Tip Of The Month

Vimeo Launches

'Vimeo Create' to help Marketers Create Better Videos for Multiple Platforms

Sometimes a video is worth a million words.

Want to start making videos yourself? Check Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/385278943?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=152184

Use Instagram stories DMs TO DRIVE Better Engagement

One of the only primary functions within Instagram stories as it relates to engagement is messages. It’s not currently possible to share an Instagram story with a friend or pass along an account to someone with ease. Thus, the best call to actions you can use are to tell your followers to either click the link in your bio (see the picture above) or ask them to tap “Send message” where you can connect with them one-on-one.

Direct messages is a great way to build a one-on-one relationship with customers, fans and your target audience. It’s also a place where you can sell and establish a bond that will result in someone advocating for you in the future. When people send me direct messages, I often respond with video responses to make it extra personal.

Social Calendar

Do not forget to check all the social holidays this 2020 so you can prepare your content in advance - analysing which holidays is relevant for your audience.

Find out more.

Strategy for 2020

SMART goal setting is a popular technique for validating your goals. This is important because it helps you save time and energy by making the process of goal setting more efficient and productive. It helps you avoid spinning your wheels!

What is a SMART Goal?

There are several ways you can define the acronym SMART. It is the definition that is most appropriate for small business owners:

• Specific: You have clearly defined what you want to accomplish.
• Measurable: You have identified targets and milestones to track your progress.
• Attainable: Your goal is realistic and manageable.
• Relevant: You have identified a goal that fits with your business model.
• Time-Based: You have identified a specific period of time for the goal.
• 

A Guide to TikTok for enyone Who Isn't a Teen

The app where Gen Z vies for 15 seconds of fame is not as incomprehensible as it might appear.

If you’re old enough to remember Kesha’s “Tik Tok,” you may not be “old” by the standard definition—the song only came out in 2009—but you’re probably still too old to know about the other TikTok, the app of the same name. Teenagers and young people are the primary users of the app, which can loosely be described as a social network for amateur music videos (users can make their own as well as just watch everyone else’s). If you know about it at all, it might be by its former name, Musical.ly. So why is it called something else now? What distinguishes it from the other apps that teens are obsessed with? Is it really worth a billion dollars? And are amateur music videos any good? The answers to those and more questions can be found below in this guide to TikTok, designed specifically for all those people who have never done the #raindropchallenge, the #posechallenge, or, clearly, the #levelupchallenge.

What was Musical.ly, and why did it change its name to TikTok?

Musical.ly launched in 2014 (it was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang) and gained a dedicated userbase over the next few years; in November 2017 it was acquired by ByteDance, a Beijing-based media and tech company, for a reported $1 billion. At the time, ByteDance already owned a similar app, TikTok, which had launched in China in 2016. Musical.ly and TikTok were both popular, but each reigned in different parts of the world, according to Reuters—the former in the Americas and Europe with 100 million monthly active users (who called themselves “Musers”—it’s unclear if that name will survive), and the latter in Asia with 500 million of the same. In fact, TikTok was also the most downloaded iOS app in the first quarter of this year, per market research. ByteDance’s decision to bring the two apps together as one product was a move toward efficiency, and the company told Reuters it decided that TikTok “better reflects the breadth of content created on our platform that extends beyond music to comedy, performance art and more.” So, in early August, TikTok absorbed Musical.ly—all user accounts and videos were moved to TikTok, and the app formerly known as Musical.ly ceased to exist. (Due to China’s restrictive internet rules, TikTok remains a standalone app there, where it goes by the name Douyin and has over 300 million monthly active users.)

What else changed when the app became TikTok?

Not all that much! The update notes promised “new creator tools and interactive filters” as well as “bug fixes and performance improvements.” These include the ability to post “reactions,” new filters, and background effects. Users were additionally promised access to content from more countries and better personalized recommendations. And since digital mindfulness is all the rage right now, the new app is able to warn users when they’ve been using it for more than two hours.

In a video reviewing the new app, YouTuber LifeWithErick noted that the old Musical.ly app indicated in profiles how many videos users had on the site and how many videos they had liked, features that disappeared with the update. The camera, the font, and the way drafts appear are also different.

How long are TikTok videos?

Like the dearly departed app Vine, Musical.ly encouraged creativity within very specific limits. Rather than the 6 seconds that defined Vine, on Musical.ly, and now TikTok, 15 seconds is the magic number. That’s the upper limit for recording within the app, but users can string those clips together to make stories of up to 60 seconds long. Users also have the option of uploading longer videos that were not recorded within the app.

What do people do on TikTok? Is it all lip-synching?

Lip syncs were the original raison d’être of Musical.ly, but the app came to be known for more than just music. (“2017 will be remembered as the year Musical.ly transitioned from an app primarily for posting music videos to a broader social-media and entertainment platform,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in November.) The choice to go with the TikTok platform means that will only be more true going forward.

