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Why social media platforms need to lose the deadweight of fake users and engagement

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By YUVAL BEN-ITZHAK

Using machine learning to weed out fakery on social media is just the beginning; a lot more needs to be done before influencer marketing on these platforms can live up to its potential – argues Socialbakers’ Yuval Ben-Itzhak

Ever since social media became a critical component of the marketing strategy for any business, the platforms have come under scrutiny. The reasons range from possible interference in the United States’ electoral campaigns to issues around content integrity. ‘Transparency’ has become a major point of discussion and social platforms have taken steps to reduce inauthenticity.

Particularly in an era of fake news, authenticity is key to all social media content and interactions. With Instagram surpassing the billion-user milestone and becoming a leading hub for collaboration, users want to know that the content they see comes from credible, trustworthy sources.

The social media site’s latest move to remove inauthentic likes, followers and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost popularity, has been welcomed. This move raises the bar for authenticity.

Similar to Twitter’s blue badge, Instagram has released its own verification system. Its blue tick is currently available only to notable public figures, celebrities, global brands and other entities. Introducing this update was a great example of a relatively small change that can have tremendous results.

A simple check mark at the top of a profile can communicate to users that the profile is exactly what it says — no strings attached. Updates like these put the user first, which helps create an authentic experience.

Developing a machine learning system, however, is only half the battle won. Instagram will need to continuously evaluate each profile, as they can quickly turn malicious due to third-party apps. With the sheer scale of Instagram profiles, it’s possible that the frequency of evaluations could pose a threat to this new system. One solution could be to provide the date and time of the last review. This allows users to get an idea of how recently the profile in question has been verified.

The fact that Instagram has taken steps to limit undesirable behaviour is sending a message about the platform becoming more vigilant about eliminating illegitimate activity. By doing so, Instagram is showing its commitment to delivering an authentic, “digital pollution” free environment.

It will also have a positive impact on influencer marketing which is expected to become a $10 billion market by 2020. We imagine that marketers able to search for viable influencers confidently, focusing their activities on interacting with real audiences.

However, Instagram isn’t the only platform raising the bar for authenticity. Twitter has also become more vigilant about eliminating illegitimate activity with plans to remove all fake accounts.

At first glance, dwindling numbers for any social media platform can seem concerning. Fortunately, most brands are on board with Twitter’s stance on reducing the number of fake profiles on the platform. And why wouldn’t they be? While it may come as a surprise for brands to see a huge drop in Twitter followers, it’s actually extremely beneficial.

Removing dead weight from their following increases their chances of acquiring meaningful interactions. It gives them the ability to rebuild a loyal audience that they can count on. It’s true that numbers look good, but, in this case, they’re only for show.

While it is important for brands and influencers to have a solid follower base, the key here is quality – not quantity. Authenticity is increasingly pervasive when it comes to social media marketing. Fake accounts lead to inflated reach and performance numbers which aren’t helping brands or influencers engage in genuine conversations with their audiences.

With so much money on the table, however, it’s no surprise that fraud has become so prevalent. Rooting out fake influencers is a great move. But brands will also need to keep an eye on fake engagement and fake interests.

They can do so by looking at two key data points: the influencer’s performance over an extended time period, and their engagement level per 1,000 fans. In addition, benchmarking the performance of a few influencers over time can help to identify anomalies resulting from fraud.

There is no clear-cut answer that can be prescribed to all social media platforms. Seeing as they have different business models, we can expect that each channel will experiment with different solutions. We’re at the beginning of a new era that will indefinitely evolve as we learn more about what works and what doesn’t. What we’re seeing now are simply the first advancements in online transparency; we can expect more in the near future.

Yuval Ben-Itzhak is the chief executive officer at the analytics firm Socialbakers and is based in Prague, in the Czech Republic

By YUVAL BEN-ITZHAK

Sourced from Mumbrella Asia

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4 of the Best Follower Apps to Build Your Instagram Business

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By Amy Aitman 

Building an Instagram following is time-consuming. And for a lot of creators, the biggest drain on their time is the process of building an audience. To help with this tough task, here are four great follower apps. These will save you a ton of time and leave you free to focus on creativity which leads to more engagement in the long run. Here are the best follower apps to build your Instagram business:

4. FollowAdder

FollowAdder is an app that automates your Instagram marketing. This app automates the process of getting people to follow you on Instagram. Using this tool you can attract real followers automatically.

This app has a lot of functionality for building followers and likes. Yet, FollowAdder is easy to use. It has a search function that allows you to download user details, photos, and comments. You can then use this information to decide whom to follow or DM.

Another great feature to free up your time is the bulk upload feature. This allows you to add many photos to your account with minimal effort. You can also set a schedule for posting these pictures and this makes things look more natural.

