Christie O Media

10 social media post ideas to get engagement for your business during the Super Bowl (Free social posts included)

christie Uncategorized February 5, 2021February 11, 2022

EDIT: Updated with graphics from the 2022 Super Bowl, enjoy!

The Super Bowl is what I call a two-screen experience – people are watching the Super Bowl on one screen and they’re doing it with their phones in their hands while they’re watching to see what everyone’s saying about it. If you’re a business or brand — THIS IS AN ENGAGEMENT GOLDMINE.

You should consider getting in on the conversation and I’m outlining ten different posts along with when to post them below.

Some of the best ways to engage people are with polls and asking your fans questions throughout the game. Paired up with a cool photo or graphic, these can be (and have been for me) VERY ENGAGING POSTS!

—->GRAB THE SOCIAL POSTS HERE (NOTE: These are plug and play and generic, so anyone can use them. BUT if you want your own branding in there or these are not your style, use my ideas and create your own! (I did mine in Canva!))

Here’s how to post them and when:

Here are some post ideas you can use on your Facebook or Instagram pages — you can use any or all of them throughout the game (just make sure you’re posting at least 15 minutes apart so your posts don’t stomp on each other. Sometimes Facebook won’t show one post over the other if they’re posted too close together.) All times in Eastern.

WHO WILL WIN? Post once at 6 p.m. (a half-hour before the game) asking people — WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Post a photo and have them vote for their favorite team in the comments. Make sure to chime in within the comments as your brand yourself, respond with comments and GIFs. People are AMPED UP and anticipating this game, the teams, the commercials, food, all of it, and they’re just sitting there waiting – this is a great time to start engaging. (LINK TO PHOTO)
GO TEAM! 6:30 p.m. If you’re a HUGE FAN one way or the other, post right at the start of the Super Bowl, post something rooting for your favorite team. This could be a photo graphic that says “Go Rams!”or you and your family or just you in a jersey, a boomerang or video of you jumping up and down amped up, a GIF – however you want to do this and whatever your personality is. These are the moments you get to bond with your customers over something that’s NOT ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. (LINK TO PHOTO)
“What did you think of the National Anthem?” After the National Anthem: Ask people what they thought. Pair it up with a photo if you want or ask the question and add a fun background. BELIEVE IT OR NOT – This is a very divisive topic! When Lady Gaga sang it and it was asked on social pages how she did – the posts WENT CRAZY! Because she was amazing! This year, it’s country music star Mickey Guyton. People feel very passionate about how our National Anthem is performed, get people talking on your page! (LINK TO PHOTO)
“What’s your favorite thing about the Super Bowl?” This always does well for me – Ask people what their favorite part of the Super Bowl is and what they look forward to the most, the commercials, the food, the halftime show, or the actual game. Pair it with a photo that has a picture of all four, or a photo of your personal favorite, or even just the four choices on a fun background and have people answer in the comments! This post works well either before or near the beginning of the game. (LINK TO PHOTO)
What’s your favorite Super Bowl commercial? Some brands aren’t going all in on commercials but there are still some funny ones! (YOU CAN WATCH THE SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS HERE and get a preview!) (LINK TO PHOTO)
“Using a GIF, comment below how you think this game is going:” People from both sides will chime in with funny GIFs. (POST A GIF)
OMGGGGG THE HALFTIME SHOW! Gen-X-er here so I have some excitement about this year’s halftime show with Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Kendrick Lamar. So ask: “What did you think about the halftime show?:” Again – totally controversial topic, believe it or not, people either LOVED IT or HATED IT. Remember JLo wearing her tight onesie at age 50? (My hero.) Janet Jackson’s “costume malfunction?” If the show is boring – it’s STILL a passionate topic. (LINK TO PHOTO)
Any standout moments: Post immediately after something crazy happens – whatever that crazy thing is, get into the moment with everyone talking ASAP. This can be just a status update with no photos, it could be a crazy gif, anything. Just start talking.
“Comment below with a photo of your Super Bowl party” – Lots of people are going to be home with their own families this year having their own Super Bowl party instead of partying it up and this gives them a chance to party on social and feel like they’re somewhere from the comfort of their own living room.
Celebrate the winner! Whatever your celebration looks like – if you’re excited about who won, post about it! Post you and your family or friends jumping up and down! Create an Instagram Reel or TikTok about it. Video of yourself in slow motion jumping up and down. Selfies, whatever.

