Holiday Marketing Campaigns: Tis the Season to Sparkle

The holiday season kicks off soon with the Christmas markets opening here in Europe.  The festive piazzas are packed with little wooden cottages, each decorated in red, white, and green.  The smell of cinnamon, evergreen, and fresh Christmas pastries wafts through the chilly evening air.  Personalized stockings and ornaments, mugs of mulled wine, and a little bit of holiday cheer.  Small, local brands with well-designed holiday marketing campaigns are capturing seasonal shoppers, and you can too.

We all remember those Budweiser holiday ads with the majestic Clydesdales pulling a Budweiser carriage through snowy landscapes.  The Hershey’s kisses in Christmas tree formation, ringing out ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ with the last kiss ringing the hardest, then wiping his ‘brow’ with the little Hershey-logoed paper.  Or my personal favorite, the Folgers’ ‘‘I’ll be Home for Christmas’ ads, where a young man or woman makes it home for the holidays, sneaks in, and brews a pot of coffee as the whole house wakes up to the aroma and they share a holiday moment together.  Sniff, sniff.

These holiday marketing campaigns make you smile.  They make you feel something for the brand while capturing the sentiment of homecoming, warmth, and family bonding that the holidays are known for.

Shopping Holidays: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, and Giving Tuesday

Snow is beginning to blanket the mountain tops here in northern Italy.  Puffy jackets are back.  Chestnuts are literally roasting over an open fire down the street!

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend, are still heavy hitters when it comes to holiday sales.  Even here in Europe. 

Sure, in Italy and the rest of Europe, Thanksgiving is not celebrated.  It’s a normal workday with no traditions, no turkey, no long weekend.  However, there are still promotions for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!  Therefore, if you are targeting an audience outside the U.S., include Black Friday and Cyber Monday in your marketing strategies.

In addition, there are several other ‘shopping holidays’ you can take advantage of:

• Small Business Saturday:  Started by American Express, encourages you to ‘Shop Local’
• Giving Tuesday: The Tuesday after Cyber Monday is a day for non-profits to start their end-of-year campaign push.
• Women-Led Wednesday: Supporting Women-owned businesses.

With so many opportunities to create a promotion that aligns your brand with the holidays, it is time to roll up your sleeves and get creative!  Our Holiday Marketing Campaign Guide is packed with lots of ideas you can start using today.  We’ve included holiday spending projections, top advertising channels, seasonal themes, pop-up events, and more.  Don’t wait for the snow to fall to start planning.  Let’s start under the mistletoe trailhead together!

Holiday Spending Projections in the U.S. and Europe

This year’s holiday spending is expected to continue an upward trend, but this is in part due to inflation, not just increased spending.  Total U.S. holiday retail sales are projected to hit $1.1 trillion.  That’s a 4.2% increase compared to 2025.  Spending on gifts for yourself is up, along with spending on travel and wellness.

In Europe, holiday spending is expected to grow 3% from last year.  Europeans are favoring “affordable luxuries”, such as beauty products, travel, vintage clothing, and live experiences.

Here’s more categories expected to see an increase:

• Experiential Purchases: Consumers are prioritizing adventures, wellness retreats, and travel.
• Outdoor Gear: Hiking gear, skiing equipment, all the gear for those family adventures!
• Sustainable Gifts and Giving Back: Eco-friendly, second-hand, and gifts that give back

In addition, there is a tug at the heartstrings of consumers, and they are more likely to contribute during end-of-year giving campaigns.  If you haven’t read our giving back blog, ‘Make a Charitable Donation and Get a Tax Write-Off’, bookmark it to read next!

All these holiday spending projections indicate a prime opportunity to tap into consumer demand through thoughtful holiday marketing campaigns.  Now is the time to gather the wagons and get creative!

The 4 Best Channels to Advertise Your Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Choosing the right channels for your holiday marketing campaigns is essential for reaching your target audience.  Especially during the busy holiday period!  Here are the top options that travel operators, outdoor and lifestyle brands should consider for the holidays:

1. Social Media Ads

Save a portion of your marketing budget to run more robust ads around the holidays instead of spending on social ads year-round.  Use Meta Business Suite to set up social ads across Facebook, Instagram, and all Meta platforms.

Keep in mind, Facebook is great for reaching an older demographic (45–60+ years old) who might be purchasing high-dollar travel or tour packages as gifts.  Instagram, however, is ideal for a slightly younger demographic who may be searching for discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for items $200 or less.  Finally, use TikTok to appeal to younger audiences, with video tutorials, gear reviews, or family adventure stories that resonate.

For your holiday marketing campaign assets, begin collecting visually appealing festive product shots and holiday-themed storytelling.  Lean on user-generated content by reaching out to your brand ambassadors to create holiday collaborations!

2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As people search for gifts for mom, dad, or the family pet, using Google Search Ads, PMax Campaigns, and good SEO can help get your products in front of those holiday shoppers.  Set up ads using keywords and key phrases to target those searching for the best gifts for outdoor lovers (yes, we’ve written a blog about this!), or last-minute holiday travel deals.  Write a blog with key phrases you want to rank for, like ‘best ski holiday packages’ and ‘winter vacation spots’!

Here’s a list of some other favorite key phrases you might want to start ranking for:

Gift Shopping & Ideas

• “Best holiday gifts for [specific person: mom, dad, kids, boyfriend]”
• “Unique Christmas gift ideas”
• “Last-minute holiday gifts”
• “Personalized gifts”
• “Gift cards online”

Deals & Discounts

• “Black Friday deals”
• “Cyber Monday deals”
• “Shop Small and Save”
• “Best online holiday shopping sites”
• “Cheap holiday flights”

Holiday Travel

• “Best winter vacation spots”
• “Holiday travel tips”
• “Holiday travel deals”
• “Warm places to visit in December”
• “Christmas market trips”

3. Email Marketing

That email list you’ve worked so hard to build is priceless.  Email remains one of the highest-converting channels for holiday promotions.  Outdoor brands, travel agents, and tour operators can create segmented campaigns based on past purchases, open rates, or reward their most frequent customers with an extra discount during the holidays!

If you are running a holiday fundraising campaign, email is your best friend in this effort.  Ensure you have a holiday marketing campaign strategy for Giving Tuesday!  Create engaging storytelling around the impact someone can have by making a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year.  Read more about why end-of-year giving is so important for non-profits and learn more about the best 501c3 organizations in the outdoor industry!

4. Tap into Brand Ambassadors & Partners for Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Partnering with outdoor and adventure-driven brand ambassadors as you enter into the holiday season can be highly effective, especially when promoting travel or adventure experiences!  Ambassadors can create authentic content, showcasing their trip with you, or using your products in a festive and engaging way.  Read more about how to find the right ambassadors and content creators for your brand! 

When it comes to brand partnerships and affiliate marketing, consider partnering with bloggers, podcasters, and industry publications or websites that specialize in adventure travel.  Find out if they will be putting out a holiday gift guide!  Create a collab with a special offer for their listeners or readers!

5 Holiday Marketing Campaign Themes and Trends

Understanding the trends shaping holiday marketing campaigns can give you a competitive edge.  Here are some key themes to consider as you plan:

1. Sustainability and Ethical Marketing

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their purchases.  Highlight eco-friendly practices, sustainable materials, and ethical production in your messaging.  Emphasize durability, repair services, and recyclable packaging in your holiday promotions.

2. Personalization

Tailor your holiday promotions to individual consumers.  Use customer data in Mailchimp or your preferred email marketing platform to send personalized product recommendations based on previous purchases or browsing history.  Did you just sell someone a pair of skis?  Maybe they need a new ski bag, ski straps, or mounts for their car.

3. Early Shopping

With concerns about shipping delays and inventory shortages, consumers are shopping earlier each year.  This trend began during the pandemic and is expected to continue in 2026.  Therefore, plan and launch holiday campaigns earlier.  Offer “early bird” discounts and encourage customers to buy now to ship to their loved ones before the holiday rush.

4. User-Generated Content

Customers trust other customers.  Encourage your audience to share their adventures, and tag your products or your tour on social media!  Offer incentives, such as a special discount.

5. Experience Over Products

Many consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, are prioritizing experiences over physical products.  If your brand offers adventure tours, guided experiences, or a coaching clinic, market them as the ultimate holiday gift.  Highlight how these experiences create lasting memories and unique moments rather than just things.

5 Unique Holiday Marketing Campaign Ideas

To stand out as a special snowflake in a crowded holiday market, consider these creative marketing strategies:

1. Gift Packages:

Bundle your most popular gear and accessories into holiday gift packages.  Create themed bundles like “Winter Biking Essentials” or “Ski Adventure Package,” offering them as ready-to-go gifts for outdoor enthusiasts.

2. Gift Cards for Activities + Experiences:

Promote gift cards, not just for gear, but also for experiences, such as guided tours, adventure trips, or lessons.  If you do not have digital gift cards set up for sale on your website yet, do it now!  This allows your customers to give the gift of adventure, which can be a more personalized and memorable gift option.

3. Holiday-Themed Giveaways:

Run a social media giveaway that encourages users to share their favorite outdoor holiday moments. This can drive engagement and increase brand visibility.  Consider offering a prize like a free tour or a premium outdoor gear set.

