Local Social – Lava Surf

Top Tips For an Up-to-Date Social Media Strategy

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Kate Smith

Top Tips For an Up-to-Date Social Media Strategy

For most of us, the new year brings a new set of goals. Along with the rest of this year’s resolutions, we hope you’re planning on setting goals for your social media strategy. Social media is going to experience some big changes in 2020 and your strategy should too!

Here are our top tips for keeping your social strategy on the ball and up to date!

Review Your Goals Regularly. Maybe you think this is a no brainer or maybe you think you don’t need to do this at all. I mean you know what your own goals are, right? While this may be true, it can be easy to get sidetracked without realizing it. Staying on top of your goals is key and the best way to do that is to schedule a time each month or week or even each day to take a quick glance over your goals. When reviewing them, ask yourself the following questions:

Are you on track to fulfill your goals?
Do you need to make any adjustments in order to meet upcoming deadlines?
Is the content being produced for your social pages pushing you towards your most important brand goals?

You may find it helpful to make your own set of questions to ask yourself while reviewing your goals as a way of double-checking your progress.

Subscribe to a Newsletter. I know. The last thing you want to deal with is even more emails in your inbox every morning. But one of the best ways to keep up with social media updates and trends is to subscribe to newsletters themed around keeping you in the know with all things social media. A few popular ones are Social Media Today and Marketing Dive. Browsing a newsletter each morning will give you a quick look into the social media world. It’s an easy way to see what’s trending, what’s working for other brands, and what tactics may have resulted in backlash.

A good newsletter can also help you stay up to date with updates social media channels are making. Updates to LinkedIn, Twitter, and the Facebook family of apps are often published on their websites. These pages often post updates to their apps, suggestions for improving your social pages, and even address concerns users have about privacy or bullying. It may benefit you to make a habit of regularly checking the official blog pages for your most commonly used social media channels.

Make lists of best and worst performing content. This will help you know what you need to stop doing as a content producer and what your audience is craving more of. It’s important to pay careful attention to how people are choosing to respond to your content.

You may find that the results are surprising and that the content you like the most does not perform as well as you had anticipated, or vice versa. You may find that certain posts aren’t receiving any negative comments but people are “hiding” the post so it won’t appear in their feed anymore. This is a metric that could easily be overlooked without a thorough review process.

Without taking the time to properly measure your content, you’re moving forward blind to opportunities for further success. There are a few different ways to successfully analyze your content performance but one of the simplest ways to do this is by using social media management software.

Utilize social media management software. Staying on top of everything may start to feel overwhelming but it’s important to stay organized! Social media management software such as Lava Surf is designed to boost productivity while simultaneously saving you time.

It is also a great tool for measuring content performance! Lava Surf can pull all of your posts into one location to show you what’s performing best by way of impressions, reach, and engaged users just to name a few metrics it measures. It can also show you what kind of reactions you’re receiving on your posts, such as likes, or hides for example.

You can also use Lava Surf to schedule out your posts in advance on multiple different social media platforms. This means you can spend less time posting every day and more time working towards your bigger goals. Check out our Home Page on our website to find out what other ways Lava Surf can benefit your brand!

Staying organized and up to date with trends will help you know what adjustments you need to make to your social media strategy throughout the year in order to see brand growth. Here’s to a successful 2020!

Reclaim Your Social Media in 2019!

Posted on December 20, 2018December 21, 2018 by Kate Smith

Did you know that only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s Resolutions? Resolutions can be a great way to kickstart a new project or make changes to an existing one. The key to becoming part of the 8% is to make sure your goal is clearly defined and manageable. Look back on your social media goals from last year. How did you do? Whether you feel like 2018 was a great year for your social media or you feel that your efforts were lacking, the new year is a great time to reassess your strategy!

Here are 4 ways to start your year strong in the social media department.

Outline Your Social Media Marketing Goals

The rest of your social media strategy will come together a lot quicker if you have clearly established your goals for the new year. So what’s most important to you? Brand awareness? Lead generation? A great way to build your strategy is to start with your main goal and then structure your smaller marketing goals around it. Let’s imagine that your big goal for the year is to increase your sales through social media. Part of accomplishing this goal could be setting up a social listening and engagement strategy that is structured around driving focus towards your company’s product.

