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This report is intended to be used as both a guide and a proposed social media marketing plan for
The Potter’s Obsession (TPO) in Cedar Rapids, IA. This report begins with a current state analysis
of TPO’s website and Facebook page, identifying opportunities to be capitalized on to enhance
TPO’s social media marketing strategy. After initial analysis, the report defines the target audience
for this business as women ages 25-44 in Cedar Rapids and tactics that can be used to best appeal
to this demographic. Following the definition of the audience, guidelines are provided on how to
use social media listening to gain insights, how to develop a brand voice, and how to enhance
engagement. At the end of the report are example social media posts, a proposal for a social
media event (an Instagram contest), and a Facebook advertisement plan.
The social media footprint for TPO is limited to Facebook at this time. The report proposes to
launch an Instagram account while also aiming for more reach and enhanced engagement on
Facebook. These high-level goals are:
These goals are elaborated on in the report to include measurements of success that can be
monitored. The hope is that after following these guidelines TPO will have linked the social media
accounts to its website, launched an Instagram page with at least 25 followers by November 1, and
have a Facebook post that engages at least 1046 people by the end of 2018.
The guidelines in this report come primarily from Dave Kerpen’s book Likeable Social Media.
However, these guidelines have been customized for TPO and additional sources have been added
to make many of the processes, such as setting up an ad on the Facebook Ad Management tool, as
easy as possible. Processes within this report include how to find what TPO audiences “like,” how
to develop a brand voice, proven tactics to make posts more engaging, how to respond to negative
comments, how to best create evergreen content (including the suggestion to invest in some
professional photographs of store products), and how to launch a social media event.
Create
Advertise
Content
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Table of Contents
Social Media Statistics and Analytics ........................................................................................................................... 5
Goal Setting.................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Listening ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Be Authentic.................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Engagement ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Be Engaged ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
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Monthly Content Calendar ...................................................................................................................................... 32
Evergreen Content...................................................................................................................................................... 34
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Social Media Statistics and Analytics
From your website, and a quick Google search, it is clear that The Potter’s Obsession is a paint-it-
yourself pottery studio in Cedar Rapids, IA. The current digital presence is limited at this time to a
website and Facebook page. There are several opportunities to enhance and add to your digital
strategy, resulting in stronger engagement with customers.
• Move the call to action of “Call to book your party today” to the top of the homepage,
directly above or below the contact number.
• Break up paragraphs of text with bullet points and remove extra words to help those
scanning online or on smart phones.
• Add connections on your site to your Facebook page.
• Add more images of the items created in the store.
• Reply to reviews left on Facebook to create dialogue and interaction with recent
customers. More of this will be covered in the Engagement section of this report.
• Consider enhancing your posts with questions or links to value added content (best
practices for this will also be shared later in the report).
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Prime Competition
Your most direct competition are other businesses that offer arts and crafts parties within Cedar
Rapids, or neighboring cities. This includes, Mad Art Parties and More and Cork N Canvas Iowa.
Other competitors could be locations for kids’ parties in Cedar Rapids (even if not directly arts and
crafts related). These include Sky Zone, the Play Station, and the Iowa Children’s Museum. Other
possible competition includes arts and crafts stores that offer DIY events; Michael’s is an example.
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Analytics and Statistics
The social media analytics for this report were collected from your Facebook Insights. These track
how many people have seen your content, how others interact with your page by numbers of
likes, or visiting your page via links, and other behaviors like tracking when people hide your posts.
To learn more about these insights, there are many simple guides online. One quick read is form
the Hootsuite blog titled, “The Beginner's Guide to Facebook Analytics and Insights.”
Since December 1, of 2017, you have made 63 Posts. Of those posts, 12 have been links, 23 have
been photos, and 28 status updates. Looking at how audiences interacted with these posts reveals
tactics that are working, and what can be improved to drive engagement.
Shared a Post
Shared a Post
Shared a Post
Store Hours
Event Promotional
Status
Content analysis shows that The Potter’s Obsession mainly posts regarding store hours and
holiday promotional events, such as the “12 Days of Giveaways” campaign. These are a great way
to make sure customers know when you are open and to capitalize on holiday trends. Some areas
for further consideration would be to see what other non-holiday topics are trending, like the
current unicorn craze, that can be promoted regardless of season.
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Another interesting data point is which posts and types of posts get the most likes, shares and
comments. The most engaging posts by far have been photos with content regarding Holiday
Event Promotions, and specifically the campaign on the “12 Days of Giveaways” from December
5000
4500
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1000 Sum of share
500
Sum of like
0
Sum of comment
Seasonal
Store Hours
Store Hours
Holiday Event Promotional
Shared a Post
Shared a Post
Shared a Post
Event Promotional
(blank)
Event Promotional
Status
(blank)
Link Photo Status (blank)
2017.
A third data point of interest is to look at shares, likes and comments over time. Since Q4 of 2017,
interactions via likes, shares or comments have drastically dropped.
5000
4500
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2500 Sum of share
2000 Sum of like
1500
1000 Sum of comment
500
0
Qtr4 Qtr1 Qtr2
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It is important to consider all reasons for this. One could be that the numbers of posts you have
created has gone down from 33 in Q4 of 2017, to 28 in Q1 of 2018 and only 5 in Q2 of 2018. Another
reason could be if you used paid advertising in the past and are no longer doing so.
Goal Setting
Based on the identified opportunities from the review of your current state website and social
media, below are three suggested goals for Q4 of 2018 that can significantly improve The Potter’s
Obsession digital presence:
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Defining Your Audience
Embarking on the journey to achieve social media goals could feel really exciting, or it could feel
daunting. If you at all hear yourself saying, “but how am I going to do that?” you are not alone,
and luckily there are guidelines you can follow to make the path clearer. One of the first things to
ask yourself after assessing the future state and where you want to go, is who are all of these
lovely people liking your posts? Identifying these people and finding ways to target them will be
key to your social media success
Audience Analysis
Facebook Insights also includes demographic information. This is a great place to start when
looking to understand what demographics currently make up the majority of The Potter’s
Obsession’s audience on social media.
