Spectacles by Snapchat- What This Means For Marketers

15Nov

Snap Inc., the umbrella company of Snapchat, has recently placed its video-camera-infused sunglasses simply known as Spectacles into consumer hands in Venice Beach. The unique delivery method, a bright yellow, cyclops-like vending machine, sold out by 8:00am the day they first appeared. People absolutely love the devices and are using them with the hugely popular social media platform.

It seems that these special sunglasses are going to be hard to get your hands on. They’re being actively hunted by the young audience they were intended for. As marketers, we need to take a step back and see exactly what this means.

For one thing, it’s proof that Snapchat is one of the big boys now. Facebook tried a few small efforts in the retail game, specifically partnering with a smartphone company to make a social media specific phone. However, nothing quite soared like these Spectacles. You can actually buy a physical item from a social media platform that enhances the experience. That’s pretty extraordinary.

Secondly, this shows just how important video is for social media. It’s changing how we market in a fundamental way. Video is now coming in a multitude of forms, whether it be regular, live, or 360 videos. Every social media marketer should take note that this is the time to learn the ropes and start creating engaging material.

As Snapchat booms, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram are trying to get an edge on the competition. 2017 will be the year of video. Are you ready?

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Is Your Social Media Marketing Falling On Deaf Ears? Focus Your Reach!

By Christopher Tompkins

31Aug

Advertising, Social Media

Social media marketing is about spreading your word as far and wide as possible, right? What if we told you that your business would actually benefit from a more focused audience? There’s something to be said about quality over quantity in the world of social media marketing.

Think about a simple social media post, whether on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Obviously, you want a lot of people to read this content. But in reality, if you make the update too broad, your content will fall on a lot of deaf ears. If you don’t make it focused and narrowed to cater to your target audience (which is actually your target customers), the wrong people may read it. Sure, the more the merrier, but uninterested people probably will just keep scrolling through their news feed and forget all about that post or advertisement.

How do you really sharpen your scope? There are several different approaches to making sure the right people are reading your marketing masterpieces.

If using Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, always be sure to use hashtags. These are essentially digital homing beacons that will attract people looking for material centered around its subject. Even if your platform of choice doesn’t allow hashtags, (i.e. LinkedIn, Pinterest) you can still write your updates in a way that clearly designates the demographic you’re trying to reach.

Successful social media marketers also understand the importance of content curation. Share relevant news stories and web content that pertain to the interest of your target demographic. This can be an industry update or even something lighthearted. Either way, make sure your followers will want to read it.

Advertising is another way you can be sure the right people are reading your content. Facebook and other platforms offer a wide variety of options so your advertisements, boosted posts, and sponsored content land on the screens of the people who would enjoy the ad instead of thinking it’s a nuisance.

Unsure of who exactly should read your social media content? You better go back to your business’ mission statement. Who is your product or service aimed towards? Every business has a target audience, even if you don’t know it. When it comes down to it, ask yourself who buys your products? When you have the answer, you will also have the same people you should market towards via social media.

Yes, it’s important to spread your brand to as many people as possible. However, if you aren’t focusing on your target audience, there’s no point!

How do you focus your social media marketing content? Comment below!

6 Steps To Snapchat Stardom

By Christopher Tompkins

30Aug

Snapchat, Social Media

Slowly but surely, Snapchat is beginning to become a big player in social media. How can we tell? Facebook is starting to get nervous. They have created a bit of competition for the app-only platform including Instagram Stories and Lifestage. Marketers need to be aware of this new site that people are flocking to and understand how to utilize Snapchat. Below are some tools to help you become a social media superstar.

Multiple filters – Filters are one of the most powerful and popular features on Snapchat. It’s one of the tools that makes it truly unique. But did you know you can add up to 3? Try this – Choose one. Hold the screen with one finger and keep swiping.The first one stays! Multiple filters will add a unique quality to your snaps.
Music – Add a little spirit to your snaps with some music. Open a music app like Pandora or play an MP3, return to Snapchat and start recording. Simple!
Snapcodes – A common complaint about Snapchat is its lack of account-finding resources. It’s almost impossible to find someone without their exact username unless they’re in your phone’s contact list. Their answer to this is Snapcodes. Similar to a QR code, if you scan one of these little pictures, you will be immediately taken to that person’s Snapchat name. It’s a helpful tool that is accompanied with some personalization options.
Cross promote – The app only allows 30 characters per snap. Obviously, that isn’t a lot. Use the space to promote your Twitter or Instagram handle so you can pull your viewers to a platform with fewer restraints.
Custom filters – That’s right, you can make your own filters. It’s Snapchat’s form of advertising and doesn’t seem to be nearly as pricey as other options. Its effectivity is still to be determined, but since filters have become extremely popular, you may want to consider diving into the fun.
PayPal connectivity – People can transfer funds to each other via Snapchat’s chat feature. It’s a handy little tool that offers a new level of convenience.

Snapchat has a lot of little features, some are hidden little gems that really brighten up the social media experience. It’s still in its growing stages as a platform, but people are quickly flocking over to the fun yellow app.

What other Snapchat features do you know? Share below!

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Facebook Tries To Be A Cool Kid With Lifestage

By Christopher Tompkins

27Aug

Facebook, Social Media

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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Learn Snapchat In A Snap!

By Christopher Tompkins

11Jul

Advertising, Instagram, Marketing, Periscope, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized, Video

Okay, Snapchat, you have our attention. The app-exclusive social media platform is beginning to hold its own amongst the social media giants, especially for Millennials and younger users. With video’s rise in popularity, it was to be expected. Its interface isn’t exactly where it should be, but with each new update we are seeing improvements.

Snapchat began with an original concept. Users could send each other pictures or videos with an expiration date. Don’t blink, because once you click on a picture, it will be gone and never able to return. Not even the creator could see it (hence, the ghost mascot). You can probably see how young people would find this entertaining, but businesses wouldn’t really find a use for it.

One of the more significant updates in Snapchat’s history is Stories. There, viewers can see pictures and videos of the creator’s choosing for up to 24 hours. It was just enough for businesses to begin to flock to the mobile app.

Yet the biggest issues marketers face is Snapchat’s lack of reachability. We’re not talking about numbers, there’s already 100 million snapchatters out there and that number is sure to grow as younger internet surfers flock to the eccentric software. We’re instead talking about Snapchat’s lack of searching power. If you know a user’s exact username or their Ghost-styled QR code, you won’t have a problem. But what if a user just wants to search your name? They may have difficulty finding you.

There is a helpful third-party app called GhostCodes, in which you can search their database of Snapchat accounts. You can find them based on industry, name, or subject matter. It is a helpful app that Snapchat itself could learn from.

Social media video rules apply with Snapchat. They are short and able to have a filter. Just very recently, Snapchat added their Memories feature. This allows users to upload pictures and videos from their device’s camera roll. They are slowly shifting away from “once and done” style they used to have and grew popularity through, but in the same token they are gaining the attention of serious social media users.

The most unique and fun features Snapchat offers is Geofilters. They utilize a smartphone’s location services and present overlay graphics that are exclusive to the area. You will find a special Tampa filter in Tampa, Denver filters in Denver, you get the idea. Businesses can also make their own, but that is a bit of a process.

It’s time to start thinking about Snapchat but most importantly, it is time to see how video can help your online marketing.

What do you think about Snapchat? Comment below!

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