If you want to go all in, post these on all your social platforms:

Post each idea on Facebook, then IG.
Have relevant hashtags for IG ready to copy and paste in your notepad in your phone or in a doc on your computer.
Start brainstorming now how you can turn some posts into Reels on IG (which is so big right now)
Can you do any lives? (Are you running any specials, are you planning any socially-distanced events?) Don’t do this during the game, do it before or after.
Take your IG posts and turn them into IG stories, use interactive polls on your stories and send it to your Facebook page stories as well. Polls are REALLY GOOD for stories!
Make a TikTok, download it and send it to Reels (Remember to strip off the TikTok watermark and if you need to know how, here’s how.)

Or, you can just pick one platform and stick with it. Either way, be intentional and have a plan.

HOW TO EXECUTE

NOTE: The best time to post about most of these real-time topics are AS THEY HAPPEN. So I’ve included some pre-made graphics for you to download and create posts to put in your “drafts” section of Facebook or IG so you can post them the second they happen. And I MEAN the second they happen. When that last note is sung of the National Anthem – post that post. When the curtain closes on the Halftime Show – post that post. The second it’s over. THAT’S WHEN PEOPLE ARE TALKING. They want a forum to share their opinions like right now! If you wait, they’ll have already engaged on another post. Timing really matters!

If you don’t want to post multiple times because you want to enjoy the Super Bowl, post once at the beginning asking your audience who they want to win, and then continue to engage in the comments throughout the game when you have a second. You can use that post and the comments section to continue onto other topics, like talking about the commercials – if there are any buzzworthy ones (like Baby Mr. Peanut), or the halftime show all within the comments of that one post. That post will continue to get engagement and this will still be a good way to keep people engaged and insert yourself into the conversation.

Social posting during the Super Bowl should be authentic. These posts should absolutely be said in your way, using your voice, and if you could absolutely care less about the actual game or either of the teams and you’re in it for the food – SAY THAT. Be honest! Have fun! If you don’t want to insert yourself or your brand into this conversation online in any way, that’s fine too. But it really is one of those topics that almost any business, brand, industry can get in on.

Grab these free, pre-made graphics for your Super Bowl social posts.

Also check out my Facebook Live where I talk about this very thing .

And enjoy the game!

More free stuff:

GRAB my ALL-in-One Social Media Planning Guide for Businesses, which includes:

56 Ideas and Inspiration for Social Media Gold
Simple and Next Level Social Media Tools for Creating Amazing Posts
The ABCs of Social Media (How to ALWAYS BANK CONTENT)

And are you on my email list? Get notified of all things social + free social gold here.

Synergy: Finding my clients’ gifts for success on social media

My clients all have incredible gifts, that’s why their businesses are successful and that’s why they’re successful in person.

Business owners and entrepeneurs possess an excitedness and brilliance about their products and their services and I love watching them come alive when they talk about them – it’s TRUE PASSION – and I love helping their products and services come alive through stories on social media.

One of my favorite stories was this past holiday season, in a time when people really needed something to smile about.

One of my clients had an idea – he had a Grinch costume and he wasn’t sure how to incorporate it so he figured, let’s just walk around town.

I, who likes to have a plan, came over to shoot it and decided, “OK then, let’s just scrap the plan,” and I went along with it. He, in his Grinch costume, did just that: walked around and interacted with people as I followed behind and took video.

What I saw was incredible. He BECAME THE GRINCH.

His personality while inside the costume completely changed and he became the Grinch personified.

It was magical. Voice and everything.

As I got video, I took note of all the little moments.

