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Easily Increase Your Social Media Engagement

by | Sep 25, 2020 | Marketing | 0 comments

Easily Increase Your Social Media Engagement

The number one question I am asked when consulting with different tree care companies is, “How do I increase engagement across our social media platforms?” It can be incredibly frustrating to work so hard to produce quality content and have your followers scroll past without taking the time to even LIKE your post. Fortunately, there are some quick and fairly simple ways to help your engagement increase across your platforms.

Tip #1: Earn engagement

The top piece of advice I can give to help increase your engagement is to earn it. What do you do on a daily basis to encourage your audience to engage with you? Are you commenting and engaging on their posts? Are you posting content beyond sales pitches? Are people seeing #BTS (Behind the Scenes) of your life and business?

In order to see your engagement increase, you need to be an ACTIVE participant on your social media.

Tip #2: Create a trackable strategy

First and foremost, you should have a strategy when it comes to your social media accounts. Second of all, you should be able to track it in a way that makes sense to you. Take the time each month to analyze what you are doing. Which posts received the most likes? Which posts were saved the most? How many people viewed a particular story? How many DMs did you receive regarding your content? Which hashtags increased your exposure?

In order to up your engagement, use these numbers and create new content around what has already worked for you.

Tip #3: Likes does not equal reach

You never know who you are influencing. Just because someone doesn’t take the time to hit that “LIKE” button (even though it is literally the easiest thing on the planet to do), doesn’t mean they are not watching you. Something you post may trigger a sale or outreach 2, 4, or 6 months down the line. Do not give up simply because you are not seeing the “Likes” come in like you want. By continuing to show up with quality content, you are positioning yourself as the expert in your industry.

Even when you think you are not, you are making connections that will someday positively impact your business.

All in all, increasing your engagement does not need to be frustrating or defeating. Take the time to look at your strategy and Keep. Showing. Up. The more times you show up authentically, the better your engagement will continue to be.

 

For additional help with objection handling and one-on-one sales training, check out ArboRisk’s Thrive Sales & Marketing Package! Our team of industry experts has the skills and knowledge to help you take your tree care company to new heights. Click here to learn more!

Written by: Katie Petersen

3 Simple Social Media Metrics

by | Jan 6, 2020 | Marketing | 0 comments

3 Simple Social Media Metrics

You’ve done it. You’re there. You’ve created accounts for your business on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and have begun cultivating relationships with your followers on each. You feel good – this is what all the experts talk about right? Create accounts, show up, engage with your followers, and you’ll get business from it.


But what happens when your engagement drops off? Or your page likes plateau and suddenly you are staring at the same amount of followers each week? What went wrong?


You are not alone. Many business owners make the mistake of assuming that simply have the social media channel will be good enough. However, the human attention span is fickle, and the demand to ensure content is always changing and dynamic is always there.


The good news is, there are ways to adjust and improve upon your social media accounts to ensure that this does not happen to you. Finding ways to measure your social media metrics will allow you to see what works, what doesn’t work, what completely missed the mark, and what is helping your social media presence grow and thrive.


Check out the measuring metrics below to get started enhancing your social media today!


Track Your Post Likes
On average, how many likes do you get on any given post? Regardless of what the number is, start paying attention to which posts receive more likes and which receive less. Craft your content calendar around which posts seem to do better and focus on those posts for the upcoming month. Your strategy should always include posts that you hope will perform well, too! The more diverse content you can utilize, the more you will be able to tell what your audience strongly reacts too and what falls flat for them.


In my experience, posts that contain employees or celebrate an accomplishment always perform better than technical tree care related posts. Be sure to throw in some humor too – no one wants to look at a feed that is only “This is us. This is us working. This is a service we offer.” When accounts become too robotic, people tend to lose interest.


Measure Your Engagement
Begin by observing what an average month of engagement is like on your account. Track how many comments you receive on each post. At the end of the month, compile your data and discuss what worked and what did not. For the next month, create your posts around the content that did work. Tweak the photos you use or the words you include to see if that makes a difference. And, most importantly, set a goal for your business for the month. Maybe you want to try to have at least one comment on each post; or maybe you want to get to 15 comments total for the month. Whatever it may be, focus your posts on this goal and work towards crafting engagement with your followers.


