,

Macro or Micro? How to Determine the Right Size Influencer for Your Campaign

Using influencers to help share your product and messaging has proven to be a valuable method for marketing! But you may be asking yourself, which influencers should you be using? Let’s start by defining micro and macro influencers.

Micro Influencers

On a very basic level, micro influencers are a social media presence who has 10,000 to 100,000 followers. They are also usually defined as having higher audience engagement rates than macro-influencers. 

Because of their smaller following, this means that micro influencers are still able to develop personal relationships with their followers, and their followers are genuinely interested in and trust their content.  

Some benefits of collaborating with micro influencers are:

  1. Smaller investment, which makes it accessible to most brands.
  2. Because of the smaller investment, there is a possibility of working with multiple influencers at the same time
  3. Able to generate an increase in sales
  4. Reaching an invested audience 

Using these influencers has its drawbacks as well. A lower following means lower visibility and reach compared to macro influencers. Often, these influencers will also have a less curated page, meaning brands may have less control over a micros content (ie: consistency and quality) 

Macro Influencers

Macro influencers are generally characterized as having a large number of followers (100,000 or more).  Campaigns with macro influencers will very likely involve a significant investment, but this investment will also potentially come with a significant return on investment.

Advantages of working with macro influencers are:

  1. With a wider audience range, you will get more reach for each post
  2. Spend less time micromanaging multiple smaller influencers
  3. A higher level of professionalism

However, using a macro influencer also has its drawbacks.  Using a large influencer will come at a higher price. The price ultimately depends on the status of the influencer, but  Social Media Today reports it can cost anywhere between US $2,000 to US $50,000.  Also, though the reach is high, engagement will very likely be decidedly lower.

 Which to Choose?

This will ultimately come down to your goals. If your goal is to provide authenticity to a group of devoted potential customers, or if you’re limited to a modest budget,  then micro influencers are the way to go. If it’s a matter of gaining reach, macro influencers are right for you.

/0 Comments/by
,

7 Tips For Working Remotely

Telecommute, remote work, virtual job, work from home–a few decades ago, these terms may have been a completely foreign concept, but in today’s digital age they’ve become a part of modern culture. Whether you own an online business or picked up a freelance gig from Upwork, the advantageous remote lifestyle is steadily luring employees away from their conventional office jobs. According to the State of the Remote Job Marketplace report from FlexJobs, 3.9 million U.S. employees, or 2.9% of the total U.S. workforce, work from home at least half of the time. Those numbers are expected to rise exponentially in the years to come.

If you’re working remotely, you’ll find that there are unique challenges while acclimating away from an office. As a collective of individuals who pride themselves on exceptional quality work and superb remote culture, we’ve curated 7 tips that can help you successfully transition into the remote workflow.

1. Designate a Workspace

Now let’s start with the basics. Yes, one of the glorified perks of working from home is that you can work from your bed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Unless you’re feeling under the weather, avoid catching the “work from home blues” and set yourself up with a savvy designated workspace. Having a centralized space can increase your productivity, reduce distractions, help channel your creative energy, and focus.

When decking out your workstation, try to take into consideration an ergonomic layout that will benefit your health in the long run. Enter your height on the Ergotron’s Workspace Planner for tips on the right measurements for your home desk.  

2. Over Communicate

Clear and effective communication is important for any team, but when you enter the realm of virtual coworking, over-communication is essential. There are amazing communication and project management tools out there, but it’s ultimately up to the user to make the most out of it. “Did he read my email?” or “Is she going to make the deadline?” These are some thoughts that may come to mind if questions or tasks go unanswered. Likewise, one of the most damaging setbacks you can commit as a team player is to assume that your co-worker will or will not do something.

When you’re virtually collaborating with team members you must replace assumptions with proactive communication. Some examples may be to ask about upcoming projects before they’re assigned, giving your team a status update, following up on a task, or asking for an extension ahead of time.

Here’s an etiquette pro tip for correspondence: when getting any form of message, be sure to “confirm receipt.” This will notify the sender that you’ve received their message and are aware of its contents. Confirmation also helps build trust and accountability by clearly accepting the transfer of responsibility from the sender.

3. Have a Weekly Check-In

Here at ChuckJoe, our weekly Monday check-in is the one time during the week where the team gets to see each other via Zoom. The meeting consists of each member recapping the previous week with a combination of the following topics.

  • Last Week Wins ­- Project accomplishments, ways that you’ve excelled in a task, or positive client feedback
  • Team Shout Outs – Highlighting a team member for outstanding work or assistance
  • The Weekend – Summarizing weekend activities or anything that’s new in your personal life
  • Question of the Week – Random open-ended ice breakers that helps get the team warmed up and engaged
  • Client Accounts – Reviewing each account’s status, projects, upcoming tasks, and pending account opportunities
  • Internal Housekeeping – General updates, individual schedule changes, and upcoming goals

Trust me when I say, these weekly one hour check-ins make a huge difference! Getting to know your co-worker helps build relationships and improve team chemistry. Instead of wondering what each member is working on, or being unsure about a client’s status, the check-in makes priorities clear and gets the team on the same page. This is not only a time-saver, but provides team synergy to get you through the upcoming week.

