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Blog

Halve Your Time, Double Your Results!

Jessica Mack

Save Time on Social Media

I hear so many people complain that Social Media Marketing just takes too long, so they neglect it altogether. 

I get it. And I'm not one for planning further than tomorrow, but I've developed a new social media workflow that has really been working for me — and I'm going to share it with you!

You see, I did an experiment using Hours where I tracked every single thing I did for a whole month (from sleeping to exercising and everything in between), to see how I actually spent my time. Turns out I was spending about six hours a week playing games on my iPhone, and almost 11 hours a week on social media, so I vowed to cut those numbers down. Just think what you could do with an extra 17 hours a week!

Over the past few weeks, since I started being more intentional with my planning and content, and sticking to this workflow I’ve averaged 140-180 new Instagram followers per week. Prior to that I was going up and down a little each week but things were pretty stagnant. 

Download the guide below and learn how to streamline your social media workflow, cut your time in half, while doubling your results! Here's what you'll get: 

  • My ‘week at a glance’ guide
  • A downloadable social media content calendar
  • A list (and review) of my favorite social media tools
  • A guide to the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

While you're thinking about your social media presence, when's the last time your Instagram account got a clean-up? Here's some easy-to-implement tips that will get you big results. 

8 Ways to Fix Your Instagram Profile

Jessica Mack

8 ways to fix your instagram account

The change in seasons always feels like a good time to look around and refresh the things in your life that may have become a little stale. Your online brand and social media presence is no exception. So this week I propose that we start an Instagram clean-up together. 

Why? Because you know what you do, what services you provide, what you stand for, and what your brand is all about - but is your Instagram profile really communicating that to new friends and fans that are seeing it for the first time? 

First, join our Facebook group so you can share your progress and results - then read through the checklist below and see where you might be going wrong. 

PART 1: WHAT’S IN YOUR BIO?

IS MY BIO SUPER RELEVANT? 

  • You only get 150 characters, make every one of them count! 
  • Leave out that you are a mom, wife, mother, dog-lover and only put in what is really relevant to your brand. 

IS IT CLEAR WHAT I DO? 

  • Clear trumps clever every time.  
  • For example, instead of saying: ‘I make pretty things to brighten your world’ try: ‘I’m an illustrator, specializing in pattern, bright colors, and hand lettering.’ 

DO I HAVE A STRONG CALL-TO ACTION? 

  • Always, always, always tell people what you want them to do next, and how they can reach you. 
  • With Instagram’s new business accounts you can add a contact button right on your profile, but it never hurts to tell people what to do either. You could say ‘Download your free _____’ and include a link to that specific page or opt-in on your website.  

IS MY PROFILE PIC EASY TO SEE, RELEVANT AND PROFESSIONAL? 

  • People like connecting with real human beings, so help them do that. 
  • The mistakes I see most often are pics that are too far away (especially when cropped into that tiny little Instagram circle on someone’s phone), pics with family or friends (this is all about you my dear), using pets or kids, or underexposed / poorly taken photos. If you don’t have a professionally-taken portrait at least make sure it has good lighting, a clear background, and is close enough that most of the frame is filled with your face!
example of bad profile pics
example of good profile pics

TO DOWNLOAD THE REST OF THE CHECKLIST, ENTER YOUR EMAIL BELOW. 

Also, check out my guide on how to spend less time on social media, but DOUBLE your results! I've been gaining 180 new followers a week on Instagram by following these tips

Instagram Declares War on Snapchat

Jessica Mack

Today, Instagram declared war on Snapchat - by launching its new feature called 'Stories'. Stories allow you to post more casual content, draw on it, add text etc. and those photos and videos will disappear within 24 hours. 

If you haven't used Snapchat yet - it isn't just for Tweens anymore, and you should get on it. But if you don't want to embrace yet another social media channel, now you can essentially do the same thing on Instagram. 

Already this morning there has been a lot of backlash on social media, complaining that Instagram's version of stories is a poor man's Snapchat and that they are trying too hard to be something they aren't. For most people, Instagram is used for curated, high-quality photography and not for quick snaps - which is part of what users love about the channel. Here are just a couple of tweets:

So, what do you think, is Instagram shooting itself in the foot by trying to be something it isn't? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

And if you'd like to learn more about Instagram Stories, here's their official blog announcement

#Save Your Periscopes

Jessica Mack

If you've been using Periscope for a while you'll know that your 'scopes' disappear within 24 hours. There was a service called Katch, that would save your scopes for you, but it recently closed down.

Periscope is now testing out permanent save options. Right now it's in public beta and all you have to do is include #save in your caption.

Of course you can still go back and delete it afterwards if you decide you don't actually want it to be available forever.

Soon there will be an option  within the app to set the time limit without having to include the save hashtag. 

Personally I'm all for the new option, because you'll be able to link to great scopes permanently, there will be no more ugly 'this Periscope has expired' messages on Twitter, and you'll be able to embed great videos into other sites.

What do you think, would you like to be able to save some Periscopes permanently?

Social Media Marketing World 2016

Jessica Mack

This is going to be my first time attending (and speaking at) Social Media Marketing World in San Diego, and frankly I couldn't be more excited. 

To have the opportunity to learn from the likes of Guy Kawasaki, Amy Porterfield, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, and Darren Rowse is a privilege, but to share a stage with them, OMG - this is going to be fun!

Oh, and did I mention that the opening party is being held on USS Midway Aircraft Carrier?! What?! Yep, for realsies.

Image courtesy of Destination360.

Image courtesy of Destination360.

If you'd like to attend - and I really think you should - click my affiliate link below. And hit me up on Twitter so we can catch up in person!

And, if for some reason you don't want to spend a few days in sunny San Diego, you can sign up to watch / listen to the whole thing as a recording.

If You're Not Using Periscope You're Way Behind!

Jessica Mack

Periscope-Jessica-Mack

When it comes to new social media platforms, I'm definitely an early adopter. I usually sign up to new platforms in the first week they are available, if not the first day, and completely immerse myself in them (to the point of obsession). And I have to say, I am all for the direction social media is heading, with more live action, and less polished, filtered content. 

Enter Periscope. In case you have been living under a rock, Periscope is Twitter's answer to Meerkat...both are live streaming tools, which experienced phenomenal take-up as soon as they were launched. 

How-To-Periscope-Jessica-Mack

I know what you might be thinking, why would I want to watch all of these live streams? And yes a lot of them are 14-year old kids who are at home, bored, just trying to get hearts (you tap the screen to show appreciation for what is being streamed). BUT, if you follow the right people, you're going to see some quality, informative, and entertaining content from around the world...streamed live, straight to your phone. 

On the flip side, you also have the opportunity to share your knowledge, expertise, or whatever exciting thing you happen to be doing...with Periscope's 10 million active users.

With the brands I work on, my team jumped on Periscope straight away, and are using it to increase our direct contact with fans. We've launched new products in real time, taken fans to world-wide events from the comfort of their living rooms, given them direct access to professional athletes for question and answer sessions, and involved them in campaigns in a way that we've never been able to before.

If you're wondering how to get started, and make the most of Periscope, check out this guide for more information: http://www.lifeproof.com/blog/2015/06/5-ways-to-rock-periscope/ 

Social Media Today: Focus on Customer Service (Podcast)

Jessica Mack

Social-Customer-Care-Jessica-Mack

Recently I was interviewed by Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty on the Focus on Customer Service podcast, hosted by Social Media Today.  

We talked about best-practice customer service on social media, and how we approach social care for the OtterBox and LifeProof brands. Here are a few tweetable quotes from the interview (click to tweet):

If you want to skip ahead in the podcast, here are a few social customer care highlights:

1:35 Jessica’s background and how she ended up in her current role

2:25 How the fact that OtterBox’s product protects other companies’ products affects its social care strategy

4:03 How the social customer service team is organized and how they balance both the marketing and the customer service aspects of the job.

6:35 What technology Otterbox and LifeProof use for social media marketing and customer service

7:20 OtterBox’s culture and how it leads to a focus on customer service

8:25 Why OtterBox decided to use multiple Twitter handles

13:20 An example of using social media feedback to develop new products

15:26 Some of Jessica’s most memorable social media interactions

16:40 Jessica’s advice to people starting off in social customer service

Snapchat Launches On-Demand Geofilters

Jessica Mack

Snapchat has released a great new feature, on-demand geofilters. Getting married, hosting an event for work? Now you can upload your own filter artwork, set the time, and specify the exact location where it will be available. 

Snapchat also provides a variety of editable templates for you to choose from, in case you aren’t actually an artist or designer. 

I tested it this week and it was remarkably easy to do. Here’s how...

Head over to https://www.snapchat.com/on-demand and either download the templates or use them as a starting point to design your own (you’ll need either Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator). 

Making sure your design follows the Snapchat Geofilters Submission Guidelines (https://geofilters.snapchat.com/submission-guidelines) upload your artwork. 

Next, choose your date and time, and then map out exactly where you want your filter to be available.  Once your filter is approved (mine took about an hour) you’ll get an email confirmation. The only thing left is to tell all your friends once it goes live! 

Here's what my filter looked like:

Snapchat-geofilter
snapchat-on-demand-geofilter

It’s that easy! A whole city block seems to cost about $5.23 for an hour but I played around with the area and time, and got $1,245.44 for 12 hours with an area of 4,981,769 (which was a square containing about 30 city blocks). 
There are some limitations, for example, your area must be within 5,000,000 square feet so you can’t choose your whole town or state. 

There are some metrics available, although you’ll have to wait until 8am PST the next day to see them. Here’s what they look like: 

Snapchat-metrics

Don’t expect to get any detailed analytics from Snapchat, they don’t collect much information about their users up-front.

For more social media and marketing articles, tips, and info head over to www.jessica-mack.com 

Empowering Influencers to Tell Your Brand Story

Jessica Mack

Photo by Justin L'Heureux, courtesy of LifeProof.

Photo by Justin L'Heureux, courtesy of LifeProof.

I was asked to present a TED-style presentation at the Social Media Org 37th Member Meeting, talking about how we empowered influencers to create insane video adventures to help LifeProof's FRE Power case and tell the brand story. 

Social Media Org was kind enough to publish the video and my slides, so even if you weren't at the conference, you can watch them here. 

We couldn't show video at the conference, or I would have shared this sizzle reel from the campaign. Be warned, it's action packed, with waterfall diving, free-running, base jumping, mountain biking, and sky diving!

And if you'd like to see all of the full videos, check out this playlist on LifeProof's YouTube channel.

I'd love to know how you're using influencers, and videos to build your brand. Leave me a comment below!

Social Customer Care

Jessica Mack

Do you enjoy talking to customer service reps on the phone?

If you said yes, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that you are in the minority. Really, really, in the minority. 

These days, the first place I turn when I have questions, comments, or need help is social media. And if a brand is handling their social customer care the way they should, it is infinitely faster and less painful that finding an actual phone number on a brand's website, then enduring long hold queues when you'd rather be doing anything else, and then being passed between reps as you try to find someone who can actually help you. 

As customers increasingly turn to social media for answers, brands can't afford to ignore social customer care any longer. And yet, you still see it happening. Brands have their comments turned off, or they don't reply to people's queries on their social accounts, leaving customers feeling neglected and unheard.

Brands Need To Step Up Their Social Customer Care

Being a Social Media Marketing Professional I hate to name names because I know what a difficult job it actually is, that resources are often hard to come by, and that it can be a largely thankless job - but I did want to provide you with some examples of brands I think could make a huge impact if they were willing to engage with their audiences instead of using social media purely as a broadcast tool, and some who are doing it right. 

Nike

Nike is a brand I really admire, for a lot of reasons I won't get into here, but I'm always sad when I visit their Facebook page to find that they have posts and private messages turned off. I'd love to send them some fun UGC of my super-colorful Nike sneakers or a comment about how much I love the layout and design of their New York flagship store. But I can't, they don't want to hear it.

With 23,631,700 fans on Facebook alone (at last count) I understand that it would take huge resources to wade through so many customer comments, complaints, and commendations but they're missing out on a huge opportunity to:

  1. Make their fans feel heard and part of the Nike brand, and thus build loyalty
  2. Find out quickly if there are problems with any of their new products
  3. Identify trends and ideas for potential new products to solve customer needs

I'm sure Nike has an extensive customer support team, and there are ways to integrate them into your social media presence so customers can get the help they need, wherever they prefer to receive it, and then you can leave the Social Media Team to do what they do best. In fact, there are a lot of tools out there that will categorize and allocate customer posts to the appropriate person to be answered, making the workflow relatively simple.

Who's Doing it Well?

Starbucks

Starbucks have 36,087,934 Facebook fans at last count, and yet they keep their communication lines open. You can post a picture, comment on their posts, or send them a direct message. In fact, they even have a whole section of their website dedicated to hearing your ideas. So if you have a new drink suggestion, idea for in-store, or a way they can be more socially responsible - they actually want to hear it! Well done Starbucks, well done! And what's even better....they respond to their fans. With emojis and clever comments. They use the images and videos fans submit, and they really celebrate their customers! Good job Starbies!

Weight Watchers

The weight-loss giant goes out of their way to give their members a personal touch. Recently they changed their whole points system to 'SmartPoints' which meant that there were some teething problems during the busy New Year's Resolution time period. Specifically, their app went down, for over a week, meaning that loyal members couldn't access their information or easily participate in the program. But, they handled it like pros. They trained additional staff to handle the thousands of extra social media questions and complaints and gave them license to act like actual human beings. They were compassionate, helpful, friendly, and fun and they responded to everyone!

FitBit

I'm a long-time FitBit lover, and I recently damaged the rubber clip that holds my FitBit One. I tweeted them a photo and a little information and within two days there was a brand new one in the mail. Talk about speedy and delightful social customer care. No fuss, no hassle to me, the customer. That's the way it should be done! And see, I'm here now, telling you all about what a great company they are! ;)

OtterBox + LifeProof

Full disclosure, I run social media strategy for the OtterBox and LifeProof brands, so yes, I'm quite biased. But I did want to share a little about our philosophy and why we strive to answer every customer's question, and give love to our loyal fans on social media. 

Everyone on our team understands that you don't always want to hunt down the number for customer support, and then talk to a human on the phone. Anyone my age (and younger) wants help where they are at the time...which is usually social media. Whether that is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, Tumblr, Pinterest, or even Google+ we want to help our fans in a location and way that feels natural to them. 

And beyond just answering customer care and product questions, we genuinely want to hear what our fans have to say. Whether they don't like a feature on a product, or they have a great idea for something new, we listen, and we take that information back to our product and engineering teams who give real consideration to how we can improve our customers' experiences. 

If you'd like to hear more about how we run Social Customer Care at OtterBox and LifeProof, check out my episode of the Focus on Customer Care Podcast on Social Media Today: http://bit.ly/FOCSotterbox

As I said earlier, providing social customer care can be a thankless job. Fewer people take the time to give words of appreciation, than those who like to complain. So if you'd like to let my team know they are doing an awesome job, click on one of the tweetables below!