Pinterest your way to more clicks, email subscribers & sales
Businesses use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to connect with their audiences and promote services, but over the years Pinterest has grown to become a powerful search platform to further target audiences before they make a purchase.
According to Pew Research Center, only 29% of U.S. adults use Pinterest but learning how to maximize and best use this platform can be key to an increase in clicks, email subscribers and sales.
Pinterest is commonly used to browse around for something to use in the future, narrow down ideas or find something specific. Today, businesses are taking advantage of what pinners are using Pinterest to better promote their services.
Be prepared
Before you dive into using Pinterest, it’s important to have a marketing plan in place to ensure this is the best direction to go. The plan should focus on how the business is going to use Pinterest to increase traffic, email subscribers and clicks. Take into consideration what topics to focus on and turn them into boards, featuring related pins.
Pinterest uses boards to gather pins and businesses can use this to showcase their products and help consumers find exactly what they are looking for.
Do your research to maximize reach
When you have an idea of what topics you want to feature, think about your target market and research what keywords for search perform best. Step into the shoes of the audience and determine what terms they use when searching for your product.
For example, if your business is all about social media, your pins should feature social media tips, email marketing, tips to improve branding and more. Keywords should also relate to social media, marketing, strategy and more.
Pinterest is for more than ideas
Wpromote, a full-service digital marketing agency in California, uses Pinterest to create campaigns to expand their reach. According to Pinterest, this agency wanted to expand their clients’ reach with a lower cost per action. People use Pinterest to not only scroll through content but to plan purchases.
“We’ve found that people on Pinterest are more actively trying to plan or make a purchase than on other platforms. Being able to reach them when they’re in that mindset is a primary driver for the strong performance we’re seeing.” – Ashley Talley, Wpromote Account Director
With the use of Promoted Pins, their campaigns included 40% lower costs per action and 26% lower costs per thousand than other paid channels. They were able to reach new customers via Pinterest at a much lower cost than other paid channels.
Use eye-catching imagery
Along with using keywords and taking advantage of Promoted Pins, design plays a part in getting more people interested in your Pinterest.
Taking the time to design beautiful and striking graphics, focusing on the layout and creating useful pin descriptions are a few design ways to help increase traffic to your website. Using design tools like Canva, Crello and Adobe Photoshop can help to create impactful images.
As Pinterest expert Peg Fitzpatrick said, you want to maximize your efforts and create content that inspires, teaches and visually appearing to gain the attention of the audience.
Eye-catching images within your pins can make or break your business. The better the image used, the more clicks, traffic to website and email subscribers you can potentially have. Preparing a style guide with brand colors, fonts and logos can help plan out your Pinterest layout easily.
As with all social platforms, it’s important to understand how to use Pinterest too meet your audience’s needs and have a plan before jumping in with both feet.
How to master live video
Are you interested in hopping on the video bandwagon? 87% of online marketers use video content, so if you’re not doing video, you’re doing something wrong. But don’t worry! MILO is here to help you make a splash with Live Video tips and tricks!
Did you know that one-third of online activity is spent watching video?
Livestream and New York Magazine reached out to 1,000 adults with a survey to learn how consumers think about and use live video. Live video is more appealing to brand audiences: 80% would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.
So if you really want to increase your audience, live video is the way to go. Today, MILO is going to teach you how to excel at live video by creating closer customer connections and how to get over the fear of going live.
As platforms evolve, you must evolve with them. You can now go live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Because this is such a new feature, many people may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with going live. In order to prevent poor performance and get over your nerves, you need proper planning.
Here’s a checklist of 10 tips when going live to make sure everything runs smoothly:
- Tell your followers ahead of time when you plan to go live.
- Figure out what your purpose is.
- Make sure you have a strong wifi connection.
- Background check.
- Switch off interruptions.
- Voice warm-ups.
- Remind viewers they can subscribe to Live notifications.
- The best length for a love video is 15 minutes.
- Say names from the comment section to engage your audience.
- Keep showing up!
Even when you are prepared, going live can still be nerve-wracking if you are not used to it.
