BRAND INCREASES ENGAGEMENT 1,000% AND SALES 161% WITH FACEBOOK AND ARCH [CASE STUDY]

The following case study covers a Facebook business page marketing strategy for a client over an eight 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 one.

The Disclaimer
Every business is unique. While our general approach and strategy used with Andrew Martin may be effective with other brands, there is not a one-size-fits-all strategy for managing a Facebook Page. To add value to you, we’ve included tips within our case study. If you are a social media marketer, the case study offers a few ideas to take note of and consider implementing in your approach; and that if you are a business owner, these results should inspire you to take the steps towards hiring a professional agency to manage your social media.

The Client:
Andrew Martin (AM) creates hand-crafted leather belts made from the most exotic skins in the world. They pride themselves on using only the finest leather, and combining this leather with unique hardware to manufacture exceptional belts. The result? 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 Approach:
Prior to creating and implementing any social media marketing strategy for a new client, we send a comprehensive questionnaire for them to complete. This worksheet, accompanied with strategic meetings with the client, provides ARCH with the information we need to craft a solid marketing strategy.

We call this the “on-boarding process.”

Through this process with Andrew Martin, we developed three objectives.

Tip for Social Media Marketers: Create a thorough on-boarding process. Use this process to gather all the information you will need about the client’s business, industry, competitors, products/services, brand, and any other relevant information.

Tip for Business Owners: If a firm doesn’t take the time to thoroughly understand your business and objectives, they aren’t the right fit for you.

The Objectives:
Create and manage a Facebook Page that achieves these three objectives:

Objective 1: Grow an Audience – Define, develop and grow an audience.
Objective 2: Grow Brand Presence – Further develop the brand and grow the brand presence.
Objective 3: Increase Sales – Assist in increasing website traffic and sales.
Tip for Social Media Marketers: Work with your client to set THEIR objectives, and be sure to set realistic expectations about the timeframe in which they can be accomplished.

Tip for Business Owners: Without objectives clearly outlined, it will be difficult for you to assess the effectiveness of any social media strategy.

General Facebook Page Strategy:
Average 17 posts per week
2-3 Monday – Friday, 1 on Saturday and Sunday
5 promotional posts per week
Promotional post = any post promoting Andrew Martin or a post with a link to the website
3 of these posts to feature an Andrew Martin product
6 fashion/ value-add related posts
Fashion news and trends, fashion tips, etc.
4 entertainment, sports or other trending topic posts targeting specific groups (non fashion-related)
2 post shares from other pages within the industry
$50 in boosted posts per week:
3 x $10 boosts
4 x $5 boosts
$25 of boosts towards “People who like the Page and their Friends”
$25 of boosts towards specific audiences in conjunction with Facebook Ads audiences. (Working in conjunction with our Facebook Ads Campaigns)
All boosts are for 24 hours
Never boost more than 1 post at a time to the same audience
Respond to and/or “like” all messages and comments within 1 hour (we typically respond within 5 minutes between 7am-12am)
Comment on 5 other pages per day (during the week)
*This is a general overview of our content strategy.

Tip for Social Media Marketers: Create a content calendar that works best with your workflow and stick to it consistently. And then completely update it every 2-3 months depending on how the audience responds to the content.

Overcoming Challenges with 2 Strategies:
Challenge 1: Who’s the target audience? As a new company, Andrew Martin did not have an adequate number of sales to clearly define the customer demographics. Therefore, we relied on market research to develop the first target audience. It created a unique challenge because without a defined customer base, Facebook pages can take 6-8 months to develop a community with consistent engagement, and organic click-through website traffic that leads to sales.

Strategy 1: Research covering our client and within the industry helped to pinpoint an initial target audience in the 45-65 age range with an income over 75k. We used that as our base, and then targeted the buying habits and lifestyle interests of that group to develop a more targeted audience.

For example, the research said the NBA should be popular with our audience. To test that theory, we posted the graphic below before game 6 of the NBA Finals.

It’s an eye-catching image with recognizable figures. The text is simple: “Who do you pick now?” We boosted it for $10 to our target audience’s age range and income, NBA, and an interest in men’s fashion and exotic leather. Our goal was an engaging post to drive potential buyers to the page, and to see who responded. After paying close attention to the demographics of the people who liked and commented on the post, we used that date to adjust our strategy and future content to better serve and attract that audience.