4. Christmas Gift Guides:

Besides pitching industry publications to cover your offerings in their gift guide, develop your own holiday gift list!  An online holiday gift guide can make it easier for customers to find you in search.  In addition, a Christmas gift guide can help you build partnerships with like-minded brands by featuring them on your Christmas wish list.  Here’s our holiday gift guide.

5. Seasonal Outdoor Events:

Host or sponsor outdoor events during the holiday season.  Ideas might include a winter hike, nighttime bike ride, polar bear swim, snowshoeing excursion, Christmas market, or outdoor photography workshop.  Make it festive by asking attendees to don lights on their bicycles or wear ugly Christmas sweaters!  These events not only promote your products in action but also create community engagement and share that holiday spirit!

Final Thoughts on Holiday Marketing Campaigns

For travel, wellness, outdoor recreation, and lifestyle brands, the holiday season offers a significant opportunity to drive sales and engage with consumers.  By understanding the expected spending patterns, leveraging the right marketing channels, and staying ahead of trends, you can create a holiday marketing campaign that resonates with your audience and boosts your brand visibility.

Set your brand apart this holiday season and be creative in your approach!  Here are a few more blogs with festive strategies and marketing campaigns that you can use this winter:

• Giving Back: Make a Gift That Supports Your Favorite Outdoor Non-Profit
• Gifts for Outdoor Lovers: The Best Gifts for the Adventurer in Your Life
• How to Promote a Fundraising Campaign
• Email Marketing: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Sending Better Emails

Thanks for reading, and happy gift-giving season!

Meredith Caccese McConvill, Top Rope Media

Finding a Job as A Brand Ambassador or Influencer

Interested in finding a job as a brand ambassador or influencer?  And getting more than just free gear?  Here are some thoughts as to why you would want to represent an outdoor brand:

• Get paid to do what you love
• Be part of the team or club
• Meet awesome people who share the same passion
• Adding ‘Patagonia Brand Ambassador’ to your resume makes you more attractive to recruiters!
• You want free stuff, discounted gear, and equipment

If any of these sound like you, read more about how to best present yourself for brand ambassador jobs!  However, if you are here as a brand and seeking ambassadors to create more brand awareness, check out our last blog: Finding the Right Brand Ambassadors!

Sports like surfing can be expensive, and being a good brand ambassador could help you save on that new wetsuit you’ve been eyeing.

5 Things to Consider to Become a Great Brand Ambassador

First, finding a job as a brand ambassador or influencer should not start by simply applying for the brands you want to work with.  Here are a few things to think about before you scour the web:

1. Are you an expert?

To be a great brand ambassador, you need knowledge.  Presentation skills.  Personal experience.  And, the capability to deliver.  It doesn’t mean you have to be as good as Kelly Slater when you paddle out to surf!  You should know enough about the industry trends and come prepared with ideas on how to help a brand generate revenue.  

2. Are you active on social media?

You don’t have to be active on every channel.  However, you should have a strong presence on at least one.  YouTube. TikTok.  Instagram.  Bonus if you’re active on a few!  Your number of followers and views are important metrics, but they quake at the sight of the almighty engagement.  Be sure to create content that encourages your followers to like, share, and comment.

3. Are you good at creating content?

At its root, finding a job as a brand ambassador or influencer is about being a good content creator.  Yes, there’s more to it than just creating content.  You want to be available for in-person events, provide the brand with ideas on how to best reach their audience, etc. However, at its core, being a great ambassador does mean creating good, authentic content.  Here are tips on how to get started if you are not yet creating content:

• Creating Videos for Social Media
• How to Take Good Photos

4. Can you stick to a schedule?

One of the perks of being a brand ambassador full-time is freedom from the cubicle!  However, you still have to be responsible and submit your content on time.  Even Patagonia ambassadors need to submit photos, videos, or write blogs regularly! 

Failing to follow through with your agreement with a brand can get your brand ambassador contract canceled.  In addition, it can give you a bad rap with the brand and its other ambassadors. 

5. Do you have the right attitude to be a brand ambassador?

Most brands, especially in the outdoor space, have positive vibes as a cornerstone of their brand identity.  But don’t fret if you’re not a naturally cheerful, bubbly person.  It means you may have to work a little harder!  Or, pitch them on your sarcastic, dry humor instead.  Either way, authenticity is key.  You do not want to enter into an agreement with a brand where you cannot be yourself.

This is just a small sample of Patagonia’s Brand Ambassadors, and just the climbers! They also have surfers, fly fishers, trail runners, skiers, snowboarders, and Global Sports Activists.

The Journey to Finding a Job as a Brand Ambassador

So you’ve found the trailhead to the brand ambassador wilderness.  Consider this your trail guide!  If you need extra help and want a sherpa on this trek, send up a signal. For now, here are the action items you should focus on. 

1. Find Your Passion

What are you truly passionate about?  When seeking a job as an influencer or brand ambassador for your favorite brand, make sure there’s PASSION behind it.

If you’re not passionate about the brands you work with and what they represent, it will be extremely tough to fake it.  Plus, brands want expertise and experience.  And, if you’re passionate, you’re more likely to put in the work to get the experience in the industry you’re targeting!

2. Learn the Best Digital Marketing Practices

Are you really good at creating content?  Being active on social media?  What about supporting brands you love?  Take time to learn everything you can about the best digital marketing practices.   

Got this down already?  Already demonstrating it in your YouTube videos, Instagram Stories, on TikTok, or Facebook?  Well, then you are much more knowledgeable than your competitors!

HubSpot, one of the leaders of the digital marketing world, puts out great content constantly to further prove how the way we market to consumers has changed.

3. Niche Down

This piggybacks off the first step but has some majorly important distinctions.  Take your knowledge and experience and translate it into a niche within the outdoor industry.  We often try to cast a large net to catch the most fish, but with a more targeted approach, you can bring home a tastier catch!

Brand Ambassador Example: Camping

Let’s use camping as an example of a brand ambassador’s niche.  Niching down may mean focusing on glamping, cold-weather camping, or just good old-fashioned backpacking.  By choosing one of these areas and becoming an expert, you’ll be a more trusted specialist.

Spending in the camping sector is growing strongly!  7 out of 10 millennials are going camping.  You can bet that all people are researching online before making a purchase.  Show a brand how you can help, and also support them on YouTube or Instagram!

Niching down doesn’t mean you can’t broaden your scope or go outside your niche from time to time.  By proving your worth in that niche market, you make yourself a great ambassador for brands.  Plus, by niching down, you’re much more likely to get a paying gig rather than just free gear!

4. Start Networking

How do you start developing more contacts at outdoor brands within your brand ambassador niche?  Follow them on social media.  Not just passively following.  Liking, commenting, and engaging with them!  

Another one of our favorite activities?  Hanging out with our favorite brands and their amazing employees.  Joining them in the sport you both enjoy!

Example: CABDA Show Networking

For example, at the CABDA West Show (all things bike-related), there was an Industry Ride.  This is a pretty common occurrence in the cycling world.  The week began cold, rainy, and gloomy.  Rare in Southern California.  Therefore, I wanted to sleep in and stay warm. 

However, I set my alarm for 5:30am.  Drove in rush hour traffic.  Pedaled out of the parking lot in Del Mar in the misty rain with a great group of cycling industry peeps.  And, a surprise guest appearance by pro cyclist Mark Cavendish!

Documenting these events from your perspective allows your followers to walk a mile in your boots.  And, shows brands you know what you’re doing.  Need more reasons to be at these events?  Read our Best Tradeshows in the Outdoor Industry!

Joining your favorite brands in their favorite activity is also a great way to show your interest and get to know the players. Here’s our crew from the CABDA Industry Ride!

5. Develop Impactful Content And Offer Your Services

With your niche chosen and some connections in your industry, build a portfolio of high-quality content.  In other words, start by creating impactful content today, and leverage that into a paying gig tomorrow.  Read more about how you can use great photos and videos to market yourself or your business.

Brand Ambassador Example: Becoming a Tiny Home Expert

For example, do you live in a small space?  If so, share your story about being a minimalist and living in a tiny home.  Or, what storage hacks work best for small spaces?  In addition, you might create how-to videos for building and outfitting a tiny home.  Or, stunning photos with your favorite gear in that tiny space.  Climbing and skiing videos of people in their homes during the COVID-19 lockdown went viral!

Remember, you serve as a resource for those in the industry.  Give them vital feedback on what is trending!  Get to know existing ambassadors at your favorite brands.  Remember not to be the guy or girl who’s always asking for handouts.  Reach out and see how you can help them.  Ask what types of content they are looking for.  What comes around truly goes around.

6. Stay True To Yourself

Think of brand ambassadorship like dating.  And, as your mom always told you, “Just be yourself.”  Altering your interests and core values may pay off in the short term.  If you want a long-term gig representing the brands and values you really care about, make sure to stay true to what you believe in.

If you are that bubbly, energetic person… let your personality shine through!  Yes, Black Diamond pays Alex Honnold to be a brand ambassador because he is constantly pushing the limits of rock climbing.  But, they also hire him because he’s a goofy, laidback, and fun-loving human.  In other words, he represents what they’re looking for in a customer.

Black Diamond loves Alex Honnold’s work as a brand ambassador so much that they’ve created the Alex Honnold collection- with part of the proceeds going to support the Honnold Foundation.

