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Small Business Saturday 2022 is more vital than it has ever been for local businesses. Millions of American businesses permanently closed due to the pandemic, and Small Business Saturday is an annual event that intends to bolster support and sales for local retailers, so hopefully they can recover and thrive through this crazy time in history. \nLet’s go over some basics about Small Business Saturday, and then we’ll talk about three ways you can maximize the positive impact of this “Shop Small” holiday this year and throughout the year to come.\nWhat is Small Business Saturday?\nSmall Business Saturday is an annual event on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was \nstarted by American Express in 2010\n, and has continued to grow in popularity and local support ever since.\nThe “Shop Small” movement is growing as local retailers, restaurants, shops, and even online-only businesses feel the pressure from big-box retailers and huge multi-billion-dollar corporations that are intent on carving out a space in local markets.\nAccording to American Express’s \nShop Small survey\n, 80% of consumers surveyed are likely to seek out small businesses rather than huge retailers for their holiday purchases. This is good news for small businesses still struggling to overcome the impacts of the pandemic. \nWhen is Small Business Saturday 2022?\nSmall Business Saturday 2022 is on November 26. It falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday each year.\n3 ways you can maximize your Small Business Saturday success\n1. Extend your business’s hours\nWhen you have more people visiting your store, it makes sense to extend your regular operating hours to accommodate the additional traffic and maximize sales.\nBe sure to \nupdate your business’s website\n and other online resources like \nGoogle My Business\n and \nYelp\n with your correct holiday hours so people aren’t disappointed. Also remember to email your customer list (if you have one) and let them know, as well as posting on your social media platforms.\n2. Hire more help\nEven if you need to hire temporary workers just to cover this important weekend, it can be worth it. Studies show that Saturdays are the busiest days of the week for local retail anyway, and Small Business Saturday is significantly busier than that. \nHowever, hiring additional workers may be a tall order in today’s shaky retail environment, as nearly half of small businesses have job openings they can’t fill. Offering incentives and bonuses for full-time or temporary workers can pay off big, though, if you can leverage the additional help into exponentially greater sales.\nThe benefits of hiring more help include more effective inventory management, a faster and more satisfying shopping experience, and quicker checkout. These benefits (and more) can delight customers and increase your chances of getting positive reviews, earning repeat business (see below), and \nimproving local SEO\n results for your business.\n3. Focus on earning repeat customers\nOne great thing about Small Business Saturday is the increase in foot traffic for local businesses, which means you’re potentially selling to a lot more new customers. Be sure to gather all the information you can about these new and repeat customers so you can encourage them to return throughout the year for repeat sales.\nFor local businesses, setting up a complicated digital loyalty program may be a stretch, but even something as simple as having a stack of cards set up by the checkout register with a sign saying “provide your email and get 10% off your next purchase” can be effective at gathering customer email addresses.\nBe creative and proactive about asking (nicely) for customers’ contact information, and think of an incentive that can encourage them to provide it. We’ve prepared \n3 creative ways to build a customer loyalty program\n so you can market to your current customers, you can turn many of them into repeat customers that are worth up to 5X more than a new customer.\nGo deeper: \n6 elements of an effective loyalty program\nAlso, many modern \nsmall business payment solutions\n offer data resources that can gather customer info to help you build a loyal base of repeat customers. \nStay on top of your online reviews to encourage new and repeat business\nBeyond focusing on creating a memorable and satisfying customer experience on Small Business Saturday (and throughout the year), another vital aspect of local business success is getting reviews and recommendations on all your online business pages and review site profiles. This helps provide social proof that other people have used and enjoyed your products or services, and can bring more new customers to your business. \nYou may also like:\n\nStep-by-step small business marketing guide\n\n\n41 small-town business ideas that thrive\n\n

Small Business Saturday 2022: more important than ever

