Social Media Can Do Your Work

When used correctly, social media can be an amazing tool for all types of businesses; but still, there are those ‘old-fashioned’ entrepreneurs out there who can’t trust Facebook, Twitter and the likes to grow their existing customer base.

 

According to the Pew Internet Study, the number of Facebook users in the US over 65 has reached 35% while in 2013, 43% of Americans of 65 years or older were using at least one social networking site like Istagram, Pinterest, Twitter or Tumblr, compared to 26% in 2010 or a mere 1% in 2008.

On Twitter, the 55-64 year age bracket has grown by 79% since year-end 2012, being its fastest growing demographic, while the corresponding numbers for Facebook and Google+ for the 45-54 year age group have leaped over 46 and 56%, respectively.

So why are there still businesses that insist to ignore those fast growing demographics? And why do they fail to target them when they know that these are actually the ones that have money to spend on their products?

Social media is not that complicated!

Here are a few more reasons which might convince you that using social media for business might actually not be such a bad idea:

Brand and Positioning
Strong online presence can only make your product stronger! By knowing your customer base, you’ll definitely be able to build a loyal following base on social media networks. And by doing this, you can only grow bigger and bigger day by day, strengthening your online and offline market presence.

Brand and WOM
Use word of mouth to pave your way into the digital world. When you know your product, you also know your marketing; and when you do your marketing right, people will be happy to talk about it on social media. Getting and monitoring feedback is key; it can actually help you improve your product and the way you do business.

Be Brave, Communicate!
Open communication on social media can be an invaluable business tool, if used correctly! Just think of the amount of information exchanged publicly between you and your current or potential customers! If your communication is genuine, you should only expect the same from your audience.

Dummy Run
You don’t have to be an expert to check upon your metrics or website analytics; don’t be afraid to start using Facebook Insights, which can help you measure your Facebook marketing and engagement efforts, or Google Analytics, which can give you significant information on your site traffic and where that comes from. See for yourself what is driving your ‘Likes’, check which status updates worked and which didn’t, and how your followers responded to that important update!

Bespoke Content
When you own a small local business, or your product ‘works only’ on a specific area, wouldn’t you prefer to be able to offer your services only to those that might actually be interested in or be able to use them? Twitter and Facebook provide the option to localise content and geotarget your posts – why offering an active ‘walk-in’ promotion to your followers outside your area? Just keep it local and relevant, and it will work!

Managing social media for your business definitely requires an integrated approach, and calls for a significant amount of time and effort in building brand awareness through pins and boards, posts, groups, podcasts, tweets and so on. Success of your social media strategy is solely based on your unique presence and your charming and engaging manner.

What do you think? Are you willing to give social media another chance?

Social Media Marketing what to look out for in 2014

Social media has become a massive part of our day to day lives. It is also a key tool when it comes to marketing your business and its products or services. Businesses across the world big and small have been taking advantage of social media to engage with their customers. We are going to to take a look at some of our predictions for 2014.

Image: http://bryandigital.wordpress.com

The Micro-Video Takeover

The revolution has already started with the increase in popularity of social networks such as Vine, Instagram and Snapchat. In a fast moving world the 3 minute video has been killed off by 6 seconds of fireworks. The rise of these networks has led to more real time video sharing, where people are creating and sharing direct from their smartphone meaning you could be anywhere doing anything and able to share a video. These 6 second wonders are sure to change the startegy of most videos going on social media now.

Pictures means success

Brands that have used images to share content have huge success with some brands saying that Pinterest and Instagram have actually increased revenue by 5%. This will continue in 2014 and can only get bigger with the likes of Pinterest becoming very important power players rather than being a female dominated network. This is already proving true with Pinterest being the fastest growing network but it also provides greater traffic as well than anywhere else.

Google+ will come into its own

Google+ has always been seen to be chasing the pack but 2014 could be the year that people start to see the full potential of Google+. Google+ currently has the 2nd highest monthly users and that can only increase, on top of this it also has a bigger ownership in terms of of search power. As more and more people begin to use Google's products users will find that they are using Google+ more as integrates all interactions in one place across all Google products. Google authorship will also become a major part of its rise as it will play a huge part in Google's new ranking algorithm.

Social Media is a must if you want to survive

While social media is a big marketing tool at the moment in 2014 it is going to become essential for every business not to just have but be using to engage and promote their brand with customers. Many are seeing how the positive influence of social media is increasing traffic, creating more leads and gains in revenue. Businesses will realise that they will need some knowledge to make sure they take advantage of social media so training or management of a business social media accounts will be needed.

3 Ways to Become a More Visual Social Butterfly

More and more, it seems like people don’t use the internet to read. They use the internet to see. Whether they’re clicking through photos on their friend’s Facebook wall, pinning recipes they want to try, or watching cats do hilarious things on YouTube, users want visuals. And not just any visuals, they’re drawn to images that pop, images that make an emotional impact, images that are useful. It explains the popularity of sites like Pinterest and Instagram and apps like SnapChat. People just love sharing images.