4. Be Professional and Human

You may find yourself a little bit more relaxed at home than if you were working at an office. As easy as it is to have a laid-back demeanor, it’s important to remember to be professional when it counts. One of the best ways to express professionalism is to be punctual. We treat our general channel in Slack as an “office door.” We greet each other when our workday begins, provide notices when we go on break, and disclose when we’ve decided to call it a day. Providing transparency through the virtual window works wonders for the team.

If you’re expecting a client call, try to have that conversation in a quiet space. A loud and disruptive coffee shop probably isn’t the best option. Some factors to take into consideration for obvious reasons is the Wi-Fi connection, lighting, background noise, and appearance.  

Last bit of profesh advice is to have a positive attitude and keep communications similar to an office setting. When you have a group of individuals who are all positive thinkers, it’s easier to collaborate and get tasks done with optimism instead of a sour perspective or curt impersonal responses. Positive attitudes are definitely a major contributing factor when striving for a successful team!

5. Dress for Success

Having a zero commute is another terrific benefit of working remote (and it’s more sustainable too)! Your new and improved commute may just be walking to the other room, but having a morning routine is still a priority. Get dressed! Even if you don’t need to make a video conference appearance, don’t work in your pajamas. It may have been one of the shiny attractions on a job post that got you into the remote business, yet in reality working in your pjs may leave you feeling icky and unproductive. You’ll likely be in a better headspace and more effective if you’re dressed and feeling ready for your day.

6. Take Breaks and Know When to Unplug

One of the best ways to recharge is to take frequent breaks, real breaks. The kind where you can completely step away from your computer and take your mind off of work. Going for a walk can be a beneficial way to relax and unwind in the midst of a workday. A short walk can even elevate your mood and boost creativity while also improving your cardiovascular health.

In Buffer’s recent, State of Remote Report, they found that 22% of remote worker’s biggest struggle is unplugging after work. When your work and home space intertwine, it can be difficult to disconnect. Setting boundaries for yourself is crucial when avoiding mental burnout from working throughout the entire day. Let your co-workers know when you’re signing off and don’t respond to non-critical emails to protect your personal time.

7. Take Advantage of the Flexibility

In other words, treat yourself! Remote positions are sought-after for a reason, the perks are phenomenal. You’re given the ability to personalize how, when, and where you work. Spend more time with family or friends, incorporate exercise into your day, or spend a couple of hours on your favorite hobbies. As long as you continue to produce quality work, you have the freedom to create a schedule that best fits your lifestyle!

As technological capabilities continue to accelerate, so will the opportunities in the way remote work is being conducted. Spatial is a new real-time AR collaboration platform that includes lifelike avatars where remote employees can ‘teleport’ into an augmented workplace.

As we’re on the brink of mainstream holographic conferences, our tips for working remotely may evolve in the near future. Stay tuned for what’s to come!

/0 Comments/by
, ,

8 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE INSTAGRAM STORIES FOR YOUR FOOD BRAND

Are you making the most out of your Instagram Stories? Stories have exceeded over 500 million active users and one-third of the most viewed Stories come from businesses. With countless success stories driving boastful results, it’s no wonder why Instagram continually releases impressive new updates on a monthly basis.

Now let’s be real, when you tap that top left camera button and start weighing this Giphy or that Sticker, your “quick” post turns into 5 minutes… 10 minutes, then 25 minutes and so forth. So how do you curate custom food Stories specific to your brand while also trimming down your post flow?

Answer: Know your food brand’s strengths and Stories potential.

Determining which features, approach or capabilities that work best for your brand requires a ton of exploration and time. That’s where we happily step in. ChuckJoe is here to save you the time and research by bringing forth 8 of the best ways to maximize your Stories and the reasons why they’ll make a difference! 

#1 GO BEHIND THE SCENES

There are a few places within the app where you can really show off your photos and videos–IGTV, Stories, Live, and Feed. It seems as though Feed has become the place where brands publish their highest quality and polished content. Some profiles follow color patterns, themes, and schedules all while maintaining beautifully constructed professional grids.

However, a perfect-looking profile can only show so much and may lack a personable connection. Stories are the perfect place to let your digital guard down by adding some flavor to your brand’s personality through capturing unscripted moments. Pair the content in your Feed with ‘behind the scenes’ Stories, including daily routines and shareable moments, but be sure to keep it real by being yourself throughout the process. Being personable in your Stories will help you achieve the Branded Content 1,2,3’s: being transparent, relevant and authentic.

#2 SHARE THE INSIDE SCOOP

Tease your audiences with exclusive insights on upcoming announcements, events, time-sensitive promotions, and sneak peeks! This will give your following a feeling of exclusivity and will make them want to check back for more revealing posts.

For example, a restaurant could share the dish of the day, conversations with the chefs while cooking with fresh ingredients or capture the atmosphere on a busy afternoon. On the other hand, D2C brands like Imperfect Produce who manage their business solely online can make the most of their Stories by sharing tips and tricks for cooking, deals on their products, or by giving a glimpse into their company culture.

#3 CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Posting consistently on your Stories will keep your followers interested and engaged with your brand. Consistency is the key to maintaining the followers that you’ve worked so hard to gain and will continuously contribute to your growth potential.

Some of the best scheduling tools such as Later and Sprout Social recommend posting on Stories 1-10 times per day, yet other schedulers suggest 1-3 times per week. So with all of these conflicting suggestions, how do you know what frequency is going to work best for you?

