Category "Social Media Marketing"

Do you know how to schedule Instagram posts?
If not, it’s time to learn!
We know: scheduling posts on Instagram used to be a huge headache.
Thankfully, times have changed. Recent updates to the platform and a new wave of third-party apps make it easier than ever to schedule posts on Instagram.
But doing so isn’t as simple as queuing up a bunch of posts and walking away.
Scheduling can help you scale up your campaigns and boost your engagement, granted you do it right.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to schedule Instagram posts and best practices for automating your campaigns.
Why should you schedule Instagram posts, anyway?
Businesses have begged for scheduling features on Instagram for years.
But why are so many marketers eager to queue up their content? Below are some of the biggest benefits of Instagram scheduling.
1. Develop a more comprehensive content strategy
Food for thought: Instagram stats highlight that different types of content (think: carousels, images, Stories and videos) all receive different rates of engagement.
Similarly, brands need to diversify their content strategies and not just post the same type of content over and over.
When you schedule posts on Instagram, you give yourself time to actually assess your content calendar.
And when you don’t have to rush, you have time to gather the various assets you need to create fresh, compelling content.
Want to spend a few days workshopping a storytelling post or editing a video? No problem.
2. Free up your schedule to interact more with followers
If nothing else, scheduling Instagram content can free up some serious time in your schedule.
That means more opportunities to go back and forth with followers and reply to comments.
Even the best Instagram scheduler can’t do the legwork of building relationships with customers. Sticking to a schedule means that you can dedicate more time to engagement.
3. Better time management means higher quality posts
Think about the effort that goes into any given post or campaign.
Writing captions. Tweaking creatives. Tagging.
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Writing posts last-minute isn’t just a recipe for burnout: it’s bad news for your creativity. By scheduling posts on Instagram, you can batch your time appropriately and craft more meaningful posts.
4. Create seamless marketing campaigns beyond Instagram
Your marketing campaigns shouldn’t be totally siloed.
From organic and paid social to email and beyond, all of your channels should be on the same page in terms of creatives, landing pages and promotions. This creates a better customer experience.
Through social scheduling, you ensure that your posts fire off at the right time. If you’re using a tool such as Sprout Social, you can actually sync all of your social channels (think: Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest) so you don’t have to publish manually or in real-time.
5. Encourage collaboration and brainstorming
Again, scheduling encourages brands to begin working on posts well in advance.
This results in changes for marketers and colleagues to go back and forth to hash out captions and creatives. Useful for both social teams and marketers looking for feedback from clients or influencers, collaboration and Instagram scheduling go hand in hand. Coupled with a social media approval process, it’s a cinch to get multiple sets of eyes on your content before it goes live.
5 tips and best practices for scheduling Instagram posts
We’ll say it again: you can’t just queue up your posts months or weeks in advance and expect your Instagram to grow on autopilot.
Below are some key considerations for brands looking to leverage Instagram scheduling for the first time.
1. Optimize your post timing to maximize engagement
A nice added bonus of scheduling is that your business isn’t beholden to “business hours.”
Based on our research on best times to post on social media, there’s a correlation between time of day and engagement: Although these numbers aren’t the be-all, end-all of follower activity and vary based on your time zone, they’re eye-opening in terms of when the average Instagram user is active:
But for marketers using Sprout social as their Instagram scheduler, you can hone in on when your specific audience is more engaged with our ViralPost. Rather than guess or decide when to post via trial and error, our platform can let you know based on real follower engagement data. 2. Take extra care when crafting your captions
It’s no secret that Instagram captions represent valuable real estate when it comes to engagement.
They shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought. For each post, consider: Which Instagram hashtag are you using? How many? Are they in your first comment (see below)?
Do you need to tag any accounts?
Did you write an appropriate call-to-action?
How does this caption compare to your most recent one(s)? Much like your content strategy needs to be diverse, the same rings true for your Instagram captions.
Through scheduling, you’re encouraged to put your captions under the microscope and ensure there’s some variety. Likewise, you can double-check you’re using the right hashtags and aren’t missing any key details before your post goes live. 3. Keep a close eye on your content calendar
Piggybacking on the point above, scheduling based on a defined content calendar encourages both variety and consistency in terms of your posts.
As you queue up your posts, ask yourself: Are we hitting the appropriate publishing frequency (think: daily, four times a week)?
Is there enough variation in our content schedule (think: video versus carousel versus photo)?
How are we promoting this content to encourage engagement (think: Stories, questions in CTA)?
Are there opportunities to cross-post this content to other networks (like Facebook)?
Have the appropriate stakeholders reviewed this post before it goes live? The answers to all of the above ensure more thoughtful, goal-driven posts that are poised to perform well. Below is a quick snapshot of what a content calendar looks like in the Sprout app: 4. Block off time to engage with customers
Despite popular belief, scheduling Instagram posts doesn’t make your presence more “passive.”
Quite the opposite, honestly.
Yet again, scheduling allows you to free up your schedule to interact with customers in real-time.
Mind your notifications and make sure your comment section never gathers cobwebs. Be proactive and make a point to respond to social customers ASAP for the sake of satisfaction and loyalty. 5. Know when to hit “pause” on your scheduling
Whether due to a brand emergency or a bigger crisis management effort, sometimes you need to put a stop to your scheduled content.
Failure to do so could come off as tone-deaf or result in otherwise poor engagement when your followers’ minds are elsewhere. For example, publishing promotional content during certain holidays, somber occasions or tragedies is a bad look.
This speaks to how Instagram scheduling is so much more than putting your brand on autopilot. As a side note, Sprout has built-in features to pause scheduled posts and resume them when an event is over. “Can you schedule Instagram posts directly from the app?”
The short answer? Yes.
There are two ways to set up basic Instagram scheduling within the platform, albeit not from the mobile app itself.
The first (and perhaps most straightforward) is through Creator Studio for Instagram. Below is a quick breakdown of how it works and what desktop scheduling looks like: The second way to schedule posts on Instagram natively is through Facebook Business Suite. Not unlike Creator Studio, the platform lets you upload your imagery, write out captions and preview your scheduled content before it goes live. A nice upside of Business Suite is that it can be done via mobile.
How to schedule Instagram posts using Sprout Social
Although these methods cover the basic needs of scheduling a post, they leave a lot to be desired.
But with a dedicated social media publishing tool like Sprout, you can do so much more.
Cross-posting. Team collaboration and permissions. In-depth analytics. The list really goes on.
We make it so easy to upload your imagery, finalize your content and schedule it. Schedule your Instagram post from Sprout, and when it’s time to post you’ll receive a push notification from our mobile app.
When you get the notification, tap “Share on Instagram” from the Sprout app to send the post to Instagram. There you can paste the caption (which is automatically copied to your clipboard after you tap to Share) and make your final edits to the post.
Below is a precise, step-by-step process of how to schedule Instagram posts on Sprout.
1. Pick your images or video
The first step to scheduling Instagram posts is picking the image(s) or video to post. If you’re not 100% on what you should publish, check out our in-depth guide on Instagram post ideas.