But how do brands fit into this? According to Digital Insights, who compiled an impressive number of social media statistics for the year 2013, surprisingly well. According to a survey, 46% of web users turn to social media before making a purchase. While they’re on those networks, it is the visual information that stands out. Socially Sorted, who published an infographic on the subject of the increasingly visual social landscape, explains that users are more likely to engage with brands who post pictures more than any other type of media. In addition, photos on Facebook get 53% more likes than any other kind of content.

Okay, you’re convinced. Now how can your business become more visual? Keep reading for some great advice!

Less Words, More Images

Next time you’re about to post to your social media account, stop and think for a moment. Would this post be better-expressed or more successful with a beautiful image alongside it? The answer will be yes 99% of the time. Show, don’t tell.

But how do you come up with these images? If you don’t have a professional photographer or designer on board, try purchasing stock photos or using Creative Commons images. If those won’t do and you’re not a great photographer, slap a filter or some words over it and no one will be any the wiser!

Be the Source of Creative New Content

Did you know that 80% of all pins on Pinterest are re-pins? That means that 80% of the images on Pinterest are just re-shared images that somebody else pinned to the site originally! And although Facebook’s image sharing works in a different way, the number of content creators is still relatively small compared to the number of content sharers.

Take advantage of this by being the source of interesting content that people want to share. Quotes, memes, and videos share well on Facebook, and quotes, infographics, and tutorial-style images do well on Pinterest. Depending on where you want to grow your audience, keep in mind what does best on each platform. A highly-detailed image explaining pricing for web design might be extremely successful on Pinterest, where long and tall images have the advantage, but cropped and squeezed onto a Facebook feed it won’t do as well.

Crowdsource Visual Content

Some of the most successful social contests involve user-submitted images. In this type of contest, your fans and followers create an original image according to your guidelines and submit it to you. At the same time they share it with their own friends and followers. Their followers see it and may choose to participate as well, expanding the reach of your contest. Even after the contest is over and the prize has been awarded, you have a unique gallery of creative images that followers might enjoy.

To see an example of this, look no further than Colonel Meow’s “Cat Fro” photo album. Since he is one of the most widely-followed cats on Facebook, fans seeking their moment of fame were quick to stick their cat on top of their head, snap a photo, and start submitting images. Even though the collection is no longer being added to, the album is still full of cat afro photos to see and share.

Hopefully these three tips will help you become more visual on social media. Just remember, don’t tell when you can show, create instead of curating at least some of the time, and take advantage of crowdsourcing when possible.

InstaChat - Instagram launches Instagram Direct

Instagram announced on its blog yesterday that it was joining the direct message party, allowing users to send messages as well as pictures and videos in private to 15 of their followers. They have jumped on the bandwagon to try and complete with similar platforms such as Snapchat and Whatsapp. But the history of social media suggests it won't be easy at all for Instagram to attract users away from platforms that have had this function.

Facebook revealed the new features on Thursday, showing off the new private messaging features, and 'the extent of its Snapchat envy', as Scott Marlin and USA Today put it. Instagram direct is widely thought to be a reply to the rise of Snapchat. For those that don't know, Snapchat allows friends to send pictures and videos which deletes themselves after a few seconds, similar to the messages Tom Cruise receives in Mission Impossible! But it also begs the question; did Facebook implement this feature as their offer to purchase Snapchat was turned down?

Instagram doesn't directly rip off the Snapchat features, as these pictures that are sent privately won't delete themselves. You can only send the direct message to 15 people as well and they must follow you. Still though it still feels like a response to Snapchat's ever growing popularity and as history suggests it's going to be hard for Instagram to take a chunk out of Snapchats following.

Social media history has proven that once something has been successful, the competitors that try to copy and recreate it, just don't have the same success. For example, look at Google+; this has been Google's most successful attempt at competing with Facebook and, although the amount of users is growing, its still not in the same league. There is a long list of competitors that tried copying what others are doing and that have just failed; the likes of Google Buzz, Yahoo Buzz and Apples Ping have all failed however Ping is being incorporated using Facebook and Twitter.

So the question needing to be asked is why have some of the largest tech companies failed at creating a social network. One suggestion is that online networks grow like offline networks. So just copying what your competitors means you won't get the same audience, nor create the same culture successful networks have been able to create.

But, obviously, we don't know if Instagram Direct will fail; it could be a huge success. What has happened in the past suggests that just copying similar features won't be enough to attract an audience. So this could cause Facebook to go back and try to purchase Snapchat again in 2014; however, it seems Google will be looking into this as well after reportedly having a 4 billion dollar off rejected as well.

'Shots of Me': Justin Bieber's new selfie app

Justin Bieber has allegedly invested $1 million into a new app titled 'Shots of Me'. The app is engineered purely for taking and posting selfies. Where it is questionable if this is now a necessity, I think the creators of it will be more than happy to take the capital and even happier with the publicity Bieber is creating for them.

Image: http://wimages.vr-zone.net

Is social media ruining University?

Facebook was originally created to link university students online; it was set to be an online sharing service within one university. Then it linked to another, and then another. There was a time that without being a student you could not use this service, as we see that changed long ago and now it is what it is. But is social media ruining the university experience? And if so, how and why? Within social media, you are the biggest weapon, it is a very responsive medium to our wants and needs so why is there this possibility of it spoiling something it originally aimed to enhance?

