Endless Social Media Options

"Snapchat Marketing: A Beginner's Guide" by Dominique Jackson points out some great ideas for business to consider when choosing their social media network:

Right now, Snapchat is viewed as the underground social media app for young people. Despite the fact the app has more than 100 million daily active users that send over 400 million snaps every day, Snapchat hasn't reached the mainstream level of networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram just yet. The app is wildly popular among millennials, but older generations haven't caught on quite yet.

Snapchat is Different

It is unlike any social networking app. The main feature is the time constraint put on the content you share. Content should be different than what you use for Facebook or Twitter.

Snapchat is Fun

This platform is great for humanizing your brand. Users want to be entertained by the unique content you share.

Snapchat Marketing Ideas

• Offer Discounts & Coupons
• Build Anticipation
• Giveaways
• Tell Stories
• Combine Video & Images

Snapchat has recently provided a great platform and opportunity for businesses to team up with them by having a constant presence available for consumers. For example, ESPN has connected with Snapchat and constantly has videos and images for individuals to view at their convenience. I know as a consumer myself, this is a great advertising tool and I find myself viewing and anticipating what these businesses are going to post.

Kristin Hodgkinson gives great examples in her article "How Brands Are Winning With Vine Videos: 10 Examples" of businesses that made successful advertisements with Vine. Here are five of them:

#1: Dunkin' Donuts' Super Bowl Vine

#2: M&C Saatchi Sydney's "Quit"

This is an anti-smoking campaign. The six-second Vine simply reads, "Before this video restarts, another smoker will die."

#3: Sony's "Inception" Vine

This Vine from Sony is a play on the popular movie Inception. The ad whisks viewers inside the frame of the phone, into the phone inside that phone and then back again. The infinite loop of this ad is the kind of mind-boggling stuff people love.

#4: Adidas' World Cup Soccer Balls

This Vine shows the evolution of the World Cup soccer balls from the 1970 design that debuted in Mexico, right up to this year's polychrome ball that hurtled around the stadiums in Brazil.

#5: Disney's "Show Your Disney Side" Competition

Disney initiated a Vine-based competition called Show Your Disney Side. They invited Disney fans to get creative with the Vine app and submit a video that reflects their true devotion to the brand.

In watching these videos, I could see how much of an impact businesses can make on their potential customers. Vine is growing and would be a great spot to plant your business for marketing.

Thanks to the article "Getting Started On Periscope For Entrepreneurs", we are educated on what exactly Periscope is and resources for how to get started:

Periscope, the live streaming app, has hit the social media marketing world in a big way recently. Because it is so new, marketers are still experimenting with the app and reporting back what is working and what isn't.

Medium is a simple simple blogging platform with no complicated new publishing tool to learn, and no widgets to master. "3 New Blogging Platforms You Should Consider Using" mentions that this new blogging network pushes to focus on the content, not the call to action or the buttons or video player. This is a great area for business professionals looking to attract a new audience.

Broaden Your Social Media: Keys for Success

Believe it or not, there is more to social media than Facebook and Twitter. Many other resources are available for businesses that are great resources to connect with potential customers. Lets take a look at some great options for your business...

Google+ is a great platform for businesses in order to reach potential customers due to its connection with a large name ("Google") that is connected with billions of users every day. But, there are several mistakes that should definitely be avoided. Thanks to the article "Google+ Local Marketing Mistakes", we have great direction of what to avoid when it comes to this specific social media network:

1. Neglecting to correct an inaccurately placed Google pin
2. Forgetting to add photos or not utilizing eye-catching photos
3. Failing to add Business Hours, or to correct inaccurate ones
4. Routing visitors to your general URL instead of to location or regional page that provides additional information about the specific location they were just viewing on Google
5. Selecting only one category for your business or selecting non-relevant categories for your listing
6. Claiming, but not optimizing, your listing
7. Creating multiple location pages with the same business description

By avoiding and solving these seven common mistakes, any business can ensure their successful presence on Google+, using and thriving on this great social media network.

LinkedIn is one of the most effective platforms for expanding your reach and improving your business results. According to Cindy King, author of "8 LinkedIn Marketing Tips From the Experts", we have a bit of a guide to follow to ensure a successful marketing plan for our business by using LinkedIn:

Learn Valuable Info From LinkedIn Publisher Stats

The new LinkedIn Publisher stats offer amazing insight into not only how many people are viewing each post, but the length of life of each post, reader demographics and the people who engage with your posts.