You can get likes and followers from custom audiences by using different lists. This allows you to interact with a large number of users in a more personal way. Personalized interactions with users lead to better relationships. This means that users are more likely to respond to your commercial offers.

Lists feature is the more useful part of FollowAdder as it allows you to:

  • Target specific groups of users
  • Create a list of users to follow or DM
  • Create a list of posts you want to comment on or like
  • Create a list of comments you’d like to place on other people’s posts
  • Manage the process of unfollowing people in bulk

Pricing

Starter packages start at 49.99 and go up from there.

3. Gramista

Another option for social media marketing is an app called Gramista. This app allows you to decide which promotional methods you would like to use. Giving you control over how to achieve your social media marketing goals. Having a lot of followers on your business account is important. It signals credibility. Gramista helps to increase the recognition of your brand. It does this by expanding the target audience you are able to reach. All with a few key tools:

  • The auto liker. This is the most effective tool in the Gramista app. Once you activate this liker, it will continue to work in the background. This is an automated system that encourages users to like your posts.
  • Auto follow. This feature allows you to follow relevant accounts. This generally leads to a spike in the number of accounts that follow you back. This process is completely reversible using the auto unfollow feature described below.
  • Auto unfollow. This feature reverses the work of the auto follower function. The purpose of this is to maintain an ideal follower to following ratio.
  • Intelligent follow management. Gramista’s follow/unfollow feature is designed to mimic natural human actions. It also provides a failsafe to ensure that none of your real friends are unfollowed by accident.

Pricing

Pricing for Gramista is done a little differently and can get quite costly if you have several business Instagram accounts. There are smaller, single packages and ones for longer period of times as well. If you really want to manage your account ongoing, the monthly packages do add up over time.

2. MegaFollow

Megafollow is an Instagram growth app that helps free up your time. It does this by automating mundane marketing tasks. This is all done via a central dashboard that is user-friendly and easy to navigate. This app has features that will help you attract more followers. All without spending hours on end following, liking, and commenting.

It is a straightforward service to use. Here are a few key features that help it Megafollow to stand out.

  • It’s easy to use. Since you do not have to manage a complex setup, you can be up and running in a few clicks.
  • Everything is automated. All you need to do from your end is set certain targets. These are in relation to commenting, liking following, and unfollowing. The app takes care of everything else while leaving you free to focus on content.
  • Very secure. You do not need to give up your Instagram password for this service to work.
  • Full control. Megafollow has deep customization features. These allow you to maintain full control over your account.
  • Excellent support. Megafollow has very good technical support if you are new to social media marketing. They can support you in configuring and executing your campaign.
  • Cost effective. Compared to some other options, Megafollow is good value. This is because of the capabilities it gives you. They are confident enough to offer a 3-day trial and then the monthly packages are only $59.99.

Pricing

You can start with a three-day trial for 8.99, but prices go up from there if you like and want to continue to use this service. The full year package is 299.99, so that could be good value for you there.

1. Crowdbabble

The Crowdbabble app helps increase audience engagement through deep analytics and insightful reporting. This gives you the leverage to measure your social performance.

You can then compare it to your competitors. You are trying to build your business on social media. To do this, you need a big-picture understanding so you can make better decisions. Crowdbabble helps with this while also allowing you to zoom in for a deeper, more detailed view. This gives you a fuller understanding of your activity on Instagram.

Some key benefits of Crowdbabble include:

  • The ability to uncover your most influential followers.
  • Discovering the best times to post.
  • Measuring which content performs the best.

Of course, Crowdbabble has a lot of other features. Yet, these three alone will help you manage your social media more effectively. This will produce better results for your business. Using these tools, you will be able to make engaging content that appeals to your audience. This, in turn, will increase the organic traffic you generate from social media.

Other useful features include:

  • Easily export data as Excel, CSV, or image files.
  • Provide easy access to your team members to improve collaboration.
  • Analyze the top followers of your account as well as those of your competitors.
  • Analyze the engagement of your content by traditional and custom parameters
  • Filter data based on timezones. This lets you analyze how people in different parts of the country and world react to your content.
  • See all your data visually so that you can tell at a glance how a given campaign is performing.
  • Measure the demographic composition of your followers.
  • Measure how quickly your audience is growing.

Pricing

Pricing for Crowdbabble isn’t exclusive for one account only, so there is more value for your spending dollar right from the beginning. For example, you can manage up to 20 social accounts in our Enterprise packages — a real savings that adds up for businesses who want to grow their social media accounts.

In Conclusion

Having an app with all the right tool is great. Yet, the foundation of every successful audience building strategy is the creation of great content. Followers flock to quality content. But, you have many competitors. All out there also trying to attract the attention of Instagram users.

