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Understanding Facebook Emoticons Can Impact How You Advertise on Social Media

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Not all “likes” are equal.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

While the trusty “like” button is still the most popular way to signal approval for Facebook posts, a computer model may help users and businesses navigate the increasingly complicated way people are expressing how they feel on social media.

In a study, researchers developed a social emotion mining computer model that one day could be used to better predict people’s emotional reactions to Facebook posts, said Jason Zhang, a research assistant in Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. While Facebook once featured only one official emoticon reaction – the like button – the social media site added five more buttons – love, haha, wow, sad and angry – in early 2016.

“We want to understand the user’s reactions behind these clicks on the emoticons by modelling the problem as the ranking problem – given a Facebook post, can an algorithm predict the right ordering among six emoticons in terms of votes?” said Zhang. “But, what we found out was that existing solutions predict the user’s emotions and their rankings poorly in some times.”

Zhang added that merely counting clicks fails to acknowledge that some emoticons are less likely to be clicked than others, which is called the imbalance issue. For example, users tend to click the like button the most because it signals a positive interaction and it is also the default emoticon on Facebook.

“When we post something on Facebook, our friends tend to click the positive reactions, usually love, haha, or, simply, like, but they’ll seldom click angry,” said Zhang. “And this causes the severe imbalance issue.”

For social media managers and advertisers, who spend billions buying Facebook advertisements each year, this imbalance may skew their analysis on how their content is actually performing on Facebook, said Dongwon Lee, associate professor of information sciences and technology. The new model – which they call robust label ranking, or ROAR – could lead to better analytic packages for social media analysts and researchers.

“A lot of the commercial advertisements on Facebook are driven by likes,” said Lee. “Eventually, if we can predict these emoticons more accurately using six emoticons, we can build a better model that can discern more precise distribution of emotions in the social platforms with only one emoticon – like – such as on Facebook before 2016. This is a step in the direction of creating a model that could tell, for instance, that a Facebook posting made in 2015 with a million likes in fact consists only 80 percent likes and 20 percent angry. If such a precise understanding on social emotions is possible, that may impact how you advertise.”

The researchers used an AI technique called “supervised machine learning” to evaluate their newly-developed solution. In this study, the researchers trained the model using four Facebook post data sets including public posts from ordinary users, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and showed that their solution significantly outperformed existing solutions. All four sets of data were analysed after Facebook introduced the six emoticons in 2016.

The researchers suggest future research may explore the multiple meanings for liking a post.

“Coming up with right taxonomy for the meanings of like is another step in the research,” said Lee. “When you click on the like button, you could really be signalling several emotions – maybe you agree with it, or you’re adding your support, or you just like it.”

And we as marketers know, the more you understand how your market feels, the better you can tailor your advertising to them.

 

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There’s New Rules on Social Media for Singles

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This is fascinating stuff about humans and what they are doing with each other.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

A study released today by dating site Match takes a look at what their members are doing with their dating life. The annual survey of 5,000+ single people living in the U.S. makes for interesting reading. While the results apply to the U.S. market only, the information can be useful for marketers and advertisers selling products into American markets.

So here’s the scoop.

“Singles are fundamentally redefining courtship in healthy and creative ways,” says Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match. “Some hang out for months before they kiss; some hop into bed immediately; and many begin with the traditional first date. Courtship is expanding – and all these tactics are proving successful for launching love. Moreover, the first date is taking on important new significance: where it used to be just a casual look-see, now the first date often signals the official beginning of a romance. And singles want to define every step toward love – with a host of new rules on social media. Most exciting to me, 72% of singles would date ‘across the aisle.’ For most singles, romance is more important than politics. I’m not surprised. The human brain is built to love.”

THE FUTURE OF DATING

Today, more than half of singles have tried online dating or dating apps. In fact, in 2017, the internet was the #1 place where singles met their last first date.

Friends? Sex? First Dates? Three paths to romance: Today’s singles are looking for something serious (69%) and they have an array of ways to get there.

1) 40% build the friendship first, known as hanging out, where they skip the sex and haven’t gone out on an official first date.

2) 55% of singles have had a Friends with Benefits relationship.

3) 44% of singles have gone out on an official first date. And many singles pursue a combination of all three strategies at one time or another.

Hanging Out: “Hanging out” has become a new path to find companionship and 29% of singles who have been hanging out with someone has had that relationship turn serious. Many singles believe that a wider array of behaviours are appropriate when hanging out than when on an official first date, including:

  • Splitting the bill is more permissible when hanging out (48% approve versus 29% who approve of this on an official first date)
  • Inching toward physical intimacy. Only 37% of singles say kissing is OK when hanging out, while 64% believe this is appropriate on a first date.

