{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog","author_name":"Alexandra Gavril","author_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/author\/alexandra\/","title":"How to stand out on social media when you're on a tight budget | 123 Reg Blog","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"CTAOW0fQ4V\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/social-media\/stand-social-media-youre-tight-budget\/\">How to stand out on social media when you&#8217;re on a tight budget<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/social-media\/stand-social-media-youre-tight-budget\/embed\/#?secret=CTAOW0fQ4V\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;How to stand out on social media when you&#8217;re on a tight budget&#8221; &#8212; 123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice\" data-secret=\"CTAOW0fQ4V\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/social-media-2016.png","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"description":"Which social media channels is your business active on? Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? If you\u2019re there, most likely your competitors are too. But the problem isn\u2019t that social media is crowded, with every business out there competing for customers\u2019 attention. The problem is that too many businesses focus on keeping up with their competitors instead of their customers. The first step to standing out? Change your strategy. When you care less about what your competitors are doing and more about listening to as well as informing, educating and entertaining your audience, you\u2019ll have a better chance at making noise and standing out on social media. Let\u2019s look at a few ways you can be memorable and engage your audience on social media even when you\u2019re on a shoestring budget. Do the unexpected Doing what everyone else is doing is a sure way to blend into the crowd. Want to stand out? Then you need to do the unexpected and surprise your audience. You need to be daring and take risks in a way that brings excitement to your brand and gets people talking. Because when it comes to social media, it\u2019s the smashing hits that get attention. That\u2019s what big brands are doing and it\u2019s also how small businesses get noticed. For example, in 2015 Domino\u2019s was looking to up the percentage of digital orders by 50%. So they announced on Twitter that customers can start ordering pizza by sending a quick pizza emoji tweet to @dominos. \u00a0 The results? The campaign generated 1.2 billion earned media impressions, and today, digital ordering accounts for about 60% of Domino\u2019s overall orders. In addition, Domino\u2019s Emoji Ordering got the attention of the press and was covered by USA Today, TIME, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGeneres and more. You don\u2019t need to be a popular brand like Domino\u2019s to be daring and successful on social media. So instead of telling yourself that these daring strategies only work for big brands, try to come up with a bold idea that would shine for you. Remember Blendtec\u2019s \u201cWill It Blend\u201d campaign? They had this original and brilliant idea to create a Facebook video campaign where they showed how their high-powered blender can blend any object from an iPad to Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. The campaign immediately drew people\u2019s attention as it was daring, fun and engaging. Of course, as a small business it can be scary to take a risk on social media. We\u2019ve all seen what happened when Cinnabon tried to capitalise on Carrie Fisher\u2019s passing away. If you\u2019re not familiar with it, they posted a picture of Fisher as Princess Leia but replaced her classic Start Wars hairstyle with a Cinnabon Classic Roll. Their tweet said \u201cRIP Carrie Fisher, you\u2019ll always have the best buns in the galaxy.\u201d While Fisher was known to have a sense of humour, some fans found the tweet more sour than sweet and called Cinnabon \u201ctasteless\u201d. So be bold and don\u2019t be afraid to take risks on social media. Just make sure you know your audience well so you know where to draw the line. Make it fun and human What makes people fall in love with brands on social media? A fun, human, relatable message. When you know your audience well and you\u2019re able to connect, educate and delight your fans and followers, you\u2019re one step closer to turning them into fans, then customers, then brand advocates. Think about your favourite brands and what they\u2019re doing to make social fun for you and their other customers. You\u2019re surely not delighted by a boring brand that\u2019s always talking and selling, and never listening or interacting with fans. But you do feel a deeper connection towards a brand that\u2019s fun and delivers value in a relatable and engaging voice. The key is to not be afraid to have fun with your audience. For instance, Charmin, the toilet paper brand, ran a fun and interactive social media campaign around the launch of their new Sit or Squat app. Knowing the problems their audience was facing \u2013 dirty bathrooms \u2013 they created a cool app to let them know whether the nearby local toilets are clean (sit) or not so clean (squat). Headed out on vacation? Make sure to update your #SitorSquat App so you can safely sit! https:\/\/t.co\/XmNaGwr9vb pic.twitter.com\/yZOmf81Zy3 \u2014 Charmin (@Charmin) August 4, 2017 Charmin is just as fun on Twitter. A year ago they posted a hilarious series of tweets called #TweetsfromtheSeat about \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 sitting on the toilet. It\u2019s hilarious bathroom humour that\u2019s bound to make you giggle and remember Charmin the next time you go to pick up some TP. Leverage user-generated content Another way to stand out is to encourage users to share stories about your brand and how they\u2019re using your products and services. This is also known as user generated content (UGC) and it\u2019s considered content marketing gold. Why? Because it generates engagement and it also serves as social proof as people trust other people more than they trust brands. In addition, when done effectively, it\u2019s relatively low to no cost, and because real people are sharing their own experiences with your brand on social media, you\u2019re more likely to stand out from the competition. Take Coca-Cola for example and their \u201cShare a Coke\u201d campaign. The company swapped out its logo with random names, enabling fans to find their names or the names of family members, friends, and coworkers. Fans were then able to engage with the brand by sharing pictures of their personalised Coke bottles on social media platforms. This was a highly engaging and shareable campaign, which generated a heap of UGC. Over the years they took personalisation to a whole new level, connecting emotionally to consumers. And fans love it: Apple\u2019s #ShotOniPhone campaign is another great example of UGC. To prove that the iPhone\u2019s camera is high-quality and can be used to take amazing photos even in the dark, Apple"}