How to Kickstart Your Brand Ambassador Career

With all your provisions in place and a map in your pocket, howl to the wide wilderness that you’re open for business!  How do you do it?  Below are just a few of the ways to send smoke signals:

express yourself through a website

Having a website will benefit you in many ways.  A good website will add credibility, save you time explaining who you are, and showcase exactly what you do. Need help with yours?  Howl at us today. 

Create a slide deck, media kit, or press kit

We help athletes build out a media kit to take with them to events and to better pitch to the companies they’d like to work with.  Here’s more from our Shopify partners about how to create a great press kit! 

Learn how to take great photographs and create engaging videos

One of the best ways to share your content is through photos and videos.  There are so many tools and apps that can help!

In addition, YouTube is also a great resource for how-to videos.  Or try a Masterclass: Adventure Photography with pro climber and photographer Jimmy Chin

Learn how to take better adventure photos and videos through Jimmy Chin’s MasterClass!

Target the brands you love

One of the perks of being a brand ambassador is working with brands you already love.  Take stock of what products and equipment you already use.  Make sure you are using their hashtags and tagging them in photos.

Use a BRAND AMBASSADOR PLATFORM

Today, there are dozens of platforms out there to help you be a better brand ambassador.  These platforms often feature brand RFPs or a request for a proposal from a brand ambassador interested in participating in their upcoming campaign.  They’re a great way to be more strategic in helping you find paid gigs!  In addition, ambassador platforms will also help you increase visibility as a more established brand ambassador.

Here’s a great list of the Top 12 Brand Ambassador Programs and the pros and cons of each!  What else can these platforms assist with?

• Easier to find brands seeking ambassadors or content creators
• Helps brands find you
• Earning rewards and getting paid!

What You Don’t See from brand ambassadors

Whatever your reasons, the truth is that becoming a good brand ambassador takes time, knowledge, and a bit of skill.  Sure, it seems easy.  You see an abundance of ambassadors on Instagram with thousands of followers.  All out there sending perfect jumps on a mountain bike. Cruising through fresh pow on a snowboard.  Or sitting on their longboard, waiting to catch that perfect wave.  What you don’t see is the time and effort they’ve put into creating that video or photo!

High above the clouds, temps at 13 degrees, but still able to get a few shots that make it look like I’m all by myself out here.

Final Thoughts: Finding a Job As A Brand Ambassador

Here’s a quick review for you of what we’ve covered:

1. Pick your passion and niche (or get one)
2. Learn best digital marketing practices
3. Start creating useful content
4. Network, network, network
5. Be true to yourself
6. Create a website, YouTube page, or somewhere people can find you
7. Take a class or brush up on your photography and videography skills

Thanks for reading!  If you want more of Top Rope Media’s adventures on the regular, subscribe with your email below, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X.

– Meredith McConvill, Top Rope Media

Using ChatGPT for social media: Your New Secret Weapon for Content Creation

Wondering if you can use ChatGPT to create your social media posts?  Well the short answer is yes!

As social media continues to play an important role in our lives, individuals and businesses alike are always looking for new and efficient ways to create compelling social media posts that engage and resonate with their audience.  This is where ChatGPT comes in – an artificial intelligence language model that can help you generate creative social media copy for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other social platform in a matter of seconds!

In this blog post, we will take a look at how you can use ChatGPT to create social media posts and highlight the pros and cons of using this tool.

Getting Started with ChatGPT: 4 Easy Steps

1. Choose Your Platform and Topic

Before getting started with ChatGPT, you’ll need to decide which platform you want to create content for – whether that’s Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.  In addition, you can use ChatGPT to create longer form content, which we’ll get into in our next blog!  Once you’ve chosen your platform, identify the topic you want to create content about.

2. Access ChatGPT

To access ChatGPT, you’ll need to use a platform that supports it.  There are a few different options available, such as OpenAI’s API or Hugging Face’s API.  You can also use third-party platforms that integrate with ChatGPT, such as Copy.ai or Jarvis.ai. 

You will not need to pay to access ChatGPT, but you will need to create an account and provide your email address.

3. Create Your Prompt

The next step is to create a prompt for ChatGPT.  A prompt is a sentence or phrase that gives ChatGPT context for the content you want to generate.  Therefore, try a much more long-form question and write out how you would like to see the response.  Keep in mind, this is not Google Search.  And you will be very surprised at the results!  

Example: If you’re creating social media posts about the benefits of outdoor recreation, your prompt could be “Please write 5 Twitter posts (or Tweets) that outline the benefits of outdoor recreation for busy professionals, families, and kids.” 

You can also include specific parameters in your prompt, such as the length of the response you expect or the number of responses you want to see, even what style you want the responses to be in.  A table that shows pros and cons perhaps??  Yeah, ChatGPT can do this!

Example: Here’s another option to try “Create 5 social posts for LinkedIn to advertise my latest blog post on Fundraising for Non-Profits to drive visitors to read the blog on my website.” Include the link you want to be referenced.

As you are using ChatGPT for social posts, you can also ask that relevant hashtags be included, although we’ve been finding they often are already without asking!

4. Review and Edit

Once ChatGPT has generated content for you, take some time to review and edit it.  You may need to revise your prompts several times to get the responses you need or expect.  Click ‘regenerate response’ if you’d like to see a new reply.  

While ChatGPT is great at generating content, it’s not perfect, and you may need to make some changes to ensure that the content is accurate and relevant to your audience.

Now that you’re content is edited and ready to post, use a Content Calendar to lay these posts out, and a scheduler like Hootsuite to schedule each post.  Need help?  Review our DIY Best Social Media Practices!

Pros and Cons of Using ChatGPT for Social Posts

Pros of ChatGPT for content production:

Saves Time and Effort

One of the biggest advantages of using ChatGPT for social posts is that it saves time and effort.  With ChatGPT, you can generate high-quality content in a matter of seconds, rather than spending hours brainstorming and writing posts from scratch!

Increases Productivity

Using ChatGPT can also increase productivity by allowing you to create multiple posts quickly and easily.  This means you can focus on other important tasks, such as engaging with your audience on social or creating email campaigns!

Provides Fresh Ideas

ChatGPT can provide fresh ideas for your social media content, which can be especially helpful if you’re feeling stuck or uninspired. By entering different prompts and adjusting the settings, you can generate a wide range of content that’s tailored to your audience and goals.

Improves Engagement

Finally, using ChatGPT can improve engagement by helping you create more compelling and relevant content. When your audience sees posts that are interesting and relevant to them, they’re more likely to engage with your brand and share your content with others.

Cons of Using ChatGPt for Social Posts:

social posts May Lack Originality

One potential drawback of using ChatGPT is that the content generated may lack originality.  Since ChatGPT is using pre-existing data to generate your social posts, there’s a risk that the content you create may come across as inauthentic.  Vague.  Spammy. 

chatgpt Requires Editing

Another potential issue that we mentioned earlier is when you use ChatGPT for social posts the generated content may require editing.  ChatGPT is great at generating content, but be prepped to make edits and fact-check the content before sharing to ensure it’s on brand and accurate!

Content created is not your own

Content that is supplied by ChatGPT is not your own.  Someone else can prompt ChatGPT to create almost identical content to what you’ve created.  Especially if they are using the same exact prompts.  In addition, you should never include any personal data within your prompts.

need help with using chatgpt for your social posts?

ChatGPT could be your new secret weapon when it comes to creating content.  And, not just for social.  If you haven’t guessed by now, we’ve used chatPGT to help write parts of this blog! 

Need help getting started with ChatGPT, or want us to create and manage your social media posts?  Let’s chat!  Also, check out other posts we’ve written about marketing and paid advertising:

• Using Photography and Videography to Marketing Your Business

• How to Find the Right Brand Ambassadors and Influencers for Your Brand

• Social Media Best Practices

• Best Email Marketing: How to Improve Open Rates and Clicks

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time, happy posting!

– Meredith McConvill

how to grow your Social Media and gain more followers

One of the most common questions we’re asked is how to achieve social media growth and gain more followers.  It’s become more challenging than ever to cut through the clutter and gain the attention of your potential customers.

And, since we generate many of our leads from social media channels like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter, we continue to improve our social media strategy each year.  What worked in years past may no longer be generating the same engagement, impressions, or likes. So we’re going to show you how to change up your strategy to continue growing!

The quick + Dirty way: Why we don’t buy followers

Before we dive in, If you are looking for an easy way to gain followers and engagement, and have some room in your marketing budget, we got you covered.  In our steps below, we share how to more quickly achieve growth by spending on Instagram ads or promotions. 

However, since we often get the question about social media growth as it pertains to Instagram follower counts, we wanted to emphasize why we do not buy followers or use 3rd party apps to help grow on Instagram.

Instagram began cracking down on those that buy followers, create fake accounts, and accounts using 3rd party apps to generate likes and comments.  In addition, Instagram is quick to flag or suspend accounts that violate their terms of service.

So while buying likes and follows could be the fastest way to grow, you put your account at risk of being deactivated.  Don’t take our word for it.  Read more on experiments gone bad from our friends at Hootsuite.

Finally, we also urge you to think about the reason you want to reach 25K or 250K followers on Instagram. 

