Ah, the hashtag. Never before has such a simple symbol been able to change the entirety of a money-making industry like the hashtag has for digital and social marketers. What began as a basic means of content categorization on Twitter has become much more widespread in recent years, currently involving the likes of Instagram, Pinterest and a host of other social media channels.
That said, regardless of social site or app, just any old hashtag won’t do. Moreover, for brands and marketing agencies to interact with the very audiences they hope to convert into loyal customers, only the best, most long-lasting of hashtags should be used on a regular basis. What are they, you ask? Well, the following infographic gives you a generic idea of what’s out there. Take a look and get to work.
Social media marketing has become a staple service for many of America’s most successful ad agencies. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn, if real social success is to take place, it’s imperative that a hefty follower base be built and maintained.
Even newer, more up-and-coming social channels require such a tactic. Take Instagram, for example. With the aforementioned in mind, building followers can’t be limited to a simple follow/unfollow regiment.
Moreover, lesser known measures should be taken. Social profile optimization, amongst other things, allows for other accounts to see what you’re about and give you an immediate follow. Interested? Here’s a bit of information to get your Instagram bio as effective as possible:
In recent memory, few digital marketing trends have taken off with as much ferocity as that of social media. While Facebook was certainly the catalyst in the social movement, Twitter wasn’t far behind and is arguably, as far as many marketing agencies are concerned, the best, most effective tool that digital product and service pushers have in their respective social arsenals. Known for its shorthand communicative tactics, Twitter has managed to connect people from each of the world’s four corners.
Even more impressive, with its game-changing launch in 2006, Twitter first introduced society to the hashtag. Now, with even more social channels available for both users and marketers to use, the hashtag has managed to migrate to a wide variety of outlets. What’s so powerful about the almighty hashtag, you ask? Well, the following infographic does a nice job of explaining just that:
Unbeknownst to most, social media isn’t only limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. In fact, there’s a host of new and exciting platforms that, unless you’re an industry expert or work at any one of America’s many marketing agencies, are rarely heard of by those of the general public.
Seriously, seeing as how social media marketing couldn’t be bigger than it currently is, it’s no surprise that young, up-and-coming entrepreneurs and their host of competitors are doing all that they can to latch onto the craze.
Meerkat and Periscope, for example, are two of those newer platforms through which both users and marketers are looking to interact with others. Both are innovative smartphone apps which allow for live video streams to be both shot and shared with others. That being said, with all of their similarities, which is better? The following infographic seeks to settle that very debate:
For social media marketing agencies all over the country, managing digital communities is just another part of the job. Whether it’s strategically starting a conversation on an industry-specific forum or using Audience Insights on Facebook to better understand what your target demographic desires, dealing with the mass amounts of social users can, after a bit of time, become a commonplace, comfortable affair.
That being said, regardless of the amount of time that you’ve spent as a social media marketer, dealing with negativity on any platform can be a troublesome endeavor. Making the matter even more difficult, you don’t represent yourself, but a client whose loyalty you’re trying desperately to gain.
However you handle marketing-related crisis, remember to take a deep breath, relax and respond appropriately. For more priceless help, check out the following points of emphasis which promise to make dealing with social marketing negativity an easier task:
Learn From What’s Taken Place
Negativity and harshness can be hard to deal with, even for the most seasoned of ad agencies. In real life, everyone has gone through situations in which they’ve been faced with public disapproval or a cutting comment. Even though social media is distanced in its interactions, the bravery with which people—all while hiding behind a selfie-centric profile picture—attack others is tremendous.
Instead of getting defensive by way of a few hateful backlashes, choose to read the comment in question a few more times. Try to see things from his or her perspective and think of how genuine help can be provided. Furthermore, it’s always a good idea to document negative comments for training or to follow up on later. Screenshots work perfectly for this and should be used accordingly.
Avoid the Temptation to Delete
There’s this crazy idea that once something’s been deleted, it permanently goes away. While the lunacy of such an ideology couldn’t be more apparent, when social media marketing and its respective agencies are involved, there’s an added level of naiveté. Countless are the stories of movie stars, musicians, athletes or common people who’ve been lambasted by something that they said weeks, months and even years prior through social media. Truthfully, that’s a heavy responsibility to have to deal with on a daily basis, but social marketing managers must find a way.
