To #Hashtag or Not to Hashtag

One of the greatest questions of our time that plagues people of all ages is: “How the heck do I use hashtags?” 

Okay, so while it may not be one of the weightiest quandaries of the contemporary world, it is still an important question that boggles a lot of minds. On social media, hashtags can be instrumental in helping people find your content and helping you find others' content as well. After you hashtag a word, it enters the vast world of hashtags. This allows anyone on social media to see your content if they search for that word which gives your post the opportunity of being seen by hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. So should you be using them? Absolutely.


Think of hashtags as a built-in search engine for you to find posts that interest you. Wondering what’s been going on in Montclair, NJ? Try searching #montclairnj on Instagram or Twitter - and users that post content relevant to Montclair may come up. Wondering where you can find a designer to do a logo for you? Try searching #logodesign. You can and should do this in your own posts as well.

Try to use a mix of both broad hashtags (i.e. #tiptuesday or #tbt for “Throwback Thursday”), local hashtags (i.e. #montclairnj #essexcounty), and hashtags that are specific to your brand that you dream up (ours is #growwithredroot). This will maximize your audience so you will attract a wider range of people and brand your biz with your list of hashtags.

When hashtagging, just make sure to use them in moderation in the body of your post or at the end of your post. For example, a tweet or caption that reads, “#Checkout our #new #newsletter on #whetherornot to #hashtag on #socialmedia” might be startling to your followers. We like to occasionally scatter a hashtag within our content and list any additional hashtags at the end. Use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram, as many as you can fit on Twitter and 2-4 on Facebook.

Questions? Call us today at 973 650 0960 or email us at redroot@maarek.com! We would love to hear from you 😀

Tips To Manage Your Business Online

It's easy, free and can even be fun!

Here are some fun, easy and free tips on how to manage your business's online presence:

• Create a business account profile on all social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn), but choose one or two upon which you will create content on a regular basis. Carve out 10 minutes a day or 1 hour a week to sit down and post. Think of it as fun downtime (I'm serious)!

• Link some of these accounts (for example, Instagram to Facebook and Facebook to Twitter) so the content you create on one will go out everywhere

• Write content that is short and sweet; pertinent to your current and potential customers; interesting; and establishes you as an expert in your field.

• Get alerts from ContentGems that will send you an aggregate of information that is relevant to your field. You enter the keywords of articles in which you are interested and you will get daily alerts that you can post directly to your Twitter feed (or copy and paste URL and post on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

• Google your businessand see what comes up! You should see these at the top, in any order: your website, your business Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile, business Yelp reviews, etc. If you don't see these, that means if potential customers Google you, they will not find you and you need better SEO (Search Engine Optimization)! Social media will help with this tremendously.

• Create a Google Alert for your business, so you know when you are being talked about online and can respond or post to your social media

• Newsletters are a great way to get your content and business expertise out to your contacts and clients and is a great way to stay on your potential clients's radar. Keep people in tune with what you are up to in your business!

• Use content that you have used in your newsletters and post this to your LinkedIn profile as posts. All of you contacts will see this content, there is no algorithm (like in Facebook) to keep your contacts from seeing this content (bonus!) See my LinkedIn posts here.

REMEMBER: Your ultimate goal with Social Media is to drive awareness, generate leads and stay on the radar. When people find you, discover your great service/product and added value, this will lead to loyal customers and more business - complete success on your end!

Warmly,
Jessica
#growwithredroot
www.redrootmarketing.com

Tell Your Story

As small businesses, we are always trying to communicate our stories--our why--to potential customers. We use social media, email blasts, press releases, direct mail, word of mouth and events to get the buzz going around our brands. One marketing avenue you may have thought of, but have not yet pursued, is video. Making a video to post on your website and on your social media, whether it be testimonials, a demo of your product or simply telling the story of how your business came to be, is a powerful way to show people who you are and why they should trust you with their business. 

An article on buffersocial by Mridu Khullar Relph reminds us that we are all on overload with messages from many different places and it is difficult and necessary to cut through this noise in order to reach customers. Relph says, "It’s easy to quickly dismiss information that’s not relevant to us or that we don’t personally care about. Storytelling makes information relevant. It makes us care."

Genevieve Castelino and Kiran Merchant filmmakers and owners of Chakra Media Group remind us that,  "Emotion drives decision making. Behind every brand, product or service is a person with a fascinating and compelling story of why and how it came to be. Find that story and its emotional core – that’s your connection with your audience. And that’s why our tagline is ‘Everyone Has A Good Story. What’s Yours?”

Red Root is partnering with this dynamic company Chakra Media Group of seasoned storytellers and talented marketers. Genevieve  and Kiran will help you to extract the essence of your mission and bring it to the screen. Create a story that will connect you with your potential customers. Contact us at redroot@maarek.com to set up a consultation with Kiran and Genevieve today!

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT CHAKRA MEDIA GROUP