Another Data Scandal for Facebook
Facebook has temporarily suspended popular marketing analytics firm Crimson Hexagon after the company allegedly violated the company’s data privacy rules and collected private Facebook user data.
Crimson Hexagon is also banned from Instagram while Facebook attempts to unravel how the company collects, shares, and stores its user data.
The Wall Street Journal, which first broke the news, was the catalyst for Facebook’s probe into the company. The newspaper claimed that Crimson Hexagon has had contracts with the U.S. Government and a Russian nonprofit aligned with the Kremlin, as well as other organizations, to analyze public Facebook data.
While there is no inherent issue with the company’s analysis of public data, The Journal reported that the company did receive private data from Instagram in 2016, a claim that the data firm is denying and working with Facebook to debunk.
Facebook is currently investigating whether or not the company’s contracts with the U.S. Government and a Russian nonprofit aligned with the Kremlin violate Facebook’s data privacy rules in any way.
A Possible Error on Facebook's Part
Chris Bingham, founding CTO of Crimson Hexagon, defended his company by stating in a blog post,
“To be abundantly clear: What Cambridge Analytica did was explicitly illegal, while the collection of public data is completely legal and sanctioned by the data providers that Crimson engages with, including Twitter and Facebook, among others.”
According to the Journal, a Facebook glitch may have been partially to blame for the 2016 incident. Sources also told the Journal that Facebook and Instagram employees weren’t available to solve the issue. If this is true, Facebook could deal with its own fair share of fallout.
Based on its investigations so far, Facebook has not found any concrete evidence that Crimson Hexagon obtained any Facebook or Instagram data inappropriately and Crimson Hexagon is being cooperative.
Nevertheless, this suspected data breach could severely damage the emerging company’s reputation and put them in a grim position that may be difficult to crawl out of.
This incident also serves as another setback to Facebook as it struggles to restore public trust after the highly publicized Cambridge Analytica Scandal.
Facebook Struggles to Restore Its Image
Following the data breach that affected over 87 million users, Facebook suspended and analyzed over 200 third-party apps that had access to user data and rolled out several new data use guidelines for marketers looking to run ads on the platform.
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg also went on an extensive apology tour and willingly testified in Congress over Cambridge Analytica, data misuse, and the fake news crisis.
However, despite Zuckerberg’s apologies, new data guidelines, and a digital and TV campaign promoting authenticity and bashing fake news, Facebook is still fighting to reclaim its image.
California governor Jerry Brown also recently passed the California Consumer Privacy Act which forces companies operating in California to be transparent with consumers and provide them with information on how their personal data was used for marketing upon request.
This law ties into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and was put in place to prevent similar incidents from rocking the nation again.
More on Crimson Hexagon
Crimson Hexagon is an emerging AI-powered consumer insights company based out of Boston, Massachusetts.
The company has been making waves in the marketing community in recent years and has built up a list of high-profile clients including Adidas, Samsung, BBC, GM, General Mills, Twitter, and many others.
The company was founded in 2008 by Dr. Gary King and the company has stated that they have,
“instant access to the world’s largest volume of unstructured text and images across social, online public, and enterprise-held data sources.”
The company uses AI insights to help clients analyze audiences, track brand perception, and campaign performance, and detect competitive market trends.
The company has stated that its somewhat foreboding name stems from,
“"Crimson Hexagon” described in Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Library of Babel.The narrator in Borges’ story describes a library of astronomical size, comprised of almost infinite hexagonal-shaped rooms that collectively contain every possible combination of just 23 letters, a space, a period, and a comma.
Though most of the books are gibberish, the library also contains every valuable book ever written and that might ever be written.”
The name also derives from Dr. Gary King’s alma mater Harvard University, an institution whose color is famously crimson.
What do you think about this possible data breach? Continue the conversation in the comments.
Odds are that your company already has a team of people focusing on delivering effective, up to date marketing campaigns, to your client base and potential future clients. However, just how much do you actually know about the effects that your marketing has on these groups? When it comes down to it, what kinds of metrics can you use to measure the presence that your company, and your marketing campaigns, have in a competitive industry? If you’re unsure of the answers to these questions, you may want to investigate the world of media monitoring. It’s a multi-pronged strategy that aims to address a diverse range of needs that are applicable to every business. And it’s more accessible than ever before. The right media monitoring approach can:
- Keep you a step ahead of your competitors
- Give you a detailed understanding of your clients
- Keep you informed on what is likely to happen in the future
Media Monitoring Is a Full Time Job
Not making use of the media landscape is like wearing a blindfold. And it’s surprising just how many business owners feel that this is the normal approach. Many people don’t appreciate that the many media channels, and huge web of information they entail, are not simply something that lives in a world of its own. This information, and networks, can become intrinsically linked to your business and customer base if you make the effort. The average business owner or marketing director probably puts in a limited amount of effort to ensuring that they stay in touch with their industry and client base. But given the huge amount of relevant information and connections out there, there’s no way that you’re going to be able to do the best job you can by simply browsing the available information. With an effective media monitoring strategy, you can ensure that all your marketing and promotional content is as up to date as possible, and making as much use of the current environment and events around you. Customers are a hundred times more likely to trust a campaign when they can see that it’s evidently backed up by a diverse range of trusted sources, rooted in the world around them.
No Business Can Function as an Island
And media monitoring isn’t simply a way for you to reinforce your own products and services, and posit yourself as a business that is integrated into the wider world and industry. It’s also a crucial way of measuring the responses of a customer base you and your competitors share. No end of disastrous decisions could have been avoided if significant research had been put into customer responses to previous campaigns. The recently released Juicero found itself the target of no end of mockery, online and in print. The product aimed to capitalise on the trend for healthy living, coupled with convenience, by providing customers with pods of juice that could be crushed as needed. A brief amount of media monitoring and research would have revealed that Nespresso has been coming under increasing pressure recently for their very own podded products, which, while convenient, creates a huge amount of unnecessary waste. Juicero are now facing their last days, thanks in no small part to a lack of awareness of the general mood towards unnecessary waste. An effective media monitoring allows you to keep an eye on a diverse range of different media channels and markets, ensuring that your business is always in tune with the mood of the day.
