Positive and Negative Reviews

Part of being a business in today's tech-savvy world is dealing with both positive and negative feedback. It's important for social media managers to know how to respond to both types of feedback as they serve as a reflection of the company. In fact, it is statistically shown that 90 percent of customers say buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. Below, I share two examples of how I would respond to customer responses on TripAdvisor.

Hello Travelwith3kiddos,

We are so glad you enjoyed your stay at the Hyatt Regency. I will be sure to pass along your kind words to Ralph at Fiorenzo to make sure he gets the recognition he deserves! The next time you return, we encourage you to check out some of our other kid-friendly activities, which can be viewed here. Again, thank you so much for your positive comments, and we look forward to serving you again soon.

Best,

Nhi H.

Hello LUV2TRAVELWITHHUBBY,

Thank you for taking the time to post this review. We value all our customers' opinions, and we are sincerely sorry we did not meet your standards. Our number one priority is customer service and cleanliness, and we have taken steps to address the issues you mentioned above to our staff. We hope you'll give us another chance to give you the service and luxurious amenities you expect from The Hilton, including our sophisticated suites, 25,000 sq. ft. sunrise pool terrace and delicious on-site restaurants. Should you choose to do so, please ask for me. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak to you directly. We wish you all the best and hope to see you again.

Best,

Nhi H.

Cosmoprof Trade Show

This week I'll be taking a look at the 2014 Cosmoprof Trade Show, an international B2B trade show event, and how it uses channels to promote the show. This year's event took place from July 13 to July 15. Please note this post is for educational purposes.

Facebook
Cosmoprof was quiet in the days leading up to the show, but they did post a "Who's excited?" post on July 9. This post was probably received the most engagement out of all their recent posts before, during and after.

Cosmoprof did not post any Facebook posts on the first day of the show. They posted 6 posts on the second day which included a mix of one photo, links and videos. July 15 saw two posts that were links and videos. Facebook has not been updated since the show. I saw two problems here. First, that they have 5,000+ fans on Facebook. Their posts should be garnering plenty more likes, and they should be using that following to their advantage. I also don't find the posts particularly engaging or informative. They should be asking people what their favorite booths so far are, updating a photo album or two and even utilizing some sort of photo booth. This would help showcase their vendors as well as the event. I'm sure there were some great photo opps and demonstrations that should have been covered, and there should have been some sort of wrap-up post thanking all their incredible vendors, etc. 

Twitter
Twitter is their most active form of social media before, during and after the show. It's great that they're posting about various vendors and booths, but I don't think they're going about it the right way. For example, there should be an event hashtag such as #cosmoprof2014, and they should be encouraging others to use it to compile their tweets all in one place. It would also make it easier to follow conversations about vendors and the event throughout the day. Additionally, they should be tagging vendors' Twitter accounts to promote them and vice versa. For some odd reason, they hashtag booth numbers, which doesn't really accomplish anything. Also, I think a lot of their tweets require a photo. For example tweet #2 below could use a photo of the booth or product. Because of these reasons, I don't think their Twitter engagement is where it needs to be.

Instagram 
I had a problem finding Cosmoprof's Instagram page because their website doesn't link to the account, which is a big IMC issue. However, they get a ton of engagement on Instagram and are quite active, which shows that photos work well for the trade show. Again, I did not see an event hashtag, which would have come in handy to compile photos as well as a promotion tool. People could pull up the hashtag to see all the photos from the events from vendors and attendees. Additionally, I did not find the captions very informative or engaging. For example, the caption for the Instagram below says, "Domestic Buyers Meet & Greet." Which is great, but it doesn't really say much nor does it open the door for conversation. I also did not see the show taking advantage of the location feature very often, which is also a great promotion tool.

Pinterest 

Cosmoprof's last pin was about five weeks ago. I consider this a missed opportunity because the beauty industry is so incredibly visual. They could've utilized some kind of live pinning event with Instagram or vendor photos. Additionally, I like the idea of a 2014 spotlight board, but what exactly is DB and why don't these links lead back to their website but instead to the vendors? Perhaps they should've utilized some in-house blog posts with photos to execute this Pinterest board.

