  Is your company hosting an event? Are you looking for sponsors and aren’t sure how to use social media to connect with the right people? We have your back.
Here are 3 Ways to use social media to attract sponsors [with examples of posts you can totally use]: 1. Share their content Say you’re hosting an event centered on diversity hiring. There are a ton of vendors out there that tout their skills in this arena. Find organizations that use their tech for this and take a look at their resources.
Find the resources and the content and share it! Tag the company in the post and talk about why you think the resource is so great. It doesn’t have to be a novel. Keep it simple: “Really enjoyed this blog from [@company name] about diversity and their efforts to increase awareness in the field.” “This infographic from [@company name] gives great insights on how to build a diversity initiative within your organization.” “Wow. [@company name] is really doing the work when it comes to diversity hiring. Their [insert tool] is aimed at helping employers remove bias from the hiring process.” Those kinds of posts work across the board on all platforms. Make sure you’re tagging the right company though. On LinkedIn once the company name appears and you click on it the @ will disappear and you’ll see the company name in bold. That means you did it right. The only platforms you’ll continue to see the @ are Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. On LinkedIn and Facebook the @ falls off after you’ve selected the person or company you’re tagging. It’s important to remember that a lot of content centered around a topic doesn’t mean their company actually does what they claim. So spend the time doing the research before you start sharing their content. The goal in finding sponsors isn’t just about money [even though that’s a big factor]. It’s about making sure that the recognition that comes with the sponsorship aligns with your efforts. You wouldn’t pitch a sponsorship package to Unwoke HR for a diversity sponsorship - would you? 2. Connect with people that work there Most people have some form of a social media presence these days. Whether it’s highly active or maybe they’re just a silent observer - people are out there. LinkedIn is a great way to find and connect with people at organizations. [How many people just read that and said, “Duh.”] Well for those that might not know - you simply find the company page on LinkedIn and click the link that will take you to the list of the employees that work there. Some companies have positions with diversity in the title. Those would be the best people to target if you’re hosting a diversity focused event. If you don’t see that as an option then look for the people in charge of growth or content. Those people are the ones behind the scenes making sure that the resources are focused on the company’s mission. Make a connection with a simple LinkedIn connection request or follow them on Twitter if you see they have a handle. Not everyone is quick to accept a Facebook request outside of their personal circle but if you want to give it a shot have at it. Then, check out their feed and the content that they follow and share so that you can find a commonality to engage with. A simple message like, “Hey I saw your post about [topic] and I really enjoyed it. I’d love to connect with you,” could go a long way. If LinkedIn isn’t your forte, Twitter is a great place to find and connect with people. It’s a little more laid back than LinkedIn [for the most part] and it’s a great place to showcase your personality. Don’t overthink your strategy when it comes to engaging on Twitter. Did their marketing person post something funny? Like the tweet and comment with a gif or a simple ‘LOL’. Little engagements can go a long way. The key is that you’re actively engaging. Search relevant hashtags too. If the company you want as a sponsor is all about diversity see what hashtags are being used. Type the hashtag into the search box and let Twitter auto fill the rest. That way you can tag the company in the post and use a popular hashtag to gain more traction. 3. Ask them to sponsor Seems easy enough, right? You’ve studied and shared the content and found the people to connect with. Now it’s time for the big ask. If you’ve made yourself comfortable enough to ask on social media start there then transition over to email to make things more formal. Tweet options: “Hey [@company name] who should I talk to about sponsoring our upcoming event? We really want to work w/ diversity leaders.” “[@company name] what’s the best email for me to send some info about sponsorship options for our upcoming event about hiring for diversity?” If there’s a particular person you can tag that might help get the ball rolling go for it. “Hey [@name] I’m going to DM you about an upcoming event we’re hosting to see if that’s something [@company name] would be interested in.” LinkedIn or Facebook options: “We are really excited about our upcoming event that will help organizations implement strategic diversity initiatives. It’s not just about checking boxes anymore. We’d