Reevaluate your Audience

If your followers aren’t engaging with you, it can mean a few different things. One reason could be that you’re not publishing content that they find relevant. Another is that you’re not targeting the right people with that content. Taking some time to reevaluate your target audience will help remedy both these problems.

What kind of audience are you trying to target? If you’re not sure, think about the product or service you’re selling. Who does it serve best? What drives individuals to purchase it? You’ll want to take into account factors like the age, gender, careers, and hobbies of your audience members.

A great way to evaluate your current audience is to review the analytics on your social media pages. Most social media sites provide you with data about who is interacting with your business page. You might be surprised to find that your online following doesn’t line up with the group you thought you were targeting. Maybe you’ll notice that you have a larger teenage audience than you thought or that your brand currently appeals more to women.

Choose Relevant Social Platforms

Your social media goals don’t have to be overwhelming! But they will start to feel like it if you’re investing your energy into platforms that aren’t helping you. The set of goals that you established will help you decide which platforms are most valuable to your company.

The platform you use should be a tool that aids you in reaching your end goal. You wouldn’t use a screwdriver to pound a nail into a wall because it doesn’t make sense. It would take more time, more energy, and you wouldn’t end up with a high-quality result. So do a little research to make sure you’re not spending excess time on a platform that simply does not work for you. You will discover a lot about the best uses for different platforms. For example, 95% of Instagram users are under 35, so if you’re targeting a younger audience, Instagram might be a good place to establish your presence.

Try and choose 2-3 platforms to create a strong presence on. If you’re wondering which platforms are going to work best for the needs of your company I’ve written up a separate blog post to help you decide which social media platforms are best for you.

Create an Engagement Strategy

This is a big one. When planning out your social strategy you probably think a lot about customer engagement. You think about how people are responding to your posts and how they choose to interact with you. But how much thought do you put into the way your brand is engaging with your audience?

By now you know that social media is about having conversations with your followers. You also probably wouldn’t define a conversation as somebody simply leaving a comment on your page. A real conversation starts with your audience when you put in the effort to talk to them. People like to feel heard and customers like responsive brands. Most people expect brands to respond to their online queries within 24 hours or less. A recent study even showed that 44% of millennials expect a response within an hour. It will definitely benefit you to start using a moderation platform so you don’t miss any messages or comments.

With everything becoming more automated in 2019, beat out your competition by giving your brand a human voice and interacting with others. Some of the most popular brands on social media such as Taco Bell or Netflix are successful because they stick to an authentic tone while communicating online.

So there it is! Four ways strengthen your social media for the new year! These tips should give a solid foundation for implementing your social media resolutions. Let’s give it our all this year and be part of that 8% that achieves their goals!

Social Media Tips for the Holidays

Posted on October 22, 2018December 3, 2018 by Kate Smith

The holiday season creeps up on us a little faster each year. The leaves start to change color and before you know it, you’re wrapped up in Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The holidays are busy enough on their own but lets not forget modern shopping holidays such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Not to mention the new phenomenon known as “Sofa Sunday” which takes place in between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The traditions surrounding these holidays provide countless opportunities for heightened engagement with your online audience. Are you doing everything you can to connect with your followers this holiday season?

Read on for a few tips to help boost your social strategy this season!

Start Now

First off, if you haven’t launched your holiday campaign yet, you’re running late. In case you haven’t taken note, it’s almost November. Maybe you’re the kind of person who doesn’t even like to think about Thanksgiving or Christmas until the first of November. That’s totally fine when applied to putting up lights or waiting to crack out the Michael Bublé Christmas album. But applying that kind of mentality to your social campaign would be a huge mistake. Why?

Research tells us that in the US alone, 40% of consumers plan to start their Christmas shopping in October and 20% intend to start even earlier. So if you’re hoping to increase sales this holiday season, start now!

Cater to Your Mobile Audience

The second tip you’ll want to implement immediately is catering your campaign to a mobile audience. Did you know that the average American checks their phone every 12 minutes? Your audience is always on their smartphone and as a result, they are always shopping. Maybe it’s just window shopping on Pinterest or browsing a boutique on Instagram, but the pattern is there.