Your current key demographics on Facebook are women ages 25-34 and women ages 35-44.
Women make up 96% of the audience and men only make up 4%. Nearly all the audience is within
the United States, and specifically Cedar Rapids. However, there are 10 fans located outside of the
US, and there are significant groups of fans in cities close to Cedar rapids, including Marion, IA.
Nearly all fans of your page speak English, with only 8 out of the 3629 fans speaking other
languages.
Women ages 25-44 make up the majority of the audience. They represent three key groups of
decision makers that can be analyzed further. These include single women who are not mothers,
that would be interested in bachelorette parties and wedding showers. Another group of decision
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makers are mothers who may be interested in family events or kids’ parties. And finally, one
group that may not yet be on their own Social Media accounts, but who are influencers to
mothers, are the kids themselves who can see these posts through their parents’ or siblings’ social
media accounts.
1. Spending time with family and friends. Thinking of Holly’s Instagram post with her
grandma.
2. Making art. Pictures of pretty pottery, please!
3. A fun activity for girl’s night. Can wine and snacks be served for a private party?
4. Easy party planning. Busy moms (or dads) need help with ideas. What about a b-day
survival guide?
5. Hand-made gifts for special occasions.
6. Coffee. Making coffee mugs and sampling coffee? Could get a buzz going on Facebook!
7. Cats (or dogs and other furry friends)! I looked at a few of the profiles on Instagram that
tagged the TPO location for photos. A few mentioned cats in their profile, which could
mean there are other cat or dog lovers in your audience. Consider a dog-bowl painting
night and partnering with a local animal adoption center.
8. Community. Along with the idea above, finding other small businesses often attracts
those looking for things to do locally. Consider finding other partners for themed posts.
This exercise will help you to keep your audience in mind when it comes time to choose themes,
ideas for posts or events that will really appeal to your key demographics.
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Listening
Now that you know the direction you are headed and the people you are trying to reach, you must
begin “listening” on your social media accounts. This will help you to:
Because TPO’s) digital presence is only made up of a website and a Facebook page, you are
potentially missing out on other channels you can “listen” to your customers on. This may be an
issue, because even if you do not have an account on a specific social media platform, customers
could still be talking about you there, and you will not have an efficient way to track that data.
You may miss out on real-time dialogue by not responding to questions, complaints or ideas. And
remember, social media is a public forum. Missing an opportunity to respond to a complaint stops
you from being able to mitigate the issue and improve your brand image.
An example of how this is happening now can be seen on your Facebook reviews page. The second
review visible remarks about the price. Although the customer ultimately states that “To us, it’s
worth it,” the beginning line of “It’s pricey,” could be seen as negative. This review did not have a
reply comment from TPO. While several of the positive
reviews do have a reply, not all of them do. This could be
an area to improve, because by paying closer attention
to reviews and offering quick replies you can build
relationships and mitigate possibly damaging reviews.
Other than listening to reviews, you can also observe
posts that mention your store. This can help you
understand how customers use your products. For
example, @hollyhazelton on Instagram posted the
below photo and personal story:
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The most recent post from June 26, 2018 shows that families also use your store as an indoor
activity on a rainy day.
These are opportunities to find new ways to market your brand. They can also be ways to connect
directly with your customers. Ask them about their experience or test out new ideas and see their
response. The beauty of social media is that you can use it quickly to get feedback from your
customers.
• Make a listening plan so you can measure and track data on how people are talking about
TPO.
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Using Listening Techniques to Target your Audience
While practicing your listening skills, you may want to also reconsider your marketing strategy.
Traditional marketing has relied on demographics to segment audiences. These traditional tactics,
for instance identifying that TPO’s most dedicated audience as women ages 25-44 in the Cedar
Rapids, IA is helpful, but it still leaves you with a large audience, many of whom may not be all
that interested in having a party at your store in the near future. In Dave Kerpen’s book, Likeable
Social Media, he invites you to question what it would be like if you could find people who are, at
this very moment, asking “where should I have my next party?” or “where in Cedar Rapids can I
have my next family night?” Through Facebook and Twitter, you may be able to do exactly that.
Kerpen mentions concepts that he calls hypertargeting and nanotargeting. This is essentially
drilling down past traditional demographics like gender, age and location, to find a much more
specific target audience that you can foster deeper relationships with. Here are two ways you can
do this on social media:
• Search Twitter for people asking for your service. While it may not find 100s of
results, you can actually search on Twitter to see if someone has asked the exact
questions I mentioned above, like “where in Cedar Rapids can I have my next family
night?” Only one person may come up, but it is an opportunity to build a strong
relationship and that potential customer may appreciate the targeted attention.
The benefits of creating a “nano-audience” is that they are less likely to ignore your ads or posts.
You can also more easily engage them in a conversation. This means you build a relationship that
makes you their top choice the next time they are looking for an activity.
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What People Are Saying
Regardless of how targeted you go, you should use listening as a way to understand how
audiences view your brand. Once you start listening, you can take an inventory of the comments
you see regarding your store:
Google:
A simple Google search has a summary of reviews
of The Potter’s Obsession. One negative review
(the second visible review stating, “Customer
Service is terrible.”) could benefit from your
attention.
Facebook:
The majority posts are generated by your own
business, but on Facebook you have 93 reviews,
most of which are favorable. I also see people
asking for your store hours, which is usually
answered quickly, and there are several comments
that reveal you have repeat customers, or people
who come more than once.
Instagram:
As noted, there are quite a few posts on Instagram that tag your store location. People are
tagging your location along with a photo of their creation or the people they are with and sharing
a personal experience. All the posts I see here are favorable and people appear happy with their
experience.
You can read more about hashtags from this great blog post on the Folksy Blog.
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Brand Voice
What is Your Brand Voice?