Dancing is particularly big on the app, which makes sense given its musical roots, and so are other movement-based activities like gymnastics, cheerleading, and parkour. Comedy is huge, though it’s often lip-sync–based comedy, which is something better experienced than explained: Here is a video of a girl lip-synching to the viral “catch me outside” clip from the episode of the Dr. Phil show that gave us rapper Bhad Bhabie. Also on the app, media companies like NBCUniversal and Seventeen host short “shows” that are aimed at its young users. Basically, you can find a little bit of everything there.

How does one navigate TikTok?

Like videos from Vine and Instagram Stories and as befitting a mobile-native app, TikTok videos are vertical. That’s not the only element of the app that might ring familiar—there are filters à la Snapchat, and you can show appreciation through “hearts,” which are essentially the same as “likes.” The app should seem pretty intuitive if you’ve logged time elsewhere in the social media–verse.

You’ve surely heard of the #InMyFeelingsChallenge, the dance craze based on the Drake song. On TikTok, that’s just the beginning.

After you download TikTok and open it on your phone, a video will start playing right away without you even selecting one (just like in IGTV). The videos that play automatically are featured videos, labeled “for you,” which the app has chosen to highlight—users can switch to “following” to see videos from the people they follow—maybe you’ll follow friends, or popular “Musers,” or just people who amuse you. Clicking on the home button in the bottom left corner will load up a new video.

To explore further, try the magnifying glass icon next to the home icon, where you can search key words and hashtags—yes, TikTok uses hashtags—as well as explore some of what’s trending—yes, there’s also trending in TikTok. Within videos, tap on the screen to pause (as with Instagram Stories), and look to the right side for the user icon of the video’s creator (which will take you to that user’s profile), the number of “hearts” it got (you can click to heart it too), and the number of comments it got (click to read them). Along the bottom of the video, find the user’s name, caption, and the name of the song that’s playing. Captions tend to contain more hashtags that you can explore by clicking on them. TikTok has a library full of clips of popular songs, but users can also use their own recordings or “original sound,” which can be anything from the person talking to a different excerpt of a song to a strange viral earworm. You can click on any song to see more videos of that song.

When you’re ready to post your own video, click on the plus sign at the bottom of the home screen—and study up on how to make a good one.

Is TikTok only for teens and young people? Will so-called olds understand it?

As mentioned above, if you’ve used basically any other form social media, you should have a pretty good head start. That said, it’s true that the app’s userbase is quite young: Earlier this year, Digiday cited the statistic that 50 percent of those who used Musical.ly on iPhones were between the ages of 13 and 24; that number was 60 percent on Android. (Female users outnumber males on both platforms.) Anecdotally, the app is also quite popular with tweens as well, despite terms of service that state that users must be at least 13 to sign up.

Is TikTok wholesome and safe? Are there creeps?

As with any social network, there have been instances of strange adults contacting children inappropriately on the app. Parents have access to the usual privacy settings if they’re concerned about their kids’ accounts, though there are no parental controls. Also, remember: It’s possible to watch videos without ever creating an account.

As for the appropriateness of the content itself, all the bad words and sexual lyrics that go along with popular music are obviously part of the app, and some of the outfits and dance moves in videos can be a little risqué. There have also been some reports of darker content, like videos depicting self-harm and violence, on the app.

Has anyone gotten famous from TikTok/Musical.ly?

Yes, much like YouTube and Instagram, it has its own ecosystem of stars, some of whom have followings of millions of fans. Top Musers include Baby Ariel, Jacob Sartorius, Loren Gray, twins Lisa and Lena (twins are big on TikTok), and Mackenzie Ziegler (younger sister of Sia’s favorite young collaborator Maddie), among others.

Can people make money on TikTok?

In short, yes! Music labels can make money when popular videos lead to increased sales and streams, brands can make money through partnerships with the app, and individual Musers can make money, too: Fans or followers can purchase monetary gifts of anywhere from 5 cents to $50 for Musers, with a percentage of the revenue also going to the app itself and the distributor, like Apple or Google. These creators can pursue “brand partnerships” as well. One Muser was reportedly earning $25,000 a month through partnerships and gifts as of last year.

What’s with all the challenges?

You’ve surely heard of the #InMyFeelingsChallenge, the dance craze based on the Drake song. On TikTok, that’s just the beginning. At any given time, you can peruse at least five different challenges that are trending on the app, where “challenge” has come to mean a format for a video for fans to endlessly iterate upon, usually involving a song. The #idolchallenge asks fans to dance to the new BTS song “Idol,” the #matildachallenge has fans making videos where they pretend they can do telekinesis (like in the ’90s movie), the #unmakeupchallenge is about taking off makeup, the #dontjudgemechallenge seems to be about dressing up in extremely ugly, clownish makeup and then transforming into a beautiful person—or (record scratch) not—and many, many more.

