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How to Find your First Job Using Social Media?

July 5, 2017 No Comments

After completing university education, several graduates usually complain that they are not getting any job offers from the market. They apply for numbers of job posts but do not get any positive response from the recruiters.

This is quite embarrassing that you are not getting a good job even if you have a professional degree with a good CGPA.

Everyone wants to get a dream job after successful completion of university education. But the truth is that, they have to start their careers from the entry level jobs. But unfortunately, a majority of jobs require industry experience (usually from 1 year to 3 years).

The question is how a student can get experience, when he/she already studying as a full time student. Unfortunately, this is a bitter truth and organizations need to understand. Well, this is a long debate!

Let’s move toward the main point.

If you are experiencing the same situation and feeling that you’re going nowhere then luckily I’m going to show you that how you can find your first job using social media.

So, let start….!

1. Signup for Social Media Platforms

I’m sure that you are already using different social media platforms to connect with your friends and family. But if you are not surfing social media, you are missing great opportunities.

Go and signup on these sites especially on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a great platform for the industry professionals. Up till now, 500 million professionals from all around the world are using LinkedIn to connect with other professionals.

Recruiters/HR managers often use social media to find the talent. All you need is to show your existence over there. Update your profile with your latest photograph and showcase your skills and experience (if you’ve have). Your LinkedIn profile will act as a Resume.

Start networking and building relationships with the industry professionals. Regularly participate in the discussions and also join LinkedIn Groups for more exposure.

Likewise LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are another great platforms to find job opportunities.

For instance, if any manager wants to hire then he/she will obviously look first in his/her online circle. So, there is an opportunity for you if that recruiter/ HR manager sees your profile and gets inspired from your qualification. He/she will obviously call you first for the job interview.

2. Try Freelancing

Freelancing is a growing industry. In fact, it is becoming a future business trend that will reshape the industry.

If you are not getting any job, start freelancing because something is better than nothing.

If you have skills like web development, SEO, content writing, and any other thing in which you are good at, then find the best freelancing site and start selling your skills.

Initially, you will have to work at low rates but after sometime you’ll surely enjoy good bucks.

There are several graduates making hundreds even thousands of dollars each month by working online. Due to Globalization, Startups usually hire freelancers from all over the world to get their work done at low rates rather than hiring traditional employees from 9 to 5.

So, it is another excellent opportunity for you to find online jobs.

Now, there is a worth mentioning thing is that several organizations do not consider freelancing experience. But if you work for the reputable online startups, then try to get your experience letter when you are applying for other jobs. In this way, you can solve your experience problem.

3. Increase your Online Presence

Likewise on social media, presence on the internet is also very important. Create your separate web page or blog; and write your ABOUT ME section in which you should mention your academic qualification and skills.

If you cannot afford to build your own web page, you can use other platforms such as About.me or sumry.me. These websites allow the people to create their personal online resumes.

Creating online resume will boost your personal search engine visibility. In this way, anyone can search you instantly on the internet.

4. Start Writing

For managerial level jobs, writing skills are very important.

If you want to get a good job, start writing. In fact, Writing is a great way to express your thoughts and observations.

Managers usually want to hire those candidates who have good reading and writing skills. So, start writing on your personal blog.

If you cannot afford a blog then there are other platforms you can use for writing such as guest blogging. LinkedIn also allows the users to publish their posts.

Writing contents and blog posts will increase your interaction with the industry professionals. It might be possible that you may get a good opportunity from the large organization.

Final Thoughts

Well, there are several other ways through which beginners can land on their first jobs. But I think these are the simple techniques through which you can get your first job as soon as possible.

It’s my humble request for the beginners that do not de-motivate yourself. Stay positive and become optimistic person. Everything needs time and your good time will come soon.

Hope you find these tips useful. Best of luck for your future Endeavour 🙂

By Adil Zaman

Sourced from CareerMetis.com

In News

@Millennials Wary of #Twitter

July 4, 2017 No Comments

As marketers, we must be aware that Millennials are low on trust when reading the medium.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

A new study indicates young adults have a healthy mistrust of the information they read on Twitter.

Nearly anyone can start a Twitter account and post 140 characters of information at a time, bogus or not, a fact the study’s participants seemed to grasp. This is according to Kimberly Fenn, assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University.

“Our findings suggest young people are somewhat wary of information that comes from Twitter,” said Fenn. “It’s a good sign.”

