And we want to talk today about what you can post on social networks, and where you can find more social media post ideas.

Where to get social media post ideas?

The standard approach — brainstorming and others

Methods of generating topics for articles were invented many years ago, and there are many. Brainstorming, unconscious writing, drawing, meditation, sleep and rest, walking in the woods, observing birds and animals, classical music… Everyone finds their own methods for awakening the creative unconscious. You can do it yourself or google something like “how to find a topic for content” and get hundreds of sites where authors have collected different content ideas. If we reduce them to a shortlist based on our knowledge of what goes best on social media, we get options like this:

• Short tips on the topic of your product or service.
• Industry news + invitations to the discussion.
• Selections of posts/articles.
• Topical videos that are of interest to the audience — even if they’re not yours.
• Photos of company employees.
• Thanking subscribers for something.
• Congratulations on the holidays.
• Answers to frequent questions.
• If you don’t have any other ideas, use these, they work!

Inspirational approach

There’s a network you can log on to in the evening and sit up until the first roosters. It’s Pinterest.

This site has such a recommendation system that you can surf through the pics endlessly. But in general, it’s a service not for storing pictures but for storing visual bookmarks. Almost all of the images are linked to the site where they are located. Most often, these are thematic blogs or online stores. Online stores can be ignored, but theme blogs are your helpers in finding ideas for content.

All it takes is patience. How does it work? You write about online marketing. You find an article on the topic by keyword — and you can do a lot of useful things with it. Translate and print with authorship (this is called content curation), take just the title and divulge the topic yourself, make a summary of the article and argue with some of its theses. And the great thing about all this is that the more you keep picture bookmarks on your boards, the more interesting the network will offer you.

Google Trends

Follow the news: react to current events with jokes or helpful material. You can find such events in the trends of any platform (for example, all current events are discussed on Twitter and can be found in the Trends tab).

Google Trends is an excellent way to find out what users are discussing on the web today — firstly, it’s your profession to be aware of high-profile topics, and secondly, you can find newsworthy topics that are relevant to your brand. And from them, you can get ideas for posts.

User surveys

Ask your audience what they’re interested in — that way, you’ll both get engagement and gather ideas for posts, which you convert into a list of topics. Offer to write ideas for posts — or problems with your community’s theme — in comments or responses to Instagram polls.

Discussions

The topics that get the most response from your audience — and therefore engagement in the community — are the ones that bother users. And what bothers people, they actively discuss. This can serve as ideas for posts. It’s pretty simple. Keep track of such discussions in comments in competitor communities, forums, and related sites.

Competitors

Track and analyze your competitors’ publications. You’ll understand which topics work best, which contest mechanics produce the best engagement, and which, conversely, don’t work. This way, you’ll have plenty of ideas for posts of your own that you can publish with a greater likelihood of their popularity.

Old publications

Scroll through your feed, refer back to your old content plan if you had one. You can re-post with updated data. Also, old articles can help you gather interesting comments and questions from users. They can become new publications. Very often, subscribers will throw up interesting topics on their own. You have to watch carefully.

What do I post on social media?

In all of our projects, we use essentially the same approach:

• Attraction
• Warming up
• Selling

There are times when a business account has an audience that likes and comments but does not buy. Selling content presents products to subscribers, generates interest, and encourages them to buy.

It is important to approach the creation of selling content for social networks creatively: try the formats, see the result, and consider the effectiveness. We use all the content formats suggested in this article in our projects, and we are sure of their effectiveness.

Types of selling content

The main types of content that we classify as selling content:

• discounts
• promotions
• reviews
• selections
• announcements
• presentations

Discounts

Discounts are an important social media promotion tool for merchandise businesses in highly competitive niches targeting the mass consumer.

Often even a small discount becomes a deciding factor for customers.

When writing discount offers, consider:

Your competitors’ approach to discounts and the specifics of niche pricing, the peculiarities of your business processes, the size of the final profit, taking into account all sales in action. 

IMPORTANT: discounts should increase profits through the projected increase in sales, not reduce it by reducing the check while maintaining or lack of growth in sales. Therefore, you should always carefully calculate them and analyze the results.

Let’s consider the options for discount offers.

Time-limited discounts

• Weekend Discount

Every weekend, we can offer customers discounts on a new product that are only valid on those two days. This way, you encourage your audience to buy it now because the following weekend’s discount will be on other products.

• “Only today” discount

This can be a significant discount on an item or category of items that last only one day — it’s like we’re saying to subscribers, “Buy at this price now or never.”

• Long-term discount

Run long-lasting promotions for major purchases this way. This approach works well in the furniture niche. For example, you can run a month-long discount on kitchens or bedrooms in the furniture niche. For other niches with a high average check, that’s okay, too.

These types of purchases are not made spontaneously; you have to prepare for them. It would be foolish to lose a customer because you run a promotion from the 15th to the 18th, and their salary comes on the 20th.

• Holiday discount

A good example of situational marketing is a holiday discount. Most purchases are made just in time for the holidays, so you can’t miss out on the major ones: Halloween, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Fourth of July.

• Event-driven discount

You’ve been promoting an event for a long time — attracting participants, warming up with useful content, and closing on a sale. And now the audience is here, so sell!

Create a good short-term offer and get results.

• Discounts for specific segments of the target audience

Narrowing your custom audience to a specific segment works well. So people will recognize themselves as the hero of your publications, will associate their needs with your product. And then it will be quite easy for them to make a decision about buying your product.

Discounts on individual products

• Discount on goods of a particular manufacturer

Most often, these kinds of discounts are done as a joint promotion with a manufacturer or distributor of goods. They allow you to attract a new audience, increase demand and increase profits and therefore are beneficial to both the supplier and the seller.

• Discount on seasonal goods

Discounts at the peak of the season? Such a move won’t just fulfill your sales plan. It will seriously strengthen your customers’ loyalty to you.

• Single item discount

This technique is often used to promote a new item, to increase sales of best sellers further, or — on the contrary — when selling items in low demand and take up space in the warehouse or on display.

When selling new products, don’t forget to collect feedback so that you can then use it in a warm-up to generate demand and increase sales at full value.

Discounts for targeted action

• Discount for users of other marketing tools

When you have an additional task, such as promoting a mobile app, inviting to an event, subscribing to another social media account or messenger, use this format.

This way, you can kill two birds with one stone: increase sales and increase the effectiveness of another marketing channel.

• Early booking discount

Early booking discount is suitable for tour operators, event organizers, narrow audience merchants, and several other niches.

This way, you can get the money you need to produce a product or organize a service in advance.

In addition, you actually form a preliminary list, which allows you to estimate the demand for the product.

• Sales

The task of an offer with a big discount is to attract buyers’ attention and make them go to your site. After all, their choice may not stop at the super discounted model but at a more expensive option from your assortment.

Special discount formats

• Discount for a certain amount

Show the discount amount not in percentages like most competitors, but in absolute numbers. This way, the user will clearly see the amount they will save.

Combining a discount with elements of engagement and warming up

• Discount for answering a question

If the standard discount approach is losing popularity, shake up your audience in an original way. Choose a question so that it’s close to the business topic, but it’s not too complicated or special.

Promotions

Promotions are special offers where the emphasis is not on reducing the cost of goods but on obtaining an additional bonus. Often such ways of stimulating sales work better than discounts because they help to increase the average check and/or free the warehouse from goods of low demand.

A gift to the main product

• 2 goods for the price of 1 (3 for the price of 2, etc.)