Through Sprout’s Publishing toolset, you can quickly upload your Instagram images on all Sprout plans into the Compose box. Additionally, you don’t have to schedule your posts solely onto Instagram. The fully integrated feature lets you schedule posts to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at the same time. 2. Polish your Instagram post
After you upload your perfect Instagram picture, it’s time to edit your image. You can edit images in Compose with an integrated Image Editor tool: Here you can crop, add effects, overlays, change lighting and focus. Creativity counts on Instagram: make sure you don’t post poorly-edited images to your profile.
After you finish polishing your image, you can tag other Instagram users directly in your photo or add hashtags to the first Instagram comment.
Users recognize when your content is polished and looks its best. To increase your shares, likes and comments, make sure your posts go through a thorough round of edits before going live.
3. Select the appropriate Instagram account (and publisher)
Once you’ve edited your content, select what account you wish to post to. Note that you can manage multiple Instagram accounts in Sprout when scheduling your content. This makes it much easier to not only select your preferred Instagram account but other social networks connected to your Sprout dashboard as well.
For many businesses, there’s a need to publish to multiple Instagram accounts. Managing the publishing for these accounts requires the content creator to receive content approval, coordinate the post’s timing and ensure that someone is logged into the correct account to publish the post.
Luckily with Sprout, your social media team can select a designated publisher for each post who receives the push notification reminder when it’s time to post. Scroll down to the Publishing Workflows section and select your mobile approval workflow and designated mobile publisher. This helps you delegate publishing duties for multiple accounts and decide who will publish the post at its scheduled time.
4. Stage your post for publishing
After you have your content edited and approved, you’ll want to send the post to Draft, Queue, schedule, submit for approval or send the push notification immediately. Let’s take a look at each option and how it works for you: Draft: Not sure if your post is ready to go live quite yet? Want to create multiple “backup” posts for the future? Draft is a great spot to put your unfinished content or items that still need approval.
Queue: Placing content in the Sprout Queue is ideal for edited posts ready to go live. Some content might seem appropriate on certain days or you could simply get Instagram images ready for the weekend in the Queue. When you queue your Instagram posts, Sprout picks the best time to publish within the window you specify.
Schedule: Use the schedule feature when you want to publish your Instagram posts at a specific time. This is great for when you’re launching an Instagram contest and want the post to go live right when it starts. It’s also helpful if you’re scheduling an Instagram post as a part of a larger campaign, and need content to go out at a specific time of the day. Plan finished content for the future and see your scheduled posts in Sprout’s Publishing Calendar.
Submit for Approval: Choosing an approver ensures your content is properly edited, grammatically correct, timely and on-brand. Select specific approvers to review your content before it goes live.
Send: If you don’t need an approval process and are ready to publish right away, click send. 5. Receive your notification to post
For those scheduling or submitting an Instagram post through Sprout, you’ll receive a mobile notification at the selected time or immediately after clicking Send. Because Instagram’s API doesn’t allow for other platforms to post directly to its network, Sprout developed a notification system that takes the pain out of scheduling content. To receive these alerts, you have to select “Allow Notifications” on your mobile device. All alerts for scheduled content are sent out to the appropriate users. From the notification, you can easily open Sprout’s mobile app to send the image and caption to Instagram.
6. Send your scheduled content to Instagram
When the Instagram Publisher receives the notification to post, they can tap on the notification to open the Sprout app. From there, they’ll see a preview of the image and description and which Instagram account the post is going to. Tap Share on Instagram, which opens the Instagram app with the appropriate profile. Then, the Instagram Publisher can paste the Instagram caption from their clipboard into the description field in Instagram. After they take a final look at the content, add a specific location and finalize any image edits, they can tap Share. And boom! The process of using Sprout is quick and simple for brands looking to schedule Instagram posts.
Ready to schedule posts on Instagram yourself?
If you want to build a better Instagram presence and free up more time in your busy day, you need to start scheduling.
Doing so might seem simple, but making the most of Instagram scheduling means understanding the key details of any given post and how to best engage followers.
With the tips above and tools like Sprout, you can create a compelling content calendar that does exactly that. If you haven’t already, make sure to take a trial of Sprout Social today to see our full suite of social media features in action. Source link

With social distancing continuing as the norm, an increasing number of businesses are using YouTube Live to host events, workshops, Q&A sessions and more. Does it work? You bet.
In 2020, 70% of people used YouTube to watch online replacements of live events. Moreover, consumers watch live videos for 10-20x longer than pre-recorded videos.
In this article, you’ll learn why YouTube Live should be a part of your video marketing strategy and how to livestream on YouTube successfully. We’ve also included tips on how to use various livestreaming features to create engaging live content.
Let’s get started. What is YouTube Live?
YouTube Live is YouTube’s livestreaming feature, which enables content creators to interact with the audience in real-time via video and chat. Users can watch trending livestreams in their country by clicking on Live from the left-hand sidebar on YouTube via desktop. When you go Live, your livestreams can also be displayed on your audiences’ personalized YouTube feeds. This depends on whether they’ve subscribed to your channel, previously watched or liked your content, or interacted with content that’s similar to yours.
What are the benefits of YouTube Live?
YouTube is the second largest live streaming platform in the world, and the website has over two billion monthly active users — that’s more than 6 times the US population.
These statistics alone are enough to convince anyone about the potential of using YouTube Live for expanding reach, growing brand awareness and engaging with a large audience.
As if that wasn’t enough to convince you of the benefits of using YouTube Live as a business, consider: Hosting virtual events: Organizing an in-person event can be time-consuming and costly. YouTube Live is an excellent alternative for hosting events like workshops, webinars and product launches virtually at a fraction of the cost. Plus, more people globally can attend your virtual even rather than relying on travel logistics.
Interacting with your audience in real-time: Livestreaming lets you engage with the online community in real-time. You can ask and answer questions, respond to compliments and even react to humorous comments. Holding a two-way conversation with your audience helps you build stronger connections with them.
Answering questions instantly: Just as with any in-person even, going Live on YouTube enables you to respond to any questions or comments from your audience instantly and in real-time, which leads to higher satisfaction. You can solve problems, teach a subject and even answer questions about your product — all in a way that feels more personal than responding via email, phone or video call at a later time.
Standing out from the competition: More than 500 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube daily. Since livestreams still make up a relatively smaller percentage of that content, they can help you stand out and look unique. Now that you’re aware of the key benefits of YouTube Live for businesses, let’s talk about how you can start live streaming on YouTube right away.
How to start streaming with YouTube Live
Before you start livestreaming on YouTube, make sure you’ve set up your channel and all your equipment for going live.
1. Enable livestreaming
Before you can go live on YouTube, you need to enable livestreaming on your device or devices.
If you’re using a web browser, follow the steps below: Open YouTube in your browser
Click on the Create symbol at the top Click on Go Live
Verify your channel (if you haven’t already)
Wait until livestreaming is enabled (this may take up to 24 hours) If you’re using a mobile device or tablet (Android, iPhone or iPad), follow the steps below: Open the YouTube app
Click on the Create symbol at the bottom
Click on Go Live
Wait until livestreaming is enabled (this may take up to 24 hours) Note: You need at least 1,000 subscribers to enable livestreaming on mobile.
2. Choose a stream type based on your purpose
YouTube lets you livestream using one of three different recording options. Let’s take a look at each one briefly and when to use it. Mobile: To go live from your mobile device, such as a phone or tablet, you need to have a verified YouTube channel with at least 1,000 subscribers. This is a good option for vlogging or sharing quick updates on the go.
