Rachel Karten, Social Media Consultant and creator of the Link in Bio Newsletter, has been in the industry for over a decade and knows quite a bit about the evolution of consumer-brand relations in the social world. She worked for brands like Bon Appétit and Plated and recently worked on the famous campaign at CAVA with Youtube star, Emma Chamberlain. 

Join us on Thursday, March 30th at 1 pm CT for a masterclass with Rachel Karten to learn how to best prepare for this next phase of social. 

You’ll leave this masterclass uncovering:

• Why your old social strategy will no longer work in the new era of social media
• How your brand can optimize social content for engagement
• 3 campaign examples from brands Rachel helped succeed and tactics you can implement now

Your Speakers:

The post Masterclass: How to Prepare Your Brand for a New Era in Social appeared first on Sprout Social.

“Goally helps ease the lives of families with neurodiverse individuals,” said Kaelyn Brooks, Digital Marketing Specialist at Goally. “We help parents focus more on the fun stuff with their kids, like goodnight kisses and playing outside, rather than nagging them through routine activities.”

To better understand the complex needs of parents with neurodiverse children, Goally turned to Sprout Social for help extracting actionable insights from social conversations across various channels, including TikTok. They’ve been using Sprout’s Listening tools since the beginning of 2022, and the insights gained so far are helping the company evolve its social media strategy. Sprout has empowered Goally to build brand awareness and connect more effectively with its primary target audience: parents.

Sprout’s Listening tools validate the company’s vision and help answer tough questions

Social listening is essential for helping Goally confirm it’s providing technology that’s truly helpful. “We’re a social impact company, and we care a lot about making life easier for neurodiverse families,” said Brooks. “So, we listen to what people need, and we pride ourselves on making products and implementing features based on what we hear from our customers. We don’t always get things right at first, but we learn how to make it right. We chase that with everything we’ve got, and we just listen.”

Using Sprout for social listening helped Brooks surface a common need of parents raising neurodiverse kids: They want to see their children become independent.

“That learning has really validated our vision as a company,” said Brooks. “We know the problem we’re chasing is real, and we’re providing a solution—a really good one, too. Education is often lacking in the world of neurodiversity, and people don’t know where to get information. Social media channels like TikTok offer a unique and accessible way for people to ask authentic questions and get answers.”

Using Sprout is well worth your time, energy and investment because it’s one of the most helpful tools to build a community. Sprout validates social media strategy like no other tool that I’ve found.

Kaelyn Brooks
Digital Marketing Specialist

Sprout helps Goally connect with influencers and drive conversions

While Facebook is important for conversation, and Instagram is valuable for getting how-to information, Brooks said TikTok is “the go-to place” for Goally’s audiences to learn how the company’s technology works.

“TikTok is a place to share authentic stories and build trust,” Brooks noted, adding that Sprout’s Listening tools helped her understand the value of authenticity to Goally’s audience. “When they get on TikTok, they don’t want to see dancing,” she said. “They want to see a mom sharing a story about a really hard experience she had that day or what a therapist said that really helped her kid. It’s authentic vlogging that’s found nowhere else.”

TikTok is also a place for making valuable connections with creators and influencers. Through Sprout, Goally has identified relevant influencers who are bolstering brand awareness and raised Goally’s profile on TikTok. Without using Sprout, Brooks wouldn’t have found one particular influencer who helped her connect with other key influencers. “Social influencers are vital to helping with our conversions,” said Brooks. “The last two times we’ve done a major influencer push on TikTok, we saw the number of users on our website with intent to buy increase by about 4%.”

According to Brooks, Goally also saw its branded search rate increase 58% during its social influencer push in August 2022—compared to January 2022, when the company first started using Sprout. “Our subscriptions also increased 89% during the month of August when we were using TikTok and Instagram influencer campaigns,” said Brooks.

Goally is using Sprout to track follower trends, which has helped them confirm that TikTok is a place they need to stay active. “Since April 2022, we’ve been consistently growing at 254% month over month, every month. As of December, we have more than 3,000 followers,” Brooks said. “That’s pretty small compared with most companies, but it’s a really big deal for us.”

The increase in Goally’s follower count on TikTok has been rapid since we started using Sprout. That’s given us a reason to stay on TikTok—because we’re finding that there are people incredibly interested in what we’re posting there, and they’re really quick to hit ‘follow.

Kaelyn Brooks
Digital Marketing Specialist

Sprout’s Smart Inbox enables personalized customer care and engagement

Sprout’s Smart Inbox has been especially valuable for keeping on top of Goally’s audience engagement.

If someone comments on a TikTok that we posted two months ago, I could easily miss it if I didn’t have Sprout’s Smart Inbox. It helps us make sure people feel like they’re being heard. With Sprout, I’m certain every single person who comments on our posts, whether new or old, is replied to and cared for quickly and easily.

Kaelyn Brooks
Digital Marketing Specialist

Sprout helps Brooks decrease the amount of time she dedicates to answering questions and chasing comments on individual platforms—which gives her more time for campaign planning and data collection. “I estimate that my productivity has increased by at least 50% since I started using Sprout’s Smart Inbox,” said Brooks.

As for measurement and reporting, Goally uses Sprout to track engagement rates and impressions, both organic and paid. Most of this data is tracked monthly, but Brooks and her team run reports more often to determine the effectiveness of a particular campaign or test new ideas.

Build genuine connections with your community

Brooks harnessed Sprout’s Listening tools to connect Goally’s product development to the needs of their target audience, forge influencer partnerships and improve community engagement.

Learn how Sprout Social can help your team foster impactful relationships with your followers. Request your free demo today.

The post How Sprout Social helps Goally engage with and learn from parents of neurodiverse children appeared first on Sprout Social.