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, is the first to examine social media and false memory. Participants were college students from the so-called Millennial Generation. Twitter, with 230 million users, is most popular among people in their teens and 20s.

Fenn and MSU colleagues showed 74 undergraduates a series of images on a computer that depicted a story of a man robbing a car. False information about the story was then presented in a scrolling text feed that bore a high resemblance to Twitter or in a feed from a more traditional online source.

The researchers tested whether the students integrated the bogus information into their minds, which psychologists call false memory. The results showed that when the participants read the “Twitter” feed, they were much less likely to form false memories about the story.

Fenn said the students were more mistrustful of the Twitter feed than they were of the more traditional feed.

“We propose young adults are taking into account the medium of the message when integrating information into memory,” Fenn said.

In News

Teenagers and Higher-Income Households Most Likely to Struggle with Technology Addiction

July 3, 2017 No Comments

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

–One in three people find it difficult to take a break from technology, even when they know they should

-China, Brazil and Argentina have highest levels who struggle to take a tech break

-People in Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium lead for finding it easy to ‘unplug’

A third of people (34 percent) in an online survey of 17 countries firmly agree that they “find it difficult to take a break from technology (my mobile device, computer, TV, etc.), even when I know I should.” This compares to less than half that number (16 percent) who firmly disagree that it is difficult to take a break.

The findings from global research firm GfK, show that, internationally, gender makes next to no difference in people’s struggle to turn off their devices or ‘unplug’ from technology, with nearly equal percentages of both men and women agreeing they find it difficult.

However, the different age groups and income groups show distinct differences in susceptibility to being ‘always on’.

Younger age groups struggle most with technology addiction

Teenagers (15-19 year olds) are the most likely to struggle with technology addiction, with just under half (44 percent) firmly saying they find it difficult to take a tech break, even when they know they should. This dips to 41 percent for those in their twenties and to 38 percent for those in their thirties. It then falls significantly for the older age groups – standing at 29 percent of those in their forties, 23 percent for those in their fifties and 15 percent for those aged 60 and over.

Critically, the 50-59 and 60+ age groups are the tipping point, where there are higher percentages who firmly indicate they have no problem turning off their technology, than percentages saying they struggle to take a break.

High income households show biggest gap between those finding it easy or difficult to take tech breaks.

For people living in high-income households (across all 17 countries), 39 percent find it difficult to take a break from technology, even when they know they should, while 11 percent find it easy – a gap of 28 percentage points. This contrasts to those in low-income households, where 30 percent find it difficult, while 20 percent find it easy – a gap of only 10 percentage points.

China and the Americas have highest percentages who find taking a technology break difficult. Germans lead in finding it easy.

Ireland didn’t feature in the survey, but everyone can agree we all are prone to tech addiction.

At country level, China (43 percent) has the highest percentage of online population who strongly agree that they find it difficult to break from technology. This is closely followed by the Latin American countries surveyed (Brazil 42 percent, Argentina 40 percent, Mexico 38 percent), with the USA coming fifth (31 percent).

On the other side, Germany has the highest percentage (35 percent) of online population who strongly disagree that taking a break from tech is difficult. This is followed by the Netherlands (30 percent), Belgium (28 percent) and Canada and Russia (both 27 percent).

The findings clearly show where the key markets lie at a number of levels – from brands offering the latest devices targeting happily ‘always-on’ consumers, to brands offering ‘quality time’ services that resonate with people who like to break from technology.

You can find the full report here.

In News

Building Brand Loyalty Through Social Media and DOOH Integration

July 3, 2017 No Comments

By Shriranga Sudhakara.

Digital out-of-home advertising is unique because it intercepts active consumers with highly targeted messages as they move through their day.

Brands are constantly competing to get consumer attention and in an ideal scenario create brand custodians. The once humble billboard, now a connected powerhouse, is set to play a key role in building brand loyalty. For advertisers, never has there been so much opportunity to target on-the-go tech-savvy consumer with the rise of full motion DOOH screens, combined with smartphone penetration, WIFI connectivity, and wider reach. Similarly, social media can connect and build on to user generated content. Both social and DOOH at the end of the day are like the two halves of a digital medium. It is quite early to comprehend the possibilities the integration of DOOH and social media will bring about, amplify each other and deliver effective communication. Both channels are still evolving, but are already showcasing the potential of building a cohesive bond. With the ability to reach huge scale over a short period of time, both the mediums are ready to take it to the next level. So how are they going to work together?