Webcam: With this option, all you need to go live is a computer and a webcam. This is useful for simple livestreams that don’t require too many resources. You’ll just be filming yourself or anyone else in front of your computer. For example, you can conduct a quick Q&A session or share your thoughts on a specific topic.
Encoder: If you want to share your screen in your livestream, or use multiple cameras, microphones and other hardware, you need to choose the encoder option. This is ideal for gaming streams, concerts, business events, podcasts and interactive presentations. 3. Choose a title, description and thumbnail image
You’re almost ready to livestream!
The only thing left to do is choosing a title, description and thumbnail image for your livestream. You want people to be drawn to click on it when they see your YouTube Live video on their feeds.
Below are some best practices when adding your livestream details. These will help ensure you reach a bigger audience, and attract more views and clicks. Create an eye-catching title: Well-written titles can mean the difference between someone clicking on your livestream or scrolling right past it. Make sure you write catchy titles that accurately describe your video content yet pique the right amount of curiosity. Also, use strong keywords so your livestreams show up in search results.
Optimize your description: Just like the title, your livestream description should include important keywords to help it rank higher in search results. You should also add relevant links and information in your description to help your audience understand what they’re watching and where they can go to find out more. Below is a great example of a livestream description from GoPro that checks all the boxes. Design a custom thumbnail: Your thumbnail is probably the first thing your audience sees about your livestream. Make sure it’s worth it by designing a custom thumbnail that captures the essence of your video in an engaging, vibrant manner. The resolution of your YouTube thumbnail should be 1280×720 with a minimum width of 640 pixels.
Add calls to action: If you want your audience to take any specific actions during or after they watch your livestream, you can add CTAs to your description or within the stream. For example, if you want them to visit your website or social media profiles, a landing page or any other resource. 4. Start livestreaming
All set and ready to go live? Follow the steps below to start (and end) your livestream on mobile, desktop and encoder.
How to livestream on mobile or tablet Open the YouTube app
Click on Create → Go Live at the bottom
Tap More options to schedule your stream for later and adjust settings for age restriction, live chat, monetization and more
To share your phone screen, click on Create channel → Share screen
Tap Go Live to start streaming
To end your live stream, click on Finish How to livestream using a computer and webcam Sign in to YouTube in your browser
Click on Create → Go Live in the top-right corner
Select Webcam from the left
Add a title and description, and set the privacy
Select More options → Advanced Settings for additional settings you want to set
Click on Next to capture a thumbnail with your camera
Ensure you’ve selected the right webcam and microphone
Tap Go Live to start streaming
Click on Edit to adjust settings for privacy, monetization, live chat, add tags and more
Tap End Stream at the bottom when you’re done livestreaming How to livestream using an encoder Sign in to YouTube
Click on Create → Go Live to enable livestreaming
Tap Stream on your left and click on Create Stream
Install an encoder
Connect any additional hardware, such as cameras and mics Connect your encoder by entering your YouTube Live server URL and stream key
Start streaming Google Support has more information if you want to learn more about livestreaming on YouTube using an encoder.
Note: For users aged 13-17, the default privacy setting is set to Private or Unlisted (for mobile.) This means the stream is not going to show up in search results or recommendations. For users aged 18+, the livestream’s privacy will be set to Public by default.
5. What you can and can’t stream on YouTube Live
The content of your livestream should adhere to YouTube’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. If you fail to meet the guidelines, YouTube may restrict your content or remove it from the platform altogether.
Additionally, a restriction on your livestream may result in a strike on your YouTube channel, which can prevent you from going live for 14 days.
Livestreaming features to use
Now that you know how to start a livestream on YouTube, let’s talk about the various features you can use to enhance, promote, analyze and monetize your livestream effectively.
1. Create a highlight
YouTube allows you to take short snippets from your livestreams and turn them into highlights to post as standalone videos on your YouTube channel.
This is especially useful for livestreams that cover a lot of different topics, such as a video podcast or a Q&A session. You can create multiple highlights, each focusing on a specific topic or question. When you post a highlight on YouTube, it will appear on your channel just like a regular uploaded video.
You can create highlights during or after your livestream. If you want to mark interesting moments while you’re still live, simply add stream markers to pinpoint the exact minutes. You can view these stream markers on your video timeline later to easily create highlights.
2. Track your live stream’s metrics
A useful feature of YouTube Live is the ability to track the real-time performance of your livestream on all three devices; mobile, tablet and desktop. This enables you to quickly detect and fix any issues, and analyze your engagement.
There are three main types of analytics you can track: Stream health: This will notify you of any potential issues with your livestream so you can quickly rectify them to avoid a dip in viewer count. Real-time analytics: During your livestream, you’ll be able to track metrics like your stream’s total duration, total viewer count and total likes. If you’re on desktop, you can also view the chat rate, total playbacks and your stream’s average watch time. Post-stream analytics: After your livestream ends, you’ll get a quick summary of how your stream performed. This includes the total playbacks of your stream, the average watch time, the peak times and the number of new subscribers you gained through the stream. You can also use YouTube Analytics to view an in-depth report on your audience retention, demographics, traffic sources, playback locations and other metrics.
3. Premiere a new video
Premiering a video on YouTube lets you watch the video with your audience in real-time.
Unlike livestreams, video premieres are not exactly live. They are videos that are uploaded and scheduled to be played at a certain time with live chat and other interactive features. So while it’s not live per se, in terms of recording, it is an interactive experience with your audience in real-time. Here’s how you can premiere a video on YouTube: Sign in to YouTube
Click on Create → Upload video
Select the video you want to upload and edit its details
To immediately premiere a video, go to Save/Publish → Public → Set as Instant Premiere
To schedule the premiere for later, tap Schedule, select a date and time and click on Set as Premiere
Click on Done or Schedule Once you’ve set up a premiere, a watch page will be created for your video on your YouTube channel, just like other uploads. Viewers will be able visit the watch page to set reminders, leave comments and even use Super Chat if it’s enabled.
Once the premiere is over, the video will stay on your channel as a regular upload.
4. Turn on DVR on livestreams
YouTube’s Digital Video Recording (DVR) feature allows viewers to pause, rewind and continue watching your livestream.
Here’s how to enable DVR on your livestream: Go to YouTube Studio
Click Create → Go Live
Tap Stream on your left to start livestreaming or click Manage to schedule for later
From the dashboard, tap Enable DVR YouTube’s DVR feature also comes with a few limitations, including seek back limitations depending on Latency of livestream rights.
You can disable DVR from Advanced Settings if you want viewers to only watch your stream live. Disabling DVR restricts viewers from going back to a specific time in your stream, until the stream ends.
5. Show a trailer
As a way to promote your YouTube Live event, consider showing a trailer. Trailers can be 15 seconds and up to 3 minutes long, and they play on your channel’s watch page before your Live event to create hype and interest. To upload a trailer, follow the steps below: Go to YouTube Studio and select the video you want to upload
In the Visibility tab, schedule the video as a Premiere
Click on Set up Premiere
Tap Add under Add a trailer to choose your trailer Note: This feature is only available to creators with more than 1000 subscribers and no Community Guideline strikes.
