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.

Is social media really a revolution?

5 years ago Google dismissed the starting of Facebook as a fad that would eventually pass; however, unlike its competitors, such as Bebo and Myspace, Facebook has thrived and gone from strength to strength, with Twitter quickly following it, as well. However, this is far from starting a revolution at this point, or is it? Many people are sceptical on whether social media does work – or even – which is the best way to use it.

But the social platform goes a lot further than just Facebook and Twitter, you have Google+, YouTube and Pinterest being the latest social platform to get the public fuelling their online addiction. Pinterest is a social bookmarking site where users collect and share pictures of their favourite hobbies, interests and events and at the moment is the faster growing social site.

YouTube is also the second most used search engine on the internet, even though in essence it’s just a massive online video library. So what kind of things will the public be searching for on YouTube, you may ask. Well, everything and anything, there is nearly an answer for everything on there. I use YouTube for recipes when cooking, walkthroughs when I’m stuck on video games and, as of yesterday, YouTube taught me how to tie a tie. Research also shows that a consumer is more likely to trust another consumer’s recommendation over advertising. So this is where blogging and consumer reviews have started to play a big part in major brands sales revenue.

You must have seen the Google adverts that have been on recently; mainly, the advert about the Cambridge Bag Company.

In essence is showing how brands are now beginning to use social media as a major marketing tool. As the lady in the advert only uses her original idea, she is able to transform her dreams into reality. Just with the help of some useful social platforms.

So is every brand using social media to connect with its customers? Research suggests that 95% B2C brands are using different social platforms as a marketing tool but perhaps they are not all using them effectively. The 3 biggest social sites in the UK, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin suggesting that social media is effective in B2B markets as well. But for the moment I will stick to B2C markets and come back to B2B in a later blog.

Coca-Cola is the most popular online brand on Facebook with over 41 million likes, and for the first time in history the iconic Christmas Coca-Cola advert was released on Facebook and Youtube before being televised, suggesting Coca-Cola know where they will reach a larger audience. However, other brands are taking this step further; fashion labels H&M and ASOS now allow people to buy clothes via their Facebook page, which allows them to reach a further audience once you’ve purchased an item. An automatic feed will come up on your wall notifying all your friends what have you purchased so they can discuss it.

Network marketing is another trend which has been largely used as well, with companies such as Arbonne benefitting solely on self-employed people’s word of mouth. Basically how it works is a consumer will buy stock from their agent at a discounted rate and then tell their friends about it and hopefully sell them some of their stock, and this cycle is then repeated and repeated, reaching a larger and larger audience each time, with word of mouth creating a snowball effect. This also shows the increase in consumers not trusting advertising and trusting a friend’s word about it. So networking goes hand in hand with social media as consumers will be contacting other consumers not just face to face but online as well, whether it will be on Facebook or Skype, the word gets out there.

So still thinking there is no revolution, social media is the most effective way to connect with your customer, but it can also make or break you, as well. For example, many businesses that provide a service find keeping their customers updated about offers and progress of their business is a good way to stay in touch as well as receive feedback on how they can improve a customer’s experience. However, social media can have a major negative impact on your business, as well. For example, when a customer had a bad experience in your store with customer service or when they purchased a product they don’t feel is up to their standards, this is going to be broadcasted over lots of different social platforms and you could end up with a disaster, with customers boycotting your store or your product.

Don’t think that what happens in reality cannot impact your business; different social campaigns have also ended in disaster. The most recent example would be Starbucks #spreadthecheer campaign which ran on Twitter. The aim of the campaign was to get Starbucks Twitter peeps to suggest how they would spread the festive cheer this Christmas. They were so positive this campaign was going to be a huge success, they even hired a giant screen and put it the natural history museum so the public could see people’s different views. Sadly Starbucks recent tax evasion scandal diminished any festive cheer they were to achieve as many people used this as a chance to tweet their frustration and anger towards the recent saga.

So don’t let these horror stories put you off, you have to respect social media and the consumer as well, and not take anything for granted. Social media is a great marketing tool to have, but only if you know how to effectively use it and connect with your customer. 74% marketers believe that just putting in 6 hours a week on social platforms has seen a huge increase in traffic on their sites. So many businesses may see the social horror stories and think that it is a huge risk but there have been many successful social, with Domino’s Pizza and Mazda UK effectively using different platforms to increase sales. Social media is a revolution and you don’t want to be left behind.

What do you think?

YouTube has a shake up...

This week YouTube has had a shake up... and it is causing a bit of a stir. Google (owners of YouTube) seem to be streamlining their assets recently. As we saw with the new Google Helpouts - only being payable via Google Wallet etc. The search engine professionals seem to be marrying up all their other endeavours to get what would seem to be a more versatile brand.

