Tag : snapchat

6 Social Media Trends That Are Already Dominating 2018

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19Feb

When clients come to us with failing social media marketing campaigns, we try to look at the nuts and bolts of their strategy and content. Sometimes, the answer is obvious. Other times, it takes some serious analysis. Yet one of the most common issues we see when business owners try to manage their own social media is a lack of innovation.

If you’re trying to be successful on social media and maintain an ever-increasing level of engagement, you absolutely must adapt your strategy to appeal to today’s trends. All the experts agree, 2018 is expected to be the year that millions of businesses begin their social media marketing journey. As such, you need to know the most popular and trending strategies.

At The Go! Agency, we take pride in incorporating the most current and engaging strategies into our client’s social media campaigns. Whether it’s a new video format or communication tool, we’re there to try it out. Here are the current trends of 2018 and how they can help your brand today:

1. Chatbots. It seems that we have come full-circle with customer service. For a long time people preferred humans over speaking with a machine. Now, over 65% of customers who shop online prefer to converse with chatbots in platforms such as Facebook Messenger. Chatbots make customer service simple, effective, and fast. The best part is that Chatbots are specifically crafted for your brand. So whether you sell shoes or auto insurance, a chatbot can level up your customer satisfaction.

2. Re-Targeting. In the world of Facebook advertising, re-targeting has proven to be one of the most effective ways to further develop relationships with existing customers. If a customer completed a transaction or if they were interested in your brand at one point in time, re-targeting will be able to position your brand in the spotlight of their mind (and screens).

3. More Engaging and Longer Tweets. In 2017, Twitter made the monumental decision to change their character limit from 140 to 280. For marketers, this was a game changer. Now, you are able to really embrace your brand’s message and story through a single tweet. Moreover, more and more brands have been crafting their content with content that will get people talking. Content that incorporates requesting feedback, asking questions, posting polls, etc. has proven to be really on the rise. A real, organic conversation with your audience. Imagine that!

4. A Heavy Focus On (Optimized) Blogs. Despite blogging being one of the original forms of internet-based communication, it’s stronger than ever. Blogging is particularly great for both B2C and B2B businesses that have a desire to share pertinent information with their customers and the online community as a whole. And thanks to SEO, your blog will get you more web traffic than ever before. Optimized blogs are a sure way to increase your search result rankings and gain more online visibility.

5. A Real, Engaging Voice. Of course, you want to stay professional. Of course, you want to be as polite and mannerly as possible. But more and more brands have employed a casual and fun tone when engaging with customers- especially when responding to comments and questions on Facebook and Twitter. If you decide to take this route, you’re humanizing your brand, thereby strengthening the relationship between business and buyer. It’s a win-win in the marketing book.

6.  Stories, Stories, Stories! Have you been on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat lately? If so, you’ve most likely seen a menu of circular profile images on top. Those are Stories, content that only lasts for 24 hours and gets a ton of visibility. Stories have taken over social media feeds and are changing the way audiences interact with brands. Platforms, such as Instagram, are consistently adding new features and options that will make your content pop. This is especially true for Instagram, which has a ton of features and options that will really make your content pop. Be sure to utilize this tool in both video and image formats.

For some, 2018 is off to a great year. We’ve seen some brands skyrocket to new visibility heights. For others that are struggling to stand out, they may need to adjust their strategy. Keep the above ideas in mind when going forward with social media to gain an advantage like no other. 

Did you know that we work with hundreds of brands in order to help them stay ahead of the marketing game?

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Why Is Everybody Jumping On The Snapchat Bandwagon?

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3May

Life is filled with fleeting moments. A baby’s first steps. A first kiss. Graduating from high school. A 25th-anniversary dinner.

Social media has allowed us to share these short but BIG moments with our friends. So others can experience the highs in our lives and connect with us.

But there’s a flipside:

When we share these significant moments, they stay shared forever. Our special moments become less significant because they become permanent fixtures of our social media. Do the first steps of our baby really belong beside status updates about what we ate for lunch or what we watched on TV last night?

Our fleeting moments are no longer so short on social media. They exist til we say otherwise.

Enter Snapchat.

Snapchat became popular because of its lack of permanency. Users send each other photos which self-destruct after being viewed.

When the app was first released, many people couldn’t get their head around it. Why wouldn’t they want to keep their photos? Skip forward 5 years and Instagram and Facebook have released their own tools for temporary content.

So why does temporary content work so well?

