Twitter

Modern Keyboard With Colored Social Network Buttons.

New Features to Try on Social Media in 2018

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Every year, new ways to engage in social media emerge. It’s important to review and implement these new features into your social media strategy. If you try new things on social media this year that other brands aren’t doing, you have a much better chance of surprising your audience and engaging them.

Here are some new features to try in 2018 on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook

  1. Create Stories in Groups and Events

Facebook’s Stories—which allow you to post content that disappears after 24 hours—is now available for groups and events. People can post Stories that are visible only to their groups or on any event page. These Stories will have a private hashtag and will be moderated by admins to make sure that content is appropriate and on-brand.

  1. Royalty Free Music

There’s now an easy, and free way, to to add soundtrack to your video. Facebook has introduced the video editing tool Sound Collection, which lets you add sound effects or music to your video clips. Audio files on Sound Collection are royalty-free so you don’t have to worry about copyright infringement or blowing your budget.

Instagram

  1. Story Highlights

Ready to showcase your best stories? Instagram Stories Highlights lets your brand make engaging stories and can be permanently posted on your Instagram profile. This feature is super valuable for brands because Stories Highlights can be saved, reposted, and measured for long-term performance. You can organize your own Stories Highlights however you want before you post, whether it’s by theme, campaign, or date.

Stories Highlights is also a good way for you to promote the content you want users to see first. They appear right below your bio for easy viewing.

  1. Broadcast Live with a Guest

Instagram now lets users and brands broadcast live with a guest in a split screen format. Broadcasts will appear in the Stories section of the platform with two circles (instead of the typical one circle). If your broadcast receives a lot of engagement, you could end up in Instagram’s Search and Explore tab.

When planning a collaborative broadcast, think about how two speakers can create unique content for this new format. You might choose to invite a guest from a strategic brand partnership for an announcement or ask an influencer to co-host an Instagram takeover.

Twitter

  1. Tell a story in 280 characters

Remember when Twitter had 140 word limit we had to work with in the past? Well, Twitter has finally increased the word count to 280-characters. Twitter said that the character increase would allow people to express more, while still encouraging the importance of brevity.

Play around with new storytelling concepts that would have been formerly impossible under the 140 character limit—but don’t write more just because you can. Being clear and succinct is still the way to go on Twitter.

  1. Send more creative, personalized direct messages

With Twitter’s Direct Message Cards, your brand can share engaging images and videos—with customizable call to action (CTA) buttons—all within your message conversations. DM cards give brands the freedom and flexibility to consider the customer experience and take a more visual approach to customer interactions.

Marketing trends

Marketing Trends in 2018

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4 Tips to get your Marketing on Track 2018

Staying ahead of marketing trends and mastering new techniques and technologies is a never-ending challenge for all of us. With so many options to engage followers, it can be overwhelming. Here are 4 trends to keep an eye on in 2018 that you can implement into your marketing strategy.

  1. Ephemeral Content

We’re all used to providing evergreen content – long-lasting content that can be repurposed for years to come. Sure, that always comes in handy, but with all the new social media stories, from Facebook to Twitter to Snapchat, there is now a demand for temporary content. The time-sensitive component makes it exciting and if done correctly, it can help you engage with your followers even more than ever before! Millennials are savvy with this new technology and they expect the brands they like to follow their footsteps. Using this kind of temporary content to highlight the human side of your brand is a great way to connect through social media and show off why your company is special.

  1. Videos

Video was already gaining in popularity throughout 2017, but heading into 2018 we now have even more stats to back up the effectiveness of this type of content.

  • 500 million hours of video content watched on YouTube per day
  • Facebook videos get 135% more organic views than photos
  • Video will represent up to 82% of all IP traffic by 2021

(statistics from business insider)

Videos don’t have to be hard. In fact, videos 2 minutes or less get the most engagement. No one wants to sit there and watch an hour video about what your company does. Hone in on the important points and make it into a visually appealing video.

