4 TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SHARES


Gaining more social shares for your content means gaining a wider range of audiences. By making a few adjustments to how you create, publish, and post your content, you can increase the likelihood that others will share it more often.

Here’s how you do it:

  1. Research Trending Topics
    It pays to do your research ahead of time. Having a better understanding of what successful content looks like in your industry increases the likelihood of it being shared. Use a tool like BuzzSumo to help identify top shared content. You can search for top shared content pertaining to a topic or keyword, with results sorted by overall shares. Alternatively, you can search by domain to view top shared content specific to a website. You get a comprehensive breakdown of shares per social network, which helps you decide where to focus your efforts.
  2. Make Sharing Easy for Blog Visitors
    Your audience is more likely to share content when it takes minimal effort. If your website already receives regular traffic, take advantage of the potential social shares by designing your most popular content for easy sharing.

An effective approach is to implement social buttons on your website. If you operate a WordPress site, there’s plenty of useful plugins for one-click sharing buttons, including Social Pug. The way your content reads can also encourage social engagement. Have a great tip to share in an article? Post a share button directly below your article.

  1. Provide Context in Headlines
    There’s a strong chance your content is being snubbed if your headline fails to grab people. It becomes increasingly important to hook your audience with a headline, as online attention spans continue to dwindle. Social audiences tend to favor snackable content; bite-sized pieces that quickly convey their intent.

BuzzFeed articles are essentially engineered to take advantage of this trend: easily consumed and shared. They further entice the audience to read the content by addressing them individually. For example, you’ll encounter dozens of instances of “you” and “your” throughout. Want your best content to receive more shares across social networks? Start thinking about your headlines in a social context.

  1. Capitalize on Visual Interest
    Attach images to your posts to help them stand out and benefit your social efforts. Invest resources in quality images to maximize post visibility. Some stock photo sources are free to use, provided you meet the terms of their licensing agreement. While stock photos provide an option, you may prefer to create custom images that better showcase your brand. Don’t have a graphic designer on hand? Use tools like Canva to create images to accompany your post. You can choose from premade templates that can easily be customized with text. It’s perfect for adding taglines that complement your attention-grabbing headlines.

One more tip? Posting during peak hours greatly enhances your ability to attract shares and other meaningful engagement. You’ll want to experiment with your own content to find out what works best for your business.

In conclusion, you’ll need to put in the effort to create the type of content people want to share. With great material in place, you can leverage creative opportunities to promote it and generate more exposure.

HOW TO GET YOUR VIDEOS TO PERFORM IN SEARCH


First of all, always consider the platform before uploading a video.

Don’t plan to create an awesome Snapchat story with the intent to upload it to YouTube. The most important thing is to recognize the platform and deliver a product that will be welcomed in the context of that situation, whether it’s Snapchat, Instagram, Vine, or YouTube.

Keep in mind that if you get on Facebook Live and are just sitting there, going through some sort of programming or curriculum, and talking to comments, it’s going to drag on. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 or 30 minutes, it won’t be fun for anyone on YouTube to watch in a replay. If you broadcast with more intention and possibly reference a couple of comments here and there, that may be a good repurposing opportunity for YouTube. You want the audience to feel like they’re having a similar experience to when it was live.

Facebook and YouTube are about the same in terms of uploading. You take a produced piece of content, upload it, and put it out to the audience subscribing to that channel, whether it’s a YouTube page or Facebook page or profile. However, when people watch a video on YouTube, it’s an intentional move. They have to go to a video and click Play.

On Facebook and Instagram, posted videos are put in the viewers’ faces. When people scroll through their feed, they may or may not see it and they may or may not click the Play or Audio buttons to watch and listen. Plus, the audio on Facebook goes on when the viewer clicks it, so they could start listening at any point in the video.

Viewers go through a different thought process before they decide to watch a video on either one of these platforms, however, you can optimize these videos to perform in search in the same ways.

YouTube Still Matters
YouTube is a time investment. The issue is whether marketers have the patience for it. When you commit to YouTube, you’re investing in your archives for the number-two search engine on the planet. Videos on YouTube have a long shelf life and could perform very well in the future.

Optimize Videos for Search
The first 24- to 48-hour period of the video is key. If you can show momentum in that time and there’s no competition in search, your video could be the number-one result.

There are ways to get discovered in search, even if you’re not the first one there. If you can release a video, tag it, and include all of your copy accordingly, then it will have a chance to be on the front page of search. You just need to show that it’s more relevant than what’s already there. Newer videos are, by definition, potentially more relevant.

You can also be discovered because of referred content. That comes less from the search component. You don’t necessarily need to be on the front page to get traction and you don’t have to be there first. Plus, if you have competition, you can look at what they did to get on the front page and try to replicate it.

What indicators help something show up higher in YouTube search? YouTube really likes videos submitted by channels with high minutes watched, high retention, and high engagement. Someone who has subscribers, viewers, and engagement has a solid chance of going up in search.

Headlines and Description
Ideally even before you make the video, but definitely before you upload it, you need to have the focus keyword. Once you have that nailed down, the rest of the fields will line up. You’ll want the phrase or word you’re trying to rank for in search.

The description is also an essential component. In Google search, you can insert a meta description for any blog post. If you don’t, the first couple of lines of that blog post will appear as a preview in Google search results. If a YouTube video comes up in search results, the first couple of lines of the description will play that role.

Use your keyword in the description, as well as the headline. YouTube will weigh the entire description equally in its search. However, Google search will highlight the first couple of lines of the description; they’ll be less concerned about the later part of your description.

