Allison Chaney
Apr 19 2018
At a recent conference for retail party store owners, we polled the audience on what their one biggest question is about social media. Here are 5 big Q’s that they asked, and our speaker’s A’s.
Q: If your business is in Canada, can you still build custom audiences on Facebook or is this a violation of spam laws?
A: Yes, you can still build custom audiences with your email list! Facebook has a cool feature where you can upload your email list and build an audience from it to advertise to. If you have an email list which you obtained by following the rules, then you can use that email list as you wish. CAN-SPAM (in the US) and CASL (in Canada) are laws that govern what email marketers can or cannot send and to whom. Basically, this just means that someone needs to opt-in to your list. What you do with that email from there is up to you (don’t spam of course, but you get the idea). Disclaimer: We are not attorneys and are not providing legal advice, only our interpretation of the law and common sense.
Q: How do we prevent social media from being a time suck?
A: Our attendees received a full hour of information in a social media efficiency session presented by one of our speakers. A few highlights on how you can avoid the social media time suck:
1) Focus on items that are the best use of your resources. Think of the anticipated return you might get on your efforts. Is it worth it to spend 10 hours on a blog post? Would it result in 10x’s the leads or sales? Probably not.
2) Schedule the time each day and make it part of your routine. You probably check email every day, right? Why not schedule 15 minutes after checking your email each day to focus on one social media task?
3) Set a clock! Spend less time doing things and set limits so you form good habits. Don’t waste time obsessing over tiny details that only you will ever notice.
Q: Can you recommend some good, simple apps for iPhone videos for YouTube?
A: Yes! We enjoy sharing tools we love! So much, in fact, that we have an entire training course on Digital Marketing Tools in our Boot Camp Institute. For our recommendation on video apps, check out
Creating Videos with Adobe Spark.
Q: How do you post one post on every social media site at the same time?
A: What you’re looking for is a tool like Buffer or HootSuite, which allows you to schedule out posts on multiple platforms. Just be sure that your content is formatted for the platform, as some image sizes look better on certain platforms than other. You should also consider how each platform is used and you may want to adjust your content accordingly. The conversation may be more light-hearted on Facebook than LinkedIn for example. Even with content that is slightly varied, a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite can save you a lot of time!
Q: What is the best ratio of content to post?
A: Our social media training courses teach the concept of the 20/60/20 rule. 20% of your content should be promotional only, 20% of your content should be helpful only, and 60% of your content should be both helpful and promotional. The key here is to focus on creating content that provides value to your audience and promotes your brand. Most of the time (60%) your content should be both.
Do you have a big question about social media? Ask us in the comments below!
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