•  Is it just a vanity metric? 
• Do you believe those bought followers will visit your website? 
• Will they buy your products or services? 
• Share your stories on their social channels? 

Sadly, they will not do any of this.  So, here’s ways that actually work!

Best Practices for social media growth

1. Post AND ENGAGE on the social media channels where your audience spends their time

First, make sure you are posting + engaging on the social media channels where you have the best chance to connect with those interested in your non-profit, outdoor, or lifestyle brand.  Not sure where that is?

Well, start by defining your audience.  As an example, we tend to attract non-profit leaders, startups, and small outdoor + lifestyle brands without a marketing department.  Therefore, we make most of our connections via LinkedIn, but also on Twitter and Instagram.  

Need a refresher on how to best use social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter?  Read our last blog!

Keep in mind, this may not be where YOU spend most of your time.  You may have deleted your personal Facebook page in 2016!  Instead, think about where your target demographic spends most of THEIR time.

Not sure where to find this information?  Look at your website’s analytics, or better yet Google Analytics, to see where you acquire your website visitors.  The data may surprise you!  Need more help?  Drop us a line! 

2.  Plan Out posts with a content Calendar

Now that you’ve outlined what your brand’s personality is, write out your posts for the month using a content calendar.  You can also use your Content Calendar to track the following:

• Email campaigns
• Blogs for each week or month
• PR campaigns
• Product launch dates
• Events + holidays

Yes, we know you have a calendar already, maybe two!  But adding all of these items to a separate Content Calendar makes it easier for everyone on the team to stay on the same page when it comes to what you’re posting and promoting, and when.

Select a weekly theme.  Or have certain days reserved for different types of content- sales, blog shares, or sharing curated content from like-minded brands or leaders in your industry!

Don’t use a Content Calendar yet?  Get started by downloading our Content Calendar Template below!

3. Write authentic content that showcases your brand’s personality

The best practice for what to post on social media begins with remaining true to your brand’s mission and values.  You can’t ‘stay on brand’ if you’re not quite sure what your brand stands for these days.  

Dial-in the persona that showcases your brand’s personality. 

• Is your outdoor brand or non-profit fun and playful? 
• Super into design or fashion?
• Trail running or camping?
• Do you always have your dog in tow as your co-pilot?  

Remember, this may not necessarily be YOUR personality.  But, that of your brand.

If you will be using these posts across several social media channels, change up the copy slightly for each.  Do not post the same exact content on as you do on Tiktok as you do on Instagram or Twitter.  Links, videos, image size, copy style, and @ mentions will not work across all channels in the same way. 

And that Tiktok logo in the corner of your Instagram video?  Yeah, you can do better.

Pro tip: Videos and posts with multiple images will perform better than a static image almost every time.  Therefore, read our blog on how to take better photos!

4. what to post + how often for better growth on social media

Best practices for how many social media posts are needed each week varies widely depending on the social network you are using.  And how much time you or your team have to dedicate to this! 

If you can post everyday, great!  We do not recommend posting more than this, unless you are posting to Instagram Stories or Twitter.

We break up our posts, and our clients’ posts, into the following categories:

• 50% sales (advertising services or products)
• 30% curated content
• 20% just for fun! 

This mix can change depending on what our marketing strategy is that month.  Are you running a sale, or hosting a fundraiser?  If so, that should take up more of your content!

Get creative and use social posts not only to share what you or your brand is up to but to direct traffic back to your website!

example: what to post

• 2 posts per week that focus on your brand and drive traffic to your website.  Advertise your products, services, case studies, or blog posts.  Not enough content on your website fill these posts?  Well then read How to Use Your Website to Generate Better Leads!
• 1-2 posts per week that share curated content.  So for Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, this might be a post that links to an article that you loved or found helpful.  Expert advice from an industry leader.  Something that provides value to your followers.  Remember to always give credit to the source you are linking.  This also helps them recognize you as a trusted name or expert in your industry.  
• 1 post per week that’s just for fun.  Fridays and Sundays are great days for this!  Showcase what happens behind-the-scenes, or your latest adventure.  Just be sure to stay true to your brand and personality!

example: how to Curate Content on Instagram

As we mentioned earlier, with Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, you can easily share content you curate like articles you think your readers might enjoy.  With Instagram, this becomes more challenging as you can’t share links in posts.

However, you can save Instagram posts that you love, and reshare them, creatively, in your Stories.  Here’s how:

• Click on the flag in the lower right corner under the posts you like and want to reshare in your Instagram Stories.
• Once you’ve selected all of the posts you like throughout the day or week, go to the upper right corner of your Instagram Profile Page and click on the Instagram menu to get a drop-down of options.
• Click on ‘Saved’ or flagged posts and here’s where you will find all of your saved images.
• Here you can also create Collections to further organize the images.
• Then, you can then repost these in your Instagram Stories, creating a theme by topic, product, color, sport, etc.
• You can add a link, yes, regardless of follower count, you can now add a link to bring people right to the website or article to learn more or shop!

Bam!  Beautifully-curated content ready to share each week!

5. When to Post

Besides what to post, the next question we get asked to improve social media growth is what days and times are best to post on social media. 

Your potential clients and customers might be on social throughout the day.  Here’s steps to take to determine when is best to post for your non-profit or outdoor brand:

• Determine when your followers are most active by looking at your social media analytics.
• Days with typically the best engagement: Sundays and Tuesdays
• Best times to post: 7-9am most days

Keep in mind that some posts, based on the content shared, may do well regardless of the day or time you post!  And the opposite is true.  If something newsworthy trumps your post that day, you may not get as much love.

Sometimes it’s a combination of the image, copy, or the hashtags used to get your post lots of love!

6. Schedule Your social Posts

The best practice for social media growth by far is to schedule your posts.  This saves you time and therefore, money.  We love using Hootsuite to schedule both our posts for Top Rope Media and posts on behalf of our clients.  Why?  Some days we may have 15 different posts going out on 4 different social channels!

However, even if you are just using LinkedIn or Instagram, scheduling your 3-4 posts per week will help you stay consistent.  Social networks love that.  Read more on how we’ve helped brands getting started with scheduling posts!

Next, once your post is scheduled, check that is posted correctly.  For Instagram, add locations, tag brands, partners, collaborators as you cannot do this in Hootsuite.  And lastly, engage on behalf of your brand when your post goes up.  Like, comment, or share the post or similar posts in your Stories!

7. create more engaging content

Engagement is worth more on social media than likes or follows.  By engagement we mean your readers are:

• clicking on your links in a post
• visiting your profile page
• Adding a comment
• Sharing your post in their feed or Stories

How do you figure out what posts are getting the most engagement?  First, take a look at your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Analytics, or Instagram Insights.  Pay attention which posts not only have good reach but good engagement.  Not seeing much?

Take a good look at the content you’ve been posting.  Can you create more engaging posts?  Need more ideas on how we do it?  Ask for help!

Now then, when you do get a comment, message, or DM on social media, respond promptly to keep your response rate up as well! 

8. begin Social Listening + engage

A great way to write more engaging content for social media is to listen and engage with your audience.  Social ‘listening’ involves reading what people are saying about your brand, product, service, or industry online.  Are you creating content that addresses their issues or answers their questions?  Learn more about how and why we follow the They Ask, You Answer philosophy.

How do you listen well? 

• Set up a Google Alert
• Follow your brand’s hashtags, and also ones that align with your brand
• Listen to your competition.  Follow them on social.  Sign up for their email newsletters.  Add them to your Facebook Page Watch list!
• Read your industry publications!!

And what do we mean by engage?  Like, comment, share relevant content that you love and you think your audience will love too!  Apps like Instagram give you more love, and show more of your content to others when you spend more time on the app!

9. run ads + promotions

If you want that extra boost, and can afford to pay to play, run ads or promotions on your social networks!  So instead of paying $25/month to some 3rd party sketchy Instagram growth service to boost your followers or likes, pay Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn directly to do it for you!

Using Facebook or Instagram Ads can help you:

• Generate more brand awareness
• Get more donations for your fundraiser
• Increase the amount of followers on your social accounts
• Build more engagement
• Sell more products! 

Get step-by-step instructions on how to run ads on Facebook or Instagram.

10. Update your Bio and Profile Links

In this ever-changing world, the copy you wrote last year for your Instagram profile or LinkedIn bio may no longer be relevant.  As a best practice, update your bio or social profile every quarter. 

In addition, put promotions and discount codes in your social media bios.  For example, “Save 35% this holiday season by using code MBHOLIDAY35.”  This could easily fit in your Instagram profile.

Update your profile link often.  Especially on Instagram.  Examples: If a client’s content theme for a certain week focuses on summer activities, we may change the link to share a blog post where readers can learn more about how to prep for summer.  If we want to encourage more appointment bookings, we might swap out the main website link for the appointments link.  You get the idea.

Why take these extra steps?  Because you want people to find what they are looking for in the least amount of steps.  If you only have your homepage linked in your profile, and you just launched a new blog, how do your readers get to it quickly?

If you say ‘link in bio’ and it only directs people to your homepage, do you think they will take the time to click the link in bio, then find your blog page, then find the right blog you were speaking of?

Lastly, you can use tools like Linktree with Instagram to share several links under one profile link.

