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Tag: social media management
Tell Your Winning Story with JRH Graphics
Telling Your Winning Story
At JRH Graphics, we help businesses tell their winning stories. It is the focus of what we do because we believe that your story is your most powerful tool. Your story can engage an audience and build customers for life. All the services we offer at JRH Graphics focus on this goal. Our business consulting services include services to define your niche, develop your brand, and craft your story. These services are laying the groundwork for your business.
Reaching Your Audience on Social Media
Once you have laid the groundwork for your company, it is time for us to tell your story. Using the brand and the key differentiators we have defined, we start to tell your story to your desired audience. Our vehicle for doing this is social media because the audience is active, engaged, and looking for businesses to follow.
Supporting Your Story with Custom Content
We pair our social media services with our content creation services, so what we are posting to your social media is unique. For us to effectively tell your story on social media, we need content that is specific to your brand. Generic content and stock photos do not highlight your unique differentiators. They also do not add value to the audience. The custom content that is created by JRH Graphics will highlight your unique business and its goals. Millions of pieces of content are added to social media every day; you won’t stand out on social media with generic content that adds no value to your audience.
What makes JRH Graphics different? Multiple services all aimed at helping you reach your goal of telling your winning story to your audience.
Flexible Options to Meet The Needs of Our Clients
Every business is as different as the owner. For our services to work with a variety of companies, we offer flexible options to our clients. We allow each client to change the type or level of service needed on a month to month basis. Flexibility enables our clients to increase or decrease coverage based on needs. As well as allowing them to scale their services as they build the business. We focus on the needs of each client by only providing them services they want.
To highlight how we can utilize the services offered by JRH Graphics to help businesses tell their story, we will look at Urban Jungle DC.
The Story of Urban Jungle DC A Premier Botanique
I had known Cody Alexander, owner of Urban Jungle DC for a few years before I began working with him. When I met him, he was a nurse, but his real love was plants, particularly orchids. Shortly after that, he and his partner began running a small garden center out of the first floor of their home in Washington, DC. Over time they stared to experience some of the growing pains common in small businesses. They had too many clients to handle daily. But not enough clients or exposure to make a more substantial investment in the business. We had spoken about this by chance, approximately two days before I left my full-time job. I provided him with some tips based on my experience as a retail manager. I also offered him some details on social media marketing, as that was my current love.My Story with the Jungle Junkies Begins
I joined the team of Urban Jungle DC as the “PR Guy” officially in January. Our first major test would be the upcoming Valentine’s Day Holiday. We had a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time. Luckily, I was able to have the Urban Jungle intern work on the specifics of the Valentine’s Day promotion. Meanwhile, I tackled other branding and story-related things. Those first few weeks, I spent a lot of time talking with Cody. I was asking a lot of questions about his brand, his philosophy on life, where he fit in as a business in the DC area, and more. I was gathering the information I needed to define his brand and differentiators. Additionally, I was observing the daily operations of the business.
Business Consulting Services at Urban Jungle
At Urban Jungle, the formula for success had a few components. First, they had the best exotic and easy to care for plants in the area. Secondly, we added some creative storytelling and themes to the mix adding in some quirkiness and interest. Thirdly, we focused on education and plant care. Finally, we made sure to feature the passion and love for plants that ower, Cody Alexander showcased in all that he did.
Having the best available product does not automatically equal a win for a business. Our other key differentiators needed to be just as visible, if not more evident than the plants. Urban Jungle provided each customer with in-depth care for all of their plants, even if they did not buy them at Urban Jungle. Walk-in Clinic hours to help customers diagnose sick plants were also available. Quirky and unique containers for many of their plants was a fun aspect of the brand. We made sure that when customers came into the store, they saw lots of unique options.