Ever heard of sofa Sunday? The day before Cyber Monday, people browse online so they’re prepared to make the most of upcoming sales. In 2017, studies informed us that 45 percent of shoppers spend at least two hours of Sofa Sunday researching Cyber Monday deals. Thirty-six percent of these shoppers plan to do all of that research from their phone.

What can we take away from this? Well, marketing involves being where the people are. The people are on social media and more specifically, on their phones.

Introduce a New Side of Your Brand

The holidays are the perfect time to give your brand a little more dimension by showing off a fresh side of your organization. You might choose to do this by launching a new campaign centered around a good cause. Or maybe you’ll opt to show off a genuine side through introducing your audience to your team. One way of doing this is taking your followers behind the scenes with your posts and even a few live videos. The holidays are full of fun behind the scenes gems. Here are just a few.

Show off show your holiday office decorations
Post candid shots of team members celebrating
Go live at an event you’re hosting! (Ex. Christmas Tree Lighting, Food Drive, Party)
Do live holiday-themed interviews with your team members

These simple posts will go a long way with your audience. It helps people relate to you more and the holidays are all about remembering what connects us.

Hashtag Campaigns

The holidays are a great time to introduce a new hashtag campaign! While some contests involve a series a of complicated rules, I believe that the simpler the campaign, the better. One of my favorite examples of this is Coca Cola’s “#ShareACoke” campaign. The campaign promotes sharing and kindness without being overly complicated.

Hashtag campaigns are also helpful in gathering user generated content. You’ll definitely want to utilize UGC this time of year. Social media users trust UGC content so much that it has a 4.5% higher chance of conversion than an average post. One of the most successful UGC related hashtag campaigns was implemented by Starbucks in 2014. Their #RedCupContest resulted in at least one new #RedCupContest image appearing on Instagram every 14 seconds within the first two days. By the time the contest came to a close, there were more than 40,000 entries. That’s A LOT of user generated content to pick from.

Engage. Connect. Repeat.

Again, the holiday season is about highlighting things that connect us and make us human. Consider injecting pathos into your posts to help increase engagement. Posts that evoke emotions within a person are more likely to be shared than those that don’t.

So brainstorm ways you can connect with your audience in a more personal way than normal. Ask your followers to share their favorite holiday photos or Christmas songs. In 2014 Barnes and Noble ran a #BNGiftTip campaign to increase one on one interactions with their customers. The campaign encouraged people to ask Barnes & Noble for gift suggestions. This stimulated more Twitter conversations and gave B&N an opportunity to provide personalized content for their audience.

End Late

The last holiday social tip you need to remember is to end your campaign late. If the campaign has been going well, why stop on Christmas? Shoppers certainly don’t stop there. The day after Christmas is one of the busiest shopping days of the year and 45% of shoppers continue searching for post-Christmas sales in January! So keep that in mind and ride out the holiday season a little longer.

The holiday season is rich with opportunities to connect with your online audience. Don’t hesitate to jump in on the fun when planning your campaigns! This is a great time to grow your following and increase brand awareness! Take advantage of it by building strong connections with your audience!

Harnessing Social Media as a Franchise

Posted on July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 by Kate Smith

What Social Media Can Do For Your Franchise

Social media has opened up countless doors for organizations looking to expand their marketing efforts. Organizations can now, more than ever, take on their own personalities and develop relationships with their customers.

So why is social media so effective? Because it’s a two-way street. Your can put your brand on display in any way you want and facilitate discussions that will expand your online visibility. If you’re a social media pro, you’re also your customer’s best listener. People like feeling heard so interacting with your customers online is a great way to build trust and earn loyalty.

Challenges You May Face

Now with all of the benefits that stream from the kingdom of social media, there also come challenges. As a franchise you may find yourself feeling daunted by the idea of implementing a social media campaign. Properly applying social media as a marketing technique means investing time and money into strategies as well as having a strong sense of brand awareness.

