Blog

January 8, 2013
Written by Allison Way
Category: Social Media

The Power of Your Brand's Instagram Community

It's one thing to post amazing, filter-enhanced photos to your Instagram account. But it's a completely different (and way better) thing to actually have a community of followers behind your Instagram photos. First-off, it's easy to recognize those accounts with a large following. 4000 followers? 516 'likes"? 84 comments? How did these brands get such a strong Instagram following?

Instagram is a whole different social media animal. And it's important to learn the ins-and-outs of this booming social network. Lucky for you, Inboun is here to help. Here are the top 3 things you can do to your Instagram account to build your photo-loving community.

December 20, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Social Media

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions to Improve Your Social Media Strategy

2013 is almost here. Have you made your resolution yet? Resolutions can be exciting and fulfilling...or they can just set you up for disappointment. The choice is yours. A large majority of people do not achieve the goal they set as their resolution (lost 10 pounds, run a marathon, travel to Europe). This happens for a lot of different reasons. The main being they set out on something that ended up exceeded their expectations—or generally speaking, “it was hard”.

Not completing a New Year’s resolution can be devastating to one’s psyche and could even leave you in a worse spot than before. So what do you do? Become the most determined version of yourself that has ever existed or just skip the notion of resolutions all together?

In the spirit of giving, I’ll give you option three; choose an easy resolution. The easier your resolution, the more likely you are to accomplish it. Lucky for you, becoming a better social media version of you not too difficult—all it takes is a little time and a little patience.

The Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions to Improve Your Social Media Strategy:

December 19, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Social Media

The End of the World Arrived a Bit Early: Instagram's New Terms of Service

"The End of the World" seemed to arrive a bit earlier than predicted. Instead of ending on December 21 like the Mayan calandar apparently predicts, social media users everywhere proclaimed that it was indeed the end of the world on Monday, December 17, 2012 when Instagram posted its new terms of use.

As soon as the social media picture-sharing giant released its brand new terms of use (you know, the one that proclaims that any photo could be used in an advertisement without permission?), the social media world seemed to freeze. Celebrities began deleting Instagram accounts. Instagram-aholics began protesting via Twitter and, quite appropriately, via Facebook. And users everywhere began deleting their most beloved, prized and perhaps "personal" Instagram pictures.

The celebrities that were most upset with the changes? Olivia Wilde, Anderson Cooper and even the beloved Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Saved By The Bell's "Kelly Kapowski") expressed their outrage.

So how is Instagram responding to the public outrage? Actually, they aren't doing too shabby of a job.

December 13, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Content Marketing

Top 10 Reasons Your Blog Isn’t Driving Traffic

Whether you’re a writer looking to showcase your talents or a business looking to increase web traffic and gain exposure, starting a blog is a great way all of these things. Thanks to sites like Blogger, Tumblr, and WordPress, it’s easier than ever to get your company’s blog rolling. Because it’s so easy, there are many blogs on the Internet today...but a shocking 95% of them can be considered dead!

The idea of starting a blog seems so simple, yet for new bloggers, it can quickly turn into a daunting task and lead to your blog becoming a part of the dead 95%. So how do you avoid failing? Knowledge is power, so we here at Inboun would like to lay some knowledge on you and lay it on thick. We brainstormed together and created a list of 10 reasons why your blog will stop working. We’re not listing these for the fun of it either—in fact, we know these because we too at one time or another fell victim to a #blogfail!

December 11, 2012
Category: Social Media

Nielsen 2012 Social Media Report Predicts Big Things for 2013

Last week, Nielsen's State of Social Media Report for 2012 spread like wildfire. But that's not too surprising. After all, the report displayed some hard stats and facts about the current state of social media. Now that social media and social networking are no longer in their infancy, there are some extremely important aspects that we need to pay attention to going into 2013. Lucky for us, Nielsen has pointed them all out.

If you haven't already taken a look at the Nielsen Social Media Report, we highly encourage you to do so: Nielsen Social Media Report 2012.

December 7, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Social Media

Thank Goodness It’s Follow Friday: Social Media & Television Collide

For those who haven’t heard the buzzword, “second screen”, the term refers to a “companion device” such as a tablet or smartphone that allows a TV audience to interact with the content they are consuming (like TV shows, music, movies or video games). So does the second screen devalue the television? Or has it becomes TV’s greatest addition since the debut of ABC’s TGIF?

As a matter of fact, television has finally begun to embrace the thought of social media (but it took some time!). Not only does social media allow consumers to be completely interactive with the program they are watching, but it also helps to battle cable’s greatest enemy—DVR.

December 5, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Social Media

Using Social Media for Lack of Original Thought - Inboun's Counterpoint

If we had a dollar for everytime someone asks us if we "do" social media...we would all be retired by now. And yes, the truth of the matter is, we "do" social media...but that's not the only thing that we "do". As you may or may not know, an integrated inbound marketing strategy takes a heck of a lot more than posting to Facebook once a week, scheduling a few tweets or posting a video or two to YouTube. It is so, so, so, so, so much more than that.

How many of you think that "social media companies" do this?:

This video, although created by the satirical writers at The Onion, makes a few interesting points:

Social media companies don't have any original or creative thoughts.
Facebook pages are created just because marketers don't have any other good ideas.
Any teenager can do what inbound marketing companies do (and at no cost and faster).
Marketing firms create new Twitter accounts to bulk up others.
Companies don't care if their account is real or not.
As long as a company looks like it's doing work, everyone will believe you.

So what do we think of these Onion-y statements? It's time for COUNTERPOINT! This one's for you, skeptics:

November 29, 2012
Written by Bobby Miller Jr.
Category: Social Media

Come On Babe, Everyone’s Doing It—Social Media Is A Lot Like Sex

We all have our...vices. Guilty pleasures. Weaknesses. Addictions. For some, it’s a serious issue. For others, the addiction can be an affinity for something harmless like...reading. But I digress. Whatever your vice may be, too much of anything is usually a bad thing. One activity Americans have lauded over for quite some time is...well...I’m not going to say it right away, but I will give you some hints:

It starts with the letter “S”.
It causes you to feel great pleasure throughout.
You can do it with a friend or by yourself.
There are a vast array of toys and gadgets to help you do it better.
We do it almost anywhere but if feels especially comfortable in bed.
You don’t want to think about it, but you know for a fact that your parents do it and maybe your grandparents too.
Read more

November 27, 2012
Written by Allison Way
Category: Social Media

The 12 Days of Social Media

It's the most wonderful time of the year! There are presents to be wrapped, cookies to be baked, Santas to be sat on, holiday lights to hang and...social media strategies to learn? That's right! Why not give yourself the gift of social media this holiday season? Here at Inboun, we'll make it easy! Starting on December 14th, you should learn one new social media trick leading up to...what else?...Christmas! So what are you waiting for? Let's count down the 12 Days of Social Media!

On the first day of Social Media, Inboun gave to me...a kick-butt Twitter account.

On the first day of your social media strategy execution, set yourself up with a Twitter account and explore all the cool ways you can connect with others in the Twittersphere. Research "influencers" in your industry on Twitter (for example, a coffee company should connect with local cafes, restaurants, Starbucks and others). Start tweeting out information in your industry that may be relevant to others. Retweet other people to get even more followers and traction. Set yourself up with a cool background, a meaningful bio, a designated hashtag. There are a ton of great ways to pimp out your Twitter account. And it should be the first step in your social media journey.