The first couple of lines are also important for the Watch page. You want the most important details (your keyword and call to action) above the fold so people will click the More button and read the rest of the description.

If you refer to something in the description and want to make sure the audience finds the link and the call to action no matter what, put it above the fold. You don’t want people to get lost.

Video Length and Tags
Those trying to rank in a search where they already have results should look at timestamps and length of those ranked videos. If the number-one result got its video done in less than five minutes, you should be within that time frame, as well. Looking at the front page of search, when a person sees a six-minute result versus a three-minute result, they will likely go with the shorter video. That’s human SEO.

Tags are really important. You have your focus keyword, which is prominently placed in the headline and the description. The tags are more of an opportunity to cover your bases.

Offer layman’s terms for how somebody would actually be searching for something. Think about all of the ways the video would be relevant to someone who has never met you, doesn’t know the terminology, and doesn’t know how to do something. Fill in the gaps for the searches you’re not trying to rank in, but certainly could if you had the opportunity.

Additionally, try using the Keyword Planner from Google AdWords to find keyword ideas. This can also help you with planning your headline and keyword description. You want to see how high the competition is for these keywords and if it will really benefit you to get your video in the right spot.

Above all, remember to pay attention to the platform and the viewers that you are creating the content for – and you will see positive results.

SNAPCHAT MARKETING

20 ENTREPRENEURS AND BRANDS YOU NEED TO FOLLOW

Do you use Snapchat?

It’s becoming one of the biggest platforms out there. In fact, it recently passed Twitter, with over 150 million daily users.

Snapchat gives you an opportunity to connect with your audience on a deeper level than other platforms. If you can use it effectively, the sky is the limit.

The problem? Most entrepreneurs and brands don’t know how to use it well. But we’d like to help you stand out on Snapchat.

The first step is to see which brands and entrepreneurs are doing it right. That way, you have a crystal clear picture of what a great Snapchat account looks like.

So today, we’ve laid out 20 entrepreneurs and brands you need to follow on Snapchat!

1. Gary Vaynerchuk (garyvee)

If you’ve studied and tried to succeed with social media, you’ve most likely heard of Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s been crushing it on social media for years, and teaching others how to follow in his footsteps.

He dishes out hard-hitting, motivational advice on his Snapchat. He encourages others to take on entrepreneurship, and also offers tons of valuable marketing advice.

2. Tai Lopez (tailopez1)

Tai Lopez is probably my favorite follow on Snapchat. He frequently hangs with experts in different areas of business, fitness, health, etc. and he has them give you tips through his snaps.

Plus, he dishes out awesome advice constantly. From great quotes, to high quality books, and more. He lives quite the full life, and it’s interesting and inspiring to watch. You won’t regret this follow.

As an added bonus, he frequently runs contests through his Snapchat. For example, if you screenshot a snap, reply, etc. he gives you chances to win a free car, get gift certificates, and more.

3. Garry Tan (garrytan)

Garry is a partner at Y combinatory (there are a few on this list). When you dive into his snaps, you’ll see tons of travel, adventure, and startup tips.

He gives great advice, and also shows you the importance of family in the life of an entrepreneur.

4. Justin Wu (hackapreneur

Ever wondered what life is like during the early stages of a startup? Justin provides great insight into this through his snap stories. You’ll also learn some killer marketing and growth strategies, as well as awesome events happening in the Silicon Valley area.

5. HubSpot (hubspotinc)

Hubspot uses their channel to showcase their company culture, educate their audience in a fun way, and even occasionally do some recruiting!

By giving an inside look at their culture, they make it easier to find potential superstars to come and work for them.

Plus, you can be sure they’ve tested just about every aspect of their snap stories – so you can be confident that they’re doing what works.

6. Amazon (amazon)

Amazon uses its Snapchat to share gift ideas, deals, and even give movie previews. They do it in a very creative way as well.

Recently, their Snapchat showcased two people dressed as “Angry Birds” and giving life tips. It was all part of the preview for the Angry Birds movie that got released through Amazon video.

The snap story ends with a strong call to action to check out the movie.

7. DJ Khaled (djkhaled305)

DJ Khaled has become one of the most popular people on Snapchat. He uses it to communicate with his audience, announce meetups and events, and give you a behind the scenes look at his music.

His takes are often hilarious. There’s a reason why he’s become one of the biggest Snapchatters out there.

8. Justin Kan (justinkan)

Justin is known for founding Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon for $970 million.

He frequently uses his Snapchat to answer entrepreneurial questions. For example, recently he gave advice to people whose startups have failed.

9. Dan Norris (thedannorris)

Dan Norris is a multifaceted entrepreneur. He’s the author of The 7 Day Startup, where he lays out the blueprint for creating a successful business in a week’s time. What’s more, he’s also the founder of Black Hops Brewing Company, a beer brewing company that’s on the rise in Australia.

His Snapchat is filled with great business advice as well as an inside look at his businesses. It’s a must-watch for every entrepreneur.

10. Daniel DiPiazza (rich20something)

Daniel earned over $24k in month freelancing, which led him to start his blog, Rich20Something. In the time since, his blog has blown up, and he has become quite the influencer.

In his snaps, he guides you through his daily life of running a business, as well as the habits of a successful entrepreneur (i.e. waking early, morning runs on the beach, etc.).

11. The New York Times (thenytimes)

The New York Times uses Snapchat to tell stories, break news, and cover exciting events. For example, they just gave a behind-the-scenes look at the democratic national convention through their Snapchat.

It’s a great example of a brand using Snapchat in a creative, fun, and engaging way.