Media Monitoring Provides Effective Feedback
Media monitoring also allows you to measure the responses to your marketing and service, not just in terms of customers, but also in terms of the wider world. For instance, if you keep your eye on the present, you can pick up on the general mood of industry and media pundits, and keep a handle on what the current wisdom is regarding matters which are key to your company. Not only do you have the ability to respond to the feelings of your own customers. You are also able to stay informed about where you stand with regards to prevailing theories and criticism. This awareness is key in a world where marketing needs to be diverse, flexible and adaptable. Constant media monitoring lets you change according to events in real time, adapting your content and marketing on the fly, and always staying a step ahead of both popular opinion and your competitors.
The value of media monitoring speaks for itself. In a world where more and more information is being exchanged, at breakneck speed, it’s a full time job staying on top of all the latest developments. However, once you’ve got a strategy implemented, you’ll start reaping the dividends. It’s time you looked into the untold benefits media monitoring could have in store for your company.
Earned media is the one strategy you need to incorporate into your marketing plan this year. But what is it, exactly?
Earned media is publicity received based on the newsworthiness of the content or the expertise of the person being interviewed. In essence, it’s media that is not purchased; it's free exposure for you, your company and your brand.
[bctt tweet="This is the one strategy you need to incorporate into your marketing plan this year." username="relevance"]
Why earned media?
The benefits are endless. Earned media is free publicity that is consumed daily by your current audience across a variety of online platforms.
Writing articles or being interviewed on online media sources allow you to bring awareness of your brand to your local community or potential new customers around the world.
Further, earned media allows you to control the message you want your audience to hear. You can show off your expertise in a certain area, highlight your organization’s mission, or announce new services. Because your target audience will see your interview or article on platforms they already trust and love, they are more likely to read your bio or visit your website.
You already know that consistent messaging builds trust and loyalty with potential clients or customers. With earned media, the most trusted source of information about your company comes not from you, but from your highly satisfied customers. These customers write glowing reviews, share your content on social media and tell their friends and family about your products. All for free.
The return on investment (ROI) for earned media is higher and more reliable than traditional paid methods. While ad companies can change their algorithms year after year, making it challenging to keep up with growing ad costs, earned media has staying power. Your articles and interviews will last much longer than your ads will, and if your content is evergreen, people can learn about your business for years to come.
What to Pitch
Earned media comes in many forms. The most common are guest blogs, newspaper articles, television interviews or spotlights, local and national magazine features, customer reviews, and social media shares.
What to pitch depends on the outlet you’re targeting. Remember, the key is to know your audience.
Here are a few best practices and examples of what to pitch:
Timely topics
Part of what makes something newsworthy is its timeliness and relevance. Here, you want to tie in what your company is doing into what’s going on in the world. For example, if you’re in the fashion industry, you might consider pitching a story about the Royal Wedding and how everyday brides can achieve the same look. Or, if you’re a therapist, you could pitch a local TV station to interview you about mental health awareness month and how to take care of your mental health. Be on the lookout for quirky holidays like National Pizza Day or International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day. You can find these and traditional holidays on Google, or in a publication like Chase’s Calendar of Events.
Pop culture references
If there’s any way that you can tie in your business to pop culture, it’s a great way to capture the attention of the press and actually be successful in driving earned media. For example, if you’re a relationship expert and there is this national trend of hot celebrity couples splitting up, you could pitch something like “the shocking truth on why celebrity partnerships fail” and give your expertise for that. Or, if you make cold brew coffee and you see photos of your favorite celebrities drinking cold brew coffee, you could pitch a story like, “Justin Timberlake’s new favorite cold brew.”
Research studies & statistics
To gain instant credibility, be sure to back up your claims with published studies and statistics. If you’re a nutritionist, you might consider pitching a news story or TV or radio interview about “enemy foods” like sugar, fat, gluten or dairy. You could also put a fresh spin to the research if you’ve done your own study or have evidence to the contrary. The media loves conflict, so this could be a good angle for your business and an effective way to get earned media.
Human interest stories
With so many negative stories out there, people love reading about others doing good in the world. If you’re a non-profit organization that donates school supplies to low income schools in your community, you could pitch your local newspaper or television channel to run a story about your recent donation. Or, if you run a restaurant, you could pitch a story or announcement that for one month, you’ll donate 25% of your profits to a local charity. You could even feature a family or business that has benefitted from your philanthropic work. Stories sell, so use that to your advantage!
How to Pitch
Finding publications and platforms your target audience is watching, reading or listening to isn’t as confusing as it seems. In this digital age, it’s really easy to connect with editors and producers. All you have to do is send them an email.
The first thing you need is a really great headline; one that will make editors and producers want to learn more. If you’re just getting started, a great trick is to make a list of all of the great headlines you see online, in newspapers, magazines or even television. Which headlines made you click to read more? Then, think about if there’s a way that you can remix it into something that works for your business and your story idea. Use your headline as the subject line for any pitch email you send out.
Next, you need to hook the editor from the beginning. If they’ve opened your email, that means they are already interested by what you wrote in the subject line. Don’t disappoint them in the body of the email; keep their attention while you have it! What’s the angle you’re going for? Are you refuting a recent study? Have a contrarian opinion on current events? Tell them up front.
Keep your pitch email short and sweet and to the point. Editors and producers do not have time to read lengthy, meandering emails. Use bullet points to emphasize product features or main points you will make in your article. Remember, this is the summary, not the entire article.
Last but not least
Finally, end your pitch email with two things: an ask and links to other relevant content. First, always end your emails with a specific ask. For example, “does this sound like a story that would resonate with your audience?” or “would you be interested in interviewing me?” Again, keep it simple. Second, be sure to include links to other relevant content you’ve already published. If you’re pitching to a blog or online publication, include links to articles that you’ve published online. If you’re pitching to a local TV or radio station, send clips of prior appearances. In most cases, editors and producers are looking for evidence of your previous work and credibility.