In fact, some of these competitors may have done an even better job. And having cultivated a loyal and engaged following, they may seem beyond your reach. But, in fact, this represents an opportunity. Crowdbabble’s features allow you to learn from your competitors and surpass them

By Amy Aitman 

Sourced from Business 2 Community

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How to Make Money on Instagram: A Guide

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By Amy Aitman 

There are three key factors that affect the amount of money you can make on Instagram:

  1. The kind of photos you post
  2. The people who take the time to interact with your photos
  3. How committed you are to developing your Instagram account content

An influencer needs the right mix of photos, audience, and engagement. These provide many opportunities to make money from Instagram followers:

  1. Sponsored posts
  2. Affiliate marketing
  3. Selling your own products and services

Although you can use influencer marketing to sell your own and other people’s products. We are going to focus on the most common way to earn money on Instagram. That would be creating sponsored content for brands. Many brands will only offer you free products. But, some companies will pay $10 per 1,000 followers, while others pay over $800 per 1,000 followers. You can maximize the money you make when you publish sponsored photos. Learn how social media campaigns work from a business perspective.

What brands really want…

Influencers don’t need millions of Instagram followers to get paid. There are three things that will determine whether you can make money on Instagram:

  1. Your niche. And whether that niche ties into the offering of specific brands.
  2. Follower engagement. Because brands want to promote content on an account that will sell their products.
  3. How many followers do you need? That depends on how you decide to earn money with the content on your Instagram account.

Engagement is King

Engagement is more important than follower count for influencers. It is especially important because companies are looking for conversions. They want an influencer that convinces people to buy their products. It’s easy for someone to follow you. The value lies in that person doing the extra work required to like the content you post.

Social media marketing is difficult for a large business. As they reach a certain level of followers, the people responding to their marketing decreases. This is why they work on buying engagement from smaller social media accounts like yours.

The Likes Cliff

  • <1,000 followers – 8% engagement rate
  • 1,000 – 10,000 – 4%
  • 10,000 – 100,000 – 2.4%
  • 1M – 10M – 1.7%

The Likes Cliff means that brands with millions of followers must partner with accounts that may only have a few thousand people. But they are only willing to do this if you are influential with your audience.

Stay true to your audience and attractive to brands.

Becoming an influencer doesn’t have to be a full-time job. You still need to find enough time to consistently post high-quality photos. You need to build your social media reputation by posting remarkable things online. This is how you become influential.

Never Get Needy

On your journey to becoming an influencer, it is important to keep your independence. Your most valuable asset is the trust your audience has in you and your content. To protect that trust, you need to make sure that you are not wholly dependent on your Instagram income. This will allow you to be more selective about the brands you choose to work with.

Aim for 10k.

Brands love Instagram. The photos you post are shown to a much larger section of your audience. Especially when compared to Facebook. However, not every post will be seen by 100% of your audience. This is especially true if you do not include a good hashtag with your post. Brands are looking for audiences that are large enough to have an impact on sales. But small enough to guarantee strong engagement. That is why you should aim at least 10k followers before you can start earning good money on Instagram.

Find brands that are looking for influencers.

As your audience grows, your content becomes more attractive to brands. You will eventually have your first business reach out to you. But, remember that staying true to your audience means being selective. You may find a better fit when you seek out business opportunities yourself. This can be a daunting task, but luckily there are many markets for influencers. These markets will help influencers find people that want to sponsor your account.

Fohr Card: This is a membership-based influencer network. Fohr Card connects influencers like you with brands looking to boost their marketing. It is specifically designed for Instagram. They can provide unique insights into the demographics of your audience.

They will also score your audience using their unique Follower Health Score. This helps prove you have a high-quality audience. You get a simple to understand score from -8 (mostly bots) to +8 (100% real, engaged audience). Proving your account doesn’t suffer from follower fraud will help you get paid better on Instagram.

Grapevine: This is a great network to use once you get over 5,000 followers. This barrier allows them to offer excellent sponsorship opportunities. The area where they really stand out is in customer service. They have a dedicated team for working with influencers. This team is proactive about making sure you are happy and earning what you deserve. This is a network that attracts a lot of early-stage startups. So you may have the opportunity to promote cutting-edge, exclusive products.

Shoutcart: This is a marketplace you can use to monetize your Instagram audience. Brands can buy a shoutout from you just as easily as buying an item from an eCommerce store. You simply publish a profile and let people know what you have to offer. It also gives you a great way to build your reputation. Potential sponsors judge you based on a transparent scoring system. This way, the hard work you put into building engagement is verified. This feature increases the fees you can charge. And allows you to earn more money with your Instagram followers.

Conclusion: Do you need a lot of followers to make money on Instagram?