I watched as he skipped his feet up and down the sidewalk. I got video of his feet.

I took video of people’s expressions. Their comments.

He tried to get a haircut. (He wanted to be handsome).

He obstructed traffic (playfully.)

He tried (unsuccessfully and quietly) to disrupt a yoga class.

He tried to order rotton onions at a nearby restaurant.

He thought about getting his green, hairy nails done.

He tried to make lattes. He made an onion latte.

Ideas came up on the fly, and from that moment forward, the Grinch was born.

What I love about working with clients is giving them the space and the support to come alive in their own way. I produced these videos, which, by the way, HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS BUSINESS, and they got thousands of views and caught the attention of all the local media, who then did stories on The Grinch.

At his business.

The Grinch was invited to weddings. The Grinch was invited to holiday parties. People called the shop and messaged the page about The Grinch.

We had to come up with a Grinch schedule so people could come by at certain times to see him.

Grinch food.

Grinch presents (onions and toilet paper.)

We took photos, created videos for Facebook and Instagram and more importantly, Instagram Reels, which has skyrocketed in popularity as it competes with TikTok.

As you can see, social isn’t about advertising your business necessarily. It’s about CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE. And at the time the Grinch came along, it was about making people smile when they needed it most.

Yes, their sales went up – both in store and online. That was an added bonus!

THAT’S how organic social media works. It’s about creativity. Storytelling. Connection.

Last year, I had a client who was a candidate for a local office. He wanted to do more on social but didn’t know what. We outlined a strategy and content together but the real magic came when I saw his natural gift for writing and storytelling. Together, we strategized the tone and content of his posts while using his gift for storytelling. Those were ALWAYS the best performing posts.

As with the Grinch, I cannot take credit for that, that was all my client. My clients have talent! I just helped him, and The Grinch, come alive on social media because that’s what I do.

He had the vision. I helped execute it.

I’d love to help your story and your page come alive, too.

Stay updated and subscribed on my blog and message me at christie@christieo.com to see how we can work together.

Answer to the question: “Should I, as a business, post when the country’s in crisis?”

christie Social media tips and tricks, The latest in social media January 19, 2021January 19, 2021

When the entire nation was glued to their television and social media as rioters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., I saw businesses in some of my groups online asking: “Should I post now or wait until later?”

This is what I tell my clients, and I know this from pure experience and from experiencing first-hand what happens to a post when you post it during a big event that has the collective attention of the country: WAIT. (I talked about this on Facebook live last week, you can watch it here.)

Why should you wait to post, especially if what is happening does not directly affect you, your area, or your business or clients?

There are two reasons.

The first is because while the entire nation (possibly the world) is captivated by a certain event taking place in real time, your post, which is likely completely off-topic, could appear tone-deaf — as if you have no idea what’s going on in the world or worse, that you don’t care. We all know that not to be true; You probably do care, and even if you don’t, you wouldn’t say that out loud, but actions speak louder than words. What you do online affects your business directly and if you’re still posting about your product, service, or beautiful photos or videos during a tragic, dark day, that can be off-putting for customers.

The second reason is simply because your post will not get the engagement it deserves.

People are consuming the content of a different topic at that moment, which means that your beautiful masterpiece of content will simply not get the attention of the social platform because the social platform will surface more of what people are currently consuming. Your content will get buried. Not only would people not see it, but they won’t be in the mood for it.

For success on social media, it’s important for us to be able to understand the tone or the mood of people online through social listening, the art of understanding what people are talking about and either dialing it in or dialing it down with regard to your own content.

In the example of the Capitol Building being stormed, I myself unscheduled posts that were getting ready to post on my clients’ pages and the content I was going to post I put into drafts so it could be ready to go later when the mood lightens.

Posting it at that time would have been an extreme disservice to my clients.

And any clients who asked me about what to post, I advised them to wait.

When I managed the social pages of the TV station I worked for, as you could imagine we had dozens and hundreds of pieces of content to choose from, create, or post on any given day, and in between, it was imperative for me to know not only what was going on in the world but what the patterns and behaviors were of people consuming content.