What about memes? Are there memes on TikTok?

Of course there are memes! Frequently there are challenge-esque hashtags that don’t explicitly include the word “challenge” in them, but they share DNA with the challenges nonetheless, which means it’s kind of difficult to distinguish between challenges and memes on TikTok, but it’s probably not something to spend too long dwelling on. Just know that for every meme you encounter outside of TikTok, you can probably find it within TikTok. For example, right now there’s a lot (like, more than 1 million) of videos based on that “Johny, Johny” song. There’s a lot of SpongeBob. In addition to the #InMyFeelingsChallege, there’s this whole submeme where girls mouth along to a track that answers “Kiki” with an annoyed “What?” and “Do you love me?” with “No!” Basically, TikTok is a world unto itself, one that’s very much worth exploring next time you find yourself with 15 seconds, or hell, 15 times that, to spare.

Tips to take with your smartphone

1. Take portraits in shade
2. Tap to meter
3. Know your camera shortcut
4. Use portrait mode
5. Shoot in Raw
6. Clean the lens

How to use your emotions in promoting your social media presence

It’s no secret that emotions play a large part in our decision-making process; so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that emotional intelligence is greatly intertwined into marketing. From copy that’s written to elicit a certain reaction or response, to a website or advertisement’s color scheme aimed to make a viewer feel a certain way at just first glance – smart marketers think about how their content will make a viewer feel at every point of engagement.

Some of our favorite advertisements, like Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign and Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ ads, focus primarily on a human experience while their products play second fiddle.

From your digital assets like blog posts or subject lines for your newsletter, to photos displayed on your website or storefront – there’s no shortage of ways that you can put your heart on the line and create emotional content that works.

Here are the 10 types of emotional marketing that convert best:

Fear

That heart pumping feeling of fear is one of the most relatable emotions out there. Whether it’s a suspenseful twist in a commercial, an eerily designed visual, or the worst fear of all… FOMO (the fear of missing out) – there are plenty of opportunities for your community to tastefully utilize fear tactics in your marketing. Adding an element of fear can be as easy as adding a sense of urgency to your email’s subject line, for example “10 mistakes that can harm your community”.

So don’t be afraid, try adding a sense of urgency with a little fear factor today.

Guilt

Guilt is one of the best emotional tools to add urgency to your posts.

Trust

More than just good practice, positioning your community as honest and transparent can be create a lifelong bond between seller and consumer.

Value

Confident that you offer the best deal? Provoke this emotion by stating that if a customer finds a better deal for the same offering elsewhere, you’ll match it!

Community

Fitting in is a feeling that many of us can relate to. Whether it’s belonging to an elite club, feeling like you’re a part of a company’s inner circle, a sense of belonging is an emotion that many companies use well. Are you an iPhone person or Android? Do you prefer Pepsi or Coke? Are you a Map Editor or a Beta Tester?

Leadership

Are you the kind of person who wants to be at the cutting edge of the next big thing? The ever-changing technological landscape has created a generation of cool kids who want to be in the know. Entice these people to try your newest offering by showing them that a little something different could be just what they were looking for to stand out. Remember, you heard this tip here first ;)

Competition

Whether it’s a limited edition content or a must-have item that everyone has, creating a sense of competition for your community is a sure-fire way to make it sought after.

Hurry up, before someone else does it!

Urgency

Adding a sense of urgency to your marketing material when it matters most can be just the subliminal push your audience needs to take action.

Trend - Setting

There are no shortage of cool-kids in the internet world, but even cool kids have their idols. Appeal to your audience’s inner-hero by suggesting that your community can bring them one step closer to being like their favorite authority.

Time

In the tech-age of instant messages and emails round the clock, there is no greater commodity than time. Referencing a time-saving function that your community provides can hit a soft spot with your audience. Give this a try some time, it’ll cut your efforts in half.

4 Tips for Effective Facebook Community Management

#1: Be a resource

One of the top reasons people will post on your page is to ask a question or get some information. Respond to these questions in a timely manner. Even if you don’t have an answer to the question, people will still feel that you did your best to help.

If you don’t respond, you appear not to care and your community will go elsewhere.

You don’t have to hang out on Facebook all day watching your wall, just make sure you have the notifications turned on so that you will get an email when you get a post. To check your notifications setting for your Facebook page, go to Edit Page and Your Settings to make sure you have email notifications turned on.

#2:Respond and engage

Along the same lines of being a resource, you want to make sure you are responding to your community.

If someone takes the time to say how wonderful you are on your Facebook page, thank her!

#3: Moderate

Occasionally it may be necessary to issue some warnings, delete spam or step in to a discussion that is becoming contentious.

As a community manager, you will need to be present and make sure people are playing nice. Just because Facebook is a public space doesn’t mean that you can’t have rules set up for your section of the sandbox.