In this article:\nWhen should I get a loan for my small business?\nQuestions to ask before getting a business loan\nSmall business loan requirements\nTypes of small business loans available\nHow to get a small business loan\nGetting a business loan is a common process for many small businesses as they are starting up or looking to grow. Sometimes you just don’t have the capital to take your business to the next level, so you need a little help along the way. \nBefore getting a loan for your small business, make sure that your plan for return is solid and that you will be able to pay back the loan and keep your business going strong. \nWhen should I get a loan for my small business?\nTo determine when you should get a loan for your business, you need to understand the different types of loans that are available and have a purpose for your loan. \nGenerally, you want to acquire a business loan \nbefore\n you are in dire need of one, but close to the time that you are actually ready to spend the money. \nYou shouldn’t ever get a business loan as a last-ditch effort to save your company or on an impulse. It needs to be well-thought-out and serve a purpose to help grow your business. \nWe’ll guide you through some questions to ask before getting a loan, the basic loan requirements you’ll need, the types of loans available to you, and, when you’re ready, how to get your small business loan. \nQuestions to ask before applying for a business loan\nBefore you get a small business loan, there are several questions you should ask yourself to determine what your goals are for the loan and whether or not a loan is the best decision for your business right now. \nWhat do I need the money for?\nHow much money do I need?\nWhat does my credit history look like?\nHow soon do I need the funds?\nYou should also come up with a list of questions to ask the lender so that you know exactly what is required of you when it comes to acquiring the loan and paying it back. Some questions to get you started:\nWill you lend to businesses in my industry?\nWhat are the interest rates of the loan?\nAre there any other fees associated with the loan?\nHow long does the loan application process take?\nWhat will my payment schedule be?\nWhen is my first payment due?\nHow do I make payments for my loan?\nAre you rated well with the BBB? What is your rating?\nCan I speak to some of your past and current customers?\nDo you report payment history to the appropriate credit bureaus?\nAre there any penalties for early loan payoff?\nThese questions will get you started in determining whether or not you need a loan and will be able to qualify for one, as well as help you find the best possible lender for your situation.\n\nSmall business loan requirements\nIt will help you out immensely to know what the requirements of a business loan are before you apply for one. Set yourself up for success by making sure that you can qualify for a small business loan. \nHere are some of the basic requirements for business loans. Keep in mind that certain lenders may have different requirements and these are just a general guide. \nThe amount you want to borrow\nThe purpose of the loan\nPersonal credit score\nBusiness credit score\nHow long your business has been in operation\nA solid business plan\nYour industry\nType of business\nLicenses and permits that authenticate your business\nEmployer identification number\nCopy of your commercial license\nProof of collateral you wish to use\nAnnual revenue and profits for your business\nBank statements\nBalance sheet\nPersonal tax returns\nBusiness tax returns\nDisclosure of all debts\nAccounts payable and accounts receivable aging reports\nOwnership and affiliations of the business\nLegal contracts and agreements of the business\nNot all lenders will require every piece of information that we’ve listed here and some may have a few more items, but this will give you a good start to be prepared for the information that your lenders may ask for. \nBest types of small business loans: how to choose\nThere are several different types of small business loans. Carefully considering the questions we listed above and understanding the purpose of your loan will help you to determine the best type of loan for your business. \nHere are some of the most common types of loans that small businesses use. \nLines of credit\nBusiness lines of credits are very similar to credit cards in that they are open-ended and have specific limits. With a line of credit, you can withdraw funds, repay them, and then pull out more funds later as needed. \nCommon reasons for business lines of credit include managing cash flow gaps, increasing working capital, and purchasing inventory. \nThe best part about lines of credit is that you only pay interest on the money that you spend. Even if you are approved for a large amount, you only pay interest on the portion that you actually use. \nTerm loans\nTerm loans are the type of loan that most borrowers think of when they hear the term “business loan.” You are given a sum of money which you need to pay back, with interest, at regular intervals over a given period of time. \nThe thing to be aware of with term loans is that they need to be repaid promptly, so they aren’t a good choice if you need working capital. Term loans are best when you have a large purchase coming up (real estate or equipment) and you’re going to use all of the loaned funds towards that business expense right away. \nEquipment financing\nAs you can imagine, equipment financing is used to purchase business equipment like machinery or vehicles. The equipment you purchase with the loan is used to help secure the loan. \nsmall business owner with coffee roasting equipment\nEquipment loans generally have low interest rates and most allow you to finance between 80% and 100% of the cost. \nInvoice factoring\nInvoice factoring is the process by which businesses sell their unpaid invoices to “factoring” companies. These companies will give a cash advance that is generally between 70% and 100% of the invoice, and then will collect their payment when the customer pays the invoice. \nIf you have a lot of unpaid invoices that are hurting cash flow, this type of financing can be helpful. \nMerchant cash advance\nA merchant cash advance provides business owners with funds in exchange for a percentage of their income over a certain period of time. Payments are made daily as a percentage of the customer