When I covered the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub, for example, I can tell you that anything we posted other than information about that tragic day completely flopped – FOR A WEEK. Our audience wanted to know each step of the way what was happening and any other content we posted was of no interest to them whatsoever.

I understood that the mood was somber. Our audience was scared. Our audience was crying.

As a business or small business, you won’t always have to wait for days or weeks for the social mood to lighten. Obviously, different posts and timing works for different industries and audiences (and I can help you figure this out.)

When things calmed down later that day of the Capitol riots, I knew and saw that it was OK to go ahead and post again. But there was a solid period of five-six hours where that was not the case.

I personally waited until the next day to make sure that all the content I produced got maximum visibility, but I did see content being posted later that day and that was OK.

So, keep this handy or message me on Facebook or email me anytime at christie@christieo.com if you ever have a question about what to do and what the climate is. On a day of big events, like the inauguration, which could be a divisive topic among your clients or customers, have that conversation about what to post and when. Be deliberate. Listen.

My advice:

Read the room.
Always be aware of what you have scheduled and when.
Always be ready to unschedule it and save it for later.

Always be ready to pivot.

“Batch” your content so you can make five posts out of one!

christie Uncategorized October 19, 2020October 19, 2020

When you’re creating content for your social media platforms, it’s not only important to plan out what you’re going to post ahead of time and schedule it out, it’s also a good idea to “batch” content creating.

What does that mean?

It means taking one piece of content you’ve created and making 5-10 pieces of other content out of it. Here’s a quick example:

@iamchristieo
Social media for businesses: One piece of content 5 ways, one session, iPhone 📱 #socialmediastrategist #businessownwer #businessownertips #fall
♬ This Is Halloween (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) – Jack N Box

Not only does this allow you to have multiple pieces of content to post on different days, it allows you to showcase your products in different ways, and the good (and bad) thing is that not everyone will see all these posts, so it won’t seem redundant.

That’s because Facebook only shows your content to about 10% of your fans, so different people will see different posts.

How can you create 5-10 pieces of content out of one?

Say, for instance, you have a new cheesecake product like one of my current clients.

You can shoot various photos of it, do a slowmo video of someone cutting into it, do a testimonial video of someone trying it, do a Facebook live of making it or someone eating it…

Another example is taking a Facebook live of a demonstration or a tour, then after that is over, download the video and create several smaller videos from it to post on the various platforms.

For example, my client decorated their shop for Halloween, so their Facebook Live included their new product, a demo making a hot foamy latte, a tour of the courtyard where there was live music, a tour of their “graveyard” – ALL VERY VISUAL and engaging. (It continued to get engagement on their page days later.)

Afterward, there were at least three video creation opportunities from that one live: the making of the latte and a shortened video of the tour, along with video of someone trying their products.

Batch content.

Another client does a weekly inspirational podcast, and she is able to not only create YouTube videos using the audio of her podcast, she can also make short videos for Instagram and Facebook along with beautiful graphics with inspirational quotes from the podcast. I’ve been able to create an entire week’s worth of content (and more) from that one show each week.

How can you identify what content to create multiple pieces of content out of?

Start with a topic that you want to focus on.
Think about what you can create from that topic and what visual elements you can create.

You can create a blog post of that topic, then you can create a “How-to” graphic of the steps to take or you can take photos of the topic/product. You can create a video or a demo of that product, and you can do a live video talking about the creation or function of the product.

All of these can be posts for the various platforms you are on, from Instagram to Facebook and “Stories” on both, plus YouTube, TikTok and Twitter.

Get more bang for your buck and save time by batching your content! Remember, one topic – five ways (or more). Work smarter, not harder!

Questions or want to brainstorm? Email me: christie@christieo.com.

Fake holidays help people celebrate their everyday mundane days

christie Social media tips and tricks October 6, 2020October 6, 2020

It’s true. You’ve seen them popping up everywhere, there seems to be a “day” for everything.