Review Your Follower Count
Start with your baseline of follower count and then set a goal for the upcoming month of how many more followers you’d like to attract. Brainstorm ideas that will attract more followers. Boosted posts or sponsored ads are a great place to start for attracting more likes. There are specific options you can use to target people specifically for page likes. Use your other social media accounts to attract followers to each of your accounts. If you have a great following on Instagram, but a so-so following on Facebook, post on Instagram letting people know that they can also follow you on Facebook. However, if you do this, make sure you give them a reason to follow you on both platforms – people want to see different content; if you are posting the same things on both, this tactic may not be successful because you are not giving them a reason to follow you on both platforms. Inviting your own friends, or asking an employee to invite their friends, has also proven successful for some businesses (although this is more of a quick fix than a long-term solution). At the end of the month, see which tactic worked best for your business and discuss duplication or changes you could make to enhance the strategy.


To grow your social media presence, it is very important to keep metrics in mind and measure them to gain a better understanding of what types of posts your audience is looking for. The more you take the time to observe what is happening on your account, the better you will understand what works and what does not. Ultimately, the more you pay attention to these measurements, the more your social media presence will thrive.

For help creating a social media strategy, contact the ArboRisk team today!

Written by: Katie Petersen

Increase Your Engagement on Social Media

by | Jul 2, 2019 | Marketing | 0 comments

Increase YoUr Engagement on Social Media

Have you ever been texting someone and you want to keep talking and asking them questions and they consistently find ways to end the conversation? Many businesses do this exact same thing to potential clients on social media while others still don’t even give people the opportunity to respond.

If you are looking to generate leads and form relationships online, why would you cut off the conversation before it even gets started? I see too many tree services who are active on social media miss opportunities to engage with their followers. To cultivate true online relationships, you must intentionally integrate a strategy to get your followers to interact with you.

Below are a few tips for branching out of your comfort zone and encouraging your followers to engage with you on social media.

Ask Them Questions: Yes, this seems like a no-brainer. But do you know how easy it is to spew content at someone and never bother to ask them how they feel about something? I once unfollowed a shall-not-be-named-brand because they were constantly pushing their own product and not once did they reach out to their followers. #SeeYa Write a post about the fun activity you are doing that night, and ask them to respond with their activity for the night. Post photos of two or three different trees and ask them which tree they would rather have in their backyard. Play “Would you rather” or “Spot the difference” in two photos. All of these options allow your followers to feel included in your business and help them feel more comfortable with you!


Conduct a Contest: One of the easiest ways to get people commenting and engaging with your posts is to hold a contest and provide free items. Everyone loves free stuff. Ask them to identify a tree or piece of equipment you use to win a gift card. Partner up with another business or company and ask your followers to like both of your accounts, your post, and tag three friends on your post to be entered to win a free tree pruning!


Use Trends to Your Advantage: Everyone loves memes, trends, and viral videos. Use these to your advantage! Remember a couple of years ago, there was a dress photo trending online and everyone was arguing about whether it was blue and black or white and gold? Posting a copy of that photo and asking your followers what they think is a great way to get people talking! Everyone loves sharing their opinion, especially on the internet, and viral trends are a great way to show followers that you are engaged in the world and you are willing to give them a platform to share their opinions.


Share photos or @ Them: Include your followers in your posts! One of the best ways to get involved on social media is to engage with others yourself! The more opportunities you have to include other individuals and businesses, the farther reach your posts will have. Also, people are much more likely to comment on posts when they know a person that’s in them!


Share Your Stories: If you don’t share anything personal on your social media, why should your followers? By keeping yourself private, you’re creating distance between you and your followers on an already distant medium! The more personal items you are able to share – why you started your business, what is a weakness of yours, who inspires you – the more likely people are to open up and share with you. And when you’re done sharing, ask them to share their stories! You will find that people are easily persuaded to open up when they feel safe doing so – so give them that opportunity!