You can find the contact information for editors and producers on Twitter, on the staff pages of publication websites, or by simply calling the main office and asking for the person in charge of a specific department.
The Takeaway
Growing your audience doesn’t have to mean shelling out thousands of dollars in advertising. Some of the best publicity is free publicity through earned media.
Traditionally, when an entrepreneur started a venture, referrals were the most important source of business. People used to trust a business because someone recommended it. Hence, word of mouth marketing was essential for a company. Things haven’t changed a lot over the years; word of mouth marketing still holds its place as it drives $6 trillion of annual consumer spending and accounts for 13% of consumer sales. Also, word of mouth marketing results in 5 times more sales than paid media sales.
Although the importance of word of mouth marketing has never faded, it has evolved mainly due to the penetration of internet. A few years ago, companies used to sell their products to a passive audience without much interaction. However, the internet has opened two-way communication. Today, customers have a voice and the power to make or break a brand.
People don’t tell about a brand to friends and friends of friends; they just post it online where it reaches hundreds of people at once. Hence, we can easily say that word of mouth marketing has become more dangerous than before because word spreads like fire in the present era of the internet.
This drastic change in the entire marketing landscape has given rise to online reputation management. Online reputation entails improving your brand image and defeating any negative opinion with more positive views. Often online reputation management is confused with social media monitoring. However, online reputation management is much more than that; it is about taking feedback whether negative or positive and responding to it in a way that it does not damage your brand image. Dealing with negative reviews with care is critical, and companies that fail to do so might suffer from loss of sales and tinted brand image.
The interesting example of Dark Horse Café is quite relevant here. A customer complained about the shortage of electrical outlets in the café to which the company replied, “We are in the coffee business, not the office business. We have plenty of outlets to do what we need.” A lot of blogs labeled the café’s response as a negative public relations case.
Good reputation management also involves deciding whether to react at all. Sometimes if you don’t have a serious problem, then there is no need for a reaction. Often a delayed reaction can cost you a lot too. Negative reviews can be divided into two types based on their intensity. The first category includes complaints on social networks, and they usually don’t pose a real threat. The second category is more dangerous and can affect a business reputation in the long term. This category includes negative reviews, hate sites, and negative media coverage.
The infamous incident of United Airlines can be classified under the second category. Dave Caroll, a musician from Halifax, was traveling on the airline and baggage handlers severely damaged his guitar. When the company failed to compensate the singer for his loss, Dave took the matter to the public. He composed a song ‘United breaks guitars,’ which has more than 18 million views to date. The mishap cost the company 10% of its market capitalization, which is around $180 million.
These incidents show how powerful customers are and how they can leverage the digital media to put across their grievances. These events highlight the importance of managing reputation and relationship with customers. Here is how online reputation impacts a business:
1. Sales
According to a survey, 92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase and 40% of consumers make an opinion by reading just one to three reviews. The survey also showed that star rating is the number one factor in judging a business.
Research also shows that consumers are likely to spend 31% more on a product or service that has excellent reviews while a negative review can drive away 22% of customers. Conclusively, the statistics point to only one necessary thing, and that is the fact that your online reputation can make or break your product or service by directly impacting your bottom line.
2. Search Rankings
Reviews also have an impact on your search engine ranking. Research conducted by YOTPO voice tracked 30,000 online businesses for 9 months and found that the organic traffic to these sites started increasing after they added reviews. Google ranking algorithm values fresh and unique content and reviews are an excellent source for that content.
Reviews boost SEO without you putting in any effort because they provide links and long-tail keywords. Moreover, automated search engines use spiders that search for customer reviews and testimonials to evaluate a site. Plus, there are teams of search quality raters that manually judge thousands of sites for their authority and expertise, earned through good customer content. User-generated content increases a site’s legitimacy and helps it gain SEO juice from rating systems.
Managing online reputation takes time and effort. A company needs to proactively monitor the digital space, respond to customers, and acquire more positive reviews. Here is how a small company can manage its online reputation:
3. Monitor
Customers are continually talking about your business on various platforms. The question however is, are you listening? The first step in reputation management is listening to what customers are saying. You need to see your business through the eyes of your customer.
Keeping a vigilant eye on what is being said can be a difficult task, especially if you have a presence on various platforms. However, it is also problematic for small businesses since they have limited marketing budget and human resource.
However, considering the stakes that are involved, it is crucial for every business owner to know what is being said about the company because potential customers are regularly basing their purchase decisions on the feedback.
To start off, you can do a quick search for your business and see what comes up. What is the first impression that you get? You can also monitor by turning on alerts on review sites and through automated tools. No matter which way you choose, make sure that you do monitor because you wouldn’t want a negative review hanging in there.
4. Respond
Once you have started monitoring, you need to deal with the tricky part, which is to manage the reviews. There is nothing to panic about negative reviews. In fact, they show that your company is authentic. Research even shows that 52% of the buyers trust a product more if it has a few negative reviews.
One of the common mistakes businesses do is covering up or deleting a negative review. Running from a negative review is never the solution. Customers appreciate transparency and responding to criticisms shows that you care about them. In fact, it is an opportunity for you to convert this customer into an advocate.
When responding to customer reviews, timing matters a lot. Customers expect companies to be prompt in replying because this shows that the company genuinely wants to help its customers. You need to get into the conversation early to prevent it from flaring up. Most importantly, understanding reviews will also tell you how to improve your business so that customers don’t have an issue in the first place.
5. Get more Reviews
To get more reviews is a difficult task. In an ideal situation, all your happy customers would be singing your praises online. However, it isn’t always the case. Satisfied customers often forget or don’t feel like the need to review a business even if it deserves it. Hence, it is crucial for a company to remind and guide customers through the review process. First, brands need to earn the reviews by providing excellent service and product. Once, customers have formed a bond with the brand a timely request will make it easier to acquire more positive reviews.
Once you have acquired reviews, these reviews can help you target more customers. How you do that depends on your marketing strategy. If you have a website, you can post reviews there for the visitors to see. You can also post them on your social media accounts. No matter how you use them, the point is that you need to leverage your reviews.