Invest in LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator assists with buyer identification and prospect research. Plus, it helps you engage with decision-makers more effectively, as it provides real insights into what your prospects care about. This is important because reach without engagement means nothing.

Network On The Go

If you only spend 10 minutes per day sharing great content with your connections on LinkedIn, it will keep your brand on their radar. Plus, it's simple to do on the go. Be strategic about connecting with new individuals or start conversations with recent contacts.

Optimize LinkedIn for SEO

• Add your 3-4 most important target SEO keywords right at the top of the LinkedIn company page description. Separate keywords by special characters
• Add a double space and use 150-160 characters to write a compelling and engaging sentence about your company that also includes your 2-4 most important target SEO keywords
• Add double space again and provide an extended version of information about your company
• Pay quite a bit of attention to the Specialties section

Market Smart

• Research, find, join and connect with related groups
• Like posts and comment with useful insights 
• Connect with new people via profile email or InMail, share related articles and insights, create content that you can place on your blog, video channel, podcast or in a LinkedIn post

Develop Authority With LinkedIn's Publishing Platform

Write articles about your own business and industry expertise or career experiences to differentiate yourself and stand out. Share your unique perspective and insights. 

Track the LinkedIn Profiles You Visit

Install the Google Chrome Internet browser add-on called Dux-Soup, and you have a great way to automate the process.

Manage Your Company Page Like a Boss

Open the new Company Page Notification Center dashboard and:

• Get an aggregated overview of how many likes, comments and shares you've received
• View every publicly shared mention of your company on LinkedIn
• See all of the most recent likes, comments and shares your company has received in a single view
• Comment and like as a company representative

LinkedIn has proved to be successful for businesses to connect with willing and able customers that are seeking relevant businesses for them. By following these steps by Ms. King, businesses will have a great start to building their company on LinkedIn.

In "YouTube Ads: What Marketers Need to Know About YouTube Advertising" by Michael Stelzner provides some tips for businesses when using YouTube:

• Make video ads and run them and - 
• Don't be afraid to spend money on video ads 

YouTube is a great way for businesses to advertise to customers that do spend time watching videos and are willing to view businesses that have eye-catching features.

"6 Tips to Grow Your Pinterest Marketing Results" by Mitt Ray provides great ideas for businesses to be successful on the well-known "Pinterest":

Optimize Your Page

• Profile - use company name
• Upload a relevant profile image
• Match your username with your business name
• Write convincing bio
• Add your town
• Add your website(s)
• Create boards

Design Content to Support Goals

Be Strategic With Your Pinning Schedule

Design Skinny Images

Write Detailed Descriptions

Test Various Pin Times

Pinterest is one of my favorite social media networks, as an individual. I know that I am especially drawn to businesses that participate in all six of these tips mentioned by Mr. Ray, especially if the business makes appealing images that have detailed descriptions that I can easily read and understand. Pinterest has a lot of potential for any business looking to connect with customers!

Get Good At Using Top Social Media Platforms

The top four Social Media pages that nearly every individual with internet capabilities should be somewhere your business has their foot in the door. I mean, even grandma has a Facebook now. The target markets are endless using these easily accessible tools that are exploding in today's society. In this post, we will take a look into some "keys to success" tips for your business by using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. 

Facebook
Zach Kitschke, the author of "30 Ways to Instantly Transform Your Facebook Business Page", comes up with some great strategies for your business. Here are just a few that stood out to me:

1. Spruce up your About section 
2. Beef up your profile 
3. Pump up your graphic appeal
4. Create an epic landing page
5. Use static HTML to add a call-to-action
6. Add a contact form
7. Add your YouTube channel
8. Customize your cover photo 
9. Be consistent
10. Stay on brand

Throughout the rest of Zach's post, he goes into detail of each one of his points, giving very helpful tips for businesses looking to launch their Facebook presence. It is so important to make your Facebook an appealing site for your potential customers. If you do not put the time into making it presentable, people will notice. Noticing a "blah" Facebook page can be detrimental for a company in today's society.

Twitter

"How to Find Local Customers With Twitter" by Gemma Costello gives three great tips for businesses looking to launch their Twitter and receive the customer base they are looking for:

Add Location Data to Your Tweets

Enabling location data on your tweets lets Twitter users recognize when they're in close proximity to your business. Turning this on will let users click on the location marker icon on your tweet to find out where your business is located. That's one step closer to a sale. 

