How to Stay Up-To-Date With the Latest Social Media Changes
How to Stay Up-To-Date With the Latest Social Media Changes
Do you struggle to keep up with the fast pace of social media? Are you often the last one in your team to find out about an important social media update or development?
Reading books on social media is a great way to develop your knowledge and skills, but with social media changing at warp speed, it’s perhaps not the best way to stay on top of all the latest news.
Trawling through the web to find out more is one option, but when there are 1000’s of sites to choose from and 100’s of other tasks on your to-do list, this isn’t necessarily the most practical use of your time.
In this post, we’ll look at 6 useful methods you should try to help keep up-to-date with all of the latest social media changes:
1. Check key social media sites
Create a list of key social media sites. You can develop this list over time by adding additional sources, or removing publications that are no longer valuable. Save each website on your list as a bookmark, so they’re even easier to access when you have a few minutes to spare.
2. Set up Google Alerts
Instead of manually visiting sites, let the news come directly into your inbox with the help of Google Alerts.
Alerts are easy to set up – simply visit their site, sign in, enter your search term (e.g. social media), select the type of results you want to receive and the frequency with which you want to receive them, and how you want them to be delivered to you.
3. Use a news aggregator tool
An even easier way to get updates is to use a news aggregator such as Feedly. Feedly enables you to get all of your industry news in one clear and simple tool.
Start by copying in the RSS feed URL of your favorite social media site. Once you’ve set this up, each new article from that publisher will appear in your Feedly dashboard. You can even set up your Google Alerts so that they go directly into Feedly too. Plus, you can read all of your content from your desktop, but also whilst you’re on the go via Feedly’s handy mobile app.
4. Create a Twitter stream
Twitter’s a good way to find out the most up-to-date information. Search for keywords like ‘social media’ or ‘#socialmedia’ to find relevant results.
To make it even easier to check these keywords every day or every week, you can save your searches.
Simply search for your chosen keywords, click on ‘More Options’ and ‘Save this search’. Next time you visit Twitter, click in the search bar and all of your saved searches will appear.
5. Build a Twitter list
Another way to use Twitter to stay up-to-date is by finding social media influencers and then adding them to a list.
Each day or week, simply open the Twitter list and see what people have been saying.
6. Listen to a Podcast
Podcasts are another convenient way to stay up-to-date, and they’re becoming increasingly popular, with more and more people creating them.
Find a good quality podcast and listen to it on a regular basis – programs like “The #AskGaryVee Show” are good. You can easily listen to them whilst on the go, such as during your daily commute or at the gym, which can also help save you time.
To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com
Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/how-stay-date-latest-social-media-changes
Pinterest Native Video Coming Soon – Here’s a First Look
Pinterest Native Video Coming Soon – Here’s a First Look
If you’re not utilizing video on social these days, you’re falling behind. Earlier this week, LinkedIn unveiled the first stage of their native video option, leaving only Pinterest among the major social platforms to not have its own native video tool.
That’s about to change – in a blog post today, Pinterest Product Manager Steve Davis announced that the platform will soon be rolling out its own native video player.
Here’s how it looks:
As with all social platforms, Pinterest has seen massive growth in video demand. As noted by Davis:
“In the last year alone, we’ve seen a 60% increase in videos on Pinterest, with workouts, home projects and hair & beauty tutorials topping the charts.”
At present, however, those videos don’t play in-stream – when you click on a YouTube link, for example, you’re taken to a specific Pin window where the content plays on YouTube.
And that’s functional enough, but as you can see from the example, the new native video option is more integrated into the actual Pinterest process, providing easier and more appealing ways to present video content on the platform. And they also, of course, keep more of your activity on Pinterest, as opposed to the platform working as a third party link provider.
Pinterest does also have Cinematic Pins which function kind of like video, in that they move as you scroll.
But they’re more akin to GIFs than actual video – given the numbers noted above, it’s clear that Pinterest needs its own native video option in order to meet user demand and provide more compelling options for advertisers.
In the announcement post, Davis also says that they’re working on new personalized recommendation tools to help users discover videos they’re interested in, while they’re also developing additional video enhancements which will be rolled out over the next few months.
It’s another step in Pinterest’s journey towards maximizing the platform’s monetization potential. Documents released last year showed that Pinterest aims to be generating around $2.8 billion in annual revenue by 2018, up from a reported $169 million they made in 2015. To achieve this, the Pinterest team has been busy adding a range of new features to up its e-commerce potential, including buyable pins, improved search and discovery features, an upgraded mobile app and new remarketing and custom audience ad targeting tools.