Chances are at least one person you know shares your enthusiasm for that place. And you’ve probably told a handful of other people about it, too. Maybe, you’ve even left that business a review. Or, helped them get new customers in exchange for a discount or freebie.

Referral marketing is a powerful tool that can help you leverage your existing customers and fan base to build relationships with new ones. By tapping into your customers’ networks, you can quickly reach potential prospects who are eager to learn about your business.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about referral marketing, its benefits and how to create a successful referral marketing program.

Table of contents:

• • What is referral marketing
  • Why referral marketing is important
  • How does referral marketing work
  • Referral marketing strategies
  • Types of referral marketing

What is referral marketing?

Referral marketing is a form of advertising in which businesses encourage customers to recommend their services, products or experiences to other people. Unlike word-of-mouth marketing, which relies on people spontaneously sharing information, referral marketing is a deliberate strategy involving incentives and rewards for customers in exchange for successful referrals.

For example, a company may offer a discount or special promotion to customers who successfully refer their products to someone else. Or, they might partner with an influencer or offer an affiliate program to incentivize people to promote their products. This not only encourages people to share product information but also to become active participants in the marketing process by finding potential leads and providing referrals.

The best part of referral marketing programs is they don’t just benefit companies–customers also reap the rewards of their efforts. This makes referral programs an excellent way to build loyalty, as well as increase your customer base.

Why referral marketing is so important

Referral marketing is an effective way to attract new customers and increase sales. Here are a few reasons your business should consider having an active referral marketing program.

Little to no cost

There are very few upfront costs to this strategy. All you need is a passionate customer base, a strategic plan and some creative referral marketing ideas. 

Now, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t reward your customers for their referrals. Offering incentives like discounts or free products helps to encourage people to spread the word about your business. Be sure to factor in some costs for incentives and planning.

High customer lifetime value

A study from the Wharton School of Business shows that referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than average customers. This means that over time, customers who come via a referral will bring more revenue to your business than those you acquire elsewhere.

Remember, every customer you bring in costs your business money, whether from advertising, discounts or other marketing techniques. If referral customers have a higher lifetime value than the ones acquired through paid channels, they can pay off those costs more quickly and help your business save money in the long run.

Likelihood of conversion

Referral marketing often leads to higher conversion rates than more traditional forms of advertising. With word-of-mouth referrals, customers receive personalized recommendations from someone they trust. This makes them more likely to take action on the recommendation and purchase.

According to data from McKinsey, 63% of GenZ consumers say that recommendations from friends are their most trusted source for learning about products and brands.

Establishes trust

Humans trust other humans. That’s just a fact. Think about it, if you’re looking for a new product or service, it’s much more likely you’ll purchase if you get a recommendation from someone you know. You might even read online reviews before you buy, to make sure you’re getting exactly what you expect.

We often call this social proof, which is the idea that if people around us are doing something, it must be alright to do it as well. It’s why people stand in line for the latest Jordans, or why Supreme drops are such a big hit. They aren’t necessarily offering the best product on the market, but it’s the most coveted because everyone else is buying it.

How does referral marketing work

Referral marketing encourages customers to promote a company’s products or services in exchange for some type of reward. This could be discounts, free items or other perks that make it worth their while to do so.

B2B and B2C businesses may need to approach their referral marketing strategies a bit differently. Here’s a quick breakdown of both strategies.

B2B referral marketing programs

B2B businesses are no strangers to a long sales process. It requires in-depth research, months of vetting and gaining the trust of multiple stakeholders to finalize a deal.

A 2023 study found that 82% of B2B sales leaders believe that referrals generate the best leads. That makes referral marketing programs essential for B2B businesses.

If you want to build out your B2B referral program, there are a few ways to go about it. If your business sells products, you could start by offering incentives like discounts to customers who refer you to their colleagues. Or, you could offer a loyalty program where customers receive rewards points for referring you to their peers. Check out Sprout’s Partnership Program as an example.

If you’re running a service-based business, consider offering timed service discounts. For example, a free day or free month. You can also offer credits for future purchases or services.

Remember, referrals don’t have to come only from customers. Accepting referrals from other businesses in exchange for discounts or rewards is a great way to generate new leads. Consider who in your field may be looking for referrals and create a referral marketing program that benefits both parties.

If you’re a SaaS company, you may want to partner with a tool that fills a gap in your offering and offer customers a discount for signing up for both platforms. Similarly, if you’re selling machine parts, partner with a delivery company that can fulfill orders for your clients and provide them discounts for choosing that shipping method.

B2C referral marketing strategies

B2C businesses are perfectly positioned to take advantage of referral marketing because they have a direct relationship with their customers.

One of the best referral marketing ideas for B2C companies is to offer rewards in exchange for referrals. This could be a discount code, free product, gift card or another incentive that encourages customers to tell their friends and family about your company.

You can also incentivize customers with loyalty programs, where they earn points for each referral or purchase their referee makes. This allows customers to save up points over time and redeem them for discounts, exclusive offers or other rewards.

Email campaigns are also an effective referral marketing strategy. By including social sharing buttons in your emails, you allow customers to share your products, news and offerings quickly and easily.

The most important thing to remember when creating a referral program is that it should be an integral part of the customer experience. Referrals should be included in every customer touchpoint, from website navigational menus to the checkout page. Similarly, be sure to integrate your referral program with other critical systems, such as your CRM, eCommerce technology and point-of-sale systems, so you can keep track of all referral activity.

Referral marketing strategies

If you’re looking to get started with referral marketing, there are a few core concepts you should understand.

1. Create shareable content

The best referral marketing programs go beyond just providing discounts or rewards for successful referrals. Your program should also include content that is easy to share, such as blog posts, helpful guides and interesting video clips that potential customers can use to help them decide whether your product or service is right for them.

