October 29, 2019
A good rule of thumb for a new Positive Ally Franchise is to allow a minimum of 2 hours a day to update all of your social media channels IF you are using the same post information for each platform. You should have decided on three social media platforms by now, and created an initial plan, including a calendar to guide you
This social media platform was mentioned in Part 2 and it is perfect for a new franchise. The free version only allows you to connect to three accounts, but that will be all you need initially.
Here are several links you will want to bookmark to help you get started:
This is a newer platform but you aren’t exactly posting anything but basic info here. You are claiming and verifying that your business is within the surrounding area codes where you live and do business. The value in this is the recommendations aspect. Your neighbors can now recommend your afterschool program. The more recommendations you get, the wider your market reach (more zip codes!). Be sure your business hours are updated, you have posted a picture of the front of your building, and have written a nice blurb describing what you do. Do not just say you are an “after school program,” give details. You are an “Afterschool Leadership Program that caters to grades K-5th in local schools”. You offer “15 unique extracurricular activities, organized sports, and academic reinforcement as the three pillars of your philosophy.”
If you have already claimed your business on Google, this site will be easy to set up. The important thing to remember about is that Yelp now markets itself as a business listing service, not a review site. They will try to sell you advertising which basically removes other ads from your listing and might put your post on the first page of results. They are slick and high-pressure. Get your business up properly so that customers can find you, but as a franchise, you have the added bonus of brand recognition. Use photos to tell your story and reach out to your franchise for help in adding captions and categorizing your business correctly.
We talked about Google Business in a previous post. Once your business is verified, start making posts about your business. What’s new? What happened last week? Any special events coming up? This is probably the most important aspect of your social media that you want to get 100% correct. Google is the search engine king. Embrace this, poke around in your account. Add photos and make small posts with a link to your website (try to do this 3+ a week).
In the next post, we will explore the intricacies of LinkedIn setup and how it contributes to the overall professional image of your brand.