transactions that day. \nThese types of loans typically have high interest rates since they take a percentage of your sales, so we only recommend using these as a last resort. \nHow to get a small business loan\nNow that you’ve determined how much you need to borrow and learned what types of loan may be the most beneficial to your business, it’s time to put your plan into action. \nFollow these steps to acquire your small business loan. \nDetermine which type of loan you need\nBefore you can apply for a loan, you need to determine what type of loan your business needs. Do your research to figure out which types of loans suit the needs of your business best and then find a lender that can deliver. \nFind the best lender for your business\nThere are several different types of lenders out there who want to help your business succeed (and make some money in the process). Determine the type of loan you want will help you narrow down your list of lenders that you can choose from. \nCommon types of lenders that small businesses go to:\nCommercial banks\nLocal community banks\nDirect online lenders\nPeer-to-peer lending sites\nBank lenders with SBA guarantees\nafrican american couple meeting with banker for small business loan\nDetermine if you are eligible for a small business loan\nCarefully examine your personal and business credit history, revenue history, assets, and total debts. Lenders make judgments based on all of these things and how high of a risk it will be to give you a loan. \nAnswering some of these questions can help you to decide if a lender will make the judgment call that you want to hear:\nDo you make payments on loans on time?\nDo you have any outstanding debts that haven’t been paid?\nDo you have valuable assets that can stand as collateral?\nHow long have you been in business?\nDo you have any venture capital investors, strategic investors, or angel investors? (Having investors looks good to lenders)\nAre your financial statements in order?\nGet your financial statements together\nLeading on that last question, you should definitely get your financial statements in order before applying for a small business loan. Your lender will ask for these, so it’s vital to prepare yourself ahead of time and be well aware of how your finances look. \nLenders will carefully review your statements to analyze your cash flow, margins, accounts payable and receivable, and more. Be prepared for questions about your records, and keep your accountant involved in the process. \nGather detailed information and documentation for your loan application\nWe mentioned a list earlier of basic requirements that you should have prepared before applying for a business loan. Make sure you have all of those details together in order to make the application process go as smoothly as possible. \nResearch your lender and loan type beforehand as well to see if there are any additional, non-typical requirements by the lender. \nIt takes time to get statements and records together, so give yourself the time you need and don’t postpone the application process by delaying this key step. \nKnow how much you want to borrow\nYou can’t ask for a loan without knowing how much you need to borrow. The lender will want to know the amount you wish to borrow and how you plan to use the funds. \nIt can be good to ask for a little more than you initially planned for just in case you hit any hurdles while spending the funds.  \nDetermine the security options for the loan\nLenders just want to make sure they are going to get their money back (with interest), so they will have different security options to improve the odds of that happening. \nThis is often coined as “collateral” but may simply be a security interest to the lender on company assets. \nAnother thing that lenders will do to ensure this security on their funds is to get a personal guarantee from the business owner. It’s usually a good idea to avoid this when possible because this puts the owner’s \npersonal\n assets at risk as well as the business’s assets. \nmale hands signing personal guarantee for small business loan\nAnalyze the terms of the loan\nDon’t just blindly accept any loan because you need the money. You need to make sure the terms of the loan make sense for your business and that you can actually deliver on them.\nKey terms you should review with your lender and accountant:\nWhat is the interest rate on the loan and can it vary over time?\nHow often can you pay the interest?\nWhen is the principal interest due or is it spread over the lifetime of the loan?\nWhat’s the loan origination fee?\nAre there any other costs or fees associated with the loan?\nAre there limits on how the funds can be spent?\nAre there any security requirements?\nCan the loan be paid off early? Is there a penalty for that?\nReview your online presence\nLenders are going to perform their due diligence to ensure that your business is going to be a valuable investment for them. To ensure that your business is reputable and professional, they will likely check to see what your online presence is like. \nThis will include your website, social profiles, any online reviews your business has, and even the business owner’s personal accounts and social posts. \nIf there’s anything that you think might prevent you from getting a loan, make improvements and updates before you apply.\nApply for the loan\nOnce you are familiar with the process and know what type of loan you want, it’s time to put in your application. Depending on the type of loan you are getting, the waiting period for a business loan can be anywhere from 24 hours to 6 months (this time frame should be disclosed to you when you talk to the lender). 