After 115 comments and 32 shares, we were able to learn a lot about this new target audience.

arch4

Challenge 2: What is the brand voice? Because Andrew Martin was a new business, it didn’t have a established brand voice. We needed to create it.

Strategy 2: We started with a general, but professional brand voice and used posts like the NBA example to learn more about how our audience communicates before adapting.

For example: We learned that our audience responded well to a bit of jabbing back and forth, similar to responding to a guy sitting at a bar having a beer right next to you. Over a few months, we developed a consistent brand voice with personality and humor, but always remained professional. Generic or overly formal replies don’t resonate with the Andrew Martin audience.

In the photo below, a gentlemen replied to a post and hints at an objection over the price point of the belts. It would be easy to dismiss his comment as a negative comment, but we crafted a reply that addressed his comment and defended the brand in a lighthearted way. This resulted in the individual replying again, complimenting the brand, and asking where he can purchase our belts. In just one reply, we were able to turn someone who seemed entirely disinterested in the brand into a potential buyer.

post-1

Tip for Social Media Marketers: Seize EVERY opportunities to engage with your audience. It keeps the person coming back to the page, and makes it more likely Facebook will continue to show the page’s post in their feed. It also might lead to a sale for your client.

Tip for Business Owners: Trust your social media team to add personality to the brand voice. You can maintain professionalism while providing an authentic personality that drives brand growth and loyalty in today’s social media community.

The Results:
(Results in 8 months, from 2/1/16 – 9/30/16)

Objective 1: Grow an Audience.
Results:
6,700 Facebook Fans in 8 months
Average New Fans Per Month: 837
Objective 2: Grow a Brand Presence
Results:
Over 2,400 engagements last month
700% increase (from month 1)
Engagements Per Post: 45
Engagement increased over 1,000% (from month 1)
Average Reach Per Day: 5,429
2,500% increase (from month 1)
Objective 3: Increase Sales
Average Monthly Sales increased 161%
ARCH overcame every objective within 8 months that led to the client becoming one of the largest and fastest growing brands on Facebook in its industry.

HOW TO PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS ON SNAPCHAT

Do you want to get your Snapchat channel in front of more eyes?

How about your product or service?

If so, partnering with influencers on Snapchat can be the best way to do it.

This allows you to tap into their audience, spread your message, and get more exposure. It can be a game changer for your business.

What’s more, it can help you build a more engaging community on Snapchat.

That being said, it’s easier said than done to partner with influencers. It’s really a three step process, and for your influencer partnerships to be effective, you need to nail all three steps.

Here are the steps:
1) Find and reach out to the right influencers in your industry

2) Create awesome content

3) Maximize the ROI

We’ll go over each of these steps in-depth in this post. Let’s get started!

Step #1: Find and Reach Out to the Right Influencers in Your Industry
Find Influencers in Your Industry
Before you can partner with influencers, you need to find them!

There are two ways you can do this, and we’ll cover each one.

1) Ghostcodes
Ghostcodes is an app that lets you discover other Snapchat accounts based on certain categories, like entertainment, business, fitness, health, etc. Through this website, you can find some of the most influential people in your industry.

For example, let’s say you have a cosmetics company.

You could go to Ghostcodes, then go to the “Beauty” category. From there, you’ll see a whole list of popular Snappers.

You can click on individual Snappers to see their interests, as well as their other social media accounts.

From there, you can pick a few Snappers who are most relevant to your product, and have the most potential reach.

2) Social Media Research
Here, you identify some interest categories for your brand. If you have a cosmetics company, perhaps those interests are beauty, comedy, fashion, etc.

From there, you do some research on popular Instagrammers, YouTubers, Twitter users, and bloggers, and try to find the most relevant of those influencers on Snapchat.

Note: You can also pick influencers from our list of 20 brands and entrepreneurs you should follow on Snapchat.

Approach Influencers the Right Way
Once you find the influencers, you need to approach them the right way if you want any chance at a partnership!

How can you do that?

1) Find their preferred way of communication through other social media accounts.
Influencers will usually have an email or contact method listed on their Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube accounts. Find that method, and use it to contact them.

2) Be respectful and add value.
Here, you must give them a compelling reason to collaborate with you. This can be monetary or something else – but the benefit is key. When you show what’s in it for them, they’re much more likely to respond and agree to a partnership. Your offer will also stand out amongst the other brands that are trying to win partnerships with them.