6. Monetize your livestream
One of the benefits of going live is the ability to money off of your streams. There are several ways you can monetize your YouTube livestreams: Ads: Running ads on your videos is a great way to earn some extra revenue. YouTube allows you to run pre-roll, mid-roll, display and overlay ads on your livestreams. Learn more about how to enable ads in YouTube Live.
Super Chat: Enabling this feature allows your viewers to purchase chat messages to better connect with you. When someone sends a Super Chat, their message will highlighted or pinned at the top of your chat feed, making them feel exclusive. Super Stickers: Similar to Super Chats, Super Stickers are exclusive stickers that users can purchase and share within the livestream chat feed to better express themselves. You can activate or deactivate Super Chats and Super Stickers if your channel or video is eligible.
Channel Memberships: Your subscribers can become members of your channel by paying a monthly fee. Most creators offer members-exclusive perks like custom emojis, members-only live chat and loyalty badges as an incentive to join. If you’re looking to grow your YouTube following, this may be a good feature to consider as a perk to your viewership. Note: To enable monetization on YouTube, you need to meet the minimum requirements of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Once you’ve been accepted into the YPP, you’ll get access to various exclusive features, including monetization.
7. Manage live chat & captions
YouTube gives you several options to manage your Live chat to ensure a safe, comfortable environment for all viewers.
Some Live chat features include: Turn Live chat on or off
Make your Live chat subscriber-only or members-only
Review or block chat messages with certain words
Assign moderators to respond to or remove messages
Turn on “Slow Mode” to restrict the timing between chats You can also choose to display a live chat replay alongside your video after your livestream has ended so people can view the conversation.
Another useful feature in YouTube Live is the ability to add captions to your livestreams — visual displays of the audio content in your videos. It’s recommended to have live captioning to your videos for users who prefer to listen without sound but more importantly for users who are hard of hearing to be more inclusive of a wider audience.
You can either take advantage of automatic captioning, embed captions in your video or send them to YouTube through supported software.
YouTube Live best practices
Armed with these features, you’re ready to go live and engage with your audience!
But before you grab your equipment and start streaming, remember these best practices below to ensure your livestream is a raging success. Check your network connection: It’s important to have a reliable internet connection to prevent a broken stream. So, run a speed test before you go live to avoid any issues.
Test your equipment: Make sure your webcam, microphone and any other equipment is fully functional before you go live to avoid any embarrassing moments.
Promote your livestream: Schedule a premiere, upload a trailer and share your link on social media to spread the word about your livestream. You can also promote your YouTube channel to attract more visitors to your livestream.
Write a script: Going Live can be a nerve-wracking experience for even the most confident speakers. To avoid making clumsy mistakes that you’d rather keep off-air, always have some notes ready or a script prepared for your stream.
Stay safe: Be careful about sharing personal information during livestreams. Take advantage of YouTube’s safety and moderation features to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for your audience. Use YouTube Live to deliver interactive audience experiences
Livestreaming is a unique way to engage with your audience on a personal level, regardless of where they are located. From hosting live events to workshops to Q&A sessions to product launches, you can use YouTube Live to grow your business in tons of different ways.
To make the most out of your live videos, check out 10 ways to repurpose your livestreams and use them to create other types of online content. Source link

Si está leyendo esto, probablemente sepa la respuesta a la pregunta: «¿Pueden las redes sociales respaldar los objetivos de ventas de nuestra empresa?» es un sí rotundo.
Las redes sociales son ahora un elemento fijo en el recorrido del cliente y tienen un impacto directo en las decisiones de compra. Comenzando en la parte superior del embudo, los consumidores utilizan cada vez más las redes sociales para descubrir nuevas marcas, productos y servicios, lo cual es una buena noticia para sus objetivos de conocimiento y ventas potenciales. Los consumidores en modo de descubrimiento que luego presionan el botón de seguimiento, realmente van en serio.
Según el último Sprout Social Index ™, el 90% de los consumidores comprarán productos de una marca que sigan en las redes sociales. También es más probable que sus seguidores elijan su marca sobre un competidor, visiten su tienda física y otras acciones que impulsen las ventas en una dirección positiva. No solo las preferencias de compra de los consumidores se están trasladando a las redes sociales, sino que los desarrolladores de plataformas sociales están acercando activamente las ventas y el marketing social con la aparición constante de soluciones de comercio social nuevas o mejoradas.
A medida que su empresa recurre a las redes sociales para aumentar las ventas en línea y obtener ganancias, aplique estas cinco tácticas simples a su estrategia.
1. Empiece a vender directamente en las plataformas de redes sociales.
El comercio social está en auge, en parte gracias a la pandemia que acelera la transformación digital. A medida que se cerraban los espacios físicos, aumentaban los escaparates digitales. En 2020, Facebook, Instagram y Pinterest lanzaron herramientas de comercio social renovadas, y Twitter, YouTube y TikTok anunciaron que también estaban explorando el comercio social para sus plataformas.
A medida que las plataformas sociales aumentan sus inversiones en soluciones comerciales, las empresas siguen su ejemplo: el 86% de los ejecutivos dice que el comercio social es una parte creciente de su plan de ingresos impulsado por el marketing.
El comercio social encapsula todo el recorrido del cliente, lo que permite a los consumidores pasar del descubrimiento a la compra en un solo canal. Y con una experiencia de compra fluida y un proceso de pago simplificado, es más probable que los consumidores realicen compras en el momento.
Conectar sus catálogos de productos a una solución de comercio social también brinda a las marcas la oportunidad de seleccionar colecciones que se alinean con campañas más grandes. Spintegraciones dedicadas de rout con Shopify y Facebook Shops facilite la aceleración de su ingreso al comercio social. Una vez que los usuarios cargan sus catálogos de productos en Sprout, pueden agregar enlaces de productos al contenido social o incluirlos en las respuestas a los consumidores que se han comunicado directamente. 2. Encuentre su contenido social con mayor conversión y aproveche al máximo
Los datos y las mejores prácticas sociales sugieren que el contenido visual ayuda a los especialistas en marketing a alcanzar los objetivos sociales más que las publicaciones basadas en texto, pero tal vez su audiencia sea diferente. La única forma de saberlo es rastrear su propio éxito social, profundizar en los datos y aprovechar mejor lo que funciona.
Para comprender cómo las redes sociales pueden aumentar las ventas, centre su análisis en el contenido propio que incluya información sobre sus productos o servicios, promociones y enlaces a su sitio web. Idealmente, esos enlaces incluirán parámetros UTM para que pueda realizar un seguimiento eficaz del comportamiento y la ruta de las personas que han hecho clic en el enlace a través de Google Analytics.
¿Qué datos son más importantes? Aquí hay un desglose rápido de los KPI que debe estar atento. Orgánico: Tasa de participación, tasa de clics, referencias de tráfico social, acciones en la página del sitio web (por ejemplo, envíos de formularios, compras)
Pagado: Tasa de conversión, retorno de la inversión publicitaria (RoAS), costo por conversión Los especialistas en marketing que son diligentes a la hora de etiquetar el contenido saliente tienen la capacidad de realizar análisis más granulares. Por ejemplo, el minorista de moda River Island tiene más de 160 etiquetas activas que aplican al contenido para rastrear información más cualitativa, como las preferencias de los consumidores por el contenido UGC en comparación con la fotografía oficial de la marca. Con el Informe de rendimiento de etiquetas de Sprout, pueden analizar y comparar el rendimiento, lo que les ayuda a decidir cómo asignar presupuestos para diferentes activos creativos y campañas publicitarias. Una vez que identifique los formatos de contenido preferidos de su audiencia, puede buscar formas de transformarlos en publicaciones que se puedan comprar. Gracias a la funcionalidad emergente en las plataformas sociales, todo, desde el video hasta el UGC, puede convertirse en una oportunidad de conversión.