Image: mashable.com

So what exactly has changed? If you are regular YouTube user with an account you may have already experienced this first hand. What's new:

• Make comments private
• Reply to threads
• Share comments via Google+
• Edit comments
• Get notifications
• Leave longer comment
• Include URLs (although this has been used as an invitation for spammers)

Looking at this list, you can see what YouTube are trying to do. They are trying to inject some quality into the otherwise nonsensical and dramatic world of the YouTube user. Well, this is how I have viewed it up until now. I see their point but I’m not sure whether it would make me sign up still.

They are making it impossible to have an account without a legitimate Google+ account. This means if you don’t have one, you will be getting one soon. It also means that false accounts and bogus names are forbidden, it will have to be a ‘real’ name... although of course you may make one up. One of the major grievances is that there is less anonymity.

Any old comments can still be seen but are currently frozen; they cannot be replied to. Also, your new account will not link up to any of your previous posts.

Image: gizmodo.com

By and large the reaction has not been great, there are a lot of thumbs downs from their regular users but is this just because it is different? Someone has even uploaded his own video in disgust; I am sure there will be more of these to come. The critics are claiming they are upset at Google for making these 'unnecessary' changes. It doesn't look like Google are going to back down, although like any new venture adjustments will be made along the way.

Reflectively, it seems we all revel in the speed sites get updated usually, as long as it means we don’t have to do anything. YouTube have obviously made these changes with an idea, a vision of the new YouTube. They have competitors and work in a tempestuous market, so in their defence they are just rolling with punches.

Their mission statement will not of changed and I feel these alterations are just a sign of the times. Most social media sites give you an option of messaging, commenting, re-posting etc and so it is not strange that YouTube will want to keep up with this. To make the site have a more integral attitude will probably attract new customers and move the site into the new direction.

The changes mean you can write more and be continuously interactive with other users; I am assuming YouTube are hoping this will create a more appealing place to discuss whatever you are watching. In the next few days we will witness the benefits and pitfalls, it will effect the way people use the site and it will become apparent within a few weeks if it was worth it.

As I have stated, I am not signed up to YouTube but the idea of a friendlier and potentially safer environment promotes a positive attitude. I am sure it will have many reactions but a change is sometimes exactly what is needed.

YouTube to Add Offline Viewing for Videos on Mobile Devices

YouTube has announced that it will launch a new feature on its mobile apps enabling viewers to watch videos even when they are offline. This feature will be available from November for mobile users – do you think it is a good move for the video sharing site?

Image - www.theguardian.com

Currently YouTube does not allow users to download videos from its site, even though there are a number of third-party apps and browser extensions which are designed to let people do this. The new feature will let viewers add videos temporarily to their devices to store and watch, but only for a short period of time when they are not connected to the Internet.

The Official YouTube Partners & Creators Blog commented that this new feature came because “we’re always exploring ways to bring more viewers to your content. As part of this effort, later this year we’ll launch a new feature on YouTube’s mobile apps that will help reach fans – even when they’re not connected to the Internet”. This will allow fans to continue to listening to music when they previously wouldn't have been able to, for instance when they are on the morning commute. This suggests a move to increase engagement on its mobile devices and follows other developments introduced earlier in the year. For instance, in August it made it possible for people to browse and explore video recommendations while another video is already streaming on YouTube’s mobile apps.

In June 2012, YouTube began experimenting with offline viewing by allowing users to watch pre-cached videos in an update to its Android app. YouTube distinguished between the new feature allowing users to watch pre-cached videos and total downloading of videos because they required viewers to watch at least the first second of the video while they are online. There is also a distinction because with the new feature you will be able to watch videos without an Internet connection but you will not be able to keep them indefinitely. This seems to reflect the growing use of mobile devices to access social media, and the increase in new features specifically designed to complement smart phone use.

For now we will have to wait and see until the feature is released in November and further announcements are posted on the official YouTube Blog.

What do you think?

Would you use this new feature on YouTube? Do you already use a YouTube app on your mobile device?

Video Sharing Sites – Vimeo vs. YouTube vs. Dailymotion

Video sharing sites are extremely popular ways for people to share content online whether they are artists, amateur videographers, or companies hoping to promote their brands. What are the benefits of using different video sharing platforms such as Vimeo, YouTube and Dailymotion? Which one is the best to use to promote your online content? Will Vimeo and Dailymotion ever be able to take over YouTube?