 

http://www.firebellymarketing.com

This multi-faceted argument will be viewed differently dependant on what demographic you are in. We all hear the older generation saying that they did not have the luxury of the internet for research or were able to type and edit their work so easily but is the change such a bad thing? Technology has always been designed to help and I feel if it makes for a quicker and easier research period it should, by rights, enhance any written work. A wealth of information at our finger tips should simply be making for a better education.

Alas, this may be an extreme idealistic view. When it comes to studying, if you have internet, there are no ends to the amount of procrastination that can be performed... and again usually from the sources that at the start we created to help. Social media sites.

This world of social media is so powerful; it infiltrates all aspects of our lives. Now social media is big in the business world and a few years ago educational institutions seemed to shy away from the idea of it; seeing it maybe as unimportant and trivial. And now, every university has its own Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram etc. which can be good, as always, for exposure and global interaction.

 

Image: http://www.elishiaortiz.com

I feel there is an argument also, that it may be opening the doors of communication but it is closing our ability to have private lives. When joining a university you want to gather as much information as possible and where do you go? Online. Every single time. The art of conversation, even via email, has been lost here.

Also, within social media, we become one set person and with the more friends and colleagues we interact with, we must keep this standard high. There can be an invasive tone to social media on a personal level and my advice would be to keep the two separate. It is one thing your Mum seeing you getting drunk on a Tuesday afternoon via a picture on Facebook, and it is another if you are supposed to be in a lecture. And some universities, like employers, have integrated policies regarding this into their mission statements.

Going to university is about learning, in may senses, and we are very fortunate to have such easy access to information. Also having the ability to communicate in this way is incredible. There are obvious ways that social media can ruin the university experience; but there are also many ways to prevent this... or opt out all together. Using the service for what it was initially created for is the simplest way to get the benefits of it; use the fun stuff too but just be careful!

The evolution of the selfie... and is it extinct yet?

The ‘selfie’... We all know what it means and I think there is still a state of flux whether it is cool or not. Personally, I feel selfies are acceptable... sometimes. Instagram is always flooded with selfies and in that arena I think they are bearable... on Facebook I do not agree. But this is just my personal opinion and there are many out there. Now lets find out how this trend began, developed and now (according to rumour) is dying out.

Image: www.warwickdailynews.com.au

In the early 2000’s with sites such as MySpace there was an increased amount of ‘self portraits’ – I use the term lightly. Since, this has moved on and with cameras and mobile phones improving their technology all our selfie needs are being met.

It is rather a self-indulgent and immodest way to show the world how good you can look but we are all guilty of it. And the amount of different types are incredible; although they all have the same air to them. We have the selfie with a friend, in bed, pet selfies, in the bathroom, on the bus, on the beach, on public transport, at the gym… the list goes on. Like mentioned above I find selfies on Facebook rather cringe-worthy but on Instagram I agree and for SnapChat they are practically a necessity.

Now, not to become too philosophical about the whole thing but is it just another big, ugly product of our generation? A disposable and immaculate picture trying to convey how cool, sexy or unique we are? I guess there are plenty of people that feel this way but I don’t know many that interact with social media who are not accountable of indulging in this trend.

So the big question, are we sick of it yet? Is our ‘fly by night’ generation tiring of it? Or is self-recognition going to stay a prominent feature in our online world…maybe it will just be altered a little?

Around 3 weeks ago we saw the launch of the ‘belfie’. For those who don’t know what this is, it’s a picture someone posts of their behind. Crude – yes, unashamed – yes... popular – you bet your bottom! Mainly, as it has been started off with famous women with particularly enviable derrieres it has been a big focal point and huge change to the selfie fad. It has also drawn our focus again back to celebrities and how they are truly the beautiful ones that should be photographed unlike us amateurs. Although it is a hot topic right now, I personally feel it has already lost its lustre and will never be as popular as the timeless selfie.

 

Image: www.dailymail.co.uk

So what’s next? If we are moving away for your everyday selfie, are extreme selfies next? I guess people could selfie whilst undergoing or performing surgery, or bungee jumping, or doing extreme sports... this is weird and wonderful and could truly work.

Sadly, during my research I found a few articles regarding funeral selfies. Now I did not delve too deep into this as the sound of it truly turns my stomach. But I guess for all the good and bad bits, that’s what the Internet is famous for – bringing peoples lives (and deaths, apparently) together. I personally still feel mobile phones have no business being anywhere near a funeral but hey call me old fashioned. Many cultures have different attitudes towards death, different attitudes towards photography also, so maybe it’s just a change in our culture.

I still believe the good old-fashioned selfie won’t really go out of fashion, it will just adapt. I do retain a little sadness that our lives revolve around phones and photos, but I still feel the aspect of sharing is wonderful. It would be lovely if everyone stopped trying to look ‘immaculate’ or ‘fun’ or ‘cool’ all the time but I guess that’s what some people aim to be. I think if you abide by the social selfie guidelines you can’t go too wrong, just know your limits and try not to spend too long looking at yourself... You will miss a lot of cool stuff happening around you!