Friends with Benefits: 55% of singles have had a Friends with Benefits relationship and 45% have had one turn into a committed relationship. However only 19% actively seek out Friends with Benefits relationships (27% of men and 12% of women), and 88% of women and 73% of men say “it just happens.” Most are friends first, before the benefits (71% of men and 80% of women). Most singles agree that:

  • Close friends of your Friends with Benefits are off limits to date (62%) and 69% of singles agree that close friends can’t be told about your relationship.
  • One must disclose all other current sexual partners: 61%
  • Birth Control or Condoms must be used: 92%

The First Date. 44% of singles went on a first date in 2017 and today, there’s new significance placed on this occasion. Singles have stricter rules about what is appropriate on an official first date compared to when in a Friends with Benefits relationship or Hanging Out, including:

  • Asking you out 2-3 days in advance is appropriate first date behaviour (54% approve compared to 27% approve of asking you out the day of the date).
  • Having a first date at a nice restaurant is more acceptable on a first date (59% of singles approve compared to only 22% believe fast food is OK for that first date).
  • Perfect Ending: Half of singles approve of just a peck on the cheek while on the first date and 64% of singles approve of kissing.

The More, the Merrier: 40% of singles have dated more than one person at a time. And it’s not just Millennials. Gen Xers are 129% more likely and Boomers are 224% more likely than Millennials to have dated more than one person at a time. It’s not just men either. More women (69%) than men (51%) have dated several people simultaneously. And few singles (19%) who had dated multiple people at the same time do it because they want to have sex with multiple partners.

New Etiquette on Social Media: Nearly two-thirds of singles use social media at least once a day, although women use it more than men (72% of women; 59% of men). But there are rules emerging:

  • Before the first date – Create Boundaries:  Less than one-fifth of singles say it’s OK to friend someone on Facebook (19%), follow them on Instagram (17%), add them on Snapchat (19%), or Like a photo or post (20%) before the first date.
  • After a few dates – Start to be more Social: 36% of singles say it’s time to start following a date on Instagram; while another 33% say they’ve already started; 75% of singles are also friends on Facebook and 76% are direct messaging.
  • Committed Relationship – Making it official: 52% say it’s acceptable to friend their friends, 66% say it’s time to make it Facebook official (although 13% say they’d never do this), 66% say it’s acceptable to change your profile picture to a photo of you two; and 64% say changing your phone screen to a couple photo is fine when in a committed relationship.

DATING ADVICE FROM WOMEN

At a time when there’s increased focus to respecting boundaries and paying closer attention to what people want, new data explores how the modern single can become a more conscientious dater.

How women want to feel on a first date: The #1 way women want to feel on a date is comfortable (79%), followed by happy (35%) and liked (27%).

What women say is appropriate on a first date: On a great first date, 94% of women want their date to compliment her appearance, to be waiting for her when she arrives (90%), to hug her (82%), kiss her on the cheek (71%) and insist on paying the bill (91% of women approve of this however 45% think it’s appropriate to split the bill).

What women say is NOT OK on a first date: Checking your phone regularly on the first date is the #1 turn-off for women with only one in 10 women thinking this is appropriate, while 1 in 4 men think this is OK. Other turnoffs include:

  • Drink #3.  More than 80% of women think it’s not appropriate to have more than 2 drinks on a first date.
  • Rude to wait staff – 38% of women find this a turn-off.
  • Arriving more than 15 minutes late (1 in 4 men think this is OK first date behaviour).
  • Asking a woman for a bite of her food/drink – 58% of women don’t like this.

GOOD SEX, BAD SEX & ROBOT SEX

What makes good sex? “Americans are having long overdue conversations about people’s diverse sexual lives, respect, pleasure, and consent,” says Dr. Justin Garcia, gender studies endowed professor and research scientist at The Kinsey Institute, and Scientific Advisor to Match. “Singles of all ages, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and genders report that an enthusiastic, caring, and communicative partner are the key ingredients for a pleasurable sexual experience, which further emphasises that affirmative consent and mutual respect and engagement is paramount to good sex.”

Good (Consensual) Sex: Regardless of gender or sexual orientation, 83% of singles regard a caring partner and enthusiastic partner as the top ingredients of good sex, followed by communication (78%), being a good kisser (76%) and achieving an orgasm (75%).

Bad (Consensual) Sex: 82% of singles consider too much talking, no passion (74%), little movement (63%) and bad kissing (62%) as the major don’ts of sex.

It Gets Better Over Time: The best age for sex? Single women are having the best sex at age 66 and Men at 64.

“Mostly Hetero“: 62% of singles are interested in some form of a threesome (81% of males and 47% of females) and 39% of straight singles are interested in having a threesome that includes someone of their own gender.