Find Leads With a Local Hashtag Search

Use a tool like Hashtagify to search for people using specific hashtags. Then after you've compiled a list of potential leads, add them to a private Twitter list and start engaging with them.

Target Customers With Promoted Trends

If you're a large business with a significant advertising budget, Promoted Trends are another option to generate leads. Promoted Trends are featured at the top of the Trending Topics list for an entire day. These campaigns require a budget of around $200,000 per day, and if you want to set up a Promoted Trends campaign, you need to work with a Twitter ad specialist. 

Never thought there was so much that went into a Twitter account, did you? Well, there are people to help, just like Gemma mentioned. There are actually people out there that dedicate all of their time and effort to be professionals at this kind of thing. Isn't that amazing?? Social networking continues to amaze me.

Instagram
This newer Social Media trend is becoming the hot spot for business advertisement and customer base. Amanda Brazel in her article "Grow FAST On Instagram With These 6 Tips..." supplies individuals, as well as business owners, how to be successful on this ever-growing social hit:

Tip #1: Be Social: The key is to be friendly, warm, inviting, generous, kind and even fun if you like

Tip #2: Reach Out and Touch Someone: Pick and choose who you connect with based on someone within your niche with a larger following that you and take a look at who follows them and who they are following. Click on some of their photos and like them (be genuine). This will help you get noticed because you gave them 3-5 likes on their photos and followed them.

Tip #3: It's Good to Share: Share photos from Instagram onto your Facebook and Twitter networks. This will create a link back to your Instagram. 

Tip #4: Email Your Current Client List: Ask them to join Instagram. Give them great reasons to follow you!

Tip #5: Run a Contest Through Your Networks: For example, use a special Facebook App that gets people from Facebook to follow you on Instagram.

Tip #6: Use Hashtags: Understand what are your top 10 hashtags for your niche or business and use them appropriately with your photos.

Ms. Amanda gives great tips that can bring success to any business that is willing to put into the time and effort. Instagram is a wonderful tool and is beginning to be one of the hottest social media networks out of them all, building a perfect platform for any business.

Tumblr
Another great and informative article by Alisa Meredith, "Tumblr for Traffic - Make it Work For You", give businesses not only a better understanding of what Tumblr is all about, but highlights ways to use it to make your business successful:

Who Is Using Tumblr?

With 190 million blogs and 83 billion posts, Tumblr's approximately 47 million monthly users are an active bunch. They're also a young crowd, with approximately 50% of users under the age of 24. It also skews slightly to more female users. If your target audience is young, educated people with disposable income, take notice!

What are the Potential Benefits of Using Tumblr in Your Marketing?

Tumblr users spend between 12 and 16 minutes on the site per visit, more than any of the other major social sites. They spend their time reading, sharing and clicking through to read more or purchase something. So, if your audience is there and you can make a success of your Tumblr blog, you can expect more traffic to your website, more brand recognition and even increased sales.

How to Generate Website Traffic with Tumblr

Since images tend to get better engagement than text or links, you'll want to use great pictures. You'll need to decide which you want to attempt - building overall SEO traffic with links, or building Tumblr referrals from click-throughs. You might want to try a little of both. At the beginning, when you don't have many followers, it may be to your advantage to share links. Once you build up your following, start trying for better engagement by posting images.

Tumblr is a great source for business owners. Like Alisa said, Tumblr users spend the most time on this site than any of the other leading social networking sites. This means if a business can build a successful platform, the sky is the limit for customer connection through Tumblr! 

Top Trends of Video Marketing for 2016

In the informational article, "Top 5 Video Marketing Trends For 2016", by Jonathan Savage gives helpful statistics on what has been successful, what will be successful, and was not quite as successful:

80% of all internet traffic will be video by 2019. That's up from 64% in 2014.

The growth in video consumption on Facebook and Snapchat in the past six months clearly demonstrates that the appetite for online video is enormous. This is a trend that shows no signs of slowing down as we enter 2016. If predictions in the CISCO study prove to be correct within the next few years the overwhelming majority of internet traffic will be video.

79% of websites that feature video use third party hosting 

The vast majority of websites that feature video are choosing to use third party solutions rather than self hosting. YouTube is by far the most popular third party solution with 70% of the market share. Among paid third party solutions Vimeo dominates with 57% of the market. YouTube may find large competition for social sharing of videos from sites like Twitter and Facebook, but when it comes to hosting embedded videos the Google owned site continues to dominate. 

