Facebook. Instagram. Pinterest. Twitter.
(MySpace, you still around?)
Social media is both the key to successful marketing and an emerging technology. If your business, organization, personal brand or cause isn’t keeping up with the latest trends, you could be left behind. Social media has proven to provide:
- Increased Brand Recognition
- Improved Brand Loyalty
- More Opportunities to Convert
- Higher Conversion Rates
- Higher Brand Authority
- Increased Inbound Traffic
- Decreased Marketing Costs
- Better Search Engine Rankings
- Richer Customer Experiences
- Improved Customer Insights
So, who’s doing Social Media the right way?
Here are Bragg Media’s favorite local brands — from Savannah to Beaufort:
Marketing Retainers
Branding, creative, digital and strategy with results.
Visit Savannah dominates Instagram
Visit Savannah is the largest business unit of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, “the official destination marketing organization for the Greater Savannah area.” Visit Savannah’s Instagram primarily re-posts user-generated content. In other words, they curate photos from across Savannah — leaving their audience with a wide array of gorgeous photos of the city.
This accomplishes a few different things. First, it accomplishes their main marketing goal: to encourage people who want to visit Savannah. By highlighting hero images of one of our favorite cities, they encourage audience engagement. The results include a flood of likes and comments about how pretty Savannah is and how much potential tourists want to plan a trip.
But this marketing strategy goes beyond the obvious goal. They’re also making connections with their audience by reaching out for that user-generated content, and by taking time to respond to comments on the posts.
Visit Savannah does one other thing really well: They make use of Instagram stories. This part of the photo-centric platform opens up the opportunity to showcase specific posts. Visit Savannah’s stories are highlighted into a few categories: Tybee Island, Things to Do, Food & Drink, Beauty, Your Stories and Events.
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The De Soto captures attention
The De Soto is a hotel in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District overlooking Madison Square.
Their Instagram account captures vacation envy worthy photos of the hotel, along with a variety of content from around the city — showcasing local businesses, such as Leopold’s Ice Cream, Old Savannah Tours, and more. Of course, they also use the platform as a way to feature the benefits of staying at The De Soto — displaying Savannah’s gorgeous views, wedding photos, in-house restaurants and special events.
They also know how to stay current and make use of popular hashtags by featuring content specific to the day of the week and holidays.
The stunning visuals don’t hurt, either.
Here are some of our favorite posts:
Lux Medical Spa keeps things interesting
One of the main benefits of social media marketing is its ability to help a business connect with customers, and Lux Medical Spa has it nailed.
Not only do they use their Instagram account to show off their products and services, but Lux regularly interacts with its customers on the social platform and hosts tons of fun contests.
For example, one of their most recent (and ongoing) contests has been a #whereintheworld is the LUX water bottle? The business posts photos of the bottle in various locations, asking customers to guess where the photo was taken. The customers who guess correctly are then entered into a drawing for a chance to win a facial.
Our favorite example:
The Island Packet ranks No. 1 for breaking news on social
At a time when local newspapers nationwide struggle for survival, The Island Packet thrives on social media.
The main reason to love their use of Facebook: It’s another way to bring up-to-the-minute news to their readers.
When there’s breaking news, the Island Packet immediately posts a short blurb to their Facebook page with a link to the latest story. They also make use of Facebook Live videos and share posts from public officials when necessary to help keep the public up to date.
Additionally, The Packet interacts with their readers, sharing user-submitted photos and asking readers to send in their stories.
However, The Packet doesn’t solely focus on news — they use their Facebook page to share photos and videos about the area, feature videos on public safety and local businesses and feature adoptable pets from the local animal shelter.
Outcast Sport Fishing hooks their audience with more than clickbait
Outcast Sport Fishing is a charter fishing company based out of Hilton Head Island. But the fishing charter has captured international attention with their insane videos of great white sharks.
These videos are not only a major way to draw in new customers for the business, but the owner also uses them to help educate the public on great whites and other marine life in the area.
They’re also great at interacting with potential customers. The owner responds to commenters on almost every post, and even posts a lot of Facebook Live videos where he’ll try to answer questions in real-time.
Eat Sleep Play Beaufort redux hits the spot
Eat Sleep Play explores the “best of Beaufort” through their website and social media. Since PickleJuice, an interactive and creative marketing agency, has taken over the Eat Sleep Play Beaufort brand, there has been renewed energy. The founders use Facebook to share articles from its own website and stunning reader-submitted visuals, videos/posts from other news and local organizations and to highlight local businesses.
The main way they’re winning at social media? They really know their audience. Their posts have a ton of engagement — from likes to shares to comments — and the new owner keeps them very #onbrand. One of the most common topics for the page is nature; the audience goes crazy for a gorgeous sunset or beach photo, or anything highlighting the abundant local wildlife.