Facebook Tries To Be A Cool Kid With Lifestage

27Aug

When Mark Zuckerberg first released Facebook into the world, its original purpose was meant to help college students to connect. In fact, you couldn’t even sign up if you didn’t have a .edu email address. Obviously, all that has changed. Now, everyone and their grandma (literally) has a Facebook page. This year, the primordial idea of student exclusivity is resurfacing in a new app called Lifestage. However, Lifestage’s demographic is quite a bit younger than Facebook’s original goals.

This new app is quite a unique platform. Its target demographic is teenagers and aims to connect fellow students from the same school. In fact, you can’t sign up for this “Facebook Jr.” if you’re over 21 years old! Perhaps, this is a way to protect the young internet surfers, but the app itself actually has no privacy features in an attempt to be as transparent as possible.

It should come to no surprise to anyone that Snapchat’s design heavily influences the rest of the app. Lifestage offers entertaining filters to decorate the videos much like the popular platform already does. Yet unlike Snapchat, posts are always visible. A surprising feature of this app is that it only allows video content. The teenage users can easily peruse through emoji-clad profiles like a Facebook profile, but there will be no static pictures. It seems like video’s reign is changing even the selfie.

Despite Lifestage technically being a new social media profile, marketers shouldn’t get too excited for new advertising possibilities. Users’ reach can only go so far and there doesn’t seem to be any advertising options (yet). What this app does show is how much video is influencing social media in 2016, as predicted by many of the experts. Additionally, this is the second attempt from Facebook to create a “Snapchat clone”, the first being Instagram Stories. Snapchat has begun to show its potential as Millennials (and younger) are being gravitated towards the platform. It offers a certain sense of instant gratification that people crave. As such, video, smaller bodies of text, and interactive apps are shifting the way we approach marketing.

My first question would be what happens if hypothetically Lifestage takes off, and these users outgrow the 21-year-old age limit? Will they be denied access to their favorite platform and all the videos they’ve accumulated during their childhood? Perhaps Facebook should integrate a “Grown Up” button, which will convert an account into a fully grown Facebook profile when the time comes.

It’s unclear just how effective Lifestream will be. Facebook has a long list of failed children. From Paper to Slingshot, there are several apps that Zuckerberg’s team has created that just didn’t take off and now only reside in the history books. At the time of this blog post, Lifestream only has a 2.5 out of 5-star rating. Still, their attempt to prime the next generation for a video-dominant social media landscape speaks volumes about just how much Facebook not only likes but needs video to be on their side.

What do you think of Lifestage? Comment below!

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Are You Fluent In Instagram? Insta-Terms You Need to Know

By Christopher Tompkins

22Aug

Instagram, Social Media

Social media and the internet had a certain impact on language. We have become quicker, shorter, perhaps even more impatient. Regardless, tools such as acronyms and hashtags gave us new ways to communicate, much like shorthand did decades prior. Above all other social media platforms, Instagram takes this to a new level.

Instagram brings a whole separate, unique culture to social media marketing. We could say it’s because it’s more imagery focused as opposed to text, or we could say it targets a younger demographic. But when it comes down to it, it promotes a fun way to connect. Even as a marketer, you need to learn how to speak as the Instagramers do when trying to promote your brand online. As such, you will need to learn very specific terms. Here are some of the most common terms that people use:

Regram – This is the equivalent of a retweet on Instagram. This term denotes that this post is originally someone else’s content, and you’re trying to spread the word.

LB (like back) – This is a common term used on Instagram. If someone comments “LB” on your post, they are hoping you will like them in return. Like Twitter, reciprocation is a large part of connecting with new people.

S4S (share for share) – We’re not recommending you use this one, but this is a common term that is supposed to boost engagement. However, this hashtag tends to be associated with spam accounts. It can be helpful to know what exactly #S4S and these other terms stand for, even if you don’t partake in them.

DM (Direct Message) – Like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIN, direct messages are a way to send private messages out to anyone you wish.

Filters – Due to Instagram’s primary use on smartphones, they offer fun filters to add to photos. People have begun using these so much that Instagram has become known for this particular feature. Additionally, #nofilter designates an unaltered photo, which is supposed to express how the subject of the picture doesn’t need any help to look good.