The Insta drug deal

Forget ‘Silk Road’, the newest way of selling and buying drugs is through the widely publicised photo/video sharing site, Instagram. The web’s favourite illegal drug market where buyers are anonymous finds itself competing with the very public, selfie-central networking site. So why do drug dealers post on Instagram?

The hashtags used on Instagram, for example ‘#drugsforsale’ which has 408 photos captioned, attracts thousands of people to look at pictures and profiles. The more popular the hashtag, the more people will look at, ‘like’ or even comment on the photo. If searched #drugsforsale this profile is shown displaying explicit pictures of different drugs.

These are the comments for this photograph, many people are asking for prices and where the dealer will send the drugs to. This user’s bio starts with “If anyone wants to request a certain pill hit me up!” By writing this, anyone that views his profile will know he sells and are likely to private message him for more information.

Users ignore the social media site’s rules "People can't buy things on Instagram, we are simply a place where people share photos and videos." Instagram, owned by Facebook, have blocked certain hashtags associated with the selling and buying of drugs but there is not much they can do. Not every photo hashtagged with ‘drugs’ will be a picture of a drug substance, and there are many more abbreviations that will be labelled, this making it almost impossible to block them all. Police state it is classed as a low priority crime and with so many people online it would be difficult to track them all down.

A popular drug selling Instagram profile with 2593 followers, but don’t be fooled. ‘Acidelivered’ has been uncovered as a fake selling profile, copying pictures from ‘ISdelivered’. The fake profiles send unsafe drugs to buyers which can potentially kill them.

The account provides an email address to get in touch, looking through the profile it is obvious that people are very happy with the drugs and class them as ‘safe’. The payments are often taken through MoneyPak which is a system that uses an untraceable, prepaid credit card. This account has left an email address but most dealers use Kik or Whatsapp to finish the sale and remain anonymous off of Instagram.

Illegal activities on social media sites are inevitable; the large audience range makes it an opportunity to take. Users of Instagram are mainly aged 18-34, which is also the main age range for use of recreational drugs. These are often used for nights out and can be obtained by dealers in clubs; the most popular U.S club scene drug is now 2CI. This is a new drug which mimics the effects of ecstasy and LSD, they are not available in the UK yet so many social media dealers from the US are sending them to the UK buyers.

Although certain hashtags are now banned, there will be no stopping the controversial use of recreational drugs over social media sites. How long before Twitter starts dealing? It is apparent these illegal activities cannot be avoided and will undoubtedly never end.

What do you think?

Instagram Reaches its Three Year Milestone

Last week Instagram celebrated its 3rd birthday. Since the application began 3 years ago, it has seen a huge amount of people use the site to post their photos every day in order to share their lives through photos and videos. Since its inception the site has seen a massive transformation with Instagram now being one of the top social media platforms and it has now even been acquired by Facebook – a move indicative of the potential that Instagram has in the social media sphere.

Image - www.digitaltrends.com 

Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger launched Instagram in October 2010, with the simple mission of helping to make mobile photos look better, more professional and effortlessly cool. This meant that everyone had the opportunity to create good photos through using the flattering filters and frames, reminiscent of old Polaroid photography. The site was instantly popular with 10,000 people downloading the app within hours of its release, by the end of the first week this number had reached 200,000 and it only took a month for it to reach a million users.

The Instagram blog commented that “this year, the community experienced a number of important moments. We surpassed 150 million people who use Instagram every month, saw the first InstaMeet in Russia and introduced a new medium: video. We’re humbled and excited to watch the Instagram community continue to grow and thrive”.



More recently there have been some significant changes to Instagram, with the introduction of video to the platform – this allows users the ability to record 15-second clips and apply filters as they already could with photos. This update proved popular with five million videos posted in the first 24 hours of the update. The feature is now a well established part of the app and both individuals and brands have made good use out of it. There are several brands who have made great use out of Instagram photos, such as Starbucks and Nike but a notable example of a brand using the video application can be seen by Burberry, who used it to give an insight into London Fashion Week shows. This shows the potential that Instagram has, both for individuals and brands. This potential should see Instagram keep growing and celebrating many more birthdays to come.

Instagram has played a great role in today’s social media culture, with many celebrities announcing engagements or releasing their wedding photos on the site, and even Andy Murray used an Instagram video to thank his fans after winning Wimbledon. Instagram really is turning into a versatile platform for users to share online content. Only a few weeks ago the app creators announced that it would be introducing ads to user feeds in an attempt to monetise the site. Will this lead to further developments of this kind in the future?

What do you think?

With Instagram constantly evolving and changing over the three years of its existence, do you think that it will change even more by the time it next celebrates its birthday?

Instagram Introduces Adverts

The photo sharing social network site, Instagram, confirmed last week that adverts will be introduced to the site in an effort to turn the site into a ‘sustainable business’. The site now has 150 million users who share their images on the social media platform, forming a global community. Instagram’s introduction of adverts comes as no surprise as it follows in the footsteps of many other social media networks who have already introduced adverts over the previous months or years. But how will it affect the user experience of the photo sharing network?