12. John Lee Dumas (johnleedumas)

John Lee Dumas is the founder of Entrepreneur on Fire. On his Snapchat, he gives you tons of awesome inspirational quotes, breaks them down, and shows you how you can accomplish what you want in business.

His “JLD rants” are money – and they’ll teach you how to speak to your audience in an interesting and compelling way. 

13. Pat Flynn (patflynnspi)

Pat is the founder of Smart Passive Income, where he helps people build businesses and create passive incomes for themselves.

Through his Snapchat, he offers great advice, fun tips, and a behind-the-scenes look at his business and podcast.

14. Jerome Jarre (jeromejarre)

There’s always something interesting and fun going on in Jerome’s snaps. He was the fourth most followed person on Vine before switching over to Snapchat, so he’s knows how to do video well.

He’s created spontaneous meetups on Snapchat, which have led to flashmobs of as many as 5,000 people. By following Jerome, you’ll get a lot of insight into the fun and creative possibilities available with Snapchat.

15. Jake Paul (jakepaul19)

Jake has one of the most entertaining Snapchats out there. It’s filled with pranks and funny videos, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a social media video celebrity.

When you follow Jake, you’ll stay hip to the latest trends, and you’ll also learn how to infuse a little fun into your snap stories.

16. Alexis Ohanian (alexisohanian)

Alexis is the co-founder of Reddit and also a partner at Y Combinator. Through his Snapchat, he provides interesting investment and tech advice, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at tech entrepreneurs.

17. Birchbox (birchbox)

Birchbox is a subscription beauty box company. They use their Snapchat to engage with their audience, ask questions, and also show a behind the scenes look at their company.

They also use their Snapchat to give their audience and in-depth preview at their beauty boxes.

18. Shopify (shopify)

Shopify is a very active brand on Snapchat. They give daily tips for entrepreneurs, DIY tutorials, and have entrepreneur takeovers.

For example, recently they had a “takeover” by Buffer, where Buffer employees introduced themselves and offered a surprise giveaway.

19. Morgan Brown (morganb180)

Morgan is the COO of Inman News, and he co-authored “Startup Growth Engines: How Today’s Most Successful Startups Unlock Extraordinary Growth”.

His Snapchat is filled with Q&A, marketing tips, and cool events that he attends.

20. Ahna Hendrix! (ahnahendrix)

Yes, our very own Ahna Hendrix! She records awesome snap stories every day – giving you the behind the scenes of her daily life, adventures in yoga, and awesome inspirational advice.

What’s more, she constantly engages her audience by asking great questions and requesting responses. Just by following her, you’ll see how a great Snapchatter does it.

***

Follow these Snapchat accounts, watch them daily, and you’ll know exactly how to get the most out of Snapchat!

And if you’d like to see how I do it, you can follow me on Snapchat too! My Snapchat username is Daveprot.

Who are your favorite Snapchat follows? Let us know in the comments below!

3 questions for social media platforms

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ON EVERY SOCIAL NETWORK!
We are all guilty of occasionally suffering from shiny new object syndrome. We see something new and we are inclined to jump off the ship we are on and climb on the bandwagon of the exciting new shiny object. In the world of social media, the shiny new object syndrome is spreading out of control. Don’t catch the virus! Your business does not have to jump on to every new social media network!

Last year, the experts were telling every business owner that their business “HAS TO” be on Meerkat. Then it was Periscope and Blab. A few years ago it was Google+ Pages. This year it has been Snapchat and then just last week, Instagram Stories. You need a spreadsheet just to keep track of all the new shiny objects. Trying to keep up with all of these new social networks and new features is exhausting. If your business invested time and money by jumping on every one of those new networks, you’re probably out of business now. Here is the good news: you don’t have to jump on every new social network. Fight the urge to chase new shiny objects.

It is a great habit to get into to educate yourself on new social networks and features when they launch. You want to know which options you have, and occasionally a new network might be something that makes sense for your business. However, most new social networks and features simply won’t make sense for your business.

To decide if a new shiny object is worth considering, keep these three basic questions in mind:

  1. Who is your target audience?
    First, you have to know who your target audience is. Who are they? All other decisions on which social networks and features to use flow from this. Get specific. Age. Location. Job type. Interests. Income. The mores specific you get, the better you’ll be able to target this audience and the more clear it will become as to which social networks and new features make sense for your business.
  2. Where does your target audience hang out?
    Where do they spend their time online? Which social networks? No matter who your target audience is, the two givens (based off the data) is that they are on Facebook and they are on Twitter. Beyond that, you need to dig into your audience to decide where they hang out.

Example: If your target audience is 40+ upper middle class conservative women interested in home remodeling, then investing time in Snapchat would not likely make sense for your business. For that audience, you’d want to stick to Facebook and Twitter, and invest heavily in Pinterest.

  1. What are your social media goals?
    What do you want to get out of social media? If your main goals are to build your brand and get your company name out there, then you are likely concerned mostly with views and new social networks, and new features may present options for you to stand out and get a lot of views.

Your company might want to consider Snapchat or utilizing Facebook Live. If your main goals are to drive traffic to your website and create trackable sales conversions, you will want to stick to social networks that can provide you comprehensive data and provide multiple advertising and promotion options. Facebook and perhaps Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest may make more sense for your business and networks like Periscope or Snapchat would likely not make sense for your business.

We are all naturally inclined to be drawn to new shiny objects. When a new social network comes out or when a new exciting feature is released, make sure to consider the three things above…

Who is your target audience? Where does your target audience hang out? What are your social media goals?