Because it can make those fleeting moments special again. We can experience them, share them, then they disappear and are allowed to become memories.

Once more we can look back at milestones with fondness and nostalgia. Rather than be reminded of them time and again when we go on our social media.

Temporary social media posts also have an allure to them. They remind people that what they’re seeing is right now. Not something that happened last week.

That builds connections.
People feel like they’re there with you. Experiencing the moment.

Next time an amazing event happens, in your life, or even at your business, consider using Instagram or Facebook Stories to document it. Give your followers a chance to connect.Create some happy memories of your own.

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What Snapchat’s Original Content Will Mean For Marketers

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21Dec

First, it was Netflix. Then Amazon. Then YouTube. Now, Snapchat is creating original content that will be exclusively available on their platform. It’s an impressive jump from a social media networking app to a content host. But what can marketers take from this?

The way we see it, there are three revelations for marketers to learn from.

1. It’s time to invest into online marketing. Like, right now. As you can see, traditional media mediums like television and radio are in trouble. Netflix, YouTube, etc. are partial to blame, but their effectivity knows no bounds and Snap Inc., owner of Snapchat, is jumping on this bandwagon while they can. If you haven’t considered online marketing or social media marketing yet, it’s time to move.

2. Video is becoming standard and essential. Still pictures and text can grab someone’s attention only so much when compared to video. More and more platforms are allowing videos to become prominently placed and conveniently visible. Since people are going to be heading to Snapchat and other platforms for original content, make sure your own is ready to roll!

3. Snapchat is finally starting to have enough backing that it can produce its own content, which means it’s definitely a contender as a favorite platform. Mobile-exclusive content and platforms are on the rise in a big way.

As you can see, Snapchat’s plans for original content is a big deal for multiple reasons. It’s time to wake up, business owners! Your company needs to approach marketing in a new way!

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Twitter and Instagram’s Dive Into Live

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19Dec

When people ask us what we think 2017 will be about in terms of social media marketing, we loudly proclaim “video” and perhaps more distinctly, “live video.” It’s not just us and the others in our industry that think so either. It turns out that the minds behind the platforms themselves are on the same page. What more proof is needed than when two of the biggest sites, Twitter and Instagram, implement live broadcasting services into their functionality?

Twitter has added Periscope’s live video broadcasting features into the main Twitter app itself. Does this mean that soon enough we’ll see the end of the Periscope sister app entirely? Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it disappears from our mobile screens soon enough. When you hit the “Compose” button on your Twitter app, you will now see a new option, with Periscope’s eyeball-esque logo staring back at you.

Additionally, Instagram Live is now accessible for all users. It’s prominently placed where one goes to upload content. Additionally, you will also see that Boomerang functionality is also there. Once again, the social media bosses seem to be converging these smaller “branch-off” apps like Boomerang, Layout, and Periscope into their giant, popular software.

What does this mean for marketers? It means that you have options and, frankly, there’s very little excuse for ignoring live video now. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat all offer some form of live service. Platforms are eager to win this “live video war,” so your content gets extra attention and engagement in order to promote the service.

Do not wait until it’s too late. While you probably won’t be able to broadcast live on all five channels unless you have a surplus of smartphones at your disposal, you should pick one or two of these services and start building up engaged audiences. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are some of the most powerful platforms already, so the fact that they’re actively using this innovative concept is quite exciting.

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Facebook Messenger’s Live Video Chat Gets a Revamp

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8Sep

For those aware of social media trends, Facebook’s recent update should come as no surprise. Video, more specifically LIVE video, continues to shake the social media industry to its core, and Facebook once again takes note from Snapchat. Facebook has recently revamped their Messenger app’s live video chat feature. While an option that rivaled Skype has previously existed inside the software’s infrastructure for some time, this new update allows people to multitask just like, you guessed it, Snapchat. Users can connect through a live video chat while still reading other messages and checking out content.

While this may be a simple update, it speaks volumes. This is the third change from Facebook’s HQ in recent months that is very similar to a Snapchat feature. Check the other two out:

Instagram Stories – If any social media platform is a rival to Snapchat, it’s Instagram. They are both heavily based in the mobile world and operate solely with imagery-based content. However, Snapchat had an advantage with their “Stories” feature, which allowed people to view a friend’s recent updates from the last 24 hours. Facebook-owned Instagram had to fight back with their own version of Stories. Now, you will see a nice row of circular profile pictures encased in rainbow auras on your Instagram homepage.

