Beyond the bagel
How engaging online can make your brand stand out
How often do you think about the Roman Empire? This is the question many women on TikTok are asking the men in their lives — and the answers will surprise you! It turns out that many guys spend A LOT of time thinking about ancient Rome. But, why? This article from the NY Times investigates this latest trend. BTW: I asked my husband and he said every few weeks. 🤷♀️
In today’s newsletter:
Beyond the Bagel: How Engaging Online Can Make Your Brand Stand Out
Social Snack: Instagram Makes it Easier to See Reels By People You Follow
On the Calendar: Social Media Dates in 2024
Beyond the Bagel
There is a great new bagel place in town, and we usually pop in on the weekend. But I typically stay outside with Olive while my husband, Jamie, goes in to get our treats. This weekend, I decided to post an Instagram Story about Olive waiting for Jamie (aka, her piece of the bagel) and I tagged the company.
They responded within minutes, adding it to their Story and direct messaging me to thank us for coming in. Well, the social media manager in me was bursting with pride. Because honestly, I always tag brands, but very few ever respond. So kudos to the social media manager of this brand! 👏
If you want to up your social media engagement and online customer service, here are four tips:
1/4 Respond As Soon As Possible
The faster you can respond, the better. Here are some stats to consider:
40 percent of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour, and 79 percent expect a response in the first 24 hours.
Customers also spend 20 to 40 percent more with companies that respond to customer service requests on social media.
But that doesn’t mean the onus is on you or your social media manager to constantly be watching the account. If you have an auto response set up for evenings and weekends that lets customers know when they can expect a full response, that’s great. And then, of course, make sure to respond within the timeframe that you said you would.
2/4 Monitor Conversations to Surprise and Delight
When I worked at Wilfrid Laurier University, I would monitor the terms “excited” and “Laurier” on X (Twitter) to see posts by students announcing they had accepted an offer of admission. I would respond with “Welcome to the Golden Hawk family! 💜💛”. I can’t tell you how excited they were to receive a response from the official university account. And I later met several students in person who remembered receiving that welcome tweet.
3/4 Consider Common Questions
One of the things I like to do is brainstorm any questions people might have, and answer them in posts to reduce the number of DMs and questions I receive. But if you find you’re still getting the same questions over and over again, create an answer template to make it easier and more efficient for you to respond.
4/4 Carve Out Time Every Day
Resources are always an issue for anyone managing social media. It takes a lot of time just to create posts, never mind responding to questions and comments. But if you can carve out even 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes before you log off for the day to check for comments, questions and DMs, it will make a big difference to your online community. They just want to feel seen and heard. 😊
🌮 SOCIAL SNACK 🌮
Instagram makes it easier to see Reels by people you follow
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri recently announced that you can now more easily see Reels created by people you follow. You just have to go into the Reels tab, and click on “Reels” in the top left-hand corner. You should see a dropdown that allows you to select “Following.”
ICYMI
Instagram expands Reels Gifts to creators in more regions [Social Media Today]
X now lets premium subscribers hide likes and verify their real IDs [Mashable]
TikTok opens its TikTok Shop in the U.S. [TikTok Blog]
Snapchat launches a screen-sharing option for its web version [Search Engine Journal]
Threads now lets you quote posts on the web [The Verge]
Pinterest unveils slate of new product updates and ad solutions [Pinterest Blog]
🗓️ Social Media Dates in 2024
Social Media Managers Day (Sept. 17th) is the last official “social media” related holiday of 2023. But it’s never too early to start thinking about 2024. Here are a few dates you might want to put on your calendar for next year:
Jan. 22: Community Manager Appreciation Day
Mar. 26: Meme Creator Day
Apr. 23: International Creator Day
Jun. 21: World Selfie Day
June 30: Social Media Day
July 17: World Emoji Day
Sept. 5: National GIF Day
Sept. 17: Social Media Managers Day