When looking at your franchise as a whole you can easily take into account that they have a variety of locations, each under different management. Although the brand is the same, without guidance, each different franchise manager is likely to present your brand a little differently than the last. Attempts to localize content combined with different presentation styles can result in each of the local pages carrying a different brand voice. This will water down the strength of your brand and your attempts to market it.

Here’s Your Solution

So how can you utilize social media to stay ahead of the game while protecting your brand voice?

One powerful solution is a branding guide. Now a branding guide can be as complicated or simple as you like. But for the most part, the more detail the better.

A branding guide can be distributed to each individual location and define exactly how you expect employees to interact with your online audience. Train your employees to interact with customers on social media just as they would be expected to with customers standing right in front of them.

Your branding guide should clearly specify the voice and tone for your brand. Is your brand voice professional? Trendy? Playful? Whatever it is, stick to it. Your tone is a little different than your voice. The tone of your brand voice may change depending on the situation. What tone does the organization take in day to day conversation with customers online? What tone does the organization take when responding to negative reviews?

The guide can also include color schemes, fonts, and examples of copy that uses the brands voice. The more detailed and clear your branding guide, the more direction your individual franchise locations will have for their social media efforts.

If you’re not utilizing social media, your brand isn’t going to thrive. Don’t let multiple locations overwhelm you! Putting together a few simple ideas for a branding guide is a huge step in the right direction.

6 Steps For Creating a Successful Social Media Strategy

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Kate Smith

Whether you’re a social media veteran or you’re just barely breaking into the social media realm, your focus should be on creating the best social media strategy possible. While things like brands and budgets vary, there are some things that should always be a part of your calculations. Here are the 6 steps for creating a successful social media strategy.

1. Understand Your Audience

A key element in any great social media strategy is an understanding your audience. In the beginning stages of determining your social media strategy, there should always a discovery phase to determine who your audience is, where they are, and what motivates them. Most companies pour a great deal of research into this initial stage, but many fail to maintain that level of research throughout subsequent campaigns.

Who are you trying to target? What are their needs? What social platforms do they use? These are just a few of the questions you should be answering on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, because of the pace at which the digital landscape changes, last week’s data may already be too old to inform today’s decisions. For this reason it’s important to continually research your customers’ pain points as well as larger societal trends.

2. Set Clear Goals

When you know who your audience is, where they are, and what they want, then you can set some goals. Examine what your strategy is and identify some metrics you can measure that will help determine your progress. Some common metrics used in goal setting are: reach, shares, clicks, etc.

Goals help shape the direction your campaign takes and they give you something measurable with which to track your progress. Just the act of writing down your goals will help keep them top of mind as you make important decisions in your campaign.

3. Plan Effectively

You must have a calendar.

A content calendar is essential for planning a winning strategy. It will allow you to see the bigger picture and keep your team on track. As you move forward, it will act as a reminder of important dates and events so you can spend more time engaging and less time worrying.

Just be sure your calendar reflects the goals you’ve set.

The second half of the planning step is building a content bank. While you should always carefully plan out each post and where it should fall in your campaign, contingencies are important. A healthy content bank contains not only additional new posts, but old posts as well. Whenever you have a gap in your content calendar, this will allow you to fill it with a fresh new post, or give you a starting point to repurpose old content.

4. Measure

What’s the point in setting measurable goals if you never actually measure them?

By this time in the process you’ve put a lot of work into your social media strategy. Check your measurements! This will help you see how you’re doing and assess what, if any, changes need to be made. Measurement can help you identify successful content, as well as any gaps that may exist.

5. Make Time

Now that you’ve created a great social media campaign, don’t think you’re out of the woods just yet. Great content isn’t enough anymore. Creating engagement is growing in importance, now more than ever.

Social media feeds are filled with millions of posts, messages, pages, and groups. Most algorithms are built to favor posts that get a lot of people talking and taking action. The best way to make your posts stand out from the others is to engage.

Set aside time to engage with your customers as they engage with your posts. Respond promptly messages and questions. If you do, your efforts will be magnified and your all-important metrics increased.

6. Audit Regularly

Finally, be sure to perform regular social media audits. After weeks and months of running various campaigns, it’s important to assess the state of your online presence as a whole.

