The Balance of Push and Pull Posts

22Jun

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

What is the point of advertising and marketing? To promote one’s brand, correct? Sure, it is a simple concept to grasp. After all, we have been exposed to advertising our whole lives. Social media marketing, in theory, should be the same since it is all about promoting your brand. While this may be true in the grand scheme of things, the actual execution might not be what you expect. It requires a whole different approach than traditional marketing.

Social media requires a bit of tact and genuine content. You will want to generate updates that are not directly related to your product but are still applicable to your customer’s interests. If every single post you send out to your followers is a sales pitch, your online friends are sure to dwindle quickly.

Mixing engaging content into your updates alongside promotions is an innovative and non-direct way to get yourself noticed. What kind of posts should you create other than sales-oriented content? You can share relevant news stories, holiday greetings, polls, recipes, quotes, and more. These items will have the ability to stretch beyond your followers’ reach and connect to others on the internet. Shared posts need to give the impression that you want to share this update with your friends who are, of course, your customers. Your tone should be conversational and casual. Social media brings everyone to the same level, and your language should feel like that.

When planning your posts for the week ahead, you should realize that diversity is the key to success. Try not to have the same type of content right next to each other. Mix it up! For example, if you have a Facebook account and are writing two posts a day, you will want to make sure there aren’t two promotions next to each other, nor two news articles, quotes, etc. Switching things up will keep your posts fresh and fun.

What kind of content do you add to the mix? Comment below!

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5 Reasons Social Media Marketing Has Become Essential

By Christopher Tompkins

21Jun

Social Media

Even before the internet took over everything, marketers had a duty to adapt the brand they represented to current trends. Whether the fashionable thing to do was to send out a thick catalog in the mail or to put up flashy billboards downtown, those in charge of promotions always had to keep contemporary. Today’s brands needs social media. If you think it is a fad, think again. If the marketing gurus of “Mad Men” worked today as opposed to decades prior, they would all be social media managers! Need more convincing that this is key to today’s business world? Here are the top five reasons that you need social media in your utility belt:

Your customers are already there. The main purpose of marketing is to have your message positioned where your audience congregates. It was the same when we put ads in magazines and commercials in prime time television shows. Now, we need to be on their computers, smartphones, and tablet screens via social media marketing. Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the platforms have millions upon millions of users. If implemented correctly, your businesses can be on many screens.

Your competition is already there. If you think your business doesn’t belong on social media, think again. It isn’t just for tech-based companies. We’ve seen those in industries ranging from dentistry to real estate, to assisted living facilities to churches benefit from using these communication tools. Don’t think it’s true? Your competition does. Go onto Facebook or Twitter and you might be surprised to see that many of your fellow professionals are already there.

The companies you use are already there. Look around your house or office and inspect the packaging of your most used items. There is a good chance you will see at least a little Facebook or Twitter logo, which indicates that brand’s involvement on the internet. The big brands have already wised up to social media’s power. This should show you that this movement isn’t going away anytime soon, nor should it. It has allowed countless customers to connect with companies they trust in new ways.

You want to seem invested- Because of just how popular social media has become, you need to show that you care about your customer base by participating. You can do this by delivering engaging posts via the avenue of communication your audience prefers. In essence, it is the same as community outreach which, as all professionals know, is amazing for PR.

You want to keep in the know. Social media has become so much more than “connecting with friends”. Many people now use these platforms to network and promote themselves, but also to learn about their industry. Industry leaders post articles and news stories that are relevant to their work everyday.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to jump onto social media. So what are you waiting for? Start posting today!

Why do you go on social media? Comment below!

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Are Your Images Social Media Ready?

By Christopher Tompkins

20Jun

Graphic Design, Social Media

With social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat rising in popularity, we see visual content becoming increasingly essential. After all, who wants to read anymore? Social media requires a nice balance of eye-capturing imagery and engaging copy. That being said, you can’t just pick a random picture, throw it onto your timeline, and expect gold. There are certain requirements each platform administers. So let us see just how ready your photo library is for social media, shall we?

Those who run the big social media companies know full well that images are key to a successful post. These people have a job to do, which is controlling the stream of content that goes through their platforms and to ensure it doesn’t turn into chaos. As a result, dimensions for imagery have been created and must be adhered to. Since these images are on the web, they are measured in pixels. Here are the rules:

Facebook:
– Cover photo- 851px x 315px

– Profile photo- 180px x 180px

– Images in updates- 1200px x 630px

Twitter:

– Header photo- 1500px x 500px

– Profile photo- 400px x 400px

– Pictures embedded in tweets- 440px x 220px

Instagram:

-Profile photo- 110px x 110px

-Thumbnail photos- 161px x 161px

-Posted images- 640px x 640px

LinkedIn:

– Cover photo- 974px x 300px

– Profile photo- 400px x 400px

– Banner image- 646px x 220px

If you decide to go against these rules, you’ll find yourself with an image that has been inappropriately cropped or a pixelated mess. Consult with your graphic designer, photographer, or social media manager to be sure that your pics are perfect.