Guide to small business loans: How to apply, best types, and tips

In this article:\nThe big three: Google, Facebook, and Yelp\nOther important review listing sites to focus on\nWhich online review platform is THE most important?\nCustomer review tips\nOnline review sites are crucial for developing a good online reputation for your small business. Research shows that claiming your profiles on 3 or more platforms correlates with a whopping \n78% increase in revenue\n compared to businesses who claim none.\nYou should strive to create as many profiles for your business as you can across several review platforms. \nHowever, there are a few important business profiles that you should spend a little extra time on to make sure you really round out your profile and provide customers with as much information as they need to choose you over your competitors. \nBest online review platforms for your business: the big three \nGoogle My Business, Facebook, and Yelp are the three review sites have the largest impact on consumers. People trust them and spend a lot of time on each of these platforms. They are important even to sole proprietorships, microbusinesses, contractors, freelancers, and more.\nGoogle My Business\nGoogle My Business is how you get your business to show up on Google. Google dominates more than 90% of the search engine market, so it goes without saying that people are definitely searching for new businesses here. \ncell phone with google business for best online review sites\n\nGoogle reviews have a large impact on how well you show up in the Google map packs and influence a customer’s decision to pick your business over a competitor’s. \nQuick guide: \nHow to claim your Google Business listing\nFacebook\nFacebook is huge for brand awareness. With more than 2 billion monthly active users, this social media giant reaches far and wide, even within your own community. \nWhile most users on Facebook aren’t shopping for new products or services, they are spending a lot of time on this channel. Take advantage of that by promoting your brand on Facebook with ads from your business page, and make sure to get good reviews from your customers on Facebook. \nThen, when people are in research mode, they’ve already seen your business in ads while scrolling through their feed. \nQuick guide: \nHow to create and claim your Facebook business page\nYelp\nYelp averages 37 million people on its mobile app alone each month, with a total of 100.5 million monthly unique web visitors. \nYelp started out intending to be used by consumers for finding the best local restaurants, but today multiple other industries get plenty of Yelp traffic as well. \nEvery small business should have a Yelp listing and encourage their customers to leave reviews there. Just be careful about how you get your reviews on Yelp because they do have strict policies about soliciting reviews. The best way is to follow Yelp’s guidelines and encourage customers by posting official “We’re on Yelp” signage throughout your business and on your website. \nQuick guide: \nHow to claim your Yelp business listing\nGo deeper: \nWhy bad yelp reviews might be a good thing\n\ncell phone with yelp for best online review platforms\n\nOther top review platforms you should add your business to\nWhile Google, Facebook, and Yelp are by far the largest online review platforms to focus on, there are several others that still pose valuable opportunities for your business. \nBing\nBing is the default search engine for Microsoft Edge, which is the default browser for Windows operating systems. What that means is that a lot of people are still using Bing when they do their online searching. \nBe sure that your business is available to those customers by claiming your business profile on Bing and keeping it updated and accurate. Keep current on your holiday hours, photos, and information like you would for your Google listing. \nQuick guide: \nHow to create and claim your Bing business listing\nOpenTable\nOpenTable is an absolute must if you run a restaurant, cafe, coffee shop, bar, lounge, sandwich shop, or anywhere else that serves food or drink. Follow our step-by-step guide to \nlist your business on OpenTable\n. \nBBB (Better Business Bureau)\nGetting your business listed with the BBB is important for your online reputation. When customers are getting serious about doing business with you, they’ll often research your company to make sure that they can trust you. \nThe BBB is one such site that consumers look to when trying to determine how well a business can be trusted, whether they have questionable business practices, or if they’re well-liked by customers. \nQuick guide: \nHow to get your business listed with the BBB\nTripAdvisor\nWhen people are traveling and looking for the best hotels, entertainment, and food options, they often look to TripAdvisor. So, if you fit into any of those categories (and more), this directory should definitely be on your list. Or more correctly, your business should definitely be on \ntheir\n list.\nQuick guide: \nHow to claim your business listing on TripAdvisor\nreview us on tripadvisor sign for online review sites\n\nManta\nManta is an important directory website to get your business listed on for two reasons:\nIt gets a lot of traffic from users who trust it\nManta provides a powerful and free tool to help you check the consistency of your citations across the web\nList your small business on Manta to take advantage of these features and improve your online presence even further. \nQuick guide: \nHow to create and claim your free business listing on Manta\nFoursquare\nFoursquare is a popular online directory where consumers share the things they love about their favorite businesses. Users provide tips about business they’ve been to and can get badges for engaging with businesses on this platform. \nFoursquare attempts to make the online review process a fun and interactive game for its users, which entices them to come back and rate other businesses—like yours!\nQuick guide: \nHow to list or claim your business profile on Foursquare\nSo which online review platform is \nthe\n most important?\nWhile you should definitely claim and optimize your business profiles on all of these sites (if relevant to your industry), starting with “the big three,” data shows that reviews on \nGoogle\n impact revenue far more than other review sites. If you had to pick only one review platform to focus on, it should be Google My Business.\nImportant customer review tips to remember\nBe sure to really round out each of the profiles that we’ve mentioned by including high-quality photos of your business and products (if applicable), updating your hours regularly, and engaging with your customers on these review platforms.\nOnce you have claimed each of your online business review profiles and start implementing your review strategy, here are a few important tips to keep in mind:\nDon’t stop reminding your customers that you appreciate online feedback/reviews. You can’t just ask a few customers one time to leave you a review online. You need some kind of system to continually grow your review count and build a steady supply of fresh reviews on your business profiles. \nRespond to every customer review. Engagement with your customer reviews is important. It shows them that you saw what they said and acknowledged it, whether the review was good or bad. This also shows potential customers that you are involved and want to provide a great experience. \nMake it easy for your customers to leave you a review. Asking a customer to leave you an online review is an awesome first step, but if you leave it at that, you won’t get many new reviews. You should find a way to guide your customers directly to your review platform so they don’t need to try to find it on their own. 