Offer customers two items for one price: for example, the more expensive item on the check. This method attracts those who want more items at a better price and increases the average check.

It is better to use this format to increase sales of low-priced goods.

• 2 is cheaper than 1+1

This is a variation of the previous promotion, but there is a difference. It’s better to hold it when the goods in the check are relatively expensive, and the price of the items is about the same.

• Accompanying goods as a gift

This is another kind of 2-for-1 promotion, but with an emphasis on the presale of related goods or services. Customers are often looking for a comprehensive product of several items.

The gift will be an interesting offer for subscribers at a low cost. At the same time, you’ll make money on the sale of the main product at full price.

• A gift for purchase right now

Incentivize a purchase by offering the customer to get “something else.” And the gift can be a product from the company’s assortment.

• Bonuses for purchase

This is a variant of an intangible gift. We offer additional client services for the purchase of “here and now.”

• Participation in a drawing for a purchase

An additional incentive to make a purchase decision can be a time-limited advantageous offer: for example, participation in a raffle or the next promotion.

The customer is interested in getting even more value, and we increase the likelihood that he’ll come back to you again.

Cashback for a purchase

A purchase bonus can also be arranged in the form of a cashback, similar to bank settlements. This technique can be used if customers react weakly to the words “discount” and “bonus.”

• Additional services for a purchase

Free shipping or installation is an effective marketing tool that also often becomes decisive in the choice. It’s essential for selling large items: furniture, refrigerators, washing machines, and other large appliances.

Free shipping is best offered when you reach a certain purchase amount so that logistics costs do not lead to losses. In addition, if a person is a little short of the minimum order, he is likely to buy something else to take advantage of this option.

• Situational promotions

Don’t forget to give a “reason” for the current promotion. After all, although people buy on emotion, they want a rational explanation for the current conditions. Do you have the 33rd item in a particular category sold? Make a promotional offer in honor of it.

Product reviews

Reviews are essential for warming up (they help us remove objections) and selling (they show the product face).

The technique is quite simple: we choose one product (or category of products) and present it. This can be either a text description or a short video with a demonstration.

The reviews can be combined with discounts and promotions or created separately from them.

• Product of the week

Choose the product you’ll be talking about all week. You can review each of its features in a separate post and include that product in the selections.

• New product reviews

Talk about additions to the range or announce them by suggesting pre-orders.

• A product in use

Show how to use your product in the real world. And if you give variation, great! That way, potential customers can try it on and see how it will fit into their reality.

• Relevant product

Tell your subscribers why everyone should have this exact product and offer to buy it right now.

• The choice of an influencer

People tend to believe in famous personalities. They want to be like them. They want to “try on” their lives. This format is most often used by big brands, which choose famous people as their ambassadors.

But there is another option: to monitor the publication of stars in social networks and events from the star chronicle. You can always find the right shots there.

Product selections

Product selections are a way to present several products at the same time and allow users to buy them: follow a link to a landing page, an online store, or write a direct message.

The choice of criteria by which selections can be assembled is endless and depends only on your creativity and assortment.

Selections can also be in text + image or video formats.

Selection by a certain principle

• Selection of products by color

Customers are bored with the classics, and you have stale bright goods? We gather the corresponding selection, think out and announce the reason and let’s get to the sales!

• Selection of goods in a certain style

Customers bored with the classics, and you’re stuck with a bright product? We gather the appropriate selection, think up and announce the reason and let’s move on to sales!

• A selection of goods in a certain style

Show the richness of your assortment with your own eyes. Then everyone can find exactly what they need.

• Selection of goods by price

Holidays are coming soon, and everyone will buy gifts? Or just want to please and pamper yourself, but not to empty your wallet?

Make life easier for your subscribers by offering them a ready selection of options. One post can include items up to $100/200/500.

• Selection of goods for a specific purpose

You can find several products with a common attribute and collect them into a selection: this works for the sale and gives users interesting information.

• A selection for a comprehensive solution

Help customers overcome the difficulty of choosing — give them a ready-made solution. For example, a selection of furniture for a baby’s nook would include a table, chair, and shelf in the right style, while a ready-made bow for a formal outing would include a dress, shoes, and a bag.

Tops

• Bestsellers

Do you have an obvious sales leader? There’s a reason for that! Surely this product is very easy to use and ideal in terms of value for money. So tell as many of your potential customers as possible about it.

• Top products in the category

A kind of top, which presents the sales leaders in one single category.

• Top products with discounts

Another kind of top, where we focus on the best deals on products in the range.

Comparisons

Product comparison is another type of selection, where the reason for the presentation is to compare products with each other. Comparisons can also be made according to different criteria.

• Battle of the goods analogs

This type of selection in the form of a game helps users choose favor of a particular product. Talk about the pros and cons, features, and uses of each and bump them together.

• Want/Can

The “want/can” format works great for selling inexpensive analogs of premium products. Show the original and the product of your range, which can replace it.

Presentations

Presentations show the product face to face and create a desire to buy. Most often, they present new items in the range. But not only.

• Premiere of a new product range

When a new product enters the range, it’s a great excuse to announce it to your subscribers. You may find someone who wants to buy it right away.

• Last chance

When a product is new and moves out of the line, it’s the last chance for users to buy it.

Announcements

• New product announcement

Prepare for the premiere of a potential bestseller in advance: prepare your audience for the premiere with a chain of warming posts indicating the timing of the premiere and the features of the novelty.

• Schedule of events

This format is suitable for businesses that work by appointment — these are many areas of the service industry. Event planners can also use it.

So that was a selection of 42 social media post ideas. And just in case you want more themed options, here is a selection of our articles for you!

By months:

Social Media Post Ideas for September

Social Media Post Ideas for May

Social Media Content Ideas for June

Social Media Content Ideas for July

Social Media Content Ideas for August

October Social Media Marketing Ideas 

By events:

Black Friday Social Media Post Ideas

Social Media Day Post Ideas

By niches:

Real Estate Social Media Post Ideas

Social Media Post Ideas for Insurance Agents 

By holidays:

Social Media Posts Ideas for Labor Day

Friendship Day Social Media Post Ideas

Instagram Post Ideas for International Cat Day

Halloween Social Media Posts

Fourth of July Posts ideas

Happy Fathers Day: Creative Facebook Post Ideas

The post Social Media Post Ideas for Business appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

We have some stats from one study, which was based on research findings from 2,000 car buyers and 2,000 service customers, and found some interesting facts to share with you.

• 75% of people who buy cars and 68% of service customers say that social media and internet research was the most helpful medium when selecting a car dealership.
• 83% of service customers are sure that review sites helped them in their choice of selection process.
• 66% of automobile buyers or owners who have seen a Facebook ad say they have clicked on it, up from 33% in 2014.
• Consumers looking to purchase or service a vehicle are doing their research primarily online, with 50% of recent car buyers and 69% percent of service customers saying they only visited one dealership before buying/servicing.

When it comes to car shopping, social media sites are literally one of the most important and useful influencers in a buyer’s decision making process. So, most marketing specialists understand that social media should be included in the marketing strategy of a car dealership’s business. For some, this may be simply having a Facebook page and posting content or pictures, while other brands have a fully integrated social marketing approach to generate leads and engage with customers. However, with more and more consumers turning to social, the automotive industry needs to get fully engaged with social selling.

The most “traditional” social media 

It’s not a secret that most marketers prefer Facebook as a proven and effective social media for sales and communication with customers. You can target your advertising to selected part of people with a specific geo, age, gender, interests and even more. If you are one step short with Facebook Ads, you can easily engage an audience that will be interested in your page and cars.

