In the Time it Takes for your Pedi to Dry...Get Back on Facebook!

We hear it all too often and hey, even the SocialLites are guilty of it from time to time: falling off the Social Bandwagon. You know social is important, you know you need it, but setting up social channels and maintaining them are two very different animals. Think of your social like your hair routine. You go to the salon and get those signature honey blond highlights and leave feeling like a million bucks. But, you know if you do not come back in 6 weeks, those selfie-worthy highlights are going to start looking très horrible! Just like you religiously attend to your hair upkeep, you need to apply the same standards to your social to keep it looking runway worthy. 

Today, we are going to discuss how you can get back on Facebook. In the time it takes for your freshly painting pedicure to dry, you can touch up your Facebook appearance. Now that is what we call multitasking!

Getting Back on Facebook

1. Check Your Activity

If you've truly let those roots grow out, you probably have some neglected comments/questions. Respond to any messages in your Inbox and comments left on your page. Show people that you are back and here to stay!

2. Give Your Page a Mini Makeover

We suggest a quarterly update (at minimum) of your cover photo. If your cover photo has been up since before Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher announced their pregnancy, it's time for a change. Find a recent staff photo, event photo, anything that embodies your business and post! Same goes for your profile photo if your logo or storefront has changed.

3. Update Your Information

Incorrect information on Facebook is the ultimate faux pas for your business page. Do a quick scan to make sure that everything is up to date and fabulous! 

4. Post

You don't need to explain your hiatus if you don't want to! Chances are unless you had a consistent following that commented regularly no one noticed your absence. If you really want to make a comeback, put some money behind your post and target it to people following your page. 

Is your pedicure dry yet? 

Getting back on Facebook doesn't have to be painful, but it does require you making the first step. Revamp your image and get back on the horse! But don't forget, like those incredible highlights, you need to maintain them to keep them shiny. Now that you've got your groove back, keep it up! Posting regularly, quick turn around times, Facebook Advertising, and offers are great ways to stay in front of your fans and keep them coming back for more.

So, go ahead, take our pedicure challenge! Your Facebook (and toes) will thank you.

Maybe People Just Like Audrey Hepburn?

The saying, "The shoemaker's children go without shoes" is definitely a truism. Although we stay up-to-date on our business social channels--I mean we have to, it's our livelihood!--it's true that generally our clients get a lot more love than our own assets. With that said, we do keep our fans updated on social trends, tips, soft-sells, and of course, we are always branding.

The Original SocialLite (image via HepburnTribute.com)

One of the questions we often get is, "How do you know a post will do well? How do you make something go viral?" And the answer is, we don't know. No one does. There is no rhyme or reason to a viral post, but you can (and should) review your analytics for clues into what works with your fans. We recently had a very successful post and we have to say it started innocently. Meredith found an Audrey Hepburn quote and, since Audrey is the epitome of a  SocialLite, we realized it was perfect to post for a "Monday Mantra". And boy did it perform better than expected!

Needless to say we were not expecting one of our highest performing posts to date to come from an innocent Audrey Hepburn quote, but it did! It's even more surprising considering that we put no money towards it and we all know how organic growth has plummeted recently on Facebook.

So, what did we learn from this post? First of all, we learned don't post quotes all the time! That is not a typo! Just because you find success does not mean you should overhaul your strategy and focus all your efforts on exploiting what appears to be your secret sauce! Do we plan on testing out a similar post? Of course! It might be fluke, or we might be on to something, but either way we will incorporate it with other types of postings. That particular post might have performed exceptionally well for many reasons. It might have resonated with people on a Monday, it might have sat well with women, who make up a majority of our audience, or people might just really like Audrey Hepburn. Either way, it's given us clues to the type of posts that perform well for us on our Facebook Page. Our next steps will include testing similar posts and seeing how they perform in a few weeks in our Facebook Insights. Until then we will toast our champs to a Facebook success!

So, have you found surprising success on Facebook? 

Till next time,

The SocialLites 

Non-Peak Posts: Do They Work?

Getting in front of the most fans possible is the ultimate goal of any Business owner on Facebook. And, while there is no perfect science behind the ideal time to post, there are several theories out there. One option is to go to your insights and see when your fans are online to get a sense of when you should post. But, a new trend popping up in the social sphere is Non-Peak Posts or posting when your fans are less likely online.

You might be asking yourself, "SocialLites, why would I post when people aren't going to be online? Won't that hurt my Organic Reach?" Not necessarily. The major benefit of posting during Non-Peak hours are:

1. Less Competition: The probability is that your peak hours of posting are the same for other businesses so, if you post during a less popular time, chances are you'll beat out the competition simply because they are not posting during those times. 