\n

Top 10 most important online review platforms for your small business

In this article:\nWhat makes Instagram Stories more effective than other social media\nWhy your small business needs to be on Instagram\nInstagram owns the youth market\nTips for using Instagram Stories for your small business\nAny marketing guru worth their salt will tell you that in today’s market, social media engagement is one of the best ways to build trust from potential and current customers. Even for super-small, local businesses. Here’s why you should consider using Instagram Stories as a highly effective small business marketing tool.\nWhat makes Instagram Stories more effective than other social media for businesses?\nFacebook has been the traditional “go-to” for a business looking to get into social media, but Instagram shows far better engagement and conversion figures. According to Neil Patel, 68% of Instagram users regularly engage with brands, compared to only 32% on Facebook.\nInstagram Stories in particular boasts crazy-good engagement figures among its 400 million daily users. An incredible 1 in 5 Instagram Stories shared by a brand receives a direct reply. This alone can provide invaluable insights into your current and potential customers’ thoughts about your products and services.\nHere’s another biggie: 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business. That would probably seem strange to marketers a couple of decades ago, but today, businesses have become personalities, like any other social media content creator.\nNeed more evidence? 75% of Instagrammers take action (such as visiting your website after viewing your Instagram post or Story). This all adds up to a 2.2% “interaction rate” for Instagram. That may sound like small potatoes, until you learn that Facebook has a 0.22% rate. That means that Instagram is \nNINE HUNDRED PERCENT more effective than Facebook\n in generating action from your potential customers.\nIf your business wants to target the youth market, you \nmust\n be on Instagram \nInstagram is now the top platform for teenagers, largely because the “Instagram Story” feature is a not-so-subtle ripoff of Snapchat (which has fallen to second place). 72% of U.S. teens use Instagram, and the number grows daily.\nInstagram’s mobile-friendly tap-to-navigate platform, fun face-filter tools, and image- and video-based content is the epitome of youthful social media success.\nHow to use Instagram Stories to grow your business\nSmall business marketing’s entire \nraison d’être\n is engagement, and Stories is the king of Instagram engagement, which is in turn the undisputed king of social media engagement.\nInstagram Stories make your business feel more fun, human, and personal\nWhile your main Instagram page should be super-clean and bright, with professional-looking, well-composed photography, Stories is a way to make your business’s “personality” more casual, fun, human, maybe even a little bit fallible. \nIf you use Stories effectively, people can start to identify with your company and start to think of you as a friend rather than just someone who provides goods and services they like.\nSince Stories default to a 24-hour life cycle (before they disappear forever—but more on this later) they can convey less formal, “throwaway” content that can feel at once more immediate and more personal and valuable to some consumers than the “put on your best face” aspect of your main Instagram page. \nIronically, this lowering of expectations from consumers can make your business seem more authentic and personable, more “real.”\nUse Instagram Stories to highlight products, offers, sales, and special events\nNaturally, products and services can be the subject of a Story. With the “swipe up” feature, you can direct your followers to any link, page, sale, website, or other social media account you wish.\nStories is a great way to try out new content, test an offer, etc. If you get a good response, you can consider making them a more permanent feature via your regular Instagram posts and/or your website.\nTake the opportunity to show owners and/or employees using your products and services. Maybe show them struggling with issues in a human way. (Do you run a gym? Consider profiling an employee or customer—with permission—struggling to lose weight or reach a fitness goal. Salons and pet businesses can show stylists or technicians doing interesting hairstyles or nails or treatments. Restaurants can show a “behind the scenes” look at how a popular dish is made. The possibilities are endless.)\nStories can show how your products and services fit into everyday life. You can share tips, how-tos, product demonstrations, unboxings, reviews, rants, raves, whatever you want. \nYou might feature a Story about recent positive customer testimonials and recommendations, or highlight recent reviews from Yelp, Google, or TripAdvisor.\nUse your Story to link to your blog, website, youtube channel, or any other interesting content to build interest and improve conversions. Make it special and engaging.\nBonus: Instagram Stories are given front-page priority on both Instagram AND Facebook. Take advantage!\nUse fun Story features like polls, geotagging, and hashtags to increase engagement\nThe “polls” tool encourages enormous engagement on Stories. A simple, binary “this” or “that” option gets people to express their preference with a simple tap, and you can direct them to related products that build on that choice. \nYou can also ask a couple of fun questions on your main Story page, and then “swipe up” to finish the quiz, complete the form, visit the website, or get a coupon for an in-store offer.