While Listening may take up 50% (or more!) of your social media communication tactics, the rest
of the time you are responding to what you heard, posting, and creating valuable content for your
followers. It will be much easier to do this if you know TPO’s brand voice. According to Marketo’s
Blog post, “How to Find Your Brand’s Social Media Voice & Tone,” your brand voice is “an
expression of your brand’s personality” and the adjectives you would use to “describe your brand’s
communication style.” The article offers a series of question to help you define your brand voice.
However, you can also evaluate the voice you have already been using on your Facebook page, by
analyzing your word and image choices.
1. Analyze your social Identity: According to Kerpen, your social identity is a combination of
the brand image you want to portray and the actual brand voice (the words you choose) to
do this online. For example, there is a difference between replying with “Thank you very
much for your feedback, sir. We appreciate your support.” And “Thanks, man. You Rule!”
(Kerpen 93). By analyzing a few of your past Facebook posts, we can build your voice. Here
are some examples of your posts:
o “Holiday Paint ‘til You Faint”
o “Kiln pretties”
o “Brrrr”
2. Find the adjectives that describe your voice: Your voice is upbeat, and informal with
slight humor. Things like exclamation marks, warm, short comments and even some
“trendy” terms will fit naturally on your page.
3. Brainstorm how you can put this into action. Now that we have your brand voice, you
want to put some time into how you can align to this voice as you post and reply to
comments. One exercise is to consider the example above of how your company says
thank you. Below is a list of potential thank yous or responses you can use to respond
while aligning to the adjectives of upbeat, informal and warm.
o TPO Thank You Bank
Thank you! We like you too 😊😊
Thank you, we hope to see you again!
Thanks for letting us know, we love hearing from you.
Thanks for stopping in, come back again soon!
Pretty pottery makes us 😊😊 Thank you for sharing your picture!
o TPO Sharing Bank
Please share our page with some friends so we can see you all in the store!
If you have some time, share our page. We would love to see you and some
of your friends next time.
Are your friends as artsy as you? 😊😊 Share our page with them!
Keep adding to the above “banks” to make responding while aligning to your voice quick and easy!
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Be Authentic
Authenticity is another critical part of your brand voice. Kerpen defines “authentic” as, “be[ing]
human and demonstrate[ing] a personality” (Kerpen 104). Being authentic means showing your
brand personality consistently, and in many different communication situations.
Think back to a time you felt that a company or organization was inauthentic or fake. For
example, have you ever talked to someone over the phone who is clearly reading from a script?
When you ask them something they are not prepared for, they often say they cannot help you. It
is frustrating, and it makes the person you are talking to seem like a robot. Avoid this with how
you interact with customers on social media!
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Be Honest and Transparent
Being honest and transparent with your customers in all communications goes hand in hand with
being authentic. People want to know the truth, they want to know who they are talking to, and
they certainly do not want to be lied to. Luckily, The Potter’s Obsession is not a global
conglomerate, that means your customers have the chance to meet all your employees and get to
know who you really are. You do not have your hands tied with some of the regulations other
industries have, but that does not mean you should forget about honesty and transparency in
your conversations online. While some of this may not apply directly to you, understanding some
of the risks can help you feel more comfortable posting online or responding to negative
comments and reviews.
Things to Avoid
• Don’t lie about who a customer is chatting with. If you live chat someone on Facebook
or respond to an issue, it is important to disclose who you are. Pretending you are
someone you are not can be illegal in some situations. To avoid this issue altogether,
disclose from the beginning of the conversation who exactly is talking and why.
• Don’t allow others to lie for you. If a negative comment is posted on Facebook and one
of your employees wants to contact the customer who posted and let them know they
disagree, make sure your employee discloses that they work for your store and keeps your
store values in mind. Additionally, if you send someone free products or compensate
them in any way to help advertise for you on social media (you have probably seen many
paid posts on Instagram) make sure he or she specifies in the post what she received as an
incentive for the post.
o A special note on this, if someone posts on his or her own regarding your store or
encouraging others, that is great! It is only when you have compensated someone
in some way that she must disclose that relationship.
• Be ethical. If you repost content from someone else, always give credit to the source. An
easy way to do this is to mention the source in the comment. For example: “original post
by @thegoodquote.”
• Kerpen says, “when in doubt, disclose.” If you build a strong set of values around how
you post, and you always strive for honesty, you will be ok.
Being honest and transparent, just like being fun, engaging and authentic, will build your
relationship with your customers online and help them to get to know your store.
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Engagement
Be Engaged
Once you have your audience and brand voice defined, you need to engage with your customers.
Engagement is about building authentic relationships with your customers on social media. David
Kerpen, in his book Likeable Social Media defines this as, “to be engaged means to be genuinely
interested in what your customers have to say” (Kerpen 69). This is important because posting
one-sided conversations where all you do is “talk to” your customers, or talk about yourself, does
not allow you to fully listen and involve them in a conversation. They will not pay attention to
your posts if they are not fun or meaningful. Here are some rules to building engagement on
Facebook and Instagram:
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Catch Their Attention
In our current world, people are bombarded with marketing, so the best way to cut through the
clutter of ads and junk mail is to think like a consumer. Ask yourself: What do my customers
value? What is something they would truly “like” on Facebook? What do I like? How do I like to be
contacted?
This is an important exercise because based on Facebook algorithms, your posts will show up in
your audiences’ news feeds based on the number of likes and comments they get. The more likes
a post receives, will push it to the top of the Facebook newsfeed for those who have liked or
visited your page.
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Provide Value
One of the best ways to drive engagement with your fans and potential customers on Facebook is
to provide valuable content. It will grab even more attention and build trust if it is provided for
free. According to Kerpen, “Providing free value builds trust, reputation, and even sales” (Kerpen
138). This is why you see so many service providers sharing articles and blogs for free on their
websites or social media pages.