3. Utilice el comercio conversacional para incentivar a los compradores en las redes sociales.
Uno de los beneficios obvios de las redes sociales es que les brinda a los consumidores y las empresas una forma conveniente y accesible de comunicarse entre sí: el 78% de los consumidores está de acuerdo en que las redes sociales son la forma más rápida y directa de conectarse con una marca.
El comercio conversacional combina mensajería y compras, lo que permite a los consumidores utilizar el chat o la asistencia por voz para realizar compras de una marca. Chris Messina, quien acuñó el término, dice que se trata de «brindar conveniencia, personalización y apoyo a la toma de decisiones mientras las personas están en movimiento, con solo una atención parcial de sobra».
Si alguna vez recibió un código promocional o un descuento en sus mensajes directos, reservó una cita para un corte de cabello a través de Facebook Messenger o hizo una pregunta sobre un producto en WhatsApp, eso es comercio conversacional en el trabajo. En todas las plataformas, la mensajería permite a los especialistas en marketing digital profundizar las relaciones con los clientes al ofrecer recomendaciones más personalizadas, como un comprador personal digital.
Es importante tener en cuenta que el comercio conversacional no se trata únicamente de ventas netas nuevas. Ofrecer un sólido servicio al cliente es un beneficio igualmente importante y paga sus propios dividendos dado que es la calidad superior que los consumidores asocian con las mejores marcas de su clase en las redes sociales.
Independientemente de dónde se encuentre un cliente en el embudo de ventas, los especialistas en marketing social deben tener una estrategia para administrar los mensajes entrantes y brindar un soporte eficiente y efectivo. MeUndies, una marca de ropa interior y ropa interior, tiene una sólida estrategia de comercio social, por lo que no sorprende que sus clientes busquen apoyo en las redes sociales con mayor frecuencia. Con la bandeja de entrada inteligente de Sprout Social, MeUndies puede etiquetar, analizar y responder a las consultas de los clientes a través de Messenger con facilidad. Con las etiquetas de mensaje, el equipo de experiencia del cliente puede evaluar los tipos de consultas que reciben con mayor frecuencia y compartir esa información con los equipos de ventas y el liderazgo.
Su estrategia de servicio al cliente social de primer nivel impulsa las ventas y una increíble lealtad del cliente; la prueba está en las redes sociales. 4. Utilice la escucha social para descubrir qué temas resuenan con su audiencia.
Vale la pena conocer a tu audiencia. Cuando las marcas demuestran que entienden los deseos y necesidades de sus clientes, el 43% de los consumidores comprarán de esa marca en lugar de su competidor.
La escucha social permite a las empresas acceder a conversaciones públicas que amplían su comprensión de sus clientes, la industria y la competencia. Puede brindar información sobre las tendencias con las que interactúa su público, revelar el sentimiento en torno a campañas de marca específicas y oportunidades para diferenciar su marca de la competencia. La escucha social tiene las respuestas a las preguntas candentes de su negocio y con el conocimiento viene el poder.
Combine sus hallazgos de la escucha social con sus conocimientos de análisis de contenido y canales de servicio al cliente para desarrollar mensajes de marketing respaldados por datos que se conviertan.
La escucha social también puede generar oportunidades de venta y clientes potenciales para su marca, solo tiene que estar listo para participar. Protector solar Black Girl, por ejemplo, no se mencionó en el Tweet original a continuación. Pero con la escucha social, su equipo marcó el mensaje relevante y respondió en consecuencia. Aprovechar el poder de la escucha social es mucho más simple si tiene herramientas como Sprout Social que hacen el trabajo pesado por usted. Capacite a su equipo de ventas para dominar la escucha social con esta guía paso a paso.
5. Comprueba que estás publicando en las redes sociales en el momento adecuado (para tu audiencia).
Publicar contenido en el momento adecuado a menudo significa más impresiones, participación y conversiones. Los datos te dirán, por ejemplo, que el peor momento para publicar en Facebook es el sábado. Pero tu audiencia es única. Analice sus propias plataformas sociales y encuentre qué horarios funcionan mejor para usted, luego elabore un cronograma de publicación a partir de ahí.
Si tiene Sprout Social, la función ViralPost® calculará sus mejores tiempos para usted. Hablamos con Jonathan Jacobs, vicepresidente de estrategia social de Accelerate360, para profundizar en su éxito con ViralPost®. Esto es lo que encontramos: Facebook: El contenido de envío óptimo tuvo un 62% más de impresiones, tuvo un 135% más de participación
Gorjeo: 59% más de impresiones, 97% más de interacción
Instagram: 44% más impresiones, 65% más participación Publicar en el momento adecuado crea más exposición para su marca y, en última instancia, más oportunidades de atraer una venta.
Demuestre su ROI aumentando las ventas a través de las redes sociales
Es posible que concentrarse en solo una de las formas que hemos descrito anteriormente no mueva la aguja de las ventas, pero la suma de estos esfuerzos puede marcar una gran diferencia.
¿Está su empresa lista para entrar en el espacio del comercio social? Descargue esta guía de entrevistas para desarrollar una estrategia de comercio social multifuncional que impulsará los ingresos a largo plazo. Source link

El comienzo de un nuevo año puede parecerse mucho a la temporada de regreso a clases para los especialistas en marketing. Renovados después de un PTO festivo muy necesario, marchamos hacia un nuevo trimestre con nuevas ideas, proyectos y metas, tanto profesionales como personales.
¿Qué lo hace aún mejor? Sin costos de libros de texto exorbitantes, por supuesto. Hay toneladas de recursos de marketing gratuitos y económicos disponibles en línea para ayudarlo a prepararse para el próximo año. Ya sea que esté buscando mejorar sus habilidades para un proyecto en particular o simplemente para el desarrollo profesional, la información que necesita está al alcance de su mano. Solo necesitas saber dónde buscar.
Para ayudarlo a comenzar su búsqueda, reunimos algunos de nuestros recursos de marketing favoritos que nos ayudaron a tener un impacto en 2021. Compártelos con su equipo para ayudarlos a elevar sus habilidades, perfeccionar su experiencia y prepararlos para el crecimiento profesional.
Nota: La mayoría de estos son recursos de marketing gratuitos, pero algunas opciones pagas pasaron por alto. Para ayudarlo a diferenciar rápidamente entre los dos, hemos marcado todos los recursos pagos con un asterisco.
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Recursos de marketing en redes sociales
El marketing en redes sociales es un campo enorme y en constante cambio. Las plataformas se actualizan constantemente, lo que significa que las mejores prácticas pueden cambiar de la noche a la mañana. Esta colección de blogs, boletines informativos y podcasts lo ayudará a mantenerse al día con la industria sin perder la cordura.
