New Temporary Statewide COVID-19 Restrictions

Published December 10, 2020

Today – Thursday, December 10, 2020 – Governor Tom Wolf announced new temporary statewide protective mitigation efforts:

“Today I am announcing additional, temporary COVID-19 protective mitigation measures in the commonwealth,” said Gov. Wolf. “With these measures in place, we hope to accomplish three goals: First, stop the devastating spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. Second, keep our hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed. And third, help Pennsylvanians get through the holiday season – and closer to a widely available vaccine – as safely as possible. This is a bridge to a better future in Pennsylvania.”

The new, limited-time mitigation orders take effect at 12:01 a.m. on December 12, and remain in effect until 8 a.m. on January 4, 2021.

“Each of the last two days we have reported the highest number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic,” Dr. Rachel Levine said. “In the past week, we have reported close to 1,100 new deaths from COVID-19 across Pennsylvania. The virus continues to strain our health care systems and the dramatic rise in cases among all age groups, including among school-age children, is alarming. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 37,500 cases among children age 5 to 18, yet 9,500 of those cases occurred in the past two weeks.”

The Order provisions outlined here are accompanied by supportive data used in part to make these decisions. The data provides a sampling of research that supports why limiting gatherings, reducing occupancy, and temporarily suspending some activities, among other efforts, are considered vital to stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Two recent studies, one by Yale University and one by Stanford University, substantiate more than one of these mitigation efforts. Links to the full studies and additional data and research can be found on the Department of Health’s data page, here.

Limited-Time Mitigation efforts announced today include:

In-Person Dining and Alcohol Sales

  • All in-person indoor dining at businesses in the retail food services industry, including, but not limited to, bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, social clubs, and private catered events is prohibited.
  • Outdoor dining, take-out food service, and take-out alcohol sales are permitted and may continue, subject to any limitations or restrictions imposed by Pennsylvania law, or this or any other Order issued by the Sec. of Health or by the governor.

Indoor Gatherings and Events

  • Indoor gatherings and events of more than 10 persons are prohibited.
  • Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other places of congregate worship are specifically excluded from the limitations set forth above during religious services, these institutions are strongly encouraged to find alternative methods for worship, as in-person gatherings pose a significant risk to participants at this time. While this an incredibly difficult recommendation to make, particularly at this time of year, faith leaders must carefully weigh the health risks to their congregants given the immense amount of community spread of COVID-19.

Outdoor Gatherings and Events

  • Outdoor gatherings and events of more than 50 persons are prohibited.

Capacity Limits for Businesses

  • All in-person businesses serving the public may only operate at up to 50% of the maximum capacity stated on the applicable certificate of occupancy, except as limited by existing orders to a smaller capacity limit.

Gyms and Fitness Facilities

  • Indoor operations at gyms and fitness facilities are prohibited.
  • Outdoor facilities and outdoor classes can continue, but all participants must wear face coverings in accordance with the Sec. of Health’s Updated Order Requiring Universal Face Coverings, including any subsequent amendments, and practice physical distancing requirements.

Entertainment Industry

  • All in-person businesses in the entertainment industry serving the public within a building or indoor defined area, including, but not limited to, theaters, concert venues, museums, movie theaters, arcades, casinos, bowling alleys, private clubs, and all other similar entertainment, recreational or social facilities, are prohibited from operation.

In-Person Extracurricular School Activities

  • Voluntary activities sponsored or approved by a school entity’s governing body or administration are suspended, but these extracurricular activities may be held virtually. This includes, but is not limited to, attendance at or participation in activities such musical ensembles, school plays, student council, clubs, and school dances.

K-12 School Sports and Youth Sports

  • All sports at K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, private schools and club, travel, recreational, intermural, and intramural sports are paused.
    • The Pennsylvania Principals Association is recommending a delay to the start of the winter sports season. The surge in cases among school-age children increases the risk that asymptomatic participants will spread the virus at a game or practice, in the locker room, while traveling to and from events, or at team meals, parties or other gatherings.

Professional and Collegiate Sports

  • Professional or collegiate sports activities may continue in accordance with guidance from the CDC and the Department of Health.
  • Spectators may not attend such sports activities in person.

“We know that COVID-19 thrives in places where people gather together,” Gov. Wolf said. “Therefore, these mitigation measures target high-risk environments and activities and aim to reduce the spread of this devastating virus.”

According to Yale University research, mitigation measures such as mandatory mask requirements, and gym and restaurant closures are policies that most consistently predict lower four- to six-week-ahead fatality growth.

“The work we do now to slow the spread of COVID-19 is not only crucial to keeping our fellow Pennsylvanians safe and healthy,” Gov. Wolf said. “It will help all of us get back to normal, and back to all of the things we’ve missed, faster. And it means more Pennsylvanians will be alive to celebrate that brighter future. This year, we show our love for our families and friends by celebrating safely and protecting one another.”