Bad Sex Bell Curve: Satisfying sex rarely happens spontaneously. So while 14% of singles say bad sex during the first time is a deal breaker, the majority of singles expect partners to develop “good sex” after a few rolls in the hay. However, women are 70% less tolerant of bad sex than men.

Robogasms: There has been much discussion about the threat of robots taking our jobs, but what about our places in the bedroom? One in four singles would have sex with a robot, yet nearly half of singles would consider it cheating if their partner had sex with a robot.

THE TRUMP EFFECT

Love Trumps Politics: Even in this intensely-charged political climate, singles put love first. The overwhelming majority of singles (72%) would cross party lines to date. And only 10% of singles view being a Republican as a deal breaker while only 5% regard Democrats as a no-go.

How’d You Vote? It Doesn’t Matter: In 2017 singles were more apathetic about a partner’s voting habits than they were in 2015, before President Donald Trump was elected. This includes a potential partner who:

  • Did not have an opinion on key issues. Only 13% of men and 19% of women regarded this as a deal breaker in 2017; while in 2015, 32% of men and 37% of women regarded it as a deal breaker.
  • Did not register to vote. Only 12% of men and 19% of women regarded this as a deal breaker in 2017, while in 2015, 21% of men and 29% of women thought this was a deal breaker.
  • Did not know who was running: Only 23% of men and 35% of women regarded this as a deal breaker in 2017, while in 2015, 34% of men and 39% of women regarded this as a deal breaker.

Political Civility…Coping with Different Views: In 2017, the largest percent of singles (45%) said they would try to understand the other’s perspective; 26% of singles changed the subject; or politely told their date they didn’t agree (41%). Only 5% of singles would leave immediately.

Don’t Ask, Do Tell: 54% of singles think the current political climate makes it more important to find out about a potential partner’s overall political views. But when it comes to the first date, less than a quarter (23%) are willing to ask. Only 16% of men and 18% of women think the current political climate makes them more likely to talk politics on the first date. Most avoid hot button topics–suggesting that, for singles, love trumps politics.

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Small Businesses Use Social Media Instead of a Website, Despite Risks

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A new survey indicates that 1 in 5 small businesses use social media in place of a website. Many assume a website is cost-prohibitive and may not consider the risks of not having one.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

More than one-third (36%) of small businesses do not have a website, according to the websites section of the fourth annual Small Business Survey conducted by Clutch, a B2B research firm. One in five small businesses (21%) selectively use social media instead of a website in an effort to engage customers.

The survey indicates that small businesses consider cost a bigger concern than the potential repercussions of not having a website.

 

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram attract small businesses by cultivating a highly engaged user base. However, relying solely on social media may be a risky strategy for businesses.

“Whenever you put all of your eggs into someone else’s basket, it’s risky,” said Judd Mercer, Creative Director of Elevated Third, a web development firm. “If Facebook changes their algorithm, there’s nothing you can do.”

Facebook recently announced changes that potentially increase the risk of using social media in place of a website. The social media platform plans to prioritise posts from family and friends over posts from brands.

This new policy may make it more difficult for small businesses to reach their audiences through social media. As a result, websites are expected to regain importance among businesses – as long as cost is not considered an obstacle.

Among small businesses that do not currently have a website, more than half (58%) plan to build one in 2018.

Some Small Businesses Say Website Cost is Prohibitive, But Others Cite Costs of $500 or Less

More than a quarter (26%) of small businesses surveyed say cost is a key factor that prevents them from having a website. However, nearly one-third of small businesses with websites (28%) report spending $500 or less.

Small businesses may not be aware that some web development agencies offer packages that defray costs by dividing website construction into multiple phases or sliding rates for small businesses. “You don’t necessarily need to launch with your first-generation website,” said Vanessa Petersen, Executive Director of Strategy at ArtVersion Interactive Agency, a web design and branding agency based in Chicago. “Maybe just start small.”

Mobile-Friendly Websites Becoming Standard
Businesses that do have websites are moving en mass to mobile friendly ones, the survey found. Over 90% of respondents said their company websites will be optimised for viewing on mobile devices by the end of this year.

In addition to the 81% of company websites that are already optimised for mobile, an additional 13% that say they plan to optimise for mobile in 2018.

Clutch’s 2018 Small Business Survey included 351 small business owners. The small businesses surveyed have between 1 and 500 employees, with 55% indicating that they have 10 or fewer employees.

To read the full report and source the survey data, click here.