#4: Measure

As with any marketing endeavor, make sure you measure your progress. Watch not only the growth of your community but the posts that are getting the most interaction.

Click Insights and Interactions to drill down to the Page Post scores. Sort by the Feedback column to watch which posts are the most popular. The Feedback score is the ratio of the total number of Likes and Comments over the total times the post was seen (Impressions).

The Feedback scores on the individual Page Posts will not be stored long-term like the overall stats such as number of Likes and Comments, so make sure you are watching this weekly.

Take advantage of video content in your strategy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know how potent video content has become. Especially in social media marketing.

82% of all consumer traffic will be from video content by 2021.

So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to jump on that bandwagon as soon as possible!

There are loads of different ways to use video content in your social media strategy. But live videos (like Facebook Live Videos) appears to be all the rage right now.

Facebook live videos allow you to connect with your audience in an authentic way that isn’t possible in other content formats. Plus you can repurpose your live videos!

People engage by asking questions. So you can show them you’re not just a brand, by interacting with them during and after your live video.

According to Facebook, you’ll see 6x the interaction and engagement with a live video.

However, a combination of live videos and regularly recorded videos will be your best be. You’ll have people flocking in your direction.

Craft your social media content carefully

Every piece of content you post on social media should be carefully thought-out. If you’re posting just to post something – you’re going about it all wrong.

Depending on the social network you’re posting on, you’ll need to learn the various purposes of each network.

Here are some examples:

• LinkedIn – A professional network that is perfect for B2B audiences. Also includes LinkedIn Pulse, a content publishing and distribution platform.
• Facebook – Almost everyone has a Facebook account. Particularly good for news/entertainment related content. While Facebook Pages struggle to perform, Facebook Groups can be a great way of connecting with your ideal audience.
• Instagram – Perfect if your content is highly visual. Static images and short videos work incredibly well but it’s not as good at driving traffic back to your blog.
• Pinterest – Similar to Instagram, Pinterest is highly visual. Although it’s limited to static images, it can be highly effective at driving traffic back to your blog.

Note: For more on how each social network can fit into your marketing strategy, check out our post on the psychology of social networks.

Once you learn about the varying networks, you can focus on which ones you think will mesh well with your business.

A major component of killing it at your social media strategy is using the right words. The way you get your message across will vary depending on the social network you’re posting content on.

But, in general, there are ways to improve your online visibility over all the platforms!

To craft captivating copy on social media:

• Use copywriting techniques.
• Address your audience directly.
• Use snappy, witty, or intriguing hooks to begin your social media posts.
• Switch it up with different content types (Try linking to blog posts, videos, ask questions, etc).
• Always write a description on every link you post. Never just put the headline of the post.

Run contests amp up your social media strategy

Crafting a successful social media contest is one of the most alluring tactics you can use. It’ll increase your online visibility, your followers, and your engagement.

There are a number of tools you can use to create an outstanding giveaway or sweepstakes.

The key to executing a successful contest is offering something of tremendous value.

Something that’ll be irresistible to your audience.

How to run a contest on social media:

• Figure out your goals (do you want more Facebook page likes? Instagram followers? How many?)
• Decide what social media channel you’ll host the contest on
• Come up with a deadline for when it’ll end and when the winner will receive their prize
• Create the contest (look at different types and choose the right one for your audience)
• Promote it with all your might!

To get mind-blowing results, aim to have your audience do some of the heavy lifting.

Set the contest up so they get extra entries for sharing the contest or completing similar tasks.

Such as: “Pin on Pinterest”, “Share on Facebook”, or “Like my Facebook page”. You can also give them a unique link to share for extra entries.

6 Tactics to Increase Your Instagram Stories Engagement

1.Tell a Story

First and foremost, the easiest way to improve your Instagram Stories engagement is to actually tell a story, one with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

I know it’s easy to just throw a photo up (I’m guilty of this myself), but giving your audience a little context will make the experience all the better for them.

2.Add Captions or Let Viewers Know to Keep Their Sound On

A simple, yet clever thing to do to increase your Instagram Stories engagement is to add captions to your video stories.

Let’s be honest here - most people don’t have their sound on when they're browsing through their IG feed. Instead of just being a talking head in a video, take a little time to write out what you’re saying to maximize your audience reach and response.

3.Use Stickers

Instagram Stories stickers are so fun, and will make your Stories more interactive.

There are two sticker types, in particular, that can help brands boost their Stories engagement:

Question Stickers

Although you can simply prompt your audience to ask you a question in your stories, using the question sticker has its own unique benefits. When you repost the question submitted, the person who asked gets a notification that their question has been answered (giving you an automatic view on your story).

Ask your audience to ask you about a particular subject, what their biggest challenges are, or what they’d like to see from you next.