 

At True Fit Marketing we are committed to staying informed on the latest news that affects businesses. If you need help with any messaging, social media, or marketing during this time, please reach out. We love talking with and meeting new people!

 

 

Relationship Marketing

Published November 4, 2020
What It Is and How To Properly Use It

According to HubSpot, Relationship Marketing is, “a type of marketing that focuses on cultivating deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers to ensure long-term satisfaction and brand loyalty.”

Studies have shown that retaining current customers can at times bring in more revenue than bringing in new customers. It also usually costs less to keep your current customers happy, according to Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company. Of course, we’re not saying that you should not be trying to attract new customers, but you should also be making sure that you are doing what you can to best retain your current customers that are worth keeping.

So, since you now know what Relationship Marketing is and why you should be working to retain customers, how do you do it properly?

To start, you have to get clients, right? Here are some tips for guidelines on following up. Remember that these guidelines can change and will depend on each client. Just like no snowflake is the same, the same goes for customers. 

  1. Whenever you contact a customer, set the expectation right away so they know that you will be following up.
  2. Set an expectation of when they will get their proposal and what will be included.
  3. Let them know that you will be following up with them after X amount of days of when you sent the proposal.
    1. If it is a time-sensitive project then wait no longer than two days for a callback.
  4. Always follow through with the expectations that you set for them.
  5. Make sure that the customer knows that you’re there for them, but do not live and die by their business.

Now the customer has the proposal, has agreed to it, and is now ready to start working with you. Of course, expectations are different depending on what type of industry you are in. Construction companies, for example, will only be with customers as long as their project lasts. However, if they do a good job and are respectful and courteous, then they will probably get word of mouth recommendations along with staying top of mind for future projects that may come along with repeat customers.

To have customers stay with your business and stay happy, follow these tips.

  • Make sure that you check in with your contact every so often. This should not be every week, as that could be too much. But once a month, check-in with them to see how they feel everything is going and how they are doing. 
  • Make sure that you’re not always talking business or trying to sell more services or products, but show that you genuinely care.
  • Consider holidays or certain times to send small gifts or cards to show that you care and appreciate their business. 
  • If you see something that could help them with their business, such as an article, send it to them.
  • If you are having customer appreciation or VIP events including sales or offers, have them be the first to know.

Again, no size fits all with these tips and guidelines. The main thing is to show that you care for the customers and appreciate them. Setting expectations helps them to know when they should hear from you and following through with these expectations shows a lot, since not every company would do that.

We know that there is a lot that goes into running a successful business and it can certainly seem overwhelming at times. We are always here to help in any way we can. Even if you just need someone to grab a coffee with and talk things through, we love coffee and good conversation. Contact us today so we can schedule a time to meet!

Why Your Business Would Benefit From Videos

Published October 29, 2020

Do you think that having a high-quality video about you and your business could really help? But at the same time, the thought of hearing, seeing yourself, or creating that video makes you cringe and maybe want to hide under your blankets and not come out for a while? You can push the sheets back because you’re not alone in feeling that way. This is why we offer Video Production and Editing as a service.

Using video for your business can really help your business stand out and showcase many things in one video, compared to different posts about each service and why you started your business. It also makes you front and center, and people buy people. Your customers can see your personality shine through dynamic, attention-grabbing videos compared to static pictures. You can also showcase some of your best customers and clients and have them talk about how much they love your business and why others should check it out. Seems like a win, win right?

Let’s explore a few types of videos that you could use for your business.

Showcase your product and/or services. Take a deep dive into what you offer to customers and clients and why they would need these in their life. With creative B-roll and editing, while you’re explaining them, the viewer will see them showcased and explained in depth.

What is your why? This video will be a focus on you as the business owner. You can explain why you started your business, how you got into the industry and the passion that you bring to work every day. This is a great way to catch viewers’ attention and keep them intrigued with your personal story. This video, and every video, will also use creative B-roll that will be shown over you talking with you working with a client or creating something if that’s your business.

Testimonial videos. Testimonial videos will feature a client that has dealt with your business for some time now and has an incredible experience every time. This gives your business even more credibility. Asking the client the right questions helps to really bring out what they love so much about your business and why they love working with you.

Videos of events. If you are organizing an event or attending one on behalf of your business, this is a great opportunity to showcase you outside of your physical business location and how you represent yourself. An interview with you at the event and explaining what it is and why you’re involved along with shots of what’s happening will make this video a hit.

You and your business in the local community. Most people love their local communities and love being able to support small businesses. If you’re going to be out and about in the community, this is a great time to have a video done. As stated previously, people buy people, and if they know that you’re helping out in the local community, then that’s even more of a bonus.