As well, make sure your posts are easy to share. That means adding social media sharing buttons, such as a “Share to Facebook” button, on your website, blog posts and email marketing campaigns.

2. Provide excellent customer service

The backbone of any successful referral marketing program is excellent customer service. If your customers are happy with their purchase, they’re more likely to recommend you and share their positive experiences with others.

You can provide exceptional customer service in a number of ways:

• Give customers the option to contact you directly via phone call, text message, email or live chat.
• Have a well-trained customer service team that can quickly and effectively answer any questions, concerns or complaints.
• Make refunds, exchanges and shipping as simple as possible.
• Answer all feedback on your social channels promptly.

The better the experience customers have, the more likely they are to become loyal customers and refer others to our business.

3. Define your goals

Goals give businesses direction and help measure success. When building out your referral marketing program, think about what success looks like to you. Ask yourself questions like:

• How many referrals should our program generate?
• What kind of customers do we want to connect with through referrals?
• Are there any geographic areas we’d like to target?

Once you know what you want to achieve, you can focus on tactics to help get you there. For example, if you want to target customers in a specific area, you might try offering coupons only to people in that location. If you’re looking to connect with people outside of your direct network, partnering with an influencer or influencer marketing platform can help you reach a broader audience.

4. Plan your campaign

With your goals in mind, it’s time to plan your referral marketing program. This includes choosing the right platform, setting up tracking and analytics tools, crafting an email strategy to encourage referrals and developing incentives that will motivate customers to share your brand with their friends.

Some things to consider when planning your campaign include:

• How long will the program run?
• What types of rewards will you offer for referrals?
• How will customers track their referrals and collect rewards?
• Will there be any restrictions on where people can share your referral link?
• How will you measure success and track ROI?

Once you have a plan in place, you can get creative with your referral marketing ideas. From creative email campaigns to social media contests, there are many ways to spread the word about your company.

Types of referral marketing

There are several types of referral marketing that you can use to promote your business. Here are some of the most popular.

Direct

Direct referrals involve asking your existing customers to refer people they know. You can use email or even in-person events to ask for referrals. You can also consider hiring a brand ambassador to present your company to a broader audience.

Incentivized 

Incentives are a great way to encourage customers to refer their friends. Who doesn’t want more of a product they already love? Referral marketing incentives can include discounts, free products or cash rewards. If you offer incentives, make sure they are generous enough to be enticing and promote loyalty among customers.

Email

There are more than 4 billion active email users worldwide, making it one of the most powerful tools in your referral marketing arsenal. With email marketing, you can send personalized messages to customers and prospects to inform them about promotions or referral programs. You can also use email newsletters to keep contacts up-to-date on new products and services.

Reviews

According to a recent customer survey, 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. This means that it’s important to nurture and cultivate a positive online reputation through customer reviews. You can encourage customers to post reviews on your website, Google My Business page or other review sites like Yelp. Or, build up your Amazon review ratings for products that you offer.

Social

Social media can be a powerful referral marketing tool. Your advocates can share their experiences with your brand, post promotional content and messages or even host live streams to engage with other customers and prospects. 

You can create a referral program with special incentives for people who refer new customers or reward loyal followers for engaging with you on social media. Just make sure you’re using a custom URL or hashtag when customers make referrals so you can track and measure the success of your program.

Increase referrals by finding your brand advocates

Brand advocates aren’t always easy to come by. Luckily, there are resources available to help you identify and reach out to potential brand advocates.

If you’re feeling stuck figuring out campaign strategies, check out our list of marketing campaign ideas to help get you started.

The post Referral marketing: What it is and how to use it successfully appeared first on Sprout Social.

Social media is constantly giving itself a makeover and has changed dramatically over the last few years. This Instagram-born brand has had to evolve its social media strategy along with it.

Join Glossier’s Jamie Dinar, Senior Manager of Social Media & Digital Content, as she reflects on the past year and unveils how the brand will continue to evolve its approach in 2023 and beyond. You’ll hear about:

• How to adjust your social strategy to remain relevant
• Why community-building is the foundation of Glossier’s brand & how to do it well
• Top tips for TikTok & social ecommerce

The post How Glossier Contours Their 2023 Social Strategy Around TikTok, Community & More appeared first on Sprout Social.

Traditionally associated with gamers, the platform has gone mainstream.

Today the seven year-old company has grown to more than 300 million registered users.

This adoption of Discord is part of a much broader trend. Gen Z, in particular, is opting to spend time in smaller, private online communities.

According to the Harvard Business Review, “…even before Covid-19, Gen Z was eschewing traditional social media for ‘digital campfires,’ more intimate online destinations where they private message or connect either in micro-communities or larger shared experiences.”

Marketers, creators and community builders looking to future proof themselves should take a moment to reflect—are you part of that “digital campfire?”

The answer is likely…no.

So, how do you get started and what role should Discord serve in your audience engagement strategy?

What is Discord and what role does it play?

Discord is not a traditional social media platform. It’s not a place for organic growth and awareness. Instead, it is a community platform.

A Discord server is a hub. Its driving purpose is to deepen relationships with existing, hard core fans and evangelists.

This distinction is critical.

Brands on Discord should focus on two things. First, providing experiences that are unique and cannot be replicated elsewhere. Second, should be facilitating connections and conversations amongst community members.

It’s this deeper sense of community that has brands such StockX, Skittles and Chipotle flocking to the platform. The CMO of StockX, Deena Bahri, explained in Adweek, “The customer is looking for more—more engagement, more dialogue, more input—and Discord is one of the platforms offering that.”

The most active Discord servers have chats occurring across multiple channels 24/7. The pace at which conversations occur within Discord tend to be much quicker than other platforms.

Users participate in chats, have video and/or audio calls, screen share and send direct messages to one another. Topics within a Discord server are organized around “channels,” which ensures conversations are focused and easy to navigate.

