Social Media Webinar Takeaways To Keep Customers Engaged & Informed

Nowadays, keeping your customers engaged and informed of new business operations is more complicated than ever. It seems like federal, state and local government regulations are changing on a daily basis, requiring business owners to readjust their operations to meet emerging guidelines. We know times are tough, so we shared tips and tricks during a social media webinar with the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to help business owners reinforce their communication efforts across social channels.

While sometimes stressful and time-consuming, it’s critical that you communicate operational changes to your customers as soon as they happen (take a look at these four tips to help you out). When your customers know what’s going on with your business, it’s much easier for them to buy your products and services. When they’re left in the dark, they will likely turn to a competitor who makes it easy for them to purchase what they’re searching for in their time of need.

Jonathan Ochart, our founder and CEO, presented his go-to tips and tricks during the social media webinar below to help fellow business owners overcome communications-related challenges brought on by coronavirus. View the social media webinar to learn how to keep your customers engaged and informed during and after the health crisis. 

You’ll also learn how to:

• Build your social media network
• Write informative yet engaging social media posts
• Use hashtags to boost reach and visibility
• Incorporate mentions and tags properly
• Enhance engagement with free stock photos and videos

Free Social Media Webinar: Keeping Your Customers Engaged & Informed With Social Media

Social Media Webinar Q&A Session

At the end of the social media webinar, Jonathan answered a couple of questions from the audience. Take a look at the questions and answers below to help you strengthen your social media marketing efforts.

Question: What is the difference between @ and # in hashtagging?

Answer: The @ allows you to tag/mention an account in your post. This notified the account that you included them in your post, increasing the likelihood that they will see and engage with your post. It also allows your audiences to click their name and visit their social media profiles, so it’s a nice way to enhance visibility for your partners. 

The # allows you to turn specific text into a hashtag. Essentially, you want to select hashtags that are relevant to your post and your audience’s interests to increase visibility and engagement. Tailor hashtags to your products/services, location, hobbies/interests and current events. Make sure to check out trending hashtags (such as holidays, major news/events, etc.) and create relevant posts in real-time using those hashtags to maximize your post reach and engagement.

Question: Are there different specific ways to increase your follows/likes between Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? Our three platforms have very different engagement methods and it’s hard to gauge how to make each one different.  

Answer: Yes! Here are some tips to help you gain more followers/engagement across platforms.

• Twitter: This platform is great for sharing quick updates in real-time. Ideally, you would tweet 3 times a day to stay visible on people’s feeds. Make sure to check out the trending hashtags feature to see what people are talking about and share your own two cents (As relevant to your brand) using the hashtag. You can also participate in Twitter chats (i.e., #FoodTravelChat) to meet others with similar interests and build a following.
• Facebook: Facebook has changed the way brand posts are shown to audiences and it’s more difficult to get on their feeds. Hosting Facebook events and sharing updates within the events is a great way to get more visibility for your page. We’ve seen significant growth for clients who apply this strategy. While we can’t host physical events at this moment due to COVID-19, we can still host Facebook events for webinars, Q&A sessions, etc., so we recommend you give that a try.
• LinkedIn: Make sure to attach industry-related hashtags to your posts here as this platform is focused more on the workplace and careers. Also, add comments to trending posts to encourage people to click on your profile to learn more about you. Join LinkedIn Groups based on your work/interests and participate in group discussions at least once a week to get some visibility. After sharing a variety of posts and comments, you’ll discover what works for your specific brand and audience, so you can tailor your social media approach accordingly.  

We’re Here For You

After gathering questions from the audience during the social media webinar, our content marketing team developed a free do-it-yourself marketing guide to help businesses overcome a wide range of challenges. Download the guide here and learn how to keep your customers engaged, maintain brand relevance and save money with free marketing tools. Our colleagues and clients are using the guide to bolster their marketing efforts, so we hope this helps you do the same.

Also, don’t forget to take advantage of a free marketing consultation with our team! We’ll talk through your challenges and give you ideas to help you survive these uncertain times. Fill out the form below to connect with one of our marketing and public relations pros.