11. Use Emojis in your social posts

Use emojis to help break up text or to emphasize a point you’re trying to get across.  In this world of constant scrolling, a campfire or a monkey covering his eyes could catch your reader’s eye more than just text!

12. use Hashtags to help with social media growth

Everything can’t be #instagood.  Therefore, do some research on which hashtags are trending within your industry.  If you do not already have a hashtag for your brand, create one!  Or, take a look at what your brand ambassadors or competitors are using.  You can also view your post Insights on Instagram to see how many likes you get from your hashtag use!

What platforms do hashtags work best on?  Instagram and Twitter.  You can use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram, and as many as you want on Twitter.  However, as Twitter is limited to 280 characters, so keep your tweets to 2-3 hashtags!

Where should you put your hashtags?  After your copy.  We often separate our copy with line breaks and drop the hashtags so they are out of view, especially on platforms like Instagram.  Get the full scoop on Instagram hashtags from Hootsuite!

13.  Sell Through your Social media channels

If you use Facebook and Instagram and have a separate store on Shopify or WooCommerce, you can easily connect your store and sell directly through Facebook or Instagram, or people can complete their purchase on your website.

14. work with brand ambassadors + content creators

Work with content creators and ambassadors to help you create more brand awareness for your products or services!  If you haven’t read our blog on Finding the Right Brand Ambassadors– get on it!

At Top Rope Media, we think of working with content creators, which is the more PC term now as opposed to ‘influencers’, like backpacking.  To get the best results, to see the most beautiful and untouched terrain, you have to plan.  Prepare.  And, be willing to walk – a lot!

It takes time to find and build relationships with the right content creators or brand ambassadors. So be patient, and think long-term.  You’ll find the investment is worth it when your ambassador is connected with your brand for years to come.

15. Evaluate Your Post Performance

If you are not reviewing your social media analytics each week, you could be missing out on some great insights into your customers.  Set an alarm or add a meeting to your calendar each week to review your Google Analytics, along with your social media metrics.

Still not seeing steady growth?

• Switch up the days and times you are posting
• Engage on the network- this means spend time on it liking, commenting, and sharing other posts you find compelling!
• Change up the type of content posted (hint: add more videos or multiple images!)
• Upgrade your phone for better photos, use a camera, or buy a GoPro!

final thoughts on Social media growth

One of the biggest reasons to continue posting on social media for your brand is that shopping habits have changed tremendously!  In addition, there is a growth in online spending not only from Millennials, but Gen X, and Baby Boomers alike.

What are millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers purchasing through social media?

• Apparel + Accessories- Clothes, shoes, anything to save us from having to go to the store!
• Health + Fitness- gadgets, sneakers, yoga pants, swimwear, you name it.
• Jewelry- especially hand-crafted unique pieces
• Beauty + skincare products

And which social channels can you reach these Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers?  Well, 67% of millennials are on Instagram, and 75% of baby boomers are active Facebook users.  9 out of 10 Gen Xers are on Facebook.

slow and steady Social Media growth takes practice

We’ve covered a lot of ground, but here are the top takeaways for growing your social media presence:

• Create videos and share multiple images in posts
• Use a Content Calendar and schedule that content using a tool like Hootsuite
• Be an active ‘social listener’ by following hashtags, creating Google Alerts, and pay attention to your competition!
• Engage on the social network you want to grow on by liking, commenting, and sharing relevant content
• Work with brand ambassadors or content creators
• Run ads or promotions in combination with your organic posts for that extra boost!
• Upgrade your phone, work with a professional, or learn how to take better photos

Thanks for reading and happy posting!

Meredith McConvill

What are Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels are short, 15-30 second videos that function similar to Tiktok videos.  And, this is why dozens of Tiktok celebrities have started using Instagram Reels to share their content.  So if you want to keep your TikTok channel going, but grow your Instagram followers, Reels are the way to do it!

What kinds of Reels can you create?  And which ones will get the most love?  We’ll tackle all of that in this blog!  First, here’s an example of a Reel we helped to create with our friends at Frank Subaru:

Videos with animals are definitely some of the top watched Reels, and we had a lot of fun putting this together!

What Can You Do with Instagram Reels?

• Combine several video snippets, editing just the part of the video you want to feature
• That pop/snap outfit change? Yup, you can do it with Reels
• Overlay a soundtrack, and select the specific section of a song you’d like to feature
• Add in text and special effects that fade in and out at certain parts of the video
• Make it look as though you are pointing or revealing the text in your video
• Publish your Reel directly to your main Instagram feed, or just save it to your Reels section
• Generate more views, reach, and engagement than with Instagram Stories!

Where Can You Find Instagram Reels?

Back to Instagram Reels and How to Create One

1. Select Your Video or Take a New Video

• A fun how-to video to teach someone how to use your product
• Videos that share beautiful scenery, mountain top views, crystal clear lakes, etc.
• Exercise videos, but make sure to ramp up the speed to make it more fun! (read below on how to do this)
• Anything with your pets!
• An outrageous or daring video… Brands like RedBull are geniuses for creating those POV mountain biking videos!

Exercise videos or how-to videos are great for Instagram Reels, just remember to increase the speed so you can fit more in and make the video more fun to watch!

2.  Adding Music to Your Instagram Reel

3. Change the Speed of Your Video

4. Add Text and Effects to Your Reel

Adding text and music to your Reel can help you better tell your story!

5.  Touch Up

6. Timer

Why Use Instagram Reels vs. Instagram Stories?

The Downside to Instagram Stories and Reels

Summing Up Instagram Reels

Before You Go Live

Going Live on Instagram vs. Facebook

Have a good following on both Instagram & Facebook?  How about access to 2 phones, or a phone and a computer?  If so, then go live on both Facebook and Instagram.  Trying to choose which is best?  Here’s a quick comparison:

Facebook and Instagram Live: Similarities

• Followers receive a notification (a Push Notification) that you are going live
• Comments and questions can be seen by all viewing the live broadcast
• Viewers can tag others in the comments or share the live feed with friends
• Both will increase your engagement and reach
• Analytics can be seen when each broadcast concludes

Facebook and Instagram Live: Differences

• Not all followers on Facebook will see the Push Notification that you are going live, but they can have a reminder sent to them if you are scheduling a live broadcast
• Instagram Live will show a push notification to all followers, your story will appear towards the front of your follower’s Stories section, and you have more potential to reach people that do not follow you
• Facebook allows for more options when it comes to recording, commenting, adding a Poll, Donate Now button, etc.
• Facebook allows you to broadcast live from your computer with Live Producer, and often with better image quality
• You cannot go Live on Instagram from a computer, but you can now watch a Live Instagram broadcast from a computer 
• Instagram easily allows you to invite one guest at a time, so viewers see both guests.  In addition, you can remove the 1st guest and add a new guest.
• Facebook has discontinued its Facebook with Friends feature, but with the use of additional apps, you can still feature a guest.

How to Choose Between Going Live on Facebook or Instagram

Therefore, if you need to choose between Facebook or Instagram, here’s what it boils down to.  Do you want your live broadcast to be saved in your feed, give you more options for video settings, viewing options, and have a higher quality?  Then use Facebook. 

Want your live broadcast to reach more people and want to easily add guests?  Then use Instagram.  If you have the ability to do both, do it.

 
How to Go Live on Instagram 

You won’t need a professional videographer to go live on Instagram.  Just grab a tripod, set up your phone and practice! 

If you have a buddy that can help you this will make it easier to focus on the content you want to share.  Furthermore, they can see and respond to comments for you.  Lastly, they can read off questions to you if you will not be looking at the screen. 

Here’s the steps to starting a live instagram video:

• Tap the + in the top right corner and select ‘Live’.
• Add a Title to your broadcast.
• Tap the center button and you will be broadcasting live. If you want to practice first, tap in the top center of your screen to switch from ‘Everyone’ to ‘Practice’.
• Once you are Live, an alert will be sent to all of your followers.
• Viewer count appears on the top of your screen and comments will appear on the bottom
• Add a Comment, something you want your followers to remember, and Pin it to the top of the feed
• Invite a friend to join you on your Instagram Live
• End Recording: Tap the X at the top of the screen, then click Confirm. 

• Share Replay: After you click confirm, select ‘Share’ then set this up as a regular post or Reel by selecting a profile pic, adding copy, tagging your live guest, and then post!

Keep in mind, IG Live broacasting can change, so get the most up-to-date tips to go Live on Instagram through Instagram’s Help Center.

Going Live with Facebook

With Facebook, going live used to be similar to creating a post within the app.  This is still the case when broadcasting from your phone.  However, Facebook Live has a new Live Producer platform you can now use from your computer.  As we mentioned, the additional benefits to using Facebook over Instagram is that you can use a computer and it will save directly into your feed when you’ve finished. 

