Categories
Infographic

A Multi-Channel Approach Is Key for Your Shop’s Social Media Success

Retailers have more choices than ever in how they spend their marketing dollars. Because of this, it’s helpful to understand the part that social media plays in a consumer’s buying decision. This helpful infographic lays out how and why social media should become a key component of your retail location’s multi-channel marketing approach.

A Multi-Channel Approach Is Key for Your Shop’s Social Media Success

Download the high res PDF here

Consider channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even your Google My Business listing when developing your retail store’s social media strategy and be sure to incorporate them all to unlock the path to marketing success for your business.

Categories
Videos

Don’t Have Foot Traffic Right Now? Why You Should Use Zoom for Your Store

VP of Business Development and Sales Guru Branden Elwell explains why you should think about using video conferencing to supplement your in-store traffic.

Many retailers that rely on foot traffic for sales are in a difficult position right now. Whether local regulations or other considerations have caused your business to lose valuable in-store customers, Branden breaks down alternative technology solutions like Zoom that are free and easy to implement to keep meeting your consumers face-to-face even if you can’t meet them in your store.

Today, in this video, I’m going to talk you through a couple of ways that you can really get the most out of technology that’s readily available to you, and leverage video to bridge a gap between the in-person conversations that we know are so important.

But right now, unfortunately, guys, we’re just not able to have them. You know, we can’t get into a house as we used to or into the home for a consultation. We can’t host our guests on our properties like we used to, and we wish we could. And what’s beautiful, at least out of this situation, is that if this had taken place before, when we didn’t have all this technology readily available to us like this, we would really be struggling to connect with customers.

But right now, we can leverage video, the video capabilities that we carry around with us, and we can use a couple of different pieces of technology to really connect with our consumer. So I want to touch on a couple of those.

First, is video conferencing or video chatting, right? I’m talking about the Zooms, the Facebook rooms, the Googles, etc, of the world where you can leverage the camera, the video capability, to have a conversation with a prospect and really make a connection.

You know, research shows that in a conversation, only 7% of what is perceived is the actual words that are being said, which means there’s 93% of the conversation that is left up to the tone of voice and of course, reading body language. Well, without video and without the ability to have this video connection, you wouldn’t be able to read the 93% piece. So, leverage video conferencing, Zooms, etc. and you turn your camera on when you’re talking to one of your customers and watch what happens they’ll turn theirs on as well.

The other thing is just video in and of itself. Don’t reside on just, or rely on just, stock images anymore, guys, for our products that we carry. Get your phone out and you don’t have to be Steven Spielberg, you don’t have to create Jurassic park here, go and shoot some videos, take some still images and splice them together. Use the technology you have in your hand to better connect with your consumer. Because keep in mind guys, they can’t walk in and learn about that piece of that product right now. So, bring it to them into their home.

I hope this was helpful. If you want to know how to really make this happen, check out the video that you’re going to see a link to right above me. Also, it’s always a pleasure to get in front of you. I hope these videos are helping. Please visit ThumbStopper.com as frequently as you can because we’re going to be putting out some great information like this on a very periodic basis and we hope we can be a help for you.

Transcription

Categories
Blog

Using Organic Reach to Your Advantage

As a business owner, traffic is vital to your company’s success. But recent events are already bringing entire operations to a screeching halt.

As a business owner, traffic is vital to your company’s success. But recent events are already bringing entire operations to a screeching halt.

While the COVID-19 crisis continues, many owners are struggling to cope with the virus’s impact on their business and their employees’ livelihoods. And for those not bearing the brunt of the impact just yet, it’s become difficult for businesses to bring traffic to their cause.

If you are cutting back on your business’s operation while adjusting to the ramifications of the new normal, you may be stressed trying to generate buzz for your products or services. But with more eyes on social media, there isn’t a better time to start crafting organic relationships with your consumers at a fraction of the cost.

It’s time to use organic reach to your advantage.

Finding a Better (Cost-Effective) Way

Organic reach is a common metric used in social media marketing to track the number of unique individuals viewing your content without paid advertising. A strong organic reach can directly benefit your sales funnel by generating leads via authentic individuals who view your content without utilizing paid media strategies like boosting.

Unfortunately, organic reach on Facebook and Instagram has declined in drastic fashion over the past few years, due in part to greater competition for ad space on users’ news feeds and changes to their respective algorithms. As a result, many companies have turned to paid media out of necessity to build their social presence.

