Capital City Public Relations Senior Writer + Publicist Jennifer Shermer creates and manages marketing programs for businesses to raise their brand awareness.
Here’s How to Increase Audience Engagement Via Social Media
Social media is everywhere. And it seems like every day another social media network pops up. How do you make the best use of your time, while also keeping up with new networks, new ideas and all that posting work?
Start by understanding which networks are available, and of those networks:
Who is their target audience?
What is their primary purpose?
Then, match that data to your target audience to determine which networks you should engage with to get maximize your audience engagement. Alliant National’s marketing team can help you make that determination. The most popular social networks for Alliant National’s independent agents are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Once you know which networks to join, create a strategy that includes: topics you’ll post about, as well as the frequency of your posts (2-3 times per week, consistently, is great). Here are a few tips to get the most audience engagement out of your social media activities:
Include graphics in your posts. Everyone loves graphics in social media posts. They are easy to spot when scrolling though our feeds and the more eye-catching, the better. Make sure you use clear, politically-correct and appropriately sized graphics for your post. Do a quick google search to determine size requirements. Also, be sure to give appropriate credit to each image.
#UseHashtags. Hashtags help keywords stand out in the post, and they’re also handy for tracking discussion around a specific topic and connecting with people who are searching for that particular hashtag.
Create interesting posts. Posts should be insightful, informative, fun and thought-provoking to audiences. People don’t want to be advertised to through your social media channels. Share industry-related articles, fun holidays, pictures and stories of your business supporting local charities, events happening in your community, etc. Invite your audience to share their stories and pictures and to comment on your posts.
Join the social media party. Don’t just post. Read and respond to all comments you receive on your social media networks. Comment on social media posts from business contacts. Think of it as a networking event. You have to get out there and be social in order for it to be a valuable experience.
One additional note: Remember Alliant National is a great resource to agents in helping them with social media best practices. We can get you started and/or help you get on the right path to increased audience engagement. We love our independent agents!
This is Part II on how you can get local media attention for the things you likely already do on a daily basis for your business. Getting positive media attention is easier than you may think.
By understanding the basics of creating a press release, knowing your local reporters and being aware of all activities taking place at your agency, you can create positive media attention for your business.
How many sports teams has your agency sponsored in the past year? Have you conducted any pancake breakfasts to support a community cause? Did you make any charitable donations? Did your employees take paid time off of work to volunteer in the community? Did any employees run a marathon or celebrate milestone anniversaries? Did any employees retire? Did you hire anyone?
Here’s how to turn these everyday occurrences into news that your community reporters will want to know and report.
And, positive media attention leads to increased awareness of your business. And that leads to more business opportunities. And those lead to business growth and increased sales. And, who wouldn’t want that?
If you are like most community businesses, you likely hire and promote people, sponsor a local school’s sports team, donate to community charities (food banks, disaster relief, cancer support groups, etc.), celebrate business and employee milestone anniversaries and have employees who have exciting extracurricular activities (marathon running, world travel, tiger-taming, etc.).
Here are four tips for turning these everyday occurrences into positive, and lucrative, media attention for your business.
Create a template for press releases. Create a general press release template, to make it efficient and easy for crafting an announcement about your company. You may want multiple templates, such as a “new hire” announcement, a “charity support” announcement, etc.
Press releases have general guidelines you should follow. Creating a template assures you’re following those guidelines without re-creating the wheel each time you make an announcement.
And, bonus! Your team at Alliant National can guide you in creating templates.
Know your local reporters and build relationships with them. Make it a point to know the editors and reporters of your local news media team.
Depending on the size of your community, this team may include a news or radio station, small community/neighborhood paper, or your area’s main publication. Get to know this team, send all press releases to them and invite them to cover your company’s special events, such as celebrations and charity fundraisers.
Send them pictures, too. Reporters love pictures.
Be mindful of opportunities. Be mindful in your daily activities by always thinking, “Is this something of interest in my community that the media would cover, and would it help portray my business in a good light, potentially creating more opportunities for my company?”
Make these practices a habit. Don’t be a “one and done” press release company. Designate a responsible and detail-oriented person on your team to manage press releases/media relations (it’s not as complicated as it sounds) for your business.
You should be sending press releases for newly-hired employees, milestone events, charitable endeavors and other newsworthy events.
One additional note: Keep in mind Alliant National can be a tremendous resource to you in getting started and staying active with your local media relations.
We’re here to help our agents grow. To schedule a digital marketing consultation, please email us.
Your business is a success. Congratulations! And why wouldn’t it be a success?
You’ve worked hard, faced and overcome many challenges, added some blood, sweat and tears, and worked many nights and weekends to ensure success.
You have professionally-designed ads throughout the community that promote your business. But, what does your personal Facebook page say about your business?