All this to say, setting up a Discord community may require more attention and investment to reach fewer people. However, there’s a tradeoff. Those people and that community (when cultivated carefully) will build a deeper relationship with your company. Discord allows for a two-way conversation between the brand and its community, making them feel like they are part of the organization—not just end customers.

How do you set up a Discord server?

To start a new Discord server, click the plus sign below the server icons on the left side of the screen.

From there you can create a server from scratch or choose a template.

The templates give you a list of channels to start with that you can edit if you want.

Once you’ve selected your template (or lack thereof) you’ll be prompted to select your server name and upload an icon.

Congrats. Now you have a Discord server.

After you’ve created your server, you’ll need to create channels.

There are two types of channels: text and voice. Text is for all written and image-based conversation, while voice can be voice and/or video.

Regardless of the type of channels you create, you’ll want them to be focused around your community’s interests. This is where community members will congregate to interact with you (and one another) around the selected topics.

To ensure you cultivate a welcoming community you may want to create a rules page for new members. You can also create and assign roles for your community members. Roles determine a member’s admin permissions and as the community expands you could assign moderator status to users you trust.

Regardless, these are details you can finesse and refine over time.

How do you nurture a Discord community?

Great communities start as small communities.

It’s counterintuitive but true. With Discord, in particular, it’s about depth vs breadth. Especially, when you’re starting out. Here are three tips to consider as you build and engage your audience on the platform:

1. Identify your inaugural class

You may want to hand select the initial members you want to have join the community. Or, at least limit the initial number of members. This will allow you to refine your community management process and work out any kinks.

So who should join initially?

Are there avid fans of your brand? Who is regularly commenting on your social posts or creating content promoting your brand?

These brand evangelists make ideal members. They’re going to be excited about the opportunity.

2. Plan your content (and conversation starters)

Now that you’ve got your initial community, it’s time to activate them.

Ask yourself, what access and/or exclusives can you provide?

Inspire community activity by prompting (and sustaining) conversations within your server.

Develop a content calendar to ensure a steady drumbeat of activity and discussions. Ideally, surprise and delight your community so they feel like they’re spending their time wisely and have a reason to keep coming back.

Maybe your CEO or founder is admired by the community. Perhaps your brand has a big celebrity or influencer ambassador. Any of these would make exciting AMAs.

Exclusive first looks at products would also make a great incentive, and provide an opportunity to get valuable consumer feedback before a big launch.

You’ll want to focus on activities designed to spark high levels of engagement. Create momentum via a steady drumbeat of activity. Remember, it takes time for visiting a community to become a habit.

3. Test and learn, then loosen the reigns

During the early stages of cultivating a community, most activities will need to be prompted by you. Invest in fostering relationships with these early members. Get feedback and identify what keeps them engaged. Apply their input and test what works.

Ultimately, this is all being done to ensure the community is a worthwhile experience when you scale.

Once the community finally reaches a tipping point where the majority of conversation is not being prompted by you, that’s a sign to start adding more members and scale.

If your brand has accomplished this, you’ll have developed a truly meaningful Discord community.

Is it worth it? Should your brand invest in developing a Discord community?

Ultimately, it depends on your goals as a brand. An apt analogy would be comparing Discord to a house party. It’s a private and intimate affair. Whereas Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter is like a Vegas nightclub – a place to see and be seen.

Sure, they’re both parties, but they’re drastically different experiences.

If you’re looking for a platform that will help you quickly grow your audience, Discord isn’t it. But if you have the resources to invest in building a long-term community of people who can amplify and advocate for your brand, Discord is absolutely the place to be.

“Audience” and “community” are no longer interchangeable in the world of social. Read more to find out why.

The post Is a Discord community right for your brand? appeared first on Sprout Social.

In this post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about moderating and editing your YouTube comments.

Why businesses should monitor their YouTube comments

If you’re wondering whether you really need to monitor your YouTube comments, here are three compelling reasons why you should:

• YouTube comments can help you gauge customer sentiment. How do your customers respond to your content? Positively? Negatively? Not at all? Monitoring your comments can help you understand how customers feel about your brand.
• YouTube comments present an opportunity for engagement. Responding quickly to negative comments could help you improve your image—not just with an unhappy customer, but also with other YouTube viewers who see how you respond to conflict. Engage with positive commenters, too, and you might turn happy customers into brand evangelists.
• YouTube comments could help you develop new content. YouTube users aren’t shy about expressing their opinions. Pay attention to what they’re saying about your content, and you can develop new content that they want to see.

How to see your comment notifications on YouTube

There are three ways you can find comments on your YouTube videos:

1. You can see viewer comments by scrolling down to the comments section on any of your videos. YouTube comments always appear below each video on both mobile and desktop.
2. You can also see the newest comments by checking your notifications. On both mobile and desktop, view your most recent notifications by clicking the alarm bell icon at the top of the screen.
3. Alternatively, you can see all your comments and mentions in YouTube Studio. On desktop, navigate to YouTube Studio and on the left side of your screen, click Comments.

There, you can sort comments by helpful metrics and qualities such as:

• Whether you’ve responded to them
• If the comment contains specific text
• If the comment contains a question

To manage YouTube comments on mobile, you’ll need to download the YouTube Studio app. Similar to desktop, the mobile version shows you your latest comments on your dashboard or you can find them when you navigate to the Comments tab.

How to see your YouTube comment history

If you want to know how frequently your brand has been engaging with your audience, you might want to see your comment history. YouTube keeps a record of every comment your account has ever posted.

Follow the steps below to find your complete list of comments.