Step #2: Co-Create Awesome Content
So, you’ve found an influencer in your industry and they’ve agreed to a partnership with you. What next?

You need to create some awesome content. Here are some content ideas you can use…

Influencer Takeovers
In 2015, Red Bull partnered with snowboarder and X Games champion Mark McMorris. They gave him control of their Snapchat, and Mark showed them the behind-the-scenes of his extreme sports lifestyle.

In doing so, they build a deeper connection with their fanbase on Snapchat, and also won over some followers from Mark’s Snapchat fanbase.

Exclusive Events
Earlier this year, tons of brands leveraged the music festival Coachella to partner with influencers on Snapchat.

Tmobile collaborated with viral video star Piques, DJ Zedd (and others) to promote their new service called Music Freedom. These influencers Snapped behind-the-scenes footage of their experience at the festival, while promoting Tmobile’s “#MusicFreedom” hashtag.

Revolve collaborated with Negin Mirsalehi to model some of the brand’s trendy “Coachella” looks on their Snapchat channel.

You can also leverage your own exclusive events. For example, Adidas had Pharrell Williams do a Snapchat takeover of his coverage of an Adidas launch event. The Snap story ended up with 3.4 million views in just 24 hours!

Show and Tell
Here, you have the influencer actually use your product.

For example, Covergirl partnered with model Ingrid Nelson on Snapchat, and she gave her followers mini-tutorials on how to use the Covergirl products.

But you don’t have to be a huge brand to partner with influencers.

The Grafton Hotel partnered with an influencer, who documented her experiences at the hotel throughout the day. The results were 430 new Snapchat followers, 3,584 story views and 12 screenshots or engagements.

And Shiseido, a cosmetics company, partnered with Jen Chae, who gave her followers an inside look at her morning routine made complete by the latest products from Shiseido.

Think for a second, which of these strategies seem most relevant for your business? Which do you think would work the best?

Step #3: Maximize the ROI
It’s not enough to just partner with an influencer on Snapchat. You also need to get a return on the investment. In order to do that, you need a call-to-action for your influencer campaign.

The Right Calls to Action
So, which calls to action should you weave into your influencer campaigns? Here are a few good options:

Add your brand on Snapchat
Direct them to your website
Direct them to purchase a product
Have them sign up for an event
You may want to write out the short calls to action on your Notes app, and send it to the influencer to copy and paste into their Snaps. However, the calls to action can be verbal too. If the viewers are engaged with the story, they’re likely to take action either way!

Conclusion
By partnering with influencers, you can get the most out of Snapchat for your business.

To partner with influencers and get the most bang for your buck, follow the three steps we outline here:

1) Find and reach out to the right influencers in your industry

2) Create awesome content

3) Maximize the ROI

If you follow this strategy, there will be no limits to your potential on Snapchat!

Have you partnered with any influencers on Snapchat? If so, how did you do it, and were you happy with the results? Let us know in the comments below!

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM TO BUILD BUZZ FOR YOUR PRODUCT LAUNCH

Finally, it’s time to launch your product.

You’ve done the preparation, you think everything is in place, and you officially launch it.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned.

Instead of raving fans and new customers, all you hear is crickets.

Your launch performs far below expectations, and you feel like your product is a failure.

Sound familiar? Well, far too many businesses have faced this scenario – sub-par launches that don’t meet their expectations. And when this is the case, it can put a big dent on your revenue, and leave your scrambling for cash to keep your business afloat.

We don’t want that to happen to you…

So, how can you have a more successful product launch? You can start by using social media to build buzz around your launch.

And one of the best platforms to do this with is Instagram.

So today, you’ll discover how to use Instagram to build buzz around your product launch.

Let’s get into it.

  1. Highlight the Problem
    When people feel like you understand their problem, they also feel like you have the solution.

To start building buzz, you can make a post explaining the problem that your product will help solve.

For example, if your product/service helps businesses by way of a 24/7 virtual receptionist, you could post a picture of an angry person on the phone, followed by a caption like, “Do customers get frustrated when they can’t reach you? It’s impossible to be there all hours of the day ready to answer the phone – but stay tuned, because in the coming weeks we’ll give you a solution to this problem!”

  1. Behind-the-Scenes Video
    Behind-the-scenes footage is great, whether you’re filming interesting live video, or posting it as an Instagram post.

During your launch period, you can create behind-the-scenes videos of the creation of your product, or perhaps even show your team spitballing ideas in the office.