Image – www.techhive.com

Instagram announced the addition of adverts to their site on their blog in a post entitled “Instagram a Growing Business”. They stated that “we have big ideas for the future, and part of making them happen is building Instagram into a sustainable business”. This shows that the chief reason for the introduction of the ads was as a way of monetizing the business and to build revenue from the popular photo sharing site. It follows the moves of other social media platforms who have already introduced similar money-making features – a couple of weeks ago Pinterest introduced “promoted pins”, which look just like ordinary pins but have a special “promoted” label, with a link the learn more about what it is. This has been heralded by Pinterest as a move to “plan for the future”.

Instagram has stated that US users will start to see the occasional ad appearing in their Instagram feed in the next few months. These will be in the same format as the photos and videos that they already see from the brands they follow on Instagram, but instead the adverts will be from brands that they are not already following on the site. They have declared that this form of advertising will start slowly, in order to maintain the enjoyable experience of using Instagram, and making sure that the adverts they do include are high-quality, comparable to those you see when you flip through your favourite magazine.

The social network stated that they plan on delivering “a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community”. This shows a similarity to the introduction of promoted pins by Pinterest, with a focus on blending in the adverts to the existing content so that it is more subtle.

Instagram has also commented that its users will still be in control of their news feed on the site, and will be able to control which ads they see and which they don’t – if you see an ad you don’t like you will be able to hide it and provide feedback to the company to say why you didn’t feel that it was right for you. They hope that this will help to constantly improve the experience that you get from Instagram, and provide the user with an enjoyable experience of the adverts that they see so that they do not feel bombarded by irrelevant content.

For now, the sound of advertisements on Instagram does not seem to threaten the user experience and we will have to wait and see how the adverts actually work when introduced to the site. If they are filtered in seamlessly with the existing content which you follow on the site, it shouldn’t affect your experience of using the site too much. However, if the company begins to get carried away by its monetization, it could significantly affect the user experience and could affect the number of users on the site.

This latest announcement may however be good news for a number of smaller brands struggling to compete with the huge following of successful brands who use Instagram, such as Nike and Starbucks, as it will provide them with the opportunity for their content to be seen by a much greater volume of people if they choose to pay for their ads to feature on the site. At the moment the use of Instagram ads still relies on a heavily visual form of advertising, and therefore it is limited in its scope of which brands will use the feature for now. But if your brand relies on beautiful imagery, and fits in with the square format and filtered images which the site creates, then it could be a great new place to advertise to a receptive audience who have logged on to the site to see visually appealing content.

What do you think?

Do you think the introduction of adverts to Instagram will ruin your experience of the photo
sharing site? Would you use Instagram ads as a way to market your product to a greater
audience?

Five Quick Tips For Better Instagram Photos

With roughly 130 million monthly users uploading 45 million photos and videos everyday, Instagram remains the most popular dedicated photo sharing platform. If you want to make your pictures stand out among the selfies and cat pics, here are five photography tips to help you create compelling images. These tips are simple to execute, can be done with any smartphone or tablet and will give your photography a more professional look.

1. Shoot during the golden hour

Shooting in the last hour of daylight makes for golden hues and gentle shadows. Photo credit: Amadou Diallo.

Photography enthusiasts have long known that one of the tricks for getting great natural lighting is to shoot during the first or last hour of daylight. Known as the golden hour (or magic hour), these times of day are especially photogenic because the sun is sitting low in the sky, creating a warm golden glow in the scene. A low-lying sun also means you avoid harsh midday shadows that can make for difficult exposures with typical smartphone sensors.

2. Set the scene

You can get great results by composing a scene around a central subject, like this playground fountain, and then simply waiting for something interesting to happen. Photo credit: Amadou Diallo.

Much of the art of photography lies in waiting for moments to happen. But this is not the passive affair that you might think. Most pros spend much more time planning what they’re going to shoot than they do actually taking the pictures. Of course, few of us can devote an entire day to setting up a single shot, but simply finding an interesting scene and then waiting for something to happen inside it can pay big dividends. The next time you see a background or foreground element that catches your eye, take the camera out and wait for something even more interesting to happen within the frame.


3. Get closer

Holding the camera very close to your subject allows you to create a blurred background. Photo credit: Amadou Diallo.

Photographers have long relied on shallow depth of field as a creative tool to draw attention to an in-focus subject by placing background elements out of focus. Unfortunately, your smartphone camera has a relatively wide depth of field, which means that nearly everything in the scene is always in focus. You can achieve at least a slightly blurred background, however, simply by getting very close to your main subject. Most smartphones will allow you to shoot from as close as 3 to 6 inches to your subject, so experiment with getting right up to small objects like flowers, jewellery or food and let all of the objects in the distance blur.


4. Change your perspective

Getting down low for a shot can place emphasis on scene elements that are closer to the ground and make taller elements seem more imposing. Photo credit: Amadou Diallo.