NewAge integration

Social Media provides engagement and DOOH provides phenomenal reach. Both the mediums have the ability to deliver rich content based on context. Hence this is a natural integration, which will only strengthen the effect of the campaign. Earlier, advertisers often faced the challenge to measure the audience reach through traditional platforms like print and TV. With the rise in technology, the measurability of these two-high content generating mediums has gotten better with industry benchmark set across stakeholders. The same is true of these 2 mediums and as brands aim to introduce a trend of going beyond the traditional norm, a marriage of these two mediums becomes inevitable.

Amplify

Recently, there are two distinct trends. One, where the DOOH activity has been planned to amplify a primarily existing social media campaign, another trend is where social media is used to draw attention to the digital out of the home activity. With the former, the primary focus is on content from social media channels which will be delivered seamlessly to the connected digital displays. On the other hand, user generated content will play an important role as it’s produced through engagement with digital signage and then delivered to social media channels. For example, a simple use of a hashtag to trace twitter feed of the consumer or showcase content pulled from campaign’s Facebook page. The purpose of the integration is to complement social media campaigns and highlight what they are trying to communicate. DOOH became a medium which gave consumers a glimpse into the social space. For example, the user generated content is at the center stage for any social media campaign. Imagine use of images, videos and text uploaded by the audience at a high scale event. These posts are showcased on DOOH screens in and around the vicinity on a ‘Real-time’ basis. Thus, leading to much larger reach and quirky brand reputation.

In the latter, there is the usage of digital screens with creative content to grab eyeballs. DOOH here, becomes the primary channel for consumer interaction and social media channels will be used to focus attention on the outdoor creative. A unique messaging placed on digital screen, targeting young children to create awareness about child abuse. The screens are prepared with dual messaging which is altered according to eye level of the viewer. The actual message with contact details are shown to the child while adults are under the impression that the ad is a normal one-way communication. These campaigns effectively showcase the potential of the DOOH screens and social media becomes the extension of digital screens.

Interactivity

DOOH medium can deliver real-time and location-specific content to create interactivity with the customers. For example, the personalized content is created and updated on a real-time basis with the help of data available from the brand and the screens. Demographics and consumer buying pattern distinguish and arranges the advertisement placement. For instance, a general search in any urban area regarding best deals on electronic devices. Digital screens in and around that area and mass transport are now equipped by the same message highlighting amazing deals on certain electronic devices thereby creating a much larger impact. DOOH is now ready to grasp and take charge of the digital space, with the help of technological innovation and availability of data.

DOOH has the ability to enhance minimalistic content by adding interactivity through HD displays and connectivity. A simple ad of a phone which uses user content gathered through their campaign page on social media handles. Few images or videos taken by the participants through that phone equips DOOH with the messages. Quick gratification for the participants, photo and video credits are given on those advertisements. This level of interactivity through social media and apt use of DOOH medium is clear testimonial to the potential of this partnership.

Seamless

Digital out-of-home advertising is unique because it intercepts active consumers with highly targeted messages as they move through their day. Successful digital out-of-home advertising campaigns start with deep knowledge of consumer mindset and their location relevance. While, DOOH medium in the Indian market is yet to successfully showcase its compatibility to several digital mediums. It is quite noteworthy that with the use of mobile beacons, hypertargeting and dynamic data feeds, digital screens are able to amplifies campaign relevance and transform it into a significant consumer touch point

In the near future, it would get impossible to carry out a campaign without involving both social media and DOOH. The possibilities are endless and with wide range of technologies getting developed and implemented. Even prediction and analysis of consumers’ mood and instant measurement of ROI will be possible.

By Shriranga Sudhakara.

He is the managing director of Vyoma, started with the intention of captivating audience on the move, and enable brands to converse with their audience in the out of home space; Vyoma since its inception has quickly grown to become India’s largest digital out-of-home advertising company. More From The Author >>

Sourced from DWDisrupt

In News

“If brands champion their people as their most valuable asset, why do they invest so little in understanding them?”

June 19, 2017 No Comments

By Michael Feeley

Gemma McGrattan of brand engagement agency Synergy Creative explains to The Drum Network why it’s time for large employers to treat employee comms with the same level of care and attention spent on marketing to customers…

Synergy refers to itself as a ‘brand engagement agency’ – what does that mean exactly?