Poll Sticker

People love polls. Use the Stories poll sticker to get in on your audience’s preferences, and let them help you make choices in your business (like the next flavor in your line), or provide general feedback.

A cool thing about the poll sticker is that you have easy access to a list of people who've answered your poll. You can then send them a direct message for 24 hours after the poll has concluded in order to take the conversation further.

Other Stickers

And these aren't the only Stories sticker options which can improve your engagement. Using location stickers can ensure you show up in relevant region searches, and adding hashtags to your Stories will also help you get in front of more eyes. Instagram's other sticker options - which they are adding to all the time - can also add more attention-grabbing, interactive flair to your content, and help to improve performance.

4.Use Prompts

Sometimes you have to tell people what you want them to do.

In the case of Instagram Stories engagement, you can relevant use prompts to increase time spent on your story, or retain viewership through a multiple tile story.

Here’s how:

• Hold To Read - Try adding longer text messages to your Stories posts, and prompting viewers to “hold to read” the full content.
• Tap For More - Start your Instagram Story with a tile which asks a question, and add “Tap for more” after the question. The next tile (or few tiles) can be videos of you giving information, or static images of the relevant info.
• Get Ready To - The “get ready to” prompt can create anticipation and excitement, and help you set the tone for what’s coming next. You can prepare your audience to take a screenshot of the next slide, turn their screens horizontally, or even just simply turn their sound on.

5.'Screenshotable' Stories

'Screenshotable' Instagram Stories can be a great interactive option.

What do I mean by screenshotable? You can offer several things for your audience to “Get ready to screenshot” - here are some examples:

• Fill in the blanks - You can have so much fun with fill in the blanks Instagram Stories. You can make them simply for entertainment, or, again, to gain further insight about your audience (think of it as a survey) which you can then use to create products, services, or content. Don’t forget to brand your fill in the blank tiles, and to ask followers to tag you in their stories when they post them or send them to you via DM so you can collect answers.
• Wallpapers - Wallpapers are an easy way to add value and give a little something to your audience. Your wallpapers can be quotes, or simple images. Gary Vaynerchuck has weekly wallpaper Instagram Stories which he shares with his audience. This tactic is also an opportunity for you to be creative, show personality, and reinforce branding or brand values.
• Stories Contests - Gamifying any experience can be a great way to increase engagement. Apply this mentality to your Instagram Stories - you can award a prize to people who fill out your survey, or create a standalone giveaway using the screenshot and repost prompt. Again, ask entrants to tag you or use a hashtag within their story or send it via DM.

6.DM For Download

As noted earlier, in the current social media climate, it's all about generating engagement and getting your current audience to talk to you.

Post More Images

The results are in and photos have shown to be the most popular type of social media content for engagement. They get the most shares on Facebook.

And the most Retweets on Twitter.

The most evident example of the power of images for social media are sites like Instagram and Pinterest, which are primarily driven by images. In fact, Instagram has the most engagement of any social media channel. It’s not a coincidence that both Instagram and Pinterest were able to gain a lot of traction and see more success than other failed social networks.

Adding images to your social media posts has never been easier. Tools like Canva and Landscape allow you to create perfectly-sized images that are fit for all major social media channels. And you can also do things like use images for upcoming events, make company photos and craft other image tasks for posts to get more visual with your content.

Don’t forget to add Twitter Cards to your website so any blog posts you Tweet will have a featured image built right in like ours. It’ll help your Tweets stand out in your followers’ streams.

How to take the best photos with a Smartphone

1. Don’t zoom

Smartphone cameras are improving, but the second you start zooming, you lose picture quality. It sounds simple, but simply get closer! Or, take the photo then crop it later. If you do it this way, your picture won’t turn out grainy or blurry.

2. Use the rule of thirds

You could be using the nicest of cameras, but if your photo composition is all wrong, you may as well be using a disposable. The rule of thirds is one of the first principles you learn in a photography class as it’s highly important for well-balanced and intriguing photos. The rule is to break down an image and visualize it in thirds, both with horizontal and vertical lines. This gives you 9 imaginary boxes on your proposed photo. The 4 most inner lines on your grid are your guides for placing focal points in your photo. Darren Rowse wrote an entire post about the rule of thirds on Digital Photography School, and states that studies have shown people’s eyes most naturally hit these lines or grids, rather than the center of a photo.

When taking a photo with an iPhone, you’ll notice the gird lines automatically appear on the camera screen.

3. Try camera apps for more control

Rather than snapping photos straight from your camera, try several apps that give you more control. Camera+ is a popular option for iPhone users. DSLR Camera Pro is a hot choice for Android users. As the photographer, you have more options to take creative shots with these apps. Each one costs $3 or less.