Cody Alexander as A Key Differentiator
A business without a heart, without a, why, without energy, and without passion will always fail. Cody was all of these things for this business and more. Cody was the key brand differentiator for this business. It was the one thing nobody else had. As a brand differentiator, Cody was the face of Urban Jungle. The success or failure of the company was tied to his success.When You Are Your Brand, Literally
For this to be possible, we also needed to create procedures, standards and simplify other operational issues. Streamlining procedures would allow Cody to could continue positively contribute to the community, collaborate with other business leaders, and teach classes. Once these details were hammered out, we were able to start building on our successes. We were able to expand our offerings and our audience. While Cody focused on being the brand, I focused on promoting the brand.
Social Media Management and Content Creation at Urban Jungle DC
At Urban Jungle DC, my role as PR Guy. I managed all the social media accounts and created all the content for each profile. These two services were linked together for Urban Jungle but are not always depending on the business. Working with Cody, we developed a plan for the social media content to feature the educational aspects of the business, as well as a bit of quirkiness and fun. “Plants with Personality” became an important theme. It allowed us to tell the Urban Jungle story through the eyes of the plants. Other central aspects of the social media marketing included a focus on collaboration, building on successes, and finding unique ways to tell our story.
Plants with Personality
From movie start orchids running from papparazi to scorned succulents who hated supporting the orchids. All of the plants were part of the story at Urban Jungle, which was an amazingly successful storytelling tool. The audience would become connected to these characters. Some of the characters like the Wandering Cactus would make repeat appearances. Often people would come in looking to adopt a plant that was featured, calling them by the characters’ name in the social media post.
Building A Community of Jungle Junkies
From our first Valentine’s Day promotion, we focused on building a community around the Urban Jungle brand. A community of Jungle Junkies that loved plants. A community that became a part of the story. From influencers that became friends to customers that would come by daily, we made sure to feature as many of them as possible and build on a campaigns success. Once a Jungle Junkie always a Jungle Junkie!
The Results
The results we saw at Urban Jungle DC were incredible; through our efforts, he increased his followers on Instagram from 1,000 to 18,000. Sales doubled year over year. He expanded the footprint of his business and was featured in locations like Shop Made in DC, Steadfast Supply, and Think Local DC Markets. Urban Jungle was named the best place in DC to buy plants by the DCist. The shop was also featured in publications like the Washington City Paper and The Washingtonian. Urban Jungle DC was the new kid on the new kid on the block, but they quickly became a top brand and the Premier Botanique in the area.
Flexibility to Tell Your Winning Story
Flexibility and custom options allow our clients to select the services necessary to tell their winning stories. We focus on what our clients need at any particular moment and can build a package that will help them succeed. This different approach is what allows us to be successful with a variety of clients, no matter the strengths or needs.
Small Business & Social Media Takeaways from The Index
Small Business and Social Media
Download Your Copy Today A majority of the clients I work with own and run small businesses. Small business has many opportunities to capitalize on the power of social media but they arent sure how. When the Sprout Social Index Edition XV came out this year I knew it was the right report to break down to help these small businesses see the value of social media.
Social Media is in a constant state of change. Everybody has their theories on what will happen next. These reports provide you with stats that support some opinions and actual trends that paint a picture of what is happening in the world of social media. As a content creator and social media manager, it is my job to take all of the information and see how it applies to what I am seeing with my clients. I generally walk away from one of these reports with at least a few takeaways, this time I was directing those takeaways towards small businesses.
The Nuts and Bolts of the Index
Nobody can deny the power and value of social media. As I mentioned earlier this year, social media touches almost every single aspect of a business. It is too big to ignore. It supports virtually any marketing objective, and moreover provides useful insights to teams outside of marketing. The team at Sprout Social surveyed over 1,000 social marketers and asked about their social goals, challenges, and expectations. They also surveyed 1,000 consumers to understand what people want from a brand on social media. The Index XV explores how social media and marketing teams can better use social data to drive success for bigger picture business goals. It also explores how to use customer insights and trends to improve social performance.
Breaking It Down
For this blog, I focused on a few of the findings that are relevant to the small businesses I tend to work with. When you view the report through that lens some different items stick out. However, all the results are exciting and relevant. If you are interested in knowing more, I recommend getting your copy of the Index and digging in. And speaking of digging in, here we go!