The key here is that the content is given without strings attached. This means you share
knowledge in an area you have expertise without the expectation that this will directly drive a
sale. Some companies are concerned that giving away content for free will mean people won’t pay
to do business with them. This is not true. Providing value often helps showcase why people
would come to you when they are in need. For example, a tax company can share tips with
customers on doing your own taxes, but when someone runs into trouble, they still need to
contact a professional. If that business provided quality content, the customer will most likely
already trust them, view them as a leader in the industry, and call them first when they need the
service. In your case, you are selling more than a product, you are selling a full experience that
involves art, creating pottery, and often time spent with family and friends. Providing free
content can only draw people to you, it will not replace coming to your store for the experience.
Social media provides a free and simple way for you to publish content that can reach your
customer base. Kepner mentions that, “the most important thing is to think about your target
audience and provide articles they will find valuable” (Kerpen 140).
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o DO: Spend time finding blogs and video tutorials that you think align with your
brand voice and content that would be valued by your followers. You can post a
link directly to the content with a short description. Always credit the source!
o DON’T: Just phone it in and use the first link you find. Spend time finding content
you love and trust. If you value it, most likely others will too.
You may need to establish a consistent cadence of posting this kind of content before you see
engagement rise. This is a long-term commitment, but it will help you to forge long-term and
deeper relationships with your current and future customers.
As a final note, remember the difference between value and marketing. As mentioned before,
engagement and trust grow when you drop the marketing speak and focus on your customers
instead of yourself. Giveaways and raffles have been successful for you, but they have not grown
engagement on social media. Some coupons can be insulting or feel like you are being too pushy.
It is far better to publish a series of helpful tips that include crafts kids can do easily at home, than
it is to annoy your followers with a sales pitch!
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Encourage Engagement Through Sharing Stories
While it is important that your content brings value to your followers without marketing to them
too heavily, that doesn’t mean you should always avoid talking about your company. It is
essential followers also know you and what your business stands for. This can be done through
storytelling. Telling stories further builds your brand and voice.
You don’t need to write these stories in a traditional article, instead share a picture with captions
that tell the story over time or post short videos.
Take some time to figure out what about your store really “wows” your customers and then ask
them to share that story!
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Incentives to Get Customers to Share Stories
Asking Questions
Building engagement on social media is an accumulation of being authentic, finding a voice, being
transparent, listening to your customers, and responding to them. But, there is not much for you
to respond to if they are not commenting on your posts. The best way to encourage your
customers to engage in dialogue online is through questions. Kerpen’s firm, Likable Social Media,
did a study of their customers and found that “posts that posed a question or otherwise requested
immediate feedback were up to six times more engaging than straight informational posts”
(Kerpen 130). For example, your Facebook posts regarding store hours are informational and
necessary, but they do not get many likes or comments. While you can’t eliminate them, you
should consider asking a question in your next post to compare the response you receive. Kerpen
shares the value questions can have in building an emotional connection with your customers:
1. You can guide a conversation in a way that is not “forceful” or sales-pitchy.
2. You become customer-centric. By asking what customers like or think, you are revolving
your content around them and not around you.
3. Show customers that you are open to feedback and two-way dialogue.
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• You can also use social media as a free focus group, asking customers to let you know
what they like, what they need and how you can improve.
• And finally, don’t forget that you can also simply ask for people to like your post. A
post that asks, “like this post if you agree,” gets more likes than one that simply left this
off.
Why are these engaging? Simply put, consider how you feel. If someone says a statement like,
“This book is great,” you can silently agree, but you may not feel compelled to respond. If someone
asks, “Did you like this book?” there is more of an invitation to share. You can observe topics your
current social media followers are interested in and generate a list of questions to help get
conversation going.
Moms/Parents/Kids “What handmade gifts do you love getting from your kids?” or “It’s Saturday,
where is the best spot to take the family for some outdoor fun?”
• This can help position your brand in the minds of moms and dads, it can
help to compile a list of ideas to do with your family, and if the post is
popular it will show up in more people’s feeds.
Inspirational Quotes “It’s a rainy Monday, let’s help spread some cheer- What is your favorite
inspirational quote?”
• Quotes are very popular on Instagram and could help tie-in to some of
your products. You have some pictures of mugs with quotes on them,
consider posting that picture with this question in the comment.
Dogs “Calling all pet lovers: what are your favorite gifts to give fellow pet lovers?”
• Consider asking something like this around the holidays to help with a
“gift guide,” you could ask a series of questions, then use the
crowdsourced information to compile a guide. Conveniently a few
answers could be custom dog bowls (available in your store) or hand-
painted picture frames with a photo of the pet in it. But, be sure to
include ideas that are not related to your store so that your guide is
helpful and authentic.
Desserts “Like this post if you would eat this for dessert tonight!”
• Ask people to like a photo of a piece of pie on a plate from your store or
an ice-cream sundae with lots of toppings in a bowl from your store.
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Crisis, Mistakes and Dealing with Negative Comments
Social media fails can be very entertaining, and they often get enough attention that they go viral,
potentially damaging brands. This article shares a few examples that are good for a laugh, but it
is never as funny when it happens to you! The reality is that even something as small as a typo
can be embarrassing or frustrating when you publish it to social media. Luckily, there are steps
you can take to admit your mistake, respond to a negative comment, and possibly turn it into
something positive.
Always remember, people are compassionate and ready to forgive. As long as you fix mistakes in a
speedy and authentic way, they will be able to forgive your mistake!
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Responding to Negative Comments
Inevitably, every business comes across negative posts regarding their business from past or
potential customers. It’s important to respond to bad comments because social media is a public
forum. Not only can bad comments be seen by others and influence their opinion of you, but your
audience can also see how you respond and make judgments about your attitude towards
customers. Having a plan can help you in these difficult moments to maintain your brand voice
while mitigating the issue.
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The great news is that you do not have any blatantly negative comments on your Facebook page,
and all posts you are tagged in on Instagram are positive. But, you do have some customers who,
despite giving a good review, did mention that they thought you were pricey on Facebook.