Hashtags – We have seen hashtags reign supreme on Facebook and Twitter, but it’s suggested that a post to has up to 10 of these tags. Some to look out for – and use in your marketing – are #TBT (Throwback Thursday), #FBF (Flashback Friday), #IGDaily, and many, many others.

Each social media site has unspoken rules on how to communicate. As you can see, Instagram is no different. There are many various ways to interact with fellow social media users, and marketers have a responsibility to their brand to adapt.

What do you think of these Instagram terms? Do you have any others? Comment below!

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6 Ways Your Social Media Might Look Like Spam

By Christopher Tompkins

17Aug

Advertising, Business, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Let’s face it. Nobody is a fan of junk mail. It doesn’t get much love thanks to the nature of the message it sends and tends to wind up in a trash bin. The same applies to social media marketing. There is a TON of content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the other platforms, but you can still spot spam, scams, and solicitations quickly. Is your content getting flagged as junk? Here are the tops methods that are problematic: Drowning your content with an overabundance of hashtags. Sure, hashtags are important, but moderation is key. Don’t be the internet equivalent of a tacky billboard.

Spelling and grammar errors. We’ve seen those emails from the Nigerian prince. Tons of spelling errors. Don’t follow the prince. Write professionally and proper.

Sparse profiles with blank spots. If you want to seem like a real company, make sure all the fields on your profiles are properly filled out. Take time to write precise, engaging copy and optimize those pages!

100% sales posts. You won’t be able to get very far if you only post promotional content. Do you blame your customers? They want more out of their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram time than weeding through a sea of ads.

Low-quality photos. If a customer has to try to decipher what a picture is because it’s pixelated, there’s a good chance they are going to dismiss your content as nonprofessional. Online spammers snatch whatever image they can get because they can’t afford to buy quality images. Don’t settle for blurry images.

Non-conversational marketing. Your customers want what social media was made for. A conversation! If you aren’t responding to messages or comments, you profiles will seem illegitimate.

It’s much easier to seem like spam than legitimate. It’s synonymous with low quality and low effort. However, if you avoid these 6 big no-nos, your social media marketing will be the real thing!

What other ways can social media marketing come off as spam? Comment below!

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5 Ways to be an Insta-Pro on Instagram

By Christopher Tompkins

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10Jul

Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, Local Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

In 2010, one of today’s most popular social media platforms, Instagram, debuted and in no time, it began to catch speed. Now, in 2016, there are over 400 million users. That’s an insane amount of users! While it doesn’t compete with its parent company, Facebook’s 1.6 billion users, the powerful picture-centric platform is becoming a time-tested tool for online marketers.

Throughout it’s run, we have seen a few changes in its infrastructure. For one thing, its algorithm now follows similar rules to Facebook and Twitter, which presents posts not in a time-linear fashion, but rather in an order the website thinks you will like. As we posted on our blog yesterday, there are many ways marketers can use algorithms to their advantage. Another major change was an aesthetic shift earlier in the year. Their iconic logo changed to something well, less iconic. Yet their layout did become more sleek and in theory, more user-friendly. Yet regardless of the changes, there have always been some constants to Instagram and helpful tactics in which users can promote their content effectively. Here are the top 5 ways we have found to be the most useful:

Share videos- Yes, Instagram started off as a photo-exclusive website but they have recently become aware of the effectivity of video. Between Vine, Snapchat, Facebook Live, and Periscope, video is starting to rock the house. So, Instagram allows users to create and share 15-second videos. For those unfamiliar with social media video trends, 15 seconds is actually a substantial amount of time. Every second counts in these short quips and you should dazzle them up with apps like Ripl and Pic Play Post.
Picture moderation- Those sepia and black and white filters are very cute, but don’t overuse them. Moderation is key when trying to make them snazzy, but you should also be aware of your subject matter’s balance. Like all social media marketing, there should an even flow of interesting posts and sales-oriented content.
Connect with Facebook- Instagram wasn’t always owned by social media giant Facebook. However, marketers can use their partnership to their advantage by syncing your contacts so all those Facebook followers of yours can see your Instagram content when they follow you!
Optimization- Don’t forget to fill out your profile information! We can’t tell you how many profiles we see that are lacking essential elements such as website addresses and other contact information. When uploading external documents, you will want to ensure they are the right size and the essential elements do not get cropped out when published.
It’s recommended to post a max of 3 times a day. Quality, and high-engaging posts are the most important for Instagram, especially after their new algorithm has been implemented. You will want to be sure your followers “turn on notifications” for your profile and comment on a few things as well. That way you will stay at the forefront of your account.