Check for old posts on your Facebook page that may contradict the current brand image you’re trying to build. Remove them. A self-audit can also help you identify inconsistencies and assess previous campaign success. Use these insights to improve your current strategy and inform your content decisions moving forward.

5 Ways to Spring Clean Your Social Media

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Kate Smith

Social media can be a mess. Trying to manage all of your social content across multiple pages and platforms is a big task and things can easily slip into chaos. Luckily, we’ve prepared this five-step spring cleaning guide to help you audit and refresh your social accounts.

1. Check Your Branding

Everything on your social pages has the ability to strengthen or weaken your desired brand image, so make sure no stone goes unturned. First, make sure you have a comprehensive list of all of your social media accounts. Next, ask yourself the following questions:

Is my avatar or profile photo consistent on every page?
Are my cover and header photos the same on all pages?
Do my descriptions and bios match up on each page?

By the end of the audit, you should be able to answer “Yes” to all of these questions. And finally, clear away the junk. Since you last cleaned up your accounts, it’s all but guaranteed that undesirable content has made its way onto your pages. This can include:

Boring posts with low engagement
Overly salesy posts
Low quality images & videos
Old, irrelevant, or expired offers
Generic content that anyone else could post
Content inconsistent with your brand image

Throw it out! Delete it! Get rid of it! Start fresh with only the best.

2. Fold Together Goals & Metrics

Take some time to examine your past goals and assess how you did. Did you get the amount of impressions you wanted? The page likes? The clicks? If you’re unsure, you’re likely not paying enough attention to these important metrics. Now is a good time to set some benchmarks.

Regardless of what you want to achieve, it’s imperative to always have an idea of what metrics you want to keep your eye on. These metrics are crucial because they give you a numerical way to track how you’re doing. They also are a source of important insights that will help in making future marketing decisions.

So, when you’re making goals, be sure to fold social metrics like reach, engagement, and followers in with them.

3. Freshen Up Your Ideas

Have you been running the same boring contest once a week for the past year? Have you been using the same set of hashtags for months? Are you noticing your followers are engaging less with your content?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a good chance you may just need some new ideas.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to social media. Many brands post every day, if not several times a day, which requires a seemingly endless flow of new ideas. And when you finally find an idea that seems to resonate, it’s all too tempting to keep using it over and over again.

Coming up with new content ideas can seem particularly daunting if you’re working with a small team and/or limited resources, but it’s possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Monitor current trends online (hashtags, news stories, fads, etc)
Collect screenshots of interesting posts you see on your personal account
Follow competitor pages to see what they’re posting

4. Dust off Your Content Calendar

It’s time to start using a content calendar.

A content calendar should be at the heart of any social media campaign. It’s a way to organize all of your content and ideas in one place. You can track holidays, monitor upcoming promotions, and see any gaps that may need filling.

There are many ways to approach your content calendar. Most of the time content is planned monthly or quarterly in a shareable format. Here are some ways you can assemble your calendar:

Create a spreadsheet
Download a template (Hubspot)
Use an online application (Trello)

5. Build the Habit

Remember, cleaning up your social media accounts may be tedious, but it doesn’t have to. If this is your first cleanup, you’ll probably be sorting through years of social posts. Don’t let that discourage you. If you clean up quarterly, you’ll have a much more manageable workload.

Another benefit of regular cleanings is a steady flow of insight. If you are able to recognize more frequently when ideas are and aren’t working, you will be able to adapt your marketing plan more quickly. You may even stop some bad ideas from making it to your pages in the first place, leaving a whole lot less to clean up long term.

2018 Social Media Resolutions

Posted on January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 by Kate Smith

As 2018 approached, every digital marketer and their dog began flooding the internet with predictions about upcoming social media trends. Some of these trends (like the pressure to further localize content) seem likely to occur, while others (like the death of blogging) seem a little more far-fetched. Whether or not you believe these predictions, there are a few things every social media marketer can agree on. Here are some social media marketing resolutions for 2018.