Don’t forget about pics

You can hear about something a hundred times, but it’s better to see it once. As we know from some studies, millennials leave Facebook and use Instagram more. This app is used mostly on mobile phones and there are dominating pictures and videos, less texts. Instagram is a perfect way and platform to create some good and creative brand’s story. For example you can use attractive locations for your photoshoots and make them more interesting for followers which will see your content, follow your page and then visit a website with more info about your offers for selling. 

Use new horizons

If we speak about less information and more visual components, it’s better to use Pinterest with pleasant images that can encourage people to buy a new car. A lot of marketing specialists think that you need to use just popular socials like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. But storytelling with pictures is a perfect decision to introduce your service to new users that are searching for some beautiful stuff. 

Yep, it seems that Pinterest is a kingdom of recipes, decorations, beauty things etc. But it’s easier to build your own personal brand between lots of similar accounts. Don’t be afraid to communicate with an audience of such a specific social. Pinterest is also great for building your SEO presence by sharing landing pages, pictures of your inventory, or pinning blog posts. This creates social signals which will in turn drive more traffic to your site.

Keep one’s finger on the pulse with Twitter

Twitter continues to be a popular choice among car owners and buyers. Some researchers say that Twitter brought $716 million in car sales. Using correct keywords and target will increase your sales.

This social network was created for easy communication between different people and appearing the information as fast as it can. If you use these two points in one marketing strategy for this social it performs very well. Also don’t forget to check your direct to communicate with potential customers!

Also memeing. Memes run the world and bring lo-o-ots of organic traffic to your account and, in fact, to your website.

Moving content for moving objects of sales

More that 80% of potential car buyers firstly watch videos with cars in which they are interested in. They search for more information about cars and assess possibilities on the road. Information about devices for automobiles is also searched at this video hosting. If you pay enough attention to your video content and Youtube channel, it can generate a lot of organic traffic to your website.

Every story begins with a name, every storytelling begins with an ideaAutomotive

It won’t be new information that social media is all about connection with people. Storytelling in social media is a perfect way to create your own catchy brand. When we hear about social, we usually imagine an account with information about any person. It’s his or her storytelling. So why can’t we create some kind of personal page for our brand? 

Use social media as a discussing and communication platform with other users to develop loyalty to the brand. Share your knowledge, experience and “humanize” your brand. You can share some information about staff that work for this project and show real faces of your company. People will better understand and trust other people more than attractive words from the internet. Share some stories from backstage of your business, build some kind of HR brand etc. Don’t be ashamed to showcase your achievements and “real face”. 

Communication is a major thing

Okay, you make great content, take amazing pictures and your texts are absolutely adorable. But what about communication with the audience? Be sure that you answer questions from followers, respond to all messages, be grateful to people that share your content and try to interact with users. Customers also prefer companies that respond fast. If you don’t monitore questions of your audience and don’t have enough time to talk with them, your competitors will do it instead of you and get some sales. 

Each kind of social media is unique and different. People always can find something interesting and useful for them. Just follow 5 simple rules:

• Be yourself
• Create cool content
• Talk with your audience same language
• Check trends
• Love things about what are you speaking to people which should love it too

The post 5 Automotive Social Media Marketing Tactics and Strategies to Get More Clients appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

Hello November Posts

November is very much indeed about Holiday Shopping, but it’s also about adapting to the cooler weather as well as family gatherings. Tug at your follower’s heartstrings with heartwarming and helpful templates. Here are our November social media ideas to start the month!

Make it a November to remember

Get your customers feeling positive and uplifted in one of the greyest months of the year. In such a cold and not-so-pleasant month, hoping for nice and memorable events is exactly what your audience needs!

It’s time to change

Every year like clockwork, we go back an hour in October/November. This year is no different! We gain an hour, so maybe give them some good ideas on how to fill that extra hour up — an extra hour to write a blog, or shop, or read your book! #TimeChange #FallBack

Add colors

Integrating color into your campaigns can be a great way to spruce up sales in this very grey month. And informing your audience about this is one of the most interesting November social media ideas. For example, the yellow color, which perfectly blends with the fall season. Yellow is a happy color! Yellow brightens your day! Yellow also encourages sales! A pop of yellow in your newsfeed is not a bad idea, especially on these grey, rainy (or even snowy) days! #Yellow #ColorOfTheMonth

November Events

November 1 — World Vegan Day

World Vegan Day is a holiday that was created on November 1, 1994, when the Vegan Society celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Here are some ideas for your social media this day:

• Hold a “Best Vegan Chef” recipe contest;
• Publish a “Why did you decide to go vegan?” survey;
• Add motivational quotes from famous vegans;
• Make a selection of delicious and simple vegan dishes;
• Post cooking lessons in the feed.

Or you can post this cheeky template because sharing a few laughs goes a long way.

Black Friday

“Black Friday” — the period from Friday to Sunday at the end of November, when most stores give large discounts — from 40% to 90% to attract as many customers as possible to the stores. It’s one of the greatest November social media ideas! 

Use a layout that includes black and one of your brand colors as the image. In the text on the picture, write “Black Friday.” Write down the terms of the action: the discount, the conditions for receiving the discount, the dates of the action, and so on. 

You can use the following ideas:

• congratulate your subscribers with the beginning of the selling season;
• make a good offer in honor of the holiday;
• Write an article about common mistakes when buying on sales.

Well, or you can just use the ideas that we described in this article!

Dia de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) is a centuries-old tradition that has not been eradicated. The history of the holiday goes back to the Maya and Aztecs. Their beliefs were closely tied to the rituals of death and resurrection. The locals (before the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish) often kept real skulls of the dead in their homes as symbols of death and resurrection.

In modern society, the Day of the Dead symbol has become the zinc etching “La Calavera Catrina” by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada. He depicted a woman with a skeleton face dressed in fashionable clothes and called her “La Calavera Catrina,” showing that the rich and stylish are just as mortal as everyone else.

Honoring the dead is important for many American residents — why not celebrate this day with them!

Thanksgiving Time

This month, your users will be bombarded with Thanksgiving Day sales. Here at PromoRepublic, we believe the true meaning of Thanksgiving is in sharing gratitude with your followers by posting inspirational, educational, and amusing templates. Of course, we will also have promotions to suit your business needs.

Gobble, gobble

Are your users all making the same Thanksgiving delights? Why not ask them to leave a comment – maybe they are doing something different and can spark inspiration for other fans. Or engage and ask for recipe ideas! Make a contest and award the post with most likes. #BlessThisFood #ThanksgivingFeast

Wobble, wobble

When the eating is all said and done, it’s time to wobble to the couch and turn on their favorite movie. After all, Thanksgiving is all about Family Time! Ask your fans for their favorites. #MovieTime #Stuffed

Also, offer your audience a list of the best and most time-tested Thanksgiving movies. For example:

• Alice’s Restaurant
• A Family Thanksgiving
• You’ve Got Mail
• August: Osage County
• National Lampoon’s Holiday Reunion
• For Your Consideration
• Home for the Holidays
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
• Addams Family Values

Let us give thanks

With so many products/services out there, we all need to count our blessings to have loyal customers. A perfect way to show your gratitude is by giving back to them. So why not offer a discount to your biggest fans! #ThankYou

To your health

Who knew Thanksgiving Eve was the night that bars all over the U.S. made a killing! It seems everyone is getting ready for Family Time and needs the courage to face them! Ha! Ha! Encourage your followers to be safe on the roads. And if you are a bar/restaurant, why not offer free drinks or ½ price on holiday drinks. #Cheers

NOVEMBER IS ALMOST HERE. OUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES NEED TO BE STEERED TOWARDS HOLIDAY CAMPAIGNS. CHANGING YOUR FOLLOWER’S MINDSET IS KEY, AND IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO START NOW.

