‘Tis the Season of Hashtag Holidays

For local and small businesses up to 40% of annual revenue is earned in November and December. To not capitalize on the marketing power of the season, including the commercially created hashtag holidays, is truly a lost opportunity. However, which should you take advantage of and how?

#BlackFriday started as an in-store sales event, but is now a pervasive, expected seasonal discount spanning most of November. The noise and competition around #BlackFriday is so dramatic that it requires heavy promotion to stand out in the crowd. While full participation in a #BlackFriday event may not be appropriate for all small businesses, the strategy of an appealing loss-leader to drive store traffic can be very effective.

#SmallBusinessSaturday, founded by American Express, is a marketing approach with increasing resonance for consumers and communities. As we experience the explosion of online behemoths, big box multi-nationals, and even suburban malls, community and civically-minded consumers are drawn to patronizing and promoting their local stores and services. The online creative assets available at www.americanexpress.com  make it easy to convey a #SmallBusinessSaturday message and remind shoppers to come out in force on November 25th.

#CyberMonday has lost some of its impact with the digitization of #BlackFriday. However, consumers have been trained to watch their email inbox diligently on Monday, November 27th because they know that the very best offers will be shared on that date and via that channel. Email lists should be built, cleaned and nurtured over the course of the year with this one email blast in mind.

For non-profits and fundraisers, #GivingTuesday was created to capitalize on the holiday hashtag momentum. Marketing connected to this hashtag provides a boost to all usual development efforts and enjoys a halo of conscience and community responsibility. The sharing aspect of social media and email are perfect platforms for the #GivingTuesday message. This year, Facebook will waive its 5% commission on all money raised on November 28th, increasing the impact of contributions which is important to donors and non-profits alike.

Taking advantage of the holiday hashtag phenomenon requires advance planning and benefits from teaser campaigns that start the promotions much earlier than the appointed dates. Next year, Red Root Marketing will be happy to help you begin your planning and execution in September for maximum impact.

Show Some Love This Season 💌💌💌

Valentine's Day is coming up and you may be asking yourself, how can I show my social media community some love (and maybe even receive some in return)? Today, we would like to talk about engagement. Do you feel like you have been diligent in posting on your social media to let people know what's been going on with your small business, but are unhappy with the amount of responses in terms of likes and comments, as well as gaining followers?

This may be because of a lack of engagement, a buzzword in the social media marketing field. Think of it like this: if you're having a garage sale and you put your valuable belongings out on the front yard, you may have some people who organically stumble across the sale and stop to look around. However, unless you reach out to the community in some capacity, it's likely you won't receive much traffic to your sale. Simply posting all of your best content to the vast sphere of social media won't draw in large audiences. What can you do?

Show some love to your social media community. This is a two-way relationship! Go on to your various accounts for a bit every day and engage with your followers and those who follow you by liking, commenting, re-posting and interacting with them. The best way to receive love is to give it yourself by frequently engaging with your social media community to foster a larger broad base of followers and brand loyalty. Now go out there and show some Valentine's Day love!

Check out these accounts who do an awesome job of engaging with their community on Facebook and Instagram!

#growwithredroot

Local Blogger Visits Montclair Comfort Kitchen

Local Blogger Visits Montclair Comfort Kitchen:

A "hungrygrl" is happy after a visit to The Spot

Just over a year ago, North Caldwell resident Jessie Iacullo created an Instagram account to document her food escapades and favorite restaurants. The account, @hungrygrl_bigcity has since racked up over 19 thousand followers and her page highlights dishes from around the world. Recently, Jessie, 21, has created a blog to coincide with the Instagram account.

Red Root Marketing reached out to Jessie to form a partnership between her and our amazing client The Spot, a healthy, non-GMO comfort kitchen in Montclair, NJ. Jessie came to The Spot for brunch one Sunday. With her younger sister Nicole in tow, the girls were treated to an amazing selection of food. To start off, the girls ate yogurt with The Spot’s house made granola with fruit and then French toast with bacon. After a special request of chicken and waffles was made, a gorgeous plate of fried chicken arrived at the table much to the delight of the two girls. After breakfast came pesto grilled cheese and tomato soup, hand cut French fries with three of The Spot’s artisan dipping sauces, three different types of sliders, and three types of mac ‘n cheese. By the end of the meal, the girls were raving about the food and Jessie was posting up a storm on her Instagram account.

At Red Root, we love to create partnerships between people who love what they do. Both the owner of The Spot and Jessie strive every day to satisfy their audiences and by putting these two in contact, a cross-promotional connection and friendship was established. But more importantly, we all had a lot of fun that day!