\nUse “geotagging” (built-in location link) in your Story to let people know where your store is, where you’ve visited, where a special event is going on, etc.\nInstagram Stories also lets you use #hashtags and people tags, face filters, and all the other fun tools Instagram has to offer. By tagging other Instagrammers, businesses, or people you like, or whom you think your customers would like, you create valuable connections and keep people coming back for more.\nBe sure to respond when people engage with your Instagram Story\nAs noted above, the response rate for Stories can be very high compared to other media. So make sure you are actually available to respond to DMs (direct messages) while your Story is up. Instagrammers can contact you directly with a quick tap of their fingers, so if you plan to use Instagram Stories to build your brand or attract new customers, make sure you actually engage those customers when they respond to your story or ask questions about your products and services. Otherwise you may convey that your business is unresponsive.\nBut… my Instagram Stories will disappear after 24 hours!\nNot so fast, bub. Although the default setting for Stories is to disappear forever after 24 hours, you can select “save to archive” when creating your Story and it will be saved in your main Instagram account.\nEven better, use Instagram Stories Highlights to feature any Stories you want to share with your followers indefinitely.  \nRemember, your “Highlights” should be the absolute best of your Stories, displaying the most popular or highest-quality content that features your business.\nConsider Instagram ads\nIf you want to maximize your results on Instagram, consider augmenting your audience with targeted Instagram ads. Facebook owns Instagram, and Facebook’s demographic segmentation and targeting are second to none. If you pay for advertising on Instagram, you exploit those powerful Facebook resources, and your ads may be displayed on both platforms, depending on which options you select.\nInstagram Stories help you engage with your customers and portray your business in a fun, human light. \nSources:\n
\nhttps://neilpatel.com/blog/marketers-guide-to-instagram-stories/\n
\nhttps://neilpatel.com/blog/b2b-leads-from-instagram-stories/\n
\nhttps://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-use-instagram-stories\n

Why Instagram Stories are the most underrated small business marketing tool

In this article:\nHow can Instagram Story Highlights help me market my business?\nHow to create Instagram Story Highlights\nBest practices for Instagram Story Highlights for businesses\nInstagram Stories is a powerful resource for posting frequent updates on your business’s Instagram account without bombarding your followers with tons of posts. But sometimes, those stories have super helpful content that you want to keep for longer than 24 hours. Smart business owners are turning Instagram Stories into a robust marketing tool! \nInstagram Stories has a highlights feature that allows you to save your best stories on your profile indefinitely. Learn how to use Instagram Story Highlights for your business with our quick tips and guide. \nHow can Instagram Story Highlights benefit my business?\nBeyond allowing you to keep your Instagram Stories content for longer than 24 hours, this feature has several benefits that your small business should take advantage of. \nEasily categorize your story content\nThe highlights feature allows you to easily categorize any content that you put into your Instagram Stories. You can create multiple categories under which to save different types of content (we’ll show you how to do this below). \ncell phone with Instagram Stories image\n\nKeep relevant and timely content front and center\nRather than creating a post that can get lost in the feed of your Instagram profile, you can save stories as highlights that are pinned to the top of your profile. This keeps timely highlights front and center for your customers and followers to easily access. \nYou can always edit these highlights or remove them when they are no longer relevant. \nRecruit new employees with new job updates\nHighlights are a great strategy for enticing new recruits for your business if you're to the point where you need to hire help. Add some local tags to a recruitment story and save it to a specific highlights category for new job postings. Then your followers can check back whenever you have a new opening. \nIncrease customer trust\nIncrease customer trust by sharing what goes on behind the scenes. Humanize your employees by sharing clips of them helping customers, getting trained, or engaging in team-building activities. \nConnect with your followers on a personal level by allowing them a little peek behind the curtains. \nGo deeper: \nWhy Instagram Stories is the most underrated small business marketing tool\nHow to create Instagram Story Highlights\nLog into your business Instagram account on a mobile device, and let’s get started. \nStep 1: Create an Instagram Story\nWhen you want to create a new Instagram Stories highlight, you’ll first need to create an Instagram Story. You can only save previous stories in the highlights section on your profile. \nTo add a new story, go to your profile and tap the plus icon on your profile picture. \nscreen grab adding instagram stories\n\nTake a new picture or video, or upload one, and tap “Your Story” in the bottom left corner to save it to your story. \nStep 2: Add a new album to your highlights\nOnce you’ve created the Stories that you want to feature on your highlights, go to your profile and tap “New” under the “Story Highlights.” Choose the story that you want to feature as the cover for your new album and click “Next.”