Marketers and Businesses Need to Dig Deeper to Understand the Audience
Forty-three percent of all social marketers say a significant challenge is identifying and understanding their target audience. To address this concern, marketers turn to social data. Sprout Social explored what your audience wants, and I comment on some of the findings below.
What Your Audience Wants
Why do people follow your business on social media? What do they want to see from your company? To answer these questions, you need to understand how and why people use social media in the first place. While 50% of people follow a brand to find out about new products and services, almost as many (48%) follow a brand to be entertained. Other key reasons that a consumer follows a brand is to get up to date news, connect with others, to be educated, and to communicate with the brand.
What Your Audience Does Not Want
Equally crucial for businesses is to understand is what consumers do not want to see on social media. In business today, the customer experience is of the utmost importance. Delivering poor customer service, including being late to reply to a customer concern can be considered poor service. Poor service can result in an unfollow (read like a lost customer) for 56% of those asked. Your audience wants you to respond quickly, knowledgeably, and provide them with entertaining and informational content daily.
Content Misfires
Poor customer service is the number one reason to unfollow. However, posting irrelevant content, too many ads or too much promotional content can all result in a consumer unfollowing your brand. The importance of having a well-planned posting schedule is evident, and it must be robust with entertaining, useful, and educational content. A plan that does not merely focus on your products and services but adds value to the consumer. A social media calendar like with the aforementioned items is a great way to make sure what you are posting is not pushing customers away.
Social Media Essential Post Framework
Our framework for businesses on social media has addressed this since the beginning. The 9 Essential Posts for Businesses helps you create relevant content in 9 categories. It also serves as a reminder of the 80/20 Golden Rule of Social Media, 80% of your content should be informational and 20% of your content can be promotional. When used with a content calendar, a business can plan content and ensure that it is varied, tells a larger story, and engages the audience. Download your free copy of the 9 Essential Posts here to jumpstart your audience engagement.
Social Media Accountability
This report also made it clear that social media is a massive and essential job. Small businesses need to look at who is manning their social media daily. Are they equipped to answer customer questions? Are questions being responded to within an hour on your social media platforms? Have the correct answers been available? It is my opinion that businesses need to embrace new technology and dedicate capital to the task of engaging customers on social media. Look at chatbot options to serve as the front line and invest in a dedicated “position(s)” to manage social media every day. Social media is no longer a part-time job for the business owner. It is crucial for building an audience and growing your business.
Potential Solutions
If your business can not afford to hire someone internally to manage your social media look at hiring an outside company to handle it. Make sure that the company you hire will be posting custom content that speaks to your brand. JRH Graphics specializes in delivering customized content to our clients. Another option for minimizing expenses and maximizing return is to look for interns at a local college to help you post and manage your daily social media presence. No matter what you do, we recommend upping the attention you pay to your social media. It will continue to be an integral part of your business.
What Content Do Your Followers Like
We know that your followers want to be inspired, entertained, educated and informed. The pattern is the same with the types of posts that a consumer will take action on. Sprout Social asked consumers what types of posts they are most likely to leave comments on or share, the answer was posts that entertained them. This is in line with what most social marketers consider to be effective; 50% of social marketers say entertaining and inspirational posts are the most efective in helping them reach their goals according to the Sprout Social findings.
Consumers Want to Be Engaged and Entertained- Edutained As We Say at JRH Graphics
As you saw in the above chart above, posts that inspire, entertain, teach, and have a story are the most likely to create engagement. What is interesting is that consumers are engaging less and less with offers and coupons promising savings. While sales can attract consumer interest, entertaining, and inspiring posts get the most engagement. Both marketers and consumers supported this finding.
People Want to Learn
Creating posts that are engaging and entertaining and speak to your brand can be slightly overwhelming. But here are a few key things to keep in mind. Remember that you are the expert, share what you know in an engaging way. Use what you have around you when thinking about things to post, your company is unique highlight it. Look at what your competition is posting to get ideas, don’t flat out copy it, but research is ethical. Use your brand story and differentiators as guidance on what to post. Finally, use your team to deliver the message.