1. Up your content game

Quality content is always important to a social media campaign, but in 2018 it will be essential. Sites like Facebook are taking steps to crack down on engagement bait. This means no more “tag a friend” or “react to vote” posts. Many businesses rely on these types of posts to get more organic reach and fan engagement, so if your company has been relying on these strategies you may no longer hit your goals on key Facebook marketing metrics. Trust me, 2018 is the year to invest in more relevant, genuinely engaging content. If you don’t, you’ll be shelling out a lot more money just to achieve a fraction of the reach and engagement you may have seen in years past.

2. Invest in video content

Just as photos killed text-only status updates, video content is forcing the still-photo off its social media throne. True, there are still places that photos thrive (Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr), but the big sites for marketers are increasingly trending in favor of videos. Even sites like Instagram are seeing more success with videos in recent months. And on Facebook, there’s been a noticeable drop in organic reach over the past year, with videos significantly outperforming every other type of content. If you want your content to be seen, video is your best bet in 2018.

3. Focus on relationships

Your work doesn’t stop once your customer engages with your content. In fact, you should be putting as much effort into moderating your pages as you do creating quality content. It’s easy to respond “thanks” to a couple of good reviews, but are you really having a conversation with your followers? Try to reach out to commenters even if they haven’t specifically addressed you or asked a question. Often, the small, unsolicited interactions you have with customers are the ones that turn them into powerful brand advocates. For you, 2018 should be dedicated to building lasting relationships wherever possible.

4. Clean up your social tools

No matter the size of your business, it can be tough to manage all the different social media and review sites that you need to be effective. Logging in, logging out, logging in, logging out. In 2018, try to clean up your process by finding a social marketing platform that works for your business. Lava Surf allows you to bring all of your social and review sites into one dashboard that saves you valuable time. You can even localize your content to ensure each region gets its own special touch. Check it out here.

Leveraging the Holidays on Social Media

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Kate Smith

The holiday season is once again upon us, and with it comes another slew of elaborate holiday marketing campaigns from big name brands. From the commercials meant to tug at your heartstrings to the memorable holiday mascots, the fight for screen time is getting more expensive. As a business owner it’s easy to feel discouraged in the presence of such grandiose, high-budget spectacles that always accompany the season. Luckily, thanks to social media, leveraging the holidays doesn’t always require a massive advertising budget. Here are some ways you can create engaging and effective holiday campaigns on social media.

Showcase your product

The holiday season is a better time than most to show off your wares. Most people are already making wish lists and searching for the perfect gifts for loved ones. Make sure your product is at the forefront of their mind by using Instagram stories, Facebook videos, and dark ads focused on important product benefits and discounts. If you do a contest or giveaway, make sure it revolves around your product.

Play on Heightened Emotions

Whether it’s because of the childhood memories, religious overtones, or the spirit of giving that permeates this time of year, nearly everyone gets emotional around the holidays. Without being too cliché, find a way to use these emotions to your advantage. Heck, your audience may really dislike the holidays, but rancor is an emotion you can capture as well. You could make fun of the consumerism or family squabbles that people so often despise.

Tailor to Your Audience

Make sure your message is targeted to your particular audience. Too many people put out generic holiday posts. They’re usually lovely and sometimes shareable, but they tend to lack the personal touches that really make an impact on consumers. Show your customers you know them and your social media engagement will improve.

Research Relevant Hashtags

Though hashtags tend to have more importance on platforms like Instagram and Twitter, it’s always important to know what is trending. Because so many posts are tagged with generic hashtags like #MerryChristmas or #HappyHolidays, it’s easy for your posts to get lost. See what hashtags are trending at the time and tailor your holiday messaging to what people are already talking about.

Ask Customers to Share

Most people on social media are there because they like to share. They share selfies, political opinions, memories, and funny cat videos. Why not take advantage of their giving nature? Ask users to share photos of themselves in ugly sweaters, use Facebook reactions or a Twitter poll to vote for their favorite holiday films, or leave comments with their favorite Christmas memories.

Adjust for Platforms

Remember that all platforms are different. What may be successful on Facebook may not translate well to Twitter. Instagrammers may be more interested in seeing photos behind the scenes, while Twitter users may be more apt to engage on posts that ask their opinions. Familiarize yourself with each platform and adjust your media and messaging accordingly.