 

 

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Our Obsession With Social Media is Changing the Plastic Surgery Industry

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Wanting to look good in selfies is causing a boom in cosmetic surgery.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

An organisation called AAFPRS is the world’s largest association for facial plastic surgery. It represents more than 2,500 facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons throughout the world. And they have just released their annual survey, which shows what we are all doing to our heads to look better.

Like it or not, selfies have had a huge effect on how we perceive and project ourselves –  in front of the camera and off.

Selfie Awareness Is Here To Stay

For better or worse, “selfie-awareness” is more than a fad. In 2017, 55 percent of facial plastic surgeons saw patients who want to look better in selfies (up 13 percent from 2016). First identified by AAFPRS members more than three years ago in the annual survey, the trend continues to gain steam and transform the facial plastic surgery industry.

Says AAFPRS President William H. Truswell M.D., “Consumers are only a swipe away from finding love and a new look, and this movement is only going to get stronger.”

And people aren’t at all ashamed of their surgeries. In fact, they are documenting the procedures and sharing them online to seek solidarity and company throughout the process. From public healing diaries to A-list and Insta-celebs baring all on their social media accounts, nothing is off limits when it comes to sharing one’s enhancements and aesthetic edits. From lip injections to chin implants to ear lobe reduction, social media users of 2017 have no shame in sharing their road to self-confidence.

Don’t Mention Age

Surgery is no longer a hush-hush topic. But talking about age is. In 2017, the phrases “anti-aging” and “you look good for your age” were taboo. There is now a focus on health, vitality and empowerment rather than a number.

“This emerging segment is knowledgeable about high tech skincare and sun prevention and starts with facial injectables before they turn thirty,” says Dr. Truswell. “As more Millennials come of age and gain disposable income for aesthetic treatments, our members have seen steady growth in the demand for cosmetic procedures.”

In fact, the average number of procedures performed by AAFPRS members has increased 25 percent since 2012. More than half (56 percent) of AAFPRS members saw an increase in cosmetic surgery or injectables with patients under age 30 last year and over four-fifths of treatments in 2017 were cosmetic non-surgical procedures.

No matter the treatment, a natural-looking outcome is paramount for patients, with 33 percent stating a fear of looking unnatural as their top concern.

The Working Environment

A full 57 percent of facial plastic surgeons reported patients’ desire to stay relevant and competitive at work as a major driver in the decision to have a cosmetic treatment. Advancements in non-invasive and combination technologies are allowing men and women to refresh their appearance with little to no downtime taking them away from work.

Some of the most requested procedures were tailored to these specific lifestyle concerns. Eyelid procedures to look less tired were reported as a rising trend by 73 percent of members along with combined non-surgical procedures by 72 percent of members.

Predictably, Botox remains the most popular minimally invasive procedure for both women and men, followed by fillers and skin treatments.

As for our noses, we all want them changed, apparently. In surgical trends, rhinoplasty leads the way year after year (performed by 97 percent of surgeons in 2017) followed by eyelid surgery, called blepharoplasty (95 percent) and facelifts (88 percent).

Botox was ranked first for women followed by rhinoplasty. However, for men it was reversed with rhinoplasty as the top procedure followed by Botox.

The number of hair transplants in the sample jumped by more than 538 percent in that time span. Non-invasive fat reduction and Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are newer procedures that facial plastic surgeons are also seeing requested more often.

“PRP is the next frontier, and facial plastic surgeons are eager for more data to illustrate what it can do for skin rejuvenation and how it can be used in combination with lasers, energy based devices, and microneedling and even hair restoration.” says Dr. Truswell.

So it looks like none of us will be aging gracefully. We’d better get good with our local plastic surgeon, seeing as it doesn’t look like this plastic surgery boom will be ending anytime soon.

 

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The Media is Now the Least-Trusted Institution Globally

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So, which citizens trust their media the most? And the least?

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

Let’s start with the USA. The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that trust in the U.S. has suffered the largest-ever-recorded drop in the survey’s history among the general population. Trust among the general population fell nine points to 43, placing it in the lower quarter of the 28-country Trust Index. It is now the lowest of the 28 countries surveyed, below Russia and South Africa.

The collapse of trust in the U.S. is driven by a staggering lack of faith in government, which fell 14 points to 33 percent among the general population, and 30 points to 33 percent among the informed public. The remaining institutions of business, media and NGOs also experienced declines of 10 to 20 points. These decreases have all but eliminated last year’s 21-point trust gap between the general population and informed public in the U.S.

“The United States is enduring an unprecedented crisis of trust,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “This is the first time that a massive drop in trust has not been linked to a pressing economic issue or catastrophe like the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In fact, it’s the ultimate irony that it’s happening at a time of prosperity, with the stock market and employment rates in the U.S. at record highs. The root cause of this fall is the lack of objective facts and rational discourse.”