Managing reviews can be a hurdle because it is time-consuming. However, thanks to a plethora of tools in the market, you can automate the task. Some popular tools include the Brand Grader, which gives you a quick overview of your brand’s presence. It shows the most significant influencers of your brand, sources of the mentions, and sentiments regarding your brand. Although this tool is not as comprehensive as others, it is perfect for a quick review and the best part is that it is free.
Some social media monitoring tools that small businesses can use include TweetReach, which shows you the impact of your tweets and allows you to find the most influential followers so that you can target them accordingly.
Mention is another useful tool that companies use to track their online reputation. Mention allows you to monitor online conversations across major social media platforms, forums, news, and review sites. Since a lot of discussions happen at once, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the results. However, Mention’s Boolean alerts make sure that you only get the results that matter.
Ureview.me is another tool that brings all your reviews in one place. It continuously goes through review sites and alerts you when a customer leaves a review.
In the age of the Digital Era, it’s a little ironic, though not surprising, that customers crave personal brand relationships. While almost every touchpoint along the path to purchase can be automated now, it’s more imperative than ever before to cultivate client connections that are anything but cold and impersonal. We might be letting robots and virtual assistants take over some business operations, but at the crux of our companies, we must remember that the trends changing customer interaction are everything.
That said, there are a few new products that are totally changing the game. These smart tools might be tech-savvy and innovative, but they’re arguably our greatest assets when it comes to building loyal brand communities of engaged and excited followers.
Innovation That Solves Client Pain Points
While this is one that will look different for every industry, the top way that companies are leveraging smart technology is to meet their customers right where they are and address some major pain points along the way. Many of these products fall under the smart home category, as demonstrated by this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
From a smart clothespin that affixes to your clothesline to monitor weather conditions and tell you when it’s the best time to do laundry to a washer and dryer system from Whirlpool that syncs with your Apple watch and Alexa home system to alert you when it’s time to change cycles, there’s virtually no limit to what brands can achieve. The key? Consider your audience base, and what their frustrations might be with your industry. Then, seek to integrate technology that can offer a viable and valuable solution.
Smart Packaging That Delivers
One way to boost customer loyalty and improve retention rates? Make sure your customers know they can trust both you and the products or services you deliver. One way to do so is to incorporate smart packaging into your delivery operations. For example, one Polish-based company created a “Talkin’ Things” label that utilizes Near Field Communication technology.
When customers receive a shipment in the mail, they can scan the label and quickly discern whether or not the product is genuine or counterfeit. They can also learn important product information, such as sealing integrity and expiration date, with a quick scan. The label, designed to feature NFC technology as well as Radio-Frequency Identification, cloud computing and mobile app capabilities, was a finalist for last year’s NFC Innovation Award.
This type of label is especially effective for brands in the food and hospitality niche, as well as pharmaceuticals. By protecting brand integrity and bolstering customer security, it offers a creative new way for customers to connect and stay informed at the same time.
Online Community Forums That Engage
Want your customers and brand advocates to feel like they’re truly a part of your company? Why not allow them a firsthand look into your development process, and allow them to try their hand at creating some new product lines?
Forward-thinking companies such as LEGO and DEWALT are doing just that. The former hosts its LEGO Ideas online community, wherein members can submit renderings of their ideas for new game set creations. In a similar vein, DEWALT’s Insight Community is full of more than 10,000 end users who offer product feedback, ideas for new developments, and worksite challenges they’d like to see addressed.
While the technology might not be cutting edge, this innovative use of online member forums certainly is. It’s also smart, as it allows brands a firsthand look at their customer base, and there’s no sharper assessment tool than a first-person anecdote of a specific challenge that only your brand can solve.
Another benefit to this type of system? It allows you to recognize loyal and active customers. For instance, LEGO reviews all product submissions that get more than 10,000 fan votes on the Ideas community. When a winner is chosen, that person’s name is affixed on all product packaging and marketing. He or she even gets a cut of the profits! Talk about an incentive worth going after.
Beacon Technology That Alerts Customers to Promotions
Here’s a question for brick-and-mortar businesses: How many times have you ran a company-wide promotion and expected a ton of foot traffic, only to come up short? If that scenario sounds familiar, your marketing strategy might not be solely to blame. It’s likely that people simply didn’t know you were holding the sale, or weren’t alerted in time to stop in.
Beacon technology is out to change that reality. Stores can affix these tiny beacons to the outside of their storefronts to learn when someone is walking by who might find the promotion attractive. Powered by Bluetooth technology, these allow you to send a discount code or other special incentive to someone standing directly outside of your door.
Moreover, they’re also great tools for customer analytics. Using the data gathered by the Bluetooth beacon, retailers can quickly see the effectiveness of each promotion. Was there a particular time of day that they worked better? What about appealing to certain age groups or other demographics?
Virtual Reality That Lets Customers Try Before They Buy
While e-commerce is booming, research reveals that 65% of customers would rather come into a physical store to make a purchase. Why? There’s a hands-on tangibility to in-store retail that cannot be replicated on a screen, no matter how fancy the graphics or how advanced the HTML.
As such, many companies are merging the two worlds, offering customers a smart and immersive in-store experience that leverages the latest and greatest in technology advancement, all while catering to the fact that they’re there in person. One way they’re achieving this balance is through the use of virtual reality systems.
From dressing rooms that let you see how an item of clothing will look in various forms of lighting to smart mirrors that let you visualize yourself in a particular setting, such as on a beach, wearing an outfit, these tools are taking the user experience to an entirely different level.
Even if you’re not selling clothing, consider how virtual reality can benefit your customer experience, and whether or not it’s worth the investment to both impress your client base and keep happy customers coming back for more.
Standing Out and Building Brand Love in 2018
Customers now have access to virtually any piece of information they might need, right at their fingertips. Moving forward, successful companies will be those that recognize this potential and leverage new, smart technology to create more meaningful and impactful client relationships.