We’ve also noticed that using your computer to go live will provide a better quality and a wider image for your audience.  This may be good or bad, depending on how clean your office or your room is! 

go Live on Facebook from your phone:

•  Ensure you are on your Business Page and not your Personal Page
• Tap on either Publish or Photo/Video
• Tap Live Video
• Add a description, restrict your audience or add a donate button
• Tap Start Live Video
• Facebook’s ‘Live with Friends’ has been discontinued, but here’s how to include a guest in your live stream.
• Comments and questions will appear at the bottom of your screen
• Tap Finish to end and then share in your feed

Go Live on Facebook From Your Computer:

• With the new Facebook Live Producer you can do a rehearsal or test broadcast, go directly to a live stream, or schedule a live stream.
• When you schedule a Facebook Live, 2 posts will be shared automatically: First, an announcement post that you’ll have an upcoming Live Stream will be shared.  In addition, your followers will have the ability to get a reminder at the time you go live.  Secondly, a post with your live stream will go up when you go live.
• Give your Live Stream a Title and Description
• Apply different settings to your Comments, changing how often people can comment, who can comment, and how much they can write.
• Raise money for a cause with a Donate Now button (must be a qualified account)
• Create a Poll or Ask Questions
• Use a separate application if you will be inviting a Friend as Facebook Live with Friends has been discontinued

Having trouble?  Read the latest updates for Facebook’s Live Producer.  

In Conclusion

So in conclusion, we vote to record on both Facebook and Instagram Live if you can.  Remember to prep your space, your notes and your guests!  Keep in mind, this should be but one of the many digital marketing strategies you put in place.  Need more tips on digital marketing for your outdoor organization, product or service?  Here’s a few of our latest:

• 7 Steps to Crafting Your Perfect Email Strategy
• Website Design and SEO for the Outdoor Industry
• 8 Steps to Kickstart Your Online Advertising with Facebook and Instagram
• Social Media Marketing: Back to the Basics

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time, go Live and have fun!

Meredith

 Facebook and Instagram Advertising

Is your Facebook or Instagram reach, engagement or follower growth no longer increasing?  We hear this a lot from clients lately.  Well, Facebook and Instagram advertising is the best way to help you boost all three!  And this blog will teach you how to set up Facebook and Instagram ads, what to spend, and how to manage each ad.

So if you want to grow followers, launch a new product for summer, or generate better leads for your shop, let’s go!

Why Facebook and Instagram advertising?

The answer to this question is simple.  With nearly 3 billion users so far in 2021, the potential reach of Facebook advertising is unprecedented.

Not compelling enough?  In addition to Facebook, Instagram boasts over 1 billion active users worldwide. 1 BILLION!

However, do you need to make a stronger case for the boss?  Or your Board of Directors?  Well then here’s more:

• There are over 22 billion ad clicks per year

• 60% of Instagram users say they find new products on the platform

• Ability to reach 1,000+ people for as little as $5 a day

• Read more about Facebook’s success stories

Making Purchases on a smartphone is Increasing

More people are doing business on their smartphones.  In 2020 there were almost 300 million smartphone users in the United States alone!  And the average person spends up to 3.5 hours chatting, texting, scrolling, and shopping.  Your customers are here.  And not just your current customers, but also potential new customers.

The average person spends up to 2 hours on social media each day.  Some up to 4 hours per day!  So while you should be also be running email marketing campaigns, print and in-store displays, apps like Facebook and Instagram are a great place to reach people where they spend their time.

Are you not directly in charge of social media or advertising?  Do you want to work with a freelancer or an agency?  Well, even if you’ve hired an agency to support your latest summer promotion, this will help you better understand how ads work.  And, what you should be asking of your agency in terms of metrics and analytics!

No Longer Using Facebook?

Now you may be a bigger fan of Instagram or LinkedIn.  And you may have shut down that Facebook account long ago.  If so, that’s okay.  We work with clients to use all of these platforms concurrently to sell their products or services.

However, using a Facebook Business Page to set up and execute both your Facebook and Instagram advertising will make life easier for you.  Or your digital marketing manager!

Things to Keep in Mind on Your Facebook and Instagram Advertising Journey

Paid advertising is not the answer for everyone.  Heck just building out an Instagram Reel each week may seem like too much.  Therefore, here are some things to think about:

• What is already working for you?

• Does this support your overall strategy & goals?

• Do you have the time and resources to dedicate to paid advertising?

• Are there other things you could be doing?

Summer Cycles in Del Mar, California is not your ordinary bike shop. Online advertising is one way we helped Craig and Jeff share their story…and the services available at the shop.

STEP #1: start at the facebook and Instagram advertising TRAILhead

Now, you may have dabbled with boosting a post.  But today we will walk you through organizing everything to run a successful campaign.  That trailhead begins on Facebook, which is the platform you will use to set up all of your Facebook and Instagram advertising.

Before starting off down the trail, make sure you have ‘packed’ the essentials for your trip by completing the steps below.  We promise, it will save hours of back-tracking.  So take the time to set up your accounts correctly.

Facebook and Instagram Advertising Setup

• Set up a Facebook Business Page and Facebook Business Manager

• Set up an Instagram Business and Connect Your Instagram Business to Your Facebook Page

• Create and Install a Facebook Pixel

• Set up an Ad Account in Facebook
  

Once you set up Facebook Business Manager, it’s here where you’ll set up ads, create a Facebook Pixel, mange your audiences, ad a user to your account, connect a credit card, etc.

STEP #2: OUTLINE YOUR STRATEGY or marketing objective

So now you’ve packed.  Got the essentials.  And you are starting off down the trail.  Next step?  Think about what is your overall strategy is for this particular advertising campaign.

Ensure it aligns with campaigns you may be running via email, on your website, in-store or at events.  In Ads Manager within Facebook, the 1st question asked when creating an ad is what is your marketing objective.  

Options for Your Marketing Objective

1. Brand Awareness– reach people more likely to be interested in your product or service and grow your following
2. Reach– reach the maximum amount of people
3. Traffic– send people to a destination off Facebook- like a website or an app
4. Engagement– get more post engagement, page likes, event responses
5. App Installs
6. Video Views
7. Lead Generation– gather email addresses through a contact form
8. Messages– send you a message through Facebook Messenger
9. Conversions– track clicks, add to cart or sale completions
10. Catalog Sales– show items from your online shopping catalog
11. Store Traffic– drive visits to your physical store to people who are nearby

There’s an info icon next to some of these options where you can learn more about which objective is right for you.  For this exercise, we will use Traffic for our Facebook and Instagram advertising.

Keep in mind, you must have the Facebook Pixel installed correctly on your website.  In addition, you can also track an event.  Maybe ‘Add to Cart’ or a completed purchase.

At this point you can also select A/B testing or Campaign Budget Optimization.  We’ll skip this for now.  Just click continue using Traffic as our main objective.

If you see the option for Dynamic Creative, we suggest using it.  With Dynamic Creative, Facebook will help you by automatically generating creative combinations of your headlines and descriptions to better suit your audience.

Know your objective- whether engagement, lead generation or simply brand awareness.

STEP #3: Select your audience

You should be feeling good right about now.  Scrambling down some rocky terrain.  But, you have nailed down your setup and your marketing objective.

Choosing the right audience is an essential part of every Facebook and Instagram advertising campaign.  For this exercise, we’ll select the San Diego County market.

Got a brick & mortar shop?  Use your physical location.  Then, set the audience to be 10-15 miles from that location.

You’ll notice Facebook shows you the potential reach right away, including daily reach results and estimated link clicks.

Dial in the Demographics

As the location alone is too broad for Facebook and Instagram advertising, start dialing in your demographic.  You can do this by age and gender.  Language.  And finally the interests of your target audience.

In the example below, we’ve selected mountain biking.  However, you can dial this in to people employed by mountain bike companies. Or those with bike mechanic as their job title.

Next you can set up exclusions, or narrow your audience. In addition, you can also create a look-alike audience.  There are so many options.  So, if you’re feeling like you need an expert, just holler!

DROP US A LINE

Example: Ski Resort promotion

So let’s say I’m in charge of marketing at a ski resort in Utah.  I’m tasked with running a Facebook and Instagram advertising campaign to target Southern California.  My ski resort offer skiing and snowboarding, and then mountain biking in the summer.

First, I would add more locations to the campaign below and include the following counties in Southern California:

• Los Angeles, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara counties

Second, I can narrow my audience:

• Must show an interest in mountain biking, but also must show an interest in skiing and/or snowboarding.

Now my audience is more specific.  Once you dial this in, save this audience for future advertising!

STEP 4: SHOW YOUR Facebook and Instagram Advertising in the right places

When it comes to advertising, spend your budget on the channels that are already driving traffic to your website.  How do you find out which one is performing best?  Use your Google Analytics.

Maybe you have a great following on Instagram already.  And a good amount of website traffic from this channel.  In that case, select to have your ad shown on mobile devices only, as that’s where most people use Instagram.

Keep in mind, Facebook will be selected by default.  However, you can let Facebook select the placements for you to optimize your budget.  This way your ads will be shown to more people in places like Messenger or the Audience Network.  Or, you can select the placements manually.  Maybe Instagram Stories is your best best. 

STEP 5: SET YOUR BUDGET AND SCHEDULE

What’s fantastic about Facebook and Instagram advertising is that you can start small.  Start with and advertising budget of $5 a day.

Next, choose the ad to run during the hours most of your audience is on line.  Lastly, select an end date.  We typically run ads in 2-3 week increments.

In this section, you will also select what you’d like to optimize for.  Whether link clicks, impressions, reach or landing page views.  We’ll choose link clicks.

step #6: get creative with imagery and engaging Ad copy

FINALLY!  It’s time to upload individual assets like images, headlines and link descriptions.  Did you select dynamic creative?  If so,  Facebook will generate multiple ad variations and deliver the ones that perform the best.

