise of the day, or inspirational quote of the day or cute dog pix of the day – content that tends to appeal to everyone that never gets old.

You can also post practical content that the busy person would find useful, such as What to Make for Dinner Tonight or Online Sales to Shop This Weekend or Our Home Renovation Tip of the Day – generalized, helpful, time-saving information that people become reliant upon.

How to get people to follow you on social media

Post Different Content on Different Social Media Sites

If you are posting the same content on all of your social media, people may not want to follow you on each. But if you only offer certain content on certain sites, that helps to get people to follow you everywhere. Maybe contests are only available to your Instagram followers or you only announce exclusive one-day sales or flash sales on Twitter.

So re-look at your social media call to action. Would you follow you?

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.how to get people to follow you on social media

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

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© Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. How to Get People to Follow You on Social Media. 

 

Pinterest Images Long Pins

April 7, 2014 /

Are you using Pinterest images long pins?

I’m sure you have read many times, that some of the most repinned pins on Pinterest (say that three times) are long pins. Because Pinterest has a vertical display, long pins that take up several rows tend to get noticed more, and the more noticed, the more repinned.

Create Long Pins That are Timely & Informative

Pinterest images long pins

Timely or informative content always does well on social media. The last pin here is actually one I did for Burnett’s Boards two years ago when the whole “which Disney princess are you?” was trending high on social media. It is so long I can’t show it all here (just click on the graphic to go to my Pinterest board), but in two years Burnett’s Boards has seen her Pinterest followers increase from 500 to over 135,000, and her blog is now one of the top 50 wedding blogs. This pin definitely helped get the ball rolling.

Create Long Pins That Are Collections, Tutorials & Guides

pinterest long pins marketing tips

Pins that act as a reference, guide or tutorial with always get “liked” and “repinned” because it is information people want to hold onto. It is also a good way to establish your business as an expert in its field.

Create Long Pins To Show Many of Your Products at Once

pinterest marketing tips small business

Try and think of creative ways to show as many of your products as possible in one pin, like the companies above. Again, whether you are offering advice or just an interesting photographic representation, these pins can have a long life on social media.

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© 2012-2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Pinterest Images Long Pins

How Your Small Business Can Get Big Attention on Social Media

February 24, 2014 /

Need ideas for getting attention on social media?

There is a reason Oreo cookies has over 35 million followers on Facebook. They take advantage of what is trending on social media to get themselves seen by millions (a suggestion I have made many times on this blog).

For example, here are some of their best posts from the last two weeks, capitalizing on the Sochi Olympics trending big on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

getting attention on social media

They are not blatantly promoting their product. They are using their product to comment on what is going on in pop culture in an entertaining way.

Now, obviously as a small business you can’t afford an in-house graphic artist to conceive a new idea for you every day. But every once in a while try posting a really creative graphic that ties your product or service in with something that is trending, and it may get you widely circulated on social media.

Upcoming Events That Will Be Trending on Social Media:
  • Paris Fashion Week (February 25)
  • Academy Awards (March 2)
  • Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday (March 4)
  • International Women’s Day (March 8)
  • March Madness (March 18)
  • First day of Spring (March 21)
  • Passover (April 14)
  • Easter (April 20)
  • Earth Day (April 22)

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.small business seo

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

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© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Getting Attention on Social Media

Fun Posts on Facebook

January 6, 2014 /

fun posts on FacebookWant some fun posts on Facebook, that will get attention for your business?

When it comes to Facebook, one thing I always encourage my customers to do is not just post their products, but post fun content that their followers and potential followers are interested in so they will “like” or share it (which means you then get seen by your followers’ followers).

Here are some good examples of fun Facebook content posted by some of my customers.

Fun Posts: Seasonal Contentfun posts facebook

Take advantage of every holiday and event because this content is always popular on social media, especially for likes and shares. The Gretest is an amazing textile shop on Etsy, and she makes a variety of products including throw pillows. I love this graphic she posted on her Facebook page simply to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Plus, she can reuse to wish a Happy Spring, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Fourth of July, etc.

Fun Posts: Relating to What You Sell

fun facebook posts

Queen of De Tile is a shop selling beautiful ceramic tile drink coasters. So I recommended that she post a new drink recipe daily (alcoholic, non-alcoholic, coffee-related, etc.) to her Facebook page because recipes always do well on social media, and it relates back nicely to what she sells.

Facebook Posts: Mood Boards

fun posts facebook

Mood or inspiration boards are essentially pictorials that can showcase your products, without looking it looking like that is what you are doing, and they get a lot of likes and shares. Maslinda Designs  is an Etsy shop selling fashion accessories, and she posted this fashion inspiration board incorporating one of her bags.