Instagram is a powerful tool, especially if your business has some form of visual quality to it. We do not mean it is exclusive to artists, but rather any business that can demonstrate their work in a picture and a caption. That’s pretty much most businesses isn’t it?

What are your thoughts on Instagram? Comment below!

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Instagram’s New Ways to Reach Out

By Christopher Tompkins

27Jun

Instagram, Social Media

Instagram has been in the news quite a bit lately. First, they revealed a controversial facelift with a new logo and layout. Whether you love or hate it, you have to admit that it is quite different. Yet after the dust settled from the new logo fiasco, there was another change for the popular social media platform. This update, however, may help businesses reach out to their intended audience better.

With just a dash of Big Brother tactics, Instagram’s new “dynamic ads” deliver advertisements based on what users have already searched for on their smartphone. If a potential customer visited a company’s website earlier in the day, Instagram will remind you of what you saw with ads based around similar products. It also has the ability to show off the same product in different styles. This is a good tactic for businesses to be able to deliver their message to the right audience through a high-traffic avenue.

We’ve seen this kind of advertising before through Google, Facebook, and other websites. Now, Instagram is customizing their experience so you don’t mind those advertisements so much and might actually buy something. It’s all good, as long as you don’t mind them watching what you search for.

Instagram is a powerful tool for the creative and business-minded alike. It offers many tools to jazz up your photographs such as filters, and its reach is growing everyday. When it was first created back in 2010, we wondered how exactly we were supposed to take it seriously. After all, a picture can only do so much, right? Turns out, that Instagram is now becoming one of the more powerful and popular of the platforms, and that is only going to grow as their engineers continue to modify it. Younger internet surfers are attracted to its layout and versatility, and its ability to translate the world around them into something they can share.

For more information about this update, check out PR Daily’s article here: http://ow.ly/mr7k3008OvG

What do you think about dynamic advertising as a consumer? What about as a businessperson?

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Nine Reasons Why Your Brand Should Be on Instagram…Like Now!

By Christopher Tompkins

12Jan

Instagram, Uncategorized

If your company is not active on Instagram, then today is the day that you need to reconsider your decision!

Current Instagram users can experience a plethora of positive outcomes for their business – many of which you may be surprised to hear about.

To start off, let me tell you just a little bit about Instagram as a company and platform. Instagram is an online social network focused on sharing photos and videos as well as networking. While you can access it on a desktop/laptop computer, this is utilized best as a mobile platform. The network was launched in 2010 and, due to exponential growth and popularity, was purchased by Facebook in 2012. Currently you can access the Instagram application on iOS and Android only (about a 50/50 split). Lastly, it is always somewhere in the top 10 of popular smart phone application downloads.

Now, why should you be using it? Try these 9 reasons on for size:

1. Telling Your Visual Story: Visuals on social media (generated as images or videos) are proven to be more engaging then straight text posts. About 65% more in fact. Using visuals to acquaint your audience with your company and brand is a slam dunk when it comes to engagement.

2. Your Competition is Using Instagram: Don’t believe me? Let’s check the numbers. 93% of prestige brands use Instagram. 25% of the Fortune 500 use Instagram. Add to this the fact that brands post on Instagram an average of 6 times per week (so they are engaging on a consistent basis with the site). Plus – all of these numbers are growing!

3. It’s Growing Fast! Currently at the time of writing this, there are 300 million active users and 57% of these users visit the site everyday. In fact, there are 60 million photos per day, 1.6 billion likes per day, and the average user spends 257 minutes per month on the site. And all of these numbers are growing as well!

4. Outstanding Engagement: Did you know that Instagram posts get 15 times more engagement than Facebook Page posts? Need I say more?