If you are creative with your account and respectful of your followers, then you can earn money on Instagram. The easiest way to do this is by selling your services as an influencer. In the end, the amount of money you can earn depends on your niche. If you are posting photos about cooking on your account, you will earn less for sponsored posts than someone who is promoting a jet-setting luxury lifestyle. However, regardless of your niche, if you keep growing your audience while working hard to maintain great engagement, then you will always be an attractive partner for brands.

One way to see where the limits are for your niche would be to look at the content of other successful Instagrammers in your category. Look at the kind of companies that they promote. Ask yourself whether these are the type of brands you would want for your Instagram page. From there you need to focus on your photography, storytelling, and marketing. Grow your following as much as you can, create a culture of engagement with your audience. And when the time comes, don’t be afraid to negotiate for what all that hard work is worth.

All this definitely takes time, it’s not going to happen in a few weeks. That’s why it is so important that you choose a subject for your Instagram that truly inspires you. Some people choose a niche just because they think it’ll be profitable to sponsors down the line. Their profiles lack the passion and authenticity necessary to be a real success.

How Crowdbabble Can Help You Make More Money on Instagram

Crowdbabble can help you with our Instagram Analytics, which lets you see how your audience is engaging with your content, with proven metrics that help you grow your followers and make more money in the process.

By Amy Aitman 

Sourced from Business 2 Community

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Why Instagram is the New Social Media “Home Base” For Brands

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By Arik Hanson 

For as long as “social media marketing” has been around, Facebook has held the title of most brands’ social media home base.

That is, Facebook is the place where they spend the most time, resources and mone

But, that tide is definitely turning.

First, just look at Instagram’s recent numbers.

  • Instagram just surpassed 1 billion users. The only other platform not named Facebook to do it.
  • 71% of U.S. business now use Instagram
  • Instagram is THE platform for influencers–80% prefer the platform for brand collaborations
  • 59% of 18-29 year-olds use Instagram

Meanwhile, over on Facebook…

  • Facebook saw a 5.6 percent decline in users between 12 and 17 years old.
  • They also saw a 5.8 percent decline in users between 18 and 24 years old. This is the first time Facebook has seen a decrease in users since its inception.
  • Facebook usage dropped–for the first time ever–from 67% to 62% among Americans 12+ years of age.

Obviously, Facebook still has a ton of people using their site and app. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. But, it is showing chinks in the proverbial armor for the first time. And, at the same time, Insta is gaining traction rapidly.

That’s the story the numbers tell.

But, as we all know, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

What the numbers DON’T tell us is this:

  • Facebook is an increasingly toxic place for many users. #DeleteFacebook is real. Anecdotally, I’m hearing more and more of it each day. People just don’t want to spend as much time there as they once did, for a variety of reasons.
  • Facebook has taken a beating in the media over the last year. Mostly, for privacy issues. And each time Facebook is mentioned in a negative news story, that’s impacting how people feel about the social network.
  • Facebook has lost it’s “cool” factor. Remember that movie “The Social Network?” The whole reason Zuck got the facebook off the ground was because it had that “it” factor–specifically with young people. It no longer has that. A certain other network does–and it’s starting to show.

So, the numbers aren’t painting a rosy picture.

The anecdotal evidence isn’t much better.

What are marketers and communicators saying?

That Instagram is a more fun and happy place for customers.

That they’re seeing higher engagement rates on Instagram.

That they’re actually driving traffic and selling on Instagram.

Yep, Instagram is slowly, but surely, eating Facebook’s lunch.

And, it is driving toward becoming brands’ number one social media platform.

In fact, for many brands, it already is.

Let’s look at a few:

Adobe

Facebook: 105 engagements per post

Instagram: 10,713 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

Maersk Shipping

Facebook: 445 engagement per post

Instagram: 4,866 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

Target

Facebook: 707 engagements per post

Instagram: 23,255 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

That’s as much as a 300 PERCENT increase in engagements from Instagram to Facebook. And, those brands above are hardly alone. It’s a trend. And it’s hard to ignore.The numbers tell the story.

The anecdotal evidence tells the story.

Marketers are telling the story.

And, results sure as heck tell the story.

Instagram is becoming brands’ social media home base.

By Arik Hanson 

Sourced from Business 2 Community

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How to Use Instagram to Build Your Business Brand

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By Susan Friesen 

3 Ways to Start a Brand-Centric Social Media Strategy

Instagram has quickly become a dominant force in social media and you’ll be surprised how effective it can be for your business.

A brand-centric™ social media strategy is a great idea before starting any social promotion. You’ll not only save time and money down the road when you have a following but building that following will also be much easier.

Branding with social media can actually reach a significant audience but you need to give users a sincere reason the follow.

This comes from understanding the value of your current brand and properly translating that into an account your ideal users will seek out and want to follow.