Conversely, China finds itself atop the Trust Index for both the general population (74) and the informed public (83). Institutions within China saw significant increases in trust led by government, which jumped eight points to 84 percent among the general population, and three points to 89 percent within the informed public. Joining China at the top of the Trust Index are India, Indonesia, UAE and Singapore.

For the first time media is the least trusted institution globally. In 22 of the 28 countries surveyed it is now distrusted. The demise of confidence in the Fourth Estate is driven primarily by a significant drop in trust in platforms, notably search engines and social media. Sixty-three percent of respondents say they do not know how to tell good journalism from rumour or falsehoods or if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organisation. The lack of faith in media has also led to an inability to identify the truth (59 percent), trust government leaders (56 percent) and trust business (42 percent).

This year saw a revival of faith in experts and decline in peers. Technical (63 percent) and academic (61 percent) experts distanced themselves as the most credible spokesperson from “a person like yourself,” which dropped six points to an all-time low of 54 percent.

“In a world where facts are under siege, credentialed sources are proving more important than ever,” said Stephen Kehoe, Global chair, Reputation. “There are credibility problems for both platforms and sources. People’s trust in them is collapsing, leaving a vacuum and an opportunity for bona fide experts to fill.”

Business is now expected to be an agent of change. The employer is the new safe house in global governance, with 72 percent of respondents saying that they trust their own company. And 64 percent believe a company can take actions that both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates.

This past year saw CEO credibility rise sharply by seven points to 44 percent after a number of high-profile business leaders voiced their positions on the issues of the day. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they want CEOs to take the lead on policy change instead of waiting for government, which now ranks significantly below business in trust in 20 markets. This show of faith comes with new expectations; building trust (69 percent) is now the No. 1 job for CEOs, surpassing producing high-quality products and services (68 percent).

“Silence is a tax on the truth,” said Edelman. “Trust is only going to be regained when the truth moves back to centre stage. Institutions must answer the public’s call for providing factually accurate, timely information and joining the public debate. Media cannot do it alone because of political and financial constraints. Every institution must contribute to the education of the populace.”

Other key findings from the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer include:

  • Technology (75 percent) remains the most trusted industry sector followed by Education (70 percent), professional services (68 percent) and transportation (67 percent). Financial services (54 percent) was once again the least trusted sector along with consumer packaged goods (60 percent) and automotive (62 percent).
  • Companies headquartered in Canada (68 percent), Switzerland (66 percent), Sweden (65 percent) and Australia (63 percent) are most trusted. The least trusted country brands are Mexico (32 percent), India (32 percent), Brazil (34 percent) and China (36 percent). Trust in brand U.S. (50 percent) dropped five points, the biggest decline of the countries surveyed.
  • Nearly seven in 10 respondents worry about fake news and false information being used as a weapon.
  • Exactly half of those surveyed indicate that they interact with mainstream media less than once a week, while 25 percent said they read no media at all because it is too upsetting. And the majority of respondents believe that news organizations are overly focused on attracting large audiences (66 percent), breaking news (65 percent) and politics (59 percent).

It’s a brave new world, and we as marketers must realise that placing any marketing cash with distrusted media outlets could mean a very big waste of our advertising spending power.

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Influencers are Losing Interest in Snapchat, and Are Using Other Ways to Reach Their Fans

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Snapchat seems to be sliding down the list of prefered ways for influencers to reach their fans. A new report had shown that not one influencer surveyed chose snapchat as their favourite platform.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

New research released today by Carusele and TapInfluence uncovered some surprising results about how influencers feel about various platforms heading into 2018.

Of the 790 influencers surveyed, none answered Snapchat to the question, “What is your favourite channel to use for branded content?”

Personal blogs were the favourite of 36% of respondents, followed closely by Instagram at 35% and Facebook at 12%. Twitter (9%), Pinterest (6%) and YouTube (1%) also received votes.

Even when asked to name their second favourite choice, Snapchat collected fewer than 1% of the responses, while Facebook ranked first at 26% and Instagram second at 25%.

“Two things are clear from this part of our survey,” said Jim Tobin, president of Carusele. “The first is that blogs aren’t going anywhere, which I think is a good thing for both brands and influencers. And second, Instagram’s moves over the last year or two have really outmanoeuvred Snapchat, which had been a hot platform for creators two years ago.”

Influencers also plan to be in the space for the long haul, with 97% of influencers surveyed planning to continue their work “as long as I’m able.” This despite fewer than half surveyed reporting working full time in the vocation (46%) while 24% work full time elsewhere and 13% part time elsewhere. The balance report being full time parents or caregivers.

“Our earlier research legitimised influencer marketing as a sales driver. This new research supports the fact that it remains a viable career option for content creators,” said Promise Phelon, CEO of TapInfluence.