We celebrated Synergy’s 10th anniversary last year, but we found our niche as an agency relatively early on. After a couple of years, we started focusing our expertise and our offering around internal communications and employee engagement. We began working on a lot of employee comms projects: rewards and recognition schemes , induction programmes, that sort of thing, usually based around HR-related comms. Over the years, that has developed into a real specialism for Synergy.

Our clients for this sort of service are typically organisations with 5000+ staff, operating a distributed network of outlets, such as Labrokes, Argos, ODEON Cinemas Group across Europe and various utlility companies, which tend to have lots of small teams and individuals working out in the field for the majority of the time.

What problems are large employers typically trying to address when they engage Synergy?

For that scale of organisation, it can become difficult to keep a large, fragmented, remote workforce fully engaged and up-to-date with the latest information from the company. We specialise in supporting those comms needs, supporting employees on their journey ‘from hire to retire’!

Ultimately, it’s about valuing your employees, encouraging them, motivating them, inspiring them. From a hard-nosed business point of view, there’s clear evidence that employee engagement can have a positive effective on productivity and profitability – Dale Carnegie research found companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%. In 2017, more and more organisations are beginning to regard employee engagement as an ongoing strategic initiative, rather than a short-term tactical project.

How has the market changed in the time that Synergy has been focused on internal comms?

These days, it’s common to see job titles such as ‘Head of Internal Communications, ‘Engagement Manager’ or ‘Employer Brand Manager’. In the majority of instances, those jobs didn’t exist a few years ago. That’s significant as it indicates that employee engagement is being taken very seriously at board level now, which is a big change.

Also, various technology platforms have emerged, such as Yammer, Slack and Facebook Workplace, that make it easier than ever before to create an employee network without having to build your own secure platform from scratch. Big brands are now happy to make use of these secure third party platforms in a way they would have been unsure about a few years ago.

The biggest change is the increased recognition that the brand has value, not only to customers, but also to employees. Employers should treat employees as well as they would customers by giving them the opportunity to be listened to, collaborate and shape things within the business. We’re all more sophisticated now. Today, we expect a heightened level of interaction with a brand as consumers, so why wouldn’t we want that sort of two-way dialogue as employees? All the big brands are talking about ‘employee advocacy’, recognising the importance for would-be candidates to hear perspectives from existing employees via their own social networks. The idea here is that a peer recommendation is more powerful than messaging coming directly from the brand.

Who is doing this well at the moment?

A lot of this depends on the brand itself and how brave and forward thinking it is.

Odeon Cinemas Group in Europe has thrown itself whole-heartedly into improving guest experience and employee experience. As a result, they’ve grown hugely in the last two years and had a very successful sale to an American company. That’s a strong case study of the links between employee engagement and hard commercial success.

Virgin Rail has also been very innovative in this area. They recently moved their employee comms to Yammer and are beginning to analyse employee demographics in the same way as customer demographics to inform and shape employee needs.

There are good examples across the board, but the key is that you need to be brave enough to truly embrace it and facilitate the dialogue rather than every item of employee comms having to go through a 50-step approval process, which isn’t going to work.

What tips can you offer large organisations currently reviewing their employee engagement strategy?

Firstly, really understand your people. We think nothing of investing huge sums investigating our customers’ preferences but invest practically nothing in understanding our employees as a collection of internal audiences. You need evidence to get under the skin of that and treat your employer brand with the same kind of care as your consumer-facing brand.

Secondly, whenever you launch an initiative that requires the commitment of your employees to successfully deliver it, you have to be crystal clear about why the initiative is happening in the first place. Make the link meaningful to your people and help them to understand what the business stands for and where you are heading as a business. When employees fundamentally ‘get it’, they are on board all the way.

Thirdly, involve your people, don’t try to simply ‘run’ it. Become a facilitator and curator of the internal conversation rather than a leader or controller of it. It takes time for people to become comfortable on the chosen platform, but the more a workforce knows about each other, with plenty of opportunity to contribute, get involved and make a real difference, the better the chance of a high-performance culture.

And finally, continually reinforce your commitment to the value of internal comms and the employer brand. It can’t be a one hit wonder. The real effort, and success, is in maintaining the momentum.

By Michael Feeley

Michael Feeley is The Drum Network’s consultant journalist, advising and assisting member agencies on their editorial submissions and contributions to The Drum.