Which site you should use depends on a number of different factors, which varies from the target audience that you are trying to attract, your budget and the types of videos you actually produce. So here are the relative pros and cons for using each of these video sharing sites…

Vimeo:

• Vimeo can be used by those who want to share their video content online to a community of professionals who are interested in creativity and high quality film content.
• Vimeo receives better comments on the content uploaded, providing constructive criticism as opposed to the offensive and irrelevant comments which have so often featured on YouTube.
• The site is much smaller than YouTube, getting roughly 70 million unique visitors each month, but the size also means that the users who do feature on the site are more engaged in the content that is posted.
• The layout of the site offers a much more minimalist approach, with less clutter around the video – this makes the video content uploaded by the user the primary focus of the website, and there aren’t the distractions of adverts and comments which pop up whilst on YouTube.
• Quality – the quality when uploading videos onto Vimeo is usually a lot better than when uploading onto YouTube, which is often a primary reason for using the site. Vimeo added an HD option back in 2007, even before YouTube did.
• Vimeo does not allow the user to upload content which hasn’t fully been created by the account owner, so this means that there will be no snippets from television shows which are often seen on YouTube.
• One of the negative aspects of Vimeo is its paid access – a Vimeo Pro account requires a fee to be paid, and some users are not willing to pay for premium features even though on Vimeo Pro these features are of very high quality.
• There are also commercial restrictions as if you plan on promoting a product or service on the site you will be required to pay for a Pro account.
• Another negative feature of Vimeo is that a Vimeo Pro account has cap restrictions – it only allows you to upload a maximum of 50 GB per year, with each video limited to a maximum of 5GB.

YouTube:

• YouTube has an estimated 450 million unique monthly visitors worldwide – with an audience this large it is no wonder that it is a popular site to upload video content onto, as it has such a large potential audience. It is also the second largest search engine, just behind Google.
• However, with this large an audience there comes the problem that your content might be lost among hundreds of thousands of other videos – more than 70 hours of video are uploaded every minute, so that provides a huge amount of competition.
• In contrast to Vimeo, YouTube allows an unlimited amount of videos to be uploaded as long as they do not exceed 2 GB per video.
• YouTube also allows channel customization so that you can choose a background image or colour when you sign up for your account therefore helping it to stand out and be more original, which could be particularly important for brands.
• A negative aspect of YouTube is that the comment system is often misused and bad comments can lead to a bad reputation for brands advertising on the site. However, with the new Google+ comment system, this should lead to a change in the way that comments are used and should start a move to more constructive comments.

Dailymotion:

• Dailymotion is a third option for those who want to share their video content online. Dailymotion is a good choice for those who do not want a site to be too picky about the rights of content for each video. There tend to be less claims for copyright related to this portal because producers are not paying so much attention.
• Dailymotion attracts over 112 million unique monthly visitors, and 2.5 billion video views worldwide.

It is clear that YouTube is not the only option for those who wish to share video content online. But for brands who are wishing to market their products or artists who are wishing to debut new songs, they should play close attention to the audience of each site and the cost of uploading a video on the site to make sure that they are making the most out of their video content. For now it seems that YouTube will still continue to be the principal video sharing site, and with a large audience it will always have someone to view the content. The added costs which feature on sites like Vimeo can make the site less attractive to some users, and therefore would make it much more difficult to ever gain as many users as YouTube, whose service is always free.

What do you think?

Which video sharing site do you think is best? Will Vimeo and Dailymotion ever take over Youtube?

YouTube Launches Its First Music Awards

Last week YouTube announced that it will be running its own Music Video Awards show to be held on 3rdNovember in New York. They have declared that the Video Awards show will be a way to celebrate music fans and the music that you love. The 90-minute show will be live-streamed onto the site, as a way of honouring artists and songs that YouTube audience have turned into massive hits over the past year and will be powered by the audience who will vote for the winners of the Awards.

According to the site’s blog announcement, the Awards will feature performances from Lady Gaga, Eminem, Arcade Fire, other top artists and a selection of YouTube’s biggest stars, which include Lindsey Stirling and CDZA. The site has asked for its audience’s involvement and participation in the event, as in mid-October, the YouTube Music Awards Nominations will be announced based on the videos that you watched and shared over the past year. The audience will then be required to determine the songs and artists honoured by sharing the nominees across social media platforms. This means that they will be judged by everyone, creating great audience involvement for the upcoming event.

The YouTube awards have been limited to only seven categories, which will be announced on October 17th along with the nominees. They will also feature music mashups which will combine YouTube stars with more high-profile celebrities, creating new and original content. There will additionally be performances from Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio which will be streamed during the show. YouTube hopes that this will help to celebrate the music that you love and that you have helped to become so popular over the last year.

The Awards will not just feature music on the day of the event but there should be a lot more music to enjoy on YouTube around the Music Awards. In the days leading up to the event, nominees will share official music videos, covers, parodies, concerts, interviews and fan videos on YouTube – this will help fans to stay in touch with the latest developments of their favourite artists and also help to discover new music that you had never heard of before.