Consider surprising this customer with a coupon. You could send it to them privately on the
anniversary of when they left the comment, thus turning it into a moment that may surprise
them.
Mr. Smith has a specific complaint about this situation. Unfortunately, over a year has passed
without a public response. Perhaps you took care of this privately, but this would be a case where
quick and public response is necessary. Next time this happens, follow your plan, and when you
follow up privately, consider something that could impress Mr. Smith, perhaps a refund on the
unfinished piece.
You can use this as a time to practice listening. Your response should acknowledge each part of
what was said, the good and the bad, which will show authenticity.
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Respond to the Positive Comments Too
Being concerned over how to respond to negative comments can overshadow the good
comments, but posts on The Potter’s Obsession’s Facebook page are mostly positive. Responding
to these are important because, as Kerpen points out, “word-of-mouth endorsements and
conversations with satisfied customers remain the most potentially powerful marketing tools you
have” (Kerpen 7). The more happiness you can amplify from your fans, the more likely they are to
tell their friends. I have a feeling that the majority of managing your social media comments will
be reacting to these positive comments. That means you can save some time by putting thought
into how you can respond to these as well.
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these go well and deliver a “wow.” Consider recognizing those who win your contests
publicly and providing a prize. They will most likely share this experience with their
friends!
• Keep Your Human Touch. You are a local small business, this is something you have over
other big stores because you can provide a human touch for each of your customers. As
we mentioned before, don’t just respond with canned, pre-planned posts. Take the time
to get to know your followers and provide individual and appropriate responses to each.
You can also easily do small things like wishing each of your fans happy birthday (if they
share if on Facebook) and say thank you to those who stopped in the store!
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Creating Content
You know your audience, you are listening, and you have ideas to get them engaged. Now it’s
time to set to work on the actual posts you will make to reach your goals of creating more
awareness of your social media sites, getting more followers on your *new* Instagram page, and
getting higher levels of engagement on your Facebook posts. A great way to start is to create a
content calendar that will guide you with what to post and when. Of course, you should still
respond to posts in real-time, but this will help get conversations going.
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Monthly Content Calendar
Month Holidays Details & Ideas
January • Cheese Lovers Day #CheeseLoversDay (Jan 20, 2019) • Food related holidays are good
because you can post a picture of
that food on your products.
• Show off some cheese on a
beautifully decorated platter!
February • Super Bowl Sunday #superbowl2019 (Feb 03, 2019) • Show off food in plates and bowls
• Valentine's Day #ValentinesDay (Feb 14, 2019) decorated at the shop.
• Post ideas for Date nights on
Valentine’s day.
March • National Read Across America Day • Celebrate Children’s and Girl Scout
#ReadAcrossAmerica & #DrSeuss (March 02, 2019) holidays.
• National Pancake Day #NationalPancakeDay • Pottery decorated with Flowers to
(March 05, 2019) celebrate Spring.
• Girl Scout Week #GirlScoutWeek (March 10-16, • If you have dog or cat bowls,
2019) consider posting pictures of those on
• National Girl Scout Day #GirlScoutDay (March 12, national days for pets.
2019)
• First Day of Spring #FirstDayofSpring (March 20,
2019)
• National Puppy Day #NationalPuppyDay (March 23,
2019)
April • World Autism Awareness Day #WAAD (Apr 02, • Celebrate family-oriented holidays
2019) with pictures of families in the shop.
• National Siblings Day #NationalSiblingsDay (Apr 10, For national holidays you want to
2019) support, you can share a link to an
• National Pet Day #NationalPetDay (Apr 11, 2019) article about it.
• Earth Day #EarthDay2019 (Apr 22, 2019) • For Earth day, highlight the need to
• Girl Scout Leader’s Day (Apr 22, 2019) use less plastic and use beautiful
• National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day pottery instead!
#AdoptAShelterPetDay (Apr 30, 2019)
May • Teacher Appreciation Day #ThankATeacher (May • Celebrate Teachers and Moms.
07,2019) • Red, white and blue painted pottery
• Mother's Day #MothersDay (May 12, 2019)
• Memorial Day/ Memorial Day Weekend
#MemorialDay #MDW (May 27, 2019)
June • National Donut Day #NationalDonutDay (June • Donuts and Selfies are popular on
07,2019) social media.
• Father’s Day #FathersDay (June 16, 2019) • Show off seasonally decorated
• National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay (June 21, pottery
2019)
• First Day of Summer (June 21, 2019)
July • Independence Day (United States) (July 04,2019) • Share posts that customers of your
• World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay (July store have made that coordinate
07,2019) with a holiday.
• World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay (July 17, 2019)
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• Consider promotional events tied to
a “fun” holiday like World Emoji Day
(this deal will make you smile…)
August (2018) • National Coloring Book Day • National Coloring Book Day could
#NationalColoringBookDay (Aug 02,2018) appeal to kids and it is about making
• National Friendship Day #DayOfFriendship (Aug the world colorful
05,2018)
• International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay (Aug
08, 2018)
• National Dog Day #NationalDogDay (Aug 26, 2018)
September • National Grandparents Day • Grandparents need gifts to.
(2018) #NationalGrandparentsDay (Sept 09,2018) Handmade gifts from your store
• First Day of Fall ( Sept 22, 2018) could be a great gift!
• International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay • Celebrate coffee day with pictures of
(Sept 29, 2018) coffee in some beautiful mugs
October (2018) • National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay (Oct 04, 2018) • Celebrate taco day with a chips and
• World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay (Oct 05, dip bowl
2018) • Celebrate teachers
• Halloween #Halloween (Oct 31, 2018)
November (2018) • National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay (Nov 04, • Celebrate days that may be
2018) important to Moms or Kids- for
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine instance candy or STEM (often aimed
(STEM) Day #STEMDay (Nov 08, 2018) at young girls)
• Veterans Day #VeteransDay (Nov 11, 2018) • Don’t forget big holidays like
• Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving (Nov 22, 2018) Thanksgiving to share what you are
• Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall (Nov 24, 2018) thankful for and ask customers what
• National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay (Nov 26, they are thankful for.