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Number of Employers Using Social Media to Screen Candidates at All-Time High

June 15, 2017 No Comments

Before posting pictures of your late-night revelry or complaints about your job on social media, think again.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates before hiring, up significantly from 60 percent last year and 11 percent in 2006.

Here’s some other creepy stats.

– 57 percent are less likely to interview a candidate they can’t find online

– 54 percent have decided not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles

– Half of employers check current employees’ social media profiles

– 70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates, up from 11 percent in 2006

The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between February 16 and March 9, 2017. It included a representative sample of more than 2,300 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

“Most workers have some sort of online presence today– and more than half of employers won’t hire those without one,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “This shows the importance of cultivating a positive online persona. Job seekers should make their professional profiles visible online and ensure any information that could negatively impact their job search is made private or removed.”

What Are Employers Looking for?
Social recruiting is becoming a key part of HR departments – 3 in 10 employers (30 percent) have someone dedicated to the task. When researching candidates for a job, employers who use social networking sites are looking for information that supports their qualifications for the job (61 percent), if the candidate has a professional online persona (50 percent), what other people are posting about the candidates (37 percent) and for a reason not to hire a candidate (24 percent).

Employers aren’t just looking at social media – 69 percent are using online search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing to research candidates as well, compared to 59 percent last year.

Get that photo of you “resting” on a bar set to private right now!

Ponder Before You Post
Learn from those before you – more than half of employers (54 percent) have found content on social media that caused them not to hire a candidate for an open role. Of those who decided not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles, the reasons included:

Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information: 39 percent
Candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs: 38 percent
Candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion: 32 percent
Candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee: 30 percent
Candidate lied about qualifications: 27 percent
Candidate had poor communication skills: 27 percent
Candidate was linked to criminal behaviour: 26 percent
Candidate shared confidential information from previous employers: 23 percent
Candidate’s screen name was unprofessional: 22 percent
Candidate lied about an absence: 17 percent
Candidate posted too frequently: 17 percent

Your online persona doesn’t just have the potential to get you in trouble. Cultivating your presence online can also lead to reward. More than 4 in 10 employers (44 percent) have found content on a social networking site that caused them to hire the candidate. Among the primary reasons employers hired a candidate based on their social media profiles were candidate’s background information supported their professional qualifications (38 percent), great communication skills (37 percent), a professional image (36 percent), and creativity (35 percent).

Don’t Delete, Instead Police
Debating removing your social media profiles while job searching? Think twice before you hit delete. Fifty-seven percent of employers are less likely to call someone in for an interview if they can’t find a job candidate online. Of that group, 36 percent like to gather more information before calling in a candidate for an interview, and 25 percent expect candidates to have an online presence.

Got the Job? Stay Vigilant
Just because you got the job doesn’t mean you can disregard what you post online. More than half of employers (51 percent) use social media sites to research current employees. Thirty-four percent of employers have found content online that caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,380 hiring and human resource managers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 16 and March 9, 2017.

In News

Fortune 500 CEOs Still Largely Suck at Social Media

June 14, 2017 No Comments

Only 40% Have a Social Media Presence.

By MediaStreet staff writers.

Engagement with social media remains flat, despite influx of new group of leaders among Fortune 500.

Domo and CEO.com released their fifth annual study on the social media habits of Fortune 500 CEOs.

After studying statistics from 2016, the Social CEO Report showed that while the social media habits of Fortune 500 CEOs have moderately improved over the past five years, they are still sputtering.

The report shows that despite 75 chief executive changes occurring in this group in 2016, these new Fortune 500 leaders had no significant impact on the group’s total social media report card.

One of the winners: Apple’s Tim Cook has the most Twitter followers – surpassing that of Warren Buffett and Marc Benioff.

This new report found that only 40 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs on the list were active on at least one of six major social networks in 2016 (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube), a slight increase from 2015. Of the Fortune 500 CEOs that use social media, 69 are active on more than one channel, and just 15 are active on more than two.

Only 40 Fortune 500 CEOs (8 percent) have a Facebook page, down from 57 in 2015. Of those, 32 were inactive for the last quarter of 2016. LinkedIn, which was acquired for $26.2 billion by Microsoft in 2016, remained the preferred social media “onramp” channel for Fortune 500 CEOs and LinkedIn’s Influencer program features some of the most active leaders on social media. In 2016, 35 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs were using the platform, a three percent increase from 2015.