This new award show recognises how YouTube has quickly become one of the major criteria for measuring a song’s success these days, as so many people choose to stream music from the site instead of buying the songs – therefore it can be a more accurate reflection of popularity for particular songs.

What do you think?

Do you think that the YouTube Awards show is a good idea? Will you watch it?

YouTube Comments - A New Google+ Comment Feature

Last week YouTube announced a new commenting system for its videos that is powered by the popular social network site Google+. The new trial launched on the channel discussions tabs and, over the next few weeks and months, it will become available on all videos. This feature will automatically rank comments and feature threaded and private conversations which are personalised for each individual user – this hopes to eliminate the rude, spam comments which have so often taken over the YouTube comment feature on videos.

Image – www.clubcardwebsites.com

Last year, YouTube started to encourage this initiative by asking its users to connect their YouTube and Google+ accounts so that more users would use their real names on the site. They hoped that this might persuade people to write comments which were more insightful and less abusive, as people could not hide behind anonymity, spamming the site with irrelevant and sometimes hurtful comments. Google+ also hopes that the new comment feature on YouTube will enable you to connect with familiar faces.

The official YouTube blog reported that the new comment feature will feature:

- Comments that you care about at the top of the list:

• Comments that are from the video’s creator, popular personalities and people in your Google+ Circles will feature at the top of the list –leading to more engaged discussions about the video.
• YouTube already offered a “top comments” section for the most upvoted comments on a video, but this did not guarantee that they were relevant to the video or the viewer. Reverse chronological comments fall away entirely with the new feature, and comments deemed ‘important’ to the individual user will rise to the top.

- Join the conversation in public or in private:

• You can choose to join a conversation so that it is publicly viewable on YouTube and Google, or you can make it so that only people in your Circles or a selection of your good friends can see what you post. In a similar way to Gmail, replies are listed in threads so that conversations are easy to follow.
• This allows you and your friends to have your own personal discussions on the YouTube comments section, depending on what you want to discuss – this hopes to engage users into a conversation similar to those which happen on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter and other social networks, where users share videos with each other and comment on them between friends.

- Better moderation of comments:

• There are new tools available to review comments before they’re posted, with the ability to block certain words or phrases that the site does not wish to see on their comments under their videos. This moderation system can also save time by auto-approving comments from certain fans. These can help you spend less time moderating, and more time sharing videos and connecting with your fans.
• YouTube is also allowing video owners to create a blacklist with words that automatically push comments into review and can block users. In addition, YouTube is making a significant change by not telling users that they have been blocked and will continue to show them their own comments when they are logged in. This will hopefully trick offending individuals into believing that their posts are still online and will prevent them from trying to open up other accounts once they’ve been blocked.

This new comment feature on YouTube has great potential for marketers hoping to get in contact with their audience and create discussion. According to Compete PRO data 162.5 million American adults visited youtube.com in August 2013 alone, therefore brands should capitalise on this huge audience and utilise the new ability to build relevant discussions from videos. Companies should take time to reply to comments left by viewers, as it will help to keep members engaged and, with the new system, comments from top contributors will feature at the top of the list – advertising how well that the company is responding to the views of its fans. It is also good to engage fans by referring to them by name or acknowledging that you have read their comments and possibly responding with other videos on YouTube.

What do you think?

Do you post comments on YouTube? Do you think that the use of Google+ will be a significant benefit for YouTube comments and will help to stop spam and rude comments from appearing on videos?

What YouTube's 1 Billion Monthly Active Users Milestone Means For Marketers

YouTube has announced on its blog that the video sharing and streaming site has surpassed the 1 billion monthly active users mark, the second social media site afterFacebook to reach this milestone.

Like Facebook, YouTube took eight years, from its conception in February 2005, to hit 1 billion MAUs. Twitter, in comparison, has just celebrated its seventh birthday and has just over 200 million monthly active users.

So, 1 billion, that is a mindboggling amount of viewers! In theannouncement post on the YouTube blog, the YouTube team have put that enormous figure into perspective, asking “What does a billion people tuning into YouTube look like?


Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube.
Our monthly viewership is the equivalent of roughly ten Super Bowl audiences.
If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.
PSY and Madonna would have to repeat their Madison Square Garden performance in front of a packed house 200,000 more times. That’s a lot of Gangnam Style!”What is powering this growth?

In another post on parent company Google’s Agency Blog, Advertising Research Director Gunnard Johnson explains that Generation C, a phrase coined by Nielsen to describe a demographic “defined by the Internet, mobile, and social - consuming content when and where they want”, is to thank for YouTube’s high viewing figures.

Generation C, or Gen C for short, is the name given to a group of primarily young adults who are defined by their constant access to multiple devices, often having a screen in their living room, their office, their bag and their pocket, with each one capable of accessing the internet at any time.