Employee Advocacy to Shorten the Long Game
Social media is part of the long game. You are building a loyal customer base that likes, knows, and trusts your business. One way to get your audience to like, know, and trust you sooner is if your employees like know and trust you. According to the Sprout Social report, almost three quarters (72%) of all social marketers use their employees as social media advocates. The report also revealed that forty-five percent of consumers say they are more likely to research a product or service when someone relatable, like an employee, posts about it. Using your employees as advocates helps you keep the content varied on your social. It also helps shorten the time it may take for a follower to become a faithful customer.
Converting Followers to Customers
Not every consumer is going to click the checkout button on the first go-round, and that’s okay. It is vital that you still invest in your followers online. Strengthening the connection you have with your followers can lead to more authentic interactions, more word of mouth referrals, and a loyal customer base. Merely looking at the actions consumers take when they follow a brand highlights some of the value they are bringing to the brand.
Actions Followers Take with Your Brand
Eighty-seven percent of consumers who follows a brand on social media will visit the brands’ website. Seventy-eight percent of consumers visit the brands’ physical store, talk about the brand, or recommend the brand to friends and family. Finally, 77% of consumers will buy that brand over another. These are all substantial numbers that indicate a relationship that is worth nurturing. When it’s time to convert people into active buyers, social marketers should use a combination of discounts, product demonstrations, and educational content, Once again, it is the educational and informational content that is driving consumers forward in the customer journey.
Brands Are Only Scratching the Surface of What Social Can Do
Social media has so much unforeseen power, and you are in a position to experiment and see what else it can do. While sizeable social marketing firms are working to break down silos, you have the freedom to break down existing social barriers and see what lies on the other side. You have the benefit of seeing an opportunity on one day, and the next day be capitalizing on that opportunity. It is not necessary to chase after every wild idea that passes, but it does mean you have the chance to try new things. Based on what has worked in the past or what trends you are currently seeing.
What Trends Could You Capitalize On
From creating video content to building a community around your brand, the opportunities to get more out of social media are out there. An excellent place to start experimenting would be with those things your followers have requested. The end of the Sprout Social report provides you with some trends to watch out for in the future. How could you do more with live video, user-generated content, Instagram Stories, and creating a community around your brand?
In Conclusion
Social media is not going to disappear tomorrow. It will continue to expand before it disappears if it disappears. If you are a small business and you have not been investing in social media, the time is now. Get on the bus because it is about to pull out of the station. And for those of you who say, “I am good right now, I will start doing it if I see my sales slipping,” at that point, it is too late. The long game of social media will have passed you by then.
I am not saying that you need to come by my office and sign up for a social media management or content creation package immediately. Although we do things differently and would have a package that fits your needs. What I am advocating is that you do more to increase your reach. It is time to tap into the power of social media for your business.
Download Your Copy Today All Stats and some inspiration provided by the team at SproutSocial Download Your Copy of the Sprout Social Index Today!
What is Social Media Management?
What is Social Media Management?
Social Media Management is a foreign concept to many people. The list of questions I am tired of answering probably goes on for days but here are a few #epic ones.
- What does a Social Media Manager even do?
- Does Social Media really need to be managed?
- You just sit on Instagram all day and take selfies, right?
- And, my favorite… Do you know Kim Kardashian?
There is a deep misunderstanding behind what social media managers actually do, especially in the business realm. No, it does not take me an entire 8-hour shift to create an Instagram post that says, It’s Friyaaaay where is the Partaaaayyy! First of all. I own my own business. I wish I worked shifts, especially one as short as 8 hours. Secondly, this is not what you hire a social media manager to do. A social media manager is charged with creating and posting engaging content that advances the goals of the business.
So, now that we have gone over some of the things that we do not do; we can review why your business will benefit from having a dedicated social media manager.
The Role of A Social Media Manager
Each business decides what the role of the social media manager will be in an organization. However, these following tasks generally fall under the roles and responsibilities of a social media manager. We also provide some needed skills for each task. As social media becomes more ingrained in all we do the tasks will continue to become larger and more complex.