But there’s still hope! Organic reach is still a fundamental metric on social media that can generate traffic and engagement with the right approach. With a bit of strategy and creativity in your content strategy, your business can stand out and create unique connections with your target audience.

Whether your business is on Facebook, Instagram, or another social platform, here are some tips on mastering organic reach and maximizing your content’s thumbprint on a budget:

Understand the Algorithms

Each social platform has undergone changes to its respective algorithms, tailoring content to specific users based on the platform’s specifications. To ensure you’re achieving strong organic reach from your content, make sure to understand the ins-and-outs of each social platform’s algorithms to effectively reach your target audience.

For instance, Facebook’s algorithms have adjusted in the past few months to correspond with its paid advertising measurements. Ranking well with these algorithms is also dependent on various factors, including who a user typically interacts with, the post type, and the popularity of the post itself.

By understanding each platform’s intricacies in greater detail, you can equip your business with vital knowledge on how to best position your future content.

Post Consistently

Consistent posting is key to growing your business’s organic reach. Businesses that post consistently see higher engagement rates, which in turn leads to higher organic reach.

Posting once or twice a month is like being open for business once or twice a month, and then wondering why customers are flocking through your doors. If you post infrequently, your potential customer will begin to form an opinion about your business. Think of restaurants with little or no patrons… Do you want to eat at a restaurant when you’re the only customer there? 

Quality and Timeliness Matter for Content

Using Organic Reach to Your Advantage

Consider the type of content you’re posting on social media, and consider the trending topics of the day and how your business can ride the wave of increased engagement. 

As an example, author Jeff Goins loosely incorporated ‘The Walking Dead’ into his social post while the topic was trending to benefit from the trending topic for his book launch.

Resist the Bait

Don’t get caught using deceptive social practices. Social platforms have begun cracking down on baiting tactics, ensuring that users follow the platform’s rules or pay the price.

Using paid followers, spamming irrelevant content, and using engagement bait are just a few instances of practices that can be detrimental to your business’ social media strategy and reputation among your followers.

Automate and Elevate Your Content Flow

Sometimes, you can also leave your social media content flow to the pros. Enter ThumbStopper.

At ThumbStopper, we work with thousands of business partners to automatically post high-quality, brand-curated digital content for the retailers that sell their products. This, in turn, has contributed to a 22% average organic reach among our retailer subscribers.

If your company is looking for digital content that makes an impact on a budget, we’ve figured out the ins-and-outs of maximizing our partners’ social thumbprint and helping them focus on engaging with their consumers.

Whether your business has or hasn’t been affected by recent events, it may be time to pivot your social media strategy to address organic reach. With a mix of strategy and creativity, you can cut back on costly techniques that don’t secure the right audience and focus on building authentic, organic relationships with your consumers through organic reach.


Categories
News

ThumbStopper Announces Participation in CABDA Midwest 2020

ThumbStopper sets its sights for the 2020 CABDA Midwest trade show in Schaumburg, Illinois

Tampa, Fla. – ThumbStopper®, a SaaS digital marketing software solution for brands and retailers, announced today its participation at CABDA Midwest, taking place Feb. 12-13, 2020 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center & Hotel in Schaumburg, IL.

The expo will feature seminars, clinics and product displays from retailers and manufacturers in the bicycle industry. ThumbStopper’s Branden Elwell, VP of Business Development, will be in attendance during the two-day trade show.

ThumbStopper will exhibit at booth 1034 during the event, introducing the company’s “ThumbStopper for Bikes” solution to prospective bike shops and informing companies of its success in other brand verticals.

“We look forward to meeting with bike shops interested in our retail-specific solution and informing brands of how ThumbStopper’s Brand Manager™ has helped companies in other verticals,” said Elwell.

ThumbStopper focuses on connecting local retailers’ social pages with content from the brands they already sell, maximizing ROI for businesses wishing to engage, monitor and increase sales opportunities through the full cycle of the customer journey, from online research to purchase. ThumbStopper provides retailers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) with a consistent social presence, utilizing 15 years of experience in understanding a variety of brand verticals, their retailers, and their customers.

Registered CABDA Midwest attendees may request one-on-one meetings with ThumbStopper by clicking here or via direct contact to the principals below.

About the Conference

The Chicagoland Area Bicycle Dealers Association (CABDA) hosts a series of trade shows catering to manufacturers, retailers, mechanics and distributors within the bicycle vertical. Since reviving its regional trade show in 2015, CABDA is one of North America’s fastest growing bicycle shows, hosting events in New York, San Diego, Chicago and Orlando.