”On YouTube,” says Johnson, “this generation thrives on 4Cs:


Connection - Gen C watches YouTube on all screens, constantly switching between devices.
Creation - Gen C is deeply engaged with online video, watching, creating and uploading videos on YouTube.
Community - Gen C thrive on community, defining what’s popular on YouTube by sharing videos with friends and family.
Curation - Gen C is made up of expert curators who care about finding content that matters to them.”In the United States 76% of 18-34 year olds (the main demographic constituting Generation C) own smartphones, as opposed to 60% of the general population. Gen C spent 74% more of their time than last year accessing YouTube on these smartphones.

The percentage of Gen C watching YouTube on more than one device has also increased: 67% of Gen C watch YouTube on more than one device, while 15% access it during commercial breaks on television.



YouTube has created a handy infographic illustrating all the statistical information above. To see it visit Think With Google.

What does this mean for YouTube marketers?

It is vital that YouTube marketers tap into Generation C as a potential target audience and, therefore, a huge source of revenue. Gen C’s potential as a source of revenue is backed up by a statistic Johnson quotes on theblog post: “Gen C is a powerful demographic”, he says, “not only are they cultural tastemakers, they influence $500B of spending a year in the U.S”.

Top marketers have already seen the potential for YouTube marketing, with every single one of AdAge’s Top 100 brands posting content on YouTube.

Brands marketing themselves on YouTube must be constantly aware of the 4Cs if they wish to leverage Generation C’s influence over YouTube popularity:

Connection: Generation C is active on YouTube across all devices. In fact, Gen C’s activity on smartphones and on desktop devices peaks at roughly the same points during the day. Marketers need to create content that can be played on both desktop and mobile devices. If a video is best viewed in high-definition, it will be wasted on smartphone audiences. Also, any hyperlinks on the video must take smartphone users to sites that are compatible with mobile devices.

Creation: marketers should stay abreast of what’s popular and topical on YouTube. Most recently the Harlem Shake was YouTube’s big thing and millions of versions were uploaded to the site. Brands like Red Bull andManchester City FC did their own Harlem Shake videos, both of which received millions of views.

Community: according to Johnson, viewers are “discovering videos socially - 9% of respondents said they watched a video on their smartphone because it was shared by friends in an email, while 18% watched a video because it was shared on a social network.” Marketers should encourage viewers to share their videos, incorporating hashtags for use on Twitter, or posting them on Facebook and Google Plus.

Curation: Members of Generation C love discovering something new and sharing it with their friends. 47% of Generation C find the majority of the videos they watch using search. Marketers need to give their videos titles which are both relevant and eye-catching. They also need to post regularly and during peak periods to ensure that the right demographics view their videos. Generation C only recommends the best videos to friends and family members, so brands and marketers need to make sure that their content is creative and original.



Johnson recommends two YouTube tools for brands who want to market their adverts across multiple devices:YouTube’s One Channel design ensures that brand channels are compatible with all devices, whileTrueView video ads are cost effective adverts that charge marketers only if and when they are viewed.

In 2012, YouTube recorded almost the same viewing figures on smartphone devices as it did on desktop devices. To take advantage of the growing generation of viewers who can access YouTube 24 hours a day, whether on a computer, a laptop, a tablet or a phone, YouTube marketers need to ensure that they get the best out of YouTube’s advertising services, and that they upload the best advertising content possible onto YouTube.

Do you consider yourself to be part of Generation C? If so, what are your YouTube habits?

7 Steps to Social Media Heaven

If you're a business owner then you probably know that social media is a great way of promoting your products and services. It costs nothing apart from your own time, and is a great way of building relationships with potential clients and other business owners. However, many people are put off using it - writing it off as too time consuming and unable to see the benefits it can bring to their business.

When I set up my own business, I had never used social media before. However, I soon saw its potential to get my name out there to prospective customers and once I'd got going, I enjoyed using it and have made some great connections along the way.

So if you are someone who's struggling with social media, then here are 7 steps to take you to social media heaven!