66% of higher education institutions use video for remote teaching or learning 

The impact of online video goes beyond entertainment. One of the most exciting areas of growth for video has been the realm of education. Video is allowing anyone with an internet connection to benefit from a first class education. The range of material that is available, and the quality of the educators, is impressive. The consequences of millions of people newly empowered through online education will likely be enormous.

Half of advertisers are moving budget from TV to digital video 

According to figures published by Nielsen traditional TV watching by viewers aged 18 to 34 has been falling by around 4% since 2012.

96% of B2B organizations are using video has part of their online marketing 

The use of video by B2B businesses is now near ubiquitous. However, B2B marketers are still faced with a number of challenges. The same B2B Video Content Marketing Survey detailed above revealed that only 13% of B2B organizations spend more than $50K on video production. 

2016 will likely be a landmark year for online video. Social networks Facebook and Twitter are investing heavily in both the promotion of video and providing new ways of consumer it. Brands will have an increasing range of options to reach consumers with video, creating both new opportunities and new challenges. As these platforms arise, the will be plenty of surprises next year, but it will surely be overwhelmingly positive. 

This next year it will be a very successful year for social media advertising and the use of digital videos. In order for businesses to be successful, they must understand the demand for this newer aged technology and how the positive affects reach consumers. Consumers want to SEE what businesses are doing and what they are trying to say. And businesses have the capability to do just that.

ESPN

The success of videos on social media can be seen through ESPN, especially on Snapchat. One of the more recent updates on Snapchat includes many different companies that provide videos advertising what they represent. For ESPN, the focus on many different sports and highlight on what is currently going on in the sports industry. 

Anytime that I have free time, I go onto Snapchat and view ESPN's videos and am able to enjoy many different kinds of sports and activities that they represent. They do a great job of making their videos relevant, current, and professional in a way that appeals to its consumers.

Businesses And Visual Storytelling

In today's society, image is a very important factor in attracting individuals to what you are trying to say and/or portray. Sarah Lawrence speaks on "The Power Of Visual Storytelling" and how content marketing is vastly more effective when images and/or videos are added:

Brands that use visual content have found that it encourages greater engagement with their target markets. Visual storytelling is something that goes back to "caveman days," says Lawrence. It helps to tell "stories" or what point you are trying to make quickly by adding an impact and emotion. Business must make sure to use the right visuals for them. When the visual is powerful, the effect is magnified.

Powerful visuals + evoke emotions = Deeper engagement

Powerful visuals evoke emotions, driving a deeper engagement and more profound change in behavior. So what makes the visuals powerful, causing an emotional reaction and encourages a deeper level of engagement that a content marketer needs to be successful?

Four factors that make a powerful visual:

Authenticity

Consumers want to believe that the people they are seeing are real. An example would be the realness of Jennifer Lawrence, star actress in the Hunger Games, versus old-Hollywood look and feel of Anne Hathaway. 

Cultural Relevancy

Diversity and inclusiveness are issues that are very culturally relevant today. Cheerios are willing to accept negative reactions to achieve a deeper emotional connection. They made a commercial of a positive, authentic view of mixed-race families. This risk was worth it when you create a relationship with the consumer. 

Sensory Currency

This is beginning to be a very strong trend. As technology takes over, we have seen a desire for things that are 'real' like human contact and hands-on activities. This trend combines nostalgia and a new appreciation for traditional skills, and seeing handmade products re-establishes the connection between maker and consumer

Classic Storytelling Archetypes

Archetypes are classic characters that have been used used to tell stories for hundreds of years. Examples are The Hunger Games or Disney's Brave. There is also the caregiver. 

I agree with Ms. Sarah Lawrence in that authenticity, cultural relevancy, sensory currency, and classic storytelling archetypes are four very important keys that lead to successful visual storytelling for any business. It is much easier to evoke emotion of consumers by allowing them to see what you are trying to tell them. This next business is a perfect example of a successful business using visual storytelling. 

NIKE
is a popular brand known by most, if not all, athletes around the world. Nike is a prime example of a successful business that uses visual storytelling to attract their customers by visuals that motivate them to want to use their products, and it works. They have designed a very interesting and compelling website with images of professional athletes performing their sport while wearing the Nike brand, website advertisements, and commercials. Here is just one of many advertisements that Nike has developed:

Personally, I have always admired Nike and their way of advertising their brand. They relate their commercials to athletes as well as aspiring athletes that want to pursue a healthier lifestyle. They are not close-minded to any certain sport and any one kind of individual, but they have a very large target market. I believe their visual storytelling captures a very positive mission statement that represent exactly what Nike is trying to offer their customers. 