4. Add a new lens

You can actually buy lenses for your smartphone. It’s true. Here’s a set of three lenses for $12. They’re magnetic and go right over the camera lens on your phone. If you’re using your camera to take product photos, it’s a pretty small investment to improve the quality of your shots. Online stores like Photojojo carry a plethora of phone lenses, attachments, ring lights and more.

5. Use natural light

Smartphones aren’t great with lighting, so to compensate for this make sure you take photos near natural light. Going outside is a great option, but if you need to shoot indoors, shoot near a window. However, you don’t want to shoot directly into the window or your photo will be too bright. Instead, put your product off to an angle and take the picture with your back to the window.

Using the flash isn’t a good idea either. The flash in your smartphone isn’t great, and will likely cast a yellow light or shadows over your product. It’s not flattering.

6. Use online editing tools

Once you’ve taken your shots, turn to a photo-editing app or tool to crop, straighten, or enhance your photos with filters.

Pixlr Editor, GIMP and Adobe Photoshop Express are all great options. They’re free and easy to use for first timer editors.

Now that we’ve covered smartphone-specific tips, here are three additional tips to transform ordinary pictures into standout shots:

7. Use a creative but simple background

When you’re snapping a photo, the background matters. Suppose you want to take a picture of a model wearing a t-shirt that your company embroidered. The model is the focal point, but you want to select a nice background too. Select a painted wall for the model to stand in front of, or go outside and take the shot. Check out this example from online retailer ModCloth.

Background ideas:

• Go outdoors and find a clear, colorful, or bright background like the side of a brick building
• Place products on wooden tables, floors, or cutting boards
• Hang a piece of ironed fabric on a wall to use as a backdrop
• Find a colored wall to shoot in front of
• Use stone, tiles, or rock walls as a background

8. Try adding props

Adding a prop to your picture can spice it up. Of course, the prop should make sense. Think about how a customer uses your product to come up with prop ideas. Let’s say you sell used books. Your customers probably like to read in a comfy chair in their living room, so why not shoot a book in a chair with a blanked draped over it? These props add to the picture. A picture like this is bound to draw more attention than a snapshot of a book on a tile floor.

9. Take a variety of shots

Practice makes perfect, and variety helps. If you take two or three shots of the same product in a different setting, you’re bound to get a slew of great pics. Eventually, you’ll have a stockpile of product shots that you can rely on.

With these tips, no one will know that your photos were snapped with your phone. Do you use your smartphone to take marketing photos? Do you have any tips to share? If so, feel free to offer tips in the comments section below.

Free Social Media Management Tools

Organization is the key to successful marketing.

These free social media management tools will help you track and manage multiple social media profiles in a single interface, schedule posts, run contests, track analytics across multiple platforms, and more. Now, keeping up to date with both your Facebook & Twitter pages will be a breeze!

Want to 🚀 your social media game? Check out these free tools:

Hootsuite

Like many of these tools, Hootsuite offers both free and premium plans. Their free plan is pretty robust and allows you to:

• Manage 3 social profiles in one place
• Schedule up to 30 posts in advance
• Generate leads using social contests

The free plan also includes some basic analytics to help you track followers, various growth and content stats, and two RSS feed integrations. Not too shabby for a free tool.

Buffer

Like Hootsuite, Buffer has been in the social media management space for a long time.

Buffer is a respectable platform. It allows you to manage multiple social media profiles easily and includes many of the same features as Hootsuite.

It also allows you to schedule content while browsing the web with Chrome extensions. Where Buffer shines is its ability to monitor user activity and then suggest the perfect time to post based on your followers activity. Pretty cool!

TweetDeck

Twitter is a great platform for engagement. It's easy to use, allows you to connect with any user on the planet directly, and you can start a conversation with your very first tweet!

That being said, Twitter is a very noisy platform. Spending a few minutes checking your feed can easily turn into hours!

If you are an active Twitter user, take a look at TweetDeck. This management tool allows you to remove some of the noise, making the time you spend researching and engaging on the platform much more efficient.

TweetDeck also allows you to create a customized interface where you can monitor specific users, hashtags, your own channel list, or search terms. If you're a serious Twitter user, you'll love TweetDeck.

SocialBee

SocialBee is not only easy to use; you can also schedule content for your social channels, grow engagement on your platforms, post evergreen content, curate the best content for you, and much, much more.

The best feature is that you're able to categorize content. When you create a social media calendar, you know how many times the content from a category was shared and how it fits into your overall marketing plan. This can be really handy when you have something to promote, like an event, contest, Twitter chat, or Facebook Live broadcast.

You can also curate content using SocialBee, making it the perfect tool if curation eats up too much of your time. While it's not a completely free tool, they do offer a free trial, and it's worth it to check this one out!

SocialOomph

SocialOomph's free option offers a decent feature set that mostly leans towards Twitter management. The free plan allows you to schedule tweets, track keywords, shorten URLs, and manage up to five Twitter accounts.