It's important to remember that social media is another part of your marketing strategy so you need to know what you want to achieve with it. Do you just want to use it to promote yourself; find potential partners and suppliers; or to generate business from it? So before you get started, take some time to set some actions and goals.
Each social media application is different so don't try to use them all in the same way. For example, how you use and interact on Twitter will be very different from how you do it on Facebook, and the same goes for LinkedIn.
Once you have signed up, ensure that you fully complete your profile, with a keyword-rich bio of what you do, a link to your website, and a picture - ideally one of you if you're running your business by yourself.
You can save time managing your social media accounts by using third party applications such as Ezeesocial. You can use these to schedule updates, as well as track click through's on links, and manage followers. It can be tempting to post one update to all your accounts at once, but remember that all social media is not the same. That funny remark you post on Twitter may not go down so well on LinkedIn!
Use the search features to look for relevant followers, fans and connections who could potentially be interested in your business. You can also use the search facility in Twitter and Facebook to find people who work in relevant industries, locations or are talking about topics relating to what you do.
Think like your customer. As with all your marketing activities, when using social media you need to think about what your potential customers might be looking for. Obviously use it to share personal stuff about yourself, but when it comes to the business side of your updates, keep in mind what your contacts would find useful.
It's not all about you! Don't spend all your time broadcasting messages about you and your business though. Engage with others by asking and answering questions, retweeting people's posts on Twitter, or commenting on someone's wall on Facebook. People love it when others share their content and engage with them, and this helps build up a relationship with your contacts.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5291346

7 Social Media Tips to Get You Started on the Path to Success!

The number one question we get from beginners is; "How do I get started?"

There are so many social media websites out there, and we understand it can be very intimidating. The Social Media Square One objective is to reduce those stress levels, and make the online process not only profitable for you, but fun too! We would like to share with you 7 tips for getting started with your social media marketing plan.


Use Your Real Name - For some reason, buying a product or service from "HotMama352" does not seem very attractive. Make sure to use your real name when signing up for social accounts. If your name is taken, then it would be acceptable to add some numbers so that it is still recognizable. For example, if your name is a common one like John Smith, it would be OK to use JohnSmith950.
A Photo of You - When choosing an avatar (profile photo) make sure to pick a one that is fun and representative of your professional personality. People do not want to do business with a logo, cartoon, pet or eyeball. Let them see your beautiful face so they know who they are talking to. People are more responsive when they can put a face to a name.
Know Your Audience - Many small business owners are working hard to sell to anybody and everybody in order to increase revenue. While this has you working hard and achieving some amount of success, we know that identifying your target market is one of the most important things a business can do. With so many social networks out there, you want to find the ones that your customers and prospects are using. For example, you might hear that a site like Myspace is out of favor in the social media world, but for a musician, it is still a must. On the other hand, if you want to target the 13-17 year old demographic, LinkedIn might not be the best place to be spending your time. Our advice is to do some research, find out where your customers and prospects are spending their time, and get yourself set up on those social networks as soon as possible so that you can jump into the conversation and start generating leads!
Listen - Once you are a member of the social networks, take the time to listen to what the community is talking about. If you jump in and use the platform with a megaphone to sell your product or service, your credibility will be lost. There is nothing virtual about this online social world, these are real people having real conversations. So act in the same way you would at a live networking event in your hometown. If you would not bombard me with a sales pitch at a live event, don't do it inside of social media either.
Build Relationships - People want to do business with others they like, know and trust. Social media gives us an amazing platform to earn that trust by simply taking the time to build great relationships with them. Just like in real life, this takes time. You must share something about yourself. Don't be afraid to talk about your likes, interests and passions. Nobody wants to do business with a logo or pushy salesperson, so open up and start making friends. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing there is, and you have almost 500 million people out there with the potential to become brand ambassadors for your company. Let's make the most of it by caring about the people, creating value, and showing them that we are here to meet their needs.
Don't Worry About the Numbers - If you only have a couple of hundred people in your network, do not let that get you down. The key is to target your followers, and many times less can be more. We have seen people time and time again try to automate the process in order to increase their friend/followers, but most of the time it leads to a large number filled with bots, spammers, and vacant accounts that bring no value to you, your business, or the community.
Budget Your Time - Minutes can quickly turn into hours on social networks if you are not careful. Many people get caught up playing Facebook games like FarmVille, surfing YouTube for hours watching funny videos, or hitting the refresh button over and over waiting on responses from a post. Our advice is to log in with a set time goal and stick to it.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4687893

YouTube Secrets Exposed: Do's And Don'ts of Building a Successful YouTube Channel

YouTube is a vital promotion tool, if you're a independent/obscure artist and you're not lucky enough to have your music uploaded by someone else to YouTube, don't just sit around waiting for someone to do it. You have two options, send uploaders your music or create your own channel. I recommend you do both, it's great for all artists to have their own YouTube channels, that way you control the music and how you want your self to be perceived.

What I will share with you today are just some simple tips to get your channel up and running and build a steady fan base. If your goal is to make a channel with 30k Subscribers and get partnership then look elsewhere, this advice is just for normal artists seeking to bring in the fans they already have.

First, set up a account in your artist name, get the page looking good and when it comes to uploading music have this in mind:

Google the most popular times in your country when YouTube has the most traffic and pick the best days (In my opinion Thursday and Sundays are perfect days).
Spread out your uploads, don't upload more then one thing at a time. The first upload will get less hits then the last upload as people will overlook it.
Tag your videos correctly and honestly! Don't put nothing like "car crash martian conspiracy", tag your music by genre, artist, year and maybe even a couple similar artists.