love it if your company would sign up as a sponsor to help us spread the word about such an important topic and make our event something that can actually help employers change lives. You can contact [insert person/email/website] for more information or feel free to message me directly and I’d be happy to talk to you about it.” “We’re looking for companies that do great work to help us by sponsoring our upcoming event. Now more than ever diversity initiatives need to be implemented into organizations and we’re calling on the best in the business to help us education employers and recruiters on the best practices that really make a difference.” It’s a good idea to talk about WHY their sponsorship matters in the post. What’s the point of hosting an event if there isn’t a goal. Career fairs help people find jobs. Diversity events help educate organizations and change lives for the better. If you’re not sure what the goal of your event is then maybe rethink why you’re hosting it in the first place. “Calling all diversity tech vendors. Your company claims to have the best tech to help in diversity hiring and recruiting. Ready to put your money where you mouth is and really help companies change lives?” That one is a little edgy but hey sometimes edgy works. Look, we get it. Fear is a big factor in what holds people back when it comes to asking for sponsorships. No one wants to be told no. No one wants to feel rejected. Remind yourself that in these scenarios the worst thing that can happen is nothing. If you’re not confident in your social strategy let us know. We offer affordable options in our partner packages where we’ll take over your social for you or check out our basic content promo where we’ll give you posts for Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter along with graphics so you can just plug them in and post away.
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 We see it all the time. Businesses think that Instagram is the end all be all of their creative marketing efforts.
SPOILER ALERT - it's not. Algorithms change all the time. One day a post can go viral the next you get 3 likes. If that's not a mindf*ck then we don't know what is. A lot of people out there will tell you there's a formula. For every one business related post you should have three memes. They'll tell you to mix up the content and make it fun and personal. That's all mostly true but our biggest tip for Instagram - well it's the same as the other platforms - consistency and engagement. A LOT of business pages are really boring though. We know that's a tough pill to swallow. You made this amazing graphic to promote your webinar and no one is liking it. Why? Well, sometimes people don't want to be sold. Think about why you get on Instagram. Are you actively looking for webinars to participate in? We're guessing no. So, if you see a webinar post - are you going to double tap it and light up that heart? Nope. The good thing is that you're getting the resource out there. In our previous post we talked about having awesome resources on your website and not sharing them - so you're already headed in the right direction. Just don't rely on that one Instagram post to make you millions of dollars [unless you spend a ton of money on paying to promote it and you still probably won't see millions but it'll get in front of a larger audience. If you're not sure how to do that let us know - we can teach you]. Here are a few things to consider before you decide to post and pray on Instagram that will help you get more likes:
Circling back to what we said in the intro about memes and mixing it up - it's a good idea. Not every post should be about your resources. If your company specialized in machine learning then go out and find some funny memes. People get on social media to be entertained [and informed but again, think about why YOU get on to the platforms and what YOU would actively double tap]. Don't get bummed if your post doesn't go viral. Instagram is a HUGE platform and it changes all the time. Try and be like Dory. Just keep posting, just keep posting, just keep posting posting- what do we do? We post, post, post. One of the biggest problems we see with companies is their lack of social media engagement. They have libraries full of amazing resources but once they post them they don't actively DO anything to spread the word. So what's the point? In the words of Katrina Kibben, Founder & CEO of Three Ears Media, "Posting and not engaging is like going outside and yelling something." You aren't going to attract much with that approach. It's like the 'post and pray' technique you've probably heard of. Or our previous analogy about throwing a baseball into an empty field. What's the point if no one is there to catch it?  That's basically what happens when you have resources you aren't sharing. Getting people to engage with your content won't happen if you just post it to your site and hope for the best. There are several factors to consider like images, SEO, keywords, tags, snippets and meta descriptions. Then there comes social media. You need variety. You need strategy.