Just 36 Fortune 500 CEOs have Twitter accounts, but it remains one of the most actively used channels – with 70 percent of that group regularly using the platform in 2016, compared to 62 percent last year. Both Instagram and Google+ had modest gains in Fortune 500 CEOs with accounts since 2015, despite very little use of these channels.

New channels for video emerged in 2016. Facebook Live, LinkedIn Influencer videos and Twitter’s Periscope joined YouTube as social video platforms. Meanwhile Vine, also owned by Twitter, shuttered in 2016. These accounts are typically owned by corporate marketing and have featured their top brass, but Fortune 500 CEOs typically do not have their own accounts.

Other notable findings from the study include:

Expedia’s Dara Khosrowshahi is the only Fortune 500 CEO to use five social networks.
Apple’s Tim Cook has the most Twitter followers – surpassing that of Warren Buffett and Marc Benioff.
More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are featured on their company’s YouTube channel.
Executives from the technology, retail, media and entertainment sectors were most active on social channels in 2016.

To view the full 2016 Social CEO Report, visit: https://www.domo.com/learn/2016-social-ceo-report

In News

Too Much Social Media Advertising can Hurt Sales. Yikes!

June 9, 2017 2 Comments

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

Social media marketing is currently a very popular practice for businesses. But it isn’t all success and roses. A recent Temple study shows that businesses must find a proper balance in order to avoid negative results. So for businesses who currently rely on social media marketing to attract new customers, listen up.

While the potential for social media marketing seems almost limitless, a study led by Ph.D. candidate Shuting Wang and senior associate dean of research Paul Pavlou reveals the exact opposite. The Temple professionals recently conducted a study which looked to determine the specific value of social media marketing in relation to data from WeChat and a Chinese shoe retailer.

The study revealed that while social media advertising had a positive impact on increasing customer sales in the short term, it actually created a negative impact on the business in the long term.

When looking at the specific figures, the business witnessed a 5% increase in sales on the same day following a social media post. However, this same post increased the chance that customers would unfollow the business by 300%. Within five months, the retailer experienced a 5% decreased in sales paired with a 20% loss of online followers within a year.

With regard to these findings, Shuting Wang notes that people often “get annoyed” by a company’s post in the long term compared to the short term. “In that case, they will unfollow, which will lead to a long-term decrease in purchases,” Wang said.

Researcher Paul Pavlou believes this phenomenon can be contributed to the way in which companies often “over-do” social media.

“They see that the more posts they put out there, the more sales they’re going to see,” Pavlou notes. “Companies should be more careful with this and focus more on their long-term goals. Social media marketing is so quick, so immediate that companies say, ‘Well, let me leverage this as much as possible in the short term,’ and they may actually miss the big picture.”

While the study findings support the idea that too much social media advertising can hurt a company’s sales production, there are contextual factors which also play a role. Professor Paul Greenwood notes that these factors include, “What time of day it is, and where people are located.” In addition, the professor notes that people in large cities “Unfollow a lot faster…and if you post during rush hour, people unfollow a lot faster, but if you post at off-peak hours or smaller locations, that effect seems to go away.”

While the full extent of social media marketing trends have yet to be identified, Greenwood believes that future research will look to address whether dissatisfied customers go to competing firms or simply stop purchasing in general. This information will drastically help businesses fine-tune their social media strategies going forward.

While the Temple study revealed the potentially harmful effects of social media advertising, it is important to note this only took place when attempting to sell products. Businesses who have a balanced social media approach, or one which incorporates potential sales with public relations, are much more likely to create productive customer relationships in the long run.

For some interesting case studies on this topic, click here.

In News

Confessions of a social media editor: ‘I’m not confident this will be a real field five years from now’

June 8, 2017 No Comments

By Jessica Schiffer.

Despite how fundamental it is to the success of brands and publications, social media continues to get a bad rap — be it for enabling the worst aspects of humanity, privileging the superficial or whittling down our collective attention span. Those who work in the space are subject to the same criticisms and also the same concerns.

Fashion media has become especially reliant on the medium to drive traffic to their respective sites, regularly tailoring their content (down to the title formats) based on what receives the most clicks. Facilitating this across multiple platforms are social media editors, the elusive humans behind many of the fashion and beauty feeds consumers know and love. Along with handling all outbound social content, these editors tend to have their hands in video creation, content strategy, analytics and more.