With Instagram you have massive brand potential. If you haven’t already done so, you need to properly define your brand. Have a look at our post on defining your brand if you’re stuck.

Now let’s look at what you need to do in order to properly build your business brand on Instagram:

 

  1. Your Profile

    Your profile page is where you should start your business branding on Instagram.

    You can feature your logo or a headshot depending on your business branding. I always recommend using your professional headshot if you are the face of your business and use a logo if you are a larger company like Adidas’s profile shown here.

    Then you have 150 characters in the description field to tell people about what you do. Use this space to make a clear and compelling statement. If a hashtag defines your business, then this is where to include it (or them if there are more than one).

    If you ever have a promotion with a relevant hashtag you can update your profile accordingly.

    You then have 1 opportunity for a link. If you’re just starting out with Instagram, then you’ll likely want to just make this your home page. Ideally, have this link click to a landing page for your free giveaway so you can use this space for list building too.

    The next time you have a new promotion you’ll want to swap the link and direct users through it.

  2. Your Posts


    Consistency is key and not just in your posting schedule. You need to have a common theme to all your images where that theme provides your followers with a window into what you provide.This is not the platform to be spamming ads on at all. Your followers want to know a business brand on Instagram by seeing who is behind the brand, not their advertisements.

    In saying that, you should absolutely show off your products, especially when you have something new to offer. But don’t just pop up advertorials.

    Instagram is a great place to show off the community of your business. If you have an office birthday party, post some pictures or a short video.

    If you have a day where employees bring their dogs to work, then let your followers see what’s happening.

    When you’re posting all of this remember who your core target audience is and who can actually become a client. Gear your posts towards that overall theme.

    When appropriate, you can direct users to a link by posting: “follow the link in our bio for more” using the text section that accompanies every post.

  3. Your Competition

    Your competition is a great way to find new followers already interested in what you do. They can also provide great insight into what hashtags are effective in your industry.

    If you use Instagram already, you’ll have seen how competitors are always watching each other on this platform.

    Once you like or follow a particular brand you’ll see that within minutes your account will be followed by another brand related to the brand you just followed.

    There are companies who literally only do this one thing as their entire business model.

    Caution: Stay away from any company promising to blow up your follower count. Volume might seem like good optics for a business, but these types of services will only devalue your brand and account by getting you irrelevant followers who post spam comments.

    Follow your competition yourself and comment on their posts with real insight.

    This is a genuine and sincere way to not only build your brand and find new people but also put you into the position your users will be in with your own account.

    Look at what posts your competitors put up that do better in terms of likes and real comments and adjust your own strategy to reflect their success.

A great way to start it all is finding out which hashtag really defines your business. Understand that there are a communities for particular businesses on Instagram and you’re going to want to become a part of the ones relevant to your industry.

Starting this can be tricky but maintaining it can be even harder. A dead brand on Instagram sends a bad message to users and with 75% of users consulting social media before making a purchase, you’re risking a lot by having this done incorrectly or not at all.

To make the most of your Instagram account, contact us and our social media experts will help you make building your brand on Instagram an easy and fun experience.

You can also sign up for AMPLiFY! Business Academy which is a program we offer that allows you to work with other small business owners and entrepreneurs and our own in-house experts on social media and online marketing to make the most of your business-building efforts.

Your best approach will be to do both so we can work on building your account with you properly and then through the monthly AMPLiFY! sessions you’ll learn how to further grow your business and address any problems you encounter.

As always try to make this a fun experience. If it feels like a drag or you’re not sure if you’re doing it right, then let us know. The ROI on professional social media marketing can be significant and we’d love to help.

By Susan Friesen 

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Sourced from Business 2 Community

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Think Instagram is Your Best Marketing Tool Because of Its Popularity? Think Again

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By Bryan Adams

Here’s how these visual communication platforms differ and why you need to consider what’s best for your brand.

Instagram’s popularity is no secret. With more than 800 million users, 25 million business accounts and two million advertisers, it’s one of the leading social channels and known for its diverse audience. So it comes as no surprise that most marketers assume Instagram is one of the best tools in their marketing arsenal.

It might not be smart, though, to focus all your marketing resources on Instagram. I’ve started using Pinterest a lot more these days–yes, Pinterest–and it’s become a shockingly useful tool for me. I actually prefer it to Instagram now.

Here’s why, and the killer marketing strategies I’ve discovered using it:

Functionality

Instagram is great for uploading personal content and to share your own photos/videos of your brand. You create your page, gain followers and connect; always giving off a more personal experience and Instagram users crave this.

At my agency, which specializes in employer brand, it’s important the content we share demonstrates our business’s authenticity to our audience. It sounds swell and doable. Just be yourself, right? But I remember what it’s like starting out new; having limited employees, the time, resources and having to prioritize tasks.