If you don’t see anything that suits you, be sure to let us know! We have professional designers on hand to create social templates for your needs. And, of course, any questions, comments, or concerns are welcome. It’s always important to take every opportunity to attract new customers, whether it be by using your own creativity to design content or by saving time and using the PromoRepublic library to find customizable content that works for you.

The post November Marketing Social Media Ideas [2021] appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

Integrate your product into the holiday

Using your product on Thanksgiving is a great idea. Even if your product is not directly related to the holiday. You can incorporate it into the decorations, place it on the holiday table, show how it can be used for the holiday. Or even use it yourself to create your publication, as GoPro did. 

Source: https://www.instagram.com/gopro/

Thank people for their work

It’s never too early or too late to thank people for their work. But Thanksgiving is probably an ideal day to do it. You can thank your employees. You can thank your customers. Or you can go further and make a socially important message. For example, thank the volunteers who have made a meaningful contribution to the work with some social issue close to your heart. Or, if we talk about the past couple of years, show your gratitude to the doctors who continue to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only is this a good option for Thanksgiving social media posts-your audience will appreciate your stance!

Source: https://twitter.com/nyphospital 

Experiment with serving

Of course, the Thanksgiving menu is always rich but standard for this holiday: turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, sweet yams, and much, much more. And perhaps every American family either follows the well-known recipes for these dishes or passes down their little tricks from generation to generation. What can you do with it? You can experiment with decorating and serving familiar dishes! Suggest a bunch of original ideas. Or, following the first idea on our list essentially, integrate your product if possible. 

Source: https://www.instagram.com/hotwheelsofficial/ 

Experiment with food

Okay, you get the concept. Thanksgiving is about tradition. And it’s also about your dinner. But who says you can’t add new habits or at least new recipes? Recommend a recipe or two (perhaps with your brand’s products) in your Thanksgiving social media posts. Thus you’ll give your audience the opportunity to create new family traditions that can be passed on to the next generation!

Source: https://www.facebook.com/DoleSunshine/ 

Remind your audience of the core values of this holiday

Turkey and the NFL are, of course, excellent. But it’s even better when you enjoy them with the people closest to you. Isn’t that the core value of Thanksgiving? And certainly one of the best Thanksgiving social media posts ideas! Don’t miss the chance to remind your followers how valuable it is to be able to thank your parents, hug your grandmother, make peace with those you’ve been fighting with on this day. All of this can be shown very nicely through the traditional routine and hoopla that stands in every American home on Thanksgiving Day! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-1gpXQT0Y&ab_channel=Publix

Source: https://www.youtube.com/user/Publix/ 

What to do after dinner?

The NFL, unfortunately, does not last all evening. At the end of the day, after the tedious preparation, a hearty dinner, and worrying about your favorite team, you want to relax and watch something interesting finally. Good thing there’s a whole category of Thanksgiving movies you can watch as a family! Make a selection of the most interesting or non-obvious movies for your subscribers, and they’ll be sure to thank you!

Source: https://twitter.com/A_Side

Give a gift to your audience

Of course, it’s not customary to give gifts on Thanksgiving. But it’s certainly nice to receive them! If your products have something to do with the holiday or can help prepare for it, your audience will be pleased with the discounts! A contest or giveaway is also a good idea. The incredible bonus of these kinds of Thanksgiving social media posts is that in addition to getting a lot of engagement from your followers, you also get to tell more people about your products through them. Don’t miss your chance!

Source: https://twitter.com/DelMonteFresh 

Quotes are always a worthy choice

Sometimes the best thing you can say is what someone else has already said. These famous quotes may be just right for your Thanksgiving social media posts. Just make sure you get the author right!

And here are some examples for your audience:

• “I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.” Erma Bombeck
• “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” William Blake
• “Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” W.T. Purkiser
• “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence.” Henry David Thoreau
• “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” Henry Van Dyke
• “To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do.” Victor Hugo

Source: https://twitter.com/THEANTHEMGIRL 

Jokes! Jokes! Jokes!

While we’re on the subject of quotes, it’s a good idea to humor your audience with a good Thanksgiving joke. Maybe one of your subscribers will recount it over dinner with the family! Here are some examples of pun jokes that are sure to come in handy!

• What did the mama turkey say to her naughty son? If your papa could see you now, he’d turn over in his gravy!
• Why did the police arrest the turkey? They suspected fowl play.
• This pumpkin pied to be here tonight.
• Who’s not hungry at Thanksgiving? The turkey because it’s already stuffed.
• What’s the ratio of a pumpkin’s circumference to its diameter? Pumpkin pi!

Source: https://twitter.com/Crossland_Inc 

Celebrate Thanksgiving!

Don’t forget the most important thing — the holiday itself! Not all Thanksgiving social media posts have to be as inventive as possible. Sometimes what the public wants to see are just a greeting and a lovely card. Spread a bit of seasonal cheer in your greeting. After all, it’s the start of a whole holiday season! But don’t forget to set aside social media yourself and enjoy communicating with your loved ones — specialized software like PromoRepublic can do the work for you. It will post the posts itself, so your turkey doesn’t get cold!

Source: https://twitter.com/Kohls

The post Top 10 Thanksgiving Social Media Posts for Business in 2021 appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

Good to know

• Make sure you offer reliable and inexpensive shipping. Statistically (U.S. data), 90% of shoppers said that free shipping was their number one incentive for choosing a store. The ability to deliver on the day of purchase makes an order 50% more likely. At the same time, only 9% of customers took advantage of this offer. About 50% of users preferred next-day delivery, and 85% — after two days. 
• Prepare for the active use of mobile devices. More and more customers are using their smartphones to make purchases. Activate this potential to attract customers. Make sure the site looks and works perfectly on mobile devices (test it on all types of gadgets, not just your own).
• Choose social media for your campaign. It’s very easy to get carried away and spend time on efforts on many networks at once. But it’s more effective to focus on 1-2 platforms. The principles for choosing a platform are 1) the most revenue; 2) the most engaged community.
• Start preparing now. Don’t wait until the last minute to launch an advertising campaign. Plan the campaign in advance. Determine your goal and indicators of success, and decide what you need to do to reach your audience.
• Create landing pages. If you’re advertising on social media, it’s time to step up and create a landing page. A landing page allows for a more accurate match between social media messaging and conversion growth. It may be worth creating multiple landing pages for different product groups.
• Take into account time intervals. The number of orders on Black Friday increases continuously until the end of the day.

Top 5 Most Engaging Black Friday Posts Ideas to Boost Your Sells

Don’t be afraid to make jokes

Humor leads to more conversions, and there are several reasons for that. 

• Humor attracts attention, especially on social media. “Jokes work because they challenge. The unexpected twist of a story activates the brain’s frontal lobes, which are geared toward object recognition. Reactions shift from rational to emotional,” the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute claims. Since humor in advertising is an unexpected device, its use is relevant.
• Humor makes you forget about the selling process. Jokes distract the brain, making it less resistant to influence. Any user is bombarded with enormous information daily, and the brain automatically filters out advertising. Humor loosens that guard and distracts the rational part, resulting in a more emotional response.
• Humor raises the mood. A professor of marketing and statistics at Saint Vincent College has found that humor elevates mood, and as a result, people associate it with the product in question.