Whether you are in front of the camera or behind it, practicing with going live will help you become more comfortable and confident in this process.
Online marketing expert, Amy Porterfield, says that “there’s nothing more powerful than showing up live.” If you’re in front of the camera, Amy says you have to make it more about your audience and less about you. This way you will come across as someone that connects instantly.
Four secrets Amy has that she uses to thrive on camera are:
- She eased into live by testing it in a private Facebook group
- She’s rarely alone when doing Live video. Having someone from her team on the other end to let her know everything is working, eases her fears and makes her more comfortable on camera.
- Use Instagram Stories as practice videos. They are great ways to become more comfortable showing your face and talking on camera without the live element. Try to do an IG story at least once a week.
- Keep your equipment simple. Having to handle too many things all at once can make you more nervous about whether something will go wrong. A simple set up that you know how to use will help you remain relaxed while you’re live.
Going live in its simplest form requires a smartphone or tablet, and a good wifi connection. Confident Live Marketing coach, Ian Anderson Gray recommends using speedtest.net to check your internet speed before going live. The recommended minimum speed is 10 Mbps.
Live video can make you feel more connected with your audience. So don’t be afraid to try live video for your business today.
How to become an Instagram pro
Are you looking to beef up your Insta game but just don’t know where to start? Well, we’re here to help you become an Instagram Pro.
Instagram is a great platform for your brand to utilize because there is minimal production required and it encourages engagement with your audience.
Today you are going to learn how to be consistent in your branding, some different tools you can use to step up your processes, and how to generate content for a whole month in as little as a day.
Sue B. Zimmerman says, “It’s the REAL, RAW, AUTHENTICITY, that connects you to others.” Zimmerman is an expert on Instagram stories. She emphasizes that Instagram is not your sales platform. What you need to do is focus on building and nurturing relationships. You can do this through your Instagram story. Zimmerman says your story needs to be “edu-tainment.”
There are 300 million active daily users on Instagram stories. Focusing on this tool for Instagram can be a great way to connect with your audience. But how do you get your stories to stand out from all of the others? Try using interactive elements to connect with your audience such as polls, geotags and hashtag stickers.
- Polls drive engagement and provide market research feedback to business profiles.
- Geotags help people who aren’t following your profile discover you and help you get noticed by influencers.
- Using hashtag stickers will show your content in search results.
- Follow hashtags that are relevant to your brand, which allows you to connect with similar brands and business owners.
Highlights are another great way to showcase your best stories. Zimmerman says, “The best real estate on Instagram is the highlights.” Donna Moritz says Stories give you the ability to rebrand your storytelling. She suggests using www.easil.com for premade Story templates to give your brand and profile a more professional look.
Jasmine Star is big on saving time and getting the most out of your content. Your brand is the only thing that sets you apart from all the other businesses on Instagram competing for those likes and comments. Instagram has 800+ million active users. So, in order to make a splash in this big pool, you need to ask yourself, “Are you ‘on’ Instagram, or are you ‘using’ Instagram?”
If you are really utilizing Instagram you should be posting constantly, having one-to-one connections, and have a plan/strategy. Sometimes it can be really hard to find something to post every day, but Star has some tips on how to create a month’s worth of content in a day.
- Determine how many posts you’ll create for the month.
- List the types of photos you want to share.
- Sort into categories, about 9-12, that relate to what you’re selling (literal.emotional) and what you’re trying to attract.
Star suggests:
- Books you’re reading (Self-development)
- Food you’re eating (Lifestyle)
- Your spouse or significant other (Family and connections)
- These categories don’t necessarily have to relate to your brand, but they give your brand an extra layer of meaning.
Take the categories and select a specific number of photos until you have covered the entire month.
For example: If you choose 10 categories for your brand, you just need to plan 3 photos for each category and you’ll be set for the month. This is a way to “publish with purpose,” and Ben Blakesley helps us understand how to stay on brand in order to be consistent and receive meaningful likes. Like Star, Blakesley says that it’s easy to be consistent when you have a plan in place. To be consistent, you need to give yourself guidelines because then the elements of your visual identity will display a clear brand. He suggests choosing three elements to be your bread and butter that you incorporate in each picture to display consistency and produce a recognizable brand.
