May has just about come and gone, and summer is well on it’s way! The weather outside is heating up, and so are content marketing strategies! We’ve taken a look back on the hottest new trends in content marketing this May, to make sure that you have a full run down on what’s happening, just in case you missed it:Read More

Making a Facebook Event for your birthday party is one thing. Making a Facebook Event to draw customers into your business… is another. With how much people rely on the social network for the goings-on in their community, it’s crucial to give as many strangers FoMO (the fear of missing out) as possible. Events vary just like businesses do, but here are some basic guidelines for a successful Facebook Event. Read More

But everyone else is doing it THIS way!

You’ve heard me talk about the use of hashtags and links on Facebook before, however why is it when we have hard stats and facts on results do we still see people, and paid professionals (and they are NOT cheap), continue to use tactics that we know hurt our marketing efforts?

My only conclusion is good ol’ fashioned peer pressure. When we see competitors or big agencies using bad tactics, we think “oh, well they must know what they are doing.” Not so. They are just following the crowd. Following them chasing popularity over profitability.

Let’s review again the facts.

Facebook is not Instagram. 

Use all the made up, crazy hashtags you want on Instagram. They don’t hurt you. Use a ton if you feel the need. Now whether they help you or not is another question. Are people going to like what they see when they click on them? Is anyone following them? Are they used in your local area? #shoplocal #craftbeer #cityname #popularnetworkinggroup #bizneighborhoodgroup #yourpersonalhashtag  are good.

Other things like #thisbeerissoawewsome or #doingitdoingit might be fun. But that’s all it is.

Facebook and Hashtags do not get along. 

Do not repost your Instagram to Facebook. They are unique and need posts written for them. (Twitter too) Hashtags HURT your post.  We know this as fact.

The below results from a study by Social Bakers, which examined how Facebook engagement correlates hashtag use.

Posts with 1 or 2 hashtags averaged 593 interactions
Posts with 3 to 5 hashtags averaged 416 interactions
Posts with 6 to 10 hashtags averaged 307 interactions
Posts with more than 10 hashtags averaged 188 interactions

SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING? YOU ARE LOSING PEOPLE.

Link it – or Don’t Cry About Wanting More Customers.

If you don’t have a LINK back to your website at the bottom of your Facebook post, you are simply entertaining your Facebook followers and doing nothing to turn them into paying customers or attracting new paying customers. Your goal is to guide people down a sales funnel. This is business, not personal. Repeat – this is business, not personal.

You Probably Don’t Know What You Don’t Know!

The Education Curve is steep in social media and inbound marketing. It went from something we did for fun to the big boy in profitable marketing in a very short time. Most business owners do not know how it all works or what “great results” are. Unfortunately, a lot of agencies don’t know either and are selling a whole lot of nothing for a very high price!

Sadly, I see people continue to do this for their business even with this knowledge. Posting a pretty photo and 14 hashtags will not get you customers. So what do you want? Popularity or Profitability?