Here’s our two cents: post at a frequency that’s realistic for you and stick to that pace! If you get busy and are unable to post for a week or two, you risk the chance of losing your followers and their business. Posting regularly signals to the Instagram algorithm that you have a quality account which can increase your exposure and brand awareness. 

#4 REPOST USER GENERATED CONTENT

Having trouble generating enough creative content for your Stories? We’ve got an easy solution for that. Have your customers do the work for you! Not only will you shine light on your followers, but you’ll also build trust through genuine content.

Adweek reports, 93% of consumers find UGC to be helpful when making a purchase decision. When potential consumers experience ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth), they browse the Internet and social media to research and find social proof through testimonials before buying products and services.

By creating clever branded hashtags for your business, you’ll be able to create a bank of content from your customers. Ask your followers to tag your profile, use a branded hashtag, and tag your location to be able to find UGC associated with your brand. It’s easy for customers to tune out overly branded content so having authentic and voluntary content can really support your branding and sales efforts.

#5 USE FEATURES FOR BRAND AWARENESS

Instagram Stories offers an arenol of tools to create custom content in a way that can emphasize your brand’s personality. Below are some essential tools and necessities that will boost your brand awareness.

  • Use a Filter – With over 70 face filters to choose from, have some fun and don’t be afraid to be a little quirky. Use camera modes such as Super Zoom, Rewind and Boomerang to help keep your content fresh and up to speed.
  • Add a Giphy – Grab your follower’s attention with a GIF or two. Whichever GIFs you choose to use, make sure that they align with your branding’s aesthetic goals.
  • Play Music with Lyrics – It’s no secret that music can set a mood or tone. Select a song to play over your Stories and keep your followers’ eyes on your post by adding Lyrics too!
  • Mentions ­– Tag other accounts when appropriate. This notifies those accounts that you’ve mentioned them allowing them the opportunity to repost to their audiences.
  • Hashtag – As a general rule of thumb, use a relatable and trending Hashtag to increase your reach (unique accounts that have seen your post) and gain potential followers.
  • Swipe Up ­­­– If you have over 10,000 followers on Instagram, congratulations because it’s a pretty big deal! For those who reach the count, they have the option to directly link a website, online store or blog to their Stories. Leverage the “Swipe Up” feature to drive traffic to your website or make your blogs more easily accessible.
  • Location – When you can, use the Location Sticker! Posts with locations result in 79% higher engagement than posts without a location. When you tag your location, not only do you put your account on Instagram’s map, but your post will also show up in that location’s Feed. Users who browse locations are likely to stumble across your post giving you the opportunity to capture a new follow, like, or comment.

#6 USE STICKERS FOR ENGAGEMENT

One of the coolest advantages that Stories has to offer is that it allows businesses to interact with their audience in a unique way that traditional businesses have never been able to do before! What’s especially ingenious is having the option to build a new food brand by leaning on business advice from your audience and vice versa!  

  • Poll – Debating on serving Crispy Potato and Cabbage Tacos or a Spicy Baba Ganoush Veggie Burger for your restaurant’s lunch special? You don’t have to wonder anymore, take a Poll and count your votes in real-time.
  • Questions – Whether you’re thinking about making a business move like discontinuing a flavor or just simply want to see how your audience feels about a topic, post a question. You can also tap a response and share the results for more topical engagement.
  • Quiz – What’s a safe temperature to cook and serve fish? Teach your audience something new by using the Quiz Sticker. (If you’re curious about the answer, the temperature is between 130–135 degrees).
  • Chat  – Build a community for your brand by starting a conversation. The ‘Join Chat’ sticker allows up to 32 users to come together in a group thread. Bring your selected users together where they can meet, converse and collectively provide feedback on product releases, upcoming events, promotions, and more!

#7 ADVERTISE

According to Instagram, 75% of Instagrammers take action after being inspired by a post, like visiting a website, searching, shopping or telling a friend. If you have the budget, Stories Ads could be an efficient way to increase brand awareness, brand recall, drive purchase lift and sales.

#8 PARTNER UP WITH AN INFLUENCER

Generate some momentum and spice up your Stories with occasional influencers. By collaborating with other people, you can tap into their audiences which can give a surge of exposure to your brand!

Influencers can promote your brand by running exclusive offers with influencer discount codes, hosting contests, giveaways or Stories takeovers. They can also help announce a new product, record an unboxing video, etc. When looking for influencers, try searching for ones in relatable industries like in the food, health, or fitness space. That way you can reach followers most similar to your target audience.

Now that you’re more familiar with ways to maximize your Stories, get out there, start recording, and post with confidence! For Stories that had great results or Stories that you simply just love, use the ‘Highlight’ tool on your profile to showcase and categorize your favorite memories to make them last for more than 24 hours. 

Photo Credits:

@imperfectproduce. “Ever wonder what it’s like working at Imperfect?” Instagram Stories. (July 11, 2019). Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/imperfectproduce/

@bentgo “No wrong way to eat a lunch” Instagram Stories. (July 23, 2019). Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/stories/bentgo/

@eatpastry “Treat Yourself” Instagram Stories. (July 23, 2019). Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/eatpastry/

Culbertson, Kelsey. (2019, July 11). 8 Tips to Create Share-Worthy Instagram Stories. Retrieved July 11, 2019, from https://www.kimptonhotels.com/blog/8-tips-create-share-worthy-instagram-stories/

/0 Comments/by
,

6 Guidelines for Digital Community Management

Hey, there! I am Erin Harting and I have been managing social communities for half a decade.  In that time, I have learned there are some do’s and don’ts that will keep your customers feel heard, appreciated, loyal and will build social currency for your brand.