Instagram does help us do this. But having Instagram to promote your brand, your profile requires a certain level of attention for it to be noticed and reach success. As a new business, you might not have authentic content to post just yet.

With Pinterest, you curate, share and collect quality content, mostly uploaded by others. It’s a great tool for distributing content that doesn’t need to be your own, users just want to be inspired and find ideas.

When my brand was starting out we created a profile based on things we love and built a visual portfolio through pins and boards. This way we were sharing who we were, building expertise, entertaining and connecting with our audience through similar passion.

The platform allows you to segment products and services into tailored groups, which if tagged correctly, can hit multiple target personas. It doesn’t have to be personal to gain engagement and this means there’s no pressure for you as a start-up to get creating content. To establish a following, Pinterest is more practical.

Web Traffic

Social media will only get you so far. You need those leads to get to your site and convert into sales.

Don’t underestimate the power of image search, Pinterest makes it easy for an image to direct the user back to the source as most pins should always include a link. Instagram is famously difficult with links.

I found this useful trying to increase awareness of our blogs and case studies. One simple but effective image could result in major traffic to our website, where users would find both resources and a list of all our services available. This reduced the steps from discovery to conversion, consumers like convenience.

Instagram doesn’t have the option to insert links into comments, posts or stories–unless it’s a paid ad, which isn’t always necessary or financially possible for your business. You can have a link in your text which you can direct users and your followers to, but this assumes a lot about the engagement your content is receiving.

Since the launch of IGTV, we’ve found that we can upload up to an hour of video content–which is a great way of showcasing what we can do. It means Instagram remains good for brand discovery–but you need to have the amenities to get your brand image up to scratch before you can take advantage of it.

Content

The biggest reason I use Pinterest is the shelf life of pins. Pins get discovered a long time after they’re born and continue to drive visits to your sites.

We created one of our most popular boards years ago, and it still gets re-pinned. On other platforms, like Instagram, content is updated as a live feed and posts expire unless users search for your content directly. If you don’t have a big presence on the platform yet, that kind of shelf life unlikely to happen.

Sure, in an ideal world, you’d like to have presences on both platforms. But when you’re first starting out, it’s tough to find the resources and time to simultaneously manage them effectively. Consider which platform can offer you the most value in your current position–and go from there.

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Bryan Adams

Founder and CEO, Ph.Creative@Bryan_phc

Sourced from Inc.

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Instagram fights back against fake accounts & bad actors with new safety tools

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Accounts with large audiences will soon have ‘About this Account’ information that publicly lists the date the account was created, ads it is running and more.

After last week’s announcement that 652 Pages, accounts and groups had been removed from Facebook and Instagram, Facebook’s less popular (but quickly growing) app is now getting its own set of safety tools.

In the coming weeks, Instagram will be rolling out three new security measures designed to safeguard itself against fake accounts and create more secure login channels to keep existing accounts from being hacked.

“About this Account” information coming soon

Instagram accounts with large audiences will soon have an “About this Account” tab found within their Profile menu that will list the date the account was opened, the country where it is located, any accounts with shared followers, username changes during the last year and any ads the account is currently running. (Marketing Land has asked Instagram to quantify what counts as “a large audience,” but has not yet received a response.)

According to the announcement, account owners will be able to review the “About this Account” information before it is made public.

“In September, people who have accounts that reach large audiences can review the information about their accounts that will soon be publicly available. After that, the ‘About this Account’ tool will be available to the global community,” writes Instagram CTO Mike Krieger.

Account verification form now available within the app

Along with making background information on accounts publicly available, Instagram is giving accounts with large audiences the opportunity to request verification through the app. To be verified, Instagram accounts must comply with the company’s terms of service and community guidelines. Instagram says verification will involve looking at an account’s “authenticity, uniqueness, completeness and notability.”

The verification tool is now available from the “Settings” page within an account’s profile menu on the app. To complete the verification form, users must include the account username, their full name and a copy of their legal or business identification.

Third-party authenticator app selection for added security

Instagram is also adding third-party authenticator apps to its list of safety tools — expanding its two-factor authentication offerings for accounts that want a heightened level of security around the Instagram login process. Users will soon be able to select “Authentication App” from their “Settings” menu, under the “Two-Factor Authentication” listing.

“If you already have an authentication app installed, we will automatically find the app and send a login code to it,” writes Krieger, “If you don’t have one installed yet, we will send you to the App Store or Google Play Store to download the authenticator app of your choice.”

Instagram says support for third-party authenticator apps has started to roll out and will be available globally in the coming weeks.

Krieger says he and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom have been focused on the platform’s safety since they first founded Instagram eight years ago.