Here’s what you should consider when creating a Black Friday social media post:

• Do your research and get to know your audience. Even if you’re aiming to create humorous content, that doesn’t negate serious research.
• Be friendly and keep it simple. If you have to poke fun at yourself, people are bound to notice. It will likely lead to failure.
• Make quality content. Don’t forget about design.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Amazon/

Interactive — making wishes come true

Aliexpress creatively approached Black Friday by launching a very interesting interactive, which, firstly, gives an understanding of what products are most in-demand, and secondly, increases audience loyalty through an individual approach. The mechanics are simple:

• A week or two in advance, publish a post asking people to write what they want to get on Black Friday with a discount.
• On the day of Black Friday, you announce that the discounts on items are already available.
• Then create a poll with the items that get the most comments under the post asking about wishes. There must be at least 10 items. The essence of the vote is that the discount on the product will correspond to the percentage of votes it received. Be sure to specify that the discount cannot be more than 50% (this is at your discretion).

Source: https://www.instagram.com/aliexpress/?hl=en

Use trending Black Friday hashtags

The most popular hashtag is #blackfriday. To avoid getting lost among millions of posts, make personalized hashtags, but make sure to add trending ones, too. Here are a few hashtags that are great for promoting your brand on Black Friday. 

#blackfriday

#blackfridaysales

#blackfridayoffers

#blackridaydeals

#blackfridayweekend

#blackfridayshopping

Source: https://www.facebook.com/SHEINOFFICIAL

Questions for social media followers

Ask questions in your social media posts to get more engagement. For example, the American chain Kohl’s raffled off a $500 gift card. It was to be given to the person who came up with the most successful continuation of a song line. The other option of a Black Friday social media post is to make your followers guess the top product the company would sell on Black Friday.

Source: https://twitter.com/Kohls

Participating in a charity

Charity is also an option for the Black Friday campaign and a great idea for the Black Friday social media post. Even though charity won’t bring you a profit, you’ll do a good deed and increase your brand awareness and credibility. It will set you apart from your competitors, who are only interested in profit. In the long run, a charitable campaign can bring you even more than a short-term sales promotion.

For example, the British restaurant chain Pieminister joined forces with a well-known organization that helps homeless people. The company arranged a pie giveaway for them. It makes sense that people were eager to share the news of such a good endeavor on social media.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/pieministeruk/

That’s it! Here are our top 5 ideas for the Black Friday social media post. Also, don’t forget about our great templates! With PromoRepublic you can create engaging posts for every holiday.

Click the link for more info, book a demo, and grow your business with all our features.

The post Best 5 Black Friday Social Media Post Ideas [2021] appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

There are numerous users registered on social networks, and all of them are customers. Look at your target audience. Can they use social networks? If so, your company should be there too.

On social networks, the brand becomes closer to the customer. It is in the same world with them — it makes a statement about itself, communicates through content, helps with the choice.

Whether your product needs social media depends on what you are selling and to whom. A Boeing buyer is unlikely to go to a social network to choose an airplane. But if they need tutoring services or knitted socks, they might.

So the logical conclusion is that social networks are necessary. That’s why we decided to break down the main benefits of social media.

What is social media?

A social network is an Internet platform that allows registered users to post information, build social connections, and share text, photos, and video content. The users themselves create the content on this site.

Social networks can be of different types. Some allow you to create all kinds of posts — with pictures, text, video, or music. There are also social networks with a limited format. Instagram, for example, focuses on photos and short videos. Twitter only allows text up to 280 characters. The social network can also have its own specialization. For instance, YouTube is used to watch videos and LinkedIn — to find business contacts.

What is social media marketing?

SMM (social media marketing) is one of the tools of Internet marketing. The essence of SMM — attracting customers from social networks. According to statistics from Marketing Sherpa, 95% of people from 18 to 34 years old find it most convenient to follow a brand and interact with it through social networks. This explains the high demand for SMM specialists: almost every company runs a social network. For many brands, this is the only channel for promotion on the Internet.

SMM suits everyone: B2B companies, online stores, services, and media.

The main goal of SMM (as well as any advertising) — to make the business profitable. It is achieved in different ways:

• Looking for customers among the audience of social networks. To do this, brands directly advertise products, use content marketing, or contact partners.
• Create a brand community to increase loyal customers.
• Publish viral content that spreads across social networks without the company’s involvement.
• Share useful articles and videos to attract the attention of potential customers and increase their social media subscriber base.

Benefits of social media

content marketing SEO optimization online blog internet

Increase brand awareness

The power of social media for business is in its publicity. Thousands of users will see every post published, and if the topic is trendy — hundreds of thousands. These posts form public opinion, which can be either positive or negative. People use social networks as a kind of book of complaints and suggestions — any statement, complaint, or praise about the company is immediately supported by users. Every company’s action is a reason for discussion, and the power of public opinion can really damage a company’s reputation.

For example, Facebook lost almost $60 billion in capitalization amid the data leakage scandal, and Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune decreased by $9 billion. 

McKinsey found that (I) users who interact with the brand on social networks have a 15% higher level of loyalty to the company than those who do not, and (II) loyalty increases turnover by 5-10%.

Everything a company broadcasts on social networks affects its reputation and the opinion of its users. Keep this in mind.

There are always those people who have not heard anything about the company. Social networks correct this mistake. Every subscriber has a circle of friends and followers. And if s/he mentions a brand in their post or reposts something from the brand’s page, their friends will know about it. And there’s a chance that one of them will become a customer.

Search for employees

Social media has specialists at all different levels in all kinds of businesses. All a company needs to do is write a post with a job opening, and they will start reposting it and mentioning those who might be suitable for the position in the comments.

An added benefit is increased reach.

Employees can be attracted not only by direct advertising and publication of job openings — articles about the company, photos from the office, or production help applicants form their own opinion about the brand and offer their services.

Attract new customers and increase sales

Every day, millions of people visit social networks. Part of this audience is potential clients of the company. They are ready to buy goods and order services, and it is just a matter of finding these people and making them an offer they cannot refuse. 

There are particular services for finding potential clients on social networks — they analyze the audience and group users according to preset parameters. This audience can be used to set up advertising and promote the company’s products/services.

Tell your brand story 

Being able to tell more people about your brand’s mission, values, and the story is one of the essential benefits of social media. This kind of information is perfect for your company’s image. Tell stories about your employees. Share the stories of your customers, share their testimonials. Tell anything that can improve the reputation of your company or product!

Provide support and feedback

People are used to good services and quick solutions to their questions, and if the company meets their expectations, the likelihood that they will become loyal customers of the company increases. That’s why it’s important to respond quickly to comments, maintain a dialogue, admit mistakes, if there are any, and solve users’ problems as quickly as possible. At the same time, as a rule, most customers expect that their problem will be solved within 1 hour. So make sure you can do this quickly! 

Justifiable costs

Compared to other online and offline marketing approaches, social media is still one of the cheapest ways to reach your target audience. That’s the first thing that makes them incredibly appealing to most companies. You can create an account on these platforms for free and use the tools offered without paying upfront.

However, despite this, you still have to invest in business page promotion to maximize your profits. Creating valuable and catchy content, providing support, and, of course, developing advertising campaigns will cost a decent amount. At the same time, if you compare it with other ways of promotion, you can say that it is not that expensive.