What is Community Management?

I assume since you’re reading this article, you have a general idea of what community management is but let’s lay it out in clear terms. Community Management brings a voice and personal touch to the faceless world of social media. This community consists of current customers, potential customers, target audiences, and all those directly and indirectly  interacting with your brand online.

Why Community Management?

Brands that don’t utilize or manage their community miss out on opportunities to:

  • Convert customer complaints into positive, trust building  experiences
  • Connect with influencers and prospective customers
  • Receive product feedback
  • Network and partner with other brands
  • Turn customers into super fans
  • Gain knowledge to improve businesses practices

Maybe you’re thinking community management isn’t important for your company since it’s on such a small scale?  Well that’s just not the case. According to a 2015 study, customer complaints on social media have actually increased by 8 times from 2014 – and that was 4 years ago!

One disgruntled customer has the ability to impact your community whether it’s by  word of mouth or a trail of comment. 3% of unhappy customers will share their complaint with 15 or more people. Furthermore, only 1 in 25 unhappy customers complain directly to you. Seize the opportunity when it arises, because let’s be honest – people will always complain at one point or another. Community Management will nurture the growth of your brand help keep your finger on the pulse of your community.

1. Take Away the “No”

A large portion of managing a social community will consist of answering questions about the product or service, how to order, or issues with the product or service. We of course always want to answer these with a positive response, but sometimes, we have to be the bearer of bad news. “No, we don’t ship to your country” or “No, your product is no longer under warranty” can cause a negative experience and a disgruntled customer.  

Instead of saying “No.” I suggest using a “however,” statement.  It’s very likely you can give the customer a positive twist on the bad news.  “I’m sorry, your product is no longer covered under the warranty, however, I would be happy to provide you with a discount code for your next purchase!” 

2. Thank You Goes a Long Way

You have so many things to be thankful for. Be thankful they contacted you. Be thankful that they showed interest in your product. Be thankful they have already used your product. It feels good to have gratification shown.  They didn’t have to choose your product, but they did. Thank them for that! It helps the mood and sets the tone of the entire conversation. 

3. Keep it Casual

One of the most amazing things about social community management is that you get to have a casual conversation with the public.  You’re not just another advertisement and you’re not a robot. That’s rare in this world and can really make a customer feel special. Here’s your chance to use exclamation points, emojis, and dare I say puns. This is a human conversation – enjoy it! 

4.  Respond in a Timely Manner 

This one is really important.  This is a fast paced world we live in, and social media makes it that much faster.  Not getting a response within a few hours is bordering on torture and won’t make anyone feel like the company cares about them.  Responding to comments or questions quickly will prevent people from spamming your feed with angry comments and will keep everyone happier.  Does a quick response feel daunting? That’s practically being on call 24/7! Well lucky for you, there are companies like ChuckJoe who would be able to manage your community for you!  

In addition to the less favorable comments, also be sure to respond in a timely manner to positive feedback as well. Build on the happiness and joy that people are pouring onto your social media pages. Get them really excited that a company cares about hearing their positive comments. This engagement encourages them to contribute more in the future. 

5. Rise Above and Exceed Expectations

Here’s a scenario.  Frustrated the product we purchased has malfunctioned and we are NOT expecting the company to care about us as the consumer – but we’re outraged! So we reach out to customer support demanding retribution. You start the conversation  salty and you expect them to brush you off. Then the unthinkable happens. They respond to your message with an apology and a quick solution. Hard to stay mad, right?

Well that’s the goal, after all! It is frustrating when things don’t work correctly but you’re 100% able to calm the situation and keep tempers at bay. Of course, there are those who are determined to be upset at the world and for them  you can only hope their day gets better. If you can be the one to make their day better, you know they’ll leave with a lighter heart and a happy association with your company. 

6. Direct the Heat to a Private Channel

Many times people feel the urge to put companies “on blast” and leave harsh comments all over their social pages rather than direct messaging. Don’t shy away from addressing the comments. No response only solidifies the aggressors view point to other potential customers. Take this opportunity to acknowledge their pain point in a public setting but then direct the conversation to a private communication. 

For example, say someone named Alex leaves the comment, “This product is overpriced and broke within the first week! No one should ever buy this junk!”. A great response would be, “Hi, Alex! We are so bummed to hear that you have had a bad experience with our product. We carry ourselves to a high standard and would love to get to the bottom of this and find a solution that works all around. We have sent you a direct message to coordinate the details of the solution.” The issue has been addressed, the public sees your timely response, trust is built, and solution is found while shifting out of the public focus. 

The most important message to take away here is that community management is about building social currency for your brand.  Buzz doesn’t last, so focus on cultivating advocates and super-fans by providing real value to your consumers.

/0 Comments/by
, ,

5 Tips for Running Successful Co-branded Social Media Giveaways

People love presents. Birthday presents wrapped nicely, the first price in a lottery or an unexpected goodie bag stuffed with lots of free stuff. Presents spike serotonin levels and make you feel good. So what better way for your business to make your audience and fans happy? Right: giveaways. 

I mean who can resist free stuff?

Advertising through social media giveaways

Giveaways are an easy way to gain email subscribers, increase engagement and promote brand awareness. All to establish a positive relationship with your community.