For desktop devices:

1. Navigate to History on the left side of your screen. This will show you your watch history by default.
   
2. Then, navigate to the right of your screen and click Comments under Manage all history.
   

On mobile:

1. Open the YouTube app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the top right corner of your screen.
3. On the left side, click on Select your data in YouTube.
4. Under Your YouTube dashboard, click on Comments.

Why edit YouTube comments

We all make mistakes—and the good news is, YouTube lets you edit your comments. Consider editing a YouTube comment if:

You made a typo

Misspelled something or made a grammatical error? No big deal—that’s nothing an edit can’t fix!

You didn’t use the correct tone in your response

Not proud of how you came across? Editing your comment can help you better communicate what you’re trying to express.

You need to update an earlier statement

If you made a comment in haste, or circumstances have changed, edit your comment so that you don’t mislead anyone.

How to edit YouTube comments

There are two ways to edit YouTube comments.

The first way is to open the video you commented on. This works best if you already know the exact video that has the comment you’d like to change:

1. Tap or click on the three vertical gray dots that appear on the top right corner of your comment. You’ll see an option to Edit or Delete.
   
2. Click Edit to change your comment.
3. Input your edits. When you’re finished, click Save.

Alternatively, you can:

1. Visit your comment history to go to the comment you want to edit.
2. When you’ve found the comment, click on the hyperlink to the video or its thumbnail.
3. Once the video opens in a separate tab, find your comment below it.
4. Click on the three vertical gray dots and click Edit.
5. Input your edits. When you’re finished, click Save.

How to delete a YouTube comment

Deleting comments follows the same series of steps as editing.

• On desktop and mobile: Navigate to the comment you want to delete directly, click on the three vertical dots and click Delete.
• On desktop only: Visit your comment history and click on the hyperlink or video thumbnail next to the comment you want to delete. YouTube will open the video in a separate tab. From there, navigate directly to your comment to delete it.

How to disable comments on YouTube

Comments can sometimes be overwhelming. While it’s important to know how to respond to social media comments, there may be times when you need to disable comments altogether. Whether you need to disable them to stop arguments, harassment or because you don’t have a dedicated moderator, here’s how to disable YouTube comments.

Disabling comments on a specific video on mobile

If there’s one video on your channel that’s flooded with comments, you have the option to disable comments on that video only. If you’re considering disabling comments, we recommend doing so on specific videos before disabling them across your entire channel.

1. Open the YouTube Studio app.
2. Click on Content.
3. Click on the thumbnail of the video.
4. Click on the pencil icon at the top of the screen.
5. Click on More options at the bottom of the menu that appears.
6. Under Comments, select Disable comments.

Disabling comments on a specific video on desktop

1. Visit YouTube Studio on desktop.
2. On the left navigation, click Content.
3. Click on the video.
4. After Audience, click on Show more.
5. Scroll down to Comments and ratings.
6. Select Disable comments.

On both desktop and mobile, you have the option to select Hold all comments for review. This won’t prevent anyone from commenting, but you’ll need to review and approve each comment before it appears under your video. We recommend this option if you have the time or resources to review all comments.

Disabling comments on your entire channel

Disabling comments on your entire channel is an extreme move, but it may be necessary at times. For example, if your brand is in the midst of managing a public relations crisis, or your comment moderator is on vacation, you might want to disable comments.

1. Go to YouTube Studio on desktop.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Community.
4. Click on the Defaults tab.
5. Under Comments on your channel, select Disable comments.

If you decide to disable comments across your entire channel, consider doing so as a temporary measure.

What are the benefits of disabling YouTube comments?

Whether you disable comments on a single video or across your entire channel, there are pros and cons to doing so. Consider these main points before you and your team take further action.

Pros of disabling YouTube comments

1. Prevent people from spreading harmful messaging. YouTube comment threads can get hostile. By turning them off, you’ll prevent trolls from leaving harmful comments.
2. Better control your brand’s narrative. When the public can’t interject with their views and ideas, you have more control over your brand’s image. This is important if you plan to promote your YouTube channel.
3. Alleviate your moderation team’s workload. If you’re a team of one or overwhelmed with the number of comments even with a large team, disabling comments will help reduce the workload.

Cons of disabling YouTube comments

1. Your brand may appear to be less trustworthy. Turning off comments may give people the impression that your brand is not interested in feedback.
2. You might frustrate your viewers that want to leave positive comments. Censoring the public’s ability to leave comments doesn’t just prevent negative comments, it prevents positive ones, too. Viewers that are loyal to your channel or enjoy your content may feel alienated by your decision to turn off comments.
3. Your channel may suffer a greater drop in engagement. Comments are a notable part of your engagement metrics. Your videos might not rank as well in search or suggestions if you turn off comments.

How to turn on comments on YouTube

If you’ve disabled or turned off your YouTube comments, you can turn them back on whenever you’re ready.

If you disabled comments for your entire channel:

1. Go to YouTube Studio on desktop.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Community.
4. Click on the Defaults tab.
5. Under Comments on your channel, select Allow all comments.

How to turn on comments for a specific YouTube video on mobile:

1. Open the YouTube Studio app.
2. Click on Content.
3. Click on the thumbnail of the video you want to restore comments on.
4. Click on the pencil icon on the top of the screen.
5. Click on More options at the bottom of the menu that appears.
6. Under Comments, select Allow all comments.

How to turn comments on for a specific YouTube video on desktop:

1. Visit YouTube Studio on desktop.
2. On the left navigation, click Content.
3. Click on the video that you want to enable contents on.
4. After Audience, click on Show more.
5. Scroll down to Comments and ratings.
6. Select Allow all comments.

Work smarter when it comes to YouTube content

Depending on how popular your YouTube channel is, managing comments can turn into a full-time job. In addition to knowing how to turn comments on and off, it’s also important to establish a strategy for comment moderation and responses.

