How to Make Social Media Fun

One of the reasons we use social media is because it's fun. I know, you're probably asking, if we're using social media for business, how can it be fun? Well, we're going to show you a few ways you can make social media fun!

1. Contests - Everyone loves prizes. Have your customers take creative pictures with your product and post on social media sites

2. Polls- Poll your customers on the next product idea or their favorite so far. Get creative

3. Recognition - Recognize a valued customer. Choose a customer of the month and they can receive a discount for their next purchase. This may incline others to shop more often so they can be next!

4. Show Your Best Side: Post being the scenes photos of your employees hard at work, customers (with permission) who visit that day and show your followers how down to earth you are. Remember, it's all about being relatable.

5. Be Witty: Do you blog? If not, maybe you should start! You can blog about anything industry and product related. If people enjoy your posts, even laugh a little, they are more than likely going to share with a friend.

Social media is a great way to create awareness for your business, but it doesn't always have to be business. Spruce it up a little and have some fun. Your customers will thank you!

Foursquare Benefits for Business

A week ago today was officially Foursquare day. Feel free to head over there and check out all the fun ways they celebrated!

In honor of its one week anniversary, we thought we'd go a little bit in depth on this social media tool that has generated a lot of hype. Why use Foursquare if your a business? What benefits does it hold for you? Here are 4 great answers to those questions.

Consumers Love the Competition: Not only can those on Foursquare share new places and find new hangouts through checking in, but they can also earn points while doing it. They earn badges for being the first to check in somewhere or checking in somewhere the most often. Who doesn't like to gloat about being the mayor of somewhere right?

New Customers at no Cost: All you have to do is add your business to Foursquare and you've opened the door for a whole new group of consumers. While searching for a product or service, your business will then come up in their search and they are now aware of your offerings. Once they are aware you are out their that can then turn into them doing business with you.

Reward Your Customers: Those who check in often and help in supporting your business should be rewarded in some way to show appreciation. Offer coupons, special promotions or give them a shout out. Loyal customers deserve it and they will pay it forward!

Real Time Data: While users of Foursquare are checked in to a certain location they gain access to polls, questionnaires  quizzes, etc. This is a great tool for businesses to gain feedback from their customers.

Social media is all about creating awareness and building a loyal following all while having fun doing it! Foursquare is a great way to create all of that.

What Facebook Changes Mean for Your Brand

Are you familiar with the latest changes to Facebook? If not, Evoke came across a great blog post from The Targeted Group explaining the in depth details and impact these changes will have. Take a look!


A Close Inspection of Facebook’s Updates and What They Mean for Your Brand
Thursday, 18 April 2013 11:42  
Virginia Arnold


Facebook has been busy making changes to its functionalities in the last few months- eight since January to be exact- but don’t be overwhelmed by these new updates. Instead, optimize your brand’s Facebook page by using the following tips and best practices: 


Partner Categories
Through Partner Categories brands will be able to focus their advertising dollars on Facebook users with purchasing histories that suggest they would be interested in specific products or services. 

Brands can leverage this new Facebook feature by advertising products or services that build on purchases users have already made. For instance, a computer company may choose to advertise computer-maintenance services instead of computer hardware since they have access to a group of users that are guaranteed to already own computers.

Facebook Home 
While the success of Facebook Home is yet to be determined, it does bring into focus an important social media trend: mobile marketing. Brands should remember to make their Facebook content mobile friendly. Keep it short, to the point, and include media-rich elements, such as infographics, to help users digest the information.

Ads in News Feed
This new advertising feature allows businesses to target specific audience members with posts that appear in their News Feed. Since these posts will be shared with Facebook users that have expressed interest in the types of products or services being advertised, the ads should be optimized for engagement through the use of language and images that relate specifically to the target audience. 

Reply Button
Brands can now reply to specific comments on their Facebook posts. This new function makes it easier for brands to manage comments and to host events that foster engagement, such as open forums or questions-and-answer sessions, directly on their Facebook page.

Cover Photo Freedom
Businesses on Facebook now have more freedom to add text that encourages interaction with the brand page to their cover photo. Some previous restrictions that are no longer in place include: Adding contact information, suggesting users “like” the page, and including call-to-action text such as “tell your friends”. 


These well-designed brand cover photos are great examples for companies hoping to refresh their Facebook presence: 












Brand Cover Photos from giniarnold




Hashtags
In mid-March The Wall Street Journal announced that Facebook is working to adapt hashtags into its standard functionalities. Facebook hashtags will help businesses be found more easily by allowing users a way to search for posts referencing topics they find interesting. To prepare for this new function, brands on Facebook should compile a list of strategic hashtags that can be used when the feature is launched. Look to current Twitter efforts for inspiration. 

The New News Feed
The updated News Feed layout, not yet available to all users, places a specific emphasis on brand cover photos and profile images. It is now more important than ever that brands are cognizant of their photo choices. This new, prominent position in users’ Timelines is a great opportunity for increasing network size, so use these images to attract and engage.