“Clean out your refrigerator Day,” “Cat Day,” “Dog Day,” “Rescued Pets Day,” “Ketchup Day,” American Beer Day,” “Pierogi Day,” and today, which happens to be “Garlic Lovers Day,” which I happen to love.

Some people think these days are ridiculous and they’re right. BUT, they do make for extra fun content for social platforms, especially if they’re meaningful to you.

In fact, if you are a restaurant owner, Garlic Day ideas could make for good social content AND good ideas for you to celebrate the day as a business.

Coffee Day? Yes! Specials on coffee! Which make for extra-important, even viral content – since people (like me) LOVE THEIR COFFEE.

Don’t forget Margarita Day.

And everyone in America loves to celebrate the birthdays of our military branches. This is a day we can salute our armed forces and all our veterans.

Where can you find all this information?

A good way to plan social content is to Google “fake holidays” or “what holiday is today” or you can check out these calendars that I use:

National Day Calendar (Here’s the one for October)
National Today (Here’s the one for October)
CheckIDay.com
Any Day Guide (This one you kind of have to sift through)

DO double check the days and dates through Google to make sure that particular calendar is up to date. Sometimes I’ve found that the day is celebrated on a different day each year, or even there are similar days celebrated throughout the year like for instance, there are multiple donut days. Just double check that you’ve got the right day to save yourself some embarrassment in case the calendar is wrong. (Example: One of the calendars has Amazon Prime Day incorrect.)

DO use the ones that are relevant to you as a human or you as a business. Some can be serious and raise awareness, and if a topic like mental health or breast cancer is important to you and your business or your cause, you can use these calendars to plan out social content well ahead of time, even creating entire social campaigns, fundraisers, or specials around them. You can use them as a chance to honor others, like first responders, teachers, brothers, sisters, even people with red hair (yes there is a holiday for that – and believe it or not, it was one of the MOST POPULAR posts we did at a company I worked for.)

DO feel free to use this as a chance to have fun on your social media pages! You can create polls out of them on Instagram or Facebook stories, you can create video content AND photo content around them, and you can use them as ideas for recipes or blog posts or just REALLY.BEAUTIFUL.PICTURES. If it’s “National Corn Maze Day” and you own a farm, there’s your chance to GO LIVE on Facebook from your maze of maize (see what I did there). (Disclaimer: I do not know if this is an actual holiday but there is a “holiday” for everything basically so I’m not counting it out. Also there should be one in my opinion.)

DON’T do every single fake holiday. People will feel like you’ve gone overboard and bail. Choose wisely, be relevant, and sometimes you can learn a lot about your audience from these. You could have a large audience of people with red hair and not even know it! If you’re a hair salon, that’s valuable information!

What platform should I be on as a small business?

christie Social media tips and tricks October 6, 2020October 6, 2020

I talked last week on Facebook Live and on Instagram stories about which platforms you should tackle and my answer to businesses and the clients that I coach is: The one you LOVE.

Why?

Because it’s going to be the one you are already connected to emotionally and the one where you’ll be the most genuine and authentic. It will be less work because you already like it.

It seems like a very simple answer, but I know everyone feels like they have to be on every platform to reach every person. However, when you do that, especially on the ones you don’t understand or the ones you’re not comfortable on, you spread yourself too thin. You begin posting on whatever platform you can without knowing the ins and outs of each one, and before you know it, you’re not doing any one of them right and you’re burned out. Completely.

And overwhelmed.

Think about this:

There’s Linked In, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Snapchat, What’s App, and a company blog on top of that.

And inside these platforms, there are Instagram Stories, and now Reels, and Facebook Stories, and LinkedIn now has “moments.” There are platforms WITHIN platforms now!

You CAN be on all of those, but what if, for now, you just picked one, the one you love, spent all your time on that ONE creating content in a way that resonates with you AND your ideal audience?

THEN, you can move on.