1. Redes sociales hoy
Social Media Today es una publicación de Industry Dive que proporciona un análisis original sobre lo que está sucediendo en el mundo de las redes sociales. Ofrecen contenido en una variedad de formatos, incluidos artículos, seminarios web y manuales de marketing completos. Además, tienen un boletín diario por correo electrónico que envía las noticias más destacadas del día directamente a su bandeja de entrada.
2. Podcast de Social Pros
Social Pros destaca historias reales de personas reales que trabajan en las redes sociales. Presentado por Jay Baer de Convince & Convert y Adam Brown de Salesforce, cada episodio presenta información de un estratega de redes sociales diferente, además de discusiones sobre tendencias y acontecimientos actuales en la industria de las redes sociales. Qué escuchar primero:
Cómo usa Hulu las redes sociales para crear una charla masiva de marca La sección de redes sociales de la página de inicio del blog de TL; DR Marketing.
El boletín TL; DR Marketing Social Media es una mina de oro para los especialistas en marketing social que tienen poco tiempo. Este boletín diario resume todas las actualizaciones de la industria que necesita saber sin ninguna tontería.
4. Blog de conocimientos de Sprout Social
No pensaste que nos dejaríamos fuera, ¿verdad? El blog de Sprout’s Insights es el hogar de artículos prácticos tácticos, entrevistas con otros especialistas en marketing de redes sociales, investigaciones originales y más. Qué leer primero:
Construyendo su estrategia de marketing en redes sociales para 2022
Recursos de marketing digital
El marketing digital es una categoría general que cubre todo, desde SEO hasta correo electrónico y más. Naturalmente, hay contenido más que suficiente para darle a cada tema su propia sección. Para ayudarlo a ampliar su experiencia, redujimos nuestra lista a los recursos que brindan las descripciones más detalladas en una sola parada.
5. Curso de marketing digital de HubSpot Academy
Ningún resumen de recursos de marketing estaría completo sin un guiño a HubSpot Academy. Su curso sobre marketing digital ofrece una excelente introducción a la creación de contenido, las redes sociales, la búsqueda pagada y más. Además, si aprueba su examen de certificación, también recibirá una insignia de certificación que puede agregar a su perfil de LinkedIn.
6. Hoy en podcast de marketing digital
Today in Digital Marketing es un desglose diario de ocho minutos de lo que está sucediendo en el mundo de las redes sociales, las búsquedas y más allá. A los fanáticos del contenido de audio les encantará el enfoque rápido y simple del presentador Tod Maffin para la entrega de noticias.
7. Centro de marketing SEO de Backlinko Página de inicio de SEO Marketing Hub de Backlinko.Que leer primero
: ¿Qué es SEO? Optimización de motores de búsqueda en inglés sencillo
8. Blog de marketing de contenidos de Animalz
El blog Animalz no le dará explicaciones estándar de las mejores prácticas de marketing de contenidos. En cambio, abordan temas comunes con una nueva perspectiva diseñada para hacerte pensar. Si está buscando dar el salto a la forma larga, cada publicación en su sitio es un caso de estudio sobre lo que hace que el contenido excelente funcione. Qué leer primero:
La guía de redacción de contenido: cómo escribir publicaciones de blog que interesen a los lectores
10. Correos electrónicos realmente buenos Really Good Emails es solo eso: una colección curada en constante crecimiento de De Verdad
buenos correos electrónicos. Este flujo constante de diseño de marketing y ejemplos de copia es la herramienta perfecta para crear su archivo de deslizamiento de inspiración.
Recursos de redacción publicitaria
La redacción sólida y concisa es una habilidad fundamental para los especialistas en marketing de todos los tipos, especialmente los especialistas en marketing de redes sociales. Estos recursos de redacción y marketing de contenido fortalecerán sus habilidades editoriales para que pueda crear contenido más impactante en 2022. Asistente de escritura con tecnología Ai de Grammarly.
Grammarly va mucho más allá del corrector ortográfico estándar. Su asistente de redacción digital evaluará su redacción en cuanto a la corrección, la claridad, el compromiso y la entrega para que su mensaje siempre sea claro como el cristal.
12. VeryGoodCopy
Los micro-artículos, cursos y entrevistas de Eddie Shleyner pueden mejorar su escritura en menos de cinco minutos cada uno. VeryGoodCopy enseña un solo principio o técnica de persuasión a la vez, por lo que puede comenzar el día con un ejercicio de redacción publicitario divertido e informativo que se puede completar en el tiempo que lleva terminar una taza de café. Qué leer primero:
Lea esto si se siente abrumado, ansioso o fraudulento
13. Todo el mundo escribe por Ann Handley *
Everybody Writes es el manual de referencia para desarrollar sus habilidades de redacción publicitaria. Repleto de lecciones interesantes sobre gramática, narración de historias y elaboración de textos atractivos, este libro es una adición esencial a la estantería de cualquier especialista en marketing.
Herramientas de investigación de mercado
¿Cómo presionas las ideas para probar con un presupuesto? Investigación de mercado, por supuesto. En el pasado, la investigación de mercado parecía demasiado cara o complicada para cualquiera que trabajara fuera de los negocios empresariales. Sin embargo, gracias a la gran cantidad de datos sociales que existe a su alcance, ahora puede identificar de manera rápida y precisa información útil sobre lo que le importa a su audiencia.
14. ThinkWithGoogle
Aquí hay dos por uno. ThinkWithGoogle reúne nuevas perspectivas sobre las tendencias de la industria y el comportamiento del consumidor provenientes del equipo de marketing de Google, así como de otros especialistas en marketing líderes en todo el mundo. Su investigación se basa en las tendencias de búsqueda y se amplía para incluir información procesable para que pueda aplicar los datos de una manera que tenga sentido para su marca.
15. Temas explosivos
Si desea obtener información sobre el próximo gran avance antes de que sea un tema de tendencia, debe suscribirse al boletín de temas explosivos. Todos los martes, su equipo comparte análisis de expertos sobre temas de búsqueda que están a punto de despegar. Además, también incluyen un contexto valioso sobre por qué una tendencia puede estar ganando popularidad y qué pueden esperar los especialistas en marketing de ella a continuación.
16. Tendencias de Pinterest
Pinterest Trends pronostica lo que sigue en moda, comida, belleza y más utilizando datos de los usuarios de Pinterest en los EE. UU., Reino Unido y Canadá. Si tiene una corazonada sobre lo que está haciendo olas en su industria, también puede usar la herramienta Tendencias para verificar su volumen de búsqueda, tendencias relacionadas y los principales Pines.
17. Marketing de Twitter Marketing de Twitter
reúne datos de usuarios y ejemplos de marcas para una cobertura oportuna sobre lo que está causando sensación entre los usuarios de Twitter. La sección Insights del sitio web está llena de inmersiones profundas en las conversaciones de creación de cultura que ocurren en la plataforma todos los días. La página Topic Insights de Sprout Social Listening Tool, que presenta una nube de palabras de las principales palabras clave.
Los datos sociales pueden responder a las preguntas más importantes de una marca sobre cómo administrar, expandir y hacer crecer su negocio. La herramienta de escucha social de Sprout es un complemento premium que ayuda a las marcas a convertir las conversaciones sociales globales en conocimientos prácticos sobre la salud de la marca, las oportunidades de contenido, las decisiones de productos y más.
