The days of gathering around the dinner table to converse with family, friends and loved ones is (almost) dead. Why? Because people are too busy Instagramming pictures of the turkey, tweeting about their big Turkey Bowl win and "Linking In" with special professional guests at the dinner table. Social media has taken over many holidays and Thanksgiving is no exception.
How will you social media-ize your Thanksgiving Day celebration? Here are 10 easy ideas!
The busiest shopping day of the year is almost here. With deals that can save someone hundreds of dollars, it’s no wonder why people all over the country camp out hours in advanced to secure themselves the best deals possible during Black Friday. Retailers are constantly upping the ante to entice consumers to spend money because for them, Black Friday means big money.
In order to get all the items on your list, it takes some meticulous planning to develop a shopping strategy. Fortunately, we live in a world where technology finds a new way to make itself useful every single day. And that includes shopping.
Facebook makes some type of change just about every day, so we don’t blame you if you struggle to keep up! A recent addition FB created is their “promoted post” platform of advertising. This is a separate platform similar to their longstanding ads model.
What is a Facebook promoted post?
So what exactly is a Facebook promoted post and how does it work?
A question your customers, readers, clients, partners, etc. will always ask. What will they get out of reading your blog, retweeting your post, Liking your Facebook status, partnering with you, becoming a client, buying your product?
This, my fellow inbound marketing gurus, is also known as the WIIFM. The WIIFM is quite possibly the most important five letters in any business writing, website, campaign and even overall success strategy. And a strong, direct WIIFM is critical to implement in any marketing plan.
Here are some social media statistics that will really blow you away (too soon?). According to Business Insider, Hurricane Sandy generated over 800,000 tagged photos (with hashtag #Sandy) on Instagram alone.
As we all know, Instagram is not quite as popular as Facebook (yet). As everyone's favorite, the FB giant displays over 300 million images a day! Hurricane Sandy has already become the second most popular topic in the United States on Facebook (what's #1? The Super Bowl). But the platform that truly took over the social media realm when it came to images, thoughts and opinions of the Superstorm was Twitter with over 20 million tweets referencing Hurricane Sandy between October 27th and November 1st.
No, Instagram isn't quite at the hundreds of million posts a day like Facebook and Twitter...but it certainly is getting close. Instagram images greatly differ from Facebook images (although Facebook acquired Instagram earlier this year for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock). Instagram is a photosharing network that is organized with hashtags (like Twitter) to give the site a different feel than people-oriented Facebook photos.
I’m an improvisor, meaning that I do improv comedy. I’m such an improviser that I’ve never really learned another language even though I have desired to. My first language is laughter.
One of the first shows I ever had with my troupe was at a hope house at a local hospital. The hospital hosted families in need that were going through treatment for life-threatening illnesses. When my troupe arrived on the scene, it was one of those “laughter is the best medicine” situations.
Unfortunately, we had one major barrier—the audience understood very little English. Kind of a nightmare scenario if you’re trying to put on a show of an art form that relies on suggestions from the audience. Needless to say, the improv was not going well...until we got our first laugh. I’m not sure if it can even qualify as a laugh (it was more a over exertion of air out a nose), but considering how quiet the room was, it sounded like a standing ovation at Carnegie hall.
What caused the acknowledgement of something humorous was a good old fashion flatulent sound made by my mouth. Just like a wave of a hand symbolizes “hi”, a fart noise symbolizes funny.
“We want this to go viral. So...make it go viral."
A phrase we hear often here at Inboun. But in all honesty, it’s easier said than done. There is no secret formula, hidden recipe, best-kept secret to get a video (or any content for that matter) to go viral. There are a host of different ingredients (some of the keys being strong brand advocates, luck, and maybe even a few cute kittens) that make a video go viral.
Though getting a video to go viral is a difficult task, it pales in comparison to building a consistent following. On YouTube, your following consists of your subscribers, and there is a lot of money in having a large amount of subscribers. Channels with a large amount of subscribers are like major networks in themselves.
Take, for example, the Nerdist channel. With over 200,000 subscribers, Nerdist has a full lineup of series, it’s a legitimate network, only it’s on the Internet. Similarly, look at Epic Meal Time. Instead of a lineup of shows there is just one. But what started off as few friends making ridiculous amounts of food has turned into a nationally recognized brand, with close to 3 million subscribers!
Don't think social media can make you money? Here's what I have to say to you...
Here's to the skeptics. The nonbelievers. The doubters. The pessimists. The round pegs in the...well...round holes. The ones who aren't open to seeing things differently. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is give into them. Because they may not be right. They don't push the human race--they only maintain what still exists. And while some may see them as experienced, we see cynics. Because the people who think that they're never wrong in this world - are the ones who often are.
(Yes, I did just steal Steve Job's famous "Here's To the Crazy Ones" quote and replace it for this blog.)
Our world is constantly changing. And the world of marketing is no different. You don't often see a black and white ad chocked full of detailed paragraphs in the newspaper anymore because this advertising style stopped working. Instead, you see clean, simplified ads...that often display Facebook icons and Twitter handles. The world of marketing has transformed...and the skeptics need to come along for the ride.
Let's face it--many people do not think that social media is important. There are other things to focus on. Bigger fish to fry. More money to make. What they cease to understand is that social media can actually make a business good money. Small businesses, startups and even giant corporations aren't jumping on the social media bandwagon for nothing! There's a purpose behind this Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook craze. Social media accounts drive revenue. They generate sales. They handle ongoing customer support.
Why do content writers write top 10 lists? Great question. And I could make this really short and to-the-point, but where’s the fun in that? Also it just so happens that the answer to the aforementioned query at the top of the paragraph is a ten-parter. Coincidence? Perhaps.
So as I crack my knuckles, like they do in the movies, in front of my digital type writer, you should prepare your brain because here comes some super (not really) secret insight into the mind a content writer:
I give you the top 10 reasons content writers love top 10 lists:
1. Top 10 Lists Help with SEO
Ever go to Google and searched top 10 [obligatory thing you’re looking for]? Odds are you have and will continue to do so. People search for things in 5’s and 10’s. They either look for one specific thing or they want a plethora of only the elite options of something. Content writers know this, because second to their knowledge of what they’re writing about is their knowledge of how people search. So if a writer wants their work to be seen by the masses, it’s best to make it easy for the masses to find.