Given the rise in video consumption, the addition makes sense, and will move the platform that little bit closer to their wider business goals.
To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com
Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/pinterest-native-video-coming-soon-heres-first-look
A Marketer’s Guide to Understanding Facebook Insights
A Marketer’s Guide to Understanding Facebook Insights
So, you’ve done all of this work on your Facebook Page – you’ve identified your target audience, you’re pushing out content, people are seeing your posts.
But how do you know it’s all working, and how can you change things to make them work better?
Facebook has a free measurement tool called “Insights” that will give you these answers. You can click on it right from the top bar of your business Page:
Once inside the “Insights” area, different tabs reveal different ways to look at your results, including:
- Overview
- Likes
- Reach
- Visits
- Posts
- People
Let’s take a look at how this all works.
The Overview tab shows a date range. Within it, you’ll find Page Likes (Total Page Likes and New Page Likes).
When we click on Likes, we seen an overview of Likes in their many forms.
The following screenshot shows “Net Likes,” plus a chart for Unlikes, Organic Likes, and Paid Likes. You can even scroll over the info to see exactly what happened on a certain day.
For example, in the screenshot below you can see that the user has highlighted Sep 3, 2015, when this Page garnered 15 new Likes.
Organic vs. Paid
“Organic reach” is the total number of unique people who were shown your post through unpaid distribution. “Paid reach” is the total number of unique people who were shown your post as a result of ads.
In the example below it shows 15 Paid Likes on Sep 3, 2015.
Post Reach
Post reach is the number of people who’ve seen your post – your post counts as “reaching” someone when it’s shown in their News Feed.
Once you click on to the reach tab, you’ll see both organic and paid reach. You can scroll over the chart to get specifics from a particular date.
In the example below, there were 184 Organic Likes on Aug 31, 2015.
As you can see, on Sep 3, 2015, this Page got 246 Paid Likes. It’s very easy to navigate around in this tool; you only need to move your mouse around to highlight events that happened on different dates.
Page Visits
“Visits” refers to the number of times your Page was viewed. In this example, Page Visits, Info Tab and Photos Tab are displayed. Facebook Insights measures each area of the page and you can see the data easily here.
Facebook Posts
This screenshot shows a report on the performance of posts. In this example, the report displays every post, including the image used, copy, type of post, and the post’s targeting, reach, and engagement. This view makes it easy to get an overview of what’s working and what isn’t.
The “boost post” button is conveniently located in this view as well. Facebook makes it easy to boost the posts you want to have more visibility.
You can choose any post from the list and click on it for more detailed information. On the left. we have the post itself. On the right, you can see additional insights, such as the number of people reached, plus the number of Likes, comments, and shares.
In Facebook’s latest update, you can get a lot of this information right on your timeline. However, this data also lives here in the back-end, providing a more focused approach that will likely be more useful in your workflow.
In the Videos section of your Page Insights, you can see the following information about videos your Page has published or shared:
- The number of times videos were viewed.
- The number of times videos were viewed for 30 seconds or more.
- Your Page’s most viewed videos.
To see Auto-Played vs. Clicked-to-Play or Unique vs. Repeat views, click Organic vs. Paid at the top-right of the chart, and then select the data you want to see.
People on Facebook
The “People” tab is one of the most important tabs for you to regularly check, especially in the initial stages of setting up your Facebook Page. This tab lets you get insights into the specific demographic characteristics of those that are following you. It’s important to know whether these demographics actually match those of your ideal target audience. Hopefully there’s a close match, but if not, you’ll have to revisit your audience targeting settings and tweak them.
For example, the screenshot below shows that visitors to this Page are largely women (87%), of medium (25-45) age, who mainly reside in New York City. This matches the target market thi owner has been working on, therefore this data validates that her Facebook marketing is on target and is working as intended.
That’s great to know, but what’s equally interesting is that this Page also has some viewers coming from the European market. Perhaps this business should consider whether they have a product or service that might be appealing enough to promote specifically for the European market. This is the kind of data-driven insight that they may otherwise never have discovered on their own.
The bottom line with Facebook Insights is it’s a free and easy tool that lets you easily visualize your campaign’s performance. If you’ve set things up correctly, chances are you won’t have to spend too much time on it, but you should be checking it regularly to ensure you’re on track – and if you’re not,you can pivot your Facebook marketing accordingly.
Facebook Reports
If you want to dig deeper into the data, you can export your reports for further analysis via Excel, Google Docs, or another spreadsheet program. You can use those reports to measure any kind of metrics you need to track and compute your ROI.