  1. Create a Designated Hashtag
    We’ve already told you how to choose the best hashtags for your Instagram photos – but this time, you’ll be creating your very own hashtag!

So, why create a hashtag specifically for your product?

Well, hashtags make it easy to categorize your product. They make sure that everything you post with that hashtag is easily accessible and collected in one place.

Then, with a few clicks, users can find out everything they need to know about your product. It also makes it easy for people to share your product with friends, because they can direct their friends to the hashtag.

The key is to use the hashtag whenever you’re discussing your product on Instagram.

When creating a hashtag, keep it concise, and use a phrase that is unique and speaks to your topic.

For example, if your product helps travelers find cheaper flights, you could use a hashtag like, #FlyCheapIn2016.

  1. Create a High-Converting Instagram Ad
    As we’ve said before, to get the most out of Instagram, you need to know how to create a high-converting Instagram ad.

For your product launch, consider creating an Instagram ad that leads to an opt-in page. On this page, users can opt-in with their email to get on the “pre-launch” list and be the first to hear when your product goes live (and potentially get special discounts).

That way, when it comes time to launch your product, you’ll already have a list of people anxious to grab it.

  1. Tease the Launch in Your Instagram Story
    Are you using Instagram Stories for your business? If not, you should be. And you should be especially active on Instagram Stories when building buzz for your launch.

As we mentioned before, you can post behind-the-scenes footage here. But you can also tease out benefits of your product, as well as some of the awesome things people will be able to do once they get your product.

  1. Post a Countdown
    Post a picture counting down the days until the official launch. You can do this when it’s 2 weeks out, one day out, and a few days away from launch. It’s a good way to build up anticipation.

In the caption, explain that the countdown is for the product launch, and then provide a benefit of your product.

  1. Host a Contest
    Everybody likes to win stuff – it’s human nature. And so, contests are a great way to build buzz around a launch.

The grand prize can be something simple like a free product

Here are some ways to run the contest:
“Like” the photo to have a chance to win
Create a photo contest with specific hashtags, and choose the best picture
“Follow” your Instagram account to have a chance to win
And if you need some examples of good Instagram contests from small businesses, check out this post.

Conclusion
A successful product launch can elevate your business and bring in tons of revenue. Use this Instagram strategy to build buzz around your next launch, so you can open to raving fans and new customers instead of crickets!

Have you used Instagram or other social media platforms to build buzz around your product launch? How did you do it? Let us know in the comments below!

BLACK FRIDAY emails

With the right social media ads, you can see a big boost to sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But you shouldn’t just be using social media ads to tout your awesome deals.

Email marketing is arguably even more powerful. With the right emails, you can drive tons of new revenue over the holiday shopping weekend.

But what type of emails should you send? How can you convert as many of your subscribers into customers and/or repeat customers?

That’s exactly what we’ll cover today. The beauty of it is you can apply this information immediately and create a high-converting Black Friday/Cyber Monday email sequence for this weekend!

Here are 3 high-converting emails you can send during Black Friday/Cyber Monday…

  1. The Black Friday/ Cyber Monday Discount Email
    What you’ll discover about each of these Black Friday/Cyber Monday emails is that they are pretty simple. That’s the beauty of it – they don’t need to be complicated.

And this email is perhaps the simplest one of all.

You start by wishing people a “Happy Holidays”. Then, you announce the special deal and/or provide a discount coupon in the email.

Make sure to stress that the discount is only for a limited-time, and let them know exactly when it will end. This is important, because it creates scarcity and a sense of urgency. They know they need to take advantage of the deal before it runs out.

Finish the email with a strong call to action to get people to shop now.

  1. The “Gift Guide” Email
    We introduced the idea of a “gift guide” in last week’s email about social media ads. To recap, with the “gift guide” you basically help people answer the question, “What should I get for him/her?”

The subject could be, The Official [Your Company Name] Gift Guide! Or, if you have one specific category of products, the subject could be, “Every X person will LOVE Y like these”, where “X” describes your target customer and “Y” describes your product.

For example, “Every football fan will LOVE tees like these…”

Then, in the email, explain the idea of the gift guide (i.e. helping people figure out what to buy for friends and family). Follow it up with a short description of the product(s) in the gift guide, along with a call to action to shop now and get the discount.