This applies mostly to businesses who are handling their own social media and are trying to figure out where to start or are outsourcing it to someone and they are paying for a certain number of platforms.

If you have a team in-house, obviously, you have more resources to use to create content on more platforms and you have the freedom to allow your in-house experts to roam about the proverbial social media cabin.

Remember, you always want to pick the platform you will be most genuine and authentic on, the one that you gravitate toward naturally. Once you become the master there, you can move on and branch out.

Create content tailored specifically to that platform and THEN, listen to your commenters and your audience. Analyze your posts and your audience, timing of posts and what posts you’re knocking out of the park. Ditch the duds and replicate the successes – over and over again – in different ways. Use the comments, emotions, and shares as an indicator of who your audience is and what they like. LISTEN TO WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.

It’s like holding a seashell up to your ear and hearing the ocean.

So, what platform should you be on?

Pick one. Do one thing. Go for it. Do it well.

PODCAST: Connecting with your customers through service and storytelling

christie Social media tips and tricks April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

I’m excited and honored this week to be on the Think, Believe, and Manifest Talk Show with my friend and mentor Constance Arnold.

LISTEN HERE: https://ihr.fm/2X6OdoV

I am talking about ideas for you to use as content and how to brainstorm your social media content.

The main thread is to produce content from a place of service and giving. How can you help your customers from the online space?

Think of how you can brainstorm using this list, then think about how you can create social content from those through photos, videos, blog posts, or Facebook Lives.

Photos:

Using your phone or camera (you don’t need anything fancy), try to capture the moments when you or someone within your company is serving in some way, capture photos of what you’re seeing at your business or inside your community, and make sure you have a purpose or story to go along with it.

You can use quotes for photos or build graphics in the free tool, Canva, where there are templates, designs, and free stock photos. It’s also easy to build these social graphics on the Canva app. Hint: Try to put your logo small in the corner to brand it when you can, and Canva even allows you to reduce the size and opacity of your logo so it’s visible but not obnoxious. Make sure if you create a graphic it’s useful and shareable, not just a title but a complete thought, quote, or list that someone can use.

Videos:

Using your phone (again, nothing fancy), take a video of yourself delivering valuable information to you clients or customers, show them your beautiful products or recipes. Create a DIY or make a recipe or a drink from scratch, give them something that would be useful to them while they’re at home whether it’s helping them solve a problem or making them smile. One business took it upon themselves to create an “Easter Egg Hunt” where they asked residents to put an Egg in their windows so kids, while they’re walking around or bike riding with their families, can spot them in the windows. Here are some other examples of what businesses are doing.

Live videos: You can go live on Facebook or Instagram to help your customers solve a problem, do your DIY live, or you can give them a place to connect with you one on one. You can even just show them live video of a sunset if they’re not leaving the house. Note: Facebook Lives double and triple your Facebook reach every time you do it so feel free to do them consistently and often so people can get to know you!

GRAB MY FREE BOOK ON HOW TO ROCK A FACEBOOK LIVE HERE

Words matter.

Whatever or however you choose to create social content, make sure you’re not gratuitously putting up a selfie in each post saying Hi! You can do that, but only once in a while.

The majority of your content should be something you give your clients and customers to use. Your stories, your customers’ stories, your employees’ stories. KNOW what purpose and need you’re filling with each post. Then, go back and look at which posts did well (how many likes, comments, shares it got.) This is an indicator of what RESONATED with people. Take that content and do more of that!

Remember, I’m offering a 30 minute free call to brainstorm content your business can create to connect with people, so please email me to set that up. christie@christieo.com.

In case you missed it, here’s a free webinar on keeping small businesses in business during times of crisis!

Talk soon!

6 examples of how businesses are pivoting and leveraging social media during crisis

christie Social media resources you can use, Social media tips and tricks April 1, 2020April 5, 2020

During this incredibly difficult time of COVID-19, many businesses are trying to figure out what they can do online and how to stay relevant while they’re out of business or downsizing.

Social media is everyone’s lifeline to the outside world right now and it’s your lifeline to your customers.

