Social Media Updates: Page 303

  • Spoiler: There Is No Secret to Unlocking the Best Time to Post to Social [INFOGRAPHIC]

    There is no shortage of advice for the best times to post to various social networks, and this infographic by Microsoft I've included, below, is another one to add to the list. And while I think the recommendations (Mondays and Wednesdays are best for Instagram!) are somewhat useful, I'm not sure there's an exact science to any of it.

    By • Aug. 6, 2015

  • 6 Recent Changes by Facebook to Make Your News Feed Smarter

    Facebook recently posted a healthy Q2 2015 earnings report - mobile monthly active users were 1.13 billion and 75% of total ad revenue of $4.04 billion was contributed via mobile. This growth is also due to the seriousness that Facebook has shown towards making the News Feed intelligent over time. This year itself Facebook has been quite rampant with occasional tweaks to the News Feed, while keeping both users and brands happy.

    By • Aug. 6, 2015

  • Watch Out Meerkat and Periscope - Facebook Introduces Live-Streaming

    Given Facebook's push to become the leader in online video, it was probably only a matter of time till they introduced their own live-streaming functionality. In an official blog post, Facebook has introduced a new live video element for Facebook Mentions, the celebrity-only app that enables public figures to interact with their fans on The Social Network.

    By • Aug. 5, 2015

  • How to Set Up Instagram in Your Hootsuite Dashboard (and the One Hitch)

    Starting today, August 5, everyone who uses Hootsuite, the popular social media management tool, can prepare and schedule Instagram images from their Hootsuite dashboard. The capability to add Instagram to your dashboard will be rolled out over the course of the day. (So if you try right now, if it doesn't work, you may need to wait a few hours.)

    By • Aug. 5, 2015

  • 5 Things to Start Doing on Twitter Right Now

    Here's the good news: Twitter is crackable. You can grow your Twitter following and engagement rate organically. Here's the bad news: it doesn't happen overnight or without effort. I've compiled a few strategies for amping up your Twitter presence to bookmark and make sure you're doing regularly over the next few months. After that amount of time and with consistent work, your following is guaranteed to grow.

    By • Aug. 5, 2015

  • 5 Reasons Your Social Media Campaign Won't Bear Fruit

    Two billion people worldwide have an active presence on some social network or other. Of these, nearly 1.7 billion are active users on their various mobile devices. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, not taking advantage of a channel that can reach almost a third of the world's population is just plain insanity.

    By • Aug. 5, 2015

  • How Social Media Marketers Can Capitalize on Lesser-Known Holidays

    Happy National Chocolate Chip Day! Merry National White Wine Day! These "novel national holidays" weren't created by social media. Indeed, National Watermelon Day was created by the National Watermelon Association. "Strange holidays are a decades-old tradition that gives trade groups something to promote and newscasters a way to fill airtime," writes Conor Dougherty in The New York Times.

    By • Aug. 4, 2015

  • The Value of Facebook Timeline Engagement Contests

    Timeline contests on Facebook are a friendly way for your fans and followers to participate in your social media efforts and win a little something along the way. In return, you quickly increase engagement analytics, grow your email and marketing leads list, and learn more about your customers.

    By • Aug. 4, 2015

  • Is Google Looking to Buy Twitter? Latest Market Moves Spark Intense Speculation

    Would Google consider buying up Twitter? That's the question that's been gaining traction in recent months, and is building momentum again today. So what are the key benefits and reasons behind such a move, from both sides?

    By • Aug. 4, 2015

  • 7 Reasons It's Better to Be Introverted When Using Social Media

    Digital marketers know using social media successfully has a lot more to do with just being social. If we take a closer look at introvert-like behaviors on social platforms, we see there are several reasons to be more "introverted." Introverts own "social" media? Irony Alert!

    By • Aug. 3, 2015
  • SMT Expert

    The Science Behind Why People Engage with Facebook Content [INFOGRAPHIC]

    You might recognize that particular "itch" to check in if you haven't been on Facebook in a day or two, but did you know that using the world's dominant social network actually elicits a physical response in many users? Researchers have documented reactions like pupil dilation, an indication of happiness, in people as they're browsing their Facebook.

    By • Aug. 3, 2015

  • Cracking the Instagram Code: Proven Ways to Get More Likes [INFOGRAPHIC]

    It's official: Instagram is a beast. According to Sprout, it has over 300 million users (nearly a third of that in the U.S alone) who share over 70 million photos and videos every day. Nearly a quarter of Internet users have an Instagram account. Forrester found that Instagram scores the highest when it comes to brand engagement with a per-follower engagement rate of 4.21%. The command is clear. If you or your brand isn't on Instagram yet, it's high time to do so. But is there a strategic way to gain followers and garner engagement?