  1. The “Treat Yourself” Email
    Here’s one you should send out a day or two after your discounts expire.

Your audience has done all this gift shopping for friends and family over the holiday weekend, and that’s great! But it’s time for them to get something special for themselves.

Explain that at the start of the email. Then let your audience know that your offering one more special limited-time “treat yourself” discount. Let them know this is the absolute last day to get the deal, and they need to act now.

Conclusion
Don’t let your Black Friday/Cyber Monday discounts go to waste. Use the power of email to give your audience massive value and convert them into customers. With these 3 emails, you can’t go wrong!

What other emails have you tried over the holiday weekend discount period? Let us know in the comments below!

HOW TO HIRE A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

The importance of the role social media plays in business is growing. That won’t change anytime soon. Businesses know they need social media and that they need quality people to manage their social media. However, many struggle to hire the right person.

I would love for you all to hire ARCH Digital Agency, but we know we aren’t going to be the right fit for every business. The right fit is important. We also know that some businesses prefer to hire someone into their company versus outsourcing. This blog post will give you a few Do’s and Don’ts to help you hire the right person to manage your social media.

Before I dive into how to hire a Social Media Manger, let me first take care of the objections sure to come my way. The following is a guideline to follow to position your organization to hire the most likely to succeed person. There are exceptions to each of the hiring tips I will provide. However, through my experience of having hired or helped hire over 50 people to work with clients and with or for me in various levels of social media, this is my best guideline for hiring a Social Media Manager.

The Don’ts
Don’t Hire Interns or New College Graduates:

I get the logic; younger people are great at using social media, therefore you think it is likely that will translate to he or she being able to manage your brands social media. It does not translate. Not at all. This is not to say there is not a place within a social media team for such people, but they should not be in a position of management nor should they be making any key strategy decisions. Experience and maturity matter when it comes to social media. A Social Media Manager is NOT an entry-level position.

Don’t Hire Someone Based Entirely on their Personal Brand:

By all means, examine the social media accounts of the potential job candidates. However, don’t assume that their success, or lack there of, in growing their personal brand necessarily translates to their ability to manage your businesses brand.

Most of the best social media managers have little to no personal brand. They are too busy working hard at growing and managing the brand of their employers. Sure, the person with the huge and engaging personal brand probably does move towards the front of the line, but you will want to take a good look at them beyond their personal brand. Don’t assume that their personal brand is a direct indication of what they can do for your business.

Don’t Hire Someone Because of their Engaging Extroverted Personality

I see this often. Companies hire that outgoing person with the award-winning personality to manage their social media. They hire the type of person you’d want representing your brand at a trade show or networking event. This rarely works out.

Social media managers tend to be more introverted. I find that there are more successful people in social media from a technical background than from a sales or marketing background. I am not saying to ignore personality. Personality is important, but be open to a wide variety of personalities. You’ll find that social media is as much or more about the ability to gather, analyze and respond to data than it is about creating eye-catching graphics and creative content. Those that excel with data tend to be more introverted. Don’t rule out introverts.

The Do’s
Hire People with Experience

A few years ago, it was difficult to find people with experience as a Social Media Manager. The industry was too new. That is not the case now. There are plenty of people with three plus years of experience within a social media management position. Experience is important. Experience is vital. Hire experience.

Hire People with an Education

Social media takes a long-term commitment, the type of commitment demonstrated with a four-year degree. In addition, social media managers need to be able to learn and implement new information, which is often learned through the pursuit of a college education. There are plenty of jobs that I do not believe a college education is necessarily needed for, but I personally would make a college degree a requirement for any social media hire, even a more entry level social media position.

Hire People Who Seek to Understand Your Organization and Goals

Social Media is not one-size-fits-all. One mistake I often see that leads to social media managers failing in their role is that they have one set strategy and they try to fit all brands within that strategy. A quality social media manager will ask questions about your organization and seek to identify your goals and then craft a strategy. If they don’t ask questions, it is likely they’re going to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Hire People You Want to Invest In

You don’t get good social media managers without paying for them. If you’re thinking of trying to do some type of hybrid performance based pay scale or attempt to work in commission, your business is no ready to hire or grow. For any medium or large business, a quality social media manager will cost you a salary in the range of 120-160k. For a small business, you might be able to hire a social media manager with 2-4 years of experience for 70-90k. If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, you need to be prepared to invest in a quality social media manager.

Social Media should be a highly valued part of your business. Having the right person to manage that social media is paramount. Hire the right people.