The most important thing to remember, is that people follow you for a reason! They want to get to know you and they want to feel like you are in this together. Reaching out to include them in your social media will only strengthen your relationship in the long-run.

Written by: Katie Petersen

Ways to Grow Your Social Media Following

by | Oct 23, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

Ways to Grow Your Social Media Following

Whenever I meet with clients, the top concern I hear is, “I know I need to be posting on social media, but I have no idea what to post or how to increase my number of followers.” To help your business thrive in today’s modern age, social media usage is a must – and most businesses are on it, in one way, shape, or form. But how many of these businesses use it in an active, strategic way that actually increases their following? After all, you can’t reach the level of Wendy’s Twitter savagery:

or GoPro’s Instagram’s strategic use of hashtags to increase their engagement:

by posting a few links, @mentioning others, and using 77 hashtags on each post. #notgonnawork Strategy is the name of the game and in order to grow your following successfully, you’ll need a good one. If you are struggling for followers, here are a few ways to get your social media presence off the ground (no pun intended). Create a Strategy and Stick to It Who are you? What are you hoping to accomplish? What types of followers are you looking for? If you answer, “Because everyone else is,” or “Well…” I’m here to tell you, you may have a problem. Sitting down and coming up with answers to these questions in incredibly important when you begin to grow your following. Setting SMART goals is an easy way to answer these questions and give your social media meaning: Specific (We will focus on one social channel (Facebook) and measure response rate.) Measurable (The response rate can be measured from the Insights tab.) Achievable (We didn’t make an outlandish goal of say, a 100% increase in 15 days.) Relevant (Our goal will increase our overall social media presence, making us relevant.) Time-bound (The goal will be met in the first two quarters of the year.) Choosing the Right Channels Many businesses make the mistake of utilizing every social media channel they can, becoming overwhelmed, and eventually giving up. Different social networks cater to different individuals, and different pockets of the population can be found on each. Millennial-aged individuals tend to gravitate towards Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Generation X and Baby Boomers lean more towards Facebook. Individuals with a college degree are more likely to use LinkedIn, and Pinterest is utilized almost exclusively by women. Pro-tip: “everyone” is not an audience. Where will your business thrive and with which clientele? Identify your ideal audience and focus on posts within that channel.
Create Meaningful Relationships Blog Post. Like. Share. Blog Post. Share. Like. It is easy to fall victim to an endless cycle of mundane posts. Spoiler Alert: Eventually, your followers will tune you out if your posts are robotic. Be a human. Show your personality. Be honest. Be vulnerable. Inject humor. In a world where everything is digital and human interaction is not always common, it is more important than ever to show who your company is on a personal level. Interacting with your followers as if they are your closest friends is incredibly important. Showcasing the faces behind your business – even more so. And don’t forget to engage with your followers! Responding to comments and questions on your posts shows your followers that you are invested and listening to them. Take Abercrombie’s excellent response to a comment below on Instagram:

Create a Schedule

Posting on a consistent basis not only reminds your followers that you are still around, but it also allows your business to organize your content and more effectively target the clients that you want. Creating a schedule gives you the opportunity to post at times that will maximize your engagement and helps you avoid repeating the same content over and over. If you are not interested in paying for a scheduling platform, I have found that I can easily create a calendar for myself in Excel – simple, effective, and gives me a month’s worth of content that I do not have to brainstorm for.

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Written by: Katie Petersen

5 Ways to Better Your Social Media Marketing

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

5 Ways to Better Your Social Media Marketing

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at your computer screen, wondering what to post on your social media accounts, you are not alone. Digital marketing success remains elusive to most small business owners. The fact of the matter is, 46 percent of (small) business owners are unsure their marketing strategies work and 17 percent know they aren’t working at all (source). #WHAT. This does not need to be you. While I cannot tell you that there is one simple, fix-all option available for individuals struggling with digital marketing, I can give you 5 strategic ways to better your social media marketing and help your business thrive.