- Represents your brand online
- Manage all of your social profiles
- Create custom content for your business
- Engage followers and build up a new following
- Balances informative content with promotional content
- Monitors and responds to comments and questions
- Tracks and analyzes the results of social media campaigns
- Ensures that the voice used to post is consistent
Social Media Managers Roles and Responsibilities
Jonathan Howard, lead content creator and business consultant at JRH Graphics defines the role of a social media manager and discusses what makes JRH Graphics unique.
Manage Your Brand & Maintain Your Brand Identity
Your brand and your story are essential ways you connect with followers. Your social media manager is the promoter and protector of your brand. They ensure profile images are all recognizable and follow branding guidelines. Create posts that are branded and use the brand story appropriately. They are the first contact point with new customers and customers looking for support and service via Twitter. Some are even tasked with maintaining your shop presence on Facebook and Instagram and promoting new items via product posts.
Communication, Attention to Detail and Organizational Skills Are Required
A social media manager controls the conversation on your social media platforms. They accomplish this with a well-planned content calendar complete with key promotions, events, and new product releases. As well and educational and behind the scenes content that is EDUTAINING – Educational -Useful- Entertaining. Your brand and story are powerful connections. With social media becoming integrated into so many facets of your business, your social media manager has the power to shape your story and brand in all that they do. They must possess strong communication skills and be well organized to manage this aspect of the job.
Create Customized and Engaging Content
A social media manager brainstorms, researches, creates copy and visual for all your social media posts. In many cases even today, a social media manager is the sole creative for social media posts. They are also the one who actually does the posting. A social media manager is charged with creating engaging content for followers to consume from start to finish. They must be aware of trends and know what types of content is engaging followers. A plan to eliminate the content that is no longer essential is key. They function as brand ambassadors, storytellers and must be able to create an emotional connection between customers/followers and the brand.
A Social Media Manager Must Be Creative and Flexible
Flexibility and creativity are essential. The demands of the users and the lightning-fast pace of technology is changing every platform at a record pace. It is certainly feasible for you to develop content at the start of a month only to find that the platform you were going to post it on has changed the format or size. Or in the case of Google+, it is gone! They should be early adopters of new technology but still, be willing to work to get results on existing technology and platforms. Create Great Content Often, Adjust for Algorithm, Repeat should be their motto.
Manages Your Profiles & Engage Followers
Your social media manager is the sole person responsible for managing the day to day of your social profiles. Is the person running your social media the first person that you want your customers to see when they enter your business? Your social media manager needs to be able to communicate and personify all your business stands for. Charged with engaging existing and new followers every day on your platforms, the social media manager holds a great deal of power. They define the message that helps define your audience. They are building your future customer base.
Must Be A People Person and Problem Solver
Responsive, tactful and eloquent. Three keywords to look for when hiring a social media manager. In addition to the story and branding, a social media manager must also be intimately aware of all company policies and procedures so they can provide the right information to customers when asked questions. A social media manager must be a problem solver. They are going to be asked to solve problems that your customers and followers are facing each day.
Track the results of campaigns and Adjust Accordingly
Your social media manager not only puts the content into play but they also have to measure for the ROI (Return on Investment). Using the many different measures of engagement, social listening and much more they need to rank the success or failure of posts (and aspects of posts). This allows them to see which pieces of content measure up to expectations and which fell short. They also need to react to the results quickly. If it failed once it will fail again. They need to know not to put content that will certainly fail into play when they could replace it will other content that a higher chance of success. Finally, they must also measure what types of content are engaging at what levels and if they need to restructure the content calendar to accommodate for the changes.
A Social Media Manager Must be Analytical and Proactive
Social media is bound to change. A social media manager needs to adapt. They need to analyze the results of their campaigns. They must double down on successes and eliminate content that fails. New ways to engage will always be emerging and some trends may be the perfect opportunity for your business to stand out. However, without an adaptable member running your social media team you may end up always arriving late to the party. Especially, if they aren’t even measuring the success of the posts they are posting.