One of the easiest ways to capture more interesting images is to break the habit of always shooting with your smartphone at standing eye-level. Instead, experiment by shooting the same subject from different angles and perspectives. Squat down for a low-level point of view. Or stand on something high to shoot down on your subject from above. Different perspectives can convey distinctly different moods.


5. Shoot in BW

Shooting in BW can make for dramatic and timeless images. Photo credit: Amadou Diallo.

Few things can make a scene more dramatic than shooting it in black and white. Instagram, like most third party photo apps has options to convert a colour image to black and white after the image is captured. And some apps, most notably Hipstamatic, even shoot in BW exclusively. One key thing to keep in mind is that without the presence of colour, brightness and contrast become even more crucial to the composition. Because of this, images that work well in BW often contain strong lines, bold shapes and contain prominent areas of both highlights and shadows in the scene.

These simple tips are well within reach of even novice photographers yet can lead to much more interesting images in your Instagram feed no matter how much experience you have. Have some favourite photo composition tips of your own? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/08/31/five-quick-tips-for-better-instagram-photos/

Instagram for Business

There are a number of benefits to using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business. Instagram is particularly beneficial for brands or companies that have a lot of visual content to share – good examples include food retailers, clothing brands, and any other company which is selling visually appealing products. Marketers should give Instagram consideration before implementing a marketing strategy as it can be used as an effective platform to market from providing a way to communicate directly with customers, who will subsequently be influenced into purchasing products.

www.blogworld.com

A recent study has shown that the top 5 brands on Instagram include Nike, Starbucks, Forever 21, Adidas and Victoria’s Secret – brands which all produce visually appealing products and have focussed on the way that they can use Instagram to tell a story to their audience and entice them into buying their products or support the brand. These brands use Instagram as a way of showing off their products but also as a way to engage with their potential customers. For instance, Nike has used the Instagram platform to further connect with their audience asking Instagram users to tag their photos with their tagline #justdoit in order to have the possibility of being featured on the channel. This shows that the use of the hashtag on Instagram is an important marketing tool as it allows greater audience engagement and helps brands to find people who are talking about the product or brand and means that you can follow these people or their conversations.

Brands who bring a bit of originality into their images tend to be most successful on Instagram, for instance, Starbucks who is second in the rankings for top brands on Instagram. Starbucks posted the image below in order to advertise their fall special ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte’ which featured the caption, “Ready, steady, #PSL #stackit #pumpkin #love# Fall #boots”. The image has been liked by 73,800 people – showing the real power that an original image can have on a brand’s fan base, helping to create a stir and excitement over a new product or a seasonal offer. The message is to get creative in whatever way you intend to use you Instagram account for your business – through this it will be more likely to attract a positive fan base, whether your company is large or small.

Another way in which brands can engage with their audience is through creating compelling stories or content on their Instagram pages. Brands need to create a balance between fun images and their business images which will help sell their product – this makes sure that the customer is drawn in and doesn’t always feel like they are being sold something. Anthropologie are a great brand for striking the correct balance on their images – a good example is that every September they hold an annual Sit. Stay. Love. campaign, which is a pet adoption event and pet supply drive for animal centres across the U.S. They feature images of dogs and hashtag #SitStayLove to get their audience engaged with something that is slightly different from their products but still represents their brand ethos. These images are juxtaposed with those which advertise their products, and effectively strike a subtle balance between their product placement and other interesting images. The two images below are both featured on the Anthropologie Instagram site and show the variety of visually appealing content that they post.

Geo-tagging Instagram images is another great way for local businesses who use Instagram to get the most out of the application. Geo-tagging lets people know where you are and can help specific campaigns link with certain locations. It can be particularly valuable to advertise the brand’s presence at a marketing event that the company is hosting or when the company attends a particular conference. By sharing a specific location with fans, it can help develop the relationship that is built up with customers and allows it to become more personal. This is often a feature which is not used enough by businesses.

What do you think?

What are the best ways you have seen brands advertise themselves on Instagram? Would you consider using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business?

Instagram Tips: 5 Unmissable Techniques To Get Massive Likes On Instagram

#1 Using popular hashtags

Hashtags provide a good way to get likes on Instagram for your photos. Hashtags can be based on the subject matter, the style of photography or processing, Instagram filters, location or your apps. You can also choose from one of the popular tags used frequently, such as #photooftheday, #instagood or #tigers. Explore the hashtags used by other users. If you feel that adding these tags from your phone is difficult, you can post your photo from the phone. Then using Instagram's web based interface, copy and paste the hashtags from a draft in your email, a saved document or use Tagstagram.

#2 Participate in community activities

Innumerable Instagram activities on mobile social networks provide options for you to participate. One of the biggest community activities is perhaps JJ's daily forum that was started by Josh Johnson, an Instagram user with nearly 280,000 followers. With thousands of members, his forum has expanded to now include a network of editors working to highlight photos every day. To participate, follow Josh Johnson, find out the daily theme and submit your photos. The themes are generally based on style or content, such as black and white or reflections. Other Instagram communities include Steetphoto bw, Photooftheday, Ampt, EyeEm and many others.