 

Strategy #1: Use Real Photos and Personal Stories

 

Do your followers know who you are? Have you given them a reason to connect personally with you? Spoiler Alert: majority of customers are not impressed by the type of equipment you use.Posting photos of your truck fleet will not gain you more business. But, you can certainly tweak those posts and use them to your advantage. Perhaps you are still using the very first truck that your father bought when he started your tree service. Posting a narrative about that, talking about the history of your company and what your father meant to this company, will give customers a reason to connect with you. It humanizes your business and gives them a trigger to remember you when they need your services.

 

Strategy #2: Shoot (More) Videos

 

Video, video, video. I cannot stress this enough: the future lies in videos. While videos can seem overwhelming, take it step by step. Start off small – use your phone and record a quick video introducing yourself, your company, and share three fun facts about who you are. As you become more comfortable conversing in front of the camera, up your techniques. Have someone else shoot you discussing a common misconception about tree care, like how trees with early leaf drop does not mean they are a lost cause and need to be removed. If you have the funds, invest in a video marketing company, and allow them the opportunity to come in and shoot your work day. By taking what would normally be multiple paragraphs of text and translating that into video form, you are allowing your customer a new avenue to engage and connect with you. Plus, the stats don’t lie: 59% of executives agree that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video (source). #VideoForTheWin

 

Strategy #3: Engage and Reward your Followers

 

I’m not sure about you, but my Instagram and Facebook feeds are scattered with individual and company accounts that receive tons of engagement. How are they succeeding at this? By giving their followers a reason to engage with them. Successful digital marketers know that the best way to increase engagement is to incentivize your following:

 

Create a contest for your follows (ex. Upload a photo of yourself with your favorite tree. The best photo receives a $25 credit towards your next service)
Host a giveaway (ex. The first 10 likes on this post receive a $10 Starbucks gift card)
Offer discounts (ex. Like this post and receive 5% off your next tree removal)
Elaborate or superfluous giveaways are unnecessary. Simple, easy offerings are the best way to create a buzz around your company and have your followers watching your page for your next giveaway.

 

Strategy #4: Collaborate with Others in Your Niche

 

We all have people we look up to in our businesses, the individuals or companies that set the bar high, keep us chasing growth, and that every customer seems to know. If you have not used these individuals to your advantage, it is time to start. Reach out to them and propose collaboration on a blog post, a video, or a quick photo on your page. Set-up a lunch and learn with your employees or clients and have this expert come in to teach on a specific topic, all while promoting this on your social media. Business is not always about competition – customers love to see individuals working together to bring them the best possible product. Meeting with others and collaborating with them will not only give you an opportunity to learn something, it will open up your business to a whole new set of followers.

 

Strategy #5: Use Online Tools to Find Top Content for Posts

 

Do you struggle to find relevant content that your followers not only appreciate, but also understand? #beenthere. Many individuals find it difficult to engage with certain companies on social media because they do not equate the relevance of the post to their individual lives. Try one of these content sourcing tools for mainstream articles, on topics that businessmen and stay-at-home moms can both understand.

 

Google News Alerts are a great way to keep yourself informed of headlines that are happening in your industry. Nuzzel connects with your Twitter feed and shows you the most shared content from users you follow. If you follow numerous accounts that are relevant in your industry, the content provided by Nuzzel is invaluable. Mix (formerly StumbleUpon) is a discovery engine that finds and recommends content to users. All you have to do is select a few interests, and hit the ‘Mix’ button and the platform will show you pages relevant to your interests. Finally, Reddit is the hot bed of the Internet, and it’s a great place to find content. Subreddits enable users to browse different topics, where users post and “upvote” the best content. Subscribe to subreddits that are the hottest in your industry so, when you log into Reddit, your front page will be full of content specific to you.

 

Pro Tip: Reddit can also be a great place to share your own unique content. If you’re active on the platform and get familiar with some of the subreddits, submitting links can be a great way to get more traffic to your website (source).

 

These five action items are just a few easy ways to up your social media marketing game and propel your business forward. Doing these things will not only set you apart from the competition, but it will open up your business to an entirely new client base.

Written by: Katie Petersen