LinkedIn
Cosmoprof's official LinkedIn page is private and therefore doesn't allow for self-promotion. 

The only other example of IMC I found was a blog, which makes no mention or "alert" about the event. A highlight that stood out to me was their Instagram. It still needs work, but I liked a lot of them, especially a behind-the-scenes look at them unpacking samples.

In conclusion, I don't think Cosmoprof's branding efforts surrounding their 2014 event was very consistent. They were extremely active on certain platforms and neglecting others. Not all Instagrams were shared to Twitter, no hashtags were utilized and Facebook remained pretty quiet. I would suggest they concentrate on producing more of their own content during the event, even via crowdsourcing using hashtags, etc. Cosmoprof seems like a fun and visual event, and I want to see more of it! 

Magic Kingdom

This week we took a look at how brands are handling social media as well as the power of planning and scheduling your posts. The following month-long social media plan for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom is entirely hypothetical and for educational purposes only.

For August, my goal was to drive people to the Magic Kingdom despite Epcot's Extra Magic Hour, the heat and back to school distractions. My goal included these two objectives:

1. Exposing fans to things old and new they may not have experienced yet

2. Create engaging posts that would stir up any connection a guest may have had with the park

I tried to keep posts as consistent to Walt Disney World's brand as possible. That included sharing funny memes, character photos and one-of-a-kind experience photos. I also included a hypothetical campaign called #BattleoftheLands to socially "listen" in on what guests' favorite parts of Magic Kingdom are so that down the road, the company could see which land or lands are in need of renovation.

Friday, August 1 

Facebook: August is Family Fun Month! Which Magic Kingdom attraction are you looking forward to visiting with your family?

Twitter: August is Family Fun Month! Which Magic Kingdom attraction are you looking forward to visiting with your family?

Saturday, August 2

 (source)

Facebook: Oof, it's hot out! Come cool off at Splash Mountain. [Photo]

Twitter:  Oof, it's hot out! Come cool off at #SplashMountain. [Photo]

Sunday, August 3 

 (source)

Facebook: Do you have a princess-to-be in your life? Make all of her dreams come true at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! For tickets and reservations, please visit http://bit.ly/1dwJpNa. [Photo]

Twitter: Have a princess-to-be in your life? Make all of her dreams come true at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! http://bit.ly/1dwJpNa

Monday, August 4

 (source)

Facebook: Did you know? Main Street was inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri. [Photo] #funfact

Twitter: Did you know? Main Street was inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri.[Photo] #funfact

Tuesday, August 5 

 (source)

Facebook: Travel Tip: If you a spot a party line phone, pick it up to listen in on some hilarious conversations. We won't tell! [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Facebook: Travel Tip: If you a spot a party line phone, pick it up to listen in on some hilarious conversations. [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Wednesday, August 6  

[For this post, create a custom image of six Magic Kingdom lands with labels: Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, FantasyLand and Tomorrowland.]

Facebook: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands, and we'll announce the results next month on our blog.

Twitter: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands.

Thursday, August 7 

 (source)

Facebook: Who remembers the 1986 version of Country Bear Jamboree Vacation Hoedown? #ThrowbackThursday [Photo]

Twitter: Who remembers the 1986 version of Country Bear Jamboree Vacation Hoedown? #tbt [Photo]

Friday, August 8 

Facebook: Want to see more of Magic Kingdom? Find us on Snapchat: http://di.sn/giH

Twitter: Want to see more of Magic Kingdom? Find us on Snapchat: http://di.sn/giH

Saturday, August 9 

 (source)

Facebook: What's on your Magic Kingdom bucket list? [Photo]

Twitter: What's on your Magic Kingdom bucket list? [Photo]

Sunday, August 10 

 (source)