Diseño y recursos creativos
Lo dijimos una vez y lo diremos de nuevo: “administrador de redes sociales” y “diseñador” son dos roles separados. Aún así, si está en un apuro y necesita hacer su propia creatividad, estas herramientas pueden ayudarlo a crear algo pulido y digno de Me gusta.
19. Escuela de Diseño de Canva
Cualquiera puede crear hermosos diseños visuales con Canva, la plataforma de diseño gráfico en línea. Su centro educativo, Canva Design School, alberga una serie de talleres grabados y en vivo que pueden ayudarlo a dar vida a su visión creativa. Qué mirar primero: Conviértete en un creador de Pinterest con Ashley Schroeder
20. Unsplash
Unsplash aloja más de dos millones de imágenes de alta resolución de uso gratuito. Su colección está ordenada por varias categorías, que incluyen eventos actuales, naturaleza, personas y más, para que pueda encontrar la foto perfecta más rápido.
21. CloudApp
¿Su carpeta de descargas está llena hasta el borde con capturas de pantalla con marca de tiempo? Con CloudApp, puede tomar, etiquetar y almacenar capturas de pantalla para uso futuro. Si necesita agregar más contexto a su imagen, su plataforma también admite la creación de GIF, demostraciones de video y anotación de imágenes.
22. Guía de tamaño de imagen para redes sociales de Sprout
El contenido visual es parte integral de su estrategia de marketing en redes sociales. Tenga a mano nuestra guía de tamaño de imagen de redes sociales siempre actualizada como referencia cuando optimice el contenido por plataforma.
Recursos de informes y análisis
Las habilidades para informar son esenciales para demostrar el valor de su estrategia social. Muestre a su equipo de liderazgo cómo las redes sociales alimentan sus objetivos de marketing utilizando estos recursos.
23. Academia de Google Analytics
Google Analytics Academy lo ayudará a desarrollar sus habilidades de datos con lecciones interactivas impartidas en un entorno de Google Analytics por etapas. Es una excelente manera de obtener experiencia práctica en la plataforma, especialmente si su propia instancia aún no está optimizada para los informes sociales.
24. Canal de YouTube de Orbit Media Studios
El canal de YouTube de Orbit Media Studios es un gran complemento de video para su famoso blog. Sus videos concisos responden a una variedad de preguntas analíticas para personas de todos los niveles de experiencia. Qué mirar primero:
¿Cómo realizo un seguimiento de las redes sociales en Google Analytics?
Recursos de desarrollo de liderazgo de marketing
El trabajo remoto e híbrido ha revolucionado los estándares de comunicación de la oficina. Ya sea que actualmente lidere un equipo o simplemente le gustaría ser visto como un líder, estos recursos pueden ayudarlo a avanzar en un entorno de trabajo cambiante.
25. WorkLife con Adam Grant
WorkLife es un podcast original de TED presentado por el psicólogo organizacional Adam Grant, quien habla con profesionales de todas las industrias para explorar la ciencia de hacer que el trabajo no sea una mierda. WorkLife lo ayudará a repensar su enfoque de su función con perspectivas perspicaces sobre cómo crear una carrera que disfrute. Qué escuchar primero:
Cómo amar la crítica Página de inicio del sitio web de Harvard Business Review.
Harvard Business Review tiene la misión de mejorar la práctica de la gestión en un mundo cambiante. Su contenido abarca desde perspectivas sobre eventos actuales hasta consejos generales de mejores prácticas sobre liderazgo, cultura organizacional y más. Si es nuevo en la vida corporativa o si está entrenando a otros que lo son, consulte Ascend, el compañero de aprendizaje de HBR para estudiantes graduados y Millennials en el lugar de trabajo. Qué leer primero:
La única habilidad que me ayudó a crecer en mi carrera
27. Boletín CMO Today
Si su resolución de Año Nuevo es comenzar a pensar de manera más estratégica, esta es la suscripción al boletín para usted. El CMO Today de The Wall Street Journal analiza las noticias más importantes del día a través de una lente de marketing para que pueda aprender de cómo otros líderes abordan el panorama de marketing en constante cambio de hoy.
Mejore sus habilidades de marketing en 2022
Piense en estos recursos como sus libros de texto para ayudarlo a navegar lo que seguramente será otro gran año para usted y su equipo. Probablemente no podrá leerlos todos de una sola vez, así que asegúrese de marcar esta página para más adelante. De esa manera, puede consultar la lista mientras trabaja para aplastar sus objetivos para 2022. Recuerde compartir esto también con su equipo. Combínelo con la plantilla de planificación del crecimiento profesional de las redes sociales para que piensen en lo que sigue en su viaje de marketing. ¡Feliz aprendizaje! Source link

What is the personal impact of a disjointed tech stack?
Say you order an item online, and it doesn’t show up. You reach out on the company’s web chat feature for help. You get a (delayed) response that requires back and forth. Every new response you receive is from a different agent who hasn’t read your message history. Unfortunately, email brings the same problem: a different agent who doesn’t see your chat history, forcing you to explain your issue from the beginning. You get hit with the same canned response multiple times, which leaves you so exhausted you vow to never waste your time or money with this company again.
This situation, unfortunately, is common—one that results in lost customers and lost revenue. A recent study found that 83% of customers will leave your brand based off of a bad customer service experience. Many companies prioritize customer service. But without the backend infrastructure to organize customer information, the result can be a disjointed, frustrating experience (regardless of how many tools or agents they employ).
In this article we’ll dig into how to remove these digital silos, share tips on how to integrate the tools that matter most and share use cases to help you identify the right integrations for your team.
How to remove digital silos in an ecosystem of tools Marketing teams depend on an ecosystem of tools everyday. However, these tools can create silos between departments, miscommunication between teams and information gaps that detract from the customer experience if they don’t work together. The good news is that these challenges are fixable—and don’t have to come at additional cost.
Many of the technologies your team relies on were built to integrate and share data with other tools. Integrations vary per vendor and so does the quality. We recommend looking for integrations that work in one platform, streamline relevant information and have high time-to-value (i.e., an easy set up so you start seeing results fast).
The social media market is saturated with different integrations, which is why Sprout is thoughtful about our approach. We heard many of our customers’ challenges around integrating with social media management tools and took notes. Here’s what we learned: Prioritize prebuilt connections. Integrations should be easy to configure, without requiring additional resources.
Build and support integrations in-house. Rather than relying on an unknown third-party developer who can disappear if something breaks or needs an update, building in-house integrations ensures our customers are always supported.
Simplicity is key. Integrations should make your life easier, not take months and half of your team to get up and running.
Some things in life should really be free. Many of Sprout’s integrations come at no additional cost, rather than the exorbitant fees per integration that are common in our industry. These principles inform how Sprout builds integrations to help our users work smarter, more efficiently and collaboratively across their business.
Which integrations are right for my business? We get it, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which integration is right for you, and what value it even brings. We will walk through six categories of Sprout’s integrations with questions and scenarios to help you identify which your organization could benefit from most.
1. Lead management & CRM
Win new business by generating leads from social and capturing existing contacts’ social interactions.
Q: How do you currently manage incoming leads from social media? How do you connect existing customers in your CRM to their social profiles?