Some examples he gives to consider are:
- Tonality/warmth – blue tends to receive more engagement.
- Saturation – social loves more saturated images.
- Composition – rule of thirds, and colors that are consistent with your brand.
People want to see stories from humans. You can’t connect with your followers if you’re just a faceless brand without a purpose. Having a direction, a plan and clear branding will set you apart from the crowd.
So just a few reminders:
- Visual identity matters
- Create your guidelines
- Be consistent
MILO and me ft. Dmitri
Hi friends!
Today I want to tell you about Dmitri, a.k.a the (almost) black belt digital ninja. Dmitri has been a Digital Strategist for about eight years now. However, his journey to MILO was far from simple.
Digital Ninja Dmitri
The first time that I met Dmitri I knew he was dedicated, a natural born leader and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I haven’t known him for very long, but I do know Dmitri is someone you can count on.
Today I want to give you another glance behind the MILO Digital scenes and show you the people making MILO the strong, team-oriented environment that it is. Here is what I learned about Dmitri.
Q: Can you describe your job and what you do here at MILO?
A: My official title is Digital Strategist. I take a look at the client and I come up with the best possible strategy to achieve their marketing goals on the Internet. Whether it’s sales, improving their social media, generating leads, or raising awareness, I put together strategies on how to make it happen using the latest digital tools.
I also put out fires on a daily basis.
Firefighter Dmitri
Q: How did you get into the Digital Marketing world?
A: I wanted to be a psychologist/philosopher in college and then the economy crashed, so I switched to marketing. After graduating I did some copywriting and got into social media community management. My first account was PHI (PHI Air Medical) right when I got out of college and it’s still with me today. At my busiest, I managed up to 10-12 clients a day. Then I got into social media ads and Google AdWords, which helped me understand how everything in the digital world worked together and contributes to the bottom line.
Q: What is your favorite part about working for MILO?
A: My favorite part is coming up with the solutions for the clients. Each client is a different puzzle and each solution is custom fit for that puzzle. Sometimes you don’t really know what the solution is right away and you have to go and research.
Bringing the insights back to the client and seeing their eyes light up when you get it just right…that’s my favorite part.
Q: What is the most important thing you have learned in your career?
A:
A trait that I learned over the years is just embracing uncertainty and change.
It used to really bother me because I would want to plan everything out and execute on how I planned it out, but life does not work that way. Working at MILO has made me comfortable with being uncomfortable; no matter what changes, I always feel prepared to do my best and welcome the challenge.
Q: What’s one piece of advice you would give to those just starting in this industry?
A: If you’re starting out in social [media management] I would say that you have to look to the leaders in social media like Gary V or whoever the top dog is in your particular field. The first step is always imitation, learning the rules. Once you internalize the rules and have the guidelines for social media then you can start innovating and going outside of those rules.
The second piece of advice is to just start, just go.
A lot of people read hundreds of blogs about social and always put off actually doing. I say just do it, you’ll learn way more than just reading about it.
Q: Did you have any major setbacks in your career?
A: At my first big job I actually got let go two weeks before Christmas. I only managed three accounts there. Then I went from managing three accounts up to 12 and learning how to run digital ads, write strategy, communicate with clients and show reporting that matters. I was the guy that standardized reporting in our organization and got us the Google Adwords certification.
It really gave me a lot of confidence, and that setback didn’t really matter that much anymore.
Q: How would you describe your leadership style?
A: I’m a big fan of Jocko Willink, he’s a navy seal and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt turned author, turned podcaster/motivational speaker. He preaches something called extreme ownership where you own everything in your world. For example, if somebody on your team is underperforming, it’s your job to go and figure out why they’re underperforming, or spend time with them and get them up to speed.
Ultimately everything is in your court.
Q: Considering you had a long journey to get here, can you describe it?