Facebook: All aboard! Join our Disney railroad engineers before the park opens for a special behind-the-scenes look at the park's steam trains: http://bit.ly/1s90PpW [Photo]

Twitter: All aboard! Join our engineers before the park opens for a behind-the-scenes look at our steam trains: http://bit.ly/1s90PpW [Photo]

Monday, August 11 

 (source)

Facebook: The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you forever cease to be able to do it. [Photo]

Twitter: The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you forever cease to be able to do it. [Photo]

Tuesday, August 12 

(source)

Facebook: Travel Tip: If you're passing through Liberty Square, be sure to visit Sleepy Hollow for a legendary waffle sandwich. [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Twitter: Travel Tip: If you're passing through Liberty Square, visit Sleepy Hollow for a legendary waffle sandwich. [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Wednesday, August 13 

[Use same custom image from August 6.]

Facebook: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands.

Twitter: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands.

Thursday, August 14 

 (source)

Facebook: Before September 1982, Magic Kingdom provided these complimentary attraction passports with admission tickets! #ThrowbackThursday [Photo]

Twitter: Before Sept. 1982, Magic Kingdom provided these complimentary attraction passports with admission tickets! #tbt [Photo]

Friday, August 15 

 (source)

Facebook: Iago, the original angry bird. [Photo]

Twitter: Iago, the original angry bird. [Photo]

Saturday, August 16

[For this post, create custom graphic showing a girl's personalized Disney backpack and a boy's personalized Disney backpack. Backpacks can been seen here.]

Facebook: It's back to school season! Treat your favorite student to a personalized backpack: http://bit.ly/1sbRQEe [Photo]

Twitter: It's back to school season! Treat your favorite student to a personalized backpack: http://bit.ly/1sbRQEe [Photo]

Sunday, August 17

(source) 

Facebook: Want to ride shotgun or take the wheel of exotic supercars? Find out more about our Richard Petty Driving Experience: http://bit.ly/1yaEfxz [Photo]

Twitter: Want to ride shotgun or take the wheel of supercars? Find out more: http://bit.ly/1yaEfxz [Photo]

Monday, August 18 

 (source)

Facebook: You've got a friend in me. [Photo]

Twitter: You've got a friend in me. [Photo]

Tuesday, August 19 

 (source)

Facebook: Travel Tip: Shops on Main Street are open up to one hour after the park closes! [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Twitter: Travel Tip: Shops on Main Street are open up to one hour after the park closes! [Photo] #TravelTuesday
  
Wednesday, August 20 

[Use same custom image from August 6.]

Facebook: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands. Results will be announced next month on our blog. [Photo]

Twitter: Battle of the lands! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands. [Photo]

Thursday, August 21 

(source)

Facebook: Flashback to our list of attractions in 1972. Do you spot any favorites? #ThrowbackThursday [Photo]

Twitter: Flashback to our list of attractions in 1972. Do you spot any favorites? #tbt [Photo]

Friday, August 22

 (source)

Facebook: Happy Friday! Who's ready for fireworks?! [Photo]

Twitter:  Happy Friday! Who's ready for fireworks?! [Photo]

Saturday, August 23 

(source)

Facebook: The Dapper Dans are looking extra dapper today! [Photo]

Twitter: The Dapper Dans are looking extra dapper today! [Photo]

Sunday, August 24 

 (source)

Facebook: Join us for #NightofJoy: 17 bands, 3 stages, 2 nights. Reserve your tickets here: http://di.sn/qWf. Hurry, availability is limited! [Photo]

Twitter: Join us for #NightofJoy: 17 bands, 3 stages, 2 nights. Reserve your tickets here: http://di.sn/qWf. [Photo]

Monday, August 25 

Facebook: I can show you the world. [Photo]

Twitter: I can show you the world. [Photo]

Tuesday, August 26

(source)

Facebook: Travel Tip: If you're celebrating a special occasion here, be sure to wear a pin that says so! [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Twitter: Travel Tip: If you're celebrating a special occasion here, be sure to wear a pin that says so! [Photo] #TravelTuesday

Wednesday, August 27

[Use same custom image from August 6.]

