Oh, what we wouldn’t give to go back to those seemingly simpler times! 

In all seriousness, though: adaptability in the face of changing circumstances is crucial to keeping your social media presence effective and successful. How can you learn from the unexpected? We’ve got a few ideas for you.

You Don’t Need To Start From Scratch Again

Even without a global pandemic, the life of your business can take wild, unpredictable turns. Your social media strategy needs to respond to these turns no matter what. There’s also no guarantee your best-laid plans will land with your audience as you hope. Having a framework already in place gives you an idea of what content is still usable and what might need to be shelved.

Folks who follow Upswept on social media know how much we love our animal friends. While we felt it important to shift our professional focus towards helping people get service-oriented businesses online and make their social media feeds more agile, we also didn’t want to completely abandon our light-hearted side. Sarah took our #FurryFriendsFriday hashtag from weekly photos to a weekly live video, giving our followers a closer look at her handsome kitty, Zergling, while also continuing to share business-relevant content (and hyping some of her favorite local makers!).

Talk Less, Listen More

What are your followers saying? How are they engaging with your content? What else is competing for their attention? Your strategy should be customer-focused at all times; what you share should add value while also respecting their experience. Continue to remain engaged by paying attention not only to interactions they have with you, but also to the cultural conversations happening at large. Make sure your contributions to these conversations don’t come across as insensitive or tactless.

Be Real, Be Relevant… Or Be Reserved

This suggestion might frighten you for a brief second. Consider letting down your professional guard, and giving your followers a glimpse of your side of the struggle. By now, you know well how Team Upswept bristles at the overuse of words like “authenticity.” (If we had a nickel for every time it was used insincerely…) Right now many of us feel unsure about our futures, regardless of our work situations or our experiences in isolation. Acting like you can operate business-as-usual will likely ring false with your fans and friends.

As circumstances continue to shift, you may find new best practices for serving your community. You may also find that your voice isn’t the one that needs to be loudest right now. That is also okay. Don’t drop off the face of the social media planet, though. A heartfelt message of empathy and concern goes a long way. Make sure you pause any planned campaigns or posts that don’t match this tone.

Reduce Stress and “Recycle”

Let’s be honest: trying to stay on top of the 24-hour social media cycle can be draining. Resist the unspoken obligation to create brand new content if you’re spending more time online. Take a moment to dig through your own archives for content you can reintroduce with a new perspective. Also, don’t be afraid to tap into your own social connections! Are there others in your field telling great stories? Give them a boost and re-share. This is also an excellent time to consider user-generated content. As you pay attention to what your followers say, ask them to contribute to your conversations with their experiences.

Your focus should always be on your community and how you can best serve them, global crisis or not. Let this experience remind you of the importance of engagement, honesty, planning, and flexibility. Our team is always here to help you adapt your social media strategy or any aspect of your business; we’d love to hear from you!

OKAY terrible jokes aside: what exactly is the algorithm, and why does it matter?

I appreciate the simplicity of this definition from Pedro Domingos’s The Master Algorithm: “a sequence of instructions telling a computer what to do.” Really, friends: that’s it. As you engage with social media on various platforms, they get hip to your patterns of engagement and the magical algorithm kicks in, reprioritizing content to deliver what it deems most interesting to you. 

Let’s say you follow an account or page highlighting adorable puppies. Next thing you know, you might start seeing more puppies in your feed. You engage with one of these accounts, and before you know it: the platform shifts your feed so that account’s newest content pops up first, maybe even before your aunt Alice’s vacation photos.

That’s it! That’s the magic of our good pal Al. Now the question is: how do we make Al work for you?

As I hinted at in the previous paragraph, the algorithm is powered by two factors: interest and relationship. By following an account, you indicate interest and create a “relationship”, and that triggers the sequence. What you see on your feeds will likely be a collection of the friends with whom you interact most, the stories or videos you watch most, and the content you “like.” The best and most efficient way to make the algorithm work for you is to engage with the accounts you love/trust/endorse, and to share content regularly that makes your feed lovable/trustworthy/endorsable.

Tips for helping the algorithm to work for you:

1. Create a consistent posting schedule. To be crystal clear: this does not mean you need to post every day or several times daily. Find a rhythm that works for you, your business, and your goals, and stick to it. The best posting schedule for you is the one you can maintain with relative ease. This also means learning a bit about when your followers and fans are likely to be on the platform, and scheduling posts accordingly.
2. Engage with consistency. A tip within a tip here: all engagement is good engagement (okay… trolling notwithstanding). Comments, likes/reactions, reshares, and video views all count as engagement. Comments need not be novellas, either! Al views simple emoji responses the same as lengthier screeds. Make sure you’re as active with your friends and fans as they are with you, and you’ll stay top of feed and top of mind.
3. Analyze as you strategize. Another sneaky tip within a tip: the type of content you share won’t necessarily trigger the algorithm differently. Photos and videos hold equal weight to start. It is, however, worth your time and effort to pay attention to which of those options gets a better response. If more folks engage with your video content, future videos will get ranked higher. Keep an eye on your feeds’ insights and analytics to help inform future content decisions. 