Lifestage – A brand new mobile platform by Facebook that’s eerily similar to Snapchat in function and design. The only difference between Lifestage and Snapchat is its audience. It’s entirely for teenagers. Besides the age restriction, Lifestage has many similar qualities, including filters and video options.

With this new video tweak, we’re curious just how much Snapchat is impacting Facebook’s numbers. Regardless, we don’t think Facebook has anything to worry about anytime soon. Almost 2 billion people and companies use the site for networking and communication. Yet it does show just how powerful video is for social media. If the platforms are adapting, so must marketers. 

What do you think of Facebook and Snapchat’s growing competition? Share below!

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YouTube’s Iron Fist: What It Says About Social Media

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4Sep

Ever since people realized that they could say whatever they want on the internet, there have been people trying to figure out rules, restrictions, and ultimately, censoring.  Obviously, once “censor” starts to be thrown around, all content creators’ ears perk up. Many creative individuals, whether they are in a business role or not, have found a home on the wild wild web. Whenever a new law or chunk of fine print puts this freedom into question, people become restless. Right now, YouTube has started a new content-related quarrel.

The social media platform and video hosting site, YouTube, and its owner, Google, may have started something they weren’t entirely ready for. Since its founding in 2005, YouTube has not only attracted a massive gathering but also many vloggers or, video bloggers, now earn a living by creating channels of content. YouTube hit one of its stars, Philip DeFranco, right where it hurts, advertising. They warned that certain videos of his breached their rules, and would take away their monetization and advertising features. No ads mean no revenue for Youtubers. Why is all this happening? In YouTube’s fine print, they mention that all content must be “advertiser-friendly.” As you could imagine, this means no excessive vulgarity, nudity, drug use, etc. Understandable, right? But YouTube’s recent crackdown targeted videos that were hardly offensive at all.
DeFranco wasn’t the only popular filmmaker to receive one of these notices. However, YouTube reps clearly stated that this is not a new rule, but rather a crackdown on previously existing conditions. As you could imagine, tensions are a little high in the YouTube world. Beyond who’s wrong or right, there are a few things social media marketers can take away from this:
  1. Advertising is (still) king. If ads were pointless, this conflict would never happen because there would be no professional YouTubers. In fact, YouTube itself would most likely be a sliver of its current size if there were no revenue pumping through the ad channels. Social media marketers – take note! If you ever wonder if your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even YouTube ads matter, think about this impending struggle between YouTube and YouTuber, which is bound to escalate if this censoring – or “stern enforcement of policies”, if you don’t like that term – continues.
  2. Content creators underestimate platforms. As professionals that utilize the world’s most popular sites on a daily basis, social media professionals may view excessive rules and regulations as obstacles rather than guidelines. That being said, we need to realize that there are real rules with real reciprocations for a variety of reasons and we need to follow them. So, keep your content classy and professional, don’t spam or scam followers in any way, and try to avoid copyrighted material that you don’t own.

  3. Platforms underestimate content creators. There was a time when YouTube was the only option. There were no other video-hosting websites, just as there were very few social media sites. Now, things are different. If DeFranco and other YouTube stars feel so inclined, they could pull out of YouTube and focus on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and many other sites. This would not go well for Google. I’m not saying that platforms should cater to every whim of the user, or vice versa, but platforms need to know they are actually replaceable by the next best thing.

It will be interesting to see just what happens in this swelling conflict. YouTube may have to loosen the leash. Vloggers may have to dial down the content (which is unlikely to happen). Either way, the internet, as always, is alive and well and full of changes, which professionals need to be ready to adapt to.

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6 Steps To Snapchat Stardom

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30Aug

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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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Social Media Multitasking: Why One Profile Isn’t Enough

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29Aug

In the beginning, there was MySpace. That was consumed by Facebook, which had internet rule for a while. Then rose Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Weibo, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vine, Swarm, Tumblr,  Foursquare, Meerkat, Periscope, Snapchat, Stacks, Stumbleupon, and Reddit. Whew! There are too many platforms to count, and while it’s impossible to successfully manage accounts on all of them, your company shouldn’t be satisfied with a single profile.

Each platform brings a plethora of different perks. Yes, the primary goals are communication and brand awareness, but how you do this varies substantially on the site you choose. This is why you need to learn to multitask on social media. Having multiple profiles will help you spread your word via different avenues. You can use the varied features of these sites to showcase specific areas of your business!