For our latest confessions, in which we grant anonymity for honesty, we spoke to a social media editor with ten years of experience, who currently works for a popular fashion and beauty site. Of her vague title, she said: “At this point, it’s used to describe everyone from a 22-year-old in their first professional role to someone 10 years older with a great deal of media experience.” Read on for her thoughts on the stigma attached to her job, the frustrating concept of “clickbait” and the uncertain future of her career.

Do you feel like there’s a stigma attached to working in social media, and if so, what is it?
I think there’s a general perception in the world right now that we’re responsible for all the clickbait that everyone hates on social media. While there certainly are some Facebook pages that do nothing but churn out that kind of thing, most of us have very legitimate backgrounds in media, fashion or journalism, and we’re always trying to balance the fact that we have to make you click with the fact that we hate clickbait, too.

[That term] is a pet peeve of mine, because “clickbait” actually means something: It refers to a super dramatic headline that is misleading or inflammatory, that clicks through to a different story than you were promised. If we say, “See the first photo of Taylor Swift and her new love,” and it’s a photo of Taylor and her new kitten, that’s clickbait. If it’s a photo of Taylor and the new guy she’s dating, though, then it’s not. Just because you have to click to get the full experience of the story doesn’t mean that it’s clickbait. Think of those clicks as a form of payment for enjoyable content.

What is the hardest or worst part of your job?
Social as an industry is ever-changing, which makes it fun and exciting on a day-to-day basis, but a little scary when contemplating the long term. We’re all really at the mercy of the platforms and what they decide to do as they face the pressure to become profitable businesses, and if they decide brands and publishers aren’t a part of the experience their users want, there isn’t really anything we can do about it. I don’t think that’s going to happen — at least not entirely — but no one is seeing the kind of growth on social they used to, and it’s just a lot harder to add value in my role than it used to be, through no real fault of my own.

It’s frustrating to feel like you’re failing when what is actually happening is the tools you’re using just aren’t as effective. My job was just beginning to be a real field five years ago, and I’m not confident it will be a real field five years from now — or at least not a field where there’s room for growth. I know I’m in for another career pivot within the next 5-10 years, and I have some ongoing existential dread about what that will look like.

What are some social media “secrets” used by brands and publications that the average person isn’t aware of?
The way businesses do social [isn’t much like] the way consumers use social. Yes, our content appears on Facebook, but we use scheduling dashboards, link shorteners, image templates and a lot of tools that the average person doesn’t use when they find a funny link and post it on their page. We’re often scheduling content well in advance, at a much higher volume than most people realize (often 40-50 posts per day), as well as being responsive to news and creating new content on the fly — and that’s just organic content. We also have access to suites of advertising tools, paid promotions and post formats that simply aren’t available to individuals.

Consumers have very little idea how we do our jobs, and they’re always super paranoid about the wrong thing. We get tons of comments if we feature a brand or a celebrity a lot, with people saying things like, “Did so-and-so pay you to post this?” and the answer is just, “No, they didn’t” — because if they did, we would clearly disclose that. It’s an FTC violation if we don’t. But then most people don’t react at all to the ads we do post and often interact with them, not realizing that that just confirms our ability to target consumers by interests, location, age, income, marital status and many other characteristics that would freak people out if [they knew about it]. Yes, it’s all anonymized, but the Illuminati isn’t putting all that content about the Kardashians in your feed. Big Data is.

Do you think social media editors get enough credit in the fashion industry for all the work they do?
They definitely end up being the unsung heroes of the fashion and beauty game. We get a lot of flack if the content doesn’t succeed, but editors get the credit when it does, and we don’t always get a say in the content we’re given to promote. Since we don’t have a byline, we’re not perked the same way editors are; we get way fewer gifts and press trip offers and, when we do get anything, it’s rarely the really good stuff.

Honestly, though, it’s fine. I make anywhere from 20-50 percent more than most of our editors, and I consciously chose to leave editorial for a higher-paying track. I miss the press trips a lot, but I can afford to take my own vacations now, and no one is ever going to gift me a down payment on an apartment.