Share your thoughts with us below!

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The Top 4 Ways to Be Original On Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

19Jun

Social Media

When you begin to plan content for your social media updates, a little bit of finesse is needed. Sure, you can always share, retweet, and comment on others’ material, but this cannot be your only activity on your account! To have an effective social media marketing strategy, you need original material. It is easier said than done, as you could imagine. However, you do not need to be a master marketer to figure out how to formulate your marketing. Here are some of the tools of the trade:

- Promotional Posts- Of course, where would social media marketing be without…marketing? Strategically placed sales posts will be helpful as long as you do not drown your feed with them. Use strong language, be confident, and remind your followers why they chose you as opposed to your competition.
- Events- Depending on your business’ industry, you might host some events of your own and want to spread the word. Whether it is a company picnic, a guest speaker, or a blowout sale, social media is the perfect place to promote. You can also show your support for certain movements such as Alzheimer’s Awareness Month or contribute to fun events like National Candy Month.
- Imagery- Original visuals are integral to your posts. It is an important tactic to raise engagement levels. The best part is that you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to make exciting pictures. Apps and websites like Canva and Layout make pictures look like they were done by a pro.
- Fun Posts- Yes, social media is great for marketing, but it is also a form of entertainment for many users. Create updates that are fun, engaging, and receive some feedback in the process. You can create quizzes, polls, caption contests, and more. These are the types of posts internet surfers look out for when browsing social media. Give it to them!

While it can be important to share others’ content and social media posts, it is just as important to have an arsenal of original and enticing updates to send out to your followers.

Do you have other ways of creating original content? Comment below!

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Why Social Media Has a Soul

By Christopher Tompkins

18Jun

Social Media

When Americans woke up on June 12th 2016, they were horrified by the news of a massacre in Orlando. Many of us banded together to support the victims’ families and friends as we tried to heal from the terror that hate brought.

During that day however, we saw something else amongst the countless social media posts mentioning the attack. We saw what may have been the most important post ever for those closely involved in the situation. People who lived in or near Orlando were able to “check in” to notify their Facebook friends that they were safe. Facebook’s Safety Check system was previously implemented during situations such as the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, and other dangerous incidents throughout the world. This was the first time Facebook had to activate Safety Checks in the US and because they did, people were informed of many loved ones’ statuses.

Safety Checks are one of the ways social media’s reachability has such a positive impact on our world. We see events as they happen through Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. News about serious events reach the right people quicker than ever. Yes, social media is amazing for marketing yet as we can see, there is much more to discover.

Facebook is also adding another feature that is literally life-changing. They have teamed up with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is now offering users an opportunity to help those who may be in crisis. If users see a potentially suicidal post on their news feed, they can inform administration by using the Report Suicidal Content link as well as the traditional “report button.” As we’ve seen many times on the news, social media can be an outlet for those expressing troubling and potentially self-destructive thoughts. These new tools could be very helpful in preventing disaster, as there will be an immediate resource available.

These progressive updates show that social media can be utilized for a plethora of uses. While some promote your business, others can help save a life. These new platforms have the power to connect in ways we were never able to before. It seems that the globe may be shrinking, and that’s not such a bad thing after all.

What do you think of these new tools? Do you think more will follow? Comment below!

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New and Old Audiences of Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

14Jun

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

Back in the day, social media was intended for teenagers and young adults to roam and cause ruckus. Mark Zuckerberg’s technological wonder, Facebook, was originally designed just for college students. In fact, in its early days you needed a “.edu” email address to sign up. However, things have begun to change– the grown-ups are now checking out social media.

This has been a curious event that has transpired over the past few years. A large majority of adults over 50 are flocking to social media, more specifically to Facebook. Why is this, exactly? Technology has changed the world and Generation X and the Baby Boomers — and sometimes even older– have noticed. The prime suspect is Facebook, seeing as how it is a primary source of communication for many people. Here, they can see their old friends from years ago or check on their kids.

But beyond the social side of this movement, it is no coincidence that once businesses started getting heavily involved in social media, so did these older users. It went beyond posting updates and pictures and took the marketing side of things more seriously. Many of these users utilize Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for business purposes. They take advantage of these services to spread their brand in the wild internet frontier. It may be different from traditional marketing, but a majority of them see its impact and have stuck with it.

After Facebook, older adults have flocked to Twitter and LinkedIn next. Both of these are heavily involved in the business world. We’ve even seen Twittter affect the Presidential Election this year. It is great for instant news that keeps on updating. LinkedIn is where it gets considerably more serious. Here, professionals of any industry can connect without the frills of other platforms. They’re able to use LinkedIn for business ventures and networking in ways that only conferences could provide prior to the internet.