That is the easy stuff that most people will know as it's pretty common sense. The hard thing about YT is understanding that you are a needle in a huge haystack and getting your music/content heard and watched can be tricky.

Now if you are already an existing artist and your music is already on YT the first thing you need to do is: Harness your fans. You do this by collecting the usernames from people who have commented on tracks of yours that are already on YouTube. Collect those usernames up and put them in a notepad file and separate them by a comma.

Now it's easier to contact them and inform them that you have a new channel where you will uploading your music and content from now on; if they want to follow your new music then they can subscribe. Don't be pushy or beg for subscribers from these people, your preaching to the choir! These people are already fans of your music so your only goal is to notify them of your existence on YT if they won't to subscribe that's down to them.

Now bare in mind when it comes to contacting these people you can do it several ways, you can write on their channel walls or you can inbox them, if you inbox them you can batch message 25 people a time in a comma separate username ID list but you run the risk that people will ignore the message because they think its spam as it is a bulk message. Either way, you should notice an immediate response.

In my opinion there is no point in having a YT channel if you are not going to engage with your listeners, appreciate the feedback you get, ask for opinions...etc and if someone takes two minutes out of their life to send you a message saying "thank you for making blah blah I love that song, it changed my life" then take 2 minutes out of your day to acknowledge them.

If you are a new artist or a lesser known artist, how do you go about gaining new fans on YouTube? This is a tricky situation because unlike above you are not contacting people that already know you, so some people may view it as spam. But if you target the right people, they will thank you!

In this day and age it's hard to find new artists so when your messaged from a artist who you like it's a win/win situation! The hard part like I stated previously is finding those fans. If you make deep conscious hip-hop there is no point contacting people you find on a Lil Wayne video asking them to check out your music, if you do that do us all a favor and don't start to begin with. Instead find your target audience by narrowing down similar artists to yourself, people who you have a similar sound to. For example if you make music similar to say: Sage Francis you wouldn't just contact Sage Francis fans you would narrow it down more by including another artist you are similar to.

How? Use Google! Narrow down your search by searching:
Google > YouTube.com "channels" for example. Atmosphere or Sage Francis

By putting YouTube.com in the search field it means Google only searches that site and by putting brackets on "channels" it will bring up channels making it easier for you to contact these people. Now remember there is a thin line between promotion and spam, if you think you can just click subscribe on all these peoples channels and they will subscribe to yours, then that's a stupid idea. Contact ONLY the people who you truly believe will appreciate your music if any at all.

Target hip hop heads, people who are part of the hip hop community don't target everyday folk who use YouTube to watch make up tutorials but also who happen to like the same artists whom you believe your self to be similar with. There is a huge hip hop community on YouTube. Use the above advice at your own accord but don't spam or ruin YT for the rest of us or make it harder for other artists who are using those tactics properly, don't put a stain on fellow underground artists.

A couple Do's and Don'ts:

DO'S

Your own videos for songs be creative or if you don't have Album artwork..etc use good high res images.
Post your videos to other similar popular videos as a response.
Keep your channel active, spread our uploads out and keep people up to date.
Post all relative information in the video description: Downloads/FB Fan page...etc.


DON'TS

Buy "fake" views or subscribers. It's obvious and achieves nothing! If your main goal on YouTube is to get popular then ask yourself why! Your main goal should be to get and maintain a steady, dedicated loyal fan base.
Post comments on other videos telling people to check out your music, it's totally different from what I mentioned above and most people will just thumb you down anyway!
Get pissed off with people if they leave a negative comment, one of the best reasons for a artist to have YT is for fan feedback, if someone don't like your music that's life! Appreciate their opinion and don't get involved in petty internet arguments.
SPAM! I've said it already but you will gain nothing spamming people, you will probably just piss people off and they will just dislike your videos without even giving it a try.


And remember YouTube is a huge site, any of the advice will work, you just need to be dedicated and time will provide results.

- See more at: http://www.praverb.net/2012/05/youtube-secrets-exposed-dos-and-donts.html#sthash.qk6GdvXh.dpuf

8 Advantages Of Using Social Media

Today, the article will be discussing about social media, and how it has helped many sites get bigger everyday. Bigger sites are continuing to use the power of Social "awareness" on these Social Sites.

I have been able to attract the majority of traffic so far from social media, and it has been a great starting point to do so. Every new blog will need to first attract and mobilize the advantages of social media sites.

One of the advantages being the use of its traffic already on the sites. The ability to add connections on each site. And finally having to use it anytime you are in need of any two of the previous points.

