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Wylie & Co.

A Strategic Partner For Your Marketing Goals

Archives for September 2016

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Why Your Brand Should Be On Instagram

Millennials love engaging with brands, and they aren’t alone. Social media has made it easy and fun to buddy up to our favorite brands. Whether we are sharing our own pictures and tagging the brand or sharing their posts, we all love when a brand acknowledges and appreciates the engagement.

We all know people (or maybe it’s you!) who snaps a selfie or a picture of the food at a favorite restaurant, and then posts it to Instagram and maybe even Facebook and Twitter too. You tag the business and hope that they’ll respond…maybe they’ll even share your picture!

Most brands and businesses regularly use Facebook. But while Facebook’s potential organic reach to adults has decreased 60% since 2012, Instagram’s organic reach to adult users has actually increased more than 200%.

There’s a lot more activity going on by people and brands on Instagram, where 68% of users engage with brands regularly versus 38% on Facebook. And get this: Instagram has 58x MORE engagement than Facebook!

So while you might feel that your business doesn’t have anything worth sharing on Instagram, think again. People love to see behind-the-scenes stuff; introduce them to your workspace and employees. We’ve shared pictures before that simply show a favorite product that we use on a regular basis like this:

Share a quote or tip (use Canva or PicMonkey to create one with your branding). Get creative! Instagram’s a great way to engage with your audience. The more you share, and the more you “like” and comment on others’ photos, the better your engagement will become.

Written by Natalie Hoage, Brand Manager for Wylie & Co.

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It’s A Fact: Millennials Love Pinterest

The holidays are approaching, and that means that your business is probably starting to strategize your holiday planning for your social media channels. If millennials make up a large sector of your audience, here’s a channel you may have not considered: Pinterest.

Millennials make up the majority of Pinterest users and they have a lot of money to spend! According to Accenture, millennial buyers are projected to spend an annual $1.4 trillion by 2020. And while we already know that millennials are not influenced by traditional marketing strategies, they do love social media and use it more than other generations.

In fact, University of Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research found that companies that offer up exclusive offers or ones that appeal to millennial’s interests are more likely to see an increase in sales as a result of online interaction. And Pinterest is a great place to do it; the Center also found that Pinterest has the highest sales conversion rate of any other social media platform. 47% of millennials who use Pinterest stated that they had purchased something online after pinning it.

So how can your business grab all of those millennials’ attention? Millennials interest on Pinterest is focused on Hair & Beauty, Apparel, Gardening and Decor, Art & Design, DIY, Photography, and Crafts. Make sure that you have boards that focus on those things…even if it’s not your business.

The Center found by asking millennial Pinterest users why they pin something from a company/brand their #1 answer is to support the brand. If they love your brand, they’ll pin your pins and share them.

You can also create Rich Pins that update pinners of price adjustments or special discount codes.

Millennials also love to look at the following topics on social media: Politics, Family & Parenting, Food & Drink, Fashion, and Beauty. So make sure to create content around these topics, and pin away!

How do you plan to work the suggestions into your holiday strategy?

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Say Thank You to Boost Your Business

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It’s amazing how far a simple, authentic “thank you” can go. Think about it – when someone takes the time to genuinely thank you, it’s appreciated and you’re more apt to help that person in the future. The same goes for your customers and vendors. When I receive a real thank you, I’m much more apt to buy more often from the business and to share about the brand with my family and friends.

We’ve all seen a “thank you for your business” at the bottom of a invoice, receipt, or shipping slip inside the box of an online order. But how often do you actually give those thank-yous a second glance? How can you elevate your thank-yous so that they move beyond just a standard line that every business includes and become a unique calling card that your customers look forward to, increases your brand awareness and drives you more business?

Human Unlimited has it figured out. They sell creative, thought invoking, in-your-face men’s and women’s t-shirts. They’re so popular that they often sell out of many of the designs before you can get your hands on one. I ordered a tee from them, and received this thank you card along with it.

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A handcrafted, personalized card saying thank you! I was just as happy to see the card as I was to get the shirt. I know they appreciate my business and took the time to genuinely say thanks. That’s a big deal. And if you just take one look at their Facebook page, you’ll see I’m not the only one.

Your business may not have the manpower or budget to do something so personalized. But there are so many other things you can do to send your customers and vendors virtual love. It could be as simple as offering a discount code off their next purchase, or offering them free shipping. And don’t forget to acknowledge customers who are unhappy with your service. Their complaints are valuable feedback to the way you do business. Let them know you appreciate that they took time out of their day to let you know what they were unhappy about and for giving you the chance to right a wrong (whether it was real or perceived).

Email your vendors to say thanks for delivering in a time-crunch situation or send business their way. Make sure they know that you appreciate their business. Be genuine and specific; if you’re not they will never know.

Don’t forget to give your audience the opportunity to socialize their excitement about your brand. Include a custom hashtag that they can use when posting about you and make sure you have someone on the team who is actively engaging with those who post.

Saying thanks doesn’t have to be a huge, time consuming endeavor – just a thoughtful one.

How does your business thank customers and vendors?

Written by Natalie Hoage, Brand Manager for Wylie & Co.