So, move over Millennials. There are new users in town. Don’t worry though, you still have Instagram and Snapchat primarily to yourself.

Why do you think there is an influx of older users on Facebook and other platforms? Comment below!

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The Domination of Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

6Jun

Advertising, Email Marketing, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

It seems that we have an interesting relationship with social media. Sure, we get our news, connections, entertainment, and business advertisements through these intuitive websites, but in the same breath we’ll complain how our lives are being dominated by technology. Maybe people are addicted to these websites and the screens we view them on. Yet our culture has created a need to be constantly connected to the web we’ve created. Because of this, viewers are being fed a large quantity of content everyday.

It may be expected that complaints about social media and “technology addiction” would be from an older generation that weren’t always used to it. However, we’ve seen younger people have similar thoughts. The only thing about them, though, is that they keep using it. Some Millennials may have strayed from the traditional and uber-popular Facebook, and now flock to platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. But social media is social media. In fact, speaking of generations, older users are increasing on many fronts. So, even those who complain are still using them!

There is no doubt that we use this medium more than we have with television and radio. This is because, frankly, we’re able to. Social media is on our phones, desktops, even on some people’s Smart TVs. Even if we try to avoid screens by going out, we see those iconic logos everywhere as businesses try to promote their pages. We’ve even seen this Presidential Election being molded by tweets and followers. Let’s face it…it’s everywhere.

Businesses are at a special advantage with this. Since it’s being used so much, you have ample opportunity to grow your customer base in a short amount of time if implemented correctly. Yet, since social media never turns off, how can you, as a business person keep up with the demand? Certain applications will allow you to schedule posts so you don’t always have to be online. If you get a message from a follower, you can schedule auto-replies when you’re out of the office, even when your office is a smartphone. You can view analytics to see key times when people are online so you know exactly when to send your word out.

The point is, even though social media is demanding and everywhere, you can be successful when sending out your message, especially since your audience is always present. Many of us use these platforms as news sources and sole means of communications with family and friends. We’ve invested a lot into these accounts and ended up connecting many, many aspects of our lives into them. As a result, these tools have become constants, even more so than previous tools. As a result, we can use this to our advantage and get important messages and branding out.

What do you think about social media’s impact? Let us know below!

New Tools of Trade

By Christopher Tompkins

5Jun

Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Social Media, Uncategorized

Okay, so say you’ve finally decided to sign up for social media and you have some fresh accounts. For starters, you’ll most likely have a Facebook page, Twitter account, and maybe a LinkedIn account. You might start the first few weeks strong, one to two posts a day, sending out really engaging content to the internet. However, maybe you take a day off and you start to falter, or your work day was too busy to post. Now you’re two days behind, three days, four… soon this whole social media marketing thing seems to be too much than its worth and you give up. If done incorrectly, social media can be a slippery slope to internet anonymity. The pressure to post on a constant basis can be daunting for many, if you’re doing it alone. So, how can you stop this from happening?

Software developers aren’t oblivious to the digital world around them. There’s tons of helpful third party apps, programs, and websites that can help you tackle the social media landscape with ease.

Hootsuite – We’ve mentioned this big helper before, but it’s definitely worth talking about twice. Hootsuite offers multiple features to make you a social media pro. Their Streams feature lets you view multiple news feeds of content at once. You can post from any social media account, or schedule them for the future. Hootsuite is, in a word, irreplaceable.

Notifier– Yet as awesome as Hootsuite is, it is not a one stop shop. Notifier does something few other programs can. It analyses your content for references to other companies and does research so you can tag the appropriate accounts to get a little extra publicity. Most social media managers try to tag other users if possible, but Notifier is an excellent tool to utilize.

Crate– One of the most important tactics a social media pro uses is to analyze trending topics. Crate is here to help you figure out the hot topics that are relevant to your brand and interests. It’s primarily aimed towards Twitter users so they can hone their content to get the most views and followers.

Canva- The above tools are great for text content, but what about visual? After all, social media success requires a nice balance between pictures and text. Canva is a great tool to help users make stunning imagery. While graphic designers are always amazing resources, websites like Canva can be quick alternatives that can make your posts look amazing.

Tagboard- Hashtags may seem to be a mystery to novice users. But in reality, they’re cornerstones to popular posts. Tagboard is a resource that offers you lists of the most used hashtags in present day. This is a great way to keep relevant.

As you can see, these five tools go above and beyond and will help your content do the same.

Have you tried any of these tools? Did we miss any great ones you’d like to share? Comment below!