#3 Give and take

The most important element for success at Instagram is engagement, just like any other community or social network. The more you give your time to other members and interact with them the more they would do the same for you. Like others' photos and leave thoughtful comments to catch their attention. Paying more attention to photos by people outside your immediate group of friends will get you more likes and followers. In turn, their friends will notice you and your network will expand faster. Be selective about the photos you like, since it pays to engage with Instagrammers interested in similar kinds to photography.

#4 Be creative with photo-editing

You might want to try Instagram's filters, but don't stop there. Although they are amazing, there are unlimited options with Android and iOS apps for enthusiastic mobile photographers. Use Adobe Photoshop Express or Snapseed for photo-editing, or PicCollage or Fuzel, creative apps that let you generate striking collages. Create your signature style and add your mark to your photos. Once you establish your distinctive niche or style, you will get noticed more easily and soon build a substantial following.

#5 Get featured by Instagram

While getting featured by Instagram is rather difficult, this could get you thousands of followers in a day. Instagram has not disclosed its policy or criteria for choosing users for their suggested users' list. If you do get selected, you would stay on for one week, giving you the greatest possible exposure on the social network. If you don't know about the suggested users' list, you can check it out in settings-find and invite friends-suggested users. The list varies immensely and you could feature on it for an interesting perspective, a unique style or for your niche.

Social Media News - The Decline of Facebook

Is Facebook in decline as the main social media website? Although the number of Facebook users is increasing and there are over 1.5 billion active Facebook users in the world (a 23% increase from March 2012) people are increasingly turning to other forms of social media as a way of socialising with friends, family and keeping up to date with the latest developments in the news and media. Facebook use is not declining because teenagers and young people are all going to one particular social network, but because they are turning to a selection of applications instead. What social media websites are people turning to in place of Facebook? And for what reasons are they choosing these sites over Facebook?

Alternative social networks are attracting the attention of social media users who are looking for a new and exciting way to socialise with their friends online. People have always found a thrill in trying out new things and this is no different for social media websites.

In the US and the UK most people who want to sign up for Facebook have already done so, and it is increasingly becoming a saturated market. However, newer social media platforms, such as Instagram, Snapchat and Vine have seen great increases in popularity especially among younger age groups. Facebook itself has noticed how there has been a decline in the time that is spent on its pages from those sitting in front of personal computers as people are switching to using their smartphones and tablets as a method of accessing social media websites. Therefore it is not surprising that people are also turning to new social media websites which have specifically been designed for use on phones and portable devices, as it allows them to update their profile whilst on the move and as the events happen. The increasing number of people with smartphones also means that people also tend to keep in contact with their friends by using instant messaging more. Smartphone apps like Snapchat and Whatsapp help to make this easier and mean that people need to keep in contact with their close friends via Facebook less.

Furthermore, there has been a decline in the amount of time which is spent on Facebook due to the people choosing to use more specific social media sites. For instance, the visual content posted in Facebook is often the most popular, gaining the most likes and the most shares. This has led to a greater number of people shifting to using specific sites for sharing images and videos, such as Instagram and Pinterest. In June 2013, Instagram added a new video feature to its app, which allows users to take up to fifteen seconds of video through the Instagram camera. The Instagram video feature is a competitor to Twitter’s video app, Vine, showing the popularity of new applications to enhance existing social media websites. These new developments in more recently created social media sites are keeping people entertained and is helping to draw in a new following of people who are bored of Facebook and are looking for something more visually appealing. It is no wonder that Facebook was keen to invest in Instagram and capitalise on the growing popularity of visual based social media sites.

It has been found that teenagers and young people are the main demographic who are shifting away from using Facebook as their main social media site. Teenagers in particular are progressively trying to find new social media sites which they can make their own – away from the prying eyes of their parents and other relatives who are now on Facebook. Teenagers have therefore found a greater level of privacy by using other social media websites, and also have the option to create a username so that you do not have to be known by your actual name as you are on Facebook, as this would make you instantly more searchable.

Others are turning to different social media sites in an attempt to create exclusivity, and privacy away from the vast numbers of Facebook users. For instance, Path, a social media networking site, has focussed on a more personal approach to social networking stating that: “We believe it’s not your public, professional, or social life that matter most, it’s your personal life”. Their aim is for individuals to create a network in which you can only have 150 friends, creating an environment where you will only speak to the people you like and want to remain in contact with. They are creating a positive approach to exclusive social media networks stating that they believe in “Authenticity, Happiness, Simplicity”.

This links to the idea that Facebook is causing young people to feel a sense of dissatisfaction, as they are constantly receiving updates of what others are doing and therefore comparing their own lives to the constant influx of new photos, posts and comments which amplify the positive aspects of their friend’s lives and can elicit a feeling of envy. A recent study has concluded that the more its subjects used Facebook over a two-week period, the more their “life satisfaction levels” dropped. The move away from Facebook could therefore represent a subconscious acceptance of the way that constant use of this social media website can make you feel, and that a greater enjoyment can be felt by using Facebook less.

Although people may be using Facebook slightly less than previously, its power as the top social media website does not seem to be waning. Other social media websites may provide new and exciting ways to engage with friends and find out updates on news and media but Facebook is still the most significant platform which people use to connect with others.