Needless to say, as opposed to immediately deleting a comment which unfairly casts a negative light on your client, choose to tackle the issue head-on, as top-tier agencies always do. Direct messaging options help to make this kind of resolution a private matter and can be extremely helpful.
With that in mind, from time to time, inappropriate comments will need to be deleted if profanity, racial slurs, explicit sexual content or anything else of the sort are put on display for all to see. At the end of the day, your best judgement will need to come into play to make the right decision.
Timeliness Can’t Be Understated
Any and all reputable marketing agencies understand the importance of deadlines. Without them, accountability ceases and clients opt for other industry competitors to handle their product- or service-pushing needs. In a similar fashion, social users—while unpleasant, from time to time—deserve to have their concerns addressed in a timely fashion.
In fact, studies have shown that, over the years, active social media enthusiasts have come to expect a response within only an hour of an initial engagement attempt. When comments are deleted or ignored by agencies, audiences may feel that something is being hidden from them. Simply put, the sooner a problem can be addressed, the better.
Respond In a Calm, Collected Manner
In an ideal world, all social interactions would be filled with glowing reviews and words of kindness. Seeing as how they aren’t, a change in perspective is often required to put a positive spin on things. Disparaging posts or tweets can’t be seen as an insurmountable obstacle; moreover, a way to transform an annoyed customer into a happy one.
Provide as much information as possible to help bring about a solution. Oftentimes, in certain scenarios, a special offer or outside email can make things right. In more extreme cases, if a complaint is genuine, help connect the miffed party with the best person to help them.
Regardless of who you are or how long you’ve been working at any one of America’s many marketing agencies, negativity is unavoidable; it’s never going away. Instead of turning the proverbial cold shoulder, ignoring the situation or making it worse through a series of harmful replies, take control and build your brand’s reputation with smart social practices.
In just a couple of years, Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll—the original creators of Vine—have proven that being long-winded isn’t necessary to get a message across. Seriously, it only takes six seconds or less. Still not convinced? As of April of this year, Vine—a short-form, video-sharing smartphone app— had managed to attract over 40 million registered users.
With upwards of 12 million Vine videos being uploaded to Twitter and other social platforms each and every day, it’s hard to argue against the strange, yet successful amateur video production outlet. Sure, it’s fun to watch miniature videos of house cats making fools of themselves or young, unsuspecting fathers taking a wiffle ball or two to the groin, but is there any real video production or social media marketing value with Vine?
Seeing as how more than half a trillion Vine loops run annually, the answer to the aforementioned question is a positive one. With that in mind, however, there are certainly better, more approachable methods for making Vine an effective tool for brand building. The following are a few of the more prominent strategies:
Product Demos
Nowadays, it seems that most people prefer online shopping over having to actually get up and go to a nearby store. While true, it’s much harder to purchase an item without the luxury of having it right in front of you. Simply put, digital buyers want as much information as possible made available to them so that they can shop smart.
Vine videos, coupled with a bit of video production magic, do an excellent job of highlighting a product’s most defining characteristics. When viewed in action, people—without physically being present—are much more willing to invest their hard-earned cash in whatever you’re selling.
Keep Things Light and Entertaining
Nearly 23 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds are active on Vine from a mobile device. Truthfully, few social outlets rival Vine for targeting Millennials through video production. There’s a reason for that: entertainment. Honestly, there aren’t many young people who consciously care about product reviews or brand history.
Instead, they prefer to enjoy social media while laughing and that’s exactly what Vine does for them. Regardless of the industry that you represent or how funny you may or may not be, make certain to provide your followers with Vines that’ll keep them coming back for more. That being said, there’s a fine line between what’s pleasantly hysterical and the compromising of brand values.
Company Culture on Full-Display
In past decades, it’s been near impossible for companies to develop meaningful relationships with their customers. Through social media—in this case, Vine—that’s no longer the situation. If you’ve seen MTV’s hit show “Catfish,” then you’re more than aware of such a reality. Being in the same room is no longer necessary for genuine dialogue to develop. For example, consider creating a handful of videos that focus on the subtle ins and outs of your business’ culture.