With social media in our lives it has never been easier to advertise your business with a giveaway campaign. You can run a product giveaway with a social media influencer to boost your exposure instantly. But social media is also a great tool for brands to collaborate with each other. 

The more presents the merrier, right?

We’ll help you to get the most our of your co-branded giveaway campaign with these 5 tips – and they’re free, too!

1. Pick a memorable theme

Everyone loves a good theme! But choose wisely – be bold, creative and on topic. Don’t just choose special dates for your giveaway, like back-to-school, Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving.

Kudos if you create your giveaway campaign around dates that are related to your goals, mission or choose events that stir up discussion. What you think about World Meat Free Day, Blue Monday or Carrot Cake Day – yes, this is a thing!

2. Find the right brands

Now choose a brand that works with this theme. Keep the brand’s social media following and audience in mind.

Some questions to consider:

  • How many followers do they have?
  • Would their audience be interested in your product, too?
  • Will they post about the giveaway on their social media accounts?
  • Are they a non-competitive brand? You’ll want to find complementary brands, not those that would take business from you.

Keep in mind that if your brand hasn’t reached social media super star status – yet! – certain brands may not be interested in collaborating with you.

Don’t lose hope!

It may take some time to become that go to brand that everyone wants to work with. Start with reaching out to local or small family owned business.

3. Create a partnership deck

You prefer to work with professional brands that have it all together, right? Then be that brand. Make sure your brand is just as appealing to other brands as you expect them to be.

A solid way to do it is by creating a social brand partnership tool kit. A perfect way to showcase what your brand has to offer. 

Include general information like:

  • A brief yet captivating introduction to your business
  • Your social media following and stats
  • Your brand’s number of email subscribers

Add information specific to the giveaway campaign:

  • Goals for the giveaway
  • A step by step process on how the giveaway works
  • Explain how each brand will promote the giveaway

It’s not rocket science. If all brands participating in the giveaway actively promote it, too, it will increase entries, engagement and so on.

Sky is the limit here.

For optimal collaboration remember that every brand has their own guidelines and approval process for social media copy and content. Be sure to discuss this far in advance so you’re all ready, set, go.

4. Create a timeline

If you are hosting a huge giveaway campaign with several brands it can feel like you’re herding cats.

Save yourself time and headache by creating and sharing a timeline with your brand partners that includes specific deadlines. Also not a biggie:

  • Start and end dates for the giveaway
  • What date you’d like all of the items for photos
  • Due dates for landing pages or any other platforms that will be used during the giveaway
  • A social media calendar
  • Dates for email blasts to promote the giveaway
  • Pick a date when the winners will be selected
  • Dates for prized to be shipped to the winners

5. Emphasize benefits of the collaboration

Of course, the first thing brands will wonder when you invite them to your giveaway campaign is: “What’s in it for me?” Up to you to make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Amongst working with you, there are plentiful of amazing benefits for any collaboration between brands:

  • Sharing email lists that are collected during the campaign
  • Including brand partner’s coupon codes or ads in your post-giveaway emails
  • Make it a requirement for entrants to Like or Follow the other brand’s social account

It’s a quid pro quo. Working with other brands on giveaways should be beneficial for all parties involved. Increase the chance of brands working with you by communicating benefits and setting expectations. In this way everyone will reap the benefits with smiles on their faces!

Spread some co-branded love

So there you have it! Social media giveaways can be one of the most powerful tools to use in digital marketing. Once you find the right partnerships with the right brands, it can make a giveaway even better.

Most importantly, though, co-branded giveaways are a wonderful way to give back and show some love to your loyal following.

/0 Comments/by

Why is Email Marketing Important for Food Brands?

In today’s ever-changing digital marketing landscape, there can be a big temptation to put your money, time and energy on the latest technology. However, we can’t forget email. Here are few key points as to why email is a vital part of marketing for your food brand:

  1. You can actually own your audience. What does that mean? When you have an audience that you’ve worked hard to build on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, those platforms can change the rules. When they change the rules, that changes how many people you can reach. Although not 100% of people will open every email you send, you still have the direct ability to reach and engage with them. You can even follow up with them!
  2. It’s a very direct connection with people. Everyone has email, everyone checks their email on a regular basis, so you’re really able to get directly in front of the person that you’re trying to reach and communicate with. As a food brand, you’re at an advantage! Get creative and descriptive with your copy. There’s a good chance that someone’s stomach is growling as they’re checking their email throughout the day.
  3. It’s transferable! If you have an email list for one brand and you launch a new food brand, you can promote that brand to that list, so it’s easily transferable.
  4. Another form of communication.  It’s never a great idea to go all in on one platform for various reasons, but one of the things you can do with email is really curate and aggregate content from other platforms to increase your reach. If you have great posts going up on social, you can then highlight that in email. If you have a blog, you can also highlight that in email. It’s a solid way to communicate with your customers and give them multiple options as to how they want to consume your content.

  1. eCommerce. It’s still one of the top ways to convert sales. According to MarketingSherpa, over 72% of customers prefer email as their mode of business communication and 91% of Americans are eager to receive promotional emails–that’s huge! Here are a few types of emails you can use to drive sales:
    • Welcome email – get new customers for your food brand by sending a coupon code
    • Abandoned cart email – encourage interested shoppers to pick up where they’ve left off
    • Upselling – show them add-ons or products with a higher price point
    • Cross-selling – recommend similar products that they’d be interested in
      • Post-purchase emails, such as an upsell or cross-sell email, are very successful because the customer is already familiar with the brand and has shown a willingness to buy. If you have it all set up and tied into your eCommerce platform, you can see the average order value, how many things they’ve purchased, which products they purchased, when they purchased, and other information. This allows you to segment and communicate with your audiences in a much smarter and more direct way.