“Today’s updates build upon our existing tools, such as our spam and abusive content filters and the ability to report or block accounts,” writes Krieger, “We know we have more work to do to keep bad actors off Instagram, and we are committed to continuing to build more tools to do just that.

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Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media’s General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy’s articles.

Sourced from Marketing Land

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Can you sell products on social media?

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By Pierre DeBois

Marketers may have once doubted the possibility of doing so, but there’s no doubt today that retailer interest in social commerce is rising, and has been rising steadily over the years as social became an important part of the mobile nexus, along with the willingness to make purchases via mobile. For example, Business Insider reported last year that the top 500 retailers earned $3.3 billion from social shopping in 2014, a 26 percent increase over 2013.

The result? Consumer interest in products and services is leading to sales, as customers are becoming more comfortable using their phones for online purchases or to complete purchases in-store. How then should marketers and retailers think about marketing for each social media platform? Here are a few observations that can strengthen your strategy development.

Facebook

The largest social media platform has been refining user options for expressing themselves—from emoticons to live video.  Marketers can best leverage Facebook through video by using Facebook Live to speak with business page followers. Many businesses of all scales, such as The Bassline Group in Chicago, use video to connect with customers regularly.

Here are some ideas for Facebook Live content:

  • Product launches and demonstrations: Comments from followers can provide feedback that can become valuable insights when a new product is being revealed.
  • Customer service sessions: Troubleshooting problems with devices or products can incorporate responses from followers, treating it as as face-to-face with a real person.
  • Q&A sessions: Q & A sessions offer opportunities to build customer rapport and trust. Marketers can invite experts to help answer product or service questions from your customers.

Many of these ideas can be conducted through a video platform. Using Facebook Live from a mobile device requires the Pages Manager App.

Facebook is also a dominant advertising platform among social media platforms.  Ads enhance strategy in conveying messages to customers, and Facebook ads have been effective in reach, especially in mobile.  Marketers should look to use Facebook ads as a means to connect to customers on the go.

Marketers can also look forward to more Facebook refinements, and for good reason. Marketing Land reported that Facebook will reach maximum News Feed ad load during 2017. This means Facebook must experiment with new ways to deliver ads and other marketing features to continue its revenue growth.

Twitter

Twitter has always been a means for connecting to people outside of a customer base. Past social media strategies have suggested that Facebook pages tend to attract customers familiar with your brand, while Twitter profiles tend to attract people who are seeking your products and services, consequently discovering your business.

Twitter has striven to provide features that deepen engagement.   Industry analysts have been critical of recent trends that suggest waning user interest in Twitter.   Brands interested in immersive advertising experiences have demanded more segmentation features.  In response Twitter has introduced ad groups, a campaign feature that customizes according to segment. It has revised its analytics dashboard to improve campaign measurement.

Marketers should also consider Twitter as an opportunity to provide customer service.  According to Twitter,  an Applied Marketing Science study confirmed that customer service on Twitter influences sales. Providing customer service through social channels like Twitter can be a fast way to connect to customers and let them know that their needs are indeed heard.  But marketers must verify that customers are comfortable using Twitter before initiating or expanding customer service resources.

Pinterest

Pinterest has become a search engine, according to Marketing Land. Users pin Pinterest images after discovering products, services, and brands they like the most. This planning reflects the potential of future purchases.

Marketers can strategize on this behavior by creating a preview board in Pinterest—teaser images and ideas that let followers know about what’s to come.  YouTube videos can also be embedded in a pin—at the top of this article is one I made for a presentation as an example.  Cultivating a preview board keeps users engaged and builds a following that eventually leads to sales.

Instagram

Retailers and brands are discovering how inspirational posts on Instagram can raise branding impact. New tools, such as Instagram Analytics, are starting to help marketers manage that impact. These tools are meant to leverage the best aspect of Instagram—presenting unique images and video that show how a product or service is used among consumers, or reflect the quality of a product.

The content can range from lifestyle associations, such as hiking with Timberland boots, or showing how boots are manufactured to exacting standards. Overall, images should augment the imaginative connection customers have with brands.

Supplementing Social Media Strategy With Analytic Tools Is Now A Must

No matter what combination of social media is used, marketers should also examine advanced dashboards options that blend social media data into a central graph.  Options run the gamut from Supermetrics—a service that lets you pull data from an Excel sheet into Google Data Studio and then into a dashboard.  R programming models can also be used to predict trends. These tools can determine which platforms are best in referring traffic to retailers’ websites and apps.

Can you sell products in social media?  Customer response appears to make that answer an emphatic “Yes!”  But it is up to marketers to make sure they listen to how that yes is expressed, and use that knowledge to inform their social strategy.

By Pierre DeBois

Sourced from DMN Data. Strategy. Technology.