Though it’s unlikely that potential clients be drawn to you because of your insane ping pong skills or ability to beatbox by the water cooler, when it’s time for a buying decision to be made, they’re more likely to remember your social and video production presence than the minute specifics of your competitors’ product or service rates.
Social Engagement
Engagement is the real beauty behind social media. Think about the last time that you were at a retail store and the sales clerk hit you up for your email address to add you to the store’s “system.” Unbeknownst to most, this is a pathetic attempt at B2C interaction. Sure, if you toss your personal email address their way, you’ll probably receive a couple of promotional coupons.
But before you’ve even made the decision to open a promotional email, you’ll have already registered their account as spam. Ya see, when social media—more specifically, social media with a video production twist—is made a mainstay of a marketing, consumers aren’t interrupted with information; they voluntarily pursue it and are met with more than they’d originally expected.
Maybe you’re experienced with social media; maybe you’re not. Perhaps you’ve dabbled in a few beginner video production projects; on the other hand, you might not even known how to work a basic camera phone. In spite of your experience—or lack thereof, for that matter—to survive as a digital marketer in today’s fast-paced environment, adaptation is key. Vine, along with a host of other social channels, isn’t so much of an option as it is a necessity.
Believe it or not, on social media, there’s a strikingly sensitive balance between being pleasantly informative and coming off as painfully annoying. Unfortunately, many digital marketing agencies are completely oblivious to this and have their clients paying top dollar to bombard their respective social audiences with posts which—though useful—are a bit cumbersome when forced.
Your brand may have found and produced incredible content for a specific target demographic, but unless people are pleased with the amount of information being pushed to them on their precious feeds, the result promises to be less than positive. Seeing as how many marketing agencies are struggling to find a healthy equilibrium with social posting, the question begs to be asked: How much scheduled social posting is too much?
Facebook
On Facebook, it’s especially key that fresh, intriguing content be published. Simply put, if what you’ve scheduled to publish isn’t of the highest quality, you’re doing both yourself and your client few favors. Recently, SocialBakers.com studied three months’ worth of Facebook content from a few of America’s leading brands and discovered that each of them is publishing posts through Facebook, on average, about once a day.
Furthermore, the aforementioned group also found that when companies and marketing agencies post only once a week, audience connection is lost. However, when posting more than twice a day, consumer displeasure increases. As a general rule of thumb, posting three times per week should be considered a floor, whereas 10 posts a week should be viewed as a ceiling of sorts.
Twitter
As far as Twitter is concerned, the more the merrier—tweets that is. Twitter is arguably the Internet’s greatest social tool for joining any one of a specific community’s numerous conversations. Almost single-handedly through Twitter, many brands have solidified themselves as industry leaders.
Research shows that when at least three to five tweets a day are pushed to a group of followers—regardless of size—the proverbial ball of user engagement beings to roll. That being said, logically, the more you tweet, the more opportunities your fans have to interact with you and your company. If you’ve got a robust social team with the time and energy to tweet and interact, the sky’s the limit. For smaller, up-and-coming businesses, however, focus on hitting that three to five tweet sweet spot in order to develop a real, reputable Twitter presence which can easily transfer into something more prosperous in the near future.
LinkedIn
By and large, LinkedIn is viewed as a low volume/high value social network. Originally, LinkedIn was created as a platform through which individuals could network with industry-specific employees and businesses to identify advantageous professional opportunities. While still true in today’s day and age, the site has become a channel for brands and marketing agencies to launch a masked—though positive—advertorial voice through content marketing.
To get the most out of LinkedIn, it’s recommended that a minimum of two posts per week be produced. Conversely, no more than 5 posts per week should be published. Once again, on a top-tier site like LinkedIn, it’s imperative that you be promoting only insider business savvy, interesting facts and tips for industrial prowess.
Pinterest
Most people associate Pinterest with the female, do-it-yourself crowd; however, in recent years, Pinterest has made a name for itself as a timely avenue for marketing agencies to visually bolster organic content.