Many businesses feel stuck on social media and don’t know where to start, so I wanted to share some examples of businesses I’ve seen that are pivoting, shifting, rolling with the punches, and finding success both monetarily and through brand awareness so you can use them when you think of which direction you’re going to go in.

Gigglewaters Restaurant in Safety Harbor, FL.
Gigglewaters shows movies and has a dining room, but obviously both are out of the question right now. So what are they doing instead? Their brunch is legendary (I’m a little biased, I’ve been there), and so are their burgers (award-winning), so, like many restaurants, they’re offering takeout. They are also very involved in the community and their owner takes part in conversations in the local Facebook groups. Instead of just weekend brunch, they offer brunch EVERY DAY – with mimosas. They share photos of their incredible food (food is always great content), and every day at 4:30 p.m., they do a Facebook Live Happy Hour, where they show people how to mix a drink. Also, during this, their audience gets to know their owner and their staff. Facebook Lives double, triple and quadruples your page’s reach if you do them regularly and they’re great for consistent engagement! If you can do them daily, great, find yourself a topic to talk about every day, but if you can do them weekly at least that’s good too. It’s all about brand awareness and reach. One last thing that Gigglewaters has done is begin to help SERVE the community by delivering food to our community helpers like hospital workers and firefighters – and they’re also giving the community an opportunity to help by sponsoring a meal for them. So many people want to help and don’t know how, so this is a perfect opportunity. And also – these deliveries are great social content! They’re serving the community, staying relevant online, and when this is all over, people will remember that.

WATCH: Keeping small businesses in business during crisis, free webinar

2. In Georgia, Wes Sewell Photography decided to go out into his neighborhood and take photos of families’ quarantines (from a safe distance of course.) Even though this is a difficult time, it is unprecedented and will always be something we will remember. Sewell is making it memorable (in a good way) for families. One of the posts from one of the families got 6,000 likes! Talk about brand awareness! He said on his post, “I had so much fun taking these photos.” This is a great example of service. People remember this.

3. The Bushido Karate Academy in Pinellas Park. I originally saw this ad pass through my feed probably because I’m within 10 miles of that city, however, I looked through the comments to see if the ad was successful and they had almost completely booked up! And rightfully so, it’s four weeks of online karate classes for $1. It’s an amazing deal and it will help kids get their physical exercise, plus, and this is a huge plus, PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER THIS WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER. This was a great use of Facebook ads.

4. This is an example that I used when I gave a presentation on this topic: Whatever you’re doing to pivot as a business is very likely newsworthy. So let the news stations know! Two breweries in my area have stopped brewing beer and are filling massive need by making hand sanitizer instead. How can you help? How can you take what your business does and pivot or serve? What need can you fill or how can you comfort your customers who are full of fear? This story was a big deal to the news station and they put a reporter into it to do a story. When it ended up on the station’s social page, it had more than 2,000 shares, 8,000 reactions and hundreds of comments. PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER THIS.

5. Crayola created a campaign to chalk the walk with their sidewalk chalk and guess what?! It became a thing EVERYWHERE. #ChalkTheWalk was all over Facebook feeds with photos of sidewalks with inspiring, hopeful messages. This was a very simple and easy idea for them to talk about their product but also insert art and hope into communities everywhere. Great idea!

6. The Salon People had a brilliant post. Everyone is quarantined, which means roots are going to happen, people are going to need haircuts, and their post is using THEIR EXPERTISE to tell you what not to do. Don’t color it yourself, try new hairstyles, don’t go out and get face wax if you’re not used it (light plucking only for eyebrows!) This is valuable advice. Super simple execution on this.