If you’ve figured out who your target audience is and decided that they do hang out on a particular social network, and you have decided that the network fits well within your social media goals, then by all means consider taking advantage of the network and any new features it releases. If a social network or new feature does not fit within your goals or your target audience does not utilize that network or feature, don’t jump on the bandwagon. Stick with what works for your business.

I will leave you with this: Don’t go “All In” on new social networks and features. Explore them. Test them out. However, stick to what is working well for your business as you dip your toes into new social networks and features. Guru’s will tell you to take a chance and jump all in; however, until you have the data and confidence to know that a social network or feature makes sense for your business, it is not responsible to go “all in.” More often than not, that shiny new object will be a disappointment and cost your business time and money.

Don’t catch shiny new object syndrome; it can be fatal for your business.

INSTAGRAM STORIES

: 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
I know, I know.

Just when you were getting the hang of Snapchat, Instagram has thrown you for a loop.

The main draw of Snapchat has been its stories feature – allowing you to add photos and 10-second video clips to your “story” for all your followers to see. And as we’ve discussed, this can be a powerful feature for your business.

But now, with the release of its stories feature, Instagram has changed the game. Its feature is similar to Snapchat’s in many ways (with a few differences).

Here at ARCH Digital Agency, we make it a point to stay up on all the newest social media trends and features – and so, we want to make sure you stay up to date (and don’t fall behind!).

So today, we’ll tell you what you need to know to start using and succeeding with Instagram stories today.

Here are 6 Things You Need to Know About Instagram Stories…

  1. How to Create Your First Story
    Haven’t created a story yet? Well, it’s quite simple to get started.

All you have to do is tap the “plus sign” in the upper left corner of the screen. From there, the functionality is similar to that of Snapchat Stories.

To take a picture, you can tap the round button. To take a video (for up to 10 seconds) you can press down on the round button.

Then, you can hit the pen icon on the top right corner of the picture or video, and use it to doodle with a myriad of colors (just hold down one of the color options that comes up on the bottom of your screen to get a full color scale) as well as three different types of pens (there are some cool options here).

You can also swipe left or right on the photo/video to add an Instagram filter to it.

Then when you’re all done, you can tap the checkmark to upload it to your Instagram Story.

From there, you can simply tap on your story, scroll up, and you’ll see both the view count and all the people who viewed each part of your story.

  1. Instagram Stories Won’t Kill Snapchat
    This has been one of the biggest talking points around Instagram Stories. Will the feature kill Snapchat?

Gary Vaynerchuk recently said, “Anybody who thinks Instagram is going to kill Snapchat is out of their mind.”

His reasoning? Because Snapchat acts like a media company, it has scale.

And frankly, we agree…

While there will certainly be some people switching from Snapchat to Instagram, it won’t be enough to damage the Snapchat platform.

Aside from acting like a media company, Snapchat also has unique features, like Snapchat Memories, filters, video chatting, screenshot notifications, and more.

This is good news for you, because it means you can use both Snapchat and Instagram to reach new audiences and create great content.

  1. The Story Elements Still Hold True
    Both with Snapchat and Instagram, you must tell a good story. For both of these platforms, that means doing things like:
    Setting a theme or subject
    Behind-the-scenes footage
    Q&A with your audience
    And strong calls to action
    (In an upcoming post, we’ll go in-depth on the 7 elements of a powerful Snapchat story – and you can use all of the elements for Instagram Stories as well. So stay tuned for that!)

Sidenote: Instagram Stories make it easy for you to give a strong call to action. You can simply point users to click the link in your bio (as opposed to asking them to screenshot a Snap and type out the URL like they have to do in Snapchat).

If you can tell a good story, people will watch your Instagram Stories all the way through instead of clicking away to the next person’s story. This is key for keeping your audience engaged and interested.

  1. Who to Follow
    We recently gave you a list of 20 entrepreneurs and brands to follow on Snapchat.

By following successful brands and entrepreneurs, you’ll get a sneak peek into what it takes to create great stories – both on Instagram and Snapchat.

And guess what? Most of the entrepreneurs and brands from that previous list are already crushing it with Instagram Stories! So, be sure to give them a follow. Here are some of their Instagram accounts:

Tai Lopez (@TaiLopez)
Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee)
Justin Wu (@hackapreneur)
John Lee Dumas (@JohnLeeDumas)
Dan Norris (@TheDanNorris)

  1. The Stories Are Easy to Navigate
    With Snapchat stories, viewers must replay the entire Snap story if they miss something.

However with Instagram, you can simply tap the left side of the video or picture, and it will take you to the previous part of the Instagram Story. You can scroll back through all the parts of an Instagram Story in this way.

This makes things a bit simpler for you and your audience to consume content.

  1. You Can Add Your Snapchat Stories to Instagram
    Don’t feel like creating stories for both Instagram AND Snapchat all the time? Well, occasionally, you can also add your Snapchat Story to your Instagram Story.

However, you should do this with caution. Remember:
one of the oldest social media rules is to give your audience a reason to follow you on different networks (i.e. posting different content on different platforms).

That being said, here are some areas where this can be useful:
Snap Stories where you’re asking a question to your audience
Cross-promoting your Snapchat account with your Instagram account
So how do you get your Snapchat content on Instagram?

Once you get to the screen to record your Instagram Story, all you have to do is scroll down. From there, your camera roll will pop up. You can scroll through your videos and pictures from the past 24 hours, and add them to your Instagram Story.

So, be sure to save your Snapchat Stories to your camera roll, and then use this feature to upload them to your Instagram story.

Instagram Stories are an important addition to the social media landscape. But don’t let the feature overwhelm you. Use what you learned here to start dominating with Instagram stories and reach a new audience.