\n(Image)\n\nEdit the cover and add a title to your new album. \nClick “Done” and go back to your profile to see your new highlights album. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Add stories to your album\nMake your new album interesting by adding more stories to it. \nFirst, tap the album that you just created and then select the three-dot “More” button at the bottom right of your screen. \n(Image)\n\nSelect “Edit Highlight” to add another story under this album. \n(Image)\n\nNext, select “Add” and choose the story that you want to add to that album. Tap “Done.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Remove stories from highlights\nIf you ever want to remove a story from your highlights, simply go to the album that story is in, and then select the three-dot “More” button when that particular story appears. \nSelect “Remove from Highlight” and then tap “Remove photo.”\n(Image)\n\nBest practices: Instagram Story Highlights for businesses\nNow that you know how to add Story Highlights to your Instagram business profile, here are a few best practices to really take your highlights the extra mile. \nCreate cover photos and categorize your highlights\nTake advantage of the organizational capabilities that Story Highlights offers to make a visually compelling highlights section on your profile. \nCreate cover photos and titles to help categorize your highlights and add the stories that you want to save to their relevant category. \n(Image)\n\nThis can also help you generate awareness for specific services or products that you offer, so share away!\nTip: \nCanva\n is a free tool that you can use to create Instagram Story cover photos. They have free and premium templates to choose from to help you get started. \nKeep highlight titles short\nYou have up to 15 characters for your highlight album titles, but Instagram only displays the first 8-10 characters on your profile. We suggest keeping your titles brief so that your followers can see the entire description of that album. \nKeep your highlights timely and relevant\nAdd new promotions or job openings to your highlights when they are coming up. But as these events end, be sure to remove them from your highlights so you don’t have stagnant, irrelevant content upsetting the user experience. \nMaintain consistency\nKeep some visual consistency across your highlights. This will show that you really know what you’re doing and provide a richer user experience that won’t create a disconnect when your followers are switching between highlights. \nFor your album covers especially, keep some consistency for the overall aesthetic flow of your Instagram profile. \nUse tags to get more views\nTag locations and relevant profiles in the stories that you choose to highlight. This will help you get more viewers for those particular highlights and ideally help increase your following and brand awareness. 

How to use Instagram Story Highlights to market your small business

In this article:\nWhat is a promoted Tweet?\nWhy you need Twitter for Business\nBest practices for Twitter advertising\nHow to promote a Tweet on your business account\nOther forms of social media advertising that you should try\nTwitter is a huge resource for sharing news and getting updates in real time. Because of this, it’s the perfect place to connect with industry leaders and customers who have a relevant interest for your business. \nHowever, with the average lifespan of a Tweet being around 18 minutes, it’s easy for your Twitter messages to get lost in the crowd. \nPromoting your Tweets\n can help you get more exposure and traffic. Read on to learn more about promoted Tweets and how you can set them up on your business Twitter account. \nWhat is a promoted Tweet?\nA promoted Tweet is the same—content wise—as any other Tweet. You still have your 280-character limit (since late 2017) and can add an image to it if so desired. But, promoted Tweets can achieve a broader reach through paid amplification. You can choose your target audience, set a budget, and watch as your Tweet receives more engagement and traffic.  \nFirst, you need Twitter for Business\nBefore you can start any kind of Twitter promotion, you need to have a Twitter business account. \nGet started with our guide: \nHow to create a business Twitter account\nThen, you can begin promoting your Tweets and gaining more exposure for your brand on this highly popular social media giant. \nBest practices for advertising on Twitter\nAs with every marketing strategy, there are some best practices you should keep in mind to get the most benefits from your Twitter advertising campaign. \n1. Focus on the copy\nTwitter isn’t as visual a platform as Instagram, Pinterest, or even Facebook. Users engage more frequently with Tweets that tell a compelling story or bit of information through the written word. So be sure to write or source good copy for your Tweets that will compel users to engage with them. \n2. Use a strategy of continuous promotion, rather than a one-off\nMultiple exposures to promoted Tweets from the same brand can lead to a 10% lift in brand favorability compared to those who only saw one Tweet from the same brand or campaign. This shows that your business can benefit from a continuous Twitter promotion strategy to increase the exposure of your brand to potential customers.  \n3. Include a call to action\nDon’t promote a Tweet with no real purpose. Include a CTA (call-to-action) that will drive consumers into doing something, whether you are asking them to Retweet, respond, or visit your website. Catch their attention, and then ask them to do something. \n 4. Create timely messages\nAs mentioned, Tweets die quickly, so be sure to create a timely message that people will either be searching for already or will be interested in because they recently heard something about that message. Some great examples of this are big games in the sporting world, celebrity gossip, and political movements. \nTimely news related to your industry is always a good topic to test out in your advertising as well. \nThis can be a tall order for local, small businesses, but we’ve seen some very successful campaigns from places like cookie shops or other “cult” restaurants with varying menus. They tweet updates or specials to drive local business and get customers excited about this week’s flavors.\nHow to promote a Tweet on your business account\nNow that you have a Twitter account and a few good tips for your promotion strategy, let’s get started on promoting your first Tweet.\nWe’ll walk you through two options for creating a Tweet promotion: Quick Promote and the traditional promotion. \nQuick Promote is a good strategy if your Tweet already has a lot of engagement and you want to boost it even further without going through the process of creating an entire campaign. \nThe traditional method is a better option if you don’t already get a lot of traffic on Twitter and are just getting started. It also allows you more flexibility in your targeting and budget options. \nOption 1: Quick Promote\nStep 1: Log into your business Twitter account\nGo to \ntwitter.com\n and sign in. \nscreen capture of twitter login\n\nStep 2: Go to your business profile\nFind your profile icon on the left menu bar (if you’re using a desktop). Click on it to go to your business profile. \n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Select a Tweet that you want to promote\nNext, find a recent Tweet of yours that you want to promote, or create a new Tweet and then promote that one. Go to the tweet you want to promote and click the activity icon. \nThen, click “Promote your Tweet” in the window that pops up. \n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Promote your Tweet\nIn the next window, select a location for your Tweet to reach, choose your budget from the options provided, and click “Confirm Spend.”\n(Image)\n\nOption 2: The traditional method\nStep 1: Log into your business Twitter account\nGo to \ntwitter.com\n and sign in. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Go to Twitter Ads\nFind the three-dot icon on the left menu bar (if you’re using a desktop). Click on it and then click “Twitter Ads.”\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Create a campaign\nFind the “create campaign” button on the top right of your screen and click on it. \n(Image)\n\nSelect an objective for your new campaign. \n(Image)\n\nName your campaign and add a daily budget (and total budget if desired). Select a start and end date for your campaign. You can also choose to run the ad ongoing. Click “Next” in the top right corner. \n(Image)\n\nNext, you’ll set up an ad group. Ad groups are used to organize your ads within a single campaign. This allows you to have different targeting for different ads within the same campaign. \nName your ad group, add a start and end time if different from the campaign start and end time. Add a total group budget if different from the total campaign budget. Select your bid type–automatic or maximum–and click next. \nNote: Automatic bidding is the default option for Twitter ads, and Twitter will select how much an engagement is worth based on your budget. With the maximum bid option, you can choose how much a single engagement is worth to you. \n(Image)\n\nNext, it’s time to add audience targeting. \nStart by selecting the demographics that you wish to target: gender, ages, locations, languages, and type of device they use. \n(Image)\n\nThen, you can choose additional features for your audience, like specific interests or behaviors that they exhibit. When you’re done narrowing down your audience, click “Next” in the top right corner. \n(Image)\n\nNow it’s time to select the Tweet, or Tweets, that you want to promote in this campaign. \nChoose the Tweet(s) you want to promote and click “Next.”\n(Image)\n\nLastly, review all of the details of your campaign, make any last-minute edits if necessary, and launch your campaign. Go back to Twitter Ads periodically to see how your ads are performing. \n(Image)\nOther forms of social media advertising that you should try\nTwitter isn’t the only advertising platform that can help with brand awareness and gaining more online visibility for your business. Facebook and Instagram are also great channels to use to get more leads, awareness, and consideration for your brand. \nThe best part about Facebook and Instagram advertising is that (since Facebook owns Instagram) they are both run by the same platform: Facebook Ads Manager.\nTo create Facebook and Instagram ads for your business, check out our guide: \nHow to set up Facebook Ads Manager for your small business\n.\nSources:\n
\nhttps://blog.twitter.com/marketing/en_us/a/2013/nielsen-brand-effect-for-twitter-how-promoted-tweets-impact-brand-metrics.html\n

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