  1. Live Streams

Similar to video content is live streaming. This type of content became wildly popular in 2017, with brands and influencers utilizing it across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Live streams are highly interactive and there are endless ways to use these tools. Here are just a few examples:

  • behind the scenes of an event
  • question and answer sessions
  • tutorials
  • sneak peeks of upcoming products or projects

The great part about live streams is that this content can last, especially if it’s successful.

  1. Artificial Intelligence 

Current AI is incredibly valuable, with “features such as chatbots, data analysis algorithms, and personalized recommendation systems [to] automatically direct audiences to content that’s relevant to their interests and circumstances.”

The one I like to use is Atomic Reach which gives me recommendations on type and level of language to use, when to post to social media for best engagement, how long my blog posts should be, and more. Embrace this useful technology, but never forget to use AI tools wisely—make sure to keep the human element in the equation. No matter how advanced the technology gets, creativity, empathy, tone, and interpretation are still something only humans can do.

A/B Testing

How to Perform A/B Testing on Social Media

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What is A/B Testing?

In essence, A/B testing is a way to measure two versions of something to see which is more successful.

Think about it this way: When you and your friend are coming home from your favorite coffee shop, you might discuss what route is the fastest way to get home. You might take one route that day and the next time you go to that same spot, maybe you’ll decide to try the other route and find out which one is fastest. It’s essentially a way to compare two similar things and figure out what’s the best way.

When it comes to social media, A/B testing works in the same way. When you look at the comparison of two similar tweets, you would like to see that one of the posts has a significant edge in a particular stat. I did an A/B test on my twitter to show you an example of what I’m talking about.

1st Test
2nd Test

In the example above, the first tweet’s success with retweets, favorites, mentions, and potential indicated that it might be a better headline than the first.

Retweets and clicks are both useful metrics to observe, and we don’t necessarily like one more than another. Retweets are a great signal to us that people find the headline worth sharing with their own audience, and clicks are a helpful indicator that the headline drives curiosity enough to clickthrough and read. In some ways, retweets and clicks tell us a headline’s popularity or even an image’s popularity.

Of course, it might also be best to point out that A/B tests on social media are not perfect. The varying times of day, the hashtags we use and other significant variables can affect our tests as well. In order to keep it consistent, it would be wise to test your tweets at the same time of the day if possible. In the end, A/B testing gives us an insight into what works and what doesn’t to get engagement from our followers.

A few ways to vary your Tweets are with the following;

  • quotes
  • link tweets
  • questions for your followers
  • facts
  • include relevant photos

Images and links to the topic you’re talking about is SO important when it comes to marketing your products or blog posts. It’s a lot more visually appealing than a boring one sentence tweet with a bunch of hashtags. Also, including a link to either your product page or website will help drive more traffic and increase conversion rates. Social media scientist Dan Zarrella found in research prior to this change that Tweets using pic.twitter.com links were 94% more likely to be Retweeted. That’s a pretty high number, don’t you think?

Try it out and see how it works for you. It’s relatively easy to figure out and it just might help your company or blog in the long run.

Pinterest

Use Pinterest to Draw in Traffic

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What is Pinterest?

Many small businesses focus on creating a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but there is a hidden social media market called Pinterest that is unnoticed by most B2C companies. Maybe it’s because they may not have heard about the site and its many benefits. With 200 million monthly users, Pinterest may not be a social media that’s as powerful as Facebook, but it’s an important social platform. Half of all U.S. millennials use Pinterest, for instance. Pinterest offers a different approach to gaining market exposure through the use of pictures that are linked to your articles or website.

Here is a screenshot of my Pinterest profile for Women’s Golf Content

If you want a more in-depth look at Pinterest and how it can benefit your company, here are some tips below: 

How Does it Work?

Pinterest is a network where people look for inspiration, including specifically seeking out ideas about new products to buy. Here are some of the elements of using Pinterest:

1. Pins

A Pin is simply any image or video that someone chooses to save to Pinterest. For businesses, more important than the image itself is the link: Every pin links back to the original source, so Pinterest can be a great source of referral traffic.