What’s your opinion on Instagram Stories? How do you feel they compare to Snapchat? Let us know in the comments below!

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM STORIES FOR BUSINESS

Since Instagram Stories debuted a few weeks ago, I’ve been testing, watching, and spending wayyy more time on IG than normal.

The truth is, the inception of IG Stories deeply annoyed me – from a personal standpoint. Snapchat is my favorite social platform, and it was irritating to see immediately that I would need to create similar content for a copy & paste feature on another network.

But from a business standpoint, the excitement took over quickly. At ARCH, we’ve grown several IG accounts for our clients into successful and engaging communities, so Snapchat would have been the next logical step. However, with the onset of IG Stories, we were given a way to stay within an active network, and begin incorporating all the raw elements of Snapchat that make it so successful.

To me, the biggest reason Snapchat is successful with personal and business brands is because it provides an opportunity to humanize ANY brand with raw content. Snapchatters aren’t looking for polished content, they’re even perturbed by it. They like the real and sometimes even ugly stuff. They want REAL.

Instagram is different. It’s thought out, structured. It’s perfect and beautiful. To share a raw photo on IG is to commit a social sin. But not anymore. Many argue IG won’t be able to handle the raw Snapchat-ish content due to its perfectionistic nature, however I think they’re wrong.

I believe users are so hungry for the raw stuff that they’ll not only appreciate it on IG, but that Stories could revolutionize the platform and shift it to being a more real place to hang.

Let’s be honest, before IG Stories, it was falling behind in the ranks due to its stagnant culture of ultimate beauty – they had to do something. They had to add an element of fun and give businesses a reason to come back.

Enter IG Stories.
But businesses are having a tough time deciding how to utilize the new feature, so I’m here to help. Between asking my Snapchat and IG audiences to recommend their favorite biz brands and coming across a few on my own – I’ve got a nice, varied list with action steps to inspire you and illustrate what is most important.

  1. Decide on your WHY.
    As with any social network, this is the first thing to decide before committing to a new platform or content stream. Before we can be purposeful content creators, we must know why we’re there and what the goal is.

If the goal is to showcase products or services, introduce staff – whatever, begin there. It will change in a few months (or should), so don’t get too caught up in the why, but it will keep you focused when it comes to creating strategies for content types, when, how often, etc.

Examples: NASA
There’s no explanation necessary for who NASA is, but what they’re doing on social media is another story. It was surprising to a) see NASA creating IG Stories and b) creating so many and so fast! Almost immediately, they jumped on board sharing stories about how they train for missions, gave background and context on the trainings, spotlighted employees by allowing them to speak, and well – got me sucked in quick!

So why? Because NASA needs to make money. NASA needs people to be interested in their missions and goals. NASA needs to humanize the brand. NASA is out to stop hiding behind its mysterious doors and share the cool stuff we don’t get to see. And I can guarantee that it will work.

*IG account shared by Brian Fanzo. Find him on IG at @isocialfanz

  1. Get inspired.
    Because IG Stories is a new feature, there isn’t a lot of published content explaining how to create IG Stories with success, but we definitely recommend checking out this post to get the low down: Instagram Stories: 6 Things You Need to Know.

But go a step further and be purposeful about finding inspiration. It’s one of the first things I do whenever starting a new account, whether for myself or an ARCH client.

First, locate similar businesses in your industry who are sharing IG Stories and having fun. Follow them, watch what they’re doing, and figure how how to follow their example for your business. Forget the notion of competition, and draw inspiration from what they share that resonates with you.

Second, sit down with paper and a pen (I suggest multi-colored markers) and write or draw out the different elements of the business. If you’re utilizing Snapchat, what is working? What does your audience enjoy? If you’re on Facebook – what do they like there? Or Instagram! Take those popular content topics and start playing to find out how you can turn them into stories.

Example: DesignLoveFest
This is one of my favorite IG follows. Love this account – for many reasons. DesignLoveFest is a branding/design company who continually innovates to offer new services and products. They create free wallpapers to download, design dinnerware sold at Target, style photoshoots for some of the biggest brands in lifestyle industries, travel the world teaching branding/social media, and well – just having a blast (if you ask me).

So following the account is a no brainer for me. I’m constantly inspired by how they style photos, use backdrops, and incorporate the staff into everything that’s posted. And the owner, Bri, took a whole 4 minutes to begin creating IG Stories when the feature was released. She does product reveals that arrive in the mail everyday, gives backstage access to this incredible company, and keeps the audience close with recipes and helpful home design tips.

This is a goldmine for my own geeky obsessions, but mainly because ARCH works with clients in the retail/fashion/jewelry industry, and this account gives me endless ideas for how to showcase products to humanize a brand.

  1. Show off the goods.
    Showing off the goods is self explanatory. Show off your goods – the products and services that your business offers. Do NOT turn it into a salesy glossary, but practice and excel at the art of showcasing the goods in a fun, interesting and enticing manner. Even better, learn how to do it so that it appears you aren’t.

FOMO (Fear of missing out) is a real thing, and IG Stories offer you the perfect avenue to conjure up that emotion in your audience.

If you’re a restaurant, share mouth-watering specials/ingredients/recipes. If you’ve got a yoga studio, share poses/classes/instructors/retail. If you’re a retail store – psssht, just have fun! Consider the target audience and tease them into having FOMO.

Example: Visit Durango
The VisitDurango IG offers no shortage of gorgeous photos that will make you want to pack up and travel there ASAP.

The account is an aggregation of content from Durango, Colorado from anyone utilizing the #VisitDurango hashtag when posting on IG. And the result is spectacular.