Making A Social Media Calander

There are many different strategies businesses can use for Social Media. In the post by Kayla Hollatz titled "Creating an Effective Social Media Calendar", she describes an alternative that she has found effective for developing successful Social Media characteristics for a business. She explains:

Why use a social media calendar?

It keeps everything in one place

• Different social media platforms require different types of planning
• For example, Twitter values communication whereas Instagram values visuals
• Well-updated calendars help make a statement on all plateforms

You can prepare content ahead of time

• Allows for time off

You never have to worry about not having enough to post

• Provides you with a backup plan if an unexpected event occurs
• Helps to spread your favorite content

Are you convinced?

How to get started:

Recommended Add-ons:

Notes 

Every spreadsheet should have a section for notes. This place can be used to dump all of your "notes to self" if you ever feel lost. There is no right or wrong way to use this, just do what is best for you.

CTA Categories

"Call To Action" is intended by the user from the specific offering:

• Traffic: Posts where link clicks are Tier 1 (aka muy importante)
• Engagement: Posts where the goal is an increased amount of replies and ongoing conversations
• Conversion: Posts that cause users to opt-in and convert
• Support: Posts giving exposure to outside sources (my most used category)
• Inspirational/Motivational: Posts that are meant to inspire change (think quotes)

Timing

There is an optimal time to publish each post type depending on the CTA. You can build your calendar around those figured times. It'll probably take some experimenting, but "that's the fun part."

Separate Tabs

If you're using Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, AND Facebook to regularly post content, use separate tabs within the spreadsheet for your platform (Example, using Google Sheets or Excel).

A social media calendar seems like the perfect idea for any business owner that expects to be successful and ahead of the game in their posting platform. It would be a great way to stay organized and have a plan of what you want to see on your social media. A calendar would eliminate a lot of wasted time and effort put into developing new material everyday.

Michael Kors

A successful social media strategy was used by the infamous Michael Kors Instagram Ad. The post first started in November 2013 from fashion house Michael Kors. According to Business Insider, the ad "was met with a resounding chorus of boos from Instagram users." But the ad was really a success. After 18 hours after the image was shared, the promoted post received 370% more "Likes" than the average Michael Kors Instagram post and gained nearly 34,000 new followers.

This huge fashion brand has also caught my eye, but when they started having sponsored ads on Instagram, I was presented many other items that I was interested in. I even visited their site several times when seeing their ad! I would say Michael Kors is the perfect example of using social media strategies to benefit their company.

Online Display Advertising

Dave Chaffey, author of "Display Advertising Clickthrough Rates", compiles a US, Europe, and Worldwide display ad clickthrough rates (CTR) statistics summary that helps marketers study this style of marketing. The summary includes:

1. Overall Display Ad CTRs  [Across all ad formats and placements Ad CTR is 0.06% - this is less than 1 click per 1000 impressions] 

1. Rich media CTRs [Rich media Ad CTR is 0.27%]  
   

1. Ad CTR trends [The following chart show that 0.1% CTR has been a consistent average] 
   

1. Comparison of display, search and social ads CTRs [The following image is useful for modeling the response of digital media for top-level budgets] 
   

Facebook Ad Clickthrough Example:
The following image shows that by using targeting in Facebook, it is possible to improve on general Internet ad clickthrough rates. 

Social Media Ad Clickthrough Rates - A Comparison of Facebook and Twitter CTRS:

The Challenge of Online Ad Viewability

This is another issue for advertisers to consider when evaluating online ad effectiveness measures by clickthrough rates. Ad blocking has also impacted advertisers since blockers have increased in popularity across the country.

Viewability refers to the percentage of ads in a campaign or on a publisher site that are potentially available for clickthrough. 44.9% of all ads are clickable since ads may be below the fold and users do not scroll to see them.

After reviewing Dave's post, I do think CTR is something that organizations should look into when deciding their budget. But I do believe that just because the clickthrough rate is not very high, there are still many potential consumers that are simply exposed to the information through that ad. It's something very hard to put a statistic to. If I was a large business, I would definitely put plenty of money into my online ad viewability, even if our statistical CTR wasn't very high.

Linkedin

Linkedin is a great example of a company that uses online display advertising and is very good at it! When I log into my account, there are crisp and clean advertisements that do not seem cluttered and I am drawn to view what each one is talking about.