If you have crazy spring break pictures, online gaming stats, political messages and/or colorful language and extreme opinions posted on your public Facebook page, it’s likely to damage that business reputation you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
Here are some best practices for your personal Facebook page:
Utilize the privacy settings. If you haven’t done so lately, take a tour of Facebook’s privacy settings. You can choose who can view your page, as well as your posts, comments and images.
Would you want current or prospective customers to see each post, comment and picture on your page? If not, make the appropriate changes. Use the privacy settings wisely.
Know what your kids are doing on your page. Do you allow your kids to play games through your Facebook page?
Or, perhaps you are playing all those farming, candy-gathering and other trendy games on Facebook. If so, update your settings so that Facebook doesn’t notify and invite all of your friends to play, too.
And, sorry folks, your Facebook friends don’t care that you plowed a new field in FarmVille.
Chain letters are still frowned upon. Don’t. Just don’t. On behalf of all your Facebook friends and future Facebook friends, please don’t send out requests for people to “share this post to 10 other friends to avoid extreme misfortune.”
Think how your clients would feel receiving all those messages from you.
Be mindful of the opinions you share. It’s true. You don’t have to share your political beliefs, Vegas trip pictures and current mood on your Facebook page.
You can also disagree with someone else’s post without actually commenting on that post. Again, keep in mind the message these posts are sending to your wide range of clients, and use the privacy settings sensibly.
One additional note: Keep in mind your employees likely have personal Facebook pages that may pose a danger to your business reputation. You should ask them to read this article.
Don’t let your personal Facebook page scar your business reputation.
A sense of community is at the heart of it all for Ellis County Title Company’s Executive Vice President Erik Barnard.
Erik first worked at Ellis County Title Company in 1994 as a high school student, 10 years after his father Harold purchased the company with close friend Jim Pitts. Harold and Jim purchased Ellis County Title Company, seeking a job that would allow them to provide for their families and serve their community at the same time. Through the years, Ellis County Title has thrived, serving thousands in this cozy Texas community of Waxahachie and Ellis County by helping them invest in home ownership.
Soon after Erik Barnard completed college at the University of Mary-Hardin in Baylor, he returned to Ellis County Title, eager to join the family business and serve his community. The thing Erik enjoys most about his role at Ellis County Title is “helping people realize their investment and home ownership goals.” He adds that, “many of the people I help are friends and neighbors, as well as families that I have known my entire life.”
Ellis County Title’s business model is based on serving their small community through strong and lasting relationships. He adds that all of the company’s employees are “like family” and they interact outside of work, as well as in the office. The average tenure for an employee is 15-20 years. Since putting the community first is the priority, which also includes home buyers and sellers, employees and strategic partners, Ellis County Title actively looks for partners who make people a priority. That’s one of the reasons Ellis County Title Company enjoys working with Alliant National Title Insurance Company.
Harold, Jim, Erik and their team work closely with Alliant National’s Craig Dunbar, and have for over a quarter of a century. Erik said Craig’s commitment to their business and their shared mindset of “treating others as you want to be treated, having high values and always doing the right thing” is one reason they’ve worked so well together for so long.
Along with his community fellowship in Waxahachie, Erik enjoys spending time with his wife Laura and children (Nolan and Knox), cheering on his kids in their sporting events, golfing and running. While he’s not one to brag, Erik has quite a running history. He is a marathon and half-marathon runner!
Erik summarizes his work/life balance by sharing that he’s been blessed with a wonderful community to serve, caring employees and talented partners like Alliant National to aid in Ellis County Title Company’s continued success.
Contact Ellis County Title Company
469-517-0160
www.elliscountytitlecompany.com]]>
This blog contains general information only, not intended to be relied upon as, nor a substitute for, specific professional advice. We accept no responsibility for loss occasioned to any purpose acting on or refraining from action as a result of any material on this blog.
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Ellis County Title’s business model is based on serving their small community through strong and lasting relationships. He adds that all of the company’s employees are “like family” and they interact outside of work, as well as in the office. The average tenure for an employee is 15-20 years. Since putting the community first is the priority, which also includes home buyers and sellers, employees and strategic partners, Ellis County Title actively looks for partners who make people a priority. That’s one of the reasons Ellis County Title Company enjoys working with Alliant National Title Insurance Company.
Harold, Jim, Erik and their team work closely with Alliant National’s Craig Dunbar, and have for over a quarter of a century. Erik said Craig’s commitment to their business and their shared mindset of “treating others as you want to be treated, having high values and always doing the right thing” is one reason they’ve worked so well together for so long.
Along with his community fellowship in Waxahachie, Erik enjoys spending time with his wife Laura and children (Nolan and Knox), cheering on his kids in their sporting events, golfing and running. While he’s not one to brag, Erik has quite a running history. He is a marathon and half-marathon runner!
Erik summarizes his work/life balance by sharing that he’s been blessed with a wonderful community to serve, caring employees and talented partners like Alliant National to aid in Ellis County Title Company’s continued success.
Contact Ellis County Title Company
469-517-0160