Key Takeaways
- Visit your Insights area on a regular basis
- Make sure you’re hitting your target audience
- Observe how your posts are performing
- Use Reports on an ongoing basis to make sure Facebook is working for your business objectives
- Analyze Insights reports with an eye to discovering new markets
To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com
Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/marketers-guide-understanding-facebook-insights
6 Simple Tools to Create Images for Social Media
6 Simple Tools to Create Images for Social Media
We all love visual content. Without it, we wouldn’t have platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, which encourage users to share images and short, informative videos.
For marketers, regardless of which social media platforms your business is present on, it’s important to be aware of this trend and create good quality visual content to share with your audience. This could be images, videos, infographics, memes, presentations and even screenshots.
Why Should Businesses Share Visual Content?
Many businesses are still sharing text only posts on social media, but is this the best format when consumers are already overloaded with data and want information instantly? Research reveals that people can process visual content 60,000 times faster than text – why not take advantage of this?
Instead of writing a block of text, present your information visually, which can then be quickly and easily absorbed by customers – and is more likely to be shared.
Visual content is also easier for people to remember, with research revealing that we only retain 20% of what we read, but 80% of what we see. Brands should therefore be getting visual content in front of consumers, so they’ll remember their messages for longer.
How Can Businesses Create Images For Social Media?
Creating images on a regular basis for social media can sound like a lot of hard work. A simple solution would be to hire a graphic designer to do it all for you, but that’s not a realistic option for most.
Luckily, there’s a heap of easy-to-use tools online that can help you create good quality images for social media, quickly and for free.
So that you don’t have to trawl through 100’s of tools on the web yourself, we’ve picked 6 of our favorites for you to try.
1. Canva
If you’re looking to produce a range of beautiful images quickly, take a look at Canva. Whether you want a Facebook post or Instagram profile picture, you can create them quickly using this tool.
Select from a number of pre-set designs, or create something from scratch. You can choose from a wide range of free images, purchase from Canva’s stock image library, or simply upload your own. You then drag and drop your elements into place and once you’ve finished, download it in your required format.
Canva’s free to use, however if you want more advanced features, you do also have the option to upgrade for a small fee.
2. Pixlr
If you’re looking for something a little more advanced, take a look at Pixlr.
You’re given two different options, either ‘Pixlr Express’ or ‘Pixlr Editor’.
With Pixlr Express, you can make basic adjustments to beautify your image, add special effects, overlays, borders, stickers and even text. Pixlr Editor allows you to make much more advanced changes to the image, whilst also giving you the option to add filters and text.
3. PicMonkey
If you’re looking for an all-in-one editor, take a look at PicMonkey. Simply edit an existing image, design an image from scratch or create a fun collage.
When you get started, you can make basic edits such as cropping and resizing, add special effects, choose from a wide variety of font types, overlays, frames and textures, and even make touch-ups such whitening your teeth or removing red-eye.
You can get lots out of the free version of PicMonkey but to unlock some of the special effects, you can sign up to PicMonkey Royale for a fee.
4. Pablo
If you want to create an image in super speed, give Pablo a try. Pablo is a relatively new tool from Buffer, which is very easy to use.
You can choose from over 50,000 royalty-free photos, select an amazing font, and you can even upload your own assets to include in your image, such as a photo or logo.
5. PicCollage
If you want to create some fun visuals for your business, give PicCollage a try. It’s a mobile app, so you’ll need to download it first to your Apple or Android device. Then, you simply use images from your device or Facebook account to create fun and colorful collages.
It’s a tool that definitely requires some imagination, but it can help you to show a more creative and personal side to your business.
6. Paint.NET
If you’re looking for something more advanced, try Paint.NET. It’s not strictly an online tool as you need to download it to your desktop, but it should definitely be included in this list.
It’s completely free to use and is a great alternative to Photoshop. You can edit your image, add especial effects, draw shapes, add text and can even create layers.
And there you go, 6 great tools to create spectacular social media images. Give them a try to see which one you prefer. You may even find that you switch between a couple of tools in order to create your ideal social media images.
Don’t forget, to help make your images stand out even more, you may need some great quality photos. Some of these tools have their own royalty free images that you can use, but what better way to get across your brands personality and style than by taking your own photographs? Alternatively, you can take a look at sites like Shutterstock and iStock – both of which require a fee – or Foter and Unsplash which are completely free.
To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com
Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/6-simple-tools-create-images-social-media