5. Multiplatform Access: Instagram promotes you sharing your pictures and videos on other sites, and makes it easy to do so! This makes it easy to create useful, engaging content across the platforms that you use!

6. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Emotionally connecting with your audience using a visual is priceless. In fact, it is much easier to emotionally connect with a visual than a well-worded post with the same sentiment. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself and check out the results!

7. Build Trust: By showing more about your company, products, services, and connecting with your audience in a visual way you are able to build that all needed trust with your audience. Having a tough time in the court of public opinion? Instagram is a great way to rehab a poor public image.

8. Free Traffic: With such a high level of engagement, add your customer links to your pictures, videos and profile – then watch your website traffic soar!

9. Build Visibility: Is your Instagram content getting lots of views and engagement? Then guess what? You are building your visibility! Oh yea….for free!

So what are you waiting for? Create your Instagram account today and get started! There is no time like the present and don’t feel like it is too late to get started. The time is now.

Also – don’t forget to check out our Instagram webinar available on-demand in our video classroom.

8 Instagram Marketing Ideas to Get the Ball Rollin’

By Christopher Tompkins

12Jan

Instagram, Uncategorized

If you have already been marketing your company on Instagram, I’m sure that by now you have seen the powerful engagement that your posts can get. In many cases (or, let’s be honest, most cases) your engagement is probably way higher than that of your Facebook Page posts.

But…maybe you are missing a couple of tricks.

As everyone wants to be getting the optimum result out of their marketing efforts, I want to share with you 8 Instagram marketing ideas that you can easily work into your campaigns to enhance your engagement and success rate.

Without further ado – let’s jump in!

*Reward Your Followers: Reach out to the people that follow you and engage with your content. Offer them special discounts or even just a thank you. Kind words and outreach like this from a brand can make all the difference in how your new followers will engage with you!

*Showcase Your Products and Services: Instagram is visual, so don’t forget to show your most important asset: your products and services. Show them being used, show their packaging, post how to use videos, answer questions. This is your time – show off! Just make it fun and interesting.

*Highlight Your Creation Process: Do you manufacture your product in a special way? Do you deliver your service in a unique way? Tell the visual story – your audience is interested!

*Show Multiple Uses for Your Product/Service: Illustrate how your product or service can be used in different situations by different users. This will enhance your opportunities of engagement with your audience.

*Let Your Location Be Accessible: What I mean by this is showcase your bricks and mortar store or your offices. Show your staff at work, answering customer calls, packing orders, having clients meetings, at the watercooler. All of this humanizes your brand and sets your audience’s expectations on what your brand really looks like.

*Use Hashtags…The Right Way: Hashtags are very important when it comes to Instagram, just use the right amount. I usually suggest using 4-6 tops, but just make sure that you keep them relevant and use keywords which your target audience will use to locate information similar to what you are posting. Hashtags are a great tool to building your relevant network on Instagram.

*Don’t Forget Video: So many new, and old, Instagram users forget all about the opportunity to post a 15 second video. Don’t forget this! This is a powerful engagement tool and allows you to have the opportunity to speak directly to your audience. Use it wisely and have fun!

*Consistency Holds the Key to Success: I can’t leave this off the list. Make sure that you have a plan in place of how many times that you would like to post per week, when you want to post – and stick to it. Posting ten pictures in a day, then nothing for two months does not a successful campaign make.

These 8 tips are easy for you to integrate into your Instagram approach and will bring you lots of attention in a little amount of time. Remember: have fun and think outside of the box. While this is an extension of traditional marketing, make sure that the content that you are sharing is relevant to the target audience that you are trying to reach!

What’s Right and Wrong? Instagram Do’s and Dont’s

By Christopher Tompkins

12Jan

Instagram, Uncategorized

There is nothing worse than using a new marketing tool to reach more members of your target audience with your message…and then suddenly finding out that you have been barking up the wrong tree the whole time.

As so many of us are new to the game of Instagram for business marketing, there definitely is a learning curve. But add to this the fact that many of us are ALSO new to the game of visual storytelling – and you will see the learning curve get MUCH steeper.

