In working with thousands of customers over the past few years, we’ve learned a lot about the best ways for businesses to use social media to their advantage. Those who have come on board to use the Rallio platform are able to pair our technology with social media strategy to produce incredible results.

Today, I sat down with our Director of Business Development, Avery McCaslin, to discuss our platform as well as the key trends for social media marketers to know today. But first, we had to grab Starbucks and wonder what was inside this Nasty Gal trailer parked behind me at the Irvine Spectrum near our office. They’ll be popping up later today, so we’ll just have to wait. In the meantime … here’s our Q&A.

What is Rallio?

Rallio is a software technology that helps businesses create engagement online to increase local demand. For multi-location brands that want to turn on their local impact, our technology empowers them to connect authentically with customers, drive traffic and increase revenue at the local level.

What are the key online trends that multi-location businesses need to know today?

Reviews and online reputation are a huge piece of their SEO. Brand consistency is critical. Perhaps most important of all, they need to be aware of the importance of video content. According to an Animoto survey, four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. Also, Facebook prefers video in their algorithm over traditional content.

Another huge thing for multi-location businesses to understand is that social media is not a free medium anymore, at least not if you want to make an impact with your brand. More than anything, it’s a pay-to-play system, yet it’s still much more cost-efficient than traditional channels.

If you want anyone to see the content you’re spending so much time creating, you should be boosting it! If you don’t, only roughly 15 percent of your followers will see it. But if you do, you get much better visibility.

[bctt tweet=”If you want anyone to see the #content you’re spending so much time creating, boost it!” username=”rallioHQ”]

Why is online reputation important?

Online reputation is so important for new customer acquisition. Before anyone will buy your product or service, the first thing they’ll do is go online to see what other people are saying about you. Your online reviews can either make or break you, and they need to be kept current. In fact, some 73 percent of consumers feel that reviews older than three months are no longer relevant. It’s an ongoing process.

How can businesses use digital coupons to their advantage?

With Rallio technology, you can use digital coupons to incentivize a survey that leads to a positive review. You can use coupons on social media to create full-blown national campaigns, but at a local level. That produces true ROI, all tracked through the Rallio system.

Another huge benefit to using our system is that each of our coupons has a unique tracking code, and it’s completely digital and mobile-friendly. The coupons can only be used once, so you’re getting better analytics and improved ROI. You can’t have the same person using the coupon or a local store manager scanning the same coupon over and over again, so it’s a better way to track the offer.

Also, in Rallio, you can share digital coupons with your friends and they get their own unique code. A map will even pop up to show the nearest store to that friend, so it becomes an interactive experience.

How should businesses use social media to connect with customers?

The biggest thing to understand is that now more than ever, customers want companies to be transparent. Having a company be real and personable is really important to them, especially for millennials, who treat social media like a customer service channel. When they comment or ask a question on social media, you need to get back to them and respond right away.

[bctt tweet=”Nowadays, #millennials treat social media like a customer service channel. #smm” username=”rallioHQ”]

What are some of the biggest mistakes brands make on social media?

Not boosting posts is one of them. Also, not responding and interacting with potential and current customers. Finally, not posting local content that’s specific to each location’s needs. You can’t expect to sell the same lawn and garden products to a city dweller as you would to a farmer, for example. You have to tailor your content and offers to each geographic location.

What are some of the unique features of Rallio technology?

One of the coolest things about our technology is that manufacturers can syndicate content down to the corporate level, and corporate can dish it out to all end user locations. For example, we work with Samsung and Verizon. Before, Verizon had individual store owners Googling Samsung products and posting whatever content they wanted about them. Samsung wanted more control over what was being said about their brand, and Verizon wanted more control over what their retailers were pushing out. With Rallio, everyone can work together to stay on brand for both the manufacturers and the retailers. And retailers like it because they’re getting more engagement and customers.

Here’s an example:

What about independent business owners? How can they use the Rallio platform to their advantage? 

Rallio has a great offering for small business. Those that use our technology have all their social and review platforms located in one place, saving them time, which is important for a busy small-business owner. They’re utilizing a powerful system that billion-dollar businesses are using, at a fraction of the cost. Plus, they get the expertise of an awesome support team and strategy team.

What is one key takeaway for businesses you’d like to mention?

Social media is not a trend. It’s not going anywhere, and it’s only going to get more important and more local. Rallio is the solution to the ever-changing market.

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To learn more about Rallio or to request a demo, go to www.www.rallio.com.