Social Media Around the World

By Christopher Tompkins

4Jun

Social Media

The point of social media is to connect the world’s many citizens. Through this technologically based revolution, we’ve kept in contact with people that would never be possible otherwise. Thanks to international phone charges, we would never be able to hear our loved one’s voices if it wasn’t for some of these platforms. However, are we as connected as we’d like to think? Just because we’re all using social media, it doesn’t mean we’re on the same platform. All over the globe, there are numerous popular social media websites that claim hundreds of millions of users, ones that Americans most likely never heard of. You’d be surprised just how varied the international waters of social media are.

It’s no surprise Facebook reigns supreme in North America and many other countries. It has approximately a whopping 1.5 billion members, just for its core website. They also have their Messenger and Live services, which are both growing exponentially. It’s safe to say that Americans think of Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild when the term social media comes up in conversations. Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn all have millions upon millions of users and help countless businesses every single day. Our beloved social media websites stretch beyond our waters and we see many of them being used internationally, but they have much more competition out there. So, enough about the social media companies we all know about and let’s meet their contenders.

One of China’s largest social media websites, Baidu Tieba, also doubles as a highly developed search engine. Just think if Google and Google + combined, then decided to add a ton of awesome features. It has approximately 300 million users. Baidu Tieba’s websites proves it goes beyond a traditional social media design with it’s multi-facet functionality. It offers forums called bars, similar to Reddit’s subreddits, a news page that allows you to research many niche topics, gaming, and even more. It’s a one stop shop for China’s internet users.

Yet taking China’s size into consideration, Baidu Tieba can’t be the only social media platform that its citizens flock to. Sina Weibo, or just Weibo, is another extremely popular website that offers services similar to Tumblr. Microblogging has been around since Live Journal’s popular run. Some cultures and subcultures appreciate this kind of social networking more than others and Weibo’s success just shows how vibrant blogging still is. Steven Hawking made a social media account, one of the few Westerners that have, and he received over 1 million friend requests in 24 hours.

Most of us have seen WhatsApp. While it isn’t as intuitive as Facebook and Weibo, it certainly solves a social problem. That being said, WhatsApp has its work cut out itself in the global front. With Skype, Line, Yy, WeChat and more, the concept of free texting, calling, and video chatting is wide spread and each one covers its own multitudes of users. KakaoTalk dominates South Korea’s messaging services, but also doubles as a more traditional social media platform, offering profiles, pics, videos, and news feeds. KakaoTalk is attempting to have a global reach, but mostly has a large following in Asia.

Now, a question you might be having as a businessperson is, how do I sign up for all these platforms, sending my reach to global heights? That’s one of the down sides. Many social media platforms are limited to your specific region and, depending on your country’s laws, you might not be able to access all these sites. Even Facebook, despite its international reach, is not accessible in all countries.

Social media is a global phenomenal, whether it is traditional social networking, communication lines, or blogging. This shows just how important it is to get yourself established in the social media platforms you have available. You should also be willing to try out websites that aren’t as popular in the US.

Do you have any experience in any of these internationally renowned social media sites? Comment below!

Marketing Faux-Pas to Learn from

By Christopher Tompkins

2Jun

Advertising, Email Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

There’s no doubt about it, we live in a society where one slip up can cost you an untold amount of money and a whole customer base. Even if an advertisement was never in any way meant to be offensive, an accidental negative message can crush a company’s image. Marketing can make or break you. How can you stay politically correct without ever intending for a political statement in the first place? Of course, people have the tendency to twist things and distort messages in a light that was never meant to be. However, the best way to protect yourself is to ignore the mistakes of the past. Here are some ads that backfired for their brand:

Gap received hard criticism for using an image that contained a Caucasian girl leaning her propped arm on an African American girl’s head. People were furious over this imagery and Gap had to apologize quickly.
Bud Light made a big mistake by using “The perfect beer for removing “no” from your vocabulary for the night. #UpForWhatever” on their packaging. People mistook it for promoting not only reckless behavior, but sexual assault. Bud Light’s VP apologized personally, but a large chunk of damage was done.
In an attempt to bash their competitor, Sprint asked a Caucasian woman what she’s reminded of when thinking about T-Mobile. She said it’s ghetto, which raised a firestorm around Sprint, saying they were insinuating racist and classist thinking.
Perhaps the most recent marketing blunder goes to Cheerios. They posted an image saying “Rest in Peace” meant to pay tribute to Prince. They replaced the i’s dot with a piece of their round cereal and people said they were using the music icon’s passing as a way to promote their product. Oops!

Talk about controversy, right? All these mistakes show that a message can be taken the wrong way without the creator ever intending anything. It can seem like you’re walking on eggshells, but try to put yourself in other’s shoes. When crafting posts, it is important to realize that EVERYBODY can see what you write and with that, comes a lot of subjective interpretation. Try your best to see your image from any angle possible and get a colleague to play devil’s advocate.

For more advertising errors, check out Entrepreneur’s article here: http://ow.ly/4nqLms

Do you have any other examples or personal experiences in advertising backfires? Share with us below!

Tag : social media