Looking to manage your YouTube comments more effectively? Download our free video metrics cheat sheet to help you optimize your video content strategy and make the most out of your YouTube community management.

The post YouTube comments: A complete guide appeared first on Sprout Social.

When users scroll through TikTok, the brands that are truly “killing it” are creating content that’s as entertaining as it is authentic–making the audience feel closer to the brand. This trends away from the often polished and perfect posts we’re used to seeing from businesses on other social media platforms.

Join Sprout Social’s Jonathan Zuluaga and Sarah Corley as they discuss: 

• How valuable TikTok can be for your business 
• The TikTok audience
• Top TikTok marketing tips for brands

The post How to Explain the Business Value of TikTok to Your Boss [Webinar] appeared first on Sprout Social.

If you joined Facebook in the mid-2000s or Instagram in the early 2010s, your goal was probably to see what your friends were up to. But let’s say you joined later, during the rise of the influencer. Your reasoning might have been to keep up with news or the latest trends, with a side of keeping tabs on people you went to high school with. If you picked up TikTok during the pandemic, you might have been looking for a lockdown diversion—a goal that TikTok recognizes as it brands itself as an “entertainment platform” rather than a social media platform.

What is social media? If brands, creators and audiences are logging in for entirely different reasons, where is the commonality? As platforms and the preferences of those using them change, so too should our working definition.

Are you consuming or communicating?

In the social media world, there’s a lot of talk about audiences and communities. We see these terms interchangeably, but they’re very different.

Think about an audience watching a play. They’re clapping, laughing and crying at the appropriate times—but they’re not part of the show. They may ask questions at the cast Q&A afterward and the actors might adjust their performance based on how it’s being received, but realistically the script doesn’t change based on audience input. The audience is there to be entertained, informed or persuaded, not to join the dialogue.

Now think of a community, like a small town. Everyone has a part to play–the doctor, the grocer, the teacher or the firefighter. All of those parts interact with each other to form a functioning town. If people stop playing their parts, the community stagnates. Everyone is incentivized to connect with each other and those interactions strengthen the community.

Communities and audiences have distinct dynamics. In both scenarios, everyone is connecting with other people–audience members have a shared experience and community members are working together–but they’re doing it in different ways. As the social landscape matures and mimics real-world interactions, platforms are picking up on the different ways users want to join in and are creating features to cater to those needs.

What are you watching?

If an audience is like a theater full of people, the goal is to keep them entertained as long as possible. Audience-centric platforms are constantly creating and refining features to keep users on the app and coming back for more.

Algorithms run the show

Who hasn’t had the experience of seeing a Reel or TikTok video that’s so specific, you start to wonder whether the app has scanned your inner thoughts? That’s the work of the algorithm. This top-down distribution approach is a hallmark of audience-based platforms. When you log in, you don’t necessarily decide what you see, the algorithm does that for you.

Audience-based platforms feed audiences content they’ll theoretically enjoy while fine-tuning the recipe based on their reactions. TikTok is especially skilled at this concept, with a For You page entirely curated by their algorithm.

Creating value with creators

If audience-centered social media is a play, creators are the actors. Creators thrive on audience-based platforms because their goal is to produce content that entertains, informs and persuades. It’s no surprise then that marketers’ top goal when working with creators is to reach new audiences.

Companies like Meta are taking notice. Facebook is shifting its focus from news to creators with a billion-dollar investment in creator functions while Instagram is placing more creator content within its new feed with suggested posts.

Keeping up with your community

In a small town, people know each other, interact with each other and rely on each other. Community platforms work in the same way, putting the focus on interpersonal relationships. There are few passive observers in a community. Everyone has a role.

Room to grow

Community platforms and features leave space for real conversation. Instead of simply commenting on posts, you’re conversing about topics. A creator or brand marketer might start the conversation, but the community members dictate where it goes. Geneva and Niche are the latest examples of these apps, offering chatroom-esque spaces where people can gather over shared interests. A host might create a specific group or channel, but after they create it, it belongs to everyone.

Source

Content democracies

A community’s values and priorities unfold organically–there’s no edict dictating what matters most. Community-based platforms are the same way.

While audience-based platforms use algorithms to distribute content to individuals based on their interests, community platforms let users decide what conversations take priority. Reddit’s upvoting system is a prime example of this. Users thumbs up or thumbs down content based on relevance and resonance, with the highest ranking content rising to the top. This system lets communities decide amongst themselves which conversations are worth having and encourages users to engage with their peers.

Aligning with the platform

Brands have known for a while that all platforms aren’t created equal. But as the split between audience and community becomes more distinct, marketers need to more closely align with the platforms and features they use—whether they’re staffing social teams, producing content or measuring success.

Audience-based content should be focused on keeping the audience engaged. This top-down approach to content is more traditional. The brand Tweets, people like and retweet, and the cycle continues. Apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are excellent avenues for top-down content intended to dazzle.

Community-based content is less produced. Brands need to have a strong brand voice, but they can’t be prescriptive. Some brands are flocking to Geneva for focus groups, ambassador programs or general community building while others are creating conversations in existing communities through Ask Me Anything (AMAs) on Reddit. The main thing to remember with community content is that your brand isn’t in charge. It’s a democratic process and you’re just there to get the conversation started.

What’s my motivation?

Social media is and always will be an evolving category. As definitions shift and platforms dig deeper into their niches, marketers have to keep an eye on what’s motivating users to sign onto the service.

By keeping your customer or prospect’s motivation at the forefront of your social media strategy, you’ll always be able to deliver timely, relevant content in a way that speaks to them. The new subcategories of social give brands an opportunity to be more intentional about how and where they show up online, and what success looks like.

Want to know more about what consumers want? Check out the Sprout Social 2022 Index™ for the latest on consumer and marketer trends in social.