2018) • Shop small is a good way to support
local businesses like yours during the
holidays.
December (2018) • National Cookie Day #NationalCookieDay (Dec 04, • Christmas/ 12 Days of Giveaways
2018) was your most successful campaign.
• First Day of Winter (Dec 21, 2018) • Play it up with the season of giving
• Christmas (Dec 25, 2018) handmade gifts!
• 31: New Year’s Eve #NYE (Dec 31, 2018)
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Evergreen Content
Looking at the suggested content calendar, it can feel overwhelming to see that the plan includes
the suggestion to post something nearly every day per week. The good news is that many items
can actually be created ahead of time and used at any point. Content that is relevant for your
company regardless of timing or trending topics is called “evergreen content.”
When you are first starting out, it could be a great idea to set aside some time to make this
content in bulk. For example, search for some inspirational quotes, then place them over a photo
of some of your products, just remember to credit the source! You can then keep these on hold to
share for #MondayMood posts when you are rushed or don’t have seasonal content to share.
Another suggestion is to find a friend with a great camera, or even hire a photographer for a few
hours, to stockpile photos of your shop and pottery. Many of the suggested posts in the content
calendar include suggestions to have food on or in some of your dishes. Consider setting up a cute
table with some pre-made food and drinks on pottery made in your store and have a photo shoot.
This way you will have a bank of really great images that show off the products. Here are some
examples of photos you could replicate with things made in your store:
Investing in some professional photos is an opportunity to make a strong visual brand and style to
differentiate yourself and help catch potential customers’ eyes while they browse their
newsfeeds.
Begin with one of your photographs, select an Instagram template in Canva and upload your
photo. Depending on the day or post you may choose to put text over it. However, you do not
need to do this for every post, you can also upload your photos to Instagram directly and put your
text in the caption.
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Monday vibes are all good here #MondayMood Have some coffee, then let it go #MondayMood
When making a gift for someone else, list out It’s all about painting for #TipTuesday! Always
three things that person loves and see if they can paint your dark colors over light colors. Darker
be combined. Does your bff love makeup and colors can bleed through lighter ones, so do your
candy? Create a makeup brush holder and fill it outlining last!
with her favorite chocolate #TipTuesday
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We’re dreaming about Paris. Where is your Just keep swimming, the weekend is almost
dream vacation? #WednesdayHumpDay here. What are your plans for the weekend?
#WednesdayHumpDay
#tbt to this little cutie! Is it too early to start This dish has us craving some snacks! What’s
counting down to Christmas? your favorite chip and dip combo?
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Social Media Event Plan
One way to launch your Instagram account is to run an Instagram Contest. This will encourage
engagement and promote your store. Below is a proposal for the “Color Your World” contest.
What
The “Color Your World” (#ColorYourWorld) social media event is an Instagram contest aimed at
children and their parents. This will celebrate bringing more color into the world by coloring an
image of a blank mug. Participants will color in their mugs for a chance to win a hands-on session
with one of TPO’s experienced potters to bring their creation to life! The contest should be one
week long. Although the National Coloring Book Day for 2018 has already passed, you can
consider to run a similar contest next year. To correspond with National Coloring Book Day, the
suggested dates would be to begin on July 25 and end midnight on August 1, announcing the
winner on August 2.
• You will post a picture of a coloring book page of a coffee mug on your Instagram page
• Adults, or children with the permission of their parents, should print off the image, color it
in, then post a picture of their colored image on Instagram with the hashtag
#ColorYourWorld
• The post with the most “likes” will win
Why
This event is a clever way for you to launch your Instagram page. It will allow you to get attention
and gather plenty of photos you can use on your own page as well. You can promote your new
Instagram page to your already existing Facebook fans by letting them know you have an
Instagram contest. We can predict this to be successful because your Facebook promotions in the
past have been popular. It is aimed at two of your demographics (children and their parents), and
the theme of adding color to your world aligns to the colorful spirit of your store and the creative
nature of your products.
Instagram contests will be very easy for you to execute because there are no complex instructions
for your process to select the winner. Participants simply need to post a photo of their coloring
book page and use the hashtag, then ask their friends to “like” the photo. You can then use the
hashtag search feature on Instagram to view all the #ColorYourWorld posts at once to find the
winner.
Your events on Facebook of “12 Days of Giveaways” and “Paint ‘til you Faint” both appeared to
engage your fans. You can market to these same fans by letting them know they should visit your
new Instagram page to enter the contest.
How
Running the contest can be simple for you:
• Create posts for both Instagram and Facebook, these should include:
o Images promoting the contest
o The instructions for the contest
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oA posting schedule for the contest week with the launch, reminders, and
announcement of the winner
• Your posts on Instagram regarding the contest should include these hashtags:
o #PottersObsession
o #contest
• You can also have a flyer in your store if people come in-person
It is essential that you provide specific instructions on how followers can enter your contest and
that you are transparent about the selection process for the winner. Below are sample
instructions. Consider posting the section under the bolded header “Instructions” as a comment
for your post:
Introduction:
The Potter’s Obsession is kicking off our Instagram page with color! The #ColorYourWorld
Instagram contest is a way to celebrate National Coloring Book Day, and have a chance to bring
your colorful creation to life with a free hands-on session with one of TPOs experienced potters!
Bring your drawing with a chance to win a free hands-on session at The Potter’s Obsession!
Instructions
1. Print off this coloring book image: (insert hyperlink to download the PDF of the coloring
book page. You can purchase this on Shutterstock and use the examples below or feel free
to create your own). You can also pick up an already printed page in our store!
2. Color in the image
3. Snap a picture of your beautiful colored page
4. Post your picture to Instagram with the hashtag #ColorYourWorld
5. Ask your friends to “like” your post on Instagram
Children are welcome to participate as long as they have permission from an adult (18 years or
older).