2. Boards

Users (called “Pinners”) save a lot of stuff—an incredible 100 billion Pins to date. In order to keep things organized, they sort their Pins into collections called boards. For example, you can have a board called “Golf Apparel” or “Golf Courses” so as to separate your photos by categories. The social media platform has many categories that can be broad or a niche topic. Your profile can contain as many boards as you would like and you can either create original pins or re-pin from other users onto your board.

Pinners can follow your entire account, or just the specific boards that interest them most. Then, the Pins you save will appear in their feed. Each pin should have a link attached to the image, which will direct the user to whatever website you want them to go to.

3. Feed

A Pinterest feed is just like a feed on any other social network—it’s a collection of links and content from boards and users that the Pinner has followed.

 

Golf Galaxy whole board of pins

What Will Pinterest Do For Your Company?

Pinterest provides a marketing strategy that’s different from other platforms. The idea that you can create boards, post or re-post pins and include links for each one is a great tool to use.

With the use of these pins you can draw interested users to your main site, thus increasing qualified web traffic. Additionally, by re-pinning relative content onto your own page, you draw more users to the content on your boards through popular pins. However in order to successfully use this site, you must actively post new pins and re-pin relevant, popular pins onto your own boards each day.

By frequently pinning content, you create an opportunity for users to notice your brand and potentially increase the number of followers on your profile.

#Hashtag

Why #Hashtag Matters For B2B Social Media Marketers

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Tips on How to Effectively Use #Hashtag in your Marketing Campaign

With social media expanding its reach everyday in order for users to connect online, there are some new tools you might not understand how to use properly – and one of these tools is called the hashtag. The #hashtag—a word or phrase without spaces or special characters and preceded by a “#”—can become a profitable and powerful addition to your marketing arsenal.

First gaining popularity on Twitter, where tweets with hashtags receive 2x the engagement of those without, the tactic has become a standard conversation-starting and engagement-driving tool across many social outlets. However, Instagram is beginning to take the lead with the #hashtag tool, allowing your business to obtain more organic followers that have a keen interest in what your company is all about.

Here are some tips on using hashtags effectively in your B2B social outreach:

  1. Create a static list of hashtags you will always use, and then add new hashtags after

The first thing you’ll want to do in order to implement hashtags into your marketing campaign is to make a list of all the hashtaghs that you believe will be relevant to your audience that you will want to use regularly. For example, when I write about golf fashion and I post a photo on my social media I will use hashtags such as, “#GolfFashion,” #WomensApparel,” #Instagolf.” Just to name a few.

You want to make sure you choose hashtags that are popular enough, but not TOO popular. You can tell whether a hashtag is too popular if you type it into the search bar on Instagram. For example, #Golf has 13 million posts, whereas #GolfGirls has only 58,000 posts. So remember, your post will be a needle in a haystack if you choose hashtags that have too large of a popularity and you won’t be gaining traction with your social media marketing.

Instead, you’ll want to create two lists: existing hashtags that are already buzz-worthy conversation starters within your niche, and new hashtags that you’re specifically creating to publicize your brand.

Here are some ways to do so:

  • Evergreen – This term refers to words or phrases or topics that will be relevant now and in the future for your audience. Make sure a sizable number of your hashtags speak to topics that have staying power.
  • Newsworthy – Any big news or events happening within your products industry? Make sure to always keep tabs on the latest newsworthy items and add specific hashtags about the subject into your already existing list.

At the end of the process, you’ll have a list of hashtags ready to go across your social channels!

  1. Use your hashtags to join in on conversations

Hashtags also has another important role – it can lead to engagement scenarios and conversations with interested prospects – giving your company the opportunity to make more connections and share content. If you don’t quite understand here’s an example: this golf brand that I follow made up his own hashtag #makegolffunagain. Since I’ve been a follower of his from quite some time he will comment on my golf posts (when appropriate) and use his hashtag. This will generate more leads for him as more people start to notice the hashtag on relevant posts within your industry’s niche.