Keeping the Brand and Voice Consistent
Want to confuse your followers? Have a different aspect of your brand identity as part of your profile photo on every platform. Change the order of the words in your tagline. Select a different color for your logo. Inconsistency confuses customers. And once a customer is confused they leave. What is worse they are not likely to come back. Equally confusing is when your brand changes the voice it speaks in on social media from post to post, I am guilty of this on my own brand and it is confusing to followers. Define the voice as part of your brand identity and stick to it.
Your employees can speak directly to followers but as brand ambassadors and that voice can be unique to that post once it is defined. I encourage you to use that type of post wherever possible as well as social proof posts (reviews from clients) as a happy employee and a happy customer both send a powerful and emotion-filled message.
A Deep Knowledge of Branding and Emotional Storytelling
A social media manager needs to understand branding and emotional storytelling and connect those skills to the product or service they are selling. They need to be aware of what the differentiators are that strengthen the brand as well as how the company is positioning itself in the marketplace. Finally, they also need to be aware of the known competition and stay ahead of any new competition. Many times the first place you can identify some new players in the game is on social media.
Does a Social Media Manager Just Take Selfies for Instagram?
I hope at this point, we all know that this is not the case. A social media manager holds an ever-increasing role in your business. They are an integral part of marketing and branding strategies. They are content creators that must create engaging content that will grow an audience and create followers for life. A social media manager must create and deliver a great deal of content each week as well as to measure the impact of that content. And if that is not enough, the entire job can change at the drop of a hat. Once again, a great motto for any social media manager should be…
Create Great Content Often, Adjust for Algorithm, Repeat!
Oh, you guys did get one question right… Of course, I know Kim Kardashian, totally bestiesWhat Does JRH Graphics Provide that is Unique?
Social Media Managers are a dime a dozen. There are many solutions available to create content for social media. Hundreds of people create logos and more people are entering the brand storytelling arena. Many of these people have little to no business experience. They went to school and studied advertising or social media marketing and know how to do that.
That is not JRH Graphics. We understand the day to day of business because before we started our own we spent 20 years in business. We learned the ins and outs of social media before it was commonplace among businesses because we worked on college campuses and “grew up” on the cutting edge of it. We have faced hundreds of challenges and created hundreds of solutions. With each new company we work with we have added to our toolbelt and made these tools available to other small businesses because when one of us succeeds we all succeed. A listing of the available tools can be seen here.
We Know Business
Running a business and promoting a business are two full-time jobs, each with different skill sets. The more time you take to promote your business the less time you have to run it and the time you take running your business impacts your ability to expand your network of followers, nurture leads and discover new revenue feeds. Having a social media manager with 20 years of business experience allows you to grow your business while not losing sight of the day to day because the team at JRH Graphics identifies opportunities to grow and nurtures those opportunities in conjunction with your team.
JRH Graphics helps you build your business via social media. We help you define a story that will engage by highlighting this story and your differentiators on social media. This establishes you and your business as a leader in your field. This works to activate your social media networks and local business networks. Once your network has been activated you begin establishing a collaborative relationship with them, allowing you to both grow your businesses and networks.
Our Clients are Proof
Jonathan has been a huge support for our small business. When we brought him on as our PR guy we also got a business consultant that truly cares about the success of our business. He is smart, savvy, innovative, and a risk taker that we trust completely. He has helped grow our business and introduced us to new revenue streams that have proved lucrative.
-Cody Alexander, Urban Jungle DC
JRH Graphics will help you become the smart, savvy, innovative business that takes the right risks and see the benefits.
Jonathan is fantastic support for my small business – he’s helped me scale quickly and helped me achieve so much through social media and engaging with a broader audience.
-Lea Berry, Berry Coaching and Consulting
We will help you scale quickly and reach your goals via the power of social media.
Choose JRH Graphics and grow your business.
Social Media Management Plus with JRH Graphics
With JRH Graphics you get a social media manager and much more. The knowledge and experience. The drive to push to be better. A stubborn man who refuses to take no for an answer. Creative line pusher. Dedicated partner. JRH Graphics is part of your team!