But to really access the more sophisticated features, you need to upgrade. If you like the platform and want to manage multiple social platforms along with Twitter, you'll need to look into the paid plan.

Typito

Video is one of the fastest growing online marketing tools in use today. Typito is an easy to use, free app that can help.

It's a drag and drop interface that lets you make videos using images, videos, and stunning typography. You can also convert videos to different formats with a single click, including square, landscape, or vertical. Then post them to your profiles directly from the app.

Google Analytics

No matter what channels you employ for your social media marketing, without a way to measure your return on investment (ROI), all of your efforts mean nothing. You need to be able to analyze your results and answer important questions, like:

• How much traffic to your website comes from social channels?
• What pages do visitors spend time on and engage with?
• How much time do visitors from social sites spend on your website?

Google Analytics can give you these answers and a whole lot more. Simply set up analytics on your website to monitor and analyze your traffic. It's a total must have app, and best of all, it's free!

Social Pilot

SocialPilot is a great suite of social media management tools for agencies.

It allows you to manage multiple clients' social media profiles at once and do things like bulk schedule posts in various queues, collaborate among team members, manage clients, and utilize browser extensions.

Their free plan includes 3 connected profiles, 10 posts per day, and 30 posts per queue, making it a great entry to the platform and worth checking out!

Zoho Social

Zoho Social is a great platform if you're growing a business or running an agency. It helps you manage multiple profiles, research for relevant keywords, work with your team, and schedule posts all from a single dashboard.

Zoho Social shares many of the same features as other platforms, but they also have Facebook Lead Ads integration, advanced reporting, and a zShare browser plugin. The app also integrates with various CRM platforms.

Zoho offers a free option with limited functionality, and upgraded pricing plans start at $8.33 per month.

Likeable Hub

Likeable Hub is a comprehensive social solution that aids in content creation, social listening, social media advertising, lead generation, support, strategy, and more.

The free version allows you to create a mobile website and landing pages, and enhance your tweets and LinkedIn posts. The mobile app makes it easy to manage your social presence in a single unified space.

While there is plenty of functionality in the free plan, you can also upgrade to paid plans for more advanced features.

While social media can seem daunting, using these social media management tools can help you organize your effort, and keep them focused. As you become more proficient with their use, you'll become a much better social marketer and will reap the benefits of this powerful online marketing medium.

How to be the best in Instagram?

1.Have an informative bio

One of the first things that a new follower will see on your Instagram page is your “bio” — a short description of what and where your community is. It is important to ensure your bio captivates your audience and nicely summarises your community. You only have 150 characters to use so make it stand out.

Another important Instagram tip: You MUST include a link in the bio. This is your call to action for anyone who wants to visit your site or another social page. You can change the link at any time e.g. Leave the default as your current website. But if you want to promote a blog post, or are running a fundraising campaign, then link that instead.

You can edit your bio and profile BUT too many posts can become spammy. Generally the best times to post on Instagram are lunch time (11am-1pm) and evenings (7-9pm). However, if you are running a Instagram account, it is best to keep in mind what times your particular audiences are online. For example, if you are targeting the USA but are located in South East Asia it’s best to post in peak USA times.

2.Use a lot of strategically - chosen hashtgs

Hashtags are one of the main ways to connect with a wider audience when using Instagram. You can use up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post. Some say this looks spammy but studies show that anything less than 11 will result in little engagement.

3.Practice consistency in your Instagram account

Ensure your posts are consistent. That means: post regularly, and around the same time every day.

The average Instagram user posts once a day. And keep in mind that Instagram is visual. Make sure your picture tells a story and reflects on the personality of your community.

While it’s great to have powerful and engaging photos, you can also mix it up with quotes, reposts, or light-hearted posts.

How can you measure social media influence?

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Just a few years ago, we didn’t know how to measure how “good” someone was at social media beyond the number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends on their account, or the number of likes or favourites they received on an average post. Now, we have more meaningful metrics such as reach and engagement that allow us to assess how well someone manages their social networks. There is also a wide selection of social media influence measurement tools, each offering a slightly different method of evaluation of social media worth.

For example, Hootsuite allows you to see each user’s Klout score when viewing their profile in the dashboard. A Klout score is a number from 1 to 100 that reflects the user’s social media influence, calculated based the user’s levels of reach and engagement with their audience—the bigger the influence, the higher the score. While Klout is the most straightforward way to evaluate someone’s social media influence—you can’t argue with a number—it doesn’t provide you with many other numbers to justify the score. Other social media influence measurement tools often don’t give a conclusive verdict, but instead show you the statistics on metrics such as reach, engagement, sentiment, number of retweets, and let you make up your own mind about that user’s level of influence.

Post Consistently

Sending out one Tweet per day just isn’t going to cut it. Certain platforms like Instagram and Snapchat don’t necessarily move as fast as Twitter or Facebook. This means you don’t have to publish as often. But you should still develop a routine posting schedule and be consistent.

