There are a number of ways to communicate virus-related updates to customers on the platform.
Facebook announced the ability to publish hours updates and service changes on Facebook Pages Friday. Businesses can mark themselves “temporarily closed” (as with Google My Business) or communicate other types of changes, which respond to the coronavirus outbreak (e.g., takeout, online classes or e-commerce offerings).
Businesses can also pin posts to the top of their timeliness, as another tool to communicate messages to customers.
The changes and where they appear. Facebook says that to make the changes, you go to Page Settings–>Page Info–>Temporary Service Changes. Businesses will be able to indicate the location is temporarily closed or select other options, under the heading “Open with Service Changes.”
Below are the admin screens as they appear on mobile.
Facebook says these updates or changes will appear on:
- The business Page itself
- Page previews
- Search results
- Curated lists of local resources on Facebook
In the context of lists, Facebook uses the example of food delivery: “Within Events, if people are looking at a featured list of ‘Places Offering Delivery,’ they’ll see businesses that indicate that their services include delivery.” A search for places offering takeout or delivery, presumably, would also show the same information.
Below is a before-after image showing a restaurant page that has marked itself temporarily closed.
There’s no discussion about APIs or whether these changes can be made at any kind of scale for chains and multi-location brands. It appears to be a manual process at this point.
Why we care. Social media is a critical channel for customer communication. And no platform other than Google has comparable reach and scale. According to the most recent public numbers, Facebook has more than 150 million businesses on the platform, globally, more than 90 million of which are small businesses. During the outbreak the site has seen massive traffic increases although without a corresponding ad revenue bump.
The company has committed $100 million in grants and ad credits to SMBs. It also has a resource hub with COVID-related information, tips and best practices recommendations.
See the full article here by :searchengineland.com
The world of marketing has changed dramatically over the course of the last decade. In a few years, social media went from a fun way to pass time and connect with friends, to the single most important advancement in online marketing today. With the ability to reach wider audiences than ever before, the importance of a strong social media presence is no longer a luxury for your business, it’s a necessity.
Why Opt for Agency-Managed Social Media Marketing?
The main reason most business owners choose to avoid agency work for social media marketing is simply that they feel they can do it themselves. The truth of the matter is, they’re probably right.
There’s no secret recipe that online marketing agencies have that makes them superior to you or anyone else in terms of social media marketing. You could dedicate the same amount of time and work and eventually get to a point where you understand as much about social media marketing as the top agencies in the country.
The real question to ask yourself shouldn’t have anything to do with the cost of hiring an agency, it should be about how much value it can add.
Time is Money
We’ve all heard the saying, but when it comes to running your business, it’s the truth. With so many things going into running a successful operation, learning to effectively manage a social media marketing campaign doesn’t need to be one of them.
By choosing to go the route of hiring a proven social media agency, you can rest assured knowing that your online presence is growing and reaching a larger audience each day.
Experts in the Field
Other than the amount of time you would be saving, the primary reason to hire an agency to manage your social media presence is they tend to have more experience. The best way to think about it is to imagine your own field of business. Imagine all the intricacies that go into making your company successful, especially all those small details that most people don’t even think about.
Now think about an online marketing agency. They have the same wealth of knowledge about social media marketing that you do your own business. Agencies are experts in their field just like you are and can be trusted to succeed in ways the average person cannot.
Speaking Socially
If you’re ready to start getting the most out of your social media campaign, connect with our team at Speaking Socially. Our trusted marketing team is full of experts in navigating the treacherous waters of social media and can help your business succeed at levels you’ve never seen.
For more information, contact us today.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is having issues, and that means everything on the internet is having issues. AWS says they’ve “identified the issue as high error rates with S3 in US-EAST-1, which is also impacting applications and services dependent on S3.” S3 is AWS’s scalable cloud storage service.
Currently affected sites include Slack, Trello, Quora, Business Insider, Coursera, Fivver, , and IFTTT. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Check outage status here: https://status.aws.amazon.com
Are you interested in how you can keep your children safer with tech? We are too – and we’re excited to be one of the first consumers to be unofficially testing the Doki Watch in our area! This is being touted as one of the best smart watches for kids. It only allows preset calling to contacts you approve, monitors your child’s activity levels, and will alert you if they leave an area you predefine for them. It will even send you immediate SOS alerts, begin recording audio, and send you (and any other emergency contacts you assign) GPS location data if SOS is activated. So stay tuned and we will let you know our thoughts on this little device in the upcoming weeks after we do a full run through of most of its features!
It’s that time of year again. You’re looking into holiday social media plans, but you’re not sure how to start. Look no further as we share a few lessons we’ve learned from that wise and beloved old poem by Clement Clarke Moore.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Don’t wait until the night before Christmas to begin dreaming up those perfect holiday plans. Many people feel stress and pressure drain the joy out of the season. Before they know it, time has slipped by and things are left until the last minute. Don’t let this happen to you.