Insights

Another benefit of social media is finding out what your customers need and what they are like. These are:

• Consumer habits;
• The problems the target audience is facing;
• Interest in something specific;
• Preferences;
• Things that are disliked and irritate.

This information can be crucial to your campaign. It is worth using so that you will not be forgotten. Understanding and knowing your customer is something that can help you against your competitors.

Internet search engines ranking

Links from social networks as well as social signals — reposts, likes, tweets — have a positive effect on the promotion of the site in search engines.

Links through social media to content, articles, and videos from your site and to the site itself mean that the content you provide has proven to be informative, entertaining, and useful. When this happens, search engines respond and use the findings to improve the display of content on search engine results pages.

Future cost savings

Thanks to social networks, any future advertising campaign will be much cheaper for you, and it will be much easier to gather people for any event or sale. All you have to do is let your already-formed active community know about it. It is indeed one of the main benefits of social media for business. 

Active audience

Social media audiences are actually more active than the rest of the Internet community. This means that followers of your social media profiles are more likely than any others to participate in discussions, spread the word about the company, participate in contests, and attend events.

A personalized approach

Because the follower base built within social networks is directly linked to users’ profiles, you can, without leaving the social network, personally communicate with each of your customers in real-time rather than creating an email database for later mailing.

Emotional connection

As the driving force of any community, communication contributes to the emotional connection between its members in one way or another. This refers to the connection between users and the emotional contact between the company and its customers. You create a more human image of your brand, which undoubtedly resonates with your subscribers.

Detailed analytics

To measure the success of your marketing campaigns, you need to analyze large amounts of data. And luckily for you, social media has the tools to do this.

For example, Google Analytics helps you measure your most successful social media activities as well as those that have not succeeded. With tools like these, you can analyze your content on different social networks to improve your campaign.

Persistent associations

Profiles on social networks form strong associations between a certain topic (related to the industry in which the company operates) and the brand. For example, you publish very informative posts about a particular topic. That way, every time they encounter it, your subscriber will think of you first and possibly visit your page more often in search of relevant information.

Increase website traffic

By actively developing your social networks, you can also increase traffic to your company website. You can publish posts about your services, leaving a call to action for subscribers to read more on the site. Or you can develop your company blog on it by writing informative articles. Publish short abstracts from the article on social networks, encouraging users to read the full piece on the site.

To sum up

These factors are the absolute key to profit growth, increasing customers, and repeat purchases. Companies planning to work on social networks should understand that the main value of social network profiles is not to achieve a momentary increase in sales but to awaken users’ interest in the company, to form a warm emotional relationship with their audience. And then the consumer, when considering making a purchase, will think of your company in the first place. And the sales themselves can pay back the investment in building communities, weeks, months, or even years later. But the results will exceed all your expectations.

The post 15 Benefits of Social Media for Business in 2021 appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

When we add global shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown to the equation, it becomes clear that the business which focuses on creating and attracting new customers, employees, sales, and strengthening branding through various kinds of virtual events is moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, despite the fact that at first glance it may seem that this state of affairs makes life easier for the business, this is not at all the case. Yes, organizing an event online is much easier. But achieving the same audience engagement, attention, and ROI as in the case of an offline event is really hard. We decided that now is the best time to talk about what virtual event ideas and techniques can be applied in order to increase the engagement of your audience and potential customers.

Give the choice to your audience

Choice always sets up the audience in a more positive way, as they get the feeling that the content you offer will be more personalized and better suited to their needs. Sometimes this is true, and sometimes the choice can be predetermined and exist only formally. In any case, giving your audience a choice about what the upcoming virtual event will be about, what topics will be covered, and what is worth discussing is always a desirable action to increase your audience’s engagement.

You can provide a choice through live polls before the event. Ideally, your audience choice should be as close as possible to what you already intended to show. This way, your audience will receive exactly the content they expect, which will benefit them more and increase your chances of a successful ROI. Finally, by voting for the content and receiving it as a result, the audience will be more attuned to visit your virtual event, because their vote was taken into account.

The size of the options allowed for voting is inversely proportional to the size of your audience. So, if you expect a small number of visitors, then you can provide a large number of options to choose from. If the audience is large, then it is worth reducing the number of options to a few basic ones.

Consider adding additional content both on- and offline

The virtual event itself and the discussion, of course, should remain the main course, but you should not be limited only to this. Additional content will always generate approval and more engagement from your audience.

Additional content can be both online and offline. In the second case, it can be any booklets and thematic things related to the upcoming discussion, for example, cups in which each participant can make tea for himself. In addition, it is worth considering any items that can be used in the future during the virtual event. For additional content online, consider creating thematic presentations, short commercials that entice the audience, or reveal any additional information. Such videos can also be made in the form of a quiz, thereby adding a certain game element. We will talk about it in more detail in the next paragraph.

Gamification

Content that is engaging and playful will always increase your audience engagement. In the case of offline events, it can have the form of sponsored expositions in front of the main hall where the event will take place. However, some offline platforms also allow you to do something similar. Thus, visitors to your virtual event will be able to visit several virtual rooms with sponsored expositions for a certain time before the start. A game element should be added here, such as creating a cumulative system of points that participants will receive for visits and actions in virtual rooms. At the end, the visitor with the most points will be able to claim any prize.

Sponsors themselves can be involved in such interaction so that they interact with the audience. This will increase the engagement of both your audience and your stakeholders.

In addition to cases related to sponsors, you can also consider similar techniques directly during the virtual event. So, if you have any polls or the opportunity to ask questions from the audience, add a cumulative points system that will take into account the questions asked, their quality and the stability of participation in voting. Knowing that the most active participant in the voting will receive a prize, your audience will follow the virtual event more closely, since the survey will directly relate to the agreed topic. This increases the engagement of your audience.

Make use of social networks

Each virtual event is a cool matter, the question is what scale it is. However, people who have taken part in a quality virtual event will want to share it on their social media profiles. Use this. Your event must have a hashtag, the results of votes and other things must be relayed to social networks, and visitors must be able to share all this information with their subscribers.

In addition, consider the possibility of holding any kind of competition among your audience specifically on social networks. So, you will again increase the level of engagement and create additional advertising for your event. For example, arrange a photography contest “Where am I while I take part in a virtual event?” The most original or coolest photo will win. After all, social media have endless opportunities for branding and advertising, so they need to be exploited.

Encourage interaction

Interaction between your virtual event attendees is a key element in their engagement. Don’t expect a lot of engagement if you haven’t provided your visitors with an opportunity to interact with each other, rate the questions asked, and ask each other. On the other hand, such opportunities will significantly increase the level of engagement, as people often like to interact with each other at such events.

Let users choose what happens next

This is somewhat related to the polls that we talked about in the first paragraph, but this is a completely different level. Remember the Netflix film, where the audience was asked to choose what would happen next and what decision the character should make, from which the film had a lot of endings? You can apply this same technique for your event.

The main problem here is that:

• The specifics of your event may not imply such a possibility
• There may be people among the audience who are not suitable for this style of interaction

However, it is one of the most powerful tools for increasing engagement rates.

Gifts

Finally, we would like to share some ideas regarding the engagement technique, which will be used after the end of the virtual event. Yes, gifts to all participants who passed the event with you from start to finish are not something necessary. Nevertheless, you expect to hold more than one of this event, right? In case you want to increase the percentage of returning atendees for your next event, gifts after the end of the current event are just the perfect method.