  1. You can get specific with your messaging. This is one of the coolest parts! Unlike social, you can segment out certain customers that have bought specific products, signed up for certain events, or really whatever data you choose to capture. This will increase your engagement, your open rates, and your click-through rates with email. There are even ways to give an email a personalized touch for one specific customer.
  2. Tracking & Analytics. Emails are a great way to see open rates, click-through rates, and engagement with your brand from an individual basis. With social media, you don’t get that one-to-one information. You do get that with email. You can see one subscriber that came from that trade show in Anaheim and they’ve opened every single email, but they haven’t bought anything yet, then you can communicate with them in a very specific way. It’s a great tool for segmentation, which helps you then craft your communication for better results.
  3. Ad Retargeting. You can leverage a dedicated email list to retarget users on other ad platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. You can also use an email list to build a lookalike audience to find people similar to those who have signed up.

What’s next? Collect emails!

Take the next step by adding a sign-up form on your website, acquiring emails from customer’s purchases on your site, and creating events. Don’t forget that the goal here is not just quantity, but to build a trusted relationship with the customer. Once you do this, you’ll be one step closer to utilizing one of the most powerful tools in digital marketing!

Have Questions? Ask us! We’re happy to dive in and help.

/0 Comments/by
,

What Clif Bar Can Teach You About Food Marketing on Instagram

You know an Instagram presence is important for your brand, but how do you create the right brand presence to get your audience excited about using your products?

Successful brands go beyond just talking about features and benefits because they know brand storytelling is about more than the retail value of their products–it’s about how people feel using them. Think of Instagram as a content platform for generating high perceived value.

A good example of brand success is the energy bar company, Clif Bar. The company was founded by a cyclist who had trouble finding a high-performance bar that tasted good. You’re probably already familiar with their protein bars and associate their brand with outdoor adventure. Super fans also know their stance on preserving the environment and sustainable food production practices.

If you go to Clif Bar’s Instagram account, you barely see their product. You might even mistake it for a nature photographer’s personal account.

Clif Bar’s Instagram has 150,000 followers and counting, with high engagement on each post.

Let’s take a look at why it does so well:

Showcase the Lifestyle, Not the Product

These days, especially with Millennial customers, transparently showing who you are and your values is essential. Clif Bar is great at showing, rather than telling why they exist and who they exist for. One way is by capturing where their fans use their products and what kind of lifestyle they enjoy. If you want to have a long runway with your target audience, look beyond simply selling a product. Capture a few core values you can convey visually to tell a consistent story.

Understand Your Style Principles

A quick way to get a sense of a brand’s style is to scroll through all the thumbnails on the page.

What kind of colors pop out at you?

Is the style very minimalist, or is it bright and colorful with a lot going on?

Are there more photos of objects or people?

Do you see a lot of text overlay or do the images speak for themselves?

A glance at Clif Bar’s page and it’s clear they are all about the outdoors. You see different seasons, mostly colors found in nature, saturated hues, and a stillness that is found only in nature. When you do see people they are often very small in the photo surrounded by wilderness, or they’re captured in action in an outdoor environment.

Just like any marketing communication channel you should have a plan before you post. Discuss what color schemes represent your brand well. Understand what themes tell your brand’s story. And, don’t forget that the words you use should be chosen carefully (even sounds!). Create a basic style guide that defines your brand’s voice. Is it playful, sarcastic, serious, or youthful? This will make your audience feel it’s consistently engaging with a single character, not a corporation.

Engage Your Audience with User Generated Content

There are many great ways to engage your audience, like posting tutorials or generating buzz with user-generated content contests. Something you can do with regularity is repost content from your already happy customers. Many of Clif Bar’s stunning Instagram photos come from their fans. This is a great way to establish a sense of community that remains true both online and out in the real world. Pro tip: remember to always credit the photographer!

Show Your Product as It’s Meant to be Used

A genius way to show value is to post content from your happy customers that show them using your products in the way you want them to be used. In Clif Bar’s case, it’s out in nature, having fun.

Use A Unique Brand Hashtag to Curate the Conversation

Clif Bar’s tagline is “Feed Your Adventure” and they use it as a hashtag. Doing this helps with a couple things. First, it makes their tagline stick. Second, it helps direct traffic back to their page when their fans use it. Creating a long-form hashtag is a not only a useful way to find fans who are engaging with your product, but you can also find great fan-generated content to then repost on your own page.

Be sure to use a hashtag that people can easily associate with your brand, rather than settling on something generic.

Remember that your Instagram page is an opportunity to visually translate the story you want your brand to tell your audience. Your content should always be answering the question of why you exist, who you’re here for, and how you want your customers to feel when they use your products and engage with your brand.

Take a look at the ChuckJoe and Vegetarian Dude Instagram accounts for additional inspiration, and reach out to us with questions at any time!

/0 Comments/by

How Much Should I Budget for My Paid Media Campaign?