With fields of interest like fitness, technical gadgetry and fashion leading the way as Pinterest’s top pinning topics, companies from all sorts of backgrounds have seen success through this interactive outlet. For those who’ve seen great success through Pinterest, anywhere between five and 30 large, high-resolution images are being pinned each day. Statistically, Saturdays, afternoons and evenings are the best times for tapping into audiences for communal interaction.
Whatever experience you’ve had with social media, it’s vital to remember the following: each represented industry brings with it a series of social challenges for marketing agencies which must be met with a series of strategic adaptations. Needless to say, as social media scheduling is mastered, digital reputation and market reach are guaranteed to improve.
With digital communication being of the utmost importance for both small and large brands alike, the need for a robust social media presence can’t be understated. The following infographic seeks to better put into perspective the priority that is social media for businesses and why such an endeavor should be tackled with the help of a digital marketing agency.
Many marketers understand one common convention: social media marketing and content marketing are different things. Although this is technically true, it doesn’t mean that companies should regard these entities as completely separate. The best content marketing agencies in Utah know that to achieve success, companies must create a marketing plan that regards social media marketing and content marketing as one.
Social media marketing requires content. Furthermore, effective social media marketing requires concise, relevant and engaging content. It also requires that the content fit within a specific platform’s parameters, which increases the difficulty of crafting superior content. If a company tweets or posts irrelevant and poor quality content, they won’t drive engagement. In order to avoid this trend and create a sound social media marketing campaign, consider implementing the three tips mentioned below.
1. Research Your Options
To be successful at content marketing in Utah, you must understand that different audiences prefer different social media networks. For example, the Pew Internet Research Project reports that the average Twitter user is a non-white male that’s young, affluent and college-educated. Due to this fact, companies that are creating content on Twitter should ensure that their messages are tailored to this demographic.
Social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram also have unique audiences. In order to be effective on these platforms, companies must take user demographics into account. In addition to user demographics, companies must also understand that social platforms have different requirements.
Sticking to the first example in this section, Twitter has a 140-character limit. In order to successfully market on Twitter, companies must craft messages that are 140-characters or less that also appeal to a young, affluent and educated readership.
2. Implement A/B Testing
Successful Utah content marketers understand what their target audiences respond to. Unfortunately, many companies that are inexperienced with marketing try to push content that hasn’t been proven successful. Luckily, A/B testing can help individuals and organizations understand what topics draw in their audiences.
A/B tests allow companies to systematically assess how different content ideas can grow their businesses. Although some companies learn the A/B testing process on their own, this isn’t always the case. Many organizations choose to outsource their A/B testing to an experienced content marketing company in Utah. This way, a company can focus on what they do best: offering their product or service to customers and a content marketing agency can focus on what they do best: using specific methods to increase a company’s overall success.
3. Understand Your Following and Interact
To be successful on social networks, you must understand your audiences. Fortunately, tools like Nexalogy can help Utah companies increase their audience awareness faster than ever before. Applications like Nexalogy allow companies to understand what kinds of content their followers and fans are discussing. Organizations can then use this insight to generate a content marketing plan with topics that interest their followers.
Every company, regardless of its industry, can grow its business through social media. If you’re unsure how to begin, that’s OK, too. Here at Fusion 360, we understand how to create optimized content that’s sure to take your company’s success to the next level.
Teenagers are always eager to stay on top of the latest trends. Whether it’s clothing, hair or music, most teens want a proper part of whatever the masses are doing. Digitally speaking, things are no different. Currently, few things are bigger than social media. From posting pictures and status updates to humorous tweets and pinned interests, believe it or not, brands looking to make a name for themselves out on the World Wide Web have a great deal to learn from the up-and-coming group.
Most marketing companies realize that teens—and other demographics, for that matter—spend a great deal of time on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. While navigating the aforementioned social platforms, young people stumble across countless advertisements—many of which actually catch their attention and engage interest. If you and your company need better, more efficient access to America’s younger generation, the following infographic will serve as a blueprint of sorts:
