The Instagram Reels feature is an incredible tool for growing your small business organically and economically.  Creating high quality content is possible with just a phone and a few tips. 

1. Shoot your video for where you plan to post it.  For filming Reels, its best to film with your phone vertically. This fits the format of the app best.  And be aware if you are putting clips together, film them all holding your phone the same, so they can easily be edited together.

2. Film in 4k for the best quality footage.  iPhones can film in 720p, 1080p and 4k, with 4k being the best quality.  Higher quality footage is more likely to catch the attention of your audience, which should increase engagement on your page.

3. Pay attention to your frame rate.  iPhone has 3 frame rate options when shooting 4k, 24, 30 or 60 fps.  For general videos, 30 fps is great, but for action, you will want to use 60 fps for the clearest quality.

4. Ensure you have enough light.  Your Reel will not gain traction if the footage is too dark for your audience to decipher.  Use natural lighting as much as possible, as it's more pleasing to the eye and won't earn you a quick swipe to the next.

5.  Practice makes perfect.  The more you shoot, the more content you can create and the better the footage will be over time.  As they always say, the best camera is the one that it with you and gets used.

To learn more about Instagram content for your small business, check out my earlier blog post about marketing your brand.

Need help growing and marketing your small business or growing your brand, contact The Daly Brand for a consultation.  

Meta Business suite is an all inclusive way to manage your business pages on Facebook and Instagram.  It allows you to ensure your brand is consistent across both platforms and even includes post scheduling, which is a fantastic tool to plan your entire week or month of social media marketing.  I absolutely recommend moving to Meta Business Suite to manage your business, as I find it much more responsive and user friendly than just utilizing the Facebook website or app.

Meta Business Suite can be used on a desktop through your prefered browser.  If your business is connected to your personal profile, you will have the option to "Switch" into the Business Suite.

Or Meta Business Suite can be used on a mobile device by downloading the Meta Business Suite app from the app store (available for Apple and Andriod devices).

Home

Once you have downloaded and logged in, ensure your Instagram pages are linked.  Once this is done, you should be able to view all your business Facebook and Instagram messages, likes, comments here.  

Of the many benefits of Business Suite, includes a "To Do List" that only your page managers can view.  This is a great space to delegate social tasks to your team or just simply make your own checklist.

You can also connect your pages to external apps such as appointment apps from this page, if you business would like to take appointments on social pages.

Notifications

All your comments and engagements will be on this tab. Replying to post comments on a personal level is always helpful to your business.

Inbox

You can respond to all messages and comments easily in Business Suite as your business.  Posts & Stories

From here you can create posts and stories, schedule posts, and view some limited Insights on your posts.

Planner

Another feature that benefits small business owners is the "Planner" tab.  This is basically a calendar that allows you to create, schedule, and manage your content.  This page also includes some ideas (first day of winter, National Cupcake Day, etc.) but not many at this time. 

Insights

Managing your Insights, or your online engagement is incredibly easy in Business Suite.  You should be checking in on your post insights weekly, this way you know what is working for your business and what is not.  This way you are able to tailor your content to your audience, to increase post engagement.

Ad Services

Business Suite also includes Ad Managing services.  Ads in Business Suite are very user friendly to create.  You are able to sort by likes, demographics, age groups, and more.

Overall, I recommend all business owners to make the switch to Meta Business Suite for managing their Facebook and Instagram business pages.  It's very user friendly and includes many helpful tools.

Need more help with your social pages? Send The Daly Brand a message and see what we can do for you!

Happy June!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the transition of seasons like I am.  It's been awhile since I have been able to sit and write an entire (cohesive) blog post, but I'm back and ready to keep at it.

This month, the focus is ensuring your branding and web presence is up to date and concise. 

First up, your business growth checklist,

1.  Do you have strong brand identity?

Your website needs to look like your business.  Brand colors, tag lines, and a professional brand logo are all elements to create a strong brand identity.  Your business needs to be clear or customers will just move on to the next.  These days, customers are looking for polished brands that align with their likes and identity.  Stay uniform!

2. Is your website current?

Take some time to go through every page of your website.  Is all the information up to date? Make all necessary changes.  Updating your website also helps with your Google search presence. Google loves a website update, so do often to keep your listing towards the top! 

3. Are you asking your customers for reviews? 

If you don't ask, they most likely won't leave them, and what's the harm of asking?  If someone had a great experience, ask for a review!  Bonus points for making it easy for your customer, like QR code cards to scan or even a simple text to their phone with a link.

4. Are you promoting your social media?

Ensure your customers know that you have social media and encourage them to interact with you there.

5. Do you have a blog?

Blogging is a great way to not only keep your website updated, but can also bring in potential customers for conversation.  Blog posts are a great place to share your expertise ensuring customers that you are up to the job!

Need help with maintaining a updating your branding or maintaining web presence? Click on my contact form and send me a message!  I would love to hear how I can help you, and your small business!

Why?

Why would you want to show off your 5 star reviews for your business? Because it can help convert possible customers into new customers!  Reviews don't just belong on your Google or Facebook page, they should make an appearance on your website too!  Below are a few quick tips to get the most out of your 5 star reviews!

Where should I put reviews on my website?

Most people are not going to click through your entire website, so having a dedicated page of reviews is probably not the most effective option.  Placing reviews on each page is a great way to show potential customers that your business is highly rated.  Do you have a great review that mentions your incredible customer service? Place it on your "About Us" page!  A good review about money well spent? Place that on your "Investment" or "Prices" page to show that your business is worth the pricing you have spent so much time perfecting.  Placing reviews strategically makes them more effective at attracting the right customers than if they are all placed on a "Testimonials" page.

Clean them up!

No one wants to read a rambling review paragraph, so if you need to, pare down the words to only the most important parts.  Then the review will make more of a statement on your website.

Bonus tip

Video marketing is an effective tool.  If you have a customer that doesn't mind saying a few great things about your business on camera, make a short video!  

Looking for more reviews for your business? Check out my blog post Increasing your Reviews 

This month's post is all about how to increase your Google and Facebook reviews.

First, let's start with "Why do I need Google & Facebook reviews?"  Reviews are incredibly important in this day and age with the many, many choices potential customers are faced with online.  A good review can influence one, or many people to try your business over another.  But, a negative review can be a way for your business to showcase it's customer service, always respond to negative reviews in a clear, concise way, and do what you can to make it right.

Businesses with more reviews perform better on searches.  The more consistent reviews you have, the higher up in search results you will land.

How to increase the number of reviews

• Ensure customers can leave a review.  Do you have a Google my Business page? Do you have a Facebook business page? You should claim these pages if you haven't and brand them to match your business.  This is also a great opportunity to update your business pages if you have them, but haven't done anything with them in awhile. Upload new photos, new graphics, and other information to invite more reviews.

• Have lots of Google reviews? Expand your reviewability!  Ask customers to review you on other sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Rate A Biz, or any other review site.  This also will help with SEO.

• Use QR codes to get to review pages quickly.  Place marketing throughout your business and even give out cards with QR codes to encourage customers to write a review.  The easier it is for them to access, the more likely they are to leave a review.

• Offer a review worthy service.  All the marketing in the world cannot replace offering great service that your customers want to talk about.  So take care of your customer, and they will take care of you!

What steps are you going to take to increase your business reviews?  Let me know what's worked for you in the comments below!