We hope this brief glimpse into our pal Al Gorithm’s personality gives you some encouragement and insight into what can help you social media feeds stand out. Want to know even more about him and how we can make him work for you? Reach out and let’s strategize!

Whether you’re managing the social media channels of an established business, or taking a DIY approach to building your own online marketing materials, it’s so important to keep it real. Trust is the basis of any good relationship, customer to business included. Connecting with potential customers from a place of genuineness, honesty, and passion will make them more likely to purchase your product or services. In fact, 80% of consumers polled said “authenticity of content” is the most influential factor in their decision to become a follower of a brand.

Here are some ways you can find your authentic voice in your online marketing efforts:

Authentic to You

In order to come off as honest online, you first have to know yourself. At the very least, know your brand. Is a funny and light-hearted tone appropriate, or does your marketing require a more serious approach? What sorts of images will communicate your desired tone? Think these elements through before you start posting, or you may risk of coming off as calculated and facetious.

Being true to the core of your business identity is the first step in attracting the kind of customers you want.

Share Your Excitement

It’s no secret that passion is appealing. You should feel passionate about the work you’re doing. If you aren’t, it becomes much harder to get people to pay attention. I believe humans have the capability to be passionate about anything, we just have to find the angle that lets us connect with it. If you’re managing social media for a client, spend the time to learn the ins-and-outs of the business. Even if it seems really boring at first, you’re likely to find something that fascinates you eventually.

For example, last year I was tasked with promoting a conference by and for professionals in a particular field of social science. I don’t have a social science background, and at first glance it could seem dry and academic to the average person. But as I performed my due diligence and really dove into the deep end with what this field was all about, I discovered this conference was actually very progressive. They had booked speakers centered around social justice, provided continuing education opportunities, and kept the price of registration as low as possible in order to accommodate low-income professionals.

Because I took the time to learn these things, and really get onboard personally, I was able to highlight them in an engaging way on social media. Finding your way “in” to a topic you’re tasked with promoting is one of the most important aspects of being a successful social media manager.

Don’t Be Afraid To Have Fun

Having fun with the topic at hand, when appropriate, is a great way to show genuine excitement and passion about the products and services you’re advertising. Don’t be afraid of it! A great example is Wendy’s twitter account. No one wants to engage with an account of a fast food giant that just posts ads all day. That’s why Wendy’s snarky, sarcastic, and meme-filled feed has found such viral success. People are both shocked and amused, and you can tell that the person (or team) behind the handle is having a blast.

Getting started marketing online can be intimidating. It’s not easy to decide  what to put out to a potentially massive audience, And I hope these have helped you wrap your head around the topic.

If you find yourself needing some more guidance, or you’d rather hire professionals to collaborate with you on the decision making process, Upswept Creative is here for you! We can work with you to take the stress out of online marketing, and get your social media presence on a course to success. Schedule some time to sit down with us today – you won’t regret it.

Hello 2015 – Goodbye 2014! The New Year is only hours away, the bubbly is already chilling, the resolutions are already written (let’s hope they are different from last year). Is creating new business this next year one of your goals? You are probably not the only one! In this final installment of “Making 2015 Awesome”, we’ll take a closer look at what you can do to jumpstart the success of your brand this coming year!

1.) Go public with your goals.

Many people focus on the future this time of year – many of us have resolutions, whether personal or private. Take advantage of the collective atmosphere of renewal by getting your customers on your side. One way to do this is to blog openly about your new year’s goals – actively drawing people in to your journey and your success. Creating a compelling story on social or on your blog will allow your customers to participate in said story, bolstering your traffic and your business.

2.) Launch something new.

There are many options for this one–which is why you can make it your own, regardless of your brand or business. Create a sale, offer a time-limited coupon, review your price list, change a menu around, play with the layout of your newsletter, update your slides, change your header image on social or on your site, make a weekly giveaway, start a youtube channel…the list is endless, but the end goal is the same: Keep yourself looking fresh. People notice changes – virtually and in the real world. Now is the time to renew – personally, and professionally.

3.) Create some mystery!

If you are not quite ready for a big reveal, don’t worry! As we all know, sometimes even our best intentions get derailed. If you are more of a long-term planner who doesn’t want to make a quick decision, or you have some big news in the pipeline that is not quite ready yet, don’t blow it all in the first few weeks of the year. Instead, opt for another route: Create some mystery.  Create a series of posts, email blasts or social media posts to create a the buzz before you launch your big news in a couple of weeks or months. Other people’s big news and big changes may have fizzled out already, and you’ll be rising above the crowd.