But even though it’s a crowdfunded account, they go above and beyond with IG Stories. Sit back and get taken on hikes, watch sunsets, and I guarantee it won’t be long before you head to the computer to book a visit yourself. THAT is FOMO done right and in a digestible manner.

*IG account shared by Peter Freeman. Find him on IG at @findpeterfreeman

  1. Infuse it with personality.
    This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many biz accounts I watched fall flat, even when the content was interesting to watch.

Who cares how awesome your product is, who gets excited about your insane service – unless you do?! Or whoever is managing the account. If personality doesn’t radiate from the stories then you’ll have a tough time getting anyone to watch.

My biggest advice here – have some fun already! Be goofy, be silly, show mistakes, show mishaps, show reality. And if your mellow and sullen and not a big fan of the world, share that because it will draw the audience who best aligns with you.

Bottom line, don’t be afraid to be yourself. EVER. Large businesses can tackle this by humanizing the staff, playing jokes or laughing with upper management, sharing family moments or company events. This is definitely not just a suggestion or possibility for smaller businesses. In fact, its the big businesses who need this the most.

Example: TheDryBar
One of my favorite businesses out there (WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA)!! Basically, a blow-dry chain for women that’s taken over cities nationwide, and is my one stop every time I’m traveling (and needing to look killer) for work. It’s a flat $40 per hairstyle, opens at 5am, offers wine and champagne to clients, and gets you out the door in no time. Brilliant.

The IG account boasts pics of gorgeous hairstyles for viewers. The founder is currently focused on selling her product line on QVC and other online shopping networks, so IG Stories is following her around getting behind-the-scenes moments. And let’s face it, Alli (owner) is hilarious! She’s wild, cusses, and has zero issues sharing who she is. And that is the best way to be. She’s adding a personality to the brand by infusing her’s into the IG Stories.

  1. Be original, don’t regurgitate content.
    While I didn’t want to include any “do NOTs” into this list, I felt this point was imperative after watching accounts for the past few weeks.

Do not, do NOT repurpose content from other social networks UNLESS there is a very specific reason. The funniest thing about this is that marketers are currently the biggest perpetrators and this is one of the oldest no-no’s in the industry!

Why not?
A) It’s lazy. Don’t be lazy. If you’re going to be lazy, fine – but have more respect for the audience who gives you their time and be lazy on your own.

B) Why should anyone follow you on both networks if you’re simply reposting stuff?

C) Every social network is different, has a unique culture, and expects that you can customize the content for that specific one. What is cool on Facebook isn’t cool on Twitter, etc. And don’t assume just because video is the common denominator that it means re-using is cool.

D) If you can’t drum up new content to share on IG Stories then don’t invest in it until you can. It looks bad for your brand and credibility, so wait if need be.

We’re only a few weeks in with IG Stories and it’s going to be interesting to watch how it will play out in the marketing arena, but these are the first steps to ensure a successful start for your business.

Did I leave anything out?? Or have any advice for business owners? Comment below!

7 ELEMENTS OF A POWERFUL SNAPCHAT STORY

Snapchat is becoming a more powerful platform by the day, even with the recent rise of Instagram Stories.

Recently, we introduced you to some entrepreneurs and brands who are mastering Snapchat marketing. They’re creating highly entertaining and educational Snapchat stories, and finding new ways to engage their audience.

But what exactly do these brands and entrepreneurs put in their stories? And more specifically, how can you create powerful Snapchat stories of your own, so you can get the most out of the platform and connect with your audience?

Today, we’ll give you the inside track on how to do it.

Here are 7 Elements of a Powerful Snapchat Story

  1. Set a Theme or a Subject
    All great stories have a theme, and your Snapchat story is no different. And sure, while you can create your theme on the fly, it’s usually better to plan it out beforehand. Otherwise, your Snap story may just be a collection of random moments throughout your day – and this won’t be much fun for your followers to watch.

With this in mind, you should also aim to set the scene from the beginning. Let your followers know what they’re about to watch.

Here are some potential themes you can use:
Morning commute
Yoga/exercise
Business/life tips
A night out
Nature adventures
Behind-the-scenes
Trips/travel
Rants/recurring Snapchat series

  1. Beginning and End of the Day Snaps
    You should always start your day by checking in with your audience – this bumps your Snap story to the top of everybody’s feed. That way, your Snap is the first thing they see when they scroll through their Snapchat stories in the morning.

Plus, this gets you into the habit of snapping everyday, which is also important. Consistency is key!

Then, at the end of the day, you should post again. Once again, this re-bumps your story to the top of everyone’s feed, gets you more views, and keeps you consistent. Plus, it’s a good way to end your story clearly, so it doesn’t go into the next day in a confusing way.

  1. Behind-the-Scenes Footage
    The key is to make your fans feel like insiders. Authentic, behind-the-scenes content does just that. This is the type of content your audience can’t get on other platforms.

For example, recently Justin Kan (justinkan) was part of a startup panel in Silicon Valley. Afterwards, he broke down the panel and explained exactly how he stands out on these types of panels, and how you can do the same. It was some very interesting insight from someone who has had a ton of success in the startup world – and the type of content you just can’t get on blogs or other platforms.

Other Snapchatters, like DJ Khaled (djkhaled305) have behind-the-scenes footage of making soundtracks, or performing their craft in general.

Think about how you can start adding some behind-the-scenes footage to your Snaps!

  1. Title Cards
    Title cards are powerful for ending stories, introducing new stories, and breaking apart stories into easy-to-understand chunks.