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5 Golden Marketing Tips for Ruling Instagram

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While Facebook’s move to purchase Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012 was initially viewed with some skepticism, it’s since proven to be a stroke of genius, with the visual-focused platform advancing to a billion active users, and providing Facebook with a unique, mobile-native way to broaden its reach.

But the exponential growth of Instagram has lead to a new problem – now that everyone is jumping on board the Instagram train, including brands looking to ride the new wave, it’s become increasingly more difficult to stand out in user feeds.

If you’re having trouble getting traction with your Instagram presence, here are some key tips that will help set you on the right track.

1. Establish Your Content Strategy

Converting Instagram audiences into customers is, first and foremost, dependent on the content you choose to share. The phrase “content is king” is one of the few terms that can never be overused for marketing or PR – effective content helps to build trust, is entertaining, and will inspire your audience to take action. As such, a clear plan of action is required in order to present your product to prospective buyers.

Every effective Instagram strategy must have an editorial calendar in place, one that ‘s both timed properly and aligned with the broader brand mission. Posts should be scheduled and targeted appropriately, of course, but they should adhere to the overall concept you’ve developed for your Insta presence.

To quote directly from Instagram for Business:

“The key to creative success across Instagram – or any other marketing channel – is relevant creative that’s well branded, concept-driven and well crafted. Follow these tried and true principles when creating your next direct response campaign and see how the ads perform.”

Consider your purpose, your posts in isolation, and the broader brand presence you’re looking to build, then strategize accordingly.

2. Build a Beautiful Story

It’s no revelation that Instagram is a visual platform where user preference leans toward high quality, aesthetically beautiful posts. Given this, brands seeking to engage instagrammers should focus on composing beautiful, artful, and thoughtfully arranged images and videos which will engage their target demographic.

Fortunately for those marketers not equipped with the best professional images, Instagram does offer a nice array of filters and other tools for improving on your content, and there are various complimentary apps you can use to enhance your presentation.

A sample of complimentary Instagram apps you can utilize

While Instagram has added new tools like Stories and advancing video functions into the mix, your visuals still play a key role in getting users to stop and pay attention.

It’s worth taking the time to compose and design compelling visual content.

3. Create Discussions

Now that you’ve created an aesthetically beautiful and emotionally-aligned presence that you’re sure will win customers, you need to consider how you can take that initial interest a step further, and move your Instagram audience towards becoming customers.

Social conversions increasingly come out of a sense of participation and connectedness, or the belief that there’s a human being on the other end of the bandwidth. Conversations created through Q&A, polls, and through comments drive Instagram users further inside your marketing matrix.

Ironically, relatively few marketing firms make good use of discussion in their Instagram campaigning, but really being ‘social’ is what ‘social media’ platforms are all about, and it’s important to make the most of your opportunities by extending the conversation, where possible.

Instagram, and indeed all social networks, offer ways to facilitate relationships. This is useful whether you’re sharing beautiful stories, providing customer service, or even connecting with other industry influencers. And given the power of such opportunity, it needs to be a key element in your strategy.

4. Utilize Influencers

I almost decided against listing this aspect of Instagram marketing, because businesses can be victimized by the many unscrupulous or ineffectual influencers out there.

We’ve had varying experience with bloggers, and even celebrities – but that said, influencer marketing on Instagram can be a game-changer. My advice here is to ensure you do your homework before choosing an influencer to partner with.

Despite the concerns, there are many influential Instagrammers who’ll give more than your money’s worth. Once you’re satisfied and your budget/plan is established, you can expect the following:

  • The right influencer can gain your brand/product instant approval from his/her following
  • Research shows businesses can gain more than 10x ROI through influencers
  • As an added bonus, business Instagram accounts gain followers organically from influencers
  • Influencers give you better access to Millennial and Gen Z consumers

5. Make Buying Easy

Instagram is rolling out more and more tools to help businesses generate direct sales. Recent research shows that almost two-thirds of Instagram users have made at least one purchase after having seen an item or service on Instagram first.

I’ve already mentioned using stories, but including links within those conversational elements can make the conversion process that much easier. Action buttons are another tool that simplifies the buying process, and now Instagram is allowing some businesses to create a visual storefront as well, along with Shopping Tags in posts.

Additionally, marketers are also turning to third-party platforms like PromoRepublic, Magisto, or MikMak Attach, which enable you to add a shoppable video layer which can be added to an Instagram Story or Snap Ad. Finally, Story Highlights let businesses present the video clips you want viewed first to appear exactly above your Instagram feed.

There’s a range of ways you can use Instagram, and it’s worth investigating all the options available to help ensure your business presence stands out. But note, your competitors are likely doing the same. By using a combination of techniques, you can stay ahead of the game, and come up with unique, visual identifiers that expand your presence and performance.

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Follow Phil Butler on Twitter

Sourced from Social Media Today

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