Bonus Points
• After posting the photo of your colored page with #ColorYourWorld, tag your friends
• Follow our page @PottersObsession on Instagram for an additional point
How to Win:
Have fun coloring and post for the chance to win a free hands-on session at The Potter’s
Obsession in Cedar Rapids!
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How to Measure Success
The #ColorYourWorld Instagram Contest will help you to achieve three social media goals:
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Sample Contest Content
If you would like to see some examples of other great Instagram events, you can find some on the
Wishpond here.
Color Your World “Coloring Book” Image – Instagram Post and Image for Contest
• Launch the campaign with this post on Instagram, put the instructions in the comments.
You will need to create an online version of it to link to in the comment and in your bio so
they can print the image. I suggest doing this on your website.
• Provide a link to this post on Facebook so people are directed to your Instagram page in
order to follow the contest rules.
• Physically print out some of these to give out in your store. You can start doing this before
the launch date if you have your Instagram page set up. Consider asking neighboring
shops if you can leave some in their store for patrons to take as well.
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Facebook post and In-Store
Flyer
• Post a reminder on
Instagram each day of the
contest week to drive
participation.
• Post along with
comments like, “We see what
you are posting so far, keep up
the colorful work!”
• Tag some of the
individuals who have already
tagged your store on Instagram,
say hello and ask them to
participate in the contest.
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Advertisement Plan
Posts on Facebook or Instagram can be very effective on their own and certainly build your brand
awareness. But, Facebook also makes it possible to, within a small budget, boost those posts to be
even more effective. Kepner shares that, “the ability to build word-of-mouth endorsements from
your friends into personalized advertising units is more powerful than any form of linear
advertising ever created, and it’s currently possible using Facebook’s ad unit” (Kepner 182).
One Facebook ad feature that makes it easier to reach a wider audience is the “Connections” filter
available when you are building your ad. This allows you to search for behaviors, interests and
descriptions, thus targeting friends of fans who have liked your page. Another feature is to be
able to choose your ad type based on the objectives you have for your business. Kepner also shares
that, “done right, you essentially use these ads to market your company through your existing
customer’ and fans‘ connections and likes, gaining their friends’ attention instead of simply
marketing to a mass audience or an untargeted group of people”
(Kepner 182).
Simply click “Create Ads” to get started. Built into the Ad Manager are
explanations of the different objectives and filters you can choose
from.
Once you understand your objectives, you need to select your audience. You can do this by
selecting from several target criteria.
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Facebook Target Criteria
• Location. Try narrowing it within 10 miles of Cedar Rapids.
• Age. Right now, your fans are primarily between 25 and 44.
• Gender. Currently, the majority of your fans on Facebook are women.
• Language. The majority of your fans speak English. You can leave this blank.
• Detailed Targeting. This is where you can search for specific likes, interests or behaviors
of those in your audience. This is how you can achieve the “nanotargeting” of specific
small groups of people that will benefit the most from your post. You can reach both large
and small audience with these filters, depending on your needs and goals.
After selecting your ad type and target criteria, it is time to create the actual ad. For this you will
need an image and some text. But there are some things you can do to make your ad stand out
and be more “likable.”
And finally, you should consider your budget. You can actually double your likes for as little as $5 a
day or $35 a week. Depending on your budget you can adjust this. This is something to consider
when you are having a particular event or promotion.
Compelling Ads
Building trust and a relationship on social media will be the number one way you grow a fan base
and spread the word of your store online. Kerpen says, “If you do a great job listening, learning,
and building trust with the right people, if you establish your brand with the right fan base, and if
you share what it is you and your organization do, you won’t have to sell” (Kerpen 220). Making
every interaction with your customers genuine, even face-to-face or via linear marketing like snail-
mailed coupons, will make you top of mind for your customers whenever they are thinking of a
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party, date night, fun family night, or hand-made gifts. So, the emphasis here is to follow the
guidelines set forth for social media so far, and the business will follow.
That said, selling is not a dirty word, and you do need to promote yourself and the
services/experiences you provide to ultimately get customers through the door. There is a way to
blend selling with engagement online to sell in a value-added non-pushy way. Take a look at the
Facebook Selling Funnel that Kerpen provides in his book (Kerpen 220):
This ultimately directs you to use your Facebook ads to build awareness, educate your customers
on your store, have “likable” and engaging content, drive this to sales or a call to action, and then,
where this differs from the standard selling model, you repeat this process with continued
engagement. What is also unique about this model is that your customer is your “liker” so they stay
connected to you after the sale, allowing for a more meaningful and long-term relationship to take
place.
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contest for Instagram, you can link to those rules. Essentially, link to anything that will make
it easier to engage with you or buy your products.
• Follow your brand voice. Be genuine and human. Make sure not to use text that is too
formal or over-used and to show some of your brand personality. For example, we can
modify some of the engaging posts we have created for you:
The above best practices work best if you also have an extremely easy process to sell your services.
The Potters Obsession is not an online commodity. Customers book sessions at your store for the
experience of creating their own pottery, not just ordering a mug. If they wanted that, they would
go to target or Etsy. Instead, you need to make it as easy as possible to find your store, contact you
and schedule sessions. Right now, your website says “Call to book your party today.” This works on
your Facebook Fan Page because the phone number and directions are
linked. However, if a customer is only on your website, it is not this
interactive or easy. The link to social media needs to be an easy link
to call if they are on a mobile device. In addition, you may want to
consider if you can take it one step further. Is there a way to make
booking a party at your store even easier? For TPO this is not about
directly selling on Facebook, because people need to come into the
store, but is there a way they can schedule or book an event online?
Right now, you ask them to call the store. Instead can you use a google
calendar or on-line sign-up sheet that your team checks regularly to
confirm appointments? My hairdresser recently started to use an app
where I can book online, and I get sent an email confirmation that puts
the event directly into my google calendar. Perhaps TPO can
implement something like this. Whatever solution you choose, make
it as easy as possible for customers to book sessions at your store.