A few things to consider when developing your social media strategy:
We know all about the heavy hitters like Indeed and LinkedIn to help find the next step in a life change when it comes to jobs. What surprises us is the lack of knowledge regarding Facebook when it comes to job seekers [in our experience]. If you're not sure the best way to navigate Facebook to find your next role here's the most basic breakdown: Navigate Facebook for jobs.
Next, you can narrow down your search in the box at the top that says 'search for jobs' with the magnifying glass next to it. Underneath that box you'll see options for location [and you can adjust the distance from your location here as well], job type, and category. You can search by job title or simple enter your location and hit the magnifying glass to see all the jobs in that suggested area. Once you set your search you'll get some relevant results to look through. When you find a job that strikes your fancy simply click apply. You'll get a pop up that shows your information. Here you'll be able to add or adjust the information that said employer will receive about you. Once you've adjusted your information and apply you'll receive a message indicating that the job has been applied for. For an extra step - not required - you can reply to that message and attach a full copy of your resume if you don't think the information you provided is enough. Pretty simple, right? Happy hunting!   Have you ever hopped on your social pages and noticed that on every single platform the same person or company posted the same damn thing? By the time you've seen it for a second time you're so over it. We'd venture to say it's not a great strategy but - it's not a strategy at all.
Posting the same thing across all of your company platforms at the same time is like hitting REPLY ALL to a company email. No one wants that. "But I have really great new content I want to share." Great! We want you to share it! We want you to shout it from the rooftops. But there's a way to share it so you don't annoy your entire audience all at the same time. How do you share similar content across multiple platforms? We aren't saying that you can't post the same thing everywhere - you can. In fact we encourage it because you have a different audience on LinkedIn than you do on Facebook or the other platforms. In fact, we're big fans of posting to our Instagram then sharing to our Facebook so we can kill two birds with one stone. It saves us some time so we don't have to formulate a new post for each platform. What we don't do is turn around and post the same thing that day on Twitter and LinkedIn and Snapchat, etc. We wait a few days, rewrite the post, maybe share a new image, and THEN post. Let it ride on your other platforms, see how it performs, then post away on the other channels. Now THAT is a strategy. Remember:
Oh, and stop hitting reply all.  Nowadays, most companies have some type of online marketing efforts. Whether it's organic or paid social media marketing, they're creating and sharing content that reflects their brand. Most companies understand that when it comes to employer brand, their employees are the front line. In order to keep your brand intact and continue putting the best foot forward, your employees need to be engaged with the content you're posting.
Here are some ways your employees can (and should) be sharing your company content:
If your employees aren't sure how to craft the best posts give them some examples. Feel free to provide them with some templates to follow (just make sure you make it very clear that they have to customize the posts or it'll be very obvious when everyone shares the same thing).
Also worth noting is that not all of your employees are going to be comfortable with sharing company content to their personal platforms. Don't force it. You don't want to lose top talent over some tweets.  Can't think of one? If you can, how new or relevant is it?
A lot of companies can't afford billboard space. What they can afford is social media marketing. The only thing you need to market anything online is, well, the internet. A monthly subscription to your local internet provider is a lot more cost friendly than a one time fee for a billboard. Sure, you can pay for online ads but getting your content out there isn't that difficult. Have you ever looked something up online and the noticed ads for it almost immediately on all of the apps that you use? That's called retargeting. Companies pay to set up ad campaigns and then use the data you've looked up to keep their brand top of mind when you head to other apps and platforms. When you head to a site and get that pop up that asks you to click accept or decline? That's usually asking you about content sharing and cookies. That's how they're able to use the cookies to retarget their brand to you across multiple platforms. Not all companies use retargeting as a marketing strategy. Some simply use their online presence. They actively share their content, their employees are engaged, and they know who their target audience is. Consistency is key. If your company is posting but your employees aren't actively helping to push the content via their own platforms - you're basically throwing a baseball into an empty field [there's no one there to catch the ball]. Regardless of whether there's a paid strategy in place, social media presence it key for companies to keep their brands top of mind for buyers today. Oh, and billboards don't have cookies. |
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