About ThumbStopper

ThumbStopper is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions, delivered via its award-winning SaaS technology platform. Through the company’s brand manager, ThumbStopper focuses on delivering custom-curated content generation and syndication through web and social channels to connect brands with their retail network. With over 15 years’ experience understanding brand verticals, ThumbStopper currently services over 25,000 retailers across the Automotive, Bicycle, Watercraft, Firearm, Farm & Garden industries.

Contact

Alicia Alongi // Director of Marketing

aalongi@thumbstopper.bssdev.com

Angel Kennedy // Content Marketing Manager

akennedy@thumbstopper.bssdev.com

Categories
Blog

ThumbStopper Spotlight: CABDA

What you need to know to be “in the know” about CABDA Expo

Next week, ThumbStopper® is heading to San Diego to exhibit at the inaugural CABDA West expo. In light of the upcoming event, let us introduce you to the folks behind North America’s fastest-growing bicycle trade show.

The Chicagoland Area Bicycle Dealers’ Association provides events, seminars and best practices for dealers and manufacturers in the bicycle vertical. The association, originally known for its series of trade shows, reemerged onto the scene in 2014 and has grown ever since.

A departure from large-scale conventions, CABDA trade shows offer a smaller, more intimate experience for dealers and manufacturers to interact with new and exciting brands. This centralized focus has allowed the expo to grow year after year.

In addition to CABDA West, the association is hosting three additional shows in 2020:

  • CABDA Midwest (Chicago, Feb. 12-13)
  • CABDA East (New York, March 11-12)
  • CABDA Industry Summit (Lake Buena Vista, Nov. 2-3)

Each trade show brings in hundreds of bicycle vendors from across the country to showcase the latest products and services within the industry. CABDA West will also offer 37 clinics and seminars during the two-day event. From nutrition advice to tech-centric showcases, CABDA West gives you the tools to take your bike shop to the next level.

While at the expo, come schedule a one-on-one with ThumbStopper and find out how we can amplify your bike shop’s social presence.

Categories
News

ThumbStopper Announces Participation in CABDA West 2020

ThumbStopper sets its sights for the 2020 CABDA West trade show in San Diego, California

Tampa, Fla. – ThumbStopper, a SaaS digital marketing software solution for brands and retailers, announced today its participation at CABDA West on Jan. 15-16, 2020.

The inaugural expo, first announced by CABDA in February 2019, will feature seminars, clinics and product displays from retailers and manufacturers in the bicycle industry. ThumbStopper’s Branden Elwell, VP of Business Development, will be in attendance during the two-day trade show.

ThumbStopper will exhibit at booth B123, introducing the company’s “ThumbStopper for Bikes” solution to prospective bike shops and informing companies of its success in other brand verticals.

“Getting to know the brands and retailers we hope to partner with and doing more for their organizations is part of being a good steward of business,” said Elwell. “We look forward to meeting with bike shops interested in our retail-specific solution and informing brands of how ThumbStopper’s Brand Manager TM has helped companies in other verticals.”

ThumbStopper focuses on connecting local retailers’ social pages with content from the brands they already sell, maximizing ROI for businesses wishing to engage, monitor and increase sales opportunities through the full cycle of the customer journey, from online research to purchase. ThumbStopper provides retailers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) with a consistent social presence, utilizing 15 years of experience in understanding a variety of brand verticals, their retailers, and their customers.

Registered CABDA West attendees may request one-on-one meetings with ThumbStopper by clicking here or via direct contact to the principals below.

About Synapse

Synapse is a Florida nonprofit organization connecting entrepreneurs, corporations and stakeholders to collaborate and accelerate success in Florida’s thriving business economies. The organization promotes itself as an innovation hub, connecting Florida’s business community to promote engagement, spur collaboration and provide an outlet to amplify the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

 

About ThumbStopper

ThumbStopper is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions, delivered via its award-winning SaaS technology platform. Through the company’s brand manager, ThumbStopper focuses on delivering custom-curated content generation and syndication through web and social channels to connect brands with their retail network. With over 15 years’ experience understanding brand verticals, ThumbStopper currently services thousands of retailers across the Automotive, Bicycle, Watercraft, Firearm, Farm & Garden industries.

 

Contact

Alicia Alongi

Director of Marketing

aalongi@thumbstopper.bssdev.com

Angel Kennedy

Content Marketing Manager

akennedy@thumbstopper.bssdev.com