Before you start pulling random images, and word-smithing your go-to tag lines, have you looked at your Facebook and Instagram analytics?  What posts are performing best?

Now dig into those posts, and check out what types of images you’ve used, and what copy you’ve written.  We keep an asset list for all clients of what images and which copy we’re using, and what’s performing the best.
 

If you work within Google Ads, this is automatically done for you and can be viewed under the asset details of each ad.

Using Video to Capture Attention

Want to use a video for your Facebook and Instagram advertising, but do not have room in your budget?  Use Facebook’s video creation templates to bring movement into your ad.  Or, take that Instagram Reel you just built, download it to your phone, and use this for your ad!

More reasons to use video:

• Videos get 1,200% more shares than text and images combined

• Your brain processes visuals much quicker than it does with text

Below are just a few of the creative pieces we built for ads for our client Stella Labs.  All using Facebook’s video creation template tool:

Dynamic Creative, Word Count and Call to Action

Once again, if you’ve selected Dynamic creative then you can add up to 5 different options for each section: Primary Text, Headlines and Descriptions.  We prefer this option. It gives us a chance to test out a few different headlines and see what performs best.

Pay close attention here to how many characters or the word count that will show on each platform.  If you have selected to only show this ad on mobile devices, keep everything short.  25 characters or less.  

In addition, make sure your Call to Action is appropriate for the ad copy.  Best options include Sign Up, Book Now, Learn More, Shop Now and many more.

Want to see what your ads will look like? Well with Preview, located on the right side of your ad screen, you can see how your ad will look across any channel you’ve selected.

Here’s how our ad copy for Mister Brown’s Barbershop looks across Facebook on Desktop, Mobile, Instagram Feed, and Instagram Stories:

STEP #7: STAY INVOLVED AND TRACK YOUR PROGRESS FOR YOUR FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM ADS

Just like you wouldn’t spend a bunch of money on a new bicycle, just to let it sit in your garage, make sure after you click confirm, you stay engaged. Both Facebook and Instagram ads will go through a review process.  This could take a few minutes to a few hours. 

No money will be spent during this ‘learning process’.  In addition, you will receive a message in your Facebook account and via email when your ads are approved and running.

Facebook and Instagram Advertising Not Approved

Your ad may not be approved if it does not meet Facebook’s advertising policies.

One of the biggest issues we’ve seen is when there is too much text in the ad imagery.  Other reasons could be language used.  However, you can edit your ad and resubmit until it is approved.

Again, check up on your ad daily.  Especially if this is your first time using online advertising.  Or if your ad will only be running for a few days, say for a holiday sale.

step #8: review your analytics and tweak your ad campaigns

Although instant success stories happen, most businesses will need to tweak their campaigns to succeed.  That’s why Facebook provides complete statistics on every ad you place.

In Ads Manager, you can view your results live, while the ad is running.

Example: Bike Product Ad

The analytics below are from our client Kradl’s Facebook and Instagram advertising.  Their product is a bike lift that does not use electricity, nor ropes and pulleys, to lift your bike to the ceiling.

A Kradl through this promotional ad costs $110 each.  This was a discount of $40 off the regular price.  In this ad set, it has cost us $23.59 for each purchase we received over a 6 week period.

If this works within our client’s budget, great!  We will continue to let the ad run, or increase the budget.  If it does not work, we review the copy, images and the audience, and dial that in until we get a better result.

Keep in mind, you may never get the results you desire.  Furthermore, through this process, you may determine that advertising on another channel, like Google, is more cost effective.  Have patience throughout your testing

Keep an eye on your analytics, evaluate and pause ads that are under-performing, and put more of your budget behind successful ads.

quick Tips to Run Facebook and Instagram Ads Like a Pro:

• Define your goals and marketing objectives with your team.

• Start with a small spend- $5 a day type small, and get familiar with the system.

• Evaluate and pause ads that are underperforming.

• Put more $$ behind successful ads and manage your budget like a hawk!

• Tweak your personas and audiences.

• Hire a photographer or videographer.  Fill in with images from Adobe Stock or Unsplash.

• Not familiar with Illustrator or Photoshop?  Use Canva for graphics or Facebook’s Video Creation Templates to create videos and slideshows!

• Spell-check!  Also, check your grammar and hyperlinks.

• Create a good call to action.

Next Steps for Facebook and Instagram Advertising

By now you should have a great understanding of Facebook and Instagram advertising.  Need help getting started?  Or want us to create and manage your paid advertising?  Drop us a line!

Also, check out other posts we’ve written about social media and paid advertising:

15 EASY WAYS TO CREATE HIGHER CONVERSIONS USING FACEBOOK ADS

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Until next time,

– Meredith McConvill

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

We recently wrote a social media marketing how-to guide for our clients.  It was 14 pages long!  This comprehensive guide covered tips and tricks for using LinkedIn, Pinterest, X (Twitter), Tiktok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Today’s world is unfortunately still a place where you can buy followers and likes.  However, writing this how-to piece was a good reminder of how much we can do, for free, to connect with our audience online.  So I’ve decided to post a portion of this guide here for everyone that needs help navigating through the wilderness that is social media marketing.

Back to the Basics

To begin, let’s get back to the basics: What to post, where to post, how to post and when to post it.  Other big questions we get:

• How do we use hashtags and on which channels?
• How can I mention a person, brand or organization? 
• Can I schedule posts? 
• Should I use emojis?
• What should I be posting?

We’ve got answers to these social media questions, along with many more.

While writing this social media marketing how-to guide, we spent our time focusing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  All three social media platforms are typically up and running for most clients we work with. 

Therefore, we could do screen shares and walk them through the best practices for each social media platform.  If you’re new to managing digital marketing for your business, and want to know what outsourcing your social media marketing costs, check out our Services page. 

Schedule your content in advance

You can always post instantly on Instagram or LinkedIn, but we recommend setting aside 1-2 hours every other week to set up and schedule your posts.  Why?  Because this gives you a chance to be more strategic with your social media marketing. 

Other tips for planning out your content in advance:

• Use a Content Calendar and a scheduling app like Hootsuite.
• Set up a theme for each week, working backwards from important events for your brand, or in the outdoor industry, or upcoming holidays.
• Share similar posts across several platforms, moving them to different days and times
• Share curated content or user generate content (UGC)
• Replicate posts that performed well

Facebook Marketing

Facebook Pages and even Instagram can be managed under Facebook Business Manager.  In addition, you can see all of your Business pages if you are an Admin on more than one page. 

Facebook and Instagram notifications are combined if your accounts are linked.  Therefore, you can see all of your messages and comments in one place if you choose to use Business Suite.  We recommend checking this on your desktop as opposed to your mobile to make it easier to see and respond to messages.

Need help with Facebook Business Manager, which is what you’ll want to set up if you plan to run ads?  Check out our latest Facebook and Instagram advertising post!

Once your Facebook Business page is set up, viewing your insights on Facebook is easy.  The amount of data is enormous, and you can set filters to see day-to-day performance, or for a given date range.  You can also view your reach and your past posts to ensure your social media marketing is on point. 

In addition, you can set up pages to watch so you can see how you’re doing compared to the competition. As data-lovers, we’re always excited to comb through the numbers each week!

How to Post on Facebook

One of the best pieces of advice we can give in regards to social media marketing is to schedule out your social media posts.  With Facebook, there’s a few ways to do this. 

Use Facebook’s Publishing Tools to create your posts and schedule them.  There are several applications, like Hootsuite, where you can manage all of your social accounts in one app.  This is by far our favorite time-saver when it comes to social media marketing!

When to Post on facebook and how often

Use your Facebook Insights, go to Posts, and there you can see when your fans are online.  Furthermore, you can see which days and times might work best to post. 

Lastly, you can see previous post performance here as well.  This will give you an idea of which style of post is performing best.  

How often should you post on your Facebook page?  We recommend that clients aim for 2-3 Facebook posts per week, and either before 10am or after 4pm.

What to write or what videos you should record

Need ideas for content for your Facebook social media marketing strategy?  Grab a piece of paper and write down the top 10 questions you often get asked about your outdoor brand, product, service or organization.

Turn these into blog posts or video posts, store ’em on your website and share a link to one of these each week in your Facebook posts.  Keep in mind, video content is still king, so get comfortable using video and set up a YouTube channel!  

In addition, once a week we’ll share a link to content we’ve curated from like-minded outdoor brands or outdoor industry publications.  As an example, we’ll share relevant stories from publications like SNEWS, Bicycle Retailer and Outside Magazine.  Pro tip: have the content come to you via tools like Google Alerts.

 Make sure you @ mention the publication by using the @ symbol and then their Facebook Page.  Only Facebook Businesses can be tagged, not individuals.

Need more content ideas?  Check out our latest blog: How to Use your Website to Generate Better Leads.

Hashtags and Link Sharing Tips

With Facebook, it’s a social media best practice to not use hashtags.  Save them for Instagram or LinkedIn.

For link sharing, Facebook lets you share direct clickable links in a post.  To keep your post looking clean, once you add the link in, you can actually delete it and the media portion of the link, with hopefully a great image, will remain.