This was enough for us to give it a whirl and try our first Non-Peak Post. We took a post slated for 8am and moved it to midnight. Here are some of our results:

Results are in

Overall the numbers were lower than expected. While the reach wasn't too far off the other 3 posts from the week, people did not Engage with the post, which is what we were aiming for. Might it have been the content? Perhaps. While digging, we found that photos performed better than links so next time we might try a photo instead for a Non-Peak Post.

Photo Posts perform twice as well as Link or Status Posts 

While we received mixed results, is Non-Peak Posting right for your business? Here are some indicators that this strategy might work for you:

1. You have an International Fan Base: Nearly all our fans are U.S based (EST), but what if you have International clients? Could you hit some of them during Non-Peak hours?
2. Great visuals: Photos draw in fans. If you have great visuals, you might catch them when they are scrolling Facebook late at night. 

Still unsure if Non-Peak Posting is a fit for you? Give it a try! Use the Facebook Scheduler, schedule a post for a Non-Peak hour and see how it performs. Best of all, it's free! 

Have you tried a Non-Peak Post already? How did it perform for you? Let us know!

For more info on the SocialLites visit us here

Social Graces Tip #34: Please "LinkedIn" Responsibly

While people may ooh and ahh over photos of your children on Facebook, drool over recent foodie pics on Instagram, LinkedIn is not the place for these types of posts. Keep it professional, but think outside of the box. Share an inspiring quote, a project you have been working on, a business article that speaks to you, etc. Professional doesn't mean boring, have some fun and strut your stuff! 

Social Graces Tip #71: Stay on Trend

Just like acid wash jeans, Ugg boots, and extreme hair teasing, you shouldn't let your online marketing strategies become outdated. You wouldn't dare slip on Madonna-esq lace gloves anymore, why are you still using QR codes in your marketing? 

Learn about more outdated marketing strategies and what to do in 2014 here.: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/33546.asp?imcid=bestof2013#singleview

Social Graces Tip #45: Keep the Cooks in the Kitchen

Social Graces Tip #45: Make sure there are not too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to your social media. It could come back to haunt you in the future! Change your passwords often!:


http://mashable.com/2013/12/16/fired-restaurant-chef-twitter/

Oops! Facebook Did It Again!

Well, Facebook is at it again. Just when you were getting comfortable with the new look of the Facebook newsfeed and customizing you filter settings to perfection, Facebook throws a curve ball. Earlier this week Facebook announced an updated newsfeed has been in the works and slowly rolling out since March with even more filtering options and bigger image displays (think a la Google + cover photos) is on its way to all users. Before you throw your hands up and hover over the "delete page" option, let us give you a quick rundown of the pros and cons of the upcoming change. You might be surprised to find that the positives outweigh the negatives.

Pros:

1. Bigger images=bigger engagement: The stats prove it, the more photographs you post, the greater the chances of an engagement spike. Bigger photos could mean even bigger numbers. 

2. New filters: The updated layout will allow users to customize their filters even more with options like "just photos" "just games," etc. The distinction is great news for businesses posting images because the chance of grabbing a user’s attention and having a positive reaction is greater.

3. Aggregating video statistics in one place: Ever post a video and then have someone share it only to find that there is more engagement on their post than your original one? The lack of aggregation made it nearly impossible to determine the effectiveness of a post. Facebook has recognized the issue, so now the video from its original source will show up in the newsfeed with the profile photos of people who have shared it appearing to the left of the video. In the new format, all likes, comments, and shares will show up on the original post making it easier for you to measure engagement.

4. Streamlined Interface: Photos will appear the same whether users are on a desktop or mobile device. 

Cons:

1. More opportunities for users to "shut out the noise": As Biggie once said "mo' filters, mo' problems." Ok, maybe that wasn't technically it, but we think he would agree. Updates to newsfeed filters could be a positive for some businesses and a negative for others. If you are not producing content that people want to see, it is even easier for users to ignore your posts (i.e.: not posting enough photos). Which leads right into...

2. Photo Woes: Don't have enough photos? Run a business page that isn't conducive to producing eye-catching photography? Just like 2012, 2013 is the year of visuals when it comes to social media. If you are not playing the image game, you will have a hard time finding success. We suggest building your photo inventory, finding images online that are applicable, and starting to think about how videos could play a game in your social media plan. Remember the golden rule while adding to your visual database: thou shalt not violate the laws of copyright.

Overall we find the pros outweigh the cons in the recent Facebook change. We know there will be grumbling (there is hardly a Facebook update that doesn't result in an outpour of status update rage), but, in the long run, we see the metamorphosis as a natural adaptation in the current social media trends. For marketers already seeing success on Facebook, we think the update will help their campaigns. For marketers struggling to see results on Facebook, we think the modification is a wake-up call to re-evaluate their content. 

What are your thoughts on these changes? 

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