Leads can slip through the cracks if you don’t have a streamlined workflow from social to a lead management solution.This also can result in missed opportunities to connect existing contacts in your CRM to their social profiles when they interact with you on social media.
Scenario: A user messages you on LinkedIn about an upcoming conference your company is hosting. Even if registration for this event isn’t live, having them in your marketing funnel will help capture and attribute a future sale. While you may already have their email information, now you’ll know their LinkedIn handle, and that they had another touchpoint with your brand specifically on social media around your annual conference.
Sprout lead management and CRM integrations: Salesforce, Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 After interacting with a user in Sprout’s Smart Inbox, you can link existing Salesforce users to new contacts via social. If there isn’t an existing contact in Salesforce, you can create a lead directly from Sprout to capture this new lead in your marketing funnel. Once a lead has been created or a contact linked, you can see Salesforce Contact and Case info related to this specific user directly from the reply layer in Sprout’s Smart Inbox. If the user already exists in Salesforce, you can add their social interaction and profile to their Salesforce Contact.
2. Helpdesk
Deliver a superior customer service by enabling customer care and social media teams to collaborate and co-manage incoming messages.
Q: How do your social team and customer care team collaborate today? How is customer information and context shared between these teams, or across the marketing organization more broadly? Customer care and helpdesk integrations are all about passing customer tickets and information between teams. These integrations can be a great fit if you find that customer inquiries on social media often need to be passed to a different team to answer. They can also give teams visibility into customers’ previous contact history with your organization, so you can offer faster, more personalized care.
Scenario: A customer reaches out about delayed shipping of a product they ordered. In Sprout’s Smart Inbox, you can see the purchase date and order information to confirm that their purchase went through. You can then send this customer directly to your helpdesk tool from Sprout. The service team agent who gets this ticket is able to see the customer’s communication history on social, and any internal notes you left about their shipping problem. When the agent reaches out, they will have all the context to start immediately troubleshooting.
Sprout integrations: Zendesk, HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365 With Sprout’s Zendesk integration, you can create new or link to existing Zendesk users, create and manage Zendesk tickets in Sprout, edit user and ticket data in Sprout, and even comment on specific Zendesk tickets from Sprout’s Smart Inbox. *Please note that Zendesk is available at no additional cost for accounts on the Professional and Advanced plans.
3. Social commerce
Drive more sales opportunities by extending your storefront into social networks with the collective power of social media and commerce.
Q: How do you encourage your social media audience to shop directly from your social profiles? How do you see order history information when interacting with a user on social media?
If you already use Shopify or Facebook Shops, Sprout’s social commerce integration is a great way to streamline order management and customer information. If your business is an ecommerce company, enabling customers to shop directly from your outgoing posts or message responses enhances their experience by removing the extra steps between product discovery and checkout.
Scenario: Like winning the lottery, one of your products just went viral on a TikTok about simple life hacks. You immediately see an uptick of engagement and traffic on your website, but customers seem to have a hard time navigating to this specific product. Add a product link to your outgoing posts to make it frictionless for these trend hoppers to find your viral product directly, rather than getting lost and giving up on your website.
Sprout integrations: Shopify, Facebook Shops With Sprout’s Shopify integration, you can look up and link customers through Sprout’s Smart Inbox to existing Shopify customers, or add a new customer to Shopify. You will be able to see all connected customer information and order history in Shopify from within the reply layer in Sprout’s Smart Inbox. You can add product links to outgoing posts and message replies in the Smart Inbox in addition to product templates.
4. Review management
Strengthen your online reputation by monitoring and managing reviews across your business and locations in one centralized stream.
Q: How do you monitor, manage and respond to reviews across different websites? Reviews, positive or negative, come in at any time. It’s important to not only be aware of every new review, but also make sure whoever monitors the review sites is equipped to respond (or get the review to the right person). With Sprout Review management, you can see incoming new reviews (across websites) in one place for you to prioritize, route and respond to.
Scenario: You are the sole social media marketer of a retail brand with four store locations. On top of maintaining consistent customer engagement across the brand’s core social media accounts, you have to manually check review sites (including Facebook Reviews and Google My Business) for the local brick-and-mortar stores. Responding to Google reviews can increase your visibility in local search rankings, which is critical for driving store foot traffic. Sprout Reviews provides a seamless way to monitor and manage the brand’s customer engagement all in one place. Sprout saves time and keeps you organized, so you can respond quickly and never have to worry about missing a time-sensitive review.
Sprout integrations: Google My Business, Facebook Reviews, TripAdvisor, Glassdoor, Yelp (coming soon) Never miss a review with Sprout’s Google My Business review management. Set up custom notifications every time a review comes in and sort reviews into custom priority inboxes (e.g., negative reviews: two-star reviews and below). Respond in real time to reviewers from Sprout to address a poor customer experience or thank them for leaving a review.
5. Workflow & Digital Asset Management
Streamline production to publishing to maximize the reach of your social content.
Q: How do you currently collaborate with creative teams to produce social media content?
This can be a tricky process depending on what design tools your creative team uses, what format they create creative assets in and how your company shares assets. Integrating your design and asset management tools into your workflow ensures social teams use up-to-date, approved content in the right formats.
Scenario: A nonprofit is reinvesting in Instagram to entice more Millennial and Gen Z engagement, with the goal of cultivating future donors. Having relied on less visual social networks in the past, the social media manager is using Canva’s prebuilt, aesthetically pleasing templates for story and feed posts. Rather than downloading from Canva, saving on their computer, then reuploading to Sprout Social, the manager can pull saved stories and feed posts directly from Canva from the Compose publishing window in Sprout.
Sprout integrations: Dropbox, Google Drive, Canva, Slack, Feedly With an influx of emails and daily tasks, sometimes Sprout approvals or assigned tasks can slip through the cracks on your busiest days. With Sprout’s Slack integrations, you can stay up to date by customizing which Sprout notifications you want to receive in Slack and which channels you want to be alerted in.
6. Website & URL tracking
Determine the impact of your digital campaigns to track the ROI of your social content and optimize accordingly.
Q: How do you measure referral traffic from social media?While there are a lot of incredible link tracking tools out there, having to separately build UTM parameters for your most used links every time you publish on social media can be frustrating. Sprout’s Google Analytics and Bitly integrations bake this link creation step into your publishing workflow.
Scenario: For the upcoming year, your team is launching a global brand campaign that has slightly different promotions for each target market. You need to track the performance of the campaign overall, while also comparing the performance of the more localized efforts. Setting up specific UTM parameters in Sprout, you can break down from social the web traffic and performance each target market drove, while also seeing the overall campaign performance.
Sprout integrations: Google Analytics, Bitly With Sprout’s Google Analytics integration, you can create tracking rules to automatically append parameters to your links in the posts you share in Sprout. These parameters then add the tracking results in Google Analytics (which you can also see in Sprout’s Google Analytics Report). You can create and edit URL tracking rules within Sprout, which will then automatically be applied in Sprout’s Compose publishing window when the URL in question is added to a post.
Get more from your martech stack
Integrating the tools you rely on most makes your team more informed and efficient, and your customer experience stronger. Sprout is built to remove digital silos, so our customers immediately tap into the robust power of social.
While organizing and integrating your ecosystem of tools can sound overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be.
Want to learn more about Sprout’s business integrations? Sign up for a demo today. Source link