Carusele won the 2017 Small Agency of the Year Award at the Shorty Awards. It utilises a hand-crafted network of content producers to produce premium influencer campaigns for leading brands and retailers.  TapInfluence is an influencer marketplace connecting brands with social media influencers. And if they say that Snapchat is no longer cool, then it probably isn’t.

 

 

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What social media KPIs should you be tracking?

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By Will Greenwood

Social media is an extremely valuable tool for building relationships with your audience, improving brand awareness and ultimately increasing revenue. If your business isn’t already utilising social media as a marketing tool, then it’s time you jumped on the bandwagon. And if you are using it already, then how do you know whether it’s working for your business?

With an almost endless list of data and analytics available through various social media channels, deciding upon the right ones to track can be a difficult task. The metrics you decide to measure depend completely upon what you are looking to gain from your social media campaign, a decision that can be difficult to make.  Unsure where to start? Here are some of the important, core metrics that you should be monitoring.

Reach – how far is your message travelling?

If brand awareness is a top priority for your marketing department, then Reach needs should be one of your top social media KPIs. Reach displays you how far your message is travelling, how many people are seeing it, and who those people are.

  • Followers – Following is the most basic indication of how wide your reach is, it displays the number of people that could see your content – could being the key word here. A large following will ultimately increase your reach, however, there is a possibility that many of these people will never actually see your content. And if they do see it, what’s to say they are genuinely interested in it?
  • Impressions – The number of impressions your post receives shows how many times it has popped up in someone’s newsfeed, this could be because they follow your page or one of their friends has liked or shared your content. Impressions don’t give an indication of how many people actually paid attention to your post, it only displays how many times people had the chance to see it.
  • Web Traffic – This is potentially the most important reach metric to measure. Ultimately the end goal of a social media campaign is to drive traffic to your site, whether that’s to a product page or to read a blog post. If you’re investing time, effort, and potentially money into your social media campaign, you’ll want to make sure this effort is reflected in your web traffic, otherwise what is the point in using social media? Google Analytics is an easy way to track which social networks are performing best.

Engagement – a sign of quality social content

Once you’ve assessed how far your reach is it’s time to focus on how engaged the people seeing your content are. Engagement is arguably the most important thing you should be monitoring across all of your social accounts. In simple terms, engagement includes the number of likes, comments, shares and clicks your posts receive. Engagement is an extremely important metric to measure as platforms like Facebook and Twitter view engagement as a sign of quality and popularity, something that will ultimately help improve your organic reach.

  • Likes – More likes mean more attention, people will naturally gravitate towards the more ‘popular’ content with a higher number of likes. Additionally, it’s not only your followers that prefer posts with more likes – more likes signals to most platform algorithms that this particular content deserves a higher spot in search results.
  • Comments – It’s in the name social media is meant to be ‘social’. Interesting and engaging content will naturally spark a conversation between your followers, whether it’s positive or critical. Comments help you identify interesting topics that your audience are interested in, something that will help tweak your marketing strategy for the future.
  • Shares – We’ve reached a point where the process of liking a post has become a bit of a mindless activity that doesn’t always reflect everyone’s feelings towards your content. Sharing a post is a more meaningful act as that individual is displaying their interest in your content and saying to their friends or followers I think you might like this.
  • Clicks – You could be sharing a link to the most interesting and relevant piece of content with your followers but if no one is clicking on it then it becomes less meaningful. Link clicks reflect how engaging the headline and image within your post are.

Higher levels of engagement show that you are creating content that your audience is interested in. Alternatively, if you notice that you have a wide reach but no one is engaging with your content, then this suggests that your followers aren’t interested in what you are sharing or maybe you are reaching the wrong people.

Ultimately, the KPIs you measure will depend upon the end goal of social media campaign. If the sole purpose of using social media is to increase revenue and sales you will want to dig deeper and measure the number of leads and conversions from your social accounts. This will display how many of your followers are actually paying customers, and who is clicking through to your site and making a purchase as a result of your social media activity. However, if the initial aim of your social media campaign is to boost your reputation and raise brand awareness then measuring engagement and reach should be a top priority.

These are just a few of the basic KPIs that you should be keeping an eye on when using social media. If you are looking for to gain a deeper insight into the success of your social media campaign there are many additional metrics that can be analysed across various networks.

By Will Greenwood

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What is Social Media?

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By Matthew Hudson

Social media is a series of websites and applications designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time. Most people today define social media as apps on their smartphone or tablet, but the truth is, this communication tool started with computers. This misconception stems from the fact that most social media users access their tools via apps. In fact, 50% of online users never engage social media.