Digital functionality is becoming sharper and more advanced than ever before, but standing out as a brand doesn’t just mean buying the best systems out there. It means using them strategically to engage clients, build brand loyalty, and improve satisfaction ratings for now and for years to come.
A Viable Partnership
As a way to supercharge their social media campaign strategy, Viacom has acquired influencer marketing firm Whosay. Steve Ellis, CEO of Whosay, made the announcement on the Whosay Twitter account this morning.
Founded in 2010, Whosay has been a leader in the world of celebrity and influencer paired social marketing campaigns. The firm creates campaigns for a wide range of brands, then casts popular influencers to share those branded messages on multiple social media platforms.
In the past, Whosay has tapped Darren Criss to promote AT&T, Vanessa Williams for Aveeno, Alec Baldwin for Chevrolet, Lil Yachty for MTV, former Olympian Nastia Liukin for Cigna and many others. From videos to GIFS to Instagram images, Whosay has driven over 400 of the best influencer/brand matched marketing campaigns.
Whosay masterminds the entire campaign process and, rather than just controlling a network of celebrities, they enlist the help of popular influencers to distribute custom created branded content. The company then optimizes and monitors distribution performance and “doubles down on the best performing segments to deliver efficient reach, desired actions and positive sentiment.”
Whosay remains loyal to the process the whole way through, utilizing analytic tools to measure sentiment, ROI, and brand lift.
This acquisition is not the first time Viacom and Whosay have teamed up. They’ve collaborated with each other for two years developing over 50 campaigns for MTV, BET, and other Viacom entities and events. This acquisition stems from the positive results of those campaigns and marks a major step forward for both companies.
In today’s Whosay blog post Steve Ellis stated,
“Combined now with Viacom's global content engine, diverse audience and best-in-class advanced advertising tools, we will continue to seamlessly marry creativity and every level of talent with brand objectives all while optimizing the message via omnichannel distribution."
Moving Forward
With this new alliance, Viacom will be able to start creating campaigns for their multiple intellectual properties. They can also begin to venture further into the social media and shopper marketing landscape. Whosay will also help Viacom’s new digital studios unit develop and monetize short form content.
Moving forward, Whosay will reap the benefits of Viacom’s global content engine, massive social media and television audience, and their top of the line advertising tools to tell better stories and increase influencer reach. This integration will allow Whosay to develop content not just for Instagram, Youtube, and other online platforms, but for television as well; allowing the company to grow right alongside Viacom.
As the new age of digital marketing and vertical optimization continues to unfold, Whosay and Viacom will undoubtedly be at the forefront of 2018’s developmental marketing shifts. The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed but both companies seem to be looking forward to the new creative opportunities their partnership will hold.
The entire Whosay team will continue to work out of their current offices in New York and L.A. as an independent organization working closely with Viacom’s Marketing & Partner Solutions Group.
To learn more about the acquisition, check out Whosay’s and Viacom’s announcements.
Every respectable brand or business that promotes its products and services online takes advantage of today’s popular social media channels. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest – they are all extremely popular, and people use them daily without even questioning their behavior, which can sometimes show signs of addiction.
As marketers and businessmen, we can’t neglect the trends that rule our current marketplace. If the majority of people spend a lot of time online, active on social media, we must represent and ready to connect.
Every social network has a lot of potential for your brand, so knowing how to strategize and implement your social media marketing strategies will heavily influence your brand’s reach and success.
1. Know All About Your Target Audience
Before promoting your content and brand’s unique selling point on social media, you must definitely know who you’re addressing. This is basic marketing knowledge and expertise. Whenever you promote something, whether it’s a video, a Facebook page, or a brand, you’ll have to address it to a specific target audience.
Not everyone’s interested in what you have to have to sell or offer. Therefore, keep your message very concise and relevant to those who are truly interested.
2. Give Value and Relevancy through Content
Mark Hawser, a marketing expert at Rushmyessay UK, suggests:
“Nowadays, high-quality content is quite rare to find. This is not a general statement though, as there are plenty of webmasters that do their best to post only relevant content and information. While your social media networks allow the spreading of your content, the quality of your content is the aspect that differentiates your brand from the rest.”
Therefore, if your competition is posting the same content over and over again, you’d better consider coming up with something unique. Unique, not original. Everything has already been said.
However, reading a 500 words article on a topic is not the same as consuming a 10-minute interactive (yet educational) video. Add your own twists to everything you publish!
3. Focus on Visual Content
You must have heard the saying “one picture is worth a thousand words”. Considering that you agree, can you imagine how many words a video can express? Whenever you distribute a new update on your social pages, include an image along with every written blog post/article. However, make sure that your image really speaks to the reader, so don’t throw it there randomly. Also, ensure that you use stock video and images to stay out of trouble.
The link between high-quality visual content and brand awareness is this: a great piece of content is likely to be shared, which means that reach will increase. If you use watermarks to brand your video, many people will stumble upon your brand’s name and logo. And even if you don’t, people will still see the original poster.
4. Approach Niche Influencers
The so-called “social media influencers” are people who generally have many followers/subscribers. I’m talking about either popular individuals or popular social media pages that appeal to the same (or approximate) target audience you do. However, make sure to avoid influencers that are in direct competition with your brand’s products and services.
For example, if you’re selling ecological food, you can approach different local chefs, popular cooking blogs, or anyone who talks about food. You’ll often have to negotiate a price for these influencers to promote your business/products to their loyal followers.
5. Listen to Your Brand Follower’s Voice
Social media marketing is quite simple: improve your business pages and conduct profitable paid advertising campaigns. That’s it. That’s all you have to do to increase your brand’s reach and awareness. To do that, you must take into consideration your follower’s opinions, comments, and critiques.
The feedback you receive from likes/comments/shares/pins/tweets/etc. is important. However, it’s also important what people think of your brand. Many would like to offer you suggestions, while others will be eager to share negative feedback. All of your followers' feedback is important – not just the positive, as you can gain insights from everything that you receive!
