social media

February 1, 2018 By Nicole

Bye, Bye Bait!

Facebook (and their partners at Instagram) recently changed up the way you view your news feed yet again. Have you noticed? If you have a business page this information is essential so listen up!

Facebook’s new algorithm demotes pages that use ‘engagement bait’ to their advantage. What exactly does that mean? Well, say you post ‘tag a friend who loves cars’ or ‘Comment if you love rock and roll’ on an unrelated article or post, that could be considered tag or comment baiting. Facebook is essentially trying to demote any content that is spam, sensationalism, or misleading and promote authentic engagement and communication.

So what does that mean for your Facebook page? Non-authentic publishers will see a significant decrease in their engagement and drop in reach. Individuals constantly posting irrelevant content to their brand will also see some strict downgrades. Facebook has yet to reveal exactly what these types of posters will face, but they have said that the consequences will be noticeable. Yikes!

At Bigar Creative we believe in 100% authentic engagement and posts. We’ve always believed that your business’s online interactions should be completely legitimate and original. And now, Facebook is going to take notice. By beginning to weed out the white noise and spam on the Internet, your business has an even better chance of succession.

May 5, 2015 By Nicole

What to Expect from a Social Media Marketer

It has been brought to my attention that almost everyone nowadays is a Social Media Marketing (SMM) expert. My growing business has allowed me to connect with new clients who have been down the SMM road before. In our initial meetings, I can sense their hesitation as they share horror stories with me of thousands of dollars spent only to gain one new follower. Clients have told me that they were quoted anywhere from $50/hour to $2,000/month for SMM services. It’s true that there is no “one size fits all” quote when it comes to SMM but there are three basic things any paying customer should expect from their Social Media Marketer.

1. An Initial Marketing Plan. This is a BIG one for me. I am absolutely shocked at the number of Social Media Marketers who don’t provide an Initial Marketing Plan for their clients! How can you get past step one if you haven’t created a plan? SMM is not just about logging into a company’s Facebook page, uploading a post and sending a bill. Any paying customer, even at the most basic level of service, should expect to receive a marketing plan because it will serve as your roadmap to success. It should be full of competitive research, creative ideas and a strong industry analysis, just to name a few key components. Bigar Creative’s marketing plans average 10-12 pages of crucial information all for less than the cost of your monthly cell phone bill.

2. Monthly Evaluation Report. Another item that’s high up on the list of “must haves” is a monthly report. This report should be included in your services and come at no additional charge. Bigar Creative uses our reports as a way to simply review what works and what doesn’t. You could have 10 great ideas but only 2 of them seem to increase follower engagements. A good monthly report will evaluate those 2 great ideas, scrap the 8 that didn’t work and come up with new ideas based around your engagement trends. Monthly reports are also a great way for you to really understand your target market and continue to find ways to successfully reach them.

3. Unlimited Communication. Be cautious of Social Media Marketers who bill at an hourly rate because they can get expensive quickly. When I started Bigar Creative, I wanted exceptional customer service to be the foundation of my business. I never want any of my clients to forego communication because they are afraid their bill will go up with every e-mail or phone call. Good communication is the key to any successful relationship. I think a fair monthly quote is beneficial to all parties involved because it eliminates a lot of stress. Clients know what they can expect each month which is crucial to any small business budget. Before hiring a Social Media Marketer, be sure to have them clearly define what’s included and what comes at an additional price.

Happy Tuesday All!

April 28, 2015 By Nicole

The #Hashtag

The pound sign is one of the most identifiable symbols on our keyboards today. My joke is that the hashtag was invented by the “shift” key so it could stay in business… funny, right? All joking aside, the pound symbol has become so popular that people are intentionally misusing it. The hashtag is a brand of its own- a universal symbol. It was created to connect users with common interests. When done properly, small businesses can use hashtags to unite people all over the world under the same topic.

Let’s start by identifying the best Social Media network for hashtags and that’s Twitter. The entire concept of Twitter operates around hashtags. The short 140-character messages (tweets) keep us updated on live events and connect people by searching for keywords. People can discuss major social events and breaking news all by using the same hashtag. Other major Social Media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Vine, YouTube and Pinterest all use hashtags to connect users as well. The hashtag is truly a universal symbol in every sense of the word.

One of the easiest ways for small businesses to increase their brand visibility is to use “trending” hashtags. Twitter does a great job of displaying current “trending” hashtags so they are never hard to find. As you can imagine, they change often so the window of opportunity does not last long. As a small business, you can look for ways to relate to “trending” hashtags and topics to see if they are relevant to your brand. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to find a “trending” hashtag, chances are you can cash in by finding a popular hashtag. Did you know there is a hashtag for every day of the week? It’s true! In honor of Wednesday, also known as #WayBackWednesday, here is a picture of me from 1985. Now that’s way back!

Does the idea of a “trending” hashtag have you feeling lucky enough to create your own? I say go for it if you are a small business but have reasonable expectations. Chances are that your local hashtag won’t start trending (fingers crossed that it will) but hashtags can still be successful on a much smaller scale. They still unite people and develop an audience which can be a valuable way to promote your brand. I use hashtags in a lot of my creative work on the promotional side of things. I think they are a great way to create uniformity and organization when running a contest or giveaway. I recommend incorporating those “trending” or popular hashtags into your campaigns whenever possible as a way to optimize your potential visibility.

Join me today on #WayBackWednesday and post an old picture that will generate a laugh or two from your coworkers. Remember that hashtags were created to unite people with common interests. At this stage in the game you are probably well aware of your target market’s interests. Follow those interests and find a hashtag to increase your brand visibility today.

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