The post Audiences or communities? Defining the new social media landscape appeared first on Sprout Social.

Giveaways and contests boost your follower count, convert leads, amplify brand awareness and increase loyalty.

In this article, we take you through how to launch a social media giveaway or contest and share 12 ideas that will help you connect with your audience and convert customers.

What are social media giveaways and contests?

Before we jump into examples, let’s review what social media giveaways and contests are and why your brand should create one.

What is a social media giveaway?

During social media giveaways, brands, influencers and creators ask people to complete a task (such as tagging their friends, following accounts and liking or sharing posts) for a chance to win a prize.

Giveaway winners are selected at random, which means it’s fair game for all entrants. Giveaways help you reach a wider audience, so they’re a strong platform for promoting new product launches and brand partnerships.

What is a social media contest?

During social media contests, people are challenged to submit their best versions of an assigned task, like their best photo, caption or answer.

The winner(s) of the contest receive a prize based on their performance, which means your most creative or talented followers have an advantage. Challenging your followers to be creative sets the scene for you to foster relationships, build a niche community and source user-generated content.

Why your brand should create a giveaway or contest

At a time when short-form video is dominating social feeds, it can be a challenge to create marketing campaigns consumers will actually engage with. Views are great. But engagements are a sign you’re creating enduring customer relationships.

That’s where social giveaways and contests come in. They have the power to:

• Increase your follower account: You can ask someone to like or follow you as a way of participating.
• Convert leads: Request people sign up or submit their entry by completing a form on your website. Ask for their name, email address and other relevant information.
• Amplify brand awareness: By partnering with different brands or influencers, you tap into a new audience and increase your reach.
• Increase brand loyalty: If you offer exciting prizes and opportunities, your followers will stay tuned for more in the future—especially if you continue to reward your superfans.

How to run a social media giveaway or contest

Now you know the benefits of running a social media giveaway or contest, so let’s go through the steps to launch one.

1. Set your goals and decide your giveaway or contest type

Determine whether you’re trying to increase social media followers, generate more leads, retain customers or bolster brand awareness. Use your goal type to shape your giveaway or contest.

2. Pinpoint your budget and prizes

What is your marketing department willing to spend on the contest or giveaway? If you plan on doing these regularly—to keep your followers excited and engaged—ensure you include them in your annual budget.

Once you know the budget, you can distribute it between ads and prize costs. Decide if you’ll give away a product, cash prize or something else altogether. Choose a prize that’s relevant to your target audience so you’re attracting entrants that are most likely to convert.

3. Know your audience and choose the right platform

You need to know your audience demographics to determine which platform(s) to host your giveaway or contest.

Make sure to read and follow your chosen platform’s giveaway and contest guidelines, so your campaign is compliant.

4. Plan and run your giveaway or contest

Create a project plan that includes the following steps::

1. Chart your timeline, determine deliverables and set your rules.
2. Build your content and communication calendar.
3. Kick-off the giveaway or contest by alerting your audience and announcing your prize. Use a tagging tool like Sprout Social to track all outgoing content.
4. Run ads and cross-promote (e.g., on other social platforms, in your email newsletter and on your website) to increase your reach.
5. Watch the entries pour in.

Once your plan is approved, you’re ready to move forward and run your giveaway or contest.

5. Measure your results

The contest has ended, you’ve announced the winner and sent off their prize. It’s time to measure its performance based on the objectives you set earlier. How well did your social media contest or giveaway perform? Did you achieve your goal?

Use tools like Sprout Social’s platform-specific reports to collect all the data you need to measure hashtag and keyword use, follower count and engagement rate. This analysis can help you improve your future campaigns.

Social media giveaway ideas

Now that you have the tools to launch your giveaway, it’s time to find the right idea. Use these seven giveaways for inspiration.

1. Brand partnership bundle

A tried-and-true way to reach more of the right audience is to team up with brands they already follow to co-host a giveaway. Combine your resources to create the ultimate prize bundle. Employ a “follow to win” strategy by asking entrants to follow you and each of your partners.

Note: The best brand partnerships are between complementary brands who don’t compete with each other. Research which products your audience uses outside of your category, and assemble a dream team.

2. Travel to a dream destination

Doesn’t everyone fantasize about an all-expenses paid vacation? Your followers will flock to a travel giveaway. Tease it with photos from the destination and details about the accommodations.

3. Win a mystery box

The only thing people love more than free prizes? Free prizes with an element of surprise. Assemble a box full of mystery goodies to pique your audience’s interest. To keep the momentum going, ask the winner to film an unboxing video when they receive their prize.

4. Reward loyal customers

Encourage customers to join your loyalty program so they can get early access to your best deals and new products. To up the ante, give premium freebies to those that enter within a certain timeframe.

5. Follower milestone giveaway

Thank your followers when you hit a major milestone. Whether you’re celebrating 100 or 100,000 followers, show you appreciate them to nurture loyal fans for the long haul.

6. Let friends get in on the fun

Encourage your followers to tag their friends in your comments section or send their pals your giveaway details via direct message. Word of mouth recommendations from friends and family are trusted and valued, so tapping into your brand evangelists will help increase your giveaway’s awareness.

7. Give back

According to the 2022 Sprout Social Index™, 71% of consumers think it’s important for brands to raise awareness and take a stand on social issues. Use your giveaway as a chance to donate to people or organizations in need.

Social media contest ideas

When a social media contest is the best choice for your brand objectives, turn to these five examples to inspire your winning idea.

8. Seasonal and holiday-themed contests

Whether it’s building the best gingerbread house, finding the most adorable Mother’s Day photo or filming the spookiest Halloween scare, people are eager to get in the holiday spirit. Seasonal contests are a timely way to drive engagement and highlight a product or service.