If there is no image attached to the link, you can add in your own image. However, this image when clicked, will not take viewers to the actual link.  Pro tip:  When creating a blog or new webpage, ensure you include a social sharing or preview image for the post or webpage.

Facebook Stories

Facebook Stories is great place to share videos, reminders or new announcements.  To use Facebook Stories more easily, make sure your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected so that your Instagram Stories push directly to your Facebook Stories as well.

Instagram Marketing

First, set up a business account for Instagram.  You’ll now have the option to add a Contact button, your address, directions to your business, direct messaging options, all appearing in your profile.  You can leave the address portion out if you offer an online product or service.  

With a business account, you can then view Instagram analytics.  Click the hamburger (menu) at the top right of your Instagram profile page to get started.  You can also view Instagram Insights by clicking on the ‘X profile visits in the last 7 days’ on your profile. 

When checking in, we recommend viewing your notifications first by clicking on the heart icon at the top of your profile page.  After checking all new notifications, click the message icon in the upper right corner.  This will allow you to see any direct messages (DM) .  If you’ll be posting regularly, get in the habit of checking these daily as many folks will reach out with a direct message.   

There are many paid services that will give you deeper insights into your Instagram posts and improve your social media marketing.  But when you’re just getting started, stick with the Instagram platform for your Insights.

Furthermore, you can check your Insights easily through the mobile app, but keep in mind you’ll only see about 7 days of data that compares to the previous 7 days.

How to Post on Instagram

Once again, we recommend using a tool like Hootsuite to schedule out your Instagram posts.  This will save you a considerable amount of time in your social media marketing efforts.  Otherwise, posting is done from the app on your phone. Not on a computer, although you can like and comment from a computer.

Want your post to have spaces or text breaks?  The best advice is to write the copy outside of the Instagram App, so using Hootsuite or in your Notes section.  Here’s more tips on getting those spaces or line breaks into your Instagram post! 

 When to Post on Instagram and How Often

Just like with Facebook, click on your Insights to see when the majority of your audience is online.  We find mornings are often best on Tuesday to Thursdays, and then anytime Sunday. 

How often should you post on Instagram?  We get this question quite a bit. We recommend no more than 3-4 posts per week.  However, this may differ based on your business’s goals and the time you have to dedicate to Instagram.

In addition, the Instagram algorithm is based on machine learning, so it’s constantly changing.  Factors that affect how many people will see your post include the interest people have in your post, timeliness, relationship, and engagement, among others.  Read more here on Later.com about How the Instagram Algorithm works. 

If you follow our recommendations about planning out your social media marketing content by using a tool like Hootsuite, you can then be more strategic with your Instagram posts.

For example, if a client has a big event coming up next month, or a sale, we’ll start talking about it now, scheduling a post once a week about the event.  We’ll use photos from last year’s event, or images of the items that will be on sale.

What to Share in Your Instagram Posts

Seeking content for your Instagram posts is always time-consuming.  Especially if you are not producing fresh videos and images each quarter.  Here’s more ideas on how to work with photographers and videographers and what this might cost.

Answering your most frequently asked questions is a good place to start, and we’ve written at length about this in our last blog post.  Link sharing?  It doesn’t work the same with Instagram as you cannot have a live, clickable link in your post.  However, you can use an app like Repost to share someone else’s post. 

Therefore, your best bet is to select a dozen photos each month that represent the content you plan to share.  If you do not have the best images or graphics to represent the theme you’re going for, try Canva or UnSplash for free images. 

Adding a location to each post, unless you’re not sure where the photo was taken, will allow users to click on that location and see more posts from there.  Secret location?  Best not to share. 

As with any social media marketing, you want to be sure to stay on brand.  Be consistent with the tone and style of the message.  Use the same filter, the same set of emojis, the same look and feel to each post. And then there’s hashtags.

using @ mentions and Hashtags on Instagram

Hashtags originally started on (X) Twitter, but have now become the norm across most social media platforms.  Instagram allows for 30 hashtags in a post or comment.  By using a hashtag, or set of hashtags, your post could be seen by more people who are searching the hashtag and do not follow you, yet.

We often place these hashtags in the 1st comment to avoid the post looking cluttered, or by adding spaces or line breaks, and placing the relevant hashtags after the space.

What are the best hashtags to use?  This should be based on your industry, and the product, service or mission of the organization.  Hashtags like #exercise or #optoutside are hugely popular, with over 15 million posts each using those hashtags. 

However, if you niche down to #backcountrysnowboarding this may be more effective in getting your post viewed by more people who do not already follow you. Here’s ‘the Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags in 2020′.

For mentions, same as Facebook.  Use the @ symbol and then the Instagram handle of the person or organization you want to mention.  You can mention someone in your text, or your can tag them in your photo. 

Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are great for sharing previously recorded or live videos, reminders, funny happenings or new announcements.  These are similar to Facebook Stories in how you set one up:

• Click on your avatar (logo) in your Instagram profile, or the camera icon if you’re scrolling through your feed
• At the bottom of the screen the setting is Normal, letting you record an image or video, or upload one from your photos.
• Add a hashtag, location, gifs, text, and send it out to your public feed, or share in private.
• Want to get more creative?  Swipe over to Boomerang, Layout (that’s where you see 2-6 photos on a Story), Superzoom (those cute hearts though), Hands-Free, Create (for text only pieces) or Live.
• Thinking about Going Live on Instagram?  Read our blog on How to Go Live with Facebook and Instagram first!
• You can also set up your Instagram Stories so that they push directly to your Facebook Stories as well

Advertising on Instagram

Interested in going beyond social media marketing and ready to get started with Instagram Advertising?  Check out our post that walk you through Instagram Advertising through Facebook. 

It’s a step-by-step approach that will get your Instagram ads up and running for as little as $5 a day!

Twitter and Why You Should Be Tweeting

Next stop on the social media marketing trail?  Twitter. I am often amazed when I hear things like, ‘Do we have to have a Twitter account?’  ‘Can’t we just focus on Instagram and Facebook?’ 

Well, yes you can. But, with over 330 million monthly active users, it’s in your best interest as an outdoor brand to tweet.  There are millions of athletes on Twitter that could use your product, services or support your non-profit! 

We’ve also found than most journalists use twitter, so it’s easier to connect with them here than via email.  We can also DM or direct message them to pitch an idea.

Twitter used to be limited to 140 characters in a tweet, and has now grown to 280 characters per tweet!  If you’re a clever writer, you can actually fit quite a bit into each tweet, including links, emojis and hashtags.

Twitter also offers free analytics which you can view from a computer.  Unlike Instagram, you can see several months of data.  Therefore, you can dive in to see your impressions, engagement rate, your top tweet and top mention.

How to Tweet

As with other social media marketing channels, there are countless blogs and how-to’s on using Twitter.  One of my faves is Mom This is How Twitter Works by Jessica Hische.  She makes me laugh out loud.

You can tweet from your phone or computer. And again, using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite will help you stay organized and reuse content you’ve created for other social media channels. 

Once you have the app installed and your profile setup, click the feather at the bottom of the screen to create a new tweet.  280 characters will feel limiting at first, but you’ll soon the get hang of being concise. 

 What to Share on Twitter

Here’s a few tips of what you might want to share on Twitter:

• Links to content you love (retweeting, with or without a comment from you)
• Links to your website (sharing blogs, new offerings, products)
• Current events and outdoor industry happenings
• Tips and resources to help others in your niche

using hashtags on Twitter

We recommend no more than 3-4 hashtags at the end of your Tweet.  Just like with Instagram, hashtags are helpful in showing your post to people outside of your followers that are searching the hashtag.

Other Stops on the Social Media Marketing Roadmap

From TikTok to SnapChat, LinkedIn and Pinterest.  Social media marketing channels keep growing. Even Venmo allows you to like and comment on when people you know pay someone for something. 

I don’t quite care how much Jen paid Lucy for her Thai food, but you can imagine this information on Venmo is useful to a company trying to determine your spending habits. 

Want to find out what channels your audience likes to use?  Ask them! 

Why Small outdoor brands and non-profits Need Social Media Marketing

I often find managing social media is an afterthought for many small organizations.  They do not have the time nor the resources.  They’re packing up from a long day at work, they jump on, post a photo and head home. 

Instead, be strategic!  This is an important part of your outreach, so treat it the same as answering emails or organizing a fundraising event.

Here’s some more tips to make social media marketing a success for your small business:

• Assign a social media marketing manager or hire one!
• Collaborate with your team to determine what you should focus on for the week
• Use a Content Calendar to plan
• Use a tool like Hootsuite to schedule posts across all of your social channels
• Assign content creators for the month and give them a range of topics or blog ideas. 

More social media resources:

• Hootsuite’s Social Media Best Practices

• Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to Social Media 

Final thoughts: OWN it

One of the biggest mistakes we see is when someone in your organization does not own social media marketing for your brand.  This person should not only be posting, but also planning and generating content.  They should also be engaging with brand ambassadors, and other like-minded brands. 

In the end, it’s all about engaging with your audience.  You need to share videos that are of interest to your followers, mention your partners, respond to comments, tag your volunteers in photos and use hashtags that will help people find you.

Until next time, happy posting!

– Meredith