6. Try to Make Your Content Go Viral
Social media gives you tons of opportunities to broaden your brand’s reach. One of the huge perks of social media marketing is represented by the chance of becoming viral. Indeed, the average internet user shares a lot of things on his social networks.
If you come up with an amazing video (it’s usually videos that go viral), many of your followers will be glad to distribute it, so more of their friends might receive value from it.
Moreover, there’s another psychological aspect present in this equation: sharing something gives you social status. Most people identify with the things they share. Therefore, if you can “touch” your audience’s emotions and interests and emphasize their personality, you can trigger an immediate drive to share.
7. Test, Measure, and Optimize All Your Content and Campaigns
Test, measure, optimize. If you want to increase your brand’s awareness, you’ll have to improve the performance of your social media campaigns. Whether they’re organic or paid, all of your campaigns need to be tested, measured, and eventually optimized.
For example, if you’ve decided to post 1 piece of content each day, you’ll need to continuously analyze its impact. Measure your traffic numbers, the clicks, the open rates, and your reach. Figure out patterns. For example, if posts that contain images of nature receive more likes, then start posting more pictures with beautiful landscapes.
There are various social media analytics tools that will help you understand the behavior of your audience. Campaign optimization is not something that you could or could not do. It is an essential practice and activity that’ll continuously improve your brand’s awareness and business performance!
Takeaways
To increase your brand’s awareness through social media platforms is surely a challenging objective. There’s an unknown learning curve that every webmaster and business owner must go through in order to excel. You can’t simply know what works best.
You have to observe, test, measure, and optimize your activity at all times. Consistency is key to developing anything great, and this applies especially to the development of a professional brand.
Okay, so it has been over a year now since Instagram first introduced Instagram Stories. Although many of us are avid users of the feature, a lot of businesses are failing to utilize this tool. But no fear, we have built this simple guide so businesses can fully understand the do’s and don’ts of Instagram stories and how to make them work for you.
We’ll go back to the basics. Imagine Instagram stories have only just been launched. You know nothing about them. So, let’s find out what they are and what they do.
What are Instagram Stories?
Instagram Stories allow users to add images and videos to their profile to share moments of their day with their followers. The photos and videos will disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid. That means you can be as creative as you please, without over-posting and cluttering up your followers’ feeds. Great!
“Instagram Stories, a new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story.” - Instagram
Where are they found?
Instagram stories are shown at the top of your instagram homepage feed. The picture in the circle is the profile picture of the person whose story it is. The coloured pink and orange border around the circle tells you that there is a post on their story you haven’t yet viewed. (In the below example, the same goes for you! You have uploaded a new photo to your story, but haven’t checked it out yet!)
To view someone’s story, just tap on their profile photo in the story bar. Viewing stories can be done at your own pace: tap to go back and forward or swipe to jump to another person’s story. Unlike posts to your Instagram feed, stories aren’t prone to getting lost in your follower’s feeds. Instead they remain at the top of a user’s Instagram homepage. The chances of followers seeing your post is, therefore, a lot greater.
How to Use Instagram Stories
The Basics
Before we dive into the business benefits of Instagram Stories, it is important to know how to use them. First things first, let’s learn how to add a post to your story. Sounds simple, but unfortunately like most technology, it’s more confusing than you think.
Adding a post to your Instagram Story: Lucky for you, there are two ways to add to your story: the first can be done by going to your profile page and clicking on your profile picture (icon). The second can be achieved by navigating to your main feed and clicking on the camera icon on the top left corner. Take your photo and then add text, drawings, and stickers to your masterpiece. Once you’ve created your post, tap the “+ your story” icon on the bottom right corner and BAM! it’s officially added to your story.
For some businesses, an ordinary photo just won’t do your post justice. Sometimes, using a video or Boomerang or even going “live” will give your users a more exciting post. Think about it. If you are posting about a business event you are attending, taking a photo of the place would be fine, but “boomeranging” inside the event and giving video updates of insightful talks would be a lot more useful (and not as easy to quickly tap through!)
Choosing an image from your camera roll: So you have attended a great business event. You have lots of image and video coverage but it’s sitting in your camera roll. Fear not! Instagram has a feature for that. You can upload the photos and videos taken in the last 24 hours to your story in two ways: Clicking the small thumbnail icon on the bottom left of the screen next to the flash icon will unveil your content. Alternatively, you can swipe your screen down to see all of your recent images to post.
Important! The dimensions for Instagram Stories are at 1080 x 1920 pixels. This means that, for many photos, you may need to get cropping your content before you post it. The video aspect ratio is 9:16 and the length can vary from anywhere between 1 second up to 15 seconds. Again, you may have to get savvy with your story cropping skills.
Remember: Unfortunately, you can’t post anything that has been taken more than a day ago.
Editing Your Post
To post optimized content on your Instagram Story, businesses should be making the most of the text, pen, and sticker options available. This will help to explain what is going on in the image, the location it was taken and the people who are involved, etc.
Adding text: Adding text is done by clicking on the top right corner on the “Aa” icon. Then start typing. Having written your masterpiece, you can tap out of the text box where you can change the style and alignment. There are three styles to choose from: a slight faded colour behind the text, a solid text background colour, and no background, just the text in your colour of choice.
To change the colour of your text, highlight the word you want to change. By using the colour palette bar you can tap the shade you want. To have different words in different colours, you can write one word at a time and choose your colour. Having created the first word, tap out of the text box and go back to the “Aa” icon to add a separate text box. Type your text in and make this a different colour… Ta da!
Geotags: These are a form of ‘sticker’ that can be accessed by clicking on the square happy face icon on the top right corner of your screen. Here you will find a “location” sticker. Tap this to add your location to the image. This is great for letting customers know where you are or if you are attending an event. Your viewers can then click on the event to “see the location”. This takes them to a page to view the map location of your whereabouts and other popular posts tagged in the same location.
Good to Know: With any sticker, you can increase and decrease their size by pinching or expanding it with two fingers.
Adding hashtags: There are two ways to add a hashtag to your post: by clicking on the stickers icon and tapping “hashtag” or typing your known hashtag in the text box (so through the “Aa” icon). Either approach will result in a tappable, searchable hashtag in your story.