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Salons and stylists! Use and share if you like. #thesalonpeople #wererootingforyou #rootingformystylist . . . . . . . #salonmarketing #avedasalon #stylistsofig #stylistsofinstagram #salonowner #salonteam #avedasalon #avedaartist #avedastylist #avedacolorist #coloristlife #stylistlife #salontoday #modernsalon #behindthechair #hairbrained #avedaflorida #stylistssupportingstylists #destroythehairdresser #avedafam #avedapunks #salontoday #modernsalon #ilovemystylist #mystylistrocks #loveaveda
A post shared by The Salon People (@thesalonpeople) on Mar 25, 2020 at 12:41pm PDT

Even though they’re not currently up and running, they’re talking about when they will be, and sharing things to do while you’re in between appointments. They’re the experts in their field, just like you are – so, what expertise can you offer your clients and customers from afar?

More importantly, how can you share it in a creative and social way, from a point of service and storytelling? What topics can you use to create content from?

Grab a piece of paper and answer these questions, let’s brainstorm:

What are your stories?
How did you get started in business?
What are your most popular products?
What are your most VISUAL products (sometimes weird products?)
What problems can you help people solve?
What precautions are you taking during this pandemic as a business? (Be transparent, let people know what safety precautions you’re taking and also let people know what’s happening with your employees step by step.)
What topics in your clients’ lives bother them the most that’s related to your business? Can you do a Facebook live that addresses their concerns in a Q&A fashion, or do a live or video demo?
What talents do you or your staff have that can bring smiles to your customers’ faces? (Do you play the guitar or the ukelele, or do you read children’s books? Happiness is a real need right now!)
What can you do online – can you hold online yoga classes or workouts, cooking demos, a demo sewing masks perhaps or making homemade sanitizer? Can you show people how to take off that difficult to remove nail polish since no one is getting manicures? Subsequently, how can people pamper themselves at home?
What are your good deeds in the neighborhood and how are you helping in this time of crisis? This makes for great pictures and videos that your customers and clients would love to see!
Who are your employees, and what are their backstories? Can you profile them? This gives people a way to care about your business and staff and therefore want to support it.

People LOVE STORIES.

So: keep the camera handy. Take photos of your community, your business, your beautiful products, capture moments that resonate with people.
Take videos and plan out Facebook Lives on relevant topics.

Write stories that go along with your photos so you can bond with your clients and customers.

Once you plan out what could be good content, figure out a plan to execute it and put it together. Then, you can schedule it out ahead of time using Facebook’s built in scheduling tools in Creator Studio (under Publishing Tools.)

I’ll have more on “batching content” soon. That’s when you do multiple posts in a day but you don’t post them all at once, you spread them out.

Please message me if you have questions!
Right now, I’m offering a free 30 minute call to any business who needs ideas for their social content during this time. Email me at christie@christieo.com.

Keeping small businesses in business during times of crisis

christie Social media resources you can use March 30, 2020April 1, 2020

In these difficult times of trying to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are being forced to downsize, pivot, or close completely. That means, being online as a business is more important than ever. That’s where your clients and customers are.

WATCH: FREE WEBINAR ON HOW TO STAY RELEVANT AS A SMALL BUSINESS IN TIMES OF CRISIS

So, how can you stay relevant online during these times? What can you do to engage your clients and customers online?

First, think service. How can you SERVE your customers right now?

MORE: Create visually stunning videos

Maybe you were a salon that is now closed, but your clients won’t be able to get haircuts or coloring, or your clients’ nails are broken or stuck with difficult polish to get off. How can you help them remotely? Perhaps a Facebook live demonstration or a “How to Video” can help. Or perhaps sharing great hairstyles that will help them cover up any problem spots will help. Before and after photos.

This is just one industry but it can be applied to virtually any industry.

MORE: Simple and easy lighting for your social media videos

First, identify what your clients’ biggest problems were before, when they came to you in person, and identify what additional problems they may be having. Write this all down.

Then, think about how you can solve it for them. Perhaps there is something you can do to charge, like curbside pickup for restaurants. Perhaps, it’s simply a service you can provide remotely: show your clients how they can solve this problem from home.

Think about how you can create content on Facebook surrounding these problems. You can create content simply to make people smile (that’s also solving a very big problem in these stressful times right now.)