What do you think?

Mobile Marketing - Using Social Media on Mobile Phones

Nowadays people use their mobile phones for many reasons, they spend a lot of time connecting with friends and accessing social media networks to share information, pictures and news. The majority of smartphone users will have a number of apps, but research has shown that the most frequently used of these apps are the social media apps, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The question this poses is in what ways and how often are people using their mobile phones to access social media networks?




Image www.gsmnation.com


Social networks were created on the premise of sharing your interests, photos, events, and recent news with groups of friends and have recently become increasingly used by mobile phone users due to the ability to update your status, to tweet and share photos instantaneously. This has changed the nature of social media sites, making them ways to share things in real time, which we would otherwise not have been able to do. This ability to update your social media profile immediately has led to increasing access of social media on smaller, portable devices over traditional desktop usage and findings have shown that smartphones and mobile devices are now the primary portal used to access services such as Twitter and Facebook. Improvements in access to 3G and 4G networks has further increased the access of social media by mobile users meaning we are even more likely to turn to using social media on a portable device.



Studies have even shown that social networking is now the most frequent activity on mobile devices and is even more common than gaming, with the average time spent on social networking apps by phone users being 24 minutes a day. In a Mobile Consumer Survey by Adobe in 2013, 71% of people were reported to use their mobile device to access social media. Research has also found that people are twice as likely to use social media on smartphones than on tablets, due to the fact that tablet users act more like they would on a desktop computer. This suggests that it is the small and portable nature of a mobile phone which is one of the main factors which leads people to use social media more as it allows them to update their profiles and statuses as events happen. For instance, mobile use of social media networks also allows people to check-in their location immediately when they are on the move so that they can inform their friends of their current plans. Access to social networks through smartphones has made this kind of communication possible, when previously real time updates on social media could not be carried out.

As the recent article on consumer behaviour and time spent on social media stated, people are increasingly using social media to alleviate boredom and as a way to entertain themselves. As young people these days constantly have their phones on them, and in the US 91% of adults have their mobile phone within an arm’s reach 24/7, it isn’t surprising that they will often access social media websites from their phones as a method of entertainment. This makes social media a good platform to connect with a wide audience of people, who will be reachable instantly through their smartphones.



Image www.flowtown.com


The increasing use of social networking apps specifically created for mobile phones, such as Instagram has also added to the increase in use of social networks on smartphones. This has increased the ability to instantly share what you are doing online with a group of friends, but can also be a valuable tool for businesses hoping to market their own products. With people constantly sharing information over social networks, using social media could be an imaginative way to target a new audience. Take a look at our past article on ‘26 Tips for Using Instagram for Business’ to see how Instagram on mobile devices can be a great way to market your brand.

Image www.theguardian.com


How often do you use social media on your phone? What do you do when using social media on your phone?

Why Social Media Is A Must For Your Business

 

For a long time, social media sites were only perceived as places where young people could stay in contact with one another: somewhere they could share their thoughts, photos and videos with their friends. Sites like Myspace and Bebo helped users connect with new people and keep in touch with their friends online, while also giving them a platform to express themselves.

After a few years at the top, however, Myspace and Bebo were replaced by new kid on the blockFacebook. Facebook, a site designed so that Ivy League college students could create a profile and exchange messages, has become something far greater than its humble origins. Companies and brands quickly realised that they could set up their own profiles, just like the college students, allowing them to connect with Facebook’s millions of users. In 2007, only a year after Facebook went public, there were over 100,000 business pages on the site.

Now, Facebook has over 1 billion users and millions of company and brand pages. The site’s huge membership figures give companies a present and active audience, one they can reach and engage with promotions, and even interact with easily. Companies can use Facebook to keep fans and customers up-to-date with new products, or even to run competitions and contests.

There are a number of other social media sites that provide businesses with fantastic marketing opportunities. Twitter, for example, is where the conversation happens. Twitter’s 200 million users access the site to talk about what they are doing and current topics of interest. Businesses can use Twitter to see what people are talking about and even what people are saying about their brand.

Picture sharing sites like Pinterest and Flickr give businesses a place to showcase their work with eye-catching images, while video sharing sites like YouTube help companies reach the public with viral video adverts. Google+, Google’s answer to Facebook, provides a very similar service to Facebook, but with a focus on building interest-based communities.

Over the last two years, social media has moved onto mobile devices. With apps like Instagram, Vineand Facebook Mobile, people can stay constantly connected to their social media profiles. Meanwhile, with geotargeting social media networks like Foursquare, and similar services on Google and Facebook, local businesses can even find customers nearby and target them with advertising.

In fact, thanks to the reams and reams of personal information users put on social media accounts, businesses can target their ideal customers with adverts.

Social media has become one of the most powerful tools in a business’ arsenal, providing them with a low-cost platform for advertising and marketing, an enormous and targeted audience, a place where they can keep up-to-date with all the headlines and breaking news, a stage on which to release and promote new products, and a forum to speak to customers and monitor the conversation

Article written by Will Sigsworth

Video created and narrated by Rob Thomson