With one mention of a social site, everyone knows the growth of it everyday. Pinterest. It is now officially the "third" largest social media site, surpassing even LinkedIn. It has been named, "50 Best Websites of 2011" according to Time.com and its list.

Every social site's trend right now has to be the visualization of the interface. The trend has been growing with Pinterest's example as the prime interface. It has grown a trend to put that style into practice on Internet Dreams.

Social media in general has been a huge focal point of success on the internet since the "human" seems to find connection to each other a must-need aspect of life.

This article will list the top 8 advantages social sites offer. You, too, take advantage of the social site's offers. Find out below, and get the "Advantages" identified! Please share!

1. Get Instant Traffic

With Facebook having over 845 million monthly active users according to jeffbullas.com and Pinterest with 10 million, it shows to prove that social media is one of the most accessed feature of the internet.

Why not take advantage of the traffic some of the social media sites receive? It would be beneficial to your site to get that traffic and get your brand more "aware".

Not all of that traffic is what you are going to need. Only a small portion of the numbers. The small portion that is high-targeted and what you are really looking to attract to your site.

There are some stats that is worth taking note on the internet. Of all of them, it is pretty obvious Facebook is the "King" and worth investing time into. It could be different for you, since you could be more engaging on Twitter.

It is all about what time you invest in a social site and based on that is the yielding return.

2. Talk And Connect With Your Peers

Your peers could be site owners or bloggers that have their content and they're distributing it to the social masses. Social media has made it a possibility and a "must" to form relationships with your peers.

Connect and talk with them. That is one of the most important tasks for a beginner. Just saying, "Hi, how are you" is a killer opening to a connection. Also offer to let them know if you could share any content they may have.

Having the right top wordpress plugins at your disposal is one step closer to taking full advantage of social media.

Ask them personally to make sure they know you shared their content as they are more apt to respond with the same action.

3. Capture A Following!

Getting traffic from social media is one thing but to get them to like or follow you is another. Since social media traffic is known for traffic that comes and goes, it creates huge spikes then dwindles the next day.

Half the time you are looking to get traffic from a social visitor, try the other to get them to follow you. Asking is a start and providing unique content is also a start in getting them to sign up.

4. Get More Help To Share Your Content

Since social media is about connections and sharing what best interests them, posting your article there might interest them as well. They will look at it and what they see, might help you get started with sharing.

One way to get more shares form a piece of content is to involve your peers in it in some way and asking them to share it. The other is to contact your "legit" readers or followers you are in good connection with and ask them the same way as well.

5. It Is Free To Use

There is no cost involved and use them as much as you can. Set up a profile that looks worked on and has all of your current "information". Start following and making friends with as many as you can, and slowly refine your search.

It is free to share and use the features of the social site, such as meetings or groups. Be aware of the possibility of connecting with other "similar" people and sharing what you have to offer. Keep this strategy at a consistent basis. You'll see the rewards.

6. A Huge Database Of Ideas

On the social sites, in some areas of it, there are many looking for answers to their problems. People are looking for solutions and one of the places they are looking is in social media where they might be following one of their teachers such as a blogger or mentor.

Problems = Ideas. You can also get ideas by looking at what is the trend out there and capturing some of that vibe. Look at other content and analyze for yourself what is getting hits on it. It isn't hard to figure that out. Just look at the social signs such as comments or likes, retweets, etc...

Spying on your competition basically.

7. Social Media = Social Networking

Absolutely the fundamental aspect of receiving success on Social Media. That could be possible as its other name. If you are not networking with others on these sites, and just pumping just your own content and hoping it gets recognized.

Nope. It isn't.

The only way it would be is if your followers or close ones share and help you promote further. That is something I had to learn and didn't think of it that way. So, contact your close connections and help each other out with sharing. That way, you will be able to reach further down the channels of social media.

8. Increase Your Brand "Name"

Even "big" name companies that have existed prior to social media madness, have jumped on this medium to grow their business even more. According to eMarketer.com, 88% percent of marketers agree that social media has helped grow their brand "awareness".

Even if you haven't had your website exist before social media, now is the time to grow that name of your site into the brand that can be known by a wider mas, when grown. A smart strategy is to take a look at the big dogs and catch "some" of those tricks they use, cause they have more experience in the field.

Recap Of The 8 Social Media Advantages

There you have it. The 8 huge advantages listed here you can't miss of social media engagement. It could also be the top ten advantages of using social media for your site.

No more excuses not to use social media like it is, and if you are using it, I am sure you are not using the full advantages of it. I was doing the same till I rediscovered, myself, on what the true meaning of social media is.

Work on each of these eight points, one at a time. These are meant to be working points and stepping-stones to the next level of your social media engagement.

Out of all these points, the true key to success on any social site is engagement and time. Time you spend on getting better on that specific social media site.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7153890

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