Strategic Digital Communications
Did you know that one daily post to Instagram is the key to growing a massive following? Your follower growth rate can almost double by posting seven times a week. Consistency is crucial. The best results come from regular posting.
Instagram is more than just a photo sharing network. Hundreds of millions of people share video-based stories every day. Live video is pushed to the very front of the stories feed.
These facts, and lots more, come from an easy-to-read infographic published recently by Leisurejobs.com. They reached out to me to see if I like it enough to share it. And I do. It reads like a perfect how-to story and anyone who implements the advice in this infographic is sure to find success on Instagram. Enjoy!
This week’s top five social media must-know news sees Instagram and Google working to raise standards, shows how podcasting continues to grow and new innovations from Facebook. And, we see how women are leading the world of content marketing. Read on…
Instagram, which has more than a billion users, is introducing new features to eliminate fake accounts and to reduce hacking. “About This Account” is rolling out to allow users to see the date the account joined Instagram, the country it’s located in, accounts with shared followers, any recent user name changes and any ads running. Also a new blue ‘verified’ badge will start appearing on the profiles of notable public figures. In addition, Instagram has announced support for third-party authenticator apps has begun rolling out. They seem a little late to the game, but these new initiatives should go some way in dealing with Instagram’s spammy issues.
Facebook is introducing a cool new feature, 3D posts, and some big brands are already using it. This brings AR and VR together so audiences can interact with and explore visual details of 3D images, objects, and videos directly in their News Feeds. Wayfair, an online homewares retailer, Jurassic World and fashion brand Coach are among the first brands to try it out. The new feature allows brands to give their audience an intimate, immersive experience.
The Google News Initiative is partnering with the Society of Professional Journalists Training Program in workshops designed to support journalists in reporting the upcoming US mid-term elections. The idea is help fight the spread of misinformation and other digital attacks on quality news. The workshops will cover data security, verification and fact checking and data journalism. Quality journalism is good for everyone especially those of us working in the media industry.
Podcasting popularity continues to rise. A Nielsen Fanlinks survey showed that the number of self-identified “avid” podcast fans rose from 13 million homes in 2016 to 16 million in 2017 — a 23 percent increase. An Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) survey earlier this year found that podcast revenues topped $314 million in 2017, an 86 percent increase from 2016. Marcoms pros should take note of this effective channel.
Women top the list of the Top 50 content marketing influencers to follow, from the folks at the Top Rank Blog. They used the Traackr influencer marketing platform to filter the content marketing experts who are speaking at the upcoming Content Marketing World conference. Ann Handley, Erika Heald, Pam Didnger, Carla Johnson and Kelly Hungerford round out the top five. Yes!!
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What is this decade’s fastest growing social media platform? Instagram! If you’ve not added it to your marketing and communications mix, what are you waiting for? Already 71 per cent of marketers are increasing their investment in this channel. Key facts:
Here’s an excellent infographic from the people at xcart which explains the importance of Instagram as a marketing and communications channel. Contact me to put it to work for your company.
Sherrilynne Starkie This week's top five must-know social media news come from LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Google and Pinterest.
Nearly 50 per cent of recruiters say referrals are the leading source of quality hires. And once you've asked for one and applied for the job, you're 4X more likely to hear back from a recruiter at that company. LinkedIn's new Ask For A Referral tool lets you search for jobs available in your own network and, with a click, you can ask a connection to make an introduction to the person doing the hiring.
Canadians can now shop in Instagram. Businesses can tag products to lead shoppers to more information (like price and availability) and to actually make a purchase right from the Instagram app.
Facebook's new store sales optimization brings the power of machine learning to help retailers show ads to the people who are most likely to make an in store purchase. New templates for collections ads are designed to deliver the rich experience of print catalogues on mobile. New dynamic ad categories lets advertisers reach people earlier in their shopping journeys.
In an effort to help people distinguish what's real and what's fake news, Google is launching its News Initiative. The idea is elevate and strengthen quality journalism by making adjustments to the algorithm towards more authoritative content. In addition, the program will support news organizations in evolving sustainable business models by helping them to diversify their revenue streams. A third objective is to empower news organizations via technological innovation such as supporting virtual reality and providing easy, secure connections for journalist working around the world.
Pinterest is opening up shopping ads to more retailers following a successful pilot program. Most of Pinterest’s content is business related as users share products they might be interested in buying some day. Shopping Ads automatically create promoted pins from an existing product feed making advertising an effortless task for retailers.