Tagging people in a post: Click on the “Aa” icon and type the “@” symbol, followed by the Instagram user (handle) you want to tag. Instagram should generate a list of people who you are trying to tag as you are typing. Click on their image to tag them.
Remember: You must click on their image to make sure the tag works. Otherwise you can type the @name of someone, without actually tagging them. In order to tell if it has worked, their Instagram name will be underlined.
Tips for Verified Accounts
How to add links: If you have a verified account, the link feature is great for driving people to your longer form content such as a product page or offer page. You can do this by adding a photo or video to your story, and then tapping the paperclip icon on the top right corner of your screen. Add the URL and when you “add to your story,” you’ll see the call to action “see more”.
Tip: Get creative with the pen and stickers to create arrows and other focal points, drawing the attention of your users to the “swipe up” section of the screen.
@kimkardashian uses image tags and tags via text on her image to encourage users to other Instagram accounts related to the post. @huffpost layer text boxes, hashtags, and arrows drawn with the pen tool help focus user attention to “swipe up for more info!”.
Many people describe Instagram Stories to be “like Snapchat” - an image messaging and multimedia mobile application. But, sadly for Snapchat, Instagram Stories are taking over. We are going to take a look through some of the reasons, why Instagram Stories are becoming so popular, particularly for business use.
Why Should Businesses Use Instagram Stories?
If you’re a brand, the list of reasons why you should use Instagram Stories is endless. As a well-established social media channel, there are lots of benefits and features you must utilize to enhance your social media marketing tactics.
Reach More Customers than Other Apps
Most importantly, the amount of people you are likely to reach on Instagram is usually far greater than on similar devices such as Snapchat.
Why?
- It’s harder to find people on Snapchat (and hence their content).
- You can’t share links or tag people on Snapchat.
- Instagram quite simply has a larger audience (700 million users over 300 million users).
- Media content is of better quality on Instagram.
Fact: TechCrunch reports that the marketing platform TheAmplify is seeing 28% higher open rates on Instagram Stories compared to Snapchat.
Maintain a Presence in Your Followers’ Feeds
With Instagram getting a new algorithmic model, your posts are now less likely to appear in your followers’ feeds multiple times. Your posts only show to followers that Instagram deems will be most interested in them. That’s where Instagram Stories come into play.
Unlike regular posts, your stories don’t have to compete for a spot in your followers’ feeds. They feature at the very top of a user’s feed. You can stay at the top of the feed - and mind - of your followers.
Lots of Average Posts Encourages Engagement
Instagram Stories aren’t known for showing the highest quality images and videos. As a matter of fact, they are more your “average” posts, published frequently and consistently to show users a “day in the life” of your business. Not everyone can capture wow-factor content on the go, and that’s fine. As long as the media is clear, posting regular business updates encourages followers to engage with you by checking your profile for the latest posts and useful information. So, make sure you give it to them!
Diversify Your Strategy
Maintaining the attention of anyone can be a difficult daily task. Diversifying your content helps to keep the attention of your target audience and cater to their many preferences. For many businesses, this can be in the form of adding a new channel or social media platform to your strategy. That sounds a little time consuming to us.
If you are already on Instagram, using Instagram Stories is a perfect way of mixing up your marketing content with the resources you already have. Take away the need of creating a new social profile and try to rebuild your audience by utilizing Instagram Stories, which is a new feature of an already existing platform.
Use Real-Time Marketing
Not only do customers have a need for more personalized content, they are also demanding it now! You can cater to this need by posting live during an event or sale to encourage more people to attend. For those who can’t attend, your posts bring them closer to your business, giving them the opportunity to experience the antics through social updates.
Save and Repurpose Content
As you now know, Instagram Stories have a lifespan of 24 hours. Some will see it as a downfall, but that’s where being social savvy comes in. Your post content can be saved manually (or you can set Instagram to save all Story content to your camera roll automatically) to reuse it at a later date! Perhaps you ran an Instagram poll? This data can be turned into a really cool, informative Instagram post to thank those who got involved and voted. Great!
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, using Instagram Stories is pretty straight-forward and there are dozens of benefits to them. It gives freedom and flexibility to your Instagram marketing, despite the ongoing changes in the platform and to-use behaviour.
“Instagram has always been a place to share the moments you want to remember. Now you can share your highlights and everything in between, too.” - Instagram
With so many reasons to use it, why not try an Instagram Story today?
If you’re a blogger or marketing specialist, you’re sending dozens of outreach emails every single week. Sometimes you’ll invite influencers to take part in an interview, but mostly you’ll be pitching guest post ideas. If you don’t write these outreach letters well, the result is silence. You continue sending the same pitch to other webmasters, and you still don’t get a response.
Before we go any further, forget about the “Dear *first name*” approach. That doesn’t make the recipient feel special or close to you. It only makes you look silly in the eyes of an established blogger or journalist. Here’s a tweet: “If you send me PR pitches addressed to “Dear Rafter” chances are about 100% I’ll never respond.” If you check the PRFail hashtag on Twitter, you’ll see that most tweets start with dear. That’s PR people being sarcastic.
It’s easy to understand where we’re failing in modern web communication. We’re slaves to clichés and we keep following patterns. It’s time to make a difference.
How Outreach Letters Work
To explain why outreach emails are important, we need to focus on the importance of guest blogging. This strategy gives you a chance to expose your message to a completely new audience. You’re also getting an opportunity to establish yourself as a thought leader and build relationships with influential bloggers from your niche.
Guest blogging can’t happen without sending outreach letters. You can’t expect popular websites to send you messages, begging you to write a piece for them. That’s why you need to come up with a no-fail strategy that works.
The Secret Tactics
1. Don’t Follow a Pattern
So you don’t start with dear and you can’t open the letter with a simple hi. How do you start?