Facebook: Last chance! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands, and we'll announce the results next month on our blog.

Twitter: Last chance! Which Magic Kingdom land is your favorite and why? Tweet us using #BattleoftheLands.

Thursday, August 28 

(source)

Facebook: Here's a page from Teen Magazine's April 1972 issue with a guide to Walt Disney World! Do you recognize this area of Magic Kingdom? #ThrowbackThursday [Photo]

Twitter: Here's a page from Teen Magazine's April 1972 issue! Do you recognize this area of Magic Kingdom? #tbt [Photo]

Friday, August 29 

 (source)

Facebook: It's Friday, so make like Simba! [Photo]

Twitter: It's Friday, so make like Simba! [Photo]

Saturday, August 30 

[Photo of a question mark over a silhouette.]

Facebook: Which Disney character said it: "Talk about your fixer-upper."

Twitter: Which Disney character said it: "Talk about your fixer-upper."

Sunday, August 31 

 (source)

Facebook: Ahoy, mateys! Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't for another few weeks, but why not get a head start by joining The Pirates League? http://bit.ly/O4tE4M [Photo]

Twitter: Ahoy, mateys! It's not Talk Like a Pirate Day yet, but you can still get a head start: http://bit.ly/O4tE4M [Photo] 

What You Should Know About Facebook Analytics

What is Facebook Insights?

Facebook has its own free analytics tool for fan pages called Facebook Insights. If your page has more than 30 fans, you have access to Insights. Facebook launched its original Insights in fall of 2011, providing metrics for marketers and business owners in four main areas: Reach, Engaged Users, Talking About This and Virality. Veteran users may recognize the original layout below. "The new product represents the end of the era when the 'Like' was paramount," said Ad Age at the time of the announcement. Indeed, Insights changed the way all marketers approached Facebook, and the concept of engagement became much more important than the mere number of likes.

In 2013, Facebook saw an increase in demand for in-depth analytics, and it overhauled Insights to the version we recognize today.

Why Is Insights Important? 

With the decrease in organic Facebook reach (also see below), it is now more important than ever to learn about your audience. Insights helps page admins learn about their audience and content. By using Insights you can learn about the best times to post, what type of content performs best, your fan page demographics and more.While it's important to pay attention to analytics, you shouldn't completely alter your strategy to the point where you're not reaching your main goals. Understanding is the key here.

Terminology (via Simply Measured):

Engagement: Engagement is calculated by the number of likes, comments and shares a post receives.

Reach: The number of unique people who have seen content associated with your page.

Organic vs. Paid: The number of unique people who saw your content in their News Feed, ticker or on your Page. The number of unique people who saw your paid content.

How Do I Find Out About My Audience? 

The Basics
To access your Insights, simply go to your Page and click the Insights tab. To see data about your audience, click People.

Under Your Fans you'll get an overview of your audience. If you hover over the graph, Insights will explain the numbers to you. Insights demographics include gender (in comparison to all of Facebook), age group, location according to city and country as well as language. If you click on People Engaged, you'll see the number of people who have interacted with your page.

This graph also shows you engagement from those who aren't your fans.

Real-World Application 
If your audience is primarily female, your content should speak to a female audience. Alternatively, if your audience is primarily male and you would like an even mix, you can alter your strategy or launch a campaign that can bring in more female fans.

When Are My Fans Online?

The Basics
This is perhaps the coolest update to Facebook Insights, as you can now see when your fans are active. To access from Insights, click on Posts which will take you to the When Your Fans Are Online tab.

Here you can see how many fans are online and what times they are most active. 

Real-World Application 
If you're running promotion (or just on a day-to-day basis) you now know what days and times to schedule posts to maximize your organic reach. You might also see that many of your fans are active at night and schedule posts during those times. 

What Type of Content Should I Post? 

The Basics

From Insights, if you click on Post and then Post Types, you can see what kinds of posts are performing best. 

