Driving engagement on social media is already challenging, sometimes. When operating the social media accounts of a financial services organization, it gets even harder. Communication surrounding the finance business is highly regulated, and that includes what you say on social media—even just a framed award in the background of a photo can give people the idea that you can guarantee some kind of investment return, for example, and that is a no-no for financial companies on Facebook.

This is the story of one such client of mine and how we’ve managed to grow their account despite these issues!

When taking the next step in growing your business, you may be turning your attention to Instagram marketing. With literal billions of monthly users, it’s a powerful tool for small businesses and worth looking into for small business marketing.

Get started with Instagram marketing and use this guide to help!

Where do people find real estate agents? Where can realtors market themselves where people will see them and feel convinced that their house will sell quickly—or that they’ll be able to find their dream home?

With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers an unparalleled platform for real estate agents to reach potential clients, showcase properties, and build their brand. As a real estate agent, you might feel overwhelmed by the idea of marketing yourself on Facebook. So where do you start as a realtor on Facebook?

The job of small business marketers is to identify a need that the target customer has—a desire so deep down that they might not even be aware of that need—and position a service or product as the solution to their problem.

Arts organizations find themselves in a tricky position when it comes to social media marketing at times.

We can still make big things happen on small budgets. As we’ll see in this case study from a year-long partnership with an Illinois professional orchestra, significant impact for nonprofit social media marketing is possible!

Imagine that the first time you met everyone—instead of faces, voices, and personalities—they were shrouded by a canvas on which was typed a 150-character description of who they are. That was it. You could look down and get a glimpse into the way they dress themselves up, but that short paragraph was the biggest insight you had into who the various people you met actually are. Oh, and you had one, too. Wouldn’t you want yours to be as pithy, concise, clear, engaging, accurate, and useful as possible? First impressions are everything, after all. Your social media bios are this very thing. People who find your accounts could go for a scroll to try to dig up what they need to know, but the fact of the matter is that most people don’t. They want to get the SparkNotes version of you and your brand’s essence right off the bat.

I’m sharing two different ways I handle content calendars and social media planning with clients, as well as some ideas for content and brainstorming and a free Google Sheets content calendar template! Let’s dig in!

No matter what your business, how you use your social media accounts is, well, your business. But keep in mind that how you use it does impact your brand. How do you want people to think of your business? What do you want them to feel when they interact with your business or your content?

As a nonprofit on social media, your position in the digital marketplace is unique. While other organizations are on social media to sell a product or service, nonprofits on social media are there to share about events, find the individuals who could benefit from their services, recruit volunteers, and solicit donations through fundraising campaigns.

As a social media manager and social media marketing consultant for nonprofits, here are my top tips for creating compelling visual social media content for your nonprofit.