#AskTuminds October Q&A Round Up
Thank you to all those who sent us a social media question last month when signing up to our newsletter or on our Facebook page. Here is our first #AskTuminds roundup!
Social Media Q&A
Should we avoid competitions on Facebook? I hear they are out of favour?
Competitions are still an effective way to increase reach and engagement – but you do need to be aware of the rules. We see many businesses asking people to like and share a post to enter the competition, or share a page, but this is actually against Facebook’s Terms and Conditions. You can, however, ask people to like, comment or like and comment on a post, send a message or post on the page to enter a competition. (And don’t think Facebook won’t find out, we’ve also heard of businesses having a huge amount of post shares only for the competition post to be removed by Facebook).
Their Terms and Conditions state that promotions on Facebook must include: “a. A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant” and “b. Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook“. It is also stated that: “Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries”, and “tag your friends in this post to enter” are not permitted).”
How should I get a Twitter campaign going?
Twitter is a good platform for finding new customers and its power is in its use as a search engine. As it is an open platform (unlike Facebook), you can find people who are talking about your business and those who might have an interest in your product or service. Search for your business name with and without the @ handle, and with a hashtag (i.e. Tuminds @tuminds #tuminds). As Twitter is a customer care and engagement tool, it’s important to acknowledge/reply to mentions of your business.
Of course, Twitter is all about hashtags. Use hashtags in tweets so that they can be easily found by the right audience. Only two or three hashtags should be used in a tweet. You should also use photos to make them stand out (tweets with photos are more likely to be retweeted than those without).
Some of the options for Twitter ad campaigns include Tweet Engagements (used to drive conversation and engagement with tweets); Promoted Account, Lead Generation, App Installs and Re-engagement, Promoted Video and First View. There are lots of options for targeting – as with advertising on any platform think first of all why you are creating an ad campaign and who you are targeting. The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to target them.
How can I promote my business on Instagram?
Instagram is all about sharing engaging and creative visuals. It is great for brand awareness and sharing behind the scenes images and videos. With a business account you can also get access to Analytics.
Some tips for using Instagram for your business:
- Be creative! Post photos that are colourful and eye-catching, and will make the user stop scrolling.
- Use hashtags – unlike Twitter, you can use up to 30 hashtags (although 10-15 is preferable). Again, hashtags are used to filter posts by interest to reach more people.
- Make use of Instagram Stories – content disappears after 24 hours which makes it ideal for sharing exclusive offers and giving sneak peeks.
- Show behind the scenes of your business, for example, a typical day in the life of your business. Mix up the media with a selection of videos, photos, and boomerang and timelapse videos.
- Instagram Live – live videos is an ever-growing trend, and just like Stories, they disappear giving a sense of urgency. You could use it at an event, to announce a competition winner, do a live Q&A, launch a new product etc. Just make sure that you announce beforehand when you plan to go live.
How can using Pinterest help my business?
Before deciding which social media platforms to spend time on, first of all think about your target audience. Who are they and where would they spend their time? If your target audience is female or you have a product to sell, Pinterest would definitely be a good platform to explore.
Pinterest is a top driver of traffic, and its users are mostly in the research/planning stage and know what it is they are looking for. Some of the most popular categories are fashion, home decor and food. Around 70% of its users are female and it is the most popular social channel for online shopping.
Users create boards into which they can pin images (like an online scrapbook) which creates a link to its original location. You could create boards to do with your products, local area or the team behind your business. Inforgraphics work particularly well on Pinterest.
Add Pin It buttons to your website (this requires coding) to allow users to pin directly from your site. Make sure you have a business account to check Analytics. You could also experiment with Pinterest Advertising (including promoted pins and buyable pins).
For more info, take a look at one of our blog posts on using Pinterest.
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