For title cards, all you really have to do is snap a plain background (or just a black background with no light) and overlay it with text.

Keep in mind, all your videos are on a 24 hour timer. So, depending on when your followers watch your story, they may not see the whole thing. So, title cards can help you signal that one story is over, and another one is beginning.

Or, as we mentioned, you can use title cards to break your stories into chunks. For example, let’s say you’re about to give three tips for starting a business. Before you dive into the three tips, you could use a title card to say, “3 Tips for Starting a Small Business.”

Keep title cards to around 3-5 seconds long, so that they flow with the rest of your Snap story.

  1. Q&A With Your Audience
    When it comes to Snapchat – like all other platforms – the more engagement you have with your audience, the better. By hosting Q&As, you give your community an easy way to engage with you.

You shouldn’t be doing these every day – but a couple times a month is a good benchmark. It makes your audience feel like you care what they have to say, and that they’re a part of a your Snap story too.

Here’s one way you can host a Snapchat Q&A:
Post on Snapchat and other platforms that you’ll be hosting a Snapchat Q&A
Ask your followers to submit questions through Snapchat
Tell them you’ll be answering their questions at a specific time
Answer their questions at that time!
It’s as simple as that!

  1. Calls to Action
    Sure it’s nice when people watch your Snap story – but the underlying goal is to get them to take some sort of action. Hence the importance of a strong call to action.

You can use calls to action throughout your Snap stories.

Here are some examples of good calls to action:
Asking followers to screenshot a Snap
Asking followers to reply to a Snap
Posting a shortened link (like a bit.ly link) for followers to go to
Asking followers to follow you on other social media, like Instagram or Twitter (Tai Lopez (tailopez1) does this in interesting ways by creating contests for those who like certain pictures or follow him on Instagram or Twitter)

  1. Exclusive Promotional Content
    Again, you want to give your Snapchat audience content that they can’t consume elsewhere. A great way to do that is to offer promotions specifically through your Snapchat stories.

You can use your stories to offer instant access to exclusive content, promo codes, and discounts. That way, when your followers watch your story, they know they may be in store for something special every time.

Start implementing these elements into your Snapchat stories, and be sure to track your views. As your stories get better, you should see more engagement, views, and followers.

ONLINE BELT RETAILER SEES 346% ROI WITH FACEBOOK ADS AND ARCH

The following case study outlines work we completed for our client over a six month period. ARCH Digital Agency works hand in hand with our clients to develop a unique strategy that is tailored to the specific goals of each client.

The Client:
Andrew Martin creates hand crafted leather belts made from the most exotic skins in the world. They pride themselves on using only the finest leathers, combining it with unique hardware in order to manufacture exceptional belts sure to please a clientele with the highest standards. Decades of experience in crafting handmade belts, translates into a truly one of a kind product.

Andrew Martin originated in the realization that consumers lacked an online one-stop shopping option for exotic leather belts. To fill this void in the market, they acquired the widest selection of exotic leather and colors in the United States.

The Challenge:
The Andrew Martin brand was a new concept, having approached ARCH to help define their audience, voice, and ultimately grow the brand. AM had experimented with Google Adwords to help grow sales, but was lacking an overall strategy that would not only increase sales online, but increase brand awareness.

After meeting with Andrew Martin we identified the following objectives:

Refine target audience – determine audience most likely to purchase
Increase traffic to online store
Drive sales, order volume and revenue of the online store
Increase brand awareness and grow the Andrew Martin brand
ARCH worked directly with Andrew Martin to develop a strategy specific to the client’s needs and challenges. ARCH and Andrew Martin identified Facebook and Facebook Ads as the platform of choice for addressing their objectives.

The Solution:
Over a six month period, ARCH created a holistic Facebook presence for Andrew Martin and used Facebook Ads as the main source of identifying new customers and driving sales through the online store.

These highly targeted ads would help refine the target audience for Andrew Martin and determine interests and behaviors which are common among Andrew Martin’s consumers. The interests and behaviors discovered would allow ARCH to create engaging content on a daily basis for Andrew Martin and develop a highly engaged Facebook audience.

Through a series of exploration ads ARCH tested demographics, interests, behaviors, and Facebook ad formats. Here’s what we learned.

Demographics & Placement:Older Demographics Converted and Interacted More
Customers in the 45-65+ Age were 60% more likely to click and engage with ads
Customers in the 65+ age group were 200% more likely to convert to sales
Ads delivered on Mobile had .94% higher CTR than ads delivered on desktop
Ads delivered in Single Image format had .2% higher CTR than ads delivered in Carousel Format
Single image ads had a higher CTR than Carousel Ads.
Single image ads had a higher CTR than Carousel Ads.
Interests & Behaviors:
Fathers were 38.1% more likely to be interested in a belt
Men with online shopping behaviors displayed a 26.23% less chance of clicking on an ad
Men with interests in other high end luxury brands were 14.35% more likely to click
Specific Breakdown of Luxury Items:
High end Sunglasses – 50% higher
Designer Hats – 19.7% higher
Competitors Belt Brands – 19.3% higher
Designer Shoes – 15.43% higher
Through the use of Facebook’s targeting metrics, ARCH was able to dial in on exactly who Andrew Martin’s online consumer is, and what their customers engage with online. After a successful 3 months with Facebook Ads, Andrew Martin ended their advertising on Google Adwords and focused solely on Facebook Marketing and Facebook Ads as a way attract customers to their online store.