If you make the boards timely, is a great way to capitalize on trending topics. For example, “My Coachella Outfit” “What to Wear to Watch Fourth of July Fireworks”, “Great Holiday Gift Ideas for a Dog Lover”, etc. (make sure your shop url is on it!).

Want More Social Media Help?

You will love my Social Media Marketing Planner with 37 planners pages to help you strategize, brainstorm, plan, organize and track your success. Includes as a BONUS 240+ creative posting ideas and over 200 unique hashtags!

Need More One on One Help?

Get more details about my very affordable Phone Consultations and Other Marketing Services. 

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© 2012-2018 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved. Fun Posts on Facebook

3 Marketing Ideas to Try on Pinterest

December 2, 2013 /

Marketing-Ideas-PinterestToday I have three Pinterest marketing ideas to try.

Pinterest is a great social media site for driving traffic to your online store.

Traffic on the site has never been higher, especially this time of year with people searching for holiday recipes, gift ideas and decorating ideas.

So take advantage and brush up on your Canvas skills to create engaging and SEO-optimized pins that can essentially act as free ads for your business.

Here are three ideas:

1. Create a Pin Describing Who Needs Your Product

pinterest marketing ideas

One Kings Lane is great at creating “pinnable” images. This one is promoting why you should consider buying a bow tie for the men on your list (you will have to make this pin horizontal and put the text on the bottom in order to work on Pinterest). You can use other text with the image, like a quote or a customer review.

2. Create a Pin Announcing a Sales at Your Shop

pinterest marketing ideas

What better way to announce a sale then to pin it for all your followers to see, like this one from West Elm? What is key here is to ask all of your followers to “Re-Pin”.

3. Create a Pin of a Gift Guide Showcasing Your Products

pinterest marketing ideas

Take photos of a variety of your products and arrange them into a collage for an overall image (like this one from Bauble Bar). Then pin. In the comments, be sure to include hash tags #gifts #gift ideas #gifts for women, etc.

Pinterest is a great medium for driving traffic to your shop, you just have to make sure to stand out among the all the images, and these ideas will help.

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

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© 2013 Gail. Oliver. All rights reserved. Pinterest Marketing Ideas. 

Putting an Instagram or Social Media Feed on Your Website

July 8, 2013 /

Instagram Feed Website Ideas.

A lot of businesses will put their social media icons on their website, but usually at the bottom of the page, or they are quite small or not in a clearly visible spot. Remember, being on social media is not going to help you unless you get people to follow you, who will then share your posts/pins/tweets with their followers, creating a ripple effect.

Major online retailers are taking their social media efforts a step further, beyond using small icons to get you to click over to their social media pages. Instead, many are actually promoting their social media pages right on their shop homepage with a preview, in order to lure customers over. Here are some good examples:

Tumblr Preview on Club Monaco

instagram feed website

The clothing retailer, Club Monaco, has added a snippet of their Tumblr page, uniquely called Culture Club, to the bottom of each of their section pages. You can click on the individual images (to reblog, like, etc.) or you can go directly over to their Tumblr page and start following it. In fact, Club Monaco has dedicated a shop section to all their social media (under the same Culture Club title) where you can see their Tumblr page, some pins from their Pinterest boards, some posts from their Facebook page, and some tweets from their Tweeter feed. Much more effective than icons.

Pinterest Preview on Mark & Graham

instagram feed website

The online store, Mark & Graham, specializes in personalized and engraved products. On their home page and on their blog, they are promoting their Pinterest boards, but selecting one board to profile, relevant to the current season, like this one on popsicles. Clicking on this visual preview takes you to their Pinterest boards.

Instagram Preview on Bottica

instagram feed website

Jewelry and fashion accessories retailer, Bottica, profiles Instagram photos from their customers right on their homepage. They encourage customers to take a unique photo of one of their products, and then they select the best ones to profile on the site and on their Instagram page. Customers can even upload photos directly on the homepage. Each Instagram photo also has the product listing directly hyperlinked so you can easily purchase.

FINAL WORD: Social media icons are pretty common place on websites now, but the real innovators are taking it a step further by promoting their social media pages with previews or other more detailed, interactive graphics. If you really want to develop a following on social media and broaden your reach, maybe you should do the same.

Need Some Creative Marketing Ideas?

I specialize in helping small businesses selling online, and, as such, I offer extremely affordable consulting services that will make a huge difference for your business. Whether you offer products and/or services, my consultations will help you identify how to get in front of your target market, bring in more sales, and expand your reach. Just email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com to discuss or see my Marketing Services page.

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© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Instagram Feed Website.

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