Getting started with stories: Part 5—The follow up

In our blog “Getting started with stories: Part 1” we discussed how Facebook and Instagram stories are growing at 15x the pace of the newsfeed because Facebook algorithms are placing meaningful relationships (cultivated by short, daily stories) over passive content (newsfeed posts). We touched on the breakdown of what type of content to post, and how often. We touched on the breakdown of what type of content to post, and how often.

Catch up on Parts 2-4 for specific ideas on how to create posts focusing on humanizing your brand, product posting, and promotions.

Here in part 5, we’re going to focus on follow-up.

Because what’s the point of doing any of this if you’re not going to close the sale? Remember to think of all of these interactions as a business deal. It takes time to build trust, a relationship with buyers/customers on and off of social media.

• Respond to every DM in a timely manner.
  • If you don’t, you’re passing up not only an opportunity to make a connection but potentially a sale. If they aren’t interested in buying right away, that doesn’t mean they won’t buy in the future or know someone else who is interested in buying. Responding shows you care and builds trust.
  • If you think you’re too busy to constantly respond, mark a couple of days on your calendar, maybe from 8am-9am on Mondays and Thursdays to respond in bulk to DMs and comments. Just know that Dax Sheppard responds personally to EVERY tweet he receives. Just saying.
  • We all have a tendency to spend more time on the one bad comment than all the good comments. Reverse that. Respond positively to positive comments, you’ll get positive results. Never lose your EXCITEMENT that someone is interested in your brand or product enough to interact with you!
  • Take screenshots of positive interactions, fan shout-outs, etc. and put them into a folder. This is a way to keep track of ROI differently. It takes TIME to turn fans into influencers, and won’t show up in KPIs immediately. This is a good way to keep track of your biggest fans/leads.
• Reach out to at least one follower per week—Pick at least one person that you made a connection with and pay close attention to their account, comment on one of their posts, tag them in one of your posts or stories if they are a business, or DM them from a story that they post. Be sure not to be sales-y—remember, people don’t want to be sold to. The purpose is just to make another connection to keep you and your brand top-of-mind.
• Review analytics—Set a reminder for the first of every month to log in to Facebook or Instagram and just take a quick glance at which posts did really well. Did you get a lot of DMs, or make a lot of connections from one particular post or story? Did one or two lead to meaningful followers? Try to replicate the posts and stories that did better.

General tips & tricks:

You can save stories posted to Instagram to your Highlights— but these should only be stories your audience will want to reference. For example:

• • Events Tab—so that people may quickly find what events you’ll be attending
  • Categories such as:
    • Consumers
    • B2B
    • Product demonstrations
    • Sales contacts (Headshots of reps & their handles maybe?)

This blog series was focused on stories, however, there is still a time and need for posting in your feed. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

• Links have the lowest engagement; videos have the highest—70% of your content should be video.
  • Post videos—0:15-3:00 on feed. Post organically first to get organic traction, then add small amount of ad budget. Facebook will reward content more once it has some organic reach.
  • Live videos should be 7-20 minutes.
  • Create custom audience based off audience who watched the previously mentioned video.
  • Create highly sharable videos
  • The best videos are relatable, emotional, 0:30 in length, and have captions/text
• Use hashtags to find people who are interested in your products or industry. People follow hashtags just like they follow brands. You can list up to 30 hashtags in one post, and you should use any that are relevant to that post or your business. For example, you could use all of these: #organic #organicfoods #healthyrecipes #shoplocal #LafayetteIN The list goes on. In this example, your post would show up in anyone’s feed who follows #organicfoods. Based on your post. they may decide to follow you and see what your brand is about!

If you would like to learn more about this topic, or how we can help with your social media strategy or ad creation, please reach out to the NewPoint team. If you are interested in more food marketing topics, please visit our “Food for Thought” page. Alternatively, check out NewPoint’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.