  • Join existing conversations that are relevant. Social listening is great for this. Be sure to note where you can meaningfully contribute or comment on something, and within your message, make sure you use the same hashtags that other interested parties are using.
  • Introduce branded hashtags with loyal customers. The best promoters of your unique, branded hashtags are those who are already involved with your brand and helping spread your message organically. Introduce new hashtags into social messages and particularly focus on those who consistently share your social posts, as they’ll help the new hashtags spread the fastest. (ie. #makegolffunagain)

Those are the basics to using and implementing hashtags into your business social media strategy. Hashtags are a powerful way to increase engagement and attract new leads. Start using hashtags in your posts, and you’ll strengthen your social campaigns!

brand inconsistencies

Find and Fix Brand Inconsistencies

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Five Ways You Can Improve Any Potential Brand Inconsistencies

Most marketers and brand strategists understand the dangers of brand inconsistencies: without a well-defined logo, color scheme, and brand voice, your brand won’t stand out in consumers’ minds. And if consumers can’t remember your brand, you won’t have a chance against competitors.

While brands are constantly trying to uphold a strong visual image, the internet is always on the watch uncovering small inconsistencies (many of which reside in the most unexpected places.)

To make sure that you’re covering all the bases, here are six potential places where brand inconsistencies tend to hide — from the depths of your product descriptions to that email you’re about to send.

  1. Tone and Style of Writing

From email to blog posts, you want every piece of content you publish to reflect your company culture and ideals. A consistent brand voice makes this possible.

Whether your content team is small or large, you’re inevitably going to end up with different writing styles. Having a range of voices is a good way to keep your audience interested, but there’s a fine line between an interesting variation and writing that’s inconsistent. When the tone of voice or the writing style goes from one extreme to the other  your readers will be confused about the message you’re trying to send.

Try to make sure everyone is on the same page with what message your company is trying to send to their audience. One way to achieve this harmony is to create a detailed content style guide. This guide can include information such as what types of stock photos to use, whether or not to use oxford commas, and what language to avoid.

  1. Search Engine Results

If you need information, fast, where do you typically go to get it?

We’re going to take a gamble and say that your answer was Google. People looking for information about your brand probably have the same train of thought. After all, Google is seen as a trusted method for finding information.

Make sure that your brand is up to date with the your newest logos, titles, photos, etc. Google will pull up anything that is under your brand name, so make sure it’s the things you want to see. SEO is a huge part of keeping your brand on Google’s pages. Set-up a Google Adwords/Keywords account to keep track of your SEO and other marketing strategies. You can also look into HubSpot which is a great resource for keeping all your files in one place.

  1. Product Descriptions

Product descriptions are designed to do one thing well: sell the merchandise. Consequently, they sometimes ring false because the branding and voice are different from what the consumer seeks on your blog or in your emails.

Before you write product descriptions, read some of your other content to re-familiarize yourself with your brand voice. Keep that voice in your head as you craft your descriptions, staying true to the tone and inflection you have developed elsewhere.

  1. Social Media 

Most likely, your brand has an official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. But, with so many options for marketing your brand on social media, it’s hard not to feel pressured to have a presence on all of them. However, trying to tackle all of these platforms is difficult — can you really maintain and post regularly on all of these sites? If you can, you might have an employee that focuses social media marketing, which is great, but if you don’t it can be a daunting task with all the other things you have to manage on a daily basis.

The best way to stay consistent on social media is to choose a few platforms that make sense for your audience and your product — then master them. Delete the profiles that you don’t use and make sure to keep an eye on how much you are posting on them. If someone adds you on Twitter, they might re-consider if they noticed you haven’t published a tweet since 2014. This wouldn’t make a very good impression so it might be a good idea to either delete the platform or to give it more attention.

  1. Reviews / Ratings 

Since product review sites are regulated by people who usually know nothing about your brand, they often portray the wrong information. Whether your business has the wrong location, or is missing a proper company description, review sites can be a huge source of concern for potential customers.

First, reach out to these sites and do whatever you can to correct your brand’s information. Another way to boost your presence on review sites is to reach out to your best customers and ask them to leave a review (if they haven’t already). This will help filter out the not-so-positive reviews, so people visiting these sites understand both what your brand is about, and what people honestly think of it.

We hope you’ll consider these tips and try to implement them for your brand. These are simple ways that you can boost your brand name and appeal to more customers.

Source: HubSpot