The Importance of the Hashtag

If you are a relative newbie to social media you may be asking yourself, what is the story behind the word(s) following the # symbol? If you read # as "pound", this blog was especially written with you in mind.

When I first wrote this post in 2015, it was specifically for Twitter, but since then social media networking sites have evolved and you can find hashtags across most social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. You may even notice hashtags on the corner of your TV screen while watching your favorite shows in order to build engagement on social media.

# (or Hashtag) is more than just a silly thing all the kids are doing nowadays, it's an important element of your business's social media strategy and here's why!

Hashtags are a great search tool - Did you know clicking on a hyperlinked hashtag is similar to using Google search but within the social media platform you are using? Incorporating appropriate hashtags to your content helps broaden your visibility to people who may not be following you, but are exploring the hashtag. 

Using hashtags is also a great way to promote a trade show or event. Most trade shows have an official hashtag. Be sure to incorporate them to increase visibility and impressions on your posts, you may even gain new followers!

Hashtags can be branding gold (sometimes). When used right, including a hashtag in an advertisement or campaign can be the perfect addition to your creatives. Here’s several examples of what NOT to do.

Looking to perfect your branding hashtag or expand your visibility with hashtags? Let’s get started!


3, 2, 1...ACTION with Facebook Live

Can you believe Facebook Live was launched nearly 4 years ago? I may avoid being recorded like the plague, but for those of you who aren’t camera shy, Facebook Live is an excellent option for your business.

What is Facebook Live?

Facebook Live is a feature within Facebook that allows users to broadcast a video in real-time utilizing a computer/laptop’s camera or mobile phone. Viewers are able to like and comment in real-time which is my personal favorite feature since it allows instance communication and engagement.

Benefits for Your Business

Are you ready for your close up? If you haven’t added Facebook Live into your social media strategy now is the time.

Customer Response Time Expectations on Social Media

Hello, is anyone there…?

If your social media is on auto-pilot, you may be missing one of the most vital pieces to having a successful social media program - being social and having conversations!

For those of you on auto-pilot, today is the day to reassess. Posting content is great, but if you aren’t actively engaging with your followers, replying to their messages or comments you are losing out. Your customers have expectations and you may not be meeting them.

One of the Annoying Actions Brands Take on Social Media is “Not Replying to My Messages” according to a SproutSocial survey. Here are other interesting stats:

  • Did you know 80% of customers expect companies to respond to their social media posts within 24 hours?

  • 85% of customers on Facebook expect a response from companies within six hours.

  • 64% of customers on Twitter expect a response from companies within one hour.

Don’t have time to watch your social media around the clock? That’s what I’m here for. Contact me to get a quote!


Getting Customers to Commit with Abandon Cart Emails

Don’t we all wish our customers were like penguins? Falling in love and committing to our products and services, never leaving us. I know I’d love for each one of you reading this blog to fall in love with my services and choose me as your lifelong marketing guru, but I digress….

Getting your customers to commit to your products once they’ve found your website, researched products, and added it to their cart can be easier with the right follow up.

I dare to speak for all of us when I say, we’ve all added more to our shopping cart than we intend to buy. Our wish list of things that at the moment would make us so happy, but maybe not our wallets. We often leave the cart without buying a single thing. Enter abandoned cart emails.

Abandoned cart emails are sent to customers who ALMOST made a purchase in hopes to encourage them to complete their transaction. Can you believe only 19% of even the top 1,000 ecommerce websites have any kind of abandonment recovery? Half of frequent cart abandoners will purchase when hit with remarketing.

Does your website have remarketing abandoned cart emails set up? Let’s get your customers back.

Negativity on Social Media

While I was brainstorming my blog topics for October, I had to stop to respond to a notification regarding a negative review one of my clients had just received. After the situation was rectified, I thought here is my next blog post.

Regardless of what type of business you have, industry you are in, you will one day get a negative review. It’s inevitable, but how you handle it speaks volumes to your customers and even prospective customers.

Connecting with your customers in real time has it perks, but there are consequences. 50% of customers claim they would stop doing business with a company that doesn’t respond to a negative social media post. 62% of customers say they are influenced by negative comments and will stop doing business with you altogether.

Don’t let this be you. Respond to all negativity, you might surprise yourself and win them back.