The Results:
The three main areas of success we tracked for our client are increased Site Traffic, Total Sales, and ROI on Facebook Ad Spend:

Results Breakdown – ARCH started with Andrew Martin in March of 2016

Site Traffic:
February visitors: 596
August visitors: 2,639
342.7% increase
Total Sales:
Average Sales 2 Months Prior to ARCH: $2700.65
Sales in August: $7052.44
Increase: 161%
ROI on FB Ad Spend:
Sales in August: $7052.44
Facebook Ad Spend: $1579.55
346% ROI in August
ARCH Digital Agency was able to produce immediate results at a 346% ROI with Facebook Ads. Through success with Facebook Ads, our client was able to eliminate their spend on display and search ads, which allowed them to focus solely on Facebook as a way to drive traffic and increase sales to their online store.

With the use of a comprehensive Facebook Marketing & Ads Strategy, Andrew Martin surpassed their sales goals and continues to grow their brand and sales online through partnership with ARCH. Andrew Martin now better understands the base of their customers and what types of content, interests and behaviors unite them.

If you’re interested in learning about how ARCH can produce similar results for your brand, contact us today for more information!

HOW TO ACCURATELY MEASURE YOUR SOCIAL ROI

Measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts isn’t impossible.

The problem is, most companies get so tied up in vanity metrics—like the number of followers on Twitter or Likes on a Facebook post—that they forget those numbers are really meaningless in the grand scheme of things. What good is a Tweet that’s retweeted 500 times if it’s not helping you reach your overall goals?

It’s time to clear the air and do a deep dive into tracking the return you’re getting across your social media channels. Here’s how you do it in three simple steps!

  1. Define Your Goals
    Before you can get into measuring your return, you have to start by setting goals. Your goals should be quantifiable and linked to a specific campaign. In other words, they should be things that you can attach a number to. Some good examples are:

Email list sign-ups
Contact form inquiries
Purchases
Downloads of a whitepaper or ebook
Notice that all of these goals are based on the user taking a measurable action that can be tracked. Specific social media actions such as social shares and followers are nice to track too, but they shouldn’t be your main goals. In order to get the the most accurate number, you really want to set your goals based on actions that convert a casual browser to a lead, and ultimately a paying customer. Someone clicking a link to your site in a Tweet is great, but you shouldn’t stop there. You have to know if they’re converting into leads for you.

  1. Track & Measure Your Goals
    Once you’ve defined your goals, the next step is to track them. The tracking part is why it’s so important to set up goals that are based on your visitors taking action. The easiest way to track your social media goals is by using Google Analytics.

On the conversions page, click on “Set Up Goals.” This is where you’re going to set up the goal you defined earlier. If your goal was to get newsletter signups, you’ll have to setup a special thank you page on your site for after someone subscribes. But if your goal was to increase time on site for Twitter users by X%, or to get traffic from Facebook to watch a video on a landing page, you’d choose the appropriate goal type.

For this part, you’re going to enter the actual destination URL that you want to trigger a conversion. Make sure this page is not indexed in Google so that the only way for someone to land on it is by going through your email signup process. Otherwise you could potentially mess up your data.

Then, you have the chance to attach a value to each conversion. To figure this out, you can use:

Lifetime value x conversion rate: Calculate the lifetime value of a customer, and multiply that by your conversion rate (average number of email subscribers who become customers) to find out what the potential value of each visit is.
Average sale: If the goal of your campaign is to try to get sales, then you’ll want to calculate your average sale amount and set that as the value. In this case, your destination page would have to be the page that shows up after a customer completes a purchase.
Lastly, if you have a specific funnel that you created, you can set that up here too. After you have everything completed, you’ll be able to see your conversions and the actual amount earned from those conversions.

  1. Your Social Media Expenses
    In order to figure out whether you’re getting a positive or negative return on your social media marketing campaigns, you’ll also have to measure how much you’re spending. Here’s what should be included in that number:
    Man-hours: Your time is valuable. Whether you’re a solopreneur, or you have a social media team, add up the man-hours that go into a specific social media marketing campaign over a specified period of time. Don’t just use an employee’s annual salary, because they’re more than likely going to be working on several projects throughout the year. Measure this investment per-campaign.
    Content: Did you get a landing page written by a professional copywriter? Or maybe you outsourced status updates. These costs are easy to overlook, but they count.
    Social media tools: Using Facebook and Twitter is free, but if you’re using a tool like Sprout Social or other social media management software, you need to add those costs in. Just like with the man-hours, you should calculate this on a per-campaign basis. So if your campaign lasts for one month, only add in the cost of a month of the software, not an entire year.
    Ad costs: If you’re running a Promoted Tweet, Facebook Ad or boosting a Facebook post, add in that cost as well.
    Once you have your expenses calculated, you’ll be able to calculate your ROI for each social media campaign with this simple formula:

(Earnings – Costs) x 100 / Costs

You can figure out the specific ROI of each social media site by segmenting your earnings and costs per social channel, and using that same formula above. After looking at the numbers, you’ll be able to decide which social platforms are doing the best for your company and focus in on those. For any social sites that are bringing in a negative ROI, you can either try to adjust by spending less or by making your campaigns more effective.

Tracking your social media ROI isn’t impossible. You just have to take a planned and strategic approach. The more organized you are, the more accurate your numbers will be. And as you start to create multiple campaigns, you’ll be able to fine tune your numbers, like the LTV of a customer and your expenses.

One thing that you should also keep in mind is that social media gives intangible benefits as well – like brand building or earning natural backlinks from people who find your site through a Tweet, and deciding to link to it on their own site. That might not add up to a measurable monetary value, but it’s definitely something that you have to factor in when determining whether social media marketing is helping your company.