Each site covers a different aspect of social media. For example, platforms such as Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and Periscope heavily rely on visuals, whether it’s a photo or video. This type of content is a must!  You can’t simply post a line of text and expect engagement. Instead, get your creativity hat on (or hire a marketer who has one) and be ready to send out some artistic pieces of marketing.

Twitter is about the NOW. Second by second news can be shared through this popular platform. This is great for content such as everyday updates to press releases. Since you’re limited to 140 characters, you need to harness your other social media profiles and share links to more substantial content.

Facebook has a nice combination of text and visuals. It tweaks what users see based on their interests. This makes Facebook one of the most powerful and challenging of the social media profiles.

LinkedIn is strictly for business. Professionals come to network, promote, and find employment opportunities. You can also share longer articles that you have created. This is the place to develop real world connections.

Balance is the name of the game. As a business marketer, start with a Facebook and Twitter. Depending on your industry,  upgrade to an Instagram and LinkedIn in time. Don’t bother too much with Vine, Tumblr, or some of the smaller platforms without having a firm grasp on social media marketing.

Additionally, do your research and find out where your audience likes to hang out. Younger people typically use Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit. Business-oriented adults like Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook is still the social media golden boy that house over 1.65 billion users. Different people utilize different sites for connecting with their favorite people and content.

When you do make multiple accounts, be sure to have consistent branding. Have a singular logo and banner, but be sure to adhere to site specifications. Overall, make sure your tone stays the same no matter what medium you’re using.

So, what’s it going to be? Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat? Take your pick and take your time when deciding how you want to spread your marketing power!

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Facebook Tries To Be A Cool Kid With Lifestage

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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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Coming Up Next In The Social Media Marketing World

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25Aug

Social media reflects the wants and needs of the people who use it. Because of that, it’s growth patterns are organic. Trends grow and fade, features are added and taken away. Some of these are very easy to predict while others come as a shock. For the rest of 2016 and early 2017, here’s what we’re expecting social media to give us:

Brace yourselves, holidays are coming – It’s about this time that you should start to consider how your business is going to tackle the holiday season. Obviously, this is the time many companies are at their busiest and marketing is needed. Social media has become a cornerstone element in spreading the word about Black Friday specials, holiday wishes, and everything in between. Prepare your content and make it unique. There are going to be tons of Santas flying around on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so make sure yours stand out.

Brace yourselves even more, elections are coming – As if we haven’t had enough of election-related news already, it will only get more common until we hit that Tuesday in November. But it won’t stop there. No matter who gets the Presidency, the social media floodgates will burst with cheers, jeers, and a whole lot of controversy. As a business, tread lightly. Don’t show personal bias for any candidate.

Videos will continue to grow – Instagram proved just how much video matters when they unveiled Instagram Stories, which is reflective of Snapchat’s Story service. Videos aren’t going anywhere but up in popularity. It’s eye-catching content that is prominent on people’s newsfeeds. Try to devise a way to utilize videos in your social media. Not a filmmaker? No problem! There are tons of apps and programs that allow you to make creative slideshows based on pictures. You can be a Spielberg in no time!

More diverse advertising options – Recently, we’ve seen Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and even Reddit tweak their advertising structures. They understand that this is their bread and butter and are making more options for marketers to utilize their services. Don’t miss out! Advertising can be inexpensive and will deliver you surprisingly large spikes of engagement. 

LinkedIn upgrades – Microsoft acquired LinkedIn recently and as such, we should expect some things to change for the social media platform for professionals. It’s doubtful Microsoft will completely change LinkedIn’s structure, but we should see at least a little bit of their presence.

Even more mobile accessibility – Apple and Android are preparing for another mobile war. The next line of iPhones will be released in the next month or so, and Samsung has already showcased their snazzy new Note 7, Galaxy 7, and Edge. With new technology comes new innovations for app developers. 3-D touch, new camera usage, and third-party accessibility will also improve social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and others are forced to adapt to what the people want. 

More algorithms and updates –  This one should come as no surprise. One of these days, Twitter will finally roll out the coding that separates links from the 140 character limit. We should also see new Facebook and Facebook Live features being rolled out and some of them may not be free. 

Only time will tell what else is next for social media marketing, but professionals know how to adapt and take advantage of upgrades. The right social media manager will be able to handle the incoming transitions without a hiccup or delay in content publishing. Get ready to move onwards and upwards in the realm of social media. We couldn’t be more excited!

What other changes do you expect to come? Comment below!

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