This ties back in with your social media marketing plan. You should outline:

• How often you plan to publish on each social media channel
• What type of content you plan to publish
• Social media outreach publishing schedule (reaching out to influencers via social media)

Remember your followers are likely following hundreds or even thousands of other people. If you’re not publishing new content as often as the other accounts out there, it’s easy to get lost and forgotten.

Create a Social Media Plan

So many organizations feel overwhelmed by the need to create content for every social media channel on the planet. Or worse yet, many brands create one type of content and then blast that content onto every social platform. If that’s you, you need a social media channel plan.

Most likely, your goals are different on each social platform. Since that’s the case, the content you develop for that platform needs to be different as well. Here are the components for your channel plan.

1) The Channel (For example, Facebook.)

2) The Persona (Who are you specifically targeting? Please choose one.)

3) The Goal (Bring more new editors to the map?)

4) Primary Content Type (Textual, video, infographics?)

5) Structure (What does a general post look like?)

6) Tone (Playful, serious?)

7) Channel Integration (How will this channel work with your other channels for maximum impact?)

8) Desired Action (What user behavior do you want to achieve?)

9) Editorial Plan (Every channel needs its own editorial calendar.)

And this is exactly why content marketing isn’t easy. But if you leverage a social media channel plan correctly, you’ll be able to double down on the channels that work for you and be realistic with your resources on the other channels.

Create Engagement

Respond to every comment you can. First, go out of your way to respond to everyone who reaches out to your brand, whether it’s with a question, comment, or passing statement.

This is going to have two positive effects on your engagement rates; first, the person you respond to will feel closer to your brand, and will be more likely to engage with you in the future.

Second, you’ll establish yourself as a responsive brand, which other people will see and appreciate, prompting them to reach out to you in the future too.

Focus on Relationships

The life of social media is people. People like you and me. People who laugh, cry, get mad, go crazy, get married, divorced, have kids, lose family members, win jobs, lose jobs, get promotions, win new clients, get new opportunities, have fun, play hard and work hard.

Offer value to the people in your community with a goal of building real relationships. Offer value and knowledge. Inspire your communities to connect with you with a foundational goal of achieving their objectives. It is all about them and not you.

Inspire … Connect …Achieve. To do this you must know their objectives and goals. You must know them.

When you know your audience then you can know how you can help them be better. How can you help them learn? How can you help them go faster? Work smarter? Be smarter? Share more valuable information with their colleagues, clients, partners, and friends? Figure these answers out and use them to help.

Add Links

When you are adding links make sure you add relevant, functional, accesible links.

Want to make sure they look good? Use a URL shortener, like Bitly or Goo.gl

Happy linking :)

Research Trending Topics Before you Create Your Content

Twitter is great resource for researching engagement for potential content topics.

Let's say you tweet an article or photo you found. Measure the amount of engagement it gets using Twitter Analytics.

If it performs well, it may be a good idea for you to create your own content on that topic.

You can also take a look at Twitter’s trending hashtags in order to get an idea of what people are sharing and discussing.

Use GIFs on Social Media

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Brands who share authentic and engaging content can create a close relationship with their audience, and the right GIF can be the perfect way to make this connection. The short, looping aspect of this format provides a perfect snack for the attention span of today’s consumers. The average file is 2-5 seconds in length, which makes them perfect for grabbing the eight-seconds of attention you are given, as your followers scroll through their social feeds.

How else can they add value to your business?

• GIFs are easily shareable.
• GIFs show that you’re paying attention to trends.
• GIFs display your fun side.
• GIFs can add more context or emotion in a much shorter message.

Want to read more? Check out this blog post.

Focus on Selected Network

We want to be everywhere, all the time. But truth is we have a limited amount of time and resources to spend on Social Media. And that is exactly why you should choose carefully on which networks you would like to focus on.

There are dozens of Social Media networks out there (some of them less known that the typical ones), and it is very important to analyze which kind of content do you publish and which target audience is reading you in order to choose the perfect network for you.

Publishing everywhere is not sustainable, focus all your efforts on the two to three platforms which give you the best return on investment. Crafting content to each platform is critical.

For example, let’s say we write a blog post about social media marketing. Writing the copy that will get attention and clicks on LinkedIn is much different than what works on Facebook, which is dramatically different than what works on Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter.

Pick your networks carefully and start thinking how to make the best of each!

Show off your personality

Always (authentically) be you on social media.

Take a second to think about the stuff that you follow on social media…. What makes them special? What makes you follow them?

Chances are that there is something special about the content they post or the way in which they post it. We’re guessing they have a personality and aren’t just robots pushing out content.

Creating a great social media presence isn’t only about showing what you do to your audience. It’s about connection and experiences. The best pages out there share a common point of view with their fans.