The main thing is to focus on making them thematic. Gifts should have corporate colors and remind the visitor of how they had a good time on your event. It is also a good idea to add a QR code, by scanning which, the visitor will be able to get to the landing page where all the photos and all the information that was discussed at the event will be stored. In short, the limit here is only your imagination and that is precisely why giveaways are one of the best virtual event ideas. 

The Bottom Line

There is no doubt that our society is in full swing towards the fact that virtual events would completely replace offline meetings, and this is normal. In view of this, one should expect a serious increase in interest in this issue. Soon we will see more and more types of virtual events, in which various techniques of audience engagement will be applied. Therefore, as a bonus, 8th tip, we say: watch your competitors.

The post 7 Steps How to Get More Engagement by Virtual Event appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

How to Identify the Right and Wrong Clients for Your Agency

Agency owners made many mistakes at the very beginning of their career because they want to work with anyone who showed interest and trying to catch any chances to grow business and make money. But in the future it can be a really big problem as they understand how important the right client is and how much impact it can get on your business. For example, if you are working with a lot of clients and your team hates working with them, it creates a very toxic atmosphere. Here is a simple checklist you can use to identify the good and the bad clients.

Good clients:

• Good communicators – you’re excited to work together.
• Have all of the resources needed to help you.
• Have an understanding of marketing (not always needed).
• You’ve had success with similar clients before.

Bad clients:

• Have burned through multiple agencies.
• Don’t respect time or boundaries.
• Constantly calling the shots.
• Paying little, expecting EVERYTHING in return.

Bad clients can really burn your team out. You spend a lot of time just trying to fix the relations, and that’s a big red flag. Another thing is the format of communication. For example, bad clients often use only email to talk about anything, and it takes a lot of time, even with minor issues. Moreover, sometimes you need to teach clients how to communicate better to get better results for both of you. Good clients can talk to you on a video call and discuss everything you need in 15 minutes.

How to Build Your Agency Positioning

Start with a niche focus, identify product-market fit and then start offering additional services after. Starting with a niche will really help you out and speed up the path to revenue. It’s a lot easier to add some clients when you know precisely what you are doing on the market and what clients you want to work with.

A Simple Lead Generation Tactic That Nobody Is Talking About

If lead generation is a problem to you and is something that stops you from progress, here is a tip. There are agencies that don’t do any lead generation, no emails, no calls, nothing like this. Sometimes it can cost you a lot of resources but will bring you nothing. But if you do your job well, people will know about you and will come by themselves. And when there be enough leads for your team, you will start to choose the best of them and now when you know the criteria you can even get picky. Check our webinar where you will find how this tactic can triple your agency in 12 months.

A little spoiler: Your Own Podcast. A great example is the SaaS Marketing Show launched at the end of March 2020 both on audio and video. Having gained early traction, it’s well on the way to becoming the #1 SaaS Marketing podcast in the world, thanks to high-quality guests and valuable content. The show’s audience mostly consists of SaaS marketers, founders, and CEOs. It’s a weekly interview show with episodes being 25-35 minutes long. Guest criteria is a senior marketer at a SaaS company of $1 million ARR+ who must deep-dive into a marketing activity that has worked well for them, along with numbers.

We hope these tips will help you find the best clients for your Agency and grow. To get some more detailed information from experienced practitioners on how to grow your agency check out Agency&Freelancer Academy.

The post User Acquisition for Digital Agencies: How to Find New Clients appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

Undoubtedly, this situation affects digital marketing agencies as well. But don’t worry — the chances of agencies not being needed tomorrow are slim to none! Nevertheless, it’s harder for those who want to open their own digital marketing agency than ever to choose a niche. How can you be sure that another pandemic won’t cause your industry to any longer be profitable in a month? That’s why today, in this article, we decided to cover the topic of how to choose a niche and what the pros and cons are. So read on!

Reasons why you should choose a niche

Some of you may have wondered at this point — why pick a niche at all rather than working with everyone? There are a number of reasons for that. First of all, of course, it will be much easier for you to set up processes and find clients there. In addition, it is obvious that there are so many digital agencies these days, and it is impossible to take the leading position among all of them at once. But it is pretty possible to become a leader in a particular industry!

Other less obvious advantages also include:

• Roadmap. If you’re working with everyone in all niches, it’s very easy to stop understanding what you’re even doing and where your agency is going. You’ll have a more challenging time convincing clients why it’s more profitable to work with you than your competitors because you won’t have enough clear examples. Having a niche will allow you to look for specific pain points of potential clients and make your services more personalized.
• Understanding your competitors. Choosing a specific niche allows you to start really analyzing and understanding your competitors, as well as their services, advantages, and disadvantages. It will be easier for you to convince clients why your approach is unique and more profitable.
• You will be able to anticipate external risks and possible impacts. Having a niche allows you to adapt quickly to them and position yourself better.
• Having a niche gives you growth opportunities. You can better understand your target audience, your objectives, and your services. Thus, you get the chance to develop faster and more steadily while having a high ROI.

So it’s pretty obvious that choosing a niche is a very profitable and correct decision. Now let’s figure out how to choose it.

How to choose a niche

The short answer to this question is to do very meticulous research. 

In truth, however, there are simply no shortcuts in this case. Therefore, it is worth going consistently, using the following five points. 

1. Brainstorm

Start by brainstorming with a couple of trusted people you want to work with who have enough experience and knowledge. The goal of this process is to bring in new ideas. But these people will also help you conduct your research. 

First of all, determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. Then make a list of niches that you could quickly enter, given your strengths. Are you good at running PPC campaigns? Do you have a successful track record in SMM? All of this will be a plus for you!

2. Get to know your competitors 

At the end of the previous step, you already have a list of niches that suit your skills. And this has both pros and cons. The cons are that, most likely, almost all the niches you selected are already too “crowded,” and there is stiff competition. Pros are that further research will go much faster since your competitors have already conducted all possible market research. So fill your boots!

Start analyzing each selected niche and research your competitors. Compare the company’s size, staff, rates, social media, and how they position themselves in the mass media.

Carefully analyze the information you receive. A large staff and more than one office of your competitor’s agency may mean that it is indeed profitable. Audiences on social media can tell you if there is interest in this niche and how great it is. If your competitors have many good reviews, then we have bad news for you — the competition will be really tough. 

With this kind of analysis, you can cross off niches that are “overcrowded” or unsuitable for you. This will leave you with a few options for niches where you have a real chance of success.

3. Conduct an industry research

Now we’re going to contradict the previous point a bit: you shouldn’t completely trust your competitors — they may not be the best indicators of the situation in a given niche. 

It could be anything. Maybe they bought subscribers and likes from special agencies. Maybe the reviews were left by employees or the management themselves — with fake accounts. That’s why it’s a perfect time to analyze the industry at this point. Essentially, you take the information you’ve already found and check it against more reliable sources. 

Don’t forget to analyze the findings. Will you be able to keep up in a niche like this? Do you have enough budget? Will you be able to stay trendy? Discuss your findings with the group of trusted people mentioned above. At this point, your list of niches will shrink again.

4. Get to know your potential client 

“Creating avatar” is not only about James Cameron’s creative process but also about analyzing your potential client. You have to understand your market segment and its content — the people you have to deal with. So before you choose a niche, it’s worth getting to know them. This is where the avatar of your ideal client comes in handy. It’s important to remember: we’re not talking about your target audience here, but about an individual — your ideal client. And when you speak to your audience, it is in them that your words resonate in the first place. 