In the interest of helping all of us make better marketing decisions on Instagram, I want to kick off by sharing a quick list of things that you should avoid at all costs on Instagram.

So here we go!

DON’T upload pictures of others (without their permission or tagging)
DON’T randomly like endless pictures of others to try to get visibility
DON’T have massive gaps in your posting times (days, weeks, months)
DON’T forget to respond to those who have commented or sent you a message
DON’T excessively use hashtags
DON’T be negative
DON’T get off message, and post random images that don’t make sense in your feed
DON’T only sell, or promote yourself, your company, and/or your products/services
DON’T use only photos, use videos too

So now that we know what to avoid…bring on what we SHOULD be doing!

DO share your tips, insights and knowledge with others
DO show off new products and services
DO show people using your products and services
DO communicate benefits of your product/service clearly
DO use Instagram advertising to reach a larger audience
DO create and execute contests to increase engagement
DO use the design tools Instagram provides to enhance your visuals

And this list could go on! We’ll stop there for now. Now grab your phone, tap on your Instagram application and get started!

Seasonal Success with Instagram: 5 Things You Need to Do Now

By Christopher Tompkins

54f964045adcb_-_starbucks-red-cups-2-300x200

1Nov

Instagram, Uncategorized

There is no doubt that the holiday season is a highly visual time of year. The turkey on the Thanksgiving table. The Christmas Tree. The twinkling lights on the Menorah. The decorated, snow covered houses. It can actually be said that the holiday season is a full on assault to your senses: from sights, sounds, to smells, and beyond.

One thing that all of these senses deliver when it comes to the holidays: emotion.

Emotion is one of the key things that marketers far and wide want to evoke in their target audience of consumers. Emotion helps fuel the buying decision substantially.

In the ever growing visual landscape, Instagram has really planted its flag as a viable marketing channel for businesses to tell their visual story. And if you want to start telling YOUR company’s visual story, the holidays are one of the best times to do it, or to start doing it!

Why?

To be honest, there is a lower barrier to entry in terms of coming up with ideas. Seasonal imagery and ideas can be very simple to come by, especially due to the “over-the-top” nature of our social landscape. You can’t turn around without being assaulted with holiday imagery, songs, products, and services, right?

But why aren’t you in this fray? Why are you not trying to expand your holiday sales?

I want you to try out Instagram this holiday season and see how you can enhance your holiday business returns! Here are my five tips that will help you enhance your exposure, website traffic, and leads via Instagram:

1. Get Special: When doing any holiday marketing, it is good to have something exclusive or “special” to offer your audience that you can deadline to create urgency. Make sure the special is attractive to your audience (basically, it is something that they want) and also be able to tie it into the holiday season in a straight-forward way. Make sure this special is linked to all of your posts.

2. Formulate Your Schedule and Timeline: There is nothing worse than a random, unorganized plan of action. Decide how many posts that you are going to be sharing per week, and when the best time is to share them (in order to get the most engagement and views). Make sure all of these posts (pictures and video) have the holiday angle. Make them fun, punchy and SHAREABLE!

3. Themed Posts: Make sure your content strategy supports your holiday package…but make it fun! Run contests, post funny quotes, run quizzes on holiday song lyrics – just get your audience interested in engaging with your special content. Remember, posts on Instagram can enjoy up to 15% or more engagement over a Facebook Page post – so the more the merrier, so to speak.

4. Use Video: Instagram video is lots of fun and is a firm user favorite – so use it! Social media video is always an engagement winner, enjoying over 65% more engagement than a written post. Make sure to showcase your special, tie your contests into the video, and have some seasonal fun!

5. Use Specific Hashtags: You can definitely come up with a hashtag for your special (the best is to use your coupon code if you have one), but also use hashtags that are well used in your niche to promote holiday deals, sales, or offers. Do a little digging and come up with a list of approved hashtags that can be used on all of your posts. This will help enhance your exposure.

My last tip? Get started today and have fun! Instagram is a creative outlet for your company and really allows you to tell a whole different side to your company’s story. The visual storytelling ability on Instagram will benefit your business to no end, so why not get started today and enjoy more engagement, leads, and sales during the holiday season!

Tag : instagram marketing