A: I’m originally from Ukraine, which used to be a part of the Soviet Union. I was born around the time when the Soviet Union broke up and we got separated from Communism. It racked our economy to a point where it’s only now recovering. It was pretty rough. Then my dad won a green card in a lottery drawing to come to the United States. He came to the US and my mom and I followed after a year. We came here with no English and $100 in our (collective) pockets.
Throughout all of this, my family has been extremely supportive over the years and I owe them everything.
My mom for showing me the value of grit and resilience. My dad for always pushing me to do my best and not letting me settle. And my grandparents, Natasha and Nikolai, who showed me the value of hard work and planning ahead.
Q: What is it like being so close to your boss?
The Bromance
A: It’s a balance. There’s definitely a lot of trust involved. You have to balance being bros and doing the right things because sometimes what your “bro boss” wants to do is not what your “boss” needs to do.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is when to push back and when to drive home things that are important.
Ultimately, during work hours work must come first. After all is said and done, we can get a drink.
Q: Could you explain the company culture at MILO?
A:
MILO is very creative and innovative, and it reflects in our culture.
It’s very fun and friendly, always trying to make each other laugh. When it’s time to bunker down, the tone changes and we sit down and crank out what needs to be done. There’s a collective understanding of what we’re trying to build and the quality of work we strive for.
Q: What are the benefits of working at a small business as opposed to a bigger corporation?
Garlin Gilchrist After Party
A: You can make a lot of change very quickly. Whatever idea you have, if you get enough people behind you, you can execute it. Working in MILO, we’re very nimble. If there’s something that we want to do, we can turn it around pretty quick. In a big organization, you have to deal with bureaucracy, going through all the layers of managers and their managers. In contrast, at MILO, idea becomes reality very quickly.
Q: What is it like working in Detroit?
A: It’s very cool especially because I draw a parallel of the rebirth of Detroit with the rebirth of my professional career. As Detroit got bigger, and as people started to rebuild and the small businesses started to grow, so did MILO throughout the years.
Having worked very closely with Detroit-based businesses, I feel like I’m growing with them.
I’m learning and getting all the benefits that Detroit is getting. I feel very close to Detroit because of that.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about your job?
A: The people. Just being able to be creative and see the impact of your decisions.
Dmitri has taught me a lot since my start at MILO Digital. From day one, he has been there to push me out of my comfort zone, which I’m terrified to do. In my first month at MILO, Dmitri told me that, “It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you’re trying your best.” I have never been in such a safe learning environment as I have at MILO, and it’s all thanks to the people.
Without Dmitri, there is no MILO. Like he said, the people are the best part of working here. We all make up the heart and soul of MILO and we each play a key role in making sure this company thrives. I am so thankful for Dmitri’s constant leadership and dedication to making sure MILO is producing the best possible outcomes.
P.S. His favorite color is blue!
Reach & Impressions: What does it all mean?
If you’re a social media manager, you understand how important it is for your content to be seen and engaged with.
One of your main goals for social media management is to increase the account’s audience and brand awareness. With that in mind, it’s important to know the difference between reach and impressions. Both terms have similar meanings, but provide different results on social media.
Reach vs. Impressions
Reach is the total number of people who can see your content and Impressions are the number of times your content is displayed, no matter if it was engaged with or not. For example, if a post was shown to the same person three different times, it would be 1 reach and 3 impressions.
Clients wish that all of their followers would see and interact with every piece of content posted but it doesn’t happen. For instance, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has 7,200 followers, but the organic content doesn’t result in 7,200 likes, comments, and shares. Without a post being promoted (like the post below), the organic content only receives a small percentage of interactions.
Why Reach & Impressions Matters (+ which is more important)
Both reach and impressions are important because they help increase brand awareness and grow the audience.
Depending on an account’s goal, you might want to focus on just one or the other. If the main goal is to get content out to a specific number or people, then focus on reach. Shift the focus to impressions if your main goal is to increase brand awareness and you want your content shown a specific number of times.
However, Sprout Social reports reach may be less than impressions since one person can see multiple impressions. But knowing who your target audience is and what kind of content they like to see can help to increase both.
Something more important than reach and impressions is engagement. Engagement is the number of interactions people have with your content, whether it’s likes, comments, shares or retweets. According to AdWeek, it’s considered to be the most important metric for social media campaigns. If people are liking and interacting with your content, they may be likely to share it with their friends. If you’re receiving high-quality engagement on your content, reach and impressions will continue to grow.
If you think about it, engagement is the final step in this three-part process. Reach and impressions work together to drive engagement to your content. It all starts with content and what the audience likes to see.
Still don’t understand the difference between reach, impressions and how beneficial it all is? MILO’s team of experts are here to help increase your brand’s awareness! Contact us.
Surviving Facebook’s algorithm change
The Facebook algorithm: It happened to me and yes, it happened to you too!
The conversation surrounding Facebook in 2018 has been centered on the new algorithm changes. Designed to encourage more meaningful interactions between people, you’ve likely noticed how these changes apply to your newsfeed.
Gone are the days of engagement baiting, as brands now have to modify their methods to embrace Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of Facebook. Brands will need to listen to the druthers of their audience to curate content that resonates with the audience and garners their engagement. Social Media has created a paradigm shift where brands are encouraged to be more participatory with their clientele, and these algorithm changes further exacerbate the need to LISTEN.
Recent User Engagement Trends
The algorithm change was not totally unexpected, as recent user engagement trends demonstrate. TheStreet reports that the percentage of U.S. adults using Facebook remained flat relative to an April 2016 report showing 68% participation. The percentage of users who stated that they visited Facebook “several times a day” fell from 55% to 51%. Based on the dip in usage, and waning sentiments towards Facebook advertising, the new algorithm was developed.
These changes don’t spell out doom and gloom for brands. With a bit of creative thinking and adaptability, you can ride this latest wave without wiping out!
Ideas For Business Page Content
Here are some areas to focus on when publishing content to Facebook:
- Inspire fans with meaningful content. You’d be hard-pressed to find meaningful interactions on Facebook without meaningful content. Discover ways to convey your brand’s message in unexpected ways to avoid falling into the clickbait trap, as Facebook will be demoting those posts to the bottom of the newsfeed. Your focus now, more than ever, is to inspire, educate and inform those followers. Look back to older posts that earned high engagement, find the pattern and implement a strategy around it moving forward.
- Jump on the video bandwagon. If you weren’t already utilizing videos and Facebook Live, there’s no time like NOW to begin doing so! The stats all confirm that video content drives higher engagement, why wouldn’t you be cashing in it? Plan out your video content, make it something that resonates with your followers and gets the conversation started.
- Paid ads are still effective. Ads are Facebook’s primary source of revenue, so trust they aren’t going away anytime soon. By utilizing ads, you can customize your reach to areas such as location, interest and demographics. Do this right and you’ll be able to hone in on those Facebook users who are more likely to consider your brand and interact with it.
There’s nothing to be scared of regarding Facebook’s new algorithm – It’s not the first time they’ve switched things up, and most certainly won’t be the last. If you are still struggling to make your way through the Facebook algorithm changes or aren’t sure where to get started on the whole idea of meaningful content, MILO’s team of digital experts are here to help. Let’s talk!
MILO and me – A space where I found myself
Hi friend, I hope you’re having a great day!
So, lately, I’ve been thinking about the amazing opportunities I’ve had because of MILO Digital. Over the past few months, I have been able to attend the Digital Summit conference at Cobo Center, visit the Google Ann Arbor office, work on the live social media coverage for TEDxDetroit, and do what I love – write for all of you. I would have never been able to have these experiences if it wasn’t for MILO.
Attending the 2017 Digital Summit conference at Cobo Center in September was very thought-provoking. Digital Summit says that it “is not only a place for keeping up with the trends, but also for being an active player in their creation.” Over the course of two days, I heard from many interesting people such as Jonah Peretti, the CEO/Co-Founder of Buzzfeed, and Morgan Spurlock, filmmaker and producer of “Super Size Me”. I learned a lot but also realized how much I had already learned at MILO, as I was already familiar with the ideas and topics presented by many of the speakers. I had come a long way in four short months.
Digital Summit 2017
Another amazing experience I had through my internship at MILO was touring the Google office in Ann Arbor. However, on the day of the tour, Billy [MILO Digital CEO] and Dmitri [MILO Digital Strategist] had to stay back at the office and “put out fires”, so they were unable to join us. Although I was disappointed that I could not share this experience with my entire team, I learned a lot about leadership that day. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the things you want, step up, and take on the challenges facing you – even if that means missing out on opportunities like a private tour of Google. I really enjoyed the tour of the Google office and I hope you enjoy this selfie we took with our tour guide Aashka.
Google Tour
Then later in October, MILO Digital ran the live social media coverage of the TEDxDetroit conference at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. This coverage included Facebook posts, live Tweets, Instagram pictures and creating a Snapchat story, along with engagement across all these channels. I love TED Talks, so being able to attend the event alone would have been incredible, but I also got to help tell TEDxDetroit’s story for the evening. I was in charge of Snapchat and for those of you who know me know, I am a die-hard Snapchat fanatic. The whole evening was so inspiring, listening to local Detroiters speak about their biggest accomplishments, while at that very moment, I was living out my own.
TEDxDetroit
That night TEDxDetroit presenter Alana M. Glass, a sports entrepreneur, said, “sometimes you find your purpose when you’re not even looking,” and I think this encompasses my whole experience with MILO!
Before I started working here, I hit a very low point in my life. I had just been let go from my previous job, where I was told I wasn’t “up to their standards”. In spite of this setback, that same day that I was let go, I went home in tears, composed an entirely revamped resume and applied to the internship I was introduced to through a guest speaker at school.
When Billy Strawter visited my Organizational Communications class a year ago, I had to write a response to his discussion with us about his company, MILO Digital. The only person that has read this essay was my professor, but I want to share an excerpt with you.
“Strawter’s description of the company he founded was very interesting to me because this is the industry I would like to go into someday. It was very exciting getting to listen to someone who started their own company and how it all works. Hearing the processes at MILO made me feel very hopeful for the future, pushing me toward my ultimate goal of working at a company such as this one.”
Now here I am, almost eleven months later, and I could not thank MILO enough for giving me a space to find myself. I have grown so much over these past few months and feel as though I found my purpose. Not many people can say this, but I love my job! I am truly lucky to be here, writing these words for you. I hope they were worth reading.
-Love, Ashley
Yes, Millennials still use Facebook!
If you’re between the ages of 18-29, you’ve probably heard through the grapevine that millennials such as yourself are no longer using Facebook. Is this news to you? It sure should be, because according to Pew Research Center, 81% of millennials are still using Facebook!
With other platforms like Instagram and Snapchat capturing the attention of most millennials, Pew reports that Facebook is still utilized the most out of the four major social sites. Wondering how millennials are using other social platforms? Pew reports that Snapchat falls second behind Facebook with 68% millennial usage, followed by Instagram 64% and only a surprising 40% of millennials use Twitter.
Why do Millennials still use Facebook?
According to the American Press Institute, many millennials turn to Facebook to see what their friends are up to, find entertaining and interesting articles, share content and find more information on what’s trending.
So how is Facebook managing to keep the attention of millennials in the ever-changing and growing world of social media? By constantly making updates and adding new features! Facebook is constantly upgrading and updating its platform, with advancements such as Facebook Live, Marketplace, Virtual Reality (VR) apps and Stories keeping it in the limelight.
Similar to Snapchat and Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories allow users to share what they are currently doing via videos or photos. Along with filters and lenses, users can interact with their friends by sending short stories.
With social media platforms implementing video and live video streams on their platforms, millennials are now attracted to this new way of sharing their personal lives. Facebook Live allows viewers to interact with the live post through comments and Facebook Reactions.
At the end of the day, millennials are just looking for technology that is simple and easy to use. With Facebook, users have access to all of the different features found on other social media platforms within one site.