9. Award for best photo, caption or video

Ask your followers to share their creative passions with your brand—whether it’s a beautiful photo or a hilarious caption. Use this as an opportunity to source content that features people using or interacting with your product, service or location.

10. Complete a digital scavenger hunt

In today’s hybrid world, you can create a digital scavenger hunt for social media users all over the world. To kickoff your contest, make a list of challenges for entrants to complete. Have them submit photo or video proof after they finish each challenge or find the right items. Award people who submit the best content. Tie back the theme of your scavenger hunt to an ongoing campaign or upcoming event.

11. Win a trivia or guessing contest

Whether it’s testing their knowledge at a game of trivia or guessing how many objects are in a photo, people are keen to compete for prizes. Design a game related to your brand or product, and you will hit the engagement jackpot.

12. Submit an essay, story or poem

Host a writing contest to find talented writers who can help your brand tell a story. Award the winners with prizes, plus ask them to speak at an upcoming event—a great example of how contests can foster relationships offline, too.

Turn social media giveaway and contest entrants into customers

The true goal of giveaways and contests isn’t social media clout. It’s building genuine relationships with people.

What might seem like fun and games is actually the beginning of a connection that will keep consumers coming back for more. It’s part of the process of becoming a brand your audience loves and trusts.

Learn more about what people are looking for when they interact with brands on social by downloading the latest Sprout Social Index™: Social Media Trends for 2022 & Beyond.

The post 12 Social media giveaway ideas and contest examples for 2022 appeared first on Sprout Social.

According to the 2021 Sprout Social Index, 31% of customers prefer to leave feedback on social media—and Allegiant’s social-dedicated Customer Relations team knows the importance of staying on top of customer comments.

We have drastically increased how many messages we’re replying to across platforms, especially on Facebook. And we’re servicing more customers even though our team has been consistently the same size.

Alyssa Salazar
Customer Relations Manager

“Having social media allows us to respond to and help retain our customers, as well as build brand loyalty,” said Allegiant’s Customer Relations Manager Alyssa Salazar.

The airline industry has been hard-hit during the pandemic, with ticket sales dropping and customer needs skyrocketing. Since 2020, Sprout Social has helped Allegiant organize thousands of messages, collaborate more easily and focus on customer retention. Amid the pandemic, Sprout empowered Allegiant to continue to connect people.

Forwarding the gold (wings) standard of customer care with Instagram DMs

With around 15% of their customer inquiries coming through social, Allegiant’s team knows that a seamless customer care experience is crucial—to them and their customers.

Salazar manages a team of customer service agents who provide coverage seven days a week answering messages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The sharp increase in messages has meant an increased need for speed. In Q3 2019, the Customer Relations team responded to 8,185 messages across their social channels. In Q3 2021, that number nearly doubled to 14,490.

Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox helped them take off.

“We have drastically increased how many messages we’re replying to across platforms, especially on Facebook,” Salazar said. “And we’re servicing more customers even though our team has been consistently the same size.”

Having Instagram Direct Messages (DMs) in the Smart Inbox has also helped them, especially considering the fact that 35% of US consumers turn to Instagram for customer service. Salazar’s team used to answer Instagram messages natively on an iPad, limiting responsiveness and speed.

“Access to Instagram DMs has helped us tremendously,” Salazar said. “Our agents have all given us positive feedback about how this is pushing us forward, making our team more efficient and serving our customers faster.”

We have certain types of responses that we use for different questions. Tagging based on specific keywords clarifies what the issue or concern is about so we can quickly respond.

Alyssa Salazar
Customer Relations Manager

Tagging to avoid turbulent teamwork

With hundreds of messages divided across agents, staying organized is crucial. On top of maintaining speed with pre-crafted answer templates, Allegiant Air uses Sprout’s robust internal tagging capabilities to identify duplicate messages, prioritize DMs and organize workflows.

“When the agents start their day, they remove any duplicate messages and start assigning messages to themselves to work on,” Salazar said.

Using a tagging system featuring rules built around keywords helps them quickly identify what a customer needs and how to respond.

“We have certain types of responses that we use for different questions, so tagging based on specific keywords clarifies what the issue or concern is about so we can quickly respond.”

Building brand loyalty with customers on the ground and 30,000 feet up

“We’re not necessarily an everyday type of product,” said Content Marketing Specialist Tiana Schenk. “But we want to be top-of-mind when someone books a trip, so that we can connect travelers to the people, places and memories that matter most.”

It’s tough to build brand loyalty when your product isn’t one you use every day. “COVID-19 has definitely shifted how we operate and function as a company overall,” Salazar said.

Staying on top of inquiries on social has helped Allegiant better communicate options available to customers based on company policies and other factors. In some cases, that means offering customers options that allow them to maintain their ticket for later use, while allowing the airline to maintain crucial sales.

Sprout is also integral to another piece of the brand loyalty puzzle—celebrating customers who celebrate Allegiant. Sourcing and sharing user-generated content has become a smoother, more collaborative process between the Content Marketing and Customer Relations teams by assigning tasks in Sprout.

“When folks on the Customer Relations team interact with customers or when we search for content to publish on our social channels, having the ability to simply assign a task over to the Content Marketing folks so that we can ask for the rights to use those photos is a seamless process,” Schenk said.

Sprout Social helps Allegiant Air keep customer service flying high

With Sprout Social, Allegiant Air stays steady. Using the Smart Inbox has made their customer relations strategy and team collaboration smoother, giving them more time to focus on nurturing their social channels and customer loyalty. Above all, they’ve found new ways to put the customer first by more quickly identifying their needs.

If you’re interested in seeing how Sprout Social can help make your customer service team’s and customers’ experience more seamless, request a personalized demo or start your free 30-day trial today.

The post How Allegiant Air’s customer relations team is taking flight with Sprout Social appeared first on Sprout Social.