I Laughed When I saw him, in Spite of Myself
The holidays are a time of festive celebrations and of thinking about days gone by. Utilize social media to celebrate this season and to bring gaiety to your shoppers. Delight them by stirring up feelings of laughter, cheer, peace, and fond memories. This is not a time to manipulate or to push, but it is the time to invest in creating lasting relationships and promoting a sense of community.
He Spoke not a Word, but went Straight to his Work
You will have to put a little effort into spreading goodwill and holiday cheer, but this isn’t a cause for grumbling and complaining. Have fun with it! There are many celebrated social media campaigns that you can gain inspiration from.
- Everyone loves sentimental storytelling. Now is the time to reminisce and share what you have been doing for the community throughout the year. Be creative, warm, and heartfelt. This is also a wonderful opportunity to promote awareness about your favorite cause by sharing inspiring stories about it.
- What to your wondering eyes should appear but a holiday video to bring good cheer. Thoughtful holiday humor or sentimentality in the form of a video brings a sense of connection and merriment to your site.
- Give them visions of sugar plums to dance in their heads. Custom tailor Old Navy’s highly successful giveaway campaign. On Black Friday, they gave the first 100 customers to line up at their door a ticket that entered them into a drawing for one million dollars. Change this idea up and make it your own.
And to all a Good Night
These words bring our poem to a close and fill us with nostalgic memories. The holidays are a time for connection, relationships, and giving. These three things are the shimmering tinsel that decorates your holiday social media plans. We hope these tips help you dream up the perfect package. To talk more about this, or anything else, please Contact Us. Thank you!
When’s the last time you updated your website? A year? Five years? Longer? If your current website isn’t generating a lot of new business for you, it might be time for a new website.
Long gone are the days when people used the yellow pages to look up a business. Now, a majority of consumers turn to the internet when searching for a company. If your website feels old and clunky, or has broken links and outdated content, consumers may be turned off and try a different organization.
If you website isn’t optimized for mobile, you may be missing out on a large group of customers that primarily use tablets and smartphones to surf the internet. Allowing your site to appear in mobile format is a simple fix and can appeal to customers who rely on their cell phones to find businesses.
Adding features to your website may also help improve traffic. For example, adding a blog will not only engage customers, it will also allow you to include keywords on your website that can improve your ranking in Google searches. You may also want to include a section that features customer reviews, either directly submitted to your business or from a third-party review website. Including an “About Us” section will also allow the customer to feel connected to your business, making them more likely to engage with you.
A sleek and modern website design can revitalize your company and change the way you do business. Contact us to discuss how we can make a new website work for your small business.
Having a business of your own is a large undertaking, and one of the most important aspects of a business is an audience to communicate with. One of the most important tools a business can use for this is social media.
As a business, you want to reach as many people as you can, and social media is the tool that will help you do it. Building an audience on social media is crucial for your business because it will bring in more customers, and it will also help generate a positive reputation for your company. There are many reasons to use social media as a business. For starters, a lot of people are already on social media every day. It is a great resource to tap into; once you’re on social media you will be able to connect with a lot of people rather quickly.
The trick is in how you use the platform. To grow your audience you need consistency. By regularly updating your social media accounts you will show your audience the commitment you put into communicating with them. This effort will go a long way into helping you create a positive online presence. Also, the more engaging your content is the more likely people will share your posts with others.
By doing all this you will be able to build a loyal audience on social media. You will be able to reach more people than ever before, and you’ll be able to generate positive word of mouth which will grow your audience even more. What could be better than that?
For more information on social media management and website design for businesses, please contact us.
A building that looks a century old suggests a business that’s reliable and trustworthy, but a website that looks ten years old conveys that its owner doesn’t care very much. It may seem unfair, but if people’s first reaction is “That looks out of date,” they’re likely to take their business elsewhere. A site that consists of a headline, a big block of text, a couple of stock pictures, and some footer links will make people feel as if the dust will make them sneeze. To bring in customers, you need an up-to-date look.
Style is a big factor, but the way people use the Web has changed too. Social media have become more important. The majority of Web access now comes from mobile devices, especially phones. A site that’s designed just for a big monitor will look terrible on a smartphone’s screen.
The word for websites that work on all kinds of devices is “responsive.” They respond to the browser environment by adapting the way they present content. A three-column layout may shrink down to one. A huge image will fit the small screen’s dimensions.
Splash pages — ones that just post a greeting and ask users to click for any actual information — went out with the Model T. A home page should give people the basic information about your site.
Links that don’t work are deadly. If your site links to places that don’t exist any more, people may wonder if your own business still does.
Social media are important. If you have social media accounts (and you should), link to them. Followers will remember your site. Also provide buttons to let people mention you on their accounts. Free publicity is nice.
With a seriously outdated website, it’s better to rebuild it from the ground up than to apply a few fixes. Your site’s design needs to reflect a thriving business that’s interested in its customers and in touch with the latest technology. Please contact us to learn how we can help give your site a modern look that will put it ahead of the competition.