The ability to share photos, opinions, events, etc in real-time has transformed the way we do life and it is also transforming the way we do business. Retailers who engage social media as part of their marketing strategy have seen great results. But the key to success with social media is to treat it with the same care, respect and attention you do all of your marketing.

In the early days of social marketing, there was little competition for the dollar. Today, there is tons. You can spend thousands of dollars on a Facebook ad campaign, for example, and get no return on your investment. Just like competing for space in the newspaper years ago, you are not competing for eyes on social media. And since social media by its very nature is a “short attention span” media, it is 10 times harder to get their attention than it was with a newspaper ad. The ad headlines and copy are harder to write on Twitter or Instagram than in print.

For retailers, most case studies involving social media are either about very large organizations who have very large budgets or a food truck who tells its customers what street corner it will be on. The fact is that for the majority of retailers, social media is a virtual and literal black hole.

One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is to open up an account with every social media platform they think is relevant and then leave them with no activity.

Having an account with social media does not make you “into” social media any more than owning golf clubs makes you ready for the PGA tour. in fact, social media users are turned off by the retailer who opens accounts and does not engage and therefore becomes labeled as a pretender. The truth is, it is better to not have a social media icon on your website if you are not going to actively engage it. 

The other big mistake retailers make is by using social media to talk about what is important to them rather than talking about what is important to the customer. As a retailer, you may think it is great to shout that you have a sale going on – and in some regards this would be true. But if that is the reason you are getting involved in social media it will do nothing for you.

Your goal should be to provide content that is relevant to your customer and engages them to the point that they want to share your post to others. If you engage social media, engage your customer. Involve them in a dialogue. Ask them their opinions. Post a picture of two items you are considering to carry in the store and ask your customers which one they like better. It creates a conversation and a dialogue which leads to shared posts which leads to engaged followers.

Plus with the example we just shared, it also leads to enhanced margin because it might prevent you from buying that item that you end up practically giving away to sell it.

Another thing to consider is that the most commonly shared content on social media involves an image. So always include an image with your post. It dramatically increasing your chances someone will share it with their network. While building up a large network of followers is great, ultimately what you are after is for the followers you do have – however many that is – to share what you are posting with their network. It is the new form of “word of mouth” advertising and it still costs the same – FREE!

Think of it this way, a post or tweet that you put out there might get read, but when it has been shared or forwarded or favorited by someone who got it, it now has that person’s endorsement.

And we all listen to our friends a LOT more than we listen to a retail store.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Matthew Hudson

Sourced from the balance

 

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Curalate CEO: Social media are leading to ‘major, major shift’ in shopping

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By Bob Fernandez,

Consumers clicking on social-media posts are changing the way Americans shop, the top executive of a Philadelphia tech company says.

In a holiday season that has already set online sales records, a survey commissioned by Philadelphia’s Curalate Inc. says that 76 percent of Americans — or three out of four shoppers — have bought products they were exposed to on a brand’s social-media post.

The OnePoll survey points to a shift in consumer behavior as shoppers find shirts, slacks, dresses, shoes, and other items on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat through a brand’s feed, or sponsored ads. OnePoll surveyed 1,000 consumers online over the summer for Curalate, which spent $2,000 for the research.

It’s not surprising that the highest proportion of those shopping through social-media posts were millennials: 82 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 had bought a product after seeing a social-media post on it.

But the OnePoll survey also showed that significant numbers of baby boomers are influenced by social media, indicating the ubiquity of the platforms. According to the survey’s results, 67 percent of respondents between 55 and 65 years old had bought a product after seeing it on social media.

Five-year-old Curalate, with offices in Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, and London, helps companies promote their products through social-media feeds and instantly creates online catalogs of products for consumers, branded as “Showroom.” The company believes that brands need to make it easier for consumers to discover and impulsively buy products they see online — they way they do when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores.

“We are witnessing a major, major shift in consumer behavior” as social-media posts function similarly to billboards that advertise products or department-store windows that draw consumers into a product or brand’s website, said Apu Gupta, Curalate’s cofounder and CEO.

Social media have been undervalued by marketers, who are looking for click-through-to-purchases but many times don’t find them on social media, Gupta said. Instead, he noted, consumers discover products online and eventually purchase those products days or weeks later. According to the survey’s results, 65 percent of shoppers viewing a social-media post purchased at a later date, and 20 percent did so in a physical store.

The survey’s findings seem to reflect a certain momentum for social media’s influence on shopping activity.

A March 2016 study by BigCommerce, an Austin, Texas, e-commerce platform, and research firm Kelton Global indicated that 23 percent of consumers reported being influenced in their purchases by social-media recommendations, with 30 percent saying they would make a purchase from a social-media network such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat. That study did not specifically look at how many people viewed social-media posts, then eventually bought the items they had viewed.