    By • July 31, 2015

  • Top 5 Mistakes You're Making on Instagram

    When you are preparing to post a picture on Instagram, you should ask yourself, "Does this picture say it all? Or does it leave something to be desired?" The reason is: a good Instagram post captures a moment as well as tells a story. You want to shoot for that moment of quiet before the storm: an image that dazzles, then hooks.

    By • July 31, 2015

  • How to Make Real Connections on Twitter Using Advanced Search

    By far, Twitter's most basic function is still its best. Twitter gives you the ability to connect with almost anyone in the world, or at least the 280 million global users. However, many small businesses are yet to fully utilise its marketing potential. And it all comes down to seeking out the right people on Twitter, at the right time.

    By • July 31, 2015
  • SMT Expert

    Should Your Small Business Use Political Hashtags?

    Trending hashtags can be a great way to get your business profile some traction in the social media landscape, but they can also lead to divisiveness and alienate sections of your audience. Given this, should brands stay away from political hashtags?

    By • July 31, 2015

  • Facebook Introduces New Security Checkup, Prompts All Users to Check Settings

    These days, Facebook hacking is a pretty commonplace activity. Given this, Facebook has released an updated "Security Checkup" tool that will prompt all users to review and update their security settings to ensure they're aware of who's accessing their accounts and what apps they've given permission to utilize their information.

    By • July 31, 2015

  • The Ultimate Facebook Image Size Guide [Infographic]

    As you know, if you're designing images for your Facebook profile or pages it's important to know the correct dimensions for all the different elements. This infographic outlines all the perfect image sizes for the various forms of Facebook visual content.

    By • July 31, 2015

  • Can Twitter's Decline be Saved With PR?

    With this week's announcement of Twitter's declining growth and press speculation around its potential demise, I feel like I'm losing my best social media friend. Twitter is my favorite platform and the thought of it losing steam as a valuable social media tool makes me very unhappy.

    By • July 30, 2015

  • Facebook Looking to Add Tags to Profile Pages

    You know how you have that "Skills and Endorsements" section on your LinkedIn profile where people can say you're good at "Synchronized Swimming" or the like and you can choose to display it and show people what you're the best at? Ever thought it'd be greatto have that same functionality with your friends?

    By • July 30, 2015

  • Facebook Q2 Numbers: 1.49 Billion Monthly Active Users, Revenue Per User Up

    Facebook has released its Q2 numbers, and the results uphold The Social Network's place atop the heap among social media networks. Facebook's Daily Active user base grew by 32 million, average time on platform was higher and revenue per user increased.

    By • July 29, 2015

  • If There's No Thought, It Doesn't Count: Facebook Drains the Meaning From Happy Birthday

    Alex Hern of The Guardian has a weirdly disconcerting article up, "'Happy Birthday!' is dead, and it's all Facebook's fault," about how Facebook's efforts at creating convenience for its users is just leading us ever further into a techno-dystopian cyber-future where all our interactions with other human beings are nothing but an unending series of robotic button presses completely detached from anything resembling actual emotion or thought. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. A little.)

    By • July 29, 2015

  • Twitter Q2 Earnings: Better Revenue, Growth Remains Slow

    Twitter has released its Q2 2015 results and the information presented has been met with mixed results. While revenue rose to $502.4 million, user growth remained a concern.

    By • July 29, 2015

  • Don't Post That! Why Half of Americans Regret Their Social Media Posts

    ​Lucille Ball famously said, "I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done." It looks like America has a similar attitude, especially online. Fifty seven percent of Americans who use social media have posted or texted something that they regret. "One in six regret a post at least once a week, and these numbers vary depending on age, with 20 percent of Millennials (18 to 34) being the worst regular offenders."

    By • July 28, 2015

  • How to Not Suck at Reddit

    Reddit is tough. You can't just post a promotional link to your blog and hope that people will like it - even if it is perfectly relevant and informational (trust me - I learned the hard way). You have to figure out the right game plan for using Reddit in a way that will help you grow without annoying the mass of angsty Redditors.

    By • July 28, 2015

  • 6 Practical Tips to Organically Increase Your Twitter Followers

    Twitter is an excellent social media platform for expanding your reach to a larger set of audience. Today, businesses of all sizes are using it as an integral medium for promoting brand awareness. While the number of followers a brand can attract is a fair indication of its popularity, it may not always depict the right picture. Quality is much more important than sheer numbers. In order to achieve promotional success on Twitter, it's important to build a loyal base of engaged users.

    By • July 28, 2015