Why should organizations/businesses use Facebook?
Social media allows businesses to target a specific audience, target those based on their interaction with your website or target those similar to your existing customer base. Utilizing social media allows organizations to continue reaching their current customers along with interacting with a new audience.
Facebook is one social media platform that provides organizations the opportunity to build a community for viewers to voice their opinions, share their thoughts and provide valuable feedback. It opens up a dialogue where a business and its customers can talk in a more casual setting and in a timely manner. The more an organization interacts with its customers, the more those customers will be interested and want to stay connected.
Millennials have been using social media for quite some time to share their personal lives but as of now, they mostly use social to share their experiences with brands. With this generation being open and honest about things, their comments can be the key to your brand’s growth and social presence.
Need more guidance on using Facebook to your organization’s advantage? MILO’s team of experts are here to help! Contact us.
5 Sprout Social tools to take advantage of in 2018
If you’re in the business of social media marketing, how do you manage social media marketing tasks?
At MILO, we use Facebook Business Manager and Sprout Social to help us manage our clients social media activity.
Next to Buffer & Hootsuite, Sprout Social is a social media management platform that can help streamline workflows and ensure your content reaches the right audience at the right time. We’ve identified five tools that can help you integrate with the platform to maximize its capabilities. These tools enable users to find content efficiently, review social media analytics in real-time, and connect with the audience all within the same web environment.
Tool #1: Find Content/Content Suggestions
Looking for content quickly? Turn to the Find Content section under the Publishing tab.
Sprout Social recently announced Content Suggestions as a way to find current and engaging content. This tool aggregates shared content from various social channels to help the user find articles from trusted sources, posts from industry blogs and other brand-related media.
The content is aggregated from links shared on Twitter and based on an algorithm created by Sprout’s Data Science team, each article is matched to one of the featured content categories.
Tool #2: Reports
Getting ready to present social media updates to a client? Turn to Sprout Social for automated analytics!
Using the Group Report option, you’ll be able to see all of the analytics for the channels you have connected on the platform. The report gives you the opportunity to analyze your social strategy and compare data to understand what works well for the account. Included in the reports are: Impressions, Engagements, Audience Growth and Link Clicks.
Sprout Social also gives you the opportunity to review each profile in full depth. This is an opportunity to analyze data for individual profiles including audience growth, total engagements, top posts and impressions.
Tool #3: Messages & Smart Inbox
Interact with your audience without leaving Sprout Social by using the Smart Inbox! Located in the Messages tab, Smart Inbox provides users the opportunity to monitor and engage with conversations across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. It also allows users to customize their inbox feed, monitor keywords and hashtags, assign tasks to other team members and keep in touch with viewers.
Tool #4: Discovery
If you are interested in seeing what others are saying about a specific topic, use Sprout Social’s Discovery tool. This tool allows you to find conversations and people to engage with based on keywords relating to your business. You can even narrow the search by adding a location to find a highly geo-targeted audience.
Along with finding new conversations, you can increase your follower count by following accounts. Additionally, clean up your account based on Sprout’s suggestions. Using the Suggestions, you can see the account’s Twitter followers and who to follow back, accounts you’ve held a conversation with and those who have mentioned you at some point.
Tool #5: Hashtag Analysis
Studies show that tweets with hashtags get twice as much engagement as those without hashtags. Because hashtags can help generate engagement for an account, Sprout Social provides a hashtag analytics tool to help find popular topics and hashtags.
By utilizing the Trends Report, you can see the most commonly used hashtags and topics when the account is mentioned on Twitter. Apply the hashtags listed within the report to help increase your engagement.
Take advantage of the tools on Sprout Social to maximize your efficiency and improve your social outreach skills. Maximize your time and ROI on social media by implementing these time-saving programs.
Looking for some more in-depth help? We’re happy to consult and/or bring you into the office for a one-on-one session with our in-house expert. Let’s talk!
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You don't need to be on social December 13,2019 -
Going beyond social December 5,2019 -
Dear Digital, September 24,2019