Based on sales numbers released by Adobe Analytics Data on Tuesday morning, Cyber Monday was the biggest U.S. online shopping day in history. Use of mobile devices, especially smartphones, accounted for just more than half of sales and nearly 40 percent of revenue. Adobe reported that $6.59 billion had been spent online, a 16.8 percent growth year over year. Revenue driven by smartphones hit an all-time high.

According to the OnePoll survey, Facebook was the platform most popular with shoppers, with 52 percent of respondents saying they had discovered a product on it. The comparable data for other platforms were Pinterest, 22 percent; Instagram, 18 percent; Twitter, 17 percent; and Snapchat, 7 percent.

Feature Image: 

Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

Curalate CEO Apu Gupta talks to his employees in Philadelphia in September. Curalate is one of the leading tech companies in the city, with relationships with dozens of retailers and hundreds of brands. It’s pioneering ways for consumers to discover stuff they want to buy online.  

By Bob Fernandez,

Sourced from philly.com

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The First-Ever 24/7 Global Social News Network Goes Live Today

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Bloomberg and Twitter have got together to pump out news all day and all night on social media.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

Bloomberg Media and Twitter today launched TicToc by Bloomberg, the first-ever 24/7 global news network built for a social media platform that targets the next generation of on-the-go, mobile-first news consumers. TicToc by Bloomberg combines the global news gathering capabilities of Bloomberg’s 2,700 journalists and analysts across 120 countries, with the digital power and immediacy of Twitter, one of the world’s fastest and primary news distribution channels. (You can follow @tictoc or visit live.twitter.com/tictoc )

The first iteration of TicToc by Bloomberg will feature a mix of live video and reporting from Bloomberg journalists around the world, as well as breaking news content from consumers, curated and verified by Bloomberg editors with a real-time distillation of the related conversation on Twitter. The news experience is designed to be interactive, rich with Twitter content and consumable on any device. Coverage will focus on general interest news worldwide.

Said Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith, “We’re seeing a shift in the media landscape today: more content companies are partnering with platforms to create hybrid businesses that better serve consumers and society. With TicToc by Bloomberg, we’re fusing the best of Bloomberg and Twitter to build a fast and credible modern news experience. The launch of this new network further reinforces our strategy of driving innovation through exciting new products and services that touch a broad audience around the world.”

According to Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, it’s early days. “Butwhat makes TicToc by Bloomberg unique is that consumers will be able to watch live news and the conversation around it at the same time, all while a dedicated team of Bloomberg editors verifies the facts. We’re leveraging our journalism and data to reach and inform an intelligent audience on Twitter around the world.”

Said Anthony Noto, Twitter COO. “Combining the journalistic integrity of Bloomberg with the speed and global availability of Twitter makes this a collaboration we are really excited about.”

TicToc by Bloomberg recreates the visual presentation of news for a mobile, social world through the use of video, data, and graphics. Users will have access to two types of news content:

  • Breaking News: global breaking news when consumers need it and when an event warrants it. Live coverage for key events will be presented alongside real-time distillation of the facts and Tweets about the event.
  • Global News Update: An hourly update of global news will be available in short, digestible clips, refreshed at the top of each hour. The segment will be comprised of top global news so that consumers are constantly up to speed on the stories that matter. It will also include slightly longer clips that put news into context, providing deeper analysis of the top news stories of the moment. At launch, top-of-the-hour news coverage will be updated from 6am to 10pm EST, expanding to 24 hours in early 2018, while weekend coverage will include regular news updates, prioritising live breaking news events.

The global news update will be available for replay and refreshed each hour with evolving stories from around the world. Relevant Tweets, curated and verified by Bloomberg, will run below the video programming, allowing consumers to see accurate Tweet conversations around the news.

So let’s talk about the money. Seven sponsors have signed on as the Founding Partners of TicToc: AT&T Business, CA Technologies, CME Group, Goldman Sachs, INFINITI, SAS, TD Ameritrade. TicToc will feature branded native content and unique integrations woven into the video programming.

“We know how critical education and information are to the investing process. And, in today’s fast-paced world, consumers want the latest news at their fingertips, in their format of choice, from a source they trust,” said Francie Staub, managing director of integrated and digital marketing at TD Ameritrade. “That’s why we’re so excited to work with Bloomberg as it reimagines the mobile newsroom – leveraging cutting edge technology to help create a more informed, confident investor base.”

There it is… they key driver… native advertising. Or “advertorial” to us of the old school terminology. Will it be a success? Or are we all sick of 24/7 news? Time will tell.

Tick, tock.

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