A simple Hey Robert is enough. You get the difference, right? It doesn’t seem fake, like dear Robert does, and it isn’t vogue like hi is. It’s focused, simple, and friendly -- all at the same time. To make this happen, you need to find the target’s name. Who makes the selection of content published at the website? If you’re sending a pitch to a website with a large staff of editors, the least you could do is put the name of the site in the greeting part.
Wait, isn’t Hey Robert a pattern? Well, it might be, but it’s better than the other two examples we mentioned. You have to find a way to start the message, after all.
2. Be Relevant!
You don’t ask an editor how they are doing. You don’t write "hey Robert, hope you’re doing well." Such an approach demands an answer, which the editor of a website is not willing to give. They aren’t going to tell you about their day.
Hey Robert,
I’m reaching out to suggest a guest post named ‘4 Risks that Block Your Personal Growth’. As a fan of such topics, I just thought you’d be interested.
I’m sending a brief outline in the attachment.
Cheers,
Anna from x.com
Do you see the difference? A blogger or website editor can’t spend more than a couple of minutes on each outreach letter. The last thing they want to see is huge text in the body of the message. Be brief and stay relevant.
3. Throw a Line that Shows You Know What Their Site Is About
As a fan of such topics, I just thought you’d be interested.
Remember that part from the example above? It shows that Anna follows the activity of this particular blogger. It’s important to make a relevant pitch with a headline that would fit right into that site.
You need to find a topic that’s not already covered, and you have to think of something the blogger or editor would like. Then, briefly mention that you know what their site is about and you believe you have something that would fit in. Anna managed to do that with a single sentence.
4. Imitate the Author… Just a Bit
When you’re sending a pitch, it’s all about fitting in. It’s clear that the Guardian is all about news, so that’s the style you need to adopt. Even if you’re sending a pitch to a blogger who says they appreciate your individuality, you still need to check out their content and realize how you can slightly adjust your style to fit into the website’s vibe.
Does that mean you need to imitate the author? Not really. But, here’s the secret strategy: recognize the pattern of their posts and follow it. Then, preserve your own voice but make sure it meets the standards of this blogger.
Why is this important for outreach letters? Well, you’ll keep that tone in the messages, too. If you’re dealing with someone who’s witty and funny, you won’t write a rigid email message. If you’re dealing with a serious website that censors the content of its writers, you’ll censor your own message when reaching out.
5. One Last Word: Grammar!
As a fan of such topics, I believe you're interested.
As a reader, you notice all that’s wrong with this sentence. The person who makes such mistakes, however, doesn’t realize how seriously they affect the success of the outreach letter. We all make habitual mistakes when writing and we’re not aware of them.
Check and double-check the message before clicking that send button. If necessary, hire editing services to help with really important messages. That’s the coolest secret tip we have. Many bloggers are using online editing services not only for the posts they publish but for outlines and outreach emails as well.
Writing great outreach letters is not easy. You’ll be ignored many times before you realize what you’re doing wrong. However, remember that it’s possible to impress bloggers and editors with the outreach message. You just need to stay away from patterns and add something special to your message. Hopefully, you’ll do that if you follow the tips you just went through.
Five years ago Pinterest, the image-sharing social network, had around 5,000 users. Today, it has over 100 million active users, is worth over $11 billion and is continuing its steady growth—both at home and abroad.
Early Pinterest users displayed a passion for design, so CEO Ben Silbermann built a good relationship with design bloggers, which kick-started Pinterest’s close engagement with the blogging community. This was an enormous help to Pinterest in the early days since it gave the fledgling social network access to a large, engaged audience that was full of potential new members.
When it comes to reaching a larger audience, bloggers are often the gatekeepers. As such, you should only approach them with open and sincere intentions. Bloggers guard their audiences with care (rightfully so) and they know they have valuable influence. Annoy too many influencers with insincere, generic emails and gaining access to their audience becomes difficult and expensive. To avoid getting shut down in your blogger outreach, here are some important rules of engagement:
Be Sincere
This point can’t be stressed enough. Generic, copy-and-paste email blasts to hundreds of bloggers won't work. First, you have to be sure that a blogger outreach approach is right for your business, target customers, and audience.
Great content is crucial, but without amplification, it can take noticeably longer to generate high-volume, high-quality traffic to your website. It’s far better to have tens of thousands of viable customers than hundreds of thousands who found you through an expensive PPC campaign. Working with bloggers places your content or marketing copy in front of a highly targeted audience, which you can only earn access to if you do your homework.
This is the worst kind of email bloggers receive on a daily basis: “Dear Sir or Madam attached you will find some information about a new product we have just released. We would appreciate it if you could write a positive review about it on your blog.”
Best case, it’s ignored. Worst case, the “Dear Sir or Madam” will share the email on social media, alerting other bloggers to the latest insincere pitch landing in their inbox. Don’t be that brand.
Instead, take the time to be sure the blog is a good fit for the campaign, and then send a friendly email that addresses the website owner by their first name.
Make Blogger Outreach an Ongoing Activity
Much like journalists, bloggers don’t like to receive generic, press release-style emails unless it's directly relevant to their audience. Make time to maintain consistent contact with bloggers in your network on a regular basis.
Read their blogs, send them links when you see something relevant to them, follow them on social media. By providing value and support now, you build goodwill and increase the likelihood that they’ll reciprocate when you want them to write about your brand or publish a guest article down the road.
Don’t Try to Control the Message
Bloggers are fiercely independent and opinionated. Trying to make sure they stick to your script simply won’t work. Even when you pay for a sponsored post, they can lose credibility with their readers if they don’t feel able to express their views.
What they write will be based on their experience of your product or service, the brand and the interactions they have with you. Attempting to control the message will only harm the relationship and could damage the brand's reputation.
As you work with bloggers, remember that these contacts could develop into some of your strongest brand advocates. Always be sincere, genuine and take the time to ensure you are working with the right bloggers for your brand. Do your homework before starting outreach by reading the blog to make sure it’s a good fit for both parties. Finally, let go of the idea that you can control what they say. Earned media mentions do not come from a paid spokesperson for your business. Rather, bloggers need editorial independence to maintain the credibility that makes their endorsement valuable.
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