You may be wondering, “How much should I budget for my paid media campaign?” As much as we’d like to give you a magic number, it’s almost impossible to do so. Why? Because every business is different and it depends on a number of factors. Here are a few things to consider when you’re budgeting for your paid media campaigns.

  1. Goals. What are your specific goals? Are you trying to increase video views and drive website traffic? Or maybe you want to get more Facebook page likes, email signups and so on.  The key here is to be specific. If you have a specific objective in mind that you know you want to hit, you can then take a step back to determine how much money you need to spend. With estimated cost per results, you’ll be able to get an idea of how much to spend in order to hit that goal.
  2. How much content do you want to promote? Whether it’s an engagement campaign, brand awareness, or video views, knowing how much content you want to push will help you gauge the amount of money to put behind it.
  3. Targeting. Who is your audience? How many different audiences do you want to reach? Do you want to just target existing fans or website visitors? Do you want to test between multiple interest audiences on Facebook, for example? It’s very important to know who you want to target. Some marketers bundle their audiences into one, but we don’t recommend that because you won’t get any insights or analysis on which audience performed best. The size of your audience and the number of different audiences you want to test directly impacts the media budget.
  4. Timeframe. How long will these campaigns run? One day? One week? One month? One year? You want to make sure that you’re not spread too thin with your budget.

In general, you want to budget enough to achieve your goals, promote all the assets that you want to be seen by the right audiences, and get the maximum amount of juice and learnings from your campaign.

It’s super important to focus your efforts. If you have a smaller budget, prioritize the most important metrics you want to test at once. If you have a larger budget, you can reach more people, do more creative testing and achieve more varied marketing objectives all at once. However, even with a small budget, you can also do all of that over time. For example, if you only want to spend $1,000 per month, you can test one audience one month and another audience the next. This way, you can allocate your budget across multiple months and still gather data and insights without spreading it too thin.

Know your goals. Know how much content you want to promote. Know your target audience. Know your timeframe. Once you answer these questions, you will be able to plan your paid media budget and get things moving in no time!

Need more information? Tap into ChuckJoe’s experienced team of media buyers!

Contact Us For Budget Support!
/0 Comments/by
,

15 Food Marketing Strategies For Your Brand To Crush It On Pinterest

Have you been thinking about using Pinterest to market your food brand but not sure where to start? The Pinterest visual search engine has grown to become one of the most important mobile platforms for both men and women. Recent polls show that men consist of at least 40% new signups proving that the platform isn’t just for women. 

Millennials use the platform more than anyone else for food inspiration. Despite all stereotypes of Millennials and their access to money (or lack thereof), Millennial Pinners plan to spend more money on food than people who don’t use Pinterest. Why? That’s because Millennials say that Pinterest helps them easily find ways to use different ingredients. The more that you get to visually see the outcome of a recipe makes chefs everywhere more inspired to cook!

Ready to get your food brand noticed on social media? Here’s how you can take your presence to the next level on Pinterest.

1. Promote your pins

promote your pins on Pinterest

To get the most ROI, you can advertise on Pinterest through “Promoted Pins.” Promoted Pins look natural and are less disruptive to users than traditional ads. According to Pinterest, 73% of users say content from brands make the site more useful. 61% of users say that they have made a purchase after viewing a Promoted Pin. In other words, Pinterest drives sales.

2. Optimize for re-pins

optimize for re-pins

According to Curalate, you’ll get 23% more re-pins if you don’t use a face in your image. And, pins with less whitespace get re-pinned more.

3. Recipes and DIY tutorials are most popular

DIY tutorials on Pinterest

Tutorial content really resonates with people. Include recipes or smart tips that incorporate your food products.

4. Pin for a broader audience

Your followers on Pinterest will view your pins, but you must remember how re-pins work. When a follower re-pins your content, their followers will also view it and possibly re-pin it, and so on. Your reach on Pinterest is bigger than you might think. Pins on pins on pins!

5. Long form video is on trend

A longer form video is taking off! 60-90 second videos are being saved 50% more than short form videos. Try creating more detailed videos for your “how-to” segments. Crack a joke or give an interesting fact about the recipe. Followers will enjoy the little extras you’ll have time to reveal versus racing through instructions. This also gives you time to let your followers get to know your personality, so be upbeat and bubbly!

6. Pin for search engine optimization (SEO)

Think of Pinterest as a search engine. First, find the right keywords for your business using a search tool like Google Keyword Planner or Moz. Next, use these keywords for your Pinterest content. You don’t want to stuff keywords everywhere and be spammy. With just a little effort, using the right keywords in your board titles, captions, pin image file names, and descriptions will help your pins show up in search results. Get creative with your titles and captions. This is a sure way to draw users to your Pins.

7. Share Pins across your owned channels

Be sure to include your popular pins in emails to customers, and connect your other social media accounts to your Pinterest page. Make your own website Pinterest friendly so that others can pin images directly from it.

8. Time your posts

According to research by CoSchedule, the best day to post food-related pins is Sunday, and the best overall time to post is Saturday after 8 pm. Generally, late afternoon by 4 pm, late in the evening, or even in the middle of the night is a great time to post. Perfect for any night-owls out there! There is no better time to engage your audience than at these peak times.

Always remember to include a call to action. What do you want the user to do after they see your pin? Give them some direction that will either get them to your website or share your pin across social media to help promote your brand.

9. Post frequently

Keep a schedule for your posts so your audience can build a relationship with you over time and receive fresh content at a regular pace. Doing this keeps engagement high, rather than dumping content all at once.