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Define Your Perfect Target Audience for Facebook Ads
Facebook allows you to target your audience, and you can even get as specific as one person. You
can consider starting with the group who currently make up your followers. Being able to market
to their friends will help find others who will be interested in your store as well. This demographic
is women 25-44 in Cedar Rapids, IA. You may also want to play with the Ad Manager and see what
other groups you can target for future events or targeted posts.
Key Demographic: Women in Cedar Rapids
• Near Mother’s Day, create a specific ad for • Those interested in Girl Scouts
Dads o Location: Cedar Rapids, IA +25 miles
o Location: Cedar Rapids, IA +10 miles o Age: 18-60
o Age: 25-44 o Gender: Women
o Gender: Men o Detailed Targeting: Interests: Girl Scouts
o Detailed Targeting: Relationship o This has a potential reach of 1,1000
Status Married
o This has a potential reach of 12,000
people
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Suggested Advertisement Plan
Now that you have learned the basics of Facebook ads, it is time to consider your ideal plan to
start with (or try next if you have had experience with this in the past).
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Your Target Audience
As mentioned, we want to narrow the filters on Facebook to match your key demographic of
women in Cedar Rapids, ages 25-44.
You can even get as specific as one person, but for an initial ad it would be good to start with a
wider net and understand how your ad is received.
Initial audience:
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In the future, based on the data you analyze from your initial ad, upcoming holidays and the
season, you can target your group further, based on some of the earlier suggestions.
All of these are possible by changing the initial demographics you chose and searching for things
like relationship status and interests under the “Detailed Targeting” filter in the Facebook Ad
Manager.
Budget
Facebook allows you to adjust your budget, but you can get started with as little as $5.00 USD per
day. The initial estimated daily results from 230-740 people was based on a budget of just $5 per
day.
Ad Content
Your ad should include:
• An Eye-Catching Image: select an image that will either go with the season or your event.
As an example, to run an ad this summer, you may want to choose something party
related, or that the audience can see themselves in.
• Text: Creating something fun with your brand voice. Example: “Sweating over an
upcoming summer birthday? We’ve got you covered”
Below are Mock ups of what your final ad could look like:
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Reflection
Dear Michelle,
I wish I still lived in Iowa so that I could stop in to TPO! I have had so much fun getting to know your
business during my social media class this summer, and it is so easy to tell that you, and the customers
who visit, love your store!
My initial reaction is that there are a few easy tweaks you can make initially to greatly enhance your
digital presence. I would begin by making some small changes to your website, at the very least linking
it to you Facebook Page. Next, because you do already have many tagged posts on Instagram, I would
launch an account there. This actually will not double your work, as it first sounds, because you can
use the same post for both Instagram and Facebook. In fact, when you post to Instagram, you can
select the option for it to automatically post to Facebook. After that, take a look at the proposed
Content Calendars and Advertisement Plan. Even if you only choose one or two of those options, I
believe you would find engagement to greatly increase. Based on your past posts regarding
promotions, the tactic you may feel most comfortable trying first is the Facebook Ad proposal. This will
enhance your promotions and I believe you will see more traffic on your Facebook page and
consequently more sales in your store. More specifics around these are outlined in the report goals,
however it is my strong belief this will build a stronger visual and digital brand for TPO, resulting in
more people visiting your store.
Even though it may seem intimidating to see a social media content calendar suggesting posts every
day, by preparing some evergreen content you should be able to decrease the effort you put into your
social media accounts while also increasing engagement with customers.
And finally, I would like to highlight one suggestion within the Compelling Ads section. In his book,
Kerpen suggests making it as easy as possible for customers to buy your service. Within this context I
suggested that you provide a way for customers to book an event online. I would have liked to have
given this a little more space in the report, so I call it out here for you to consider. I believe this will not
only enhance your social media strategy, but make it easier for you to manage events, and most
importantly, it will impress customers and make it easy for them to choose you for their next event.
I am very excited to keep up with your social media accounts and see if you are able to implement any
of these suggestions. Thank you for allowing me to take a look at your store and learn from it. I wish
you all the best and hope I can visit your store the next time I am in town.
Warm Regards,
Helen Haacker
Helensallen@gmail.com
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Works Cited
“10 Amazing Instagram Contest Examples (Critiqued).” Wishpond Blog, March 2018. Retrieved 14 July
2018 from https://blog.wishpond.com/post/60369637650/10-amazing-small-business-
instagram-contest-examples#comment-3799808761
Garcia, Albizu. “The Top 8 Social Media Fails of 2017.” Social Media Today, 22 Oct. 2017. Retrieved 2
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2017/507718/.
“Guide: Choosing the Right Advertising Objective.” Facebook Business Help Center. Accessed 18 July
2018 from https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1438417719786914
“How do I get a link (URL) to a photo or video?.” Instagram Help Center. Retrieved 14 July 2018 from
https://help.instagram.com/372819389498306?ref=related
Kerpen, Dave. Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and
Be Amazing on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest, and More. McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Laia Design Lab, Coloring Book Outlined Cup of Coffee, Shutterstock. Accessed 14 July 2018 from
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/coloring-book-outlined-cup-coffee-636304334
Seybolt, Bailey. “The Beginner's Guide to Facebook Analytics and Insights.” Hootsuite, 16 Apr. 2018.
Retrieved 30 June 2018 from https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-analytics-insights-
beginners-guide/
Solar, Matt. “How To Find Your Brand's Social Media Voice & Tone -Marketo.” Marketo Marketing Blog,
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find-your-brands-social-media-voice-tone.html
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YouTube. YouTube, 8 July 2016. Web. 30 June 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Yr6-fKq7c
Westergaard, Camilla. “How to use hashtags on Instagram – without making a hash of it!.” Folksy Blog,
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