How does working in social media affect your personal presence online?
I don’t have time for it, honestly. Some social editors live and breathe it and love maintaining their social presence, but if I have to choose in any given moment between doing what I do for money and doing it for free, why would I do it for free? I think many of us tend to be behind-the-scenes types anyway, and it’s not really possible to get the amount of social content you need to for work if you’re maintaining the kind of public social life that editors with a big following have. Most of the social editors I know who have a big personal presence had it already and parlayed it into a full-time job. I’ve rarely seen it go the other way around.

Plus, now that I’ve done this for a while, it’s clear it’s really not the quality of your photos or your strategy that makes an individual get huge on social — it’s a lot of things that, quite frankly, aren’t priorities for me, like being super thin or taking lots of photos of yourself in really fashion-y outfits.

I’m not worried about building my personal brand to get my next job. I can just pull up a Powerpoint deck of analytics showing that I’m capable of building one. I actually think it’s harder for editors and people who do work that isn’t as quantifiable; as a result, they feel more pressure to develop a real personal brand. I have data; I don’t need window dressing.

Do you ever get sick of social media? How do you avoid getting caught up in it?
I definitely have days where I’m sick of my job like anyone else, but in general, I just kind of love the internet and love talking to people, and I would never wish it all away. I’ve learned that unplugging fully doesn’t really work for me, and I actually think putting pressure on young people in digital to unplug — or telling them they’re going to be unhealthy or unhappy if they don’t — is alarmist and unfair.

What’s the weirdest or most aggravating experience you’ve had while dealing with the online community?
People say the most ridiculous things when they think no one is reading. When I was newer in this field and cared more about other peoples’ opinions, we’d get messages calling out something like a small typo that were like, “Fire your social media editor.” I would respond and just say, “Hi! I’m the social media editor, my name is X, and I’ll pass along your comment if you really think I should be fired, but I really don’t want to have to move back in with my parents.” Basically, I was doing the same thing you’re supposed to do if you’re kidnapped: Use your name, try to humanize yourself, make yourself relatable. Most people fell all over themselves to apologize. They’d tell me they didn’t realize anyone read their messages, that they were having a bad day or (my favorite) that they thought they were talking to a robot — which actually could be the case today, but was not common at the time.

There’s much more dialogue now about internet bullying and digital communities, so I kind of have the opposite problem today. We have followers who care way too much, messaging us constantly with feedback about content, community and even strategy. Like, I appreciate your investment in our brands, but maybe you should go grab drinks with a friend IRL tonight instead, you know?

By Jessica Schiffer

Sourced from DIGIDAY

In News

Is Context-Aware Social Networking The Future?

June 6, 2017 No Comments

Just when we think we understand social media, something new comes along… This time, it is “context-aware social media platforms.” They allow users to interact with those sharing a common experience in their current physical location.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

Most of us rely on popular social media platforms for our social connectivity and well-being. These platforms do a great job in connecting us with our friends, relatives, and acquaintances. In fact, the level of connectivity they provide is so high that many of us unknowingly attain a level of hyper-connectivity that blinds us from interacting with everyone else who’s not already in our social network.

People in our immediate surroundings share common experiences with us. Whether it’s those that are waiting for the same train as you, the thousands of fellow spectators that are watching the same football game at a stadium with you, or everyone staying in the same hotel as you — you have more in common, and thus more reasons to interact, with people in your immediate vicinity than you realise. Unfortunately, most of these people are not already in your social network and therefore, opportunities to interact with them are usually lost.

Locye, a fast growing social media platform that formally launched last week, is one social app that is trying to get on the “context” bandwagon. It lets you post content that’s visible to people near your current physical location and see posts made by others near you. You can post anonymously or with your identity as well as like, dislike, comment, and report posts. It also gives you the option of posting your content forever or having it disappear after a day.

Locye’s can adjust the radius from which content is fetched for you based on your chronological position in the feed and the amount of social activity in your vicinity at that point in time.

Locye lets users observe social activity at real-time hotspots and places of interest worldwide. It computes hotspots by scanning the entire planet once every couple of minutes and applying artificial intelligence to identify areas that are likely to contain newsworthy content minus the typical chatter that accompanies trending hashtags.

Locye has already received offers to invest from investors like Jaguar Land Rover, The Cove Fund, Furuya & Co., and several Silicon Valley angels. Says Locye, “Travelers, citizen journalists, college students, professionals, community residents, and spectators among others are realising the importance of context-aware social media platforms and this trend is expected to grow exponentially in the future.”

Think globally act locally? Perhaps it will be a thing in social media too.

Here’s the promo video: