Social Media Expert Molly Shipp Goodyear
Molly Shipp Goodyear is a social media manager and coach for small businesses. She specializes in retail and restaurants in the Vermont area. She is a power house social media manager and is always up to date on the latest trends. On this episode we talk all the things social media including, our favorite platforms, what is working (and what is not) and so much more!
___________________
Are you wondering if your social media marketing is even working? Are you posting and hearing crickets? For a limited time I am offering customized Social Media and Marketing Snapshots for $27. These are a 2 – 3 page action plan designed specifically for your business. Grab yours today ===>>> www.socialmediasnapshot.com
Jamie: Hey everybody. It’s Jamie here with the OMG show. I am super excited to be here with Molly, Molly. Welcome to the show.
Molly: Thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.
Jamie: I am so excited that you are here. So tell our listeners a little bit about yourself.
Molly: Sure. I am a, I live in Vermont and I own eight Oh two social, which is a social media management company. We help our clients create and manage their content as well as providing a bit of coaching also.
Jamie: Amazing. So, um, how did you get started in that?
Molly: Uh, so the previous place that I worked at was a resort and the last couple of years that I was in, uh, working at the resort was 2012 or 2010 to 2012. And that was really when social media was up and coming for businesses. And so I was kind of tasked to figure out how to really implement our marketing strategies with social media and kind of get ahead of the game. So I did that for a couple of years, and then I decided that I just wanted to help much more, um, businesses and what I was doing. So I left my job and opened up eight Oh two social and eight Oh two is the area code for Vermont. I always forget to kind of explain that. So we only have one area codes and everything’s branded around eight Oh two, so eight Oh two social was born in 2012 and I’ve been helping businesses throughout the state ever since.
Jamie: That is so awesome. So which I have to ask, which what, what platform is your favorite type of social media these days
Molly: I’m loving Instagram, like most people and also Facebook groups. Yeah. I just think, you know, really they’re similar in the fact that you’re really commute, you’re creating and engaging in community more so than just Facebook page and certainly more than Twitter and Pinterest, but yeah, I love all everything about Instagram and Facebook groups, for sure.
Jamie: Okay. So I’m in, I’m in complete agreement I’m I totally, I’m not. So I feel like Instagram stories are so super hot right now, but I so struggle with like doing stories every day and I am a marketing person.
Molly: marketing is a little or our own social media can be tough as we both know cause we’re working on everybody else’s but I love the stories. I mean, some people are definitely a lot more creative than I am when it comes to creating your own stories. But I have friends that just don’t ever even look at the stories and I think why that’s so much fun. It’s quick, it’s simple. It’s, you know, you can just scroll through it. And um, I don’t know. I love the stories I GTB is not a favorite of mine. I don’t ever, I hardly ever look at that. Um, but yeah, stories are definitely my favorite.
Jamie: Yeah. And I, I think, I feel at least for me, I mean, I remember when Instagram first started and it was like in style, like I was supposed to be like this snapshot of what’s going on in your life. And then there was like this evolution of Instagram where it became all this stage, preconceived free contrived content. Yet. I feel like Instagram stories are really about that. Like instant behind the scenes what’s going on right now, sharing type of stuff. And so I think it really brought back the mission of Instagram, which is to like share things in real time.
Molly: Yeah. And the realness of what’s really happening in your life or your business, not the curated perfect picture, perfect photos that are on there now it’s okay to show the ugliness and the, you know, and the messiness and the stories. That’s kind of where it’s supposed to go.
Jamie: Yeah. I love that. You say that too. Cause I am like, I’m sometimes like I get on there and I’m like, ah, that’s what my hair looks like. You know, apparently I haven’t showered in three days or hair there’s sponsors for that though. I know. Right. There are focus for that. So I’d love for you to kind of share, like what are your favorite? Cause I’ve been talking a lot on YouTube about Instagram stories. So I’d love for you to share kind of like what are your favorite features and what do people need to know if they’re just getting started with Instagram stories?
Molly: Um, so I think stickers, uh, within stories, there’s stickers and I mean, there’s all kinds of little tools and those get overwhelming for people to try to figure it out, the lettering, the writing tools and all that sort of thing. But the stickers are not only, they’re fun and dynamic, but they have an important role to play. Especially if you look on them now there’s what, I don’t know, four or five different ones that are all associated with COVID. So as a sports support, small business stay home, um, as a couple others. And so those can create different pubs to connect other businesses that are all following those stickers. And so I think those alone are pretty powerful. And then of course, you know, that you can just have fun with it and create something. You can take the same image and use it multiple times with different stickers and people wouldn’t even realize, you know, at different times, but, um, and of course I always love the gifts or Jeff’s however you want to say it, but it was always fun to add a little something to it.
Jamie: Yeah. And it really, like, I always say to people like it’s worth the investment of time to put the sticker on or to put the copy on there to put the Jiff on, because I feel like, I don’t know. I hardly ever listened to stories with the sound on. Yeah. Unless somebody gives me a reason to flip that switch and turn the sound on. And so there’s a sticker for that sound on.
Molly: No, I did. So I’ll definitely kind of mix that up a little bit. Either put the sound on sticker on there or type out a little bit of what I’m saying and try to encourage them to listen in. But, um, at the, uh, the other sticker that’s super important is the location sticker. Yeah. You know, letting people know, especially if you’re a brick and mortar store to let people know that’s where you are. Yeah. Easily. So yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. I’d love for you to speak to too. Cause you work with a lot of businesses locally. Right? A lot of restaurants, a lot of retail folk, a lot of people who are a local business and need traffic to come into their store to sell things. So I would love to, for you to speak to like what’s working with that, what’s not working with that. What are some trends that you’re seeing? Cause I think that that’s, that’s not something that I really talk about a lot.
Molly: Yeah. I think it’s, um, I think that, especially now with businesses starting to kind of open back up, um, it’s really important that they reach their community. And for what I’ve been seeing mostly in my area are really, um, are aggressive uses of stickers or not yet not stickers, but stories. Um, you know, they’ll still put some of the restaurants I work with will still put their menu item or their new menu image or something like that on the news feed. But they’re pressing more on the stickers. I mean, sorry, stories themselves. Um, because they’re showing more of, you know, they’re doing takeout drinks now, so they’re doing little snapshots of those or they’re doing new menu items or there was one last night that ran out of a really hot item, you know? And so immediately they did a story of the next new item that they use to replace it. And so it’s just a quicker way for people to get in touch or to see what’s really going on. And also the there’s more video access there. So some of the retail stores around here we’re actually doing live feeds of, you know, kind of doing a tour of the actual store. Yeah. Um, so that that’s also been pretty powerful and then the stories can then also transfer over to Facebook. Yeah. I don’t think powerful and Facebook yet, but they’re at least still there. And some people probably do look at those, but I’m not sure on the stats on that yet.
Jamie: Yeah. I think one thing that’s really cool, um, with that, it’s just like too, I think what happens, I think from a psychology perspective, at least from what I’ve seen on the Instagram stories is people worry less about it being perfect because it goes away in 24 hours. And I love that. I love hearing that restaurants are embracing that and retail are embracing that because I think that that’s an industry where people have always had this preconceived notion that the image like the food has to be perfectly styled and the, you know, the drink has to be perfectly this and you know, the retail store has to be perfect. So what are some other ways in which, you know, given that we’re kind of in this weird time that we’re navigating, um, what are some other things that you’re seeing like local businesses do to get themselves out there with marketing and social media?
Molly: Um, I think, well kind of what I was just referring to with the retail outlet, there was a local store that did a Facebook live event and she basically, this is actually before she, right before she’s able to open up and she did a Facebook live and literally showed different images of the clothing that she had and you know, the sizes cause some of them were selling out and the brand and kind of gave a little, she wasn’t like a fashion show, but she was holding things up and giving people the opportunity to send her a message to buy and do store pickups, you know, outside of the store, like the next day or that week or something. So I thought that was very innovative. Um, and it was really successful and people were asking her to do it again because they didn’t realize she was going to go do that. And so they kind of miss some of it. Of course they can go back and watch it. But, um, she did a great job with it. It was, it was pretty impressive.
Jamie: Yeah. That’s super cool. I love that. We did this thing. I don’t know how many years ago now. I can’t even remember, um, where we would post on it. This is back when Facebook was more like the wild wild West, but this would totally work for Instagram stories is we would put something up that was like a special and it’d be like a crazy discounted price. And we put it up with like a code word. Right. So when you ordered it, you had to use the code word. And there was only so many people who could redeem the code word and it was a lot of fun. And essentially it was like, you know, the goal was to get people in obviously, but it also was like a lot, like it was really, really fun. So we would have like, we do it with seafood towers or we would do it with specialty drinks. And like, there was always like a different number of people. Sometimes it’d be five, the first five people. Sometimes it would be 20 people, but I could totally see that working with Instagram stories too. Cause it’s so instantaneous and stuff. Um, so let’s talk about Facebook groups for a few. Sure. What are you seeing with groups? Cause I have my suspicions on groups. So I’d love to know what your thoughts are.
Molly: Hm suspicions. Um, I think that they are, I think they’re more powerful than, than people realize. I mean, you certainly know cause you’re all over Facebook groups. I’m not even sure how many groups you have.
Jamie: Yeah. I have two paid groups, so I have my social made simple as a paid group and then I’ve got my business ecosystem. Builder is a paid group and then I have a free group.
Molly: Okay. So you have three. Yeah. So, and I have two, but um, I think that they can be, I think are going to spend more time in those. I’m wondering if that, if you’re thinking the opposite.
Jamie: No, I agree. And I think part of it is that Facebook is investing a lot of money in it because I’ve seen ads. Like I saw an ad for Facebook groups during the super bowl and that’s prime time, what’s it called? So I think groups aren’t going away. And one of the clients that I work with she’s has like, I dunno, 40,000 people in our group. Oh my gosh. And um, she’s a beta tester for Facebook and they’re rolling out Facebook ads inside the group. So I think groups are going to continue to get bigger and bigger and gain more momentum.
Molly: Yeah. And I think that I like them because you know, with Facebook you hardly see anything and it’s, you know, of course half the stuff you see is not great. And so with the Facebook groups, you’re, it’s kind of like a safe space. You’re not going to see a bunch of political stuff. You’re not going to see anything ugly. It’s just going to be, you’re there for a reason. You’re there for that. The subject of that group. Yeah. Remove yourself. You can, you know, I’ve definitely every once in a while I go through and kinda look at the groups that I’m part of and I’m like, I don’t need to be here anymore. It’s not. Yeah. So I think that they will continue to, to, to increase in popularity. It’s just kind of convincing people to take that leap and search out for those groups.
Jamie: Yeah. Agreed. And I think that there’s a awesome ways for small businesses to use them. Um, there’s a jewelry store here in Newport that she has her public page. And then inside of her group, she does like flash sales. Um, and the only way to get access to the flash sales is inside the group. And I’m like, that’s so smart. Like, you know,
Molly: I definitely see people, um, getting overwhelmed with, I actually did a podcast not long ago about Facebook groups versus pages, because a lot of confusion of, you know, do I need a page or do I need a group or do I need both? And what, you know? And so even just that is confusing for people. And so I always try to tell people, just join a couple of groups and see what they’re about and learn from what they’re doing and just kind of get a feel same with, you know, kind of back to the Instagram stories. Just watch the stories for awhile, see what you like, that other people are doing and then try it yourself and then kind of learn from that.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. No, but I, I agree with you though. I don’t think groups are going away anytime soon. And I, I almost kind of chuckle at all, like the big name folks who have bled, like I’m shutting down my giant group and I’m like, you’re going to wish you didn’t do that because it’s not going to go. And I think it’s one of those things. I think that pages, I don’t want to say that page reach on Facebook is dead. Cause I don’t think that it is. I just think you have to be way more strategic in the content that you create because I still do get engagement and I know people see it because they tell me maybe they don’t comment or like, cause I think people are smarter now too. Right? Like, yeah. I don’t know.
Molly: But I feel like that with pages you don’t necessarily really know who you’re talking to. Whereas CR I mean, you’re talking to everyone that’s following you. I get that. But in the group, if you have a small group or even a larger group, you kind of know who you’re speaking to.
Jamie: Yeah. It’s usually the person like the business owner that’s posted versus the page
Molly: deeper connection, as opposed to just like, I’m putting stuff out there and people are gonna read it. And the group is like, I’m putting stuff out there because I know. So, and so really could use this.
Jamie: Yeah. I love that distinction because I think that that’s super important for, I, I didn’t even think of it that way. Um, so how are you encouraging people to use groups in their business?
Molly: I’m thinking through my clients, I’m encouraging my clients to participate and to become part of my groups. I have a public group and a paid group, and I’m trying to get them to understand that it’s a two way conversation with the whole group. Yeah. You know? Cause when you, when you try to send a message on a page, it doesn’t really get seen by everyone, but in a group it’s an actual conversation that you can have with anyone that’s part of that group and paying attention. So I’m trying to teach them the benefits of groups and then also get them to use those groups to their benefit, to brainstorm with other members or ask questions. Um, [inaudible] I think that’ll be part of teaching them what groups are about. Cause I don’t think they’re for every business, but I think there’s some creative ways, kinda like what you had mentioned earlier that other businesses can be using it even if, even if it’s a small group. Yeah. Um, so it’s kind of figuring out like I have a home organizer and I’m not sure probably Facebook group wouldn’t be right for her, but she can absolutely participate, participate in other groups.
Jamie: Yeah. And the more you participate, like I’ve said, I said this, I don’t know, probably six years ago now, but the more you participate, the more content you’ll see from other groups that you’re in, like that content that you comment yup. Commented on it. I think that’s one of the really, really awesome things about groups that Facebook does get. Right. In terms of the algorithm. So like for people who are listening, like comments in those groups where your ideal client is hanging out and you’ll get more posts like that, that automatically show up in your feed That you can then comment on and create more relationships with. Because I think, I don’t know what your stance is on this, but I feel like, especially for people who had just getting started with social media or they have a smaller following, I feel like people rely way too much on, I’m just going to start posting on social media and magically the people will come and it’s like, I don’t think you realize how much personal reach out I do behind the scenes to build relationships or how much commenting and engaging in value I provide, you know?
Molly: Yeah. Definitely. And people start recognizing your name. Yeah. I mean there’s groups of you and I are in that we’ve been in for now. And it, you know, we recognize certain names all the time. It’s true. May not know them or you may not have even had a side conversation, but you at least know like, Oh there’s so and so I haven’t seen her pop up in a while or
Jamie: yeah. Yeah. That’s a good point too. I didn’t even think of it that way. Yeah. I think, I just think the groups are super powerful. So get involved. Right. I think is the message. so I asked every single guest on the show, what Ninja tips do you have for our listeners around social media?
Molly: I guess my biggest tip would be, well, a couple things. Stop overthinking it. So I have one particular that it would take her days just to create one post. So stop overthinking it. You can easily delete it if you don’t like it, um, you can delete it. You can tweak it. You can come back to it. You know, you can see how it resonates. That’s how you learn what works for you and what doesn’t same thing with the stories. Just put them up there. There are only 24 hours. Of course you can save them into highlights, but that’s another episode, but, um, you know, just play with it, have fun and don’t overthink it and, and engage with your community. That’s a whole year, you’re there to be a resource and a value add for your community. So show that engage, encourage, encourage engagement, and don’t overthink it.
Jamie: I love it. You’re like, yeah, not that it’s a surprise to me that you’re in alignment with my values by any means. But I appreciate you saying that. Cause I think it’s always good for people to hear it from somebody else. Other than me, even though I say it all the time. Um, so Molly, how can our listeners get in touch with you?
Molly: Well, I am everywhere on social media at eight Oh two social or eight zero two social. So you can find me Instagram, Facebook, wherever. And I also have a podcast which is the same name as the podcast group on Facebook, which is the social media download podcast. So you can look me up on the podcast and I’d love for you to join my Facebook group.
Jamie: Well, thank you so much for coming on the show, Molly. I super appreciate it. We’re going to have to have you back again and we can like deep dive into like each one of these topics. We’ve been talking about this for years. So now we’re finally making it happen. I love it. Alright. Thank you guys so much for tuning in Molly. Thanks for coming on the show and yeah. Talk to you all soon.