Call Them to Action

Once you’ve created the perfect holiday post for the perfect target audience on the perfect social platform, make sure you include a call to action. Don’t go through all the trouble to get your audience’s attention, only to leave them in the lurch. If they’ve engaged, they’ve already shown interest in your brand. Try linking to your online store or sharing a time-sensitive voucher code to seal the deal.

Local Social Media & Brand Integrity

Posted on November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by Kate Smith

As a franchisor, one of your biggest concerns is brand integrity. If you’re a growing company with just a few locations, you may lack the resources needed to hire additional employees to monitor your online messaging and brand strategy. If you’re a larger company with hundreds of locations and multiple Facebook pages, you may find it difficult to make sure each franchisee is putting out content reflective of your brand voice. In either case, the answer can be found in understanding today’s on-demand economy and the importance of technology in your approach.

The Need

Advertising has always been about staying ahead of the game. While traditional advertising serves an important purpose, it is largely insufficient on its own. Over the past 25 years we’ve seen a transition in advertising from traditional to digital to social media. And recently we’ve seen yet another fundamental shift toward mobile and local content.

This is simply a consequence of the on-demand economy in which we now live. Consumers are less and less persuaded by the push/pull strategies of the past. They require quality, locally curated content and a relationship-centric approach.

A brand that posts local content is a brand that shows it cares about the communities in which it operates and a brand that people are more likely to engage with. Pages with truly local content can expect to see exponentially higher reach and engagement that will ultimately translate to increased brand loyalty.

The Challenge

Franchises present a unique challenge when it comes to local social management. How do you balance a local social campaign with an overall brand strategy?

Brand Strategy + Messaging + Consistency x Local Franchisees = Chaos

In approaching this challenge, it is important to note that franchisee concerns are very different from those of the franchisor. While corporate players may be focused on brand image, distribution, and PR, franchisees may be more concerned about staying connected to their community, getting enough people through the door, or simply having enough time to dedicate to online engagement.

All of these concerns are important to consider in determining your social media strategy. Here are three approaches to consider.

The Options

1. Top Down Approach

What it looks like: Corporate publishes the majority of posts uniformly across branded pages and reviews are managed from a centralized point. Some localized posts are allowed with approval from the corporate team. This is the most common approach among franchises because it tends to be the easiest to implement.

Advantages: Corporate control and consistency of messaging.

Disadvantages: Less online engagement and less community connection.

Tech Needs: Social tools that can mass-distribute posts, restrict permissions, and centralize social reviews and responses.

2. Bottom Up Approach

What it looks like: Corporate yields the majority of control to the franchisees to distribute localized content and respond to online reviews. Some corporate posts are distributed on the local level. This approach requires training franchisees to use different social media platforms and create engaging content.

Advantages: Truly local content and genuine community engagement.

Disadvantages: Less control of brand messaging, unreliable or inexperienced franchisees, and no guaranteed posting.

Tech Needs: None or a social platform that limits rights and requires content approvals.

3. Integrated Approach

What it looks like: Corporate controls messaging from the top through approvals and permissions. Reliable and competent franchisees can be given more flexibility, while others can receive corporate curated messaging. This approach requires a social management platform and training, but allows for corporate oversight and franchisee opt-out.

Advantages: Move at your own pace, retain corporate control of messaging, lower risk, and still get localized engagement.

Disadvantages: More planning and training.

Tech Needs: Franchise social media software that allows content approvals, roles and permissions, and localization capabilities.

The Solution

An integrated approach is the best solution. It helps retain brand integrity while also allowing local franchisees to be involved and engaged with their communities online. For this approach you will need to leverage a social media management platform that allows you to assign roles and permissions, grant content approvals, localize and post to multiple pages at once, and centralize reviews from all the top social media and review sites.

Lava Surf allows you to implement this integrated approach with ease. Though it will require some extra training, it will allow your brand to move at its own pace. If you’re nervous about diving into local social right away, you can take your time and implement your strategy in phases. We recommend a Crawl, Walk, Run strategy:

Crawl: corporate control
Walk: test the waters by allowing specific, trusted franchisees to have more freedom
Run: train and roll out brand-wide

To find out more about how you can implement this integrated strategy with your business, feel free to contact us here.

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