There are many other ways that you can showcase you and your business through videos. These videos can also be used in many places including on social media, your website, and video ads. We know that this makes many people feel stressed and that’s why we’re here to help. We will plan shot ideas, questions, and edit your videos. Since these are not live, we can use multiple takes and make your video a highlight for your business. We would love to meet with you and chat about what you do and why!

Facebook: What’s New in the New Look

Published September 21, 2020

Some of you may have already noticed that Facebook got quite the facelift recently. There’s a new design for Facebook’s page, which is being referred to as FB5, and things are moved around and found in different places. We are going to take you through all of the new features we found, including the dark mode option!

One of the biggest changes to FB5 that many notice right away is the new design. There is more white space and a cleaner look. The Facebook logo is also slightly different with a lighter blue background. One of the features that many will love with this new design is that you can choose to use Dark Mode! You can easily toggle back and forth from the drop-down next to your name.

If you have a business page on Facebook (and if you don’t, see our blog about why you need one) your settings are now on the left side of your page, instead of at the top. We think this makes it easier because everything you could need for editing your page is conveniently located on the left now.

Facebook page settings on the old Facebook.

New Facebook page settings menu.

The top navigation is different now with where your Facebook profile picture is, where you can find your handle, and a convenient button to “View as Visitor” right out in the open.
The optimal size for your Facebook Cover Photo is 940 x 352 pixels. There are some things to keep in mind when picking your cover photo. The new Facebook has rounded corners, the profile picture slightly covers up a bottom part of the cover, and there’s a slight gradient at the bottom of the cover photo. Make sure to have these in mind when creating or editing your new Facebook cover photo. Your Facebook profile picture should be 132 x 132 pixels. This is still the standard circle from Facebook, but it is seen lower and to the left of the cover photo on the new Facebook.

How the top of your page is displayed on the new Facebook.

How the top of your page looked like on the old Facebook.

FB5 also shows your page insights right away. You can see the people reached, post engagements, and post likes, with percentages of how you normally trend. You can change this to just show yesterday, the last 7 days, or the last 28 days.

Underneath the insights is where you now see all of your About information, including how many people like and follow your page.

Insights shows right on your page with the new Facebook.

On FB5, they wanted to place more of an emphasis on groups and events. Some may have noticed that the new mobile version has a new tab at the bottom that takes you through a news feed that are posts from all of the groups you are in. The new FB5 is rumored to do the same as well. We will keep you updated with new features that we find. We are excited to see how the groups and events play an even larger role in Facebook.

Old look of the about section.

New look of about section.

If you need any help with Facebook or any areas of your marketing, please contact us. We would love to learn more about you and your business!

Why You Should Add Social Media Advertising to Your Marketing Strategy

Published August 28, 2020

Do you feel ahead of the game with your business because you’re on social media and you post a couple of times a week? This is excellent and certainly a great start! We know that there is a lot to take in when it comes to Social Media Management. We also wrote a blog about posting frequency and how to create a Facebook marketing strategy. 

While it’s great that you’re posting on social media, sometimes you need more for your business. When it comes to organic posts, they only reach about 6% of the people that already like your page. So, if you have 100 page likes, then only 6 of these 100 people will see these posts. What about the other 94 and what about people that don’t already like your page? With Social Media Advertising, your posts can be seen by many more people and can also be targeted to a certain demographic such as age or gender. If you’re a beauty company and mainly want to run a campaign that will reach 21-35 year old females, this is easy to do throughout social media advertising.

Depending on the demographics that you are targeting, you can advertise on Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Certain age groups are on different platforms and you can make sure that you are putting your ads in front of the places that they are on.

Another great part about Social Media Advertising is that you can set budgets for campaigns that work for you and your business. We recommend that you spend at least $35 on a social media boost and $100 on social media ads. Anything under this does not do as much, but we find that over $35 for a social boost can be a sweet spot.

Another campaign that you can run through Social Media Advertising is a like campaign for your business. This will show your page in people’s news feed with an easy way for them to like your page when they see it. This will help you to grow your following and also grow brand recognition. Growing this audience is a long term gain that will help your business grow in the future. 

While 2020 has been a crazy year, we have learned that having great social media management and social media advertising campaigns has really helped businesses. While some businesses stopped everything that they were doing during the quarantine period, the ones who kept their posting regular has done very well even during limitations on certain businesses. But their efforts and money went far while all people had to do was scroll on their phones at home. 

Once you have social media advertisements set-up, these will drive traffic to either your website or the landing page that you selected. This is also helpful because getting customers here is sometimes the hardest part. But if you are able to get them here with social media advertisements, then chances are that they could also look around more on your site.

Lastly, you can gain a lot of great insights into your customers with social media advertisements. You can see more of their interests, ages, and more. 

Interested in social media advertising but not sure where to start? We would love to learn more about you and your business and offer guidance.