Facebook Graph Search
Some Facebook users are still waiting to receive access to Facebook Graph Search, but that doesn’t mean businesses should wait to optimize their page. Brands should pay special attention to the “About” section of their profile, making sure it includes a description with keywords that describe the company.

Has your brand found success with Facebook’s latest updates? Let us know your tips for Facebook optimization in the comments section. 

Work to Inspire

I don't know about you, but we had a blast following all of the great upsets, memorable plays and remarkable comebacks during March Madness. One of the most talked about moments around here, which I'm sure is true for all of you, was that of Kevin Ware. Our hands covering our face, shivers sneaking up our spines and our hearts heavy for him, his family and his teammates as he recovers from an unforgettable injury. 

That moment was an inspiration for today's blog. As business owners we tend to always be going after that next big thing. Today, we wanted to take a moment to remind you of how to handle those tough times we all come across. 

1. You Can't Do It Alone: We as entrepreneurs and business leaders tend to always hold the reins pretty tight. However; success, although not impossible, cannot be done without a team behind you. Delegate responsibilities to your employees, let go of the things others can handle.  It's a lot easier to manage your business when you can give others part of your focus.
2. Always Stand Up One More Time: Starting a business, profiting from it and allowing it to keep growing the way you want it to takes work. Don't get discouraged if you try something and it doesn't work. Just chalk it up as a lesson learned and give something else another shot. Running a successful business, on top of knowledge and experience, is a lot of trial and error. If you come across a hurdle or trip and fall, just dust yourself off and keep going.
3. Take a Moment to Reflect: We as human beings in general tend to focus a lot of energy on what could go wrong, on what has gone wrong, but what about all the great things that have been achieved. In the midst of a busy like, always take a moment to look at how far you've come and what you've created. You will learn to be more successful when you learn to understand the great things in life instead of the not so great.

We would love to hear your thoughts and reflections that inspire you as business owners. Please comment below and tell us your thoughts!

How NOT to Use Hashtags

As promised, Evoke Creative Group is going to be giving some tips today on how NOT to use hashtags. Follow carefully as proper use of hashtags is important in promotion, brand building and social media.

1. Creating your own hashtag find, but dontstringtogetherabunchofwords like this, put a # in front of it and call it a hashtag. The reason we don't do this is because it's hard for people to make out exactly what it says. If they can't understand it, they won't click on it. So keep your hashtags short and sweet.

2. Don't always put yourself in the same category. By this we mean try to be a little creative. When posting quotes or pictures or articles, try to reach beyond your normal industry hashtags to find a new audience.

3. Don't distract from the message. A few hashtags within a tweet is fine, but don't get so caught up in how #pretty and #beautiful they are to #tweet that your entire #message is #built on them. See, is can be a bit distracting.

4. Don't be negative and controversial in your hashtags. We always applaud honesty, but twitter isn't the place for a business to post controversial or negative opinions.

Got other ideas for ways NOT to use hashtags? Let's here it!

Hashtag Fun

We've all seen then and some of us even use them, but what exactly are hashtags and how can you use them to get the most out of your social media? We'll tell you!

• Hashtags are a great way to categorize your discussions to make it easier for those interested to find you and what you post
• They are a great way to keep track of live events such as promotions, conferences, webinars etc. Creating a hashtag to be used during these specific times helps with networking and keeping others up to date on what is going on.
• It makes it easier for your target market to find you. Hashtags not only categorize your topics, but it helps your customers to find you. When they are searching specific hashtags for things that interest them, if you use the correct hashtag they can search through and find you and your relevant and informative content. 
• Gain new followers. Although hashtagging isn't necessarily directly related to an increase in followers it can be a great success. Those who happen to fall upon one of your tweets while searching a specific hashtag may be interested in the content you are putting out and want to stay up to date with your happenings, so they'll choose to follow you. 

There are right and wrong ways to use hashtags. Using it the right way can be very beneficial for promoting your brand and gaining credibility. Using hashtags incorrectly can cause frustrating results. We will discuss this in our next blog post so stay tuned!

Employees and Social Media

Each employer has different policies and recommendations when it comes to social media. Here at Evoke Creative Group we encourage the use of social media to our employees. It stands behind our belief that customers build a more trusting relationship when they can relate to the people behind the product. 

If you're a little bit apprehensive about employees and their free reign on social media, here are a few things you can speak with your employees about to ensure you're on the same page:

1. Expressing that their opinion is their own: If employees are posting and conversing about industry related topics, it's best that they make it very clear that what they are saying is their own opinions and does not reflect on the opinions of your business.

2. Personal sharing of co-worker/customer information: Sharing photos or any type of proprietary information without others permission or that goes against company privacy policy should not be shared via social media. Make sure employees are aware of your privacy policy.

3. Personal vs. Professional: It is an idea to have your employees have a separate professional account for conversing with consumers or discussing any business or industry related stuff. 

We'd love to hear your thoughts about employees and social media. Feel free to tell us on twitter @evokebuzz!