5. Conduct a survey among small businesses

There’s not much left to do! By now, you have undoubtedly identified the niches that will be most profitable and successful for you. You also know in person not only your competitors but also your potential customers. Now it’s just a matter of getting the feedback that will confirm or refute your decision.

Whether you succeed or your niche breaks you depends on the quality of your research, your skills, and, of course, your luck. So you have to be sure that your services are relevant, in demand, and that someone will want to buy them at all. Based on your customer avatar research, make a list of 12-15 questions for your target audience. Their purpose is to validate your niche choice. If you are going to open a digital marketing agency for social media marketing for accountants, your questions, for example, might look like this:

• Have you heard about the benefits of having a corporate social media profile?
• Have you ever considered creating one?
• Would you like to get a new influx of customers through, for example, Facebook?

Post your questions on social media or send them out to former clients. Even cold calls will work. Your goal is to get as many responses as possible from people who fit the title of your ideal customer. 

Analyze the responses. If you see that people want these services and can afford them, you’ve come to the finish line. Your niche has been found.

Pros and cons of choosing a niche

Of course, by this point, it is clear that finding your niche has many advantages. But there are also disadvantages. Let’s define them.

Pros

• Fast and confident launching in the market. After choosing a niche, you already have a marketing strategy, you know your client and their needs, and networking and attracting new clients only gets easier.
• Easier selling. When you work in one niche, it’s much easier to confirm and improve your reputation. It’s also easier for you to generate leads and prove to them why you’re their best option. 
• Targeted marketing and high conversions. You can create more personalized content for different target audiences by addressing your customers’ pain points directly.

Cons

• Smaller market capitalization. Choosing a niche means a much smaller number of potential clients, as well as the risks of oversaturation of this market.
• The need for more in-depth expertise. If you have not had experience in a particular niche, you will have to earn it very quickly. 
• Fewer leads. Choosing a niche means that even if you are doing well now and the conversion is going great, you may soon reach its limit.

We have listed all the main pros and cons and covered the main steps. Now it’s up to you. You can look for your niche or work for several industries at once. The main thing is to do quality research! If you want some more detailed instructions and help from experienced practitioners, check out our webinar on this topic. 

The post How to Choose a Niche for Your Agency. Pros and Cons appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.

There are holidays devoted to these undeniably smart animals in many countries. In most parts of the world, Cat Day is celebrated on August 8. But for some countries, this date is different. So, in Russia, it is celebrated on March 1, in Poland — February 17, in Japan — February 22, and in the U.S., they are honored on October 29.

The purpose of this holiday is not only to honor our pets but also to raise awareness about the problem of homeless cats.

Cats were and are one of the most popular pets in the world, second only to dogs. In 2018, 370 million people owned a cat compared to 470 million dog owners. Meanwhile, in Europe, the cat was the most popular animal in the same year: 75 million cat owners vs. 65 million dog owners.

So it makes sense that today, we will dedicate this article to these beautiful animals. So, these are the top 15 Instagram post ideas for International Cat Day!

Idea #1. Post a cat (it’s that simple)

The easiest way to celebrate International Cat Day is to post a cute cat photo and write a greeting. You can also make a slightly more informative post, write about the holiday’s purpose, give some statistics, and other useful information. Users will really appreciate it! And don’t forget about the hashtags!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/todayscatss/

Idea #2. Make a support post

Write about local shelters or volunteer organizations that help homeless cats. Encourage your followers to help them. Or you can even donate a few percent of your revenue for that day to one of these organizations. This will greatly increase your audience’s trust and build your image as a socially responsible company.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/_animalheroes_/

Idea #3. Organize a giveaway 

Have a joint giveaway with a cat supplies manufacturer or retailer. Such publications are a proven way to bring you a new audience and increase activity in your account. Invite Instagram users to subscribe to you and your partner, share the post in Stories, or tag friends in the comments. You can also invite them to be creative: have followers write an original International Cat Day greeting and choose a winner based on the number of likes.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/arriemae_inspires/

Idea #4. Post about top 10 famous cats

Collect the top 10 most famous cats. These can be both cats who have become famous for something throughout history or just the most popular cats from Internet memes. Don’t forget to share a bit about each of them — Instagram users love this kind of stuff!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/le.chatnoir.mystique/

Idea #5. Spread the word about the health of cats, nutritious food for them, or a little bit about their upbringing

There is an incredible amount of information on the Internet today about raising or feeding cats, how to take care of them, and what to look out for. And often, it is very easy to get lost in this flood of articles, notes, and blogs. Help your users and collect for them the most relevant and verified information on how to take better care of their pets.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/alex_the_cat_nurse_/

Idea #6. Organize a cat party

Invite employees to bring their own kitties and have a real party for them! Prepare treats, fun costumes, and decorations. You can even get a professional photographer to capture the party for all your followers!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/chiichiirella/

Idea #7. Tell about your volunteer work

Share with your subscribers how your company helps homeless cats or local shelters. Prepare a photo report. Maybe there’s a kitty near your office that you love to feed — your audience will appreciate the gesture!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/togerd/

Idea #8. Let your audience post for you

Invite your followers to post funny pictures of their cats. Collect the most original ones in your account or Stories! You can even reward the most creative users with a promo code or a discount on your products.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/barkingstore/

Idea #9. Collect the top of the funniest cat videos

The Internet is primarily a place to watch cat videos. Remind your followers of this by compiling the top 10 funniest cat videos ever!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/loveyoustepan/

Idea #10. Conduct an interview with the cat

If a cat lives in your company or an employee’s cat has become your office mascot, “interview” it. For example, you can tell about its “working” day in the office or at home.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/cattownoak/

Idea #11. Make a selection of recipes that your followers can make for their cats

Instagram is full of a variety of recipes. But how often do you see recipes for cats? A hearty soup, tuna treats, flavorful fish? Your followers’ cats will absolutely love it! But be careful and do not touch the subject of cats’ diets — a specialist should only do it!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/felightuk/

Idea #12. Have a live stream with a veterinarian or other cat specialist

A Q&A session is always a winning option. Ask your audience to help you put together a list of questions they would like to ask a well-known expert. This could be a veterinarian, a volunteer from a local shelter, or other experts who deal with cats.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/chewy/

Idea #13. Tell about how your employees celebrated International Cat Day

Find out which of your employees have cats. Ask them to share pictures of how they celebrated this holiday with their pets. An ideal way to do this is also to accompany pictures with little stories about what they did and how their cats reacted.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/eatdrinkcat/

Idea #14. Put together a post of the most hilarious medieval cat paintings

Have you ever seen cats drawn in the Middle Ages? One can’t help but laugh because they are hilarious! Impress your audience on International Cat Day with a selection of the funniest medieval cat drawings, and your followers won’t forget you!

Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/ugly-medieval-cats-art/

Idea #15. Ask your in-house designers to make cute and funny cards

Cards with original illustrations for all kinds of holidays are very popular on the Internet. Have your design team make a selection of your corporate postcards with cats that can be published on Instagram. The themes can be very different — moments from the life of cats, cats who work in the office, etc. Show your creativity!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/pinkcatcartoon/

So, these were the top 15 creative Instagram post ideas for International Cat Day! Choose and act. It’ll have a good impact on your social media presence!

The post Top 15 Creative Instagram Post Ideas for International Cat Day appeared first on PromoRepublic Blog | Insights for Franchise & Multi-Location Marketers.