If you scroll down, you'll see a user-friendly chart on your most recent posts and how they're performing. 

Real-World Application 
Using this information, you can see what type of content you audience prefers. Also, which posts are getting most engagement? Perhaps funny content? Or more informative content? Or just photo posts? This will help you fine-tune your strategy to what your audience wants to see.

How Am I Doing In General? 

The Basics 

Under the Likes and Reach tab, you'll find various charts that will help you further see how your page is performing.

Real-World Application 
The Net Likes graph will help you see and analyze your likes according to unlikes, organic like and paid likes. For example, what did you do or post on June 12 that may have caused an increase in unlikes? The Where Your Page Likes Came From graph is also important. I especially like when you see that your likes came from other pages. What is happening on the days that more people are posting about you? The Likes, Comments and Shares graph shows you your number of likes, comments and shares on certain days. What type of content encourages certain kinds of behavior?

What If I Want To Go Even More in Depth? 

If this type of information isn't enough for you, there's handy Export button on the top right corner of Insights. You'll get an insanely comprehensive Excel sheet that looks something like this: 

This Social Media Examiner article will do a better job of explaining in-depth analytics than I can. However, these analytics will come in handy if you're preparing a report for your boss or client as it delves into other areas of engagement and reach, including negative and positive responses. Hubspot also provides a great tutorial on how to analyze information from this Excel document.

Here's a list of just a few categories this Excel sheet covers:

Daily, weekly and up to 98 days people talking about
Daily, weekly and up to 98 days of page stories
Lifetime total likes
Daily new likes
Daily unlikes
Daily friends of fans
Daily, weekly and up to 98 days of page engaged users
Daily, weekly and up to 98 days of total reach
The number of people sharing stores about your page
The number of stories created about your page
The number of people who have seen any content associated with your page
The number of people who saw a sponsored story or ad pointing to your page
The number of impressions seen of any content associated with your page
The number of people who saw any of your page posts
...and more!

That's Not All, Folks

Facebook Insights provides plenty more analytics that weren't covered here, and it's important for you to explore your Insights to see which stats may be important to your company's overall goals. Although Insights is only integrated with Facebook, you can also analyze your Facebook analytics through other platforms such as Google, Simply Measured, Hootesuite and more.  

Insights does have a very simple mobile version as part of Facebook's Pages manager app, seen below.

Helpful Videos

Remind me again why this is important? 

Well, what's the first step in building a content strategy? Knowing your audience. Not only that, but knowing what works and what doesn't. By taking a closer look at your Facebook metrics, you can build a content strategy that is both successful and engaging.

Can I just get the synopsis?

Sure thing! Just watch the Prezi below. 

WeClickd: Not Clicking Just Yet

The social media world can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to weddings. Where should you go for advice, and what's the best way to find ideas? The result is a confusing  and sometimes headache-inducing combination of platforms and websites with different log-ins and passwords.

That's where an industry-specific social media site comes in. According to Clickz, these platforms are growing in popularity because sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become overcrowded and noisy. Industry-specific social media sites also connect people with similar interests, creating new relationships that may not have existed otherwise.

Today I'm taking a look at WeClickd, a social media platform for brides founded in 2013. The company's press release describes it as "The Knot, Pinterest and Facebook rolled into one." WeClickd targets the wedding industry, but interestingly, it also targets anyone who loves weddings in general. "WeClickd is about one incredible thing--and that's weddings," says Josh Liss, founder of WeClickd. "It's not just for people who are getting married, it's for millions of wedding fans! Shows like Say Yes to the Dress and others have proven the broad appeal of the whole wedding journey."

So how does WeClickd work, you ask? It has three major components: collections, vendors and conversations. Collections allows you to save your inspirations, very reminiscent of Pinterest. Vendors consists of a directory of wedding vendors. Conversations is less clear, but my understanding is that it encourages you to participate in "discussions" with vendors or other brides about specific wedding topics such as DIY or stationery. A sample discussion question: "Save the date in style with these delightful save-the-date cards. What will you send out to guests?"