10. Post your own content

Re-pinning other people’s content is a great way to engage with them, but putting in the effort to create your own inspiring, pinnable content will give you the most bang for your buck.

11. Keep up the relationship

engage with followers on Pinterest

Just like on your other social platforms, remember to respond to comments and follow other popular boards. Use your brand voice on Pinterest in every interaction! Commenting on other Pins is another way to get your brand out there and get users to follow you. Be courteous and kind when commenting while establishing yourself as an expert.

12. Connect with relevant influencers

Knowing and connecting with influencers is important to building relationships on Pinterest. Invite them to post on your boards or partner with them to post some of your original content. Key influencers who have a big following on Pinterest, and whose aesthetic and values align with your brand, can have an explosive effect on brand awareness and website traffic.

13. Always use high-quality images

The agency Omnicore has a great cheat sheet infographic that you can use for various social media platforms. Pinterest also goes in-depth into how to make great pins here. Generally, Pinterest says the ideal ratio for your pins is 2:3 (600px wide x 900px high). You’ll want to use photos with light colors as they are more likely to get more pins than dark ones. Find high-resolution photos that really show off your products and make mouths water!

14. Use text overlays

Get straight to the point by overlaying text on your image. Pins with text overlay tend to perform better, especially when the text provides clarity. The purpose of your text and any descriptions is to be immediately helpful, not overly promotional. You don’t need to be a graphic designer to add text to an image. Canva is a free program with templates to help you do so. It’s user-friendly and you’ll be able to create eye-catching Pins in no time!

15. Test, test, test

Remember that you won’t always have the answers right away, and that’s okay. Experiment and use Pinterest analytics to see which images perform the best. Be sure to place your most popular boards at the top of your business page on Pinterest where people will be able to see them easier.

That’s a wrap! We hope this starts you off on getting the most out of Pinterest for your brand. Check the ChuckJoe Blog for more tips and tricks!

/0 Comments/by
, ,

How To Grow Your Email List: 5 Ideas To Get More People to Subscribe

Does this sound like you? You are wondering what you should be doing to increase your email subscribers. You feel like you have tried everything but haven’t seen growth. Before you go spending thousands of dollars on advertising or buying lists (please don’t do that) there are a few simple adjustments you can make to change this outcome.

First, what value are you offering?

First, why should people sign up to receive your company’s email? This might sound simple, but at the very baseline, you need to give them something for subscribing.

Think about it as a simple value exchange. They’re giving you their email, which has value. What are you giving them in return? Ideally, whatever you’re giving them in return should have significantly more value than their email address.

Give Subscribers Coupons

One example of what you can do here is giving them a coupon. This is a very common and efficient tactic that food brands use. Include a coupon that is good to get $1 off, get $2 off, buy-one-get-one-free, whatever it might be.

If it’s eCommerce, give them an instant coupon, so as the subscribers sign up for the list, they get a coupon code delivered that they can use right away.

Create a Recipe or Tip Ebook

If you have a product that can be put into recipes, create an ebook that can be downloaded immediately. In general, with this approach, you want to have the delivery happen in the email. You don’t want them to fill out the subscription form and then they have to go to a page to get it or be redirected right away.

The reason for this is that if they get it in their email, then they have to go and actually pull up your email, open it, click it to download it, or view the video or whatever it might be. That will help with your deliverability. It also gets them comfortable with the behavior of opening emails that are coming from your brand.

Depending on the product, a few other ideas along these lines are:

  • Meal prepping tips
  • Healthy cooking tips
  • Diet-specific tips
  • Video series that helps the subscriber create kid-friendly meals

Create an Informative Email Series

An alternative idea to the single ebook is creating an email series that is delivered over a few days. For example, it could be something around clean eating. You’d have a series of emails revolving around a five-day kickstart to a cleaner-eating diet. Once the potential customer submits their email, they get a welcome email, then one email per day for the next five days covering different ways to incorporate clean eating into their life.

This is great tactic because it gets people into the habit of checking their inbox to get the next email in the series. The subscriber is getting used to engaging with your brand, and you in return are providing a value to their life.

Use a Signup Form Pop-Up Box

An easily overlooked way to increase email signups is by simply having your signup box be prominent. A lot of brands that we are in the early stages of working with will have a signup in the footer or on the sidebar somewhere. Using a tool such as a lightbox pop-up to design and time your popups, works really well. Sumo and OptinMonster are great resources for that. You can also get fancier with things like Exit Intent Popups, so when somebody’s leaving your website they actually get a pop-up to subscribe.

Focus on putting that call-to-action front and center. Often you will only get one chance to hook people when they come to your site. Give them a reason to sign up! This is also where a compelling offer can come into play with that popup, so don’t hide it.

Embed A Signup Call-To-Action within Your Blog Posts

If you have written content on your website that people are finding through search or social, strategically include a call-to-action to sign up for your email list. Remind people while they are looking at your content, that if they like the content, and if they want to get more content or a premium version, then they should sign up for the email list. This is an incredibly easy and natural way to add some more subscribers to your email list!

These are just a few ways that you can increase your conversions and get more email subscribers, but there is a multitude of additional tactics that you can implement.

 

To set up a consultation on building your email list, reach out to us at yo@chuckjoe.co or click the button below!

Want To Grow Your Email List? Contact Us!

/0 Comments/by