Collections

 

 

Vendors

 

Conversations

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of WeClickd. It's not easy to stand out in the wedding industry, and I think websites such as Pinterest and The Knot have the wedding planning market cornered. However, I will give WeClickd credit for three significant ideas:

1. Its featured sales section, where you can visually shop for wedding-related items that are on sale at various retailers. Genius. Keep is a new website that recently rolled out, operating as a Pinterest for sales notifications, and I love it. I can only imagine how much I would love the WeClickd sales section if I were planning a wedding, especially on a budget.
2. Its conversation section, which needs improvement. I like the idea of a discussion section. However, I can't seem to post a discussion question, and I think the option may be reserved for vendors. By doing this, you are shutting out brides who may have pressing questions. I think the discussion section should be more of a forum full of questions, similar to WeddingWire forums. Speaking from experience, too many wedding websites shy away from etiquette and how-to articles and instead focus on the visual aspect of the industry. I love WeddingWire forums because it opens channels for the exchange of ideas, and if WeClickd would do the same, perhaps with the involvement of some respected industry experts (maybe have them moderate or answer questions every week), I think the conversation section would be a standout. 
3. Oh my gosh, I swooned at their search options. You can search collections by color palette, tags and keywords. How many times have I wanted to search Pinterest by color? Countless, I tell you.

Proximity marketing for WeClickd is a little tricky. The only real method I could see is maybe sending notifications when brides are near a WeClickd vendor location. Something like, "Hey, we noticed you're in the area! So is Forever Flowers, and they're giving 10 percent off to all WeClickd brides and grooms today. Visit them for more information." However, if WeClickd were to organize some sort of tour or meet-up, I think proximity marketing would be a big hit at their events. This Marketing School article discusses how a maker of body sprays set up "download hot spots" on a UK campus where students were able to download a special app. WeClickd could put a spin on this idea or even set up a prize-based scavenger hunt using hot spots at an organized event.

Of course, I think Facebook would work well alongside WeClickd to help with IMC efforts. They only have 230+ fans, and if they were to get back on the Facebook train (last post was 2013), I think they could really improve their number of users. Besides Pinterest, which I think would be a competitor in this case, Facebook is a huge resource for brides. This survey discovered that 79 percent of brides become fans of wedding pages, and WeClickd should be using that to their advantage. WeClickd should also take a look at Google+ and LinkedIn, which are huge hubs for people looking for industry-specific information. In the wedding world, a strong social media presence represents a strong brand. The fact that they don't have a strong presence signifies to me that they are A) not an up-to-date website or B) a dead website. Additionally, I don't see any social sharing buttons on any posts. They should make it easier for brides to share topics, ideas, vendors and photos.

My last bit of advice would be to get other well-connected industry professionals on board. I find that many wedding industry professionals are always willing to lend a helping hand and try something new, and if WeClickd targeted the right vendors and professionals, they'd be able to spread their message better. Additionally, the fact that brides and newer industry professionals could have real conversations with seasoned veterans on a regular basis would help set the social media site apart from the rest. People clamor every year to attend huge industry-related events as well as workshops to meet these professionals, so why not bring that aspect to the website? But first, they need to get a-fixin' on that conversations platform. It's just not up to par. 

To build a wedding social media site, you must target what brides are truly looking for. First and foremost, inspiration in the form of photo boards. Second, the knitty gritty "boring" wedding stuff that other brands don't delve into (What should I tip my vendors? How should I tell someone they can't invite a plus-one? Where can I sell my wedding dress? How should I budget? etc. etc.). Third, deals. The other way to look at it is how you can target vendors and bring them on board. Based on Twitter chats such as #weddingmarket and targeted LinkedIn groups, I think vendors are really searching for a social network where they can build relationships, discuss problems, organize photo shoots, help brides around the world find vendors and more. So, can a wedding social media website work? Yes, but I don't think the right one has come along yet.